The first trailer for director Edgar Wright’s new film The World’s End has been released online.  The story centers on five childhood friends (played by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Paddy Considine, and Martin Freeman) going through an epic pub crawl in order to reach the fabled pub, “The World’s End”.  But as they make their way to the pub, they discover that the fate of humankind is on the line.  The first trailer illustrates exactly what’s in the logine with just a bit more revealed to tease audiences without giving everything away.  I love Pegg’s character already as he looks and acts completely different than either of the previous iterations of the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.  It’s also nice to see Frost working a polar opposite from Shaun of the Dead’s Ed; I just hope Freeman gets a bigger part than his original outing.  This is going to be a long and excruciating wait.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Rosamund Pike.  The World’s End will be released in the U.K. on August 14th and in the U.S. on October 25th.

A new image from writer/director Edgar Wright’s upcoming film The World’s End has landed online.  The highly anticipated pic was written by Wright and Simon Pegg and centers on five childhood friends (played by Pegg, Frost, Eddie Marsan, Paddy Considine, and Martin Freeman) going through an epic pub crawl in order to reach the fabled pub, “The World’s End”.  But as they make their way to the pub, they discover that the fate of humankind is on the line.  This new image doesn’t shed any light on the plot device that triggers the titular event, but we do get another amusing look at “Goth Pegg” as well as “All-Business Freeman.”  We should learn a bit more about the pic when we see the film’s first trailer, which is expected soon.

Hit the jump to take a look at the new image.  The film also stars Rosamund Pike.  The World’s End opens in the UK on August 14th and in the US on August 23rd.

With Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arriving on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, and DVD tomorrow, I recently landed an extended video interview with Martin Freeman.  Since I’d already spoken to him a few times for the film (here’s the on set interview and the interview right before the movie came out), I tried to ask all new questions.  We talked about what it was like the first day on set, when he first knew he could play Bilbo Baggins, how many times he has seen the film, deleted scenes, all The Hobbit merchandise, Lego sets, what it was like to fly on an airplane that had his picture on it, his favorite places in Wellington, and so much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

It’s an exciting week for fans of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ excellent BBC series Sherlock.  We learned yesterday that season three of the show is set to begin filming next Monday, with the three new installments slated to begin airing on BBC One this winter.  Now comes the even better news that Sherlock will be continuing even further, as star Benedict Cumberbatch has confirmed that he and Martin Freeman agreed to two more series, which means that season four is essentially guaranteed.  Hit the jump for more.

Two of Britain’s best recent miniseries are finally gearing up for new seasons: on the heels of Idris Elba‘s psychological crime drama Luther‘s third season announcement, there has now finally been confirmation of a new series of the BBC One hit Sherlock as well.  Though Sherlock was more of a “when, not if” scenario (with writing taking place, reportedly, near the end of last year), its stars have been busy with other projects – Benedict Cumberbatch has been in Germany filming the Wikileaks movie The Fifth Estate, while Martin Freeman has been filming The Hobbit trilogy.

But somehow it’s all finally coming together (Amen!) and initial read-throughs will start next Monday.  This is a few months after its original shooting date, but better late than never.  Hit the jump for more about upcoming directors for the three new episodes.

Two new images have been released for Edgar Wright‘s The World’s End.  The story centers on five childhood friends (played by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Eddie Marsan, Paddy Considine, and Martin Freeman) going through an epic pub crawl in order to reach the fabled pub, “The World’s End”.  But as they make their way to the pub, they discover that the fate of humankind is on the line.  The movie closes out the “Blood & Ice Cream” Trilogy started by Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but “It’s a much bigger proposition than the other two films,” says Pegg, who co-wrote the film with Wright.  There are twelve pubs on the crawl (you can see them listed on the Comic-Con poster), and Pegg tells Empire Magazine, “When you’ve seen the film, you’ll be able to relate each pub name to what happens inside.”  Your guess is as good as mine for what happens inside “The Famous Cock”.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The World’s End will be released in the U.K. on August 14, 2013 and in the U.S. on October 25, 2013.

Say what you will about the merits of high frame rate, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has provided some amazing visual and sound effects achievements. Now, two new featurettes have been released that take you behind the scenes of Peter Jackson’s epic adventure film and show you how much effort went in to those creations. Whether it’s the practical costumes and make-up of the Hobbit, Dwarf, Elf or Wizard characters, or the purely digital creations of Trolls, Orcs and Gobilns, the visual effects continue to exist on the leading edge of technology. And while Adam Chitwood, Matt Goldberg and I disagreed on the effectiveness of some of the visuals in The Hobbit, each of us was on board with the score, musical cues and sound effects in the film. Hit the jump to check out two featurettes that delve into these arts (presuming you’ve seen the film already). 

