LIFE AS WE KNOW IT poster features at least two babies

I see what they’re trying to do here. They’re trying to set Josh Duhamel up as the stereotypical bachelor, all eye-rollingly oblivious to such simple things as social manners, the kind of lost boy that needs a nice, safe, blonde girl to sort him out.

Well, you know what? I’ve seen the trailer for Life As We Know It, and Katherine Heigl‘s the one that ends up with shit on her face. Take that, safe, blonde, scorning women.

Life As We Know It comes out on 8 October 2010 in the States. No local release date yet. Probably a good thing.

Turns out that AVATAR re-release didn’t do too well

With the DVD release mere months old, another DVD release a couple of months down the track, and an already congested sampling of 3D films currently in show (Step Up 3D, Piranha 3D, Toy Story 3D), it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that a lot of people skipped return trip to Pandora.

Avatar managed to drum up $4 million over the past weekend, a paltry amount compared to its original $2.7 billion run. It only played on 800 screens, though, and managed a pretty-good $5000 per-screen average. But what happened to all those people that bragged about having seen Avatar 17 times? The folk that bought the DVD and Blu-Ray on opening day, the folk that dragged everyone they knew to go and see the movie, the folk that flooded the internet with hyperbolic fanboyism? Shouldn’t all those funs have bumped up Avatar‘s re-release gross?

My theory is that those people represent the vocal minority. Avatar didn’t make $2.7 billion the first time around from fanatical repeat-viewings; it made it from one-off punters, people curious to see what all the fuss was about, and from people who heard the movie was the second coming of Christ. Those people, casual moviegoers, probably don’t care to see a movie twice in the same year; if they do, they’ve probably already got the DVD and don’t want to have to shell out $20 plus silly glasses to see a movie they already own again.The $4 million, in this theory, comes mostly from those vocal but outnumbered fans, and not from the bulk of Avatar‘s core audience.

Well, that’s just my theory. Maybe if it had released on more than 800 American screens Avatar would have seen a greater return.

The Avatar re-release is in cinemas right now. Go see it quick, because it probably won’t last long.

New HARRY POTTER 7 character images don’t look anything like they did in my head

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 will open in November and make a gajillion dollars. In the meantime, Warner Bros. is doing everything it can to make sure you contribute your fair share to its bid for global domination when the time comes.

To that end, here’s a series of new character images from Harry Potter 7. There’s Bill Nighy in there (as the popular but ineffective new Minister of Magic) and Rhys Ifans (as loveable nutcase Luna Lovegood’s old man), and some other guy I don’t recognise playing a character I’ve probably forgotten. I think I imagined someone more along the lines of Eric Idle for the role of Lovegood, but Nighy’s a good choice for the Minister character. I think.

Part 1 of The Deathly Hallows hits on 18 November 2010 (19th in US and UK); Part 2 comes out in July 2011.

As always, click an image to embiggen. Go here for even more images.

Jeremy Renner joins the cast of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4

Deadline Hollywood reports that The Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner has been cast in Paramount’s Mission Impossible 4, appearing alongside Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames.

Brad Bird is directing this third M:I sequel, which is being sold as a ‘reboot’, and Cruise is producing with JJ Abrams. Cruise also accepted to a hefty pay cut to ensure he would remain attached to the project. I’m guessing he would have done it for free if he had to– anything after the poor box office return of Knight & Day.

Renner also appears in Ben Affleck’s next directorial effort, The Town (trailer here) and will also play Hawkeye in 2012′s The Avengers, a superhero tentpole blockbuster for Marvel Studios. Seems starring the Academy’s Best Picture winner and being nominated for said role helps land some impressive gigs, no?

First images from Paul W.S. Anderson’s THE THREE MUSKETEERS

The first images from director Paul W.S. Anderson‘s upcoming adaptation of the classic The Three Musketters have appeared online, featuring Mads Mikkelsen as Rochefort, Logan Lerman as D’Artagnan and Anderson himself .

They are in no way just plain men in tights, nor are they reminiscent of Prince Of Thieves. They look like some damn impressive costumes, but I’ll look forward to a trailer. It’s going to take a bit to get me excited about another (yawn) Three Musketeers adaptation. Check out the images below, but if you want them really hoooooooge check them out exclusively at Coming Soon.

The Three Musketeers opens in the U.S. (in 3D, of course) 15 April, 2011, and also Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich, Juno Temple, Orlando Bloom and James Corden. How’s that for a cast, eh?

First clip from Sofia Coppola’s SOMEWHERE is better than you realise

In what would otherwise be described as a ‘boring’ first clip from Sofia Coppola‘s upcoming film Somewhere, Stephen Dorff and Michelle Monaghan are seen awkwardly standing through a photo shoot for their film-within-the-film. The clip is titled ‘You Look Amazing‘ and comes via Reelz Channel; you can watch it embedded below, and read the synopsis as well.

Shades of her father, Sofia has mastered recreating the reality of uncomfortable/awkward situations and naturally bringing them to the screen. This is the kind of stuff I enjoy in films, because it is rarely done so effectively. The trailer, which arrived back in June, promises more of the same.

Somewhere hits U.S. cinemas 22 December, 2010.

Sofia Coppola’s (Lost in Translation) new film Somewhere tells the story of Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), “a bad-boy A-List actor stumbling through a life of excess while living at Hollywood’s legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel.  His days are a haze of drinks, girls, fast cars and fawning fans.  Cocooned in this celebrity-induced artificial world, Johnny has lost all sense of his true self.  Until, that is, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) unexpectedly shows up and unwittingly begins to anchor him.  Johnny’s fragile connection to real life slowly revives in her presence. So when the time comes fro Cleo to leave, his sense of loss is palpable, but the gift of hope she has also brought him leads to a beautiful, poetic denouement imbued with all of Coppola’s remarkable powers to conjure mood and atmosphere.

