Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is just a few days away from its release on IMAX screens, after which it will hit normal-sized theaters on December 21st.  As such, Paramount is saturating the market with Ghost Protocol promotion, including a brand new three-minute clip that consists exclusively of action, as Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt pursues some random dude into a sandstorm sweeping through Dubai.  The whole thing is set to a score by Michael Giacchino that doesn't hold back on the bongo fury.

Bigness is a prerequisite for blockbuster status, and there ain't nothing bigger than IMAX.  A new poster exclusive to midnight IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol reminds us all that the biggest movie star on the planet will be a movie where he dangles from the side of the tallest building in the world as part of a sequence filmed with the IMAX cameras.  Like The Dark Knight, the latest entry in the Mission: Impossible series used the cameras for specifics shots and sequences so to provide a properly bombastic blockbuster.  If you see the film in the jumbo-sized format at midnight this week, you'll be able to pick up your own copy of this poster, which is designed by artist Matt Owen, in your choice of a red or black background.  Or you can just save this image of the black version to your desktop.

As the sequel's IMAX release is less than two weeks away, Paramount Pictures has released yet another new official clip from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.  Unlike past clips, this one doesn't feature Jeremy Renner jumping into a turbine, or two gorgeous women in an all-out fisticuffs, or even Tom Cruise swinging around on the Burj Khalifa.  Instead, it has Cruise and Simon Pegg engaging in a little humorous interplay without actually exchanging a word.  Pegg is doing all the talking as Benji Dunn, the talkative tech expert introduced in the last film, Mission: Impossible III, while Cruise's Ethan Hunt just threateningly pantomimes at him via a hacked security camera.  When Hunt finally holds up a fist, it's rendered all the more effective by the tight white tank top (or "wifebeater," as it's colloquially known) he's wearing.

About eight months ago, we saw some spy photos from the set of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, and those pictures showed that the titular duo in this 3D action comedy love black leather.  Now, the first crystal clear official image of Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as Hansel and Gretel reaffirms that the leads kick witch ass while wearing stylish leather and sporting gigantic weaponry.  The title probably clued you in, but the would-be franchise follows grown-up versions of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale siblings, who have taken their Gingerbread House-based trauma and used it as motivation to hunt down witches and supernatural baddies with extreme prejudice.

Now this is how you market a big action movie.  Paramount Pictures has released a brand new clip from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol clip, and it doesn't include a moment of Tom Cruise swinging around on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or Jeremy Renner leaping to what could be his death.  Instead, this official clip relies on a market-tested, guaranteed method of generating interest.  How? Two absolutely beautiful women beating the shit out of each other.  In this case, the two gorgeous women throwing down are Paula Patton and Lea Seydoux, the former being an IMF agent on Ethan Hunt's team and the latter being affiliated with the bad guys.  Grab some popcorn and just imagine this knock-down drag-out bit of fisticuffs in IMAX.

Jeremy Renner is not an actor who fears a big franchise.  Since becoming a bona fide big deal with his Oscar-nominated turn in The Hurt Locker, the erstwhile star of National Lampoon's Senior Trip has signed on to become the new lead in the Mission: Impossible series, with next month's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol serving as the baton-passing from Tom Cruise to Renner, and he's also slinging arrows as Hawkeye in next summer's superhero team up The Avengers.  Then there's also the would-be franchise starter Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.  Of the franchises he's involved in, though, the biggest question mark is his leading role in the The Bourne Legacy, a spinoff from the Bourne Identity films starring Matt Damon.  Renner has revealed a little bit of vague information on the quasi-sequel, which remains quite mysterious.

Paramount Pictures has released a slew of official images and a new clip from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, which makes sense because the third sequel in the resilient franchise is set to hit theaters in less than a month.  As such, you've probably started to notice billboards, posters, television spots, and the like all including espionage action and Tom Cruise swinging around on the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Okay, first up is the clip, but it requires a bit of context.  Last week, we posted a fresh clip that showed Jeremy Renner's Brandt getting all kinds of nervous before making a big leap.  The new clip is actually the set-up for the punchline that is that previously-released clip.  In this new one, Brandt and brains-of-the-operation Benji Dunn, played again by Simon Pegg, go over the plan in all its ludicrousness.  Brandt is understandably concerned, and Benji's flippantly repeated response earns a solid callback in the familiar clip. 

In the Mission: Impossible films, Tom Cruise's hero Ethan Hunt is always executing wildly dangerous acrobatic stunts without ever betraying even a hint of fear, but a new clip from the upcoming Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol changes gears just a little bit.  Cruise is on hand, as is Simon Pegg playing tech geek and exposition-machine Benji Dunn, but the man in action here is Jeremy Renner as the mysterious Brandt, who might just take over for Hunt s the lead in potential continued sequels.  Here, Brandt is about to take a huge, deadly looking leap, with some technology in his outfit meant to save his life.  In a refreshing change of pace, Brandt is nervous and freaked out about making the big move, fretting over the possibility of dying a horrific death in the middle of his vertiginous stunt.

Marvel's big cinematic crossover The Avengers, is a big spectacle by default, since never before has a studio attempted to roll several iconic heroes with their own established franchises into one mega-movie.  The logistical challenges of putting together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Incredible Hulk into one film are many, and as such, Joss Whedon is not, to many people, the most obvious choice to deliver a blockbuster worthy of those heroes, as he's only previously directed one feature film, Serenity. 

But with his television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse, amongst other work, Whedon has demonstrated a deft had for character, particularly for the dynamics of large, contentious ensembles, making him sort of perfect for the material.  In a surprisingly extensive new interview, the always-loquacious Whedon discusses several of the major characters and the process of bringing them all together.

Yesterday Marvel Studios made it known that composer Alan Silvestri is definitely providing the score for The Avengers, and today Marvel and Disney followed that auditory news up with two visual treats.  A newly-released banner promoting the film is basically four character posters all lined up and ready for action, with Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Hemsworth all striking their poses as Captain America, Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor.  Everyone looks pretty much just as superheroic as you'd expect, but the otherwise ordinary-looking Banner is given a bit of old-school green light and pupil action to let the average joe that he is, in fact, the Hulk.  The overlaying of the classic Avengers A symbol is a nice touch, and it's incorporation into the release date is pretty cute.