IMDb has revealed the site’s top 10 most viewed actors, films, TV shows and in production movies in the last 10 years this week. More an indication of those in Hollywood who trend on the internet than any sort of performance-based ranking, they throw up precious few surprises.

Johnny Depp tops the actors no doubt propelled there by his performance as friendly pirate next door Jack Sparrow.

The Dark Knight understandably tops the film list as both the most hyped film ever ever ever and as the highest ranked film of the decade as voted for by IMDb’s viewership (no doubt linked to its aforementioned status as an overblown blockbuster behemoth – albeit a great one).

Lost beats off some stiff competition for the top spot in TV with people flocking  to IMDb clamouring to find out just what the hell was going on and who was who and what was what before presumably giving up entirely.

Also in case you were wondering the most anticipated in production film is about a certain caped crusader whose previous outing I hear was terribly successful. Bet you can never guess what it is.

Because of the purely populist nature of the listings there won’t be anything here that hasn’t been shoved in and around your face during the entire past decade. So read on and be surprised by absolutely nothing:

Top 10 Stars of the Last 10 Years*

1. Johnny Depp
2. Brad Pitt
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Tom Cruise
5. Natalie Portman
6. Christian Bale
7. Scarlett Johansson
8. Jennifer Aniston
9. Keira Knightley
10. Emma Watson

*Highest average IMDbPro STARmeter ranking over the last 10 years.

Top 10 Films of the Last 10 Years*

1. The Dark Knight
2. Donnie Darko
3. Pulp Fiction
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Twilight
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
10. The Godfather

*Highest average IMDbPro MOVIEmeter ranking over the last 10 years.

Top 10 TV Series of the Last 10 Years*

1. Lost
2. House M.D.
3. Grey’s Anatomy
4. Heroes
5. How I Met Your Mother
6. 24
7. Glee
8. True Blood
9. Dexter
10. Gossip Girl

*Highest average ranking over the last 10 years.

Top 10 Most Anticipated In-Production Movies*

1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Men in Black III
3. The Dictator
4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
5. The Expendables 2
6. Battleship
7. The Avengers
8. Rock of Ages
9. The Hunger Games
10. Prometheus

*Highest average IMDbPRo MOVIEmeter rank of all films currently in production.

Also in case you were curious as to the artistic triumphs that The Dark Knight triumphed all over here is my self-researched (this took at least 2 minutes to do so you better be appreciative) top rated IMDb films of the last decade:

Top 10 Highest Rated Films of the Last 10 Years*

1. The Dark Knight (8.8) – All-Time Ranking: 8
2. The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King (8.8)  - All-Time Ranking: 10
3. Inception (8.8)  - All-Time Ranking: 13 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (8.7) – All-Time Ranking: 15
4. City of God (8.7) – All-Time Ranking: 18
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (8.6) – All-Time Ranking: 29
6. Memento (8.6) – All-Time Ranking: 31
7. Toy Story 3 (8.5) – All-Time Ranking: 42
8. Spirited Away (8.5) – All-Time Ranking: 45
9. Amelie (8.5) – All-Time Ranking: 51

*Highest average rating /10 as voted for by IMDb’s most regular voters.

Source: Deadline and IMDb

Here’s an odd but great video interview courtesy of the guys from Lost at E Minor which shows A-Lister Angelina Jolie interviewed when she was just 16 years old. The video seems to have made its way onto the interview after years of being ‘lost’.

The interview doesn’t really tell us much but I thought it was a great insight into what Jolie was like before becoming a mega-star. I’ve never met her but hope to one day and I imagine that other than being much more media savvy, she hasn’t changed very much. The video was posted on YouTube back in 2009 so you may well have seen it before but if not, scroll down…..

Have a watch below and let me know your thoughts:

Source: Lost at E Minor via Becky Joseph @NowinColour

We saw the first trailer for Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, debut back in October, and it was pretty powerful stuff, demonstrating a clear talent from Jolie as both its writer and its director.

Last month, we then got an artistic first poster for the film, and following on from that, we now have six new clips to share with you, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, entitled ‘Still Murder’, ‘Shepherd’, ‘Distraction’, ‘Gallery’, ‘UN’, and ‘Open the Door’. Just from those little titles alone, you can already form an idea of the kind of emotionally dramatic and powerful film this is going to be.

