At the recent Television Critics Association press tour AMC announced that the episode order for the third season of their popular post-apocalyptic horror-drama The Walking Dead has been increased to 16, as opposed to 13 for the second season. They also released the poster for the show’s mid-season premiere next month.

You can check out the poster, featuring a stark and powerful shot of the show’s main character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and a press release here below. [...]

It’s been officially announced that recently, at the Astana International Action Film Festival screenplay competition, The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to a movie called Apollo 18, written by Brian Miller.

The movie tells the story of NASA’s Apollo 18 mission to our moon, which was actually one of the many canceled missions in reality…or so we’ve been told. In the movie, the idea that the mission actually went ahead as planned is presented. It will be shot documentary style, to look as if it is proof of the mission actually happening and showing undiscovered footage from what the crew on that mission found, including “disturbing” proof of other life forms.

Apollo 18 is set to be produced by Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian director responsible for movies like Wanted and stylized vampire films, Night Watch and Day Watch. Bekmambetov is the one who founded the Astana International Film Festival screenplay competition at which the script was discovered and acquired. [...]

Summit Entertainment has made a huge casting announcement regarding the many Covens that will be seen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

The two-part movie will be directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters), and is schedule for release on November 18, 2011 and November 16, 2012. Stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and others will all reprise their roles in the movies, which will close out the ultra-successful franchise.

For the full press release, which details all of the Covens and the actors that will now play members of these Covens in Breaking Dawn, be sure to click on over to the other side now.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — Casting Update

Summit Entertainment announced today the following have been cast in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN for roles in The Amazon Coven, The Egyptian Coven, The Irish Coven and The Romanian Coven as well as the American and European Nomads as outlined below. [...]

Oscilloscope Laboratories, the film company started by Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch, has acquired the rights to Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, a new horror-comedy from Finland that takes childhood fantasy to a whole new realm.

The movie comes from director Jalmari Helander, who based it on his own popular short films, and tells the story of an archeological excavation that turns up none other than Santa Claus himself. Unfortunately, he’s not quite the Santa we’ve all grown up knowing from stories and songs.

Of the acquisition, Yauch said “This is really a unique film, the filmmaking exceptional, Jalmari’s sense of timing, perfect. I’m tempted to say it’s like the Coen brothers meets The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but RARE EXPORTS is so original in its feel and approach that I’ll refrain from such comparisons and simply say: gas up your snowmobiles, load your shotguns and smoke ‘em if you got ‘em — ’cause we intend to uncage this sucker in theaters for the holidays.” [...]

There is no voice that is heard more in Fallout 3 than the voice of the radio DJ, Three Dog.

In Fallout: New Vegas there will also be radio streaming out of your Pip-Boy, but this time the voice you hear coming out of it will be none other than Wayne Newton!

Bethesda Softworks has sent out a press release revealing much of the cast of the new highly anticipated Fallout game. Along with Newton, the cast includes, Zach Levi (Chuck), Matthew Perry (Friends), Kris Kristofferson (Blade trilogy), Danny Trejo (Machete), Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation), William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption), Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible), and of course, Ron Perlman (Hellboy), will once again return as the narrator of the game. Other cast includes John Doman (The Wire) and Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

So who might this fantastic collection of voice talents be playing in the game? We have the complete rundown for you! [...]

Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have unveiled the new logo and title for the sequel to the immensely popular Rocksteady Studios video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

The logo you can clearly see it in all of its glory above (click for high-quality version for those of you itching for a new desktop background!). As for the title, it will officially be called Batman: Arkham City. The game will take place in a ruthless maximum security district of Gotham City where all of the most evil villains reside.

The Arkham Asylum follow-up will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and will be released sometime in the fall of 2011.

Click over to the other side for a brief description of Batman: Arkham City.

As you’ll recall, we recently found out that fan-favorite Mark Hamill would be returning as the infamous Joker, but that it would be the last time he did the voice. He also shared that it was the script and how good it was that drew him back one last time, so hopefully this means another great game is on the way. [...]

Walt Disney has announced that they have acquired the rights to the film adaptation of Oblivion, the upcoming graphic novel being released by Radical Publishing. The title was created by Joseph Kosinski, written by Arvid Nelson, and illustrated by Andrée Wallin.

The deal comes as no big surprise; Kosinski is the director of Disney’s Tron: Legacy, and the existing relationship made plenty of sense for this new project. Along with the acquisition of of the property, Disney will also have Kosinski directing and producing this film for them as well.

Oblivion takes place in the future where radiation has destroyed the Earth’s surface, forcing any remaining human beings to live at high altitudes above the clouds as vicious alien creatures scavenge the wastelands below. When Jak, a surface drone repairman, discovers a woman in a crashed pod, many mysteries and questions begin to arise and cause Jak to wonder about everything he’s ever known.

Click over for more and to find out where you can check out the first chapter of the graphic novel now. [...]

Paramount Pictures has released a press release officially revealing the cast for their remake of the 1984 Kevin Bacon film, Footloose.

