The cast for the upcoming Machine Gun Preacher has been confirmed: Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Source Code), Madeline Carroll (the upcoming Rob Reiner joint Flipped), Kathy Baker (Revolutionary Road) and Souleymane Sy Savane (Solo in the incredible Goodbye Solo) will all star alongside Gerard Butler in the Marc Forster-directed adaptation of the much-talked about Jason Keller screenplay.

The film tells the “based on a true” story of Sam Childers, “a once violent drug-dealing biker who went on to spend time in the most dangerous parts of Sudan and Uganda rescuing the youngest victims of war.” [Variety]

Shooting will start on July 5th, in Detroit then South Africa.

That title is something, eh? One can imagine a world in which Keller went into a pitch meeting with the title alone, and sold the thing. Hopefully it’s not this world, but hey, hope’s cheap these day. Or sold it as “Blood Diamond meets Sons of Anarchy meets Hotel Rwanda.”

Forster needs something solid. It’s been a while since Finding Neverland.

Do you like Butler as a leading man? Does this project interest you?

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DreamWorks Animations| USA | 98 mins

Shrek and Kung Fu Panda can step aside, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders have delivered the best DreamWorks animation with How To Train Your Dragon. The story is one of a familiar mold, but the way it is delivered is impeccable. Due to the immersive flying sequences, the expertly handled father/son relationship, the beautiful environments and the perfect implementation of 3D, this is not only one of the best animations in recent years, but one of the most enthralling adventures.

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Production on Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut, Coriolanus, is due to begin next week, with shooting taking place in Belgrade, The Guardian is reporting. Read the full story

The final trailer for Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois‘ How To Train Your Dragon has been released via Yahoo. The DreamWorks animation features the voices of Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Craig Ferguson. This is from the team that brought us the great Lilo & Stitch as well as one of my favorite documentaries of all-time, Heima. I actually got a bit of an Avatar vibe with the whole Banshee training, but this definitely has it’s own style. The early buzz has also been quite good. Check out the full trailer below or in HD over on Yahoo. Read the full story

Despite the lackluster critical acclaim of his two 2009 films (The Ugly Truth and Law Abiding Citizen), Gerard Butler confirmed his (momentary) stardom with their financial success. Now it seems he’s getting a little more passionate in his project selection, as evidenced in recent news that he’s collaborating with director Marc Forster to make Machine Gun Preacher, and “tell the story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who’ve been kidnapped and pressed into duty as soldiers” [Deadline Hollywood].

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Here, courtesy of Yahoo, is the new trailer for the action rom-com The Bounty Hunter, starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Butler’s a bounty hunter asked to collect his ex-wife, Aniston, and bring her to prison. Crazy antics ensue.

Get a taste below:

Overture Films | USA | 108 mins

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

It’s a good thing one man revenge stories are in these days (see amnesiac hitmans and Jigsaws for reference), because this schlocky, overwrought, sloppy, patronizing, unintelligent, non-factual, blood-soaked, wrong-sided bastardization of a film will (and already has) made a killing at the box office (pun only halfway intended).

All this critic wanted upon entering the theater Friday night, having paid my $8.75 to see F. Gary Gray‘s latest, Law Abiding Citizen, a Blacklist screenplay from Kurt Wimmer, was something fun even if it was a little silly. After all, the film’s been brewing for a few years now, with talent the likes of Frank Darabount attached at one point or another.

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Overture Films | USA | 108 mins

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Law Abiding Citizen is a preposterous and lucrative revenge story filled with nonstop cliches. There is nothing more than a generic story and pure cheesiness, and yet it still maintains it’s fun garbage tone. It does cross the point of genuine badness at times, but counters with moments of pure excitement. This isn’t a particularly good film and is even downright cringeworthy during certain moments, but even those moments are fun due to their ridiculousness.

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Lionsgate | USA | 95 minutes

With a depiction of a distant future that seems all too possible and enough explosions and mayhem to make even Michael Bay blush, Gamer provides its audience with a brilliantly executed scifi/action/thriller, not to mention some really thought-provoking social commentary. The writer/director team behind the extremely graphic and cult-popular Crank films, Neveldine/Taylor, is back and have brought their gritty style to a “bigger” budget and deeper story. The film will remind viewers of some of the classic Paul Verhoeven films like Robocop and Starship Troopers; a balls-to-the-wall action film with a much deeper meaning behind it. In the case of Gamer, a look at the dangers of a media-infested world, of nonstop advertisement and of the future of youth in a world with ever expanding interactive technology.

The film’s plot centers around a company run by billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall), who’s created a game known as “Slayers.” The game gives its players full control of a living, breathing, death row inmate. If the inmate survives 30 sessions of the game they are set free. The star of the game is Kable (Gerard Butler), who has made it through 27 sessions and is on the fast track to reaching 30, which is unusual since no one else has ever made it past 10. When Castle realizes this he sets out on a mission to make sure that Kable never reaches the 30 mark.

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Entertainment Tonight has released the trailer for F. Gary Gray’s latest film Law Abiding Citizen. The film stars Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. It is “a thriller about a brilliant sociopath who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia – all from inside his jail cell – and the prosecutor assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.”

Check out the trailer after the jump >>