“The drama is set in the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s. The film tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Ajla (Zana Marjanović), Bosnians from different sides of the brutal ethnic war. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, the relationship between them changes, their motives and  connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. The couple demonstrates the emotional, moral and physical toll that war takes on individuals, and the consequences stemming from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.”

We also heard last month that the film, which Jolie shot both in English and in the original language of BHS, Bosanski/Hrvatski/Srpski (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), would be released in the latter and subtitled in English, which I think is a brilliant choice, with Jolie pushing for authenticity over a wider audience pull.

The film is getting a limited release in New York and Los Angeles on 23^rd December, qualifying it for February’s Academy Awards in the new year, and though a UK release date hasn’t yet been set, it should just be a matter of time. It will be released in a few other European countries in February/March, so with a bit of luck, we’ll be able to secure a similar date for ourselves too. Without further ado, here are the six new clips from Jolie’s debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Angelina Jolie (Wanted) is in talks to take the lead role in an as-yet-untitled action-thriller from French filmmaker Luc Besson (Leon), Deadline are reporting.

Few details are currently know, other than the fact Besson will write and direct what is being described as an action epic “rooted in true scientific elements”.

Several studios are already interested in acquiring the rights so, if all goes to plan, expect to see this one entering production early next year.

Jolie is about to start promotional duties for In the Land of Blood and Honey, which marks her debut as director, while Lockout, which Besson wrote and produced, will be released in April, 2012.

FilmDistrict have unveiled an artistic new poster for GK Films’ In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Written and directed by Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie (Changeling), In the Land of Blood and Honey stars Zana Marjanović (Snow), Rade Šerbedžija (Snatch) and Goran Kostic (Taken).

A Serbian soldier (Kostic) and a Bosnian captive (Marjanović) find their allegiances becoming uncertain as their nation’s brutal ethnic conflict takes its toll.

In the Land of Blood and Honey will be released in the US on December 23. A UK release date has not yet been confirmed.

Check out the eye-catching new poster below:

Source: Yahoo!

We saw the powerful first trailer for Angelina Jolie’s feature directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, a few weeks ago, and it gave a strong indication that we can expect a lot from Jolie as both a writer and director, bringing us what looks to be a tremendous, even important, first film.

Deadline are now reporting that In the Land of Blood and Honey will be released in the US in the native language of Bosnia, referred to as BHS, Bosanski/Hrvatski/Srpski (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), and will be subtitled in English.

“The drama is set in the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s. The film tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Ajla (Zana Marjanović), Bosnians from different sides of the brutal ethnic war. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, the relationship between them changes, their motives and  connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. The couple demonstrates the emotional, moral and physical toll that war takes on individuals, and the consequences stemming from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.”

During the shooting, Jolie filmed in both English and BHS, the latter of which was called Serbian-Croatian and spoken during the Bosnian War through which the film is set. That, in itself, is incredibly impressive, having to film almost everything twice.

And I think the choice to release the film in the original BHS is brave and brilliant (and arguably pushes the film towards the attention of the Academy Awards, if you want to be a bit cynical). Though I can imagine Jolie will have an audience in place across the world to see her directorial debut, having it subtitled will no doubt unfortunately steer some people away from the cinema, not interested in reading subtitles when they’re watching a film, which I think is a real shame. There’s so much talent outside the English language-speaking cinema, and releasing it in a way that clearly Jolie was hoping it would be seen sounds like an excellent move to me.

“Jolie clearly preferred to go for the authenticity of the native language. FilmDistrict’s Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney agreed with her after after they saw both versions within the past few days. “I’m honored that FilmDistrict has chosen to release the film in the United States in the original BHS-language version,” Jolie said in a statement. “It was always my hope that U.S. audiences would have the opportunity to experience this version.””

The first trailer we saw for the film was in English, and as Deadline note, there’s a good chance that the English language-version will surface either internationally in its release or, at the very least, when it comes to putting the film out on DVD/Blu-Ray, and I’m personally hoping that when it arrives in the UK, it will be in the subtitled form. If Jolie wanted it to be seen that way, that’s how I want to see it first.

In the Land of Blood and Honey is getting a limited release in New York and Los Angeles at the end of December, thus qualifying for the Oscars early next year, before rolling out through the rest of the States in January. There’s still no word of a UK release date yet, but I’m hoping we won’t have long to wait, because the trailer really was powerful, and it served as a strong reminder that though we’ve seen a lot of the Oscar candidates in the past couple of months, the race is far from over yet, and we’ve still got plenty more potentially brilliant films to look forward to before the end of the year.

