How awesome is that?! No. Not the picture which The Rock’s assistant found on DeviantArt. The fact that all it takes these days to make a movie is a drawing. That’s incredible. Besides the picture should totally be put in the able hands of Pixar.

The picture in question was drawn by Alex Panagopoulos, a Greek software engineer turned fantasy artist. It features a little girl asleep in bed while a small brown teddy bear — brandishing a laughably small wooden sword and shield — holds an enormous, fanged monster at bay. And in the fashion of a motivational poster, a caption reads “Teddy Bears: Protecting innocent children from monsters under the bed since 1902.”

Hiram Garcia, a former assistant to Johnson, found the illustration and brought it to Flynn’s FlynnPictureCo and New Line. The company, Flynn and Johnson together made the 2012 family adventure movie Journey 2: The Mysterious Island; Garcia was an associate producer on the film, which made nearly $328 million worldwide.

Let’s hope this does well and opens the door for other under-conceived films making it to the screen. Like this one:I’ve been trying to get that bitch into production for five years. (THR)

In the film, The Rock stars as the owner of a construction company who becomes snitch for the DEA in order to reduce his son’s prison sentence. Bernthal will play his employee, an ex-con who is forced by his boss to introduce him to an underground drug dealer. Bernthal is expected to blink a whole bunch and avoid direct eye contact. Acting!! (Deadline)

His muscles won’t save him from his watery fate below. (@therock)

Dark Shadows, a gothy new Tim Burton / Johnny Depp love-fest, opens May 11, 2012. Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green and Helena Bonham Carter also star in this 60′s cult TV show turned feature film. Get ready to see vampires, ghosts and ghouls during the scariest time of the year: mid-May. oooOOOooo.

Rivals, starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two guys who I’m sure will not being competing against one another, opens Aug. 10, 2012. It’s the story of two rival political candidates, directed by Jay Roach. I would have hoped they’d be running together on the Frat Party ticket. Ah well.

However, before all that, you and Dwayne Johnson are going on a journey together. Specifically, a Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D journey. Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens will be along for your crazy ride come Jan. 27, 2012. It’s sure to be a journey… into pure cinematic genius. (Deadline)

The subject of this biopic is Charley Pride, the first black country music star. That might not seem like such a big deal now, in the totally racially integrated world of country music, with stars like [insert black country music star here] and [insert second black country music star here] selling millions of records, but back in the 60s and 70s, his race was actually kept a secret from audiences. Oh, to see the look on white America’s face when they found out Charley Pride was black – maybe I will see this movie.

You might be having doubts about whether Johnson has the acting chops to play Pride, but Pride doesn’t. Here’s what he had to say about the casting choice:

“Dwayne is such a force on screen. It startled me a little at first, but he flew down to Dallas and spent a day with me just sitting, talking recently. And when he left it was like parting with an old friend. We had such similar views on so many things.”

Well, there you have it. Don’t let Charley Pride down, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. And more importantly, don’t let yourself down. (Telegraph-Journal)

It opens with the prison break suggested at the end of Fast & Furious. Then in Rio, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordanna Brewster) go on a run with their old L.A. racer Vince (Matt Schulze). Dominic (Vin Diesel) shows up on the heist, but the deal goes bad and DEA agents get killed. So the feds send in Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his boys from the Diplomatic Security Services to bust them.

People make fun of the Fast and Furious movies for being light on plot, but the problem with Fast Five is that there’s too much plot. I should have known something was wrong when they showed the prison break. The stunt is straightforward and not as cool as if it were implied, and it’s got nothing on the pre-title tanker sequence from Fast & Furious.

'Fast Five' Macho Quiz

The first heist has some good moments like ripping open the side of a train for Dom’s grand entrance, and Brian does some Keanu-worthy jumps from/onto moving vehicles. Then they start taking apart the GTO the Brazilian gang was after, because they’re still expert mechanics. Here begins a lot of explanation about a chip and Reyes’s (Joaquim de Almeida) drug money.

