Woody Allen, an American film director who has defined New York City for much of the world, told reporters in Spain on Tuesday he can no longer afford to shoot in the Big Apple. Allen is currently promoting his latest effort You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, filmed in London, and also is in production on Midnight in Paris, a romantic-comedy, being shot in Paris. He went on to explain that he feels it’s far more cost effective to shoot in Europe, though admitted the infrastructure for film production in New York poses fewer limitations for location shoots.

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I can hear the Oscar speeches already.  The Playlist reports that Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock are attached to star in an adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a book which tells the story of a boy looking to discover the mysteries of a key that belonged to his father, who died on 9/11.

Hanks and Bullock would play the boy’s parents in the film, which was written by Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Read the full story

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Toy Story 3 is like the end of a 15-year relationship. It’s a good friend you know the ins-and-outs of, and, just like that, he’s gone. It’s extremely ironic considering the film itself is all about morality. Every Toy Story stands for major obstacles in life as experienced through the eyes of a young boy’s (then young man’s) toys. This new and final chapter is no different. It’s a beautiful farewell.

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Acclaimed German filmmaker Tom Tykwer is currently working on his script adaptation of David Mitchell‘s popular novel Cloud Atlas, a project with six main characters that spans thousands of years and several different genres. Ambitious to say the least, it only makes sense that Tykwer is going after some of the best talent Hollywood currently has, as The Playlist reports that roles in the film were recently offered to Tom Hanks (Toy Story 3), Natalie Portman (Brothers), Halle Berry, James McAvoy, and Ian McKellan.

Tykwer, who directed the kinetic action movie Run Lola Run and, most recently, helmed The International, has always had a taste for the unusual. Although his casting aspirations may seem like an array of random Hollywood stars, some may recall that Portman appeared in Tykwer‘s contribution to Paris, je t’aime. (He helmed the “Faubourg Saint-Denis” segment.)

Considering the star power that The International had – Clive Owen and Naomi Watts starred – one would think that Hanks and company would be completely open to working with Tykwer, especially when taking into account the vast potential of the source material.

Do you think these actors will accept Tykwer’s offer? What did you think of the novel?

Despite a lukewarm performance in two mediocre (at best) films, actor/producer/writer/director Tom Hanks can’t seem to leave the world of codes and mysteries – only this time the codes are of a Larry Crowne, not Dan Brown, variety. As of yesterday, /Film reported that Hanks’ casting choices for his upcoming directorial follow-up to That Thing You Do! were revealed via Twitter. Since it’s initial unveiling, the photo has caused a bit of a stir on the interwebs, mainly due to its cryptic nature, and I’ll admit, it is nice to see Hanks have a bit of online fun with a low-key film like Crowne. That is to say, it’s not like the film is of a summer blockbuster nature that would warrant any kind of viral commotion. /Film’s Brendon Connelly had to do a bit of internet sleuthing to put names to the faces, with the likes of Cedric the Entertainer, George Takei, Nia Vardalos (also co-writer) and Holmes Osborne among them.

UPDATE: Comingsoon has the full report of actors (from left to right in the above picture):

Tom Hanks with Peter Scolari below him
Julia Roberts and Bryan Cranston below her
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama and Jon Seda
Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson
Rami Malek, Malcolm Barrett and Maria Canals Barrera
George Takei, unknown actress and Holmes Osborne
Dale Dye and Bob Stephenson

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Since its release in fall 2004, Green Day‘s rock opera American Idiot has been rumored to be on its way to theater screens. There’s already a play version set to debut on Broadway in less than a month from now on April 20th. Deadline Hollywood (via The Playlist) has learned that Tom Hanks‘ production company Playtone Productions plans to bring the story of the play (and in turn, the album) to film. Keep in mind that they were the ones behind Mamma Mia!, which made an astounding (not just for musicals) $610 million at the box office in summer 2008. Read the full story

Yahoo! Movies has debuted this new poster for Toy Story 3 which is set to open in 3D theaters and Imax 3D on June 18th. The poster looks bright, colorful and fantastically attractive for children and adults alike. Although the previous two films already have a great fanbase, the poster alone looks like it could attract the handful of audiences that have yet to see the Pixar films. The sequel will include the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, John Morris, Michael Keaton and many, many others.

The trailer which was released last year revealed the storyline which begins with Andy leaving for college and his toys getting dumped in a daycare.

What do you think of the poster?

MySpace has debuted the new teaser trailer for the upcoming third entry into the Toy Story saga. The Lee Unkrich-directed animation features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Ned Beatty, Jodi Benson and Michael Keaton. The trailer will be attached to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief this weekend, as well as The Last Airbender trailer we debuted yesterday. Check it out below. Read the full story

Universal Pictures has bought the domestic distribution rights to Larry Crowne, the Playtone and Vendone Pictures title that will re-team Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts who last appeared together in Charlie Wilson’s War. Hanks will direct, something which he hasn’t done since That Thing You Do. He has also written the screenplay with Nia Vardalos, whom he last worked with on My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a Producer. Read the full story

Ron Howard and company managed to suck every ounce of fun out of the Da Vinci Code series with their two film adaptations, most recently Angels and Demons. Now, Variety reports Columbia Pictures is moving ahead with The Lost Symbol. Can they break the streak? Hopefully the newly hired scribe Steven Knight can mix things up a bit. Knight wrote drafts of Shutter Island and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He also scripted Pawn Sacrifice, “which centers on American chess icon Bobby Fischer leading up to his historic world championship match against Boris Spassky, is being produced by Tobey Maguire.” Read the full story