Category Archives: DVD Releases

Stephen Colbert to Cameo in ‘The Hobbit’

They are two items in popular culture that I never thought would be mentioned in the same sentence. In one corner, you have American satirist, Stephen Colbert. In the other corner, you have Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated film, The Hobbit. These two ingredients will mesh on the big screen in the not so distant future.

Many out there would kill for a cameo on AMC’s ridiculously popular series, The Walking Dead. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian put himself in the very capable hands of the make-up artists on that set, in order to become a bloody member of the walkers. But have you ever thought of how cool it would be to cameo as a Tolkien inspired monster?

That notion has apparently crossed the mind of Comedy Central‘s own Stephen Colbert. He won’t make it into the final cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which hits on December 14th, but there are two more sequels in this prequel package, and he’ll cameo in one of those films. Colbert fans will already know that the actor is a bit of a Tolkein’s fanatic. He even mentioned this exciting cameo in an interview with Playboy earlier this month.

Did I jump the gun? I assumed Colbert would get into the spirit of Halloween and have a seat in the make-up chair himself, but there’s no telling what shape his cameo will take. Maybe he’ll be an elf or dwarf instead.

What we do know is what Bolg will look like. Pardon me. No, I didn’t just burp. Bolg is the name of the terrible leader of the faction of Misty Mountain Goblins. Dun dun dun. He’s role is acted by Conan Stevens, who is somewhere beneath all that make-up and armor. It looks heavy, doesn’t it?

Of course, the prequel is all about the titular hobbit, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. His friend Gandalf the Grey, who just happens to be a great wizard, urges him into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which is now firmly in the grip of the very frightening dragon, Smaug, to be voiced by the one and only Benedict Cumberbatch.

So, Bilbo joins a band of thirteen dwarves, led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield, on the journey. Along the way, they’ll encounter mor than just Orcs, obviously. I mentioned Misty Mountain Goblins already. There are also treacherous Wargs, Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers to contend with. Oh my.

And one creature needs no introduction. He’s Gollum. And he’s baaack on the big screen. Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis and many, many more star in our return to Middle Earth.

Boy, what can’t Stephen Colbert accomplish? His book I Am America (And So Can You!) is a New York Times Best Seller. He’s a family man and a political mind. He’s a comedian, and a voice actor, having lent his pipes to Monsters vs. Aliens, The Simpsons, and a guest role on American Dad! His special A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! earned Colbert a Grammy.

David Oyelowo Attached To Play Sugar Ray Robinson In ‘Sweet Thunder’

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David Oyelowo has just won a role of a lifetime. The young actor is being fitted for boxing gloves as he prepares to step into the shoes of the iconic boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson. That’s right, a major biopic is in the works, following the boxers life. Its inspired by the Wil Haygood biography Sweet Thunder: The Life And Times Of Sugar Ray Robinson. Also on board already are Moneyball producer Rachael Horovitz and Game Change screenwriter Danny Strong plans to produce as well. Even Oyelowo will act as executive producer. Author Wil Haygood wrote up a draft of the script, but since Strong has the experience, he may be called upon to do a re-write. There’s no director as of yet.

Strong last made an Optionated headline when we learned actor from “The Gilmore Girls” would be writing the adapted screenplay for Mockingjay, the third film in The Hunger Games series.

Apparently most of this plan for a new film about Sugar Ray developed on the set of another picture, called The Butler, being directed by Lee Daniels. In the film Oyelowo stars with Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker. Strong wrote that script, based on Haygood’s Washington Post article, and the three of them got to chatting about doing a boxing film. It’s always nice to learn how a film idea is born. This also sounds like a really great team. Maybe we’ll get even more films out of them in the future.

Sugar Ray Robinson is considered to many as the greatest boxer in history, especially given his weight class. If you remember Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorese, starring Robert De Niro, you would recall Sugar Ray fought six times with boxer Jake LaMotta and Robinson won five of those bouts.

