Critics and fans are split down the middle about the new Superman reboot, "Man of Steel," but one thing's for sure: The final battle between Supes and General Zod wreaks absolute havoc on Metropolis.

A disaster expert named Charles Watson, of Watson Technical Consulting (WTC), went to impressive lengths to calculate the damage their battle would have actually caused, in terms of human and financial loss. According to BuzzFeed, WTC estimates the total cost of the destruction at $2 trillion, with property damage alone accounting for approximately $700 billion, compared to the $55 billion that resulted from 9/11. Even more staggering is that figure doesn't factor in loss of life or the long-term economic impact.

WTC puts the body count at 129,000, with over 250,000 missing and nearly a million injured.

The budget for all this simulated damage? A relatively paltry $225 million. So far, "Man of Steel" has brought in over $201 million worldwide -- and a sequel is already in the works.

​[via BuzzFeed]

It's been a hot minute since Disney's given us a heroine to root for, but next year's "Frozen" should do the trick. Not to be confused with the horror movie also called "Frozen," this animated flick is loosely based on the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen.

Kristen Bell voices Anna, a "fearless optimist" who travels far and wide to find her snowy sister Elsa. Elsa, voiced by actress and singer Idina Menzel, is the Snow Queen, and she's done her icy thing all over the kingdom of Arendelle. (You can see concept art for Arendelle over at the Disney Tumblr. Yes, Disney has a Tumblr!)

This teaser provides a sneak peek at Olaf, a snowman voiced by Josh Gad ("The Internship," "Ice Age: Continental Drift"), and a good-natured, doglike reindeer named Sven. Sven's the sidekick of Kristoff, a rough and tough mountain dude who comes along on Anna's journey. (To protect her from ferocious creatures like Olaf, obviously.) "Glee"'s Jonathan Groff lends his voice to Kristoff, so we can expect quite a bit of singing.


Jennifer Lee, who co-wrote the script for "Wreck-It Ralph," is sharing directorial duties with Chris Buck. She also worked on the screenplay.

Disney's success with projects like "The Princess and the Frog" and "Tangled" has made the young female audience an attractive target demographic for its winter offerings. "Frozen," which play in 3D, glides into theaters on November 27, just in time for the holiday season.

[via Deadline]

"Veronica Mars" and Zach Braff, what hast thou wrought? Now James Franco wants in on the crowdfunding party, with the actor turning to Indiegogo.com to finance a micro-budget feature.

The "This Is the End" star wants to raise $500,000 so the crew of filmmakers he's gathered can adapt his book of short stories, "Palo Alto." The plan is to split the project into a trilogy of feature films ("Memoria," "Killing Animals," and "Yosemite"), with Vladimir Bourdeau, Bruce Thierry Cheung, Nina Ljeti, and Gabriel Demestree behind the camera. Interestingly enough, Franco has already collaborated with some of these people; Cheung was one of many directors of "Tar," in which Franco played poet C.K. Williams, and Ljeti has appeared in several movies that Franco has worked on.

According to the Indiegogo page for this project, all profits will go to a charitable organization called Art of Elysium. Franco writes, "Working with Art of Elysium has given me the opportunity to share my creativity with hospitalized children and give them the gift of creativity." For a mere $450, you can get a personalized voicemail from Franco, plus things like a signed high school yearbook photo of the star. Shelling out $5,000 will get you a "cast credit role," which includes "star treatment" like hair and makeup. And for a $7,000 donation, you can get an original Franco painting. (If you've seen "This Is The End," you've gotten a taste of Franco's artistic prowess.)

Granted, this is a small project for up-and-coming filmmakers that would be difficult to drum up funding for, but is this worth your cold hard cash? It's not clear if these are people that Franco met in grad school or if they were his students, but either way, it would be hard for these films to get off the ground without his name attached.

[via Indiegogo h/t THR]

Jennifer Lopez will be heading to Chile this fall to film "The 33," a drama about the 33 miners who were trapped underground for 69 traumatic days in 2010, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Dapper Spanish actor Antonio Banderas will be playing Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to surface; nicknamed Super Mario, he became the face of the miners and the "breakout" media star of the group. Martin Sheen is on board to play a father of one of the miners, and Rodrigo Santoro will play the first miner to be rescued. "The 33" will be produced by Mike Medavoy ("Black Swan," "Shutter Island," "All the King's Men"), who was the first to snag the rights to the miners' story.

The movie, from a script by Mikko Alanne and Jose Rivera, will depict the struggles of the trapped miners, their worried families, and the people organizing the rescue. The miners contributed to the script, providing new details about their ordeal, including the 17 days they were trapped underground without contact.

It's been a while since Jennifer Lopez has taken on a dramatic role, though the triple-threat star's performance in "Selena" -- as the titular murdered singer-songwriter -- was arguably what put her on the map.

