Trailer for 'The Vampire's Assistant' lands online

The first trailer for Paul Weitz's upcoming horror adventure "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" has just debuted online, and you can check it out after the jump.

Based on a series of books by Darren Shan, the film centers on a young man who attends an illegal freak show and later decides to join the club. Before he knows it, he finds himself at the center of a nasty feud between vampires and their rival clan.

Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, John C. Reilly, Jessica Carlson, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek and Ken Watanabe star.

I can't say I absolutely fell in love with this first footage, but then again, the trailer does look kind of entertaining. If done right, this one may actually be intriguing to watch.

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This and that in film news: 'Green Hornet' casting call; Vanessa Hudgens to strip for flick?

It's a rather slow news day so far in the world of film, but here are some things you shouldn't miss on this July 14, 2009:

• Stephen Chow seems to be no longer involved at all with the upcoming "The Green Hornet." Chow was originally set to direct and star in the project, but he dropped the position as director after failing to work out some 'creative differences.' News now comes from Spoiler TV that a search for a new actor for his role is in progress. The film follows Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), who inherits his dad's newspaper and fights crime as a masked hero at night. The role up for grabs is that of Kato, Reid's sidekick.

• The folks at ShockTillYouDrop report Universal has changed the title of its upcoming adaptation of Darren Shan's novel "Cirque du Freak" to "The Vampire's Assitant" (title of the second book). The film centers on a young man who attends a freak show and later joins the club. Also, the film's realease has been moved up from Jan. 15, 2010 to Oct. 23, 2009. It will go up against "Saw VI."

• Vanessa Hudgens is apparently dropping her clothes again for her role in Zack Snyder's upcoming "Sucker Punch." Metro reports the "High School Musical" actress will be stripping in the flick: "I'm playing a character named Blondie and it's set in a brothel in the 1950s, so there's not a whole lot of clothes." So, who's looking forward to that?

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