First Look: Check Out the Key Art for AMC's Hell on Wheels

Hell on Wheels "Blood will be spilled."So promises the poster for AMC's latest period drama Hell on Wheels.Fall TV: Get the lowdown on this season's must-see new showsSet in the aftermath of the Civil War, the series tells the story of Confederate veteran Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), whose quest to avenge his wife's death at the hands of Union soldiers takes him west to work on building the transcontinental railroad.The drama also explores the problems faced by newly emancipated slaves, many of whom still work for a meager wage for the corrupt and greedy railroad. Rapper Common (Date Night) stars as one such former slave, while Colm Meaney (Star Trek: The Next Generation) plays a businessman looking to profit from the railroad.Fall TV: See the 17 stars to keep your eyes on this yearThe cast also includes Dominique McElligott (Leap of the Year), Ben Esler (The Pacific), Philip Burke (Law & Order) and Eddie Spears (Into the West). The series was created and written by Tony and Joe Gayton, who will also executive-produce the series.Get your first look at the full-sized poster below. Hell on Wheels premieres Sunday, Nov. 6 at 10/9c on AMC.

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Antoine Fuqua in foretells helm 'Hunter Killer'

With multiple movies in development. Antoine Fuqua is hardly hard-up for work, but he's still looking for a greenlight which has evaded him so far. The "Brooklyn's Finest" director might be a measure nearer to finding his next feature project, as he's in final discussions to accept helm of Relativity Media's "Hunter Killer."In line with the novel "Firing Point" by George Wallace and Don Keith, story follows an untested submarine captain who must make use of a Navy SEAL team to save Russia's leader, taken prisoner throughout a military coup. The 2 sides synergy to prevent a rogue Russian general from stimulating World War III. Script was compiled by Jamie Moss, John Kolvenbach and Arne Schmidt.Original Film's Neal Moritz and Toby Jaffe are creating with Relativity Boss Ryan Kavanaugh. Relativity's Tucker Tooley assists as professional produce the pic, that is specific to begin production this winter. Fuqua might be probably the most searched for-after company directors in Hollywood but his projects keep stalling out. He'd been looking to start production around the Eminem-brought boxing movie "Southpaw" in The month of january, but DreamWorks drawn the plug around the picture in August, and also the filmmakers have reached the entire process of shopping the project with other galleries. Helmer was designed to spend the summer time shooting Morgan Creek's Tupac Shakur biopic but that film still has not found its lead, and Fuqua is no more mounted on direct. In This summer, Fuqua signed onto direct an adaptation of John Huddy's non-fiction book "Storming Vegas" for Summit Entertainment, that also courted him to direct its jailbreak drama "The Tomb." He seemed to be within the mix to direct both "Wolverine" follow up and "Die Hard 5" for twentieth century Fox, but lost individuals high-profile gigs to James Mangold and John Moore, correspondingly.In November 2010, Fuqua started settling to direct the comic adaptation "Afterburn" for Relativity, though there has not been any movement around the project since that time. Most lately, CAA-repped Fuqua signed onto direct an element-length documentary about Dying Row Records co-founder Suge Dark night for Showtime. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

Hough, Brand to star in Cody's debut

Julianne Hough and Russell Brand will star inside the untitled Mandate Pictures pic that Diablo Cody could make her directorial debut. Cody composed the story from the protected youthful lady (Hough) who handles to get rid of her belief carrying out a plane crash and visits Las vegas to determine the wild existence. She meets an unlikely companion (Brand), who helps her find her true self. Mason Novick will produce with Mandate Prexy Nathan Kahane will professional produce with Cody. Hough is seen next in Paramount's "Footloose," while Brand just wrapped New Line's "Rock old range." Hough is repped by CAA and Brand is repped by WME. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

Facebook Fans Drag Rachelle Lefervre To London

FIRST Released: September 26, 2011 11:38 AM EDT LONDON, U.K. -- Rachelle Lefervre can get a loud welcome in the European premiere of his latest film Abduction. Hell be meeting fans in the British Film Institutes IMAX screen working in london on Monday evening. A Facebook campaign made certain hed promote the film within the U.K., using more than 79,000 supporters liking the page around the social-networking site. Lautner states hes always surprised at the fan support hes had since he broke in to the in a major way as werewolf Edwards Friend Jacob within the Twilight film series. And hes got accustomed to the seem of screaming wherever he goes. Directed by John Singleton, Abduction sees Lautner assumes charge role of the teen who finds out his parents arent really who he thought these were. Abduction has been launched Wednesday within the U.K. Copyright 2011 by Connected Press. All privileges reserved.These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

