Eli Rothis one of those guys who seemingly never stops working.  Whether serving as director, producer, actor, or some combination thereof, he’s always got a bounty of projects on the table.  This year is no different and first up is The Last Exorcism 2, opening March 1^st, for which Roth returns as producer.  Part 2 continues where the first film left off, Louisiana farm girl Nell (Ashley Bell) is found alone in the woods with her family dead and no memory of what happened.  As she tries to build a new life for herself in New Orleans pieces of her past begin to resurface and she discovers that the demon inside her is in no hurry to let her go.

I recently landed an exclusive phone interview with Roth.  He talked about coming up with a new approach for the sequel, the difficulty of titling the sequel, and whether fans can expect to have their questions answered.  He also talked about getting back in the director’s chair with The Green Inferno, shooting in the Amazon, the status on Thanksgiving, stepping into television format with Hemlock Grove, and working with Ti West on The Sacrament.  Check out the full transcript after the jump.

CBS Films has released a new TV spot, poster, and images for the upcoming horror sequel The Last Exorcism Part II.  Produced by Eli Roth, the story picks up where the 2010 first film left off, with Ashley Bell’s lead character unable to remember the events of the previous months.  While she begins the process of starting a new life, the evil force that once possessed her rears its ugly head once more.  Hit the jump to satisfy all your final exorcism needs.  The Last Exorcism Part II opens on March 1st.

Just last week CBS Films released the first trailer for the upcoming sequel The Last Exorcism Part II, and now just a few days later another new trailer for the horror pic has landed online.  Produced by Eli Roth, the story picks up where the 2010 first film left off, with Ashley Bell’s lead character unable to remember the events of the previous months.  While she begins the process of starting a new life, the evil force that once possessed her rears its ugly head once more.  This trailer is essentially a shorter version of that first trailer (ie. still not scary or interesting), but it does a better job of setting up Part II’s relation to the first film.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The Last Exorcism Part II opens on March 1st.

CBS Films has released the first trailer for the horror sequel The Last Exorcism Part II.  Again produced by Eli Roth, the story picks up where the 2010 first film left off, with Ashley Bell’s lead character unable to remember the events of the previous months.  While she begins the process of starting a new life, the evil force that once possessed her rears its ugly head once more.  I never saw the first movie so I have nothing to compare this to, but the trailer doesn’t exactly look very scary, unless you consider ominous stares and goofy hand gestures frightening.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The Last Exorcism Part II opens on March 1st. [Update: CBS Films has provided us with a new image from the film, which is included after the jump.]

A few new posters for some upcoming releases have landed online.  Briefly:

• Snitch – The first poster for director Ric Roman Waugh’s action-thriller puts Dwayne Johnson’s DEA informant character front and center.  The film opens on February 22nd.
• The Last Exorcism Part II – I’m not exactly sure how a film with “last” in the title can have a sequel, but the first poster for the horror follow-up has some twisty fun with teasing the number 2.  The film opens on March 1st.
• Parker – The final poster for the Jason Statham-led actioner highlight’s Statham’s gun-handling abilities and Jennifer Lopez’s, um, behind.  The film opens on January 25th.
• Monsters University – A playful Spanish poster for Pixar’s upcoming sequel promises “a monstrous summer.”  The film opens in 3D on June 21st. [Update: Disney has asked us to remove the Monsters University poster because it was not cleared for online release.]

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses for the aforementioned films.

We have plenty of new release dates to pass along:

• Sony Animation scheduled two Genndy Tartakovsky’s projects.  The 3D cartoon Popeye that Tartakovsky will direct hits theaters September 26, 2014.  The sequel to Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania opens the following year on September 25, 2015.
• Relativity scheduled fellow cartoon Turkeys—featuring the voices of Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Dan Fogler—for a Thanksgiving release on November 14, 2014.
• The Last Exorcism II: The Beginning of the End is dated for March 1, 2013.
• The Aubrey Plaza comedy The To-Do List will move from Valentines Day next year to August 16, 2013.  Relativity took advantage of the open slot and moved the Nicholas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven from February 8 back to February 14, 2013.

Hit the jump for details on each project.

Last week, Steve attended the American Film Market (AFM) and was able to bring back some first images, posters, and synopses for a handful of upcoming projects.  One synopsis he pulled was from the sequel The Last Exorcism II: The Beginning of the End.  The new film has Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell) struggling to put her life back together, but still being pursued by the demon that had possessed her.

Hit the jump for the full synopsis.  As we previously reported, Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City) will direct, and the sequel will be going for an R-rating (as opposed to the PG-13 of the original).

The post-apocalyptic thriller The Day follows a group of five survivors, armed with shotguns and machetes, as they wander the back roads of a ravaged landscape looking for shelter and food, in a world devoid of humanity. When they seek refuge in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, they realize that they’re merely the prey when they set off a trap signaling a group of predators to their existence. The film stars Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Bell, Dominic Monaghan, Shannyn Sossamon, Cory Hardrict and Michael Eklund.

At the film’s press day, co-stars Ashley Bell and Dominic Monaghan talked about what led them to this film, the appeal of all the physical challenges, learning to properly wield the weapons, their personal weapons of choice to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment, and what they would miss most about society if it just all went away. Monaghan also talked about his recent and all-time favorite movies, while Bell gave a little tease about what fans can expect from The Last Exorcism 2. Check out what they had to say after the jump.

Following on the heels of the original’s financial success, a sequel to 2010′s The Last Exorcism is now in the works. Heat Vision reports that Damien Chazelle will pen the script for the follow-up which is scheduled to begin production this fall. Chazelle, a Harvard grad whose debut feature Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, also penned the 2010 Black List script The Claim which was picked up last October. Most recently, the busy scribe sold his thriller screenplay Grand Piano to producer Adrian Guerra (Buried) who has Eugenio Mira attached to direct.

As for The Last Exorcism, details are sparse regarding Studio Canal’s sequel.  Director Daniel Stamm’s original was made on a budget of around $1.5 million and took in approximately $62.5 million at the worldwide box office. The pic took a found-footage approach and centered on a preacher who allows a film crew to document his final foray into exorcism land. Those interested can find our review of that film by clicking here.