Hobbs busts onto the scene with charismatic bravado. He asks a character, “Am I right?” and when she agrees, he replies, “Of cours I am.” He walks through a gang of Brazilian gunmen on pure attitude and tosses official papers aside, because he gets it. This is the job just because it is. A rooftop chase between the DSS, the Brazilians and Dom’s gang balances three elements with complicated movements, but it’s never quite awesome.

From here it’s a solid hour of all exposition. Dom and Brian get the team from previous sequels back together. Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) help with the technical and Gisele (Gal Gadot) and pre-Tokyo Drift Han (Sung Kang) handle intel. It’s nice to see everyone again but they waste a lot of time on stupid scenes like Roman fast talking a guard. That’s a shame because he was funny in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

6 photosElsa Pataky

Dom maps out Reyes’s entire operation. Then the DSS re-figures it out on their own. Dom and Brian finally go to a street race party, complete with Brazilian T&A, and they skip the race. I get the joke that we just assume they won, but when there’s been no action for a while that’s a flat out failure. THIS is the race you leave implied? Instead we see the crew make practice runs for the heist they’re planning against Reyes.

We finally get a quarter mile race about 80 minutes into the movie. I think they saved all their fury for the climactic sequence, which is good. There’s certainly not enough Hobbs. I appreciate all the talk about family but all those plot scenes weren’t building any character. You do get to see Diesel and The Rock fight, about as cathartic as Jet Li vs. Dolph Lundgren in The Expendables.

Because I was anticipating it so highly, Fast Five becomes my first official disappointment of the summer, and that makes me FURIOUS.

Above is an interactive trailer for Fast Five. You click on stuff and info videos pop-up. There’s also a game element, where you try to unlock safes or something. The point is: clicking on trailers is fun. Click, click, click. Fun. You’ll see Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster in extended clips and behind-the-scenes videos. You’ll also learn a lot more about the cars. Of course, that’s if you bother to watch the info videos, and aren’t just rapid-clicking to find the vaults, like I was doing. I play to win.

Fast Five rolls into theaters April 29, 2011.

If you have questions for any of the stars of the film, or director Justin Lin, please leave them in the comment section. I’ll be interviewing Tyrese, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, Gal Gadot, Elsa Pataky, and Sung Kang as well. Since this film is packed to the brim with masculinity, maybe you have some “man” questions you’d like to get answered. Like, how does a real man get his steak cooked, or what’s the best scotch to drink while contemplating your awesomeness?

You’ll also be able to watch a streaming live broadcast of the world premiere of the film on Friday night. More info on that coming later. But for now, I gotta catch a flight to Brazil, and brush up on my Portuguese. Tchau.

That’s “bye,” right?

Johnson’s role in the action flick is a far cry from those that have required him to wear fairy wings and soap bubbles. He stars as a blue-collar working class dad on a mission to free his falsely-incarcerated son. That setup could mean we’ll see a more serious, morose Rock than we’ve ever seen before, as the desperation to save his character’s son coul drive him to extreme actions.

As of now, he’s the only cast attached to the film directed by former-stuntman Ric Roman Waugh. We’ll keep you posted when we know who he’ll get revenge on this time. (Deadline)

Below is the new poster for Fast Five, the latest Fast and the Furious movie to run-over the title continuity of the series like so much roadkill. At least the other movies had “furious” in the title. Will this entry be nearly as “furious” as the first four? With Vin Diesel Paul Walker and Dwayne “Smell My Cooking” Johnson returning, all signs point 2 yes.

Another sign of this movie’s furiousity: according to a recent interview with director Justin Lin, they shot all the action sequences practically. So when you see a bunch of trucks crash into a train, those were real trucks, a real train, and the whole thing was really expensive. Those aren’t woosy CG wireframe trucks assembled in the Troniverse.

However, I hear the talking scenes will be processed through the program Actor Effects, so the dramatic moments are smoother and also tolerable. (JoBlo and IGN)

The plan was to have Vin release this to his 20 million Facebook fans first, and the Paul Walker, Ludacris, and everyone else would post it to their own pages. Vin always goes first. In trailers and in line for lunch. Dude won’t eat chili mac at room temperature.

