Some cosplayers just have a gift for becoming their favorite characters. They can take a handful of simple materials and make ultra-believable replicas of the creatures, warriors and cartoon characters.

Calen Hoffman is one of those cosplayers, and his most recent creation may be his most impressive yet.

If you head over to his Facebook, you can see highly detailed costumes for characters from “Bioshock” and “Gears of War,” but his take on Groot (via Screen Crush) is something to behold.

Check out a few of the photos below, and head over to Hoffman’s Facebook for the rest.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

Hey, everyone! I have exciting news. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has confirmed that he’ll star in a “Shazam” movie (via USA Today), but he hasn’t decided whether he’s going to play Captain Marvel or the evil Black Adam.

Wait. Isn’t this news from 2007? It actually is.

But don’t worry, you haven’t slipped back in time. Johnson once again faces the dilemma of which role to take on in a “Shazam” movie, despite having already decided on the part of Black Adam seven years ago. So what gives?

The tale of Dwayne Johnson and the “Shazam” movie is typical of the sometimes eternal Hollywood development cycle.

Back in 2007, Johnson was developing a “Shazam” film with director Pete Segal for Warner Bros., and he had to choose between the two roles and sided with what the fans wanted: Black Adam. Eventually, that iteration of “Shazam” disappeared and with it, Segal.

Johnson, however, stayed attached, and when rumors of a revived “Shazam” movie started appearing earlier this year as a part of Warner Bros’ new superhero initiative, it was essentially a different project. The work Johnson had done on the movie mostly reset, including the decision of whether to play the hero or the villain.

So the “Shazam” movie has doubled back on itself, development-wise, and has almost caught up with its 2007 version. In his latest interview about the project, Johnson said that he still prefers Black Adam, but that he has a tough choice ahead of him.

Depending on ...

Hot off of “The Fault in Our Stars,” director Josh Boone definitely had some options for what he could do next. The guy made a super-successful movie for not much money, which is the ultimate stamp of approval in Hollywood.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the guy is potentially adding another huge project onto his to-do list, which already includes — oh, you know — an adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Stand,” which has already chewed up and spit out a handful of directors.

According to The Wrap, Boone is who Universal wants to reboot the Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles.” The studio recently bought the rights to the series, which includes “Interview with the Vampire” and “Queen of the Damned.”

As interesting as this news is, Boone’s involvement with “The Vampire Chronicles” isn’t official yet, and there’s still no solid word on what Universal plans to do with the rights. Rice wrote 11 books in the series, which follows Lestat, a vampire who Tom Cruise played in the 1994 “Interview with the Vampire” film. There’s also a new novel — the first in 11 years — hitting shelves in the Fall.

So whether this is a remake of “Interview with the Vampire,” Rice’s first book in the series, or an adaptation of another one of the Lestat books, it looks like Boone may be the man with the gig… For now at least.

Kevin P. ...

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As much as Matthew McConaughey has the image of being just a regular guy, mostly interested in just keeping living, he’s not. You want to know how I know this? Because he showed up to the Astros-Red Sox game wearing a fanny pack, and he looked awesome.

“I’m not afraid of the fanny pack,” he told CSN Houston’s Julia Morales during a mid-game interview (via Deadspin), which is online and exists for everyone’s enjoyment.

The McConaughey had some wise words, however, for those brave enough to follow in his footsteps. “You’ve got to kind of put it on the side to make it look a little not as nerdy, but still, practicality wins out.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

It definitely feels premature to even talk about “Star Wars: Episode VIII” when “Episode VII” is still more than a year away, but dammit if I’m not already excited to see what Rian Johnson can do in that universe.

To the point, the “Looper” director appeared on the “Girls in Hoodies” podcast (via /Film) to vaguely discuss his experiences so far working on a sequel to a movie that’s still filming, and I’m hanging on every word. Johnson spoke briefly about how the whole process has been more fun than stressful (rub it, why don’t you) and how uncomfortable it was to visit the “Episode VII” set without a job to do.

Related: Why Aaron Paul Needs To Be In ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’

“Visiting a set you’re not working on, though, I always feel kind of uncomfortable,” Johnson said. “Not because anyone makes you feel uncomfortable at all, but if you don’t have a job on the set, it’s a really strange place to be.”

But what the true “Star Wars” fans will want to hear is what Johnson had to say about the use of practical sets and effects in the new trilogy. “They’re doing so much practical building for this one, it’s awesome.” Summing it up, he said, “They’re doing it all right.”

It’s Johnson’s feeling that culture is “coming back around” to more practical special effects, but he also wonders if that’s his generational bias.

