Moviefone Copyright 2011, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Moviefone Good old fashioned elbow grease. "Men In Black 3" did what "Battleship" and "Dark Shadows" could not: dethrone "The Avengers" from the top spot of the box office.

The Will Smith-led threequel opened with $17.5 million on Friday night, roughly $8 million more than "The Avengers" earned. That puts "Men In Black 3" on track for around $75 million over the long Memorial Day weekend, which would give it the eighth biggest Memorial Day gross ever.

Of course, that doesn't mean "Men In Black 3" didn't disappoint. According to Deadline.com, many expected the film to earn around $90 million over the weekend; "Men In Black 3" -- which had a lengthy production process and cost well over $200 million -- could still come close to that goal, should it play well with family audiences over the next three days.

Overseas, "Men In Black 3" could grab an additional $100 million over more.

Meanwhile, "Marvel's The Avengers" continues to impress despite losing its box-office crown. The Joss Whedon blockbuster has already earned an astonishing $486 million in North America, and will top $500 million by Memorial Day. It's four-day total could wind up over $50 million -- a ridiculously large sum for a film in its fourth weekend of release. Globally, "The Avengers" is over $1.2 billion.

The weekend's other new release, "The Chernobyl Diaries," finished in third place on Friday night and could gross $12 million over the holiday.

[via THR, Exhibitor Relations]

]]> Sat, 26 May 2012 11:10:58 EDT 1547790 Bill Murray, the coolest person you've never met, has added another nearly-unbelievable story to his legendary repertoire of weirdness: at some point last year, the actor made a slow-motion movie.

Unearthed by someone on Reddit (via Badass Digest) right before the long holiday weekend, the video was actually made by Murray in lieu of giving an autograph.

"This is not a trailer for a real film," Vimeo user David Walton Smith wrote last year. "Bill Murray was kind enough to grant us our wish of walking down the hallway in slow motion -- simple. This is better than autograph."

Murray is used to participating in slow motion shots: director Wes Anderson, with whom Murray has made six movies, is known for using the technique in his films.

Watch the clip above -- which makes excellent use of the Kinks song "Powerman," a track Anderson used in "The Darjeeling Limited" -- and check out Murray in Anderson's latest, "Moonrise Kingdom," out in limited release now.

[via Badass Digest]

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 16:56:33 EDT 1546972
"Anti-Semitism has no place at Cannes, and we welcome the clear statement to that effect from the organizers of the film festival," national director of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement. "Dieudonne's grotesque anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial may play well to audiences in Iran, but the French entertainment industry and society has clearly had enough."

"The Anti-Semite" is just the latest controversy from Dieudonne. His performances have reportedly previously included denials of the Holocaust, jokes praising Adolf Hitler and even Nazi salutes. The new film also includes an appearance from Robert Faurisson, a Holocaust denier.

"Our general conditions ban the presence of all films threatening public order or religious convictions, as well as pornographic films or those inciting violence," Cannes Film Market executive director Jerome Paillard said.

This isn't the first time accusations of anti-Semitism have clouded Cannes. Last year, director Lars Von Trier infamously said he understood the plight of Hitler during a press conference for "Melancholia."

"What can I say? I understand Hitler," Von Trier said last year. "I think he did some wrong things, absolutely, but -- I can see him in his bunker in the end."

Following his statements, Von Trier was labeled as "persona non grata" by Cannes Film Festival organizers, which called his comments "unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the Festival."

For more on "The Anti-Semite," head over to TheWrap.

[via TheWrap]]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 15:53:26 EDT 1546747 "Brave," the upcoming animated film from Pixar, will include a special tribute to Steve Jobs in its closing credits.

According to the Wall Street Journal blog Speakeasy, an early cut of "Brave" featured a title card at the end dedicating the film to Jobs. The Apple co-founder, who was also CEO of Pixar Studios, died on Oct. 5, 2011 after a long bout with pancreatic cancer.

