If you’ve seen any of Will Ferrell’s films over the last few years — or indeed, just about any other major comedy — you should know by now who Rob Riggle is. The man has had supporting roles in everything from Step Brothers and The Other Guys to The Hangover and 21 Jump Street, and most recently even scored a gig hosting the 2012 Espy Awards. Now it looks like he will finally get his first shot at a lead role in a new comedy series being developed for HBO by his buddies Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Wahlberg and Chris Henchy. Could this be the big break he’s been waiting for?

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Is there anything more annoying than being forced to watch a bunch of ads and PSAs after starting up a DVD or Blu-ray that you just paid money to own? Okay, maybe a few. Still, I am guessing this news will not win the MPAA any new fans, and it’s further proof that they are going about their quest to end piracy in all the wrong ways. According to Wired, starting this week, new DVD and Blu-ray discs will be forced to include updated anti-piracy warnings that take longer to display and include some additional branches of the government that are now also involved in the fight. John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had this to say about the changes:

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Here’s kind of an interesting box office story that was overshadowed by (and yet also related to) the success of The Avengers over the past two weeks. Back in March, the fantasy / sci-fi tentpole John Carter had already been called a failure by Disney, who quickly owned up to the fact that they expected to lose $200 million on the movie. But just when it had been basically declared dead, John Carter miraculously came back to life again last weekend. The resurgence went largely unnoticed because it didn’t register in the top 10, but it still managed to reach #12 on the box office charts after languishing way down at #34 the week before. This weekend it was also hovering around #16. So how did a movie that had already failed suddenly find its second wind after nine weeks? By hitching its wagon to The Avengers and taking advantage of drive-in double bills, that’s how!

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With a lot of the TV networks recently announcing their 2012-2013 line-ups, we’re starting to see trailers and promos trickle out for some of next year’s big shows. And what would the fall season be without a new show from J.J. Abrams? After batting .500 last season with Person of Interest being renewed by CBS and Alcatraz getting the axe from Fox, this time around he will bring a new show called Revolution to NBC. It looks like a cross between Lost, The Hunger Games, and Life After People and it stars Tracy Spiridakos (Being Human), Andrea Roth (Rescue Me), Billy Burke (Twilight), JD Pardo (90210) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad).

The premise involves a global blackout that thrusts the world into a new dark age. Fifteen years later, everyone is still without power, technology has been forgotten, and local militias run rampant. When a young girl’s father is killed, she sets off across the country on a journey to reclaim the future. Jon Favreau directed the pilot episode and it looks to have some decent action, but will it be enough for Revolution to succeed where shows like Jericho, FlashForward and The Event have failed? Check out the trailer for Revolution after the jump and see what you think.

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Many Apple fanboys were somewhat displeased to hear that Ashton Kutcher would be playing Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic. Although the physical similarities were striking, many people felt that Kutcher simply could not be taken seriously as a dramatic actor. The movie has since added a few more cast members, including Josh Gad (21, The Rocker) as Steve Wozniak, and is now in production in Los Angeles.

This week TMZ has the first unofficial photos of Kutcher wearing the trademark black turtleneck and white sneakers. I don’t know that there is anything particularly unexpected about the look, but perhaps these photos will convince a few of the haters that he is right for the part. The movie is being directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote) and is now going under the working title Jobs: Get Inspired. Check out a larger photo after the jump and let us know what you think.

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There was nothing particularly surprising about last weekend’s box office results, as The Avengers once again soared high above the rest with another $103 million — the highest second weekend for a movie on record. The movie also cracked $1 billion worldwide in just 19 days, which is on pace with Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, despite playing in U.S. theatres for only half of that time. Dark Shadows was a distant second after debuting to just $28 million, which will not make Warner Brothers happy considering that the movie cost $150 million to make. Think Like a Man, The Hunger Games, and The Lucky One rounded out the top 5, while The Raven and Safe have already dropped out of the top 10. Clearly The Avengers is sucking up business from just about anything genre-related. Can Battleship hope to break its hold on the box office next weekend?

