Last weekend, the world was taken by surprise as Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger blew past the final Harry Potter film and made it to the #1 spot in its very first weekend. Since then, the film has grossed over $115 million here in the US and upwards of $170 million worldwide. Not bad for the best superhero film of the year (according to Rotten Tomatoes).

This weekend, Cap may have gotten knocked off the top spot and only made roughly $24 million, but the more interesting part is the battle between Universal’s Cowboys & Aliens and Sony’s The Smurfs. Both films opened with an estimated $36.2 million in the domestic, and while Smurfs may be the winner overseas, with a total of $40 million worldwide, that’s simply because it’s the only film to have a foreign opening.

Not a very strong opening for either film (unless you consider Smurfs to be a small film), but the true champion will be determined tomorrow afternoon when the official numbers arrive for the domestic box office.

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It has cowboys. It has aliens. It has cowboys and aliens. It’s not a bad film. It’s not a good film. It is a movie. That’s a pretty lackluster opener, but, walking out of the screening, I felt almost completely neutral about Cowboys and Aliens–it was like the things I liked and the things I disliked were in perfect balance.

The film doesn’t fail to deliver on anything the title promises, and you can lose count of the standard tropes from either genre that it hits, but it’s tough to maintain the toothy grin I expected all throughout. Though I’m getting ahead of myself.

Daniel Craig plays Jake Lonergan (one of many last names I suspect are puns but am not entirely sure), a notorious outlaw who awakes one morning with a heavy case of amnesia and one hell of a bracelet on his left arm. He makes his way to the nearest town, controlled by the gruff cattle rancher Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and his uppity son Percy (Paul Dano), whose favorite pastime is terrifying the community at large and in particular the local bartender (Sam Rockwell) and his wife (Ana de la Reguera).

It’s not long before Jake endears himself to the locals, among them the soused preacher (Clancy Brown), the woman with a secret (Olivia Wilde), and, naturally, the sheriff (Keith Carradine) by punching out Percy, and not long after that that his identity is revealed, and he’s locked up. Still less longer, the aliens arrive, capture a handful of significant townsfolk, and everyone’s differences are set aside as they form a posse to recover the abductees. ‘round about this time, Jake discovers that his bracelet is able to sense the aliens and, better yet, can blow ‘em up real good.

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This year’s Comic-Con International was looking like it would be a bit lame with studios like Marvel, Paramount, Warner Bros, and other big companies dropping out of the festivities entirely. That means we won’t be seeing massive lines for Hall H and a glimpse at Henry Cavill in the Superman suit or footage of Thor and Hulk whomping on each other.

Instead we’re getting some of the lesser known properties in that famous football stadium-sized room known as “Hall H” such as The Knights of Badassdom and Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil. With the very first day of programming for the ‘Con announced, it looks like we’re going to be getting just that, and a truck load of TV.

One good note is that all things Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 will be in the early half of Thursday, leaving the rest of the weekend vampire free (except for those Southern vamps from True Blood).

Check out the full day’s schedule after the jump, and head to their official Scheduler app, so you can make official the things you want to see that weekend!

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Welcome to the first Trailer Tuesdays where you’re sure to find the best highlights from film trailers released theatrically or virally in the past week.  Plus, we throw in one trailer that’s so ridiculous that it’s awesome.

This week we found two major summer blockbusters that will hopefully prove to be good, not just cool, as well as one indie horror that will hopefully prove to be as scary as it is original.

Cowboys and Aliens

See trailer here

This film is a perfect example of a terrible premise with a cheesy title that is executed so well that it might actually turn out to be good.  The best quote I’ve heard about this film was when director Jon Favreau was being interviewed about why he chose to do this concept, he replied saying that since lots of people believed that aliens visited ancient cultures such as the Mayans and Egyptians, why can it not be believable that aliens visited the Old West?  So as long as he’s sticking by the idea, I’m down.

Certainly the best choices that were made for this film were getting Daniel Craig for the lead and Jon Favreau of Iron Man fame to direct.  This combination is certain to bring some real credibility to this film.  Craig seems to bring an old-school “bad ass-ness” to this part that has been lacking from most modern westerns.

No one could draw an alien side-arm as cool as him.  And Favreau has an uncanny ability to make even the most ridiculous action scenes seem somehow grounded in reality.

Of course you can’t forget Olivia Wilde, who is quickly becoming the hottest female action star; Sam Rockwell, who popped out of nowhere in this newest theatrical trailer but is nothing short of amazing in everything he does; and Harrison Ford, who just goes without saying.

Overall, this trailer is exciting and gets you pumped on some great visuals.  Hopefully this will be even better than Iron Man, as well as the coolest graphics of the summer.

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There have been plenty of pats on the back to Favreau from the fan community since footage of Cowboys and Aliens has been surfacing, but one little fact has managed to slip through the cracks: what are the plans for Iron Man 3 now that he’s moved off of the franchise?

Well, THR seems to have a solid lead on an answer, as Lethal Weapon writer Shane Black has been having some meetings as of late with the suits at Marvel.

The writer/director has powwowed with Marvel execs about his take on the third installment in the blockbuster franchise. As of now he is being considered for the directing job, but the assumption is that if he gets the gig, he would also write a draft.

Insiders said that Black’s involvement is far from a sure thing, and that other filmmakers were being looked at.

