At one point, you would have needed a subscription to the Hollywood trades to get the latest casting announcements for your favorite films. Now, all you need is a Twitter account.

Bryan Singer, who is returning to directing the X-Men franchise with X-Men: Days of Future Past, has tweeted that Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart have joined that film’s cast.

McKellen and Stewart have played Magneto and Professor Xavier for Singer in X-Men and X2: X-Men United and for Brett Ratner in X-Men: The Last Stand. The roles were played by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy in X-Men: First Class, the film of which Days of Future Past is a sequel to. Fassbender and McAvoy have also been confirmed by Singer as returning from that film, along with Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast).

It seems logical that the casting of Stewart and McKellen confirms that the film version of Days of Future Past will partly mirror comic book version of the story. The comic book dealt with a dystopian future where a politician’s assassination by mutant extremists results in the government creating mutant-hunting robots called Sentinels. These robots ended up killing most of the super powered residents of the world. The few survivors come up with a last-ditch plan to save what’s left of the world–a powerful telepath would send the consciousness of one of the remaining survivors back in time into a younger version of themselves in the hopes of preventing the assassination and keep the dark future from ever coming into being.

Of course, some changes are to be expected. In the comics, the “past” was the present day and the “future” was the, well, future. Here, the “past” will be the 1960s of the first film, and “future” will be the present day of the previous X-films. The telepath in question in the comics was Rachel Summers, daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, a character not as yet introduced in the films franchise (and most likely will never be). And the mutant survivor sent back was Kitty Pryde, who in the film franchise would only be in her 20s in what appears to be the future they are using, and wasn’t even alive in the 60s. And the politician killed was Senator Robert Kelly, who already made his entrance and exit in the first X-Men.

Another complication is how X-Men: The Last Stand ended for Magneto and Professor X. Consider this a SPOILER WARNING for that film (although for many of you, that film was probably spoiled when Ratner signed on to direct it.).

At the end of The Last Stand, Xavier was seemingly killed by Jean Grey by essentially being disintegrated. And Magneto was given the cure that left him powerless. While the final scene of the film hinted that Magneto was getting his powers back, the button scene indicated that Xavier was able to transfer his consciousness into a younger man with a serious brain injury. It is highly unlikely this person resembled Patrick Stewart in any way, shape or form.

These are things that need to be addressed if Magneto and Professor X are to be active in the future segments of Days of Future Past. Any fan of time travel fiction can tell you numerous ways where this can be answered, so it shouldn’t be that big of a problem. But the answer hopefully will be more than “that film never existed.”

Singer ended his tweet with “more to come,” which teases that there could be more members of the original films’ cast making an appearance, a rumor that has been spread for quite a long time.

Michael Fassbender will headline an adaptation of the Assassin’s Creed video game series.

If the film follows the games, Fassbender will be playing bartender Desmond Miles, a descendent of a line of assassins and who is forcibly regressed through his past lives by Abstergo Industries to find information on the locations of several powerful artifacts that they wish to acquire. The games each take place during various historical conflicts, but there is no word as to whether the movie will stick to one time period or have the Desmond character traveling to multiple ones.

Ubisoft will be producing the film in partnership with financers New Regency.

Fassbender is pretty much the first creative signed to the project. It has no attached director or screenwriter. But Obisoft wants to have the film in front of cameras by next summer so they’ll have to lock down those positions fairly quickly.

Via Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision.

While most of us would probably wish that director Ridley Scott was diving deep into pre-production on the Blade Runner follow up that was announced a few months back, that project hasn’t even begun to be written. And while the screenplay for that gets worked on by which ever writer Scott eventually hires, the director will be working on The Counselor, a legal thriller from novelist Cormac McCarthy.

McCarthy wrote the script on spec, and it generated some excitement when it was put up for sale, with Scott becoming quickly attached to it. Normally, Scott is prone to a long period of re-writing on his projects, but Deadline is reporting that the film “might well be traveling on the fastest track toward production of any film in recent memory” with a possible May 1st production start. Deadline is also reporting that a “group of top actors” have all read the script and are clamoring to be part of the production. The only name mentioned in the article is Michael Fassbender.

And while I am anxious to see what Scott has in mind for his Blade Runner follow up, any new film from the director is something to look forward to. And teamed with a powerful storyteller like McCarthy on screenplay only amplifies that anticipation.

The Hollywood Reporter is announcing that 20th Century Fox has “closed deals” with director Matthew Vaughn his cast from X-Men: First Class to return for its sequel.

