The Lord of the Rings: The countdown continues... New Line has given another preview image to Cinema Confidential grand opening of the exclusive Internet preview for fans for the first of the Lord of the Rings films. On Friday, fans at the official website will be able to see video footage from the film.

X-Men: Those of you anxiously awaiting for the raved X-Men trailer which was shown at ShoWest won't have to wait much longer. "Access Hollywood" will be the first to show the trailer on their television program on Wednesday night. The trailer will then be released on the official X-Men movie site on Thursday at 11 PM EST.

Star Wars, Episode 2: Months of Anakin Skywalker/Leonardo DiCaprio rumors can be put to an end today...While speaking with USA Today, DiCaprio's spokesperson commented that although Leo did meet with George Lucas, Leo is "unavailable." (Shall we open a bottle of champagne now?)

John Carpenter's Ghost of Mars: Fresh off of Next Friday, rapper Ice Cube is in talks to join acclaimed horror director John Carpenter in the director's next film. Being described as a thriller set 174 years in the future, the film concerns human colonists of the Red Planet who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts. Ice Cube will play the lead role.

The Crow: Salvation: The official site for the third installment in The Crow series has opened at http://www.thecrow.com. I have to be honest though: I don't like the site. It doesn't give a release date, trailers, or anything of useful interest unless you're absolutely intrigued as to who will be on the soundtrack, which will include Filter, Hole, Kid Rock, and more... Above are a few stills you can find on the site. There are some more over there so check it out...

Panic Room: David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) may be dropping this project off his plate...Variety reports that the director was only in talks with the studios, Sony/Columbia, to directthe production, but a number of disagreements between the two parties may cause Fincher to leave production.

Shanghai Noon 2: Even though it's over a month before this film is due, Michael Fleming from Variety also reports that Miles Millar and Al Gough have been hired to write the screenplay for a sequel to the Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson western-comedy opening in May. According to Millar, the "sequel will be more of a standard period actioner, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, now that the first film establishes Jackie and Owen, and how they mesh together so well." Spyglass is confident with the film due to high remarks from recent test screenings.

The Count of Monte Cristo: Jim Caviezel (The Thin Red Line) has signed on the dotted line to star in a third remake of this classic novel. Despite no director or other stars officially attached, pre-production is beginning immediately for a July shoot in Dublin and the southeast coast of Ireland. The film is based off a Jay Wolpert adapted-screenplay of Alexandre Dumas' novel.