1. The Avengers — $103M
2. Dark Shadows — $28.8M
3. Think Like a Man — $6.3M
4. The Hunger Games — $4.4M
5. The Lucky One — $4.05M
6. The Pirates! Band of Misfits — $3.2M
7. The Five-Year Engagement — $3.1M
8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — $2.65M
9. Chimpanzee — $1.62M
10. Girl in Progress — $1.35M

Indie Game: The Movie
Directed by: Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky
Starring: Phil Fish, Edmund McMillen, Jonathan Blow, Tommy Refenes

From Hearts of Darkness to Lost in La Mancha to American Movie, we’ve seen some great behind-the-scenes documentaries about filmmaking over the years, some capturing the glory of success and others the agony of failure. The production of a feature film almost always makes for a compelling story because we get to watch creative professionals perform in a team environment while under pressure. And yet, despite the overabundance of these kinds of documentaries, up until now there have been very few documentaries covering the behind-the-scenes process of video game development. What gives?

Part of the problem is that video games are giant team efforts where pretty much all of the talented people involved are unknown to the general public. However, the bigger complication is the fact that most major video games are owned by giant corporations who maintain tight control over every piece of information that is released about them. There are trade secrets to protect and marketing strategies to uphold. Fortunately, over the last few years we’ve seen a new wave of games being developed by small teams working independently of out of basements and bedrooms. This has opened things up for directors Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky to step in and capture the first great feature documentary about game development with Indie Game: The Movie.

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The Dracula story has been told many times and in many forms over the years and now Hollywood is ready to take another stab at the material with The Last Voyage of the Demeter. This latest retelling will take a more specific focus on Bram Stoker’s tale as the film portrays Dracula’s journey from Transylvania to London on board the ship Demeter, where the crew is systematically picked off by the mysterious passenger. The project has undergone a lengthy and troubled history, having gone through several directors such as Robert Schwentke and Marcus Nispel, as well as David Slade who had Ben Kingsley and Noomi Rapace attached before the deal fell through. Now, none other than Neil Marshall has signed on to direct, marking a return to the horror genre where he first made his name.

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With the release of 21 Jump Street earlier this year and now Dark Shadows, I thought that movies based on TV shows might be an appropriate topic. Of course, there have been quite a few TV adaptations in recent years, but when you narrow it down to just the good ones, the list is a lot more manageable. I still fully expect to see complaints about favourites that have been left off the poll, as well as some debate over the validity of a big screen reboots versus movies that continue the story with the same cast. Personally I think that both can work. What is your favourite movie based on a TV show? Cast your vote in this week’s poll and then sound off in the comments below.

Well here’s one movie that I didn’t expect to see turned into a franchise. Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion did fairly well for Warner Brothers last year, earning $135 million worldwide on a $60 million budget. Of course, a stacked cast of well-known actors will do that for you, but would any of them actually be interested in returning for a sequel? Word on the street is that Warner Brothers is in the early stages of development on Contagion 2 — so early that they are still seeking pitches from writers as they don’t yet have a clue where they want to go with it. While I do think there could be more worth exploring, something tells me that this has direct-to-DVD written all over it.

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Although Edgar Wright’s feature film directorial career got off to a great start with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, it was Scott Pilgrim vs. The World that arguably proved his talent as a groundbreaking, cutting edge filmmaker. Unfortunately, the movie did not end up being the blockbuster everyone thought it would be, making just $47 million worldwide and leaving many people to wonder what he would do next. He still has two other potential tentpole flicks on the horizon, one being Marvel’s Ant-Man, and the other being The Night Stalker starring Johnny Depp. Before he gets to either of those, however, it sounds like he may finish off the loose trilogy that he started with his pals Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Their apocalyptic sci-fi comedy The World’s End now has a completed script and a production start date has been set. The official plot synopsis is as follows:

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Earlier this week we saw a couple of faux political ads turn up online for the upcoming Will Ferrell / Zack Galifianakis comedy The Campaign. As a first glimpse of the movie they were somewhat underwhelming, but they did a good job of introducing us to the two main characters, Cam Brady and Marty Huggins. Today the first official theatrical trailer for the movie has premiered over on Apple and, in my opinion, it is a significant improvement.

It’s obvious that this won’t be a particularly “smart” political comedy like Jay Roach’s HBO films Recount and Game Change, for example, but as a new Will Ferrell flick it looks pretty solid to me. The guy can still consistently make me laugh using essentially the same old schtick, and Zack Galifianakis should prove to be a worthy adversary. The script was written by long-time Ferrell collaborator Chris Henchy (The Other Guys) and Shawn Harwell, who was a writer on Eastbound & Down. The Campaign hits theatres on August 10th; check out the full trailer after the jump and see what you think.

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