Steven Soderbergh seems to have found his new Clooney, as Matt Damon has helped the man snag a #1 spot twice now with The Informant! and as of this weekend, Contagion.

Hard to believe a film about a virus wiping out the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne could bring in $25 million worldwide in the first weekend, but that’s just what it’s done. Not terrible, considering the film’s budget was a measly $60 million (most of which likely went to the ensemble cast).

Following up in the top 5, The Help finally got knocked from its #1 spot for the first time in 3 weeks and finally hit the $140 million mark. In third, another new release, as the “Rocky of UFC” movie, Warrior, opened to a quiet response, with only $5.6 million.

In fourth place, political thriller The Debt managed to drop off significantly from last week and only pull in an estimated $5 million this weekend.

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Even though he’s said he’s going to retire from film directing soon, that hasn’t stopped Steven Soderbergh from continuing to make some pretty great films. From his first effort Sex, Lies and Videotape through one of my favorites The Limey, the Oceans 11 trilogy, Traffic and more he’s constantly demonstrated his skills as a storyteller.

This time around he’s turned his attention to something that scares the crap out of many people: a virus that can kill all humans. In his latest film Contagion, Soderbergh tells the story of a virus that mutates quickly and starts killing the world’s population faster than we can find a way to stop it.

The film features an amazing ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marianne Cotillard, Kate Winslet, John Hawkes and Gwyneth Paltrow who, sadly, doesn’t seem to have a happhy ending in this one. We’ve got the brand new trailer for the film to share with you right here.

Gotta say this looks pretty good. Also, it looks pretty scary.

Check out Contagion on September 9th. See the trailer after the break.

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Feel like Iron Man 2 was lacking in the alcoholic subplot that Tony Stark went through in the comics? Well, it looks like the original scribe of the film felt so as well, as we’re getting to see the original opening of the film for the first time.

Set to be attached to next week’s DVD and Blu-Ray release of the film, the opening focuses way less on Rourke’s backstory, and way more on the relationship between Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts.

The scene also includes the iconic Pepper/Helmet kiss that we saw in all of the trailers, but never made the final cut.

They may have beaten the alcoholic subplot, but it looks like this deleted scene had more of the witty comedy that made the first film so good. More deleted scenes are expected to roll out as we draw closer to the release of Iron Man 2 on DVD and Blu-Ray next Tuesday.

In the meantime, check out the scene in glorious standard definition after the jump.

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M. Night Shyamalan gets a bad rep sometimes. He’s an excellent storyteller who’s been known to go off of the deep end when it comes to getting his films made, most notably with Lady in the Water, which was basically just a love letter to his kids. We won’t address The Happening.

He seemed to go a bit more mainstream with the upcoming The Last Airbender, but now it seems the writer/director is getting back to his mysterious roots with his newest film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s premise, and even the title, is a mystery. Nothing has been revealed about the plot or the genre. What we do know is that Shyamalan has apparently already locked in three big actors for the film.

No details are known about the project, but it comes with some major acting talent: We’ve learned that Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bruce Willis are loosely attached to star in the film.

Shyamalan is famously secretive, and this project is no exception: Only top studio execs have read the script, and they were required to allow a Shyamalan assistant to supervise the process. When the execs finished reading, the assistant took the script back and left.

This project could be just what Night needs to get back to where he was circa 1997 with the success of The Sixth Sense. He’s got a pretty good track record with Willis, as he was in both Sense and Unbreakable.

Not sure where he could possibly go with this film, as he’s already touched on fairy tales, aliens, ghosts, and evil trees. We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on news from this upcoming project.

Though the movie has been out for a week now, we wanted to make sure the majority of you saw Iron Man 2 before we posted anything else that could potentially spoil the movie. And then there’s this video.

For those of you you remember the trailer very well and saw the film, you might recall the scene where Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) kisses RDJ’s helmet and throws it off the back of a cargo plane wasn’t actually in the film. We also know how much RDJ and the rest of the cast ad-libbed while shooting.

CollegeHumor put together a great compilation of animated “alternate takes” that also didn’t make it into the film. It isn’t completely out of the question that some of these outtakes were actually shot.

They’re all pretty amusing, especially the potential to see a sequel titled Mask-O. Check out the animated clip after the jump, and you can still catch the rest of the movie (without the scene) in theaters and IMAX everywhere.

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Iron Man 2 faces the unenviable task of living up to its predecessor. The success of the first movie was a surprise to many, and part of what made it so fun was its arrogant anti-hero Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr. His quippy, cocky, charismatic character was truly a breath of fresh air from the conventional action movie heroes we’re assaulted with each summer. So now that the cat’s out of the bag, can the sequel capture the same magic? Sort of.

