Tides opens with Jack Sparrow in London, putting together a crew for his next expedition: to find the Fountain of Youth. As always, the work is cut out for him, as several others are likewise on the trail, foremost and mysterious among them is a figure known as The Spaniard, who’s been commissioned to not only seek out the fountain, but destroy it as well.

In addition to that, his old foe Captain Barbarossa (Geoffrey Rush), now down a leg and bereft of his beloved Black Pearl, has returned and is now working as a privateer for King George II (Richard Griffiths), another fountain-seeker. And rounding out the stranger tide is Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a former lover of Jack and daughter to the dreaded Captain Blackbeard (series newcomer Ian McShane), who seeks eternal life to bypass a prophecy that a one-legged man shall kill him.

However merely finding the fountain and juggling adversaries and fellow adventurers isn’t enough, to unlock the power of eternal youth, Jack must first acquire the tear of a mermaid, which entails capturing a mermaid (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) and getting her to cry. That doesn’t seem like a particularly ardent task, especially when you have several men with knives and a Blackbeard, but, wouldn’t you know it, the missionary Philip (Sam Claflin) has fallen in love with her. But that’s easily remedied, right?

I’m not much of a Pirates fan and don’t find Depp’s Jack Sparrow as endearing as everyone else seems to (he’s like Chevy Chase in that both simply make deadpan observations of the flagrantly obvious), but I didn’t mind On Stranger Tides. It’s a hefty 137 minutes and yet is the shortest of the quartet. It drags, but no more so than the previous installments and has one truly inspired sequence with the mermaids.

Since it’s announcement, Rob Marshall’s upcoming sequel in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has gotten more and more interesting casting news. First Ian McShane joined the cast as Blackbeard, then Penelope Cruz was cast as his daughter and now the cast has grown by one more.

Actor Stephen Graham, possibly best known for his roles in Gangs of New York and Snatch, will be standing side by side with Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in next summer’s epic sequel. From Variety:

He’ll portray Scrum, a Machiavellian pirate in Disney’s fourth installment of the franchise in which Sparrow seeks out the fountain of youth. Graham worked with Depp on “Public Enemies” and recently wrapped on murder drama “The Fields” opposite Sam Worthington.

He also will be seen as Al Capone on Martin Scorsese’s series “Boardwalk Empire” for HBO and in William Monahan’s “London Boulevard” opposite Keira Knightly and Colin Farrell.

Pirates 4 is geared to set sail on May 20th, 2011.

Back in 2002, Rob Marshall took the Broadway film Chicago and turned it into a big-budget Hollywood musical with names like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere. A few years later, Marshall tried to capture lightning in a bottle again by adapting Maury Yeston’s Nine.

The film was a major critical success, getting nominated for four Academy Awards and five Golden Globes. Rob Marshall had done it once again, with the help of his immense crew and the blessing, as well as the guiding hand of the show’s original creator, Maury Yeston.

We were lucky enough to speak with Yeston about his work on both the original Nine and it’s silver-screen adaptation, as well as possible film work in the future, and an interesting credit on his first published piece of music.

Check out the interview after the jump, and be sure to pick up Marshall’s Nine on DVD and Blu-Ray everywhere today.

While director Rob Marshall is curruntly donning his tri-corner hat and swashbuckling pants for Pirate of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, he’s still doing some press for his film Nine, which hits DVD and Blu-ray on May 4th.

Marshall’s Nine made a few splashes last year, getting nominated for four Academy Awards and winning a few Satellite Awards. Marshall managed to take the excitement and aesthetic of 2002’s Chicago and put it into the setting of Italian cinema in the late 1960s.

The film also spared no expense on cast with names like Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Judi Dench. We’ll be bringing you more features from the DVD release as we draw closer to the date, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out a look at director Rob Marshall after the jump.

Now that Rob Marshall has settled in and Disney has confirmed that Johnny Depp will be returning for the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, currently entitled On Stranger Tides, the studio is now looking to fill the cast with other well-known actors to keep the financial ball rolling.

First news on that front was that Penelope Cruz would be joining as Jack Sparrow’s new squeeze. More news is coming in that Ian McShane, the man who made swearing an art form on the series Deadwood, is currently in negotiations to play the pirate Black Beard.