Sweet Thunder will focus on the fighter’s early career. It seems that during this era, boxing was controlled by organized crime, and because Robinson refused to play along with them and wouldn’t throw fights, he struggled. In fact, he eventually helped shine a light on those shady dealings.

You may have noticed Oyelowo in his work on the British spy series MI-5, which is currently on Netflix. More recently he appeared in Middle Of Nowhere and The Paperboy. This fall he stars opposite Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher and he’ll even appear in a small role in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis. I think it’s safe to say, in Oyelowo’s case, a star has been born.

‘Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day’ Optioned By Disney

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Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a children’s book written by American author, Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz. Awards it has earned since its original publication in 1972 have been the George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit and a Georgia Children’s Book Award. If you’re a fan of the book, you’ll be pleased to learn that its going to be made into a Hollywood adaptation.

Disney has big plans for this popular 32-page children’s book. Steve Carell is already attached to star in the film adaptation. He’ll play Alexander’s father. The writer and director of the critically acclaimed drama, The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Cholodenko, is also directing this project. In fact, she co-wrote the adapted screenplay for Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible… with Rob Lieber. On the production side are Shawn Levy and Dan Levine for 21 Laps, as well as Lisa Henson. 20th Century Fox did have the film rights first, but nothing came of it.

Just as the title suggests, Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is focused upon a rotten day in the life of the young Alexander. It begins the moment Alexander gets up in the morning. There’s gum tangled in his hair, he trips over his skateboard and then accidentally drops his sweater into the sink with the water on.

At school things continue poorly. In fact, there isn’t even a dessert in his lunch. After class, he visits the dentist and learns he has a cavity and things escalate from there. The elevator door closes on his foot, one of his brothers pushes him in the mud, and when he retaliates against his other brother for laughing at him when he cries, his Mom catches him and punishes him instead.

At night there are lima beans for dinner, which Alexander does not like, soap gets in his eyes at bath time, and after he turns in, unfortunately biting his tongue, he sees that the family cat has chosen to sleep with one of his brothers rather than with him. Alexander claims things are so bad that he wants to move to Australia.

In the end Alexander’s mother promises him that everyone has bad days, even people living in Australia.

The book has a sequel called Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days.

Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day probably won’t debut until 2014. As for Steve Carell, he’ll enjoy a very busy 2013. His films debuting next year include The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Way, Way Back , Despicable Me 2 and Foxcatcher.

‘Justice League’ Aims for Summer 2015

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Superheroes are in today’s headline. For a second, I thought Warner Bros. was releasing a new animated comic book movie. Don’t get me wrong, even when they are released direct to video, many of those animated stories are pretty fantastic. But today’s news revolves around the Justice League and a live-action blockbuster, my friends. That’s something to get truly exited about. You can even drool a little. I won’t tell.

Marvel fans reveled in The Avengers film from director Joss Whedon. Now DC Comics fans may get their turn to party. You may be asking, “Hey, what took so long?” Well, apparently, the courts are to blame. Warner Bros. has been in a long tussle over winning the rights to the Superman property.

Now, which the nastiness behind them, let’s hope, for good, the studio wants to take a page out of The Flash’s book and hurry things along! They are now pushing the development of a Justice League movie. The film would star Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and other characters. Can I play Zatanna in the sequel? Please, oh please, oh please?

The studio has targeted 2014 for filming, with a projected release date in the Summer of 2015. Since they already has a script in development, the next order of business is to pin down a director and start casting roles.

If Warner Bros. had lost the case they brought against the family of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, all Justice League or any other movies, television shows or comics featuring elements the Superman mythos would have been off-limits after 2013, unless new deals were made. Yikes!

The climate was further negative with the Green Lantern film being largely lackluster. When it comes to Warner Bros. and DC Comics, only Christopher Nolan’s amazing Batman movie trilogy has been successful thus far. Their strategy for sequels is also sounding risky. You see, for Marvel movies, solo titles hit the big screen first and developed fan based prior to bringing everyone together on The Avengers set.

