As much as people still refuse to admit it, Despicable Me was one of the highest grossing films (prior to Potter) of 2010. Since it’s July release date, the film has grossed over $500 million worldwide. That’s not much to scoff at, and now the studio is having at it again with a brand new film called Hop.

The movie is an interesting spin on growing up, told with the help of a cocky Easter bunny, played by Russell Brand. Here’s the official synopsis.

Blending state-of-the-art animation with live action, Hop tells the comic tale of Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russell Brand) and must take him in as he recovers.  As Fred struggles with the world’s worst houseguest, both will learn what it takes to finally grow up.

Though the blending of CGI and live action has left a bad taste in our mouthes in the past, (looking at you, Garfield 2: Tale of Two Kitties), this could prove to be a change in pace, as Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicible Me is taking the reins from here.

Check out the very first trailer after the jump and catch Hop in theaters on April 1st.

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The offbeat, swirly, Gothic-lite, snow-filled reign of Tim Burton will never let up. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Universal’s Illumination Entertainment has snagged the rights to Charles Addams’ original The Addams Family cartoons with an eye to letting Burton direct a stop-motion feature out of them. Why yes, the term “3D” is also being tossed around. Yay.

I love The Addams Family. I was unhealthy obsessed with the Barry Sonnenfeld film as a pre-teen, and I used to hang out at the bookstore reading the original cartoon collections. It was the closest I got to becoming a Goth.  While I’ve enjoyed a lot of Burton films over the years, I’m not sure I want to see the Addams sent through The Burton Factory, and made out to be a family with a penchant for swirls and black and white stripes.

DHD notes that Burton will ignore the previous films and television show, and return straight to the source.  Apparently, he’s quite drawn to the sharp wit of the original comics. And they are funny. Much funnier than Burton’s Addams imitation, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy which is just kind of gross and painful to read.

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