I tease, of course. The Avengers is almost guaranteed to be a gigantic hit this summer and probably one of the year’s highest grossers. The film has a built-in audience by virtue of its characters, history and the intentionally structured universe that Marvel has created with the earlier films. It’s going to be huge thanks to the presence of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo/CGI) and others. And it’s going to be fun thanks to Joss Whedon in the director’s chair. But will it be any good? All signs point to yes, and that’s including the new TV spot below.

Has a titular character for a tentpole film ever been muted in their own previews? That seems to be the case for Universal Pictures’ flashy-looking Snow White and the Huntsman, which so far seems hellbent on not letting its lead, played by Kristen Stewart, utter a single word in the previews. It’s probably wise to let Charlize Theron do all the talking, but how do you not give Snow White at least one line? Even Chris Hemsworth gets to open his mouth and yell in slow motion once again, Thor-style. Stewart is only given the exciting task of gazing off and acting lost. This is only a 60 second preview and I’m sure we’ll see Stewart say something before the film comes out, but after two previews with zero dialogue, it’s starting to get a bit comical. Check it out after the break.

When The Lord of the Rings trilogy hit theaters and became a money-making juggernaut at the beginning of the last decade, a rash of fantasy epics soon followed, trying to ride the coattails. None of them were really up to the task of cashing in on the Rings craze though, unless you count Harry Potter, which was going on at the same time and was mostly its own thing. These days, HBO has a popular show called Game of Thrones, which is also based off of a series of fantasy novels and, at first glance, looks a lot like The Lord of the Rings, and the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit is on its way as well, so it’s looking like we might see another fantasy epic craze hit theaters soon. If that’s the case, then Snow White and the Huntsman is the first of the bunch. This movie isn’t just part of a potential spate of fantasy movies though, it’s also one of a number of Snow White movies that will be hitting theaters in the coming years. And it has the honor of being the first out of that group. So, when all is said and done, what will this film be remembered as? Another attempted Lord of the Rings copycat or the creator of the Snow White craze? After seeing the first trailer for the film, I would guess copycat. If you listen to the dialogue, you can tell that this is a telling of [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Universal Pictures has released a big tri-scene banner for Snow White and the Huntsman. It’s a very stylish piece, the entirety of which we’ve included after the jump, and it’s here in the lead up to the release of the first trailer this Thursday on Apple.com. The film stars “Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) out to destroy her.  But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) dispatched to kill her.  Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

When the first public trailer dropped for Joss Whedon’s upcoming Avengers film, it was met with a collective sigh from many, including yours truly. It wasn’t very exciting and the only thing it had going for it was some pedestrian banter that relied solely on the charm of Robert Downey Jr. Even on a visual level, the trailer failed to deliver the scale expected from an Avengers movie. It’s with that attitude that I entered the IGN theater at the New York Comic Con this past Saturday. When the panel started, moderator Chris Hardwick walked out to a crowd that was already coming down from the high of The Walking Dead panel and introduced the film’s producer Kevin Feige. Feige commented on how the teaser just recently dropped, but that it was on the computer and then proceeded to ask the audience if they would like to see it played on the three giant screens in the theater. This was met with great enthusiasm.

We reported previously that Marvel was close to securing Patty Jenkins as the director for Thor 2, and now Deadline Shackleton has announced that Marvel has made it official. The Monster writer/director will be picking up where Kenneth Branagh left off with Chris Hemsworth as the title superhero. That means that, depending on when they start filming for their November 2013 release, Hemsworth will have worked as Thor for 3 different directors in the span on 2 years. Jenkins is an interesting choice, not only because she’ll be the first woman taking on a comic book movie of this size, but because her resume is short but sweet. Monster was a phenomenal, performance-driven drama, but she’s also directed episodes of Arrested Development and Entourage. It’s a range that’s a mile wide and an inch deep considering that it’s been nearly a decade since directing her only feature film to date. She mirrors Branagh in the sense that she’s more known for working with actors than creating large scale action beats, but her skill set might signal that some darker drama is set for the sequel. Still, bringing on a feature director with one film under her belt, and no big budget experience is absolutely an experimental gamble. It’s fortunate that they chose someone who has displayed a keen understanding of cinematic language, but it’s a gamble nonetheless.

It’s not quite hyperbole to say the The Avengers is the most eagerly anticipated film of 2012. The ensemble superhero film features several characters who have already proven themselves in their own movies (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor) as well as a few who haven’t (Hawkeye, Black Widow), but the idea of bringing them all together into one adventure has been a dream of Marvel’s and the fans for quite some time. And now it’s almost here. We’ve seen some images and a very brief teaser, but Marvel and Paramount have released the first real trailer this morning. It’s still teaserish at only two minutes, but it offers up a good idea of what we can expect from director Joss Whedon’s upcoming blockbuster. Check it out below.

