Universal Studios has released the official trailer for Daniel Espinosa’s spy thriller Safe House. From the looks of the trailer, this is going to be quite the twisted dark thrill ride we’ve desperately needed, with the Award winning Denzel Washington and charismatic Ryan Reynolds as our guides.

With CIA cover-ups, a deadly escort mission, an extremely solid cast, and an everything-isn’t-as-it-seems vibe, what’s not to like? Safe House also has a killer supporting cast including Vera Farmiga, Robert Patrick, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, and Sam Shepard among others.

Check out the trailer below:

When a CIA-operated safe house is targeted by a group of bad guys, the facility’s house-sitter is tasked with the dangerous job of moving the criminal who is being hidden there to another secure location.

It’s great to Washington back as a silently psychotic bad guy/good guy/anti-hero that he executed so well in Training Day, but honestly it’s a relief to see him in a modern day action film not involving trains! He’s just one of those actors that gets completely lost in his character, often giving us a intensely memorable performance, and it looks like his character in Safe House is no exception. Reynolds’ role is thankfully far away from his typical “funny guy” and, dare I say it, charming “superhero” (last summer’s Green Lantern, but don’t get me started on that), and brings him back to the occasional gritty thriller territory. Reynolds’ character is your typical “wrong place at the wrong time” type of hero, a role that he’s done before, with the outrageous Smokin’ Aces and the unfortunately underrated Buried being his most recent roles of that archetype.

From the looks of the trailer, Washington and Reynolds have an explosive chemistry that really escalates the amount of tension towards the end of the trailer, something we can expect in intensely high doses in the film. I’m glad that these type of spy thrillers still exist, because honestly, when we have the CIA as a plot device nowadays, it ends up turning into to a wannabe Bourne movie and they’re becoming unnecessarily repetitive. If you’re looking for a comeback of the gritty, tension and twist-filled spy thriller, look no further than Safe House.

Safe House hits theatres on February 10, 2012.

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In the ongoing world of bidding wars for movie scripts, Deadline reports that Universal has recently beat out 6 other studios for the rights to the horror thriller Grim Night, just in time for Halloween. This is coincidentally the first script bought from the writing duo of Brandon Bestenheider and Allen Bey and it sound like quite an ambitous one.

The premise for the script revolves around the mysterious creatures called Grims, who, for one night a year, globally torment humans, forcing them to protect themselves from the attacks. To sweeten the deal, the pair even created a teaser trailer to add to their pitch to pursuade a spark of interest among studios, which Universal certainly experienced, concidering the winning bid was in the 6 to 7 figures range.

Check out the teaser below:

From the video, I can’t help but think of Neil Blomkamp’s Alive In Johannesburg, a short film which later spawned the feature length imaginative Sci-fi film District 9, mixed with a supernatural version of Contagion. I for one have to applaud the writers for their creativity as well as Universal’s interest in an original idea, something that is becoming a serious issue in Hollywood, with an epidemic of enough sequels and remakes to make our headspin.

They may be too few and far between, but at least original ideas aren’t dead yet, and honestly I’m kind of excited to see how an actual film based on the premise would play out. It seems to have a great mix of fantasy and horror blended with reality, giving it actual potential for a thought provoking movie. So let’s take this moment to praise the heavens for granting us with the reality that originality sells and commerate Universal’s bold move to take on such a film. With that being said, definitely keep an eye out for Grim Night.

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USA Today has the first three official images from the currently filming Fast and Furious movie!

The movie is a sign of the strength of “quiet giants,” franchises that “might not be James Bond or Indiana Jones but still have a rabid following, especially overseas or on DVD,” says Paul Dergarabedian of Media by Numbers.

Even Justin Lin, who directed 2006′s Tokyo Drift, has been surprised by the franchise’s reach.

“I was in Barcelona, and a kid from Spain comes up and just says ‘Fast and Furious,’ ” Lin says. “It’s amazing how many kids know it.”

Indeed, the series has made $600 million worldwide and is one of Universal Studios’ best-selling DVD titles.

“We were doing a movie about illegal racing before most people even knew how popular it was,” Diesel says. “How many franchises are that based on the real world?”

But it’s not all current events, Walker says. “Who doesn’t like fast cars and hot women?”

Erm… indeed?

F&F rolls its way into theaters June 9, 2009.

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