REVIEW: Machine Gun Preacher Fails as a Tale of Rebirth, Redemption and Kicking Ass

There’s a theoretical sweet spot to be found for Machine Gun Preacher — that of the multi-quadrant film, as the marketers say. It aims to be a hard-charging actioner that’s also a based-on-a-true-story tale of rebirth and uplift; an earnest, somber look at conflicts in Sudan that’s simultaneously a faith-centric, family-oriented redemption song. Directed by Marc Forster (of, appropriately enough, Quantum of Solace and Finding Neverland) from a screenplay by Jason Keller (who’s also credited as one of the writers on Tarsem Singh’s upcoming take on Snow White), Machine Gun Preacher always seems aware that it’s working off ripe material, but can’t fit it into beats that work on-screen. And really, what could be riper for adaptation than the life of Sam Childers, a onetime biker gang member who finds religion, starts his own church, builds an orphanage just north of the Ugandan border and defends it from attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army using the weapons expertise he learned while holding up drug dens? The man the locals start referring to in hushed tones as “the white preacher,” a term that’s a twist on the one used for professional big-game hunters in the colonial days, should be an irresistible figure, the unlikely do-gooder in a desperate situation. But Machine Gun Preacher doesn’t allow him moments of triumph — it’s a struggle throughout, which may be truer to life but makes for a wearying middlebrow movie that doesn’t make its days of self-improvement and altruism seem any brighter than its days of smack addiction and violence. Gerard Butler, who’s honed his screen persona as a brutish, charismatic jerk, isn’t a bad fit for the role of Sam, even if he’s more believable spraying bullets and stabbing hitchhikers than he is delivering a sermon. He’s got the swagger of someone who doesn’t expect to be messed with from the moment he first appears on-screen, on his way to being released from prison, his wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) waiting to pick him up outside. Since he’s been gone, Lynn’s discovered Jesus and given up stripping, and Sam finds to his dismay that the trailer in which the two live with their daughter Paige (Ryan Campos when younger, Madeline Carroll as a tween) is free of cigarettes and beer. Sam’s not so quick to come to God — he falls back easily into his old biker life, reconnecting with his friend Donnie (the always welcome Michael Shannon, so bug-eyed in his early scenes he’s almost a cartoon character), shooting up in bathrooms, waking up on the floor amidst beer bottles, Paige playing nearby. When he does get baptized, with Lynn and his mother, Daisy (Kathy Baker), looking at him beseechingly until he goes up, it’s not an ecstatic moment, just another milestone in a shifting life. While there’s something to be said for Machine Gun Preacher’s reluctance to dramatize itself along the lines of the typical biopic arc it theoretically follows, it makes the changes taking place in its main character difficult to discern until he abruptly acts on them. Sam’s decision to go to Africa for a few weeks of aid work, prompted by a guest speaker from Uganda appearing at the family’s church, comes as a surprise to his family and to the audience, who haven’t been given many clues as to the depth of his religious convictions. After witnessing atrocities on that trip, including a woman whose lips were cut off by rebels for talking back and a little boy whose legs are blown off by a mine, Sam comes back possessed by a desire to build both a church near his home and an orphanage in Africa that seems manic and a little worrying instead of inspired, a reaction reinforced by the cautiousness of Lynn’s support. Because Machine Gun Preacher chugs along like a relay race instead of coming to a point of crescendo, it’s easier to wonder what it’s actually about: Is Sam heroic for what he does or nave and presumptuous? Does he get mired in the impossibility of saving everyone from the heinousness of what’s happening in the area or has he always just been an asshole with violent tendencies underneath? These ambiguities don’t seem intentional, they seem like indecisiveness, like signs of a film in need of either more focus or less material. When Sam first picks up a gun and blasts rebels attacking the orphanage like Rambo by way of the Peace Corps, it should be the meeting of the film’s two halves, of his biker background and his newfound good intentions coming together — the machine gun preacher, a graphic-novel-worthy character come to life. But that turns into a meditation on the downhill slope of violence that is, given the context, a little irrational, and from there to a portrait of depression brought on by having to choose whom to help and risk letting others die. Films based on true stories often suffer from being made too neat, but in this case some tidying up was called for. Then what should have been a solid, gripping story wouldn’t have ended with an ellipsis and a shrug.

