A new poster of The Duchess has appeared online, exclusive to ComingSoon.net.There's a snip of it to the right, and if you click on the lovely Keira Knightley, you'll be taken to the blindingly enormous version.

It's a stunning poster, although I think they could have lightened up on the airbrushing, as Knightley looks appallingly plastic. The dress, however, excuses all sorts of Photoshop sins. You know how I love my lush costumes, and The Duchess promises to have loads of gorgeous, frothy items. (One of my favorite sites, The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes, has a whole page devoted to it already. I want that fox hunting outfit for my own, but I'm not sure what to do with it since I don't hunt foxes. Or ride horses.)

But that's the big question about the film, isn't it? Will the movie actually say something relevant about Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire? She was quite the figure in her own time; as the official press release notes, she was a leader of the progressive Whig Party, and an active political campaigner in an era when women couldn't even vote. The comparisons to her descendant, Princess Diana, are apt -- but both women would probably agree that such remarks are a bit glib. The movie marketing, however, is trading on that fact very heavily. I remain excited, but historical dramas can only go one of two ways: wonderful or awful. There's no in-between.

The Duchess opens September 19th, 2008.

It's been a long time since we saw the first trailer for The Duchess, an historical period piece starring Keira Knightley as the real-life 18th century Georgina Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. But the film opens in September, so it's time to start the onslaught of more trailers and clips. First, we have one from the UK (via Empire), which is a little longer than that first U.S. version. One thing that's added in is a nice shot of Knightley's bum.

Another addition is a strange title card connecting Georgina to Princess Diana. It's true that the two ladies were related, though somewhat distantly (Diana was descended from Georgina's brother, George, who doesn't seem to be portrayed in the film), and I guess they were both celebrated as fashion icons. But I have to agree with Empire that pushing the connection "might be considered more than a little crass."

Also, I'm not sure I understand the title card that says "History Repeats Itself." Does it mean that portraying historical events on film is a repeat of those events? Because, to me, it seems more a confirmation of my feeling that we've already seen this movie a million times before.

The Duchess also stars Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling and will open in the States on September 19.

I have to be honest, I have always had a soft-spot for Colin Farrell and was convinced he could be great in the right role. After watching the trailer for In Bruges, I think this could be the one. Just last week, Peter gave us the heads up that the black comedy had been chosen as the opening night selection for Sundance 2008. Now, a trailer has surfaced and unless you have some headphones at your desk there's no way you're going to be able to watch this one at work ... sorry. Bruges stars Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hit-men who are awaiting their contact in a hotel room in Bruges, Belgium. Also starring is Ralph Fiennes, playing very against type as a gangster, and Elizabeth Barrington.

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the film is a black comedy with a capital B. Original reports had our two hapless hit-men knocking off a kiddie by mistake and then having to go on the run. By the looks of the trailer though, it seems like there might have been some minor changes. Now, there is no mention of a kid and it looks like the target is a man of the cloth -- which I guess is funnier depending on your sense of humor. So even with my aforementioned bias, I still think this looks like a pretty funny flick. I don't even know all that much about Bruges, but there is one joke that had me almost snorting coffee on the keyboard. Not to mention there are some pretty creative uses of the "F-word" -- and that's just for the trailer. In Bruges will premier at Sundance this January and then a limited release will follow in February. Hopefully the movie will get a wide release sometime in '08.

[via The Movie Blog]

*Update: You can now catch the trailer at the Alliance Films website.

Fox411's Roger Friedman is reporting that Julia Roberts could be joining Nicole Kidman in the romantic comedy, Monte Carlo. Fox spoke with Kidman during the NYFF premiere for Margot at the Wedding (read Ryan's review here) when the actress confirmed Roberts involvement. Monte Carlo centers on three schoolteachers that pose as socialites in the glamorous city to snag a rich husband. Kidman signed on for the project back in July with The Family Stone director, Tom Bezucha, who is also co-writing the script with Maria Maggenti. The story is based on the novel Headhunters by Jules Bass and the movie was inspired by the Marilyn Monroe classic, How To Marry a Millionaire.

Roberts has relatively absent from the screens for the last few years, with only the odd role here and there, but she appears to be returning to work full time. The gal will next appear in the political drama Charlie Wilson's War, followed by the dramatic weepy, Fireflies in the Garden. Last but not least, she has just signed for another romantic role in the Friday Night Knitting Club with actor and writer Mike Binder (Reign Over Me). Kidman is busy back at work on Baz Luhrmann's epic, Australia, as well as the period drama, The Reader with Ralph Fiennes. So in spite of some rather low blows in the press, Kidman has no shortage of work, and has already lined up the drama, Need, with long-time friend Naomi Watts. Although, judging from Kidman's past attempts with comedy, she could probably use the help from a veteran like Roberts.

