Jay-Z, meet Jay Gatsby.

The hip-hop mogul is teaming up with up-and-coming act The Bullitts to score the upcoming film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel "The Great Gatsby." Jeymes Samuel, the man behind The Bullitts, announced the news on Twitter on Dec. 30.

Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It is too DOPE for words!

— THE BULLITTS (@TheBullitts) December 30, 2012

The film, which stars Leonard DiCaprio, Isla Fisher, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire, is due out this May. If you're questioning how modern hip-hop would fit into a movie set in the roaring '20s, take a look at the film's trailer. Jay-Z's collaboration with Kanye West, "No Church in the Wild," is featured at the top of the clip.

What do you think of Jay-Z and The Bullitts scoring "The Great Gatsby"? Are you excited for the film? Tell us in the comments below.

Little more than a week after "Twilight" actress Kristen Stewart confirmed her role in the upcoming film "Focus," Ben Affleck has dropped out, Variety reports. The Boston-bred actor was signed up to to costar in the movie, playing the role of a grifter who takes in a young, attractive apprentice with whom he later becomes romantically involved.

The father of three and the 2012 GQ filmmaker of the year doesn't have time for the production, according to the Variety post.

Affleck is reportedly working on his next directorial project, "Live By Night."

Are you disappointed that you won't see a pairing of "Besten Affwart"? (Vulture dubbed the acting duo by this name, which we think is worth noting.) Discuss in the comments!

Below, Stewart confirmed her role in the film.

Ready for "Les Misérables"? Before its Christmas Day opening, get a sneak preview of director Tom Hooper's live-singing mandate in the first full performance from the film adaptation.

In the clip (below), the cast belts out the iconic, swelling "One Day More." Hugh Jackman kicks things off, Eddie Redmayne ("My Week with Marilyn") impresses by doing the heavy lifting, Amanda Seyfried and newcomer Samantha Barks hold their own, and Russell Crowe appears over his head, half-grunting through his verses.

Take a look at the video and tell us what you think.

The Golden Globes often seem to come out of nowhere. Not the nominations, per se (although there are always those) but the announcement itself. Weren't we just in August? Nonetheless, those fine, starstruck men and women of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- that 68-year-old media outfit that cooks up the Golden Globe awards -- boldly asked Jessica Alba and Megan Fox to read the 2012 nominees (for what it's worth, Ed Helms was there, too).

The headline news included the seven nominations for "Lincoln," Steven Spielberg's 13th Amendment drama. Before it even opened, its award-worthiness was somewhat preordained. Its excellence makes it a more than tolerable companion for the next three months of acceptance speeches, red carpets, and decolletage that will culminate with the Academy Awards broadcast at the end of February.

Lincoln is about the abolition of slavery. The surprise of the day was the strong showing for Quentin Tarantino's grisly exploitation film about a former slave on a mission to rescue his enslaved wife. Yes, "Django Unchained" received five nominations (it opens Christmas Day), although none was for its black actors, which is an uncomfortable irony best discussed in the future. The movie hasn't opened yet, and it's sparked curiosity, excitement, and preemptive outrage. "Lincoln," which opened last month, has also annoyed people for its omission of black Americans' participation in the passing of the amendment. So we'll have great controversy for the next three months, too.

It was a strong end of the year for Hollywood and the Foreign Press's obsession with its movies. Ben Affleck's hit Iranian hostage drama, "Argo," also had five nominations, including for Affleck's directing. Tom Hooper's desperately anticipated revolution-and-romance musical "Les Misérables" (it, too, opens Christmas Day); David O. Russell's ensemble romantic sports comedy, "Silver Linings Playbook"; and "Zero Dark Thirty," Kathryn Bigelow's yet-to-open thriller about the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, each had four. Ang Lee's "The Life of Pi" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" scored three.

The happy surprise on the acting side of things continues to be the mounting enthusiasm for whatever Nicole Kidman was doing in Lee Daniels' superbly filthy racial bomb, "The Paperboy." And Rachel Weisz's best actress nomination for Terence Davis's romantic drama "The Deep Blue Sea" makes it hard to dismiss the Foreign Press as a band of nitwits. Sometimes they're toeing the movie-industry line. But they get a lot right, too.

That said, there was nothing for a critically beloved, made-from-scratch movie like "Beasts of the Southern Wild." It was ineligible for the Screen Actors Guild Awards (none of the cast is in the union!), but it did well in last month's Independent Spirit Award nominations. The movie will likely speak to enough voters to figure into the Academy Award nominations, which have been defensively (albeit understandably) moved up about two weeks to January 10th, before the Globes broadcast on the 13th, because nobody puts Oscar in a corner. Not this year, anyway.

