Save the Date: 'Beautiful Creatures' hitting theaters Feb. 1, 2013

Warner Bros. announced Tuesday that Alcon Entertainment's adaptation of the supernatural thriller “Beautiful Creatures" will be released in theaters on Feb. 1, 2013.

The adaptation will arrive Feb. 1, 2013.

A coming of age story set in the South, “Beautiful Creatures” is about two star-crossed teenage lovers, Ethan, a local boy, and a mysterious new girl, Lena, who uncover dark secrets about their families, their history and their town.

Richard LaGravenese will direct from his own adaptation of Kami Carcia and Margaret Stohl's novel. Erwin Stoff (“The Matrix,” “I Am Legend”) will produce along with Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove (“The Blind Side, “The Book of Eli”), and Molly Smith (“Something Borrowed,” “P.S. I Love You”).

The cast includes Viola Davis ("The Help"), Emma Thompson ("Nanny McPhee"), Jack O’Connell ("This is England") and Alice Englert ("Singularity").

Filming on the adaptation is expected to begin in April in and around New Orleans.

Save the date: 'World War Z' to invade theaters Dec. 21, 2012

The zombie horde is coming just in time for Christmas. Paramount Pictures has announced its adaptation of Max Brook's "World War Z" will arrive in theaters on Dec. 21, 2012.

The film will debut Dec. 21, 2012.

The film will opening against Disney's "The Lone Ranger," which stars Johnny Depp in the title role, and will also be competing against the first half of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit," which opens one week earlier on Dec. 14.

The novel "World War Z" is described as a recounting of the "apocalyptic and horrifying years that will make sure we never forget how close we came to total annihilation. Told from the perspective of numerous survivors from all over the world, from Denver to South Africa, Sydney to Yonkers, Malibu to India, 'World War Z' captures the sacrifices and, toward the end, the ingenuity of our race to defend and save our cities, towns, and villages from a plague that seemed virtually impossible to stop."

The movie adaptation stars Brad Pitt ("Ocean's 11," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") as the U.N. worker who collects the accounts. Mireille Enos (AMC's "The Killing") will play Pitt's wife, while James Badge Dale (HBO's "Pacific") will play a soldier who tries to warn everyone of the impending threat. French actress Julia Levy-Boeken ("Entourage," "Road Trip: Beer Pong") is also attached, as is Elyes Gabel ("Game of Thrones"), who will play Fassberch. It was also recently announced Bryan Cranston is in talks to play a "small but flashy role" in the film.

Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland," "Quantum of Solace") is directing based on a screenplay from Matthew Michael Carnahan ("State of Play") and J. Michael Straczynski ("Babylon 5," "Thor").

Disney planning two Marvel film releases during summer of 2014

Apparently in response to Columbia Picture's announcement last Friday that the sequel to next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" will open the 2014 blockbuster season, Disney, parent company of Marvel Comics, has laid claim to two other summer 2014 dates.

According to Deadline, Disney has set release dates for as-yet-unannounced Marvel films on May 16, 2014, and June 27, 2014.

Disney is making plans for 2014.

The film rights to "Spider-Man," like the "X-Men," were not included in Disney's purchase of Marvel and are under the control of Columbia and Fox respectively. Paramount has been releasing the Marvel self-produced films which began with 2008's "Iron Man," but Disney bought the rights to future projects, beginning with next year's "The Avengers."

Disney already has their 2013 arsenal planned, with "Iron Man 3" set for May 3, 2013, and "Thor 2" on July 26, 2013.

The only other film set for the summer of 2014 had been Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" on June 20, but included in today's announcement was that Pixar will release a film on May 16, although what that might be is unknown.

'Catching Fire' will blaze into theaters Thanksgiving 2013

There's no time like the present to plan ahead. At least that seems to be the thinking in Hollywood these days.

The sequel will be released Nov. 22, 2013

Lionsgate announced today that "Catching Fire,"  the second film in "The Hunger Games" series, will be released Nov. 22, 2013. The first movie, which is still filming with director Gary Ross, won't hit theaters under March 23, 2012.

The films are based on the best-selling books by Suzanne Collins which include "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay."

The Hollywood Reporter quoted Lionsgate co-COO and Motion Picture Group president Joe Drake saying, "The magical thing about 'The Hunger Games' trilogy is that the books have such a vastly broad appeal. The stories truly offer something for everyone, and the period around the Thanksgiving weekend is such an opportunity for families and friends to make an event of going to the movies."

It was reported in June that Lionsgate had included options in the all of the actors' contracts for a possible fourth film should the studio decide to split the final book in two, following the trend set by the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" franchises.

At the time I said I wasn't convinced "Mockingjay" really needs to be spread over two movies, but having seen the success of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," I'm more open to the idea. Still, a final decision won't be made until the studio sees how well the returns are for the first film.

This news comes on the heels of Columbia Picture's announcement that the sequel to next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" will be released May 2, 2014.