If you can forgive us the headline long enough for us to tell you the news, we would appreciate it. The search for a director to take on the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire after Gary Ross decided to walk away is over.

The man Lionsgate has chosen to take up the torch and continue the blockbuster franchise is Francis Lawrence. Lawrence won the coveted gig after after other directors like Moneyball helmer Bennett Miller had to drop out due to a scheduling problem.

According to the report, he was always a top pick for Lionsgate but his deal finalized when others such as Miller had to drop out of contention. Additionally, Lawrence can get started right away so the film can get into production before star Jennifer Lawrence (no relation) has to head back to the Marvel Universe and suit up for the sequel to X-Men: First Class.

In case you can’t place the director’s name, his previous credits include Water For Elephants, I Am Legend and Constantine as well as music videos for Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Green Day. So, he’s got some directing chops as we like at least two of his movies (no, not the one with RPat).

So, with the sequel to Hunger Games now seemingly on track, look for it to arrive in theaters late in 2013.

Now that Hunger Games shattered tons of records, making it the biggest film in the past few years, other studios are doing what they can to compensate for the massive train which will be the production of the rest of the Hunger Games trilogy.

The first in that line is Fox, as they’re moving the start time for production on Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class’s sequel. From THR:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Fox is informing talent agencies Thursday that the studio plans to begin shooting its in-development sequel to X-Men: First Class in January. That means Lionsgate could move forward with an August-September start date for the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire without a conflict for Lawrence, who is set to star in both. 

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The Hunger Games is a certified mega success. It made a metric ton of bank at the box office and feels like it is only just beginning it’s reign in the limelight. So it seemed like a forgone conclusion that director Gary Ross would continue forth with the franchise and tackle the next installment. Not so fast.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the negotiations are in a rocky place:

Sources say Ross, 55, would like a significant raise for a secondHunger Games, but Lionsgate didn’t kick off negotiations with him until about three weeks before the first film’s March 23 opening. By then, with tracking suggesting a huge opening weekend, Ross and his CAA reps were in no hurry to bargain.

Lionsgate has a script from Simon Beaufoy that Ross has yet to revise. The studio is in a rush to start the next film in the fall, though Fox might upset Lionsgate’s plan by exercising its option on Lawrence to start another X-Men movie first. (Fox’s option would trump Lionsgate’s hold on Lawrence, say sources.) Adding urgency: Lionsgate already has booked a November 2013 release for Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Lionsgate has it’s hands full in juggling the stars and the schedule to make sure Catching Fire hits cinemas in November 2013, so Gary Ross better be careful and not negotiate himself right out of the movie. He deserves a payday for the massive hit he made the first film, but lots of franchises are doing just fine with a rotating director carousel these days.

Last week saw the release of the first 2012 mega blockbuster, The Hunger Games. The film was eagerly anticipated and delivered the majority of it’s promise for a sweeping, epic tale of love, death and the games.

Being the first of 2012′s big boys I would be remiss if I didn’t spend some time on it’s score. Especially considering it comes from one of the best composers working today, James Newton Howard.

The score is rather strait forward, if maybe a little uninspired. I am not saying it is bad persay, but while watching the movie I really only had one moment where I felt like the score was connecting with me. Once I had the chance to sit down with the actual album I realized why. Most of the music just ins’t particularly gripping.

Again, there is a difference between bad and not gripping. I truly think Howard made quality music, I just think very little of it stands above the whole proceedings and make’s itself known. Of course there are exceptions to this, a couple of the tracks are actually really fantastic. I just don’t think the score spends enough time with the best stuff, and the majority of the rest feels flat.

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Last week I made mention that this weekend would be dominated by The Hunger Games. I never like to revel in such an easy victory, but for this week I will grant myself a little pardon.

The weekend was dominated by the new film that captured everyone’s hearts. The Hunger Games brought in a staggering $155 Million at the box office.  In just three days the film has already become the highest grossing film from Lionsgate productions ever.

The monstrous opening number is the third highest all time, coming in third behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 and The Dark Knight. The number was also the highest among all non-sequels and non-franchises of all time.

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Don’t worry whedonites, The Avengers isn’t the only Joss Whedon related project coming out in 2012. The Cabin in the Woods, a film that Whedon produced, is heading to theaters in just over a month.

The long delayed project is finally going to see the light of day, and early word is that the film delivers big time. One of the main thrills of the movie is it’s twists and turns, so we here at The Flickcast have been careful not to be spoiled.

Thankfully Lionsgate just released a new, and concise trailer in advance of this week’s premiere at the SXSW festival. For those of you who are completely in the black about what this movie is, the official synopsis sums it up well:

Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen. 

If you think you know this story, think again. From fan favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard comes THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, a mind blowing horror film that turns the genre inside out.

The trailer hints that this film is more than your average lonely cabin horror film, but we are no doubt in for crazy twist on the classic horror set up.

Check out the new trailer after the jump.

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Lionsgate has released its first trailer for The Hunger Games, the Gary Ross-directed adaptation of the first of a trilogy of Suzanne Collins novels. In case you’re not familiar with the books and/or the upcoming film, here’s a bit of info directly from Lionsgate:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Will this be good? Who knows. At least they don’t seem to be taking the Twilight approach and making it incredibly cheesy, so at least that’s something.