Warner Bros. plans to do the opposite. They’ll unveil Justice League, then release solo titles. Do you foresee success? I think the key to wining the box office will be a few very well-known actors and one dynamite screenwriter. It is very difficult penning a script with vying personalities getting along, arguing, fighting bad guys together, and shining in turn. Don’t put a rookie on the case. And whereas Henry Cavill is relatively low on the fame radar, but should still make a stellar Man of Steel in his June 14th, 2013 debut as Sup, I think an expensive star or two definitely needs to be on the League roster to draw crowds. Hey, it takes money to make money. Oh, and will Cavill play Superman in JL?

No, I’m not saying I didn’t like Immortals, starring Mr. Cavill. Saw it twice in theaters, thank you very much.

Here’s another important question. What time period are our heroes going to be living in? Wasn’t there something more stylist about the X-Men: First Class than the previous, modern-day X-Men films? Actually, a case could be made for either era. If we set the Justice League in our current time period, a lot of costumes need updating.

I know one DC hero who isn’t down and out. The Green Arrow is enjoying success in the CW’s hottest show in three years, Arrow.

‘Wolverine’ Writer Joins ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’

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Get ready, sci-fi fans, Caesar, leader of simian kind, is coming back to theaters. From 20th Century Fox, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which debuted in August 5, 2011, was a runaway smash hit. Popular drama The Help premiered around the same time, and even though it went on to earn Oscar nominations, the buzz over Apes nearly drowned out the other film. And The Wolverine scribe, Mark Bomback, is now on the job.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a re-boot of the classic science fiction series of Apes films. The first appeared in 1968, starring Charlton Heston as an astronaut who believes he has crash landed on a strange alien planet where apes are intelligent and capable of speech and rule over dimwitted humans. Of course the infamous twist comes at the end when he spies the Statue of Liberty and realized he’s standing on earth, in the distant future. There were four sequels to the original Planet of the Apes, and I love them all so much that I think I can give you a short summary.

Let’s see… We meet some intelligent and even frightening humans remaining on the Planet of the Apes. They are definitely odd, and they worship a nuclear bomb. They set it off at the end of film two and Taylor and Nova die. In film three, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Taylor’s intelligent ape pals, Cornelius and Zira, whose most remembered line from film one is, “I’d kiss you, but your so damned ugly,” escape the bombing of their planet by hopping into Taylor’s restored space ship. They end up in our modern-day, which at the time was 1973 (though the picture premiered in ’71). They become instant celebrities.

Cornelius and Zira have a child, which they name Milo, and Ricardo Montalbán hides him when his parents are tragically murdered. In film four, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, it is ten years later and Montalbán’s character Armando has re-named Milo with the familiar moniker, Caesar. He tries to protect Caesar, but a strange disease has killed off all of earth’s cats and dogs, so humans have adopted apes as pets. Of course, the apes get smarter and smarter and are becoming valets and personal assistants to the humans. Caesar ends up in the training facility, destined to become a servant and play dumb. As he is found out, he rebels, and then turns the world upside down by leading the rest of the apes to overthrow mankind.

That film was the closest to the 2011 revamp, which starred

Finally, in 1973, came film five, Battle for the Planet of the Apes. It is about twelve years later and Caesar is still in charge. He struggles to keep power away from the humans, while grappling with feelings of empathy for them.

The important news; however, is that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is coming on May 23rd, 2014. Andy Serkis is returning as Caesar. You know the drill. He wears all those sensors on his face and those translate into the finished product as Caesar emoting. I was amazed at how easy it was to connect with the digitally rendered ape in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In this version of the mythology, in hunting for a cure for Alzheimer’s, Caesar, a regular ol’ chimp, is injected with a serum that makes him smarter than the average jungle dweller. He then leads a rebellion for his kind against mankind. Matt Reeves will direct the sequel and a screenwriter has just signed on. That’s Mark Bomback. He also wrote for Live Free or Die Hard as well as the Total Recall remake. Bomback knows action!

