"It's nice to be able to come back here and say 'Thank you,' and this shindig is a way of doing it," said Johnny Depp..

Thursday, June 18, Johnny Depp and Co. walked the red carpet for Chicago’s premiere of Public Enemies. The notorious bank robber, John Dillinger, was shot less than 5 miles away at the Lincoln Park theater–nearly 75 years ago.

To promote Public Enemies, Universal is launching one of the first film marketing campaigns to incorporate Facebook Connect and Twitter. Though the gaming is a little light, the social aspect has the potential to be pretty effective.

Bank Raids brings out the 1930’s John Dillinger in everyone by feeding criminal ambition, recruiting gang members and robbing banks. Gameplay generally lasts 2 to 3 minutes – since luck doesn’t last forever – but aspiring thieves can save their progress and come back to finish the job.  Buy guns and cars to make bank jobs easier and increase your notoriety, but beware: the more notorious you get, the lower the chances of successfully pulling off the job.

There hasn’t been much news revolving around Batman 3 as of late, but Batman-On-Film has an article shaking fanboys to their core. It involves Christopher Nolan and whether or not he’ll be at the helm of the next installment.

As you can imagine, Warner Bros. would desperately want Nolan to return – but the deal isn’t a given. Co-writers David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan said they would have to convince Chris again; since The Dark Knight was his first sequel ever, asking the director to make it a trilogy is another task entirely–a task that might nearly be impossible.

With Heroes‘ fifth volume, “Redemption”, set to start shooting next week, the cast has been accommodating a few additions, including a new villain and a new roommate for college-bound Claire (Hayden Panettiere). Thumbs up for a new villain, but a college roommate? Great! Because the whole going-to-college storyline worked so well for Claire last season [sarcasm].

Robert Knepper, best known as bad guy “T-Bag” from Fox’s Prison Break, will continue his villainous streak as Samuel on Heroes; Madeline Zima (a.k.a. the conniving “Mia Lewis” from Showtime’s Californication), will appear in a multi-episode arc as Claire’s edgy, outsider college roommate, Gretchen.

With Up coming out this weekend (May 29th), you might have guessed that director Pete Docter has been doing lots of interviews and other press. In a discussion with Coming Soon, an intriguing slip lead to massive amounts of speculation. We tried to stay out of that mess until some clear(er) details were available. So what exactly is Brave you ask?

Apparently, it’s Pixar’s 2011 winter feature The Bear and the Bow.

Over the extended weekend I had an opportunity to see The Brothers Bloom, and I jumped at it enthusiastically. It’s currently out on limited release since May 15th and goes nationwide on May 29th.  It is the follow-up to director Rian Johnson’s acclaimed Brick and it stars Adrian Brody, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel Weisz. We thought we’d highlight the trailer for you and give this film some of the attention it deserves.

This week, we’ve seen a burst of New Moon propaganda ranging from RPattz’ confirmation of a fourth Twilight movie to an MTV Movie Awards clip premiere and a new poster all to sway teen hearts. Not to be outdone, the wizards at Hogwarts have announced that Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) will also premiere a clip from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the MTV Movie Awards.

In just a few hours, Quentin Tarantino will be debuting his WWII epic drama Inglourious Basterds at Cannes and contend for the prestigious Palme d’Or award. It would be his second (the first being for Pulp Fiction 15 years prior), but extra special because he’s “expecting this to be one of the high moments of [his] career.”

Courtesy of a Nikki Finke exclusive, it seems Marvel has its Thor. Just days after Kenneth Branagh talked about Thor casting delays, the word is Chris Hemsworth will wield the mighty Mjolnir. That’s right, Captain Kirk’s dad in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot is now Marvel’s God of Thunder.

[UPDATE: It seems that Rodriguez will be PRODUCING the movie but not DIRECTING it - and there's a tentative release date: July 7, 2010]

Remember back about two months ago when we said Predator-remake was in the works and quite possibly the worst idea ever? Today, we retract those statements… Well, maybe not entirely, but at least a little.

Why? Because Robert Rodriguez is taking the reigns not only as a producer, but also as director!

Last week, we reported Evan Spiliotopoulos was set to write Wanted 2–the other comic book movie. Yeah, you read that right, the writer who wrote Pooh’s Heffalump Movie and The Nutty Professor is writing the sequel to last year’s just-above-average summer “blockbuster.” Mark Millar, graphic novel creator and producer of the sequel, tried to quiet concerns but the Spiliotopoulos’ repertoire speaks for itself.