Check out the trailer after the break. Look for The Hunger Game, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, to arrive in theaters on March 23rd.

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If there’s one thing you can say about action star and all around badass Jason Statham it’s that he’s consistant. In almost every movie he does, he ends up playing pretty much the same character.

Not that we’re complaining. He does it pretty well and is usually, if not supremely talented acting-wise, at least fun to watch. This leads us to the trailer for his latest upcoming action extravaganza Safe.

Written and Directed by Boaz Yakin, who’s previous credits include Fresh and Remember the Titans, Safe features Statham as a former elite agent protecting Mei (Catherine Chan), a 12-year-old numerical prodigy who has in her head a code the Triads, Russian Mafia and corrupt cops are determined to get.

As you would expect, the trailer features mostly what Statham fans are expecting: action. It also gives us a bit of insight into the story and who we can expect in the film opposite the star. And yes, Statham beats up and kills several people during the trailer. No surprise there.

Check out the trailer after the jump. Safe, which in addition to Statham features Anson Mount, Chris Sarandon and James Hong, opens on March 2, 2012.

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Even though I’m not all that enthusiastic about the upcoming big screen adaptation of The Hunger Games, I know some of you are. And because I love and respect all our diligent readers, we’ve got brand new character posters from the film to share with you today.

The poster collection includes some of your favorite citizens of Panem: Rue (Amandla Stenberg), Cato (Alexander Ludwig), Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Effie (Elizabeth Banks), Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth).

In case you never read the book, here’s some info on the story:

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

The Hunger Games opens in theaters everywhere March 23rd, 2012. Click through for some larger versions of the posters after the break.

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Red State is a movie filmed straight from the first draft of the shooting script.

Right from the opening shot of a small town, the cuts of scenery are so quick the audience doesn’t even know what they’re supposed to be looking at. Eventually the camera settles on a mother driving her son to school. On the way they pass a group protesting the funeral of a recently murdered homosexual student. Director Kevin Smith finally lingers on a shot of one of the protest signs featuring the phrase “Anal Penetration” in big, bold letters. We see the sign a few times more before the boy gets to school.

When he does, he explains to his teacher (who doesn’t even seem to mind his tardiness) why he’s late, and she launches into some unbelievably clumsy exposition about the group’s leader, Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), a nut of a fundamentalist who’s universally despised around these parts and runs his own private Wacoville just outside of town. It’s also brought up at the murdered boy went to that very high school! Two things should immediately pop out: 1) If the kid went to that school, and was murdered two weeks ago, how on earth is it possible that none of his classmates knew him? And 2) If everyone already knows Abin Cooper, then why spend so much time explaining who he is, what he does, where he does it, why he does it…? The answer, of course, is to fill in the audience, but it’s done in such an amateurish way that you can’t believe it came from writer/director Kevin Smith, who’s not only made eight feature films, not only been writing professionally for nearly 20 years, but who’s also a man who prides himself on the quality of his writing.

And this is in the first three minutes.

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Yes, there’s bound to be several barbarian-like hordes of Twilight fans (that is, if there were a tribe of sickly-looking, sparkle-ridden barbarians…maybe those wimpy Phoenicians) at this year’s Comic Con, but those of us who prefer vampires of Buffy-slaying variety will be pleased to know that Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s newest project A Cabin in the Woods now has a U.S. release date: April 13th, 2012. Need I mention that’s a Friday? OOooOOoooOOo!

Aside from Whedon producing and co-writing with frequent collaborator and Cloverfield and Buffy writer Drew Goddard (who’s also directing), Cabin stars Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth as a young professional who, with a group of friends, visits a rustic cabin in the woods (makes sense) “and ends up scratching the surface of something so massive and horrific that they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out.” My guess is that it’s a busted septic line.

The film also stars Richard Jenkins (Let Me In), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Kristen Connolly (The Happening), Brian J. White (Stomp the Yard), Amy Acker (Angel), Fran Kranz (Donnie Darko), and Jesse Williams (Brooklyn’s Finest). Not much else has been said about the film, but with such names behind it, we can expect some genre-bending badassery (septic tank or not). Whedon himself has described it as, “The horror movie to end all horror movies,” though he may be slightly biased.

The film may not have a director, and a cast is still in the process of being shuffled into place and signed, but that hasn’t stopped a brand new poster and plot from being released for the upcoming sequel The Expendables 2.

What we do know, however, is that Stallone will be returning to act in the film, just not direct. No word on who Lionsgate is courting to take on the task, but a script is already in place by the man who brought us Muppets in Space and Curious George, Ken Kaufman. Here’s what Millenium Films is touting as the official plot:

The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke), the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his comrades swear to avenge him. They’re not the only ones who want blood.

Tool’s beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission, complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must risk everything to save her and humanity.

Just about everyone and their mother is rumored to return for the sequel, including a meatier role for both Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is even talk that Jean-Claude Van Damme is planning on making an appearance this time as the film’s villain, making this, without question, the ultimate action cast.

We expect to hear more about the film as it travels to Cannes. Lionsgate says that the current scheduled release is August 17th, 2012. Take a look at the full poster after the jump, courtesy of First Showing.

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