The Jobs tribute isn't the only notable aspect of "Brave": it's the first animated film from Pixar to features a female main character -- Princess Merida, a strong-willed heroine in the vein of Katniss Everdeen. It's also the first Pixar feature with a credited female co-director: Brenda Chapman. Unfortunately, Chapman was fired from the film due to "creative differences" with the studio, this despite spending nearly eight years on the project. (Chapman used her own relationship with her daughter as inspiration for "Brave.")

"Brave" joins "John Carter" as the first films to acknowledge Jobs' untimely death, and the Apple mastermind's legacy won't fade from the cinema anytime soon. Ashton Kutcher is set to play Jobs in an upcoming film, and "Social Network" scribe Aaron Sorkin is said to be writing the script for another biopic.

For more on the Jobs tribute in "Brave," including how it actually looks in the film, head over to WSJ.com.

"Brave" is out on June 22.

[via WSJ/Speakeasy]

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that "Brave" was the first film to mention Jobs' death; it's actually the second: "John Carter" director Andrew Stanton dedicated that film to Jobs earlier this year. Check out Stanton's reasons by clicking here.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 14:33:09 EDT 1546588 "K-11" doesn't actually star Kristen Stewart, but it is of interest for "Twilight" fans. The new drama was written and directed by Jules Stewart, a.k.a. K-Stew's mother.

The film stars Goran Visnjic ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo") as a drugged-out Los Angeles record producer who winds up in jail after a blackout. The catch? He's placed in K-11, the wing of prison reserved for homosexual and transgender prisoners.

The younger Stewart was once attached to star in "K-11" -- perhaps as a transgender prisoner with autism -- but wasn't able to appear due to scheduling issues; instead, she reportedly has a small vocal cameo in "K-11." Keeping with the family vibe, Kristen's brother Cameron also co-stars.

Jules Stewart has worked in Hollywood for 30 years, but this is her directorial debut. At the Cannes Film Festival this week, she told THR that it wasn't easy to make the transition from script supervisor, her previous job, to director.

Still, she's pleased with the results. "The whole point for me is to tell stories that are different and unique, hence 'K-11,'" she said.

Watch the trailer for "K-11" -- which includes some foul language -- above. The film doesn't yet have U.S. distribution.

[via Movieline]

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 11:13:35 EDT 1545990
Critics haven't been kind to "Chernobyl Diaries," which comes from the mind of "Paranormal Activity" producer Oren Peli. The film has a mere 42 precent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and that number could drop lower as more reviews file. ("Chernobyl Diaries" doesn't appear to have been screened widely for critics; neither the New York Times nor Los Angeles Times currently have reviews printed.)

"'Chernobyl' is about as lazy, routine and hilariously absurd as horror movies get," wrote Geoff Berkshire in his D+ review for HitFix. "It also has the added baggage of appearing exploitative of a real life tragedy (while also uncomfortably recalling Japan's nuclear disaster just last year, which made worldwide headlines six months before this film went into production)."

About that exploitation: "It is terrible that such a tragic event as Chernobyl is being sensationalized in a Hollywood horror film," a representative for Friends Of Chernobyl Centers U.S. told TMZ this week. "Thousands of people have died and over 400,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Today over 5 million people still live on contaminated land. The horror is not mutants running around, the real horror is the effect that Chernobyl continues to have on the lives of millions who have been devastated physically, emotionally and economically."

Still if there is a silver lining to be drawn from "Chernobyl Diaries," it could be that the film makes more people interested in researching the disaster, which its trailer presents as something people might not even remember.

"'Chernobyl Diaries' did inspire me to come home and read more about the Chernobyl disaster and the city of Prypiat on Wikipedia," wrote Jordan Hoffman for ScreenCrush, "so that I consider time well spent."

At least now you know what you're in for if that screening of "Men In Black 3" you wanted to see is sold out.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 08:57:09 EDT 1545417 Jon Favreau is headed back to the "Iron Man" franchise. Just not as director.

Favreau -- who, when he isn't directing summer tentpoles like "Iron Man" or "Cowboys & Aliens," is also an actor -- tweeted a photo on Thursday of a director's chair with the name "Happy Hogan" written on its front. Hogan is Tony Stark's chauffeur and assistant, a role Favreau played in the first two "Iron Man" films.

