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by Kevin Mahadeo

For every great movie series, there's a great story behind it. By that we of course mean a story set prior to the events of the original film. The almighty prequel. Countless movies give birth to stories of their own before-time, from the recently announced "Oz, the Great and Powerful" to the infamous "Star Wars" prequelogy.

They'll never stop coming either. We've seen plenty through the years, and there are plenty more in the works, prequel films just begging to find their way onto the silver screen. And yet, for all of that, there are still some mighty big holes in the prequel catalog. After the jump you'll find five examples that are ripe for Hollywood's picking. Read more...

Tags Oz The Great and Powerful

The word on the virtual street is that director Sam Mendes or Adam Shankman -- one or the other -- may soon be heading to the magical land of Oz for a prequel treatment of L. Frank Baum's classic tale, "The Wizard of Oz." They're both at the top of the list of potential directors for producer Joe Roth and Disney. Also a possibility is Robert Downey Jr., who would star as the Wizard in the days before he came to parcel out internal organs in scroll form from his curtained hideout in Emerald City. "Oz, The Great and Powerful" -- formerly "Brick" -- comes from a script by Mitchell Kapner. For more on this story, check out the full report on MTV.

Tags adam shankman, Oz The Great and Powerful, robert downey jr., sam mendes, the wizard of oz

Today is Administrative Professionals Day, a time when we celebrate all of the hard work put in by administrative assistants, receptionists and other key front-office positions. There's a lengthy history in film of great receptionists, men and women who weather abuse, juggle unpredictable schedules and occasionally go above and beyond, all in the name of pleasing their bosses in one way or another. So I'm here to take a moment to recognize these brave fictional souls who put up with so much and frequently get so little in return. Read more...

MTV recently learned that the soundtrack for "Eclipse," the third chapter in the "Twilight" series, hits stores on June 8. What we don't know is which bands/musicians will be featured.

A number of artists are either rumored or have expressed hope in being included: Adam Lambert, Muse, Care Bears on Fire, Paramore and others. So we've put together this little poll: who would you most like to see? There are any number of possibilities. Vampire Weekend's music doesn't fit, but it would be a clever add given the series' focus. And My Chemical Romance haven't popped up on either of the previous soundtracks, but they've got an album coming up and their sound is more in keeping with what's come before. So what do you think, readers?

MTV Newsroom editor Kyle Anderson's contribution? Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." I dig.

Tags eclipse, Twilight

Sandwiched between legendary actor Robert De Niro's memorable roles in "The Untouchables" and "Goodfellas" is director Martin Brest's 1988 comedy, "Midnight Run." He plays a bounty hunter charged with bringing in a slimy accountant (Charles Grodin) who embezzled money from a mob boss. A buddy comedy at heart, the initially contentious relationship morphs into a friendship by the story's conclusion.

It was reported last month that a sequel was gearing up, with De Niro closely involved and Grodin not returning. When MTV's Josh Horowitz spoke with De Niro last week on the eve of the Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off tonight, he got an update on where things are at.

"Yes, we're gonna do, hopefully, a sequel," he said. "The script is pretty good. I don't think [Martin Brest] would direct it-- we're figuring that out now." Things are moving right along it seems. The more interesting bit came next, when Josh asked about a younger character coming in to replace Grodin's accountant. Read more...

Tags Midnight Run, robert de niro, Video

Episode Title: "The Last Recruit"

Written By: Paul Zbyszewski & Graham Roland

Story: Hurley (Jorge Garcia) has led Jack (Matthew Fox) and friends directly into the lion's den — better known as Smocke's (Terry O'Quinn) camp. The artist occasionally known as The Smoke Monster does his best to woo Jack over to the dark side with surprisingly honest revelations, but his hand is forced when Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) fires the first shots of war.

In the wake of an explosive incident, Smocke sets Sayid (Naveen Andrews) after Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) while Sawyer (Josh Holloway) hatches a plan of his own to get Kate (Evangline Lily) and the others off of the Island for good. Meanwhile, the players of the Sideways Universe continue to come together, with Jack's hospital seeming to serve as a central location. Read more...

Tags Daniel Dae Kim, Emilie de Ravin, Evangeline Lily, Henry Ian Cusick, Josh Holloway, lost, Matthew Fox, Naveen Andrews, Terry O'Quinn, Yunjin Kim

Hip-hop and jazz innovator Guru, who was best known as half of the duo Gang Starr, shocked a noticeable contingent in Twitter-Wood today as news of his death at the age of 43 traveled around. Ice-T, Andy Milonakis and Mark Webber were among those posting condolences.

Kevin Spacey had some good fortune to tweet about though. Apparently he's been waiting out travel delays over the last week caused by the volcano in Iceland, but finally got mobile again. You can check out what he had to say after the jump along with how "Toy Story 3" won't be like the next iPhone and what Chris Kattan thinks Al-Qaeda's favorite movie is in Twitter-Wood for April 20th, 2010. Read more...

Tags andy milonakis, brett ratner, chris kattan, david faustino, Fred Durst, ice-t, kevin spacey, lee unkrich, Mark Webber, paul feig, Twitter-Wood

-- "Adventureland" writer-director Greg Mottola is searching for some "Important Artifacts" and has certainly found two solid actors — Natalie Portman and Brad Pitt — for the romantic comedy. "Artifacts" is based on a novel written by Leanne Shapton. [Risky Business]

-- Larry David isn't through with making you feel awkward, as the "Seinfeld" co-creator is bringing an eighth season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to HBO. After the "Seinfeld" reunion, I'm very curious to see where the show goes next. [Variety] Read more...

Tags brad pitt, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girl With The Red Riding Hood, Important Artifacts, John-Malkovich, larry david, Men Are From Mars, natalie portman, Project X, shiloh fernandez, the dailies, Transofmers 3, Treasure Island, Women Are From Venus

People, let me tell you about Nicolas Cage's best friend: It’s a warm-hearted '70s television show that he’ll love until the end. But will the veteran superstar ever get to play Eddie’s father on the big-screen?

"I think it would be a great movie," Cage told us this week, giving MTV a rare update on “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” a pet project he’s owned the rights to for several years but never been able to get off the ground. “I really enjoyed Bill Bixby in the TV series.” Read more...

Tags Bill Bixby, Courtship of Eddie's Father, nicolas cage, Video

There's an old saying that two heads are better than one, and that's certainly the case in a wide variety of movie types ranging from the romantic comedy to the buddy cop flick. But without two solid leading roles, these movies simply wouldn't be as special. Just try and think about "Back to the Future" with only Michael J. Fox — it doesn't work!

It's much the same for a variety of "stoner comedies," movies like "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" and "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back." Those movies are only as good as the partnerships between the two main characters.

Today is April 20th, and as such, it seems like some people have stoner comedies on the brain. In honor of that, here are five of our favorite fictional stoner duos of all time! Read more...

Tags Cheech Marin, Half Baked, harold and kumar, Jay and Silent Bob, the big lebowski, Tommy Chong