While some had issues with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (I thought it was great), I’ve never heard a bad word about the visual effects.  At last night’s VES Awards (visual effects), I got to speak with Prometheus Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Stammers.  We talked about collaborating with Ridley Scott, which shot was the hardest to get right, the mixed reaction to the movie, and more.  In addition, Stammers talked about what visual effects work he’s doing on Scott’s next film The Counselor, and revealed he’s working on Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Of course, I asked if he’s started developing Sentinels.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

We’ve got a few release date announcements to share today, and two of them are on the same date.

• jOBS – The Ashton Kutcher-fronted Steve Jobs biopic premieres at the Sundance Film Festival this Friday, and now Open Road has set a firm April 19, 2013 release date.
• The Counselor – Director Ridley Scott’s drama, written by Cormac McCarthy, will land in theaters on November 15, 2013.  The top-notch cast includes Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt.
• Grudge Match – Also opening on November 15, 2013 will be this Sylvester Stallone/Robert De Niro boxing movie.
• Ghosts – A new horror/thriller from Lionsgate and Paranormal Activity producer Jason Blum will open on January 10, 2014.

Hit the jump to read the press release for jOBS and look for our review on the site later this weekend.

At the recent New York press day for Skyfall, I was able to speak with Javier Bardem.  We talked about what it was like to play the villain, why he wanted the role (he’s been very selective since No Country For Old Men), how this is a very grounded and realistic Bond, and more.  In addition, with Bardem currently filming Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, we talked about why he signed on to that project.

Let me be very clear: I absolutely loved Skyfall.  Director Sam Mendes has crafted one of the best James Bond movies ever made and it’s also one of my favorite films of the year.  While the Bond franchise is now 50 years old, Mendes has shown the best might be yet to come.  I really can’t recommend this film enough.  For all our Skyfall coverage including clips, posters, my set visit and more, click here.  Skyfall stars Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Helen McCrory, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Berenice Marlohe, and Naomie Harris.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.

Premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Sergio Castellitto‘s Twice Born.  Based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Mazzantini, the film stars Penelope Cruz as a single mother who returns with her teen son to present-day Sarajevo where her son’s father (Emile Hirsch) died during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.  As she tries to repair the relationship with her son, new revelations force her to rethink everything.  The film also stars Mira Fulran and Jane Birkin and you can watch the first trailer here.

Before the world premiere, I landed an exclusive interview with Penelope Cruz.  We talked about a broad array of things, such as premiering at TIFF, social networking and email, why she wanted to make Twice Born, the type of research she does for a role, rehearsals, how many takes she likes to do and the way Woody Allen works, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Pedro Almovodar‘s I’m So Excited (where she finally works with  Antonio Banderas) and more.  In addition, with Cruz currently filming Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, we talked about why she signed on to the project and who she plays.  Hit the jump for the audio and transcript.

Another day, another batch of blurry set photos featuring some of your favorite barely recognizable stars.  Today, we have our first look at Kick-Ass 2 star Christopher Mintz-Plasse in costume as The Motherfucker.  He doesn’t appear to be dressed in the same black-and-orange duds we saw him in at the end of Kick-Ass, but it’s hard to get a decent look in these lo-res images.  We’ve also got first looks at Michael Fassbender and Javier Bardem in Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.  I didn’t think it possible, but Bardem looks even stranger here than he does in Skyfall.  Maybe it’s just the pocket-fan.  Hit the jump to check out the set photos.

We’ve got a few casting notes to share with you.  Here they are in brief:

• Terrence Howard (Iron Man) will join A Girl and a Gun, a modern LA thriller from writer/director Filip Jan Rymsza that also stars Juno Temple, Luis Guzman and Christopher Walken.  
• Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) has been cast in The Counselor alongside Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt.  Ridley Scott directs from a Cormac McCarthy script.  
• Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) joins The Freezer as a kidnapping victim who is more than he appears.  The story, written by Tom Doganoglu and Shane Weisfeld, will be directed by Mikael Salomon.

Hit the jump for more details on each casting assignment.

Get out your fishing rod because it’s time for some casting:

• John Leguizamo signed up for Kick-Ass 2 and will star opposite Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz in Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor.
• Demian Bichir will join Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in The Heat, directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids).
• Christopher Smith will star with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in the latest film from writer/director Nicole Holofcener (Please Give).

The Counselor is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films of 2013.  Ridley Scott is directing, the film marks the screenwriting debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road), and the cast is insane: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris.  The story centers on an attorney (Fassbender) who gets in over his head when he teams with Bardem’s character to sell $20 million worth of cocaine.  Though this may seem a simple premise, we can reasonably expect a great deal of depth given that this comes from the mind of McCarthy.

Production is now firmly underway and the first image of Pitt on the London set has hit the web.  This marks a reteaming of sorts for the actor and his Thelma and Louise director, and in this first image Scott looks to have Pitt back in the cowboy hat.  Hit the jump to take a look and to see what Pitt had to say about his involvement in the film.

Here is a bit of end-of-the-week casting news for you at a glance:

• John Goodman (The Big Lebowski) and Eric Andre (The Invention of Lying) have joined the cast of director Shawn Levy’s The Internship.  The comedy reunites Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as two out of work salesmen who reinvent themselves by taking an internship at a tech company.
• Rosie Perez (Pineapple Express) has joined the stellar cast of director Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.  Following the tale of a lawyer who takes to drug trafficking to score some extra cash, The Counselor also stars Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Dean Norris.

