It appears that the directorial return of filmmaking visionary, Christopher Nolan now has a release date targeted. His next project, a sci-fi space thriller called Insterstellar has November 7, 2014 marked for its debut at standard and IMAX theaters.

While the essentials of the plot are still under wraps, the film will apparently be filled with themes based on the theories of world-renown physics professor, Kip Thorne, whose research on wormholes and their hypothetical use towards time travel inspired Nolan to get this project moving. While brother, Jonathan Nolan wrote an earlier version of the script, Christopher has reportedly bunkered-down to rewrite (or possibly just rework) the existing version.

Interestingly enough, the part of this story which seems to have blown the minds of the industry trades is the fact that the film will serve as an unprecedented co-production and co-distribution between two of the biggest studios. Paramount Pictures will distribute it domestically, while Warner Bros. Pictures will do so for the international release. Additionally, Warner will forgo involvement this time with its usual partner, Legendary Pictures, breaking a tradition that was shared on all of Nolan's major pictures in the last decade from his Batman trilogy to even the upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, which Nolan is producing. What does that mean? Well, possibly that it may have taken a historical series of compromises among the industry big dogs to amicably divide this super-juicy piece of Nolan steak.

While (arguable) rumors continue to swirl, placing Nolan as the next grand overseer of Warner's Justice League crossover film franchise, for now, the director's attentions are fully focused towards Interstellar. Just as Nolan followed up his monumental superhero epic, The Dark Knight with a completely different project in the mind-bending hit, Inception, it could be the case that Interstellar may serve to cleanse his genre palette after last year's The Dark Knight Rises with what seems to be a fascinating scientifically-oriented project. Could this mean that he intends afterwards to get back into the swing of things with another entry in the world of DC Comics' proposed movie universe?

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A brand new trailer for this summer's Smith-starring sci-fi survival spectacle, After Earth has hit.

While not a radical departure from the debut trailer from last December, this one manages to depict the framework of the film's plot a little more effectively. Taking place a millennia after a monumental disaster forces humanity to abandon Earth for another planetary settlement, the film follows a crash-landed military-bred father/son duo surviving amidst the hostile new species of an Earth reclaimed by nature. While the spectacle of the planet's vicious wildlife is still very much the film's main attraction, the new trailer also manages to bring the duo's fractured relationship into focus.

The trailer's new insight is especially helpful when it comes to understanding the young protagonist, Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith), whose headstrong and impulsive nature has made him a wash-out as a Ranger cadet, labeled as "emotionally unpredictable" by his superiors. While his dad, Cypher Raige (Will Smith) is a legend among the Rangers and known as a hero to humanity in wars against irate aliens, he has been an absent father to Kitai. In the process of taking a trip together to make some proper paternal memories, their spaceship crash-lands on humanity's hostile former home, which has become overrun with maliciously-evolved species of wildlife with varied taxonomical levels of cruelty. -- Also, there's giant eagles that snatch tigers. (Remember the time when all giant eagles were friendly and just happily ran errands for Gandalf the Grey? Not anymore.)

After Earth fluctuates temperatures dangerously at theaters on June 7.

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In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Star Wars creator and recent seller, George Lucas discusses the whole process of transitioning his $4 billion empire to Disney. However, it was his comments on the status of the prospective return of the Original Trilogy cast that has lit some sparks.

The rumor mills for 2015's Star Wars Sequel Trilogy kick-off, Episode VII are churning beyond capacity, in fact, almost to the point of frustration. Indeed, the latest debacle with Carrie Fisher's supposed confirmation of her return followed by a bizarre retraction is a prime example of an atmosphere giving the impression that either the Disney/Lucasfilm coalition are trying way too hard to keep a tight lid on weak secrets or that someone amongst them just enjoys trolling the entertainment news cycles. For George Lucas, however, who has essentially washed his hands of the whole thing, his gig as a creative consultant may not constrain his words as much. When asked the inevitable question about the return of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher, Lucas implied that the deal was already done. (With the key word being "was."):

“We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”

Now, this COULD be taken as a "slip" of some kind regarding the status of the returning cast. However, it's important to keep in mind that Lucas has openly said in the past that mere months before Disney acquired the franchise last October, he was close to finalizing a deal to bring the Original Trilogy trifecta back for his proposed version of the sequel films. Yet, while circumstances have changed since then, those changes wouldn't seemingly affect their incentive (or lack thereof) to return. (Unless Disney planned on making Leia into CGI cyborg Sith who shoots lightsaber bullets out of her boobs.)