FilmDistrict has released the official trailer for Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie’s mysterious directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.

In the Land of Blood and Honey centers on the troubled relationship between a Muslim woman and a Serbian man in the midst of the Bosnian war, and stars Zana Marjanović (Snow), Rade Šerbedžija (Snatch) and Goran Kostic (Taken).

Jolie’s possible awards season contender is set to open in the US on December 23.

Watch the trailer below:

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments box underneath.

Source: The Playlist

If you missed part one of the in-depth analysis series, then you need to click here to have a little watch. The first one focused on The Dark Knight and why much of the editing and camera-work in one of the chase sequences really isn’t actually that great, even though the movie has brought in over $1bn.

In part two of Jim Emerson‘s video series, ‘In the Cut’, we get to look at another chase sequence in the Philip Noyce directed movie, Salt which starred Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor and how this sequence is filmed and edited so much better than that of The Dark Knight.

I’ll let the video play here but would love to hear what you think of it. If you’ve missed part one, click here to view and keep your eyes peeled for the third and final part which I’ll post on Friday.

Thanks again for making these videos Jim, they are truly excellent!

After leaving the film adaptation of video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune last month, David O. Russell is now one of the front-runners Disney are considering to direct their fantasy film, Maleficent, a live-action retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, THR report.

The film has Angelina Jolie attached as the lead, Maleficent, the wicked witch that casts the curse upon the Princess to put her to sleep for 100 years, until she is kissed by the Prince.

Tim Burton was originally to direct the film, but when he left the project earlier this year, the director’s chair was left empty, and Russell is one of the names Disney are now considering to fill the position. The film is to be told from the witch’s perspective, and has been written by Linda Woolverton, who’s worked with Disney for two decades, being involved with writing Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, and last year’s Alice in Wonderland. That Maleficent is to be the protagonist would certainly suggest that the film is a darker take on the traditional Disney tale, and that would definitely make it something to look forward to in my books.

Russell is a brilliant director, whose film, The Fighter, won him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director last year. If Maleficent is going to be a darker version of the fairy tale, it would be something very different to the kind of films we’ve seen Russell direct to date. All of the features that he’s made so far have had a very different feel to them, even with his frequent collaboration with Mark Wahlberg, so taking on what could well be such a dark tale would give him something entirely new to work on.

Nothing is confirmed yet as to Russell’s role as director, but after Burton left the project earlier in the year, Disney will likely want to cast another very talented director to take his place, and Russell definitely fits that criterion. Both Russell and Jolie’s schedules are relatively well-matched at the moment to work out a schedule that could potentially see Maleficent ready for release by the end of next year, so here’s to hoping that the film’s director will be announced sooner rather than later, and then begins the search for the Princess and her Prince, and the rest of the tale’s cast.

‘We haven’t inherited this world from our parents; we’ve borrowed it from our children…’

Dr. Jane Goodall, celebrated primatologist and ethnographer, is an extraordinary woman. Having ambitioned at the age of just ten to one day move to Africa and live with the animals, a young Jane Goodall set off from her England home with obliging mother in tow. Sponsored by one Louis Leakey, who believed a woman not yet biased by further education would make the best observer, Goodall went on to revolutionise the field of primatology with the discovery of tool-use in chimpanzee culture. While in the field, Goodall also redefining preconceived beliefs surrounding the chimpanzee diet and the species’ capability of experiencing emotion.

While Jane’s Journey might flirt with Goodall’s contribution to anthropology, splicing in archive footage and paying lip service to her troglodyte muse David Greybeard, this is by no means an in depth study of the woman’s many scientific accomplishments. Knee deep in chimpanzees and crouched in a picturesque clearing, her back turned to a truly arresting jungle scene, Goodall speaks not of her discoveries or achievements, but of her two marriages and the often turbulent relationship she has with her son, Grub. Having lost two husbands – one to jealousy and the other to cancer – Goodall’s nomadic lifestyle has clearly taken its toll on her personal life, her convictions inevitably coming into conflict with her son’s early business venture in the exportation of lobsters.

Jane’s Journey serves a purpose beyond mere biography, however, with the film’s humanitarian cause becoming increasingly prominent as the documentary progresses. Now 75, Goodall shows no sign of giving up her adventurous and wandering lifestyle. Travelling three hundred days a year, and with initiatives set up in over 120 countries, the Jane Goodall Institute and its Roots and Shoots projects endeavour to bring hope to children and inspire the next generation to remodel their worldview and reconsider their priorities. Determined that there is still time to make a difference, Jane’s Journey is a great platform for reaching out to audiences unfamiliar with Goodall’s esteemed work: both scientific and ecological.

