Damon Houx

Beloved character actor James Gandolfini, best known as Tony Soprano on HBO's classic mafia series 'The Sopranos,' has passed away suddenly at the age of 51 after a heart attack.

As had been rumored for a while, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj have both publicly confirmed that they are leaving 'American Idol' after this season, following the announcement that Randy Jackson was also retiring. This leaves Keith Urban as the last judge standing, though perhaps not for long.

To date, books, lives, records, songs, board games, video games, and coupons have served as inspirations for cinema (well, all except for the last one, that was just a 'Mr. Show' sketch). But now memes are joining that list as Grumpy Cat, the internet sensation, has been optioned as the subject for a feature film.

There were rumors that there was going to be a big 'American Idol' shake-up, but before anything was made official Randy Jackson has given the show his walking papers. Jackson has announced that Season 12 will be his last on the hit show.

The question with this reboot is who they can bring in to replace the four.

Though we're still waiting for actual casting announcements for 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' another big aspect of the new Disney-run Lucasfilm is the idea of multiple 'Star Wars' films a year. And though we've heard about spin-off movies for some of the characters, the latest rumor is that the popular 'Star Wars' video game 'Knights of the Old Republic' may be brought to the big screen.

It looks like the casting process has begun in earnest for the latest 'Planet of the Apes' film 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.' We recently heard that Jason Clarke joined the cast, and today we've learned that young actor Kodi Smit-McPhee has landed a role.

December is often a surprising month at the box office as many films that never top the box office end up making a lot of money. The Tom Cruise vehicle 'Jack Reacher' opened right before Christmas and had a $15 million opening weekend. Sounds weak right? And yet the picture has grossed nearly $80 million domestically, and over $200 million worldwide. Which is why Paramount is talking about a seque

Though Sunday is the big day for watching movie TV spots with the Super Bowl, we're already getting some of those big money ads now. 'World War Z' is one of the first to release their commercial, and it does a good job of conveying what the film is about.

2015 was looking to be one of the biggest years in cinema history, as the summer was set to hold 'Star Wars - Episode 7,' 'The Avengers 2' and 'Justice League.' Recently there was word that we might not get 'Episode 7' in 2015 and now we're hearing that Warner Brothers has yet to fully commit to 'Justice League,' and the only way it moves forward is if 'Man of Steel' is a hit.

Though the film isn't hitting screens during the four-quadrant friendly summer season, there was concern that 'A Good Day to Die Hard' might stay with the PG-13 rating of its predecessor. But there's no "Yipee-kay-yay, Mister Falcon" for this John McClane, as it turns out the film is R-rated.

For whatever reason, 'Star Wars' fans petitioned the White House wanting the United States to make a Death Star. That the country our the government has no interest in making one is no surprise. But the Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget Paul Shawcross responded to the petition in the nerdiest way possible.

Even though the fourth film in the franchise, 'Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' was the lowest grossing of the franchise domestically, that film - boosted by 3D - managed to make over a billion dollars worldwide. So that a writer has been hired to write 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' should be no surprise.

With Steven Spielberg's 'Robopocalypse' put on temporary hold, perhaps Universal saw a hole in the 2014 schedule, or perhaps they're just ready to make more dinosaur movies. We say that because -- even though there's no director attached -- Universal has announced that 'Jurassic Park 4' will be hitting theaters June 13, 2014.

With the new year right around the corner, it's time to get excited about the films of 2013, and though the February release date suggests lowering expectations, we're at least interested in seeing 'A Good Day to Die Hard,' perhaps because there's no way it will be as generic as the last one. Now there's a TV spot and it looks like the movie could be fun.

Entertaining but is it accurate?

"There come a time when good man must wear mask." So intones Johnny Depp to Armie Hammer in 'The Lone Ranger' trailer, which reveals that director Gore Verbinski is up for being a little weird in his big budget blockbuster.

Though the trailer won't hit the web until December 17, and the film doesn't hit theaters until May 2013, 'Star Trek Into Darkness' has just released their teaser for the trailer that's coming. Yup, this nonsense again, but at least this one's a minute long.

'Two and a Half Men' star Angus T. Jones, perhaps realizing that he had burned not only his meal ticket but everyone he is still contractually obligated to work with for the rest of this season, has issued a statement about the video where he called the show filth, a video which exploded across the internet yesterday.

'Star Wars' rumoring isn't going to stop with just 'Episode 7' even if that picture hasn't signed a director or cast yet. On top of those rumors, we're now going to be hearing gossip about the entire next trilogy, and possibly all the spin-off movies after that. If the internet implodes on itself, it's going to be because of 'Star Wars.' Today's latest news: That they've approached Lawrence Kasdan