I offered a similar sentiment following the tragedy at Aurora, CO back in July and I’ll do the same today: the event that unfolded yesterday in Newtown, CT is inexcusable and genuinely heartbreaking, even from a distance. The optimist in me wants to believe that any negative situation can be used to educate and improve the world we live in going forward. In this case, I’m hopeful but unsure that’s possible. On behalf of everyone here at Collider, I want to offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who were lost yesterday.

As petty as it may seem, I feel fortunate to be able to offer a bit of diversion to your day with this week’s Top 5. Included in a trailer-heavy rotation this week is a new cut from Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, The Hobbit interviews with Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and more, the first trailer for Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim, Andre’s coverage from his Gangster Squad set visit, and the first look at Will Smith and Jaden Smith gallivanting across the human unfriendly Mother Earth found in M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth. A brief recap and link to each will greet you after the jump.

With Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening this weekend, I recently got to interview some of the cast and filmmakers in New York City and all week I’ve been posting them.  Here’s Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain, and Weta Digital’s Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri.

During my very fun conversation with Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) we talked about his reaction to seeing The Hobbit for the first time, whether or not he is looking forward to the additional filming next year, is he ready for the fame that comes with being the lead in a major movie trilogy, and more.  However, while talking about The Hobbit was great, the best part of the interview was discussing how he got the nickname “Little Martin” on the set of Edgar Wright’s The World’s End with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  It also led to a bold statement about the chances of the Star Trek sequels box office compared to The Hobbit.  Trust me, you definitely want to watch this interview.  Hit the jump to check it out.

Technology will march forward.  That march usually involves something getting trampled along the way.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is underfoot of  horrible 48fps 3D, also known as HFR 3D (High Frame Rate 3D).  Billed as a technology to sharpen 3D and reduce the headaches it can cause, HFR 3D has crippled Peter Jackson‘s return to Middle-earth.  Without the atrocious visuals, Jackson’s film is still slightly repetitive and bloated, but the magic mostly remains intact.  But under HFR 3D, the journey looks like a cheap soap opera on fast forward with crappy digital effects.

Peter Jackson has released a new clip from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on his Facebook page.  The clip is from the best scene in the film, which is the game of riddles between Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gollum (Andy Serkis).  It’s a scene that makes you wish Gollum were in all three movies, and in a movie filled with gigantic set pieces and a huge cast, it’s the most intimate, funny, and sad part of the movie.  I even forgot how bad the HFR 3D was when I was watching this scene, and this clip shows off the scene’s beginning as Gollum meets Bilbo and Bilbo learns about Gollum’s schizophrenia.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving, and Cate Blanchett.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens December 14th.

If you’re still hungry for more footage from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and can’t wait until it opens this Friday, then you’ll enjoy this new clip featuring the company of Dwarves singing a melancholy tune. It’s lovely out of context, but becomes much more powerful once you’re in the thick of it and have seen the Dwarves’ backstory.

We’re exactly one month away from the debut of Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad and a new TV spot has been released to remind you of that fact. This piece shows off more footage from the crime drama that sets the villainous gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) against the combined handsomeness of Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling. Hit the jump to check out both videos. 

Though Peter Jackson’s first entry in his Hobbit trilogy hits theaters next weekend with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, just yesterday we got our first look at the final entry in the series by way of an image debut from The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Completionists need not fret, as EW has now unveiled the first image from the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  It’s not incredibly revealing, as we’re simply given a tease of Martin Freeman’s Bilbo hanging out on top of Smaug’s gold pile, but what this image and the title do reveal is that Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy doesn’t exactly end after Bilbo faces down the dragon Smaug.

Hit the jump to take a look at the image and to see what screenwriter Philippa Boyens teased about what the climax of the third film.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 3D on December 13, 2013.

Our return to Middle Earth is now just over a week away, but if you can’t wait that long a 13-minute preview/featurette for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has landed online to quench your thirst for all things Tolkein.  The preview boasts a great deal of new footage and interviews with the cast (including Elijah Wood) and director Peter Jackson.

Hit the jump to watch the featurette, and click here to read Dave’s review of the film.  The pic stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D December 14^th.

As the release date for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey draws ever nearer, more and more content is being released to remind you of that fact. In addition to a new TV spot that shows off a bit of how Dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) got his name, Entertainment Weekly has also released four collector’s covers featuring the film’s major stars. The new issue, which will be available starting December 7th, also promises a look ahead at the next installment in the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett andAndy Serkis, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D December 14^th. Hit the jump to check out the new TV spot and magazine covers.