Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg (“The Fighter”) gets to show off his fatherly protective side in Paramount Pictures' “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth installment in director Michael Bay's summer blockbuster franchise.

Walhberg plays single dad Cade Yeager who the actor describes as "a very ordinary guy who has to do extraordinary things in the face of danger to protect his family — anyone can relate to that. It's a little more intense, but there are great moments of humor infused."

Fans can expect a lot of boom from the Michael Bay-directed film, which will introduce a new breed of Transformers — ancient aliens that transform into dinobots. "Michael is always pushing boundaries, but here we're creating new boundaries," Wahlberg says. "This is going to be a very cool ride."

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” begins after an epic battle left a great city torn, but with the world saved. As humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history…while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs.

With help from a new cast of humans (led by Wahlberg), Optimus Prime and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet. In an incredible adventure, they are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climactic battle across the world.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the fourth film in director Michael Bay's global blockbuster franchise, stars Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, Titus Welliver and T. J. Miller. Produced By Don Murphy & Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce. Based on Hasbro's Transformers™ Action Figures. Written By Ehren Kruger. Directed By Michael Bay.

Mark Wahlberg earned both Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations for his standout work in the family boxing film “The Fighter“ and Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed drama “The Departed.“ Wahlberg has played diverse characters for visionary filmmakers such as David O. Russell, Tim Burton and Paul Thomas Anderson. His breakout role in “Boogie Nights“ established Wahlberg as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.

Wahlberg’s remarkable film career began with “Renaissance Man,“ directed by Penny Marshall, and “The Basketball Diaries,“ with Leonardo DiCaprio, followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in the thriller “Fear.“ He later headlined “Three Kings“ and “The Perfect Storm,“ with George Clooney, and “The Italian Job,“ with Charlize Theron. Wahlberg then starred in the football biopic “Invincible,“ with Greg Kinnear, and “Shooter,“ based on the best-selling novel Point of Impact. He reunited with “The Yards“ director James Gray and co-star Joaquin Phoenix in “We Own the Night,“ which he also produced. Other projects include “The Lovely Bones,“ “The Other Guys,“ “Contraband“ and “Ted.“ Most recently, he starred in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain“ with Dwayne Johnson, “2 Guns“ with Denzel Washington, and “Lone Survivor“ for director Peter Berg.

Opening across the Philippines on June 25 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and 2D cinemas, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Revolutionary duo - WETA Digital and Andy Serkis who gave us the groundbreaking effects of motion capture are back once again on the big screen in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” The previously released “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” an arresting story, launched a new franchise and became a global hit grossing nearly $500 million and receiving critical and audience acclaim. It was the first live-action motion picture to star and be told from the point of view of a sentient animal Caesar-- a character with human qualities and with whom moviegoers experienced a real emotional bond.

In “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Caesar’s principal human contact is Malcolm, portrayed by Jason Clarke. Malcolm is a former architect who lost his wife to the virus that wiped out most of humanity. Left on his own to raise his teenage son, Malcolm is desperate to maintain the hope and stability he and Alexander have found within a small colony of fellow survivors in San Francisco.

While Malcolm is a pivotal figure in the human colony, its leader is Dreyfus, played by Gary Oldman. Prior to the breakdown of society, Dreyfus was a law enforcement professional. Now, he has taken on the role of a leader of the human colony surviving among the ruins of downtown San Francisco -- an authority figure intent on not only saving, but rebuilding what’s left of mankind a decade after the Simian Flu destroyed human-run infrastructure. Oldman describes the colony as “a melting pot of survivors. The virus has just wiped out millions and millions of people. We are just the lucky few that were genetically predisposed to have been immune. As a community we’ve come together and we’re trying to survive and restore our world.”

Oldman notes of his character, “I think he’s quite a heroic character. I guess you could call him the leader. Matt and I talked about what he may have done locally in the community — by locally I mean San Francisco. He was probably a policeman or something. So they are the sort of go-to people. He’s resourceful. He’s that sort of guy who is a designated leader. There’s no ego in that way. But he’s got very personal baggage that he carries. And not all things are relative. We went through the epidemic and then the subsequent rioting and post-apocalyptic chaos. Then if you survived the disease and then you’re immune to the disease and you survive the other stuff, I think why put that at risk? That’s where he’s coming from.”

Such realism is further enhanced by the production’s ability to shoot in exterior locations. More than 85 percent of the movie was shot in the forests of Vancouver and outside New Orleans. Serkis calls this a “huge technical leap that enables there to be no disconnect with the other actors.”

Addtionally, Oldman describes the movie’s technology as having leapt a hundredfold, “Well, he’s basically revolutionized the art form with this. What they’ve achieved in this movie is in its own way as miraculous as [the achievement of] Alfonso Cuaron with Gravity. What he’s done is he’s taken motion capture and 3D onto location. And then used natural light, one source directional lighting, long lenses, all the things that you would use on a regular movie or a more conventional movie or a not heavy-FX film and applied it to this. So he’s taken all those sort of old techniques and applied them to new technology. And I’ve seen a cut of the movie with people running around in grey uniforms and pixels hardly rendered, and even in this condition I was totally lost in the story. I think he’s done something very new here. And more than that, I said, “I can’t believe what I’m watching. I mean they look like real gorillas!” I don’t know what they did since the last movie, but the technology has come on a hundredfold.”

Born in New Cross, England but now living in California, Gary Oldman is one of the most prolific and impressive actors working in Hollywood today. A grounding in theatre during the ’70s primed him for breakout roles in ’80s British films Sid And Nancy (in which he played punk-music icon Sid Vicious) and Prick Up Your Ears (in which he played writer Joe Orton), and the acclaim he received for both these performances was widespread and resounding. With over 20 years as a worldwide presence in major motion pictures, is also known to millions as Sirius Black (Harry Potter’s Godfather), Commissioner Jim Gordon (Batman’s crime-fighting partner), “Dracula,” “Beethoven,” “Lee Harvey Oswald,” “Joe Orton,” “Sid Vicious,” and also the terrorist who hijacked Harrison Ford’s Air Force One. He also starred in Luc Besson’s “The Professional” and “The Fifth Element” and also as Dr. Zachary Smith in “Lost in Space.”

Highly regarded as one of foremost actors of his generation, and an internationally known, iconic figure, he has the distinction of appearing in more successful films than any other artist spanning the past twenty years, and additionally has appeared in more than one of the top ten highest grossing films in history including, not one, but both of the most successful film franchises in history. Mr. Oldman is the recipient of the 2011 Empire Icon Award, awarded for a lifetime of outstanding achievement. He has appeared in the following Harry Potter films: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II;” and also appeared in “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Prepare for war on July 9 when “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” opens in almost 200 screens nationwide from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Summer is the season of Michael Bay.

As much as anyone else, Bay — in movies like "Armageddon," ''Pearl Harbor" and "Transformers" — has shaped what the summer movie is: its quick-cutting bombast, its visual-effects flourish, its capacity for mass destruction.

This summer, he'll release "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the fourth film in the franchise, with a revamped cast led by Mark Wahlberg. The 49-year-old Bay, who also produces "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" later in the season, is well acquainted with the scale of the modern blockbuster.

"I've been doing these movies a long time," said Bay in a recent break from the editing suite. "When all is said and done maybe 3,500 people will have worked on this movie. It's one day at a time. You can't panic. My pep talk to everyone is: This is when the pro (expletive) starts and separates the men from the boys."

"Age of Extinction" subs out the sometimes combative Shia LaBeouf with an older, more established action star in Wahlberg. It's planned as the first of a redesigned "Transformers" trilogy.

Bay and Wahlberg first connected on last year's comic crime caper "Pain & Gain," a relatively low-budget project for Bay and one of his most critically acclaimed films.

Wahlberg has already vowed that "Age of Extinction" will be the biggest movie of the year. While optimistic, it's not out of the question. The last "Transformers" film, 2011's "Dark of the Moon," made more than $1.1 billion worldwide.

"It feels fresher with the cast," says Bay. "It's like when you get the new 'Batman' franchises, things get dressed up in a different way. I think the franchise still has a lot more to offer."

The Paramount Pictures release will also have a leg up on the box office in China. "Age of Extinction" is a co-production with two Chinese film companies. A month of shooting took place there, and several Chinese actors were cast through a televised reality show talent search.

Such is the global natural of the big-budget summer movie, a sprawling operation that takes a unique acuity to assemble.

"I don't write notes," says Bay. "I put the movie in my head."

"Transformers: Age of Extinction” opens across the Philippines on June 25, to be followed by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on August 13. Both films are distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Two-time Academy Award^® nominee Jonah Hill possesses an acting prowess that has allowed him to exist at the forefront of Hollywood, in both the comedic and dramatic realms. Now, two back-to-back dramas (“Moneyball,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”) he gets to showcase his funny chops anew in Columbia Pictures' comedy “22 Jump Street” opposite Channing Tatum.

“22 Jump Street” is the highly awaited sequel to one of 2012's funniest comedies “21 Jump Street” directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, and featuring terrific chemistry between stars Hill and Tatum. The film took the classic television series’ premise of youthful-looking cops going undercover in a high school and made it all its own.

“My character, Schmidt, Channing's Jenko, are an odd couple,” says Hill. “They got together because they’re partners, but they really worked well together because they brought different things to the table.”

As a result, Schmidt and Jenko became an unforgettable screen couple. “They’re like Bogart and Bacall,” says Phil Lord, who returns to co-direct the film with Christopher Miller, who adds, “They had this amazing natural chemistry. They’re very different, but they really respect and admire each other. They make a great yin-yang pair.”

With the sequel, the filmmakers take the relationship to the next level. If the first film was about forming a relationship, the new film is about what it takes to make a relationship last. “The running gag is that the plot is just like the last one – but in trying to do the same thing again, it doesn’t work, and Schmidt and Jenko have to find something new.”

With that in mind, it also made sense to the filmmakers that “22 Jump Street” would be set in a college. “We got inspired by the idea that Jenko and Schmidt are each other’s ‘hometown honey’ – but they go to college, and the world is opened up to them,” says Lord. “They experience new things and start to wonder whether they’re with the right person or not. For those of us who went to college and had friends who went through that, it seemed honest and true.”

“College is about finding out who you are,” says Hill, who also produces the film. “For example, Schmidt has really defined himself by this partnership with Jenko. In college, he’s struggling to know who he is.”

Meanwhile, Hill and Tatum became very close while filming the first film, forging a strong friendship. “So much of the humor and heart comes from the fact that Channing and I have a really great friendship in real life,” says Hill. “Channing has no boundaries with me, and I feel the same way – I trust his opinion on things.”

“Jonah and Channing love each other,” says Lord. “They’re very different, but their instinct is not to compete with each other – they each admire what the other brings. I think that warmth is what makes it gel.”

Lord says that despite Hill’s screen persona, the actor shares an off-screen confidence with Tatum. “Jonah likes to play a lot of underdogs, but he’s a movie star,” he says. “He has so much confidence.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 18, “22 Jump Street” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

He made indelible performances in action films (“G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra,” “White House Down”) and dramatic titles (“The Vow,” “Magic Mike”). But Channing Tatum surprised everyone that he can make people laugh in the 2012 comedy “21 Jump Street” where he showed off remarkable and unexpected comedy chops. Even his co-star, Jonah Hill, and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, were amazed.

“I’d never been in a comedy before,” says Tatum. “I learned to trust the process – I mean, Jonah is so good, he can throw out four or five different ways of saying a line, one right after another. I trust him, and Chris and Phil – I’m among friends. If they’re laughing, you know it’s funny.”

Now, Tatum reunites with the gang in Columbia Pictures' highly anticipated sequel, “22 Jump Street.”

Since working on the first film, Tatum has gained the confidence that he can perform in a comedy alongside Hill. Hill was always a believer in Tatum’s comedy skills, but says Tatum has even raised his game. “We always knew he had the ability to be funny and great in this kind of film, but it was great to see him have the confidence of knowing he wasn’t going to look bad,” says Hill. “He went in there and he killed the scenes even harder.”

In “22 Jump Street,” big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college – after making their way through high school (twice). But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the athletic team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership.

“We got inspired by the idea that Jenko and Schmidt are each other’s ‘hometown honey’ – but they go to college, and the world is opened up to them,” says Lord.

Tatum's character, Jenko, has found somebody with a few more of his shared interests. When their investigation leads them to look into the football team, Jenko finds a kindred spirit in Zook, the team’s quarterback, played by Wyatt Russell. Before long, the bromance that seemed made in heaven is in trouble. “Zook is kind of Jenko’s man-crush,” says Tatum. “There are jealousy issues immediately – and those issues get in the way of the case that Schmidt and Jenko are supposed to be working. They end up investigating separately.”

In the first film, as the characters went back to high school, their expectations were turned around – the nerdy Schmidt was now in the popular crowd, and Jenko was on the outside. Producer Tania Landau says that as the guys go to college, “we wanted to flip it,” she explains. “Like a lot of people who didn’t fit in when they were in high school, Schmidt expects that everything will be different in college. And Jenko worries that he’s not up to snuff. But their expectations are turned around again.”

Maybe those expectations were misplaced – after all, why wouldn’t a football god like Jenko find a home in college? As it turns out, Tatum has a real history with the sport: before he became an actor, Tatum had a brief college football career. “I had a really good school in the SEC that was ready to give me a full ride – until they saw my transcripts. My coach came up to me and said, ‘They just don’t think you can do the work.’ I ended up going to a small school in West Virginia, played for a year, and it wasn’t what I wanted to do. So I came home and wrapped it up.”

Still, that was long ago, and Tatum isn’t 19 anymore. “I hadn’t played football in 14 years,” he explains. “I’ve got a torn ligament in my right foot that has become a chronic thing. And I rolled my ankle two weeks into the football scenes. Even so, I loved it – it was nostalgic for me to get out there and bang heads again. It was interesting and weird to relive that time in my life, but also fun – if I’d ended up going to that school, there would have been great parts, like my parents would have been able to see me play. But who knows if I would be acting today?”

Opening across the Philippines in June 18, “22 Jump Street” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

America Ferrera stars alongside Jay Baruchel in “How Tot Train Your Dragon 2,” the second film in the animated 3D trilogy about a young Viking calledHiccup and his dragon, Toothless. As the thrilling story unfolds, Hiccup has an unexpected meeting with an extraordinary woman who shares his passion for dragons - his mother Valka (Cate Blanchett). Also starring in the film are Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,T.J. Miller and Craig Ferguson.

Baruchel voices the story’s intrepid hero while Ferrera plays his feisty girlfriend, Astrid. Five years on from the original 2010 film from DreamWorks Animation, we find Hiccup enjoying life as an explorer. But his dad, Stoick, the mighty Chieftain of Berk (Gerard Butler), thinks his son needs to shape up and take his responsibilities as a future leader more seriously. There is currently peace on Berk, where humans and dragons are living happily.

“Astrid and Hiccup have an easygoing, relaxed and comfortable relationship,” says director Dean DeBlois. “Astrid is a natural Viking, in that she’s athletic, aggressive, capable, and super-smart with strong leadership skills, in contrast to Hiccup, who’s wavering and unsure of where he’s heading in life. In this film, Astrid becomes the strong, supportive voice of reason. America is wonderful as Astrid. She knows the character inside out. Jay and America play so well off of each other.”

“It is so exciting to play a great female character both boys and girls will be watching. It is wonderful that they will be seeing a male and a female character as equals in their capabilities and their excitement. Astrid likes to be a leader and Hiccup is a bit of a loner. He’s flying around and discovering new territories, exploring with Toothless. Astrid doesn’t look like me. She’s Nordic, blonde and blue eyed and so I thank them for not typecasting her and going for the essence of the character. Astrid is great, she is kicking butt and she is a natural born leader who is probably better suited to being the future Chieftain of Berk than Hiccup is. She is winning the tournament racing [with Stormfly, her dragon],” adds Ferrera.

There are challenges ahead for Hiccup. Together with Toothless, he has to defend his village from a terrible army of dragon trappers, led by Drago (DjimonHounsou), a mad genius and self-proclaimed ‘Dragon God’,who strikes fear into the hearts of even the bravest Vikings.

Ferrera further describes her character’s evolved relationship with Hiccup now that they’re grown-ups. “Their relationship is still very playful and competitive, but they match each other in their lust for life and adventure. What is fun is that our characters are more grown up now. Because there is a romantic aspect to their relationship, there are more tender moments between them. In the first film she was thinking: ‘Who is this guy? Why should he get to be chief of Berk when I’ve worked hard my whole life?’ But this time she’s his number one supporter because she sees that he’s special and totally capable of leadership. She is a partner in his adventure.”

“I’m so thankful that America came back to play Astrid,” DeBlois says. “She has such a strong, powerful voice and it comes through in the character with this spunky, up-for-anything quality. But also inherently in America’s voice is a sense of reason and self-assuredness that the character of Astrid really represents to the story.”

“It’s everything the first movie was and even better; it is just as exciting, but it’s deeper and more complex and more fun,” Ferrera concludes.

Ferrera is perhaps best known for her fearless portrayal of Betty Suarez on ABC’s hit comedy “Ugly Betty.” This breakthrough role earned Ferrera an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series-Musical or Comedy, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance for a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as ALMA and Imagen Awards.

Her film credits include David Ayer’s crime thriller “End of Watch,” co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Michael Peña and Cody Horn and Todd Berger’s comedy “It’s a Disaster” opposite Julia Stiles and David Cross, “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants,” “Our Family Wedding,” “Towards Darkness” and “Under the Same Moon.”

“How To Train Your Dragon 2” opens in cinemas on June 11 from DreamWorks Animation and 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

A Golden Globe-winning actress whose transformative ability and versatile performances make her one of the most in demand actresses of today, Emily Blunt (“Looper”) now plays Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ sci-fi thriller “Edge of Tomorrow.”

“I was really excited to play someone as tough, badass and physically dangerous as Rita,” says Blunt. “But when I read the script, mixed in with this very cool story and intense action sequences I also found a lot of laughs, as well as incredible determination and perserverance of the human spirit.”

“Edge of Tomorrow” unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.

Cage’s strange ability to turn the clock back only begins to make sense to him when he is able to partner with the one person who seems to understand: Sgt. Rita Vrataski. “Cage and Rita lead the charge together in this story,” Cruise allows. “It’s a total partnership; they may start out as unlikely allies, but they both discover they won’t survive without each other.”

“I’m committed to strong female characters, and I think Rita is the strongest in any of my films thus far,” director Doug Liman states. “She is a true veteran combatant who has led the charge and killed thousands of Mimics.”

For her heroics in previous battles, the media has crowned Rita the Angel of Verdun, while the troops refer to her as the Full Metal Bitch. “Now, she must also be a mentor to Cage,” the director continues, “training him to be as strong a fighter as she herself is, or they’ll have no hope of winning the day. Emily came to the table with incredible strength of character and was every inch the warrior Rita was reputed to be.”

Blunt notes that, despite Cage having enlisted Rita to help him, “she’s really using him because he’s able to reset the day, and she sees this as an invaluable weapon. Through his experiences, she can change tactics in order to get further along each time and hopefully go on to survive the battle and then win the war.”

The story’s conceit of replaying the day posed one of the more unusual tasks Blunt faced in portraying Rita who, each new day, doesn’t remember Cage or anything that happened; he has to start over with her every time he starts the day again.

“She was always meeting Cage for the first time, so building a character whose interactions with another existed in an environment that was essentially the same again and again made it a challenge to progress the relationship,” she relates. “How does she change toward him, how does their familiarty grow if she can’t remember him? It was tricky for me to play that and to find the right measure of intimacy.”

Cruise also found the one-sided relationship in the film to be interesting to play: “Cage comes to care for her, but she can’t reciprocate—for her, it’s always just been that one day. That added a great layer to the connection between the two that was really fun to explore.”

“Emily was terrific,” Cruise adds. “I love what she did with Rita, it was perfect for this journey. You see and feel her humanity, and it’s quite moving. On top of that, Emily’s never done action, but you’d never know it. She was thrown into the deep end and it was no easy feat, but she was wonderfully uncompromising. She’s just a brilliant actress and she has a great wit. It was a pleasure to work with her.”

The admiration was mutual. Blunt offers, “I’ve never met anyone with such a commitment to making the best movie he can. Tom strived for the best version of every moment, every scene, every day. He played Cage in a way that wasn’t at all whiny or tedious; even though the character was useless and inept at first, he tried. I think that makes him all the more compelling to watch.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 5, “Edge of Tomorrow” will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Frank Coraci, director of Warner Bros. Pictures' new comedy “Blended,” knows the undeniable onscreen chemistry between Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore well, having watched it develop while directing the pair in “The Wedding Singer.”

“They clicked immediately,” he recounts. “We were all very young and having a great time and I think so much of what worked on that movie came from how easily the two of them played off each other and could joke around and make each other laugh. On ‘Blended,’ they were better than ever. It’s their familiarity and comfort with each other that makes them comedically fearless. And because of their mutual respect and affection for one another, no matter how far they push their feisty banter, there is always an undertone of sweetness that comes through.”

“Blended” not only offered the two stars the chance to recreate their magic on screen but to expand their romantic repertoire as single parents Jim and Lauren, in a scenario that many people can relate to. While struggling to make a living and raise their kids as best they can, looking for love is a more complicated proposition than it once was, involving after-school schedules, babysitters, curfews and tough questions. Priorities have shifted. No longer a matter of just finding that one special person, it’s now about finding that one special person who will also be good for your children. Very often, it’s the dreams and desires of the adults that are the last item on the list.

The timing for Sandler and Barrymore was ideal, Coraci notes. “What’s different about the two of them this time, which was really appropriate for the story, is that, like their characters, Drew and Adam are both parents now, with all these added responsibilities. Whereas those earlier movies were more about first love and just starting out, this is about two people who never lost that capacity for fun and romance but have also experienced more of life, and they definitely brought that wisdom and perspective to the roles.”

Screenwriters Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera took the essence of that idea and instead of securing the relationship first and then trying to rally the offspring, took a different approach. “We thought it could be more interesting for two people to have a disastrous blind date and then be forced together with their kids to share a family vacation,” says Menchell. On top of that, “They take over this package from someone else, with all the things those other people had put into play, whether a romantic dinner or what the kids were going to do, so these two are now living someone else’s dream, which is their nightmare.”

Additionally, says Sera, “We wanted to have a place where they would be confined and couldn’t leave, so, once they both committed to the package, there was no way out.”

Placing the story in such an exotic and expansive setting also goes a long way toward dragging Jim and Lauren out of their daily routines and comfort zones—as well as, maybe, their assumptions about each other—and toward a rush of experiences they couldn’t have imagined having, let alone enjoying, weeks ago. Even if it’s because they have no choice.

“In some ways,” Coraci suggests, “Dating with kids isn’t essentially that much different than dating without kids. Either way, it often starts with the most important element of all: a sense of humor.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 11, “Blended” is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation of a Gulfstream Pictures/Happy Madison Production and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.

If Maleficent has long been a symbol of the dark feminine, the character Aurora has always symbolized the light and innocent. In casting the role of the Princess who falls under Maleficent’s spell, the filmmakers of Walt Disney Pictures' “Maleficent” chose one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Elle Fanning.

“Elle is Aurora,” comments Angelina Jolie, who plays the title character. “From the moment I met her, she is just sunshine. She’s a wonderful, sweet, intelligent young woman.”

“Elle is fantastic and I have nothing but the highest respect for her,” adds her director, Robert Stromberg. “She’s not only beautiful but she’s a tremendous actress; she’s going to be doing wonderful things in the future and she’s a pleasure to work with on the set. She just brings a smile to everyone.”

“Maleficent” explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty” and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

For Fanning, winning this role was a dream come true. “It’s been sort of everything that I dreamed of,” says the young actress. “I think from the moment of putting on her first outfit, getting the hair and everything, it’s been really special to get to play such an iconic character.”

Although most people know Aurora as Sleeping Beauty from Disney’s classic animated film of the same name, Fanning reveals that in “Maleficent” audiences will get to find out more about her. “In our film you get to see her have different emotions and really get the essence of her,” says Fanning. “I love how she’s very free spirited, and since she has been kept away from normal life, she’s very open to things and innocent. But that’s what makes her very likable and charming.”

Fanning approached playing the beloved fairytale character with the feeling that she wanted to do her justice and find her persona. “Before we started filming the movie, I watched the animated movie again, just to see if I could pick up on any little mannerisms that she did while she’s in the forest, and when she brought those little princess elements,” informs Fanning. “I wanted to make her have those elements but also make her a real person, not just an animated character.”

Having the opportunity to work with Angelina Jolie on the film was exciting for the teenager. “It’s really been amazing,” enthuses Fanning. “I remember meeting her for the first time in London. I had never met her before, and she gave me a big hug. She said we were just going to have so much fun together. And we did have a lot of fun. It’s been great.”

Opening across the Philippines on May 28, 2014, “Maleficient” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

As a youngster, Emily Blunt struggled to overcome a stammer, and with a teacher’s help eventually overcame it. So it’s quite a testament that the English actress would eventually make a career out of speaking, especially as the profession requires her to play different characters with various accents.

In the romantic drama Arthur Newman, she is paired with fellow Brit Colin Firth, in which they both play Americans. Of course, Blunt is no stranger to American accents. She played a Yank in Sunshine Cleaning, Charlie Wilson’s War, and last year’s sci-fi epic Looper, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She also lives in America with her American husband John Krasinski (The Office).

As Mike, she plays a troubled young woman trying to escape her past who runs into Firth (playing the title character). His character has faked his death in order to erase his problems. The two end up on a road trip together from Florida to Indiana, where Newman (Firth) believes he can start fresh as a professional golf instructor. The two share some sexy scenes together as their characters share some intimate moments as they get to know each other. Directed by first time feature filmmaker Dante Ariola, Arthur Newman is a quirky love story about two damaged souls learning to trust and love again.

Both you and Colin speak with American accents in this. Did you work with the same dialect coach? We did, actually.

Did you stay in your accents when you weren’t shooting?

We didn’t, unfortunately, because we’re both Brits. Normally, when I’m shooting, I stay in the accent. When I did Looper, I was working with this little boy, so I would stay in the accent more so he wouldn’t get confused, but I didn’t have a chance with Colin because we’re so completely British.

What were you attracted to in the script that made you want to play the offbeat character?

The script was just completely refreshing in how original it was. It was pretty uncompromising, actually, and we didn’t want to conform to any genre that could be summed up in a one-line pitch. I like the idea of the movie that the more we mask ourselves, the freer we are able to be in ourselves. I think everyone at one point has wanted to escape or run away and take on a new identity. I don’t particularly feel these characters are necessarily crazy; they’re just acting on impulses that a lot of people have.

I just couldn’t quite put my finger on why I was so drawn to the script. It’s always quite good when there is ambiguity there and something to play with. As an actress, you play different people all the time so does that mean you have less need to escape in your real life?

As an actor, I have less need to escape because I (play other people) all the time. I go away for a few months a year and get to live this strange, insular Neverland-like experience.

Was it fun playing a character whose acting like she’s someone else but isn’t a very good actress?

Well, it’s quite fun, actually, acting other parts badly. (laughs) It wasn’t that challenging, though, because we weren’t playing actors who were really good at taking on these personas. There was an awkwardness and a sweetness to it that was really fun.

You and Colin have a few sex scenes where your characters are role-playing but only once do they make love as themselves. Why do you suppose that is?

Intimacy is terrifying to both of them so they have to pretend to be other people to touch each other and be touched, and laugh with each other and do anything that resembles any kind of connection. I think Mike desperately wants to be touched; she just doesn’t know how.

You recently worked with Tom Cruise on the sci-fi action movie All You Need is Kill. What was it like working with him?

It was fun (and) quite hardcore! I don’t think I’d ever done anything like that with the amount of training and physical duress that I had to go through. It was intense but I loved working with Tom. It was a dream. And (director) Doug Liman definitely has an unconventional approach to the genre. He’s not a conformist in any way.

How did the character change over time with all the re-writes on the picture and the production starting and stopping?

Well, (the starting and stopping) was because Tom had to do press (for Jack Reacher) and we had the Christmas break and everything, so we came back shortly after that. We were always due to have the break, which is good because you can edit together what you’ve got and see what you still need. It was a long process—the whole film— and I only just wrapped it really. For a movie of that scale, it was surprisingly collaborative.

“ARTHUR NEWMAN” is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corporation. showing on Oct. 9. Nationwide!

She recently starred in back-to-back comedy hits: “Horrible Bosses,” joining an all-star ensemble cast, including Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell; and “Just Go with It,” opposite Adam Sandler. Now, Jennifer Aniston showcases her funny side once again as a stripper-turned-pretend-mom in New Line Cinema’s envelope-pushing comedy “We’re the Millers.”

In the film, David Clark (Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer who, in order to pay a huge debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms) must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad’s latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), as well as streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), David devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the “Millers” are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.

Rose reluctantly accepts David’s proposal to be his “wife” only after she realizes she has no other choice. “She does not initially agree to sign on for this adventure because, despite being a stripper, she has morals, she has boundaries, and breaking the law is not something she is willing to do,” Aniston says. “But the rules are changing at work in a way that she doesn’t agree with, and she’s broke. And David’s offered to pay her a lot of money, so she feels she has no choice but to go along.”

“Rose is the kind of woman who’s had bad experiences with boyfriends, trusted the wrong people, been taken advantage of, and fell into stripping because she didn’t have a lot of options,” producer Chris Bender observes. “David’s offer is only slightly more palatable to her than what she might have to do if she doesn’t accept it, but it is more palatable…and, after all, it’s only for a weekend.”

Aniston and Sudeikis has worked together several times before, but this was the first time they would star opposite each other. “When we finished working on ‘Horrible Bosses,’” Aniston offers, “we both wanted to find something really great to do together again—and for the full length of the film, not just little snippets. Jason is so much fun and a friend, and the script was so funny, it was easy to say yes to this one.”

“One thing I don’t think any director can do is create chemistry,” director Rawson Marshall Thurber states. “I think you just cross your fingers and hope it’s there, and in this case we were incredibly fortunate. As early as the first week, we were filming a two-shot of Jen and Jason, and they were playing off of each other and it was so fun and easy and charming. They just clicked in the way I had hoped for.”

Aniston attests, “Jason’s improvisational skills are fantastic, just masterful. That led to some awesome volleying back and forth between the two of us.”

Thurber encouraged his cast to be creative, which Aniston thoroughly enjoyed. “I love working with a director who steps back and lets us do what we do and have as much fun with it as we wanted. Rawson really trusted us to do our jobs, and to find that balance between the grounded and screwball, and for me, playing the reality of the insanity was the most fun.”

Rated R-16 Without Cuts, New Line Cinema’s “We’re The Millers” opens across the Philippines on Sept. 18 and is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

An eminently likeable actor, Steve Carell (“Crazy, Stupid Love”) might not seem like an obvious choice for the controlling and obnoxious character, Trent, in Fox Searchlight’s poignant, coming-of-age tale “The Way, Way Back,” but that was part of the reason the filmmakers pursued him.

“Trent sets the tone for the movie,” says producer Tom Rice. “He needs to be adversarial, but he has to have enormous charm. You want a Trent you can believe a single mother wants to be with. When we started talking about the character, we were thinking about going in a very different direction for Trent. He was more of a beach bum, a ’60s wannabe. Then we put together a list of some outside-the-box choices. Steve Carell was at the top.”

Written and directed by Academy Award-winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (“The Descendants”), “The Way, Way Back” is the coming of age story of 14-year-old Duncan’s (Liam James) summer vacation with his mother, Pam (Toni Collette), her overbearing boyfriend, Trent, and his daughter, Steph (Zoe Levin). Having a rough time fitting in, the introverted Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen (Sam Rockwell), the gregarious manager of the Water Wizz Water Park. Through his funny, clandestine friendship with Owen, Duncan slowly opens up to and begins to finally find his place in the world—all during a summer he will never forget.

“We were very excited to have Steve play so against type. He had the courage to jump into the role, which might have intimidated someone else. He did a wonderful job,” says Faxon.

Even in their first conversations, Carell had a firm grasp on Trent’s character, according to Rash. “He immediately recognized the sadness in this character. Steve understood that he starts and ends in the same place, which makes him a kind of tragic figure, trying to be a better person, but always failing.”

Carell appreciated what he calls the economy of the script. “By that I mean that the characters are not over-explained,” he says. “You get a strong sense of who these people are without having it served up to you in the obvious ways.

“I was really intrigued by Trent on paper,” he adds. “It would be so easy for him to just be a jerk, but I didn’t think that was the best approach. I wanted to know why he acts the way he does and part of the fun was finding that. He’s pretty humorless, very self-centered and he wants what he wants, but I have a degree of empathy for the guy. I don’t think he’s a villainous character and he can be fun to be around if he wants to be.”

Trent thinks he is ready to settle down again and be part of a family. “But he has these expectations that can’t be met,” Carell says. “He gets extremely agitated when people don’t live up to them, especially with Duncan. He thinks he’s helping his girlfriend’s son, Duncan, by being a strong role model, but he’s actually being very detrimental.”

Duncan, says Carell, is a character that all sorts of people will relate to as he struggles to find his way. “This kid is becoming a man over the summer. He’s about to come into his own in very painful ways and also very funny ways.

Trent’s girlfriend is played by Toni Collette who Carell co-starred in the hit indie comedy, “Little Miss Sunshine.” “I love working with Steve,” Collette says. “And it seems to be our karma to be stuck in swampy, heated cars with rolled up windows in the middle of the summer driving for hours on end! I was so excited when I knew I was going to work with him again. He’s a very sweet, lovely person and such a fine actor.”

“The Way, Way Back” is distributed by 20^th Century Fox through Warner Bros. and will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting Sept. 11.

BURBANK, CA, August 22, 2013 – Ending weeks of speculation, Ben Affleck has been set to star as Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne. Affleck and filmmaker Zack Snyder will create an entirely new incarnation of the character in Snyder’s as-yet-untitled project—bringing Batman and Superman together for the first time on the big screen and continuing the director’s vision of their universe, which he established in “Man of Steel.” The announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The studio has slated the film to open worldwide on July 17, 2015 (including the Philippines).

Last month’s surprise announcement of the new movie featuring both Superman and Batman created a wave of excitement and immediately fueled discussion and debate—among fans as well as in the media—about who would put on the cape and cowl of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego.

Snyder successfully re-imagined the origin of Clark Kent/Superman in the worldwide blockbuster “Man of Steel,” which has earned more than $650 million worldwide to date, and climbing. The director will now create an original vision of Batman and his world for the film that brings the two DC Comics icons together.

Affleck will star opposite Henry Cavill, who will reprise the role of Superman/Clark Kent. The film will also reunite “Man of Steel” stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.

In the announcement, Silverman stated, “We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics’ most enduringly popular Super Heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some. His outstanding career is a testament to his talent and we know he and Zack will bring new dimension to the duality of this character.”

Snyder also expressed his excitement about the casting of Affleck, noting, “Ben provides an interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman. He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”

Kroll added, “We are so thrilled that Ben is continuing Warner Bros.’ remarkable legacy with the character of Batman.

He is a tremendously gifted actor who will make this role his own in this already much-anticipated pairing of these two beloved heroes.”

Affleck recently starred in the Academy Award®-winning Best Picture “Argo,” which he also directed and produced, earning acclaim and a BAFTA Award nomination for his performance in the film, as well as a number of directing honors. In 2010, he starred in and directed the hit crime thriller “The Town.” His recent acting work also includes “The Company Men,” “State of Play,” and “Hollywoodland,” for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Earlier in his career, Affleck starred in and co-wrote (with Matt Damon) “Good Will Hunting,” for which he won an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay.

The new Super Hero film is being scripted by David S. Goyer from a story he co-created with Zack Snyder. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan and Wesley Coller serving as executive producers. Production is expected to begin in 2014.

The film is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, and Batman characters created by Bob Kane, published by DC Entertainment.

Double Academy Award-winner Jodie Foster stars opposite Matt Damon as Secretary Delacourt, the hardline official determined to protect Elysium for the wealthy, in Columbia Pictures' futuristic action thriller “Elysium,” a recent No. 1 box office hit in the U.S.

In the film, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

“As the Secretary of Defense, she sees it as her job to keep immigrants out of Elysium,” says Foster. “She sees Elysium as a utopia – what Earth could have been, but wasn’t. She’s finding herself handcuffed by a new, more liberal administration, but she’s 108 years old; she remembers when Earth was falling apart and why they created Elysium in the first place. She knows what will happen if you let everybody in – it’ll end up just like Earth. If you try to give Elysium to everybody, you’ll end up giving it to nobody.”

“I love the themes of this movie,” she says. “The richer have become richer and the poor have become poorer – that extends to everything from who gets to be healthy to who gets to have children, who gets to have a family and who gets to escape the poisoned environment. The chasm has become so enormous that, in the movie, it’s literally two different worlds.”

Foster's stunning performances as a rape survivor in “The Accused” and as Special Agent Clarice Starling in the hit thriller “The Silence of the Lambs” earned her two Academy Awards® for Best Actress and a reputation as one of the most critically acclaimed actresses of her generation.

As a child actor, her role in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1975) brought her to the audience’s attention and her powerful portrayal of a streetwise teenager in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) won her widespread critical praise and international attention. Foster appeared in a total of four films in 1976, “Bugsy Malone,” “Echoes of Summer,” “Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane” and “Taxi Driver,” which were all presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Alan Parker’s “Bugsy Malone” earned her an Italian Comedy Award.

In total, Foster has appeared in more than 40 films, including recent films “Carnage” for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; “Nim’s Island” with Gerard Butler; “The Brave One” for director Neil Jordan for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination; “Inside Man” with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen; the box-office hit “Flightplan,” Jean Pierre Jeunet’s French language film, “A Very Long Engagement,” David Fincher’s box-office success, “Panic Room,” “Contact” for director Robert Zemeckis; “Nell” opposite Liam Neeson; the comedy “Maverick” opposite Mel Gibson and James Garner; and the romantic drama “Sommersby” opposite Richard Gere.

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, “Elysium” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.

The much adored teen demigod Logan Lerman aka Percy is back in "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" to face his most perilous adventure based on Rick Riordan's best-selling second book of the same title. Following the successful wave of the first movie "Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief," the latest adaptation, 'Sea of Monsters" brings Percy along with his friends in uncharted waters to battle terrifying creatures and the ultimate Evil to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back in time to save their world.

Directed by Thor Freudenthal, Lerman reprises his role as the titular hero, the demigod son of Poseidon, who embarks on his own, modern-day Odyssey. “At the beginning of this film, Percy is not living up to his potential and he doubts himself,” says Lerman. “Percy feels abandoned by his father, the Greek god Poseidon, and then, he finds out that he has a brother.”

If shocking family revelations weren’t enough, Percy must deal with Polyphemus, an enormous and powerful Cyclops; Charybdis, the sea monster; the raging Colchis Bull, a giant, metallic and fire-breathing creature that attacks Camp Half-Blood; the Manticore, a formidable monster with a lion’s body and a long, scorpion-like tail; and the ancient Oracle, an ancient mummified mystic with empty eye sockets and skeletal features. The Oracle further complicates Percy’s sense of self and duty, says Lerman, when it tells him he “is either going to destroy Olympus or save it. He’s not sure if he can rise to the occasion.”

Lerman remembers three months of fight training on the first Percy Jackson film, so was grateful all of that knowledge was inherent to begin with, and the time didn’t need repeating for "Sea of Monsters." “It was insane,” he says. “It was our first time doing anything like this so we really had to figure it out. I’d never held a sword before. But now we kind of know what we’re doing and it was much, much easier to jump back into it.”

Lerman says that after two movies playing Percy he knows his way around a sword. So is he a dangerous man to be around? "I think so," he laughs. "But then, I think anyone would probably be. I think it's pretty easy. You just chop."

Percy has a lot at stake, according to Freudenthal. “He’s trying to save Camp Half-Blood and prove himself as a hero. He’s grown distant from his father, who is not really responding to his requests for help. Percy embarks upon his ‘odyssey’ for two reasons: to save his home, and to ascertain if he is indeed a hero.”

The demigods return when "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" opens August 7 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

He received favorable notices for his performance as the menacing Cato in the blockbuster “The Hunger Games.” Now, Alexander Ludwig shifts to comedy as he plays Braden, the long lost son of David Spade's character in Columbia Pictures' “Grown Ups 2.”

The film also stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek and Taylor Lautner.

In the film, Spade's character, Marcus Higgins, gets a bit of a comeuppance. “In the first movie, he discovered that the life he thought he wanted, single and free, wasn’t as fulfilling as his friends’, even though they were tied down with wives and kids,” says Spade. “Well, in the sequel, he finds out that the free-and-easy life wasn’t as free or easy as he thought – he has a son that he never knew about, and he’s coming up to the town to spend some time with the father he never knew. Oh, and the kid is about 18 and enormous and knows how to hold a grudge.”

“Braden is the son that Marcus didn’t know he had – but Braden doesn’t know that,” says Ludwig. “He’s under the impression that Marcus knew all along, and was just ignoring his son. So theirs is a very strained relationship from the first meeting, because Braden has had years and years to build up anger toward his father. It was fun to play such a crazy, intimidating character.”

Still, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “He’s a huge version of Marcus,” says Ludwig. “He’s got the crazy long hair, the goatee – but he completely overshadows his father.”

Ludwig was especially gratified by the chance to join the comedy. “I knew comedy was my biggest challenge that I’d have to overcome. Comedy actors are very underrated, because you have to be in the moment. Working with these guys, who are comedic legends, you has to be on your toes and spit back at whatever they threw your way,” the young actor explains.

“After `The Hunger Games,' I’m glad to have the chance to do something different and keep people guessing,” Ludwig conludes. “Besides, when Adam Sandler calls and says he’s interested in you being in his next movie, you jump at the opportunity.”

Opening across the Philippines on July 24, “Grown Ups 2” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.