Now that you know what Josh Brolin's George W. Bush will look like, you should know that you'll get to see him in action real soon -- probably sooner than you thought. The ever-courageous Lionsgate has picked up Oliver Stone's W, and plans to release it on October 17th. Of this year. That's 2008. Before the election. Notably, the movie hasn't even started shooting yet -- it goes into production on May 12th in Louisiana.

I never really thought the film would fail to find distribution, though early buzz on the screenplay has been fairly toxic. I did think there was going to be a race between when W would be finished and when Dubya would be finished -- that is, out of office. But apparently Stone is not messing around and plans to deliver the film in a few months, with Lionsgate hoping to capitalize on the furor that will surround the election.

Jeez -- maybe it's because I read too many blogs (or because I live in Pennsylvania, suddenly a battleground state), but it's barely May and I'm already tired of the election. Is W really how people will want to spend their leisure time in late October? I can't imagine, but I respect the folks at Lionsgate enough to think they know what they're doing. Incidentally: Dick Cheney remains uncast. Any suggestions?

Despite the talk and the buzz, I never thought it would actually happen. If any novel merits the term "unfilmable," certainly Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is it. I mean, the climax is a 60-page radio broadcast! And the entire thing is what can charitably be called a screed, preaching Rand's extremely unliberal "objectivist" political philosophy. So when I heard that Vadim Perelman (The House of Sand and Fog and the upcoming The Life Before Her Eyes) was developing the project, with Angelina Jolie attached to star as Dagny Taggart, my reaction was quite simply: Pfffffft.

But it looks like I pfffffted too soon. Comingsoon.net talked to Perelman this week, and he told them that he's finishing up the script, and that Lionsgate wants to start shooting in December. So, uh: it looks like this might actually happen.

I would commit atrocities to get my hands on a copy of Perelman's screenplay. I can only imagine what it does to condense the thousand-page-plus book into even a very long movie. What worries me most is that the novel doesn't really exist without Rand's politics, if that makes any sense: they're so integral to the story that cutting them out would make everything else pretty much pointless. And I'm not sure Hollywood -- even the relatively adventurous Lionsgate -- has the stomach for a politically faithful adaptation.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Religulous (click on the image to enlarge), directed by the very funny Larry Charles (Borat, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and starring that oh-so-controversial comedian Bill Maher (who currently hosts the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher). From what we know, Religulous is a documentary about world religion, with Maher and Charles traveling the world to interview people from different countries and get their opinions on religion. Knowing Maher and his beliefs, it's pretty much guaranteed that all hell will eventually break loose. I think it's pretty fair to say there will be a certain amount of people who don't agree with what Maher has to say about religion. Personally, I think he's a pretty funny guy and I dig the fact that Lionsgate would get behind a film like this. Lionsgate: The Distributor with Balls!

Religulous arrives in theaters on June 20.

In addition to being a fine horror site (where you can watch full movies for free if you like!), FEARnet is also a movies-on-demand channel that's available to Comcast subscribers. Generally the FEARnet cable channel offers old-school time-wasters like Leprechaun, Wishmaster and Child's Play ... which is great when you're in the mood to flip through some options and settle in for a nasty little horror flick.

Anyway,as of right now FEARnet is offering their very first "original" movie! It's a flick called Catacombs -- and yes, horror fans, it's that one with Shannyn Sossamon that's been sitting on a shelf at Lionsgate Central for the past two years. I haven't seen the movie yet (probably later tonight!), but I think it's pretty nifty that the channel has a "first-run" title to offer the viewers. Even if it sucks, Catacombs is definitely a horror movie you haven't seen yet, plus it's a freebie anyway.

Here's what the IMDb says about Catacombs: "On her first trip to Paris, a young woman hits a party in the Catacombs, the 200-mile labyrinth of limestone tunnels under the city that's lined with the remains of 7 million people. Separated from her friends, she becomes convinced that someone or something is chasing her." The flick was cooked up by writer / directors Tomm Coker and David Elliot. (The former is a comic book artist and the latter wrote The Watcher.) It's also a Twisted Pictures production, which means it comes from the same checkbook that birthed the Saw series. (Lionsgate will release the flick on DVD early next year.)

So let's say you're dying to see Catacombs now ... but you don't get the FEARnet cable channel. Well FEARnot, because if you really want to watch the flick (online, for free), you can do so right here starting on October 31. (Full disclosure: I write horror reviews for the FEARnet website, just so you know. But I'd be sharing the news on FREE NEW horror movies no matter where they were hosted.)

