Some are calling it Escape From New York in space, while others are calling it not worth making a pop culture reference, but that isn’t stopping the upcoming FilmDistrict/Open Road film from Luc Besson, Lockout from hitting screens this coming Friday.

With that, and an overall panic that the film isn’t going to play as well as the studio is anticipating, Besson’s banner studio EuropaCorp has released the first five minutes of the film for free on YouTube, for those who may need more convincing to see the flick.

Sure, there are some pretty campy moments before the title card even pops up, like why they felt the need to give Guy Pierce a “futuristic” haircut, or why they thought an effective way of giving backstory to the film’s hero would be through flashbacks in an interrogation.

Regardless, the film certainly looks pretty cool, and it’s nice to see LOST star Maggie Grace and Misfits star Joseph Gilgun get some solid work in a big budget sci-fi picture. Take a look at the first five minutes of the film after the jump, and catch Lockout in theaters this Friday.

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When I started writing the weekly film score review, one of the things I wanted to do was shine a light on some of my favorite scores from the past. Now that I have just passed my one-year anniversary on The Flickcast I feel now is a great time to go retro and talk about one of my favorite scores of all time, The Fifth Element.

The film is one of my five favorite of all time, and it is one of those pesky films that I can’t watch more than five minutes of it without needing to stay put and finish the rest. A huge part of that attraction comes from the score. Eric Serra crafted a unique, original and forward thinking score that lays beautifully over the top of Luc Besson’s imaginative world.

Eric Serra is a french composer who often works with Luc Besson, crafting modern and non-traditional scores that can be very polarizing. The most famous example of this was his highest profile job in America scoring the excellent Goldeneye. The film was all about making Bond relevant to a 90s audience, and for the score, that meant getting a guy who would break away from the John Barry mold. This caused quite the stir among Bond fans, and ultimately lead to an innovative score that probably just didn’t work for the movie it was made for.

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We love when good movies inspire innovative ideas. For some reason, it happens much more in the Sci-Fi genre than anywhere else, but most good ideas stem from an even better classic film. That’s what we feel like is happening with the upcoming film Lockout, starring Guy Pearce.

Take a look at the official synopsis here and see if you can pick up subtle hints to a classic film.

Starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace and set in the near future, LOCKOUT follows a falsely convicted ex- government agent (Pearce), whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President’s daughter (Grace) from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.

Just call Guy Pearce Snake Plissken and you’ve got yourself a sequel to Escape From L.A, but in space. You’ll even notice the line from the trailer “He’s the best there is, but he’s a loose cannon.”  The film also stars LOST star Maggie Grace, who’s quite good at getting herself kidnapped, as proven in Taken. This time, Liam Neeson won’t be there with his particular set of skills.

Take a look at the trailer after the jump and catch Lockout in theaters on April 20th.

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If you loved the nonstop action that Liam Neeson and Luc Besson brought us back in 2008 with Taken, then you should get ready now that the excellent Rade Sherbedgia (best known in everything from 24 to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1) is being cast as the film’s major villain for Neeson to use his “particular set of skills” on. Here’s the scoop from THR:

Sherbedgia will play Murad, the father of a kidnapper slain by Bryan Mills (Neeson) in the first film. Murad is described as a vengeful man who gives orders and doesn’t take them. When Murad takes Mills and his wife hostage, their daughter is enlisted to help save them.

Sherbedgia will next star in Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which will be released in December. Sherbedgia’s credits include Batman Begins, Mission: Impossible II and a memorable turn as Boris “The Blade” Yurinov in Snatch.

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Most of the time when you think about director Luc Besson you think about action films. From La Femme Nikita to The Professional to The Fifth Element. Besson has been most closely associated with the action genre.

The same could be said for actress Michelle Yeoh. She’s kicked considerable butt in any films including Supercop and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. However, their the latest project for both Besson and Yeoh seems to be a bit of a departure.

It’s a film called The Lady and in it Yeoh plays Burmese nonviolent pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. David Thewlis, recently of the Harry Potter franchise, co-stars as her husband, writer Michael Aris, who campaigned along with their children for her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Yep, doesn’t seem like a lot of action to be had with this one. But that’s okay, it could still be a good movie. In fact, we’ve got a trailer for the film to share with you so you’ll be able to see for yourself.

Take a look at the trailer after the break. The Lady hits theaters later this year.

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So it turns out America is a huge fan of heartwarming tales about maids, as indie comedy The Help managed to steal the show once again, claiming the #1 spot for the second time in 3 weeks.

The film has grossed nearly $100 million domestically, and is still growing in popularity, as it beat out Colombiana, Guillermo del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid Of the Dark and Paul Rudd’s attempt at a quirky indie comedy with Our Idiot Brother, bringing in a total of $14.3 million this weekend.

Coming in second is Luc Besson’s Colombiana, which only managed to bring in $10 million (a quarter of the film’s budget) in the domestic box office this weekend.

Just after that film, the first big horror film of the late summer/early fall season, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, was unable to open big enough to scare the masses, as the film barely managed to break $10 million this weekend, coming in just shy of $9 million.

