Sony Pictures Animation has premiered, via their official Facebook page, this new piece of concept art from their upcoming film ‘Hotel Transylvania.’ The character in question is Murray the Mummy, who’s voiced by Cee Lo Green. Murray is described as “a boisterous Mummy, once entertainer to the great Pharaohs, now the life of the party, and always feeling the urge to let loose and sing.”

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory), the film boasts an all-star voice cast lead by Adam Sandler as Dracula. Also on board is Kevin James as Frank, better known as Frankenstein. Fran Drescher voicing Eunice, his in-your-face, over-the-top, and larger-than-life Bride.  David Spade plays Quasimodo, once the hunchback of Notre Dame and now a crazy, passionate gourmet chef always looking for his next piece de resistance. Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon will play Wayne and Wanda, a pair of married, harried werewolves, parents to an ever-increasing litter of pups, who are looking forward to their family vacation at the hotel.  Finally, Andy Samberg will voice the role of Jonathan, a 21-year-old regular guy, carefree and full of life, whose world travels land him at the Hotel. ‘Hotel Transylvania’ is set for release September 21st in the US and October 12th in the UK

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s (Adam Sandler) lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them.  On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters – Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more – to celebrate his daughter Mavis’s 118th birthday.  For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to Mavis.

From the creators of ‘Despicable Me’ and the imagination of Dr. Seuss comes the 3D-CG feature ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,’ an adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Danny DeVito will lend his vocal talents to the iconic title character of the Lorax, while Ed Helms will voice the enigmatic Once-ler. Also bringing their talents to the film are Zac Efron as Ted, the idealistic youth who searches for the Lorax, and Taylor Swift as Audrey, the girl of Ted’s dreams. Rob Riggle will play financial king O’Hare, and beloved actress Betty White will portray Ted’s wise Grammy Norma. ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ is scheduled for release March 2nd in the US and July 27th in the UK.

What was your initial reaction to this film?

Zac Efron: At first, when I heard about ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,’ I vividly remembered being read that book by my parents. I remember flipping through the pages. It was this book that first planted that seed of the environmentalist in me. Also, who doesn’t want to do Dr Seuss? He’s just the coolest person ever. The fact that The Lorax is about the environment and has those messages, it’s one of the reasons I feel the way I do today. Dr. Seuss taught me that when I was so young. And I wanted to be a small part of his legacy. I feel very very lucky to be apart of this film.

Taylor Swift: It’s got this magical essence to it. There’s something so insane about the story, there’s such loss, but then there’s also such hope to it. And that’s always been my favourite thing about the story –  the hope. One of the reasons I’ve been drawn to Dr. Seuss is the rhyming, I’ve always had this obsession with rhyming – so I grew up and became a song writer, so now I get to rhyme stuff all the time (laughs). Also, I’m drawn to anything cute, these animals in the story are heartbreakingly cute. Just ridiculously cute – maximum capacity of cuteness (laughs).

What appealed to you in particular about Audrey?

Taylor Swift: She’s got some really extraordinary characteristics about her personality. She’s adventurous, she takes chances, she’s brave, she’s strong, all the while being the object of affection for Ted – which is this really cute crush that he has on an older girl. Also, this character, Audrey….this book was in part inspired by Dr. Seuss’ wife Audrey. Audrey is an original character in the film. For the filmmakers to create a character and name her after Dr. Seuss’ wife, it’s amazing , and to get the honour to do the voice is pretty cool, very exciting.

Ted’s crush on Audrey, it’s the catalyst of his journey and adventure.…

Zac Efron: Yeah. Audrey’s into nature, she’s into trees. And he’s never seen trees, he doesn’t really know what they are. But besides him doing anything he can for this girl that he loves, he decides he’s gonna go and find a tree. Which is pretty hard in a world where they practically don’t exist. As soon as he gets to the Once-ler and hears the Once-ler’s story and starts to become involved, he realises there’s a much more important reason that he’s been put on this journey. He suddenly takes charge and realises he can make a difference, and that there’s a reason he was sent here.

