From the director of “A Night at the Museum” comes DreamWorks Pictures’ “Real Steel,” a gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future where the sport of boxing has gone high-tech. DreamWorks has just released the film’s newest trailer which you can watch at this link: http://youtu.be/KaacCiGkUcg.

In the film, Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next.

When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

Opening across the Philippines in October 2011, “Real Steel” is a DreamWorks Picture to be distributed locally by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

Young actor Garrett Hedlund stars as Sam Flynn in Walt Disney Pictures’ new high-tech 3D adventure “TRON: Legacy.” In the film, Sam – a rebellious 27-year-old – is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-game developer.

When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn’s Arcade—a signal that could only come from his father—he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. Father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe—a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with never-before-imagined vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape.

At 18, Hedlund made an auspicious motion-picture debut in the pivotal role of Patrocius, the young cousin of Achilles (Brad Pitt) in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy.” He talks about “TRON: Legacy” in the following interview:

Q: What is the human story at the center of “TRON: Legacy”?

Garrett Hedlund: At the core of it, it’s a father and son story. My character, Sam, has been without his father for 20 years, and he finally gets to find out where he’s been. Although Alan Bradley, his father’s partner, has been there for Sam, he’s always wanted to know what became of Kevin Flynn. And in “TRON: Legacy,” he finally gets to do that.

Q: How has the overall world changed inside “TRON” ?

Hedlund: The world of the original “TRON” was fascinating, but what they’ve added to the world in “TRON: Legacy” is a grander sense of geography. There are lightning storms and the weather, and there are also the cliffs and the mountains. Add to that the off-grid terrain where a lot of these vehicles can’t perform, and it’s an incredible sight to fathom.

Q: Talk about the light cycle.

Hedlund: The new bike is incredibly flashy and cool, and it’s much more dangerous. It’s faster and it doesn’t have to move in 90 degree angles. It has a lot more tricks.

Q: What did you do to prepare for the role of Sam?

Hedlund: The benefit I had on this film was going through an intense amount of training, not just for the physical benefits, but overall, for the character. I had training in Capoeira and parkour, and motorcycle training. But basically, when I step into playing that character, all of those skills have to be ‘new,’ from day one. The first moment Sam gets into this world, he doesn’t suddenly know how to do all of this stuff. There have to be the slight mistakes that he overcomes, and learning from that. Like the disk game sequence—there is something very unfamiliar with everything that he has to do, from the rules to the skills. He’s got to observe and the wheels have to be constantly turning in order for him to excel. When he sees another program ‘de-res,’ he thinks, ‘Well, I can’t let that happen.’ He has to find it within himself to become that hero. He has to have the strength and the defensive skills to keep proceeding from one level to the next.

Q: What was the hardest part of shooting?

Hedlund: You know, everybody always likes to talk about how difficult it is working with blue or green screen, dealing with just the imagination. But this film actually, to our benefit, there were a lot of grand sets, so we didn’t have to pretend so much. We had a lot of the physical things, such as the disks and the swords. When it was blue and green screen, we had great direction from Joseph Kosinski, the wonderful director, because he knew exactly what he wanted to do with what we were just approaching. When we were reading it from the text, we may have had a foggy notion, imagining what it could be, but he was always ten steps ahead of us. It was a game of trust, and we were never let down.

Q: What is your memory of the original TRON?

Hedlund: My memory of the original starts off with a very energetic and youthful Jeff Bridges, smiling and laughing. He had this crazy youthful side to him, in comparison to how we see him now, as the wise, older and incredible actor that he is. In the very first “TRON,” he’s a mad wiz with all this new technology that deals with the creation of video games. He’s also been perfecting a shiva laser, which ultimately ends up sucking him into the computer in the same fashion that Sam is in the beginning of “TRON: Legacy.”

Q: What about the original film inspires such a following?

Hedlund: I think from the original it was Jeff’s character Kevin Flynn getting pulled into the game grid and going on all of these adventures—it was incredible to imagine. Having to fight his way from one level to the next to complete the objective and find his way back out…it really was unlike anything else.

(Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Philippines, “TRON: Legacy” will open across the country on Dec. 17 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and regular formats.)

Walt Disney Pictures has just released the latest trailer of the 3D animated feature Tangled, which is billed as one of the most hilarious, hair-raising tales ever told!

In the film, when the kingdom’s most wanted—and most charming—bandit Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) hides out in a mysterious tower, he’s taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a beautiful and feisty tower-bound teen with 70 feet of magical, golden hair.

