Posts Tagged ‘actors’

1914 Video Game Adaptation In The Works For Paul Verhoeven.

I’ve been waiting to see Paul Verhoeven return to his “roots” with more insanely violent action flicks like those he used to make back in the 80s and 90s, but that hasn’t happened yet. Last we heard, Verhoeven was supposed to working on a thriller called Surrogate, but not anymore. MTV talked with Verhoeven recently who told them: “I am working on a movie now that is… situated in 1914. We are scripting it. It’s an idea that exists already… from another medium, and so we are making it now into a film narrative.” He wouldn’t say the name, but did confirm that it’s a video game that they’re adapting the script from. So what could it be?

Verhoeven adds that the story is “basically, Indiana Jones-ish you could say, but also Hitchcockian.” Well that’s no help. How many games can you even think of that are set in 1914? Peter from SlashFilm seems to think it could be an old 1997 PC game called The Last Express, a real-time adventure game created by Jordan Mechner, the same guy who recently broke into Hollywood with Prince of Persia (he created that game and also wrote the script). The game takes place on the Orient Express days before the start of WWI and was even described at the time as “a mix of Indiana Jones and Alfred Hitchcock.” We’ve got a winner!

So Verhoeven is finally returning to the war genre again, or at least he’s adapting an adventure video game that’s set entirely on a train (I think?) in 1914 before WWI. Sounds like a very unique concept and as long as it’s as crazy violent and fun as Verhoeven’s work from the 80’s and 90’s, then I’m in. I don’t think Verhoeven has lost his touch recently, he just hasn’t been working on any movies that are as risky and, to be honest, as entertaining as his earlier work. And whenever I re-watch an old Verhoeven movie, I always hope that we’ll see more like it again soon. Has anyone played The Last Express? Will it make for a good movie?

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Cast in Kubrick’s Lost Film include Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell

Wait, wait, wait – Stanley Kubrick had a long lost project? Apparently so. The film is called Lunatic at Large and is based on a treatment by pulp author Jim Thompson that was commissioned by Kubrick in the late 1950s, after the two worked together on The Killing and Paths Of Glory. The script was discovered the a few years ago (read a NY Times article on it) and has been floating around for at least a few years. However, Production Weekly is reporting today on their Twitter (via The Playlist) that both Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell are attached to star in Lunatic at Large. They’ve got a few good actors for now. Read on!

Set in New York in 1956, Lunatic at Large tells the story of Johnnie Sheppard, an ex-carnival worker with serious anger-management issues, and Joyce, a nervous, attractive barfly he picks up from a Hopperesque tavern scene. It’s described as “a dark and surprising mystery” about a person who is “the true escapee from a nearby mental hospital.” Kubrick was supposed to follow up Spartacus with this, but the only copy of the manuscript was lost and later found in his library. The latest draft of the script was finished by Stephen R. Clarke in 2006, but we don’t know too much else, including production details (when will it start shooting?).

It’s not surprising that Johansson and Rockwell were interested in this. Any and everyone in Hollywood is probably jumping at the opportunity to work on a project that has the late Stanley Kubrick’s name attached, even if it’s just as a writer. If it’s true that both actors have signed on, I’m sure a director is close behind, as they wouldn’t be this far along without one. Chris Palmer has been attached since 2006, but no word if he’s still involved at this point. This sounds like it could be a great project with touch of Kubrick, who hasn’t left any mark on the big screen since Eyes Wide Shut in 1999. We’ll keep you updated best we can. Stay tuned!

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Joss Whedon to Direct The Avengers!

This a fanboy dream come true. I don’t think anyone thought they’d ever wake up and read a headline saying that Joss Whedon, the geek creator of TV shows like “Buffy” and “Firefly”, would be directing the first big superhero team-up movie to ever hit the big screen – The Avengers. Deadline has confirmed the big news of the day: “Marvel Studios is in final negotiations for Joss Whedon to direct Marvel Studios’ The Avengers.” Earlier this month, it was rumored that Whedon was on the shortlist to direct, but no one seemed to believe it would actually happen. Joss Whedon’s The Avengers will hit theaters the first weekend of May in 2012.

Fleming lists a few confirmed superheroes that will be a part of the team: Iron Man ((Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and SHIELD agent Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson). “Other signature superheroes” will be involved, but haven’t been announced yet. Whedon’s background is perfect for this movie, as he’s worked at Marvel before, specifically on the Astonishing X-Men series and a number of other comics. This is most certainly surprising news, but definitely good news. If there’s anyone who’ll be able to handle an immense cast of superheroes, it’s Joss Whedon. I just hope he doesn’t cast Eliza Dushku in this. What do you think of this? Will Joss Whedon do a good job with The Avengers?

