Veronica Mars UK Box Office Release Announced

Kristen Bell is back in the project that no-one thought would ever get off the ground!
Warner Brothers Pictures have today confirmed that their impending mystery film Veronica Mars will receive a (limited) release in UK and Irish cinemas. The flick sees Frozen's Kristen Bell reprise the role of the titular detective, whose TV series became a cult hit and has gained an impressive following ever since its cancellation by The CW in 2007.

Suffice to say that if you're a fan of the detective genre in light of recent hits such as Sherlock and Ripper Street, then this one should be right up your alley. Expect to see a review from us of this Kickstarter-assisted project in the weeks following its UK launch. Here's a list of the theatres in which Veronica Mars will play at the same time as its US nationwide release:

• EMPIRE Leicester Square
• EMPIRE Birmingham
• EMPIRE Newcastle
• Showcase Dartford
• Showcase Bristol
• Showcase Cardiff
• Showcase Nottingham
• Showcase Leicester
• Showcase Manchester
• Showcase Glasgow
• Movies@Dundrum Dublin

Veronica Mars will launch its investigation in UK and US cinemas on March 14th.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug DVD & Blu-Ray Release Announced

Experience the second chapter in the Hobbit trilogy ahead of There and Back Again's Christmas release.
Warner Brothers Pictures have this week announced the retail release of their fantasy blockbuster The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on DVD and Blu-Ray this Spring. Based on the second act of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved children's novel, Desolation was directed by Peter Jackson and saw the return of Orlando Bloom to the already formidable character ensemble as Legolas, plus the début of the ever-lovable Stephen Fry as the fatally complacent Master of Laketown.

That said, for all of its new gimmicks, Desolation didn't quite fulfil its potential upon its release last Christmas. There were certainly improvements over An Unexpected Journey to be found at first in terms of pacing , yet the final confrontation between Bilbo and the titular gold-hoarding dragon more than outstayed its welcome, lasting the best part of 40 minutes and monumentally affecting the sense of relative momentum which sustained the film in its first three-quarters. Add to that an underwhelming and wholly foreseeable cliffhanger, and you've got a surefire recipe for a mediocre motion picture, a tragic category of quality which Desolation undoubtedly occupies come its denouement. It's a crying shame, since our anticipation for this Winter's There and Back Again has been considerably lessened at this stage- all the same, we'll remain optimistic that Jackson can pull out another Return of the King with the extra time and cash spent on his final Middle-Earth big-screen effort.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will journey into DVD and Blu-Ray retailers nationwide on April 7th, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again commences the Battle of Five Armies in a cinema near you this December 12th.

New The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Promotional Image Released

Prepare for another treasured Spider-Man villain to be subjected to a wave of renewed criticism!
Total Film have today débuted the latest promotional image for Sony Pictures' upcoming superhero movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Scheduled to launch in the midst of this year's Summer of Film, the sequel to the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man sees Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone reprise their roles as Spidey and Gwen respectively, as well as introducing Jamie Foxx as Electro and Paul Giamatti as Rhino.

Who, then, is the not-so-dashing crazed villain gracing our desktop screens in this TF-exclusive image (left), we hear you ask? Why, it's none other than Chronicle's Dane DeHaan, playing Harry Osborn in his Green Goblin guise. Traditionally, the Goblin's human alter-ego is Harry's father Norman, but with the latter character still bed-ridden at this point due to having acquired a seemingly terminal illness, it looks as if we'll have to put up with his successor inhabiting the iconic dual-wing glider for the time being. Speculation is already rife that the classic comic-book storyline The Death of Gwen Stacy will be loosely adapted in the follow-up, and since the Superbowl trailer showed Gwen dangling from a flimsy web-line in the same building where we're seeing Peter and Harry duke it out, could it be that Harry's attack has forced Peter to drop said web in order to survive, in doing so leading Gwen to her inevitable destiny? Give it two months, and either way, we'll know for certain...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings into UK cinemas nationwide on April 18th.

The Fantastic Four Lead Stars Announced

Wave farewell to the good ol' days as Fox brings in its new, teen-appeasing recruits.
The Wrap have today announced the four actors set to take on the lead roles in 20th Century Fox's upcoming superhero film The Fantastic Four. This reboot of the Fantastic 4 franchise will not retain any of the series' original cast, instead opting for a younger gang of crime-fighters and a narrative that will integrate itself into the pseudo-Marvel Cinematic Universe which Fox is gradually building with the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past this Summer.

Let's get straight to it, then- which lucky thespians are taking over from Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis in sixteen months' time? The truth lies below...

