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Director Louis Leterrier's man-vs.-Greek-gods epic "Clash of the Titans" grossed a hearty $493 million worldwide earlier this year, thanks in part to the fact that it was the first major release to employ 3-D after "Avatar" revolutionized the format. But despite the allure of 3-D helping to beef up its box-office haul, "Titans" was taken to task by critics for the not-so-seamless nature of the three-dimensional effects, which were added after the movie had already been filmed in 2-D.

MTV News's Rick Marshall caught up with Leterrier in advance of his appearance at Long Beach Comic Con on October 30, and the director spoke frankly about his 3-D remorse and the status of the "Clash of the Titans" sequel.

"Obviously, we would have done it completely differently," he admitted of the 3-D. "I'm not the guy paying for it, so the decision to convert it in 3-D was not mine, but seeing a couple of tests, I was supporting it. My concerns were always about the schedule. Everyone had concerns about it, because we were very aware that with these visual effects, we spent so many weeks perfectly completing them so they don't stick out... They have a tendency to get broken visually when you're converting everything to 3-D. Rotoscoping everything makes everything stick out, therefore making what's not real stick out more. I like my visual effects to be as seamless as possible. Integrated as much as possible. So this was a concern." Read more...

Tags clash of the titans, clash of the titans 2, Jonathan Liebesman, Louis Leterrier

Bryan Singer is climbing up a beanstalk to slay a giant, but he needs a little bit of help. Understandably, his giant slayer of choice is somebody who has already proven himself capable of kicking ass, but the search is by no means over for "Jack The Giant Killer."

Deadline reports that Singer's dark reimagining of the Jack and the Beanstalk fable has officially received the green light from Warner Bros. and New Line. Based on a screenplay written by Singer's "The Usual Suspects" collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, "Jack The Giant Killer" follows a youth caught in the midst of an epic battle between man and giant. Jack is motivated to rescue a beautiful princess, but before he can do that, producers first need to find Jack himself.

"Kick-Ass" star Aaron Johnson is considered the front runner for the role of Jack, having already handled a combat-heavy role as hopeless teen turned superhero Dave Lizewski in Matthew Vaughn's recent comic book adaptation. But beyond his abilities to kick ass, Johnson's worthiness as an actor was further strengthened in playing John Lennon in "Nowhere Boy." Read more...

Tags Aaron Johnson, Brian Singer, Jack the Giant-Killer

The fate of Middle-Earth hangs in the balance — well, its fate in New Zealand, at least — but now we know the names of the fantasy land's greatest champions... and as many had hoped and expected, Martin Freeman is indeed "The Hobbit."

Peter Jackson has officially announced several of the key players cast in his two-part prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, including the previously rumored Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and "MI-5" actor Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshielf, leader of the Company of Dwarves.

"Despite the various rumors and speculation surround this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us," the director said of Freeman's casting. "There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave — exactly like Bilbo, and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit." Read more...

Tags aiden turner, graham mctavish, john callen, mark hadlow, Martin Freeman, peter hambleton, Richard Armitage, rob kazinsky, stephen hunter, the-hobbit

Hope you weren't too excited for that Mel Gibson cameo in "The Hangover 2"... because it's not happening.

Earlier this week, news broke that director Todd Phillips had tapped Gibson to play an eccentric Bangkok tattoo artist in the film, with the part expected to be self-deprecating in the same way that Mike Tyson's was in last year's "The Hangover." But The Wrap, reports that Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures and Phillips confirmed today that Gibson will no longer be appearing in the flick.

"I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of [WB president] Jeff Robinov and his team," Phillips said in a statement. "But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew." Read more...

Tags mel gibson, The Hangover 2, Todd Phillips, zach galifianakis

In the witching hours of Thursday morning, moviegoers emerged shaking and shaken from 20 theaters across North America. They'd just been treated to the first public screenings of "Paranormal Activity 2," and judging by their reactions, the film had terrified them to their very core.

