Chinese Actress Li Bingbing Joins TRANSFORMERS 4

Chinese actress Li Bingbing is the latest addition to the cast of Michael Bay's "Transformers 4". Li has previously appeared in "Resident Evil: Retribution" as Ada Wong, and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". The sequel also stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Glenn Morshower. Also, it has been confirmed that Peter Cullen will return as the voice of Optimus Prime. The decision to cast Li comes as Paramount is actively trying to conquer the Chinese box-office. As part of that process, the studio has secured a joint partnership with two Chinese companies, China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises, which will contribute to the production and promotion of the film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "with the involvement of financiers and actors from China as well as promises of having parts of the film set and shot in the country, the film is designed to qualify as a Sino-U.S. co-production – which allows the movie to circumvent the Chinese import quota and also take a bigger proportion of box office earnings in what is now the second-biggest source of box office revenue in the world".

Transformers 4 is scheduled for release on June 27, 2014.

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Fights Featurette for FAST & FURIOUS 6

You would think that "Fast & Furious 6" is all about cars racing and crashing, but this new behind-the-scenes featurette provides an in-depth look at the various fights in the sequel. Dwayne Johnson, Gina Carano, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson and Sung Kang have some cool fight sequences that provide some interesting variation to all those smashed cars. "Fast & Furious 6" also stars Vin Diesel, Luke Evans, Jordana Brewster, Elsa Pataky and Ludacris. The release date is May 24, 2013.

Watch the featurette after the jump.

New Posters: MAN OF STEEL, THE HEAT, BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, THE INTERNSHIP

You can check out the posters and official synopses after the jump. Here is a short description of the posters:

• Two new banner posters for "Man of Steel" depicting Henry Cavill as Superman and Michael Shannon as Zod. The film also stars Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburne. Opens on June 14, 2013.
  
  
• A new poster for the action comedy "The Heat" starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. Opens on June 28, 2013.
  
  
• The first poster for the mystery thriller "Before I Go To Sleep" starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong. No release date has been set.
  
  
• The first poster for the Nelson Mandela biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. No release date has been set.
  
  
• A new theatrical poster for the comedy "The Internship" starring Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and Rose Byrne. Opens on June 7, 2013.
  
  

Check out the Posters after the jump (click to enlarge).

Weekly Summary, May 13-19, 2013

This post contains all the news, trailers, movie clips, DVD/Blu-Ray releases and many more, that you may have missed in the last seven days, arranged in an accessible manner. Just browse and click the article titles you want to read. Read the full article to check out the weekly summary.

Weekend Box-Office Report (May 17-19, 2013)

As expected, J.J. Abrams' sci-fi epic "Star Trek Into Darkness" was #1 at the box-office, taking in $70M over the weekend and a total of $83M in 4 days. While foreign earnings were modest by comparison, the sequel performed well and looks to have a bright future in the weeks to come. "Iron Man 3" was knocked down to #2, but its weekend gross is still strong ($35M) and this week it managed to pass the $1 billion milestone. "The Great Gatsby" faced some stiff competition and dropped to #3, but the extravagant film is still on the right track and has almost earned back its budget. Michael Bay's "Pain and Gain" and the animated feature "The Croods" round up the top 5.

More box-office details and the complete top 10, after the jump.

CASTING NEWS: Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Gerard Butler, Bruce Willis, Amber Heard, Zac Efron

Cate Blanchett is set to star in writer/director David Mamet's JFK assassination conspiracy thriller "Blackbird". Blanchett will play a woman named Janet who travels to Los Angeles for the funeral of her grandfather, a Hollywood visual effects artist who moonlighted for U.S. special ops agencies. Her grandfather’s well-kept secrets become a threat to her, forcing Janet to discover the truth about a man who dedicated his life to making illusion reality. "Blackbird" will shoot in Sidney.

Emily Blunt will join James Cordern, Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep in the musical "Into the Woods" directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago"). The story focuses on a Baker (Cordern) and his wife (Blunt) as they venture into the woods to confront the witch (Streep) who put a curse on them. Chris Pine, Jake Gyllenhaal and Christine Baranski are also in talks to join the film.

Gerard Butler will join the sci-fi thriller "The Raven" in which he will play "a man with remarkable powers who is being chased by the government and the military who both want those powers working for them." "The Raven" is based on a short film directed by Ricardo de Montreuil and it will be produced by Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson.

Bruce Willis will star in the thriller "Expiration" as "a hitman who is poisoned and has to find a cure before he expires". The script is written by Brian Tucker ("Broken City") and the producers are still shopping for a director.

Amber Heard and Zac Efron have joined the cast of the thriller "Autobahn". The film will be directed by Eran Creevy ("Welcome to the Punch") and the story is focused on "an American backpacker who must protect his girlfriend and flee Europe after he ends up as a driver for German drug smugglers." Filming begins this fall in Germany.

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New Teaser Trailer for ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES Starring Will Ferrell

The saga of legendary newsman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) continues with this new teaser trailer for "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues". We're still deep in teaser territory, so there's no actual footage from the film, yet, but it's still fun to see Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell do their thing. The sequel also stars Christina Applegate, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear and Harrison Ford. "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" opens on December 20, 2013. Stay tuned.

Watch the trailer after the jump.

New Movie Clip for M. Night Shyamalan's AFTER EARTH

It's Planet of the Apes time in this new clip from M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi adventure "After Earth" which stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as a father and son duo who crash-land on a wild post-apocalyptic planet Earth. The father is critically injured, so it's up to the son to find rescue. In this clip, Kitai (Jaden Smith) faces off a mob of angry monkeys. "After Earth" opens on June 7, 2013.

Watch the movie clip after the jump.

Red Band & Green Band Trailers and Poster for RAPTURE-PALOOZA

The red band and green band trailers for "Rapture-Palooza", as well as the first poster, have been released. The film provides a parodic version of the apocalypse which will prove wildly offensive for a lot of people, especially christians. It sort of reminds me of Kevin Smith's "Dogma", but somehow less attractive. "Rapture-Palooza" stars Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, John Francis Daley, Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Thomas Lennon, Ana Gasteyer, John Michael Higgins, Tyler Labine and Ken Jeong. The film will be released in theaters and on VOD on June 7, 2013.

Watch the trailers after the jump.

In Theaters: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Movies opening this week in theaters:

• STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Paramount Pictures / PG-13)

Read more after the jump.