The first of our superhero films from Marvel this year, Thor was an impressive box office and critical success when it came out in April this year, taking just shy of $450m. from its $150m. budget.

Pretty much ever since it found such success in cinemas, there’s been talk of a sequel, and it officially came out in the summer that the original’s director, Kenneth Branagh, was opting out of returning for the sequel, in what seemed to be a completely friendly parting.

Since then, there was first talk of Brian Kirk, best known for his work on Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, coming on board the project, but then in October, Patty Jenkins officially signed on for the director’s job instead.

Earlier this month, though, word came that Jenkins and Marvel had parted ways based on creative differences, and the search has been back on since then to fill the empty chair. It looks like Marvel have now done just that, with Deadline reporting that Emmy-winning Alan Taylor will be the director for the superhero sequel.

Taylor’s name may not be a household name, but from what I’ve seen of his work, he’s a brilliant director, and after the awesome first film in which Branagh was unexpectedly cast, I can’t wait to see whatTaylorbrings to the table for the second film.

The director is largely best known for his TV credits, which include episodes on The West Wing, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. So essentially, though you may not know his name well, you can trust that he’s an experienced director who knows exactly what he’s doing.

Thor was of course led by Chris Hemsworth, which did a great job of boosting the actor’s rising star, with support coming from the brilliant Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, and of course, Clark Cregg reprising his role as Agent Coulson.

Marvel president Kevin Feige gave a few details of what we can expect from the sequel back in September:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

We can look forward to seeing a lot more of Hemsworth next year, kicking off first with the Joss Whedon-scripted The Cabin in the Woods in April, followed two weeks later by the Whedon-directed and highly anticipated The Avengers (in which he will of course reprise his role as Thor), followed by Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart in June, and then the Red Dawn remake towards the end of the year.

With all of them having been completed or in post-production, Hemsworth is set to next turn his attentions to Ron Howard’s Rush, which sounds like it’s going to be amazing. WithTaylornow on board, Thor 2 should be moving forward nicely with Hemsworth back in the lead, and should still be able to meet its target of a November, 2013 release date. More news as we get it.

Fernando Meirelles’ latest is an interesting choice for the opening film to the 55th BFI London Film Festival and it finds the City of God director expanding his horizons to encompass sexual politics on a global scale with Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Anthony Hopkins making up part of the ensemble cast.

The film is a globe-lassoing meditation of life with love and life without it, what needs to satisfy and what values to sacrifice in its pursuit and despite some nice ideas and a few decent performances this is a hollow start to a film festival which promises a vibrant and vital exploration of cinema from around the world. Writer Peter Morgan returns to similar ground covered in Hereafter and 360 suffers from the same quirk of watching people pass or crash and drift away like ships in the night, all the time we look to find something to hold to but Meirelles remains distant and any connection made falls as quickly as one story is left and another begins.

The film has a lot in common with Contagion, which Morgan referred in the LFF press conference but there was a clear central thread to Soderbergh’s film, there is no such thread here and each stop-start story is presented to us with a blank expression and leaves us as soon as we move on to the next. There is an initial curiosity about the interconnected storylines spanning continents, cultures and class and it is to Meirelles’ credit that he establishes the situation of each character ably but everything is too transient, nothing holds it to the ground.

There are some nice touches visually, some fine characters moments which break the surface of a distant and oddly banal script, the bodyguard at the door is one such example as is the seduction of Rachel Weisz’s character, but it’s a curious version of Love Actually without Christmas and without Love. The most engaging character comes in the form of Anthony Hopkins’ father searching for his missing daughter and his epiphany following a meeting with a woman on a plane, his weary gravitas is pitch perfect until the very last moment when he gives a speech to an AA meeting many miles from home which undermines all that has come before. Likewise the Jude Law/Rachel Weisz relationship in which begins with the two separately finding themselves in adulterous situations is neatly played until the final, almost incongruous scene with the two, again a hastily tied bow on a badly wrapped present.

