Our Top Story Tonight: More "Pacific Rim" is Here & More of Colin Firth on the Way!

Kicking off tonight's movie news recap is the very impressive trailer for Guilmero del Torro's Pacific Rim. This is the same trailer that premiered at Wondercon earlier this year and, in my opinion, it does a much better job at showing audiences what they can expect from this big budget flick. The action looks much more exciting here, and while the plot is hardly original the trailer gave me the impression that the film can be unique in terms of execution. If anything, this looks like a mashup of all things nerd and I'm now much more excited for Pacific Rim then I was when the first footage premiered. For those who don't know, Pacific Rim is essentially a film where soldiers use giant robot suits to combat giant monsters that have invaded the Earth. Clearly, we aren't talking about Shakespeare here, but this could be a lot of fun. You can check out the trailer above, and the film itself on July 12.

Speaking of Shakespeare, Michael Fassbender has just signed on to star in an adaptation of the Bard's classic play Macbeth. It's unclear if the film will modernize the play or not, but we do know that it will retain the original language and will be directed by Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders). I'm a bit of a Shakespeare nerd, and Macbeth is one of my favorite plays so I really can't wait to see what Fassbender does with the part. Any suggestions for who should play Lady Macbeth? The first two actresses that come to mind are Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett, but I'm open to suggestions. Maybe Rooney Mara? She's a bit too young, but she has the ferocity that would be needed to pull off the part. Regardless, the role of Lady Macbeth is a dream part for any actress and it'll be interesting to see who is cast.

Meanwhile, on the totally opposite side of the filmgoing spectrum, Jamie Foxx has signed on to play Benjamin Stacks in Will Gluck's update of the musical classic Annie. Stacks is the new and (possibly?) improved version of Daddy Warbucks, the rich man who adopts Annie. The film, which is being produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith, already has Oscar nominee Quevanzhané Wallis in the titular role and is set to be released next Christmas. I'm not much of a fan of the original (or musicals in general), but I am (mildly) interested in seeing how this film works out. Will Gluck has proven to be a solid comedic director as well, so this could be quite charming. And Foxx proved to have some nice pipes in Dreamgirls, so this could be interesting.

Finally, fans of Colin Firth will be pleased to know that the Oscar winning actor has signed up for not one but two films. The first is Matthew Vaughn's Secret Service, an adaptation of a comic series written by Mark Millar and David Gibbons that follows a veteran secret agent and his young into the shadowy business. That film is set to be released November 2014. But on a much more interesting note, the actor has also landed the lead role in Woody Allen's next film opposite Emma Stone. Now, this being a Woody Allen film, there is no real information to share regarding the project, but I'm already hoping that Firth and Stone play a couple and not a father/daughter as we would expect. Strangely enough, I could see the two having quite a bit of chemistry and it would be interesting to see the two as romantic leads. But, either way, I'm excited. The untitled film is set to film in the south of France later this year.

That's it for today! You can expect a preview of May's movies some time tomorrow, and a new box office related article by Thursday. Stay tuned!