What an exciting job he has! The story will depict the fall of human civilization. There’s so many terrible things that can help tip the scales in ape favor. Which do you think he’ll choose?

All Ape films, including the latest re-boots, credit the book, Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle as their inspiration. Oops. I failed to mention Mark Wahlberg’s previous franchise re-boot. Oh yeah, that’s because I didn’t like it very much. Sorry!

Spy Thriller ‘The Right Hand’ Optioned

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The spy thriller, The Right Hand, from author Derek Haas is headed to the big screen. Universal Pictures and producer Scott Stuber are behind the fresh movie deal. Haas along with screenwriting partner Michael Brandt, are planning to work on adapting a screenplay. It seems a very well-made book trailer spawned mega interest in the thriller, but this team won out.

The project definitely as a capable screenwriting team. Their works include Wanted, 2 Fast 2 Furious and 3:10 To Yuma. Brandt and Haas are also behind the new NBC series, Chicago Fire.

The Right Hand is the fourth novel from Derek Haas. The novel hit bookshelves on November 13th, from Mulholland Books. The story follows Austin Clay, a spy so covert that he’s basically a ghost. when he’s sent in to investigate a missing American operative, being held by Russians, he uncovers more than he bargained for. There’s a conspiracy at work, involving a mole hiding in the top-most echelons of the U.S. government. Fans of Angelina Jolie’s Salt, and hit series Homeland, should enjoy this picture when it all comes together. It also has the feel of Tom Clancy’s work.

Damian Saccani will serve as executive producer on the project.

In a statement Haas explained, “I’m thrilled The Right Hand is in the hands of Scott Stuber and Universal, with whom Michael and I have had incredible movie experiences. We love that after readers get a chance to discover this spy thriller in November, we’ll get to bring it to the screen ourselves.”

Readers seem to agree that Haas’s work is non-stop action and very stylish to boot. Could this be the new Bourne Identity? This year’s Bourne Legacy was a little lackluster in my opinion. That wasn’t the fault of the actors, who did great jobs with what they were given. Adding Jeremy Renner to the series, did some to keep the beat breathing. The script just felt to me like a somewhat clumsy attempt at CPR. Still, there’s potential there, provided a another sequel pulls out all the stops.

He isn’t a spy, per say, but if this genre thrills you, do not forget to check out Alex Cross this weekend. In this one Tyler Perry faces off against a serial killer in a role Morgan Freeman has brought to life twice before. Matthew Fox and Jean Reno also star.

Of course Mission Impossible 4 also fits into the spy genre. I thought that was a decent return for that franchise, but some of the action was a little far-fetched.

James Ransone Replaces Nate Parker in Oldboy

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To many, Oldboy is a cult classic. The 2003 South Korean film was directed by Park Chan-wook. It is loosely based upon the Japanese manga of the same name, written by Nobuaki Minegishi and Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi. The American re-make has just had a casting switch up.

James Ransone has signed the dotted line and will replace actor Nate Parker in the film Spike Lee will direct. There was some scheduling conflicts that are to blame for the swap. The re-make is scheduled for release in 2013 and has a script from Mark Protosevich.

I’ve got to say, I do like the way the cast is shaping up. Josh Brolin will star as the lead character, Joe. This character’s name is Dae-su Oh in the original korean film. Joe is captured and imprisoned in a hotel room for over two decades without a clue as to why. the day he is suddenly released, he is told he’s got four days to figure out why it all went down.

To say he’s trapped in a hotel room is a little too nice to describe his incarceration. In the original film, there’s a TV set in his room, but no window. He’s fed, but also frequently gassed by his mysterious captors who will cut his hair but won’t wash any blood stains out of his room. The TV shows him that his wife was murdered shortly after his own kidnapping and the police suspect him. When he is mysteriously freed, he can’t very well go to the police.

Ransone will play a doctor who works with the lead female, who is acted by Elizabeth Olsen. Yes, that’s younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Ransone, largely a TV series actor, worked with Spike Lee on Inside Man. He also acts in the horror flick out now, titled Sinister, and starring Ethan Hawke.