Towards the end more epiphanies occur and each story comes to rest without ceremony or catharsis and perhaps this is the point. That the world continues to turn with betrayal and longing and all that jazz and nothing we do will make a difference. It feels wrong to come to this conclusion, surely there is more to the film than this?

There’s something to be said for the breadth of vision and serious intent here, and while 360 has its moments of genuine emotion these are few and too fleeting to touch the skin, let alone get under it.

**~~~ (2/5)

360 is set to open the 55th BFI London Film Festival this evening in London and we have the red carpet live streamed for you right here. Fernando Meirelles’ latest movie, 360 is set to open the festival and you can watch the stars of the movie arrive right here live.

360 stars Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster, Eminem, Moritz Bleibtreu and our review should be up later this evening.

Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s classic La Ronde, screenwriter Peter Morgan and director Fernando Meirelles’ 360 combines a modern and dynamic roundelay of stories into one, linking characters from different cities and countries in a vivid, suspenseful and deeply moving tale of love in the 21st century. Starting in Vienna, the film beautifully weaves through Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix into a single, mesmerizing narrative.

The stream should begin at 18.30 GMT so stay tuned! You can see all our London Film Festival coverage here.

The 55th BFI London Film Festival opens tonight with 360,  Fernando Meirelles’ latest film and it is a suitably globe-trotting film for a festival whose programme is similarly drawn from all around the world.

Our review of the film will be up on the site later tonight, but if you want to hear what Meirelles, writer Peter Morgan and some of the cast had to say about the film at the press conference earlier today then look no further, we’ve got the highlights embedded below.

It’s a divisive film to be sure, and a very low-key opener for the festival however Meirelles and Morgan make a good case for the film and you’ll be able to find out how we found 360 shortly.

Here’s the video, check out the rest of the LFF programme and book your tickets right here – there are some stunning films this year so get stuck in.

The Avengers is the next Marvel movie that we’re all very much looking forward to after Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jenny Agutter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Robert Downey Jr.

If you’ve missed all our coverage from The Avengers, you can keep track of it all here.

Earlier today, we had a trailer for the trailer but now, the full version is here in all it’s glory! Without further ado, he’s the trailer for the movie for your viewing pleasure!

Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Marvel’s Thor was released on DVD and Blu-ray last week and it’s a surprisingly fun film which did very well at the box office despite the God O’Thunder not being a hugely well known character.

The DVD has a ton of these little featurettes which, when combined, form a decent behind the scenes documentary and I thought it would be a nice diversion this fine morning to take a wander through Asgard to see how it was all done.

Initially considered an unusual choice, Branagh looks like he’s had the time of his life with his cast and there’s a little time spent with the designers of the film.

Take a look,

The Design of the Bridge

On the Wardrobe

On the Amazing Set

On Directing the Cast

On the Makeup of Laufey

Oscar-nominated Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) has surrounded himself with an absolutely stellar group of people to help him make his latest film, 360.

With a script from two-time Oscar nominee, Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), and a cast headed up by Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, and Ben Foster, there’s definitely a lot of talent involved with the project.

We first got a look at the film back in July with a photo of married couple Law and Weisz, which was then soon followed up with more images from the film that gave us our first look at Hopkins and Foster, and a hint of discontent in Law and Weisz’s marriage. Then came the wonderful news that the film would be opening this year’s BFI London Film Festival on 12th October, marking its European premiere.

The film is based on a 1900 play by Austrian author, Arthur Schnitzler, entitled Reigen (a.k.a. La Ronde).

“Schnitzler’s original used ten pairs of lovers from different sections of Viennese society to show how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries. Morgan and Meirelles broaden this out, as the film weaves through Vienna, Bratislava, Paris, London, Rio, Phoenix and Denver into a single, seamless narrative. An ambitious young woman sees sex as a way to escape her background; a respectable widower wrestles with the conflict between desire and religious principles; a man grieving his long-lost daughter forges a bond with a heartbroken girl; a married couple come to see each other with fresh eyes. Individual stories connect, choices are made and directions taken but, as always in Meirelles’ films, these are grounded in a sense of place. Each city the characters pass through feels real, vividly so.”