For those who thought the rest of town was just going to sit back and let Disney rule the High School Musical world, think again -- Variety reports Showtime, Lionsgate and Spitfire Pictures have come together and will shovel out their own flick featuring a bunch of high school kids putting on a musical. Only, instead of having Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens blow each other candy-coated kisses from across the gymnasium (is that a scene, I don't even know?), this new film will be a straight-up documentary. Written and directed by Barry Blaustein, the doc will follow students from three southern Indiana high schools as they compete musical-wise for a spot in the International Thespian Festival.

Confession time: I was one of those drama kids back in high school, and helped work on the musicals (the ones where it was grade against grade -- we called it Sing!), although I never actually, well, sang. Behind the scenes stuff mostly, but I point this out because I know the kind of drama a drama class can provide. It could get nasty. Real nasty. Apart from the in-school activities, viewers will also get a chance to see how these kids live offstage; we'll meet the parents, teachers, local politicians, what have you. And hopefully none of the kids will get caught taking nude photos of themselves. Lionsgate will throw the doc onto the festival circuit to start out with, and if folks are really digging it, we'll see a theatrical run before DVD. So, are you fans of High School Musical ready to see how it really goes down? Or are you more comfortable in the land of make believe?

Lionsgate has been nice enough to provide Cinematical with the second poster for the Saw IV blood drive (click on the photo for a larger image) -- an event held annually since the first Saw was released. We previously brought word of the first poster in the series (I believe there will be a total of 4 or 5 of these) which showed a side-profile of the mannequin-like nurse. This time she's sitting in a padded chair, gently pulling up her nurse's skirt to seductively reveal a little sumthin' sumthin' ... if you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, we cannot promise that the nurse pictured (or someone who looks like her) will indeed be the one drawing your blood, but we can promise that your donations can (and most likely will) save lives. Since 2004, 38,000 pints of blood have been donated (a figure that's doubled each year), all of which have helped to save the lives of as many as 112,500 people. Partnering once again with the American Red Cross, Lionsgate's Saw IV blood drive will run through the first week of the film's release, and folks can give blood at a number of locations across the country. For more info on the blood drive and the film, head on over to the official website of the American Red Cross. Saw IV opens nationwide on October 26.

"Did you know the human head weighs eight pounds?" -- Ray Boyd (Jonathan Lipnicki) in Jerry Maguire

Why would I use a quote from a Cameron Crowe film to introduce a post about a new Saw poster? Heck, click right here and find out. (Pause for clicking.) Yes, horror fans, it looks like good ol' Jigsaw was good enough to solve that question for us. According to the Lionsgate marketing department, the human head really DOES weigh eight pounds. (OK, it's actually a little less than eight pounds, but Jiggy did have a fairly large tumor removed during his last movie, don't forget.)

As usual the Lionsgate salespeople have done a fine job of tossing together a promotional item that'll have the fans saying "cooooool" and the uninitiated saying "uhhhh ... wtf am I looking at?!?!?!" Well, you're looking at the dismembered head of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) as it lies on a scale. Ew. And get this: Remember how last year Mr. Bell contributed some of his own blood to the Saw 3 poster? Well this time around he actually sliced his own head off and placed it on a scale!

Nah, just kidding. Anyway, there's the new poster. Which means some sort of teaser trailer won't be far behind. Speaking as a fan of the whole slimy Saw series, my reaction is "cool." Saw 4, which stars Costas Mandylor, Lyriq Bent, Angus Macfadyen and (we think) Shawnee Smith, opens on October 26. Needless to say: There will be (more) blood.

Is this one of the coolest movie posters you've ever seen, or what? Yup, that's the brand new poster for 3:10 to Yuma over to the right of your screen (click on it for a larger version via Coming Soon); that new Western flick starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. What's great about the poster is the fact that they don't bombard the thing with portraits of both Bale and Crowe. Instead, we get some lone cowboy with his back toward us and a couple guns in his hand. I haven't purchased a movie poster in a long time, but part of me is actually itching to hang this bad boy up on the wall. (Unfortunately, the wife might not dig it as much as I do.) Oh, and the trailer ain't so bad either.

Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, 3:10 to Yuma is a remake of the 1957 film of the same name. That one starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin in the two lead roles, which will now be played by Crowe and Bale. In the film, which was directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line), Bale plays a small-time rancher who's placed in charge of holding an outlaw (Crowe) while they await the 3:10 train to Yuma for a court appearance. But if you thought the two guys would just hang out, play cards and make friendship bracelets for one another, you're wrong. It was recently announced that Lionsgate moved the film's release date up a month to September 7th in order to be the first Western this fall to hit the marketplace. I know that sounds weird (we haven't seen a quality Western grace the big screen in quite some time), but 3:10 to Yuma will indeed face competition from both Brad Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James and the Coen Bros. No Country for Old Men (which our own James Rocchi calls a "revisionist Western" and not a "more classic-styled period piece). Should all three films do well, perhaps the Western will make a bit of a comeback. Now that I'd like to see.

If I had to make my top ten list for 2007 right now, there would be a lot of movies up for consideration, but there are only two that would be immediately added to the list: Paul Verhoeven's Black Book and William Friedkin's Bug. Even though it didn't find success at the box-office -- it opened against Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End -- Bug is a splendidly-acted little horror-drama about the perils of paranoia and the effects that lonliness and isolation can have on a person's judgement. It also contains one of the best performances Ashley Judd has given in years, without question. If you missed it in theaters like most people, then you should really give it a chance when it arrives on DVD on September 25th. The specs of the DVD have recently been released, along with the cover art seen here.

There's not going to be an avalanche of extras on the DVD, but there will be an audio commentary by Friedkin, along with two featurettes. One is called Bug: An Introduction and the other is A Discussion with William Friedkin, which I guess is exactly what it sounds like. I think they could have gotten a little more creative than this-- I'd like to see some extras that compare and contrast the stage production with the film, and maybe some interviews with Tracy Letts, the writer of both the play and the script. Oh well -- guess you can't have everything, right?

As one of our commenters recently pointed out, this year's ComicCon is "going to better than ever." And, based on this newly released schedule of events, it's looking like that might just be the case. When we last brought word on the ComicCon schedule, it was still up in the air whether Indiana Jones 4 would have a presence there. Well fear not fedora fans, it looks like Indy will be there in some capacity. Apart from Indy IV, Paramount, Dreamworks and Nickelodeon will present a "one-of-a-kind presentation" that will feature films like Beowulf, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Stardust, Hot Rod, Iron Man and Star Trek XI. On hand to answer questions in person will be J.J. Abrams, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary and SNL's Andy Samberg. Since no one from the Indy camp will be there in person (at least not according to this list), I'm curious to see what they'll be presenting. Will it be a teaser poster? More photos from the set? One thing is for sure -- Cinematical will tell you exactly what it is when we, along with tons and tons of other fanboys, invade San Diego ComicCon later this month.

But what about the other studios, Erik? Well, Lionsgate will do a special Good Luck Chuck presentation with Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler and director Mark Helfrich on hand to personally guide you through their upcoming comedy. Alba will then move onto a promotion for The Eye remake (in which she also stars), Clive Barker will show up with the cast of Midnight Meat Train to ... serve up some midnight meat, I assume, and Darrren Lynn Bousman and Tobin Bell will "invite you to play a game in the cruel and deadly world of Jigsaw." Additionally, Warner Bros. will also be on hand promoting Speed Racer, Get Smart, The Invasion, Whiteout, One Missed Call, Trick 'R Treat and Watchmen (with Zack Snyder in attendance, presumably to announce further casting). 20th Century Fox will present stuff on Jumper, Aliens vs. Predator, Hitman, Babylon A.D., The Dark is Rising and City of Ember (with Gil Kenan in attendance not in attendance, we've been told by Fox -- he's too busy on set to attend). There's loads of other goodies as well, but I just don't have the time or the space to tell you about it all. After the jump, I've included more than a few highlights -- but head on over to the official site to see it in full. ComicCon will take San Diego by storm from July 26-29.

Earlier this week, I got a call from Elisha Cuthbert to discuss what has to be the most talked-about movie of the year so far, Captivity. If I actually tried to give you a rundown all the digital ink we've spilled on this little horror film since the beginning of 2007, I'd never get around to actually typing out this interview, so I'll just choose a few highlights, like the original outbreak of controversy over the film's graphic billboard advertising back in March, the harsh response by the MPAA, the arrival of the first trailer, the release-date musical chairs, and our exclusive interview with After Dark Films about the whole project and the fuss it had caused. As you can probably imagine, the first question I asked Elisha when I spoke with her was, inevitably, 'Do you get asked your opinion about Captivity every single day?'

