Next year is shaping up to be a pretty gigantic year for movies. Between Nolan’s ultimate film in the Dark Knight saga, Peter Jackson returning to the Shire with The Hobbit, and the Marvel superfilm The Avengers. One film not on that list, but sure to please the fans is the sequel to Sylvester Stallone’s action movie love letter, The Expendables.

The new film, set to have almost twice as many famous faces in the action genre, is gearing up to have a pretty big marketing campaign behind it, as the last film grossed over $274 million worldwide. This time, we can expect to see names like Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme, and chinese actress Yu Nan join the cast. Here’s the synopsis.

The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal…The team is reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them.

Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that’s nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way…

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Now that just about every action hero from Jean-Claude Van Damme to Chuck Norris has been signed to punch and kick alongside Stallone in The Expendables 2, we can now see that some of the seasoned veterans are giving some screen time to the young up-and-comers as Knowing star Liam Hemsworth (brother of Thor, Chris), has joined the cast.

Liam, who is seeing nothing but hoge projects coming up, will have a pretty juicy part alongside some of the international actions stars joining in the fun. Here’s the report from Variety.

“The Hunger Games” star Liam Hemsworth has just been cast alongside Sylvester Stallone in Millennium Films’ action extravaganza, which will be released by Lionsgate.

Simon West is directing the star-studded sequel, which finds Stallone returning as team leader Barney Ross.

He’s expected to be joined by past co-stars Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Randy Couture. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger are also back to expand on their cameos from the first film. Along with Hemsworth, other newcomers to the franchise include Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris

According to reports, the film is set to start shooting next month, and will have an even bigger cast than we anticipated, with Stallone dropping names like Michael Beihn and Nicolas Cage in at the last minute.

All we know is that the film will be even bigger and more explosion-packed when it hits theaters next year.

For those of you going through action movie withdrawal, fear not, as Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables are coming back for a second round with an even more star-studded cast.

After the announcement yesterday that Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme would be joining the film, we have received awe- worthy news that both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis will have significantly expanded roles in the sequel.

Millennium Films has finally begun confirming which rumored stars will actually be showing up in the action-packed blockbuster, which will be directed by Simon (Con Air) West. An official cast list for The Expendables has made its way online, with the obvious returning stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke, who are all returning as part of Stallone’s mercenary crew.

Along with Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris, Scott Adkins was also confirmed for the film.  It is rumored that these are not the only names that will pop up in the coming months.

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Though he may have been considered a joke when a certain former Cailifornaian Governor portrayed him back in the 90s, Mr. Freeze is a pretty bad ass member of Batman’s rogues gallery.

With a touching backstory and awesome gimmick, you could understand why the fine folks at Rocksteady and WB Games would want “the ice man” to be a villain in the upcoming sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum.

From what we can tell, Freeze joins in the fight against Bats with fellow Arkham convicts The Riddler, Hugo Strange, and our old pal The Joker returning for more action.

We’ve got a brand new trailer in which Bats (played by the one and only Kevin Conroy) and Mr. Freeze have some pretty intense words, and even throw a few punches.

Check out the trailer after the jump and be sure to get on the Arkham City bandwagon as the game hits theaters October 21st.

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Tales from the Crypt, the campy-yet-excellent horror staple of the early 90s television, is back in news as producers are hoping to reignite that spark once again with a modern reboot. After 15 years of being off the small screen, the horror series will be returning to television.

The new series is being developed by Gil Adler, a producer on the original HBO series, and Andrew Cosby, best known for his work on Eureka. The hour-long series will be based on the comics. Unlike it’s predecessor, the new series will not follow the anthology format, but will follow a standard series format using the characters in an ongoing storyline format.

Those of you who read the original comic books will see this is a strange turn of events as the comics didn’t have much in the way of returning characters. Other than The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch, all other characters and the “victims” of the stories always changed. It is also being reported that  The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch are not going to be part of the new series.

The original HBO series, which spawned collectibles and movies through out the 90s, ran for seven seasons. It attracted an impressive stable of directors and actors including Robert Zemeckis, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Buscemi, Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Kirk Douglas, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor, Malcom McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Brooke Sheilds, Benicio Del Toro, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Richard Donner, Walter Hill, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks, William Friedkin, Tobe Hoober and Michael J. Fox.

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Not that we are in any way endorsing the reboot/remake of Total Recall but with two hot actresses now joining the cast, we have to at least mention it. So, here it is. With Colin Farrell already taking over the role originated by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film and Bryan Cranston onboard as the evil nemesis, the next question has always been who would be playing the female leads?

Well, now we know. Kate Beckinsale has officially been cast as Lori, the bitchy wife of Douglas Quaid (Farrell) in the “real” world, while Jessica Biel will play sleazy and demure Melina, the woman he meets in his “other” life as a spy. The roles were played by Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin in the 1990 original.

In addition to the women, Heat Vision says Bill Nighy has landed the part of Quatto, the leader of the resistance movement. So, with Beckensale and Nighy in place that’s quite an Underworld reunion director Len Wiseman’s got going on. Oh well, he is in charge and if my wife was that hot I would probably cast her in my movies too.

I do have a question about Quatto though. Will he be a mutant and will he lead a resistance? According to reports, the new version of the story will not take place on Mars like Philip K. Dick’s original or the 1990 film.

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The film may not have a director, and a cast is still in the process of being shuffled into place and signed, but that hasn’t stopped a brand new poster and plot from being released for the upcoming sequel The Expendables 2.

