The Park is Open in First Trailer for 'Jurassic World' starring Chris Pratt

"Remember, if something chases you...run". Twenty-two years after Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park wowed audiences and captured our imagination by taking us to a place where dinosaurs could really exist, Universal is hoping to recapture that feeling with Jurassic World. The interesting thing about it is the route they've chosen to take, hiring indie director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) to take the franchise into the future. How did he do? While we won't know until next summer, the first trailer suggests he's headed in the right direction.

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Irrfan Khan, and Omar Sy, Jurassic World has a killer cast and a killer bunch of dinosaurs running roughshod over the newly-opened theme park. Of course it all starts when humans begin tinkering with Mother Nature, creating the first "genetically modified hybrid" that is more than anybody was prepared to handle. While the early images are clearly meant to evoke the spirit of Spielberg's films, later it begins to resemble the CGI madness of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which makes Jurassic World shares the same screenwriters.

Jurassic World opens June 12th 2015.


Jurassic World - Official Trailer (HD) by Konbini UK

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'Jurassic World' Trailer Tease Offers First Footage of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard

Next summer, Jurassic World will be open for business, and the teasers are already starting to stomp their way onto the Internet. A couple of days ago a teaser emerged on Universal's Spanish website and was quickly taken down, a good thing because it was pretty terrible. But fortunately today comes the real thing, and it harkens back to the early days of Jurassic Park while giving us a peek at the future.

Utilizing a version of John Williams' unforgettable score, this footage give us a glimpse at new stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, while setting up the full trailer's release on Thursday, November 27th during NBC football. The film is directed by Colin Trevorrow, who may not be a household name after making his debut on Safety Not Guaranteed a couple of years ago, but that may be about to change.

So now you've got another reason to watch football on Turkey Day. Jurassic World opens June 12th 2015.

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Matt Smith Joins 'Patient Zero'; Bryce Dallas Howard Eyes 'Pete's Dragon'; Martin Freeman does 'The Taliban Shuffle'

 Ex-Doctor Who star Matt Smith, who will be seen next year in Terminator: Genisys, is in talks to join Natalie Dormer in Patient Zero. Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky (Deadfall), the film takes place after a global pandemic creates a new species driven by violence. One human survivor immune to the disease and able to communicate with the infected must locate patient zero and find a cure to save his wife and all of humanity. [Deadline]

Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help) may join the Pete's Dragon remake written and directed by David Lowery (Ain't them Bodies Saints). The non-musical live-action/animated hybrid centers on an abused orphan who befriends an invisible dragon. Robert Redford, Oona Lawrence, and Oakes Fegley star, with Howard in talks to play a skeptical forest ranger. [THR]

Bilbo Baggins...er, Martin Freeman, will do The Taliban Shuffle with Tina Fey. Margot Robbie is also aboard the comedy film based on Kim Barker's memoir about her stint "as a fish-out-of-water in Kabul, filing stories about militants, being a woman in wartime Iraq and Pakistan, dealing with boredom interspersed with dashes of violence and the promiscuous war correspondent culture." Freeman would play Fey's love interest, a Scottish photojournalist. John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy Stupid Love) are directing.

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No Dinos in First Official 'Jurassic World' Images

Exactly one year from now Jurassic World will open its doors to the public, fourteen years after the last time dinosaurs broke free and stalked a bunch of puny humans. It took awhile to get to this point, and let's not forget Paramount had to delay production to come up with a plan of attack for director Colin Trevorrow, but now things have progressed far enough along that the first images are starting to trickle out.

And how many dinosaurs are in these newly-released photos? Zero, but we do get plenty of Chris Pratt looking cool on his motorcyle, along with Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer), and Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3). Trevorrow recently confirmed some leaked plot details that suggest humans will be toying around with dino-DNA again and things will go terribly wrong, and there will be some new dinosaurs running around this time, too. Hopefully we'll start seeing images of them soon, or perhaps a teaser trailer.

Jurassic World opens June 12th 2015.

Location:Campbell Ave,Arlington,United States

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First Set Photos from 'Jurassic World' Feature Bryce Dallas Howard

Filming on Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World is underway in Hawaii, and the first set photos are starting to roll in courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. With talks of sequels having begun, there could be a lot of pressure from Universal for the film to be a hit, but Trevorrow sounds as if he's trying to make sure the production is as fun as possible.....

Trevorrow:  "Yesterday I was under a construction crane with Chris Pratt, covered with dirt, eyeballing the exact height of the dinosaur trying to kill him... We both cracked up laughing. Sometimes you just have to stop and let the joy take over."