In my 10+ years of journalism experience, I have found that the best interviews ever are professional wrestlers. Their entire job is public speaking, riling up the crowd. When they get into a more intimate situation, they know exactly how to present their soundbites so they sound like natural conversation and engage you personally.

Dwayne Johnson has been doing this for 10 years himself as a movie star. His latest movie, Faster, is a return to the sort of action we always expected from The Rock. He plays Driver, an ex-con simply out for revenge. He goes after the gang who betrayed him and killed his brother with nary a word, let alone a cute one-liner.

Johnson was a good sport when I tied in Faster with the upcoming Fast Five. The fifth in the Fast and the Furious series pits Johnson against Vin Diesel. He also appreciated my Point Blank reference and told us it’s okay to still call him The Rock. Check out the video below.

The Roc Faster Interview – Watch more Funny Videos

The tough guy movie of the year is here. Faster is all about the characters and attitude, much more so than action. This is how you make a cool movie. It’s not just set pieces. It’s an overall tone.

driver (Dwayne Johnson) gets out of prison and goes on a rampage, shooting people before you even know what’s going on. This is a list movie, where they introduce all the bad guys and then Driver goes through killing them all. That might remind audiences of Kill Bill but to me it harkens back to Point Blank. There’s no watered down “likeability” but it’s full of respect and honor.  The characters accept their role in this story and have their confrontations.

Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is on Driver’s tail, and Killer is just interested in conquering another quest. He’s already a perfect physical specimen. He just needs a more dangerous game. Cop (Billy Bob Thornton) is on the case, but he’s not a very good cop. Each character speaks to what another character lacks, and it’s a more interesting triangle than usual.

Driver is the best character The Rock has ever played, and that includes The Rock. His actions are so stark before he does pretty much any talking, it just brings us into this story. We don’t have to know Driver’s motivations right away, but we’ve got to stick with him because we’re already in too deep to get out.

I like The Rock, and Johnson is good at comedy too, but it’s cool to see him take a serious badass role. There’s a lot of staring going on. He’s sweaty and gritty. He crosses several lanes of traffic without looking. Of course we know the cars will stop but he doesn’t care. He tosses an interventionist card because he’s not going to talk about his feelings. The Rock is back in action, and better than ever.

George Tillman, Jr. may not have a lot of action set pieces in Faster but he knows how to play visually. His character introductions are completely informative, incorporating behavior and visual cues with slow motion, music and humor. Driver’s reunion with his car is a big deal, even though there’s not really a car chase. There kind of doesn’t have to be, because Driver probably wouldn’t risk his beauty.

Faster brings back all the classic elements that have been missing from movies and takes them to new levels. Driver is one of those miraculous cases of survival who should be dead but he’s back. The hit man is obsessed with excellence and conquering all challenges. There is actually a character close to retirement, and the “one last job” angle has a way different context here. There’s even a gratuitous strip club scene, although they’re all in bikinis. Damn.

The film introduces some new twists too. Real things happen to these characters in between plot points. The deadbeat cop who works too much actually chooses his family in an interesting, still morally ambiguous way. They deal with relationships, addictions, families and religion. Some films throw that in to pretend they have more of a plot, but Faster actually delivers the drama.

I do wonder how all these expert drivers in movies have time to work out and study martial arts too. Learning how to drive that well must take hours and hours behind the wheel every day for your entire life. Those are good skills but you’re still in a seated position. What, you drive for six hours, lift weights for two and do kata before bed?

Faster is just a solid, aggressive thriller. The title might suggest more action than the movie actually delivers, because that’s probably the only way to market it. It’s actually a refreshing minimalist character piece, but man does it propel you through Driver’s anger and Killer’s obsession. Dare I say Faster is also furious? I dare.

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CBS Films has dropped a new red band trailer for Faster. It’s directed by George Tillman Jr. and stars Dwayne “Don’t Call Me The Rock Anymore” Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace, and Moon Bloodgood.