What we do know, however, is that Stallone will be returning to act in the film, just not direct. No word on who Lionsgate is courting to take on the task, but a script is already in place by the man who brought us Muppets in Space and Curious George, Ken Kaufman. Here’s what Millenium Films is touting as the official plot:

The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke), the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his comrades swear to avenge him. They’re not the only ones who want blood.

Tool’s beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission, complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must risk everything to save her and humanity.

Just about everyone and their mother is rumored to return for the sequel, including a meatier role for both Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is even talk that Jean-Claude Van Damme is planning on making an appearance this time as the film’s villain, making this, without question, the ultimate action cast.

We expect to hear more about the film as it travels to Cannes. Lionsgate says that the current scheduled release is August 17th, 2012. Take a look at the full poster after the jump, courtesy of First Showing.

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Yesterday was a pretty big day for blockbuster trailers. We got a brand new feature trailer for Warner’s Green Lantern, which gave us some awesome moments like Kilowog speaking, the first shot of a Watcher, and loads of action. On the flip side of that, we got the first full trailer for Conan The Barbarian.

The first teaser that hit had a few fans up in arms about how low-quality it looked, and how cartooney the trailer as a whole felt. This one doesn’t get much better.

Sure, we get lots more Jason Momoa as Conan, a few shots of Rachel Nichols, and some shirtless Stephen Lang, but to be honest, the film has a bit of a “Syfy original movie” feel to it.

Be the judge for yourself, check out the trailer after the jump and if you don’t think it looks like the illegitimate lovechild of Clash of the Titans and The Scorpion King, then sound off! Conan The Barbarian is set to hit theaters on August 19th.

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Now that he’s not in office anymore, it seems like former California Governor can’t keep still. First he announces that he’s doing a comic book/cartoon franchise based on the fictional affairs during his term as the Governator, and now he’s ready to jump on the big screen as The Terminator.

THR has the full scoop.

The star’s agency, CAA, has put together a package that it’s currently shopping to the studios that includes rights to produce a new Terminator sequel, which would be directed by Justin Lin, hot off Fast Five, which opens domestically Friday, and produced by Robert Cort. No screenwriter has come on board yet.

When the movie’s rights holder the Halcyon Group went through bankruptcy in 2010, Lionsgate and Sony joined together in an unsuccessful bid to claim the franchise for themselves. More recently, Universal has been talking to CAA about tackling the project.

The idea of both Lin and Schwarzenegger is obviously still in the preliminary stages, but with Lin’s Fast Five opening big this weekend, you can imagine that Universal, Sony, and Lionsgate all jumping on the project like a Snickers at a fat camp.

No word just yet on how this effects McG’s “reboot” of the franchise with Salvation but even McG will have to step aside when the Governator wants back at playing the metal-head.

You might have expected this considering her husband, Len Wiseman, is the director. However, news has come out that Kate Beckinsale has been offered one of the lead female roles opposite Colin Farrell in the Sony Pictures remake/reboot of Total Recall.

According to the report, Beckensale would play Lori, the role made famous by Sharon Stone in the original. In that film, Lori is the happy wife of Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger ) who, after Quaid begins to discover things are not what they seem, changes into someone who tries to kill him.

The other main female role of Melina (played in the original by Rachel Ticotin) is also reportedly still up for grabs with Eva Mendes and Rosario Dawson as the apparent front runners. Of those two I think I would prefer Dawson, although Mendes wouldn’t be a bad choice either.

In case you’re not familiar with the story of the original Total Recall film, it’s based on Philip K. Dick’s story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” and centers on Quaid, a seemingly unsophisticated construction worker, who is haunted by a recurring dream of going to Mars.

He buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. It turns out he is a freedom fighter from Mars who has been relocated to Earth, and he must restore order, and reverse the corrupt influence that commercial powers had over the red planet.

We don’t know if the new film will follow that storyline as well but you can imagine it will be similar. Look for the new, improved Total Recall to hit theaters in August of 2012.

It’s nice to see talented actors who deserve recognition and more work get both. One such actor is Emmy winner Bryan Cranston, who currently stars in the AMC TV series Breaking Bad as a High School science teacher who decides cooking meth is a better way to make ends meet.

Now, Cranston is poised to further expand the diversity of his work and is all but cast as the bad guy in the Len Wiseman directed remake of Total Recall. Colin Farrell is starring in the sci-fi action movie, which is a retelling of the film made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1990 original.

In case you’re not familiar with it, Total Recall centers on a man haunted by a recurring dream of a visit to Mars. As he investigates, he remembers being a secret agent who fought against the evil administrator of Mars.

The new version is said to be closer to Philip K. Dick’s short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale on which both movies are based. Cranston is perfect for the bad guy and will do a terrific job in the film.

Welcome to another edition of  On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• In case you were under a rock and missed the Super Bowl on Sunday, Apple has all of your favorite trailers from the telecast in glorious HD.

• Russell Brand is back in action, this time with a remake of the classic film Arthur. We can buy Luis Guzman as Robin, but Jennifer Garner being seductive? No way.

• Detroit is taking a page from their fictional history and trying to raise money to put a RoboCop statue in the center of town. That should stop all the crime.

• Amber Heard is in talks to play Ren Sonja in the upcoming remake. She already has the red hair and Amazonian body down, so she sounds like a fit!

• Now that he has that political mid-life crisis out of the way, Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to get back into acting. Do we smell a sequel to Jingle All The Way?

• Alex Borstein has returned to play Ms. Swan to bring us a Black Swan spoof. Totally topical, right?

• For the diehard film fanatic: 100 of the greatest Noir posters ever created.

• Supercut of the Week: Because Valentines’ Day is coming up, we bring you the Epic TV Kisses Supercut.