· LEGOs never go out of style -- at least when the toy blocks are pegged to an upcoming movie release! Fresh off your favorite summer movie posters being rendered in LEGO, comes a new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides done in the same fashion. How long before a LEGO movie is released? Don't answer that; instead, click ahead to watch this pretty cute trailer, then stick around for Buzz Break.
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Over the past 13 years, Barry Sonnenfeld has been chronicling extraterrestrial life onscreen with his Men in Black franchise. And when the third installment wraps later this year, the director will switch gears -- from projects about aliens tangoing with Tommy Lee Jones to aliens tangoing with dinosaurs in Dominion: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens.
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Things you should know about Grand Rapids, Mich.: the city was first settled by Europeans at the start of the 19th century as a spot for fur trading; if you're out past 1 a.m. on a September weeknight, it's advisable to wear a coat; and it's the place Jesse Eisenberg and Ruben Fleischer decided to film their Zombieland follow-up, 30 Minutes or Less.
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Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis are slated to star in Still I Rise, a drama about two frustrated women who seek to transform an inner-city school. Just yesterday, I suggested Viola Davis join some female-centric movies, and this is pretty much a match. I am always weaving cinematic futures here at Movieline. Always! Remember when I told Ellen Page to join a Woody Allen movie? Done. I ain't Sister Aloysius, Viola -- I have no Doubt. [Deadline]
America awoke today to the news that one of its preeminent and most enduring power couples, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, had separated after 25 years of marriage. They'd been a dedicated item for years before that as well -- the seeming odd pairing of Austrian bodybuilding supremacy and Kennedy family offspring, the blockbuster action star and his newswoman betrothed. They'd eventually be the Governor and First Lady of California. Not long after that, alas, they'd be done for.
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Drink this news up: Actress Sissy Spacek will step behind the camera for the first time in her 40 year career to direct an adaptation of Goodbye to the Buttermilk Sky by Julia Oliver. The film -- renamed Sweet Tea, apparently to keep with the liquid theme -- "centers on various families and relationships in Depression-era Alabama" with a supernatural tinge. [LAT/24 Frames]
To give you an idea about the level of adulation directed toward Daniel Radcliffe during the 92nd Street Y series Broadway Talks in Manhattan on Monday night: when the star thanked a stage runner for bringing him a new coffee cup filled with water, the audience let out a big "awww." Such is life for Radcliffe, who is transitioning out of Harry Potter with a standout performance in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway: simply acting like a normal human being is cause for celebration among his faithful.
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Sir Ian McKellan, ladies and gentlemen: "Martin Freeman has left The Hobbit. This is not another April Fool, just a May Fact. Before signing as Bilbo, Martin had agreed to make three 90-minute TV films in London, again playing Dr. Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes. No worries: He'll be back in Middle Earth after our first hiatus[.]" He's here all week, tip your waitresses, etc. [McKellen.com]
Also in this Tuesday edition of The Broadsheet: Michael Cera will try something different... Seeking a Friend for the End of the World finds a distributor... Chris Hemsworth officially in talks for Snow White... and more ahead.
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After 25 years of marriage, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have announced their separation. "This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us," the two said in a statement. "After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together." The former pair say their split is "amicable." [NYT]
In the latest development for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim (i.e. The One That's Not At the Mountains of Madness), Sons of Anarchy actor Charlie Hunnam is in negotiations to fight alien invaders in the futuristic tent pole. The legacy of Judd Apatow's Undeclared continues!
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When Steven Spielberg gets too busy to direct a film, which director pops into mind first to replace him? Altogether now: Brett Ratner! Deadline reports that Ratner will assume the helm of a live-action adaptation of The 39 Clues, a series of adventure books/online games/collectible cards about kids from the most influential family in history competing against rival clans in a globe-trotting scavenger hunt for world domination. Spielberg will stay on to produce with Scholastic's Deborah Forte and screenwriter Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour, Catch Me If You Can, Tower Heist). [Deadline]
When Fast Five premiered last week in all of its machismo glory, Movieline praised it as being charming and downright enjoyable -- but we never figured that the Vin Diesel car heist vehicle would garner Academy attention. That doesn't mean that other people aren't already launching their own informal Oscar campaigns for the fifth Fast & Furious film though.
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The Cannes Film Festival's website has a new poster and images from the Nicolas Winding Refn film Drive, and they bring up hard questions. First: Is Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, or Christina Hendricks the moodiest? Second: Wait, is Ron Perlman the moodiest? Third: Who bought Ryan that jacket from American Apparel?
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Big news out of YouTube HQ today as the video giant announced it will add 3,000 new mainstream, feature-length titles for rent on its movie site. Taken largely from the libraries of Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. and costing around $2.99 each, the films' availability signifies the latest milestone in Hollywood's caution experimentation with Internet exhibition. Which is great, but I'm sorry: It's the movies Hollywood has to give away that are dazzling me right now. Especially the comedies.
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