Is it legal to catalog and build a database of movie/film/cast/crew data an images?

Do you know that www.IMDB.com already exists? IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase) started years ago as partly user-generated and then got bought out by Google. Yes, your plan sounds basically legal, but you should work with a lawyer. The photos may not be legal because you must be cautious that you own the copyright to them or that you get solid well-written releases from the actual copyright holder, which is often the photographer. Also, if photos are used to advertise your site, you may be infringing upon the star's right of publicity. Also, you must be very cautious with user-generated content as well as with accuracy, especially about peoples' lives. Printing gossip, bios, dates, or embarrassing photos should be avoided unless you have a lot of money to fact check and a staff of lawyers to handle the fall-out. If the information is user-generated but if you are actually putting it onto the site, then you are responsible for what is there.

You can create a catalogue and database using anything that is a fact - such as date the movie was released, names of actors and crew, etc. You can add your own ratings and review. You can invite others to submit their ratings and reviews. However, you can't include photographs, posters, scripts, trailers, movie clips, or anything else that is copyrighted until you get written permission from the owner. Actors and other prominent crew members also have the right to control the use of their images and voices so you may need to get their permission as well.