Filming on "Iron Man 3" began in North Carolina on Wednesday with Shane Black ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") taking over directing duties from Favreau.

The actor posted the photo at 7:18 p.m. EST, and his involvement was later confirmed by THR. According the trade, Favreau signed on to play Happy Hogan again, but how big his role will be in the film remains unclear.

If all of this sounds really familiar, that's because you remember when Favreau said he would be back to play Hogan during an interview with Wired last July.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall and james Badge Dale, "Iron Man 3" is due out in theaters next May.

RELATED:
]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 07:56:02 EDT 1545192 "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" will have to wait another nine months to seek retribution. This week, in a shocking move, Paramount bumped the summer blockbuster off its June 29 release date and moved it to March 29, 2013.

Per studio insiders, the change was done to give director Jon Chu time to convert "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" into 3D, a decision that could pay off if it drives overseas ticket buyers to cinemas next year. (3D, while an increasingly frowned-upon fad in the U.S., is still big abroad.) According to star Dwayne Johnson, new scenes are being "designed" to "enhance" the 3D. It's a whole new "G.I. Joe" world -- one that could affect the fate of many other movies.

Ahead, four films that could reap the benefits of "G.I. Joe 2" moving to 2013.

"Ted" should make more money
About five hours after "Joe" was moved, Universal dropped Seth MacFarlane's R-rated comedy "Ted" to June 29. Originally scheduled for July 13, the Mark Wahlberg-led film will now go up against "Magic Mike," "People Like Us" and "Tyler Perry's Witness Protection." Crowded, but not nearly as dire as things potentially were for "Ted" on July 13, where it was flanked by "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Ice Age: Continental Drift" and "The Dark Knight Rises" (out July 3, 8 and 20, respectively). MacFarlane's "Ted" -- about a pot-smoking and foul-mouthed teddybear come to life -- could have been lost among three potential $1 billion global grossers; on June 29, it'll have the chance to attract a similar audience to "G.I. Joe" and find box-office footing.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" should make more money
Not that "Ted" was going to keep people away from "The Amazing Spider-Man," but now Spidey has even fewer competitors between itself and "The Dark Knight Rises." For a movie that has been on the receiving end of some disinterested buzz, the smaller the amount of opponents, the better potential for long-term ticket sales.

"The Watch" should make more money
From June 29, when "Ted" comes out, to July 27, when "The Watch" (formerly titled "Neighborhood Watch") arrives, a grand total of zero adult comedies arrive in theaters. That's a good thing for the Ben Stiller feature, which won't ask R-rated comedy fans for their hard-earned dollars just two weeks after "Ted" would have done the same thing.

"G.I. Joe Retaliation" should make more money
Don't laugh. Despite being banished to March of 2013, "G.I. Joe" is still in pretty good shape. For starters, the month is actually soft on releases -- there's no "Hunger Games" looming to dominate the frame. The films on the March schedule include "Oz: The Great and Powerful" (hoping to get "Alice in Wonderland" dollars), the bumped-from-summer-2012 "Jack the Giant Killer," the potentially hard-to-sell "Elysium" with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, the "Percy Jackson" sequel you didn't want, and the YA adaptation "The Host." Are any of those movies guaranteed blockbusters? (Here's some help: Nope!) Meanwhile, The Rock has recent and relevant experience opening movies in the first quarter of the year; he was able to push "Journey 2: Mysterious Island" to over $324 million worldwide after its release in February. Couldn't he do it again with a known property like "G.I. Joe," in 3D? He can. After all, this is The Rock we're talking about, not Taylor Kitsch.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 17:33:53 EDT 1544037 "Breaking Dawn Part 2" doesn't arrive in theaters until November, but that doesn't mean you can't spend a little part of this Thursday in May squealing at your computer.

Summit has released three new "Breaking Dawn Part 2" posters, highlighting Bella, Edward, Jacob and the hilariously serious tagline, "Forever."

The final film in the billion dollar franchise arrives in theaters on Nov. 16, 2012, but stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner might be well beyond their "Twilight" alter egos by the time "Breaking Dawn" gets released.