Matthew Gilbert wrote about the television nominees and the full list of nominees is here.

"Twilight" actress Kristen Stewart confirmed an earlier rumor that she would be costarring with Ben Affleck in a comedy called "Focus."

"I'm really excited about it. We start shooting in April," Stewart told the Huffington Post.

"Focus" will follow a grifter and a younger, attractive woman that the criminal takes under his wing. We're guessing that the grifter will be Affleck and the younger woman will be Stewart--unless there's another actor coming into the mix. Plot twist: things start to get messy when romance becomes a factor. Check out more details on IMDB.

The film was written by "Crazy, Stupid, Love" directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.

Stewart has had a busy year promoting "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2" as well as her next project, the Jack Kerouac-based film "On the Road," which hits theaters nationwide on Dec. 21.

Are you excited about "Focus"? What do you think the chemistry will be like between our Boston boy and the vampire saga star? Let us know in the comments below.

Had enough of Star Trek yet? Too bad.

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is coming from J.J. Abrams next May whether you want it or not. And a new abbreviated trailer was released Thursday. Watch it here.

What's it about? Hard to say exactly other than a really scary voice narrates the trailer and asks: "You think your world is safe? It is an illusion." This is the official plot summary:

In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes "Star Trek Into Darkness."

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Much of the same cast from the last Star Trek movie will be back, most especially Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana.

The bloody new film "Killing Them Softly," starring Brad Pitt as a mob fixer out to restore balance after a poker game is ripped off, is merely the latest in a rich history of gangster films. From "The Godfather" to "Goodfellas," tell us which movies you like best. Pick up to five films from the list below. And tell us what we missed!

When adapting one of the world's most famous musicals for the big screen, singing must be a top consideration. Sure, there's Hollywood magic that can touch up audio tracks, but director Tom Hooper closed the door on lip syncing and asked his actors to sing live on set for "Les Misérables," which hits theaters Christmas Day.

"The whole sense that the character is producing the song, rather than the character is following a song, completely changes the medium of the music," Hooper told MTV News. "It's amazing how much more visceral and how much more real it is. I, for one, find lip syncing; it's always made me find it fake. Even the great musicals, I have to kind of forgive them for miming. It's a real step forward in the form which we are all really excited to be involved in."

Check out the trailer for the film receiving loud best picture Oscar buzz, which is packed with singing from the likes of big name stars Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and more:

(Left, Betty Compson in "The White Shadow.")

You know how last year seemed to belong to Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain? This one looks like the year of Alfred Hitchcock.

Last summer, Sight & Sound's prestigious critics poll named "Vertigo" the greatest film of all time. Last month, the HBO movie "The Girl" offered a grim view of Hitchcock's relationship to Tippi Hedren, the star of his films "The Birds" and "Marnie." How grim? Let's just say that Janet Leigh's character in "Psycho" wasn't the only Hitchock blonde to suffer grievously at his hands. Next week, a film about the making of "Psycho" arrives, "Hitchcock," with Anthony Hopkins as the director. Hannibal Lecter+Richard Nixon=Hitch?

What may be this year's most interesting bit of Hitchcockiana -- certainly it's the least expected -- is available for viewing at www.filmpreservation.org, the website of the National Film Preservation Foundation.

If you haven't yet decided whether you're Team Jacob or Team Edward, you'd better come to a decision quickly. "The Twilight Saga" officially comes to a close this week after five movies that caused much breathless panting over hot werewolves and sexy vampires. If "Twilight" isn't your thing, there are certainly other options, most notably the promising "Silver Linings Playbook," in which Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence team up with "The Fighter" director David O. Russell. Take a look at trailers for films opening this week.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Skyfall," the highly-anticipated third James Bond film featuring Daniel Craig and the 23d overall movie in the series, opens this week, marking the 50th year of the 007 franchise. But in Globe critic Wesley Morris's review of the film, he writes that it may be self-aware of its age.

At almost 2˝ hours, the movie plays like a long, familiar family conversation: Should we put dad in a home or not? This idea of retirement comes up over and over, and it does so at the expense of the actual fun of these movies: their exaggerated interpretation of international politics — warlords, terrorists, greedy pigs, insane demands, the pathological need of sex to be had.

Do you think this Bond movie will be as good as past installments? Before seeing it, check out 10 Bond girls with the look, more Bond girls through the years, and the red-carpet premiere of "Skyfall." Below, watch Globe movie critics Ty Burr and Wesley Morris discuss "Skyfall" and tell us whether you'll see the new flick.

Harrison Ford is open to reprising his role as Han Solo for the newly-announced "Star Wars" sequel, according to a source for Entertainment Weekly. The projected 2015 Disney release would be the seventh film in the series.

