This morning we’ve got a set photo round-up for your viewing pleasure:

• Need for Speed – The adaptation of the popular video game series is going to have some absolutely sick cars.  Even the sheriff has a sweet ride.  The film opens March 14, 2014 and stars Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots, Kid Cudi, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malik, Harrison Gilbertson, and Michael Keaton.
• Heat – The story enters on Nick Escalante (Jason Statham), a compulsive gambler on the streets of Vegas who takes odd jobs providing “security” to support his addiction.  The film also stars Sofia Vergara and Michael Angarano.
• Untitled Abscam Movie – David O. Russell’s film is based a real-life undercover sting operation called “Abscam”, which was set up in the late 70s-early 80s by a con artist working for the FBI who rooted out corruption in Congress.  The film stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Elisabeth Rohm, Alessandro Nivola, and Louis CK.  The film opens December 13th.

Hit the jump to check out the set photos.

Check out the latest release dates for the following movies:

• Need for Speed – From director Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) comes this EA video game adaptation starring Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger), Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later) and Michael Keaton (Batman).  Need for Speed now opens March 14, 2014.
• Baggage Claim – Adapted from his own novel for the screen, First Sunday director David E. Talbert’s film stars Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Taye Diggs (Chicago), Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator) and Adam Brody (Mr. & Mrs. Smith).  Baggage Claim now opens September 27, 2013.
• Fruitvale – Writer/director Ryan Coogler’s feature debut starring Michael B. Jordan (Chronicle), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Kevin Durand (Real Steel) and Octavia Spencer (The Help).  Fruitvale now gets a summer release date of July 26, 2013.

Hit the jump for more on each production.

From acclaimed Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and screenwriter J.H. Wyman (Fringe), the crime drama Dead Man Down tells the story of two strangers who are bound together by their mutual obsession with revenge.  Victor (Colin Farrell) is a mysterious man who has infiltrated the crime empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse (Terrence Howard) for his own very definite reasons, while his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) wants Victor’s help to carry out her own plans for retribution.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, the charming and talented actor Dominic Cooper, who plays the ambitious gangster Darcy, talked about the appeal of the complex story arc his character has in the film, the challenge of making this guy both dangerous and likeable, and working with a director with such a specific vision.  He also talked about how terrifying it is to take on Ian Fleming for the BBC America mini-series Fleming and how he’s portraying the man the way he saw himself, as opposed to recreating him, and what attracted him to Need for Speed, about a street racer (played by Aaron Paul) fresh out of prison after having been framed by a wealthy business associate, who joins a cross country race with revenge in mind.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Michael Keaton will be seen on screen almost a year to the day when José Padilha’s RoboCop reboot blasts into theaters, but Keaton has signed on for another high profile action film with the same release date.  Reports have Keaton joining DreamWorks’ Need for Speed adaptation starring Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper.  The Scott Waugh picture is based off of the Electronic Arts streetracing game.  Also starring Imogen Poots, Kid Cudi, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malik andHarrison Gilbertson, Need for Speed (and RoboCop) opens February 7, 2014.  Hit the jump for more details on Keaton’s role.

In wildly unrelated casting news:

• Kid Cudi will join Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Imogen Poots in DreamWorks’ Need for Speed, directed by Scott Waugh.
• Jerry Lewis will make his return to the big screen in a starring role in writer/director Daniel Noah’s indie drama Max Rose, which is also Noah’s directorial debut.
• Billy Campbell will join the indie rom-com 10 Things I Hate About Life.  The Gil Junger-directed picture already stars Evan Rachel Wood and Thomas McDonnell.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

In a perfect storm of movie casting for ambitious young acting talent, some major movies that could make (or break) the next rising star are all in a simultaneous casting process. Here’s a look at the latest developments:

• Michael Bay is set to start screen testing actors for leads in Transformers 4, which centers on Mark Wahlberg’s character, his daughter and her boyfriend, a race car driver.
• Divergent, which carries heavy Hunger Games or Twilight-sized franchise hopes, is narrowing its scope for the male lead opposite Shailene Woodley.
• DreamWorks’ Need for Speed adaptation is looking for other racers to fill in the cast alongside leads Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots and possibly Dominic Cooper.

Hit the jump for much more on each picture.

After Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and Imogen Poots (28 Days Later) signed on for the Need for Speed adaptation, it looks like Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) will be the next addition.  Cooper is reportedly in negotiations to star opposite Paul as the other male lead in the DreamWorks picture.  Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) will direct the Electronic Arts video game from a script by George Gatins, who developed the story with John Gatins (Flight).

The story centers on an underground racecar driver (Paul) who owns and operates a garage that modifies expensive cars.  Wrongly convicted but recently released from prison, he’s out for revenge on whoever framed him and killed his best friend.  Variety reports that Cooper will play Dino, an ex-NASCAR driver who sets up a business suping up high-performance vehicles with the help of his wealthy connections.  Poots will play an exotic car dealer who does business with the duo.  Look for Need for Speed February 7th, 2014.

Check out the latest casting news in brief below:

• Imogen Poots (Fright Night) has been cast opposite Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) in the Need for Speed adaptation directed by Scott Waugh (Act of Valor).
• Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will join Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!) in Before I Go to Sleep, director Rowan Joffe’s psychological thriller adapted from S.J. Watson’s best-selling book.
• Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City) will star in in the indie coming-of-age drama, Mixtape, directed by Tom Vaughan (What Happens in Vegas).

Hit the jump for more info on each picture, plus the first poster and synopsis for Before I Go to Sleep.

DreamWorks’ adaptation of the popular video game franchise Need for Speed has found one of its two leads.  EW reports that Breaking Bad star and two-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul has been set to topline the racing film.  Act of Valor helmer Scott Waugh is set to direct from a script by George Gatins, but very little is known about the film’s story.  Presumably Need for Speed will center on street racing of some sort, though the pic isn’t based on a particular title in the game series.  DreamWorks hopes this is the first in a franchise of films, so this is very big news for Paul.

Paul has shown tremendous talent opposite Bryan Cranston on AMC’s Breaking Bad, but that show will sadly come to an end next year as the final batch of episodes air.  He’ll be seen this fall in the drama Smashed opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead and is also starring in the adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel A Long Way Down, but it’ll be fun to see him tackle the action genre with Need for Speed.  The film is set for release on February 7th, 2014.  Cars, yo!

Last month we learned that Electronic Arts and DreamWorks were teaming up to bring the popular video game franchise Need for Speed to the big screen.  Real Steel scribe John Gatins was tapped to develop a pitch for the film, and now Variety reports that Act of Valor director Scott Waugh is in talks to take the helm.  Gatins developed the pitch alongside his brother, George, who is the sole credited writer on the screenplay.  The film is planned as a potential tentpole in the vein of the Fast and Furious franchise, and with that series switching to the heist genre with the upcoming Fast and Furious 6, Need for Speed should fill the void for street racing fanatics.

You’d be forgiven for mistaking Act of Valor for Call of Duty: The Movie, so Waugh seems an appropriate choice to adapt the Need for Speed video game series.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he brings the POV camera style from Act of Valor to Need for Speed, in which case I’ll most likely be in need of a vomit bag when watching the film.  Waugh is also attached to direct Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Unknown Soldier.

Though board game adaptations are a recent trend, Hollywood has been adapting video games for years.  The latest title to get a go on the big screen appears to be the racing series Need for Speed.  Showblitz reports that screenwriter John Gatins (Real Steel) has been tapped to develop a pitch for a big screen iteration of the popular game franchise.  Electronic Arts and UTA are now going out to Hollywood studios to shop the project around, and Warner Bros., Sony, and Paramount are said to be interested in the deal.

The Need for Speed series began in 1994 and has had a fruitful run on multiple platforms ever since.  Given that the game simply consists of racing cars in different settings, studios are really only buying the title recognition.  Someone could just as easily have written a movie set in the street-racing world and slapped the Need for Speed title onto it.  Nevertheless, studios like to make money so I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll see Need for Speed on screens sooner or later.  Battleship is an actual movie that exists, after all.

The Need for Speed franchise has survived many low points over the last few years. Silly additions and subtle changes made to each iteration of the series have pushed the well-known brand further into mediocre and sometimes downright awful territory. For their latest release, Electronic Arts went back to the drawing board, and handed over the reigns to developer Slightly Mad Studios, which had experience crafting the award-winning racing franchise, GTR. What a smart move that was. Need for Speed SHIFT not only revitalizes the franchise’s name, it revolutionizes some aspects of the racing genre, providing gamers with a palpable sense of what it actually feels like to get behind the wheel of the fastest cars on the planet. Find out why, after the jump.