So World War Z, the adaptation of Max Brooks's bestselling oral history of an almost-zombie apocalypse, is set for reshoots this fall.  That wouldn't be uncommon, but the production's additional photography will encompass almost two months, a not-insignificant reshoot period that will focus on rejiggering the film's last act.  Shortly after we found out about the reshoots last month, Paramount Pictures hired Damon Lindelof to write new material for World War Z, but it turns out that Lindelof's fellow Lost veteran Drew Goddard is actually the writer carrying out the majority of these rewrites.

For the second consecutive weekend, Think Like a Man ended up the number one movie in America, again surpassing all expectations and defying projections that had the film dropping down at least a spot or two, considering competition from four new releases.  But the ensemble relationship comedy stayed on top over a weekend notable principally for being a quiet one, commercially.

With director and co-writer Gary Ross opting not to return for the sequel Catching Fire, Lionsgate has no doubt had its hands full over the last week, since the studio now needs to find a director who can keep things going on an exceedingly tight schedule.  That The Hunger Games once again ranked at the top of the domestic box office this weekend should serve as a security blanket for anyone in the company fretting over its sequel.  The adaptation of Suzanne Collinss novel held off competition from three very different new releases to hold the number one spot.

Finally opening in theaters on April 13th is the long awaited horror film from writer/producer Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and writer/director Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Lost) called The Cabin in the Woods. The film was first shot in 2009 but due to MGM’s file for bankruptcy in 2010 the movie’s release was up in the air until Lionsgate picked up the film early last year. The film finally had its premiere last month at the South by Southwest film festival and has been praised by fans and critics alike as being a “game changer” for the genre and on par with classic horror films like Evil Dead II.

On the surface the premise is not unusual for the genre, five stereotypical college friends go to a remote cabin in the woods for a vacation and are terrorized by scary creatures. However, The Cabin in the Woods has a mind-blowing secret that audiences will soon discover, which may change the way they look at the film. With Whedon and Goddard behind the scenes, two of the men that helped create groundbreaking television series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lost; you know to expect the unexpected. This isn’t your daddy’s horror film! The movie stars several actors familiar to Whedon fans including Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers), Fran Kranz (TV’s Dollhouse), and Amy Acker (TV’s Angel), as well as Kristen Connolly (TV’s The Good Wife), Anna Hutchison (TV’s Go Girls), Jesse Williams (TV’s Grey’s Anatomy), Brian White (Brick), Bradley Whitford (TV’s West Wing), and Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor). The movie also features a surprise appearance from a legendary genre performer that adds an extra level of authenticity to the film.

I recently had a chance to speak with actor Fran Kranz who plays Marty, the resident stoner amongst the unassuming group of college kids, in The Cabin in the Woods. The actor discussed the new movie, its delay, his typical yet unique character, how he got the part, his initial reaction to first reading the script, the movie’s unexpected twists and turns, working with Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, The Evil Dead, and the film’s surprise cameo appearance.

After an excruciatingly long wait that had nothing to do with the film's actual merit (more to do with MGM's prolonged financial difficulties), The Cabin in the Woods is set to hit theaters nationwide on Friday.  The clever, enthralling twist on familiar horror tropes is built around a novel threat more nefarious than just the undead or an unhinged slasher.  The nature of that threat is alluded to in a new official clip, with some gaseous influences producing inexplicable character reversals.

A clip from next month's clever bit of horror and self-aware comedy The Cabin in the Woods has arrived online.  It features a bunch of good-looking young people engaging in a game of truth or dare with some nimble dialogue when suddenly, an invitation to horror pops up in the middle of the childish game. 

This clip doesn't exactly get across just how intelligent The Cabin in the Woods is in how it toys with genre tropes and expectations, but the Evil Dead-style spookablast opening of a cellar door should let horror fans in on the fact that this movie knows what it's doing.

Synopsis: Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen. If you think you know this story, think again. From fan favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard comes THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, a mind blowing horror film that turns the genre inside out.

So there's a new trailer for The Cabin in the Woods, and while it probably still gives a little too much away, it basically plays like an abbreviated version of the first theatrical trailer unveiled back in December.  Basically, the idea here is that a group of five oh-so attractive college coeds head to a remote cabin in order to enjoy some hormonal frivolity in the timeless manner of  horror movie victims-in-waiting.  The Cabin in the Woods changes things up, though, in the nature of the menace they encounter out there in the woods.

What if I told you that there was a movie, The Cabin in the Woods, directed by Cloverfield writer Drew Goddard from a script by Goddard himself and Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon that has been completed for a dog's age and includes newly-minted movie star Chris Hemsworth in its core cast?  You'd want to see a trailer, if only to prove it exists, right?  Well, Lionsgate has that taken care of, as the distributor has released the first trailer for the horror tale that has sat patiently waiting for release since the total financial implosion of MGM a while back.  Goddard and Whedon have long said that The Cabin in the Woods would invert expectations in the standard scary plotline finding a bunch of young people being terrorized in a remote, wooded locale, and this trailer provides our first idea of just how the film accomplishes that.  Basically, it's not standard hillbillies, zombies, or flesh-eating bacteria behind all the mayhem.  Watch on for more clues.