With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness opening soon around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with Zoe Saldana.  During the interview, she talked about making the sequel, how nice it is to finally be able to talk about it, whether Klingon or Na’vi is more difficult to master, filming the bridge scenes first, who the biggest joker on set is and who tries hardest to make the cast break on camera, script changes, and so much more.  We also talked about Nina, Out of the Furnace, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Star Trek Into Darkness also stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, and Alice Eve.  The film opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Relativity Media has done some shuffling on their schedule.  The studio has set October 4th for Out of the Furnace, the new film from Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).  The film centers on Russell Baze (Christian Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Casey Affleck), has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.  The film also stars Sam Shepard, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, and Woody Harrelson.  Looking at the film’s pedigree, I would not be surprised to see the movie show up at TIFF.  Out of the Furnace will share October 4th with the Vince Vaughn comedy The Delivery Man, Alfonso Cuaron‘s sci-fi film Gravity, and Robert Rodriguez‘ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Paranoia previously held the October 4th date for Relativity, but it will now move to August 16th to play against Kick-Ass 2 and the Aubrey Plaza comedy The To Do List.  Paranoia stars Liam Hemsworth as Adam Cassidy, an entry-level employee at a corporation run by Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman).  When Wyatt turns Cassidy into a corporate spy against rival Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford), Cassidy is drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue.  Hit the jump for a full list and synopses for Relativity’s upcoming slate, which also includes Luc Besson‘s Malavita, Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s Don Jon, and the animated film Free Birds (click here to see a standee for that film from CinemaCon).

You’re driving down the street, and it’s suddenly blocked off.  You notice these weird yellow signs with nonsensical letters or numbers.  There’s unusual glow lighting up a neighborhood you can’t usually see from your house.  What you might have here is a film company shooting in your town.  It happens a lot, and you never know where they might pop up…until now.

The following is a semi-comprehensive list of films currently shooting, what they’re shooting, and where they’re shooting.  We’ll be telling you where you might get to see the very famous, the kinda famous and (if all goes well) the soon-to-be famous. While we can’t list every single movie, television show, or student film in production, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what the heck is going on where all those people are buzzing about.  Want to know where in the world are Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Woody Harrelson, and Leonardo DiCaprio? Hit the jump for more.

Some big name casting news for you today.  Here are the headlines:

• Willem Dafoe will join Christian Bale and Casey Affleck in the dramatic thriller, Out of the Furnace, written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).
• Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will star in the 1950s period piece, Brooklyn, adapted from Colm Toibin’s best-selling novel about a woman torn between her family in Ireland and her new found love for an American.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.

The cast of Scott Cooper’s revenge drama Out of the Furnace was already promising, with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, and Zoe Saldana occupying major roles and a number of intriguing actors circling the villain roles. Today, we can upgrade it to “can’t miss” status with news that Woody Harrelson and Forest Whitaker have officially signed on to round things out. The film, which will be shot primarily in a handful of economically-depressed Pennsylvania mill towns, follows two brothers desperate to leave their Rust Belt roots behind. However, when one of them (Affleck) is murdered after getting involved with a vicious crime ring, the other (Bale) is inclined to dole out some payback. Hit the jump for more on Out of the Furnace, including a full press release.

The cast for Out of the Furnace just keeps getting better and better.  Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard and Zoe Saldana are all set to star in Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper’s crime drama, and now Variety reports that Woody Harrelson is in talks for the villain role.  The film centers on Russell Baze (Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Affleck) has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.

Billy Bob Thornton had previously been circling the villain role, but I’m beyond thrilled to see Harrelson play the baddie.  He earned raves for his morally blurred turn in last year’s Rampart, and it should be fun to see him go toe-to-toe with Bale.  Production on the film begins later this month in Pennsylvania.  Harrelson recently wrapped the heist pic Now You See Me and will be seen later this year alongside Colin Farrell in Seven Psychopaths.

Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, and Sam Shepard are set to star in Scott Cooper‘s Out of the Furnace. The film centers on Russell Baze (Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Affleck) has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.  Saldana will play Russell’s love interest, Lena Warren.  We had previously reported on Bale, Affleck, and Saldana‘s connection to the project, but Shepard’s name is new.  He’ll be playing Russell and Rodney’s uncle, Red.  The press release makes no mention of Billy Bob Thornton and Forest Whitaker, who reportedly were circling the villain and sleazy bookie roles, respectively.  If they sign on, they’ll be welcome additions to an already strong cast.  Production begins later this month in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Hit the jump to check out the press release, which contains the official synopsis.

Two more fantastic actors may be joining the revenge drama Out of the Furnace. I was already high on the project given that it serves as the follow-up to writer-director Scott Cooper’s swell drama Crazy Heart, then Christian Bale signed on to play the lead. Bale plays a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. Casey Affleck is onboard as Bale’s brother, Zoe Saldana is set as Bale’s ex-wife, and we previously heard that Viggo Mortensen was circling the villain role.