Flynn’s curious captor, who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, strikes a deal with the handsome thief and the unlikely duo sets off on an action-packed escapade, complete with a super-cop horse, an over-protective chameleon and a gruff gang of pub thugs.

In Philippine theaters soon in Disney Digital 3D™ and regular format, Tangled is a story of adventure, heart, humor and hair—lots of hair.

(Here’s the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHkDAz-s0AE)

MANILA, May 31, 2010 — Walt Disney Pictures’ fantasy adventure “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” royally opened at No. 1 in thePhilippines, amassing a majestic P60.8-million nationwide gross for the May 27-30 weekend frame.  This was announced today by Victor R. Cabrera, managing director of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Philippines, the film’s local distributor.

The Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer posted Disney’s all-time third-biggest opening weekend, only bested by 2007’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (P71-M) and 2006’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (P66-M).

The new Jerry Bruckheimer production also established the year’s second-highest debut weekend, beating the openings of recent blockbusters “Shrek Forever After” (P56.9-M), “Alice in Wonderland” (P47.9-M) and “Clash of the Titans” (P47.5-M).

The Top 20 cinemas that garnered the biggest receipts are SM Mall of Asia (P3.69-M), Trinoma (P3.24-M), SM North EDSA (P2.40-M), SM Megamall (P2.26-M), Glorietta 4 (P2.18-M), SM Cebu (P2.17-M), Power Plant (P1.86-M), Greenbelt 3 (P1.74-M), Alabang Town Center (P1.67-M) and Gateway (P1.61-M).

They’re followed by Shang Cineplex (P1.56-M), Eastwood (P1.48-M), Greenhills (P1.39-M), Ayala Cebu (P1.34-M), Robinsons Ermita (P1.19-M), Festival Mall (P1.18-M), Robinsons Galleria (P1.12-M), Market! Market! (P981,127), Gaisano Davao (P950,637) and Sta. Lucia East (P861,500).

From the team that brought the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy to the big screen, Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” an epic action-adventure set in the mystical lands of Persia.

In the film, a rogue prince (Jake Gyllenhaal)) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess (Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Directed by Mike Newell (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) with a cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina, “Prince of Persia” is written by Boaz Yakin and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Jordan Mechner.

Still showing across the Philippines on Digital 2D and regular format, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear stars in Touchstone Pictures’ new teen drama “The Last Song” as the estranged father to Miley Cyrus’ character.

Based on Nicholas Sparks’ latest bestselling novel, “The Last Song” is set in a small Southern beach town where Steve (Kinnear) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant teenage daughter (Cyrus), who’d rather be home in New York . He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances.

Kinnear, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for his role in “As Good as It Gets,” plays Steve Miller, a concert pianist who left his family to concentrate on a career that didn’t pan out the way he hoped. Steve is now trying to reconnect with his two children before it’s too late. “Steve wants to reunite with his kids and get to know them again,” says the actor. “There are a lot of things that are unknown at the start of this movie, and they’re revealed over the course of the summer.”

The commitment Kinnear made to the role of Steve stayed with director Julie Anne Robinson. “Greg is so detailed,” she says. “I’ve worked with a lot of really great actors and Greg is definitely one of them. He cared so deeply about every aspect of his character, he would phone me up over the weekend with questions about a scene. He was Steve all day every day.”

The Miller family’s fractured dynamic struck a chord with Kinnear. “I was touched by the difficulty of trying to make permanent connections in a family that’s had a seismic rift in its infrastructure,” says Kinnear. “The parents are split up for reasons we don’t explore, but it seems like no one is necessarily at fault. But, as always, kids have taken the hit and in this case, the oldest daughter, Ronnie, is in that vulnerable stage where anger and hostility can be a real outlet. She’s mad as hell and she’s not going to take it anymore. My character is trying to repair that and resuscitate a sense of family.”

But Steve has a secret that he’s keeping from his family. “He’s trying to protect them, but until they have that information, there’s no way for this family to move forward,” says Kinnear. “I think Nicholas Sparks has a wonderful way with secrets. It’s dealt with very effectively.”

The father of three daughters, Kinnear is acutely sensitive to the challenges that come with the territory. “Father-daughter relationships are particularly complicated,” he says. “Steve’s relationship with his daughter is strained, to put it nicely, but he’s trying. He’s swimming upstream, because she’s full of salt and vinegar and has a lot of preconceived ideas about her father. Some aren’t entirely true, and that will be discovered.”

