Please note: This has been confirmed as fan art and was not made by Marvel.

Coming at you like a geeky avalanche The Avengers looks set to be the first big winner in the movie season I’m going to call Superhero Summer (for this post at least).

If you were one of the four people who didn’t welcome the Super Bowl spot for Marvel’s film like the second coming then do click here to catch up.

Hyperbole aside it is looking pretty great, certainly Joss Whedon is the man to bring together the disparate heroic elements and here’s a new look at our new friends looking very determined.

Look below with your eyes and click below with your fingertips if you seek a bigger version,

Thank you Comic Book Movie.

If you’re a Marvel fan then you’ll have seen the teaser for this teaser already with some new footage of our heroes fighting intergalatic nasties and now here’s the whole thing.

The whole gang is here with Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, of whom we get a better look here), Hawkeye (new Bourne man Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), the eyepatched Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Whichever way you look at it there’s a pretty fine cast there and it’ll take a director with an eye for the ensemble to tame it. Step forward Joss Whedon.

Here’s the spot and here’s the rest of our Super Bowl coverage.

More promotional artwork has been released for Marvel’s The Avengers this week, which includes a brilliant 3D poster.

The Avengers, which is set to be released on 27th April, begins when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team after an unexpected enemy threatens global safety. Following on from Marvel’s big-screen adventures that began with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers unites the superhero team starring Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Incredible Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Here are the wall displays thanks to Comic Book Movie, which are available to buy on Trends International:

Last week, we heard that Joss Whedon, Tom Hiddleston, and Clark Gregg would be hosting a Global Twitter Chat for Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers tonight. We also heard that with the chat, we’d be getting a teaser for the film’s upcoming TV spot at this weekend’s Superbowl, and we now have that awesome video to share with you!

The TV spot itself is set to be a thirty-second video, and this ten-second tease (seventeen seconds all in, technically) is just so damn good, with some brilliant new footage that we didn’t get in the ridiculously awesome first trailer at the end of last year.

You can catch up on all the questions and answers from the chat, which Samuel L. Jackson also took part in, over at The Avengers’ Twitter, with writer-director Joss Whedon answering questions there, and Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson answering their questions on their own respective Twitters.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27th April, a date which should be imprinted in your mental calendar – if it’s not, get out your diary and set it down now, because it’s a date you’re going to want to remember. For now, here’s your ten-second tease. Be sure to check back at the weekend to see the full thirty-second spot. It looks set to be immense.

The marketing campaign is well and truly underway for Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers, which brings together all of the awesome characters we’ve loved watching over the past few years in their separate movies for one epic superhero blockbuster.

Just last night, we put up some great images and specs of Tony Stark’s $9m. car that’s on display at Sundance to promote the film, and today we’ve got more brilliant stills to share with you. Marvel have released five hi-res stills, with thanks to ComicBookMovie.com for the tip-off, three of which we’ve seen before just a few days ago, but only as scans from Empire Magazine.

We also heard talk yesterday about the possibility of Captain America 2 going into production this year following Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie potentially following those three. Marvel are certainly firing on all cylinders, and doing one hell of a job at it too.

Whedon is directing The Avengers from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will of course be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be released here in the UK in 3D on 27th April, precisely three months from today. Anybody else excited? (As if I even need to ask.) You can catch up on all things The Avengers-related right here, and if you’ve not yet seen it but would like to, I’ll particularly point your attention towards the rather impressive (read: utterly incredible) first trailer that surfaced late last year. And as usual with these new images, you can click to enlarge. I especially love the second one of Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury at the head of the table, staring down the camera. And Jeremy Renner’s veins look a little bit like they’re about to explode in the fourth shot. Awesome stuff.

It was only a few days ago that we got to see some brilliant new promo images for The Avengers released in celebration of the Chinese New Year. We’ve now got some more excellent images of the Marvel superheroes as four of them grace the cover of Empire, in a four-cover issue, giving you a choice of Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America to add to your collection.