Buried in a different story (thanks to The Playlist for the find), Deadline now notes that Billy Bob Thornton is eyeing the villain role instead of Mortensen, and Forest Whitaker is circling the role of a sleazy bookie. Both Mortensen and Thornton are terrific, but the prospect of Thornton tackling a gritty villain opposite Bale is incredibly enticing. No deals have been made with Thornton or Whitaker, but Cooper is assembling an incredible cast for what’s shaping up to be one hell of a movie. Production begins this spring.

Just over a week ago, we learned that Christian Bale was looking to make writer/director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) revenge drama Out of the Furnace his next project. Now Variety reports that Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) is in talks to join the production. The story centers on a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. Robert Duvall is expected to play Bale’s uncle, and Viggo Mortensen is circling the villain role.

Should she sign on, Saldana would play Bale’s ex-wife, a waitress who’s now married to the town sheriff. A number of actors are circling the role of Bale’s brother, including Casey Affleck, Taylor Kitsch, Garrett Hedlund, and Channing Tatum. I loved Cooper’s Crazy Heart, and it looks like he’s assembling a stellar cast for his long-awaited follow-up which is said to be “a gritty throwback to 1970s movies.” No deals have been made and the studio still hasn’t greenlit the project quite yet, but they’re looking to start filming this spring as Bale is shooting two Terrence Malick films back-to-back starting this summer. Saldana is currently filming the Star Trek sequel, and is expected to return for James Cameron’s Avatar 2 and 3 whenever he gets around to actually filming them. [Update: Variety has updated their story to say that Casey Affleck is now the certified frontrunner to play Bale's brother.]

After hanging up the Batman cowl for the last time, Christian Bale is now looking towards the future. Heat Vision reports that Bale is now in negotiations to star in writer-director Scott Cooper’s (Crazy Heart) revenge drama Out of the Furnace. Previously titled The Low Dweller, the film centers on a man who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer. We previously reported that Bale was considering the pic as a post-Batman project last August, but it appears he’s now settled on starring.

I was a huge fan of Cooper’s Crazy Heart so I’m eager to see his follow-up. The film was sought after by directors like Rupert Sanders and Ridley Scott before Cooper signed on, and Bale actually flirted with the project back when Sanders was attached. The intent is for Robert Duvall to star alongside Bale, but no deals have been made. Cooper wrote the script and Bale plans to shoot Out of the Furnace this Spring before moving on to The Dark Knight Rises press commitments and two Terrence Malick projects. He’ll shoot Malick’s Knight of Cups this summer, followed by Lawless this fall. [Update: Variety reports that Cooper is assembling a top-notch supporting cast, with Viggo Mortensen wanted for the villain role and Casey Affleck, Taylor Kitsch, Garrett Hedlund, and Channing Tatum circling the role of Bale's brother]

Coming off an Oscar win for The Fighter and currently shooting one of the biggest films of 2012, Christian Bale has a wide variety of projects to choose from as his follow-up to The Dark Knight Rises.  His third (and supposedly final) Batman film wraps shooting this fall and he’s eyeing various high-profile projects as his follow up.  Variety reports that he’s considering Clint Eastwood’s remake of A Star Is Born starring Beyonce Knowles, Michael Mann’s Gold, the villain role in Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy, Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace, and Darren Aronofsky’s Noah.  Bale was supposedly set for Zack Snyder’s The Last Photograph but he is no longer involved with that project.  Variety also doesn’t mention the untitled Terrence Malick film Bale reportedly signed on to last week.

According to Variety, Bale won’t make his decision until The Dark Knight Rises wraps shooting in November nor is he necessarily the front-runner for any of these movies.  It’s also worth noting that all these roles play to Bale’s dramatic side even though he gave audiences a glimpse at his ability to go beyond grim-and-gritty in The Fighter, and it’s easier to get excited about him signing onto a film after that great performance.

Scott Cooper, whose feature film debut was 2009’s Crazy Heart, has been tapped to rewrite and direct the film The Low Dweller for Relativity Media. The script was written on spec in 2008 by Brad Ingelsby and sparked an intense battle for the rights to the film. In the initial deal, Leonardo DiCaprio was attached to produce and star in the film, with Ridley Scott directing. Deadline reports that DiCaprio and Scott will now simply be producing the film.

The Low Dweller is described as a dark drama set in 1986. The story focuses on Slim, “a man released after serving years in prison for murder who wants only to follow through on his promise to marry his long-suffering girlfriend. But when he discovers his brother has been murdered after getting involved in a gambling racket, his goals change and he avenges the murder.” Hit the jump for an update on the other projects that Cooper is currently attached to.

[Update: We've been sent the press release for the film and apparently, though based on the script The Low Dweller, the title of the film is Out of the Furnace. The full press release is included after the jump]