REC 3: Genesis teaser trailer creeps online

The very first teaser trailer for The spanish language horror [REC]³ Génesis has made an appearance online at ShockTillYouDrop.It is a cleverly done 50-second tease, spun around a neat twist around the usually yawnsome wedding photos montage before ejaculating having a torrent of gore.One things without a doubt, this looks fairly dissimilar to the sooner [REC] movies, each of which were set in a infected apartment block.That one is directed by Paco Plaza, who co-directed the sooner instalments with Jaume Balagueró, and it is stated to contain prequel elements (unsurprising considering the fact that subtitle).Additionally, it appears to possess moved from the found-footage format: does it still have the ability to create the same concentration of dread with no first-person gimmick?Browse the teaser here: [REC]³ Génesis is anticipated to spread out in The country in March 2012.Balagueró will direct final chapter [REC]: Apocalypse, going to be out later the coming year.

The Before party

Jeffrey Katzenberg with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burke GALLERY: The Evening Before partyThe setting is elegant, the meals divine and also the swag impressive. However ,, it is the hobnobbing which makes the Evening Before party the can't-miss affair from the pre-Emmy social swirl.The 5th annual event, raising $1.5 million for that Film and tv Fund, came its usually eclectic guest listing of executives, talent, tenpercenters along with other bizzers on Saturday towards the Lawn at Century Park.Showing sponsors Target, Hewlett packard, People and Revlon stored partygoers entertained with cubicles featuring games and free gifts (Target's Missoni collection giveaways were a significant hit). However the most fun only at that government-formed outside party space was watching for interesting couplings -- for example Jim Parsons giving Edie Falco a bear hug as she showed up, or Margo Martindale within an animated conversation with Leslie Bibb, or J.J. Abrams and Conan O'Brien discussing deep ideas, or Eric Stonestreet and John Stamos getting fun.But even just in this high-powered group, there have been breakouts of fandemonium. "OK, you are awesome," a lady gushed to Aziz Ansari because the "Parks and Entertainment" star made his way with the crowd. "Large Bang Theory" professional producer Bill Prady confessed to some "total fanboy moment" because he and "Large Bang" trouper Kunal Nayyar anxiously waited outdoors the men's room for the opportunity to shake hands with "Bet on Thrones" thesp Jon Snow. GALLERY: The Evening Before party Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

Freak enters feature film sales

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See Kirstie Alley's Dramatic Weight Loss

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Alley has lost 100 pounds, she tells Entertainment Tonight. "I feel like I'm back in my element," she said. "I honestly didn't even realize what I looked like." The Dancing with the Stars runner-up has long talked about her body struggles. In 2004, she became the spokeswoman for Jenny Craig and in 2006, she showed off her slimmed down figure in a bikini on Oprah. She regained weight before mambo-ing off the pounds last spring. Check out more dramatic celebrity weight loss "Before Dancing with the Stars, I bought these dresses from size 14 to 4," she explained. "[They were] all the same dress, and I said, 'You know what I really want? I really wanna be in this dress in a 4!'" What do you think of her weight loss?

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'Rum Diary' preem looking for Film Independent's LACMA program

Helmer Jason Reitman may be the guest artist for Film Independent's inaugural LACMA Film Series. Occasions range from the world preem of "The Rum Diary" on March. 13, tests of "Martha Marcy May Marlene" along with a restored version of Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Occasions" in addition to a live read of "The Breakfast Club." Series, presented through the NY Occasions, is curated by film critic Elvis Mitchell with LACMA film coordinator Bernardo Rondeau and also the Film Independent team. It'll include tests of narrative and docu photos, together with worldwide showcases, guest-curated programs and conversations with artists. Stated Mitchell: "What's vital that you me is ... keeping alive the tradition of programming the classic canon to ensure that the theater's loyal audience feels protected, while adding new elements towards the mix that guarantees the eye of the new crowd." With the Live Read program, thesps read aloud classic scripts. "Among my personal favorite moments like a filmmaker may be the first table read of my script," Reitman stated. "This ought to be an enjoyable method to bring people into what happens to be a closed process." To learn more, visit Lacma.org. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Megan Fox on Shia LaBeouf, Her Public Image and Starting Over With 'Friends With Kids'

