Pixar has set into a pretty stead pattern of releasing one film a year. This summer we have Brave to look forward too, and next year brings us Monsters University. But what about 2014 and beyond? Worry not, Pixar is not letting up anytime soon.

Variety is reporting that Pixar has come clean on several projects targeted for 2014 and 2015:

Pixar has announced its latest project in development, setting a 2015 release target for a toon based on the Mexican holiday of Dio de los Muertos… Other Pixar news from Las Vegas: The studio has titled its dino pic “The Good Dinosaur,” set for May 30, 2014; and has dated its “Untitled Pixar Movie that Takes You Inside the Mind” for June 19, 2015.

So The Good Dinosaur for 2014 and a potential double dip in 2015. What is most exciting is the news of the newly announced film that is based on the Day of the Dead. There is a wealth of culture and history to be mined out of the Mexican holiday, and of all the studios willing to go down that hole, Pixar is by far the most capable of giving it the proper due.

We here at The Flickcast will keep a close eye on this future project, but in the mean time we can all brace for the potential awesomness that is Brave this summer.

Once the marquee mascot for the XBox generation of gamers, Master Chief has taken a step back in recent years. In hopes to regain the original glory of the FPS, Microsoft announced last year that they were moving a head with a brand new numbered Halo game.

Today Microsoft set Halo 4′s official street date, November 6th, 2012. This unsurprisingly puts one of the most anticipated games of the year in the middle of the juiciest video game release window. The real question now is can this 4th installment recapture the magic of the original trilogy?

FPS games have grown leaps and bounds since Halo: Combat Evolved rejuvenated the genre. Added to that, one of the original Halo’s greatest strengths was it’s story, and it will be hard for the developers to come back with a compelling and authentic Halo story based on where the franchise currently sits.

Of course that is all doom and gloom from a registered PlayStation fanboy. The truth of the matter is, if Master Chief is truly an iconic mascot in the same way Sonic, Mario, Link and Crash Bandicoot Kratos are than Halo 4 will be a rousing success, at least commercially. Heck, I will be rooting hard for this game myself, if for no other reason than to wash away that grimy layer of muck that is Gears of War being the 360s marquee exclusive.

The Hunger Games is a certified mega success. It made a metric ton of bank at the box office and feels like it is only just beginning it’s reign in the limelight. So it seemed like a forgone conclusion that director Gary Ross would continue forth with the franchise and tackle the next installment. Not so fast.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the negotiations are in a rocky place:

Sources say Ross, 55, would like a significant raise for a secondHunger Games, but Lionsgate didn’t kick off negotiations with him until about three weeks before the first film’s March 23 opening. By then, with tracking suggesting a huge opening weekend, Ross and his CAA reps were in no hurry to bargain.

Lionsgate has a script from Simon Beaufoy that Ross has yet to revise. The studio is in a rush to start the next film in the fall, though Fox might upset Lionsgate’s plan by exercising its option on Lawrence to start another X-Men movie first. (Fox’s option would trump Lionsgate’s hold on Lawrence, say sources.) Adding urgency: Lionsgate already has booked a November 2013 release for Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Lionsgate has it’s hands full in juggling the stars and the schedule to make sure Catching Fire hits cinemas in November 2013, so Gary Ross better be careful and not negotiate himself right out of the movie. He deserves a payday for the massive hit he made the first film, but lots of franchises are doing just fine with a rotating director carousel these days.

One of the great ancillary effects of the popularity of The Hunger Games is the renewed exposure it is generating for the certified classic, Battle Royal. The Japanese film is a bit over a decade old and has grown a huge international following, yet it never really broken out overseas.

Hopefully that will change now that the film is getting it’s first US official Blu-Ray release.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Battle Royal here is the official synopsis:

In the near future, the economy has collapsed, unemployment has soared and juvenile crime has exploded. Fearful of their nation’s youth, the Japanese government passes The BR Law: Each year, a 9th grade class is sent to a remote island where they will be locked into exploding neck collars, given a random weapon, and forced to hunt and kill each other until there is only one survivor left.

