Universal Pictures has today released the first official trailer for Battleship, the movie based on Hasbro’s naval combat board game.

People seem to have been against this movie from the beginning, mainly because it’s based on a board game. The casting of models and singers in lead roles suggested they weren’t taking the movie seriously, and from the looks of this trailer neither should we.

Watch below:

Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

Battleship opens fire on May 18th, 2012.

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Liam Neeson has been appearing in a few blockbusters recently, such as Clash of the Titans and The A-Team, and he’s just signed up for another one. According to Deadline the actor will be lending his acting prestige to Peter Berg’s Battleship, meaning the cast no longer looks like that of a music video.

So far the cast includes Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Pop/R&B singer Rihanna and Victoria Secret model Brooklyn Decker.

In the film Neeson plays Admiral Shane, whose daughter (Decker) is engaged to a young naval officer (Kitsch). Skarsgard will play Kitsch’s brother, a straight and narrow naval officer whom Kitsch idolizes. Rihanna plays a weapons specialist.

Battleship is based on Hasbro’s naval combat board game, however as two hours of sea vessels firing at each other wouldn’t be that interesting they have added an alien invasion element to the story. In the script an international fleet joins together to battle a water-bound armada of alien invaders.

The release date is currently set for June 18, 2012, and filming is currently under-way in Hawaii.

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With each casting announcement for Peter Berg’s Battleship we get a better idea about what type of movie it will be. At the moment it looks like a $200 million dollar music video. Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgard are part of a new breed of upcoming actors with Kitsch leading John Carter of Mars for Disney and Skarsgard narrowly missing out on playing Thor, so I can understand why they were given leading roles.

But then Pop/R&B singer Rihanna was cast last month, and now according to Latino Review Victoria Secret model Brooklyn Decker has landed the role of Taylor Kitsch’s love interest. Apparently no actual actresses are required for this movie.

Brooklyn Decker was on the short list of models Michael Bay considered to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3, a role that went to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. There have been many models who have made a career out of acting, and good for them, I just prefer trained actresses winning roles instead of T and A who look good on movie posters.

Battleship is based on Hasbro’s naval combat board game, however as two hours of sea vessels firing at each other wouldn’t be that interesting they have added an alien invasion element to the story. In the script an international fleet joins together to battle a water-bound armada of alien invaders. Skarsgard will play Kitsch’s brother, a straight and narrow naval officer whom Kitsch, a wildly spirited naval officer, idolizes.

The release date is currently set for June 18, 2012, with filming set to begin this month in Hawaii.

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Pop/R&B singer Rihanna will join Alexander Skarsgard and Taylor Kitsch in Universal’s Battleship according to Variety.

No word on who Rihanna will be playing, although it doesn’t really matter. Director Peter Berg hasn’t cast her because she suits a particular role. Rihanna was likely hired for marketing purposes.

The movie is based on Hasbro’s naval combat board game, however as two hours of sea vessels firing at each other wouldn’t be that interesting they have added an alien invasion element to the story. In the script an international fleet joins together to battle a water-bound armada of alien invaders. Skarsgard will play Kitsch’s brother, a straight and narrow naval officer whom Kitsch, a wildly spirited naval officer, idolizes.

The release date is currently set for June 18, 2012, with filming set to begin in August in Hawaii.

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Alexander Skarsgard, who is best known for his role in True Blood and came thisclose to playing Thor, will be joining Taylor Kitsch in Peter Berg’s Battleship. Heat Vision say Skarsgard will play Kitsch’s brother, a straight and narrow naval officer whom Kitsch, a wildly spirited naval officer, idolizes.

Battleship is based on the well known Hasbro board game, however as two hours of sea vessels firing at each other wouldn’t be that interesting they have added an alien invasion element to the story. In the script an international fleet joins together to battle a water-bound armada of alien invaders.

The release date is currently set for June 18, 2012, with filming set to begin in August in Hawaii.

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Taylor Kitsch, who we saw last summer as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has signed up to play the lead in Universal’s Battleship (that movie based on the board game). Kitsch will play a Naval commander named Alex Hopper, described as “wildly spirited” and “a great seaman but a lousy politician.” The Hurt Locker actor Jeremy Renner was previously in talks for the role but scheduling conflicts caused him to pull out.

