In celebration of the recent launch of MGM’s RoboCop App, MGM Studios is giving away 25 copies of the RoboCop^® Trilogy Blu-ray Collector’s set, plus two limited edition figurines.

• Grand Prize: Limited Edition Premium Format Figure + RoboCop Trilogy Blu-ray Collector’s set
• 2nd Prize: ED209 15″ Figure + RoboCop Trilogy Blu-ray Collector’s set
• 25 Runners Up: RoboCop Trilogy Blu-ray Collector’s set

To enter, visit the MGM Studios Facebook page, click ‘Like’, and follow the RoboCop App Sweepstakes link located on the page to complete the entry form.

For official rules and eligibility please visit robocop.mgm.com

ENTER NOW: http://www.facebook.com/mgm

Luke Pasqualino will play a young William Adama on Syfy's Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome

According to Entertainment Weekly, the pilot movie for Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome has made its biggest casting decision. Namely, they’ve decided who is going to play William Adama as a young man.

In an Inside TV exclusive, James Hibberd announced that Luke Pasqualino (from the U.K. series Skins) will play Adama. Ben Cotton (Hellcats, Riese) is the other lead, playing Adama’s commanding officer.

Here’s a description of the characters:

Pasqualino will star as the young, talented fighter pilot William Adama, a recent Academy graduate who finds himself assigned to the newest Battlestar in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica. Full of ambition and in pursuit of the intense action that the Cylon war promises, Adama quickly finds himself at odds with Coker (Cotton), the battle-weary officer to whom he reports. With 45 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle just as much as Adama craves the start of it. Though they clash at first, the two men forge an unlikely bond when a routine mission turns dangerous and becomes a pivotal one for the desperate fleet.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will be set during the 10th year of the first Cylon war. The show will debut with a two-hour pilot on Syfy. No date has been set.

Sherak and Mo’Nique, who won an Academy Award® for her supporting performance in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives.

Best Picture nominees are:

• Black Swan — Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• The Fighter — David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• Inception — Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• The Kids Are All Right — Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• The King’s Speech — Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• 127 Hours — Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• The Social Network — Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• Toy Story 3 — Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• True Grit — Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• Winter’s Bone — Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Visit Oscars.org for a complete list of nominees.

Airing during the FOX Super Bowl broadcast on Sunday, February 6, these new spots will help whet your appetite until the movies debut this summer.

Thor hits theaters on May 6 and Captain America: The First Avenger comes to the big screen on July 22.

In addition to Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including Marvel Studios’ The Avengers on May 4, 2012 and Iron Man 3 on May 3, 2013.

In The Witches of Oz, Dorothy has become a successful author and moved to New York. But she discovers that her best selling novels are based on her suppressed childhood memories of life in Oz. Now she may be in danger of experiencing it all over again.

The Witches of Oz stars a number of notable actors, including Sean Astin, Mia Sara, and Christopher Lloyd as The Wizard of Oz. Leigh Scott directed the independent production for Blackthorn Pictures.

According to Scott, he wanted to make a film that could hold its own with the blockbusters while staying on an independent budget. It will only be in limited release, so start lobbying for your city now in The Witches of Oz group on Facebook.

Check out this first look at The Witches of Oz.

Hathaway has been starring in films since her big break in 2001′s The Princess Diaries, where she appeared alongside Julie Andrews. Last year, she played The White Queen in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Known for her “good girl” image, she kicked up some dust last year for nude scenes in the romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs.

While one might assume Hathaway will also be Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, no specific mention of that character was made. It’s possible that Selina Kyle is being introduced now so Catwoman can appear in a future film.

Here’s the press release from Warner Bros.:

BURBANK, CA, January 19, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Christopher Nolan stated, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”

In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

So, what do you think? Does Hathaway, who has made a career playing the good girl, have what it takes to be a villain?

Immerse yourself into the world of The Cape with on-the-go access to page turning graphic novels and exclusive video. With the app, you can discover the mysteries of Palm City, meet colorful characters, flip through photos, and unearth the truth with Orwell’s Blog.

Upcoming highlights of the app will include “Cape Yourself,” a feature that allows users to create sharable photos in which they are depicted as the hero or any of the featured villains seen in the show.

The Cape airs Mondays on NBC at 9/8 PM ET/CT.

