Despite what your views may be on The Twilight Saga, the franchise has made absurd amounts of money and it’s been expected all along that star Taylor Lautner was destined for big things in his post-Twilight career.

The actor has lined up many various roles in the past year or so, one of which is called Abduction. The movie tells the story of a normal everyday kid who discovers he’s in a directory of abducted children, which opens up a storm of twists and turns as he goes on the run and searches for answers.

A trailer for the movie, which is directed by John Singleton and also stars Lily Collins, Maria Bello, Jason Isaacs, Sigourney Weaver, and Alfred Molina, has been released by Lionsgate, and you can see it by clicking on over to the other side now.

Personally, this looks like a Bourne Identity for the tween hordes of Twilight fans out there, and if the dialogue throughout the movie is as stiff and lifeless as it is in the trailer I don’t see good things in the future of Abduction. [...]

The BBC and BBC America are pulling no punches when it comes to promoting the upcoming Series 6 of Doctor Who. Less than a day after the BBC released two preview clips from opening episode The Impossible Astronaut, BBC America has released a neat Behind The Scenes video that gives some fantastic snippets and clips from the same episode, and its concluding second part, Day of the Moon. You can check out this awesome Doctor Who Insider at the bottom of this post.

In the video, Steven Moffat highlights his intentions behind “bringing Doctor Who to America” (or is it “bringing America to Doctor Who“?) and director Toby Haynes discusses how different this episode will feel for Doctor Who; while cast members Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill talk about the amazing fun they had while filming — giving references to other films that they (and we) all love such as Indiana Jones and Back to the Future.

What’s cool about the video is that it provides some additional snippets and clips from the first two episodes, giving Doctor Who fans another little glimpse at the feel of the episode. Mark Sheppard, who plays Canton Everett Delaware III in the episodes, has a brilliant line in the footage: “America is being invaded!” [...]

The first trailer for 20th Century Fox’s upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel, titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes, has now been released online.

The movie shows the origins of the apes that eventually evolved beyond human beings and took over the planet after a scientist’s testing shows shocking advancements in evolution in one of the test subjects, named Caesar.

Instead of going with costumes and makeup, it was decided long ago to use the popular performance capture/CG technologies used in movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, and Avatar. To make things a little easier, the same team that worked on those films, WETA Digital, was brought in for the job.

You can see the trailer below the line now.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes stars James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and is directed by Rupert Wyatt.

Be sure to share your thoughts! [...]

Marvel has released a new interactive widget for Thor called Thor: Interactive Guide to the Universe of Thor, which contains new images and footage from the upcoming film.

Browse through the interactive guide here below to get a look at new and existing footage from the film, as well as images, artwork, character bios, and location descriptions from the universe of Thor.

As you browse through the sections, you’ll unlock new content. Once you’ve unlocked 100 percent of the content, there’s a nifty “Easter egg” for you to download.

Thor, which stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, along with Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson, Clark Gregg, and Rene Russo, is directed by Kenneth Branagh and will hit theaters on May 6, 2011 [...]

Director Peter Jackson has posted to his Facebook account the first video blog from the set of The Hobbit, which began shooting in New Zealand last month.

Watch the 10 1/2-minute video here below.

This is truly a must-watch for those of us eagerly anticipating Jackson’s next installment from the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. There’s tons to see in this video, too, it’s not just Jackson sitting in Bilbo’s house talking — there’s much more [...]

Your Highness
Directed by David Gordon Green
Staring Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman
Rated R
Universal Pictures
Release date: April 8, 2011

Your Highness is the new movie from the people that brought you Pineapple Express, a movie that mixed stoner comedy with an ’80s action movie with some success. Your Highness looks to do take a stoner comedy and mix it with a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy. I was getting my hopes up before seeing Your Highness, mostly because I like Danny McBride and because I liked what I saw in the commercials. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations, which doesn’t make it a bad movie, it just means it left me a little disappointed, and I think a lot of people will feel the same way.

Your Highness is the story of two brothers, Fabious (James Franco) and Thadeous (Danny McBride). Fabious is the successful brother and future king of the land. Thadeous is a screw-up who doesn’t want to do anything except spend his nights with wenches and weed. When Fabious’ fiancée Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel) is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the two brothers must go on a quest to rescue her. They are joined by Thadeous’ squire, Courtney (Rasmus Hardiker), and are later joined by Isabel (Natalie Portman), another adventurer with a grudge against Leezar. Their quest is filled with monsters, betrayal, and a little bit of drug use, before their final confrontation with the wizard [...]

Marvel Comics and Disney Publishing are teaming to bring the Muppets gang to life in an all new giant-size comic called Disney•Muppets Presents written by Roger Langridge (Thor: The Mighty Avenger). In the story, which features Kermit, Fozzy, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and the rest of the gang, the Muppets plan to revive their old school variety show by bringing back some of their greatest sketches, including Pigs in Space and Veterinarians Hospital. Also packed into this 96-page comic Kermit is homesick, a psychic tells Miss Piggy that she will lose something green, Fozzy attempts to revamp his stand-up act, and a lot more! [...]

