So, you put in months and months of hard work crafting the perfect independent/no-budget movie and it is time to showcase your work. There are lots and lots of avenues for you to go, but there is nothing like seeing your movie on the big screen. And if your work is good enough, there is no better way to get the word out about your movie than hosting a successful screening.

One thing that people might not know about having a successful screening to add hype to your movie is just how important it is to use your crowd to your advantage. You’ll need to pick up/rent velvet rope and barricades to do this right. Most movie theaters allow people to rent out theaters for personal screenings. Make sure in your deal with the theater that they will let you do it right, with a red carpet, lines, and the works. If this is a small movie on a low budget, there is no reason to waste money on a 400 person auditorium, a smaller theater will be easier to fill and still do the ob of getting the movie on the screen.

First off invite the cast and crew, so right off the bat you have some audience members that are partial to the movie. Let them invite friends and family. Invite local bloggers (I know how much we love being invited to screenings and Q&As, trust me, they will come and talk about your movie). Also take a chance and invite bigger press, in NY? Try the Times and the Post. They likely will not come, but hey, you never know. Have a contact at a radio station or with a podcast? Give them a certain amount of free tickets to give away. Their hype will go a long way.

Now that you have everyone invited. Make sure you have the manpower to make the screening seem a lot bigger than it is. Have lines for general audience, press and VIPs. Don’t let anyone in right away, let the crowd gather and form. Make sure that people passing on the street or in the theater wonder and ask what is going on. “What movie is this?” “Who is in it?” One perfectly planned screening can cause your movie’s hype to snowball into something a lot bigger than you ever imagined.

Terra Nova, the new high concept time travel/dinosaurs series from Fox, just released three awesome posters. Check out one of them below and the other two over on the Hollywood Reporter.

The new series stars Jason O’Mara, Christine Adams, Naomi Scott, Allison Miller, Landon Liboiron, Shelley Conn, Alana Mansour, Mido Hamada, and Avatar‘s badass villain Stephen Lang. It premieres on September 26th.

Lets take a look at some of the recent movie news in today’s Pit.

• Another Tron sequel is a bit closer to happening as Disney has hired David DiGilio to pen the new entry into the classic sci-fi franchise. DiGilio’s past credits include the short lived Aaron Stanford TV series Traveler and the forgettable Paul Walker flick Eight Below. I hope that they move forward on another Tron as there is endless potential within the world set up in the original 80s film and further expanded on in Tron: Legacy. Next year we’ll have Tron Uprising, an animated television series that fills the gap between Tron and Legacy. I wonder how the animated series will help shape the new film entry.

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in talks to fill the army boots of tough guy Roadblock in John Chu’s upcoming sequel to the 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The film is expected to have a rather large cast turnaround and will feature a ton of new characters, while losing a few of the supporting players who were in the original. Channing Tatum is expected to return as Duke and I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a safe bet to return as Corba-Commander. The first one was bad, but in a very enjoyable way. It was a popcorn flick and did its job by being damn entertaining.

• It looks like funny man Jim Carrey may pull back into his filmography and return to some of his most successful characters. While out promoting his new film Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Carrey dropped that he has been in talks for both a Bruce Almighty sequel and a Dumb & Dumber sequel. While I could care less about another Bruce Almighty (the memory of Evan Almighty still leaves a bad taste in my mouth), I would LOVE to see Carrey reprise Lloyd Christmas along with Jeff Daniels’ Harry Dunne. We don’t get comedies as funny as Dumb & Dumber anymore, maybe lightening could strike twice…

• How about some more sequel news? Angelina Jolie might reprise her role as action hero Evelyn Salt in a sequel to Phillip Noyce’s 2010 flick Salt. Sony is bringing back the writer of the first film, Kurt Wimmer, to pen the sequel. It is unknown who would take over helming the picture as Noyce as publicly stated that he would not be directing the sequel.

I’ve been a bit iffy on the upcoming Conan the Barbarian reboot. I grew up with the awesome Conan cartoon series and of course have a love for the Arnold flicks. I’m not sure that Jason Momoa can fill Arnold’s shoes and the former Baywatch and Stargate: Atlantis star will need a presence to bring Conan to life.

The smokey teaser trailer they released was a bore, but this character poster with Momoa as Conan is pretty damn cool. He definitely looks the part here, much more so then earlier released photos which made him look too small/puny for the Barbarian. The supporting cast features Avatar‘s Stephen Lang and Hellboy himself Ron Perlman, which lends some credibility to the project until you realize that Rose McGowan is also part of the cast and we are back to square one.

While we wait for the new film we can relive the Arnold classic through the awesomely put together Conan the Barbarian: The Musical.

Along with the four new key Batman series (see: DC Comics Announces New Batman Titles), DC Comics has also revealed seven other Batman family books which will be part of the upcoming renumbering/reboot.