We’ve now got the first clip from the film to share with you, courtesy of The Playlist, ahead of its London premiere next month. It doesn’t give much away in terms of what we can expect plot-wise, but it does show so much promise for the film amongst the cast’s performances, with Hopkins really nailing his character, an alcoholic, who looks filled with regret in this scene.

There’s no word yet on a UK release date, so if you get to see this next month at the London Film Festival, count yourself lucky. Unfortunately, the film had something of a bad start when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, with technical faults delaying the screening and sound problems affecting the screening itself. Let’s hope, however, that it will be shown precisely how it’s meant to be seen when it opens the festival next month, because this really does look like a film to watch out for. Without further ado, here’s the great first clip from 360.

Back in July, we got the news that Kenneth Branagh wouldn’t be returning to helm Thor 2 after his fantastic direction on the first film. There wasn’t any suggestion of animosity there, simply that he would be moving on to other projects.

I think he did a great job with Thor this year, and probably exceeded a lot of people’s expectations, but given he was entirely unexpected to helm the original in the first place, it wasn’t a massive shock that he wouldn’t be doing the sequel, in spite of the fact that he did a great job first time around.

Then came the news in August that Brian Kirk, most known for his direction on TV’s Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, was in talks to take over the job. But now it looks as though another name has been thrown into the ring in his place.

Patty Jenkins, probably best known for writing and directing Monster back in 2003, which won Charlize Theron her Oscar for Best Actress, is now in early talks to take the director’s chair for the second Thor film, Variety report. Since making Monster, Jenkins has been fairly quiet, taking a few directing jobs on TV’s Entourage and Arrested Development (that great episode where they build a mini to-scale model house outside their windows for the Japanese investors), and has just been back in the spotlight for her Emmy-nominated direction of the pilot episode of The Killing, which was itself nominated for six Primetime Emmys this year.

Jenkins’ name is somewhat unexpected, given that she doesn’t seem to have much experience in the special effects department. But then Branagh was just as unexpected, and he made a fantastic film, so I’m sure Marvel know what they’re doing. The talks are still in the early stages, so nothing concrete yet, but if the job does go to Jenkins, it could certainly put her name back on the map. The film has already been scheduled for a 26^th July, 2013 release date, which should give us a great summer blockbuster to look forward to in two years’ time, with Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins all set to reprise their roles from the first film. More news as we get it.

The legendary Anthony Hopkins is of course no stranger whatsoever to the serial killer genre, making a name for himself the world over for his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon, the first of which won him a Best Actor Oscar.

He’s now in final negotiations to take a turn on the other side of the law, Collider report, in the upcoming serial killer drama, Solace.

If all things go well, Hopkins would play a former doctor with psychic abilities who works with the FBI in order to hunt down a serial killer. It’s still early days, so plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being, but the basic premise does sound interesting. And you know that the character would have to be incredibly smart, and there are few actors that play as smart a man as Hopkins seems to pull off so naturally.

There’s no director attached to the project yet, but with Hopkins entering final negotiations, it’s not unlikely that we’ll have a director signing on in the near future. Sean Bailey (producer on Matchstick Men, Gone Baby Gone, and Tron: Legacy) and Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven, Matchstick Men) wrote the original script, and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man) and Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) have both since done some re-drafting work, so I can imagine the script is pretty awesome.

Hopkins was most recently seen playing Chris Hemsworth’s father, Odin, in this year’s Marvel blockbuster Thor, and will next be starring alongside Rachel Weisz and Jude Law in Fernando Meirelles’ 360, also scripted by Peter Morgan, which is opening this year’s BFI London Film Festival next month. Hopefully he will be officially signing on to the project soon, and then the rest of the casting and the search for the director can get underway. It sounds like an interesting project, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted as and when more news surfaces.