"I love Shia to death," said Megan Fox to Moviefone in Toronto over the weekend. "I love him unconditionally." Those don't sound like the words of someone who has been "hit hard," as Fox said, by the principal players associated with 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' -- the summer blockbuster that very famously didn't feature the former franchise co-star. While Shia LaBeouf and Michael Bay piled on during the press rounds for 'Transformers,' Fox remained silent. That's about to change. In a way, Megan Fox is trying to start over, and her role in the new indie ensemble comedy 'Friends With Kids' -- which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival -- is an interesting choice. Fox is well aware of her image as a pin-up girl -- she refers to her own public image as "a robot" -- and is media savvy enough to know that that image hasn't always been a hindrance. Moviefone spoke to a candid and engaging Fox in Toronto about 'Friends With Kids' (she plays Mary Jane, Adam Scott's younger girlfriend in the new comedy), her public image, the beating she's taken in the press, and why she didn't defend herself. And, yes, she revealed if she's seen 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon.' Moviefone: I literally just walked out of 'Friends With Kids.' I haven't had any time to write questions and I can't even read my notes. Megan Fox: They're really sloppy. You have very sloppy handwriting. That's indicative of something. Like, what's this word? "Pun"? What would that even mean? Why would I write down "pun"? I'm not sure. Anyway ... we'll see how this goes. That's like a psychiatric emphasis of when you post just random words -- free write. Then you read it and you're like, "Wow, what is wrong with me?" I liked your movie. Thank you. You know what I liked about it? Your character is not a jerk. That's true. She's not a jerk. I mean, she's not super-sweet, either, but she's not a jerk or an assh*le. That wouldn't fit with Adam's character. They just wouldn't make sense. Was that important for you? I mean, I never once thought, Why would he ever be with her? She's mean. Yes, that was the idea. We didn't want Mary Jane to be mean. I've never actually played a mean character -- well, besides Jennifer in 'Jennifer's Body,' who hates men. But, yeah, obviously Adam is so fun to watch and he's so likable, you wouldn't want to see Adam with someone who is mean to him for a second. You would hate that person because he's just so wonderful. So it's just more that she was there at two different points in their life. Looking at your career, I feel this is a very good role for you. Let me preface that by saying that I have no idea what I'm talking about. People have said that before. I get what you're saying -- I think I get what you're saying. This role seems to ... Makes me seem human? I wouldn't put it that way. But after the kerfuffles of the past, you are playing a normal person in this as part of an ensemble. Does that make sense? Yes. Was that your plan? I always want to be a part of ensembles. Besides it feeling safer, I think it's a more fun environment to work in. To have a bunch of people collaborating on something, it takes the pressure off of each individual. Aside from Jen, obviously who wrote and directed and is starring in it. She had to carry the burden on her shoulders. But I think these films have turned out to be the most enjoyable to work on ... for me. It's interesting that you said "feel more human." Explain that. That's the reviews I took from my inner circle. That's how they phrase it. I just think the idea is that because most of the way that people have seen me, it's the glorified pin-up girl with motorcycle boots who is also fighting to save the world. It's not necessarily someone who you connect with because they're not real people necessarily who exist like that -- the glossy lips in the middle of the desert. In 'Jennifer's Body' I was this crazy -- it's this wonderful Diablo Cody script, but it's so kooky and so weird and I was eating people. It's just a very strange movie. You don't necessarily see the human side of whoever is playing that person. And I just think the media, in general, I just don't really get portrayed as someone who has feelings or who is sympathetic. Or I sort of am portrayed as this -- I feel -- like a self-absorbed ice queen. Maybe. And I think the people who see me in a role that allows me to be more human -- I don't know another word to use to describe it -- is why people are saying it's a good move to have done. It's also interesting that you said that you think people don't think you have feelings. But that whole image, is that a help or a hindrance for you? It's both, at times. I mean, sometimes I feel like it's a help because you can pretend that you just have this shield around you at all times. For the most part I'm really strong with how much bullsh*t I had piled upon me for so long. But, you know, I care about people. I care about my life and I love people. I'm not this robot. I feel people think I'm almost like a robot -- like an android. And that I'm all about me and my thoughts are all about me. That I want to be famous. I know one thing I've heard a lot is, "Does she say the things that she says because she wants attention? It's attention-seeking." But I always felt like, if that were the case, wouldn't I display some sort of attention-seeking behavior, which I've never done. I've always tried to live a really normal, private, quiet life. So I just think I've always really allowed room for the media to sort of chop my words and put their own narrative on it and create this salacious sound bite that goes everywhere. And because of that I feel like people just have no idea what I'm like or who I am. I feel like it's a mystery. Which is OK. Is that really a bad thing? It could be a good thing. But