Cinematical Dev

I'd probably go to see A Good Old Fashioned Orgy just for the title. It's got punch, and it is a great, brief description of what's to come. It sort of reminds me of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for a new generation. But the story is different, and instead of a big-busted country singer, we're getting a little slice of Saturday Night Live. Variety reports that Jason Sudeikis, Will Forte, and Leslie Bibb have signed on to star in the film, which will be directed by co-writers Pete Huyck and Alex Gregory (King of the Hill).

Sudeikis will star as a 30-year-old dude with wealthy parents. However, he's "forced to grow up when his father decides to sell the family vacation home in the Hamptons, bringing an end to his tradition of throwing elaborate summer theme parties. Wanting to go out with a bang, he enlists his friends to throw one final party." Yes, it's an orgy. I guess he doesn't mind seeing all his friends nude, or bumping bare butts with a buddy.

In case you haven't heard by now, Iron Man took home a whopping $201 million worldwide over the weekend, with that amount pretty much split right down the middle between domestic and international. Not only is it the second best non-sequel opening ever, but it also proved that Marvel (now self-financing their films) is in it to win it ... big time. Fortunately, folks won't have to wait long to see if Marvel will strike gold twice -- in a little over a month from now (on June 13, to be exact), The Incredible Hulk will debut in theaters. Last time a Hulk film was in theaters, Ang Lee directed and Marvel did not self-finance the flick. After seeing what Iron Man did to the box office over the weekend (and what fans thought of the film), something tells me we're in for a completely different kind of re-boot this time around.

Right from the start, folks haven't been giving The Incredible Hulk a fair shake, myself included. It took a long time to get those first images, and even longer for a trailer. But now that the film's marketing campaign is in full swing, I'm starting to see the fans turn. I witnessed the full "field scene" from the trailer at New York Comic Con last month, and I can assure you it looked awesome. Everyone is talking up the Iron Man cast, but have you noticed that The Incredible Hulk cast is just as good (not to mention I think Tim Roth will play a better villain than Jeff Bridges)? And now that Iron Man killed, does that change anything for The Incredible Hulk? Do more people now want to see it? Are expectations higher? Sound off below in the poll and in the comments section ...

Above you will find the latest Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer. While it looks kinda like the last one, it's easy to spot a whole bunch of new scenes and dialogue. Anyone else notice how all these trailers and TV spots have been very light on Marion Ravenwood's scenes? They've included her in this jungle car chase scene, and she's had a line or two, but that's it. Part of me wonders how much she's in the actually movie? Then again, perhaps they'd rather play up the Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett roles over Karen Allen, who, while very well known to all of us movie buffs, isn't exactly a household name across the globe. Kinda diggin' LaBeouf's character more and more each day; he's a fun guy to watch on screen and my fingers are crossed he does a good job here. Reviews thus far have been iffy ... but I'd rather wait to see for myself.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull arrives on May 22. Check out our enormous (and fairly awesome) gallery of images from the film below.

Ever since the numbers were released yesterday, anyone and everyone (as well as anyone who is everyone) has been talking Speed Racer -- specifically, how a $120 million Hollywood blockbuster could open with only $20 million at the box office. You can blame Iron Man, you can blame the marketing, you can blame the blogs for trashing the film all year long, you can blame Christina Ricci's weird haircut, or you can blame that judge on Project Runway for saying, "You can never have too much color!" Fact is, it missed the mark.

But what could've helped Speed Racer make more money in its opening weekend? The running time has been mentioned a lot in the past 24 hours, but a running time doesn't exactly woo audiences into the theater. Is the film's marketing 100% to blame? Should the trailers have been cut differently? Should they have stressed that this was a film for kids? Should they have added a little viral action into the mix? Or what about overall? From the beginning, were the Wachowski Brothers the right folks for the job? Should they have gone the animated route instead -- or maybe the animated 3-D route? Should they have made this a film for older kids; slap on a PG-13 rating?

In your opinion, what could've helped Speed Racer -- both in its opening weekend and in its development as a feature film?

With the end of this month comes final confirmation: Can Sex and the City make it as a feature film? To continue to whet our Sex appetites, a whole slew of clips popped up over on the net. Above you can check out the, erm, fleshed out waxing clip from the trailer, and after the jump there's a wedding announcement, that Cinderella clip, some "coloring," home shopping, and Carrie getting a little bit too "pat on the head," "I've been there" preachy with Jennifer Hudson.

As someone who enjoyed the show (whilst ignoring the idiotic fashions and some of the crappy men), this is looking to be the sort of film that will appeal to fans ... although it will be a little different than its skin-risque HBO roots. A few years passed and now it seems that we won't be getting the usual fleshy shocker from Samantha -- rumor has it that the only woman who celebrates full-flesh is Cynthia Nixon. It's too bad that age seems to be making the women cling to the clothing, but then again, that's SatC for you -- partially stereotype-breaking and partially stereotype-clutching.