Recruiting endorsements from the likes of Kofi Annan, Angelina Jolie and Pierce Brosnan, Jane’s Journey paints the picture of a likeable and anecdotal, yet ruthlessly determined Goodall; a veritable force of nature whose enterprise and activism is wonderfully undermined by a dutiful cuddly toy that never leaves her side. As she journeys from country to country, lecture to lecture, school to school, it is unequivocally clear that although grey-haired and frail looking, Dr. Jane Goodall’s work isn’t anywhere near over.

While the anthropologist in me was dispirited by Jane’s Journey’s oversimplified approach to Goodalls’ many scientific advancements, the message of hope is expounded with such unwavering enthusiasm and urgency that the film at least succeeds in conveying the budding humanitarian’s optimistic, but realistic, stratagem for improvement. Although it could have made better use of its generous running-time, and struck a more effective balance between the paying of tribute and propaganda, Lorenz Knauer’s documentary is an engaging introduction to a truly inspirational – as one awards presenter puts it – “environmental superstar”. Just don’t confuse her with Dian Fossey of Gorillas in the Mist.

***½~ (3.5/5)

Phillip Noyce-directed Salt may not have topped many people’s favourite film lists of last year, but it did turn almost $300m. from a $110m. budget, and now it’s looking like a sequel could well be on the cards, Deadline report.

After leaving the window open for a possible sequel at the close of the first film, Kurt Wimmer, who wrote the first Salt, has officially signed on and is now working on the script for the second film.

Director Phillip Noyce has said that he doesn’t plan on returning to helm the sequel, so with Wimmer now beginning to write the follow-up, Sony Pictures will no doubt be starting to look for a director to take his place. Personally, I think that Wimmer himself would make an excellent choice. Having written the original, he knows the characters, and I thought his directing in Equilibrium was brilliant. The studio may well decide to opt for a bigger name, with more directing experience, but I think Wimmer would be more than capable to tackle the job should he be considered.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Salt, Red, Transformers) talked to IGN at the end of last year and said,

“We’re definitely talking about the possibility of Salt 2… Angie, I know, loved that character, and would love to explore the character some more first and foremost.”

Having Angelina Jolie on board is of course of the utmost importance, and the project can’t really work without her approval. But given that she’s expressed interest already in making a sequel, it looks like everything is moving in the right direction for the project. With Wimmer now getting to work on penning the sequel, we can no doubt look forward to announcements of the director and cast in the coming months, and who else will be returning alongside Jolie.

Kung Fu Panda 2 comes out at the end of this week and yesterday HeyUGuys trecked down to Westfield for the UK premiere of the film.

During the course of the afternoon we were treated to a display of Kung Fu, two men dressed up as a dragon, and Jack Black being paraded around on a rickshaw. To say it was all a little bit odd would be something of an understatement.

Fortunately we managed to keep our composure (and mask our confusion) long enough to speak to the film’s producer, Melissa Cobb, the director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, and of course Mr Jack Black.

Check out our video from the event below.

Kung Fu Panda 2 hits UK cinemas 10th June and to celebrate, Dreamworks have given us this featurette for the movie which announces to the world: Po is Back! In the featurette we get to see Jack Black at work with all his co-stars talking about him and how he becomes Po while conducting his voice dialogue.

Kung Fu Panda 2 sees Jack Black back to kick some more badie butt alongside a support cast which includes James Hong, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gary Oldman and is directed by Jennifer Yuh.

Synopsis: In “Kung Fu Panda 2”, Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five.  But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu.  Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

This new trailer gives us a much better look at what Po must do…. save Kung Fu! Check out the rather comical new trailer using the link below.

Please note there are also paid previews commending Wednesday, June 1st 2011 through Sunday, June 5th before nationwide release on June 10th.

Kung Fu Panda 2 begins with a flashback introduction to the movie’s bad guy, the preening peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), explaining that a terrifying prophecy foretold that a black and white warrior would be his downfall and how this resulted in his killing of all of the pandas in China. From there we find the panda of the title, Po (Jack Black), involved in some food-related japery with the Furious Five showing that they’re all friends together and that all seems well in the land of honest kung-fu.

