Next up is “Bel Ami,” Robert Pattinson’s steamy period romance that finds the “Twilight” heartthrob sleeping his way through Europe in search of wealth and power. Now that sounds like a tough task for the young actor, don’t you think? “Bel Ami” opens in March.

Finally, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris tackle real-life politicians Sarah Palin and John McCain in HBO’s “Game Change,” the adaptation of the best-selling book about their failed presidential campaign. “So find me a woman,” Harris’ McCain says when looking for a game-changing running mate. And Moore’s impersonation of Palin is a game changer, indeed.

And now, a poster!

Clearly, Gary Ross’s adaptation of the best-selling futuristic novel is one of the most anticipated movies of 2012 (which we’re looking forward to with more frequency now that 2011 us drawing to a close). The first trailer, which introduced Jennifer Lawrence grisly heroine, set the stage. And now, this poster teases the film’s massive scope.

This is going to be huge.

“The Hunger Games” stars Lawrence, Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks and Stanley Tucci. It opens everywhere on March 23.

For starters, Disney/DreamWorks revealed that sneak peeks (featuring a post-screening Q-and-A with Spielberg) will be held this Sunday in 10 select markets around the country. Spielberg will be in New York, but the conversation will be beamed to participating theaters following the 2 p.m. ET screening on Nov. 27.

In addition, guild members (and select press) started screening “War Horse” this week, continuing the rollout that started with smaller screenings in hard-to-reach markets to help drum up word-of-mouth for the WWI-era drama.

And if you watched any football on TV this Thanksgiving, you no doubt caught one of the new TV spots running for “War Horse,”

Each 45-second spot reveals previously unseen footage, and sets up the plot a little better for audiences who might not be familiar with the Tony Award-winning play.

“War Horse” will be in theaters on Christmas, and hopes to contend in the Oscar race as the marathon season continues.

But few predicted it would do this well.

Bolstered by extremely positive reviews from international critics, Spielberg’s “Tintin” took the No. 1 slot at the foreign box office over the weekend with an estimated $55.8 million haul from 19 markets, THR reports.

“No. 1 rankings were notched in 17 of ‘Tintin’s’ opening markets with France leading the way ($21.5 million collected over five days from 935 spots), which Sony described as ‘the biggest opening ever for an original, non-sequel film from Hollywood,’” the trade reports. “Paramount said the U.K. came up with another $10.7 million from 508 spots. Spain contributed $6.65 million at 798 locations while Germany came up with $4.6 million from 847 locales.”

We’re all curious to see how “Tintin” plays in the States, where Paramount’s selling it on the names of Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson because we’re unfamiliar with the character and his exploits. But recent, action-packed trailers for the 3D, motion-capture adventure are doing an excellent job of selling Spielberg’s product. It opens here in December.

In the meantime, it’s time to start wondering if solid box office and critical response to “Tintin” can push it into the Oscar race … and not just the rechnical categories, where it’s bound to compete. Could a screenplay nod be possible, as well? We’ll see.

Oh, sure, tons of folks will want to line up to see Tom Cruise risk life and limb as Ethan Hunt. The shots of him hanging off of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper, are breathtaking. I’m more interested, however, to see how animator Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) handles full-blown action scenes in his first livce-action effort. The latest trailer for “Impossible,” posted to Yahoo Movies, suggests Bird’s style. We have it below, but be warned … there are serious spoilers contained within:

Wow. So again, Cruise is on the lam hoping to clear his name and salvage the reputation of the entire IMF squad. Can he handle it?

Have you seen any of these films?

“Ghost Protocol” will have an early IMAX opening on Dec. 16 before going wider on Dec. 21. Fans should be lining up around the block for that, as Warner also plans to sneak peek the opening prologue from Chris Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” ahead of Bird’s feature.

Finally, we’re getting our first official look at Marvel’s mightiest heroes in action. If you haven’t been following the steps that are leading to Whedon’s ensemble adventure, “The Avengers” unites Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in an epic battle against Thor’s wayward brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), with the fate of our planet hanging in the balance.

The clip shows us plenty of action. Some of the more intriguing shots include a Cap vs. Thor showdown, plenty of destructive carnage in a downtown setting, and – in the clip’s closing seconds – a full Hulk-out by new Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo.

Si far, it looks like Downey’s show. Not that this would surprise anyone. The charismatic actor plays right to Whedon’s strengths as a lighthearted storyteller, and while the clip appears to deliver the action, RDJ provides the comic relief that we’ve come to expect from a Whedon production.

This is the perfect appetizer for “Avengers” fans. It sets the stage nicely for what should be an exciting, entertaining culmination of a string of origin stories from the Marvel universe.

“The Avengers” will be in theaters in May 4, 2012.

