Not that this news will do much to silence the haters but James Cameron has reportedly agreed to make sequels to Avatar his next two films. Cameron will begin working on the scripts for the two films early next year.

According the the article, the director hopes to start production later in 2011 but won’t make the decision on if he will film both sequels simultaneously until after he completes work on the scripts. Obviously, Cameron is pretty excited about the prospect of returning to the world of Pandora.

“In the second and third films, which will be self-contained stories that also fulfill a greater story arc, we will not back off the throttle of ‘Avatar’s’ visual and emotional horsepower, and will continue to explore its themes and characters, which touched the hearts of audiences in all cultures around the world,” Cameron said. “I’m looking forward to returning to Pandora, a world where our imaginations can run wild.”

With worldwide box office of over $2.8 Billion, it’s hard to argue with Avatar‘s mass appeal and sequels were to be expected. With the technology pretty much perfected now and the visuals of the world established, we can only hope that Cameron will spend a bit more time on the characters and story (And Sam Worthington’s “acting”) with these next two films, which will hopefully make them a bit easier to watch.

Currently, Cameron and Fox are looking at a December 2014 release for Avatar 2 and a December 2015 release for Avatar 3. Of course, we’ll bring you all the news on these sequels as it comes to us.

After months of speculation about the sequel to The Dark Knight, at least now we have some info that’s confirmed. In a new interview over at Hero Complex, Christopher Nolan reveals that the title of the next Batman film will be The Dark Knight Rises, which seems to suggest the film will be about Batman reclaiming his hero status in Gotham City after ending the previous film as a wanted man.

Sadly, for some of you at least, Nolan also said the Riddler will not be the main bad guy in the third film. Although, he didn’t rule out the Riddler making some kind of appearance. In addition, Nolan also said in the interview that Warner Bros. has agreed to not go 3D with The Dark Knight Rises. Instead, Nolan will do what he did with The Dark Knight and use a combination of high-definition and IMAX cameras to give the film its distinctive look.

Finally, Nolan revealed some tidbits on what other characters may be appearing in the film. “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” Nolan said, without revealing any names. Of course, we can assume some of the characters that will appear in the new film which have to include the core group of Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alfred and Commissioner Gordon.

For my money, I would like to see Catwoman make an appearance with, perhaps, some support by the Riddler. With Nolan’s take on the Joker working so well, I’m sure he can help Catwoman become the big screen villain she deserves to be. What about you guys? Who do you think we’ll see in the film?

The first Paranormal Activity was a bit of a phenomenon. It managed to capture the attention of audiences and also be a pretty scary movie that you wouldn’t necessarily want to watch in a dark room alone. Naturally, when something is a success as the first film was, people want to try and capitalize on that success. Thus we have the inevitable Paranormal Activity 2.

The first trailer for the sequel has arrived and with it we get our first chance to see if the magic of the first film can be recaptured. After watching the trailer a few times I think I can safely say it probably can’t and won’t. Still, I give the filmmakers props for trying. I’m just concerned we might have another Blair Witch 2 situation on our hands. And really, nobody wants that.

Judge for yourself and check out the trailer after the jump. Paranormal Activity 2 hits theaters on October 22.

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If you were one of many fans who thought that if Peter Jackson wasn’t going to direct The Hobbit a really great alternative was Guillermo del Toro, prepare to be disappointed. After spending the last two years developing the adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic as his next directing effort, Guillermo del Toro has announced he is now stepping down as director of the project.

The director was obviously disappointed about the decision but said: “In light of ongoing delays in the setting of a start date for filming “The Hobbit,” I am faced with the hardest decision of my life,” Guillermo wrote in his announcement on “Lord of the Rings” fansite TheOneRing.net. “After nearly two years of living, breathing and designing a world as rich as Tolkien’s Middle Earth, I must, with great regret, take leave from helming these wonderful pictures.”

However, all is not completely lost as the director also indicted he would stay on the project co-writing the screenplays for parts one and two with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens. Of course, now that del toro has stepped down it would seem like a perfect choice would be for Jackson to step up and take over the film.

After all, he’s been intimately involved with the production and did a pretty good job with those Lord of the Rings movies. Sadly, with Jackson’s other commitments, he won’t be taking on the film either.