It’s not a feature film about Ayrton Senna, but it will do. Ron Howard has been slowly putting the pieces of his true-life Formula 1 film Rush together, with scarce word about casting beyond the principal roles of Niki Lauda and James Hunt, but with the film recently starting production, that’s changing quickly. Olivia Wilde is reportedly joining the film, and she may not be alone, as Howard is apparently hoping to add Russell Crowe in a somewhat amusing and pretty spot-on role. Wilde’s role is a plum one – she’ll play 1970s supermodel Suzy Miller, who Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) married in 1974. Though the two were in love, Hunt was a bit of a womanizer (okay, fine, he reportedly slept with thirty-three British Airways flight attendants during a two-week period alone). Needless to say, Hunt and Miller’s marriage was short-lived, and not just because of Hunt’s catting around, but because Miller subsequently fell in love with Richard Burton (the role that Howard would like to see Crowe take on). As if the romantic entanglements of the three didn’t sound complicated enough, Burton was still married to Elizabeth Taylor when he fell in love with Miller in 1975, and the actor was no less than twice the former model’s age. Yet, in a weird twist of fate, Hunt was reportedly already trying to get rid of Miller, so when she fell so quickly in love with Burton, they all agreed to get divorces, and Burton agreed to pay Miller the [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Work on getting a Thor sequel in production seems to be well underway. It was just yesterday the news broke that Monster director Patty Jenkins was getting looked at very closely to direct the hammer-wielding god’s second movie, and now Entertainment Weekly has some quotes from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about what direction the plot will take. Once this sequel goes into production, Thor will already have furthered adventures here on Earth alongside his Avengers buddies, so according to Feige, it’s time to “take Thor literally to other worlds.” In the Norse mythology that Thor plays around in there are nine different worlds. When I looked up the nine worlds over at Marvel, I learned that three of them share the same planet as Thor’s home Asgard, one of them is where we live (Midgard), and the other four are called Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Hel, and Muspelheim. That’s a whole mouthful of words, and a whole heap of worlds full of elves, demons, and who knows what for Thor to smash with his hammer.

Sure! Maybe! At this point, it’s within the realm of possibility that anyone could direct Thor 2. It’s not probable, but it is possible. Deadline Zuni reports that Marvel Studios are “getting close” to picking a director for the sequel to the superhero flick starring Chris Hemsworth. With a set July 26, 2013 release date, the studio really just needs to drop the hammer (meow-meow!) and pick a helmer. And the Deadline-rs seem to believe that the studio might be looking in to go in a new and unexpected direction – with Monster director Patty Jenkins. Jenkins directed Charlize Theron to her Oscar for Monster, but has kept a relatively low profile since – directing episodes of television programs instead of jumping back into the feature world, including work on Arrested Development, Entourage, and The Killing. She’s a talented director who should certainly be doing more feature work, but it remains to be seen if she’d be up for (or even right) for this sort of film. If Jenkins does get the job (and Marvel is said to be “pretty serious” about her), she would be only the second female director to helm a Marvel property (the only other is Lexi Alexander, who directed Punisher: War Zone in 2008). Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how this supposed scoop pans out, but it’s certainly an interesting possible choice to think about.

Here’s something cool for your Monday morning. Or afternoon, depending on your time zone and commitment to sleeping in. Marvel.com has revealed a full promotional banner for The Avengers, which is now the next big Marvel film event. In short, it’s going to be the Marvel event now that Captain America is out in the wild. Prepare yourself for months of inundation in Avengers, Avengers, Avengers. Anyone have objections to that? I didn’t think so. Moving on…

Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s horror film The Cabin in the Woods has a long, annoying history. Whedon and director Drew Goddard cast, shot, and completed this film some time ago, but it’s been sitting on the shelf unwatched because of various, behind the scenes, businessy issues. Originally MGM was the group set to put this one out, but right before it could be released, that company went through a rather inconvenient bankruptcy problem. Since then, this and several of the studio’s other properties have just been out there, floating in the breeze, waiting for somebody to come along and scoop up the distribution rights and do something with them. The last time we heard something about The Cabin in the Woods finally getting a release, it was that Lionsgate was close to inking a deal to get it in theaters. Happily, that deal seems to have finally been made as Lionsgate has officially announced this week that they have not only acquired the film, but they intend to put it out in theaters on April 13, 2012.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s interstellar, acrobatic, monochromatic, hyperbolic, hypothetical and at some point during the evening, yours to take and ravage before you drift off into a wistful dreamland. It is also an excellent source of movie news, entertaining links, witty banter and Vitamin B. All others be wary, this column be scary, and it will not rest until it convinces you to watch Breaking Bad. But that’s not all…. Walt Disney Pictures has released some new concept art from their 2012 summer tentpole, John Carter. You can see one particular piece in tonight’s lead image above. The art comes in conjunction with a bunch of set visit reports from a number of sites who were invited out to spend time with director Andrew Stanton and crew. The guys at Screen Rant have an awesome recap of all the most interesting bits, saving you the pain of having to read through 35 boring set visit reports (most of which say the same thing) just to find the 3-5 money quotes.