Sometimes I guess it really does help to know the right people. Variety reports that Scott Rudin along with Miramax have secured the rights to the novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Oscar was written by Junot Diaz, and the novel centers on an awkward overweight teen struggling to fit in at Rutger University. While following Oscar in his quest for love, the reader learns of the troubled history of his family in the Dominican Republic. Rudin had managed to score an early look at the manuscript for the book and was setting up meetings with Diaz, before the book had even come up for auction -- see what I mean about 'knowing people'?

Rudin, along with Miramax, already has some high profile flicks headed for theaters this fall. It's quite a coup that Rudin has managed to score; including some of the big Oscar contenders for 2007: Wes Anderson' The Darjeeling Limited (you can catch Erik's NYFF review here), Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding, the Coen's No Country for Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (you can read Scott's review of Blood here). Rudin will be co-producing Oscar with Miramax, but there is no word on a director or a cast. Rudin has already lined up more Oscar-bait for the coming year. In 2008, he will produce The Reader with Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes (if they can ever find a location, that is) and he will also be producing the animated flick The Fantastic Mr. Fox with Cate Blanchett. So start setting the odds for your Oscar pools now.

First we have Valkyrie, Tom Cruise's film about the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler during World War II. After initial problems, the movie got their access to Benderblock, a memorial for the executed conspirators. Now another film is getting the big, black X, but I don't think the powers that be can be swayed this time around. Variety reports that The Reader, the erotic love story starring Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes, has been denied access to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The site only allows documentary filmmakers and Horst Seferens, spokesman for the curators, says: "Former concentration camp sites are cemeteries -- it's just not appropriate to use them as film sets."

That's pretty much a solid reason right there, but I wonder if the film's theme isn't helping things? The movie is based on the book by Bernhard Schlink, about a man recalling his experiences during World War II, his sexy experiences, that is. As a 15-year-old boy, Michael Berg learns the ways of sex from a 36-year-old woman, Hanna Schmitz, who happens to be a Nazi supporter. In other words, director Stephen Daldry and his crew have no leg to stand on -- it's sex between a kid and an older, pro-Nazi lady. Sure, it deals with some interesting topics, like the struggle between caring for someone and being horrified by their actions, but it's definitely not the sort of thing that would inspire the curators of an old concentration camp to change their policies.

And as an aside: What is it with Kidman and stories about love with youngins? There aren't many like this out there (and I'm not talking about May-December things like The Graduate), so I find it curious that she's got a few of these on her roster. (Is it that ever-present Oscar drive, that Samantha Morton mentioned?) At least with a kid at 15, back in a time when young men looked much older, they can cast someone a little older, which would make it less jarring. The film is starting up this week, so maybe we'll find out who plays the young Berg soon.

In case you haven't noticed, I can get pretty vocal about my skepticism. One thing I often complain about is the immigration of talented foreign filmmakers, who come over and make disappointing English-language debuts. I won't name names this time around, but you know it is common. Now, the great Dane Susanne Bier announced her own debut long ago, and the film, Things We Lost in the Fire, is actually due next month and it could actually be decent (even with Halle Berry). Then there's her English-language screenplay debut (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher), The Duchess, which is being directed by Saul Dibb and which stars Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. That will probably be pretty good, too. But her newly announced second film in English, well, that could be awful.

According to Variety, Bier has signed to helm Lost for Words, a romantic comedy or something about a movie star who falls in love with a Chinese actress and her female translator. I'm not sure if its a love triangle thing or a threesome thing or what, but it was scripted by Jamie Curtis, who co-wrote Spice World, so it is sure to be hokey. Now, I make no secret of the fact that I love Spice World. Doesn't matter, I still think this is going to be bad, if only because of my skeptical prejudice. The movie has some more British talent involved, too; it will be produced by Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis, along with Mr. Bean's Holiday (and Hot Fuzz) producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.

In her native Danish language, Bier last gave us After the Wedding, which was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year. She's also the director of festival hits Open Hearts (aka Dogme #28) and Brothers, both of which are being remade into English. Zach Braff (Garden State) is tackling the former while Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father) is helming the latter. We'll just have to wait and see what translates better, her films or her filmmaking skills.

