The Cannes Film Festival, like most major film festivals, is where studios deal behind the scenes to acquire films, although Cannes has the added touch of also packaging movies (which is why we’ve seen so many casting stories) and selling existing properties to foreign buyers. Lionsgate managed to sell nine of their movies, and their press release contains brief synopses for each of the films.  Some confirm what we already know, some provide new information, and some are Step Up 5 (“Fifth installment of Summit Entertainment’s successful STEP UP franchise”).

Hit the jump for the synopses as well as the cast and above-the-line crew.

Intrepid reporter Samantha Cheirif is currently snapping some movie marketing images from the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.  We hope to have more images in the coming days, but for now we have looks at international posters for World War Z, The Lone Ranger, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Hercules 3D, Despicable Me 2 and more.  There are also quite a few promos for films that might not even be on your radar yet, so it’s definitely worth a look.

The 2013 Cannes Film Festival runs from May 15th to May 26th.  Hit the jump to check out the images.

Lionsgate has released a new poster for director Francis Lawrence’s upcoming sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The film finds Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta dealing with the after-effects of the first film, as a nation-wide uprising begins to swell.  This new poster is quite visually appealing, and it’s graced with the following quote from the novel “The sun persists in rising, so I make myself stand.”  While I was admittedly apprehensive about Francis Lawrence taking over the director’s chair from Gary Ross, the first trailer for Catching Fire was pretty spot-on, and this new poster has me really looking forward to seeing more footage from the film.

Hit the jump to check out the new poster.  The film also stars Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

Last weekend I finally had the chance to check out director Rodney Ascher‘s The Shining analysis doc Room 237 on Xbox Live. The film garnered a rave review from Matt when he screened it at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and for the most part I share his enthusiasm for the pic.  On one hand, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I admire it for that exact reason. The extensive scenic analysis Room 237 employs, the hypnotic score, and its refusal to show the faces of those presenting their theories makes it an absolutely captivating ride that never lets you come up for air. On the other hand, I now have to live the rest of my life looking for Stanley Kubrick‘s airbrushed face in the clouds during The Shining‘s opening scene. And when/if I ever find it, what am I supposed to do with that information? Sigh.

I could go on about the film’s individual parts, but suffice to say that I consider it required viewing for anyone with even a fleeting interest in film analysis, Kubrick, and/or The Shining. And with that I’ll move on to the reason we’re all here. In this week’s Top 5 you’ll have the pleasure of checking out a stellar new trailer and a slew of other assets from Man of Steel, our set visit recap for The Hangover Part III, the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, more set visit goodness for Now You See Me, and all of our CinemaCon 2013 coverage. The “Continue Reading” button below is your ticket to a brief recap and link to each of the above.

Today at CinemaCon, Lionsgate not only released their swanky new logo seen above, they also revealed the expected release dates for some highly anticipated theatrical trailers:

• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Though the teaser trailer for the Francis Lawrence-directed sequel is available online, it will be paired with showings of Iron Man 3 for the first time in theaters.  Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22nd.
• Ender’s Game – The first trailer for Gavin Hood’s adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel will be attached to Star Trek Into Darkness and should appear online as early as next week.  Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley, Ender’s Game opens November 1st.
• Thor: The Dark World – Unrelated to Lionsgate but announced during CinemaCon, the first trailer for the Alan Taylor-directed sequel will be released next week.  Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston, Thor: The Dark World opens November 8th.

Lionsgate has released the first trailer for director Francis Lawrence‘s (Water for Elephants) sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The darkness and melancholy of the first film has only intensified, but this trailer only tells half the story.  We’re shown the victors’ tour, and how President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is trying to tear down the hope-inspiring image of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) before killing her.  Only at the end of the trailer, do we hear about the second part of the story, which is the “Quarter Quell”, a special Hunger Games where past winners will be forced to fight to the death.  I assume they left this out because it’s the more effects-heavy part of the story, and that footage is moving through post-production.

