Fresh off the opening weekend of "Bandslam," Vanessa Hudgens will now turn her attention to Zack Snyder's highly anticipated action flick "Sucker Punch" and the modern-day "Beauty & the Beast" adaptation, "Beastly." In fact, it's the latter of the two that may have given the actress a future desire to star in a biopic about legendary rocker, Janis Joplin.

She told MTV News that her fervor for the artist originated from a specific scene she recently filmed for "Beastly." "There's a Halloween party, and it's kind of a high school Halloween party. All the girls are dressed up as sl--s, and my character comes in as Janis Joplin." After that experience, Vanessa admits to engulfing herself in Janis Joplin Land. "I would not stop listening to her music, and I think she's so incredible. I know I don't look much like her, but you can always hope, right?" Press play below to hear more about Vanessa's biopic dreams!

Now that you've gotten a sneak peak of Alex Pettyfer in his "Beastly" makeup and heard first-hand what it was like for his costar, Vanessa Hudgens, to watch him transform (she says it took three hours in the makeup chair!), we're bringing you brand new pictures from the Brooklyn-based fairy tale, which won't hit theaters until July 30, 2010.

Below, in what looks to be a moment before his big mutation (or maybe it's from after they've inevitably fallen in love and he's back to "normal" — the movie, after all, is supposed to follow a similar plot to that of the classic "Beauty & the Beast" story), Alex's Kyle is busy wooing Vanessa's Lindy in a bar/restaurant that could very well have been spotted in an episode of "The Jetsons" or "Sex and the City."

After the jump, check out more new stills from the movie, which include Alex baring his chest and Vanessa looking quite sunny. Read more...

In anticipation of Vanessa Hudgens' battle of the bands flick "Bandslam," which opens a week from tomorrow, we're declaring next week "Bandslam" Week here at Hollywood Crush. What that means exactly, you'll have to stay tuned to find out! But in the meantime, Vanessa sat down with MTV News to dish some deets on another upcoming project, her modern-day retelling of the classic "Beauty and the Beast" tale, "Beastly."

Vanessa plays beauty Linda Taylor, the daughter of a drug addict, who is sent to live with beast Kyle Kingson played by relative newcomer Alex Pettyfer. Also on board for the Brooklyn-based fairy tale are Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris and Peter Krause. We've already given you a sneak peek of Alex in full beast mode and now Vanessa is dishing on her costar's three-hour makeover. Read more...

For some reason (lack of eye candy?), Bravo's "NYC Prep" isn't really doing much to fill the void in my life left by the summer "Gossip Girl" hiatus. But reading "Beastly," a novel about a very Chuck Bass-ian character given a fairy-tale comeuppance, most certainly did.

Alex Flinn's story — which is currently being made into a movie starring Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, Peter Krause, Mary-Kate Olsen and Alex Pettyfer (whom you can see as the beast here) — is a New York prep-school twist on "Beauty and the Beast," told from the Beast's perspective. Kyle is rich, popular, handsome and undoubtedly the most conceited boy in his Upper East Side school. He's also quite cruel to his less-blessed classmates, a trait he seems to have learned from his self-absorbed anchorman father. Read more...

FROM MOVIES BLOG: As you all learned earlier today, “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens is very excited about her role in the upcoming Zack Snyder project, “Sucker Punch.” Speaking with MTV’s Matt Harper on the set of “Beastly,” the singer gushed her affection for the “300” director’s work, and her joy at being able to break away from her youth-oriented roots.

“Sucker Punch” tells the story of a wrongfully institutionalized young woman (Amanda Seyfried, at last report) who retreats into a fantasy world of her own creation as a coping mechanism. Hudgens will play Blondie, one of Seyfried’s fellow inmates. Well here… why don’t you see for yourself:

Continue reading more about Vanessa Hudgens and "Sucker Punch" at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

FROM MTV.COM: Vanessa Hudgens won the hearts of tweens everywhere as Gabriella in the "High School Musical" movies, and she's set to do it again this summer when her new film, "Bandslam," hits theaters. But these days Hudgens is taking a break from singing to focus solely on acting.

"It's great! I mean, I love musicals, I really do," she told MTV News on the set of her new (non-musical) film, "Beastly." "I grew up doing them, so it'll always have a place in my heart ... at the same time, it's nice to be able to separate the two and just be able to focus on films. It's a lot of fun playing different characters and taking on new journeys."

Continue reading more about Vanessa Hudgens' upcoming projects at MTV.com.

The fantastical romance "Beastly" — a modern-day take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale about a NYC boy who, due to a curse, is transformed into a "beast" — won't hit theaters until July 2010 (production began in Montreal just last week), but star Alex Pettyfer's new hardened look has already been unveiled.

In the film, Alex, who's best known for his titular role in "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker," plays the beast (actual name: Kyle) to Vanessa Hudgen's Belle (actual name: Lindy). Lindy winds up living in Kyle's Brooklyn hideout (yes, his father apparently banishes him to a borough) after Kyle promises her drug addict dad that he'll watch over her. "Beastly" is among a slew of films already on the "High School Musical" star's plate. Make sure to check out Hollywood Crush's exclusive clip of her in her next flick, "Bandslam" (out August 14)!