EW reports that a "highly-placed source" said that Ford's costars, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), were also open to doing another film. The trio burst onto the movie scene in 1977 after the first "Star Wars" film was released.

Disney acquired Lucasfilms for $4.05 billion in October. George Lucas, director and creator of the "Star Wars" empire, will serve as a creative consultant for the new film.

Damon Lindelof, producer of 2009's "Star Trek" and writer for the TV hit "Lost" penned a reaction piece to the possibility of the sequel for Rolling Stone, saying, "I had totally written off the idea of ever seeing a Star Wars movie with my six-year-old son. So for that to all change in the space of five seconds, where suddenly two summers from now that's gonna happen ? it's just about the most awesome thing ever." The writer/producer also credited Lucas for inspiring him to pursue a career in the movie business.

Pictured: A scene from "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back." Photo credit: Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM

A week before Steven Spielberg's epic Oscar entry "Lincoln" is released, a crop of more playful movies is upon us. John C. Reilly goes digital as a video game villain who wants to make good in "Wreck-It Ralph," Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA makes his directorial debut with star Russell Crowe in "The Man With the Iron Fists," and Denzel Washington channels Sully Sullenberger (sort of) in "Flight." Take a look at the trailers for movies opening this week.

"Wreck-It Ralph"

View image

Sixty-five-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to play Conan the Barbarian in an upcoming Universal Studios film, "The Legend of Conan." The former California governor starred in the same role in the two previous films in the franchise, "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) and "Conan the Destroyer" (1984). The upcoming movie "picks up Conan where Arnold is now in his life," producer Chris Morgan told Deadline.com.

The role of Conan was most recently reprised by "Game of Thrones" actor Jason Momoa in a 2011 Lionsgate reboot but Schwarzenegger told Deadline.com that he's excited to reclaim the role. "I always loved the Conan character and I’m honored to be asked to step into the role once again," he said. "I can’t wait to work with Universal and the great team of Fredrik Malmberg and Chris Morgan to develop the next step of this truly epic story."

The studio hopes for a 2014 release.

[Image via AP Photo/Francois Mori]

The trailer for the fifth installment in the "Die Hard" franchise, due out in February 2013, has been released. Bruce Willis reprises his role as crime-fighting New York detective lieutenant Jack McClane as he travels to Moscow and finds himself wrapped in a terrorist plot with his estranged son, played by Jai Courtney. Cole Hauser, Yuliya Snigir, and Sebastian Koch co-star as the bad guys. Explosives ensue.

Check out the trailer below.

Can't wait until Nov. 15 for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"? Perhaps this new clip from the film will tide you over.

In it, newly-minted lady vampire Bella (Kristen Stewart) puts her super-undead-strength to the test against bulky vamp Emmett (Kellan Lutz). In an arm wrestling competition. Atop a giant boulder that Lutz just casually plops down. Oh, and Stewart never speaks. Nonetheless, it's something.

The full theatrical trailer for the third installment of Marvel Studios' "Iron Man" franchise has been released. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as suit-clad super hero Tony Stark in "Iron Man 3" with co-stars, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Don Cheadle as James Rhodes and will come face-to-face with an armor-coated army of terrorists that threaten the world around him.

The film is set to be released in theaters and 3-D in May 2013. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

It's a quiet week for releases. Perhaps the biggest story is Tyler Perry relinquishing control to simply star (as opposed to write-direct-star) in "Alex Cross." Meanwhile, a fourth installment of the "Paranormal Activity" franchise aims for scares, "Wuthering Heights" gets yet another reboot, Jane Fonda makes her French language debut in "All Together," and Switzerland gives us a glimpse at its foreign Oscar entry, "Sister." Take a look at trailers for movies opening this weekend.

"Alex Cross"

She brought the laughs on "30 Rock" and warmed hearts in "Hugo," but this time, Chloe Grace Moretz is getting a little scary. The 15-year-old actress stars as the telekinetic title character in the upcoming reboot of the 1976 cult classic, "Carrie." Emmy-winning actress and Boston University grad, Julianne Moore, will star as Moretz's "fanatic" mother, and from the looks of the trailer, the infamous pig's blood prom scene will have a rather gory big screen return. The film is slated for release in March 2013.

In yet another week of many releases, Ben Affleck puts on his star and director hats for "Argo," Colin Farrell reunites with his "In Bruges" partner Martin McDonagh for "Seven Psychopaths," and Kevin James does MMA for some reason in "Here Comes the Boom." Check out the reviews and trailers for movies opening this weekend.

"Argo"
After a couple of Boston-steeped crime thrillers, Affleck's ambition for the thriller has gone international, it’s gone important, but, crucially, not self-important.