In other words, it’s got red on it. Except it’s blue this time. But it’s still blood, so it totally counts. Plus, that’s exactly the kind of subtle, layered joke that fans should expect from Edgar Wright (along with several failed attempts at climbing fences), and The World’s End appears to deliver. In the film, a crew of friends (including Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) reunite to finally complete an epic pub crawl that went unfinished in their youth. As they attempt to get schmammered, they discover they’re in the middle of a giant robot invasion. The first teaser trailer was a delightful nudge, but this full trailer is a slice of fried gold:

Cinema is filled with memorable and repeated pairings between directors and actors, but with all due respect to Scorsese/De Niro, Allen/Allen and Cameron/Paxton, the collaborations between Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are a magic all their own. After a successful run on UK TV (that ended with Spaced) the duo unleashed two genre-hopping films that were described as parts one and two in a loose and unofficial trilogy. Shaun of the Dead melded comedy with horror while Hot Fuzz brought the laughs with an action film homage, and now the third and final film in the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy is mere months away. The World’s End follows a group of five friends who reunite and return to a small town where they last failed to complete an epic pub crawl. Convinced to try again the five discover how the years have changed them, but the bigger surprise is how something else has changed the townspeople of Newton Haven. Check out the international teaser courtesy of MSN below.

You know what? It’s really just sort of nice to see Simon Pegg and Nick Frost looking equally terrified and silly on a poster together again, and what better production for them to bring their charms to than the final entry in Edgar Wright‘s Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, The World’s End? The new quad poster features our favorite bumbling heroes amidst a possibly intergalactic firestorm and a horde of blue-eyed baddies, but the entire thing could just consist of their dumbstruck faces and a title and we’d be sold. Wright himself tweeted out the new quad poster, and it seems like he’s about as excited for this new film as the rest of us (which is very). The World’s End opens on August 23rd. Prepare and such.

As you may know from our weekly Movie Houses of Worship feature, we love to celebrate cinemas and the act of seeing films on the big screen. Part of that column focuses on these favorite theaters’ repertory programming. Most of the businesses and non-profit organizations we showcase play classic films, some of them solely doing so. And that’s because so many of us like to see these oldies on the big screen and with fellow cinephiles — even titles we own on Blu-ray and/or have seen a million times. We hate to see any of these cinemas close down (see tomorrow’s MHoW), and we love to see communities band together to save and re-open local theaters, both for the preservation of the history and the continued experiences that shall happen there. Fans of the feature and hopefully other readers will be interested in a new documentary titled The Rep. It’s about those independent repertory houses and the struggle they deal with in order to keep the pastime of moviegoing alive. In addition to theater owners and patrons (mostly those of the Toronto Underground Cinema), the film features interviews with Kevin Smith, John Waters, George Romero and Edgar Wright. Following a world premiere last fall at the Austin Film Festival, The Rep is now ready for a theatrical release. And its distribution plan is quite uncommon: filmmaker Morgan White is offering the doc to any movie theater interested in booking it free of charge.

Briefly: Focus Features has just sent around word that Edgar Wright‘s highly anticipated The World’s End, the final film in his Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (aka the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy), has moved up from its original October 25th release date to a prime summer date of August 23rd. Penned by Wright and star Simon Pegg, the film also features Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, and Rosamund Pike on a sprawling pub crawl that is meant to end at “fabled pub The World’s End,” but just might wrap up at the actual end of the world.  The film will now go up against other August 23rd releases The Mortal Instruments: City of Bone and You’re Next.

“Movie Houses of Worship” is a regular feature spotlighting our favorite movie theaters around the world, those that are like temples of cinema catering to the most religious-like film geeks. This week, reader Nik Mortimer highlights one of the best cinemas in the UK. His comments are those quoted. If you’d like to suggest or submit a place you regularly worship at the altar of cinema, please email our weekend editor. Name: BFI Southbank Location: Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT Opened: ”1951, as the National Film Theatre before re-branding as the BFI Southbank in 2007.” No. of screens: 4

Many believe that the end of the Mayan calendar, which is estimated to be in December of this year, will mark the end of the world. Because those tricky Mayans had some sort of foresight that none of our modern sciences can match, right? Personally, I’d take the word of Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World director Edgar Wright over a long-dead civilization any day. So when the just-released teaser poster for his film, The World’s End, promises “Good Food, Fine Ales and Total Annihilation,” I’m inclined to believe it. 

We’ve been hearing about Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s next film together as co-writers for a while. A mashup between the concepts of the pub crawl and the apocalypse, The World’s End has been said to be the third film in an informal trilogy that started with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Other than Wright directing and co-writing the film with Pegg, we’ve also known from the start that Pegg was set to re-team with Nick Frost as its stars. But, seeing as the film’s synopsis says that it’s about five friends in their forties trying to recreate an epic pub crawl they completed when they were younger, there’s always been a question of who else was going to be joining the cast. Well, a press release put out by Universal today not only confirms a couple names that have been floating around for a while, it also adds two more to the mix.

