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.

Opening January 4^th is director John Luessenhop’s (Takers) Texas Chainsaw 3D.  The film acts as a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s original, ignoring the many reboots, prequels and remakes, and picks up where the 1974 film left off.  After Sally escapes to safety the enraged townspeople of Newt, Texas descend on the Sawyers, burning their house to the ground with the family still inside.  Decades later, Heather (Alexandra Daddario) inherits a Texas Estate from a grandmother she never knew she had, and when she brings along a group of friends to scope out her new home they unwittingly unleash Leatherface on the small town once more.  The film also stars Tania Raymonde, Tremaine “Trey Songz” Neverson, Scott Eastwood, Bill Moseley, Dan Yeager, Gunnar Hansen and Paul Rae.

At the recent Los Angeles press day, I sat down with Daddario.  We talked about what attracted her to the project, how she developed her version of the ‘survivor girl’, and the emotional toll of working on a horror film.  She also discussed Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, working on green screen, keeping the second movie more true to the books, returning to the franchise and more. Hit the jump for the full interview.

With Texas Chainsaw 3D opening January 4th, 2013, star Alexandra Daddario came to New York Comic-Con this weekend to promote the film.  Directed by John Luessenhop (Takers), the pic is a direct sequel to the 1974 original and picks up where that film left off: “a young woman has escaped the horrors of the Sawyer family and alerted authorities, leading the townspeople to descend on the Sawyer household and seemingly put an end to the family’s reign of terror.  The story then jumps forward to present day where a young woman (Daddario) has inherited a Texas estate from a grandmother she didn’t know she had.”  Needless to say, after she arrives, things go bad.  For more on the film, here’s the trailer and all our previous coverage.

During my exclusive interview with Daddario we talked about being at NYCC, how she got cast, the gore, how the film changed from the initial conception through to the final cut (she reveals that there was an alternate ending filmed), what it was like to film in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a lot more.  In addition, we also talked about White Collar (she played Kate), Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (she just filmed an episode) and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories to share with you this evening. First up, Clark Duke (Kick-Ass) and SAG President (and frequent 30 Rock guest) Ken Howard are the latest to join the comedy A.C.O.D. The title stands for “Adult Children of Divorce”, and the plot centers on a guy (Adam Scott) who has been caught in his parents’ ugly divorce of the past twenty years, and matters become even worse when his brother gets engaged.  Then the details of the feud are revealed in a definitive new book on children of divorce.

The already stellar ensemble cast includes Scott, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jane Lynch, Jessica Alba, Catherine O’Hara and Richard Jenkins. Variety reports that Howard will play Scott’s amicable stepfather and Duke will play Scott’s younger brother whose engagement forces the parents to meet once again. Duke is incredibly funny and Howard brings down the house on 30 Rock, so the two are very much welcome additions to an incredibly exciting project. Hit the jump for casting news concerning the next Percy Jackson film.

The Percy Jackson sequel just got a whole lot more geek friendly. Castle star and all-around great guy Nathan Fillion is set to join Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters as a god. THR reports that Fillion will play Hermes (that fast one with wings on his shoes), the father of the antagonist of the series, Luke. The character of Hermes was played by Dylan Neal in the first film, but apparently producers felt like they needed some Fillion in the sequel (a respectable request). Luke—the agreed-upon name for all evil youngsters—is played by Jake Abel, opposite star Logan Lerman who is returning as the demigod Percy. Also reprising their roles from The Lightning Thief are Alexandra Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson. Director Chris Columbus is taking a producer credit on the follow-up, with Thor Freudenthal (The Diary of a Wimpy Kid).

The plot of Sea of Monsters finds Percy and his demigod friends heading to the Island of the Cyclops (the Bermuda Triangle) in order to retrieve a Golden Fleece. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of the book. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters opens March 27th, 2013.

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.

With director Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers opening October 21, Summit Entertainment held a big press junket in London and I got the chance to head across the pond to interview the cast.  Based on Alexandre Dumas’ classic story, The Three Musketeers stars Logan Lerman, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz, Matthew Macfayden, Gabriella Wilde and Mads Mikkelsen.  In the reboot, “the hot-headed young D’Artagnan (Lerman) joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (MacFadyen, Evans and Stevenson). They must stop the evil Richlieu (Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Bloom) and the treacherous Milady (Jovovich).”  For more on the film, here’s eight clips.

During my interview with Lerman and Wilde, they talked about how they got involved in the project, the training, and the amazing real world locations they got to use.  In addition, they told me about a great prank they did to a fellow cast member, what’s their karaoke song and the last video game they played, and I asked Lerman what’s up with the Percy Jackson sequel.  Hit the jump to watch.

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.

Fox 2000 is moving forward on development of a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief based on the second book in Rick Riordan’s fantasy series, titled The Sea of Monsters.  24 Frames reports the studio exercised its option on Logan Lerman, locking him in to return for the sequel.  Lightning Thief director Christopher Columbus will reduce his involvement with the sequel to a producing role, handing the reins off to Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). The Sea of Monsters could be in theaters as early as 2012.

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski adapted the screenplay, which is expected to cull stories from other books in the series.  Read the synopsis for The Sea of Monsters after the jump.