Welcome to the future, a world where it is news that a feature film is being shot on 35mm film instead of digital or in 3D. We now know that the new Star Trek film will be one of those such films, although that doesn’t mean we will be spared the 3-D post conversion.

MTV recently talked with J.J. Abrams about the 2013 film:

“I’m sure, like many people, you see what you do and you go, ‘I really could have done that one better, I should have done that, that was a mistake, more of this, less of that.’ You always do that… I’m hoping that as we do the next one, all the mistakes that I’ve made that I’ve hopefully learned from, I can bring to this one and hope make it better.

We’re shooting on film, 2-D, and then we’ll do a good high-end conversion like the ‘Harry Potter’ movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good.

We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I’m a huge fan,”

While it is nice that J.J. is looking to get into the IMAX business, post conversion 3D has a rocky history. He sited the most recent Harry Potter film as the standard he expects, but even then shooting for 2D and converting it after the fact never looks as good.

Late yesterday Warner Bros decided to let everyone know “officially” what most of us knew already: The Dark Knight Rises has begun filming. Even though this isn’t really news, it still set off a flurry of discussion around The Flickcast offices about how we’re all really looking forward to this movie.

If you’re in the same boat as we are, this press release from the studio should at least, for a few moments, distract you a little until you again realize that even though the movie has started filming, we won’t actually see the finished product until July 20th, 2012.

Yes, that’s over a year away. Bummer.

Check out the full press release right here:

BURBANK, CA, May 19, 2011 – Principal photography has begun on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ The Dark Knight Rises, the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar® winner Christian Bale (The Fighter) again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar® winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake.

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It’s looking like this holiday season will be stacked up with tons of cinematic treats for adults this year, rather than in previous years when it’s been geared toward families. While comedies like Yogi Bear, Little Fockers and Gulliver’s Travels will most likely flop, films like True Grit and Tron: Legacy will definitely be enough to make this a Hollywood Christmas.

Not counting a few trailers, we haven’t gotten to see much of the upcoming Tron sequel. Daft Punk released a music video that gave us a bit more of the 100% computer-generated TRON world. Now we’re finally getting something with human actors as a scene with Jeff Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, the on-screen father and son of the Flynn’s, has hit the web.

The film picks up almost 28 years after the events of 1982′s original film. Jeff Bridge’s Kevin Flynn has gone missing and it’s up to his son, Sam, to get to the bottom of the mystery. Mix this story with a bunch of amazing visual shots of the game grid and Olivia Wilde in a skin-tight Tron suit, and you’ve got yourself a film.

Check out this new scene after the jump. Be sure to catch TRON: LEGACY in theaters, IMAX, and Disney 3D everywhere on December 17th.

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Since 2007, studios and fans alike have been contemplating, worrying, speculating, and spewing rumors about the upcoming prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit. The news that we do know is that Jackson is teaming up with Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, the story will be split into two films over two years, and now we have a release date for the two films. From Heat Vision:

Warner Bros. is scheduling Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro’s two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit” for December 2012 and December 2013.

As if it was ever in question, Dreamworks was so pleased with the results that How To Train Your Dragon has brought in over the past month, pulling in nearly $400 million worldwide, that they are already gearing up for a sequel.

As if the films monetary success wasn’t enough, in an unprecedented turn of events, the film had a resurgence in popularity 4 weeks after it’s initial release, picking up the #1 spot over Warner’s The Losers and Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass. In a recent press release from Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, they seem to be pleased with the results of the film, and believe that it was all thanks to the 3D medium.

2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013.

3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing ‘Shrek Forever After,’ the final chapter in our beloved ‘Shrek’ series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.

So there you have it. Dreamworks seems quite pleased with themselves, and rather than wait to see how the film fares against this summer’s blockbusters like Iron Man 2 or Robin Hood, they are cutting their losses and planning on the next film already.

You can also expect to see just about every upcoming Dreamworks animated (and probably live action) film to embrace 3D technology over the next 5 years.

This week On the Radar some details emerge on the next Jack Ryan adventure, a possible front runner to fill Peter Parker’s shoes, and bad news for The Green Hornet.

Marvel continues end credit Easter Eggs in Iron Man 2

In keeping with tradition of recent Marvel flicks this Summer’s Iron Man 2 will allegedly have extra footage post-credits.  While it’s hard to confirm just what exactly will be included this time around, speculation surrounds possible appearances by Thor and/or Captain America.  This of course leads into those two films hitting screens next Summer.  So, make sure to hang around after the film.

Michael Bay set to destroy your TV

I suppose it was only  a matter of time before Michael Bay decided to get into the television production game.  While the reality TV project probably won’t have as many explosions as the Transformers films, it definitely sounds like a premise only Bay could conceive:

“For my first television project I wanted to do something that had never been done before, and I believe that ‘One Way Out’ accomplishes that,” Bay said. “Combining unique twists, death-defying challenges, and stunning visuals, we are reinventing the genre, showing just how far people will go when they are stripped of their bare necessities and forced to do whatever it takes to survive.”

That description sounds vaguely familiar.  Maybe this series is just re-edited behind-the-scenes material from his movie shoots.  If that’s the case, I’m totally on board with this show, too bad no network has picked up the project yet.  Come on guys, this is Michael Bay, master of explosions, what could possibly go wrong.  Boom!