Pratt, the funnyman-turned-action hero who also has Guardians of the Galaxy coming up in a few months, will star alongside Omar Sy, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Judy Greer, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, and Bryce Dallas Howard. It's Howard who features in one of the new images, along with director's chair and a construction truck that may have been rammed by something angry.

Jurassic World opens on June 12th 2015.

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Michael Pena Eyes Marvel's 'Ant-Man'; Bryce Dallas Howard, Rashida Jones in the Mix

There's no turning back now; Marvel's Ant-Man is moving ahead rapidly with Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas donning the Avenger's costume. With production set to begin soon the rest of the cast is beginning to take shape, and it looks like Michael Pena may be a part of it.

The Wrap says Pena, who can currently be seen as a phony sheik in American Hustle, has been offered a role in the film. Nothing on who he might play, and there isn't any character in the Marvel comics that immediately springs to mind, but Pena is a diverse actor who can do pretty much anything he's called on for. The number of excellent character actors Disney/Marvel have added in the last few months alone has been incredible.

There's still the matter of finding the female lead, and Variety says Bryce Dallas Howard and Rashida Jones are the top contenders for it. Jones has been rumored for the role of Wasp before, but this is the first we've heard of Howard. She may be a bit tough to schedule around since she's also got Jurassic World, and fans already love Rudd and Jones from I Love You, Man.

But there's nothing that says the female lead actually is for the Wasp, and our friends at Bleeding Cool say it's really for the daughter of the second male lead. Presumably that would be the daughter of Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, but he doesn't have any children in the comics. Rudd's character, Scott Lang, has a superhero daughter named Cassie Lang, but neither Jones or Howard would be the right age for that. So there's something going on here that we aren't privy to yet. Pym may be the central figure in this story and not Lang.

Perhaps when Marvel hits us with a confirmation we'll find out the whole story. Edgar Wright's Ant-Man opens July 31st 2015.

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Bryce Dallas Howard In Talks to Enter 'Jurassic World'

When Universal first made the decision to push back Jurassic World into 2015, there were a couple of names that emerged as potential stars. One of those was David Oyelowo (The Butler), whose name seems to be up for everything lately, while the other was Bryce Dallas Howard. As the months passed nothing was said about how close either of them were to actually nabbing a role in the film, but now we know that at least one of them made some sort of impression, as Howard is set to take a lead role.

The Wrap reports that Howard is in talks to a major unspecified part in the film, to be directed by Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and produced by Steven Spielberg. It'll be Howard's first major franchise since she popped up as Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, and her first big screen role since 2011's 50/50. 

Nothing about the plot has been confirmed but it's expected that Trevorrow and Derek Connolly's script will take us back to Isla Nublar where the dinos will again run wild. One has to wonder if we'll be getting an announcement regarding Oyelowo next. Jurassic World opens on June 12th 2015.

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Sure Shots: Channing Tatum; Bryce Dallas Howard; Nicholas Hoult

* Channing Tatum in little green tights? I'm sure the ladies will love it. The buffed up actor is currently shopping a project called Peter Pan Begins, which sounds like a really ill-conceived origin story. Screenwriter Billy Ray(Shattered Glass) and producer Joe Roth(Alice in Wonderland) are aboard as well. More than likely Tatum won't actually be starring but could just be producing. Lord let's hope that's all it is.  Personally I think people should just check out the underrated 2004 Peter Pan and call it a day. Thanks to THR for the exclusively break on that story.

* We love Bryce Dallas Howard here at Punch Drunk Critics International, but I have to admit her directorial debut sounds derivative as heck.  She's set to follow in daddy's footsteps with The Originals, about a group of childhood friends who reunite as young adults when a former teacher falls into a coma. Wasn't that the premise behind Grown Ups? Are they going camping? Ugh. Howard and her brother-in-law Dane Charbonneau penned the script. She describes it as a "Breakfast Club for my generation". Double ugh.  Apparently one of the roles was written for Zoe Saldana(The Losers). Run, Zoe, run!

* You make one movie as Colin Firth's boy toy and suddenly you're Hollywood's fresh new plaything. Nicholas Hoult has signed on to Warm Bodies, Jonathan Levine's adaptation of Isaac Marion's upcoming novel about a relationship between a zombie and the human girlfriend of one of his victims. Shooting will begin this summer and should complete around the time of Levine's cancer comedy, 50/50, releases. That film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Thanks to THR for this story as well.