There is exactly one piece of information about Edgar Wright‘s upcoming Ant-Man movie that actually matters. That piece of information is not its release date or where it will film or when it will film or how long that shoot will take or how much Marvel plans to budget for catering. That piece of information is who is going to star in the film. Agreed? Admittedly, there is a certain level of excitement that we can ascribe to most Ant-Man news because, guys, Edgar Wright is actually making his Ant-Man movie and we’re going to get see it. Like, in theaters and stuff. Yet, beyond that, what do we really care about when it comes to the film? Perhaps we can try to care about its possible filming details because that will determine when we get to see it? Perhaps? Maybe? If so, Latino Review has a lead on both when and where the film will supposedly lens, which might also give us a hint as to when the final film will hit movie theaters.

How awesome is it to be Edgar Wright right now? First off, he’s finally getting down to brass tacks on his long-teased Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy finale, The World’s End, with best buds Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. After that? He gets to direct another long-desired project, an Ant-Man feature film for Marvel. And, on top of that, the Brit looks to be getting into bed with no less than J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions for a super-secret sci-fi film called Collider, which Abrams and Bad Robot will produce (alongside Wright’s long-time producer, Nira Park). Deadline Wherever (via /Film) reports that Paramount Pictures has hired Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor, the Old Boy remake, and the hard-to-believe-it’s-happening Jurassic Park IV) to pen the script for the film with Wright (who will also direct) from Wright’s own original idea. Nothing else is known about the project as of now – the only available information is that tantalizing title and the non-surprising revelation that it falls under the sci-fi genre – but all the talent attached is cause enough to be excited (we’ll forgive you for Legend, Protosevich, at least for now). What could this possibly be about? The Large Hadron Collider? The punk band Collider? Movie website Collider? The possibilities are endless.

According to a press release, Universal has given the thumbs up to Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as they seek to put an end to the excellent comedy trilogy that began with Shaun of the Dead and continued with Hot Fuzz. With zombies and cops out of the way, the only thing left to heartily mock is the destruction of the planet. The World’s End is aiming to roll cameras in October. Theoretically, we could be in for a Summer or Fall 2013 release. This comes on the heels of Marvel revealing Wright’s test footage for Ant-Man at Comic-Con and announcing that it would be, you know, made at some point in the near future. They promise. Seriously. Of course this greenlight is fantastic news, but what’s most interesting (and most encouraging) here is that Universal is happy to do business with Wright again after losing money on Scott Pilgrim. It shows the kind of creative fortitude that seems rare these days. It would be too easy to dismiss a business relationship with a filmmaker, ignoring that the movie he made was brilliant simply because the box office return didn’t shine like gold. Good on ‘em for teaming up again. The team will no doubt churn out another hilarious winner.

More than a few people will consider this a spoiler, so consider that your spoiler warning, but really it’s just a bit of speculation that might be a really cool element to a part of a movie that’s not even part of the movie. Confused yet? Excellent. According to the rumor mill over at indie haven The Playlist, art house film Iron Man 3 might be introducing a highly-anticipated hero in its post-credits tag. Of course that isn’t really a spoiler because, well, of course Marvel is going to tease the next movie in the line-up at the end of their current movie. The question is, what hero will it be?

As many of you might have guessed, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is what one might call a craze-induced summer blockbuster. The United States’ 16th President hunting vampires is actually the least of the film’s bizarro nature; this is a film with a vampire throwing a horse and the weaponization of forks against confederate vampire soldiers. Making all of this a world audiences can buy into isn’t a simple task for an actor, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the rest of the cast  go about it as seriously as they can. Timur Bekmambetov made a very specific film, yet Winstead is acting in one of her own since, when 99% of the lunacy is happening onscreen, Mary Todd Lincoln usually isn’t around. When she is onscreen, Winstead faces another kind of challenge with her extensive makeup. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter marks another entry in Winstead’s career with a world-building director at the helm, and, speaking with us at the press day, that seems like the main appeal for projects such as these. Here is what Mary Elizabeth Winstead had to say about Timur Bekmambetov’s “idea machine” method of directing, the specificity in physical & dialog-driven action, and the strong life of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World:

What is Movie News After Dark DRINKING? It’s the end result of a long work day, a half dozen mini doughnuts, a glass of cheap Canadian whisky, Robert Fure, and a keyboard. Suck on it, suckers! This week’s movie news after Drinking is brought to you by Revel Stoke spiced whisky (We should not get paid for this because I’m not drinking this again. Or no we should still get paid, but I’m not drinking this again). But basically the deal is I get kind of drunk and then try to type up a whole bunch of movie news before my arms stop working. If you’re wondering why I’m typing all this nonsense, it’s because we need a certain amount of buffer before we move into the news to put a proper text break in here. But totally keep reading because Will Smith NO JOKE SLAPS A RUSSIAN IN THE FACE IN THE FIRST STORY. (OH LOOK AT ME I’M FRILMCRIT HULK BECAUSE THIS IS ALL CAPITALS)

What is Movie News After Dark? This week, it is like the idiotic parents’ suburban Pasadena home in Project X. The responsible party is taking some time off, so he has handed the keys to some of us on staff, and we are having the Movie News After Dark House Party of the century. We’re doing our best to remain somewhat respectable and deliver some entertainment news you may have missed this week, but at some point we all know we’ll put a dwarf in the oven. On with the show. The first story is one you’ve likely seen already this weekend, but it’s worth repeating for the sheer joy it brings. This weekend, Movies.com published the story of George Lucas doing something we can all get behind. After decades of trying to develop land in Marin County to make the biggest movie studio in the galaxy, and with his snooty neighbors blocking the $300m a year initiative for fear of causing problems, he has decided to develop low-income housing. Finally, people can pat him on the back and forget about Jar Jar, Han shooting first and a certain crystal skull.

No time for quick puns or jokes here, just a quick sitdown to share news of a project that movie nerds everywhere have been rabid over for years – Deadline Dorset reveals that the long-anticipated third film in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg‘s Cornetto Trilogy not only has a plot in place, but it also has a planned start date. That’s like, this year. The outlet reports that Working Title and Wright “have set a September start date for The World’s End,” which will serve as the final film of the trilogy that also includes Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. As with the first two films, Wright will direct from a script that he’s penned with Pegg. Pegg will again star alongside Nick Frost in the film which, while total no-duh news, is so exciting to see in print that it’s a bit dizzying. The current plan is for the film to hit theaters in spring of next year, which is thrilling enough to make fans go a bit cross-eyed. Universal Pictures has not green lit the film just yet, but is “expected” to (again, duh). So what exactly is The World’s End going to be about? We’ve known that Wright and Pegg completed their script last month, but details have been scarce on its actual content. But no longer!

Marvel, as it’s own studio, has been the production team that’s dreamed the impossible dream. In a few weeks, they’ll unleash a movie with more superheroes per capita than any before which also assembles a cast that will probably never be in the same room all together again. The inevitable sequel to The Avengers is not as inevitable as other blockbusters considering the schedules involved. On that same front, the geek chorus of getting Edgar Wright‘s Ant-Man out of the paper and ink prison and onto the big screen has been justifiably getting louder over the past two years. It’s easy to imagine Marvel head Kevin Feige leading that chorus, and now he’s claiming that it’s “as close as it’s ever been.” In an interview with Hey U Guys’ Ben Mortimer, Feige said, “we are gonna take some forward steps in a few months that will bring it closer than ever.” There’s still no concrete information here, but alongside the studio’s new focus on lesser-known characters, it looks like Wright might need to carve out some big time for a small hero. Plus, Feige wouldn’t needlessly tease fans. The studio has dreamed impossible dreams, but they’ve managed to make a lot of them come true.

What is Movie News After Dark? Like Abe Vigoda, it’s still very much alive. We open tonight with a rather stunning shot of Captain America in The Avengers. Not that everyone would know that The Avengers is set in New York, but there’s something in me that stirs a little 9/11 vibe from this photo. It might be me projecting a bit — and no, the film has nothing to do with that very real, very horrible tragedy — but it’s a striking image, nonetheless. Also, that movie is going to be awesome, dudes.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news column that seeks to dazzle you with facts, figures, commentary and hyperlinks. And hyper-facts, figure-links and perhaps some commentary on figures. But enough about Chris Evans’ abs… We begin this evening with a still from a very intense walking sequence in The Avengers. It’s one of a pair of new photos released yesterday via Marvel.com, featuring Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Chris Evans as Captain America (said to be the central character of Avengers) and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. At least one of these characters appears to be showing off a little more skin than usual.

Johnny Depp is an entertaining and talented actor, no doubt, but if you’re one of many who wish he’d drop the shtick and take on a normal role for once you should probably just give up that particular pipe dream. He plays quirky and odd, period, and there may be no going back. Which is a shame because he was pretty great in Finding Neverland. But hey, at least he’s managed to find another interesting project. Deadline Matheson is reporting that Disney has signed Edgar Wright to direct an as-yet unwritten re-imagining of The Night Stalker with Johnny Depp as the embattled reporter Kolchak. Darren McGavin brought the intrepid journalist to life in the mid-seventies series as well as the two TV films that preceded it, and Depp’s peculiar peccadilloes make him a solid fit for the character.