Not only that, but there are some great scans from inside the issue, which is released this Thursday, coming via ComingSoon.net and Collider, as well as snippets from their interview with Kevin Feige, Marvel’s President of Production, and Tom Hiddleston, who will play Loki, on some of the things we can and can’t expect from writer-director Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero blockbuster.

Hiddleston said of his impending villainous role,

“He knows who he is now, and what his powers are. In order for The Avengers to come together, Loki has to be more menacing, and all of his malevolence is founded in a completely delusional dream.”

And when Feige was asked about Loki’s army,

“Who said they were aliens?… It’s not Skrulls, I’ve been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we’re not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that.”

And for some time now, rumours have been circling that Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving in Captain America: The First Avenger, would be returning in Whedon’s film, but Feige seems to clearly put that rumour to bed:

“Was [Red] Skull vaporised at the end of [Captain America: The First Avengers], or thrust into another realm? That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he’s not in this one.”

Marvel have shown that they’re clearly invested in continuing this recent slate of superhero films, with Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and hopefully The Avengers 2, all currently on the line-up, so there’ll be plenty of room for Weaving to reprise his role in the near future.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27th April here in the UK, which means we’ve only got three months left before we can see them assemble. Here’s to hoping the time flies by. For now, here are the brilliant new cover images and page scans to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge. And in case you missed it, you can catch up on the immense first trailer that hit towards the end of last year, and all the rest of our coverage of the film right here.

Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers is by far one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. We’ve been seeing plenty of great things from the project in recent months, with the mind-blowing first trailer arriving back in October last year. If you’ve missed that and all our coverage for the film, you can catch up on it here.

Some brilliant new promo images have now been released for the film, courtesy of The Borneo Post via ComingSoon.net. For six days starting tomorrow, these red envelopes (which Wikipedia tells me are also known as hóngbāo, Ang Pao, Lai See, Sae Bae Don, and Lì Xì in a variety of Asian languages) will be given out to cinemagoers in a handful of Asian theatres, in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The plot is being kept fairly under wraps, as is to be expected, but it’s a safe bet that it’s going to be nothing short of immense. Whedon can do no wrong in my eyes, and I can’t wait to see his take on bringing together all the Marvel characters from their recent slate of superhero films.

You can no doubt easily understand why it featured in so many of our Most Anticipated Films of 2012 here at HeyUGuys. The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April here in the UK, which is a date that can’t come fast enough. Only three more months to go. Until then, here are the great new promo images of the red envelopes. As usual, you can click to enlarge.

Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers is without a doubt one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, and in the past few months, we’ve been treated to plenty of brilliant images, posters, and that all-important first trailer that took the Internet by storm back in October. Truly, it made the film look even more incredible than we all knew it would be.

Earlier this month, we saw some new footage from the film when the German trailer came online, and we’ve now got a bit more to see with the Russian trailer that MSN Russia have put up, via ComingSoon.net. Like the German trailer, it’s very similar to the English language one, but with a few added moments of awesomeness to soak up ahead of its release next spring.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

No matter how many times I see Downey, Jr. cut away in mid-air with an instant change of direction in the Iron Man suit, I still love it, and can’t wait to see it once more on the big screen. The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April next year, which means we’ve got less than four months to prepare ourselves for its awesomeness. Here’s the new trailer to tie you down until then. And if that’s not enough, you can catch up on everything else we’ve seen for the film right here.

Here’s some lovely lovely new banners from The Avengers courtesy of those lovely (did I mention lovely) people from Marvel.

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.​ with all of them getting a brand new poster for their trouble.

Man I love these! Click to enlarge!

Source: Yahoo! Movies , Moviefone

Contagion hits UK cinemas today and we’re very excited about it. Jon’s review went up earlier today and he rather enjoyed it. Our friends from Upbeat were lucky enough to sit down and chat with the legends that are, Matt Damon & Laurence Fishburne to chat about the movie which also stars Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hawkes and is directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In the interview, we get to hear about what we can expect from the movie and also get to see Damon sporting a rather nice new hairstyle which I can only assume is for a new film role.

“Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days.  As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.  At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Contagion is released in UK cinemas today, 21st October.

Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion is a grimly realistic take on the end of the world which throws the notion that the human race are masters of their own fate into sharp relief. More Andromeda Strain than Armageddon it is a disaster movie whose sobering power lies in a carefully built series of narrative threads which show a world in a sudden and terrifying decline with humanity rather than histrionics.

Soderbergh has the enjoyable habit of occasionally casting non-actors in prominent roles in his films, Gina Carano in the forthcoming Haywire, Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience and so on, Contagion however has one of his Danny Ocean casting calls with a not-so-merry band of A-listers gathering to race to save the world from a particularly nasty form of mutated flu. While the director’s steady hand gives us a tightly plotted narrative and a uniquely realistic end of the world there are a number of problems with such a star-packed cast which occasionally take us out of the story and the film does suffer because of it.

Matt Damon returns to Soderbergh’s side once again and convinces as the man at the centre of the outbreak but seeks not to pave the road to the survival of humanity single-handedly, rather he looks only to save his daughter from the romantic, and possibly fatal, advances of a neighbourhood boy. Kate Winslet’s role is relatively small but pivotal and she manages to lose herself in her character, something Paltrow, Law and Cotilard cannot do. There is a very simple story being told here and the global scale is shown through a group of disparate individuals and when a thread or a character fails to convince or engage it is an unwanted interference.

What works is the world created in the midst of this outbreak. The slow response to the virus with the stoic retaliation from ordinary people keeping our feet on the ground and as the disease spreads we  have the usual subplots of burgeoning romances halted by fear of infection, the heroic doctors succumbing before their vital work is done and so on, but signifiers of the emotional fallout (paranoia leading to rage and riots, professional missteps on the road to a cure are two examples) are consequences which are given their moment on screen but don’t overwhelm.

At times it runs the risk of becoming a toneless TV docu-drama on the ‘What-If’ channel but Soderbergh’s direction elevates the film and it succeeds because of the grounded narrative rather than in spite of it. Signs that the disease is taking hold are told in a matter of fact fashion and while I could have happily lost the subplots involving Marian Cotillard’s unscheduled stop in a remote village and Jude Law’s errant blogger turned Placebo Prophet there is very little to distract from the task at hand.

Mention must be made of Jennifer Ehle, who isn’t on the big screen often enough and who here steals the show as a scientist on the hunt for a cure to save mankind. Just as her small role in The King’s Speech as Lionel Logue’s wife was given a genuine shine by her understated performance here she transcends her role with a deft touch, and in amongst the unbearable tension Soderbergh creates around her it is her final few scenes which tread cautiously around the cliche minefield to become the film’s most affecting moments.

The story is paced perfectly, with some well crafted montages showing the outbreak beginning and then taking hold with swift precision and run fingers gently along the spine rather than slap you in the face with the horror of it all. What is key here is the deliberate pace and the spark of humanity and normality which make Contagion a compelling film.

***½~ (3.5/5)

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!

Douglas McGrath’s Emma is a bit of an odd movie. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and based on Jane Austen’s perkiest novel, the film was originally released to rival a television mini series starring Kate Beckinsale, who seemed like a more natural fit than the American blonde with a crisp English accent and the swan like neck.

None the less, it is a sound adaptation of a very popular story, with a glittering cast which includes Greta Scacci, Jeremy Northam, Alan Cumming and Toni Collette and it is out now on Blu-ray.

The plot is uniformly Austen. If you have managed to avoid seeing this, or other adaptations (something of a feat in itself) then you will not be surprised to find a heroine with wit in an important position within her small community, teetering on the brink of her whole life and stumbling across people’s foibles on her journey to happy matrimony.