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Watch This: Awesome New Full-Length Trailer for Ong Bak 3

A brand new full-length trailer for Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 3 showed up on YouTube today (via SlashFilm) for those who are fans of this franchise that began as a cult hit back in 2003. We also featured an early teaser trailer for this movie back in January, but this new trailer looks a lot better than that first one. It starts out very brutal and violent (so watch out) but then gets back to the awesome fighting we all want to see. There are no subtitles but you can still get a good idea for what’s going on. Although I have no clue who all these crazy supernatural people are or what they’re doing, but it still looks badass. Check out the trailer below!

Watch the full-length trailer for Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 3:

Here’s a synopsis for those a bit confused: “The legend of Ong Bak 3 begins after Tien (Tony Jaa) has lost his fighting skills and his beloved step-father at the Garuda’s Wing cliff from the raid led by Jom Rachan. Tien is brought back to life with the help from Pim as well as Mhen and the Kana Khone villagers. Deep into the meditation taught by Phra Bua, Tien finally is able to achieve ‘Nathayut.’ His talents are put to the test again when his rivals including the Golden-Armored King’s Guard, the mysterious killers in black, and Bhuti Sangkha return for the final massive showdown.” The film was also directed by Tony Jaa. How’d it look?

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First Look: Matt Damon & Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau

Please don’t screw this up, I don’t want another Next, that movie was awful! The first two photos from The Adjustment Bureau appeared online today (via Collider). The Adjustment Bureau co-stars Matt Damon & Emily Blunt (pictured) as well as Anthony Mackie, Terence Stamp and John Slattery. Based on a Philip K. Dick short story, the film is about an affair between a politician and a ballerina (Damon and Blunt) that becomes affected by mysterious forces (a group called the Adjustment Bureau) who are keeping the lovers apart. The photos aren’t much (there’s nothing more to the one above), but it is our first look at the movie.

Here’s a better official plot synopsis: On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt)–a woman like none he’s ever known. But just as he realizes he’s falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of fate itself – the men of The Adjustment Bureau – who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path… or risk everything to defy fate and be with her. I love PKD stories! Writer George Nolfi is directing. Hits theaters on July 30th!

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Logan Lerman Frontrunner for Spider-Man!

Back in February, we passed on reporting rumors about Logan Lerman meeting with Sony to potentially be cast as your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler in the Spider-Man reboot. Shortly after the news swept the web, it was squashed by THR just as quickly. At the time, the news had hit a bit too soon since the studio hadn’t even closed a deal with director Marc Webb yet, but now the exact same casting rumor is back with a vengeance as HitFix has learned exclusively from their source that is apparently close to the production that Lerman is “almost 100% locked” to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in at least three forthcoming movies.

If this is true, Lerman will have beat out other mentioned big actors like Anton Yelchin, Jesse Eisenberg, Patrick Fugit and Johnny Simmons. And if the film (written by James Vanderbilt) will be taking cues from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics as it has been reported previously, then Lerman, who is the right age and has already led a big budget film (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) seems like the best choice (at least from the top list) to take on the arcs of Spider-Man that not only deal with his action-packed clashes with super-villains, but his teen angst as an average high school kid endowed with superpowers. This will differ from the struggles of Sam Raimi’s development of Peter Parker who only seemed to remain in high school for plot progression’s sake before he was off to college in Spider-Man 2, and swing dancing school in Spider-Man 3.

And honestly, as far as talent goes, Lerman seemed like he was holding back in Percy Jackson. For most of the problems in that film, I blame Chris Columbus for making what could have been darker, grittier material into such a blatant attempt at family fare that scaled down the impact of a lot of different character building plot points (mainly Percy’s angst with his mother’s decision to stay with hismdrunken step-father). But with Marc Webb at the helm to turn this twisted mess of an angst-ridden teen into a superhero, rather than try to make a superhero have the woes of an everyday teen, we’re in for a different Spidey as a more grounded superhero, which in the case of a huge reboot, seems like the right decision. So what do you guys think?

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Creative ‘Viral’ Pizza Planet Ads for Toy Story 3 College Event

You gotta love this stuff! This isn’t a full-fledged viral or anything like that, but some flyers have been found taped up at college campuses around the US (via both SlashFilm and MovieViral). The ads simply say “Now Hiring Drivers” with a photo of the Pizza Planet truck that has infamously appeared in every single Pixar movie to date, with its origins obviously coming from the first Toy Story. The URLs at the bottom links to a Facebook page with info about Disney’s special Toy Story 3 “Cliffhanger Edition” screenings (the first 65 minutes) being held at colleges to focus on the kids who grew up with Toy Story and are now college aged.