The actor is best known for Deadwood, but has also been seen in other great projects such as NBC’s short-lived Kings, and the Andy Samberg comedy Hot Rod. The British actor was last seen in the film 44-inch Chest.

No word yet when we will get official word on McShane’s involvement with the film, but with other great actors such as Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy taking parts in the film, this seems to be right in line with that pattern.

What are your thoughts on Ian McShane as Black Beard? Who else would you like to see in the next Pirates film? Sound off in our comments below.

Well, it is the first box office recap of 2010, and it looks like I’ll be dropping  the “B” word, as in “Billion.”  Avatar sailed over the billion dollar mark in only its third week in release. Thanks to this worldwide total, it now sits comfortably at the  number four position of highest grossing movies of all time, right behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

It has already exceeded the total that took The Dark Knight its entire theatrical run to achieve, and Avatar has shown no signs of  slowing down. The movie dropped less than 10% from last weekend and made $68.3 Million, bringing its domestic total to over $352 Million.

There was plenty of box office love to go around this weekend, and several movies did exceptionally well. Sherlock Holmes added another $38.3 Million to its two week total, which now stands at over $140.7 Million. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel made $36.6 Million, for an impressive two week cumulative of $157.3 Million.

The adult comedy It’s Complicated only dropped  15% from its Christmas weekend opening, and racked up $18.7 Million for a strong fourth place. Fifth place went to The Blind Side, which has been in the top ten for over seven weeks now. It actually increased its total 10% over last weekend, and has made over $209 Million now.

We’ve shown you some great stuff from Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical NINE already, from some stills to a featurette to a trailer. Now, as the film gets closer to the release date, as usually happens, a brand new trailer has just dropped.

This time around, as with previous versions, the trailer further highlights the musical spectacle and acting power put together for the film. It also gives a bit more information about the story of the main character, director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), and his effect on the woman in his life. We also catch more glimpses of some of the musical numbers and more of the other terrific cast members, including Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Judi Dench

Expect a full review of NINE here at The Flickcast soon. Until then, enjoy this latest trailer (after the jump of course) of what will surely be yet another Rob Marshall musical masterpiece. NINE opens in NY and LA on December 18 and everywhere else on Christmas Day.

We’ve been covering this movie quite a bit here at The Flickcast, mostly because it looks really good. Previously, we brought you some nice pictures from the film, an outstanding preview video and an exclusive clip.

Now, here’s your first look at the full trailer for Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical extravaganza NINE, which first appeared over at Apple’s trailer site. In this trailer, we’re given much more of the story from the film, which concerns disillusioned director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportion, while balancing the numerous women in his life.

We also get a peek at some of the acting performances, which even though this is obviously a musical, will still feature prominently in the film — especially when you’ve assembled the acting talent of stars such as Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Judi Dench.

Check out the new trailer after the jump. NINE opens in NY and LA on December 18 and everywhere else on Christmas Day.

Previously, we brought you some very cool pics and a beautiful behind the scenes video from Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical extravaganza NINE. Now, we’ve got another video to share with you from the film. This time around, it features the beautiful and talented Kate Hudson in a show stopping, all singing, all dancing sequence sure to knock your socks off. Its called “Cinema Italiano” and after watching it, I really want to go back to Italy again — or at least spend some time with Kate Hudson.

I case you don’t happen to be familiar with hugely successful musicals that are now turned into terrific films, NINE follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportion, while balancing the numerous women in his life including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), a young American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson) and his mother (Sophia Loren).

Sounds like a handful to me. Although, there are probably worse problems to have then trying to decide between Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Fergie. Anyway, check out this new video from the film after the jump. NINE opens in New York and December 18, followed by a nationwide release on Christmas Day.

As you may know, this Rob Marshall directed film is loosely based on Fellini’s 8 1/2. It tells the musical story of film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) who’s facing a mid-life crisis. As he struggles to complete his latest film he examines his career, his life and the relationships with the various women in it.

If the quality of a film can be judged by the quality of its behind the scenes featurette, then I can safely say that Rob Marshall’s NINE is going to be one heck of a film.  I’ve also included some new pics from the film as well which further illustrate just how great this movie is going to look.

Put all that together with the stellar cast and Marshall’s unquestioned ability to execute terrific musicals and NINE looks to have all the making of a hit. Be sure to check out the behind the scenes video and pics after the jump.

NINE, featuring Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson and Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, hits theaters on Christmas day.