Aaron Eckhart recently finished shooting the lead role as an ex-CIA agent in “The Expatriate,” and stars alongside Johnny Depp in the upcoming “The Rum Diary.” He is repped by CAA.

“I, Frankenstein” is a modern-day epic: Frankenstein’s creature, Adam, has survived to present day due to a genetic quirk in his creation. Making his way to a dark, gothic metropolis, he finds himself caught in an all-out, centuries old war between two immortal clans. As writer/director, Stuart Beattie said, “Mary Shelly’s story is about the creation of the first human being. This is the story about that being becoming human.”

George Clooney’s “The Ides of March” provided the right antidote. It morphs Beau Willimon’s play “Farragut North” into a tense political drama blessed with the hand-wringing intrigue of a top-shelf John Grisham novel.

Much like with his Oscar-nominated “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Clooney has assembled a stellar cast, handing the key role over to Ryan Gosling. He plays Stephen, a whiz-kid campaign manager adept at putting out mild fires for Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), the current frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket. But during a key primary stop in the state of Ohio, those tiny flames grow into a full-blown blaze of corruption, deceit and betrayal … and all Stephen holds is a squirt gun.

TO READ “DESCENDANTS” BOASTS A TOUR DE FORCE PERFORMANCE BY GEORGE CLOONEY

“Ides” does for behind-the-scenes political campaigning what “Good Night” did for broadcast journalism. It operates in a world most of us recognize but aren’t too familiar with, and it turns that environment on its ear. It’s appropriate that close friends Clooney and Brad Pitt have “Ides” and “Moneyball” in theaters at the same time, because the latter is as interested in the backdoor muckraking of presidential campaigns as the latter is in assembling a World Series contender. They’re more insightful for what powerbrokers do behind the curtain — the final scene in Clooney’s “Ides” hammers that point home — than what they do in the spotlight.

Clooney’s picture doesn’t crackle with the pitter-patter energies of a “West Wing” episode. The twists are telegraphed, but no less gut wrenching. And Clooney has the patience to trust his powerful cast to deliver when it matters. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti each get proper monologues, and Evan Rachel Wood holds the key to the film’s largest twist.

I’ll have a full review up on the site, but wanted quickly to touch on the film’s Oscar chances for the benefit of our Awards Alley readers. Screenplay seems like a safe bet, with Willimon and Grant Heslov tag-teaming their adaptation. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s shoots a handful of stirring, patriotic scenes. Once “Ides” gets going, the suspense tosses larger logs onto Clooney’s fire, and the cast responds in kind.

While the cast is uniformly great and a Picture/Director combo is completely possible (Clooney is beloved, and rightfully so), the filmmaker could find himself in a similar situation to what he faced in 2006, where he won an Oscar for “Syriana” and was content with nominations for his own picture, “Good Night.” Even if “Ides” scores nominations, Clooney’s so good in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants” that it will be hard for him to beat … well, himself.

TO READ “DESCENDANTS” BOASTS A TOUR DE FORCE PERFORMANCE BY GEORGE CLOONEY

For complete Oscar and Film Festival coverage, visit our Awards Alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.

Tonight’s “Hunger Games” clip was short (like, 40 seconds short, once you got past slow transitions and Lionsgate branding). Most shots involved main character Katniss running for her life as fire traps stalked her through rather ordinary woods. Exciting? Not particularly. But it didn’t dampen my desire to see the film.

“The Hunger Games” and the franchise Suzanne Collins has built around it tells a great story, and Jennifer Lawrence will finally be given the chance to shine as the lead in a film that people will actually see. Her Academy Award-nominated performance in “Winter’s Bone” went under-recognized given Natalie Portman’s sweep last year with “Black Swan,” and the film itself was so indie that she had limited chance for exposure.

So far, we’ve see photos and video (video, for crying out loud!!) of Catwoman, Bane, Batman’s new flying vehicle, a football scene, explosions on the streets of Gotham, and so much more.

You might be thinking you’ve seen the entire movie, which isn’t due in theaters until next July. Which is why comments made by Tom Hardy, who plays Bane in the blockbuster, are encouraging.

Hardy tells Access Hollywood while promoting his latest film “Warrior,” that fans aren’t really seeing a sliver of what’s to come.

“I think there’s a certain inevitability if you’re going to shoot in the middle of the street — that it’s very hard to block off the entire street from people taking photographs,” Hardy said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be anything like the film. You have people taking photographs from a distance of what’s going on on the ground. It bears very little resemblance to what’s going on.”

Some fans even suggest that Nolan’s filming some public scenes that have no prayer of making the final film, in an effort to throw publicity hounds off of his scent. But that’s an expensive “trick” for any filmmaker to pull, so I’m guessing what we’ve seen from Pittsburgh will be seen in “The Dark Knight Rises” … just in context.