Guillermo Del Toro thinks it’s important to ground a giant green-screen movie in some realistic, terrestrial mechanics. As such, he built a real, working robot cockpit for his actors to be jostled around in mercilessly. I’m sure they appreciate the realism. Learn all about it in the new Pacific Rim featurette : Pacific Rim Featurette – Cockpit The movie takes place in the near future, after Earth is attacked by giant monsters that emerge from the sea. In order to combat them, the humans build a series of giant manned robots called Jaegers. Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman star. Pacific Rim premieres July 12.
Miley Cyrus is number-one . But Maxim has now come out with the rest of its Hot 100 Top 10… and some of the names included may surprise you. And so may some of the photos! Case in point: the following shot of Selena Gomez. Holy Justin Bieber Mistake of a Lifetime! Take a look at the magazine’s second-ranked hottie… What else took us aback by this countdown? Kate Upton is all the way down at number-eight, while Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend at No. 69. Okay, that is hilarious. Here’s a rundown of the Top 10: Miley Cyrus Selena Gomez Rihanna Mila Kunis Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Love Hewitt Ashley Tisdale Kate Upton Vanessa Hudgens Elisha Cuthbert
Britney Spears’ sexy Shape cover is literally beyond comprehension. Either because of its extreme hotness … or extreme photoshopping. Some readers began crying foul moments after it was released, insisting that the ultra-svelte body on the Britney Spears Shape cover can’t possibly be hers. Oh, but it can. See below: While her skin was definitely smoothed out and airbrushed, that’s pretty standard for any magazine cover. Those curves look like vintage Britney. And in any case, the point of the cover story is her new regimen of Nutrisystem, dieting, yoga and crazy rehearsals for her upcoming Vegas residency. “I’m doing 90 minutes of yoga twice a week in addition to a lot of cardio … hour-long sessions three times a week with my trainer,” she tells the magazine. That’s the kind of intense workout and diet program that’ll really help you lose weight and get into the best Shape of your life … so take that, haters. And check out some of our favorite Britney Spears bikini pics below!
Karl Urban talks about returning to his character of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in a new featurette from Star Trek Into Darkness . Take a look: Star Trek Into Darkness Bones Featurette Urban returns to the sci-fi sequel along with the rest of the Enterprise crew: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Simon Pegg, and Bruce Greenwood. Benedict Cumberbatch also stars, as the villain. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the second film, which will premiere May 16.
While President Obama accuses his opponent of Romnesia , Republicans are pouncing on Obama for saying the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi were not “optimal.” In an interview with Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, the host used that word first, regarding the administration’s response to the tragedy in Libya earlier this fall. Obama then responded that anytime four Americans die, it’s not optimal. Watch: Optimal Republican V.P. candidate Paul Ryan used the opportunity to rip the administration ’s “inconsistent” handling of the attack, saying “their story continues to shift.” Obama’s 2008 opponent, Sen. John McCain, had strong words as well: “Even from someone like the president, who has never known what these kinds of tragedies are about and the service and sacrifice that people make, it’s still just … I can’t even get angry. “It’s just so inappropriate. And I’m sure that the families of those brave Americans are not amused.” Election 2012: Obama-Biden Romney-Ryan View Poll »
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Kristen Stewart/ Robert Pattinson relationship update to bring you news regarding their upcoming professional project together. Something about vampire and werewolves and hybrid young girls. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Summit Entertainment has released a new Breaking Dawn Part 2 featurette, which takes fans behind the scenes of the November 16 release. Click Play now and listen to stars such as Stewart, Pattinson, Ashley Greene and others give us an idea of what to expect next month: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Featurette
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Kristen Stewart/ Robert Pattinson relationship update to bring you news regarding their upcoming professional project together. Something about vampire and werewolves and hybrid young girls. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Summit Entertainment has released a new Breaking Dawn Part 2 featurette, which takes fans behind the scenes of the November 16 release. Click Play now and listen to stars such as Stewart, Pattinson, Ashley Greene and others give us an idea of what to expect next month: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Featurette
Or is he just effing with us? While doing press for his upcoming Dredd , Karl Urban seemed to let slip the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch ‘s Star Trek 2 character. Was he telling the truth or not? Right now, there is evidence for both sides. First, some background. 1. J.J. Abrams ‘ own origin story is based around his grandfather gifting him with a “Mystery Box.” It is, therefore, wonderfully ironic that he should be the current quarterback of the entire Star Trek franchise, a massive shared universe whose rabid fans are obsessive, meticulous and savvy enough to translate Shakespeare into its made-up language. Excuse me, one of its made-up languages. As a result, we still don’t know the name of the villain in the forthcoming Star Trek sequel. 2. Many years ago it leaked that Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci had delivered a script wherein Gary Mitchell – Captain Kirk’s Starfleet Academy chum turned ESP-monster from the early Trek episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” – would be the heavy. I personally heard this from a guy who was inside and had some intel. 