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Sam Worthington had a helluva 2009. He was the bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming return to mankind's bleak, Skynet-run future in "Terminator Salvation." Now he's a name on everyone's lips for his starring role in James Cameron's "Avatar," which as of yesterday passed "Titanic" as the top-grossing worldwide release of all-time.

Worthington isn't about to let that cred fade away either; we'll next see him in March -- or April, if yesterday's 3-D news pans out -- as Perseus in "Clash of the Titans." And now there's talk that he may also be getting involved with the latest pop culture phenomenon: vampires. Dracula, to be precise. Read more...

Tags alex proyas, dracula year zero, sam worthington

"Sherlock Holmes" hit theaters at a difficult moment last year. It came out only a week after all-time box office gross record-holder "Avatar" did, and on Christmas Day no less. James Cameron's sci-fi epic has dominated the box office since December 18, and "Holmes" was overlooked by many as a result.

Well, not that many. The $90 million-budgeted action/mystery has earned almost $400 million so far worldwide, with a home video release still to come. That's successful by any estimation, and more than enough to warrant the heavily forecasted sequel, and soon. The problem is, "Holmes" director Guy Ritchie is kind of busy with another high-profile project: an adaptation of the DC Comics anti-hero "Lobo." Well... not anymore, it seems. Read more...

Tags guy ritchie, Lobo, sherlock holmes, Sherlock Holmes 2

Regular Twitter-Wood readers know that I am fond of both "Toy Story 3" and Don Rickles, so I couldn't very well pass up linking to Lee Unkrich's TwitPic tweets today from the voice-recording studio. Both Rickles and Tim Allen showed up at the mics and on Unkrich's feed.

Elsewhere, Damon Lindelof, joined most of the Twitterverse in wondering about Apple's new tablet release, which is expected to be unveiled tomorrow. It appears to have even displaced next week's "Lost" premier atop his list of interests for the week. Those tweets, along with a shot of Hogwarts Castle from Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter and more will appear below as soon as you click through to Twitter-Wood for January 26, 2010. Read more...

Tags chris gorham, damon lindelof, joe lynch, lee unkrich, rob zombie, tom felton

This week you're probably not interested in what's opening in theaters, because like me you're too preoccupied with what's going on at Sundance. That's where the real action is for independent cinema right now.

So I'm doing something a little different this week, spotlighting three special films playing at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. As a special treat to non-festival goers, you have the opportunity to watch each film in your own home. It doesn't matter how far you are from the goings-on in Park City, Utah, just so long as your cable provider carries the VOD channel Sundance Selects.

Although I'm concentrating on this one specific service, let me remind you that other 2010 Sundance films are available to rent and stream on YouTube as well. Read more...

Tags 7 Days, Daddy Longlegs, The Shock Doctrine

The Smoke Monster is both the single greatest threat to the Island's inhabitants and the single greatest mystery on "Lost." Danielle Rousseau called it a security system, the Others have no name for it, and John Locke — like the rest of us — just wants to know what it is and how it does what it does.

As the final season looms, it's a sure bet that viewers will learn more about the Smoke Monster, especially if the popular theory that the Man in Black is the Monster is proven to be true. For now, we can at least focus upon what we've witnessed of the creature so far.

After the jump, we've got the rundown on eight facts we know about the Smoke Monster on "Lost." Stay tuned to MTV for the rest of this week and into the season premiere, as we'll be running a series of features pegged directly to the show's trademark number sequence: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Needless to say, spoilers for season five and earlier lie ahead. Read more...

Tags lost, lost in numbers

Last week we learned that, despite director Louis Leterrier's statements to the contrary, Warner Bros was going ahead with tests to determine whether or not a 3-D release for "Clash of the Titans" was a viable option. Those tests have apparently gone well. Very well. In fact, WB is so encouraged by what they're seeing that things are now in motion for another of their big franchises.

The news now is that both parts of the final installment of "Harry Potter" -- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" -- will hit theaters in 3-D, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As you might imagine, "Clash" is also going to get the 3-D release that many were hoping for. There's not been an official announcement as of yet, but THR's Heat Vision blog expects "Clash" to be confirmed by the week's end and "Potter" soon afterwards. Read more...

Tags clash of the titans, harry potter and the deathly hallows

Two of the hottest folks at the festival this year are undoubtedly the stars of "Blue Valentine," Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The duo portray a couple whose marriage begins to unravel, and the drama is receiving high praise here in Park City. So when the two came through the MTV studio this week, we were quick to ask them to snap a self-portrait.

You can see the result of that photo session below, and then click here for the rest of our photo booth, including Kristen Stewart, James Franco, Orlando Bloom, Mark Ruffalo, Malin Akerman and many more.

Tags Blue Valentine, michelle williams, Photo, Ryan Gosling

Both stars have been around for a long time and given us a lot of movies we love; in 1994, they finally came together, resulting in the instant classic “Pulp Fiction.” Now, John Travolta and Bruce Willis are teaming once again for the new action movie “From Paris With Love” – the only difference is that, this time around, Bruce probably isn’t aware of it.

“John is great, because he likes playing with his image,” Pierre Morel, director of "From Paris," "Taken" and the upcoming "Dune" adaptation explained to us recently. “He likes doing different characters every time.” Read more...

Tags bruce willis, dune, From Paris With Love, john travolta, jonathan rhys meyers, Pierre Morel, Taken

by Lindsay Soll

They're wrapped up in cozy jackets, knit scarves and most likely covered in remnants of snow, but that hasn't stopped the celebrities at the Sundance Film Festival from taking a seat in MTV's Sundance Photo Booth. Remember when stars used to take self portraits when they stopped by "TRL"? Well we're keeping that tradition alive with a booth set up in Park City.

So many big names have already come through (including Ben Affleck, Malin Akerman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt), but below are two of MTV's personal favorites: "Welcome to the Rileys" and "The Runaways" star Kristen Stewart and "Howl" star James Franco. The booth allowed these two to show off their personality, so check out their full contribution to our virtual scrapbook by clicking on the image to browse through our ever-growing Sundance Photo Booth flipbook.

Tags ben affleck, james franco, joseph gordon-levitt, Kristen-Stewart, Malin Akerman

Did you know there's NASCAR for kids? Well, that's not exactly what it is, but there is a pee-wee version of race car driving involving go-karts, for those youths hoping to grow up to become the next Jimmie Johnson. A documentary titled "Racing Dreams," about three competitors in this World Karting Association, premiered at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary. And now Variety reports that the film, which was produced by Dwayne Johnson, has been tapped for a dramatized treatment by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.

The "Star Trek" writer-producers will not adapt the documentary themselves, as they've got a lot of other stuff on their plate. Like the "Trek" sequel. Instead they'll be overseeing the project, with both Johnson and his wife Dany Garcia, also his partner on the original "Racing Dreams," returning to the material as executive producers. DreamWorks, which is distributing the adaptation, will reportedly hire a writer for the film this week. Read more...

Tags alex kurtzman, Racing Dreams, Roberto Orci