Stewart made waves at the Cannes Film Festival this week when "On the Road" premiered to rave reviews and some controversy. The film is a major left turn for the starlet, and includes copious amounts of nudity and sexual situations. There is even talk of a K-Stew Oscar campaign planned for the fall.

Pattinson's in Cannes as well with David Cronenberg's sex-and-violence soaked adaptation of "Cosmopolis." He was also hilariously recently rumored for a role in "Catching Fire," the "Hunger Games" sequel.

Lautner, meanwhile, was recently cast in a movie that finds him playing a parkour enthusiast-cum-bike-messenger.

Check out the "Breaking Dawn "Part 2" character posters below. Click Bella's red eyes to launch them out into full screen.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 14:33:19 EDT 1543496 Wes Anderson may have assembled his best cast yet for "Moonrise Kingdom": Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel and Tilda Swinton joined Anderson mainstays Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman on the roster. Yet, it was finding the film's young leads, Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, that proved most difficult.

"With this kind of movie -- you're working on other fronts at the same time, but in the back of your mind, you're kind of thinking, 'If you don't find them, you can't make the movie,'" Anderson told HuffPost Entertainment.

The 13-year-old neophyte actors were hired by Anderson after eight months of searching to play Suzy and Sam, two New England tweens who fall in love and run away during the summer of 1965.

"I didn't have any real preconceived notions about what they ought to be like -- I didn't really picture anything," Anderson said. "I was just waiting for somebody to show up who we thought was so great that we could shut down the process and move to the next phase."

Following the debut of "Moonrise Kingdom" at the opening of the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival in France, Anderson rang up HuffPost to discuss the making of his new film, the moment he knew Bill Murray was a kindred spirit, and what he thinks of those who dismiss his films as "twee."

You said it took eight months to find Kara and Jared. Did you ever think it just wasn't going to happen?
Yes, I did. That's always there. The tension of it. That kind of relates to something I feel about the whole filmmaking process in general. Every time you do a take on a movie, you're not sure if it's going to succeed. Even if you have a great cast, like we had, every scene you're kind of waiting for the release. "Oh, yes; it happened. We got it!" There's always the possibility that it's just not going to work.

You're famous for these meticulously-designed long takes. Did you run into trouble with trying to do those with such green actors?
The way I approached it with these guys was that we rehearsed for a very long time, so they knew the script, they knew the material, they knew the characters. They did their own practicing, too -- like canoeing and different outdoor activities. She read continuously during the pre-production period. They wrote to each other as well. They just did things related to the movie. On the set, though, it wasn't like we were doing 20 takes at a time with these guys. They were just as quick as anyone else.

Kids are always open to anything. It's very rare that a kid isn't extremely eager to make you happy. So there's an ease to the process in that way, but the main thing is: did you find the right ones? With this, I always felt very pleased with them. The characters were not fully fleshed out until they were playing them, as far as I'm concerned.

"Moonrise Kingdom" really captures that feeling of being a child in the summertime. Was that informed more by their performances or by your script?
The first real inspiration for this movie is this Francois Truffaut movie, "Small Change." It does this unusual thing: it's more of a movie for grown-ups, but it is told from the point of view of these little kids. The camera is lowered down to them. It's their angle on everything. That was the whole impetus of the project, to make the film so it expresses what these smaller people are feeling. For me, it was kind of trying to see if we could capture the feeling that I remember from being 12 years old and thinking I was in love at that age.

Were you as good of a scout as Sam?
No, I wasn't. I did try my hand at it, but I didn't have it. I will say that Edward Norton, who plays the scout master, would be a first-rate Eagle Scout. He's got all those techniques. If your plane crashes into the jungle somewhere, he would be the guy you would want to have with you. In fact, he would actually crash the plane, because he's a pilot as well. He can climb mountains, he's good with boats. Any kind of outdoors thing, you'd be in good hands.

