San Diego, U.S.A. — At the San Diego Comic-Con International, the world’s largest pop culture convention, 343 Industries and Microsoft unveiled the official trailer for ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn,’ the landmark live-action digital series based on the best-selling Xbox franchise. The series will be initially distributed worldwide by Machinima, debuting on its new channel, Machinima Prime, as well as on Halo Waypoint, on Oct. 5, 2012.

‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ will unfold through a series of five episodes, setting the stage for the worldwide launch of ‘Halo 4′ on Nov. 6. The official ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ trailer is now available on Machinima Prime and on Halo Waypoint. Machinima will also be releasing exclusive content, backstory and character pieces leading up to the launch of this highly anticipated series.

‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ tells an exciting story of heroism and sacrifice on a scale never before seen in the Halo universe, taking fans back to the beginning of the human and Covenant war and leading into the events of ‘Halo 4.’ Set against the backdrop of a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) military academy, a group of highborn cadets are training to be the next generation of soldiers in the UNSC’s ongoing war with insurrectionists in the outer colonial planets.

Among these cadets, Thomas Laskystruggles with his doubts about this war, and with the burden of expectations he may not be able to carry. As Lasky comes to terms with his potential as a military leader, the terrifying alien alliance known as the Covenant arrives and turns his world upside down. Inspired by the Master Chief, he must decide what it means to be a hero. ‘Halo’ fans who experience Lasky’s thrilling origin story in ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” will be rewarded with special insights into the story of ‘Halo 4′ and the “Halo Infinity Multiplayer” experience.

Directed by Stewart Hendler (‘H+,’ ‘Sorority Row’) and written by Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing(“Smallville,” “Spartacus”), ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ features a diverse cast of established and up-and-coming Hollywood talent, including Tom Green (‘Dance Academy’) as Thomas Lasky, Anna Popplewell (‘The Chronicles of Narnia’) as Chyler Silva, Daniel Cudmore (‘X2,’ ‘X-Men: The Last Stand,’ ‘The Twilight Saga’) as the Master Chief, Ayelet Zurer (‘Angels & Demons,’ ‘Munich’) as Mehaffey, Mike Dopud (‘Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol’) as General Black, Enisha Brewster (‘Footloose’) as April Orenski, Masam Holden (“Grey’s Anatomy,” ‘Elizabethtown’) as Michael ‘Sully’ Sullivan, Osric Chau (’2012′) as JJ Chen, Iain Belcher (“Supernatural”) as Vickers, and Kat De Lieva as Dimah.

“Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” is backed by a top-tier production team led by executive producers Lydia Antonini and Josh Feldman, former Warner Bros. and Playtone executives, respectively. Continuing its involvement with the ‘Halo’ franchise, Legacy Effects (‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Avatar’) is creating specialized costumes and armor, and visual effects are being designed by an award-winning team led by John Sullivan (‘The Pacific’). Production services are provided by Herzog & Co.

An extended, 90-minute Special Edition featuring additional footage and bonus content will be availableNov. 6 in the “Halo 4″ Limited Edition and on on-demand video services.

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That time of year is here again when a new installment of the Twilight Saga is on its way to theatres. This time we are gearing up for Breaking Dawn Part 1. With all the excitement and hype about the movie we are really being dialed into the long awaited Cullen wedding between two of the main characters, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

This wedding has been the talk of news outlets and media for months now — including what the dress is going to look like, and what kind of action we are going to see in the days leading up to the joyous occasion. The wedding has been very secretive from the very beginning.

While filming the crew even went so far as to, as Kristen puts in an interview with ClevverTv “tackle” her after they called cut in every take with a giant covering so that the dress was kept a secret until the premiere.

The wedding itself is filled with a lush arrangement of flowers and beautiful lighting as we see in the newly released trailers, and all of the supporting actors and actresses surrounding the happy couple such as Bella’s parents (Billy Burke and Sarah Clarke). The wedding is the opening of the film and has been long anticipated by the fans from the very beginning of the saga a few years ago as the real turning point of the series.

In previous films Edward’s stipulations for turning Bella was marriage, and now that she has given in to his request, the audience is on the edge of their seats wondering what is going to happen next. Now, if you’ve read the books you already know, but it’s hard to say what will actually happen in the films.

After the wedding we do know, however, that there is going to be a sexy, love-filled honeymoon, with a bit of a twist. Bella becomes pregnant. The hardest scene, Stewart says, was the birthing scene. She loved it, but things got a bit strange at some point or another. She states: “I really took to it.