Almost immediately this band of kung-fu warriors is called into battle to protect some innocent villagers from Lord Shen’s rampaging hordes who are searching for metal to enable them make their ultimate weapon, leading to the first of the film’s many action sequences.

Lord Shen, no slouch in the kung-fu stakes himself, has come up with the ultimate weapon that will enable him to take over the whole of China, which he considers to be the rightful position denied to him when his parents sent him away in disgrace after he annihilated the pandas all those years previously. He has spent that time plotting and building up his armoury safe in the knowledge that by killing the pandas he has already defeated his doom predicted in the words of the prophecy only for a lone survivor of his men’s attack on the village to return to him with news that there is a panda alive.

From there Po and the Furious Five look to rid the land of Lord Shen and his menace but all seems bleak when one of the great masters of kung-fu is defeated and his allies imprisoned raising the prospect that China will fall to Lord Shen and that he will also bring an end to the power of kung-fu itself with the unstoppable might of his ultimate weapon.

All of the main characters who survived the previous movie are there with the Furious Five of Tigress (Angeline Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan) Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Viper (Lucy Liu) with Po’s old master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) making some brief appearances throughout the film.

Added to those are the new, and in one case terminally brief, characters of Master Croc (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Master Oxen (Dennis Haysbert) and Master Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber) as fellow allies of “good” kung-fu with the Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) providing constant reminders to Lord Shen of his ultimate demise.

All of those performances are perfectly good but what everybody really goes to a Kung Fu Panda movie to see is Jack Black’s Po and he doesn’t disappoint with well-delivered one-liners, assorted food gags, witty ripostes and awesome kung-fu moves throughout the film. Of all the film’s characters his somehow seems to be the closest to the actor and his exuberance is perfectly suited to the overweight and out-of-breath ball of black and white awesomeness that he gives voice to.

Shifu’s brief appearances are to point Po in the direction of “inner peace” and he’s additionally pushed down that road by the unsurprising admission by his father (James Hong) that Po is adopted. Additionally he has flashbacks when fighting Lord Shen which  help him reach into the deep recesses of his memory and recall the actions of Lord Shen on the day the pandas were exterminated, the day he last saw his parents. It is finding this inner peace that eventually enables Po to stand up to Lord Shen and his fleet in the final magnificent battle that cements Po’s legendary reputation in the annals of kung-fu.

One reason I think that Shifu’s appearances are brief is that the sometimes ponderous introspection and soul-searching of the first film has been replaced with an abundance of fight sequences and chases. To my mind these make it a more enjoyable film as they really don’t feel repetitive or clichéd and the plot throws up a fair few twists along the way and does not pander to the audience or seem overly-predictable. If I had to reference to another film there’s a touch of Harry Potter versus Voldemort in the antagonism between the orphaned Po and tortured megalomania of Lord Shen but really it’s Po himself and the abundance of superb action scenes that make the film so enjoyable.

****~ (4/5)

FilmDistrict has acquired US distribution rights to actress Angelina Jolie’s much-talked about directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.

In the Land of Blood and Honey is set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War in the 1990′s and “illustrates the consequences of the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.”

The GK Films production will be released in the US on December 23rd.

Source: Deadline

Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom, the nigh-on inevitable sequel to the successful and impressive original Dreamworks film will be upon us soon.

While it is tempting to assume that we will get more of the same this time around, there is no reason to think that Dreamworks are incapable of fleshing out the characters and bringing some of the depth and mythology building that characterise the very best animation sequels.

As we await the finished article, we are presented now, via the magic of Yahoo Movies’ summer preview, with a new clip in which Dustin Hoffman’s Shifu expresses in awkward detail the full extent of his crushing sense of disappointment at Jack Black’s rotund Po.

Check out the clip below and then let us know whether you’re looking forward to this sequel, or whether you fear it will become a casualty of another big-hitting and crowded summer blockbuster season.

Great news today for Tomb Raider fans (of which I am one) with Deadline reporting that the GK Films have hired writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby to pen the script for the reboot of the franchise.

The pair worked together on Iron Man back in 2008, and have teamed up again with director Jon Favreau for Cowboys & Aliens, due out on 12th August here. Having a pair of writers that clearly already have a great chemistry and have penned a very successful films is definitely a strong first move for the reboot, and hiring Fergus and Ostby certainly sounds like a great choice.

