I’ve been following this film for quite some time and, in fact, saw an early cut of it during the recent SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. Without revealing too much I can say I thoroughly enjoyed Neil Marshall’s Centurion and am pleased to be able to bring you a brand new “Red Band” trailer for the film today.

In this new trailer you get a chance to see what the film is about. It’s a violent look at life as a soldier in ancient Rome as well as an adventurous tale of revenge and survival. It also features some great battle scenes and lots of fun swordplay.

The film itself follows Quintus, sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, who marches north with General Virilus’ legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon.

But when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines, evading remorseless Pict pursuers over harsh terrain, as the band of soldiers race to rescue their General, and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier.

Expect a full review closer to release. Until then, be sure to check out the awesome trailer after the jump. Centurion, which features Michael Fassbender, Dominic West, David Morrissey and Olga Kurylenko, premieres on VOD, XBOX and Amazon.com on July 23 and opens in theaters August 27, 2010.

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Lots of names come to mind when thinking of the more popular film score composers of the past two decades. Names like Danny Elfman, John Williams, and Quincy Jones have dominated the craft for so long, it’s refreshing when a newcomer joins the ranks. In the last 5 years, Michael Giacchino has earned his slot in the Mount Everest of film composers.

Giacchino has shown his incredible range scoring projects such as LOST, Speed Racer, The Incredibles, Star Trek, and finally getting himself an Oscar for his work on Disney’s Up. It looks like the major studio isn’t letting go of Giacchino any time soon, as they have just hired him to compose the score for the upcoming space adventure John Carter of Mars.

It makes sense that Disney would go with this pick, given his work on their more recent Pixar films, especially with Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton directing the film. While that connection makes the most sense, it could also be attributed to the amazing score Giacchino composed for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, which could easily go down as one of the best sci-fi scores of recent history.

Even with this news, John Carter of Mars is most definitely not shaping up to be a small picture. With Disney backing the film, and a cast made up of Taylor Kitsch, Mark Strong, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Dominic West, Polly Walker, Thomas Hayden Church, Samantha Morton and Lynn Collins, you can expect to see big things from the upcoming sci-fi epic.

In what is surely great news for fans of director Neil Marshall and those who love movies where armored gladiators kick lots of ass (I count myself in that group, btw), Magnet Releasing has acquired the U.S. rights to Marshall’s latest film Centurion. The film, which features Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, 300), Dominic West (300, The Wire), David Morrissey (Red Riding Trilogy), and super hot Bond-girl Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) tells the story of Roman soldiers and Pict teribesmen who battle for control of Britain.

Fassbender stars as Quintus Dias, a fearsome gladiator who leads a group of soldiers on a raid to rescue a captured general (West). The son of the Pict leader is killed during the raid, and the Romans find themselves hunted by a seemingly unstoppable group of the Pict’s most vicious and skilled warriors. The group, led by a beautiful and deadly tracker (Kurylenko), are hell bent on revenge and will stop at nothing to see it done.

And yes, along the way a lot of blood is spilled and there are fight scenes galore. Sound awesome. As someone who’s a huge fan of Marshall’s work, particularly Dog Soldiers, I couldn’t be more interested in this film.

Magnet is launching Centurion as the 6th entry in the second “Six Shooter Film Series,” a collection of six worldwide action films which also includes Bronson, Red Cliff, Ong Bak 2, District 13: Ultimatum and The Warlords. A summer theatrical release for Centurion is planned. Rest assured, I’ll be there.

Fans of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad are finally getting their wish for more Bryan Cranston. The actor, who picked up an Emmy for his work on the AMC series, has just been signed to fight alongside the titular hero in the upcoming John Carter Of Mars.

Cranston will play a Civil War colonel who clashes with Carter in the early moments of the film. The movie is based on the series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs about a Civil War veteran who is transported to another body on the red planet of Mars, where he embarks on an epic journey.

This is quite late casting, as the film reportedly begins production next week. Cranston will join the ranks of an impressive ensemble cast including James Purefoy, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Thomas Hayden Church, Lynn Collins, Willem Defoe, Samantha Morton, Polly Walker, and Taylor Kitsch as Carter.

The screenplay comes from Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2) with Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) taking the helm. Disney is expected to give the film a mid-2012 release date.

First, there was Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins and then Willem Dafoe. Now, there’s three more actors confirmed for Andrew (Wall-E) Stanton’s big screen version of John Carter of Mars. Along with the casting news, there’s also a few spoilers concerning Martian politics and things of that nature, so be aware.

Minority Report‘s Samantha Morton and The Wire‘s Dominic West have joined the cast of the Walt Disney version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic novel. Morton will play Dafoe’s daughter, Sola, while West’s character will be the Zodangan prince Sab Than, who feels that he should be the one to rule all of Mars. Rounding out the three new actors is Rome’s Polly Walker playing the role of Sarkoja, who is described as “a merciless, tyrannical Thark.” Is there any other kind?

The film, in case you’re not aware, centers on a Civil War veteran (Kitsch) who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars where he becomes embroiled with the planet’s warring people and kicks a lot of green butt. The movie is expected to start production early next year for a release in 2012.