The lead character Ren McCormack was awarded to Kenny Wormald, a relatively new actor, best known for his dancing abilities. Wormald has appeared as a dancer in movies like You Got Served and Clerks II, and also was a part of the movie Center Stage: Turn It Up. He joins popular Dancing with the Stars performer Julianne Hough, who will step into Lori Singer’s role of Ariel Moore. Hough is also new to the acting game, but has a new movie called Burlesque coming up and even appeared in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, giving her a little geek cred.

Also cast in the remake is Dennis Quaid, who will be playing Reverend Moore (John Lithgow in the ’84 movie) and Miles Teller in the role of Willard Hewitt, which was played by the late Chris Penn. [...]

The third season of HBO’s hit vampire series True Blood has just recently gotten started, but the numbers are impressive enough for those who make the decisions. It has been decided that a fourth season of the show is a worthy investment, and the green light has been given.

Speaking about the announcement, HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo said “The new season of True Blood is off to a terrific start, as enthusiasm for this unique show continues to build among both subscribers and critics. We’re looking forward to more chills from Alan Ball and his gifted team next year.” Series creator, executive producer, and sometimes writer/director Alan Ball also added “I am beyond thrilled to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew. This is the most fun I have ever had.”

True Blood is loosely based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by Charlaine Harris. It takes place in a time when a synthetic blood has been created, bottled, and sold as Tru Blood, allowing for vampires to enter into society without a need to feed on humans anymore. [...]

Bethesda Softworks has released the new trailer for Hunted: The Demon’s Forge.

A significant amount of gameplay footage was also show off during G4′s coverage of E3, and since we love ourselves some gameplay, you can see both here and now!

The title is an action/fantasy co-op game that has you playing as an expert at distanced weapons like a bow or a warrior who likes to get up close and personal with his sword. As a co-op game, you can play with someone else, or, if you play the single player campaign, you’ll have the option to switch back and forth between characters.

Click on over to the other side to see the new trailer for Hunted: Demon’s Forge, as well as a video showing off the gameplay.

Hunted is one of the titles that Bethesda is only publishing; InXile Entertainment is developing. As they’ve grown as a company, they’ve grown into a major publisher of titles like Wet and upcoming titles Fallout: New Vegas and Rage. In fact, no one really knows what Bethesda is working on developing behind closed doors (please be Elder Scrolls V). [...]

One of the more appealing additions to gamers these days is what goodies they can get if they pre-order a game. Most know ahead of time whether or not they’re going to buy a video game, but the offer of a little extra something special that no one else who doesn’t pre-order will have is always a welcomed option.

Most of the time, a pre-order will come with a special code for an outfit or weapon to download when the game is released, but when it comes to Fallout: New Vegas, they’re offering up four different packs, each coming with four things to get your game started off right.

The four packs are being offered, as usual, depending on where you pre-order — either from GameStop, Amazon, Steam, Walmart, or Best Buy. Click on over to the other side to see what you get with each unique offer, and where you’ll be reserving your copy. These are all available in North America right now, with the rest of the world soon to follow. [...]

Earlier this month, AMC released the first set of images from their upcoming series, The Walking Dead. The images were just to show off some of the great makeup work being done on the zombies that will be on the hunt in the show (Read: First Images From Frank Darabont’s ‘The Walking Dead’ Arrive Online).

Now comes the first production photograph to show off a little bit of the vibe we might be able to expect when the series premiers in October of 2010 during AMC’s Fearfest.

Click on over to the other side to check out the first zombie-in-action shot of what they’s calling “The Walkers” from The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead has the brilliant Frank Darabont working the writing, producing, and directing trifecta for the show. Darabont when speaking about the makeup work being done said “Greg Nicotero is absolutely out-doing himself. The work he is doing is beyond what one could hope for. Our Zombies kick ass!” [...]

If you’ve been following the progress of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn at all, you know it’s been long-expected and long-assumed that the final chapter to the film series would be split into two films.

The move was expected as it would be in an attempt to cover as much of the story’s details as possible and of course to pile as much cash into the bank as they possibly could before the franchise’s end.

In a press release put out by Summit Entertainment today, it was finally made official: Breaking Dawn will indeed be a two-part movie. The film will go into production some time this fall, and the first of these two movies will be released in November of 2011.

Returning cast includes Kristen Stewart (Panic Room) as Bella, Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as Edward, and Taylor Lautner (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl) as Jacob. [...]

4th Row Films has announced that they have acquired the rights to develop a feature-length documentary that will share tell the complete story of one of the more beloved banners in comedy history, National Lampoon.

National Lampoon began in 1970 as a comedy magazine, branching out from the Harvard Lampoon (which was started at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1876). Since then, the name has gone on to spawn many books, albums, shows, and of course movies — most notably of which were Animal House and all of the Vacation movies with Chevy Chase and friends. Since those great early days, sadly, many complications, financial troubles, and exchanges in ownership have resulted in the steady decline of quality and a pile of straight-to-DVD movies that don’t deserve to wear the National Lampoon title.