In what is being described by many as the next Lost, FOX’s Terra Nova is a new series about a family who travels back in time as part of an experiment to save the human race. From executive producer Steven Spielberg comes this big-budget, special effects bonanza about people traveling to the prehistoric past.

The story follows the Shannon family: Jim (Jason O’Mara) and Elisabeth (Shelley Conn) — along with their kids 17-year old Josh (Landon Liboiron), 15-year old Maddy (Naomi Scott) and 5-year old Zoe (Alana Mansour) — as they join a group of settlers to Terra Nova, a colony set up in the distant, forbidden land.

The leader of Terra Nova is Commander Nathan Taylor (Stephen Lang), one of the first pioneers to this brave new world. He and Guzman (Mido Hamada), his right-hand man, run a tight ship. Despite its beautiful landscape and pristine waterfalls, the world outside Terra Nova is filled with danger.

Outside the walls, there are — of course — dinosaurs. But the biggest threat is a rival camp run by Mira (Christine Adams), a woman who doesn’t like the way Taylor is running things.

Aside from the external threats, there’s also the possibility that things aren’t so happy within Terra Nova. The Shannons soon discover that someone within the new colony is trying to destroy things before they begin.

The possibilities are intriguing, if the show manages to get past some rather obvious cliches:

• Cliche #1: The army dudes are the bad guys — With Avatar still fresh in our memory, it’s easy to imagine that Commander Taylor and his people are going to be the aggressors here.
• Cliche #2: The rebel leader Mira turns out to be leading the good guys — The resistance, led by Mira, are likely to be colonists who have a deeper appreciation for their new world. Likely, they have discovered something back at Terra Nova that they disagree with.
• Cliche #3: The colonists get trapped and can’t go home — From Gilligan’s Island to Lost, there have been a number of television series based on this premise. And with the dinosaurs and time travel motifs, we could end up with a big-budget Land of the Lost (but without the Sleestaks).

Terra Nova will have a two-night debut in May. The first hour will air Monday, May 23 at 9/8 PM ET/CT, with the second hour running Tuesday, May 24 at 9/8 PM ET/CT. The series will premiere in Fall 2011.

What do you think? Does Terra Nova seem to have what it takes to make it in prime time? Are you looking forward to it?

In 1977, Steven Spielberg made us look to the skies with his science fiction classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This summer, Spielberg and DreamWorks Television are bringing a radically different alien encounter to television on TNT.

Called Falling Skies, this series is not about a friendly encounter. Just the opposite. If Close Encounters was about the wonder and mystery of a peaceful alien contact, Falling Skies is about the cataclysm and the fear of alien invaders.

Set six months after a devastating alien attack, humanity finds itself fighting for survival while trying to fight back against the alien threat. The series focuses on the resilience of those who survive, and how they overcome insurmountable odds against an invading force. Think, War of the Worlds meets Jericho.

Starring in the series is Noah Wyle (television’s ER) as Tom Mason, a history professor who must use his knowledge of military history to lead the rebellion in Boston. Mason has seen his wife die and one of his sons get abducted by the aliens. Now, with his two remaining sons, he must find a weakness in the alien force while struggling to rebuild his community.

Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) plays Anne Glass, a pediatrician working with the surviving children, helping them to cope with their war-ravaged existence. Will Patton (Armageddon, TNT’s Into the West) is Weaver, a fierce leader of the resistance.

The series also stars Drew Roy, Maxim Knight, Connor Jessup, Seychelle Gabriel, Mpho Koaho, Peter Shinkoda, Colin Cunningham and Sarah Carter.

The aliens in the series are created by combining live action and special visual effects.

Falling Skies is executive-produced by Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, Graham Yost and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar^® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden and Greg Beeman are co-executive producers. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin.

Falling Skies is slated to premiere in summer 2011 on TNT.

Watch the Trailer for Falling Skies

I grew up on the stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen and the effects wizardry of John Dykstra. The SFX people were gods to me, so even today I still enjoy hearing who is being honored by the Academy each year.

Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences narrowed the choices for this year’s nominations in the Visual Effects category for the 83rd Academy Awards^®.

The seven films still in the running are:

“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
“Hereafter”
“Inception”
“Iron Man 2”
“Scott Pilgrim vs the World”
“Tron: Legacy”

All members of the Visual Effects branch of the Academy will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films on Thursday, January 20.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.