Hit the jump for more casting details.

The casting reports on The Counselor have been a cavalcade of stars, from Michael Fassbender to Brad Pitt to Javier Bardem and many more.  The “many more” notably includes Angelina Jolie, who was either looking at the female lead or a smaller role to fit around her Maleficent schedule, depending on which report you read.  The latest from Twitch says dark horse candidate Cameron Diaz swooped in and landed the role of Malkina that Jolie was after.  The script by Cormac McCarthy (author of The Road and No Country for Old Men) centers on an attorney (Fassbender) who teams with Reiner (Bardem) to sell $20 million worth of cocaine.  The Playlist describes Malkina as “a hyper-sexualized Argentinean woman who’s hooked up with Reiner… a meaty part.”  If director Ridley Scott was willing to consider Jolie and Diaz, he may be flexible on that Argentinean part.  But Diaz is still far from the obvious choice for this type of role, so for now, I’ll give the 40-year veteran the benefit of the doubt and assume Scott knows what he’s doing.  Production on The Counselor is scheduled to begin in June.

Though production is set to begin soon, director Ridley Scott isn’t finished adding top-shelf talent to his next film, The Counselor.  So far, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie are in varying stages of signing on to the drama, and now Oscar winner Penelope Cruz is apparently eyeing a role.  Fassbender is set as the lead in the Cormac McCarthy-scripted project that centers on a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip his toe in the cocaine business without getting sucked down.  He teams up with a rich acquaintance (Bardem) for the new business that also brings in the shady type (Pitt).

Per THR, Cruz would play Fassbender’s love interest in the pic.  There was talk that Jolie was also circling the female lead, but other reports had her pegged for a smaller role given her tight schedule (she shoots Maleficent in June).  No official offer has been extended to Cruz, but she’s already entered talks to the part.  Whatever the case, Scott has already put together a stellar ensemble and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

The Avengers may be the all-star superhero movie of the year, but Ridley Scott is putting together an all-star lineup of his own for The Counselor.  No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy wrote the script—his first—which quickly sparked a feeding frenzy over who would direct and star in the film.  Michael Fassbender is onboard as a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip his toe in the drug business without getting sucked down, and we previously reported that Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner were circling roles in the pic.  Now it appears that Pitt and Bardem are extremely close to joining the cast, with Angelina Jolie not far behind.  Hit the jump for more.

Angelina Jolie is in negotiations to take a small role in Ridley Scott‘s narco-thriller The Counselor.  Scott’s follow-up to Prometheus stars Michael Fassbender as a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip his toe in the drug business without getting sucked down.  The script, written by No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy, has been described as No Country “on steroids”.  As we previously reported, Jeremy Renner, Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper, and Brad Pitt are also circling roles in the film, although Pitt is considering a small part due to his busy schedule.

Vulture currently has no details on who Jolie would play, but there might be room in her schedule to make a brief appearance in Scott’s movie. The Counselor starts filming in June, and Jolie isn’t scheduled to don a pair of horns to play the title role in the Sleeping Beauty re-imagining Maleficent until late June or early July.  As we reported yesterday, Maleficent is slated for release on March 14, 2014.

Last month, we reported that Brad Pitt was in the running to play the villain in Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor starring Michael Fassbender.  Fassbender plays “a respected lawyer who thinks he can dip his toe in the drug business without getting sucked down.”  The Counselor is being described as “No Country for Old Men on steroids,” which could be damn fine considering that No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy wrote the screenplay.

According to Twitch, Jeremy Renner and Javier Bardem are now the front runners to play the heavy, and Pitt is circling the smaller role of “Westray – a business associate of the Counselor”.  Pitt rarely talks supporting roles unless he’s sharing equal time in an ensemble film Babel or Burn After Reading.  It’s possible that The Counselor could beef up his role, but Pitt’s not hurting on finding movies that would have him as the lead.  If he takes a smaller role, it may be because it’s a better fit for his schedule.  Pitt is currently set to co-star in Steve McQueen‘s Twelve Years a Slave; he’ll be seen in theaters later this year in the crime drama Killing Them Softly (previously titled Cogan’s Trade) and next summer in the blockbuster adaptation of Max Brooks‘ zombie novel World War Z.

In what’s shaping up to be one of the year’s hottest projects, The Counselor has just attracted some high-caliber acting talent to go along with the Oscar-nominated director, Ridley Scott (Gladiator) and the Pulitzer-Prize winning author, Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men). The project, of course, already features Michael Fassbender (Shame) in the starring role as a respectable lawyer who begins to dabble in the trade of illegal drugs while trying to avoid succumbing to its pitfalls. Previously mentioned for the villainous role in McCarthy’s first ever spec script, were Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Brad Pitt (Fight Club) and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover). Renner is now in early negotiations along with Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) for a part that seems less villainous and more enabling, as a criminal who introduces Fassbender’s character to the drug trade. Also in the mix for The Counselor is Natalie Portman (Black Swan), negotiating for a part opposite Fassbender as his fiancee.  Hit the jump for much more on The Counselor.