Bill Murray is notoriously hard to pin down, yet you've done six movies with him. What's the secret?
He's in everything I've done, except "Bottle Rocket" -- and that one, as far as I know, he's never even seen. We gave him the DVD, and -- back in those days -- we gave him the VHS, but I don't think he's ever watched it. When we did "Rushmore," in the very beginning, it could have been intimidating -- but he made it not intimidating. As soon as we started working together, I would say something to him and he would respond with something that made me think, "Not only does he understand what I'm saying, he seems to like it and has expanded on it." In that movie, there's a scene where he has a conversation with the teacher, and he's supposed to leave. We did a couple of takes and I said to him, "What if you, rather than just walking away, you walk away and then you sprint away." It was a weird thing. And he said, "You mean to have an excuse for my heart beating so fast? Yeah, okay." And I was like, "To have an excuse for my heart beating so fast? Wow, what a way to say it." He made it real; it was funny, but he made it real. I've always felt like I've enjoyed that rapport so much.

Critics sometimes use "twee" as shorthand to describe you work -- or they dismiss it as just another "Wes Anderson movie." How does that make you feel?
Well, it's not annoying. It's just, you know, my real honest response is just ... nothing. It's just white noise to me. It's lost all its sting over the years.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 14:19:50 EDT 1543463 "The Dark Knight Rises" has hit television sets, with two new spots that feature some new footage and lots of new dialogue.

"That's a brazen costume for a cat burglar," Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) says to an in-character Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) as they slow dance at some swank party. Her "put-your-lips-together-and-blow"-like response? "Yeah? Who are you pretending to be?"

Batman! Or Bruce Wayne! Actually, who's to say, Ms. Kyle? That guy has some identity issues to sort out.

In the other "Dark Knight Rises" TV spot, Bane (Tom Hardy) takes center stage, mumbling something about liberation, while Alfred and Lucius (Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman) lightly mock Wayne about being out of Batman practice.

Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" finale takes place eight years after the events of "The Dark Knight."

Featuring an all-star cast and some heavy box-office expectations, the film arrives in theaters on July 20. Watch the clips above and below, and check out some new "Dark Knight Rises" posters in the accompanying gallery.



]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 08:56:37 EDT 1542115 "The Paperboy" debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, and Lee Daniels' "Precious" follow-up provided attendees with the chance to watch Nicole Kidman urinate on Zac Efron.

"This is a movie that often seems to be missing important transitional scenes or specific inserts," wrote Vulture's Kyle Buchanan in a hilarious must-read review of the film, "but you had better believe that when Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron, that camera is there."

The "golden shower" happens in a non-sexual context: Efron's character gets stung by a jellyfish while in the ocean.

Based on Pete Dexter's 1995 novel, "The Paperboy" focuses on a reporter (Matthew McConaughey) who investigates the wrongful conviction of a sleazy inmate (John Cusack) on death row. Efron plays McConaughey's onscreen brother, with Kidman starring as Charlotte, a woman hellbent on marrying Cusack's dead man walking.

"Nicole Kidman really is terrifically good as Charlotte: funny, sexy, poignantly vulnerable," wrote The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, while comparing Kidman's performance to her work in the severely underrated camp classic, "To Die For." "In her own way, she is a romantic, though the romanticism resides very greatly in the sheer auto-erotic potency of that sweaty, dangerous criminal who is behind bars. Charlotte is like Blanche DuBois, but with no illusions."

Other critics weren't as impressed with Daniels' crazy-sounding bit of chicken-fried pulp.

"You can go into 'The Paperboy' expecting a disaster and have fun with it, and since its stench will always linger somewhere on the filmographies of everyone involved with it, one can imagine it finding new life as a participatory of midnight experience of the 'Rocky Horror' variety. If that happens, however, the onus is on viewers to redeem the movie by adding to it," wrote Eric Kohn at Indiewire. "But such enthusiasm would give 'The Paperboy' more credit than it deserves."

Writing for Indiewire's blog The Playlist, critic James Rocci was a bit more stern.

"Many people will tell you that 'The Paperboy' is a trash masterpiece, an instant camp classic, so bad it's good. These people, these critics, are simply not to be trusted about any question of judgment for a long time based on that half-hearted ironic 'endorsement' of one of the worst films of the year, never mind at Cannes."