Nightwing #1 (above left)
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Eddy Barrows
Official Description: After a tenure as the Batman of Gotham, Dick Grayson resumes his mantle as Nightwing! As Dick embraces his identity, Haley’s Circus, the big top where he once performed with his family, returns to Gotham – bringing with it a history of murder, mystery and superhuman evil. Nightwing must confront friends and enemies from his past as he searches for the source of an even greater evil.

Batgirl #1 (above right)
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Ardian Syaf & Vicente Cifuentes
Official Description: Batgirl’s going to have to face the city’s most horrifying new villains as well as dark secrets from her past…

Catwoman #1 (above left)
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Guillem March
Official Description: Meet Catwoman. She’s addicted to the night. Addicted to shiny objects. Addicted to Batman. Most of all, Catwoman is addicted to danger. She can’t help herself, and the truth is – she doesn’t want to. She’s good at being bad, and very bad at being good.

Birds of Prey #1 (above right)
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Jesus Saiz
Official Description: The Birds of Prey are Gotham City’s covert ops team, taking down the villains other heroes can’t touch.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (above left)
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Kenneth Rocafort
Official Description: Batman’s former sidekick had put his past as The Red Hood behind him, when the reclusive Jason Todd finds himself unwillingly elected as the leader of an all-new team of outlaw vigilantes. As The Red Hood once again, Jason Todd will lead this new team of antiheroes, including Green Arrow’s rejected sidekick Arsenal and Starfire, a former prisoner of intergalactic war.

Batwing #1 (above right)
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Ben Oliver
Official Description: This September, join with us in this historic moment when the first black character to wear the Batman mantle will be the first to star in his own ongoing series.

Batwoman #1 (not pictured)
Official Description: The highly-anticipated new series from the multiple award-winning creative team of J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reeder begins in BATWOMAN #1.

Last week DC Comics revealed the shocking news that they were rebooting the whole DC Universe of books, renumbering them all to #1 (including the two longest running titles out there Action Comics and Detective Comics), and they will be releasing the print issues and digital issues on the same date.

While I hate the idea of restarting continuity (or rewinding it? It is really unsure at this point exactly what they are doing), it could lead to some good storytelling as Marvel Comic’s Spider-Man “Brand New Day” did as it rewrote years of history.  DC has slowly started to reveal the new creative teams for some of their most popular characters. Today I want to focus on the Dark Knight…

Detective Comics #1 (above right)
Writer/Artist: Tony Daniel
Official Description: Marking the first time Batman will appear in a debut issue of Detective Comics, the series will find Bruce Wayne on the trail of a dangerous serial killer known only as the Gotham Ripper.

Batman and Robin #1 (above left)
Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artist: Pat Gleason
Official Descriotion: …will explore the family dynamic of the Caped Crusader as Bruce Wayne battles the Gotham underworld with the help of his son, Damian, in the role of Robin.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (above left)
Writer/Artist: David Finch
Official Description: A twisted adventure that pulls Bruce Wayne deep into the halls of the famed Arkham Asylum, a jail for Gotham City’s most dangerous and criminally deranged.

Batman #1 (above right)
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
Official Description: In the series, Bruce Wayne once again becomes the only character taking on the Batman name.

What do you think about the new run of Batman titles? Is it more of the same or are you excited about the creative teams that DC has put together? Do you like the idea of the whole DC Universe starting fresh or is it finally time to give up on them?

So much has been happening in the world of TV that it might be a little hard to keep track of. Here is a list of some of the most recent cancellations and renewals.

BUBBLE SHOWS THAT HAVE BEEN RENEWED

• 90210 (The CW)
• America’s Next Top Model (The CW)
• Community (NBC)
• Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
• Chuck (NBC)
• CSI: NY (CBS)
• Gossip Girl (The CW)
• Harry’s Law (NBC)
• One Tree Hill (The CW)
• Nikita (The CW)
• Parenthood (NBC)
• Parks and Recreation (NBC)
• Secret Millionaire (ABC)
• Supernatural (The CW)

CANCELLED SHOWS

• America’s Most Wanted (Fox) *Will return as TV Specials through the year.
• Better With You (ABC)
• Breaking In (Fox) *Rumor has it Fox may reverse this decision.
• Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
• Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (CBS)
• Chicago Code (Fox)
• Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC)
• The Defenders (CBS)
• The Event (NBC) *Eyed by SyFy as a miniseries.
• Hellcats (The CW)
• Human Target (Fox)
• Lie to Me (Fox)
• Law & Order: L.A. (NBC)
• Mad Love (CBS)
• Mr. Sunshine (ABC)
• Off the Map (ABC)
• Outsourced (NBC)
• $#*! My Dad Says (CBS)
• The Sing-Off (NBC)
• Traffic Light (Fox)
• V (ABC)

REVIVED

• Fear Factor (NBC)

We’d love to hear your thoughts on what is coming back and what has been taken off the schedule. What could you have done without? What would you have liked to save?