Though Clark Gregg is well-known for his work as the beloved Agent Coulson in the Marvel films, the affable actor is also a director.  He helmed the 2008 adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel Choke, and now he’s gearing up for his second directorial feature Trust Me.  The dark comedy centers on “a loser agent for a young actor – and washed-up child star himself – who stumbles upon a brilliant 13-year-old prodigy (played by newcomer Saxon Sharbino) and then tries to close the mega-deal that will make her a star while managing her drunk volatile father.”

Now Deadline reports that Gregg—who also wrote Trust Me—has rustled up quite the cast for the film, as his Choke star Sam Rockwell and West Wing cohort Allison Janney have joined the ensemble cast that also includes William H. Macy, Amanda Peet, Felicity Huffman, Molly Shannon, Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), and Niecy Nash (Reno 911).  Production is set to begin soon, and with Gregg onboard as the creative force driving this swell cast, Trust Me is definitely one to keep an eye on.

For the first time, I’m writing from the comfort of my newly remodeled “mancave” or, as my wife likes to lovingly refer to it, the “nerdcave”. For a space that used to be an attached garage/dungeon, I have to say that the end result is pretty cozy. I guess there really are no living quarters that a substantial amount of time, money, and framed movie prints can’t fix. Now, if only I could find a way to fit and/or afford a mini-fridge, classic stand-up arcade games (i.e. The Simpsons, and X-Men), theater-style seating, and a projection screen that comes down from the ceiling via hand-clap command, I may finally be able to fulfill my dream of never leaving home again.

All praises of my new space aside, this week’s incarnation of the Top 5 brings a look back at our Fantastic Fest 2012 coverage, Looper interviews with writer/director Rian Johnson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt, The Avengers Blu-ray interviews with members of the pic’s visual effects team, The Perks of Being a Wallflower interviews with Emma Watson, writer/director Stephen Chbosky and more, and Hotel Transylvania interviews with Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez just to name a few. As you might expect, a brief recap and link to each is holding down the fort after the jump.

Opening this weekend is the animated film Hotel Transylvania.  Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the monsters-only hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  The film also features the voices of David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). For more on the film, here’s six clips and all our previous coverage.

At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival I got to speak with Shannon and Drescher.  During our very loose interview, we talked about how they got involved in Hotel Transylvania, the recording process, how things changed during production, what does it mean to be part of TIFF, and more.   Hit the jump to watch.

Six clips from the animated film Hotel Transylvania have been released.  Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the monsters-only hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  The film looks to have some funny bits, and I’m sure kids will get a kick out of the monster comedy aspect.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The voice cast also includes David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). Hotel Transylvania opens on September 28th.

From acclaimed animation director Genndy Tartakovsky comes the new family comedy, Hotel Transylvania, featuring the voice talents of Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez.  The picture centers on Dracula (Sandler), who runs a resort for monsters and goes into over-protective parent mode when a human boy (Samberg) shows up and courts his daughter (Gomez).  Eight new colorful character posters are now available for your viewing pleasure.

Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, David Spade, CeeLo Green and Molly Shannon also lend their voices to Hotel Transylvania, which opens September 28th.  Hit the jump to see the posters.

A new trailer for the animated feature Hotel Transylvania has gone online.  Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the monsters-only hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  This trailer isn’t wildly different from the first trailer that was released, but there are a couple new scenes thrown in that we haven’t see before (including a toilet joke, obviously).  I’m still on the fence about this one.  We could either be in for a really fun monster movie, or 90 minutes of unfunny and cheap gags that play to the lowest common denominator.  The premise has promise and I quite like the animation style, so I’m sincerely hoping it’s the former.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The voice cast also includes David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). Hotel Transylvania opens on September 28th.

The first official trailer for the animated comedy Hotel Transylvania has gone online. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack), the story centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the hotel and develops a crush on Mavis. The animation actually looks pretty great, and I think the story has some fun potential, but Sandler’s work as Dracula is a bit hard to get used to. It sounds like the actor’s “goofy” voice he uses when making jokes or putting on a character for SNL, so it’s tough to buy it as the actual voice of this Dracula. We don’t really get much into the story here, but there are more than a few laughs (who doesn’t love a good “skeletons taking a shower” joke?)  and I’m pleasantly surprised by how fun it all looks.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The voice cast also includes David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). Hotel Transylvania opens on September 28th.

