As of today, a few new film posters have been released online.  Briefly:

• The Hangover Part III – A new poster for director Todd Phillips’s third franchise installment, featuring the tagline “It Ends,” has arrived five days before the next theatrical trailer.  The film, which is set for release on May 24th, features returning stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, and a newly featured John Goodman as the Wolfpack’s official antagonist.
• CBGB – A few new posters for Randy Miller’s new film based on New York’s eponymous club, reveals that the film will feature music from artists including The Police, The Talking Heads, and many more. Featuring a cast that includes Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Johnny Galecki, and Ashley Greene, the poster reads “50,000 Bands And 1 Disgusting Bathroom,” as if we needed any reminders about the criminal lack of hygiene at clubs. CBGB’s 2013 release date is still TBA.
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – A new poster for Thor Freudenthal’s (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) first film in the franchise reveals an ominous dark sea with a giant whirlpool resembling Charybdis from The Odyssey.  Set for release on August 16th, the film boasts a large cast that includes Logan Lerman, Nathan Fillion, Alexandra Daddario, and Stanley Tucci.
• Fast & Furious 6 – The latest poster for Justin Lin’s sequel showcases the film’s cast, which includes Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, and Michelle Rodriguez.  The film opens on May 24th.

Hit the jump for a look at the posters and synopses.

The first trailer Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters has been released.  The first Percy Jackson received mixed critical response and lukewarm box office, but the sequel seems to be retaining the same tone even though Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) has replaced Chris Columbus at the helm.  Hopefully, the sequel will have a better plot, but since this trailer appears to give away a lot of the movie, it already looks overcrowded with the best moment belonging to Nathan Fillion, who plays Hermes.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Douglas Smith, Leven Rambin, Missi Pyle, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Mary Birdsong.  Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters opens in 3D on August 16th.

The first images from the sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters have landed online.  The follow-up finds the titular Percy (Logan Lerman) and his friends venturing to a mythical land known as the Sea of Monsters to retrieve a golden fleece that is essential to the survival of his home.  Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) takes over directing duties from Chris Columbus this time around, and these images showcase Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, and newcomer Stanley Tucci getting into more trouble in fantastical locations.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Nathan Fillion, Douglas Smith, Leven Rambin, Missi Pyle, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Mary Birdsong.  Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters opens in 3D on August 16th.

Bryan Singer’s fantasy-adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer is now playing in theaters.  Starring Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) as the title character, the big-budget fairy tale follows Jack the farmer as he leads an expedition into the land of the giants in order to rescue a kidnapped princess (Eleanor Tomlinson). The film also stars Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Bill Nighy and Warwick Davis.

Recently, I landed an exclusive phone interview with Tucci, who plays the film’s villain.  We talked about making the movie, script changes, doing press, how he got into acting, filming with 3D cameras and CGI monsters, collaborating with Singer, and more.  In addition, we also talked about his work in Captain America: The First Avenger, if he’ll make an appearance in the sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, DreamWorks Animations Mr.  Peabody & Sherman, Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant, adapting City of Women, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

If all goes according to plan, 2015 will be one ridiculous year for movies.  Currently, The Avengers 2, Justice League, Ant-Man, Star Wars: Episode VII, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 are all tentatively slated for 2015 release dates.  Now Fox is throwing one more highly anticipated title into the pile, as their Fantastic Four reboot now has a March 6, 2015 release date.  Titled The Fantastic Four, the film has Chronicle director Josh Trank at the helm and Jeremy Slater penning the screenplay.  Plot details are practically non-existent at the moment, but with two promising gents creatively spearheading the project, there’s certainly hope for a fun take on the comic book property that will help us all put Tim Story‘s overly cheesy films out of our memory for good.

Additionally, Fox has announced that a number of their upcoming films will be post-converted to 3D.  Hit the jump for more.

Now that we’ve told you what’s filming where, instead of just watching the action from behind the police barricades, perhaps you’d like to be in front of the cameras.

If that sounds like something you might be interested in pursuing, let us point you in the right direction towards the people who are hiring this key element to any movie.  They’re referred to in different ways: background artists, atmosphere and the most common sobriquet—extras. Pretty much every film needs them, and some more than others.  If Iron Man is saving the population of entire cities, they can’t all be in the other room.  Audiences need to see hundreds of people running and screaming in the midst of the controlled chaos.  When Jackie Robinson makes history by taking the field, it would be a pretty hollow effort if no one is in the stands to cheer him on.  You get the idea.  So are you ready for your close-up?  Hit the jump for more on Iron Man 3, Machete Kills, CBGB, Grown Ups 2, The Smurfs 2, The Walking Dead, and more.

The 2012 Licensing Expo is currently underway in Las Vegas, and it’s brought the first looks at some posters for 2013 and 2014′s major films.  It’s also brought the announcement of Rio 2, which shouldn’t be too surprising since the original film grossed $484 million worldwide.  The Expo also showed off a nice, detailed look at some of the costumes from Zack Snyder‘s Superman reboot, Man of Steel.

Hit the jump for a first look at a gallery of the posters, which also includes R.I.P.D., Jurassic Park 3D, Robocop, Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers, After Earth, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Epic, and Iron Man 3.

Update: We’ve now got video of the Man of Steel costumes.

We’ve got just a few more release date shuffles to share on this unofficial “Release Date Thursday.”  Following release date news for the X-Men: First Class sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Robopocalypse, as well as Independence Day 3D, here’s a brief rundown of a few more dates:

• Disney’s Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp has been moved from May 31st to July 3rd, 2013.
• Marvel’s Thor 2 is shifting slightly from November 15th to November 8th.
• The sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters has been pushed back to August 16th from March 15th, 2013.
• The Ben Stiller-directed remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will land on Christmas Day, 2013.
• The currently untitled comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig has been set for April 5th, 2013.

Hit the jump for more on each of the aforementioned films.

New release date news including Sony and Columbia swapping one Roland Emmerich-directed film for another.  Check them out in brief below:

• Roland Emmerich’s White House Down has a new release date of November 1st, 2013, supplanting the other Emmerich-directed film, Singularity. The latter film does not have a new release date at this time.
• For Fox, sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters has moved up from March 27th, 2013 to March 15th, 2013.
• Rialto’s Grand Illusion re-release will open this Friday, May 11th.
• Grassroots, starring Jason Biggs, Cobie Smulders, Cedric the Entertainer and Tom Arnold, will open July 20th of this year.
• IFC releases are as follows:
• Beloved opens August 17th, 2012 with Sleepwalk with Me opening a week later on August 24th.
• Liberal Arts opens September 14th of this year with How to Survive a Plague opening a week later on September 21st.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

As productions looms closer for the next film in the Percy Jackson series, director Thor Freudenthal (The Diary of a Wimpy Kid) continues to fill out his cast. Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Brandon T. Jason are all returning, and we recently reported that Big Love star Douglas Smith was in talks to join the cast. Now THR reports that Missi Pyle (The Artist), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), and Mary Birdsong (The Descendants) will play the three fates in Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters. All three actresses have comedic roots, as Pyle had notable roles in Galaxy Quest and Dodgeball, while Birdsong is best known for her work on Reno: 911.

Sea of Monsters finds Percy (son of Poseidon) and his demigod friends heading to the Island of the Cyclops (the Bermuda Triangle) in order to retrieve a Golden Fleece. Chris Columbus directed the first film in the series but is stepping back into a producer role on the follow-up. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first film (Percy Jackson doesn’t hold a candle to Harry Potter), but I guess I’m a tad interested to see what kind of tone/direction Sea of Monsters will take. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the book. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters opens March 27th, 2013.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you this afternoon. First up, Sienna Miller and Brendan Fraser are the latest additions to A Case of You. Justin Long co-wrote, will produce and star in the indie set in the world of online dating. Long plays “a young writer who tries to impress a girl he meets online with an embellished profile, but finds himself in a real mess when she falls for him and he has to keep up the act.” Variety’s report doesn’t specify what roles Miller and Fraser will fill, but they join an impressive cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Evan Rachel Wood, Busy Phillips, and Keir O’Connell. Production is currently underway in new York with director Kat Coiro.

Hit the jump for casting news concerning the next entry in the Percy Jackson series.

In addition to announcing that Die Hard 5 (or as it’s now officially called, “A Good Day to Die Hard“) will be released on February 14, 2013, 20th Century Fox has revealed the release dates for some of their other upcoming films.  According to THR, the Percy Jackson sequel, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters will hit on Wednesday, March 26, 2013.  The Billy Crystal and Bette Midler comedy Parental Guidance (previously titled Us & Them) is set for November 21, 2012 so it can try to draw in families over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Other dates include Taken 2 on October 5, 2012, Curtis Hanson’s surfing drama Men & Mavericks on October 26, 2012, and the 3D family film Walking with Dinosaurs has been pushed up to October 11, 2013.

Hit the jump to find out what films are sharing these weekends.