What really speaks to you about Dr. Seuss’ stories?

Taylor Swift: My favourite thing of Dr. Seuss’ books is that he creates an entire world. His imagination spans so far that he’s created this entire world of…..whimsy and quirkiness. You’re so drawn into it that you almost forget that you’re being fed a really important message. I think the message of ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ is that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Appreciate what you have while you have it. Appreciate the beauty of what’s there right now, and try to preserve it for tomorrow.

You’re joined by a great voice cast in this film?

Zac Efron: Oh yeah, there’s definitely something for everybody in this movie. The cast is incredible. I love every single person in it. I can’t wait for people to see them bring these characters to life. Also, from where it is in the book, we’ve really made this a cool movie adventure version of it. This is a once in a life time epic journey to save the planet, it’s a fun journey to be on. Taylor’s perfect for this, she’s so sweet all the time – unconditionally sweet. I think she’s great because….she has exactly what I think the reason Ted has such a big crush on Audrey – sweetness.

You’ve also got Danny Devito as the grumpy but charming Lorax.

Zac Efron: When I heard Danny Devito was doing the voice of the Lorax, I thought that was legendary (laughs). I just saw a little mock-up that they created, it was actually very detailed, you could see the hairs moving on his face. It was Danny’s voice put through, he was walking along and saying, “Who’s chopping down that tree? Was it you?” I was in love, I just thought I love this character, I was sold straight away, I wanted see what happens to this guy. It’s a magical pairing.

Sony Pictures has debuted this fantastic theatrical trailer for Marc Webb’s hotly anticipated ‘The Amazing Spider-Man.’ Based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the 3D action-adventure will be swinging onto the big screen July 3rd in the US, and July 4th in the UK. The film stars Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy), Rhys Ifans (Dr. Curt Conners/The Lizard), Denis Leary (George Stacy), Campbell Scott (Richard Parker), Irrfan Khan (Nels Van Adder/Proto-Goblin), Martin Sheen (Ben Parker) and Sally Field (May Parker). ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves.

One of the world’s most popular characters is back on the big screen as a new chapter in the Spider-Man legacy is revealed in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Focusing on an untold story that tells a different side of the Peter Parker story, the new film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, with Martin Sheen and Sally Field. The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt, based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Matt Tolmach are producing the film in association with Marvel Entertainment for Columbia Pictures.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

Following this past weekends news that Harrison Ford has entered early talks to reprise his role in Ridley Scott’s prequel/sequel to his seminal sci-fi epic ‘Blade Runner.’ Andrew Kosove of producer/financier Alcon Entertainment has told Deadline that this rumour is false: “It is absolutely patently false that there has been any discussion about Harrison Ford being in Blade Runner. To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it. The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment.”

Kosove explained that this new ‘Blade Runner’ movie will be more in the vein of Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus,’ in that it’s only loosely connected to the original, or set in the same universe: “It’s like asking if we’re going to make the sky red or blue, there has been no discussion about it. What Ridley does in Prometheus is a good template for what we’re trying to do. He created something that has some association to the original Alien, but lives on its own as a standalone movie.” 

The producer did seem to leave the option open for Harrison Ford to return as Decker. When asked point blank if Ford could resurface, Kosove said: “In advance of knowing what we’re going to do, I supposed you could say yes, he could. But I think it is quite unlikely.”

I’m shamefully on the fence about a new ‘Blade Runner’ movie. One of the beauties of ‘Blade Runner’ is it’s ambiguity, how much it asks of it’s audience. The fact that until this very day, nearly 30 years after the films release, there’s still so much aspects of it being debated. On the other hand I would love to see more of the ‘Blade Runner’ world, there’s so much more to explore, especially with Decker – Harrison Ford’s character.