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This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are ready with an all-new episode. Topics discussed on this one include the new Thor trailer, the Golden Globe Award nominations, Jon Favreau not doing Iron Man 3, the Video Game Awards, new movie trailers and who should direct Iron Man 3 not that Favreau has stepped down.

Also, the boys made some new picks this week so you’ll know what to watch, play or buy for the holidays. The picks include Matt’s choice of the video game Enslaved and Chris’ pick of the Christmas horror film Santa’s Slay, featuring the wrestler Goldgerg as evil Santa. Believe us, it’s way better than it sounds.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

While many people consider Jon Favreau to Marvel much like Chris Nolan is to Warner Bros and DC Entertainment, not everyone knows that there were plenty of problems between Favreau and the studio when they wanted him to return for Iron Man 2.

Of course, Favreau finished the film, and made a mint doing so (as did the studio) but it looks like the tension may be happening again between the director and his films’ home. MTV News got first hint at there being a problem with with Marvel and the Swingers director when Favreau expressed concerns about future Marvel properties.

“In theory, Iron Man 3 is going to be a sequel or continuation of Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Avengers. That whole world … I have no idea what it is. I don’t think they do either, from conversations I’ve had with those guys.”

It was later tweeted out by Favreau that he’s officially going to work on Magical Kingdom for Disney and step down as the director of Iron Man 3. The irony here being that Disney owns Marvel, so it’s basically like leaving one room of a big house to go into another.

So this begs the question: who will take over for Favreau? With Marvel wanting Iron Man 3 to continue the Avengers storyline, could this mean that Avengers director and fanboy extraordinaire Joss Whedon will take on the challenge?

Marvel has yet to release a statement, but you can believe they have a shortlist ready for just the press release.

After hearing about Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’s preview night, who wouldn’t want to adapt a film to a live musical? Well it seems that producer Peter Billingsly, who played Ralphie in the 1983′s A Christmas Story is ready to bring the adaptation to the world, and pretty soon!

Not many know, but after Billingsly portrayed Ralphie, he went on to team up with Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn and produce some of their bigger comedies such as Four Christmases, The Break Up, and Couples Retreat. It looks like Billingsly is readying the musical for this month, and even has some previews happening this week. From THR.

With previews beginning Wednesday at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre (and running Dec. 9-30), A Christmas Story: The Musical! will remain loyal to the film adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s short stories and includes an original score from Broadway composing duo Benj Paske and Justin Paul.

Though Turn Off The Dark really did fail pretty hard in it’s preview this week, this production could see a different outcome. What’s the next film to get a musical adaptation? Could we see Favreau’s Elf make it’s way to the stage next?

As if yesterday wasn’t a big enough day for trailers, between Green Lantern, Your Highness, and Red Riding Hood, but it looks like the best was yet to come, as the first trailer for Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens, starring both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, hits the web.

Based on the 2006 graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, the story is both classic and awesome. Here’s the official synopsis.

1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford).

It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation.

As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents–townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors–all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

Check out the full trailer after the jump and check out Cowboys & Aliens in theaters on July 29th.

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Even though Iron Man 2 wasn’t quite as good as its predecessor, it still managed to entertain and excite enough fans to bring in over $300 Million at the domestic box office. And what follows a terrific box office performance like that (besides a sequel of course)? Why it’s a feature packed Blu-ray DVD release.

To commemorate the pending debut of the three-disc Iron Man 2 on Blu-ray, we’ve got a new behind the scenes video from the release to share with you today. In it you’ll see director Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson discuss their characters and the film with screenwriter Justin Theroux. Interesting insight indeed.

Iron Man 2 hits Blu-ray and DVD on September 28th. For more info on the release, check out the official press release for it as well as the video after the jump.

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Hard to believe it’s already that time but the countdown has begun for the release on DVD and Blu-ray of this summer’s biggest hit Iron Man 2. The film may have gotten 90% of the geeks across the globe excited in theaters, but the special features on the Blu-ray are sure to get that last 10%.

The big combo pack will be the Blu-ray edition, of course, and should be chock-full of features and extras to keep you entertained. Check out a complete list of the features below, and be sure to grab Iron Man 2 on Blu-ray and DVD September 28th.

Disc 1 (Blu-ray):

• Feature film with optional commentary by Jon Favreau (HD)
• S.H.I.E.L.D. Data Vault (HD)— Extend your knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with high-level clearance into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s digital data vault. Interact with select scenes from the movie that include new layers of graphics and insider information. View case files, dossiers, S.H.I.E.L.D. training films, tech details and more.
• Previsualization and Animatics (HD)

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Though Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 is pretty far in the back of our collective minds by now, it’s still worth it when we come across an impressive fan film that pays homage to the multi-million dollar movie franchise. And really, who doesn’t love baby versions of your favorite characters?

It worked at a TV series for The Muppets, and even a (mildly) successful comic series for The X-Men. Now, it’s Tony Stark’s turn, as we introduce Iron Baby.

The concept is pretty straightforward. Super-genius baby who develops a suit to take down bad guys (in this case, evil Easter bunnies). The thing worth watching the video for is the CG work. The film was done by Patrick Boivin, with graphics done by the French company STROB.

Check out Iron Baby after the jump, which stars Boivin’s daughter. It’s pretty amusing, and quite visually impressive. Only one question remains at this point: How soon before Nickelodeon picks it up?

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