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Hereafter

Turns out the afterlife is the perfect cure for insomnia. Clint Eastwood's been struggling lately. Sounds crazy, right? This is the same guy who was an Oscar magnet behind the camera just a few years ago, but now he's something of a rut after the underwhelming Changeling and Invictus. Both films seemed weirdly out of his wheelhouse, but nothing like Hereafter does. A contemplative, spiritual examination of what we experience after we die, Hereafter is almost guaranteed to be polarizing for most folks. Those people can argue all they want about it, but a tired script, lackadaisical focus, and disinterested performances have me ready to take a nap.

Hereafter starts off with a rush. A massive tsunami crashes a resort getaway, killing hundreds of thousands of people instantly. Marie(Cecile De France), a journalist from France is caught in the tidal wave's path and struggles to survive, until ultimately suffering a crushing, fatal blow to the head. She awakens a few minutes later, but during her time on the other side she experiences foggy images of those she knew. Are they waiting for her on the other side?

George Lonegan(Matt Damon) is the man with all the answers. George has the unnatural ability to communicate with the dead. Formerly famous and wealthy, he once used his powers to help others for profit. However the gift comes with a price. Knowing everything there is to know about people has made it tough for George to get close to anybody. Relationships are a no-no. He now wastes his time in a boring, uneventful life working construction, never using his powers. Or so he says. He's not that difficult to convince, really.

Over in England, twin brothers Marcus and Jason(Frankie and George McLaren) are basically all alone in the world. Their mother is a drug addict barely keeping social services from taking the two boys away. They've come to rely solely on eachother for everything. Marcus is the mischievous chatterbox, while Jason is shy and introverted. When Marcus is suddenly killed in a horrific car accident, his mother is shuffled off to rehab, leaving Jason all alone and unable to cope.

Three stories. One massive drag. After the massive spectacle of the film's opening(not typical for an Eastwood flick), I had hope that the rest of the story would at least keep up an energetic pace. Instead it falls into a disastrous lurch, never to escape. We follow George through his wildly uninteresting life, as he worries about being layed off at his job and shoos away potential clients. Finally resolving to have something of a social life, he takes a cooking class and hooks up with a sexy classmate(Bryce Dallas Howard). That ends disastrously, but at least a few chuckles are mined out of the deal. There won't be any more, so enjoy them while you can. Fed up, George flies off to England to get away from it all, and it's here after 2 hours that the stories finally converge. Marie is writing about the afterlife based on her own experiences, and Jason is desperately seeking an actual medium who can get him in touch with his brother.

By the time these characters begin to intersect, the gloom has already taken hold. Hereafter is by far Eastwood's most lifeless film, with Damon and pretty much everybody involved droning around like zombies mumbling about how awful they've had it. George's storyline is the most disappointing, and also the most pointless. Basically this is a story about coping with death, moving on after the loss of someone integral to our lives. To not let the past destroy a chance at a fulfilling future. So what is George's purpose in the story? Is he there as a sortof walking catharsis for the other characters? Even though the dreary tone would've sabotaged any chance of this being an enjoyable experience, the focus should have been solely on everybody else and not George. They're the ones with something to learn, not him.

George's pointlessness is amplified in the film's final moments, where suddenly it turns into the most depressing romance you've ever seen. Eastwood has described Hereafter as a chick flick, "But one that men will like too. Or at least one that won't make them want to stick a Swiss Army Knife in their leg." Maybe not, but I could've used a pair of toothpicks to stop my eyelids from drooping. Do yourself a favor and don't listen to Eastwood. This is a chick flick for extremely depressed women. Women who have posters of The Virgin Suicides hanging on their wall.

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Trailer Time: Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood

I'm genuinely shocked by people acting as if Clint Eastwood's new thriller, Hereafter, is some sort of weird departure for him. While the subject of the afterlife is something he's never addressed before, or even really approached anything vaguely supernatural, Eastwood has shown a wide range of interests and directing styles. To me this looks totally like an Eastwood flick, with the possible exception of that huge tidal wave scene.

Hereafter stars Matt Damon as a regular guy with the unique ability to communicate with the dead. He crosses paths with others who have shared near death experiences, and look towards him for guidance. Eastwood has described it as "three stories of people who have had traumatic experiences in their life [...] and how these stories converge towards one another." Along for the ride in this one are Cecile De France(High Tension) and Bryce Dallas Howard(Spider-Man 3). Hereafter is set to release on October 22nd, 2010. You can check out the trailer below, followed by a synopsis.

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