‘Blade Runner’ was loosely based on the Philip K. Dick science fiction novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” The novel received three “authorized” sequels, written by Philip K. Dick’s friend K.W. Jeter, which were entitled “The Edge of Human,” “Replicant Night” and “Eye and Talon.” They continue the story of Rick Deckard and attempt to resolve many of the differences between the novel and the film. Following the filming of ‘Blade Runner,’ the first of Philip K. Dick’s works to be adapted into a film, many other of Dick’s works were likewise adapted, including ‘Total Recall,’ ‘A Scanner Darkly,’ ‘Minority Report,’ ‘Paycheck,’ and the recent ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ among others.

CineHeroes has premiered these first looks at Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming animated film, ‘Wreck-It Ralph,’ which features the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch. Rich Moore (The Simpsons, Futurama) will direct this story of a video game bad guy who sets out to prove he can be the hero. ‘Wreck-It Ralph is set for release November 12th in US and December 26th in the UK.

Wreck-It Ralph (voice of Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidently unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade.

2000AD has unvcovered these four new images from ‘Dredd,’ the upcoming flick following the lawman of the future and frequent announcer of “AM THE LAW.” The neo-noir action film is directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point) from a script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, Sunshine). The film stars Karl Urban as Judge Dredd, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Deobia Oparei, Jason Cope, and Domhnall Gleeson.

This new adaptation of Judge Dredd is said to be more faithful to the comic than the pants 1995 version that starred Sylvester Stallone. ’Dredd’ takes us to the wild streets of Mega City One, the lone oasis of quasi-civilization on Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of elite Street Judges, with the power to enforce the law, sentence offenders and execute them on the spot – if necessary. ‘Dredd’ is set for release September 21st. Check out the rest of the images below (warning: the last image is pretty graphic).

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds co-star in the action-thriller ‘Safe House.’ Washington plays the CIA’s most dangerous traitor, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he’s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant protégé, the young operative finds his morality tested and idealism shaken. Now, they must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, ’Safe House’ co-stars Nora Arnezeder, Vera Farmiga, Ruben Blades, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, Tim McGraw, Robert Patrick, and Sam Shepard. The film is due to hit cinemas February 10th in the US, and Febuary 24th in the UK. Look out for another interview with Denzel Washington for the films UK release date.

At the beginning, Ryan Reynolds’ character is very much an ideologue. However some of that slowly peals away as the movie moves along. Your character, Tobin Frost, his outlook is completely different…..

Denzel Washington: Yeah. I really enjoy how as the movie moves along, we peel away the layers of who these people are, the mind-games that are going on. I liken it to ‘Silence of the Lambs’ where this guy, this young kid, he’s trying to get in my head, and I’m all getting in his head – to the point where he doesn’t know what he’s thinking about.

Tobin Frost, he’s on his own, he’s a murderer, he’s a liar, he’s a sociopath, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. All he’s interested in is winning. I think that he’s been so isolated for so long, he doesn’t know how to feel, he doesn’t have feelings, he just knows how to use. He has no family, no relationships, he just uses people…..and drinks good wine (laughs). Making the money is not an important thing for him, I think winning is the important thing. The chance to manipulate this kid is winning, the chance to shove it up the CIA’s behind is winning for him. And he has no remorse about it.

I read that rather than study CIA operatives to prepare for the film, you studied sociopaths. What did you learn from your research that helped you portray this character?