THR have just let the world know that new Romantic Drama, 360 which stars Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Jamel Debbouze, Ben Foster and Anthony Hopkins, is set to open the 55th BFI London Film Festival when it comes to town on 12th October (running to the 27th October). 360 is directed by Fernando Meirelles who also worked with Weisz on the Oscar winning movie, The Constant Gardener back in 2005. This screening will act as the European Premiere when it hits London Town on 12th October.

Synopsis:

Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) reunites with his Constant Gardener star Rachel Weisz, who stars opposite Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, and Ben Foster in this uncompromising dramatic thriller fuelled by the notion of how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries.

360 is also set to play at the Toronto International Film Festival and they’ve released some images from the movie which you can see here.

THR broke the news who also have some more reactions from the film-makers.

TIFF have released images another movie playing at the festival, 360. It’s directed by Fernando Meirelles and stars Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster and Jamel Debbouze. They also give us the first synopsis:

Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) reunites with his Constant Gardener star Rachel Weisz, who stars opposite Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, and Ben Foster in this uncompromising dramatic thriller fuelled by the notion of how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries.

Not release date for 360 as yet but we’ll keep you posted.

Here’s our first official look at Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in the new Fernando Meirelles directed movie, 360. It also stars Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster.

Director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) reunites with his Constant Gardener star Rachel Weisz, who stars opposite Jude Law and Anthony Hopkins in this uncompromising dramatic thriller fuelled by the notion of how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries.

Doesn’t really tell us too much this image does it! Guess we’ll find out more in the coming weeks.

The Rite is jumping out onto Blu-ray and DVD in a few days and we’ve managed to tie down Matt Baglio,the author of the original book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcism, and ask him about his involvement with the film and his experiences with the exorcism class which inspired the project.

Baglio attended the class whilst working as a journalist in Rome and the experience was compounded by his relationship with Californian parish priest Father Gary Thomas whom Baglio shadowed as he went through the course and the result was The Rite – an examiniation of exorcism and religion in the 21st Century.

Here’s the interview,

Was it a journalistic instinct to attend the Exorcism class? Or were there any spiritual questions you hoped to address?

In the beginning it was strictly journalistic. I heard about this course being offered at a university that purported to train exorcists and I was instantly hooked. As an outsider I thought this could be a great opportunity to get a glimpse into a world that for many years had remained hidden, and I was right. Then, once I began attending the lectures and witnessing exorcisms the material opened me up to the broader questions about the existence of a spiritual world and the implications what that might mean. Just like anybody I wanted to find the truth, and I kept digging. In the end I wasn’t able to answer every question, but I think that the book as a whole really presents the reality of the world of exorcism in a way that it hasn’t been presented before. Certainly there has never been a book this in depth about what it is like to be an exorcist.

There is a central theme to the story of the acceptance of faith and the acceptance of fate – was there anything in the class you took that gave you the impression that faith was more important than intuition or reason?

Well from a religious point of view intuition and reason are gifts that can get you only so far. Reason is basically saying that through deduction I will be able to find truth. For a religious believer, ultimate truth, i.e. the ability to understand the fullness of life, isn’t something that we as humans are equipped to understand through our own abilities. And so we admit that there is something greater than us who knows the plan and how we fit into it, which is essentially faith (at least that’s how I look at it).

For an exorcist, having a strong faith life is like putting on a suit of armor, and many have told me that they just wouldn’t be able to do what they do without their faith. However that doesn’t mean that they don’t also value reason and intuition. Exorcists screen people through psychiatrists and other medical professionals before they ever begin praying the Ritual. So there is obviously a level of deduction that is important to the process.

Exorcists are typically incredibly humble, (requirement for their ministry) and something they attribute to having strong faith. As one exorcist told me: “The second you start looking at yourself as having some kind of power you can get into real trouble.”

When you were writing the novel did you consider it being a story that could be told cinematically?