obviously there are times when you struggle with it because being misunderstood 90 percent of the time is difficult because you want to clarify. But you deal with it. With the recent Shia Labeouf interview and the 'Transformers' situation, why didn't you clarify or defend yourself? I didn't want to talk about it while they're on the press tour because I didn't want to try to throw mud at them. I didn't want that movie to suffer. Especially because I love Shia. I wanted that movie to do well for him. I didn't want to have this big media war over something that really was so silly and it would have just been my ego needing to engage in a war, at that point. Of course, there will be a time when I want to tell my side of the story. I just don't feel it was appropriate while they were promoting the movie. Are you saying that was a no-win situation? Right. Like, "She's trying to take away from the movie." So it was best to let them say what they were going to say. It's fine. With everything that happened with the 'Transformers 3' situation with you ... With what you read in the press. Well, yes. And I get why you wouldn't be happy, but at the same time I'd kind of want to know how the story, the movie itself, ends. Did you see 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'? I haven't seen it yet, but I will see it. I mean, if they hadn't been hitting me so hard on the press tour, I would have gone to the theater. But I felt like that would have been a disaster: Me sitting with a packed theater of people watching the movie. So I didn't go. I mean, I have nothing against watching it. And I love Shia to death; I love him unconditionally. And I love that crew. I'm really close to the hair, makeup and wardrobe that made that movie. I want to see it for them. I know it looked amazing in the trailer. Out of all three trailers, that was the trailer that I was like, "Wow, sh*t, this is a huge movie." So I think it will be an interesting, fun thing to watch, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm picturing the blog headlines, "Megan Fox Watches 'Transformers'!" I couldn't do it. Then that would turn into not just me wanting to see the movie, that would have been like, "She's trying to take attention from the movie by being at the theater when it's released." It's a lose-lose. So I'll just watch it on Netflix back home. You brought up a good point earlier about the fact that, other than your interviews, you've stayed out of the spotlight. So why do you think it's sensationalized? Why do they sensationalize my comments? No, why do they sensationalize your life? [Sighs] That's a question I sit and I ponder often. And journalists sit with me and I'm always like this with whomever I talk to. That's sort of the most ... like the feeling of betrayal -- that you have as a celebrity or an actor or entertainer -- I think comes from meeting with journalists and feeling like, Hey, I had a good conversation with you, then you read the article and it's like, Wow! Well, that's not the angle that I thought you were going to take. You need to sell this magazine, I understand, but, sh*t, I just didn't realize it was going to go in that direction. So you have to become a little bit jaded with press in that sense. You have to just guard yourself, because you never know what people are going to do. Like I said, I used to have a lot of fun in interviews -- I'd be playful, I'd be sarcastic. But there's too much room for someone to take what I was saying and cut it up, rearrange it, and throw it on 'Extra.' It's insane. You have to be really strong. You have to just shut yourself off to the criticism at some point. So people keep trying to beat me down. I thought about that the other day, that I feel like people have tried so hard to break me ... and I won't break. So they just keep trying. So is 'Friends With Kids' a calculated move? So people will stop thinking of you in this way? I definitely think it helps with doing other comedies. I mean, from working with Jen [Westfeldt] and Jon [Hamm] and everyone involved, Judd [Apatow] called them to ask, "Hey, what was she like on set? How was it? How was the experience?" Because they had a good experience with me, that caused Judd to want to put me in his movie. So it's opened doors that way. I love working on comedy film sets. They have been the most wonderful experiences and they are nice, kind, fun people. So it's a genre I like to be in. And you finished filming 'The Dictator.' It's done. And it's going to be funny. I mean, I'm not saying my stuff, but the movie. And Sacha is great in it. So is this your future -- comedies? [Laughs] We'll see. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter. Follow Moviefone on Twitter. Photo: Getty Images

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'Project X' thesp joins 'Pitch Perfect'

"Project X" star Alexis Knapp remains attracted on for just about any key supporting role in Jason Moore's a capella pic "Pitch Perfect." Knapp joins Anna Kendrick, Adam DeVine and Digital digital rebel Wilson in Gold Circle Films' romantic comedy, that is compiled by Universal. Knapp may have Stacie, an connect in the collegiate a capella group Divisi who lacks self-awareness, because she works inside an overtly sexual manner regardless of what song she sings. Brownstone Prods. partners Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman are coming up with the pic, which starts production the next month in New Orleans. Kay Cannon modified the script from Mickey Rapkin's nonfiction tome. Knapp, who plays the feminine lead inside the Todd Phillips-produced laffer "Project X," will next be seen alongside Miley Cyrus and Jeremy Piven inside the Weinstein Company's action-comedy "So Undercover." Knapp is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment. Contact Rob Sneider at rob.sneider@variety.com