Kinnear was impressed by Cyrus’ work on the film. “This role asks a lot of Miley,” he says. “It’s full of complex emotions. She did really well. Miley has a great heart and she’s a real pro. I admire that. She takes it seriously, but at the same time, she keeps the environment charged with a lot of fun and a lot of energy. She’s an incredibly impressive 16-year-old.”

Opening across the Philippines on May 12, “The Last Song” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

A robot, a rag doll and a hedgehog join the new cast of “Toy Story 3.” See them for the first time here!

SPARKS will fly – literally — during electrifying playtimes with your new robot friend Sparks! This retro-inspired toy has flashing red LED eyes and a blaster cavity that actually spits out real sparks when he’s rolled along on his sturdy rubber wheels. Sparks also sports telescoping arms with working pincers, and an elevator action that raises his entire body to new heights. Sparking action completely child-safe. Requires two AA batteries (not included).

DOLLY is a soft and sweet dress-up rag doll, and is the perfect gift for any young child! Her floppy body and sunny smile will make her an irresistible new member of your family. Dolly has purple hair, googly eyes and gently blushing cheeks. She comes with a pretty blue dress, but templates are included to create and sew your own outfits! Machine washable on gentle cycle.

Frolic your afternoons away on woodland adventures with MR. PRICKLEPANTS! This charming lederhosen-wearing hedgehog is from the Waldfreunde collection of premium imported plush toys. He may look prickly, but the plump and fuzzy Mr. Pricklepants is made strictly for cuddling! Hand wash and air dry. Restore fluffiness with fingers.

The creators of the beloved “Toy Story” films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of our favorite gang of toy characters in TOY STORY 3. As Andy prepares to depart for college, Buzz, Woody and the rest of his loyal toys are troubled about their uncertain future.

Directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2” and “Finding Nemo”), TOY STORY 3 is a comical new adventure in Disney Digital 3D™ that lands the toys in a room full of untamed tots who can’t wait to get their sticky little fingers on these “new” toys.  It’s pandemonium as they try to stay together, ensuring “no toy gets left behind.”  Meanwhile, Barbie comes face to plastic face with Ken (yes, that Ken).

Pixar veteran Darla K. Anderson (“Cars,” “Monsters, Inc.”) produces, while Michael Arndt, Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of “Little Miss Sunshine,” brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities.

TOY STORY 3 opens across the Philippines on June 23 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and conventional format.

Fresh from an acclaimed comic turn in the recent hit “Valentine’s Day,” Anne Hathaway now stars as the White Queen in Tim Burton’s epic 3D fantasy adventure “Alice in Wonderland.”

Mirana, the White Queen, is the younger sister of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter), and while she appears to be all sweetness and light, beneath the surface there’s a hint of darkness to her character. “She comes from the same gene pool as the Red Queen,” says Hathaway. “She really likes the dark side, but she’s so scared of going too far into it that she’s made everything appear very light and happy. But she’s living in that place out of fear that she won’t be able to control herself.” When Alice returns to Underland, the White Queen takes her under her wing, offering her protection, although her motives aren’t completely altruistic.

Q:  Is this an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s books?
Anne Hathaway: This is “Alice in Wonderland” 10 years later.  The story isn’t the same.  And in re-reading the book in preparation for the film, I noticed that a lot of it is Alice trying to figure out who she isn’t by process of elimination.  She knows that she isn’t all the things that people are saying that she is, and so, by going through all of them, she gets a better idea of what she is.  And in the Tim Burton “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice is trying to name who she is without using the process of elimination in a similar way.  There’s a great line in it, where someone says, “You seem like Alice, but you’ve lost your muchness.”  That’s my favorite line.  So I think if the book is about Alice exploring her imagination, this one is about Alice finding her soul.

Q:  Why are Carroll’s characters great for a Tim Burton movie?
Anne: One of the reasons why “Alice in Wonderland” and Tim are such a great match is because nothing is exactly as it seems in Wonderland.  Nothing is entirely good or entirely bad.  There’s a mixture of life and texture and intention, and I think that’s something with which Tim is really comfortable.  And if you look throughout his filmography, nothing is ever what it appears to be or should be.  So, I think in that sense, living in the questions, the ambiguity, but also the specificity of the world—these are things in which Tim excels as filmmaker.  I believe the filmmaker and the subject matter complement each other really beautifully in this film.

Q:  Describe the character you play.
Anne: I play the White Queen.  When I was trying to work her out, I kept saying to myself, ‘She is a punk-rock, vegan pacifist.’  So I listened to a lot of Blondie, I watched a lot of Greta Garbo movies, and I looked at a lot of the artwork of Dan Flavin.  Then a little bit of Norma Desmond got thrown in there, too.  And she just kind of emerged.  And I really like her.  When I first came onboard the project, Tim talked a lot about the relationship between the sisters, and that really opened the character up to me a lot.

