OK, I know what you're going to say before you even say it: "Dude, it's a big guy in a hockey mask. Don't exactly need a snapshot to envision a big guy in a hockey mask." And that's a fair comment, but I work for this blog and weekends are really slow so here we go:

Our first look at the new Jason Voorhees! A big bulky guy in torn clothes and a hockey mask: Yep! Snark aside, the big guy looks pretty solid. No silly changes or anything, although his NECK sure does look sort of extra-thick. It's the close-up shot of horror-dom's supreme stalker that the fans want to see, but I'm quite a bit more impressed by the "far off" shot. The lake is a grungy shade of green and the shadows are trickling through the forest quite creatively. Anyway, the new Jason will be played by Derek Mears, who's played more crazies, creeps and killers than just about anyone.

The pics come from a recent EW article that Erik covered right here, but it took the hardcore horror fans to get a bigger shot of the serial stalker. Expect a lot more Friday freakiness once Comic-Con starts next week. And if director Marcus Nispel can do as good as job as he did with the Texas Chainsaw remake, that'll be good enough for me. (Yes, I quite like the Chainsaw remake. A hell of a lot more than any of the TCM sequels, anyway.) The next Friday the 13th arrives in February of next year.

[ Thanks: BD.com ]

At this point I'm starting to think that the paparazzi have camped out on the set of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Of course, the legions of squealing teenage girls trying to get a shot of the 'dreamy' Heath Ledger might have something to do with that. Just Jared.com is now hosting five new photos of star Heath Ledger hard at work on Gilliam's latest fantasy flick. These photos don't really give anything away, but you know how proprietary those photogs can get, so you'll just have to visit Just Jared to get a look. Last month, Jared had posted some photos that could be described as 'spoilerific'; but fear not, these latest give you a look at Ledger in the midst of a what looks like a fancy dress ball. Keep in mind, though, that this is a Gilliam flick after all, so for all we know the scene could be taking place in a 7-11.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is Gilliam's first original script in a long time and is set in parallel versions of modern-day London. *Christopher Lee plays the 1000-year-old Parnassus who, along with his traveling theater troupe, has a debt to pay to the big baddie himself: the Devil (as played by the gravel-voiced Tom Waits). The cast also includes Verne Troyer (the man forever known as Mini-Me) and Lily Cole. Gilliam wrote the script with his long-time collaborator Charles McKeown. The film has a budget of $30 million, which is a pretty big price tag for an independent film, but I'm guessing all that set decoration isn't cheap. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is slated for release in 2009.

*Correction: Parnassus is played by Christopher Plummer

*Click on photo for larger image

Although Superman hasn't returned ... yet, director Bryan Singer has been hard at work on a film that's temporarily removed him from the comic book world and placed him right smack in the middle of World War II. The Daily Mail has published the first photo featuring the seven men who plotted out a mission to assassinate Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. In front of the men -- and printed off Google Maps -- is their ill-fated plan. Is it just me, or do these guys look like they mean business? Pictured from left are actors Kevin McNally, Christian Berkel, Bill Nighy, Tom Cruise, Terrence Stamp, David Schofield and Kenneth Branagh.

Apart from the photo, The Daily Mail also provides a brief bio for each of the men. Unfortunately for each of the seven, since this was such a dangerous plot, if they were to fail it would most likely cost them their lives. And, as we all should know -- spoiler alert -- they were not able to kill Hitler. Thus, reading the ways in which each man perished was rather, um, depressing. With a screenplay from Nathan Alexander and Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects), Valkyrie is set to arrive in theaters on June 27, 2008.

I know nothing about the very popular Hitman video games, but I know I was pretty psyched when I heard that Timothy Olyphant was going to star in the movie version -- mainly because (after Deadwood and The Girl Next Door) I think Tim's a dang solid actor ... even if he didn't have a whole lot to work with in Live Free or Die Hard. USA Today brings us a brand-new peek at Olyphant's cue-bald Hitman look, in addition to a few thoughts from the actor regarding how tough it is to please the loyal fans:

"I know people want you to be true to the game, but no one really wants to go pay for a movie to watch a video game ... And, look, it's a movie. You've got to have the girl in it. I just hope the fans feel I'm the character they're used to." Sounds fair enough to me, Tim. (Apparently the video game has no females in it? How very boring.)

