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As "American Idol" continues its latest search on Thursday evening for the next big thing in pop culture, both contestants and the show's producers might want to take time out to peep the new trailer for "Soul Surfer." Why? Well, aside from showcasing a bit of shark-vs-human-arm action that's reason enough to warrant a viewing, the flick co-stars fourth-season "Idol" winner Carrie Underwood in her feature film debut.

Open your eyes, "Idol" wannabes: this is what a true superstar looks like. But Underwood is easing into Hollywood, taking a backseat in "Soul Surfer" to AnnaSophia Robb, who stars as Bethany Hamilton, the real-life wave-rider who lost her left arm in a vicious shark attack. Debuting over at EW.com, the trailer doesn't shy away from spotlighting Hamilton's attack (though we doubt the film will be as unsparing in its focus as was "127 Hours," which fixated on James Franco's self-amputation for what seemed like, oh, forever). The shark chomp-in-question features screaming, shaky camerawork, and a lot of foamy water; alas, there's no blood. Underwood plays a church youth leader who doles out inspirational lines like, "I don't know why terrible things happen to us sometimes, but I have to believe something good is going to come out of this." Read more...

Tags annasophia robb, carrie underwood, Soul Surfer

They've got Icarus-inspired high-tops and T-shirts that warn, "Oscar Host-in-Training." What they don't seem to have, unfortunately, is a clue. Welcome to the lives of James Franco and Anne Hathaway in the run up to their joint hosting gig of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards (or, at least, their lives as presented in one of two new promos for the award show).

The promo casts Franco and Hathaway as sweetly naive newbies attempting to prepare for the worst possible live-show disasters: a potentially breast-revealing wardrobe malfunction, a mid-dance mishap that leaves Hathaway flying across the stage. Another ad shows them, perhaps less creatively, working on their promotional lines. Are they effective ads? Do the 15-second spots make us want to tune into the proceedings on February 27? Because, for better or worse, it won't just be the quality of the program and its winners that establish the show's legacy but the number of viewers who tune to watch it all unfold. Read more...

Tags alec baldwin, anne hathaway, hugh jackman, james franco, Jon Stewart, Oscars, Oscars 2011, steve martin

Beefs with unions, endless delays, a famed director jumping ship, the bankruptcy filing of its studio, complaints from hardcore fans about the time-shifting casting of famous characters and, now, emergency surgery for its creative mastermind/director. Is “The Hobbit” the latest Hollywood epic to be plagued by the cinematic boogeyman?

There’s a long tradition of major pictures falling prey to an endless succession of bad luck, bizarre accidents and a seeming black cloud hanging over them. Peter Jackson’s two-part prequel to his billion-dollar “Lord of the Rings” franchise appears to be the latest entry in the club you never want to join. Production on the first film in the prequel pair was delayed this week when Jackson required emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer.

Thankfully, he’s resting now and is expected to make a full, fast recovery. But following the departure last year of director Guillermo del Toro and the myriad other issues that have hit the project, we wondered where “The Hobbit” fits in the pantheon of spooked flicks?

“Green Hornet”
The path to the multiplex for Seth Rogen’s superhero movie was twistier than the plot of “Inception.” In addition to a parade of stars and directors who came and went beginning in the late 1990s, Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg finally got it revved up again in 2007, but then faced immediate backlash from fans who were worried about Rogen’s casting. Then there were multiple push backs on the release date, Nicholas Cage dropping out as the main villain over his insistence on using a Jamaican accent, and a last minute conversion to 3-D that forced the release date back again. Read more...

Tags apocalypse now, brazil, green hornet, the crow, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the-hobbit, Twilight Zone, waterworld

Earlier this week, Paul Giamatti was at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to support his film, "Win Win," a title that also aptly describes another flick the recent Golden Globe-winner has on his horizon: "Cosmopolis."

Why is "Win Win" so fitting a description of Giamatti's participation in "Cosmopolis"? Well, he gets work with director David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, of course!

After Giamatti, who stood with his "Win Win" costar Bobby Cannavale, admitted he was "not sure" when production on "Cosmopolis" would come together, there was one thing that was certain: he'd get to work with the "dreamiest man alive."

Read more...

Tags bobby cannavale, Casting Call, Cosmopolis, david cronenberg, golden globes 2011, kiera knightley, Marion Cotillard, paul giamatti, robert pattinson, sundance film festival 2011, Twilight, Video

So much for the actor playing Roland Deschain in "The Dark Tower" adaptation being released last week. When MTV caught up with producer Brian Grazer after the Golden Globes, he said we would hear some casting announcements "within a week." But "within a week" has come and gone, and we still only have rumors.

Today, two different movie news sites announced two different actors being in the lead for the role, and interestingly enough, neither of them is fan-favorite Viggo Mortensen. Deadline got the exclusive that Javier Bardem, who was already rumored for the role, is the front-runner for the Gunslinger, while New York Post says the role is Christian Bale's to lose.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact both of these actors are current Oscar nominees, but it sounds like whichever man is chosen for the role will be a good selection.

Read more...