3. The rumor goes that Abrams didn’t like this script and sent everyone back to the drawing board. A Gary Mitchell storyline in the “new universe” Star Trek comics (that only mouthbreathers like I read) appears, effectively “putting that story to use.” Then we started hearing that Khan Noonien Singh – you know, the guy from KHAAAAAAAN – was going to be the baddie. A casting offer to Benicio Del Toro seemed to confirm this – even though Khan is supposed to be a Sikh, not Hispanic, but only hardcore dweebs like to bring this up. 4. Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured above) is cast. He doesn’t look like a genetically enhanced poet-warrior. (But, really, who is to say?) It is accepted by most people that he is playing Khan. Then Simon Pegg says “ No Khan .” Fair enough. 5. Now today’s news. Karl Urban, in yapping about the upcoming Dredd , lets this slip to SFX : “[Benedict Cumberbatch’s] awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.” Wow, so it was Gary all along? Open and shut, right? But wait! 6. Just a few weeks back, Roberto Orci gave a list of Star Trek characters that are NOT in the film . Among them: Gary Mitchell. Here’s the thing. Normally, a gaffe from an actor during a press day is a great way to squeeze info out of someone. They are tired and they can’t remember what’s already out there and what is being held for strategic marketing reveals. (These are called SMRs in Hollywood.) (No they’re not, I just made that up.) However, I think Urban might be throwing a red herring on purpose. I had the good fortune to shmooze with the guy once – at the very genre-friendly Fantastic Fest in Austin. He was pitching Red , but we got to discussing Star Trek and “The Nrrd Life” in general and he struck me as someone who really got it. If ever there was a guy who’d be so on board to screw with the heads of fanboys, it’d be him. Luckily, Urban will be moderating the Masters of the Web panel at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con , and you can rest assured the online press (our own Jen Yamato among them) will put the screws to him. Personally, I think having Gary Mitchell is cooler than having Khan, but I’d prefer if the Trek brain trust were, you know, boldly going where no man had gone before. In a remake-happy culture, that may be too much to ask for. Anyway, here’s Captain Kirk and Gary Mitchell fighting on Delta Vega. Sally Kellerman and her creepy contact lenses can only look on. [ SFX ]
Fans of E.L. James’ erotic bestseller 50 Shades of Grey have been fantasy-casting their perfect Christian Grey for months, arguing over whether this actor or that actor would best embody the BDSM-addicted rich playboy hero in the forthcoming film adaptation. But one enterprising academic has cobbled together the perfect Christian Grey with the help of police technology — a little Brad Pitt here, a dash of McDreamy there — morphing together the features of various leading men. The result: Kinda creepy! University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) Dr Faye Skelton employed image-generating software to “create” the first image of womankind’s perfect Christian Grey, using a radio poll of a tiny sampling of fans of the novel. Among this Christian’s features, taken from their suggested dream actors: Patrick Dempsey’s eyes, Brad Pitt’s jawline, Chris Hemsworth’s nose, and, um, Val Kilmer’s lips. Needless to say, this 12-woman focus group might have been a bit too narrow a selection… “While we don’t want to intrude on anyone’s fantasies, based on a small sample of women, this is the image of Christian Grey they have in their heads when reading the novels,” Skelton said (via the BBC). “Personally, I think he’s quite handsome — although everyone’s interpretation will be different.” Neat trick, but way off-base to begin with — almost all of the celebrity sex symbols whose features went into this bizarre face-mash are too old to play Christian Grey, anyway. It doesn’t just make sense to fantasy-cast just any piece of hunky Hollywood man meat for the role; it makes even less sense to mush together the noses and ears and hairlines of random hot dudes and think that will equal hotness squared. I guess this faux Christian isn’t terrible-looking – he looks like any bro you’d see at the gym, though I keep fixating on his various face parts and thinking about who they belong to. Is this the vision of godlike man-beauty you envision introducing Anastasia Steele to a world of kink and psycho-sexual dramarama? Not so much. Besides: What woman is that into Val Kilmer ‘s lips? [ BBC , Daily Mail ]
The first reviews of The Dark Knight Rises won’t hit for at least another week, but Warner Bros. keeps putting out tantalizing looks at the Chris Nolan-directed trilogy-ender. If you’re one of the legions of Bat-curious fans out there hungry for new peeks at the superhero finale, you’ll find a host of new images and behind-the-scenes footage in a newly released 13-minute featurette for The Dark Knight Rises . Go ahead, treat yo’ self. Nolan, producers Chuck Roven and Emma Thomas, and stars Christian Bale , Anne Hathaway , and Tom Hardy among others pop up in the featurette to add their observations from the set (many nuggets of which made their way into the 50-page production notes recently unveiled online). In the clip, Nolan calls TDKR a story of “the elemental conflict between good and evil,” before the piece goes on to explore the moral battle lines drawn in the flick and where each of its characters stand. Among the more interesting tidbits: Nolan’s description of his superhero pic as his way of harkening back to the silent film era and the epic scale filmmaking of olde: massive sets, armies of extras, spectacle cinema at its burliest. Watch as Nolan gives direction thousands of feet in the air to four stunt men dangling from a piece of airborne fuselage, or builds a fake football field on top of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field for that impressive destruction sequence, or orchestrates a full-on Wall Street brawl, and you see the kind of experience he’s talking about. The Dark Knight Rises rises on July 20.