Certainly when the Sequel Trilogy films were announced, it was inevitable that the keepers of secrets would have the media chasing their own tails for a while. (Even the national media got hoodwinked by the Carrie Fisher story.) So, much like the other "unconfirmed, but likely true" rumors we've been hearing, we'll just have to keep investing in grains of salt with which to take this stuff. -- Yummy grains of salt, which, ironically enough, the interviewing publication's namesake may try to outlaw in New York City.

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The upcoming ape apocalypse sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has now procured its leading lady. Actress, Keri Russell has nabbed a co-starring spot alongside the recently-added Jason Clarke.

The actress, who became a 90's icon on Felicity, currently seen in horror thriller, Dark Skies and as a late Cold War-era Soviet sleeper agent on FX's The Americans, now joins this film whose details are still somewhat hush-hush. Also included in this cast are Gary Oldman, Terry Notary, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and a returning Andy Serkis who reprises his role as principal of the primates, Caesar from 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Nothing as of yet was revealed about Russell's role, however, the assumption is that she will be the love interest or spouse of Jason Clarke's still-unnamed main protagonist character, possibly amongst a group of scientists holed-up in a near-future San Francisco overrun by apes. (Although they could just blow our minds and have her throw on a motion-capture suit to play Caesar's eyelash-batting monkey lover.)

While this sequel to the surprisingly-successful prequel/reboot takes a bit of a gamble by moving forward without its previous film's stars, James Franco and Freida Pinto, the return of Serkis, whose amazingly unforgettable performance as Caesar was the film's main attraction, should bring back most of the fans who made Rise a $482 million worldwide hit.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes looks to do worse damage to America than the time Felicity cut her hair when it hits theaters on May 23, 2014.

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Yet another new poster for Iron Man 3 has been released. Just after the debut of a spectacular, redefining new trailer, it's safe to say that the week's movie news cycle effectively belongs to the Avenger's solo sequel.

One glance upon the new image and it's immediately clear that this is a variant of the pre-trailer teaser poster released last week. (Possibly earlier than planned, due to it leaking.) The theme is essentially the same: Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark is beat to hell, armor in shambles, but nevertheless appears to be in command of his brand new Iron Army, looking to make Ben Kingsley's The Mandarin and his Extremis-enhanced underlings pay for wrecking his awesome cliff-side crib. Indeed, it seems that the shadowy schemes of that pusillanimous player-hater will come back to bite him in a big and satisfying way.

So, what's the difference here? This time, in true classic Hollywood fashion, he stands triumphantly above the remnants of his epic ass-kickery with his gorgeous gal, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) securely in his arm. Of course, he still has one of his repulsor beams cocked, locked, and ready to rock just in case any more hapless hooligans want to get close and creepy.

Iron Man 3 gets ready to blast some AC/DC while taking self-proclaimed "teacher," The Mandarin to school at theaters on May 3.

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It appears that 2015's Star War: Episode VII will see the return of a gun-toting, bikini-clad, princess without a planet. In a recent interview, actress, Carrie Fisher has confirmed that she will indeed reprise her role as Princess Leia Organa in the upcoming sequel trilogy kick-off.

While the substance of this strong confirmation will likely send chills down the spines of Original Trilogy fans, the news should hardly come as a huge surprise, given the buzz around news cycles in recent months. At this point, Harrison Ford is, at least according to a yet-to-be-confirmed report, already locked-in to return as Han Solo and Mark Hamill recently revealed that he was indeed in talks to once again fill the role of the ultimate Star Wars protagonist, Luke Skywalker. Thus the addition of Fisher returning as Leia seemed all but inevitable.

After fielding the all-important Star Wars question with a powerfully-blunt "yes," Fisher would then go on to describe how she believes this older version of Leia will come across in the film.

"Elderly. She’s in an intergalactic old folks’ home [laughs]. I just think she would be just like she was before, only slower and less inclined to be up for the big battle."

