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

According to a report by Pagiba, Tom Hanks and his production company Playtone Productions is developing a movie based on the history of The Comedy Store. The film is apparently based of William Knoedelseder’s nonfiction book, I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy’s Golden Era. The book as well as the movie focuses around 1978 and Mitzi Shore’s policy of not paying comics for their stand-up performances. Mitzi Shore for those that are unfamiliar is the long time owner of The Comedy Store. No other news is available at this time about the project. Read the full story

Well, look at that. Only a few days after Mike Fleming joins the Deadline team, New York-style, and he is already providing major scoops. He reports that Tom Hanks has written a comedy for himself and Julia Roberts. He will also be directing the pic, titled Larry Crowne. The duo recently starred together in Mike Nichols‘ Charlie Wilson’s War, which brought in $119 million worldwide. Fleming was told “Hanks will play the title character, a man forced to reinvent himself and find a new career as he navigates the second act of his life.” This will be the first directing gig in almost 15 years for Hanks, since That Thing You Do! Read the full story

A new trailer for the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks produced miniseries The Pacific has been released on HBO.

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A story at /Film says that Steven Spielberg revealed in a press release today that he will be directing a remake of the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film Harvey.  Having finished principal photography on Tintin, many assumed his next project would be his proposed Lincoln biopic or an Oldboy remake, but he has chosen this as his next project, to be co-distributed by 20th Century Fox and Dremaworks.  Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper has written the movie’s script.

The story of a mild-mannered man who claims to see a 6-foot tall rabbit, Harvey was originally a stage playon Broadway and adapted twice for television, one of which according to IMDb starred Stewart again in the role of Elwood P. Dowd.  The same story claims that the movie will begin shooting as soon as early 2010.  Already there seem to be rumors of Tom Hanks taking over the role, making this the fourth collaboration between him and Spielberg, after Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if You Can, and The Terminal.

I don’t know if I’m warm to the idea of this.  I’ve never seen the original film, but I would rather see Spielberg do Lincoln or even the Oldboy remake with Will Smith.  That being said, I always have confidence in him to make a good film, so I shouldn’t remain excessively pessimistic about this just yet.

What do you think of Spielberg directing a Harvey remake?

(Co-Written by Dan Mecca & Merrill Barr)

It only seems appropriate to offer a take on what is now the most popular genre in Hollywood – the remake. Not that the remake hasn’t always been popular. Just look at how many times Little Women has been made. A lot.

That being said, remakes have never been as prolific (or as potentially profitable) as they are right now. One can chalk this up as unoriginality or business savvy or both, but the fact remains the age of the remake is upon us and it has only just begin to rear it’s ugly, repetitive head.

With that said, we here at The Film Stage have attempted to break down the remake genre and decipher the gems and germs that have come out of it.

See the lists >>

Talking to horror site ShockTilYouDrop (via CinemaBlend) today, writer and director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist) discussed the process of getting his adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s 1953 science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451.  Both the movie and the book are set in a dystopian future where books are outlawed and burned, and how the main protagonist, Guy Montag, struggles with his occupation as a book burner in a society void of free thinking.

Darabont has been trying to adapt the book for years now, but has faced obstacles in getting the film made.  Tom Hanks was set to star, re-teaming the duo from The Green Mile .  But due to prior commitments he had to drop, even though Darabont has said “It needs to be somebody like [Hanks] who has the ability to trigger a greenlight but is also the right guy for the part. It’s a narrow target. It’s a short list of people.”  He also said that when he would take it to studios, even if the studio heads responded positively to the material, they felt it would be too mature or too difficult for modern audiences (a similar problem faced by Watchmen throughout it’s extensive production).  If production is further stalled, he may move on for the time being to his next movie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Long Walk (written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman).

Stories like these help further illustrate the problems inherent in the studio systems today.  That a movie like Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen directed by Michael Bay can get greenlit the weekend of its predecessors release two years prior, but an adaptation of an acclaimed novel to be directed by Frank Darabont can’t find funding is sickening.  Darabont is one of the most skilled people making movies today, having already made Shawshank, The Green Mile, and The Mist (I’ll forgive The Majestic), and his vision for Fahrenheit 451 seems like it would be a fascinating experience.  Hopefully people will come to their senses, and, as they do occasionally, give smart, subversive material by great filmmakers a chance to break through into the mainstream.

What do you think of Frank Darabont’s career, and would you want him to make a Fahrenheit 451 movie?