Denzel Washington: There’s a book called ‘The Sociopath Next Door,’ that sort of became my bible for the character. I thought most sociopaths were violent when in fact they aren’t. They say 1 in 25 people are sociopaths, and only 2 or 3 in 25 are violent. But almost all sociopaths want to win no matter what. Some sociopaths use pity, “Oh, woe is me. I just can’t do it like you.” And then you go, “Oh, no no. You’re all right,” and I already got you. Now I got you in a weak position and feeling sorry for me. I read about one sociopath who was actually a psychologist and she was so sick, there’s this other psychologist that she hated and she had a nicer car than the other woman, so she would purposely park her car next to the other woman’s car just to make her feel bad every day. She was working with this other psychiatrist’s patient and all the work that this woman had done, she destroyed. She brought the person in the room and just destroyed them. They just want to win. There was one sociopath who would steal things in the post office and then get there the next day because he just loved the chaos that it created. He wanted to see how everybody was trying to figure out what it was. I guess it’s a feeling of power. In my journal as I was writing, going through the script, as we were shooting, I had to find a way to win every situation no matter what. There’s a scene we were talking about earlier at the football game, the soccer stadium, he’s willing to even act like a scared little girl to get away. A sociopath will do anything to win. Anything.

The physical scenes in the film are brutal, there’s something very primal about them. How was that for you preparing? With your character as well, he has a sort of inner calm to him when so much chaos is going on around him.

Denzel Washington: We had tremendous fighters, Oliver Schneider and his whole crew of guys, they’re really brilliant, dangerous guys. The way they trained us, it was dirty fighting, in close, use whatever you needed….I don’t even call it fighting, I call it winning – they know how to win. I remember we went out to some big club, and there was these big American Football looking dudes, they were roughing around and getting drunk. I was with the guys and I just watched how they moved around the room. They separated themselves and just spread out, they took over the four corners of the area (laughs). I just thought, “These big guys have no idea of what they might get into.” But I think they could sense, because there’s a peace about them because they know what they’re capable of. I think that was a lesson for me, to see calmness in them, how to lower your blood pressure and wait.

These guys, they were the most unassuming guys and we really had the luxury of time, a good 2 or 3 months while we were over there. In fact, there’s a fight I have where I crash through the roof or something and start fighting this guy, and even the fights Ryan and I do at the end, we had 2 or 3 or 4 months before we even got to do those fights.

Do you have more fun playing a quote-unquote “bad guy“?

Denzel Washington: The next picture I made, it’ll come out the end of the year or the beginning of next year, it’s called ‘Flight,’ and I play an alcoholic, drug addicted pilot who crashes a plane – but saves a lot of lives. It was the most intense film I’ve done probably in 20 years. I guess it’s cliché to say that the bad guy has more fun because you can say anything, you can get away with anything. Sometimes when you’re the good guy, you’re sort of trapped or he can’t say that. And even when you’re playing a real person, like Steven Biko or someone, you’re sort of stuck within those confines. So, yeah, bad guys do have more fun (Laughs)!

Massive congratulations to all the good folks over at Hammer, as their chilling ghost story ‘The Woman in Black’ exceeded box office expectations to open in the no.2 spot in its three day opening weekend (Fri-Sun) in the US, grossing just over $21m. This is more than ‘Paranormal Activity’s’ opening weekend which grossed $19,617,650 in 2009 and ‘The Grudge 2′ which grossed $20,825,300 in 2006. Originally founded in 1934, legendary British film studio Hammer has delivered a hugely successful run of films over the years including ‘Dracula,’ ‘The Mummy,’  ’Frankenstein Created Woman,’ ‘One Million Years B.C.’ and ‘The Vampire Lovers.’

Hammer’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s classic novel, starring Daniel Radcliffe, opened on almost  2855 screens with a per screen average of $7,356. This weekend’s three day gross makes ‘The Woman in Black’ the highest opening ever for a Hammer film in the US. ‘The Woman In Black is set for release this Friday (Febuary 10th) in the UK.

‘The Woman in Black,’ starring Daniel Radcliffe, is the iconic production company’s first ever feature ghost story. It is directed by James Watkins and adapted by Jane Goldman from the book by Susan Hill. The film is a Hammer, Alliance Films, The UK Film Council presentation, in association with Cross Creek Pictures. A Talisman production in association with Exclusive Media. Producers are Richard Jackson, Simon Oakes and Brian Oliver. Executive Producers are Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Tobin Armbrust, Marc Schipper, Neil Dunn, Xavier Marchand, Roy Lee and Tyler Thompson.