Here's a few bites to chew on:

• Back in July, I alerted you to the news that Keira Knightley signed on to play Georgiana Cavendish, the 18th century Duchess of Devonshire in an upcoming flick called The Duchess. Now Variety is reporting that Lord Voldemort -aka- Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper of The History Boys, and Cassandra's Dream co-star Hayley Atwell have also signed on to the film that starts shooting on the 23rd in the UK. Fiennes will play the Duke of Devonshire, Cooper will be Georgiana's lover, Earl Grey, and Atwell will take on the role of her best friend, Lady Bess Foster. And yes, this Earl Grey is the man linked to the tea. Georgina's life was pretty wild -- affairs, lovers, and messed-up marriages, so this could be one fun flick.
• Variety has also posted that Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci's Penelope is finally coming out in theaters. Summit Entertainment has picked up the North American rights, and it will be released on February 1. You might remember that IFC and the Weinsteins nabbed the rights in Toronto last year, set it up for release in April, and then stopped it all to focus on "its core business of smaller-budget indies." You'd think they could've at least put out what they'd purchased. Luckily, Summit head Rob Friedman says: "It is the kind of material that will allow our marketing group to really shine," and it looks like its time has finally come. (Crosses fingers.) While we wait, you can check out Kim's review here, and the trailer here.

Variety is reporting that two of Hollywood's palest and chilliest stars are joining forces for The Reader. Nicole Kidman and Ralph Fiennes will star in the romance, which is to be based on the international bestselling novel by German writer Bernhard Schlink. IMDb lists Anthony Minghella as director of the film, but it appears that information is inaccurate or has changed. Minghella will produce, along with Sydney Pollack and Scott Rudin. Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) is now set to direct the movie, and David Hare will write the script. The project is something of a reunion of the team that worked on 2002's The Hours. Daldry directed that film, Hare wrote it, Rudin produced it, and it won Kidman a Best Actress Oscar.

The Reader is set in contemporary Germany, where "a man recounts the story of his erotic awakening in a covert love affair with an older woman in the wake of World War II." I assume Fiennes is playing the man recounting his story and Kidman is playing the older woman here? That might be tricky to pull off, considering Kidman is five years younger than Fiennes. And "erotic awakening?" I thought that term wasn't used outside of Cinemax plot descriptions. I must admit, I have a real problem getting into a lot of these period romance films, they all just sort of run together for me. I'm glad Minghella isn't at the wheel, though. Just writing that guy's name makes my eyelids heavy. The Reader was an Oprah's Book Club selection, and with her massive following, the film adaptation should have a built-in audience. Have any of our readers read The Reader? And can you say that three times fast? And what did you think of the book?

Kathryn Bigelow should really make more movies. She's directed some terrific action flicks (Near Dark, Point Break, Strange Days), but she seems to disappear from filmmaking for long periods of time -- her last movie was 2002's K-19: The Widowmaker. Bigelow's upcoming project is a drama about the Iraq war called The Hurt Locker, and it was announced today that the film will star Jeremy Renner, Brian Geraghty and Anthony Mackie . "Who, who, and who?" you might be asking yourself. Renner recently starred in the pretty sweet 28 Weeks Later. Geraghty has done the war movie thing before, he played Fergus in the underrated Jarhead. And Mackie starred in Half Nelson and what I consider Spike Lee's only bad movie -- She Hate Me. "He Who Must Not Be Named" Ralph Fiennes and "He Who Can't Remember His Name" Guy Pearce will have cameos in the film.

The script was written by Mark Boal, a former Playboy journalist -- see! there's good articles in there! -- and was inspired "by true events and recently declassified information." The film will follow "an elite Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal team in present-day Baghdad that fights an onslaught of bombs and snipers." Renner will play the team leader. Mackie, Geraghty, and Pearce will play team members, although if Pearce just has a cameo I'd imagine he doesn't last long. Fiennes will play a mercenary. Says Boal: "The idea is that it's the first movie about the Iraq War that purports to show the experience of the soldiers. We wanted to show the kinds of things that soldiers go through that you can't see on CNN, and I don't mean that in a censorship-conspiracy way. I just mean the news doesn't actually put photographers in with units that are this elite." He adds, "It's really exciting for me, coming out of the world of journalism, to have a movie come out about a conflict while the conflict is still going on." Hell, at the rate things are going, they could delay the release of Hurt Locker ten years and it'd still be going on.