The BBC has released two new clips from the first episode of Doctor Who Series 6, entitled The Impossible Astronaut. Directed by Toby Haynes, written by showrunner Steven Moffat, and filmed on-location in the United States, The Impossible Astronaut is the first part of an adventure that concludes in the second episode, Day of the Moon. You can view the preview clips at the bottom of this post — but be warned again, for more spoilery goodness is abound!

The videos released by BBC seem to be near the beginning of the episode, featuring a reunion between the Stetson-wearing Doctor and his companions, and a deep but dark conversation between the heroes inside the TARDIS as they ask the Doctor for his help “without asking why.” There’s a wonderful reference in the second clip to the moment of when Amy first met The Doctor, which is a nice touch. Those after clues to the opening episodes might want to make note that the Doctor is only wearing the Stetson in one of the clips… In the words of River Song herself, “Spoilers…!” [...]

An Elegy for Amelia Johnson
Hardcover
Written by Andrew Rostan
Art by Dave Valeza and Kate Kasenow
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
Price: $14.95
Archaia
Release date: March 2, 2011

Every now and then, an original graphic novel can spark emotion out of you. The best ones can make you feel like you know the characters and have an emotional attachment to said characters. In An Elegy for Amelia Johnson, writer Andrew Rostan and artists Dave Valeza and Kate Kasenow tell a brilliant story of friendship, forgiveness, love, and death. The story is about Amelia Johnson, a 30-year-woman who has been diagnosed with cancer and enlists her two best friends to deliver her last video messages to her other closest friends. Amelia’s best friends: Henry, a filmmaker, and Jillian, a magazine writer, go on a countrywide journey to deliver Amelia’s last words to close friends, but also film the conversations about Amelia. Along the way, Henry and Jillian discover parts of themselves that have previously been buried while living their creative lives [...]

If you’ve been to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World in Florida recently, you’ve seen that the Fantasyland area is under heavy construction — that’s because the area is currently undergoing a major expansion that will nearly double the size of the original Fantasyland.

One of the main objectives of the expansion is to add a whole bunch of new Beauty and the Beast-themed attractions, eateries, and architecture, including Beast’s Castle!

Check out the image here below, via Disney Parks Blog, that provides a sneak peek of Beast’s Castle, which will house the Be Our Guest restaurant, scheduled to open in late 2012. The restaurant is said to “offer a lavish dining experience in the castle’s elegant ballroom, gallery and mysterious “west-wing.” Eventually, other Beauty and the Beast-themed buildings will open around the Castle, like Gaston’s Tavern, Bonjour! Village Gifts, and the cottage of Belle’s father, Maurice. And of course, there will be a meet-and-greet with Belle and her friends [...]

Each week, MK2Fac3 and Henchman21 read a lot of comics. Seriously, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. They look forward to some more than others, I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of their pull list, grab some issues and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of April 13, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

ISSUES

The Infinite Vacation #2 (Image Comics – $3.50) – When the first issue of Infinite Vacation came out in January, I was elated with how good the comic was. Nick Spencer continued his reign over comics with another incredibly exciting creator-owned book published by Image. The concept behind the book is that a mobile app gives people the ability to travel throughout the multiverse. The concept of a multiverse is used in many different comics and publishers where there are separate universes with the same characters dealing with different circumstances. But very rarely has the concept of the multiverse been applied to non-superhero characters, but Infinite Vacation does just that. The series has unfortunately met a strong delay with the second issue coming out in April after the first issue came out in January, but the first issue sat with me so strongly, that I’m still excited about this follow-up. So, here’s hoping that the second keeps and amps up the excitement [...]

It seems like we’ve heard about a multitude of movie adaptations of the works of Ray Bradbury over the years, but but very few have actually been made…not counting A Sound of Thunder, of course, which might be one of the reasons these other films have had so much trouble.

One of the projects we’ve heard was getting a movie treatment more than once, is Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. It was first acquired by Universal Pictures in 1997 with Steven Spielberg attached as a producer, but that never worked out. And if Steven Spielberg’s name isn’t enough to get a movie to happen, you know you have tough road ahead. Back in June of 2010 we once again heard that a movie was on the way, this time at Fox, but apparently that one never worked out either.

It’s now being reported that The Martian Chronicles has a new home at Paramount Pictures, who will take their best shot at finally making the movie happen. [...]

Just a few days ago it was reported that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo had been hired to direct Relativity Media’s remake of the 1994 cult classic, The Crow.

It was expected that things would begin moving forward a bit more rapidly now, and it does appear this is the case. Deadline is reporting that Bradley Cooper, star of The Hangover and The A-Team, has entered into early negotiations to take on the title role originally played by the late Brandon Lee.

The movie tells the story of a musician who’s savagely beaten and killed when he and his fiancee are attacked. He then finds himself resurrected and sets off on a quest to find and destroy all who were responsible for he and his love’s deaths.

Keep in mind that though it appears Cooper has been chosen for the role, these negotiations are still early and things could change if the discussions or production hit a snag along the way. [...]