“New Line and Warner Bros. will sit down with us this week, to ensure a smooth and uneventful transition, as we secure a new director for ‘The Hobbit,’ said Jackson. “We do not anticipate any delay or disruption to ongoing pre-production work.”

Well, there you go. With del Toro out and Jackson out, who’s the best choice to take on The Hobbit now?

The cast of Wes Craven’s upcoming fourth installment of the hugely successful Scream franchise has just grown by one more. Emma Roberts (Valentine’s Day, Hotel For Dogs and the upcoming It’s Kind of a Funny Story) will join returning original cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette in Scream 4, which is also being scripted by original Scream writer Kevin Williamson.

Roberts will play “Jill,” one of the heroines in the new film and probably help solve yet another series of grisly murders perpetrated on the citizens of Woodsboro. Poor citizens. Obviously, Roberts is thrilled at the news.

“I am so excited to be part of this ground-breaking franchise,” said Roberts. “As a huge fan of the previous films, I jumped at the opportunity to work with the original Scream team of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson. It’s the perfect opportunity for me to do something completely different than I’ve ever done before. With Bob Weinstein and Dimension, and the return of original cast members Neve, Courteney and David, I have no doubt Scream 4 will live up to fan expectations.”

Producer/director Wes Craven added, “I’m absolutely delighted that Emma will be joining the cast of Scream 4. Her talent, beauty and range will add immensely to the sophistication, intensity and fun of the SCREAM franchise as it returns to the screen once more.”

Well, there you go. if he doesn’t know, nobody does. Shooting on the film will begin in June in Michigan. Scream 4 hits theatres in April 15, 2011.

UPDATE: Looks like we can add Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin to the cast now also. Dimension Films just confirmed their casting.

Regardless of any fan’s personal feelings about the project, it seems Fox is going ahead with its Plant of the Apes prequel film. In fact, today it was announced that Spider-Man’s James Franco has been cast as the lead in the film, now entitled Rise of the Apes.

As we mentioned previously, Rupert Wyatt is handling the directing duties of a script by Amanda Silver & Rick Jaffa. The story of Rise of the Apes concerns a scientist (Franco) who has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s which is being tested on apes. The main test ape named Caesar starts to evolve rapidly due to the drug, and the scientist takes him home to live with him to protect him from cruel doctors.

Of course, as Caesar evolves he begins to realize that captivity isn’t for him and instead, he will rise up to lead his fellow apes to freedom. This story will show the modern day events that eventually lead to the apes dominating the human race as seen in the classic original Planet of the Apes films.

It will feature cutting edge ape effects by WETA Digital and will, for the first, time, have apes in it that are completely computer generated instead of being portrayed by actors in make-up. Could be cool, especially if there ends up being a bunch of great ape vs. man conflict.

Rise of the Apes will shoot this summer in British Columbia for a projected release on June 24, 2011.

Only a day after being announced as writers for the upcoming Deadpool movie, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese have gotten yet another gig as the writers for the sequel to another summer movie franchise: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Taking over from the guys who had written the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and giving it to the team that brought us Zombieland, is I think a step in the right direction.

All of the main cast from the first film are contracted to return for sequels, with director Steven Sommers being the possible hold out. But, with the promise of this new writing team, hopefully the next GI Joe film can add more story to go with the anticipated amount of destruction.

The Rise of Cobra, now available on DVD, cost a reported $170 million and has so far brought in just over $300 million worldwide. But with a Rotten Tomatoes score of about 36%, it’s really got no place to go but up.

Moviefone has gotten access to a new still from the upcoming Disney/Pixar Animation film Toy Story 3 showing the whole gang in their new setting. The immediate thing that sticks out to me is the cinematic scope that the image gives us – possibly inherited from the steps forward that PIXAR has made in its recent films, such as Wall-E and Up, where they’re presenting a more realistic, if still stylized, reality.

It could also be part of the effect of the movie being shot for 3-D, so it’s giving us that deeper sense of space and immersion into the environment. Wanting to see what the differences are in look, and possibly style, that director Lee Unkrich might be bringing to the series, I looked up these other stills/production shots from the previous two movies in the Toy Story franchise.

See if you can tell a difference and see the progression in these images after the jump. Also, check out the larger photo from Toy Story 3 as well.

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