If the film does indeed follow the guidelines of the path set for her future in the Expanded Universe of Star Wars novels and comic books, then it should see this Skywalker twin as the mother of another set of fatefully force-sensitive, tragedy-destined twins fathered by husband, Han Solo named Jacen and Jaina. While the certainty of that scenario still remains up in the air, Fisher's older version of Leia will undoubtedly find herself as a matriarch of some kind in the newly-threatened post-Imperial galactic order.

So, with Leia seemingly confirmed, Han and Luke looking likely, could the announced return of Anthony Daniels' C-3PO, Kenny Baker's R2-D2, and Pater Mayhew's Chewbacca be far off? Perhaps we may even soon break open a Colt 45 to celebrate the return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian?

*UPDATE: Apparently Fisher's rep has told CNN that "she was joking," reiterating that "nothing has been announced." We could take this to mean that the news actually was true and the retraction was just damage control or that...you know, she was joking.

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The sixth and final entry in the Resident Evil film series now has a release date set. Fans of the venerable video game and film franchise can mark the date, September 12, 2014 on their calendars for the series' dead-destroying denouement.

Certainly, the idea of a sixth Resident Evil film should come as no surprise to fans of the franchise since director and grand maestro, Paul W.S. Anderson previously stated that 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife (the fourth film) would be the first of a trilogy finale, which was eventually continued with last year's Resident Evil: Retribution, and soon to be concluded with the yet-to-be-titled sixth film.

The success of this series is actually an unsung tale in the modern film industry as it has seemingly garnered so much fan loyalty, evidenced by consistent box-office numbers. While most people (even some of those fans) will attest that they are not masterpieces, each iteration continually defies odds that are usually stacked against films adapted from video game titles. Now, in appropriate fashion, the loyalty of those fans who have made this film franchise a nearly $1 billion dollar cashcow will get a proper send-off. Milla Jovovich's once-again-super-powered shambling-slayer, Alice and company, now in a shaky alliance of mutual convenience with Shawn Roberts' Albert Wesker, will look to finally end this viral zombie apocalypse by physically uninstalling the sinister super-computer, The Red Queen. -- Certainly with twists and turns along the way.

While not much of anything is known about the film's specifics, as evidenced by the previous film's wistful revival of dead characters as clones, this does seem to be a series that's in touch with its own decade-plus history. Thus, the finale will certainly be an epic cavalcade of carnage, while likely looking to bring things full circle back to its roots in certain ways.

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Add two new original series to Esquire Network's growing slate of content, with six episodes each of How I Rock It and Risky Listing ordered and set to premiere this summer.

How I Rock It follows host and NBA superstar Baron Davis as he profiles the athletes, musicians, celebrities, designers, influencers and street-style icons whose careers, lives and lifestyles are setting a stylish new standard for today’s modern man. These are the leading tastemakers at the forefront of a men’s style revolution, from the sartorial to the culinary, from home decor to personal technology and more, who all share one thing in common: a passion for expressing themselves through personal style.

Docuseries Risky Listing goes behind the velvet rope to meet the high-end listings agents who wheel and deal in the exclusive, intensely competitive world of New York nightlife real estate. The series will follow along with the agents as they cut deals for the hottest bar, restaurant and nightclub spaces -- and try to stay on top in the city that never sleeps. The playground of New York’s coolest crowds may be their office, but in a cutthroat business, with millions on the line, will they toast their success or get cut off before last call?

The new series join previously announced originals Knife Fight, an underground, after-hours cooking competition series hosted by Top Chef winner Ilan Hall and The Getaway, which features travel-loving, well known personalities who take viewers to their favorite city on the planet.

Iron Man 3 has released a brand new trailer chock full of amazing new footage and a scene with an army of Iron Men that might just force some fanboys to change their drawers.

Likely serving as the final preview trailer before the film's May 3 release, this sneak peak has certainly saved the best for last; a welcome revelation, especially after the recent footage-lacking Super Bowl spot fell flat. Indeed, this is the mother of all Iron Man 3 trailers, giving us not only a look at some eye-popping effects spots that were previously just concepts to us, but an insightful delve into the film's mysterious plot.

