Aziz Ansari To Make His Feature Directorial Debut With Comedy-Drama Starring Bill Murray We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. More Bill Murray is always a good thing for cinema, and today we have the news that Searchlight Pictures will bring us more of him. Emmy Award winner Aziz Ansari will make his feature film debut with an untitled picture starring Academy Award nominee Murray. Ansari wrote the script and will play a role in the film....

Box Office: Wolverine Claws To $34.75M Friday; Could Scratch Out $86.8M Opening Weekend In my Final Weekend Tracking column posted on Wednesday, I predicted thatX-Men Origins: Wolverine(Fox) would reach $92M on opening weekend, despite soft reviews (now only 38% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). My first fearless forecast of the 2009 summer blockbuster season appears to be close to dead-on (missed by only 5%). Star-turned-producer Hugh Jackman has scored his second-biggest opening ever and, easily, his biggest as a solo star....

Cool Stuff: LEGO Gives R2-D2 A Makeover With New 2,314-Piece Set For Lucasfilm’s 50th Anniversary It’s been nearly 10 years sinceLEGOcreated a big building set that let you assemble R2-D2 from theStar Warssaga. But today, a new R2-D2 LEGO set was revealed by the building brick company in honor of Lucasfilm’s ongoing celebration for their 50th anniversary. Though it doesn’t carry the Ultimate Collector Series label, this is a LEGO set for master builders, and you can check it out below....

Dylan McDermott & Dermot Mulroney To Appear On FOX’s ‘LA To Vegas’ Together, Confusing Everyone For years, audiences have had trouble telling apart actorsDylan McDermottandDermot Mulroney. There’s even an entireSaturday Night Livegame show sketch with contestants trying to pinpoint which is which. Now audiences will be even more confused, because the two actors are going to appear together in a new TV show coming to FOX early next year. LA to Vegasis one of FOX’s new comedy programs that will debut on the network in the midseason....

Even Tom Holland Doesn’t Know What’s Going On In ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Right now, we may actually know more about what transpires inCaptain America: Civil WarthanSpider-ManactorTom Holland,who is actually in the film. We’re souring the internet for details and writing up everypieceofnewinformationbecause this stuff is our fuel and our reason to live and we want more, more more… and Holland apparently refused to read the entire screenplay for the movie because he was afraid his big mouth would get him into trouble with spoilers....

Final Epic Robin Hood Movie Trailer Universal Pictures has released a new two and a half minute movie trailer forRidley Scott’sRobin HoodonYahoo. If you’ve been unsure about this movie (if you’ve been using the quip that it looks like Gladiator 2…), I definitely recommend you check out this final epic trailer. And besides, with Scott at the helm, how could you not be interested? Watch the last epic trailer now, embedded after the jump....

Five Photos From Ninja Assassin /Film reader Christopher M sent over four photos fromJames McTeigue’sNinja Assassin, which is being produced by The Wachowski Brothers. You might also want to head over toIESB, because they have some details about the opening sequence of the film. The film stars stars Korean pop star Rain (Speed Racer) as Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth....

Idris Elba To Direct And Star In ‘The Hunchback Of Notre Dame’ Musical For Netflix Idris Elbawill be putting a sexier, modern-day spin onVictor Hugo’s Gothic classicThe Hunchback of Notre Dame. Elba will be directing, producing, and starring inThe Hunchback of Notre Damefor Netflix in a movie that is described as a “sonic and musical experience.” But that’s not the best part — Elba, who is a pretty successful DJ when he’s not working as a Hollywood star, will also be producing original music for the feature....

IMAX VR May End Before It Takes Off As Company Closes Two Centers IMAX VRwas supposed to change the face of cinema. WhenIMAXopened its ground-breaking virtual reality centers in several cities around the world last year, the film community was abuzz with excitement. Would this change movie-going as we know it? Could we finally live our dreams of fighting alongside John Wick? A year later, it seems like the answer is: probably not....

Interview: Paul Wernick And Rhett Reese Are The Real Heroes Of ‘Deadpool’ ScreenwritersPaul WernickandRhett Reeseare feeling good. After years and years of waiting, the screenwriting duo is finally seeingDeadpoolreach the big screen. The screenwriters behindZombielandhave been working on the profane, sweet and funny Marvel character for a long time, and not only did the movie get made, it’s also doing well withfansandcritics. So, for a variety of reasons, Wernick and Reese have plenty to be feeling good about....

James Ellroy Novels Still A Screen Draw: ‘Blood’s A Rover’ And ‘The Big Nowhere’ In Development James Ellroycontributed to last year’s rather underseenRampart, and fortunately for those who value his work, there are other adaptations of his novels brewing today. Ellroy is a continued object of desire for producers and directors, as his novels are killer depictions of LA and the occasionally vicious socio-political landscape of the US in general, and his characters are among the most sharply drawn in crime fiction....

John Travolta And Nicolas Cage Could Re-Team For Two New Films Two of the most famous, craziest and controversial actors working in Hollywood today could possibly team up for one or two upcoming films.John TravoltaandNicolas Cage, who previously co-starred in the 1997 John Woo blockbusterFace/Off, are rumored to be circling two upcoming projects. The first isShrapnel, written byEvan Doughertyand directed byJohn McTiernan. The second isSea Trial, based on the novel by Frank De Felitta....

Judd Apatow Signs Three Picture Deal With Universal; How Much Money Will Funny Make? I can’t tell you much about Judd Apatow’s new film project, but I do know for sure that his next three films will begin with the Universal Pictures logo. Apatow has just inked a deal with Universal for his next three films as director. Even though Apatow has produced films for other companies, he has never directed a film outside of the Universal City-based studio....