A whole new batch of images from the next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, have just arrived online. So, in honor of a badly beaten-up Daniel Craig, we've decided that now is definitely the right time to launch our official Quantum of Solace photo gallery -- complete with good guys, bad guys and women who may or not be good or bad. (Can I just say that I absolutely love this photo above. Obviously they've had a long night -- and even though he's all sorts of damaged, Bond has that "I bet I could still tap that" look on his face.)

What do we know about Quantum of Solace? Well, it picks up right where Casino Royale left off, and it follows 007 on a mission to figure out which moron came up with the name for this film. I kid, I kid. Actually, we're with Bond as he attempts to figure out more about the organization that blackmailed Vesper -- a mission that ultimately leads him to several countries and to a couple of men; one of which, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), is conspiring to take total control of one of the world's most important natural resources. There's double the action, double the intensity and (we hope) double the love-making.

Quantum of Solace arrives in theaters on November 7. Check out our brand new gallery below.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for City of Ember (click to enlarge), due out this October 10th courtesy of 20th Century Fox and Walden Media. Based on the best-selling novel from Jeanne Duprau, City of Ember was written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and directed by the very talented Gil Kenan (Monster House). Oh, but the talent doesn't stop there -- check out this cast: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Harry Treadaway. And did I mention it was produced by Tom Hanks?

And here's a synopsis for ya: "For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights - underground. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing . . . and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever."

Early buzz tells us the film looks gorgeous, so that's definitely a good sign. We've also been told that the first trailer for City of Ember will debut in front of Prince Caspian this weekend. (Chalk up another reason to hang with those peeps over in Narnia.) Once again, City of Ember arrives in theaters on October 10th.

So who's excited for this one?

Cinematical was just handed this exclusive clip from the film Mongol, which finally arrives in theaters in limited release on June 6 after being nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar. Mongol comes from the award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains), and it follows the early years of Genghis Khan -- before he took on that name, through his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny. Cinematical's Eric D. Snider reviewed the film when it played the Portland Film Festival, and said: "The battle scenes, in particular, are thrilling and visceral without being too nauseating, and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano's performance as Temudjin has the stoicism and dedication you need for an effective biopic hero." I think it goes without saying that we all love a film with a few good battles in it, and Mongol looks to give us just that ... and then some. Check out the clip above, then the poster, then get your asses to the theater when it arrives on June 6.

Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes -- a few nude, er, new photos from the set of Jennifer's Body have arrived online, and it seems the lovely Megan Fox (pictured above) has finally transformed into a girl that doesn't wear any clothes. About damn time! (Last week she transformed into a motorcycle and we were all, like, what the F!) These new images come to us via The Bad and Ugly, who have a few more of Fox in and out of the lake, and let's just say they're a tad more revealing. For those who don't remember, Fox was recently named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine -- and these new photos definitely help the girl live up to that title.

Written by Diablo Cody (Juno), Jennifer's Body stars Megan Fox as a newly-possessed cheerleader who begins killing her male classmates; specifically, those trying to woo her. Amanda Seyfried stars as Jennifer's best friend and the film's hero, while guys like Adam Brody show up as the lead singer of a band (see images of Brody's Nikolai character over at Just Jared).

Man, looking at that image above reminds me of those days when I was applying to be "guy who holds blanket over naked actress on set." Never got the job, of course, because I didn't have 3-5 years experience, but it was still fun to try. Jennifer's Body arrives in theaters next year ... as well as on the desktops of every horny male teenager in the world right ... about ... now.

I guess there is always room for another weird form of time travel. A big blue box has been making time travel fun for years on Doctor Who, and now we're getting a wet and wild version. The Hollywood Reporter posts that MGM has picked up a new comedy project by Josh Heald called Hot Tub Time Machine. Doesn't that sound like something right out of the '80s? I could totally see it as a follow-up to Weird Science.

Anyway ... the flick is said to follow "a group of guys, adults who used to be cads back in their heyday, who, after a night of vodka and Red Bulls in a hot rub, travel back in time and set out to rediscover their 'mojo.'" Methinks there will be no room in this feature for time travel rules and paradoxes -- this is sounding like the sort of project that will throw time travel law to the wind ... or maybe not!

MGM exec Cale Boyter says: "We're always looking for ways to stand out from the rest of the pack in today's crowded marketplace, and what better way than to combine hot tub debauchery and the complications of time travel." Oh, the ultimate geek adventure -- perfecting youthful ways whilst trying not to complicate time travel. What I don't get is how this works -- are they going back in time to watch themselves secretly and try to re-tap into their lost lasciviousness? I get the feeling it won't matter; I'm betting this flick will be all about the boobs and booze.