The 2011 film would be considered a disappointment if you just look at domestic grosses ($146,408,305 against a $160 million budget), but it more than made its money back overseas (to the tune of $207,215,819 more).

The report takes pains to point out that the two actors most likely to bolt from the franchise–Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence–have definitely signed on to return. Both expressed interest in reprising their roles from the first film in the past past, but Fassbender, who is just coming out of a year where he was in serious contention for an Oscar nomination, and Lawrence, who has a potentially lucrative franchise in The Hunger Games on deck, could just as easily decided to move on to other projects. It’s good to seem them back, especially Fassbender. I couldn’t see a sequel working without him as Magneto.

As to what the plot would be about, Vaughn spoke about what he would like from a sequel before the first film was even in theaters:

 ”I’ve got some ideas for the opening for the next film.  I thought it would be fun to open with the Kennedy Assassination, and we reveal that the magic bullet was controlled by Magneto.  That would explain the physics of it, and we see that he’s pissed off because Kennedy took all the credit for saving the world and mutants weren’t even mentioned.  And we could go from there, and I’ve got some fun ideas about what other mutants to bring in.  I don’t want to tempt fate, though.  If the film’s a hit, of course I’d be interested.  I really enjoyed making it.”

Of course, not everything is rosy with the sequel. Simon Kinberg, who wrote the less than well received X-Men: Last Stand, will be writing the sequel, and one assumes that January Jones, the weakest link in the original cast, will also be returning as Emma Frost. I don’t know if I can stomach another film of her “acting.”

Check back for more news on this sequel as it becomes availiable.

It’s that time of year again. Tomorrow, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees for the 84st Annual Academy Awards.

Every year there are snubs and surprises, thrills and controversies. There is no way of knowing who will be nominated, especially in a year when the Best Picture nominees could be 5 films, or ten films, or any number in between.  We here at FilmBuffOnLine, who believe the day nominations are announced should be a National holiday, are going to try and handicap the process for you.

We will try to tell you, in the most non-committal way possible, who we think are Almost Certain to get a nomination, who Definite May Be nominated, and whose nomination is a Outside Shot in the major categories (the four acting categories, Best Director, and Best Picture). We are trying to cover all bases, but don’t come to us if you lose money on your Oscar Nomination pool.

Best Actor:

Almost Certain:

George Clooney, The Descendants; Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Definite Maybe:

Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method or Shame; Leonardo DiCaprio, J Edgar; Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Outside Shot:

Demián Bichir, A Better Life; Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love, Drive, or The Ides of March; Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Clooney and Dujardin have won the most hardware this year, which not only make them a lock to be nominated, but also likely one of them will be taking home the award.

Fassbender has been great in a lot of films (listing X-Men: First Class was a bit of a joke, he’ll most likely get the nod for Shame, but I think he gave an Oscar worthy performance in that film) so he is practically a lock for a nomination. The next two are about 50/50 of getting in. The Academy seems to have something against DiCaprio, and his performance as J. Edgar Hoover while not horrible (he got a lot of nods for other awards for it), was not amazing enough to overcome that film’s lackluster performance critically or financially. Brad Pitt eked out a couple of wins along the way (most notably, the New York and Boston critics), and while Moneyball was well received, I don’t see it as 100% Oscar material.

If DiCaprio and Pitt don’t get nominated, there are worthy choices waiting to take a spot. Bichir was great in a small film with a limited release that opened over the summer. These all work against him, but he is deserving of a nod. Gosling, like Fassbender, was great in a lot of films this year, and has been nominated before, but none of the films he was in seem to pass Oscar muster. Oldman was flat out amazing in Tinker Tailor, but his subtle performance might be lost on Oscar voters.

Best Actress

Almost Certain:

Viola Davis, The Help;  Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady; Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin; Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Definite Maybe:

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Outside Shot:

Bérénice Bejo, The Artist; Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Charlize Theron, Young Adult

On paper, this seems to be the category that seems to have the least wiggle room. Davis, Streep, Close, Swinton and Williams are all in the type of roles that Oscar voters seem to trip over giving nominations to. But in every round of nominations, there are bound to be surprises, and this category is ripe for one.

Bejo and Olsen have the best chance of breaking in, in my opinion. But Bejo is getting pushed for Best Supporting Actress instead of Lead, even though she essentially had a lead role. Olsen got good notices in her role, but suffers from the same “too early/too small handicap” that Bichir has. Theron has received nods for Best Actress in the Golden Globes (where there are nominations for comedy and drama) and the Critic’ Choice Awards (where there are six nominees). She has an Oscar pedigree, but Young Adult could very well be seen as less than Oscar worthy.