Elisha is, of course, known for her starring roles in such films as The Girl Next Door, where she played a mercurial porn star called Danielle, House of Wax, the 2005 horror remake in which she starred alongside a pre-incarceration Paris Hilton and famously allowed the stunt people to glue her lips together for a crucial scene, and the Will Ferrell comedy Old School. She's also widely recognized for her work on the small screen, appearing for several seasons as Jack Bauer's daughter on the hit show 24. Those two worlds are expected to collide sometime in late 2008 or 2009 as a movie adaptation of 24 ramps up production, but until that happens, if it happens at all, Cuthbert has a number of projects on the runway to keep her busy. Here is the interview, and fair warning -- it does contain some spoilers about Captivity.

RS: What's it like being at the center of this film's controversy-fueled marketing campaign for the past few months? Do you get asked your opinion about Captivity every single day?

EC: Not every day, but I definitely get a lot of questions about it. To be perfectly honest with you, a lot of it baffles me, and a lot of it is intriguing at the same time, because I had no idea that, in the world of the Saws and the Hostels ... somehow our film has sort of stuck out. I'm grateful for that, but at the same time, I'm a little confused. I know that we had some controversy with the womens' groups, and I just feel like I wanted them to see the film before making any judgments on it. I set out to make a film about a woman who fights for her life and comes out in the end sort of strong and learns something from her experience. But 30 million people chatting about it online? I couldn't ask for anything more!

RS: Did you find the billboards personally offensive?

EC: I personally didn't, but then again that doesn't mean it's not going to affect someone in a negative way, and we're here to sort of appease the people who go see the films. The only thing I can say about it is that I thought that they were interesting enough to be up. I hope people see the film and give it a chance. We're not here to sort of ... this isn't a documentary about, you know, women getting kidnapped. This is a horror film.

RS: Where do you come down on the whole recent issue of R-rated horror films like Hostel II seeming to give ground to films like 1408, which are PG-13 and clearly less gruesome?

EC: I don't know, you know, it's hard to judge. I think that, back in the day, there used to be a lot of horror films that kind of had a checklist of what went into making the 'perfect horror film', and I think now people are raising the bar in the industry, as far as the types of horror films that are being made. There's a sort of psychological undertone to films. 1408 -- I think we're also in the same realm as that, just as the Hostels and the Saws, because there is that sort of psychological fear and we're basing something on reality. I don't know -- it's tough to say, I just think the industry in general and the genre in general has changed and modified -- people want to see more.

When you mention the name Tyler Perry around Lionsgate Films, dollar bills begin to immediately fall from the sky. Of course, that's fictitious, but Perry's worth to the Lionsgate empire is magnificent. The first three films Perry conceptualized, wrote and directed made the company over $200 million in box office sales and their worth in DVD sales is in the millions as well. It only makes sense then that Perry would be given the opportunity to film his fifth project with Lionsgate called Meet the Browns.

Meet the Browns was originally a play written by Perry that is similar thematically to his previous films. A single mom, understandably exhausted both with family life and a hope for something greater, is rejuvenated by meeting the father she never had. After finding her father, she spends quality time with him and his joyous, high-spirited family, thus obtaining a newer understanding of her own life. The storyline sounds sweet and inspiring, especially for those enduring the same struggles.

Tyler Perry created Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, and most recently Daddy's Little Girls starring Gabrielle Union -- another single parent, family-themed film that raked in audience members last February. (Granted, not as many people showed up for that one as they did for his previous big-screen efforts, but that's not stopping Lionsgate from taking more and more chances on the man.)

Clearly, Perry is an inspiration to those seeking success in doing what they do best. Perry's love for writing and connecting with the souls of his audience members is clear. Those qualities attribute to much of his success as a playwright and also helped him acquire his own film studio in Atlanta. His strong character driven storylines about overcoming the odds also relate beyond skin tone and gender, and are purely uplifting for all. Meet the Browns will start filming this summer as Lionsgate hopes to promptly release it after his fourth film with them, Why Did I Get Married?

I'm not exactly sure why you couldn't just make a summer camp comedy and NOT use the name Meatballs, but according to a CHUD source, it sure looks like Lionsgate is about to kick a new remake into production. Yes, world, there will now be two separate movies with the title of Meatballs -- neither of which have anything to do with ground beef.

The original "camp" comedy known as Meatballs actually hails from Canada, and it hit the scene in the summer of '79. Kick-started the (very) successful careers of Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman is what it did -- although it didn't really do all that much for folks like Chris Makepeace. Aside from young master Murray's inspired aloofness, the flick's a fairly forgettable affair. And as the CHUD source points out, it's not like Meatballs is on the same level as a Caddyshack or even a Stripes. Plus, who wants to share a title with movies like Meatballs Part 2, Meatballs 3: Summer Job or Corey Feldman's Meatballs 4?