Tags brian grazer, christian bale, dark tower, Ghita Tazi, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Carpenter, ron howard, The Dark Tower

Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, is without a doubt the hottest new star to come out of Sundance this year. Thanks to two films of hers that were screened at the festival — "Silent House" (which deserves to earn Olsen an MTV Movie Award nomination for Scared-As-S**t Performance) and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (which became one of Sundance's most talked-about flicks) — she's now being touted as an actress to look out for in Hollywood and has already been cast in Rodrigo Cortes' next film "Red Lights."

All the hoopla is definitely not for nothing. "Silent House" is seemingly shot in a single take, though as even Olsen hinted to MTV News, the entire movie is not comprised of only one shot. Rather, the film unfolds in real time, with the movie comprised of ultra-long takes — requiring extensive preparation and the necessity to begin again if anything happened to screw it up — and strung together to give the impression of one unbroken take.

"It's one take, so that in itself is exhausting, but then having to do the same take over and over and over again, and then certain cues get messed up when you're a certain time into the shot, and then you have to go back at the beginning, and it was really exhausting, but that's what was exciting about it," Olsen said. "To try to do a horror film without the ability to have cuts and jump scares and what makes you jump is all in one shot, and I think that's an interesting way to tell a story."

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Tags elizabeth olsen, silent house

San Diego's most delightful news team is getting back together, but instead of reporting on pregnant pandas while wearing butterfly collars, the guys will be slinging paper in good ol' Scranton, Pennsylvania. Yep, word broke yesterday that Will Ferrell and Steve Carell — co-stars of 2004's "Anchorman" — will be sharing the screen once again, this time on Carell's home turf, otherwise known as NBC's "Office."

Word is that Ferrell will be appearing for a four-episode arc as a branch manager at Dunder Mifflin whose inappropriateness is rivaled only by that of Carell's Michael Scott. Ferrell, of course, has mastered the art of awkward, uncomfortable, beyond-all-reason behavior. Here are five roles we're hoping the comedian draws on for his turn on "The Office."

Allen Gamble ("The Other Guys")
Ferrell played a cop opposite Mark Wahlberg in one of last year's highest-grossing comedies, and their odd-couple interactions gave the movie its soul. His performance was perfectly calibrated for "The Office": excruciating, hilarious, and leaving viewers with the thought, "Man, I'm glad I don't work with anyone like that!"

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Tags steve carell, the office, will ferrell

FROM RAP FIX: Whether it’s a pipe dream or lofty aspiration, rapper, businessman and budding thespian 50 Cent wants to be viewed as a serious actor one day. Never one to set his sights low, the man born Curtis Jackson shared with MTV News last week at the Sundance Film Festival his Hollywood goals. When asked which actor's career he’d like to emulate, the G-Unit honcho’s choice was one of the most celebrated actors of all time.

"Well, Sidney Poitier. I’d like to, you know, be with the top, you know," a smiling 50 Cent said. "Shoot for the stars if you would do that."

Whether or not Fif has the chops to hang with the pioneering Oscar-winning actor from the Bahamas is up for debate, but there is an area where the "Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ " star may have some hope — comedy.

Continue reading "50 Cent Wants An Acting Career Like Sidney Poitier" at RapFix.MTV.com.

Tags 50 cent, Sidney Poitier

While James Franco might be the man out getting all the attention, his younger brother Dave has started to make a name for himself as well. The younger Franco (age 24 to James' 32) has starred in "Scrubs," "Charlie St. Cloud" and Noah Baumbach's latest, "Greenberg," in addition to the Funny or Die video series, "Acting with James Franco." And as Dave told us earlier this month, the brothers are also writing a script — in which they plan to star — that will have them playing versions of themselves and which will take place over the winter holidays in their hometown of Palo Alto, California.

So when MTV caught up with James at the Sundance Film Festival, we couldn't resist asking how close that project is to becoming a reality.

"If we do anything with that, that'll be down the road," Franco said.

But it wouldn't be the first time he incorporated his family into his projects.

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Tags dave franco, james franco

MTV Movies' pop culture radar rarely crosses into the realm of American politics. When it comes to the passing of laws, the jostling for influence, the occasional plunge into corruption, our coverage usually stays strictly in matters of fiction: "Frost/Nixon," "W," the vastly underrated but actually enlightening Eddie Murphy vehicle, "The Distinguished Gentleman."

Wednesday, however, brought us the opportunity to dip our digital pen into real-world political ink. Following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address the previous evening — during which he emphasized the importance of "winning the future" — former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin took to Fox News with a cutting retort.

"His theme last night was WTF, winning the future," she said during an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "I thought, okay, that acronym — spot on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech."

Now, when it comes to WTF moments, MTV knows more than a thing or two. For two straight years, the Movie Awards has put forth an entire category devoted to honoring America's best WTF moments. Does Obama's speech measure up? Was Palin overstating the case? Take a look at some of MTV's past WTF honorees and let us know whose side you're on.

Jumping in the Poop Shed: Ayush Mahesh Khedekar in "Slumdog Millionaire"
"Slumdog" may have been the feel-good movie of 2008, but this particular scene was all sorts of wrong. The young boy worships a pop culture icon so dearly, he's willing to plunge into a festering pit of poop to meet him. How many Palin and Obama supporters would fight through such stomach-churning obstacles for the opportunity to say, "OMG, I love you?"

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Tags barack obama, MTV Movie Awards, sarah palin