Best Supporting Actor:

Almost Certain:

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn; Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Definite Maybe:

Albert Brooks, Drive; Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Outside Shot:

Nick Nolte, Warrior; Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method; Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes or The Adventures of Tintin; Armie Hammer, J Edgar; Tom Hardy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Plummer has won the Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice award Supporting Actor, making him a lock for an  Oscar nomination, if not the actual award. Branagh has been consistently nominated for his apt portrayal of Laurence Olivier, so he could get the nod as well. Slightly less certain but highly possible are nomination of two actors best known for comedy, Brooks and Hill, for playing against type. After that, place your bets. Will Nolte’s “sports mentor” role make the grade? Will Mortensen’s change of pace role as Sigmund Freud catch the Academy’s attention? Will the Academy make a statement and move towards the future by giving Serkis the nod for his superior motion-capture work? Does the Academy like J Edgar more than the critics and the general public do, thereby swing the nod to Hammer? Will Hardy represent Tinker Tailor‘s stellar cast with a nomination? Will it be another cast member? Or will the film be ignored?

Best Supporting Actress

Almost Certain:

Octavia Spencer, The Help; Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

Definite Maybe:

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Outside Shot:

Jessica Chastain, The Help or Take Shelter; Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs; Carey Mulligan, Shame; Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

What I said for Christopher Plummer above also applies to Spencer. The only chance Bejo doesn’t get nominated here is if she gets nominated for Best Actress. But that race is crowded so I think she’ll land here. She is deserving.

The only thing keeping me from making McCarthy almost certain is the Academy’s apparent hatred of the comedy. They do not like to give nominations from comedies, no matter how good the role or film is. This time, though, I think they’ll make an exception.

After that, pick two. Chastain and Woodley might have a slight advantage, but McTeer has a good chance and Mulligan could sneak in.

Best Director:

Almost Certain:

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist; Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Definite Maybe:

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris;  Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Outside Shot:

David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Steven Spielberg, War Horse or The Adventures of Tintin; Tate Taylor, The Help

Hazanavicius is definitely most deserving and Scorsese won the Golden Globe, so they should both be nominated. After that, Payne is almost a lock, as is Allen, due to the number of nominations they received. After that, well, ot depends. Fincher got a Directors Guild nomination, Malick has been on a lot of west coast critics awards list, which might be a barometer of how the Academy will go. Miller might ride the surprising accolades Moneyball is getting this award season with a nomination. And months ago, it looked like it wouldn’t be a question if Spielberg would be nominated, but for which film. Now, here he is, a long shot for any nomination at all. Weird. And Taylor has to be consider taking into account the number of great performance that came from that film.

Best Picture:

Almost Certain:

The Artist; The Descendants

Definite Maybe:

Hugo; The Help ; Midnight in Paris

Outside Chance:

The Tree of Life; War Horse; Moneyball; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Adventures of Tintin; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or just about any other film out there that has a miniscule amount of buzz.

Not having a definite number of nominees beforehand really plays havoc with the prognosticating business. I tried to pick out the five most likely films to get nominated, but with the possibility of five more, well, it could be any film of a certain stature.

So, what do you think? Am I on to something, or totally wrong? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

1. Underworld Awakening (Sony/Screen Gems, 3,078 Theaters, 88 Minutes, Rated R): I don’t know if it’s a good sign or a bad sign that Kate Beckinsale is back in this franchise. Well, it’s good in the sense that I always like her in the role, bad in the sense that it’s a bit of a step back for her, isn’t it?

Anyhoo, Beckinsale returns as Selene, the vampire warrior, who is awaken to find that both the Vampires and the Lycans (werewolves) are threat with annihilation by humans. As Selene fights for both races’ survival, she comes across a half-vampire/half-lycan child who just might be her daughter.

The film looks like just what you’d expect from the franchise: Beckinsale in skin-tight leather, kicking ass. It won’t be Shakepeare, but if your taste run toward the goth action film, it should be entertaining.

2. Red Tails (Fox, 2,512 Theaters, 120 Minutes, Rated PG-13): The ads might say this film is “from George Lucas,” but he didn’t write or direct it. His only credit is as executive producer. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute.

Lucas started developing the project, based on the real-life Tuskegee Airmen, back in the late 1980s. It was intended to open in the early 1990s, but fears amongst the Hollywood studios about financing a big budget film with a predominantly black cast made the road the the screen an arduous one, even for a producer of Lucas’ stature.