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Somebody must have brought the idea of viral marketing to Disney executives last year because they have been coming out of the woodwork with some pretty impressive new strategies. They started with Tron Legacy last year at San Diego Comic-Con with the exclusive “Flynn’s Arcade” party, which opened up into a huge crowd of gaming and film fans alike.

Now, they’re getting a bit deeper into the world of Tron, as a fake campaign has begun for the release of “Space Paranoids Online”, one of the original games created by Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) and ENCOM, the character and company from the original Tron film.

The trailer also leads fans back to EncomInternational.com, which is a neat viral site used to show off the films fictitious evil company. You can tell from the site that the film’s main plot is that ENCOM plans to integrate the world into their video game universe, much like in the original film.

Check out the trailer for “Space Paranoids Online” after the jump, and be sure to catch Tron Legacy in theaters and IMAX 3D on December 17th.

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Though Disney should consider their upcoming sequel to the smash hits Toy Story and Toy Story 2 an immediate success, it’s still nice to see that they aren’t pulling any stops with marketing. Even more surprising is that they’re actually going viral.

Nothing can really compare to some of the great viral marketing campaigns of past films like The Dark Knight, Cloverfield, or District 9, which all did pretty well in the box office. It seems that Disney is taking a different approach with two new trailers for the film.

In both trailers, you’re misdirected until the last 15 seconds of each promo into believing that you’re seeing a trailer for a new horror film or a commercial for some sleek new car. Ironically, you’re actually seeing two new trailers for Toy Story 3, which hits theaters in IMAX and Disney 3D on July 23rd.

Check both out after the jump and let us know what you think.

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It may not have taken home a lot of Oscar gold, but many might argue that the jangly coins in Avatar’s pocket might mean a lot more to Fox and James Cameron.  But despite the massive success they’ve enjoyed in theaters, Cameron and Fox want a little more of your hard earned cash.

They noticed that the demand in digital 3D immediately went up when the IMAX run was up. They’re concerned that giving up their screens to Alice in Wonderland may have cost them, in Cameron’s words,  “a couple hundred million dollars.” They know people will eat up more Avatar. So they’re planning a summer re-release.

According to The Hollywood Reporter,  discussions are underway to bring the film back this summer with additional footage. Cameron feels that he was forced to rush the film into theaters to make its December 18 date, and had to leave too many scenes on the cutting room floor.

There’s actually some debate as to how much extra footage there is — Cameron claims there’s about 10 to 12 minutes of scenes that he could toss right back into the film, whereas IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond claims there’s 40 extra minutes. However, an IMAX analog theater can’t handle a film over 170 minutes, so even if Cameron has 40 minutes of unused footage, he can only add 10 or 12 to come in under the IMAX limitations.

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About a month ago, we brought you news of the first new character to be revealed from Disney’s upcoming Toy Story 3. His name was Mr. Prickelpants, and he was a porcupine in lederhosen, voiced by Timothy Dalton. As if the characters couldn’t get any better than that, we just got word of the next four to be revealed.

Disney has even gone as far as to give descriptions of each new toy, staying in the context of the Toy Story Universe. Each of our favorites are still back, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Wallace Shawn as T. Rex, and John Ratzenberger as Piggy Bank.

Check out each of the descriptions, with exclusive new pics, after the jump. Catch Toy Story 3 in theaters and IMAX across the country on June 18th.

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With Avatar getting nine Academy Award nominations yesterday, it seemed to put the final nail in the coffin for any films on the bubble between 2D and 3D. Word is now coming in that Warner Bros. has confirmed both Clash of the Titans and the final two Harry Potter films will be in 3D.

This isn’t that big of a deal for the Potter films, but unfortunately sets the entire marketing plan for Titans upside down. This news means that the studio has to go back and convert the original film stock into something that can handle 3D, while still looking state-of-the art.

This conversion will set the release date of Clash of the Titans back to April 2nd, from it’s original date of March 26th. The studio seems convinced that this is the best plan of action, according to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

“We are experienced and have been successful in the conversion of 2D to 3D going back to such hits as ‘The Polar Express,’ select scenes in ‘Superman Returns’ and the last two Harry Potter films,” Warners domestic distribution boss Dan Fellman said.

“We’re excited about 3D and look forward to bringing a rich, involving visual experience to audiences around the world,” Warners film group president Jeff Robinov said.

The production on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 are still ongoing, which means that the respective release dates of November 19th and July 15th, 2011 will probably remain unchanged.

Avatar may be raking in zillions of dollars week after week, but we like to look to the future of IMAX and 3D, as Disney is getting set to release Tron Legacy in December of this year. The effects alone should bring in plenty of Avatar super fans to the theater, not to mention the generation that grew up with the first Tron, who will undoubtedly bring their families to the sequel.

While some of us got an up-close encounter with the blue lightcycle from the upcoming Tron Legacy back in July, we were still hungry for more..well, more colored lightcycles, frankly. Finally, we’ve got another pic to salivate over.

Tron Legacy, starring Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, John Hurt, and Garrett Hedlund, hits theaters on December 17th.

Our pals over at MTV Movies Blog have got the exclusive first look at the sleek new lightcycle, which you can check out after the jump. We’ve seen yellow and blue, when do we get a glimpse at the other colors?

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