Millar, opting to create a story with producers instead of writing another comic book, had a number of comments on his message board regarding the issue. He had this to say in response:

With X-Men Origins: Wolverine a little under three weeks from release, we here at Screen Rant thought an overview of all Marvel properties (and possibilities) might be in order. Though the new independent studio is now producing their own films, solely distributed by Paramount Pictures, there are a number of iconic characters still residing at Hollywood’s other major studios.

Now that the film division of Marvel Entertainment exists, we’ve seen questions around the inter-webs about certain properties and copyrights concerning top-tier Marvel characters. Many readers have been calling for Wolverine to cameo in the expected 2012 film Avengers, but there’s a little problem with that potential geekgasm.

A Deadpool project has been in the air since David S. Goyer (writer of Blade-Trilogy, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight) did a script while Blade was in production, but now with X-Men Origins: Wolverine a few weeks from release, buzz of a solo flick has ramped up. Deadpool creator Robert Liefeld recently chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.

If you caught last night’s Heroes (and didn’t skip through the commercials), you would’ve seen glimpses of Universal Pictures’ political thriller, State of Play. Based on a BBC Television mini-series, the film revolves around a team of investigative reporters work with a police detective to solve the murder of a research assistant/mistress to potential presidential candidate, U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins. Filled with drama and conspiracy, the film features a number of great actors including: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren.

With the U.S. release of Dragonball approaching, MTV Splash Page has exclusives that will make die-hard fans cringe. Hints of how adaptation was handled are here, it doesn’t look good.

Already released in various places around the globe, the marketing team keeps peddling this movie despite the negative press. The last time we checked, we had 5 character-centric TV spots and a name change but this time we get a little closer with actual scenes. Full of cheesy dialog, terrible acting and bad fight scenes, the three clips are excruciating to watch. You have been warned.

Summit Entertainment has grabbed the rights to a biography by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, entitled The Secret LIfe of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero. To capitalize on the magician’s name, the studio intends to make an action thriller – potentially nothing like the real performer.

Against the views of magic historians, the controversial book painted Houdini as a spy for early British Intelligence as well as being asked to be an adviser to Czar Nicholas II’s court in Russia. Though the book has some details right, he did investigate and debunk psychics and mediums, it also suggests his death was part of a spiritual movement as payback.

There’s been some recent buzz surrounding The Green Hornet, what with Seth Rogen out doing junkets for Observe & Report and Monster Vs. Aliens. Some of the major questions have been addressed, like how much comedy will there be; what will Michel Gondry’s take on the character look like and what role does Stephen Chow still have.

Via SCI FI Wire, Rogen said the film will be both comedy and action because they’re not “mutually exclusive.” That’s good to hear, but Green Hornet was always more camp than comedy; does Rogen get that?

Along with Nikki Finke’s list of potential candidates for Thor, she also had a small blip about Natalie Portman in the lead for a female role.

Excuse me for a second… (was your mind blown too?).

The actress, whose career begun with films like Léon: The Professional and the Star Wars Prequels, might have a role in Thor? That just upped the ante for this project.

Portman, who I want to speculate is a fangirl in secret, brings a level of acting chops and big-name status to Thor that was much needed. Along with the aforementioned prequels, she’s also played the role of Evey in V for Vendetta, bringing out the humility in the masked anarchist.

We’ve stumbled upon three new X-Men Origins: Wolverine images. Don’t worry, they don’t give away any details about the movie and you aren’t missing anything. Hugh Jackman is as ripped as ever, and like the French poster, always angry.

XMenFilms has three exclusive promo photos, though they look like a photo shoot for Genre magazine. He shows off the claws and the redneck t-shirt, but comes off as unnecessarily upset–maybe he’s seen the first cut of the film. Why so angry, Wolvie?

Last night, as if it was some global event at 10PM ET, the MTV Movie Blog unveiled the art and official title for the second chapter in the Twilight series. From this point forward, it shall be addressed as “The Twilight Saga’s New Moon” – although the new art leaves out the “’s.”

The name and art for the second installment includes some changes but retains much of the concept from the first – there’s nothing to get too excited about here. Fans will likely enjoy the same font though it has changed to an orange tint. There is also a subtle crescent moon and the release date of Nov. 20, 2009.

See it for yourself below.

Now that the vampire phenomenon has completely infiltrated my list of media streams, I must stand and be accounted for. I am NOT a “Twilighter,” and I cannot fathom how anyone could be.

Within the screaming masses of America’s teen hearts, a personal attachtment to these characters has vice-gripped our youth. Thousands of our sisters, daughters and friends are choosing sides in an unknown divide. Twilight is being hailed as the next great young adult series with a twist of fantasy.

But there’s something particularly odd about it altogether, and it isn’t just the undead.