Well it’s important to say that the book is Non-fiction. It’s not a novel. I basically followed an American priest, Father Gary Thomas, who underwent a year of training here in Rome. He allowed me to interview him and have access to his journals and notes. My goal was to write a realistic and accurate book. And in hindsight I have to say that the stories I heard from interviewing exorcists were way more bizarre than anything I could have made up. Some of those stories made it into the film, such as the spitting up of nails, etc., others did not.

When I wrote it I obviously wanted it to be a story that people could follow and enjoy, but I was more concerned about being accurate than cinematic. Real life doesn’t always follow a cinematic arc, but there were certainly elements in Father Thomas’ journey that lent themselves to a three-act structure. It’s just that it wasn’t my goal to artificially create this when I wrote the book, which would have felt too contrived.

Do you think that the people who read the book and those who will see the film are attracted to the possibility of finding an absolute truth, i.e. If we know the devil exists then God must also exist? And did that strike you as a possibility before you started the class?

My hope is that people will read the book and watch the movie because they like good stories about normal people being thrown into abnormal situations and then overcoming adversity to win out in the end.

People read stories about the paranormal for a variety of reasons. My goal in writing this book was to give readers the most accurate picture possible of the reality of the world of exorcism as it exists today. These are not cases that happened fifty years ago; some are still going on.

Many people are curious about the existence of spirits and I think all of us have had a moment in our lives at some point where we question the possibility that maybe something unexplainable just happened.

Personally I believe that it is a fallacy that one has to approach God through the devil, but I understand the dynamic, especially how it was presented in the film. For some people it might work that way, but not for me. I never set out to prove that the devil existed to get people to believe in God. But I do hope that people will read my book and think twice about some of the decisions they make and really try to live a moral and good life, regardless of whether they believe the devil exists or not.

The film of The Rite will obviously be compared to the 1973 classic The Exorcist, consciously or otherwise, did the writing of the book or the filming fall under the shadow of William Friedkin’s film, or did you deliberately strive to avoid it?

I understand why The Exorcist is a benchmark for the genre, but I think it’s kind of unfair to compare it to The Rite. In many ways, my book was an attempt to reframe the whole concept of exorcism and take it away from the silly horror genre that has come to dominate it.  I was very happy with the film (The Rite) because I think it presented the topic in a serious way and resisted easy answers. It was definitely accurate. I have had many exorcists who have seen the film tell me how much it mirrors their own experiences.

Another thing I appreciated about the film was how it dealt with the concept of evil. In other exorcist films it’s really out in the open, and is obviously effective for that reason. But in The Rite it’s more hidden, and in many ways reflects the deviousness associated to the concept of the devil as it was presented to me in the exorcism course I took.

When you approached your story knowing religion and faith would be the prominent aspect, did you ever feel under pressure to be fair to both sides, or to put it another way: can we have a discussion about faith through the medium of film?

I hope we can have a discussion like that. Obviously faith is a hugely important thing to a lot of people in the world. I think it is also why the topic of exorcism touches us so deeply. When I set out to write the book I really tried to stay objective and just write it like a journalist would cover any topic. I didn’t want to take sides and say this person was silly for doing this or that, but just report it as it happened and then let the reader judge. I tried to get both sides of the story and I feel I was able to really put exorcism under a microscope in a way that hasn’t happened before. Perhaps it’s because I am a curious person by nature, but I didn’t stand on pat answers and so in the end the book is a real exploration of the topic from all sides.

It is funny because most people would assume that the topic of exorcism is extremely ‘fundamentalist’ in nature, but it’s not. Instead you have exorcists who work with psychiatrists and psychiatrists who believe in demonic possession.

The most interesting thing I found out was that most skeptics really didn’t know what goes on during a real exorcism. They just take the most obviously fake cases, or those involving mental illness, and hold them up as the norm, when those would be the first cases that an exorcist would have ruled out himself. My hope is that my book has changed the discourse in such a way that more serious-minded scientists will turn their attention toward this world.