So pleased they were with the performance of the first, they’ve decided to make another. Disney and Marvel Studios have set a release date for Thor 2, a sequel to this summer’s Kenneth Branagh directed, Chris Hemsworth starring superhero film. Usually when a sequel to a comic book movie gets announced, it’s immediately time to start speculating on what’s going to happen in the next one. With Thor 2, however, things are a little bit more complicated. Before this movie ever happens, the Thor and Loki characters are already set to appear in Joss Whedon’s upcoming Avengers, so the people in charge of writing Thor 2 are going to have to make sure that what they do jives with the characters’ appearances there. And we’re going to have to wait to see it before really going wild with theories on what’s next for the Odinson.

Turns out all it takes to become a big star these days is flowing blonde locks, bulging muscles, a sly grin, and a giant war hammer. Who knew? After playing the Norse God of Thunder in Marvel’s most recent hero flick Thor, actor Chris Hemsworth has become a bit of a hot commodity. Good for him. Never to miss an opportunity, Sony has capitalized on this new Hemsworth craze by finding the actor a brand new movie to star in. They’ve acquired the rights to a film called Shadow Runner, which will see Hemsworth playing the leader of a covert team who specializes in taking on impossible tasks. The film is loosely inspired by a real life event where an Israeli hit team took out a Hamas leader in a five star hotel in Dubai, but it doesn’t appear as if that specific story is the one that will be told in the movie. So, I guess, one of the producers of this film just read an article about covert ops, had his mind blown, and decided to make a movie about it. What’s the over under on how long it takes before this thing gets retooled to be about Seal Team Six?  [Deadline Coronado]

What is Movie News After Dark? First of all, POP POP! And now a few words about this column: it’s about movie news, but sometimes it serves as its author’s treasure trove of addictions. Such as his addiction to hanging on the words of Dan Harmon, or his need to regale you with his ability to find the best content on other websites. It’s a unique talent, he’s told. And now, something completely different… This week saw the season finale of Community. I will miss it until it comes back. For now, I would urge you to read this fantastic interview with creator Dan Harmon published by Vulture. There’s a reason the show is so delightfully nerdy, and it might just be the man in charge.

This week, Fat Guy Kevin Carr grabs his codpiece and cape, then gets hammered in the cineplex with Thor. He also suffers from wedding overload with two new movies, Something Borrowed and Jumping the Broom. Though he probably should have put his shirt back on before seeing all the chick flicks. Finally, he takes a more esoteric and educational look at the Spanish Civil War drama There Be Dragons. Spoiler alert: There are no dragons in the movie.

The summer of 2011 will see the biggest assemblage yet of superheroes onscreen with the upcoming releases of X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, and Captain America: The First Avenger. (At least until next year when The Avengers hits theaters.) Every movie is a gamble to some degree, but these three mitigate the risk a bit in that the X-Men film is the fourth in a popular franchise and the other two both feature highly recognizable actors in the title roles. But there’s one superhero movie this summer that’s flying with a hammer in place of a safety net. The potential hurdles include a relatively unknown lead actor, a director thought to be an odd choice at best and a terrible one at worst, and a hero built on magic and fantasy. Thor is a god, an honest to god deity, and that can be a hard sell in the science-fiction and technology-filled world of Marvel films. Thor opens with a brief intro in the Southwestern US with a pair of scientists (Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgard) and their snarky assistant (Kat Dennings) tracking an odd weather phenomenon. They drive towards the center of the storm and accidentally collide with a figure emerging from the darkness.

Snow White and the Huntsman is one of those eleventy Snow White projects that are currently in development. It’s the one Universal is doing, and it tells the story of Snow White teaming up with a (you guessed it) huntsman to go off and kill the evil queen. Charlize Theron has been set to play the queen, and Kristen Stewart Snow White, for quite some time; but we keep getting the run around about who is going to fill the role of the huntsman. At first everybody was told that Viggo Mortenson was close to playing the role, but then negotiations fell through with him. That wasn’t really a big deal though, because soon after Hugh Jackman was said to be stepping in. That was a fine replacement, until he decided to pass. So then, after striking out with top tier talent, Universal looked toward more of an up and comer in Joel Edgerton. I haven’t even heard about what happened to him in relation to this project, but now Variety is reporting that he’s out and the new lead choice is Thor’s Chris Hemsworth.

“Eloquent badass” is not only how one would probably describe Thor’s brother/nemesis, Loki, but also the actor who portrays him, Tom Hiddleston. At last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Hiddleston was the only cast member that wasn’t tight-lipped as if they were hiding serious government secrets. The actor spoke off the cuff, even revealing a plot twist… and he did so in that ear-pleasing British accent of his. Hiddleston’s voice is smooth, clear, and everything you’d want from a great British accent. Hearing my voice go up against his was quite an experience. My sometimes quick, Mark Zuckerberg-like mannerisms sounded even more idiotic, something I never thought possible. Hiddleston made me sound like one of those hicks from Deliverance in comparison, but that seemingly total gent would never be one to tell me so. I unfortunately didn’t have the chance to see Thor before speaking with Hiddleston, but we covered an array of topics from tone, finding humanity in a villain, what you get when angry Gods do battle, and how much of an honor it must be to have one’s face on a 7-Eleven Slurpee cup. And, no, I didn’t congratulate him on his voice, but I felt alarmingly tempted to.