Another week, another Twilight tidbit. It’s becoming a tired trend, but this piece of news might rain on the vampire parade. Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke recently talked to Entertainment Weekly about her “detailed on-set journal” that she kept throughout the filming of Twilight, but she also mentions why she turned down the sequel, New Moon.

It seems like every week we’re getting new casting rumors for New Moon, and this week is no different. The Twilight sequel is looking to add another 90210-er to the cast. AnnaLynne McCord is up for the role of Heidi, a “fisher” who attracts humans to be slaughtered.

Though Heidi isn’t a major character in the book, she fits the role of “bait” rather well. Bella describes her as having “exceptional, unforgettable” beauty with stunning legs, long hair and violet eyes. She’s said to use her looks to bring humans for the Volturi vampires to eat. The role is more of a cameo, E! Online sources say, but doesn’t she fit the bill?

Concerning The Crow, someone had to finally ask what Alex Proyas thinks of a remake. With Stephen Norrington already signed to write and direct the reboot, which apparently isn’t going to be “gloriously gothic or stylized,” someone had to ask the original director what he thought.

JoBlo.com sat down with Proyas for a Knowing interview and ask about the recent announcement. He had this to say:

“I think it’s kind of premature, really… It’s seems like ‘The Crow’ is only like 15 years old maybe. It’s seems, early. (laughs) I always thought that remakes, you shouldn’t be given license to remake something for at least 25 years. I don’t know. It just seems kind of odd to me. Just re-release the original movie.”

The newest issue of Empire, is out this Friday and you can expect an extra special dose of Watchmen. With March 6 fast approaching, Watchmen’s marketing campaign is in full force and Empire has an exclusive character-by-character look at the cast in beautiful black-and-white.

These images come courtesy of official photographer on the set of Watchmen, Clay Enos. He has produced a companion entitled Watchmen: Portraits, which is a 192-page black-and-white collection of every character as well as every crew member in the production.

Last weekend, we told you that it looked like Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet was dead. After the news was reported by several sites and sources, Rogen has showed up to clear the air on his project.

In an e-mail exchange with HitFix, Rogen offered some details about production and current development.

“‘The Green Hornet’ has many people working for it, including production designers, costume designers and many conceptual artists, office staff, etc… [The studio heads] have every intention on making it, and assuming we’re able to hire a new director in the upcoming weeks, which seems like a distinct possibilty, it should still hit the release date.”

[UPDATE: Sorry folks, looks like the poster below is fan-made. Bummer, it looks better than the actual posters. Here's the proof. Thanks to "Wasabi Steak" for pointing it out. - Vic ]

After the wildly “artistic” poster and the fittingly-ignored original, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li has decided to release yet another to rally support and generate buzz. But there’s just one problem, it’s boring and fails as well.

This latest poster features still characters (some unidentified), and an ancient scroll feel. The change in slogan is a good replacement for the weak tag line: “Some Fight for Power. Some Fight for Us.” The new phrases are closer to what it should be – after all this is (supposedly) one character’s story.

So the inevitable has happened, as we mentioned previously, Keanu Reeves will assume the role of Spike Spiegel in a live-action Cowboy Bebop. Although this is a Sci-Fi mission for Fox, there are some signs of intelligent life.

From the Japanese anime, Reeves will star as Spike, hurling through space aboard the “Bebop.” The time is 2071 and the story follows a group of bounty hunters through their numerous adventures. No official details on which episode they’ll adapt from, but Reeves has said the plot would focus on a fictional drug “Red Eye.” A writer by the name of Peter Craig has the difficult task of writing the screenplay, but he will have some good help.

On the red carpet of last night’s Golden Globes, MTV News caught up with Aaron Eckhart and brought up his portrayal of Harvey “Two-Face” Dent. Apart from his past rhetoric, he had something new to say. And that “something new” could be something big for the chapter after The Dark Knight.

[Spoiler Alert: If you're one of the three people that haven't seen this movie yet, do not read any further. If you are, I'm sorry. And if I could suggest a small piece of advice, go see the movie!]

Contrary to his previous interviews and statements, Eckhart had a different answer to the Two-Face question. He said the following after quite a bit of laughing and a few “knowing” smiles.

In an IESB interview for The Unborn, director/writer David Goyer says all DC properties are currently on hold for the time being in regards to film development. This comes as confirmation of what we’ve previously suspected.

When probed about Supermax and Justice League, Goyer had this to say.

“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause at the moment.”

Including the two movies mentioned, Superman and Green Lantern would also be on hold. With an across the board freeze, Warner Bros. may be looking to create a cohesive DC Universe.