This article offers the first synopsis and image for three movies, where the uniting theme is Avenge Death Of Innocent Female:

• Hummingbird – Afghanistan veteran and identity thief Joey Jones (Jason Statham) uses “his connections in the Chinese mob” to find the person who killed his pregnant girlfriend.  Hummingbird is the feature directorial debut of Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight.
• Dead Man Down – Swedish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev follows up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo his original dragon-tattooed girl, Noomi Rapace.  Colin Farrell plays the right hand man to an underground crime lord in New York, who must avenge the deaths of both his wife and daughter.
• Blood – Paul Bettany and Mark Strong play detectives who investigate the brutal murder of a young girl who desperately resort to “taking matters into their own hands in an attempt to coerce a confession.”  Nick Murphy (The Awakening) is directing.

Hit the jump for the synopses and images.

Universal has released the official synposis for the new feature adaptation of Les Miserables, with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Eddie Redmayne confirmed to star.  Here’s the thrust of it:

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption–a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

You’ll notice no actor in parentheses next to “Cosette.”  Amanda Seyfried reportedly signed a deal to play Cosette earlier this week, but it has not officially been announced yet.  Likewise, Sacha Baron Cohen is rumored for the role of Monsieur Thenardier, but he is not listed among the official cast.  Directed by Tom Hooper, Les Miserables is scheduled for release on December 7, 2012.  Read the full synopsis after the break.

A new synopsis for Pixar’s Brave has gone online.  We already knew the film was set in the mystical Scottish Highlands and revolved around a young princess (voiced my Kelly Macdonald) who defies a sacred custom of the land, inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom, and then makes an ill-fated wish in order to set things right.  The new synopsis adds a bit more color to the previous synopsis although it doesn’t add much in the way of new plot details.  However, it’s looking like that for everyone who was unimpressed with Cars 2 (i.e. everyone), Brave will be the terrific experience we’ve come to expect from Pixar.

Hit the jump to check out the synopsis.  Click here, here, and here for our Brave interviews at D23.  The film also stars Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, and Julie Walters.  Brave opens in 3D on June 22, 2012.

Aquarius Films has released new images and the official synopsis for the Australian production Say Nothing.  Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom), Felicity Price (Home and Away), Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), and Antony Starr (Outrageous Forturne) star as four friends on holiday on in Southeast Asia, where one of them mysteriously disappears: “Who amongst them knows what happened on that fateful night when they were dancing under a full moon in Cambodia?”

The film is shooting in Sydney and on location in Cambodia under the direction of Kieran Darcy-Smith, who co-wrote the screenplay with Price.  Hit the jump for the images and synopsis.

Disney has sent out an updated synopsis for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  In case you’re new to the film, On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin R. McNally, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, and Sam Claffin.  Briefly, the film will focus on Captain Jack Sparrow’s search for the Fountain of Youth and will hit 3D theaters on May 20th, 2011.

To check out the updated synopsis, hit the jump.  In case you missed them, you can click here to check out some recent images of a cool Pirates theater standee and here to check out a new trailer for the film.  You can also find our write-up of the trailer’s Disneyland premiere here.

Things are heating up for Steven Spielberg’s highly anticipated drama War Horse, starring Emily Watson, David Thewlis and Jeremy Irvine. After a few brief set photos a while back, and that release date fiasco – which bumped War Horse from its initial August 10, 2011 opening to a more awards-savy December 28, 2011 – we are now pleased to unveil the film’s official synopsis, courtesy of DreamWorks.

Okay, so maybe the news isn’t that ground breaking, but at least it’s something. We have long been privy to the film’s synopsis (it is based on a play that was, in turn, adapted from a children’s book after all), but even so, the Beard has seen fit to grant us an “official” rundown of his flick, which adds a few minute (even spoiler-ish) details. Hit the jump for the synopsis and more.

Next up from the American Film Market (AFM) is Steve McQueen’s Shame. The film is the follow-up to McQueen’s BAFTA-nominated Hunger, and reunites the director with actor Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds). And just to be clear, this is NOT the Steve McQueen (Bullitt, The Great Escape) who died in 1980.

Hit the jump to sneak a peek at the promo poster and synopsis.

UPDATE: The studio has asked us to remove the poster. Sorry if you missed it.

Continuing with our AFM coverage, we came across have the first poster and synopsis for the upcoming 3D animal documentary, Distant Thunder.  The film follows in the footsteps of March of the Penguins, telling the story of a herd of elephants that journeys in to the mountains in search of water following a drought.  The film was shot in Kenya, using the most advanced 3D equipment to tell its tale.  Hit the jump for the poster and official plot synopsis.

UPDATE: The studio has asked us to remove the poster. Sorry if you missed it.

Continuing our intense coverage of the American Film Market this week, we’ve got posters and synopses for Step Up 4Ever 3D, Brother’s Justice, Hybrid, and Something Borrowed. In what has to be one of the hardest titles to type in the history of film, Step Up 4Ever 3D lacks a director and hasn’t even started production yet but Summit Entertiainment has released a promo poster and brief synopsis. Underrated actor Dax Shepard (Parenthood) makes his feature screenwriting and directorial debut with the comedy Brother’s Justice, starring Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, and Jon Favreau. We’ve also got the Kate Hudson-starred Something Borrowed, directed by Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door), and One Missed Call director Eric Valette’s Hybrid which is about a murderous, serial killer car (seriously). Hit the jump for the posters and fairly thorough synopses.

We have some great posters and synopses from the American Film Market (AFM) for the upcoming films The Three Musketeers, Source Code, and Man on a Ledge. Musketeers is the reboot of the Alexandre Dumas classic from director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) and stars Milla Jovovich, Orlando Bloom, and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).  Source Code is Moon director Duncan Jones’ highly anticipated second feature film and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan (Due Date), and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air).  Finally, Man on a Ledge is a heist film with a death-defying twist that stars Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, and Ed Harris.  Hit the jump to check out the posters, the first Source Code image, and highly detailed/pretty spoilery synopses for these films.

For the first time, the official synopsis for Fast Five is available for our viewing pleasure.  While you may be thinking to yourself, “What’s there to know?  Buff dudes drive amazingly sweet cars in cool locations,” the truth is that this synopsis is important for a couple of reasons:

• It features what is (to the best of my knowledge) the first “official” full confirmed cast list for the film.
• It seems to sure up any debate as to where Fast Five would fall in the time-line with regards to its predecessors.  It clearly tells us it takes place after the last film.

Officially, Fast Five stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  To check out the synopsis, hit the jump.  Fast Five is currently aiming for a June 10th, 2011 release.

Warner Bros. has released the official plot synopsis for Christopher Nolan’s Inception.  We’ve come along way from April 2009 when all we knew was the logline: “a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.”  And then Ellen Page warned us in September that we shouldn’t try and find out more about the film.  Then we finally learned it was “Hollywood’s first existential heist film.“  Now we have the official synopsis.  I don’t think it ruins the film because it’s just the premise.  I mean, if you want to know why the film is called “Inception,” then I guess you should stay away.

But we’ve seen from the trailer that this is a film that is meant to be seen, not related second-hand.  You could say the same about Nolan’s Memento.  If I told you, “It’s about a guy with no short-term memory trying to catch his wife’s killer.  Also, the story is told in reverse,” you’d be interested, but you have to watch the film to really appreciate it.  I don’t think the film will be a letdown, but this synopsis kind of proves my original point about the ridiculousness of the secrecy.

Hit the jump to read the synopsis.  Inception hits theaters on July 16th.