"The 33" will be directed by Patricia Riggen, who's known for independent films centered on women, such as her 2007 debut "Under the Same Moon" and "Girl in Progress" (with Eva Mendes).

[via THR]

It's clear who's the boss in this scene from Joseph Gordon-Levitt's upcoming film "Don Jon."

Previously known as "Don Jon's Addiction," Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut is a romantic comedy about a guido named Don Jon who's faced with a terrible dilemma: his smokin' hot girlfriend Barbara, played by a New Jersey-accented Scarlett Johansson, or his single dude life, which includes copious amounts of porn and working out. What's a guy to do? In this case, Don Jon (played by JGL himself) brings his lady home for dinner with his parents. Don's a family man, so you know this is serious stuff!

You can see in this clip -- released on Father's Day -- that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. While it seems Don's mom is pleased to get some extra help in the kitchen, Tony Danza's Jon Sr. is very impressed with his son's girlfriend's assets, and he's not shy about sharing it. If watching Danza and a pumped-up JGL together doesn't get you psyched for this movie, what will?

NSFW warning: Danza uses some explicit language to describe ScarJo's beauty.


"Don Jon" will hold you closer, tiny dancer, on September 27.

"World War Z" is almost upon us, and the latest clip launches us right into the middle of the action.

The following teaser gives us a closer look at an early scene in the movie in which Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) flee their apartment with their two daughters. There's a helicopter headed their way, but first Gerry and his family have to outrun the ambulatory undead quickly shuffling after them. Although no one says the z-word in the preview, it's clear the creatures in hot pursuit are definitely not normal.

Despite all the behind-the-scenes chatter about last-minute problems with the film, it's been getting solid early reviews from critics in the United States and the UK. Super-fans in select cities can also purchase a $50 "Mega Ticket" that comes with a few extra goodies, including a digital download or stream of "World War Z" once it comes out on DVD and Blu-ray. With this deal available in only five U.S. theaters, it appears Paramount is testing the waters for future "Mega Ticket" offers.

The hotly anticipated undead invasion begins June 21, when "World War Z" hits theaters.

If we'd only known that working on Wall Street was this fun, we'd have gotten our MBAs long ago. In the trailer for Martin Scorsese's upcoming crime drama "The Wolf of Wall Street," Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are in fine form, boozing it up, quite literally throwing money around, and even engaging in a little dwarf-tossing.

Based on Jordan Belfort's memoir of the same name, "The Wolf of Wall Street" stars DiCaprio as Belfort, a tough-talking Wall Street suit who lives as large as Gatsby. Along with his partner Donnie Azoff, Belfort schemes and scams his way to millions -- enough to buy yachts, insanely cool cars, lots of illicit substances, and the affection of foxy young blondes. Hill flashes some fancy fake teeth and a preppy look for his role as Azoff, a character loosely based on Belfort's real-life buddy Danny Porush. Matthew McConaughey is all sleaze as Belfort's boss and mentor.

All this money comes at a price, though: The dirty deals and mobster pals get the SEC sniffing around Belfort and company, and soon their high-flying '90s fun comes to a close. (Of course there are mobsters. This is Scorsese we're talking about.)

The film is slated for a November 15 release. In the meantime, we can look forward to countless GIFs of DiCaprio dancing and biting his fist.

Getty

"Man of Steel" hasn't even opened in U.S. theaters yet, but its sequel is already in the works. Director Zack Snyder and writer David S. Goyer will be returning for the further adventures of Supes, and it seems that Henry Cavill is more than happy to keep wearing those blue tights.

Cavill told the Huffington Post, "How Hollywood works with these kind of things is that when you are doing a screen test, you will sign a contract saying, 'OK, yes, I'll do the movie if you guys want me... And, in that, it's standard procedure to do two options beyond the movie."

This would be a dream come true for almost any actor, but especially one who was convinced he would lose out on the Superman role once again (Cavill was originally picked to play the Man of Steel in an earlier Superman incarnation that never got off the ground).

It seems like a no-brainer to give the greenlight to a sequel, given the word of mouth around "Man of Steel" and the reviews that have just started popping up around the Internet. The embargo broke last night, and "Man of Steel" is already at 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Since Marvel has already mapped out the next few years of its blockbuster plans, DC is eager to catch up. It also doesn't hurt that Warner Bros. wrangled $160 million in product placement for "Man of Steel," slapping Superman's face on everything from Gillette (how does he shave that manly cleft?) to the Army.

We're wondering if the Justice League will be involved in the sequel, or if that will be coming down the pipeline later. Also up in the air is whether or not Christopher Nolan will be as involved this time around. Between his planned projects, like "Interstellar," and the rumors about what Nolan might take on next, his dance card looks pretty full.

[via Deadline]

Pivotal meeting #Xmen #DaysOfFuturePast twitter.com/BryanSinger/st...

- Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) June 4, 2013

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!! #xmen #daysoffuturepast twitter.com/BryanSinger/st...

- Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) June 4, 2013