New Photos from White House Down

Here's our first look at the upcoming thriller White House Down, starring Channing Tatum as a Secret Service agent who must protect the President (Jamie Foxx) from terrorists. The film opens June 28, 2013.

Source : ign[dot]com

Beverly Hills Cop: Tropic Thunder's Brandon T. Jackson to Play Axel Foley's Son

Brandon T. Jackson, whose credits include Tropic Thunder and Percy Jackson (We'll forgive him for Big Mamma's House 3), is reportedly in final negotiations for the lead role as the son of Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop TV series pilot. The news was reported by Humor Mill.

Inspired by the film trilogy that launched in 1984, the potential series centers on Foley's son, a Beverly Hills-based cop who is trying to escape the shadow of his father (Murphy), now Chief Of Police in Detroit.

The new Beverly Hills Cop comes from Shawn Ryan (Last Resort, The Shield), and will also feature Murphy in a recurring role, with both men will serve as executive producers.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.

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Sinister Review

The haunted house movie has had something of a resurgence in recent years, with Insidious and the Paranormal Activity franchise crafting original and effective spins on the popular sub-genre. And you can now add Sinister to that list, with the new horror from Exorcism of Emily Rose helmer Scott Derrickson pushing all the right buttons to scare the living daylights out of its audience.

Ethan Hawke plays Ellison Oswald, a true-crime writer who hit the jackpot with a book called Kentucky Blood some 10 years previous, and has been trying to replicate that success ever since.

He does so by moving his family to a small town in which a heinous crime with an unsolved mystery has taken place, documenting the police investigation - warts-and-all - and putting it down in book form before getting out while the going is good.

Sinister starts with Ellison taking this approach one step further, moving his family - unbeknownst to them - to a house in which a quadruple murder has recently taken place. Four members of the same family were hung from a tree, with the fifth - a little girl - now missing.

Needless to say, the local constabulary are unhappy with his arrival, but Ellison is a determined soul, and so presses on with his task, and when he finds a box of old home movies in the attic, he knows he is onto something.

Because the Super 8s contain horror of the most tragic kind, featuring footage of blissful family gatherings punctuated by that same clan's brutal murder. It's shocking stuff, but the kind of morbid mystery that Ellison has been desperately searching for in an effort to have another hit.

So rather than telling the police, he begins his own investigation into where the tapes came from, and what links them, with predictably devastating results.

It starts with the family beginning to break down, his wife doubting Ellison's motives, their daughter miserable in the new town; their son acting up at school and having night terrors at home.

But the content of the tapes soon start to take its toll on Ellison himself, the writer turning to drink to deal with the horrors therein, and even starting to question his own sanity as he delves deeper into the mystery.

And that's all we're saying on the story front, suffice to say that Sinister has a few twists and turns up its sleeves, as well as its fair share of scream-out-loud moments.

Some of them are of the lazy variety, with jump-scares in abundance, keeping the audience on their toes but lacking any sort of substance.

The home movie sequences are genuinely terrifying however, with director Derrickson filling the screen with disturbing imagery that's truly the stuff of nightmares, turning us into voyeurs as we in turn witness the actions of a voyeur on screen.

It's all anchored by a marvellous central performance from Ethan Hawke, who remains watchable and even sympathetic in spite of the fact that he's constantly putting his family in danger throughout the film.

Juliet Rylance fares less well as the long-suffering and woefully underwritten wife, although there are nice supporting performances from James Ransone as a somewhat eccentric police deputy and Vincent D'Onofrio as an academic specialising in the occult.

The deaths are imaginative, the score effective (though a little overbearing at times), and the final revelation, while somewhat underwhelming, does unify the story in a strangely satisfying way.

Kudos must therefore to Derrickson and his co-writer C. Robert Cargill for finding a new and original spin on the found footage genre at a time when the market is being saturated with such films, and making guilty voyeurs of us all.

So while Sinister is hardly a game-changer, it is an extremely effective horror feature; one that creates its own highly original mythology, and wholeheartedly terrifies from start-to-finish.

Sinister was the Secret Screening at the 2012 SXSW Festival, and will hit screens worldwide in October.

Source : ign[dot]com

Dredd is Dead at the Box Office

Audiences had no trouble with Jennifer Lawrence's curves this weekend as her first big post-Hunger Games release, House at the End of the Street, topped the domestic box office. Hot on its heels was the acclaimed cop thriller End of Watch, while Clint Eastwood's baseball drama Trouble With The Curve posted a surprisingly disappointing third place debut.

But no film had a more disappointing opening this weekend (at least for fanboys) than Dredd 3D. Those who saw the reboot by and large loved it. The problem was that no one else showed up for it. The Karl Urban/Lena Headey starrer bowed in sixth place with even less than the meager openings that had been predicted for it.

Here are the weekend estimates via Rentrak:

1. House at the End of the Street $13 million
2. End of Watch $13 million
3. Trouble With The Curve $12.7 million
4. Finding Nemo 3D $9.4 million
5. Resident Evil: Retribution 3D $6.7 million
6. Dredd 3D $6.3 million
7. The Master $5 million
8. The Possession $2.6 million
9. Lawless $2.3 million
10. ParaNorman $2.3 million

Listen to Keepin' It Reel to find out how we did with our box office predictions!

Source : ign[dot]com

House at the End of the Street Review

Coming off her recent success with The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence has returned to the big screen for director Mark Tonderai's House at the End of the Street. From the very first few minutes of the film, it's clear that the young actress still has the charisma and acting chops to pull off the heart-melting whimsy of a troubled teenager. But is it enough to ignite this seemingly pedestrian slasher flick?