I’ve never touched World of Warcraft (apart from maybe the inebriated hijacking of a friend’s game once or twice) and I don’t claim to know anything about the MMO. What I do know, however, is that this is pretty freakin’ crazy.

A player on the Feathermoon server has officially hit the level 85 cap with his character, a Night Elf Restoration Druid named Everbloom, without killing a single thing. The player also didn’t complete a single quest though it says otherwise in their stats — one quest called “Invitation to the Argent Tournament” supposedly marks you off for a quest after opening a letter. All the player did do to reach this level 85 was explore: an unbelievable amount of running, swimming, and searching everything in sight.

Here’s what the player had to say about their accomplishment:

Being on the ground and sneaking around mining and herbing and eventually archaeology, going everywhere to get every single point of discovery xp that you can, really gives you a chance to see an amazing world up close and personal. I spent hours swimming around reefs and flying to the farthest reaches of the maps. [...]

It’s less than two weeks until Series 6 of Doctor Who kicks off worldwide on television screens, and it’s getting to be a very exciting time to be a fan of the Time Lord. BBC and BBC America have released a whole bunch of new photos from the new season — including a sneak peak of the new creepy villain the Doctor will be facing in the opening two episodes, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon.

On top of that, new photos released by the BBC to media outlets give fans more previews of upcoming shows, including the “pirate” episode Curse of the Black Spot, the Neil Gaiman-penned The Doctor’s Wife, and confirmation (finally!) of the return of a classic villain. You can view the images at the bottom of this post.

Bear in mind, the photos (as well as the rest of the content of this post) could be considered spoilers — so consider to have been alerted! [...]

So Marvel’s big Summer event Fear Itself is underway and it’s blowing up all over the Marvel Universe. We’ve got early looks at some of the biggest issues this Summer.

It all starts in May when Fear Itself #2 of 7 hits store shelves. Award-winning writer Matt Fraction and artist Stuart Immonen continue the mystery of who the Worthy are. Seven hammers have fallen to Earth each capable of seemingly endless power. The race is on to see who the Worthy will be and without the Asgardians who have left Earth, will the Avengers be able to save the day? Covers for this installment if the series were done by Steve McNiven and variant by Stuart Immonen. Early images from Fear Itself #2 and previews for other Fear Itself releases are waiting for you after the jump.

In July Fear Itself hits the shores of Utopia in Uncanny X-Men #540 & #541. Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Greg Land bring fear to the unsteady balance between humans and mutant-kind [...]

The t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel is the Back To The Future-inspired shirt called “88 M.Y.A.”

The tee, by artist Nathan Davis, went on sale at RIPT today, Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

Of the design, the artist said, “88 M.Y.A. (88 Million years Ago)” honours the grisly discover found just outside Hill Valley, California, which has puzzled most scientists, and made one Dr. Emmett Brown surprisingly jumpy. [...]

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, which made the Soviet cosmonaut the first human in space. During a 108-minute flight on April 12, 1961, Gagarin was the first human to escape Earth’s gravity and achieve orbit.

Each year, this milestone is celebrated around the globe with Yuri’s Night, which this year includes 500 parties in 72 countries on 6 continents. There’s various types of parties — some are free, others are ticketed — which can range from intimate gatherings to galas with over 10,000 attendees, with several Observatories hosting events, as well as one at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Visit the Yuri’s Night Events List page to find a party in your area [...]

Amazon has announced that a new version of the Kindle is available now for pre-order for only $114, and will be released on May 3, 2011.

The new version of the popular e-reader device is called the
Kindle with Special Offers. It’s the same device as the existing 6-inch graphite Wi-Fi version (that’s $139), but it’s $25 less. And why is it $25 less? Because the $114 “Special Offers” version includes ads — but fear not, the ads are NOT within the ebooks; they only appear on the screensaver (which, let’s face it, no one pays attention to) and at the bottom of the home screen.

I know, lots of people freak out at the thought of ads — and I haven’t seen this new version, so I can’t say from experience — but seriously, if the ads don’t interfere with the reading, I’d say it’s well worth the low price. I have the 6-inch graphite Wi-Fi Kindle and believe me, if I didn’t already own it, I’d grab the $114 version without hesitation. Actually, I’ve owned every generation of Kindle after the first one and I just love it more and more with each upgrade [...]

After Deadpool made his movie debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it was announced that he would also be getting his own spinoff movie with Ryan Reynolds returning as the Merc with a Mouth.

Since then some time has passed, Reynolds went over to DC Comics to star in Green Lantern, and Deadpool seemed to be far off on the horizon. Whether the movie is happening sooner or later still remains to be seen but now a director has been found, bringing fans one step closer to the movie they hope is delivered with full faithfulness to the deadly Marvel comic book character.

It’s been announced that Tim Miller, a visual effects expert making his feature film directing debut, has been hired to take on Deadpool for Marvel and 20th Century Fox. Miller has worked in the effects department on titles such as X-Men, The Grinch, Planet of the Apes, X-2, Night at the Museum, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. [...]