Red 2 isn’t due out for another month, but Summit has already tapped the screenwriting duo of Jon and Erich Hoeber to pen the threequel.  The siblings certainly know their spy stuff as they’ve written both the original film and the sequel, which is testing high and giving the studio confidence of another go-round.  News of Red 3 may take a bit of the tension out of the plot of Red 2, which sees retired CIA operatives going back into the field in order to track down a portable nuclear device.  Heat Vision reports that production on Red 3 could start as early as January 2014, pending script approval; no deals with the cast have been made as of yet.

The Dean Parisot-directed sequel stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary-Louise Parker and Byung-hun Lee.  Red 2 opens July 19th.

Okay, so we just featured these same movies in a poster article yesterday, but the posters are new … I promise!

• Star Trek Into Darkness – The last character poster from J.J. Abrams’ sequel is for  Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve). Star Trek Into Darkness opens May 17th.
• Red 2 – Today’s poster features Mary-Louise Parker.  The Dean Parisot-directed sequel stars  Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins and Byung-hun Lee.  Red 2 opens July 19th.
• CBGB – Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters is featured on today’s poster. Chronicling the quest of Hilly Kristal (Alan Rickman) to turn a small club into the legendary punk venue, CBGB also stars  Ashley Greene, Malin Akerman, Johnny Galecki, Rupert Grint, and Stana Katic.

Hit the jump for the posters and synopses.

Here are the latest release dates for the following films:

• Red 2 – The Dean Parisot-directed sequel centering on ex-operatives played by Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich will now open two weeks earlier on July 19th.
• Now You See Me – Louis Letterier’s magical heist film starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher will now open a week earlier on May 31st.
• The Butler – Lee Daniels’ biopic of long-time White House butler Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, will open October 18th.

Hit the jump for the synopses and posters for these films.

The retired and extremely dangerous gang from Red return in this new teaser trailer for Red 2.  Directed by Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest), the spy sequel pits ex-CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) against Victoria (Helen Mirren) when MI6 greenlights his assassination as Interpol’s “Most Wanted.”  Mary-Louise Parker and John Malkovich return in fine form, providing some of the funnier moments in the new trailer.  Joining the sequel will be Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung Hun Lee and Anthony Hopkins.  Red 2 opens August 2, 2013.  Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer and poster for Red 2.

Though we’ve seen set photos aplenty from the anticipated upcoming sequels The Hangover Part III and Red 2, the first official images from both films have now landed online.  The images from the third and presumably final entry in the Hangover trilogy promise more madness, as we see an Abbey Road-ish pic of The Wolfpack (ie. Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, and Bradley Cooper) set against the silhouette of Las Vegas.  Though we’ll definitely see the group travel back to Vegas in the sequel, the city is “just one of their stops,” so we’re (hopefully) not in for yet another rehash of the first film.

As for the Red sequel, Galaxy Quest helmer Dean Parisot steps into the director’s chair this time around, and this first image gives us a look at Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, and John Malkovich striking the “cool guys don’t look at explosions” pose.  Hit the jump to check out images from both films and for story details regarding The Hangover 3 from director Todd Phillips.  The Hangover Part III opens on May 24, 2013, while Red 2 hits theaters on August 2, 2013.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura is one of the more prolific producers in Hollywood.  In addition to producing the Transformers franchise, Red, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Salt, and many others, di Bonaventura has a number of exciting films coming up like The Last Stand, Side Effects, Red 2, Jack Ryan, and American Assassin.

Last week I was in London and while there landed an exclusive interview with di Bonaventura.   We talked about the Red sequel, why they hired director Dean Parisot, Transformers 4, The Last Stand, the Salt sequel, his thoughts on Warner Bros. doing a 3D re-release of The Matrix, the G.I. Joe sequel and the 3D conversion, American Assassin, his upcoming ABC show Zero Hour starring Anthony Edwards, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Director Robert Schwentke’s 2010’s action-comedy Red was a fairly sizeable success, grossing nearly $200 million for the ensemble pic.  Production on the sequel is currently underway overseas, and Steve recently sat down with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura who discussed a number of upcoming projects, including Red 2.  Briefly:

• The film takes place in the U.S., London, Paris, and Moscow and is described as “an international road trip movie.”
• The story picks up 6-9 months after the events of the first film.
• Bruce Willis’ character in Red was having trouble coping with retirement, while in this film we’ll see him having difficulty being in a relationship.
• The story involves the characters being linked to a mysterious thing called “Nightshade” posted on WikiLeaks that puts them and their loved ones in grave danger.
• Director Dean Parisot was chosen because of his work on Galaxy Quest and Justified.
• Filming began in September and wraps in late December.

Hit the jump for much more.