But the film is finally hitting screens. Lucas hired an African-American director (Anthony Hemmingway) and African-American writers (John Ridley, who wrote one of my most favorite comics of the last decade in The American Way, and Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks fame). I don’t see why all audiences wouldn’t be interested in heroes fight evil, no matter what color the heroes are. I hope audiences prove that to be true this weekend.

3. Haywire (Relativity, 2,439 Theaters, 93 Minutes, Rated R): It’s not easy for any athlete to make the jump to film stardom. For every Dwayne Johnson or Jim Brown, there are twice as many Kurt Thomases and Brian Bosworths.  Gina Carrano faces an even more difficlt challenge, being a female MMA fighter trying to break into the world of action films, a world not all that receptive to women with loads of acting experience.

But few athletes could ask for a better introduction to the world of movies than Carrano got. She is paired with an A-list, Oscar winning director in Steven Soderbergh, who surrounded her with a great cast that features Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, and Bill Paxton. Add to that a revenge plot that almost always works (a black ops agent is framed and betrayed and seeks revenge) and you have a pretty solid film.

The trailer was awesome, the kind that made me wish the film started right then. I don’t know if it will open well, especially considering there is another action film with a female protagonist opening the same day, but it’s not for lack of trying.

X-Men: First Class is a film that works on many levels. In some aspects, it might be the best X-film since X2: X-Men United (which isn’t saying much, I know). There are a lot of things they get right in the film and the stuff they get wrong aren’t fatal.

The film details not only the first class of mutant students trained by Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), but also the first meeting, eventually friendship, and breaking apart of Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto (Michael Fassbender).

Set during the early 1960s when the Cold War was at its height and mutants were just discovering there were others out them like themselves, a mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) wants to jump start a nuclear war to rid the world of all those pesky humans so mutants like him can take over. He comes up with a great idea to do this–start the Cuban Missile Crisis. Xavier, who believes in peaceful coexistence with humans, wants to stop him. Lehnsherr, who doesn’t necessarily disagree with Shaw’s motives, wants him dead for an entirely different reason.

The main focus is the Xavier and Magneto storyline. It gets most of the attention and some fine acting from both McAvoy and Fassbender. Where the film excels is presenting the characters and the ideologies in a multidimensional light. You want  for Lehnsherr to get his vengeance but yet again are put off by his methods. Xavier’s longing for belonging is seen as admirable but also a bit demeaning to those mutants that do not really fit in. Neither point of view is presented as being wholly wrong or totally right. There are flaws and assets to both sides.

Mystique gets more screen time in this film than she has been in other installments, and, as played by Jennifer Lawrence, is more well rounded than the lackey she is presented as in the other films. Lawrence portrays Mystique as a woman whose blue skin has irreparably damaged her self esteem. So, she goes looking for this esteem in the men she meets, be it her adoptive brother (yes, you read that right) Xavier, the geeky Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) or, finally, Lehnsherr. Credit to Lawrence to bringing out the vulnerability in the character and making it believable.

Bacon hams it up just enough as Shaw to make his outlandish, Bond-worthy threat believable. January Jones as Emma Frost, however, performs her part as if she was a sorority sister with a headache. Emma Frost is one of the more complex and interesting characters in the comics, but you’d never know it from Jones’ somnambulistic performance. As for the rest of the cast, the mutants on the side of good are given enough challenges to overcome to have mini-character arcs but aren’t fleshed out much further, and the evil mutants follow in the long tradition of the franchise as being lackeys, nothing more, nothing less.

The film also features a lot of humor, a cameo or two, and a satisfying chunk of action to keep you entertained.

But all in all, the film is a good entry into the franchise. You will be left with questions afterwards about certain contradictions this film bring up in relation to the other films (most notably, how could there be a late 20s/early 30s Emma Frost here AND a teenage Emma Frost in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is set decades later). But still, X-fans will have a satisfying franchise to follow until the present day  version of the mythos gets its act back together.

Normally, I’m not much of a fan of just posting a magazine cover if they have some new movie photo. But the part of me that like retro-60s cool, the part that is really jonesing to see the period-set X-Men: First Class, really likes the three alternative covers that Britain’s Total Film magazine will be sporting for their latest issue. (via CineWebRadio)

As you can see, one features January Jones as Emma Frost on a Vogue-styled cover, James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier on a cover that riffs the iconic look of Life magazine and Michale Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto on a Vanity Fair-esque cover. You can click on each one below for a larger look.

