Focus Features has released the first Insidious 3 image, which reveals that the horror pic is actually a prequel to the low-budget franchise.  Insidious and Insidious Chapter 2 screenwriter Leigh Whannell takes over directing duties this time around from James Wan, as the story revolves around a teenage girl and her family, revealing more mysteries of the otherworldly realm of The Further.  The cast is led by Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott, with Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, and Whannell himself reprising their roles from the previous two movies.  Additionally, Focus is launching a sweepstakes for fans to win a visit to the set, which you can enter by visiting the official Facebook or Twitter pages.

I have yet to see a single Insidious movie so I don’t have much of a reaction to this image or prequel news, but what say you Insidious fans?  Are you pleased by this development?  Check out the first Insidious 3 image after the jump and sound off in the comments.  Insidious: Chapter 3 opens in theaters on May 29, 2015.

Focus Features has released the first trailer and poster for director William Eubank’s (Love) sci-fi thriller The Signal.  The story centers on a computer genius who lures three college students on a road trip across the Southwest to an eerily isolated area where they encounter…something.  Laurence Fishburne plays a creepy scientist and Brenton Thwaites (The Giver) leads the pic as one of the college students who has regained consciousness to find he’s in a waking nightmare.  This trailer highlights a visually arresting, moody, and fascinating thriller with a mystery bent.  It’s promising stuff, and I’m eager to see more.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out the poster.  The film also stars Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, Lin Shaye, Robert Longstreet, and Jeffrey Grover.  The Signal opens in theaters June 13th.

Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell‘s 2011 creeper Insidious was a box office success, even though the general consensus was that the second half sucked.  But since it made a profit, a sequel was only natural.  The filmmaking duo have fallen into the trappings of sequels before with the Saw franchise that they started, but for Insidious: Chapter 2 they decided to take the reigns themselves.  The result is a mixed bag of cheap jump scares and effective atmosphere that makes you wonder, was this a story that really needed to be told?  Now Insidious: Chapter 2 is available on a solid Sony Blu-ray.  Hit the jump for my review of the package.

Following the impressive box office success of Insidious: Chapter Two, another sequel in the horror franchise is moving forward.  eOne, FilmDistrict, and Sony Pictures Worldwide announced today that they are developing a third Insidious film, with Insidious and Insidious: Chapter Two screenwriter Leigh Whannell returning to pen the screenplay.  James Wan directed the first two installments, but after the back-to-back successes of The Conjuring and Insidious 2, he has stated his intention to move away from the horror genre and try his hand at other kinds of films.  He’s currently busy directing Fast & Furious 7 and the press release makes no mention of his involvement with Insidious: Chapter Three, so it’s unlikely that he will return to direct.

Jason Blum and Oren Peli are producing the third installment, but further details about the horror sequel are unknown.  The second film made over $40 million in its opening weekend against a $5 million budget, so clearly continuing the series is in the best interest of the studios.  Hopefully Whannell develops a worthwhile story.  Hit the jump to read the press release.

Opening in theaters this weekend is James Wan’s Insidious: Chapter 2.  The follow-up to the 2011 surprise hit picks up exactly where the first left off.  Josh (Patrick Wilson) has returned from the Further feeling not quite himself, and when Renai (Rose Byrne) begins seeing familiar signs of the paranormal the Lambert family is thrust once more into a world of psychics, demons and ghosts.  Insidious: Chapter 2 also stars Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, and Ty Simpkins.

During a recent New York press day for the film I hopped on the phone for an interview with Shaye.  She talked about if she was surprised Elise was in the second film, the enthusiastic audience response to her character, building the character of Elise, the best acting advice she ever got, what’s up next and more.  Hit the jump to see what she had to say. 

Briefly:

• Insidious: Chapter 2  – Rose Byrne is hammer mom in the first poster for James Wan’s upcoming horror sequel.  The film opens September 13th and also stars Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, and Lin Shaye.
• You’re Next – Lionsgate has released an excellent new poster for Adam Wingard’s terrific home invasion thriller.  The film opens August 23rd and stars Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Rob Moran, Nicholas Tucci, and Ti West.
• Seventh Son – Ben Barnes features as the eponymous Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in the new Comic-Con character poster.  The film opens January 17, 2014, and stars Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Olivia Williams, Antje Traue, Djimon Hounsou, and Julianne Moore.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

For all of the uneasiness I felt watching The Internship play as a not so subtle promo for Google’s portfolio of services (what in the hell is Google Wallet?), the movie painted a dichotomy that I found interesting. While far from perfect, I thought the film did a nice job of contrasting the eternal optimism of a couple Gen X’ers with the often harsh practicality and cynicism I see embedded in myself and many of my fellow Millennials. Although this is hardly the platform from which to dive into a generational debate, The Internship at least introduced the idea that belonging to a generation that has had the wealth of the world’s knowledge at their fingertips for a good portion of their lives (not to mention video games and the lack of a military draft) faces a whole new set of unique challenges and insecurities. At the same time, it also sent an oft-overlooked truth that we (Millennials) don’t know it all, haven’t seen it all, and the “Culture of Meh” that we often embrace is cynical bullshit that I can only hope life experience will help pull us out of.

In addition to my “meh” soapbox, this week’s Top 5 offers The Internship interviews with Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Rose Byrne, the first trailer and a set visit recap for director James Wan‘s Insidious: Chapter 2, a truckload of set images from X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Purge interviews with Ethan Hawke and more, and a look at the WGA’s list of the “101 Best Written TV Series of All Time”. Check out a brief recap and link to each after the jump.

FilmDistrict has released the first trailer and images for director James Wan’s horror sequel Insidious: Chapter 2.  The majority of the cast from the first film returns in this follow-up, which finds the Lambert family trying to uncover the mysteries behind the childhood secret that has made them prone to some rather spooky paranormal events.  Having not seen the first film, I don’t necessarily find anything in this trailer scary (Wan’s other 2013 horror film The Conjuring, on the other hand, looks terrifying).  Chapter 2 almost looks like more of a thriller than a horror pic, but I’m sure fans of the first movie will be glad to wade back into the world of Insidious this fall.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer, and click here to check out our recap from the trailer event and Q&A with Wan.  The film stars Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Lin Shaye.  Insidious: Chapter 2 opens on September 13th.

Things are moving quickly on the sequel to 2011’s horror hit Insidious.  We learned this February that director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell were reteaming for the follow-up, and FilmDistrict announced today that Insidious Chapter 2 will be hitting theaters on August 30, 2013.  Wan is again directing from a script by Whannell, and Jason Blum is back to produce through his Blumhouse Productions company.  Moreover, the first film’s cast of Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins will also be back to reprise their roles.

Not plot details are given, but production on the low-budget sequel is set to begin on January 15, 2013.  Hit the jump to read the full press release.