MTV Movies Blog ›

Director Davis Guggenheim's documentary "Waiting for Superman" sheds light on the failings of the American public education system, but as we mentioned earlier this week, not every school is a failure — so long as they're rooted in fiction, that is.

Likewise, there are many students that have passed through the halls of movie high schools that students today can look up to and admire for a whole variety of reasons. After the jump, check out five of our favorite students in film history! Read more...

Tags Waiting for Superman

If ever there were two popular Hollywood properties that would end up crossing over, I must admit, I never expected them to be the Jason Bourne series and "Little Miss Sunshine." But that's exactly how The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog is describing Warner Bros.'s latest acquisition, "Family Getaway."

The script was the first sale for newcomers Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer. "We both went into shock and are still shock," Friedman said to Heat Vision. "It's a dream come true." Read more...

Tags Family Getaway, jason bourne, Little Miss Sunshine, Steve Carrell

"Buried," which opens in limited release today before going wide on October 8, is an unconventional film, to say the least. It's 94 minutes in a box with Ryan Reynolds. There are no cutaways, no flashbacks, nothing like that.

Even more unusual is the manner in which the film was shot, which is to say chronologically. Most movies come together only after the scenes which make up the story are all shot out of sequence and then assembled into a cohesive whole. With "Buried," director Rodrigo Cortes simply went in order. "That was a help, because we needed to know where we came from and where we were going," he explained in a recent interview with MTV. "I've never shot chronologically, but in this case it was possible because we only had one location. Maybe this is the last time I will do it, but I took advantage this time to try to do it this way. It was really, really helpful." Read more...

Tags Buried, Rodrigo Cortes, ryan reynolds

Angelina Jolie has finally started casting for her Bosnian war love epic, and has found her lead actress in the form of Zana Marjanovic, according to the Associated Press. Marjanovic will play a Bosnian woman who is love with a Serbian man in the middle of the Bosnian war.

When she previously talked about the film, Jolie said she would only cast actors in her directorial debut that are from the Bosnian region. Marjanovic is a native Bosnian, and is currently en route to Hungary to prepare for the film, which will begin filming later this year in Hungary and Bosnia. Read more...

Tags Angelina-Jolie, Zana Marjanovic

Unlike the house plant Natalie Portman planted in the soil at the end of "The Professional," a sequel to that 1994 action flick has utterly failed to take root.

Years have passed, director Luc Besson has gone on record as refusing to helm a second installment, and nothing seems likely to change. Portman herself told us recently that she's even declined to read the script.

"I have never read it because Luc won't direct it himself, and so I'm only interested if he [directs]," she said while at the Toronto Film Festival promoting "Black Swan." Read more...

Tags Luc Besson, natalie portman, the professional

Despite being resigned to filming his upcoming film "God of Carnage" overseas in France, Roman Polanski had recruited some of Hollywood's best to star in the upcoming adaptation of Yasmina Reza's Tony-winning play. Christoph Waltz, Matt Dillon, Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster have been cast as film's four leads.

There's no news on which characters from the play each of the actors will play, but they will end up being cast in the roles of two married couples who meet after their children get in a fight at school. The story is set in Brooklyn, though since Polanski is not allowed in the United States he is filming it in Paris for 12 weeks starting in February. Read more...

Tags Christoph Waltz, God of Carnage, jodie foster, Kate Winslet, Matt Dillon, roman polanski

by Max Evry

Why do we crave sequels? Is it to revisit characters we fell in love with the first time around? To see a property improved upon by new talent? Before the "Godfather"'s and "Star Wars"' of this world, there was a time when sequels were frowned upon in Hollywood. Now they are the kneejerk reaction to nearly any film that makes bank, usually within two or three years of the original’s release. Sometimes, though, it takes a little longer…

Oliver Stone’s "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" is part of a tradition of late sequels, in this case a whopping 23 years after the 1987 original, which won Michael Douglas an Oscar for his portrayal of financial shark Gordon Gekko and put Stone firmly on the map. It is a rare sequel which brings back both the original stars (including a hilarious Charlie Sheen cameo) and production team that made the first such a classic. It also introduces new characters, such as Shia LaBeouf’s eager protégé and Josh Brolin’s ruthless corporate raider.

Pulling old franchises out of mothballs and throwing them back in the multiplex is starting to become a habit with studios, and with the looming release of the "Wall Street" sequel we take a look back at some of the best and worst late sequels, ponder what went right and wrong, and peer into the future where some of our long-cherished series' will be back on the big screen. Read more...

Tags Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Easily one of the most anticipated upcoming comedies is Todd Phillips' sequel to last year's hit "The Hangover." MTV caught up with star Zach Galifianakis at the Toronto International Film Festival, and couldn’t resist asking about "The Hangover 2," which started shooting in a few weeks.

"It is good. I actually think this script is better than the first movie," said Galifianakis. "It's a little bit daunting to probably try to top it, but we'll try, or at least even it out. Expectations are high, and that makes me nervous." Read more...

Tags Between Two Ferns, Ed Helms, The Hangover 2, Todd Phillips, zach galifianakis

Just because J.J. Abrams' "Super 8" is moving ahead with filming doesn't mean it's too late to add an extra cast member or two. He already had Dakota Fanning's little sister Elle, Kyle Chandler from NBC's "Friday Night Lights" and Ron Eldard from "Black Hawk Down" locked down, but it looks like singer, 78violet member and actress AJ Michalka will be a part of the production as well.

Read more...

Tags aj michalka

If you're a "Veronica Mars" fan itching for the series to make a much deserved comeback, fret not — you've got solid company in the form of Kristen Bell herself. The actress has long championed for a theatrical resurrection of the beloved television franchise, going so far as to recently declare that she would self-finance a "Veronica Mars" movie if she had to.

The Hollywood Reporter quotes Bell as having said that she "absolutely would" finance a "Veronica Mars" movie on her own, but that's not the biggest obstacle facing the franchise — with or without Bell's own money, the property is owned by Warner Bros., and they've shown no signs of moving forward with a movie.

"It's a business and the sad truth is that ... they're not going to relinquish the rights to something and let us do it," explained Bell. "We really have to do it with them because they own it." Read more...

Tags kristen bell, veronica mars