Despite any dissenting opinion about the casting choice for the eponymous heroine, the film itself looks sufficiently glittering and has high production values, but unfortunately the transfer to Blu-ray does little to showcase this. The ‘garden of England’ comes across quite pale and a little withered on the screen and regrettably, some of the best sets, such as the dinners and parties where the cast and location have been opulently dressed seem to have lost their shine in the translation, rather like one of Emma’s paintings that has been left out to spoil.

There are no extras on the BluRay and I suppose given the genre, there really do not need to be. You will buy it because it is an Austen adaptation and you will enjoy it over and over again. It is regrettable, however, that it does not look quite as good as it could do because it is one of this film’s chief assets.

Film: ***~~ (3/5)

Technically, this is a spoiler alert regarding what follows, though if you’ve followed our posts so far on Contagion, you won’t be surprised at what Matt Damon discusses below.

Contagion is out already in the US and has opened strongly. We poor put-upon folk in the UK have to wait until 21st October to see it, but it looks excellent and since director Steven Soderbergh rarely puts a foot wrong and more often than not puts it very right, it should be well worth the wait.

In this clip, Damon is interviewed about the scene (presumably pretty early on) when his character is told that his wife has died. As he discusses the choices that were made, the progress of his character through the scene and the alternating shock, anger and disbelief he portrays, you are left feeling increasingly confident that this material is going to be well handled.

Thanks Yahoo.

To mark the release of Emma on Blu-ray 19th September, Miramax have given us two copies of the movie to give away.

Based on the novel by Jane Austen, this period romantic comedy stars GWYNETH PALTROW as Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who imagines herself an authority on matters of the heart. With the best of intentions, Emma plays matchmaker for her friends, most notably her friend Harriet (TONI COLLETTE), who Emma links up with the Reverend Elton (ALAN CUMMING), and her governess, (GRETA SCACCHI), who she introduces to her future husband, Mr. Weston (JAMES COSMO). However, Emma is not nearly as good at playing Cupid as she likes to imagine, and she spends so much time trying to solve everyone else’s romantic problems that it takes her quite some time to realize that she’s fallen in love with Mr. Knightly (JEREMY NORTHAM).

Extras: Trailer

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie Emma?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

To mark the release of The Talented Mr Ripley on Blu-ray 19th September, Miramax have given us two copies of the movie to give away.

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY is an American psychological thriller written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella. It is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith 1955 novel of the same name, which was previously filmed as PLEIN SOLEIL (Purple Noon, 1960).

In late 1950′s New York, Tom Ripley (MATT DAMON), a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf (JUDE LAW). But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Extras: Audio commentary with director Anthony Minghella / Teaser Trailer / Full length trailer / Cast and crew interviews / Inside The Talented Mr. Ripley / Making of the soundtrack

To be in with a chance of winning the movie, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie The Talented Mr Ripley?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 26th September at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

If Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated next film, Contagion, is yet to catch your attention, then you should definitely start getting excited about it now. You can catch up on all you’ve missed here, including the fantastic first trailer, the film’s great UK poster, and most recently a few new images and a first listen to its score.

Ten new clips have now been released, via The Playlist, in anticipation of its Venice Film Festival debut on 3^rd September.

The film has an absolutely fantastic ensemble cast, headed up by Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Bryan Cranston. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Informant!) has written the script, which is said to have been heavily researched to be as authentic as possible, and the legendary Steven Soderbergh is the man behind the camera.

Back in March this year, Soderbergh announced that he’s currently considering retirement from directing in the near future, after finishing up on a few last projects, and I sincerely hope that that won’t happen. But in case it does, this could be one of our last chances to see a Soderbergh film in the cinema when it comes out here on 21^st October, and I for one can’t wait for it to come to our screens.

“The story is essentially told through the prism of three characters: everyman Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), who loses his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and stepson to virus and remains committed to protecting his teenage daughter; CDC Deputy Director Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who tries desperately to adapt to the fast moving virus in an effort to protect the public and freelance journalist/blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) whose breathless and alarming reporting becomes the information hub for many struggling to understand what is happening.”