Fox looks to have Hitman scheduled for an October 19 release. The game-to-movie adaptation comes from French filmmaker Xavier Gens (making his studio debut) and Swordfish screenwriter Skip Woods. For previous reports on this flick, check here, here and here.

Before I start, I should probably come clean: I've never really been that big of fan of the work of David Cronenberg. Don't get me wrong, I respect what the man does, but his films just aren't my thing (with maybe one exception; A History of Violence). There are those famous pairings in movie history between directors and actors; Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon, Scorcese and DeNiro, and I think Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen could be another. So you can probably see why I'm curious to check out Mortensen and Cronenberg's latest film, Eastern Promises. It was just last month when Monika gave us the news of the trailer, and now ComingSoon.net has the first look at the poster (you can get a hi-res version if you are so inclined) and a new gallery of photos from the suspenseful drama.

Promises was written by Dirty Pretty Things scribe Steven Knight, who has just started work on Tony Scott's drama Emma's War. The story centers on a midwife (Naomi Watts), who "witnessed the death of a young girl in giving birth on Christmas Eve and decided to search for her family and identity. The search leads her into the core of dangers of the underground sex-trafficking business operated by the London's Russian crime community". Mortensen stars as Nikolai, a man with ties to the ruthless crime family. Mortensen has already started working on the WWII drama Good, before reuniting with History of Violence co-star Ed Harris in the Western Appaloosa. Promises is set to screen at the Toronto Film Festival this September, so keep an eye on our upcoming TIFF coverage for updates.

I'm just putting this out there: I think that Hancock could be awesome. But, it could also be a career misstep so monumental for Will Smith that it might even make Wild Wild West seem like a good idea. French film site Les-Films.net now has a whole gallery of behind the scenes photos from the set of the superhero action-drama. The images taken primarily focus on the film's two stars, Smith and Charlize Theron, in both candid shots, and while filming. In fact, most of the pictures seem to be Smith and Theron rolling around on top of one another in the street -- and considering the 'intense' look on Smith's face, it's looking pretty dramatic (And as a side note; even in candid shots from 100 feet away, Theron still looks beautiful ... how depressing). The project had already undergone a title change and a revolving door of directors before finally getting down to business last June.

The film follows a superhero (Smith) who has fallen on hard times, and is prone to drinking and womanizing. To make matters worse for our soused hero is an "affair" with the wife (Theron) of a PR agent (Jason Bateman) working on his comeback. Directed by Peter Berg, the script was written by John August (Berg also helped out in the writing department.). August also recently signed to write the big-screen version of the DC comic Shazam! and has his own directorial debut, The Nines, arriving in theaters later this month. Early reviews of the Hancock script weren't exactly positive, but there have probably been more than a few re-writes since Latino Review got their hands on it back in May. There have already been a few photos released on the net, but this batch is the first to give us a look at more than Smith trussed up in wires. If nothing else, they seem to confirm that the movie is on track for July, 2008 release.

For a relatively low-profile film, Keira Knightley's Atonement has certainly produced a lot of promotional stills already. The Telegraph is now hosting a new gallery of photos from the period romance, and these latest photos give you a behind-the-scenes look at director Joe Wright at work with the cast (This is Wright's second project with Knightley, having already worked together on Pride and Prejudice, back in 2005). Add this to the first teaser Monika told us about back in April and a second, full length trailer released in July that gave us a bit more background to the story.

Atonement is based on Ian McEwan's novel of the same name; the story centers on a young girl with dreams of becoming a writer, who falsely accuses her sister's lover of a crime. Set against the back drop of WWII, the story follows the characters throughout their lives, and what would a period romance be without plenty of suffering for all three because of that one mistake?

Knightley has the role of the older sister with James McAvoy as the falsely accused lover, and Saoirse Ronan as the young girl with an appearance by Vanessa Redgrave as the girl later in life. Both McAvoy and Ronan have some major projects on the horizon' McAvoy has signed to star opposite Angelina Jolie in the comic book adaptation Wanted, and Ronan recently scored the part of the young murder victim in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones). Atonement is set for limited release on December 7th -- just in time for Oscar season.

