Third 'Hobbit' Film Gets Release Date, Second Becomes 'Desolation Of Smaug'

Warner Bros. cleared up the remaining question marks about a third "Hobbit" movie from Peter Jackson and company over the weekend with the announcement of an official title and release date for the final film of the fantasy trilogy.

"The Hobbit: There And Back Again" will hit theaters on July 18, 2014, seven months after the second installment'the newly renamed "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"'opens on December 13, 2013.

That new title may sound familiar as it was one of the potential titles that Warner Bros. had registered around the time of the announcement of the third film. The title comes from Middle-earth geography and the map found at the beginning of the book and featured in the story. The Desolation of Smaug is a location in Middle-earth, where the legendary dragon destroyed a city after taking hold of Lonely Mountain.

Tags The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There And Back Again, the-hobbit

Zachary Quinto Teases 'Intense Action' In 'Star Trek' And 'American Horror Story'

Zachary Quinto is quite the busy bee these days, juggling multiple acting gigs, development work with his Before the Door production company and being a part of the jury for The Wrap's "ShortList" film festival. As such, he's a hard man to track down so once you do, you have to maximize the opportunity and poke for some updates on his most buzzworthy upcoming projects: the "Star Trek" sequel and "American Horror Story."

Speaking to the top secret "Trek 2," we asked Quinto to name his favorite day of filming.

"It's hard to narrow it down. That was a long shoot in a lot of great ways," he said. "There was a really intense action sequence that I got to participate in pretty primarily this time, and that was really different and exciting for me, so I look forward to watching that come together and seeing what J.J. [Abrams] does with it. But just the whole experience, I have such an affinity for J.J. and for that cast, we get along in a very unique and special way and I think we're a part of each others' journeys in a really unique way as well, so I look back on the whole thing with fondness, although I will say I'm grateful that it's over."

We then mentioned that we hoped to see more of the romance between Quinto's Spock and Zoe Saldana's Uhura.

"Well, we shall see... you'll be the first to know," he said.

Yeah right, Zach. Moving right along to creepy "American Horror Story," we asked Quinto what new muscles he gets to flex this season versus his brief appearances in the first season.

"We're in the middle of that. It's a really different story from the first season," Quinto said. "I'm in this whole season whereas last year I was only in a few episodes, so I have a lot more of an arc to track, the character, but it's incredibly fun and I love the ensemble of actors that are working on that show. It's one of the favorite things I've done on television in terms of the nature of the work and the dynamic on set. It's a really special group of people so I'm really stoked to be among them. It's a fun world to play in. There's a lot to discover and create."

Tags American Horror Story, Star Trek 2, zachary quinto

Michael Bay Addresses Leaked 'Ninja Turtles' Script

Last week, a draft of the script for the much maligned "Ninja Turtles" reboot made its way onto the internet and thanks to several reviews, the most notable coming from Latino Review, the fan outrage found a whole lot more fuel.

At the heart of the controversy was the supposed structure of the reboot, which casts the turtles as supporting alien characters, there to help a Shia LaBeouf-like character defeat a militarized Foot and a villain called "Schrader," instead of Shredder. It all sounded a little too much like "Transformers" to many fans.

Michael Bay, whose Platinum Dunes is producing the currently stalled project, took to his site Shoot For The Edit to addressed the leaked screenplay and the issues people are taking with it.

The leaked script for Ninja Turtles that different sites continue to comment on was written well before I, or anyone at Platinum Dunes, was involved with the project.

That script saw the shredder a long time ago.

This is tired, old news -- Wait for the movie!

Michael

Bay posted one more time in the thread to clarify the mismatching dates on the screenplay and his version of what happened. While Platinum Dunes had signed onto "Turtles" years ago, a deal was not in place until the end of last year, right before the date on the leaked draft.

How do the leaked details make you feel about a "Ninja Turtles" reboot? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

Tags michael bay, ninja turtles, teenage mutant ninja turtles

Bond-a-Thond #12: 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981)

Sean Penn Wows In 'This Must Be The Place' Exclusive Image

With Fall Movie Preview Week winding to a close, we'd like to introduce you to one of the quirkier movies on our list: "This Must Be The Place."

The Sean Penn film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, but is only now getting a wide release thanks to The Weinstein Company. And, yes, that is Penn that you see in the above exclusive image we have from the film. He plays an aging rocker named Cheyenne who, after his estranged father passes away, goes on a journey to fulfill his dad's lifelong dream: to find the Nazi who tormented him during the Holocaust. As you can likely expect, this is a side of Penn that we've never seen before.

Also new is the theatrical trailer for "This Must Be The Place," which gives you a better idea of how Penn works in such a different role. His soft-spoken, big-haired Cheyenne is definitely a new character for him, but it sounds like Penn excels at the challenge based on the buzz we've heard about this movie.

From the looks of things, many strange events occur along Cheyenne's journey. He summarizes the premise of the flick best in the trailer when he says, "A lot of unusual things have been happening to me lately."

"This Must Be The Place" will arrive in theaters on November 2. In addition to Penn, the film stars Frances McDormand, Henry Dean Stanton and Judd Hirsch.

Are you looking forward to "This Must Be The Place"? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Tags sean penn, This Must Be the Place

Keira Knightley And Aaron Johnson Picnic In 'Anna Karenina' Image

Ever since the 2007 release of "Atonement," we've been dying to see Keira Knightley and director Joe Wright work together again. The two have teamed up on both that film and "Pride & Prejudice," but it's their next project that looks like it will really take their partnership to the next level.

As part of our Fall Movie Preview Week, we can present to you an exclusive new look at Knightley and Wright's adaptation of "Anna Karenina." Considering the way in which Leo Tolstoy's eponymous novel plays out, we doubt main characters Anna Karenina (Knightley) and Vronsky (Aaron Johnson) will look this happy for much longer. So enjoy those smiles while you can, fans of Knightey and Wright, because the story is likely to get much more somber soon after this.

What's most interesting about this image is the fact that it takes place outside of the "theatrical" setting that most of Wright's film takes place in. Wright shot the majority of the film on location in a dilapidated theater, which explains why the trailer kept returning to that setting. Wright described this connection in a recent featurette as being a metaphor of the way "the Russian aristocracy of the 19th century could be described as living on a stage."

Based on Tolstoy's novel of the same name, 'Anna Karenina' follows the title character through her love affair with an army officer, all set against the backdrop of 19th century Russia. Knightley plays Anna, Jude Law portrays her husband Alexei Karenin and Johnson her lover Vronsky. "Anna Karenina" is due in US theaters on November 16.

Are you looking forward to "Anna Karenina"? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Tags Aaron Johnson, Anna Karenina, keira knightley

Zachary Quinto Salutes Shorts As Part 'ShortList' Film Fest