Opening this weekend is director Michael Bay’s fantastic dark comedy Pain & Gain.  The film is based on a crazy true story and stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson as two bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion ring and kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.  Pain and Gain also stars Anthony Mackie, Rebel Wilson,  Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong, and Bar Paly.  For more on the film, watch some clips or the red-band trailer.

Recently, I landed an exclusive phone interview with Johnson  and Wahlberg.  We talked about how the craziest stuff is true, the way they prepared for the role, whether they were nervous to play these characters, collaborating with Michael Bay, future projects like Ted 2, Hercules, G.I. Joe 3, and more.   In addition, I asked Wahlberg if we can get Johnson walking around in the background of Transformers 4 so that there can eventually be a G.I. Joe/Transformers movie.  Hit the jump for what they had to say.

Opening this weekend is Disney and director Sam Raimi’s fantastic prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Oz The Great and Powerful.  The film centers on a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics (James Franco) who finds himself transported to Oz and drawn into a battle between the three witches Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams).  Loaded with incredible visuals, amazing 3D, and a beautiful world created by production designer Robert Stromberg (Alice in Wonderland, Avatar), Oz is the type of movie that definitely should be seen on a movie screen and it’s absolutely worth the extra charge to see it in 3D.  Oz The Great and Powerful also stars Zach Braff and Joey King.

Recently, I got to speak with Kunis.  We talked about what it was like to walk on the yellow brick road for the first time, her reaction to the finished film, 3D, the Ted sequel, and the Wachowskis‘ upcoming film, Jupiter Ascending.  Hit the jump to watch.

Since Seth MacFarlane is hosting this year’s Oscars, it’s not much of a surprise that his Ted co-star Mark Wahlberg will be making an appearance alongside the foul-mouthed teddy bear.  Ted was one of the biggest hits of 2012, and it would almost be a letdown to not see the duo show up in some capacity.  Wahlberg confirmed the appearance on the talk show Anderson Live, and I’m curious to see if they’ll be presenting an award, or if it will just be a comic bit.  Either way, this year’s ceremony is shaping up to be pretty entertaining with MacFarlane as the host.

Wahlberg also confirmed that writing is underway on the script for Ted 2.  In a recent interview with Steve, Wahlberg says he plans to shoot Transformers 4 and then move on to Ted 2.  Hit the jump for Wahlberg’s appearance on Anderson Live.

Opening January 18 is director Allen Hughes’ (The Book of Eli) political thriller Broken City.  The film stars Mark Wahlberg as a private detective who is hired to identify the lover of a powerful politician’s wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones).  Russell Crowe plays the morally ambiguous politician.  The film also stars Jeffrey Wright.  For more on the film, here’s the first clip and the brand new trailer.

Over the weekend I sat down with Wahlberg for a fun interview.  We talked about how he got involved in Broken City, putting together the great cast, the way he produces, and upcoming projects like Pain & Gain, Ted 2, and Transformers 4.  However, while it was great to talk about his film projects, the best part was hearing him talk about the New England Patriots and getting to attend the game last week with his son.  While I thought about editing out his comments on the Patriots after the disappointing loss last night, I thought some of you might like to see it.  Hit the jump to watch.

Mark Wahlberg is quite a busy guy, and his schedule doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.  The actor hit the comedy jackpot this summer in Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s feature directorial debut Ted, which already has a sequel in the works, and he’s also poised to delve into franchise fare as the lead in Michael Bay’s upcoming Transformers 4.  Steve recently got to interview Wahlberg in anticipation of the upcoming political thriller Broken City, and the actor gave updates on Transformers 4 and a sequel to Ted, and talked briefly about Bay’s small-scale black comedy Pain and Gain.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

It looks like Universal Pictures is planning to firm up its film slate by focusing on franchises and animation over the next few years.  One of the most successful franchises to date started with The Fast and the Furious, which continues to hold strong (Fast Six is due May 24th, 2013).  Universal also plans on going ahead with sequels to this summer’s The Bourne Legacy, which starred Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz, as well as a follow-up to Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. They’re also getting ambitious on the animated front by expecting to crank out two films a year, versus their current rate of two every three years.  Hit the jump for more.