Up until now, we've known that Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark has somehow become the hapless target of the mysterious militant puppet master of The 10 Rings in Ben Kingsley's The Mandarin. However, despite all the monumentally malicious machinations of the guru-like hyrbid of the comic book villain, this trailer finally gives us a look at what happens when you decide to pick a fight with a billionaire genius jacked-up on Extremis energy and his legion of autonomous armors. Well, what you get is, as Tony himself says, "No politics, here. Just good old fashioned revenge."

Enough talk. Talking is for people without nanites in their bloodstream to control armies of Iron Men. The stage is set, check out the brand spanking new Iron Man 3 trailer below in all its glory.

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It appears that next year's time-slicing sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past will add yet another important mutant alumnus to its already-amazing cast. Halle Berry has confirmed that (at least, as far as she knows,) she will reprise her role as weather-wielding mutant and de facto leader of the X-Men, Ororo Munroe aka Storm.

In an interview with Access Hollywood, the Oscar-winning actress, in promoting her new kidnapping thriller, The Call, fielded the inevitable X-Men question with an answer in the positive.

“I’m in. I think I’m in.” Adding, “I am [excited], yeah. I love Storm. That’s one of my favorite characters that I’ve played. And people love that character as well.”

Berry would also echo those sentiments in an interview with BlackTree TV that seemingly solidifies the news:

"The fans really love Storm, and so I'm really happy that it's worked out that way. No matter what my part will be or won't be, to be a part of that is always a good thing. I love it.

Berry does seem to acknowledge the possibility that her role would (much like in the original Days of Future Past comic book story,) be limited, at best. However, it does seem that for her, and likely the others, reprising this role will be a labor of love. Indeed, Berry joins a crowded cast that includes heavies like Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, and just about EVERYONE that has even a passing connection to the original X-Men trilogy and its rebooted 2011 prequel, X-Men: First Class. As a consequence of director, Bryan Singer "getting the band back together," pretty much ANY scene that contains even a speaking role will likely be considered prime real estate.

It will be interesting to see what's in store for Halle Berry's Storm when the Sentinel-centric X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters like a conjured tornado of awesomeness on July 18, 2014.

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Has the allegedly chaotic state of the Justice League live action movie lead to it getting a famous taskmaster? Well, according to a report by Latino Review, Warner Bros. studio has handed the reigns of their would-be franchise to the one and only Christopher Nolan.

As the story goes, Nolan would oversee the Justice League film as a producer armed with extreme discretion at his disposal. Possibly serving alongside him as co-producer could be Zack Snyder, director of this summer's Superman reboot, Man of Steel. Given how things fare at the box-office for the Blue Bomber's bounce-back, Snyder may even be given the okay to direct the ensuing mega-movie. However, the primary theme of the report is that Christopher Nolan, much like Joss Whedon with Marvel Studios' Avengers films and J.J. Abrams overseeing both Star Trek and Star Wars, would be a puppet master in his own right for Warner Bros.' ambitious plans to recreate the lucrative crossover magic that worked so swimmingly for Marvel.

What could be the most notable benefit of this proposed "Chris-tatorship," may come in the form of the renewed feasibility that Nolan's Batman, Christian Bale could reprise his role for the spinoff film, starting the team-up of DC Comics titans alongside Henry Cavill's Superman. While Bale has said that last year's The Dark Knight Rises would be his last grizzled-voiced outing in the black bat-suit, he also did indicate that a possible return depended solely upon Nolan's involvement.

How did things come to this? Apparently, through a bit of trial and error.

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It appears that next year's sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will be graced with the presence of one of the movie biz's premiere chameleons in Gary Oldman.

He's fought alongside Batman, taken on Soviet spies, broke up The Sex Pistols, and has even escaped from Azkaban. However, according to the report by Deadline, Oldman has been thrust into this ape apocalypse allegory as a character called "Dreyfus," described as a leader in the human resistance movement. Putting that into context, this film, a sequel to 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, will reportedly take place some 15 years after the last film in a world that is overrun by the Adderall Apes. The focus will shift between a small group of San Francisco-based scientist survivors and a returning motion-captured Andy Serkis as principal of the primates, Caesar.  

With the recent announcement that Jason Clarke of Zero Dark Thirty was cast as the film's still-unnamed protagonist, we can assume that he heads the small ragtag group who eventually meet up with Oldman's larger, more formal resistance cell. However, it's still anyone's guess whether Oldman's character will be a friendly sage type or if he ends up being an unhinged megalomaniacal antagonist created by the unfavorable elements of the ape apocalypse.