Whilst these new clips aren’t meant to be full of spoilers – if you’ve already seen the trailer, that is – I personally decided not to watch them all so as not to have seen much of the movie before it does come out. I did, however, watch the fifth clip with Jude Law, which also features Elliott Gould and is excellent.

Each clip carries its own title: They’re Closing Midway And O’Hare, There Continue To Be Evaluations, She Failed To Respond, It Came From Here, I’m A Journalist, I Think I’m Sick, How Are You Feeling Today, Figuring Us Out, Don’t Touch Anything, and Are You Sick? Without further ado, here they all are if you should choose to feast your eyes upon them.

We’ve been getting quite a few great things coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated film, Contagion, over the past month, including a brilliant first trailer and UK poster.

We’ve now got three more images from the film to enjoy, courtesy of The Playlist, as well as an excellent first listen to a minute and a half of Cliff Martinez’s soundtrack for the film, from the film’s official website.

Contagion seems to be a combination of some of Soderbergh’s favourite cast and crew he’s enjoyed working with over the years, with Matt Damon heading up the awesome ensemble cast (with whom Soderbergh made the Ocean’s Trilogy and The Informant!), Scott Z. Burns penning the screenplay (who also wrote The Informant!), and Martinez composing the score (who’s worked with Soderbergh on seven films prior to Contagion). I’m always a fan of frequent collaborators, and this film is set to be another great one.

Starring alongside Damon will be the brilliant Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Marion Cotillard, and Jude Law. Did I say awesome ensemble cast, or did I say awesome ensemble cast?

“Though boasting a strong ensemble cast, the story is essentially told through the prism of three characters: everyman Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), who loses his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and stepson to virus and remains committed to protecting his teenage daughter; CDC Deputy Director Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who tries desperately to adapt to the fast moving virus in an effort to protect the public and freelance journalist/blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) whose breathless and alarming reporting becomes the information hub for many struggling to understand what is happening.”

Two of the three new pictures focus on Matt Damon, one with his daughter and one before a crowd, and the other shows us Marion Cotillard being whisked away from unseen danger, with Chin Han (The Dark Knight) in the image too. The first listen to Martinez’s score is exceptional too, giving us a brilliant insight into what we can expect from him. The piano touches on haunting, working against a continuous driving synth, until the piano is left alone and desolate, fading into silence. Brilliant stuff, very thematically appropriate for Contagion.

The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 3rd September, before being released in the States on the 9th September and here on 21st October, which is definitely a date to commit to memory, because this film looks fantastic. Without a doubt, it’s sure to be one of the year’s most interesting films, and is one of the films I’m most looking forward to in the coming months. Without further ado, here are the three new pictures from the film. If you’d like to listen to Martinez’s score, and I highly recommend you do, then click here to go to the film’s official site.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been given a bit of a raw deal in the recent marketing for Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Yikes, we’re all going to die in a airborne viral nightmare’ flick Contagion, but here at least she’s in fine health.

Not for long though! She, and Matt Damon (concerned husband) seek to save the world from a bad case of extinction before it’s too late and with Soderbergh behind the camera this one has been hauled out of The Asylum’s corridors (where it could have easily ended up) and he’s got a merry band of A-listers to sign up. Not least Paltrow and Damon, but also we’ll be enjoying the spluttering end of days with Marion Cotillard, Jude Law and Kate Winslet.

Yahoo just threw out a new poster for us all to enjoy and there are some new pictures from the production which don’t exactly bode well for a happy ending. Cheers, Fangoria.

Get clicking to see your viral apocalypse in finer detail,

Not content with serving up two new TV spots for Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion this evening Yahoo have pasted these six new character banners onto the grimy walls of the internet.

Like the trailer there’s a fair amount of spoilerage in at least one of the images below, but hey – the subject matter doesn’t promise fields of tulips and puppies. An airborne virus threatens the world and along with society doing its best not to crumble a team of scientists and civilians race to find a cure before the entire planet succumbs.

Check out the trailers, tv spots and all manner of exciting Contagion fun here, and here are the banners we are looking for,