But without Bill Murray, does the title "Meatballs" even matter? I say not. Er, no. Having said that, at least Lionsgate had the smarts enough to hand the project off to some funny people. Sean Anders and John Morris (of the very funny indie Never Been Thawed) have been tapped to pen the remake, while further buzz indicates that John Whitesell (See Spot Run, Malibu's Most Wanted, Big Momma's House 2, Deck the Halls) is in talks to direct, although with a resumé like that, forgive me for being a bit skeptical. I'm just wondering if they'll keep that song in the remake. You know the one I mean...

We are the C.I.T.s so pity us!
The kids are rats, the food is hideous!
We're gonna smoke and drink and fool around....

In my opinion, Dane Cook's stand-up is a lot funnier than his acting. You can blame it on bad scripts all day long, but I like to think our friend Cook is suffering from a severe case of "Chris Rock syndrome" -- meaning he's having a heck of a hard time making the jump from "that funny dude on stage" to "that hysterical dude on screen." That said, he's a tough guy to cast and his roles haven't shown us a ton of range. Whereas I see him more as the perfect villain (an a**hole of an ex-boyfriend, perhaps), he keeps landing gigs as the nice guy with woman troubles. However, that might change with his latest role; The Hollywood Reporter tells us Cook is in final negotiations to star in Bachelor No. 2 for Lionsgate, with Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink) all but set to direct.

Although Cook will once again play a guy whose biggest problem lies with the opposite sex, this time he'll have a chance to play up the sleazeball role. Script centers on a guy named Tank (Cook) who's hired to take girls out on bad dates -- dates that end in such a horrific way that these girls are forced to run back into the arms of their previous boyfriend, Tank's client. Of course it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where this is going; eventually his best friend asks him for help getting back together with his girlfriend and, well, I assume complications arise when Tank actually digs her in a more than friends kind of way. Script was penned by Jordan B. Cahan, and they're currently eying an August start date. Cook, who's been quite the busy bee as of late, can next be seen this weekend in Mr. Brooks, then later this summer in Good Luck Chuck, and then this fall in Dan in Real Life, opposite Steve Carell.

The cast and director of Bug recently assembled at a Manhattan hotel to answer some questions about the new horror-drama, which I saw and praised on this site. Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon star as two small-town Midwestern people whose lives intersect one night at her trailer-park home and the match-up creates a sort of perfect storm of paranoia, discomfort, and ultimately, terror. She fuels his pre-existing fears about being followed by a shadowy government agency, while he perversely fills for her a deep-seated need to be taken seriously and to be listened to. It's hard to explain the movie any more specifically than that -- you have to see it. William Friedkin had the press eating out of his hand, photographers wasted everyone's time by insisting on, like, ten minutes of posed photos, and Judd talked a lot about her process of mental preparation. Here is a sampling of the various questions and answers asked by all the assembled journalists -- enjoy.

Ashley Judd

Was it an easy decision, for you to sign on for this one?

AJ: It was very easy for me to decide to do Bug. Billy had been good enough to send the script to my agent. Bug also had in common a producer who was producing Come Early Morning, which was the film I shot right before Bug. So there was a streamline simplicity to the process. Of course, Billy's wife was my mentor early in my career, provided my big break in Hollywood, so it seemed like there were a lot of auspicious things that were coming together around the script.

I really loved Billy's response to Michael. He was very clear and impassioned and firm that Michael was the actor for the film, as he had been unabashedly the actor for the play. I was really impressed with how Billy was just not willing to negotiate around that, and helped me be very comfortable talking with the financier of the film about how Michael was also who I would want to play with in the movie, so there was a lot that I really liked. There was a good backbone and positive energy surrounding the project, and my agent, when she sent the script to me to read, she said 'you might not want to go there' and immediately that intrigued me. I don't think she was intentionally using reverse psychology, but that's the affect it had and I think I became willing to take the part on before I had in fact read it. There's a part of me that gets really competitive with my own creativity, like 'Oh, you think I can't do that? Really ... '

Did you feel you were coming to the part at a disadvantage, with your co-star having done the play?

AJ: I felt I was at a real advantage, because Michael clearly knew the material inside and out, had a very well-developed and evolved relationship with the material. Billy had seen it, he responded so passionately, and we began acquiring the rights, and there was a tremendous and respect there, and I felt I was able to just slipstream in there.