To celebrate the new release we have two new clips from the impending blu-ray set. The first clip is from the film itself and showcases some of the harsh brutality of the film. Keep in mind this is a red band clip, but for those of you who are on the fence this should help convince you. The second showcases  behind the scenes footage of that same scene, giving you a sense of how deep the extras content truly goes.

The Blu-Ray set hits March 20th and you can check out the clips after the jump.

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Every one with their fingers on the pulse of the gaming community knows today is Mass Effect 3‘s release date. Midnight launches around the nation were held, and right now most gamers are either playing or day dreaming about playing the epic final chapter of Commander Shepard.

What might be a little less known is that an iOS companion game for the hit to be has released on the app store today. Normally ‘little brother’ mobile games don’t make to much of an impact on our rader, but this release has two major things going for it. One it is Mass Effect, and two it was developed by Iron Monkey Studios, the folks behind the fantastic Dead Space iOS game.

EA is promising a console like experience for this game, and with Iron Monkey involved we are inclined to give this a shot. The game looks to be a concurrent adventure to the main title:

As Commander Shepard battles Reapers across the galaxy, veteran Cerberus agent Randall Ezno procures aliens for illicit experiments at a secret facility. But when the Director of the facility goes too far – Randall fights back and vows to bring Cerberus down! 

Can you fight your way off the hostile Cerberus base and deliver their secret research to the Alliance? 

Hop on your prettiest iOS device and download Mass Effect Infiltratior today for $6.99.

One of the main issues Nintendo has faced in the second half of it’s Wii lifespan is a disturbing lack of major third party titles. The graphics limitations of the Wii, coupled with the unique control scheme makes it difficult for developers to incorporate the Nintendo console as a platform for their marquee titles.

Ubisoft has just announced that the new Nintendo console, the Wii U, will be one of the consoles their new, and highly anticipated, title will be playable on. Assassin’s Creed III could open the flood gates of other third party marquee titles making their way toward Nintendo.

Ubisoft has been on the forefront of third party partnership with the Wii U since the announcement at last year’s E3. They showcased Ghost Recon playable on the system and have been participating in Nintendo events showcasing the Wii U features. The real test for Nintendo will be if they can lure other high profile developers, but getting their hands on Ubisoft’s biggest franchise will go a long way in that goal.

Assassin’s Creed III sees a major change in the series as it advances the time frame up to the American Revolution and takes place on this side of the pond. The game will feature a new protagonist, this time of partial native american decent, which should be the source of some interesting aesthetic tweaks this go around.

The Muppets was one of the best films of last year. An amazing mix of nostalgic respect, unrelenting optimism and brilliant songs that rank among the very best in the franchise. A sequel to such a successful film is inevitable.

The Vulture is reporting that the deal for said sequel has already been made, but one key element of the first film is thus far absent:

[Jason Segel] won’t be returning to the keyboard. Segel, a star of How I Met Your Mother — now in its eighth season — has a burgeoning film career, and Disney insiders tell Vulture that between his commitment to the CBS sitcom, his other feature-writing efforts, and promotional work for Five Year Engagement (due out this coming April) and Judd Apatow’s This Is Forty (in December), there won’t be time to collaborate on a Muppets sequel.

This only means he might not be apart of the writing stage, but with Nicholas Stoller (his original co-writer) and director James Bobin signed on the original flare should still be present. The news also doesn’t mean Segel couldn’t star in the sequel either, so it is possible this is only a minimal, semantics based departure.

So good, potentially great, news for Muppet fans out there, but we hope once they move forward with the movie they bring back Bret McKenzie too. His song stylings fit the Muppets perfectly.

In case you were not aware, there is a brilliant modernization of Sherlock Holmes on TV right now. Sherlock, the BBC series, tells the tale of the titular detective in a modern London, complete with text messaging, internet teleconferencing and Watson’s blog!