OK, so these are three things I bet you never thought you would see in the same sentence; Tim Allen, David Mamet, and Jiu-jitsu. ComingSoon.net has the exclusive first image from Mamet's Redbelt, and it might not tell you much about the movie, but despite the lack of information, its still a pretty dynamic-looking photo. It was back in May when Patrick had first reported that "family-man" Tim Allen had joined the cast of Mamet's "martial arts drama." Unlikely casting aside, the thought of a Mamet film set in the world of ultimate fighting is a little strange to begin with. I mean, this is the man responsible for Glengarry Glen Ross, and The Verdict. But it still makes way more sense than his upcoming family film, Joan of Bark: The Dog that Saved France -- I'm still holding out for the remote possibility that that whole thing is just a bizarre rumor.

Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster) as "Mike Terry, the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-jitsu Academy." ComingSoon's description of the plot: "Although a talented fighter, he refuses to compete in professional bouts: 'Competition weakens the fighter.' Instead he trains dedicated students in the art of self-defense: bodyguards, cops. soldiers. At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star (Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight." The cast includes martial arts master Randy Couture alongside Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, and Emily Mortimer. There has yet to be any word of a release date -- all we do know is that Redbelt is expected to arrive sometime in '08.

I met a guy on my street last night who named his dog Sequel. Of course right off the bat he knew who I named my dog after (hint: she's a princess in a galaxy far, far away), and I told him if he should get another dog, why not name it Threequel. We laughed. Ha Ha. And then on the way back to my apartment Indiana Jones 4 popped into my head. Is there a name for all those fourth installments out there? Are they simply called fourquels? That sounds weird; kind of like medicine you take to keep you out of the bathroom. But anyway, Indiana Jones 4 is gearing up to have some kind of presence at San Diego ComicCon, and someone has already snatched up the first pic of an Indy 4 display on the Con floor. Major props go out to the guy or girl who risked their job (I imagine) to snap the photo you see to the right of your screen (click on it for a larger version courtesy of SlashFilm).

We're being told this display is part of the Hasbro booth on the main ComicCon floor. Additionally, Star Wars boxes are lying beside it -- although you cannot make out what's in the boxes. It's already been announced that Hasbro will launch an entire line of action figures, vehicles and games that will most likely tie into the upcoming movie. As we can see, there looks to be a miniature temple of sorts inside the glass case -- one I'm sure will play a pivotal role in the film. Notice how it just says Indiana Jones underneath, minus a title. I wonder if the title will be part of a panel discussion, or if Spielberg and Co. aren't ready to give it up just yet. From what we've been hearing, they're currently using the working title Indiana Jones and the City of Gods. The ComicCon madness begins tomorrow, and Indiana Jones 4 will hit theaters on May 22, 2008.

Bonus trivia question: Name all the movie franchises that stopped after the fourth installment.

In all the horror movie hype of controversial billboards and pointing fingers, Saw IV might have gotten lost in the shuffle. There hasn't been a lot of news about the film so far, other than a few glimpses at a teaser poster. Plus, the latest photo to appear on MTV.com isn't giving anything up about what to expect from the latest installment of the series. The image consists of what looks to be a woman strapped to a chair with an ominous countdown clock presumably ticking away -- familiar terrain, I'm sure, for fans of the films. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the film reportedly was going to pick up where number three left off, with one of the survivors (Angus Macfadyen) still trapped in Jigsaw's (Tobin Bell) "house of horrors." Armed only with a videotape starring Jigsaw, he must solve a mystery to save his daughter. But, Bousman has already discounted that storyline with Bloody Disgusting, saying that "Every plot synopsis you've read online is false and untrue. The thing with Macfadyen looking for his daughter? Believe it if you want. But no one knows what this story is."

Erik gave us the news a couple of weeks back that the horror movie had just finished shooting, and I'm guessing that expectations for the film's box office take are probably still pretty high despite the much-discussed horror backlash. Especially when you think back to the highly profitable opening that Saw III had, Lionsgate is probably hoping that lightening is going to strike twice. We will have to wait and see until October 26th, when Saw IV hits theaters.