Tony is basking in the glow of all the attention being foisted on him after he “privatized world peace,” as he calls it. He is a major celebrity now, and at the Stark institute, he is presented in the same manner you would see a band introduced at a stadium concert.

A splashy little group of “Starkette” dancers wearing hot shorts and bra tops dances in the background while Stark addresses his adoring masses. All the spectacle looks like a show straight out of Las Vegas. The ego-stroking has gone straight to Tony’s head, and his hubris has rendered him quite unlikable.

In Moscow, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seethes by his father’s deathbed as he watches ad nauseam television coverage of Tony Stark’s big reveal as Iron Man. His father whispers, “It should have been you” just before dying. Vanko feels his family (who has worked for the Starks in the past) has been wronged by the Stark family, and he starts plotting his revenge, building a specialized suit that is equipped with deadly whip-lasers.

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With the Iron Man 2 release just two weeks away, we are eating up anything and everything given to us about the upcoming super hero blockbuster. Earlier today, director Jon Favreau, who seems to be the main source for all information being spread about his film, posted links on his twitter account to the two newest movie posters for the film.

The first shows one of the villains Iron Man and War Machine will be facing, Whiplash. Though it looks like Mickey Rourke may not have actually even showered since The Wrestler, if there is any actor who can portray this insane amalgam of the comic book versions of Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo, all while bringing the character from obscurity to a household name, we have faith that Rourke is the one.

The second poster promotes the IMAX showings of the film with an image of Tony Stark’s slick new briefcase armor, which has been seen in various trailers for the film.

Check them both out in full after the jump, and stay with us as we draw closer to Iron Man 2‘s release on May 7th.

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Hard to believe, but this Wednesday marks the one month countdown before we get to witness Iron Man 2 in theaters across the country. Quite a journey the fans have been on, from the very first set photos that were released, to the first news of Olivia Munn’s casting in the film to the first trailer.

Now that time is coming where marketing is getting bigger and better, in anticipation for the film’s May 7th release date. With that comes a brand new clip from the film, which shows off Iron Man making his way to a big fancy stage in the center of Stark Expo. This is basically a much longer cut of the scene we’ve seen in several trailers.

Check out the clip after the jump, and be sure to catch Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Sam Rockwell, in theaters and IMAX on May 7th.

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The Internets basically exploded on Sunday night when news first came that a brand new Iron Man 2 trailer had been released. As if the Oscars hadn’t even happened, fans and geeks alike turned to their laptops in droves to check out the brand new Tony Stark goodness, and nobody was disappointed.

Today, not even 48 hours after the trailer was released, we’re bringing you even more stuff about the movie, like an aftershock of awesomeness. Today, a few brand new images have just dropped online, giving us more Iron Man, War Machine, and even Whiplash. Plus, we threw in a couple older ones as well just for fun.

Check out the images after the jump. Be sure to catch Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, and Mickey Rourke, in theaters on May 7th.

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As promised, the latest trailer for the much anticipated Iron Man 2 made its debut after the Academy Awards during Jimmy Kimmell Live, and boy is it cool. In this new one we’re given more action, more fighting, more story, more comedy and more Robert Downey, Jr. All of those elements, and more, come together for a very exiting trailer indeed.

Another great thing we get to see finally is the much rumored “suitcase armor” which Tony Stark carries with him for those little emergencies — like when he’s attacked by a whip-wielding Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. It’s also great to see more of Don Cheadle as he comes into his own as War Machine, the always cool Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow.

Check out the latest trailer, courtesy of the folks at MySpace, after the jump. Iron Man 2 blows audiences away starting on May 7th. That day can not come soon enough.

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Are you excited for this summer’s Iron Man 2? Do you know French? Then you’ll love this new clip that the kind folks at French MSN.com put up. The second half of the video is the trailer that we’ve all seen before, but it’s the first half that has all new footage.

Director Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, and Scarlett Johansson all chat about some of the effects in the upcoming film, and some of the things they’re doing to introduce Stark’s newest opponent, Whiplash. The character is more of a hybrid of both Crymson Dynamo and Whiplash from the comics, with Dynamo’s backstory and Whiplash’s abilities and name.

With a screenplay from Tropic Thunder’s Justin Theroux, Iron Man 2 is set to hit theaters and IMAX on May 7th of this year. Along with Rourke, Downey, and Johansson, the film also stars Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Check out the french footage, courtesy of MSN.fr here. They don’t allow embedding, sorry.