Sharlto Copley from District 9 and The A-Team will co-star as the antagonist. I’m a big fan of his work. Samuel L. Jackson is expected to do a cameo.

Film critic Roger Ebert said the original Oldboy was a “powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare”. That’s an incredible review! Also, in 2008, a CNN poll found that Oldboy was considered one of the ten best Asian films ever made. In fact, I just saw Oldboy on a list of the best Asian films of all time, standing tall amongst titles like The Man from Nowhere and Seven Samurai. It is very much time to bring an American version to those unfamiliar with the original. I do recommend watching the original before the re-make comes out. It has a style all its own.

Official Synopsis for ‘Kick-Ass 2’ Released

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What’s more kick-ass than the Kick-Ass film? Hopefully the answer to that question is Kick-Ass 2.

The project began as a creator-owned comic book series of the same name written by superstar Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr. Kick-Ass the comic, ran for 8 kick-ass issues and was published by Marvel Comics under the Icon imprint.

The film adaptation hit theaters thanks to LionsGate, in March of 2010. It was directed by Matthew Vaughn, also known for X-Men: First Class, and produced by Vaughn and A-List actor, Mr. Brad Pitt. Perhaps The Brad was also a fan of the comic series, eh?

It starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Dave Lizewski, who develops the alter ego, Kick-Ass, and the always funny Christopher Mintz-Plasse as The Red Mist. Of course Chloe Moretz, soon to star as Carey in the Stephen King-based re-make, was the much embattled Hit Girl. See, its one thing for a big bad gangster to beat up a child hero in a comic book, but the same scene on the big screen, and what you get is a scandal. Nicholas Cage played Big Daddy, Hit Girl’s father. He played such a controversial and somewhat insane character particularly well. He was believable, in my book, but then he often portrays crazy with special panache. Mark Strong was our lead villain, a member of organized crime. Well, that is, unless you consider his costumed son, The Red Mist, the primary antagonist.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, believe it or not, is a British actor, and he has gone on to star in a few high-profile films. He was the despicable character of Joe in Albert Nobbs, a picture with Oscar noms. He was Ben in the totally risque action-drama, Savages. And he’ll appear as Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina, opposite Keira Knightley and Jude Law beginning on 9 November in the USA.

Kick-Ass 2 is coming to a theater near you on June 28th, 2013. The Kick-Ass and Red Mist you know and love will return. That means Taylor-Johnson and Mintz-Plasse are back in the saddle again. Let’s take a look at the official synopsis.

Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and Red Mist return for the follow-up to 2010’s irreverent global hit: Kick-Ass 2. After Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), reborn as The Mother F%&*^r, only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation.

When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world’s first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she’s forced to retire, leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes.

Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world’s first super villain, The Mother F%&*^r, assembles his own evil league and puts a plan in motion to make Kick-Ass and Hit Girl pay for what they did to his dad. But there’s only one problem with his scheme: If you mess with one member of Justice Forever, you mess with them all.

How can you not love it? The film comes from Universal John Leguizamo and Donald Faison also on the cast list.

Twilight Saga Marathon Trailer Released

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Do you remember how it all began? The boy at Forks High School with the strange eyes; Bella trying to figure out how he stopped the car from crushing her in the parking lot. Bella, alone in the woods with Edward, breathing the word vampire on the chill, humid air for the first time. How about the very first time Jacob transforms? When we first meet the sinister Volturi. Or the beautiful outdoor event that was Bella and Edward’s wedding?

These moments and more can be re-lived during the Twilight Saga Marathon event. So, call all your girl friends and buy your tickets soon.

Summit Entertainment is responsible for the cinematic event, which will include a five-film marathon of The Twilight Saga. That’s right, your ticket gives you access to re-watch Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn part one, all in one day, just before seeing for the first time ever, the latest and final installment, Breaking Dawn part two. Fandango has revealed that the event happens November 15th, 2012 at theaters across North America. They also unveiled a nostalgic new trailer just for the Twilight Saga Marathon. It features some of those famous Twilight moments, including the chilling scene where the army of Newborns walks out of the sea.