How were your feelings towards religion challenged and changed by the experience of the class and the writing The Rite?

Writing the book was a real journey for me. I started out objective, but in the end you have to follow the research where it leads you. In this case it definitely increased my spirituality and made me understand the value of prayer. That is not to say that I still don’t have questions and some problems with organized religion. The book is not really about me anyway, but Father Gary Thomas’ training. It’s also not a book that is trying to convert people to one religion or another.

Exorcism can be found in just about every major religion. There are even some psychologists who admit that exorcism can have psychotherapeutic benefits if it’s done in the right way. The one thing that resonated the most with me, and something I really tried to hit on in my book, is that in the end it all comes down to our own actions. Whether you believe in evil spirits or not, we are all responsible for the choices we make.

The Rite arrives onto Triple Play Blu-ray™, DVD on 20th June and digital download on 17th June 2011.

Thor is doing good business here in the UK, while the anticipation is still building for its imminent release in the US and there’s a new clip thrust out into the wilderness for us to pin down and examine.

The ever groovy Comic Book Movie found this video of Jaimie Alexander on Jimmy Kimmel which aired a few days ago and as well as a lengthy interview with the actress there’s a new clip of her character Sif taking affront and a long spike to The Destroyer.

The battle has already been glimpsed in the trailers but this is something new and points to a far more dangerous foe than is first though. It’s a decent clip, which plays before the interview starts. Go see.

Thor is out in the UK now,

The next piece of the Marvel puzzle is out now in cinemas and Thor has impressed critics and should do decent business at the box office as long as the uninitiated are tempted by some dazzling special effects and a buff Chris Hemsworth.

Our good chums are Upbeat sat down with three of the main cast and crew to chat about the film, and it’s still a little odd to see Kenneth Branagh behind the camera but from what we’ve seen so far he’s just as at home with pyrotechnics as with Shakespeare’s plays – let’s hope Timon of Athens ala Michael Bay is on the cards next.

Tom Hiddleston and the man Hemsworth complete the trio and here they are talking all things Thor,

Marvel have started what is sure to be an ongoing mixture of tease and inconsequential nonsense by posting this picture of the set of The Avengers.

It’s a nicely done picture, which simply states to fans – It is happening. There’s a nice S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the wall and the main players director Joss Whedon has to contain all have their chairs, which is good because comfort is all important when you’re saving the world.

With Kenneth Branagh’s Thor doing very well in cinemas and Captain America spitting out decent trailers what we need is a look at Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Hulk to complete the picture but I’m sure they’ll save that for the trailer.

Here’s that picture,

And now the entire press release copied out in neat for your eyes,

Production has commenced today in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated movie “Marvel’s The Avengers,” directed by Joss Whedon (“Serenity”) from a screenplay by Whedon.  The film will continue principal photography in Cleveland, Ohio and New York City. Robert Downey, Jr. (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) returns as the iconic Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) as Thor, Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Captain America, Jeremy Renner (“Thor,” “The Hurt Locker”) as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo (“The Kids Are Alright”) as Hulk, Scarlett Johansson (“Iron Man 2”) as Black Widow, Clark Gregg (“Iron Man,” “Thor”) as Agent Phil Coulson, and Samuel L. Jackson (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) as Nick Fury.  Set for release in the US on May 4, 2012, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the first feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.

Continuing the epic big-screen adventures started in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” is the super hero team up of a lifetime. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Marvel’s The Avengers” brings together the mightiest super hero characters as they all assemble together on screen for the first time. The star studded cast of super heroes will be joined by Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother) as Agent Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as Tom Hiddleston (“Wallander”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Angels & Demons,” “Mamma Mia!”) who will both reprise their respective roles as Loki and Professor Erik Selvig from the upcoming Marvel Studios’ feature “Thor.”

