From time to time I like to use the opening paragraph to discuss my latest screenprint investments and/or dream items. This week I’m playing a similar note as I recently picked up Olly Moss‘ “Batman’s Rogues Gallery” set on eBay for very close to what the timed edition went for originally. Those of you who follow posters and prints know how redeeming it can be to finally get an item you originally missed out on without having to pay exponentially more than its original asking price. Now, if only Ken Taylor‘s Halloween print would stop being so rare/expensive, I could officially run out of room on my walls.

I’ll stop gushing and leave any more in-depth poster/print talk to our own Limited Paper. For my part, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer and a video blog recap of 10 minutes of footage from Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, our White House Down set visit recap, an exclusive interview with Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull, the first trailers for Ron Howard‘s Rush, and an extended interview with Mondo CEO Justin Ishmael. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each is ready and waiting for your attention after the jump.

Opening tomorrow director Brian Helgeland’s Jackie Robinson biopic 42.  Starring Chadwick Boseman in the lead role, 42 tells the story of Robinson, the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Harrison Ford co-stars as Branch Rickey, the MLB exec who signed Robinson into the minors and ushered him along to the pros.  42 also stars Nicole Beharie, T.R. Knight, Christopher Meloni and Toby Huss.  For more on the film, here’s the trailer, 45 images, 7 clips, and everything we’ve posted.

With Legendary Pictures producing 42, I recently landed an exclusive interview with Legendary’s CEO Thomas Tull.  During our wide ranging interview we talked about the films authenticity, Ford’s performance, how he got involved with the project, how baseball’s status as an American pastime influenced the budget (might be a tough sell in other parts of the world), why they decided to focus on only two years of Robinson’s life, how much of the film was “Hollywoodized,” and a lot more.  In addition, we also talked about his Oscar worthy performance as the Gotham Rouges owner in The Dark Knight Rises, the coolest movie swag he’s got in his office, Nerdist Industries, Godzilla, Pacific Rim, his reaction to watching Man of Steel, his relationship with Guillermo del Toro, future projects, and more.

At last weekend’s WonderCon, I was able to land an exclusive video interview with Guillermo Del Toro.  As you may have noticed, all week we’ve posted parts of the interview (Pacific Rim 2 news, Justice League Dark news, his thoughts on a Pacific Rim vs. Godzilla movie) but it’s now time to offer the entire conversation.

During our extended conversation, we talked about the fans’ positive reaction to the Pacific Rim footage, what the test screenings have been like, how he directs every single detail you see on the screen, his preference for visual sense of depth over 3D gimmicks, the Pac Rim comic book with cover art by Alex Ross, the status of his FX series The Strain, all of his upcoming projects, and so much more.  If you’re a del Toro fan, I promise you will love this interview.  Hit the jump to watch.

Even though Pacific Rim will be Guillermo del Toro‘s first film in five years, he has attached himself to numerous projects both for movies and television.  Just to name a few that are still in development hell, he’s attached to The Haunted Mansion, The Incredible Hulk TV series, and Pinocchio.  And even though Pacific Rim has yet to hit theaters, del Toro and co-writer Travis Beacham are already set to write the sequel for Legendary Pictures.  Del Toro is also in pre-production on adapting his vampire novel trilogy The Strain for television, and is looking ahead to the haunted house feature, Crimson Peak starring Emma Stone and Charlie Hunnam.

Speaking with Steve and WonderCon, del Toro talked about the status of Pacific Rim 2, The Strain, Crimson Peak, how financing tends to determine his next project, writing the script to his indie feature Saturn and the End of Days, what happened to his animated adaptation of Pinocchio, and more.  Also, be sure to check out what del Toro had to say about Justice League Dark.

In a not exactly shocking move, Legendary Entertainment is already putting the wheels in motion on a sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming monsters vs. robots movie Pacific Rim.  For those unaware, the story finds humans towards the end of a losing battle against giant monsters called Kaiju.  In order to combat the creatures, humans have developed their own giant human-controlled robots called Jaegers.  Del Toro recently told Steve that he had been tossing around ideas for a follow-up with Legendary and he and screenwriter Travis Beacham had been writing a proposal of ideas, and now the studio has commissioned a script for the sequel.  Hit the jump for more details.

With Rise of the Guardians opening this week, I recently got to see the finished film at DreamWorks Animation and it’s really well done.  Not only is the animation great to look at, it’s got a strong story that’s character driven and it doesn’t rely on stupid jokes.  In addition, unlike most superhero films that spend half the time introducing characters by explaining their origin and showing off their powers, what’s fantastic about Rise of the Guardians is we join almost everyone in the middle of the story.  If you’re not familiar with the story, it  revolves around the rebellious Jack Frost (Chris Pine) teaming up with other mythical figures North aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), E. Aster Bunnyman aka Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth aka The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman to battle the evil Pitch (Jude Law).  Here’s my video blog review and all our previous coverage.

To help promote the film, last week I got on the phone with Rise of the Guardians producer Guillermo del Toro.  We talked about how they didn’t do a typical origin story, the tone, the Puss in Boots sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3, his DreamWorks Animation directorial debut Trollhunters, Pacific Rim, the 3D conversion, when we’ll see the trailer, the Pacific Rim sequel, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what del Toro had to say.

Director Guillermo del Toro’s “monsters vs. robots movie” Pacific Rim is surely one of the most anticipated titles set to hit theaters in 2013, and fans were treated to a tease of what’s to come at this summer’s Comic-Con.  The gist of the presentation was the word “massive,” as everything we saw told us that this is a story that’s truly being displayed on an epic scale.  For those unaware, the story finds humans towards the end of a losing battle against giant monsters called Kaiju.  In order to combat the creatures, humans have developed their own giant human-controlled robots called Jaegers.

Steve recently spoke with del Toro during a phone interview in anticipation of DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film Rise of the Guardians, on which del Toro served as an executive producer (read Steve’s thoughts on the film here).  During the interview, del Toro also discussed when we’ll see the first trailer for Pacific Rim, his ideas for Pacific Rim 2, how does 3D looks, whether he would make the sequel immediately after Pacific Rim, and more.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.