CBS, excited by the prospect of the most famous detective’s ability to work in a modern setting, has set forth on their own take on a 21st century Holmes, and they just nabbed their Watson.

According to Deadline the role of Sherlock’s faithful aide is being filled by a rather surprising choice:

Lucy Liu is set to play Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick in CBS’ drama pilot Elementary, whose tweaks to Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic include switching Watson’s gender to female. The project, written by Robert Doherty, is set in present day and stars Jonny Lee Miller as eccentric Brit Sherlock Holmes, a former consultant to Scotland Yard whose addiction problems led him to a rehab center in New York City.

On one hand, the concept of Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu running around New York as Holmes and Watson actually sounds crazy enough to work. On the other hand, we might be reaching a point of Sherlock Holmes overload, with a TV show and movie series already very much alive.

We at The Flickcast have our fingers crossed that this adaptation goes just bug nutty enough to work along side Sherlock, not against it.

Diablo is one of those franchises that exists in every gamers dreams. It was one of the classic Blizzard titles that has been long lost in the success of World of Warcraft and Starcraft, but there has always been hope that we would see a return to the action RPG franchise.

So a few years ago it was announced that Diablo 3 was officially on the way, and the world of video games seemed like a happier place. However, A funny thing happened on the way to Gamestop and the release missed an originally planed 2011 release window. Reports of an early 2012 release were heard, but alas we have at least a few more months to wait.

Activision announced in a recent financial report that Diablo 3 is currently expected for the middle of the year, killing any hope that we would see the game sooner rather than later.

That was not the only disappointing news for Blizzard fans in the report. The long awaited second part of Starcraft 2 and the next World of Warcraft expansion are on shaky ground for a 2012 release. Blizzard is only expected to ship one other title this year in addition to Diablo 3, meaning one or both of those two announced projects is going to be pushed to 2013.

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Dr. House is one of the most interesting and complex TV characters of the last decade. Originally a thinly veiled medical Sherlock Holmes, House has become one of the best formulaic Doctor shows that is always willing to shatter it’s characters in exciting and unexpected ways.

Fox announced yesterday that the current season of House will in fact be it’s last. Despite strong ratings the show continues to be increasingly expensive as each season passes, and like 24 before it, Fox wanted to cut costs and end the popular drama before it grew to stale.

This news will be no surprise to the creative crew of the show. Fox originally wanted to end the series last year, but brought the show back for one more season. The team behind the show have already gone on record that they will end the series with some sort of satisfying conclusion.

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One of the biggest game releases this year is the upcoming Mass Effect 3, the sequel to the mega hit franchise that blends Sci-Fi action and RPG immersion. The game is already being penciled in for game of the century and fans are at a fever pitch in anticipation, so bringing the game to iOS devices seems a smart way to capitalize.

The just announced Mass Effect Datapad is still clouded in some mystery, but we do know it will be an iPad exclusive. Best estimation is that the app will work as sort of a strategy guide, or some sort of informational support for your missions.

Also, EA has announced Mass Effect Infiltrator for all iOS devices, a third person shooter that is meant to feed into the main game’s Galaxy At War system. The mobile game is set around freeing prisoners and gaining evidence against Cerberus, both of which will have a direct impact on your single player experience.

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Ever since the beginning of the motion gaming movement we have been waiting for a game that lets us slice and dice with a lightsaber. Finally that dream is becoming a reality with the brand new game Star Wars Kinect, a motion based game that puts you in the Jedi army during the thick of the clone wars.

This game was originally meant to be released last year, but a release date has finally been confirmed for the long awaited project, April 3rd. And to celebrate the release a special edition Kinect bundle pack is being released with a 320GB R2-D2 themed 360, a C3-PO gold controller, a white Kinect and of course the game as well.

Additionally more details about what we can expect in the game have been released, including the new Duels of the Fate mode which pits you one-on-one against Sith baddies, cool. Also a Galactic Dance-Off where you can take on Darth Vader Dance Central style, much less cool.

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