This is another lead role Kitsch has landed following his role as the card thrower last year. He is currently filming John Carter of Mars under the direction of Andrew Stanton for Disney, and now it looks like he will be having more adventures with otherworldly beings as Battleship sees an international fleet come together to battle a water-bound armada of alien invaders.

Peter Berg (Hancock) will be directing and the release date is currently set for Memorial Day 2012.

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Jeremy Renner’s breakout and Oscar-nominated performance in The Hurt Locker has piqued the collective interest of film fans worldwide. So what will the actor do next?

The New York Times brings word [via The Playlist] that Renner is choosing between Peter Berg’s (Hancock, The Kingdom, The Rundown) board game adaptation Battleship or an undisclosed movie for which he’s had “no less than five meetings.” The actor will choose between the two projects soon; both are expected to begin shooting this summer.

But one thing we know for sure: Renner will suit up for director James McTeigue’s (V For Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) latest indie project, Raven. The plot synopsis is as follows:

[Raven is] a fictionalized account of the final five “mysterious” days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. Apparently the famous writer joins the hunt for a serial killer whose murders are inspired by his stories. McTeigue described the film: It’s like the poem, The Raven, itself, crossed with Se7en. It should be pretty cool. The script is really good and everyone responds to it really well.

Ewan McGregor is in talks to co-star with Renner in Raven, and I don’t know about you, but no amount of ninja assassins could sway my interest from this project. At this point, it’s unclear what parts the two actors would play in the film, but they are both high quality actors in an interesting-sounding story, so I’m sold regardless. Does this project interest you? What do you think about Renner’s potential involvement in Berg’s Battleship?

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Last month Columbia hired two writers to start writing Hancock 2, and now director Peter Berg has confirmed that both Will Smith and Charlize Theron will be back for the sequel.

In a conversation before he heads to the Toronto film festival with a Wayne Gretzky documentary, Berg confirmed for MTV News that both Smith and Theron will certainly be returning for more “Hancock” hero-dom.

“Everybody’s going to come back for a sequel,” Berg said in response to a question about the two megastars.

If you didn’t see the first film and don’t want to be spoiled then stop reading now. At the end of the first film it turned out that both Smith and Theron’s characters are immortal gods who become vulnerable when near each other. Berg has said recently that he we can expect the appearance of at least one more all-powerful god in the sequel, and he already has his eye on who he wants to play him/her.

“We have [someone in mind],” Berg said. “I’m not gonna tell you who, but we have!”

It’ll still be a while before we see Hancock 2 but it’s cool that the main cast are returning (although we expected Smith to return anyway).

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Less than a week ago director Peter Berg said that “Will’s busy [and] I’m pretty busy” however they were “excited to do [Hancock 2], but [they] want the script to be right and the movie to be right.”

Well Columbia must have been listening, as according to THR they’ve hired Adam Fierro and Glen Mazzara to write Hancock 2. Plot details are being kept under wraps, though they will work with Smith and director Peter Berg to build on the world hinted at in the first movie. Berg said last week that “there might be another god out there”, so we’ll probably get another A-list actor in a suit.

As Berg and Smith are busy it’ll probably be a few years before we see Hancock 2, but at least they’ve started working on it.

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Last year Will Smith said that we would ‘definitely’ see a Hancock 2 and that there’s a lot of unexplored characters in the Hancock universe that would be ripe for a sequel. As Hancock made $624 million worldwide it seems like an obvious decision business-wise, however director Peter Berg told Sci fi Wire that it won’t be happening any time soon as he and Will are busy. That didn’t stop him sharing his ideas though.

At the end of last year’s Hancock, it was revealed that Will Smith’s superpowered character was actually an immortal god who became vulnerable only when in the presence of his goddess companion (Charlize Theron). Berg confirmed that a sequel would elaborate on the film’s mythology.

“There might be another god out there,” Berg said in an exclusive interview last month in Pasadena, Calif. “Might be another one.”

Of course, Columbia Pictures would love another Will Smith blockbuster for the earliest possible summer position. Smith and Berg, however, are in no rush. “They like to fast-track it, but Will’s busy, I’m pretty busy,” Berg continued. “We’re excited to do one, but we want the script to be right and the movie to be right. We don’t feel a burning imperative to go right back into it.”

I thought Hancock was a fun ride but there are far more deserving (and better) superheroes who should be getting a movie. Although, i’d probably see the sequel if they eventually get round to making it. Would you be up for Hancock 2?

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