If you’ve been wondering how Carrie Underwood looks in a nun’s habit, you’ll find out soon enough: The “American Idol” winner, five-time Grammy winner and country superstar has been cast as Maria von Trapp in NBC’s upcoming live broadcast of “The Sound of Music,” the network announced Friday.  

“Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn’t be happier to have the gifted Carrie Underwood take up the mantle of the great Maria von Trapp,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt in a news release. “She was an iconic woman who will now be played by an iconic artist.”

Hmm. I’m not sure I…

Well this is somewhat surprising: “Planes,” the direct-to-video spin-off of Disney/Pixar’s “Cars” films, is now getting a wide theatrical release next summer. It will hit theaters on August 9^th, alongside Neill Blomkamp’s Matt Damon-led sci-fi extravaganza “Elysium” and “We’re the Millers,” a comedy starring Jason Sudeikis andJennifer Aniston that is being directed by “Dodgeball” helmer Rawson Marshall Thurber. “Planes” was originally supposed to debut on home video in the fall (a European theatrical release was always planned). The movie is either really, really good or must be tracking…

Universal’s been unambiguous about its desire to see a Snow White and the Huntsman 2, but it’s been less clear about the direction it wants that sequel to take. After the studio fast-tracked the follow-up in June, news broke in August that Snow White (Kristen Stewart) could but cut out of the equation altogether — only for the studio issue a denial and insist that they were still “exploring all options.”

Now it looks like they’ve finally made a decision. Stewart is following up last month’s comments about the “strong possibility” of her return with an actual confirmation.

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“Oh,…

Les Misérables is bound to take the box office by storm, but it’s a musical. Are musicals allowed to do that? Under the right circumstances, such as in Tom Hooper’s film, they stand the chance to. I’m really looking forward to Hugh Jackman’s performance as Jean Valjean. Hugh describes the working relationship with Tom Hooper and more in this interview.

“He’s so bold. He just takes so many risks,“ Jackman says. ”You don’t win the Oscar and take on a movie musical. Movie musicals are the riskiest things in the world. Are you kidding me? So, singing live. Making it fully sung through.…

2012 didn’t want for long-awaited blockbuster releases, what with The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Skyfall, The Hunger Games, and The Hobbit all opening this year. But the one YouTube visitors spent most time poring over, it turns out, wasn’t a movie at all.

The first to on the list are for the game Call of Duty, but the third is trailer #3 for The Dark Night Rises. This isn’t really surprising since Nolan built up a lot of anticipation for the film. Skyfall falls right in place at #4. The Hunger Games is #6, and Revolution #7. Revolution is the only TV show represented. It’s worthy!

Third installments in superhero trilogies tend to be somewhat awful, but Robert Downey, Jr. seems to think Iron Man 3 will be the exception to the rule.

Downey spoke at length about the film during a recent interview, reaffirming new director Shane Black‘s history with the franchise by reminding viewers, “When we were doing the first Iron Man, Jon Favreau and I used to call up Shane Black. We had two lifeline calls; one was to J.J. Abrams, which was about the third act. And for the other call, we went to Shane’s house.”

Now, says Downey, “To get him to do Iron Man 3, it has just been…

Here is the new synopsis from Paramount…

SYNOPSIS:

In Summer 2013, director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be…

Nick Fury is one of the more prominent characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having appeared in five out of the six titles to date. Yet he’s never actually appeared in his own standalone film. For a while, it seemed like a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie might be coming out after The Avengers, but as we’ve since learned, that project has since evolved into a TV series. So as of now, it looks like the closest thing to a Nick Fury movie we’ll be getting is Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

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His latest comments are a sharp contrast to remarks he made in 2010, when he claimed that a…

Hollywood continued to rejigger its publicity plans for holiday releases Monday in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

Paramount has decided to make several tweaks to the marketing materials for Jack Reacher, the gritty crime-action pic starring Tom Cruise as a hard-boiled former military cop trying to prove that an alleged sniper was framed. The film opens Friday.

The studio wouldn’t officially say what the changes are, but a source confirmed that a scene of Cruise’s character firing off a semi-automatic weapon is being cut from promotional spots.

And then regarding…