That ain’t all, either. Wait until you get to the part of the new trailer which features scenes from the new film! We’ve got more vampires to meet, and some of them have special abilities. What am I saying? We have yet to meet Mrs. Bella Cullen as a Newborn vamp! She’s got some surprises left to reveal herself!

I know what you’re thinking. Won’t a marathon of the magnitude last all day? Sure it will. But we hear the final film, Breaking Dawn part two, will strike at about 10 pm as a part of that event. Maybe that will give you an idea of how long you’ll be sitting in the theater.

If you have your own plans for marathon at home or just want to skip right to the exiting final film, worry not, you can choose to watch The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 all by itself in North American theaters, beginning on November 16th, 2012. That date isn’t so far away now, either!

Will the wolves team up with the Cullens and their new friends against the Volturi? Will there be betrayals? Will any of our favorites die? What will become of Bella and Edward’s daughter? Will Bella kill Jacob for imprinting on her?

I can answer one question. What’s the craziest part of this trailer? Near the end in the final, frozen, epic battle against the Volturi, it looks like Edward swings his wife into an enemy, putting some serious momentum behind her kick. That was a little weird, yes? It reminds me of Marvel comics Wolverine doing his fast ball special.

Breaking Dawn part one was the 4th highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide. Will Breaking Dawn part two do just as well? Part two is directed also by Bill Condon. The screenplay came from Melissa Rosenberg and Stephenie Meyer herself. Seeing the last picture in the franchise is pretty exciting stuff, but you have also heard that there’s a special unscripted scene the actors got together and filmed as a gift and tribute to director Bill Condon. Now that will be a noteworthy sequence to watch!

Two of our newest vampires are Christian Camargo as Eleazar and Mía Maestro as Carmen. Maestro sang a track for the last film’s soundtrack.

Read The Official Synopsis for ‘Thor: The Dark World’

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Dust off your glasses and get ready to read all about it. Chris Hemsworth is returning to the big screen as America’s favorite thunder god in Thor: The Dark World and today we have the official synopsis for the action/adventure film.

Coming November 8, 2013, the movie will be directed by Alan Taylor.

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s Thor and Marvel’s The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor: The Dark World is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne (credit not final) and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (credit not final) and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book Journey into Mystery #83 in August, 1962.

Thor: The Dark World is presented by Marvel Studios. The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Victoria Alonso, Craig Kyle and Nigel Gostelow. The film releases November 8, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Jaimie Alexander, who plays Sif, was in the news not too long ago, having sustained an injury while filming. All reports indicate, thankfully, that the actress is okay. You’ll also notice a familiar name up in the synopsis. It belongs to Zachary Levi, a.k.a. Chuck Bartowski of TV’s Chuck. What an awesome casting decision! Levi is Fandral, a member of the Warriors Three. He was acted in the previous Thor Joshua Dallas in the role due to his commitment on Once Upon a Time. Actually, I hear the role was originally offered to Levi, but he was all tied up filming Chuck. So, I doubt there are any hard feelings between the actors. The last thing we need is another Terrance Howard versus Don Cheadle hubbub over the role of Rhodey in the Iron Man franchise.

It has been a very exciting time for fans of Marvel comics and film. First we saw our heroes in solo gigs for films like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, and then the splendid Joss Whedon directed them in one mighty blockbuster, The Avengers. Now, the story continues and more solo sequels debut and eventually an Avengers 2 will be delivered with a big bow on it.

Here’s what you can expect. Its more than just a second dose of Thor.

Iron Man 3 from director Shane Black
Thor: The Dark World from director Alan Taylor
Captain America: The Winter Soldier from directors Anthony and Joe Russo
Guardians of the Galaxy from director James Gunn
The Avengers 2 from director Joss Whedon
Ant-Man TBA

Am I the only true believe that’s ready to see a Dr. Strange movie!?