Commenting on the success of The Woman in Black, Simon Oakes, President & CEO of Hammer and Vice Chairman of Exclusive Media said: “We are delighted that The Woman in Black has performed so well. The fact that a gothic horror has attracted such a large audience on opening weekend shows the demand for elevated and intelligent genre films which Hammer aims to produce.”

Nigel Sinclair, CEO of Exclusive Media added: “This follows on a strong performance for Ides of March and reflects our commitment to great artists and great movies; I congratulate our partners CBS Alliance and of course Cross Creek pictures.”

Tobin Armbrust, President of Worldwide Production & Acquisitions of Exclusive Media, which is Hammer’s parent company, added: “We are thrilled to share in the success of The Woman in Black with our close family, Daniel Radcliffe, Jane Goldman, James Watkins and the entire cast and crew who all worked incredibly hard on this great project. Hammer is one of our key production brands and to see it embraced in the US is a great show of support for its production philosophy.”

The Woman in Black director James Watkins said: ‘I’m thrilled that a British ghost story, made with a British cast, crew and investment, is playing so well with American audiences.’

Not in production since the 1980s, Hammer marked their return to features in 2010 with the release of the critically acclaimed ‘Let Me In,’ an adaptation of the highly praised Swedish film ‘Låt den rätte komma in.’ The film was written and directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) and stars Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road). In 2011, Hammer released Antti Jokinen’s ‘The Resident’ starring two-time Academy Award® winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby), Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hammer legend Sir Christopher Lee, as well as the critically lauded ‘Wake Wood’ directed by David Keating and starring Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle and Timothy Spall.

Featuring snippets of new footage, Sony Pictures has released these three TV spots for their barmy looking action adventure flick ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.’ It has been several years since making a deal with the Devil and Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), living in self-imposed isolation, finds himself as the only person who can help save 10-year-old Danny – and ultimately the world – thanks to his unwanted and uncontrollable power – his ability to transform into the hell-on-wheels monster known as The Ghost Rider. Directed by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank, Gamer), ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ opens February 17th. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Ciarán Hinds, and Violante Placido. Check out my interview with Nicolas Cage and Idris Elba for the film here.

Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze in Columbia Pictures’ and Hyde Park Entertainment’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. In the successor to the worldwide hit Ghost Rider, Johnny – still struggling with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter – is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciaran Hinds). At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy – and possibly rid himself of his curse forever. Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Screenplay by Scott M. Gimple & Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer. Story by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comic. Produced by Steven Paul, Ashok Amritraj, Michael De Luca, Avi Arad, and Ari Arad.

CINE1 has premiered these new character posters for the eagerly anticipated supernatural thriller ‘Red Lights.’ I’ve got extremely high hopes for this film, it’s director/writer Rodrigo Cortes’ follow-up to ’Buried’ – a film which exuded a seemingly impossible amount of gripping drama out of its claustrophobic premise. ‘Red Lights’ revolves around a pair of skeptical investigators (Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy) on a mission to reveal practitioners of psychic arts (Robert De Niro) as phonies. Toby Jones, Joely Richardson, Elizabeth Olsen, Craig Roberts, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Adriane Lenox co-star. Expect a release date soon.

A film about how the brain does not give a true picture of reality. Sigourney Weaver will play Margaret Matheson in a film that follows a para-psychologist who attempts to debunk a very reputable psychic who has just returned to the limelight after 30 years. 

In the film, De Niro stars as Simon Silver, a legendary psychic, perhaps the most famously gifted of all time, who returns after thirty years of mysterious absence to become the world’s greatest challenge to orthodox science and professional skeptics. Meanwhile, paranormal fraud investigator Tom (Murphy) begins to develop a dense obsession Silver, whose magnetism is enhanced dangerously with each new manifestation of inexplicable phenomena.