When I first saw the two new posters released by Twentieth Century Fox for their upcoming X-Men: First Class, I dismissed them on first glance as nothing more than something put together by an overly-enthusiastic, if under-talented, fanboy. You see a lot of these online all the time.

But when I realized that they were actual posters released by Fox, I was flabbergasted. These are undoubtedly the ugliest and most incompetently designed posters I have seen from a major studio since the poorly executed “Julia Roberts’ head on some other woman’s body” poster for Pretty Woman.

I understand what the advertising is trying to do here, teasing potential ticket buyers with the promise of the backstory of Professor Xavier and the villain Magneto from the original X-Men trilogy. And if they were just the black silhouettes on the white background, they would look really great. It’s a very visually arresting look. But how could the ham-fisted addition of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender’s faces in the middle of their respective silhouette have been approved by a variety of marketing and design professionals?

I can only surmise that the order came down from some studio head without a design background and who has the rest of the studio in such fear of them that no one was able to point out how crappy these looked.

That studio executive should be fired immediately.

And if it wasn’t some rule-by-fear suit who pushed these ugly posters through Fox’s marketing department and out into the world but the actual work of the marketing department itself, then they should be the ones looking for new employment.

Now I’ll admit that I am no design expert, but my ex-wife worked in the field and I managed to pick up a few things along the way. But even without any formalized or informal training, one can see that these posters are about as aesthetically unappealing as it can get. They’re just two images dumped willy-nilly on top of each other with no thought as to composition or how the eye would track across them. Rather than excite someone for the film, this sloppy, unprofessional work gives the impression that Fox doesn’t really care about the film. And if they can’t be bothered to put some effort into promoting the film, why should I be bothered to see it?

It’s no secret that Twentieth Century Fox has long been mishandling the X-Men franchise. Their rush to get X-Men 3 into theaters was fueled more by hurt egos over director Bryan Singer moving on to do Superman Returns than it had to do with anything else. X-Men Origins: Wolverine did not try to tell a solid, compelling story so much as it pandered to the fan boy audience. It may have been a success at the box office, despite the studio crying that a workprint of the film leaked online was going to financially hurt them, but Wolverine was a failure as a film. Most recently, many people, me included, were disappointed and puzzled that the studio didn’t spring to advertise X-Men: First Class during the Super Bowl.

Up until now I have been cautiously optimistic about X-Men: First Class, mostly due to director Matthew Vaughn being on the project and the decision to set the film in the early 1960s. I’m also excited at the idea of someone like Black Swan‘s Darren Aronofsky directing a new Wolverine film for Fox. These are some interesting and bold choices that could lead to some pretty good to even great films. We just have to hope that Fox management doesn’t screw things up. Further.

Are we seeing a planned tsunami of public relations for the upcoming X-Men: First Class this week or is studio Twentieth Century Fox engaging in some fast damage control.It turns out that the first cast photo which hit online Tuesday was something that director Matthew Vaughn hadn’t approved. As he told SlashFilm-

I freaked out on them yesterday. I don’t know where the hell that came from. I don’t think it’s a Fox image. It’s not a pre-approved image. When I found out, I said, what the fuck is this shit, and Fox is running around trying to figure out what happened as well. I agree. It’s like a bad photoshop, which maybe it was by someone. It didn’t reflect the movie. I was shocked when I saw it.

To compensate, Vaughn passed along two new pictures from the film. One of Michael Fassbender as Magneto in the villain’s classic helmet and one of James McAvoy as Professor Xavier. (Click on any picture in this article for a bigger version.)

Vaughn also stated perhaps hinted at the plot when he described the film’s 1960s setting when he said, “Imagine the Cuban Missile crisis and discovering that mutants exist, both at the same time.” Intriguing.

And Vaughn wasn’t the only one working the PR phones yesterday. Producer Bryan Singer gave Aint It Cool News‘ Harry Knowles a call to briefly chat about the movie and to send along the first teaser poster to be released.

Meanwhile, the LA Times yesterday ran a set visit piece that features three new photos from the film. As we can see below, we get another look at most of the cast, albeit in their civilian attire this time, a picture of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Professor Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto that works to draw a parallel to similar scenes shared between Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the original X-Men trilogy and our first look at Kevin Bacon as the mysterious Hellfire Club’s Sebastian Shaw having a conversation with January Jones’s Emma Frost in a leather cat suit that looks like the white version of the one worn by Diana Rigg on the 1960s British series The Avengers.

And finally, MSN has released a higher resolution look at the Vaughn-hated cast photo from earlier in the week. The banner photo has been split into two parts.