My favorite thing to play in this was that feral sort of mother,” she explained. “None of it was really as strange as you think it would be. I guess it got strange when things were incredibly unreal, like when we had a fake baby. The real babies were amazing to work with, but suddenly you pick up this goopy, hairy doll, and it just doesn’t really work.”

Pattinson agreed with the strangeness of the scene and adds his not so pleasant experience: “I mean, it’s a little bit difficult to get more surreal than chewing through a placenta.”

The director and cast have given us plenty to look forward to as well after confessing that there was a real transformation in the characters in the film. In an interview, Actor Taylor Lautner explains his feeling about whether or not he looked forward to finally being finished with the filming of the series.

He says: “It’s more so no, I’m not excited to be done. We have a lot fun making these movies together. We all get along great, and we’re like a family by this point, so it’s tough,” he explained. “But yes at the same time, because we get to go off and do other things as actors, and this has been an incredible platform for us.”

This was reflected in all of the actors and actresses on board since the completion of Part 2 that is not due to come to theatres for some time yet. Now that they are all free from twilight they can go on to new projects. Who knows, maybe they will be part of the next phenomenon in film.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/twilight

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Stieg Larsson’s internationally acclaimed novel “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” will, once again, hit the big screen worldwide this winter in a most-anticipated re-make of the enigmatic story – this time by the hand of David Fincher. The green band trailer was released by Sony last week but shortly before, fans and curious spectators were buzzing with excitement over a “leaked”/camera-captured red band trailer – which was subsequently pulled off of youtube. One day later, the US green band version appeared online but the word had already spread – a pitch-perfect example of viral marketing.

Blogger Todd Brown commented on the site twitchfilm.com that “Sony’s handling of the trailer release feels to me like on of the great recent moves in viral marketing – think about it, who announces that they’re putting a red band trailer in theaters but not releasing it then sits quietly for days while a suspiciously high quality version of that same trailer racks up massive traffic and chatter online? It’s a classic case of creating desire by ‘denying’ access.”

Fincher’s version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is expected to turn out notably different from Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 take on the popular book. The Golden Globe-winning director has re-cast Rooney Mara (fresh off The Social Network) as the dark and hard-hitting Lisbeth Salander while Daniel Craig stars as Michael Blomkvist, the journalist who gets tangled up in the web of terror behind a young girl’s disappearance.

The announcement of the American remake made quite a stir initially when it was revealed that the Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who was to pen the American version, had crafted a new ending to the revered work. According to slashfilm.com, “fans of Larsson’s work have been very vocal with their disappointment” and according to an article by Lynn Hirschberg in W Magazine, Fincher’s version does admittedly depart rather dramatically from the book.

“Blomkvist is less promiscuous, Salander is more aggressive, and, most notably, the ending—the resolution of the drama—has been completely changed. This may be sacrilege to some, but Zaillian has improved on Larsson—the script’s ending is more interesting.”

So – should Larsson fans forego the remake?

If you were one of the few who managed to catch a glimpse of the red band trailer – heck, if you’ve had the chance to peek at the official trailer – it does actually look good. Very good.

Draped over a rough and stormy Karen O-cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song, the preview of Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo is a dazzling glimpse into the darkness that looms in Larsson’s universe. The final result will most likely prove darker than what the reserved and delicate Scandinavian storytelling tradition is used to, but like last year’s Let Me In (not to mention a wide array of Spanish, Japanese and Korean horror and thriller films), American cinema has a way of taking something foreign and translating it into Hollywood. For better or for worse.

Some may continue to curse the day Fincher laid eyes on Larsson’s work but if you read the book and saw the 2009 adaptation, another take may not be such a bad idea. The character of Lisbeth Salander is becoming an iconic figure of anti-hero(ine)ism – and a refreshingly grim one I might add. The more interpretations we get of her troubled fictional existence, the deeper we may venture into her mind. Fans of the books will have to admit that the first movie was a good, but superficial, interpretation of the original story’s complexity and suspense. A remake may add a new layer to its visualization.

With a promising trailer out, Dragon Tattoo fans should let go of their reservation and at least give the upcoming adaptation a chance – it won’t be the book and it won’t be the 2009 movie; The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by David Fincher is going to leave a whole new set of marks this December.

Image provided by Naír la jefa

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