Douglas Tirola and Susan Bedusa of 4th Row will be the duo bringing us the film, with Tirola taking on the directorial duties. Their goal is to showcase the entire story of this once-famed name in comedy, its evolution, decline, and what they claim is an upcoming “rebirth.” [...]

In a funny press release put out by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films, it was officially announced that a biopic all about the fictional super-producer Mr. Les Grossman was being developed by the studios.

Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) has been tapped to write the screenplay, and Tropic Thunder director Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld of Red Hour Films will be producing.

When asked about what the movie would be about, Grossman responded “To quote my great friend Kirk Lazarus (played in Tropic Thunder by Robert Downey Jr.), ‘I don’t read the script, the script reads me.’”

Stiller then went on to say:

Les Grossman’s life story is an inspiring tale of the classic human struggle to achieve greatness against all odds. He has assured me he plans to quote, ‘F**king kill the sh*t out of this movie and make Citizen f**king Kane look like a piece of crap home movie by the time we are done.’ I am honored to be working with him. [...]

Likely Story and Big Beach Films have announced the signing of Paul Rudd to star in their new movie, My Idiot Brother.

The movie will tell the story of a man named Ned (Rudd) who lives life to his own plans and views and not how everyone expects he should live his life. Because of this — though he may be happy in his own little bubble of contentment — success isn’t so glaring in his real world, and so he finds himself living with each of his three successful sisters, and his harsh and overwhelming mother.

My Idiot Brother will be directed by Jesse Peretz, who has worked with Rudd in the past on a film called The Château. Other things that he has directed included The Ex with Zach Braff and Jason Bateman, and six episodes of Important Things with Demetri Martin.

The screenplay is penned by an interesting duo in Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall. Evgenia is the sibling of director Peretz, and this is her first screenplay. Before this, she was already well-established as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine. [...]

Last August it was announced that a new television series was being adapted from Robert Kirkman‘s popular graphic novel The Walking Dead, and now the first eight images from the show, which began production today, are already online.

The story follows a cop and his family as they team up with some other survivors of a devastating zombie infestation, and while it is sure to have all the scares that come with zombies, the show is said to focus on the stories of these people and their survival instead of the BOO! factor, which is why it’s being set up as a series.

The big concern in all of this was whether this graphic horror content could fly on a network like AMC, which is where the six-episode freshman run will air. And while that is still really yet to be seen, the fact that top hit shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad live there and these new images you’re about to see are certain to give you some hope.

Limp as quickly as your undead re-animated corpse will allow you to over to the other side to check out the new images from The Walking Dead! [...]

In a press release put out today, Warner Brothers Animation officially announced that they have entered into production on a brand new animated series based on the popular ’80s show, Thundercats, which will air on Cartoon Network.

Warner Animation is collaborating on the project with Japan’s Studio4°C, who have brought us other titles such as Gotham Knights, The Animatrix, and Halo Legends. Instead of the normal cartoon look for Thundercats, this new series will actually infuse traditional Japanese anime animations into the production, giving it an amazing visual styles to go along with the wonderful new stories.

Dig out those sweet plastic swords you had when you were a wee li’l tyke, and sound off with your best “HOOOOO!” as you click over for more and to read the full press release. Don’t B.S. us. We all did it.

The new series will tell the story of Prince Lion-O’s rise to power, as well as he and characters like Cheetara, Panthro, and others’ quest to find and secure the coveted Stones of Power before the evil villain Mumm-Ra finds a way to obtain them. [...]

In case you’re not aware, a brand new chapter in the ultra-popular Fallout video game series is on the way, and it’s called Fallout: New Vegas. The game is a follow-up to 2008′s Game of the Year-winner Fallout 3, which was developed and published by Bethesda Softworks, which is one of the very best — if not THE very best — video game-producing brands on the planet today.

Bethesda is only publishing Fallout: New Vegas this time around, leaving the developing duties to Obsidian Entertainment, which has people who had a hand in making Fallout 2 way back in the day. The game will obviously take place in Vegas, bringing the title back to its roots…not to mention giving us the chance to do some post-apocalyptic gambling!

Many of the bigger video game titles that get released also offer a special limited Collector’s Edition of their game, which comes with lots of cool extras and collectibles from the game and making it the ultimate option for die-hard fans of a game or franchise. [...]

Popular actor/comedian Kevin Pollak has a new web-exclusive comedy series called Vamped Out, and it has debuted on the website Babelgum today.

The series is about a documentary filmmaker as he follows around a real, live vampire who’s trying to make it as an actor. Unfortunately, he can’t even land the roles of characters who are themselves vampires.

Pollak (Grumpy Old Men, The Usual Suspects) make his directorial debut on the series, and will also star as the filmmaker. Joining him is Jason Antoon (Contact, Minority Report) as the vampire subject, Samm Levine (Freaks & Geeks, Inglorious Basterds) and Seana Kofoed (Broadway’s Proof, Men in Trees).

Click on over to the other side to check out a trailer for the new web series Vamped Out, and be sure to head to Babelgum to check out the first episode now!

This isn’t the first time that Pollak has dabbled in the world of web-exclusive content. He previously hosted Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, his own mini talk show with lots of special guests. [...]