THR quotes the pair as saying that they want to create an,

“origin story for Lara Croft that solidifies her place alongside Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor in the pantheon of great female action heroes.”

That sounds pretty good to me. Origin stories seem to be quite popular of late,  as long as they’re done well, I don’t see why that has to be a bad thing. Hiring Fergus and Ostby to tackle the project seems like a perfect fit; their early work on Children of Men won them an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, and following this up with writing for Iron Man demonstrated their ability to branch out into a totally different genre, and do it incredibly well. I personally can’t wait to see their work again in this Tomb Raider reboot. GK Films are planning a 2013 release for the film, so we shouldn’t have too long to wait for more pieces to start falling into place.

There have already been plenty of rumours circling about who’s going to be filling Angelina Jolie’s shoes, and Olivia Wilde’s name is one that has cropped up a lot. Unfortunately, she’s denied that she’s been told yet that she will be given the lead role. But she’s also said that she’d love to do it, and with no confirmation yet as to who will be playing Lara Croft, I remain hopeful that Wilde’s name is firmly at the top of the filmmakers’ list for the title role, because I think she would be absolutely perfect for it.

Whilst Jolie was already a rising star before her role in the original two films (Tomb Raider in 2001, and The Cradle of Life in 2003), they certainly didn’t hurt her position on Hollywood’s radar, and her career trajectory has been nothing but sky-bound since then. The lead male in each of the two films, on the other hand, was played by relatively unknowns at the time, Daniel Craig and Gerard Butler, respectively. They have both of course since gone on to make incredibly big names for themselves, so here’s to hoping a similar chance might be given to whoever stars opposite Croft’s recasting.

As of yet, there is no director attached to the project. However unlikely it may be, if Jon Favreau were to sign on to the project to work with Fergus and Ostby again, I think I would probably keel over from anticipation. As it stands, no names have been mentioned about directors so far, so we have all of that to look forward to in the coming months. Now that the writers have been hired and have clearly already got ideas forming in their minds about where they want to take the project, it is just a matter of time before the casting begins.

Here’s another fun poster for Dreamworks’ latest movie, Kung Fu Panda 2:  which we can expect here in the UK 10th June. The movie has a voice cast which includes Jack Black, James Hong, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie,Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gary Oldman and is directed by Jennifer Yuh.

The movie follows on from the highly successful movie which was released back in 2008 about a no-hoper Panda, Po (Black) who trains in the art of Kung Fu, after realising that he ‘the chosen one’!

This new poster shows all our favourite characters back for the second movie. Click it to enlarge or click here to view the teaser trailer which was released last year.

Source: IMPA

A great new TV Spot for Kung Fu Panda 2 has started airing over in the States, and it’s getting me even more excited about the sequel coming out in a few months. Sadly for us in the UK, we’ll have to wait a little bit longer than the TV Spot says, as it’s out in America on 26th May, and not out in the UK until 10th June. But reading the synopsis, you just know it will be worth the wait.

“Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five – Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. It is up to Po and The Furious Five to journey across China to face this threat and vanquish it. But how can Po stop a weapon that can stop kung fu? He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.”

I’ve been looking forward to this ever since it got announced. The film will see almost all the original cast reprising their roles, so we’ll be treated to a second dosage of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Jackie Chan, and James Hong. Alongside them will be a fantastic new set of characters, voiced by the likes of Gary Oldman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Michelle Yeoh, definitely an exciting line-up to look forward to. If the posters, trailers and TV Spots to date are anything to go by, this will be every bit as awesome as the first.

Without further ado, the new TV Spot:

And for those of you itching to see it in beautiful 720p HD, then you can see the original upload by TheMovieBox.net here.

The official Kung Fu Panda 2 Facebook Fanpage treated us last night to a set of brand new posters for the movie showing us some of the new characters. Over the course of the past week or so, they’ve been releasing them and eagle eyed /Film spotted them first.

They’ve also released posters of all the old cast members too and since they all come as a set, I thought it was only fair to post the lot so scroll down below and click the images to enlarge. Each character has a description which comes along with it.

Kung Fu Panda 2 sees Jack Black back to kick some more badie butt alongside a support cast which includes James Hong, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Gary Oldman and is directed by Jennifer Yuh.

Synopsis: In “Kung Fu Panda 2”, Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five.  But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu.  Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

This new trailer gives us a much better look at what Po must do…. save Kung Fu! Check out the rather comical new trailer using the link below.

The movie released in the UK June 17th 2011.