The apocalypse has never seemed so funny. The new trailer for “The World’s End,” the latest film from director Edgar Wright,  has arrived, and judging from the clip, the movie promises to deliver the same charming brand of humor Wright and his leading men Simon Pegg and Nick Frost pioneered in such films as “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.” “The World’s End,” due in theaters Aug. 23, upends the usual Pegg-Frost dynamic, however, with Pegg playing Gary King, a (lovable?) loser trapped in a state of arrested development who recruits his old pals — including Frost’s responsible attorney Andy — to finish a famous pub crawl in their hometown that they had once unsuccessfully attempted in their younger days. Naturally, things don’t go quite according to plan, and Gary and Andy, along with pals Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver […]

The latest trailer for “Man of Steel,” the new Superman film that sees Henry Cavill don the red cape of the famous hero, begins with a cryptic transmission from Michael Shannon’s General Zod, warning citizens of Earth, “You are not alone.” Zod’s chilling speech, in which he demands that the last son of Krypton surrender or bring about the destruction of his adopted planet, serves as the backdrop for a number of scenic shots from the film, set for a June 14 release. “Man of Steel” is directed by Zack Snyder from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, the writing team behind the “Dark Knight” trilogy, which modernized Batman and broke box-office records. But reviving the world’s first comic-book superhero on the big screen — Superman turns 75 this year — is no small task. “In the comic-book […]

PERSPECTIVE At this morning’s Xbox One reveal in Redmond, Wash., the new “Call of Duty” game received an extended preview and a new game titled “Quantum Break” was given a giant promotional push. But the biggest star of Microsoft’s news conference to showcase  its Xbox 360 successor was a film director, one who spoke only via a pre-filmed video. Steven Spielberg, it was divulged this morning, will executive produce an original “Halo” television series based on the popular video game franchise that’s long been tied to the Xbox ecosystem. “For me, the ‘Halo’ universe is an amazing opportunity to be at the intersection where technology and storytelling meet,” Spielberg said, adding that he’s been interested in games since the era of “Pong” and that they have now evolved, technologically speaking, to a point where interactive storytelling is at its most […]

Production is underway for “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” and director Bryan Singer is offering fans a behind-the-scenes peek at the action via Twitter, posting pictures of Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Peter Dinklage and more. “Days of Future Past,” due out in July of 2014, picks up after Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 prequel “X-Men: First Class,” which chronicled the mutant superheroes’ origins as young people in the 1960s, discovering and learning to manipulate their powers. “Future Past” aims to bridge the gap between “First Class” and the original “X-Men” film trilogy. Singer, who also directed 2000′s “X-Men” and 2003′s “X2,” on Monday tweeted a photo of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, who is reprising her role as shape-shifting mutant Raven, better known as Mystique. The snapshot shows Lawrence in full costume — revealing blue body suit and paint with a shock of […]

Fans who’ve waited years for a follow-up to the sci-fi blockbuster “Independence Day” might soon be treated not just to one sequel to the memorable hit film, but to an entire franchise based on the alien invasion thriller. The film’s co-writers — director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin – told the Hero Complex Film Festival audience at a matinee screening of the 1996 blockbuster that they have ideas for a sequel (and maybe more). “What we talked a lot about, the mythology of why did the aliens come in the first place, what is the bigger story of this whole thing?” said Emmerich, seated beside Devlin, “Independence Day” star Jeff Goldblum and the movie’s effects wizard Volker Engel. “When you get a bigger mythology going, you have the chance to not only do one or two or three, you […]

“The Wolverine,” the new film starring Hugh Jackman as the near indestructible mutant Logan, is set to open in theaters July 26, bringing the revered Chris Claremont/Frank Miller comics saga to the screen. The newest trailer for the movie, directed by James Mangold, showcases the film’s story line, which explores the character’s inner demons, even as he faces external threats after traveling to Japan to say goodbye to an acquaintance. The clip opens with Jackman haunted by a nightmare visitation from Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey. Logan promises her that he’ll never hurt her, or anyone else, again. But, she whispers, “It’s too late.” He wakes up, bearded and alone, outside in the woods, where he’s exiled himself in search of solitude. But his time there doesn’t last long. Soon, he’s off to Japan to see the man whose life he […]

Microsoft on Tuesday is unveiling the successor to the Xbox 360 at a news event at its Redmond, Wash., campus, pulling back the curtain on its home console plans just weeks before the June Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Hero Complex will be live blogging the news right here on this starting at 10 a.m. Updates will be posted below. We’ll be working fast, so please forgive any typos. Microsoft is the last of the major home console makers to disclose its next generation system. Nintendo’s Wii U was released in late 2012 and Sony threw a lavish press event in February to announce its PS4, although Sony didn’t actually show the system in action. Rumors of new Xbox features have included some form of new embedded Kinect, always-on Web integration and the ability to act as a cable box. Both the new […]

“The X-Files,” the landmark science fiction television series created by Chris Carter, was built on elaborate conspiracies and a healthy dose of paranoia. The show premiered 20 years ago this year, but in many ways it still seems contemporary — and relevant. Speaking at the fourth annual Hero Complex Film Festival, Carter said he’s somewhat surprised to find that the show has a kind of resonance in the present era, but he feels that it did come along at the right historical moment. “It was of its time, it seemed to be right for its time, it sort of capitalized on its time,” he said. “You probably could make the show today, but I don’t know why, it feels like it was made exactly when it should have been made.” Watch the video above to hear more from Carter about his […]

Remember Patton Oswalt’s eight-minute “Parks and Recreation” monologue about his proposed plot for “Star Wars: Episode VII”? It took YouTube only one month to animate the comedian’s suggestions, spider-Wookiee and all. During a guest spot on the NBC comedy last month, Oswalt played a Pawnee citizen aiming to filibuster a City Council vote. He launched into a lengthy, improvised speech about his ideal story line for the upcoming “Star Wars” sequel. The outlandish plot includes a resurrected Boba Fett, Marvel’s villain Thanos (teased at the end of “The Avengers”), Tony Stark, the gods from “Clash of the Titans” and “Wrath of the Titans” and a beheaded and mechanized Chewbacca, among other awesome but unrelated characters from the realm of genre entertainment. The full speech was released on YouTube, drawing more than 2.7 million views and attracting the notice of J.J. […]

“Star Wars” fans let out a collective howl of anguish earlier this year when it was announced that one of the casualties of Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm was the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” But though that fan favorite series was canceled without a satisfactory conclusion, there’s still a chance to get an animation fix. Lucasfilm is now working on a new animated series, “Star Wars Rebels,” set to premiere in fall 2014 on the Disney Channel with a one-hour episode and then move to Disney XD. Set in the two decades between “Episode III” and “Episode IV,” the series will follow the adventures of the Rebel Alliance as they attempt to evade the growing might of the Empire. Simon Kinberg, writer of one of the upcoming “Star Wars” spinoff films, will serve as an executive producer of […]