Sure Shots: Pacific Rim; The Place Beyond the Pines; Despicable Me 2 gets a release date

* Charlie Day has turned his role as the resident wacko on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia into a fast rising film career. After cranking out a few laughs in the Justin Long/Drew Barrymore rom-com Going the Distance, his big starring turns comes in a couple weeks as part of Horrible Bosses. But his biggest gig to date is on the horizon, as Variety reports he's in talks to play a professor(no doubt an eccentric one) in Guillermo Del Toro's monsters vs. mechs film, Pacific Rim. He'll be starring opposite the only known castmember at this time, Charlie Hunnam(Undeclared), who is featured as a mech pilot who snaps into action when the planet is under attack. Shooting should begin in the fall, so hopefully by then the rumored Idris Elba will be signed and ready to suit up.

* If you ever saw Animal Kingdom, then you were probably creeped out into a puddle by the actions of Pope, played to terrible perfection by Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn. So while that film has seen many of it's stars blow up and move on to very different roles, Mendelsohn is set to make the jump himself, only he's staying very much on the villainous side of things. Variety notes that Mendelsohn is set to join The Place Beyond the Pines, from Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance. He'll play Robin Van Der Zee(how cool is that name??), a bank robber who let's Ryan Gosling's character into the criminal fold. Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, and Greta Gerwig also star.

* I like what Universal is doing in their plans for a sequel to Despicable Me, last year's animated where a bunch of little yellow minions stole the show from star Steve Carell. They aren't jamming it down our throats in a year's time like some other movies(Alvin and the Chipmunks), they're taking their time. They've just set a release date for the film on July 3rd 2013. Two years away. Good move. No other details on it right now. In other release date bits, Oliver Stone's Savages will open on September 28th, 2012. The crime film stars Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Uma Thurman, Emile Hirsch, Salma Hayek, and Benicio Del Toro. And lastly, Oblivion, from Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski will open on July 19th 2013. Tom Cruise leads the way of the futuristic sci-fi film, based on Kosinski's own graphic novel.