The film also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

Though the first trailer for the highly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to debut later tonight, Lionsgate has unveiled a couple of new images from the Francis Lawrence-directed adaptation to tide fans over these next few hours.  These new images give us a look at a few returning characters like Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss, Elizabeth Banks’ Effie, and Donald Sutherland’s President Snow, but we also get a new look at Philip Seymour Hoffman as new Head Gamesmaker Plutarch Heavensbee (the names don’t exactly get better as the series moves along).

Hit the jump to take a look at the new images, and check back here on Collider later tonight to watch the first trailer.  The film also stars Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

One of the great things about CinemaCon (the yearly Las Vegas convention for theater owners) are the cool displays for upcoming movies.  Often the movie studios will release the first posters for some of the year’s biggest films.  But sometimes they’ll take previously released materials and create something very cool…like they did this year for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  While all the character posters have been previously released, Lionsgate has placed huge versions of the posters next to one another in massive display.  As you can see in the pictures, it’s very cool and impossible to miss.

In addition to these posters, I’ve heard Lionsgate will be showing new footage from the film at CinemaCon later this week.  I’m not sure what it is, I just know footage will be shown.  Check back later this week for a full report.  Until then, hit the jump to see the display.

Feast your eyes on the latest images from the following films opening later this year:

• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Yesterday’s new image featured the Everdeen sisters, but today’s focuses on Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth).  Starring Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22nd.
• 300: Rise of an Empire – We got our first look at the 300 sequel just a few days ago and today brings our first glimpse of Eva Green as the film’s antagonist, Artemisia.  300: Rise of an Empire opens August 2nd.
• R.I.P.D. – Today’s first look at the comic adaptation about two undead gunslingers features Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds and their weapons of choice.  R.I.P.D. opens July 19th.

Hit the jump to view all of the new images.

Two new images from director Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire feature the Everdeen sisters, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Primrose (Willow Shields).  If things had gone differently in the events of the original film, we could easily have been watching Prim attempt to survive the games instead of her older sister.  We’ll find out what’s in store for the sisters when the sequel opens later this year.

Also starring Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer,  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.  Hit the jump to check out the new images.

The first trailer for director Francis Lawrence’s (I Am Legend) highly anticipated sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to debut during the MTV Movie Awards later this month, and now a promo for the event has been released online that gives us our first look at footage from the film.  The video teases a look at the “Victory Tour” that Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta embark on at the beginning of Catching Fire as part of their duties as Hunger Games victors.  Liam Hemsworth will introduce the two-and-a-half minutes of footage during the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, April 14th at 9pm ET/PT, so check back here on Collider at that time to watch the full trailer.

Hit the jump to watch the promo.  The film also stars Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens on November 22nd in IMAX and traditional theaters.

For those who overlooked the record-breaking success of The Hunger Games one year ago, it was a great weekend at the US box office. Two of the three new releases exceeded expectations, with Olympus Has Fallen nearly doubling studio projections. Only the Tina Fey comedy Admission stumbled – barely topping what Spring Breakers brought in from half as many locations.

The fact that we all saw it coming doesn’t make it less sweet. Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful opened big this weekend, earning an estimated $80.2 million from 3,912 locations. Not only does that more than double 2013’s highest debut, it also stands as the third-best March opening of all time, behind Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games.

MoAr The Hunger Games: Catching Fire posters!  Today’s installment includes Donald Sutherland as President Snow and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman) as Finnick Odair.  Here’s a look at the posters released so far:

• Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen here
• Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale here
• Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman here
• Jeffrey Wright as Beetee and Jena Malone as Johanna here
• Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna here

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22nd.  Hit the jump to check out the new posters.

The character posters for Francis Lawrence’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire continue to roll in.  Today’s might be the most anticpated for fans since they feature suitors Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in their new looks for the sequel. But which one will Katniss choose?

Hit the jump to take a look at the new posters.  If you missed the previous portraits, check out Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen here, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman here, Jeffrey Wright as Beetee and Jena Malone as Johanna here and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna here.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 22nd.