Trailer Time: 'Strike Witches', directed by Kazuhiro Takamura

I only came across Strike Witches through playing one of the old video games on a friend's region-free Playstation 2 some years ago, but quickly found it to be a unique twist on the old anime formula. Sure it still features cute girls with cool powers embroiled in a seemingly endless war, but in this case the battle takes place in an alternate universe version of earth set during WWII. The Strike Witches are a group of women with huge magical potential, equipped with special flying technology, and thrust into the fight against an invading alien force.

While Strike Witches has been around in various forms since about 2005, the first film was announced back in 2010 with Kazuhiro Takamura directing. The trailer has been released, and although it's in Japanese I think it gives a pretty good idea of what you can expect.  Opening in Japan on March 17th, we should see an English language version come our way later this year....

Robbie Pickering, not Jonah Hill, to direct alien invasion flick 'The Kitchen Sink'

For awhile there it looked like Jonah Hill was going to be the one to direct The Kitchen Sink, one of the more hotly pursued films of the last couple years, based on a Black List approved script by Oren Uziel. Hill was already making inroads behind the camera as co-writer and producer of 21 Jump Street, but it looks like Sony Pictures has decided to go in another direction entirely.

Robbie Pickering, writer/director of the SXSW award winning and Indie Spirit nominated Natural Selection, will take on the oddball alien invasion film. The story follows a zombie, a human, and a vampire who team up to save their town from extraterrestrials.

No word on when the horror comedy will kick off, but the addition of Pickering has me thinking this won't be nearly as wacky as the plot suggests.  Matt Tolmach(The Amazing Spider-Man) will produce. [Deadline]

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn reteaming for 'Interns'; Shawn Levy to direct

It's been nearly seven years since Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn crashed their last party, and while talk of a sequel to Wedding Crashers has long since faded, the two remain one of the most sought after comedic pairings. That might explain why 20th Century Fox was so quick to jump on Interns, a new comedy written by Vaughn and looking to be directed by Shawn Levy(Real Steel).

More new photos from 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'!

Just a day after we got the most extensive look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter yet, USAToday has now released six more photos from the upcoming horror/historical mash-up. The trailer can't be far behind, with some saying it'll be released as soon as this coming Friday. The film is set to open on June 22nd.

The film stars Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln, whose duties to protect the free world are more extensive than anybody could have known. After surviving a vampire attack as a young boy, Lincoln would set himself on a path that not only lead to the Presidency, but also him becoming the world's foremost slayer of vampires.  Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Alan Tudyk, Dominic Cooper, Robin McLeavy, Rufus Sewell, and Jimmi Simpson star in the film, with Tim Burton producing and Timur Bekmambetov directing.  Check out the latest batch of images, which feature some pretty cool vampire kung fu, below....

2 new posters and banners for 'Wrath of the Titans'

Wrath of the Titans comes out in just over a month on March 30th, and yet it doesn't seem like there's been quite the marketing blitz we got for the last film. Maybe Warner Brothers is stepping back expectations a little bit? Sam Worthington isn't nearly the star he was back in 2010, with the majority of films he's been in(like last month's Man On A Ledge) underperforming.

Kit Harington joins Jeff Bridges in 'The Seventh Son'

Starring in HBO's Game of Thrones has been a career boon for a lot of folks, but most especially for Kit Harington, who is Jon Snow on the popular series. He's seen his name mentioned for practically every major film, although the biggest one he landed would've been David Dobkin's Arthur & Lancelot, which unfortunately doesn't look like it's ever going to happen. Fortunately, Harington now finds himself to another film with huge franchise potential, as he'll join The Seventh Son, based on the first book in The Wardstone Chronicles series.

Already set to star Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, and Alicia Vikander, the film follows Thomas J. Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, born into the 18th century with supernatural abilities such as being able to sense the presence of ghosts and smelling death on another person. Bridges plays John Gregory, one of the most prolific "Spooks" in existence and Thomas's strict mentor. Harington will play a former apprentice of Bridges' character, possibly Bill Arkwright.

Sergei Bodrov(Mongol) will direct, based on a script by Matt Greenberg. Production is set to begin in April, which should give Harington time to fit it in before Game of Thrones starts back up. [Variety]

'The Karate Kid' sequel moves forward with Zak Penn to script

Nobody was more surprised by how good The Karate Kid was than me. It seemed like a disastrous idea, remaking the beloved 1980s Ralph Macchio classic and using that tater tot Jaden Smith of all people? Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi? Nah, no way. Not only did the film get all the emotional beats of the original just right, but it went on to score over $55M in it's opening weekend alone. A sequel was all but assured, and not long after Sony hired Cyrus Voris and Ethan Reif(Kung Fu Panda) to start cranking out the script.

