Sony Pictures Classics has announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Mike Leigh‘s upcoming untitled film currently referred to as “Untitled Mike Leigh 13“.  The film will focus on English artist J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851).  Per Wikipedia, “Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivaling history painting.”  The untitled film will reunite Leigh with Timothy Spall (Secrets & Lies and Topsy Turvy).  Production begins this spring for a 2014 release.

Hit the jump for the press release.

The only thing better than a heist movie is a heist movie told in a thick British accent.  By that admittedly shallow yardstick, the TIFF 2012 selection Wasteland delivers.  The story is framed by an interrogation between Harvey Miller (Luke Treadaway) and Detective Inspector West (Timothy Spall).  Harvey fully confesses to his part in a foiled robbery and attempted murder of local busnessman Steven Roper, but there is more to his tale than pure criminality: “As the story unfolds, we discover that a malevolent and unjust act perpetrated by Roper put Harvey in prison and now he has a score to settle.”

I cannot claim to understand too much of the dialogue, but the first trailer signals that writer/director Rowan Athale has assembled a slick thriller.  Iwan Rheon, Gerard Kearns, Matthew Lewis, Vanessa Kirby, and Neil Maskell co-star.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Comes a Bright Day has all the ingredients to be a great product of the UK independent film system.  First of all, it’s a crime drama with a dark sense of humor—”an offbeat, coming-of age love-story set during the armed robbery of London’s most exclusive jewelers.”  The cast is led by up-and-comers Craig Roberts (Submarine) and Imogen Poots (Fright Night), surrounded by veteran actors Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy) and Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and fresh face Anthony Welsh.  And the official website is packed with material to spread the word about the film, including images, featurettes, and a production blog.

Director Simon Aboud is in post-production right now on his feature debut, with an eye toward premiering at Sundance or Berlin in 2012.  Hit the jump to see a ton of new images plus a few videos from the set of Comes a Bright Day.

Opening today, in limited release, is one of the best films of the year and something that’s absolutely getting nominated for every major award: director Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.  I caught a screening at the Toronto Film Festival and was floored by how much I loved the film.  In fact, after the Festival ended, only two films stayed with me: The King’s Speech and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

If you never saw the trailer, it’s based on the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth) and how he overcame a debilitating speech impediment with the help of an eccentric speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush).   The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Firth’s wife, and Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall and Michael Gambon.

While I’ve seen a lot of great performances this year, Firth, Rush, and Bonham Carter are all at the top of their game and all three are getting nominations.  Anyhow, I recently had the chance to talk with director Tom Hooper and after the jump you can either read or listen to what he had to say.  We talked about casting, editing, film vs. digital, awards, working for HBO (he did John Adams), what he has coming up, and a lot more:

Opening on November 26 is one of the best films of the year and something that’s absolutely getting nominated for every major award: director Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.  I caught a screening at the Toronto Film Festival and was floored by how much I loved it.  In fact, after the Festival ended, only two films stayed with me: The King’s Speech and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

If you never saw the trailer for The King’s Speech, the film is based on the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth) and how he overcame a debilitating speech impediment with the help of an eccentric speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush).   The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Firth’s wife, and Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall and Michael Gambon.

While I’ve seen a lot of great performances this year, Firth, Rush and Bonham Carter are all at the top of their game and all three are getting nominations.  They’re that good.  For a taste of the movie, the Weinstein Company has provided us with 4 clips.  Hit the jump to watch:

Are the nine more days until the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 just too grueling to endure?  Then you should just look through these 58 images from the movie.  Warner Bros. can afford to throw secrecy out the window since A) everyone has read the book and B) everyone is going to see the movie anyway.

And if this plethora of images isn’t enough for you, then be sure to read about Steve’s visit to the set, check out his interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Warwick Davis, Rupert Grint, Evanna Lynch and director David Yates, and watch six clips from the movie.  Hit the jump to check out the images.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 opens November 19th.

Warner Bros. has released their Fall/Holiday 2010 Preview and included are some new and previously released images from The Town, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Yogi Bear, Due Date, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  Hit the jump for high resolution versions along with updated cast lists and synopses:

Last week, we posted a few magazine scans from Warner Bros’ forthcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.  We now have each of those images in high resolution, plus a couple of new additions to the mix.  The first part of Deathly Hallows bows on November 19th;  the ten-year franchise then concludes with Part II the following summer on July 15, 2011.  Check out the images after the jump.

What do you get when you cross Inglourious Basterds with Team America: World Police?  Ewan McGregor, apparently.  At least, the makers of Jackboots on Whitehall were able to convince the very pretty actor — as well as Alan Cumming, Timothy Spall, Richard E. Grant, and Tom Wilkinson — to comprise the voice cast for their puppet-laden satire of World War II.  I don’t know how funny the trailer actually is beyond the inherent absurdity, but if you like the idea of an effete Hitler voiced by Alan Cumming, it’s probably worth a look.  Check it out alongside a plot synopsis after the jump.

Disney has released a new trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and you can check it out after the jump.  While the teaser trailer for Alice looked cool, this new trailer is definitely going to wow you with some pretty incredible visuals.  In fact, with this trailer, we’re finally getting a real taste of the movie and in my opinion…it looks like the perfect marriage between story and visuals.  Because if there was ever a place that Tim Burton was meant to bring to life, it’s the magical world of Wonderland.  Also, the way he’s making the film, with a mixture of live action, animation and CGI, I think it’s going to be amazing.  Check out the trailer and judge it for yourself:

By now you’ve probably noticed that Steve got an ungodly amount of material from this year’s American Film Market (AFM). The place where buyers and sellers do business to bring you the films you’ll hopefully be seeing in the near future, AFM has tons of artwork and synopses which are used to promote films but which we will use to bring you news on these films.  We have reached the last piece of our AFM coverage.  It’s been a long and fruitful journey and you can follow it by reading parts Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7 by click on their respective links.

Below you’ll find posters for Conan and The Promised Land (The Wettest County in the World), images and synopses for animated film Dorothy of Oz and Jackboots on Whitehall plus images and synopses for the live-action movies Singularity, The Last Dragon, and my favorite, Alien vs. Ninja.  Hit the jump to check them all out. Please note that all the synopses are copied down directly from the original materials with no editorial alterations.

Opening on October 9^th in New York and Los Angeles is director Tom Hooper’s “The Damned United”. The film was written by Peter Morgan and it stars Michael Sheen as Brian Clough – the very famous and very controversial football coach of Leeds United. At least he was for 44 days back in the 1974. Anyway, the film tells the story of where Brian Clough came from and what exactly happened that led to his departure after such a short time. As you might imagine, Michael Sheen is excellent and completely disappears in the part. And while I’m not a huge football (soccer) fan, I really enjoyed “The Damned United” and think if you like any sport, you’ll find a lot in this movie to enjoy. So to help promote the film, we’ve been given 5 clips and you can watch them after the jump. Take a look: