Our Top Story Tonight: "The Wolverine" Trailer Finally Arrives

 After much anticipation, and a few too many trailer teasers (seriously, can that phase die out already?), the first trailer for The Wolverine finally arrived online. The film showcased a very different style from the previous X-Men movies. The film follows Logan, yet again played by Hugh Jackman, as he travels to Japan. The trailer suggests that Logan undergoes some sort of procedure to cure him of his immortality, but he is (naturally) tracked down by villains as well. The film is incorporating martial arts action into the mix, and has been influenced by everything from classic samurai films to Roman Polanski's classic Chinatown, a favorite of mine. James Mangold has taken over the director's chair for this film, which you can check it out in theaters July 22.

I haven't enjoyed an X-Men film in almost ten years now, but The Wolverine definitely looks like the film that'll break that track record. It looks competently directed, exciting and unique, though some of the special effects (like the bullet train sequence) could use work. And I most definitely won't be seeing this one in 3D, it doesn't look like it'll benefit from it at all. But I'm now a bit more excited about checking this out over the summer.

After the jump check out some more news, including scoop on Netflix's next original series.



In other news...

• Kata Mara, sister of Oscar nominee Rooney Mara, was recently cast in Johnny Depp's next project, Transcendence. The film will serve as the directorial debut for Christopher Nolan's frequent cinematography, Wally Pfister, and will follow a scientist who uploads his brain onto a super computer after being murdered by anti-techonology terrorists. The film already stars Rebecca Hall (in a role that, strangely enough, Rooney Mara was considered for) and will be released on April 25, 2014. The project sounds quite interesting and I'm a huge fan of Mara's work on television, so I'm certainly interested in checking this out.
• Following in the steps of David Fincher, Andy & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas) will be developing an original series for Netflix, along with J. Michael Straczynski ("Babylon 5"). The sci-fi series will follow a group of humans who discover they are linked mentally and they must go on the run from forces that are trying to kill them. The series, which will be titled "Sens8", will debut sometime in 2014, and presumably begin production once the Wachowski's are done filming Jupiter Ascending.
• Anne Hathaway and Chloe Moretz will costar in a new drama from indie director Lynn Shelton (Your Sister's Sister) called Laggies. It is described as a dark comedy following a 20something who is afraid of growing up and befriends a teenage girl in her neighborhood. Also starring in the film is Sam Rockwell and Mark Webber. I'm a huge fan of both those leading ladies, so the chance to see them work together is pretty exciting. I'm also happy to see Moretz moving away from the somewhat nerdy fare she's been starring in lately, as she has real talent that I'd like to see her utilize in more interesting projects.
• Following my news yesterday regarding the upcoming Independence Day sequels, Roland Emmerich has announced today that Will Smith is unlikely to return as he has been deemed "too big" for the franchise. I've said all I really had to say about the franchise yesterday, so I'll just leave it at that. 
• Finally, director Matthew Vaughn has set up his next project, another Mark Millar adaptation called Secret Service. The film already has its release date set (November 14, 2014) and will follow a veteran secret agent who must train his nephew. The film sounds a bit quirky, which is to be expected given Vaughn's other work, as it incorporates sci-fi stars and some secret involving Mount Everest. Vaughn is a talented director who I'm always interested in checking out, so hopefully we can expect some good things from this one. 
• Finally, Wes Anderson's The Grand Butapest Hotel has been picked up by Fox Searchlight, who may be looking to schedule the film for late 2013, as opposed to 2014 as originally rumored. I didn't include this film on my list of the most anticipated of 2013, and I don't necessarily believe it will be released this year, but if it is you can believe that it will slot high on my list. I love Anderson's work and look forward to checking this out, regardless of which year it is released.