We recently got our first look at the characters from the animated film Hotel Transylvania by way of a few (very tiny) images, but today we’ve got some photos that give us a much better look at the characters. The film centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when a human (Andy Samberg) comes to the hotel and develops a crush on Mavis. The hotel has apparently been human-free since 1898, so the appearance of Samberg’s character is quite disturbing (monsters aren’t big fans of the human race). Dracula disguises the human as a monster named “Johnnystein” and tries to sneak him out of the hotel undetected. I presume the hormones get the best of young Johnnystein and he attempts to get with Dracula’s severely mature daughter.

The monsters look like a fun-loving gang in these imagines, and I imagine kids will be big fans of the film. The voice cast also includes Selena Gomez (Mavis), David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Steve Buscemi (Wayne the Werewolf), Kevin James (Frankenstein), Molly Shannon (Wanda the Werewolf) and Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy). Hit the jump to check out the images. Hotel Transylvania opens September 28th.

Later this year, Sony Pictures will release the animated family film Hotel Transylvania.  The movie centers on Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) trying to throw a party for his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday, but his plans go haywire when an ordinary guy (Andy Samberg) comes to the hotel and develops a crush on Mavis.  We saw a promo poster and banner for the movie last June, but nothing since then.  But today, we were sent a new promo poster for the film, and it provides a small first look at the characters.  In a less-than-shocking reveal, Dracula looks like Sandler.  You’ll also see that the werewolf is wearing a dress shirt and tie.  Just because he’s a werewolf, he still dressed up nice for the party.  I respect that.

Hit the jump to check out the promo poster along with a new image of Mavis.   The film also features the voices of Kevin James as Frankstein, Fran Drescher as his bride Eunice, David Spade as Quasimodo, Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon as a pair of married werewolves, and Cee Lo Green as a Murray the Mummy.  Hotel Transylvania opens in 3D on September 21st.

Sony Pictures Animation has lined up the voice cast for their 3D family comedy Hotel Transylvania.  Adam Sandler, King of the Family-Films-I-Never-Want-to-See, will play the lead voice of Dracula, the head of the lavish “five-stake” resort for monsters, Hotel Transylvania.  Dracula tries to prevent his teenage daughter Mavis from adventuring into the outside world, but runs into a complication when an ordinary guy (voiced by Andy Samberg) stumbles into the hotel and falls for Mavis.  The voice cast also includes Kevin James as Frankstein, Fran Descher as his bride Eunice, David Spade as Quasimodo, Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon as a pair of married werewolves, and Cee Lo Green as a Murray the Mummy.  Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack) will direct.

Hit the jump for the press release which includes a longer synopsis and the box office clout of Sandler as if that were some indication his movies were actually good.  Hotel Transylvania is due out September 21, 2012.

Though lately they’ve been focused on the motion picture side of the entertainment industry, a trio of talent behind-the-camera is busy prepping a new action adventure series for ABC. Deadline reports Director Rob Cohen (who’s currently working on the unnecessary sequel xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) and writers Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (who are writing The Karate Kid sequel) are also working on a series that sounds a lot like the recent comic book adaptation Red. Reiff and Voris are writing the script with Cohen attached to direct the currently untitled series which would follow a team of old-school CIA covert operatives (kick-ass soldier-spies) who won the Cold War in the Eighties but were then forced out due to budget-cuts in the early 1990s. Now, they have been recruited to go back to work for their country by the chief of the Special Activities Division, a go-getter young woman who is also the team leader’s estranged daughter. With another series about retired covert operatives being developed by J.J. Abrams and featuring Lost stars Michael Emerson and Terry O’Quinn, only one will likely survive the 2011-2012 season when the time comes.

For details on the new HBO comedy series starring Molly Shannon, hit the jump.

Cameron Diaz’s Bad Teacher has found the apple of her character” scheming eye as Justin Timberlake has been cast in the lead male role.  Directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Bad Teacher centers on a “foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh-grade teacher who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague (Lucy Punch) who is dating a substitute teacher, who also is the scion of a watch fortune.”  According to Sony Pictures’ press release Timberlake is the watch fortune scion (which is one of the under-utilized jobs in many role-playing games).

Along with Timberlake Molly Shannon and Eric Stonestreet (who plays Cameron Tucker on the hilarious Modern Family) are also joining the cast, which also includes (as we reported last month) Jason Segel as the school’s gym teacher and John Michael Higgins as the principal.

Filming begins this month in Los Angeles.  Hit the jump for the full press release.