Looks like there are plenty of brutal head shots as an ex-con drives, I’m going to assume fast, throughout the city knocking off the gang members that killed his brother ten years prior. Why anyone would ever f*ck with Dwayne’s family is beyond me. I would just assume once he’s let out of prison I’m dead.

Check out the NSFW trailer after the jump…

Michael Caine has admitted on record that the only reason he did Jaws: The Revenge was for the money and the free trip to the Bahamas. "I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific!" So, there’s not much surprise that he’s agreed to co-star opposite the Rock in the Hawaii-based Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Plus, he gets to work with Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore director Brad Peyton. What actor would turn down that opportunity?!

In the film, he’ll portray Josh Hutcherson‘s adventure-seeking granddad who wanders off and winds up on a mysterious island. This will be an action-heavy role for Caine that will see him squaring off against giant bees. If you listen closely, that beeping sound is a dump truck full of money backing up to Oscar-winner Michael Caine‘s terrific house. (THR)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson‘s slow transformation into Brendan Fraser is nearly complete. The wrestler-turned-actor (Walking Tall, Southland Tales, Chef Boyardee commercials) has signed on as the lead in the upcoming Journey To The Center Of Earth sequel. Many expected that Josh Hutcherson would make the leap to leading man for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, but it seems that he’s riding shotgun this time around.

In the film, Johnson plays Hutcherson’s mom’s boyfriend who tags along for the exhilirating adventure when the boy travels to an unchartered island to find his missing grandfather. Seems like a lot of trouble. Did you check the local A&P, Josh? That’s the first place I look when my granddad wanders. (THR)

The Faster teaser trailer has Tokyo drifted onto the scene. It’s nice to see Dwayne Johnson shedding his tooth fairy wings and picking up a gun. He should only kick ass from now on and stop these movies where he gets into embarassing situations with nine-year-olds.

The film follows an ex-con who sets out to avenge his brother’s death after they were double-crossed during a heist years ago. It also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Maggie Grace, Moon Bloodgood, and Carla Gugino. That’s a whole lotta sexy for one movie. The women must have joined together at some point to fend off Billy Bob’s forceful advances.

Faster skids into theaters Novembe 24, 2010.

Check out the teaser after the jump…

Faster — Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

It’s time once agin to gather round the computin’ box and gather some freshly-branded casting news. YAWWWWW!!!!

FAST FIVE – will be gaining one Ludacris and one The Rock according to Twitter all-star Tyrese Gibson. “Major shouts to Vin Diesel Paul Walker, & Dewayne [sic] “Rock” Johnson!! “Fast & Furious Five” Let’s get em again!!” Yes. He misspelled The Rock’s name but please keep in mind, he typed this with his ab muscles. Impressed, now? (Collider)

RISE OF THE APES – has cast Brian Cox to play a villianous dean general Robert McKee owner of a primate research facility. When reached for comment, James Cromwell said, "Aw, dammit." (/Film)

MONEYBALL – "Parks and Recreation" shoeshine man, Chris Pratt, will spend his hiatus from the show portraying a catcher whose hurty elbow leads him to become a batting phenom. Just like Rookie Of the Year (note: nothing like Rookie Of the Year.) (Collider)

_{"Mmmm, I’d like to be the meat in this sandwich."}

A little birdy told Deadline that Dwayne Johnson is sniffing the butt of a lead role in Fast & Furious 5, or the titl Paul Walker wrote in crayon on his Trapper Keeper, Fast Five. Johnson is already starring in the revenge drama Faster where he’ll also be driving fast. We got it, Rock. You’re a man. You like fast cars, fast women, and eating chili peppers with Vin Diesel. It would be really cool if you’d let Paul tag along sometime. He doesn’t think you guys like him. Awww, come back here, Paul! You weren’t supposed to hear that!

The trailer for The Other Guys has dropped and it provides a great deal more context than the fancy schmancy motion poster did. Although a part of me is missing the "Ridin’ Dirty" background music. Watch out, synopsis comin’ atchya!