Filmgoers at L.A.'s Arclight Theater told MTV News that the movie was "really scary," "better than the first one" and "ten times scarier than the first one." That's high praise considering last-year's super low-budget original (it cost a reported $11K to make) was considered so terrifying that it because a $107-million grossing hit. Read more...

Tags Paranormal Activity 2

Ladies and gentlemen, suck in your bellies and try not to breathe in for a little while — we're going back to Mars, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is nowhere in sight.

According to Heat Vision, director Len Wiseman's "Total Recall" reboot is set to go before cameras in late March of next year with Neal Moritz and Original Film producing from a script written by Kurt Wimmer. But there's more to the story than a production start: according to the report, the three front runners to replace Schwarzenegger are Colin Farrell, Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender.

Farrell is considered the front runner, and it's not hard to understand why. Having just finished filming "Fright Night" and "Horrible Bosses," Farrell's schedule is considerably less packed than both Hardy and Fassbender's. Read more...

Tags Colin-Farrell, Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, total recall

Attention fans of Billy Joel, New York and concert movies! Today marks a special one-night release/showing of "The Last Play at Shea," a film that revolves around the "intersecting histories" of the landmark baseball stadium, the beloved yet unpredictable team that played there, and music legend Billy Joel.

The film will play tonight, October 21, in over 120 theaters across the country, in major cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Dallas and Washington, D.C., with an extended theatrical release to follow in select theaters in the coming months. Read more...

Tags billy joel, last play at shea

Kevin Smith has never been one to hold anything back. Whether it's speaking his mind in an interview or bashing Southwest Airlines on his Twitter account, the "Chasing Amy" and "Cop Out" director has always been hilariously transparent... which is exactly how he is in "Too Fat For 40," a new two-hour comedy special set to air Saturday, October 23, at 9:30 p.m. on EPIX.

In a no-holds-barred Q&A session with his fans, the always self-deprecating filmmaker, fanboy and Renaissance man spins some yarns and pokes fun at just about everything under the sun: his own rotund figure (thus the special's title), his very public spat with Southwest Airlines and even his "Cop Out" star Bruce Willis.

In the exclusive clip below, Smith recounts his experience trying to "tell Bruce Willis how to act like Bruce Willis." The story is peppered with Smith's Willis imitations and a generous helping of F-bombs... so enjoy!

Will you be watching "Too Fat for 40" this weekend? Tell us in the comments!

Tags bruce willis, kevin smith, too fat for 40

Manners exist to provide some measure of civility in the interactions between human beings... and also to give Russell Brand one more thing to mock. That's exactly what the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Get Him to the Greek" star did when he followed in the hallowed footsteps of Steve Carell, Malin Akerman, M. Night Shyamalan, Will Ferrell and Danny McBride by sitting down with MTV's Josh Horowitz for an envelope-pushing edition of "After Hours."

In addition to teaching Josh how to score points on a first date (when the girl's "lady period of the month is happening"), Brand also doles out pointers on how to succeed at a job interview (man-on-man kissing, naturally) and how to make a marriage work (strawberries are involved). Of course, the always bold comedian makes a point of demonstrating all of this -- otherwise where would his manners be?

What do you think of the latest installment of "After Hours"? Who's been your favorite guest thus far? Tell us in the comments!

Tags After Hours, forgetting sarah marshall, get him to the greek, russell brand, Video

Some "Glee" cast members made a big splash this week on the Internet and with Doug Benson, thanks to a GQ photo shoot. Other pics of note in the feed showed off meetings between Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron, Seth Green and Jar Jar Binks, and Ludacris with a motorcycle.

Elsewhere, Rose McGowan chastised Omar Doom for his Blu-ray watching choices, while Damon Lindelof assessed Jean-Claude Van Damme's heart attack denial and Rich Sommer backed one of his "Mad Men" co-stars to play Superman. Their tweets all appear after the jump, along with a backstage view of Broken Social Scene.

I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is Twitter-Wood for October 21, 2010. Read more...

Tags Arnold Schwarzenegger, damon lindelof, danny masterson, doug benson, rich sommer, Rose McGowan, seth green, Toby Wilkins, Twitter-Wood