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President, Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patty Whitcher, and Jon Favreau. Marvel Studios’ Jeremy Latcham and Victoria Alonso will co-produce.

The creative production team also includes Oscar nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”), production designer James Chinlund (“25^th Hour”), Oscar winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), Oscar winning visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs (“Iron Man 2,” “The Matrix”), visual effects producer Susan Pickett (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”), stunt coordinator R.A. Rondell (“Superman Returns”), and four-time Oscar nominated special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Iron Man,” “War of the Worlds”). The editors include Oscar nominated Paul Rubell (“Collateral”) and Jeffrey Ford (“Crazy Heart”).

Marvel Studios most recently produced “Iron Man 2” which was released in theatres on May 7, 2010. The sequel to “Iron Man,” starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow as well as Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke, took the number one spot its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million. To date the film has earned over $620 million in worldwide box office receipts.

In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies, “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.”  “Iron Man,” in which Robert Downey, Jr. originally dons the super hero’s powerful armor alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008 and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million its opening weekend and grossed over $571 million worldwide. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released “The Incredible Hulk” marking its second number one opener of that summer. The spectacular revival of the iconic green goliath grossed over $250 million in worldwide box office receipts.

In addition to “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including “Thor” on May 6, 2011; “Captain America: The First Avenger” on July 22, 2011; and “Iron Man 3″ on May 3, 2013.

It’s not a giant leap given the positive buzz Thor has landed with ahead of its release next week but there are more movies planned for the behammered one according to Marvel Man Kevin Feige.

Speaking to the Disney magazine, and reported by IGN, Feige explained his vision and it’s as you’d expect: more, more, and more movies,

Iron Man was the dawn of the Marvel Studios age and the establishment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the beginning of that continuity. The Avengers is the next big step. Once all these characters come together, it’s the culmination of all that has come before. It launches a new era and a new time in the history of our films.

Not only will it be the first film that our new home studio, Disney, will be distributing, but it will also renew each of these characters and launch them into their own franchises, starting with the second film to be released by Disney, Iron Man 3.

So far, so obvious.

Thor will go off into a new adventure, and Captain America will continue to explore the modern world in another film of his own. We hope that holds true for the characters appearing in that film — Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the spy organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. —all of whom are more than worthy and capable of carrying their own films. And, we’ve got a lot of other characters we’re prepping and getting ready for film debuts: the world of martial arts, these great cosmic space fantasies, Dr. Strange, and the magic side of the Marvel Universe. There are many, many stories to be mined.

With Thor looking to do well as long as they can attract more than the comic book fans, and their marketing has been very much focused that way, and Captain America is looking very promising. The added bonus for Marvel is, if the films continue their quality, audiences will want to keep up and their investment in the world grows with every movie. I’m not sure how well the lesser known characters will fare, unless smaller budgets, direct to DVD, or internet distribution are part of the plan – I guess we’ll know as time goes on but Marvel have a huge world and the clout to get A-list actors and directors on board.

Thor Four anyone?

Thor was always going to be the hardest of the original Avengers line up to bring to the big screen. In spite of the odd flirtation with fantasy, regular cinema going audiences – people who don’t spend their time on reading sites like this – tend to turn their nose up at anything that relies on magic or miraculous technology to drive the plot. Consequently a straight adaptation of Thor, casting him as a crime-fighting Norse god was never going to work.

In recent year’s Marvel had an alternate take on Thor, played out in their ‘Ultimate’ line of comics; an alien who is from a race with technology so far advanced he seems like a God.  Think Stargate in the Midwest and you’ll get the gist. This version is, more or less, the Thor Marvel have brought to cinemas.

While this is a much easier sell for Marvel, and audiences are more likely to go along with this than suspend their disbelief in Norse mythology, it’s still pretty silly. As a result, the section of the film set outside of Earth can never quite reach the level of dramatic tension it should really have, an issue not helped by the Flash Gordon-meets-Power Rangers production design that runs through these segments. It’s a bit of a shame, because they are far from bad. The performances are, like all the performances in the film, excellent, and the story is certainly enjoyable, but it doesn’t marry with the semi-serious nature of the Earthbound segment.

