Last week, Relativity Media announced big news on The Crow – which just found a new director and writer in F. Javier Gutierrez and Jesse Wigutow – and Timeless, an action-drama starring Liam Hemsworth and directed by Phillip Noyce.  Now, the distributor has kicked off a new week with big news.  Relativity is teaming up with Hasbro to create a Stretch Armstrong feature film based on the squishy elastic action figure first produced in 1976.

Two months ago, the first Mirror Mirror domestic trailer provided the most substantial look at Relativity Media's fantastical reimagining of the classic Snow White fairy tale.  Today, a newly-released international trailer showcases even more of the sumptuous visuals that have become the signature of any film from director Tarsem Singh, who last helmed the hit 3D action epic Immortals. 

The sight of dwarf bandits gracefully bandying about in elaborately designed stilt costumes – as well as an any number of other visual flourishes, including a lavish costume party and a magnificently designed palace – certainly makes an undeniable impression.  Just as importantly, though, this international trailer also features a better sense of the film's tone, which combines whimsical humor and spirited, swashbuckling adventure in a manner reminiscent of The Princess Bride.

Last summer, Chris Hemsworth entered the American cultural consciousness as the title character in Marvel's Thor, but his younger sibling, Liam Hemsworth, is on track to match or exceed his brother as a bankable movie star here in the States.  Liam Hemsworth is playing romantic co-lead Gale Hawthorne in this spring's The Hunger Games and its inevitable sequels, and he's the youngest rough-and-tumble member of Sylvester Stallone's mercenary team in this summer's The Expendables 2.  Now, he's signed on to show his full dramatic potential in Timeless, an emotional adventure to be directed by Phillip Noyce.

Twenty-three years ago, while comic book luminaries like Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Neil Gaiman were proving that graphic novels could no longer be dismissed as childish wish fulfillment, James O'Barr's revenge tale The Crow amassed a cult following for its dark, sophisticated storytelling.  In 1994, a film version from director Alex Proyas showed that films based on graphic novels could be just as grown-up, visually arresting, and dramatically striking.

Now, with an audience infinitely more versed in the conventions of comic books, O'Barr's original material is set to once again provide a template for a shift in comic book moviemaking.  The Crow, a new feature from Relativity Media and Dimension Films, will re-imagine the story of Eric Draven from a more contemporary, grittier perspective.  Today, Relativity announced that a director and writer have been chosen to bring this new vision to the screen, as F. Javier Gutierrez and Jesse Wigutow have both signed on the project.

Opening in theaters on January 20th is the new action-packed spy/revenge film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) called Haywire. The movie marks the feature film debut of women's MMA fighter Gina Carano, and also boasts an impressive cast of all-star actors that includes Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Haywire also reunites Soderbergh with screenwriter Lem Dobbs for the first time since their work together on the seminal revenge film The Limey. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to speak with the film's technical advisor Aaron Cohen about his work on Haywire, as well look at some of the weapons that were used in the film. Cohen discussed the new movie, his unique background, training Gina Carano for the film, and how director Steven Soderbergh set out to make the action in the movie unlike anything that you've ever seen before. 

In Haywire, the new action film from director Steven Soderbergh, Mixed Martial Arts star Gina Carano plays Mallory Kane, a special ops-trained mercenary who finds herself betrayed by her superiors and those she trusted most.  The unstoppable Kane must then get to the bottom of the mystery negotiating between a cast of enemies and allies played by Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender, and Michael Angarano.

Inspired by Soderbergh's unique command of stylish action and Carano's badass heroine, Go Haywire is a new interactive thriller, a series of shorts that transpose the bone-crunching action to the realm of YouTube.  After her facebook friends abandon her online, YouTube star Olga Kay vows to take her two-fisted revenge.  With the help of Aaron Cohen, the Special Forces adviser on Haywire, Kay trains herself to be a whirlwind of supercool action, taking on her nemeses Joe Nation, Toby Turner, and Michael Gallagher of Totally Sketch.  Since Go Haywire is an interactive thriller, you get to choose the order in which Kay decimates her opponents.

Opening in theaters on January 20th is the new action-packed spy/revenge film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) called Haywire. The movie marks the feature film debut of women's MMA fighter Gina Carano, and also boasts an impressive cast of all-star actors that includes Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Haywire also reunites Soderbergh with screenwriter Lem Dobbs for the first time since their work together on the seminal revenge film The Limey. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Channing Tatum to talk about his work on Haywire. The actor discussed the new film, his character, joining the Soderbergh alumni of actors, his love for The Limey, special forces training, and going toe-to-toe with Carano in their fight scenes.

Opening in theaters on January 20th is the new action-packed spy/revenge film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) called Haywire. The movie marks the feature film debut of women's MMA fighter Gina Carano, and also boasts an impressive cast of all-star actors that includes Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Haywire also reunites Soderbergh with screenwriter Lem Dobbs for the first time since their work together on the seminal revenge film The Limey. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down with the beautiful, yet dangerous, MMA fighter-turned-actress Gina Carano to talk about Haywire. Carano discussed the new film, acting opposite Douglas and Banderas, fighting Tatum, Fassbender, and McGregor, working with director Steven Soderbergh, choreographing her own fight scenes, and whether or not she'd like to do more acting in the future. 

Opening in theaters on January 20th is the new action-packed spy/revenge film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) called Haywire. The movie marks the feature film debut of women's MMA fighter Gina Carano, and also boasts an impressive cast of all-star actors that includes Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Haywire also reunites Soderbergh with screenwriter Lem Dobbs for the first time since their work together on the seminal revenge film The Limey. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with actor Antonio Banderas to talk about Haywire. Banderas discussed the new movie, his character's unique beard, how he became the film's villain, why the sequel might begin with a scene featuring him fighting Carano, and working with Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh. 

Opening in theaters on January 20^th is Haywire, a new espionage film helmed by Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion). The movie centers on a female covert operative that must now unravel the reasons why she has become the target of those who were once part of her team. The result pays homage to classic spy flicks, in every sense of the word, reminiscent of old-school thrillers in visuals, story and music.

It was important to Soderbergh to revisit that genre of cinema, and possibly update its conventions. To that end, he employed his former colleague Lem Dobbs (The Limey) for a script; Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots), Bill Paxton (Aliens), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) for a supporting cast, and for his muse - Soderbergh turned to MMA champion fighter Gina Carano.

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Haywire Press Conference held at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, which was filled with members of the press eager to hear Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum and Gina Carano talk about the action-packed new film.