Q:  Why did you want to be in this film and play this role?
Anne: I’m just going to be a gushy fan for a second.  I love Tim Burton—he’s one of my all-time favorite filmmakers.  For as long as he’s been making films, I’ve been going to them opening weekend.  And I watch them again and again on DVD.  I love his aesthetic.  I love his ability to pace as a filmmaker, his comfort with things that are kind of odd—he also finds a way to ground them.  I think it’s very unusual to find a filmmaker who isn’t trying to be different for the sake of being different, to show you something you’ve never seen, but is actually yearning to stretch the limits of his imagination.  So everything Tim does comes from a very pure place.  And I think that’s why his movies, in spite of the sometimes off-beat subject matter, have such heart.  I love that.

Q:  What’s going on with the White Queen when we first meet her?
Anne: The White Queen has had her crown taken from her, and she’s basically powerless to stop her sister’s reign of tyranny.  Her sister is the Red Queen.  And so, she is waiting.  She’s basically taken a vow of non-violence that she cannot break, and she’s waiting for her champion to arrive to help her reclaim her throne—the citizens of Underland would like to see that happen.  They want to see her restored to power, because she’s kind.

Q:  Talk about the actor who plays The Mad Hatter.
Anne: The actor who plays the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp—I have so much fun watching him in all of his movies as an audience member, so to actually get to watch him perform live is such a treat.  He’s so inventive—and he’s kind, just a very kind, warm man.  But to actually watch him in his element, in his zone, just acting, it’s a thrill.  I want him to do theater so that everyone else can get in on it.  He’s very powerful.  I just felt very privileged to get to watch him.

Q:  What does Mia Wasikowska bring to her Alice character?
Anne: Mia Wasikowska is an absolute delight of a young woman.  She’s so playful and natural and down-to-earth—but she also has this ethereal quality to her, she feels timeless.  What she brings to Alice is very, very difficult to pull off.  Every time I do a scene with her, I’m just amazed at what she’s doing with it and that a young actress can bring so much gravity to this world. It’s somewhat eerie, the way she’s able to communicate feeling and where Alice is at that moment.  It was lovely to work with her, just to get to observe that.

Q:  What do audiences have to look forward to with this film?
Anne: Because the world of this film begins and ends in the imagination of Tim Burton, you’re not seeing a movie that’s been shot on locations that you’ve seen a million times.  Because this world has no rules, you’re seeing so many different and separate brushstrokes and colors and characterizations somehow getting combined through Tim.  And what I think you’re getting is an absolute exploration of the imagination.  I think that’s the essence of the book, and I think that’s the spirit Tim’s brought to the film.  Everybody on the film was so clever, so creative, so imaginative—and I think that’s what the film is about—how can we tell a story that honors the imagination in the most imaginative way humanly possible?  And that’s such a fantastic idea.

(Opening soon across the Philippines, “Alice in Wonderland” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.)

Currently showing in Philippine cinemas, Walt Disney Pictures’ new animated comedy “The Princess and the Frog” recently earned three Academy Award nominations, including the highly coveted Best Animated Feature.

The film’s other two nominations are for Best Original Song, specifically “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans” both written and composed by perennial Disney collaborator Randy Newman.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer at both Disney and Pixar, says on the nominations, “We’re proud that ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ our latest hand-drawn animated feature from Disney, has been recognized in the best animated feature film and best song categories. With its fantastic animation, original characters, memorable music and beautiful artistry, it ranks along with the studio’s very best efforts.”

“The Princess and the Frog” serves up a joyous gumbo of adventurous storytelling, captivating characters, offbeat comedy and memorable music in musical comedy set in the great city of New Orleans.

From the creators of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. “The Princess and the Frog” marks the return to hand-drawn animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements, with music by Oscar®-winning composer Randy Newman.

Everyone knows the story in which a princess finds true love by kissing a frog that magically turns into her handsome prince. In this telling of the story, the girl still kisses a frog, but the result is quite different; it’s only one of dozens of surprises in this mix of wacky humor, thrills, melody and emotion. Love eventually finds a way—between a prince and a princess…between frogs, perhaps…or maybe between a firefly and the object of his affection. But it’s clear that the most important details lie well beneath the skin. The film features Disney’s newest princess, its next great fairy tale and the Studio’s return to the Disney musical, reminiscent of classics like “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “Aladdin.”

“The Princess and the Frog” is distributed locally by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.