“I think more and more people are ...

Trailer re-edits are pretty much a dime-a-dozen at this point. You can change the genre of any movie with a few clever edits. For example, you add the “Inception” BRAMMS to pretty much anything, and now you have a uber-dramatic movie. It’s nothing to write home about.

That was my thought watching this remixed “Up” trailer (via reddit). Of course, it’s got Carl and Ellie and Russel and Doug and Kevin, plus the BRAMMS. It does a really good job of setting up a way-too-intense mood…

…but then the explosions start.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is hitting Blu-ray and DVD on August 19, and some scenes that didn’t make the final cut have begun to surface on the web, including the alternate ending with Peter’s father coming back from the dead.

MTV also has an exclusive deleted scene. This one explores an unseen part from Max Dillion’s life before he became Electro. Check it out below.

The scene, while not in the final cut, had been important to Jamie Foxx before he had started filming. He recalled the scene during our interview with him for “Django Unchained.”

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ hits Blu-ray and DVD on August 19.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I'm there. All three would be ideal.

@KPSull

“Frank” is a difficult movie to describe. Even the best explanations get caught up on one detail: Michael Fassbender wears a papier-mâché head for most of the film.

Yes, the title character of the fantastic indie flick covers his face with a much larger paper one, but that’s not really the point of the movie. And the prop is only one aspect of Fassbender’s incredible performance. Frank is a complicated character, and making him relatable, human, and emotionally powerful is one of the great acting feats of 2014.

When I spoke with Fassbender and his co-star, Domhnall Gleeson, he described the physical issues that come with wearing the head.

“Definitely can’t see not that much at all, very peripheral vision. I can see nothing in front,” he said. “For me, the hardest part with the head is singing inside the head and working on an accent and putting the head on. It’s like speaking in a box because that’s essentially what it is. The reverb inside there took a bit of getting used to.”

But apart from the vision issues, Fassbender said that he enjoyed the experience and even expressed the wish to wear it more often. “I want to use the head in all my other performances,” he said.

So what would that look like in “X-Men”? Fassbender gave me a hint.

“Frank” opens in theaters on August 15.

Kevin P. Sullivan

Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, ...

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With much pretty no official information coming from the set of “Star Wars: Episode VII,” fans have obsessed over little clues. Take this Instagram photo of Mark Hamill for instance.

All right. He’s beardy, for sure. This is definitely the scruffiest-looking nerf herder Luke Skywalker we’ve ever seen. What could this possibly mean for “Episode VII”?

Honestly, it doesn’t reveal anything, as much as it confirms what everyone already thought. Luke, now an older Jedi, will probably take on the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, so that means beard. But there’s one thing we can definitely say about “Episode VII” based on this one picture of Mark Hamill: Luke Skywalker has never looked cooler.

It’s a flaw of the original trilogy. [Dodges thrown knife.] Luke Skywalker was never that cool. [Deflects tossed rotten vegetables.] Sure, he’s the hero of the saga, but Han Solo was always the dangerous one. Luke only really got cool once he showed up to Jabba’s palace in a black robe wielding his new green lightsaber.

Now we’re 30 years down the line. This Luke has seen some sh–, and if story rumors are to be believed, he’s been through some hard times.

This isn’t the boy from Tatooine anymore. He was ground zero for the new Jedi order, having to start from scratch, and now he’s old. That, I imagine, builds a lot of character.

There’s obviously still the possibility that everything going on with “Episode VII” could completely and utterly suck, but if this is where ...

The video for Ariana Grande‘s single “Break Free” is one big tribute to sci-fi flicks from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, packed with references.

If some of “Break Free” looked familiar, there’s a good reason. Here’s a rundown of the nods it makes to classic science fiction.

All right, we start off with an easy one.

It almost, kinda looks like the “Star Wars” opening scroll.

Then we see Ariana walking down a white, light-filled hallway.

That’s from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but you knew that already.

A lot of this video riffs on Jane Fonda’s look from “Barbarella.”

See?

And this shot…

… is directly lifted from “Barbarella.”

While “Planet of the Apes” isn’t the only sci-fi film to put humans in cages, I think that’s what they’re going for here.

I think this is an “Austin Power” reference, for some reason.

Then there’s this guy.

This guy owes his style to the tradition of the stereotypical Asian villain, an example of which can be seen in “Flash Gordon.” We don’t see it that much anymore.

Ariana gets ready for her big night with lightsaber lipstick, which probably hurts a buttload.

But then she beams up to the deck “Star Trek”-style, which feels very wrong.

Before I can complain too much, Zedd punches it into “Star Wars”-style hyperspace. Is ...