The story centers on Elissa (Lawrence) and her mother Sarah (Elisabeth Shue), who move to a small, upscale town in search of a fresh start. But before they've even finished unpacking, Elissa and Sarah learn the horrifying secret behind the house next door. Years earlier, a daughter killed both of her parents in the night and disappeared, leaving only her brother Ryan (Max Thieriot) as the sole survivor. Against Sarah's wishes, Elissa begins developing a friendship with Ryan, who seems to be keeping a few secrets of his own.

Obviously, the biggest selling point here is Jennifer Lawrence, and her performance is sweet and genuine; she does a great job of evoking the naivete of a rebellious daughter. Unfortunately, not even the talented Lawrence -- bless her -- can elevate this uninspired material (despite her perpetually glistening skin and flimsy white tank top). Whatever merit there is in the acting is more or less undone by the contrived and predictable storytelling.

To its credit, the film does have one decent twist that some viewers may find surprising, although a seasoned moviegoer will likely see it coming. Even the first 45 minutes or so are actually pretty decent. Elissa and Sarah share some nice scenes together early on, and the budding romance between Elissa and Ryan has its occasional sincere moments. The narrative isn't hopeless by any stretch, but its characters eventually become so stupid that you'll soon be whispering things like, "God, turn around!" or, "Seriously, don't open that door," and finally, "Ugh, you deserve to die!" As the film nears its end, you'll wonder how Elissa managed to survive the move-in, let alone how she might escape the ploys of a violent psychopath.

House at the End of the Street isn't a poorly structured film, but its bush-league scares are few and far between. Moreover, the actual dramatic aspects of the story never really culminate in anything meaningful. In fact, the more we see of the characters, the less invested we become. The initial complexity and intrigue behind Elissa and Sarah's relationship is slowly worn away until you forget why you even cared in the first place. It's unfortunate, too, because Lawrence and Shue have a pretty good chemistry together. On the plus side, in terms of story the ending isn't a total "screw you" to the audience, and there is at least some sense of closure for the characters.

At the end of the day, Tonderai's entry-level thriller isn't the worst horror film to come out in recent memory, but it's certainly nothing you haven't seen before. The movie plays on every cheap cliché and common-sense failure you can think of, and the presentation clues you into most of the surprises before they happen. Having said that, if you're a huge Jennifer Lawrence fan, I wouldn't blame you for checking it out -- she's still as endearing and sexy as ever -- but I'd suggest waiting until another one of her many other projects hits theaters before dropping coin here. (I hear Silver Linings Playbook is supposed to be pretty good.)

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

The Verdict

Although Jennifer Lawrence delivers a solid performance, House at the End of the Street's amateur screenplay and transparent direction fail to keep up.

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House and ER Vets Head to Falling Skies

Deadline is reporting that House alum Robert Sean Leonard has landed his first post-House role on TNT's alien invasion series, Falling Skies.

Check out IGN's review of the Falling Skies Season 2 finale!

In a role that seems like a fun departure from Leonard's Dr. Wilson on House, the actor will play "Roger Kadar, PhD - an obsessive but gifted scientist who runs Charleston’s power grid and lives underground with his pet rats. The children of New Charleston, intrigued by his cool science toys and unusual pets, eventually dub him 'The Rat King.'"

Leonard and Reuben.

Additionally, Falling Skies star Noah Wyle has got to be excited about this second bit of casting news, as his former ER co-star Gloria Reuben will join the series in Season 3 as well; playing "Marina Perlata, an aide to Wyle’s Tom Mason, who has been one of the leaders from the human resistance movement against an invading alien force. Attractive and a very put together woman, Marina is extremely intelligent and her political knowledge and experience could prove extremely helpful to Tom."

Source : ign[dot]com

Hugh Laurie Not in Robocop After All

MGM's Robocop remake needs a new villain.

House star Hugh Laurie had been circling the bad guy role, but according to tweets from Variety's Jeff Sneider the actor is now "definitely" out. No reason was given for Laurie's withdrawal.

Robocop begins filming in September under the direction of Jose Padilha. Joel Kinnaman plays the title role and the cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jennifer Ehle, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

Source : ign[dot]com

Warner Bros. Closes Doors on Direct-to-Video Unit

Warner Bros. has closed their direct-to-video department, Warner Premiere. The DTV production house, launched in 2006, was responsible for titles like Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove, Spring Breakdown, Return to the House of Haunted Hill, Lost Boys: The Thirst (and Lost Boys: The Tribe), Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control and many others.

“Given the continuing decline in the direct-to-video film market and shifting business models in the production of digital series, the decision was made to close Warner Premiere,” the company said in a statement to TheWrap. “The division will continue and complete production on its remaining film and digital series project into the fall. In addition, the evaluation of potential digital content will be folded into Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, and Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video will continue to produce and release animated films, such as Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry and DC Universe.”

It's unclear if the final film project mentioned above was the recently announced sequel to A Christmas Story, arriving on home video in October. The studio will continue to focus their efforts on digital distribution and animated projects, like DC's upcoming release of The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1. The employees of Warner Premiere will be transferred to other departments.

Source : ign[dot]com

White House Down Pushed Forward

Sony Pictures has apparently decided to move the release date of White House Down from November 2013 to June.

According to Deadline, the Roland Emmerich-directed film will now release on June 28, 2013. It was originally slated to hit cinemas from November 1, 2013.

Exactly why the studio decided to move the date hasn't been stated, but speculation is rife that it's in order to compete with Millennium Films upcoming thriller, Olympus Has Fallen. The Antoine Fuqua-directed film doesn't have a release date yet, but as both movies have been described as "Die Hard in the White House", the assumption seems to be whichever film releases first will do better.

Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx are set to star in Emmerich's film, while Fuqua has enlisted Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart to try and ensure that his movie comes out on top.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com