Each URL is location specific and links to a Facebook page that has the details for that college’s Toy Story 3 screening. There are also awesome “viral” videos for Toy Story 3 that play beneath the info on every page.

Toy Story 3 is being directed by Lee Unkrich, another one of Pixar’s creative masterminds who previously co-directed Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. The screenplay was written by Michael Arndt, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine who is a newcomer to the Pixar family. Disney will be bringing Pixar’s Toy Story 3 to theaters everywhere in both 2D & 3D starting on June 18th in summer.

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Tom Arnold Also Lands a Role in Peter Berg’s Battleship Movie

In what might one of the most spot on casting announcements recently (who doesn’t think of Tom Arnold when casting a crazy Naval officer), Movieline has learned that Tom Arnold has indeed joined the cast of Peter Berg’s Battleship movie. Earlier today it was announced that Taylor Kitsch (of Wolverine and John Carter of Mars) will be playing one of the leads, but it was Arnold himself who leaked the news about being on-board this project. Apparently he left a comment on another article saying, “Doing Pete Berg’s Battleship in Australia in August, got my kids camp and indies for Sundance plus the standup and comedy special.”

This does seem a little bit sketchy, but I trust that Movieline wouldn’t report this as news unless they really confirmed that Tom Arnold wrote that, plus who would randomly say something like that? Oddly enough, Battleship isn’t actually shooting in Australia anymore, as production has been moved to Louisiana instead (just like Green Lantern). We also know that the plot involves a US naval fleet that battles aliens called The Regents who are trying to build a power source in the water. And although it may start shooting in August, Battleship won’t hit theaters until May 25th, 2012, so we’ve got a while until we see Arnold in the Navy.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve got McHale’s Navy on my mind, the comedy where Tom Arnold plays Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale, that makes me feel like this casting is just pitch perfect. Now I’m wondering who else Peter Berg has cast in this to go along with Taylor Kitsch and Tom Arnold. I can’t wait to find out. Any ideas?

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First Look: Early Creature Concept Art for Next Riddick Film

Back in early February it was officially announced that another Chronicles of Riddick sequel titled simply Riddick was on the way, in pre-production at Universal, with shooting starting later this year (I believe). Franchise creator David Twohy will be back directing a script he wrote and word is that this will be “closer in tone to the cult hit Pitch Black and will focus on the character of Riddick as opposed to the universe he inhabits.” Perfect. Riddick himself, Vin Diesel, just posted a photo on his Facebook (via Ain’t It Cool News) earlier today giving us our first look at some early concept art from Riddick, which you can check out below.

Diesel also writes: “Early Riddick concept art… first frame of a 2D Motion Choreography Study. Grrrr… The Furian… left for dead…” Not sure what all of that means, especially the “2D motion choreography study” part, but it looks pretty damn cool. I have a feeling that might be a “mud demon” we’re looking at above, as we learned back in February that the plot involves Riddick getting dumped on a “barren alien planet” where he has to fight mud demons and “trisons.” They don’t look as creepy as the monsters from the original Pitch Black, but as a big Riddick fan, I’m pretty excited based on that bit of concept art above. Is anyone else?

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Clive Owen and Daniel Bruhl Cast in Fresnadillo’s ‘Intruders’

What happened to BioShock? Heat Vision is reporting that Clive Owen and German actor Daniel Bruhl, who played Fredrick Zoller in Inglourious Basterds, have been cast in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s new thriller Intruders. Shooting is supposed to start in June in London and Madrid. So it looks like BioShock really has been delayed again, since that was possibly going to be Fresnadillo’s next movie after Gore Verbinski left the project. Oh right, it’s Universal, they’re canceling everything that could be good. So what is Intruders about? Well, all we know is that the story centers on an 11-year old girl who’s forced to confront childhood demons.

Clive Owen will play the girl’s father, but no word on who Bruhl will play. Casting is still underway, but they have a few months to go before shooting starts, so I’m sure we’ll hear more about this. Heat Vision does say that Fresnadillo is “still attached to direct Bioshock” but this will indeed be his next English-language movie since 28 Weeks Later. Universal Pictures International is financing the project with Spanish media company Antena 3, but Universal is not necessarily distributing in the US. I’m curious to hear more about the plot, as this could be an interesting little project. Maybe this means that Clive Owen could end up in BioShock, too?

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