Looking to the far horizon of Phase 2, we can now see a promotional poster for Guardians of the Galaxy, the only non-sequel in Marvel Studios' current round of universe-building.

Opening in theaters on November 1st is the new science fiction action film Ender's Game from director and screenwriter Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). The movie is based on the popular series of books by Orson Scott Card and features an excellent cast that includes Asa Butterfield (Hugo), Academy Award-nominees Harrison Ford (Paranoia), Hailee Steinfeld (Romeo & Juliet), Abigail Breslin (The Call), Viola Davis (The Help), and Academy Award-winner Sir Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3). 

IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with director and screenwriter Gavin Hood for an extended interview to talk about his work on Ender's Game. The accomplished filmmaker discussed his new film, getting Harrison Ford to return to sci-fi, the legitimacy that added to the project, casting Asa Butterfield in the title role, why Ford and Sir Ben Kingsley kept their distance from the young actors on set, the challenges of adapting the popular novel for the big screen, and why it is so relatable to 21st century audiences. 

It's been some time since we've heard so much as a peep from Interstellar, Christopher Nolan's mysterious original sci-fi tale.

Today, though, new photos from the Los Angeles set of Nolan's first movie since finishing up his Batman trilogy reveal...well, not a whole lot actually.  But these images do show stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, as well as the bottoms of their space-exploration costumes.

Harrison Ford needs no introduction, but he's getting one regardless.

The two-time Academy Award nominee is a true movie star, having brought to life some of the most iconic and memorable cinematic characters of the twentieth century.  As Han Solo, Ford brought unparalleled swagger to the smooth, secretly heroic rogue bastard, and as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, he epitomized the strapping, serialized matinee hero of days gone by.  While he is, of course, known the world over for those roles, Ford also earned acclaim for his nuanced performances in the likes of Witness and The Mosquito Coast, as well as his charismatic turns in Fugitive and as Tom Clancy's globe-trotting hero Jack Ryan.

Ford is currently kicking up awards season dust for his work as Branch Rickey in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, and later this year he squares off against Ron Burgundy in the comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

This Friday, he plays a crucial supporting role in Ender's Game. Written and directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Ender's Game takes place in a future where Earth has survived one war with an extraterrestrial species called Formics.  To ensure that humanity is ready for the next interstellar war, the planet's military, the International Fleet, recruits the brightest young people from all over the world to train at Battle School, an orbital military academy dedicated to producing the next generation of generals and officers.

In the film, Ford plays Colonel Hyrum Graff, the IF officer assigned to track the Battle School progress of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin.  Played by Asa Butterfield (Hugo), Ender is a precociously brilliant youth with a rare combination of tactical genius and emotional empathy.  A nearly messianic figure, Ender is the Fleet's best hope of finding a leader for the next fight against the Formics.

IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently attended an Ender's Game press conference in Los Angeles, where the legendary actor discussed the film's thematic content, how visual effects technology has changed since Star Wars, working with this movie's phenomenal ensemble, wire work, his advice to young actors, and the possibility of cracking Indy's whip one more time.

If you've been jonesing for a good look at some of the zero-gravity Battle Room sequences in Ender's Game, then this behind-the-scenes featurette is just for you.

Summit Entertainment has dropped the first TV spot for this November's Ender's Game adaptation, along with a pair of international posters.

All three promotional items skimp on the Battle School action in favor of alien invasion imagery and lots of spaceship battles.

Now that Jake Sulley and the Na'vi are living large on Pandora, who could possibly be fearsome enough to face them in Avatar 2, which kicks off a set of three sequels to the biggest movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation)?

If a new rumor is to be believed, James Cameron is reuniting with his most hulking lead actor for Avatar 2, which could very well feature Arnold Schwarzenegger as the villain.

He may look like the monosyllabic bruiser checking your I.D. on the way into an unsavory bar, but Vin Diesel is possessed of the gift of gab.

The loquacious action star is sharing his enthusiasm for Riddick, this Friday's sci-fi sequel that heralds the title character's return after an absence of almost a decade.

Interstellar outlaw Richard B. Riddick first charmed audiences thirteen years ago as the breakout character in Pitch Black.  As one of the survivors of a crash landing on a desolate alien world, the extremely proficient killer whose polished eyes see in the dark went up against a swarm of nocturnal beasts.  The sequel, 2004's summer event movie The Chronicles of Riddick, put the anti-hero at the center of a vast mythology, revealing him as the last of an extinct species known as Furyans and putting him in conflict with a marauding galactic empire.

Nine years after the straightforward sci-fi spectacle of that sequel comes Riddick, a return to form for the genre's foremost tank top-wearing mass murderer.   Without abandoning the elements introduced in The Chronicles of Riddick, this entry more closely follows the stripped-down approach of Pitch Black.  Once again, Riddick finds himself marooned on harsh alien soil.  With no other option, he activates a distress beacon, one that brings not rescue, but bounty hunters intent on collecting his head.  Unluckily for them, the mercenaries aren't just facing the most dangerous man in the galaxy, but also another limitless hoard of alien carnivores.

On Riddick, Vin Diesel dons the characters goggles again, working with David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway), the writer-director behind both Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick.  IAR recently attended a press conference in which star and producer Diesel was happy to discuss Richard Riddick's return, how his fatherhood affected the character, building franchises like Fast & Furious, financing Riddick independently, Dungeons and Dragons influencing the atmosphere on set, matching muscles with professional wrestlers, and the future of the last Furyan.

Interstellar, the original sci-fi adventure from director and co-writer Christopher Nolan, remains shrouded in mystery.

But today, thanks to a battery of unofficial photos from the set and an info-nugget on the story, it's less mysterious than it was yesterday.

Matt Damon, it seems, is now all signed up to appear in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, joining Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain on the film, which is already in production.