The great photos were taken by manwithscaryspouse who seemed to be right next to the action and described the above pictures as, "Mushroom cloud of fire caused when production company explodes bus." Looks like they really are trying hard to keep the realistic military vibe to this alien feature. The pictures are from September of this year, but they are certainly new to us.

MTV's Hollywood Crush recently spoke with ex True Blood star Lucas Till and he described the movie asIndependence Day meets Black Hawk Down, which from the pictures, sounds about right.

"It's basically any 19-year-old guy's dream job. I get to go to work and shoot guns all day so it's pretty awesome," he told MTV News. "It's basically an unknown force attacks Los Angeles and it revolves around this platoon of marines, which I'm apart of, and then we try to save Los Angeles. And it's kind of like 'Independence Day' and 'Black Hawk Down' mixed."

The film is being directed by Jonathan Liebesman and while we're excited to see Aaron Eckhart star in his own action flick, our vote is still out until we see what these attacking aliens look like. And we have a long wait: the feature won't be released until February 2011.

Faced with a media gauntlet, Eckhart did what would any good actor's PR reps would tell him to do, spin it! Play coy, smile, and wave in your bazillion dollar tux and they'll be writing you into the next Batman movie tomorrow. Here's what Eckhart told MTV, winking as if to signify that he'd already read the (nonexistent) Batman 3 script:

“I think Harvey — if he’s not dead — is in a serious coma,” stated Eckhart, “and I’m not sure he’s coming out. They might pull the plug on him.”

So there you have it — at least he's hinting that Harvey may not actually be dead, which is a major change from the last time he addressed that subject. But before you run wild with the speculations, bear in mind it's probably way too early for Eckhart to know anything one way or another. It's all just wild and crazy speculation at this point.

Check out MTV for the interview clip, to see just how charmingly ambiguous Eckhart can be.

The film is being directed by Jonathan Liebesman who is best known for his work in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. It sounds like a big budgeted epic alien war film, and so be it I say. The world could use a short reprise from all the zombie attacks and apocalyptic weather of doom scenarios. Let's settle down for some good old fashioned alien attacks.

Chris Bertolini who adapted the pretty graphic The General's Daughter is writing Battle which takes place right in the heart of LA. Eckhart and his brave soldiers are the final line of defense between alien and human (why they decided to go into LA first I have no idea).

[The Hollywood Reporter]

I say flaw singular, because the whole movie is pretty much flaw. The dialogue is pretty much non-stop cheese from beginning to end, with Eckhart lovingly reciting lines like, "The lack of oxygen kept me from weeping like a little girl, as is my custom in dangerous situations." And, when a general says the word "Can't" is not in his vocabulary: "Then I suggest you get one of those word-a-day calendars, general." Meanwhile, Swank gets to look stoic except when she flares her nostrils and says things like, "Hot DAMN" when they broach the Earth's crust.

Fun fact: The Core is co-written by John Rogers, who has a degree in physics from McGill University. Rogers also co-wrote Catwoman, and showed up in person to collect his "worst screenplay" award at the Razzies. Rogers had a story credit on Transformers. And yet, he was also the writer or co-writer of alien-armor comic Blue Beetle for its first 25 or 26 issues — which was my favorite run on any superhero comic, period, of the past five years. Weird, huh? [IMDB]

Eckhart told reporters:

To work with Christian (Bale) all over again, and the cast, would be phenomenal. I think this movie is a movie of a lifetime.

So, are there some obstacles to Harvey Dent's big return to the public eye? Sure. There are always obstacles in politics, but a true leader doesn't let a few setbacks stop him.

(And here's the spoilery bit.) Just google the phrase "Harvey Dent faked his death" and you'll see the rampant speculation online. Just because there's been a funeral doesn't mean that Harvey can't bounce back in B3. Trust him — he's got an honest face. [Hollyscoop]