Alcon Entertainment scored box office success with the 2011 family-friendly, dolphin-approved drama Dolphin Tale starring Nathan Gamble, Naomi Judd, Harry Connick Jr, and Morgan Freeman, and now they're dipping their toes in the same pool for Dolphin Tale 2. The sequel will be written and directed by Dolphin Tale helmer Charles Martin Smith with the original cast currently in negotiations to reprise their roles.

The sequel will focus on another rescued dolphin being taken care of by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. And just as Winter did in the first film, 'Hope' will be playing herself in Dolphin Tale 2.

And in other sequel news, it appears audiences will have to wait a year to see Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For as it's just been pushed back from October 4, 2013 to August 22, 2014. No reason was given for the move, but the big shift in release date comes on the heels of the move to 2014 of another film based on a Frank Miller comic: 300: Rise of an Empire.

_{(Photo from Dolphin Tale © Warner Bros Pictures)}

Billy Crystal returns to voice Mike Wazowski, the little green one-eyed, sort of cute monster who along with his best friend Sulley (voiced by John Goodman) were the lead characters in Pixar's incredibly popular animated comedy, Monsters, Inc. In the prequel, Monsters University, we meet up with Mike and Sulley where their friendship began: in college. Mike and Sulley don't get along initially - both are at MU to become scarers and the competition's fierce - but eventually team up to overcome adversity and cement the friendship that's at the heart of Monsters, Inc..

Crystal says Mike is one of his favorite characters of all time and he welcomed the opportunity to voice him once agains. And while at the press day at Pixar Animation Studios, Crystal discussed being able to play a younger version of Mike and getting to work with John Goodman again.

Were there several attempts in the past to get another movie made because Monsters, Inc. was so popular? It's been a dozen years, hasn't it?

Billy Crystal: "It's a dozen, yeah. It was about, I guess, nine years until they decided to do it. It took about three years, I guess, to make this.

I don't know. I kept saying to John [Lasseter], 'There's just got to be another story,' but they didn't really do sequels except for Toy Story. And I think even those might have been reluctant in the beginning. Then I guess they must've brainstormed a bunch of ideas and then however this happened...I was up here for John's 50th birthday surprise party, and he came up to me and he goes, 'We have the sequel. It's a prequel. They're in college,' and he walked away. And it was hilarious. And I went, 'Of course, what a great idea, and show us something we haven't seen.' Just another adventure of them would've been fine, but it's not what they do. They value the story here. They value telling the right kind of story and no matter how good a sequel idea might have been, it would've been a sequel. This is a different movie. That's why I love it because you're finding out new things about them." Read More...

Dan Scanlon makes his Pixar feature film directorial debut with Monsters University, the long-awaited second film involving monster BFFs Mike (voiced by Billy Crystal) and Sulley (voiced by John Goodman). Instead of going the Monsters, Inc. sequel route, the filmmaking team are Pixar opted for a prequel that explores where Mike and Sulley met and how they became such good buddies.

Chatting about the film during a press day at Pixar Animation Studios, Scanlon discussed bringing the prequel to the screen, how the new characters were developed, and why one of the characters is based on his dog.

What took so long to make another Monsters movie?

Dan Scanlon: "I know. After the first movie we went to work on other movies. We really didn't think about the possibility of doing a sequel. And then in time we just realized we miss these characters. We love these characters and we got together to think, 'Is there an idea there?' If not, we wouldn't do it - but just to poke around. And pretty quickly in that meeting, which was essentially like John Lasseter and Pete Docter - the original director - and Andrew Stanton, we kind of got a big group together and the idea of doing a story that was a little more specific to Mike and Sulley's relationship came up. That's where we got the idea of meeting them when they were young. I think that, along with the Monster College of it, just seemed great. But also [it was] the idea of doing a story about Mike and doing a story about dealing with failures in life, which we thought was really not dealt with a lot in movies. A lot of times people say if you work hard and never give up, it will always work out, which is a great message. However, it's not always the case. And we really wanted to make a movie for people who were dealing with that because it's such a universal thing. That was kind of the genesis of the idea." Read More...

Sony's not only confirmed there will be an Amazing Spider-Man 3 and an Amazing Spider-Man 4, they've also released the targeted release dates. Spider-Man 3 will be slinging into theaters on June 10, 2016 followed by #4 on May 4, 2018.

And just in case you don't remember when the next Spidey film will arrive, it's coming out in theaters on May 2, 2014.

Announcing the next two Spider-Man movies, Sony Pictures Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution, Jeff Blake stated, "Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we're thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years."

Production is currently underway on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Marc Webb back as director. Andrew Garfield, who's reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, leads a cast that includes Emma Stone, Shailene Woodley, Jamie Foxx, and Paul Giamatti.

_{(Photo © Sony Pictures)}