THE FREEBIE trailer ticks all required ‘quirky indie’ boxes

Plinky-plonky music, pitter-patter conversation and feel-good grinning smiles to put a spring in your step, the trailer for Katie Aselton‘s feature film The Freebie joyfully ticks all the required boxes to be one of those breakout indie dramadies. There seems to be a handful of these every year, and Sundance (where this one played) is a good place to seek them out.

Beyond the predictable beats of the trailer– and the awkward feeling that it’s trying to hard to tell me I’m supposed to appreciate the low-budget grit of it all– this one is wrapped in a premise that is too intriguing to refuse:

Starring writer/director Katie Aselton with Dax Sheppard, The Freebie centres on a married couple who decide to allow each other a one-night stand. Studio Phase 4 Films have also released the poster, below.

The Freebie is released limited in New York  on 17 September, 2010, with a U.S. rollout to follow. International dates shouldn’t be far behind, depending on the success at the box office.

Katie Holmes and Al Pacino join Adam Sandler’s next comedy JACK AND JILL

It must be a superb script or a hefty paycheck that have convinced Katie Holmes and Al Pacino to sign on to Adam Sandler‘s next comedy Jack & Jill. Or, perhaps they didn’t see Grown Ups? I watched Grown Ups, and I did not enjoy what it offered; even for the genre it belongs to, it was a monumental failure.

Jack & Jill is being directed Grown Ups director Dennis Duggan and it’s about Jack, a family man, who must deal with his twin sister Jill, who visits for Thanksgiving and won’t leave. The catch? Adam Sandler is playing both Jack and Jill… Because we all know how funny it is when guys dress up as ladies. Lord, spare us all.

Katie will play Adam Sandler’s wife in the film and Pacino will apparently be playing himself– which sounds kinda neat on paper but it’s still the kind of film I’d rather not see him in.

NEVER LET ME GO posters are ambiguous and a little silly

Mark Romanek‘s upcoming sort-of sci-fi Never Let Me Go has a pretty good trailer. It’s based on one of Time magazine’s favourite books of the decade. And it’s got awards darling Carey Mulligan, ex-Mrs-pirate Keira Knightley, and future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield. Something for everyone, then.

These new posters are a bit less goofy-looking than the average floating-heads deal, but splitting the title up over three different posters is a risky move. How many cinemas have room enough to spare three poster boxes, adjacent no less, to advertise one film? A film that looks too good, too interesting and too unique to make any money? Not many.

Never Let Me Go goes into limited US release on 15 September 2010; it’s due in the UK on 14 January 2011; no Aussie release dates yet.

Click to embiggen:

Sam Worthington heading to homeland Australia to star in local film DRIFT

After ripping through some of Hollywood’s biggest releases over the past 18 months (Avatar, Clash Of The Titans, Terminaor:Salvation) fellow Aussie Sam Worthington is heading back home to Western Australia to kick back with mates and work on a local indie production. The film in question is titled Drift, being shot near WA’s Margaret River in October and co-directed by Morgan O’Neill and Ben Nott. Worthington will play a photographer and journalist who is instrumental in the evolution of surfing from a pastime into a global industry, as local surf wear manufacturers like Rip Curl and Billabong grow into iconic global brands.

“I’m a Western Australian boy at heart and to go back there and put something back into my home town is something I am really looking forward to. There’s something pure and true about surfing, and there is something pure and true about this script.”

Of course, just add this to a slew of other films Worthington has been pegged to star in. The last one I remember hearing was the remake of the iconic 80s Schwarzenegger actioner Commando. Shudder!

James Cameron now speaks for NASA; also, AVATAR DVD re-release information

Turns out NASA thinks James Cameron is something of a big deal. He’s now the public face of the organisation, and has appeared in a series of commercials advertising the good work NASA does. People seem to have lost interest in NASA (and astronomy in general) over the past fifty years, so hopefully Jim can do something to reinvigorate the public imagination. Check out one of the ads here:

In more annoying news, the forthcoming Avatar Special Edition DVD will apparently come with 16 minutes of additional footage. This far outstrips the theatrical re-release’s paltry 9 minutes, and puts fans in the uncomfortable position of choosing whether to double-, triple-, or quadruple-dip. I was moderately interested in seeing an extended Avatar, to see if it would magically fix all of the film’s problems (ha!), but now I might just wait till the Special Edition DVD instead.

And, while we’re on the topic, here’s a neat video demonstrating the technology behind Avatar‘s revolutionary camera system. I have no idea what a pound is, but apparently the camera only weighs 28 of them. Is it a Pound, as in the currency? Or perhaps a measurement of the pressure exerted by a hungry bear when it pounds on a beehive, desperate for the sticky nutrients within. I may never know.

Avatar invades cinemas again tomorrow (26 August 2010) here; US folk will have to wait till the 27th. The Special Edition DVD is due in November. A 3D DVD is due next year, too.

No really, it’s about Nazis: first images of Sean Penn in THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

I’m going to jump straight into a synopsis here (summarised by Collider): “The film centres on an aging-rocker who becomes obsessed with pursuing the Nazi criminal who tormented his father in a concentration camp.” If these images don’t leave you speechless, that synopsis probably will.

This project (This Must Be The Place) has a lot of kookiness going for it, and, regardless of what he’s wearing, Sean Penn is a dependable actor. Come to think of it, he’s a dead ringer for Geddy Lee in these photos. Rush biopic, anyone?

More pictures can be found at ohnotheydidnt.

This Must Be The Place is due some time next year (2011).