Then it was like the film fell off the face of the earth. Nothing was heard about it until now, as Variety reports production is being geared up again with Zak Penn hired to pen the script. It's not confirmed, but I'm guessing he'll be working on a totally new script and ignoring anything done by the previous writers. Penn has become one of the go-to guys for superhero flicks, having written Elektra, The Incredible Hulk, and X-men: The Last Stand. Yikes. Most recently he created the SyFy Channel original series, Alphas.

Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan aren't signed yet but are expected to return. There's also been no word on the previous film's director, Harald Zwart.

Anton Corbijn casts Philip Seymour Hoffman in 'A Most Wanted Man'

The name John Le Carre has a whole new relevance thanks to the recent adaptation of his acclaimed novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and the promise of more subdued, Cold War era films to come. The 80 year old writer is still active, however, and continues to produce thrilling espionage novels every few years. One of his most recent efforts, A Most Wanted Man, is now headed to the big screen directed by Anton Corbijn(The American), and has found one it's principle stars.

Philip Seymour Hoffman will take on one of the film's lead roles, although if you're expecting this to be another slow burn paranoia fest like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you might be disappointed. The contemporary story deals in some extent to the current "war on terror", specifically the extreme policies put in play by the Bush Administration. A starved, destitute Russian man is smuggled into Hamburg under the cover of night, carrying an insane amount of cash and telling an intriguing tale that may or may not be true. He comes under the care of an idealistic young German lawyer and a British banker who attempt to save him from extraordinary rendition.

Anyone who saw the contemplative yet thrilling assassin flick, The American, recognizes that Corbijn is a perfect fit for Le Carre's style, and with Hoffman playing a role I can't wait to see how the rest shapes up.  No word on when filming will begin but hopefully we'll see it some time in 2013. [Screen Daily]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt to write, direct, and star in a romantic comedy with Scarlett Johansson

"You strike me as the kind of guy who'd want to direct". That's reportedly what Quentin Tarantino told Joseph Gordon-Levitt when the actor informed the director of a possibility he may not be able to fulfill his minor role in Django Unchained. JGL had been trying to secure financing for a romantic comedy which he wrote and planned to direct and star. Deadline reports that the untitled film is now a go, and even has a red hot co-star in Scarlett Johansson.

In what is a change of pace from his usual "nice guy" roles, JGL will play a slick Don Juan type who undergoes a quest to become less of a "selfish dick". That's a pretty vague description, but JGL seems pretty confident, saying he "wrote himself a helluva role". Let's just hope it's not yet another story of a guy who goes off to talk to his ex-girlfriends about why they broke up with him. That's been done to death. Other than Johansson, there is apparently another female lead yet to be cast, so maybe it's a love triangle sort of deal?

There is some bad mixed in with the good, however. Production is set to kick off in April, and with things moving so fast he may not get to be in Tarantino's spaghetti Western after all. It's not as if JGL has a lot of free time as it is, with four other films already slated to come out in the next year alone: Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush, and Lincoln. Johansson will be seen next in The Avengers.

Denzel Washington in talks to star in '2 Guns' opposite Mark Wahlberg

It's been a long time since there has been reason to get excited over a Denzel Washington movie. For years now he's basically starred in the same style of mid-budget thriller with a co-star not charismatic enough to stand in his way. He'll do the same this weekend in Safe House alongside Ryan Reynolds. Washington's complacency as an actor hasn't worried Universal, however, as his films continue to make money, enough that the studio wants him for another major flick with franchise potential.

Deadline reports that Washington has entered talks to star with Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns, an action comedy based on a graphic novel by Steven Grant. The film has had it's share of problems, initially set to star Vince Vaughn and directed by Wahlberg's (ex?) buddy, David O. Russell. Both of them left just as Wahlberg was confirmed, and a few months later Baltasar Kormakur, who just worked with Wahlberg in Contraband, stepped in to direct.

With a script by Blake Masters, the story follows a DEA agent and a naval officer tasked with stealing some mob money, who unwittingly investigate each other. So this sounds like it fits neatly into Washington's recent run of films, although Wahlberg is the level of co-star he hasn't seen since Russell Crowe in American Gangster.