The issue, which is almost certainly not a reflection on Branagh’s ability, is how the film fits in with the greater Marvel continuity. While the company were happy to let Letirrier pretty much do his own thing on The Incredible Hulk, Thor seems to be conforming to the ‘house style’ Jon Favreau laid out in Iron Man. Consequently most of the scenes we see of Thor on Earth are in small desert towns, laid out in white sands and blue skies. While this will no doubt help with the Avengers, it doesn’t do Thor any favours, a fact emphasised by our few non-sunny earthly scenes, which are much more dramatic.

In spite of this, Thor is remarkably good fun. While it may involve many cringe worthy moments for the actors: in particular the formalised dialogue used in Asgard, they are all clearly enjoying their roles. Chris Hemsworth and Kat Dennings in particular appear to be relishing the experience, and the humour and energy they bring to the film is great.

Unfortunately, the 3D techniques used on the movie aren’t. We may be a long way advanced from the dreadful post-conversion job on Clash of the Titans, but the technology still has a long way to go. Many shots fall too shallow, and a great many of the action scenes move too fast for the human eye to track them properly causing ghosting across the screen. In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor gripe, but it is certainly one with merit.

The strangest thing about Thor though is how it lived up exactly to expectations. The early casting news sounded impressive, and it was. The trailers set in Asgaard looked like Flash Gordon, and the film delivered. The dialogue was ropey, and the set up was silly, but that was inherent in the project,

Ultimately Thor was a piece of popcorn, at the start of a crowded Summer flick menu. It deserves to do well as it’s good fun, but with a little more planning, it could have been so much better.

***~~ (3/5)

Happy Thorsday everyone!! OK, so I have blatantly stolen that phrase but I have been given permission to use it! Paramount / Marvel have just sent us this rather nice interactive guide for their brand new movie Thor. You’ll notice that we’ve put up rather a lot of content for Thor and that’s mainly because we can’t wait to see it! It’s scheduled for release in the UK next Friday, 28th April and our review should be out on Monday.

Interactive Guide Info: From the deserts of New Mexico to the furthest reaches of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil, welcome to THE UNIVERSE OF THOR. This interactive guide invites you to explore the worlds and meet the characters of THOR, discovering extensive brand new footage and stills from the film in the process.

See if you can unlock 100% of the contents, then post it to Facebook, Twitter or another social network and invite your friends to do the same.

Thor is directed by Kenneth Branagh and Chris Hemsworth as the title character alongside Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson and Rene Russo.

Synopsis: Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior, is sent down to Earth has punishment for reigniting a reckless war. But after a dangerous villain from his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth, the hammer-wielding Thor will learn what it takes to be a true hero in order to save mankind.

Have a little play with the interactive guide below and we think you’ll like it. If you know nothing about Thor, this will also give you a little insight into what you can expect from the movie and the history behind the legend of Thor!

It’s a very slow Monday news-wise but CBM have come to our rescue spotting this seriously cheesy photo via @briantruitt‘s twitter account showing the cover of USA Weekly with a couple of Chris’s on there! They aren’t just anyone though, they are Chris Hemsworth (aka Thor) and Chris Evans (aka Captain America from Captain America: The First Avenger) in their civvies!

Let’s face it, this photos is completely cheestastic. It made me laugh and I hope it did you too! Looking at it a bit more closely, anyone thinking that the Chris Hemsworth photo might be CG? Either than or it’s been Photoshopped to the hilt!

Captain America: The First Avenger is directed by Joe Johnston and also stars Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan and JJ Feild. It’s be with us 29th July.

Thor is directed by Kenneth Branagh and Chris Hemsworth as the title character alongside Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson and Rene Russo. It’ll be with us 28th April which isn’t too far away!! You can check out photos from today’s UK press conference here.