As yet, "The Paperboy" doesn't have U.S. distribution or a release date. Still, expect to see it in theaters sometime soon -- and perhaps be prepared to bring some facsimile of a jellyfish to toss at the screen?

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 07:58:48 EDT 1541974 Alan Rickman (Snape!) in the drama "CBGB." Grint will also star opposite Shia LaBeouf in "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman" -- which is cool, but since LaBeouf was never in any "Harry Potter" movies, who cares.

As first reported earlier this month by THR, "CBGB" tells the story of Hilly Kristal (Rickman's role), the founder of legendary New York City club CBGB. Kristal opened CBGB in 1973 as a spot for country, bluegrass and blues music (hence "CBGB"). After Kristal widened the scope of the venue, it became a hotspot for many punk rockers of the era, including The Ramones, Blondie and Patti Smith. For his part, Grint will play Cheetah Chrome, guitarist of the Dead Boys.

Like his "Potter" co-stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, Grint has stayed away from big budget spectacles since the franchise has ended. Watson filmed "The Perks of Being A Wallflower" (out this year) and was cast in Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring," while Radcliffe starred in "The Woman in Black" and was recently cast with Jon Hamm in an upcoming British miniseries. He'll also play Allen Ginsburg in the film "Kill Your Darlings" opposite Elizabeth Olsen.

For more on Grint's role in "Charlie Countryman," head over to Variety.

[via Variety]

]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 15:57:01 EDT 1540650 Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, passed away, a member of the group has spoken out about his untimely death.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Adam Horovitz (a.k.a. Ad-Rock) said that he still gets emotional when thinking about his lost friend.

"My wife is like, 'I want to make sure you're getting it out,'" Horovitz told David Fricke in the magazine. "But then I'm walking the dog and I'll start crying on the street. It's pretty f--king crazy."

Yauch died on May 4 after a three-year battle with cancer.

"It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam 'MCA' Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer," said a note on the Beastie Boys' website. "He was 47 years old."

For Horovitz, Yauch was the glue that held the group together.

"Yauch was in charge," he said to Rolling Stone. "He was smarter, more organized. In a group of friends, you all come up with stupid sh-t to do. But you never do it. With Yauch, it got done. He had that extra drive to see things through. We each had our roles. One of his was the make-it-happen person."

Horovitz says that it was Yauch's idea to make the acclaimed video for the song "Sabotage," which cast the Beastie Boys as '70s-style television cops. Spike Jonze directed the clip, which you can watch below.

Along with Yauch and fellow Beastie Mike Diamond, Horovitz was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

For more from Horovitz and his relationship with Yauch, click over to RollingStone.com.

[via Rolling Stone]

]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 12:11:21 EDT 1539705 Robert Pattinson as heartthrob and fan favorite Finnick Odair in "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire"? Probably not even a little, but that's the rumor making the rounds on Wednesday.

The report comes courtesy of the blog Think McFly Think, which claims that Lionsgate -- the studio behind "The Hunger Games" -- is "chasing" Pattinson for the key "Catching Fire" role.

While it might seem totally ridiculous that Pattinson -- finally free from his obligations to the uber-popular "Twilight" franchise and tackling films like David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" -- would join Team Hunger Games, he does have one connection to the world of Panem: "Catching Fire" will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who worked with the star on "Water For Elephants." (Lawrence replaced Gary Ross as shepherd of the franchise earlier this year.)

"As with the first film, we won't be confirming, denying or commenting any casting rumors for this title," Lionsgate told HuffPost Entertainment in a statement. "We will announce news wide when there is official casting news to announce."

Finnick, who first appears in "Catching Fire," plays a key role in Suzanne Collins' best-selling "Hunger Games" trilogy. From District 4, he was the winner of the 65th annual Hunger Games and forms a friendly relationship with Katniss Everdeen following her victory at the 74th iteration of the Games.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, "Catching Fire" will arrive in theaters on Nov. 22, 2013. The film will begin shooting this summer.

[via Think McFly Think]

]]> Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:59 EDT 1539420