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When you think of hot female assassins/badasses, who comes to mind? For me it’s a cross between Anne Parillaud in the original La Femme Nikita, Uma Thurman’s The Bride in Kill Bill, Devon Aoki as Miho in Sin City and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah in Chuck.

Put all those together and that would be a potent mix indeed. Now, it seems, we may be able to add Zoe Saldana to that mix.

Why? Well today, Sony Pictures has released a trailer for Colombiana, which stars Saldana as a stone-cold female assassin. To illustrate the point, we’ve got the trailer for the film to share with you.

Colombiana was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Olivier Megaton (who has a perfect name for an action director, don’t you think?) Check out the trailer after the jump.

And no, that pic above is not from the movie. It’s from The Losers, but I like it — and so should you.

Who’s your favorite female baddass?

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Seeking to change its reputation as HBO’s red-headed stepchild where softcore movies go to die, Cinemax is getting into the original programming biz in a big way. After announcing a 10-part action series called Strike Back last month, the pay cable network has now made a deal for a new TV series based on Luc Besson’s Transporter movies.

The channel has committed to 12 episodes of the action drama, produced by French company Atlantique and executive produced by Besson. Much like the films, the Transporter TV series will center on professional transporter Frank Martin, played in the movies by Jason Statham.

Operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, Martin can always be counted on to get the job done — discreetly. He has three rules: Never change the deal, no names and never open the package.

The Transporter films were fun and Statham really made the character his own. Plus, he does know how to kick some serious ass. It remains to be seen who will take on the role in the series but rest assured, whoever it is has some big shoes (and a big car) to fill.

No, this isn’t a plug for the world premiere of one of the Transporter films to hit basic cable. Creator Luc Besson’s production company, EuropaCorp, has gotten the greenlight to go ahead with a full season of a Transporter TV series to be produced in Europe.

Though Jason Statham may be too big an actor to reprise his role as the car-speeding, bad guy-kicking lead Frank Martin, the show’s budget may just be enough for him to reconsider. From Variety:

Luc Besson’s powerhouse EuropaCorp has greenlit a 12 episode one-hour series, produced with Takis Candilis’ Atlantique Prods.

Move marks the first series, and a big one at that, for EuropaCorp as it diversifies into TV, producing spin-offs from its hit movies.

Series will be shot in English, and will start lensing in early 2011 in Canada and France. The producers are in talks with major international television channels.

At $4 million per episode, it’s a pricey project for Europe, but by U.S. broadcast network standards, it’s still being made on a low budget.

This could mean a lot for foreign-produced series to make their way to the US, giving one more avenue for networks to use when buying up new projects. EuropaCorp is not worried about the money being a loss, as the Transporter films each cost roughly $30 million to make, and brought in a total of $238 million worldwide.

No word on a cast yet, but expect to hear new soon, with the large budget behind the series, and production to begin in less than a year.

On the heels of the news that Pierre Morel will be taking on the remake of Dune, is the second trailer for his next upcoming action flick, From Paris With Love. The film stars John Travolta as FBI Super-Agent Charlie Wax, who gets teamed up with an unsuspecting partner, who’s far from a field agent, James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

The film looks like a bit of Casino Royale meets any buddy cop film from the late 80s. With Taken and District B13‘s Morel taking the helm and The Trasporter films writer Luc Besson taking on the script, you can bet that this film will be full of nonstop action. The only question remains; can Travolta pull off Parkour?

Check out the trailer after the jump, and decide for yourself. From Paris With Love hits theaters on February 5th worldwide.

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While the idea of the “buddy cop” film has lost it’s luster here in the States since Riggs and Murtaugh hung up their guns, the sub-genre has taken on a whole new life over in France. Back in 2004, writer Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Taken, The Transporter Trilogy) brought the worlds of buddy cop films, action, and parkour together. The film was a hit across the globe, and the team is now reuniting to do it again.

The trailer for District B13: Ultimatum gives us a glimpse of the awesomeness that we can look forward to, including leaps from skyscrapers, driving through the second floor of a building, and outrunning a car on foot. Of course, we don’t recommend watching this film in it’s dubbed form over it’s original French dialogue, but you may not have a choice when the movie gets an American theatrical release.

Check out the first new trailer for the film after the jump, with no dialogue, cocky narration, and yes: lots of jumping and explosions. Expect to see District B13: Ultimatum in your local multiplex on February 5, 2010.

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Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic, and not-so-classic, movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray versions of movies and TV shows such as J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Gone with the Wind, Thirst, Rome: The Complete Series and the Blu-ray debut of David Fincher’s awesome Fight Club (shown above with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton). We are Jack’s excitement at this release finally coming out.

Check them out:

Movies

Bruno ~ Sacha Baron Cohen, Paula Abdul (DVD and Blu-ray)

Clerks ~ Brian O’Halloran, Kevin Smith (Blu-ray)

Downhill Racer (The Criterion Collection) ~ Robert Redford, Gene Hackman (DVD)

Fight Club ~ Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter (Blu-ray)

Galaxy Quest ~ Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman (Blu-ray)

Gone with the Wind (Ultimate Collector’s Edition) ~ Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh (Blu-ray)

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