Regardless, the addition of Oldman, just coming off his final go as James Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises and soon set for next year's RoboCop remake, is a great coup for this sequel which makes the somewhat risky move of not featuring its previous star, James Franco. A name like Oldman's attached to the film should alleviate some of that risk.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes flings bodily waste at paying onlookers at theaters on May 23, 2014.

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The third and final installment of the current Middle Earth trilogy, The Hobbit: There and Back Again has been given a new release date. Originally scheduled to conclude at theaters on July 18, 2014, fans will now have to patiently wait five whole months for its new release date: December 17, 2014.

If anything, the move should satiate any potential OCD objectors since the new date falls more in line with the traditional December releases of The Lord of the Rings trilogy from 2001-2003, last year's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 14) and this year's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (December 13). However, speculation is attributing the reason for the move being primarily due to the Shire swan song sharing its previous July 18 release date with a little obscure art house movie called X-Men: Days of Future Past. (You know, the upcoming X-Men sequel that's essentially going to star EVERYONE, EVER?) Thus, the move was a wise choice, ensuring that this new trilogy does not sail off to Valinor with the narrative of a knock-down, drag-out box-office struggle dominating headlines.

For fans who have been waiting over a decade to get this live-action take on the iconic kick-off to J.R.R. Tolkien's literary universe, the five month delay shouldn't be too much of a struggle; especially with the second film, The Desolation of Smaug still being relatively fresh in their minds.

Likely containing heart-wrenching drama, a sublime take on "The Battle of Five Armies," and a tear-jerking conclusion on its menu, The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hopefully still prove itself to be an unforgettable conclusion to Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies. -- Just five months later.

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Ouya the company confirms on Kickstarter that Ouya the console will ship to backers on March 28, 2013. A wider launch follows in June, at which point you'll be able to grab it from Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Target for $99.99.

In related news, thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago is now taking point at Ouya on developer relations. She had this to say in a statement: "Ouya gets it. This is the first console company that really understands how important it is to remove the barriers to development. By freeing up the development process, Ouya is opening up new doors in console gaming."

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As some may recall, Latino Review dropped a major bombshell back in the beginning of this month with what seemed to be a detailed run-down of where Mark Ruffalo's version of The Hulk from The Avengers winds up throughout Marvel Studios' continuity-connected Phase Two and Phase Three set of films. Well, according to a report from Ain't It Cool News, that whole thing may have been an illusion concocted by Loki, as their sources say it is "1,000% inaccurate."

To briefly recap, the LR rumor implied that Ruffalo's Hulk would start to lose control of his destructive rage, culminating in a moment in Marvel's Phase Two denouement, The Avengers 2 in 2015, where members of a movie version of Marvel's team of powerful super-thinkers, The Illuminati exile Hulk in space. He eventually lands on the war-torn planet, Sakaar, setting things up for a solo film that would be a take on the popular comic book storyline, "Planet Hulk." This would allegedly culminate in Phase Three with The Avengers 3 where Hulk, bitter over his exile, returns to Earth with an invading army of aliens; a take on the comic book storyline, "World War Hulk." -- So, all of that, at least, according to AICN, is NOT happening.

AICN's "debunking" (if you will) of the LR story also brings up the infeasibility of a "Planet Hulk" solo movie being rooted in the idea that the Bruce Banner character was not in the storyline. While it is true that you can't just have an all-CG Hulk movie without a human protagonist, it's an aspect that could easily be fixed by simply tweaking the story and having Hulk turn to Banner when he's not doing his "Alien Gladiator" thing in the arenas of Sakaar. (After all, The Avengers introduced the idea that Banner CAN change into Hulk at will, since he's "always angry.") While we don't know for sure what kind of Hulk solo movie could be in the works, it is all but inevitable that we are getting one, considering that Ruffalo signed a six-picture deal with Marvel. (And they can't all be cameos and Avengers sequels.)

Of course, Marvel Studios, who prefer to keep their secrets close, aren't likely to step in and settle the debate. That leaves these conflicting reports as fodder for a potential (albeit gentlemanly, given the AICN report's civil language) battle of Internet entertainment journalists. At this point, there's no substantive evidence leading one to conclude who is right or wrong.

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