You may know him as Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter films, but now David Thewlis is set to join another franchise.  Thewlis will be a newcomer to Red 2, a sequel to director Robert Schwentke’s 2010 actioner.  Dean Parisot (Galaxy Queset) is taking the helm this time around, but original stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker will be reprising their roles.  Other new cast members include Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-hun Lee, Neal McDonough and Anthony Hopkins.  Hit the jump for more on Thewlis’ character and a breakdown of the roles we know so far. 

Red 2 doesn’t even start filming until the spring, but a teaser poster for the film has gone online.  The first Red felt like an “almost” movie.  It could have been great, and it had the right cast, but direct Robert Schwentke‘s action felt a little lethargic and the script never quite hit all of its jokes.  Screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber are back to rewrite the script, and now Dean Parisot is in the director’s chair, so hopefully the sequel will be an improvement.  The film will also bring back Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, and Helen Mirren plus throw in some valuable new additions like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung-Hun Lee.  There’s also the possibility that Anthony Hopkins and Neal McDonough might sign on, so there’s definitely a strong cast in the works for the sequel.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  Red 2 is set to open on August 2, 2013.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories regarding sequels to share today.  First up, Mike Epps in negotiations to reprise his role as “Black Doug” from The Hangover in director Todd Phillips’ upcoming sequel The Hangover Part III.  Original cast members Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis are all set to return, and we recently learned that the debauchery will be taking place in Tijuana this time around.  Ken Jeong is coming back for an expanded role in the third pic, and Variety reports that Epps will be another returning favorite.  The Next Friday actor didn’t appear in The Hangover Part II, but he was great in his few scenes from the first film so this comes as welcome news.

Hit the jump for casting regarding the action sequel Red 2.

With The Expendables 2 hitting theaters this summer, a fourth installment of Step Up arriving in July and a sequel to Red in development, Lionsgate is pretty well set for film franchises. But now it sounds like the studio might be looking to bring those properties to the small screen as well. Deadline has word from a meeting that CEO Jon Feltheimer had with Wall Street analyst this morning where he explicitly mentioned turning RED and Step Up into TV series, properties that come from the studio’s recent merger with Summit Entertainment. And while it wasn’t mentioned at this specific meeting, apparently The Expendables is also part of this endeavor to bring the films’ brand to TV. More after the jump.

Earlier this month a major casting announcement for Red 2 was made.  We learned that Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker will all be returning for the follow-up to the 2010 hit, joined by newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung-Hun Lee.  Now it appears that director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) has found his villain.  Heat Vision reports that Anthony Hopkins is in negotiations to join the cast as the film’s baddie, but he has a few scheduling issues to work out first.  He’s set to return as Odin in Thor 2, which is also shooting later this year, but the actor is apparently keen on taking the Red 2 role as well.  Hit the jump for more.

While we recently learned that Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot would be taking the helm of Red 2 (the sequel to the 2010 hit Red), we still didn’t know which original cast members would be returning for the follow-up.  Well Summit has made one big casting announcement today, confirming that Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, and Mary-Louise Parker will be reprising their roles from the first film alongside newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung-Hun Lee.

The story for the follow-up will find the team of retired CIA operatives taking on a new set of enemies all across Europe.  The nature of Zeta-Jones’ role isn’t disclosed, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she plays the film’s villain.  I have yet to see Red, but I love the hell out of Galaxy Quest and this is certainly an impressive cast so I’m definitely going to have to rectify that sooner rather than later. Hit the jump to read the full press release.  Red 2 opens on August 2nd, 2013.

About a month after getting confirmation from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura that Red 2 (the sequel to Summit’s 2010 hit Red) is a go, it looks like the project has found a director. Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) is in final talks with the studio to helm the follow-up to the $90 million domestic grossing original. Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich, the original Red (Retired. Extremely Dangerous.) followed a retired black-ops agent (Willis) as he reassembled his former team in an effort to flush out an assassin. While the original writers Jon and Erich Hoeber are back for the rewrite, there’s no word on when (or if) the original cast could reunite for the sequel. Hit the jump for more on Red 2.

Since his days as president of production at Warner Bros., producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura had wanted to turn the script for Man on a Ledge into a film. He felt there was an inherent drama to the idea and saw it as a movie where things keep turning on themselves. There was something gripping about the idea of a man on a ledge and whether he was going to jump or not. What attracted him to the script was the potential for impending catastrophe and the possibility for a strong interactivity between the guy on the ledge and the people down below on the ground.

We sat down with di Bonaventura at a roundtable interview recently to talk about how he came aboard to help produce this film. He told us about the similarities Man on a Ledge shares with Red, why it’s dangerous to make movies that have disparate tones, why he would not have made the project without Sam Worthington, and why he enjoys making both smaller, intimate films like this and huge, spectacular films like Transformers. He also confirmed there will be a Red 2 and a Transformers 4, discussed his Arnold Schwarzenegger project, Last Stand, which South Korean director Jee-woon Kim is currently filming, and revealed his plans to make a Western with Bruce Willis entitled Five Against the Bullet.