Set in New York City The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble (Ferrell), a forensic accountant who’s more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg), who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an embarrassing public incident with his quick trigger finger. Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and Manzetti (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Step Brothers, it looks like director Adam McKay could have a hit on his hands with this one, as long as Ferrell keeps the manchildness to a minimum. I’m not sure if The Other Guys can top the satirical brilliance of Hot Fuzz, but the bad cop/bad cop scene in the trailer had me LOLing. And if you know me, you know I don’t LOL at just anything. Only fits of rage and kittens in casts. 

Check out the trailer below. The Other Guys crashes into theaters August 6, 2010.

The Other Guys Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

A teaser for The Other Guys hit ShoWest last week and now Yahoo has officially released it to people who aren’t allowed back in Vegas, deeming it a "motion poster." Call me old fashioned, but I like a play and pause button on my media. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell sliding across screen like a couple of bad ass cops is a damn fine thing to witness so enjoy the autoplay and autorepeat. Don’t you DARE close that window until it’s cycled at least 10 times.

Check out the fancy, shmancy motion poster after the jump.

USA Today premiered the first production still of the action movie Faster starring Dwayne Johnson the wrestler with the eyebrow thing. The Rock (Ooooopsie!) plays “an ex-con pursued by cops and killers as he sets out to avenge his brother’s death.” The film also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, and Moon Bloodgood. Now I can think of two reasons to see this film that each have two reasons to see this film. And no, I’m not talking about testicles.

The tag for Faster is "Revenge is the only thing that drives him." Thought provoking stuff, but I think that this guy would disagree:

Show your chauffeur some respect Dwaaaayne. (/Film)

Someone at ShoWest snagged some footage of the new Adam McKay directed comedy the Other Guys starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. I’m really digging how Marky Mark is the Cash to Ferrell’s Tango. Sure, Wahlberg is playing another ramrod cop, but don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, yaknowwhatI’msayin’? And Ferrell wears glasses in this film, which I haven’t seen him sport in awhile. As long as he doesn’t do the whole man-child act again, I’ll sit in another darkened theater with him. Here’s some context for all you brainiacs:

The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble (Ferrell), a forensic accountant who’s more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz (Marky Mark), a tough guy who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an unfortunate run-in with Derek Jeter. Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Sam Jackson), but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

Check out the teaser footage below.

The Other Guys Teaser Trailer – Watch more Funny Videos

(Collider)

I’m only writing this up because I wanted to search for pictures of Salma Hayek and Carla Gugino. Let’s just take a moment to look at the above side-by-side.

Don’t rush me!

Alright. Gugino is replacing Hayek in the role she bailed on back in January in the revenge thriller Faster. Dwayne "I’m Still Calling Him The Rock" Johnson plays an ex-con on a mission to avenge his brother’s murder. A DEADLY mission. Conflict abound! Gugino will play the detective hot on his trail, looking to pin a decade-old case on the people’s eyebrow. Hopefully The Rock will pin Carla to a decade-old headboard. Right before they do it sexually on a slightly vintage bedframe. Musty smells turn me on. (Variety)

Remember when I said they’d make a Commando sequel before they’d reboot the film?  I lied.  Actually, I never said anything about anything.  But the rumors have started flooding in, and Slashfilm has found several instances of corroborating evidence that indeed, a Commando sequel just might be in development… and that it might have a star already willing to take up the John Matrix mantle.

The trail of clues starts in Australia, where, according to JoBlo, there’s an article in a magazine called RCI that simply states a remake is being developed. Okay.  But what of it?  I heard Fox just optioned the remake of Tom Rothman’s dream he had last night, a dream that was essentially a reënvisioning of Garfield 2.

But there’s more.  CineFools.com also has picked up on the possibility that Dwayne Johnson is attached to the film already. 

I don’t know how I feel about this.  I think I have to meditate on it by watching the GREATEST opening credits sequence of all time… from the original Commando.  You can watch it, too, after the jump.

Cmndo001 – Watch more Funny Videos