The Morning Roundup: SAG Strike Update, New Movie Pics, Dollhouse Footage, Trailers

Written by: Phoebe Raven, CC2K Staff Writer

This morning we duly update you on the SAG strike & movies in production and bring you new images from 2009's big releases & exclusive new footage of Whedon's Dollhouse.

After all the excitement that was New Year's, maybe it's good the Box Office doesn't hold any surprises: Marley & Me, the flick with Aniston, that suicidal Wilson brother and a dog, is still at No. 1. Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler remains at #2. No. 3 was once again Benjamin Button.
The most interesting fact: Rob van Winkle was right, The Spirit sucks. It came in at #13.

SAG strike update:
SAG national executive director Doug Allen has defended the referendum for a strike, saying the economical crisis is all the more reason for actors to stick together.
An emergency board meeting is scheduled for Jan 12th/13th, where it will be decided whether to dismiss Allen as head negotiator and whether or not to send out the ballots for a strike authorization (which already has been delayed).

There is a ton of new promotional pictures from all of 2009's big releases over at Entertainment Weekly. Among the featured films are: Public Enemies, Terminator: Salvation, Watchmen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, UP, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Angels & Demons and more.

News from preproduction heaven/hell:
Yet another period piece with Keira Knightley is coming our way, called The Beautiful and the Damned. It is going to be about the marriage of alcoholic F. Scott Fitzgerald and schizophrenic Zelda Sayre. And now the pic has found a director in John Curran. Production starts in March.

Hugh Jackman on the other hand decided to pull out of talks to star in a 3-D live action musical about the life of Cleopatra, called Cleo, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film will be directed by Stephen Soderbergh, but the mere notion still makes me shudder in disgust. Thank God Jackman won't tarnish his Wolverine image any further, for now.

The recession is hitting TV and the writers' strike last year is also still having effects (after all, pilot season was completely screwed up). And yet, there is a winner in the TV market and it's called CBS. While the big four networks had to give up some viewers to cable, CBS is the one to limit their losses among adults to 3%.
I wonder if Craig Ferguson has anything to do with it…

Extra aired a behind-the-scenes feature for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse complete with interviews and sneak previews. You can watch it below.
Note: the actual pilot Whedon shot (and from which the scenes are probably taken) will not actually air due to the revamp that happened.

Trailers!

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

G-Force (the guinea-pig from Doctor Dolittle gets its career back on track)