• Miles Teller will portray Reed Richards, the leader of the team and a renowned scientific figure. Teller has previously starred in motion pictures including Divergent, Project X, 21 & Over and Rabbit Hole, yet it's safe to say that this performance could very well be his big break.
• Next up Jamie Bell, who is taking over from Chiklis as none other than Ben Grimm. As is the case with each of the four performers in question, Bell's filmography so far isn't particularly substantial, with his turns in Peter Jackson's King Kong and Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin marking the highlights of his career- until now, of course!
• Meanwhile, the woman who's got the unenviable job of following on from Jessica Alba as Sue Storm is Kate Mara. Anyone who's currently catching up with House of Cards will see Mara there playing Zoe Barnes. However, other than cameos in Brokeback Mountain and Shooter, she hasn't been up to much on the big-screen, so her casting here represents a major leap of faith for Fox and director Josh Trank...
• Finally, Michael B. Jordan is taking on the mantle of the Human Torch, aka Johnny Storm, in the reboot. Jordan's best-known work is undoubtedly his portrayal of Wallace in The Wire, although to his credit, he's featured in a number of other major entertainment releases of the last decade such as Gears of War 3, House, Bones and Lie To Me. He's a household name compared to the remainder of the cast, then, and incidentally, he'll play the first non-Caucasian incarnation of the Human Torch ever, which is certainly a major step forward in light of the racist and sexist allegations which are frequently tossed in Marvel's direction.

The Fantastic Four sends a fateful meteor hurtling into cinemas worldwide on June 19th, 2015.

Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser Trailer, Poster, Docs Released

"You're welcome." For once, Marvel are more than justified in anticipating our gratitude...
Marvel Studios have this week released a host of promotional materials for their upcoming science-fiction superhero blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy. Taking place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the team's latest motion picture stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and Vin Diesel as its cosmic band of injustice-thwarting warriors.

Each of those aforementioned lead actors have received their own dedicated mini-documentary video (all of which are below) outlining the studio's approach to adapting their inherently extraterrestrial characters, but the true piece de resistance of this marketing blitz is the first full teaser trailer for the overall flick (again below). The video boasts a good deal of chuckleworthy gags, suggesting that the tone of the final product will end up being more akin to that of a sci-fi comedy than the overly grim and 'gritty' (we shudder at the term) narrative which viewers encountered in Thor: The Dark World last October. Most of all, though, credit must go to the member of the marketing team who thought that including Bjorn Skifs' classic 1975 cover of Hooked On A Feeling was a solid idea- no doubt that track has had its fair share of justifiable downloads this week as a result!

Guardians of the Galaxy explodes into cinemas worldwide on August 1st.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition Announced

More caped crusading action lands on current-generation consoles this Spring.
Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment and Armature Studio have today announced the development of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition for release later this year. A home console port of last October's handheld sequel to Arkham Origins, this digital title will feature refined visuals, navigation systems, surround sound features and boss battles galore.

The only problem? It would be something of an understatement to say that Blackgate didn't go down a storm upon its original retail début. In fact, the PlayStation Vita version of the game holds a 61% average score at Metacritic, while the 3DS edition sits slightly higher with 68%. Neither of those averages are particularly woeful, yet as concerning as it may sound, such scores just aren't likely to cut it with the general gaming public these days. That Arkham Origins was an underwhelming finale to the first trilogy of Arkham experiences didn't help matters, either, although here's hoping that Rocksteady's recently rumoured new project turns out to be the sequel which the franchise sorely needs to redeem itself!

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition retails via the Xbox Live (360), PlayStation Network (PS3), eShop (WiiU) and Steam (PC) marketplaces on April 2nd for £16.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Character Revelation Leaked?

Could SHIELD's Alexander Pierce have a dangerous secondary agenda...?
Marvel Studios may have potentially leaked a crucial narrative detail regarding one of the new characters in their upcoming superhero thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Set in the aftermath of Avengers Assemble and Thor: The Dark World, the present-day sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger once again stars Chris Evans as Steve Rogers and Scarlet Johannson as Natasha Romanov, as well as introducing Anthony Mackie as the Falcon and Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce.

(POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT!!)
It transpires, though, that Redford's role in the follow-up will not necessarily be limited to the guise of Pierce, an influential member of the SHIELD organisation. If Screencrave are to be believed, then one of the tracks set to feature on the film's soundtrack carries the following title: Alexander Pierce is the Red Skull. We've seen such foolish marketing-related spoilers before in the past, for instance with the tracks The Ballad of Ianto Jones and I Can Run Forever which featured preliminarily on the Torchwood: Children of Earth album that released before the series' initial broadcast, but if this does turn out to be true (and we haven't long to wait now until we know for certain), then whoever leaked the aforementioned track listings will probably find themselves in search of alternative employment in a few days' time! Even if Pierce is a reincarnated version (perhaps teleported to the USA in 2014 by the Tesseract?) of Hydra's leader, though, don't expect to see Cap face off against him until his third solo outing, in a similar vein to Loki's secret inheriting of the throne in The Dark World being most likely left up in the air until Thor 3 due to the fact that Avengers: Age of Ultron is so crammed with heroes and villains already.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier mobilises in UK cinemas nationwide on March 26th.