Posted Jan 7th 2009 9:32PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Deals, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
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Previously known as Stuff and Things, Stuff We Missed is exactly that: stuff we missed. Consider this the Costco of blog posts, where you save time and read your movie news in bulk. Yum.
-- Will
Watchmen hit theaters on March 6th, as scheduled, or will those evil demons at 20th Century Fox prevent fans from seeing their beloved film on time simply because they hate human beings and everything they stand for? Okay, maybe there's a little more to it, but good news is both sides have agreed to let a judge settle this on January 20th. It's complicated, but we'll know then whether the film will arrive on time or not.
-- Our friends over at
io9 came across a few images of early concept art for
that new Judge Dredd flick (see them below). These come from comic artist Jock, who also worked on Losers, 2000 A.D and Green Arrow: Year One. The images are all tagged with the name Rebellion, which is the company behind the 2003
Dredd video game, and is also producing the new film.
-- The ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) have dished out their nominations for best of the year, with nods going to
Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire (my choice) and
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Continue reading Stuff We Missed: 'Watchmen' Release, 'Judge Dredd' Art, and More
Posted Jan 7th 2009 7:02PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand
The lovely
Lena Headey is a favorite with just about everyone here at
Cinematical -- click on her tag and you'll see many love letters devoted to her films both past and upcoming. Now she's adding a new credit to her resume, as Headey will be taking the director's chair for her film
Kill Drug.
Formerly titled
Retribution, it's a project Headey has been attached to for some time ... and when you want to get a movie done, you tackle it yourself. Starring Headey, the formidable
Charlotte Rampling, and
Jason Flemyng, it centers on an underground group of Longon vigilantes. Headey will star as Sally, a woman recruited into by its founder ... who just happens to be her mother, Sue, who murdered her abusive husband back in the 1970s. However, Sally discovers that all is not as it seems, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely ... and probably that working with your mother is a really bad idea.
"My ambition to direct has been fuelled over the last fifteen years, by working alongside great directors. It has also been my film education," Headey told
Empire. "
Kill Drug is smart, articulate, compelling, sexy, fun, dark, deeply poignant and not afraid to laugh at itself. Above all it is a gripping and compelling journey, a study of humanity's darkest flaws and purest innocence."
Headey has been slowly making her mark as one kickass chick in films and television -- and it's pretty darn cool that she's going to join the rare, elusive breed of female directors. Hopefully
Kill Drug will be the first of many on her resume.
Posted Jan 7th 2009 6:08PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Casting, Fandom, Newsstand
Talk about a comeback --
Mickey Rourke has gone from wrestling his way back into our hearts to getting cast in what is perhaps the biggest blockbuster of 2010:
Iron Man 2.
Variety tells us that Rourke is in talks to play a villain that's described as "Tony Stark's Russian alter ego, a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit." Though the script isn't finished yet, most likely the character will be that of Crimson Dynamo. From
Wiki: "The first Crimson Dynamo was also the creator of the armor: Professor Anton Vanko. A Soviet scientist of Armenian birth with a PhD, Vanko was the world's foremost expert on electricity. He built a suit that was wired up to perform electric miracles, making him a human dynamo. The Crimson Dynamo battle-suit allowed him to control electricity in all of its forms, allowing him to fire devastating bolts of electricity. It also allowed him to fly."
THR, however, mentions that Rourke is playing the villain Whiplash, who's also known as
Blacklash, "a man with deadly, technologically enhanced coils." Rourke also signed on to star in Sylvestor Stallone's
The Expendables,
as reported earlier, which means the man is taking all he can get.
According to
casting calls, they still need to cast an "Eastern European, brilliant, gritty" male lead in his thirties and a "beautiful [female lead who] speaks several languages fluently and is equally proficient in martial arts" in her twenties, who is Tony Stark's assistant Natasha (as per
THR). Mickey Rourke playing villain in
Iron Man 2? What do you think about all this? We'll have more as it develops --
Iron Man 2 hits theaters on May 7, 2010.
UPDATE: Sam Rockwell is also circling the role of Stark rival
Justin Hammer (which takes care of our "Eastern European, brilliant, gritty" male lead").
Posted Jan 7th 2009 10:03AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Horror, Warner Brothers, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Western
Yesterday,
Jimmy Hayward was announced as the director of Warner Bros'
Jonah Hex.
The Horton Hears a Who helmer is a surprising choice, but an ex-PIXAR man really isn't anything to sniff at. As we wait to see what mark Hayward leaves on the Neveldine/Taylor script,
MTV News caught up with Jonah's on again, off again star,
Josh Brolin. He approves wholeheartedly of Heyward, which would suggest he is actually taking the role. "He's amazing," gushes Brolin. "He's an amazing, amazing guy."
And what does he bring to the project that Neveldine and Taylor didn't? "Brilliance." Yikes. Brolin was quick to temper that potential criticism though. "I think the
Crank guys are great. They're wonderful, and Mark [Neveldine] still e-mails me, he's very much involved, but I just think Jimmy Hayward is going to bring something truly unique."
Already,
Jonah Hex has inspired a lot more Internet discussion and drama than I would have ever expected him to -- from Thomas Jane's leaked photo, to Brolin's mysterious involvement, to the director switcharoo, he's already had more pre-production press than most of DC's stable. I can't wait to see what other twists and turns this takes on the dusty road to filming.
Posted Jan 6th 2009 8:36PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Newsstand
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Normally I would've skipped this story and handed it to a writer who digs the more fantastical (like Elisabeth), but this little fairytale happens to holds a very special place in my heart. First off,
Variety reports that
D. J. Caruso (
Eagle Eye) will be directing a (live-action?) version of
Jack the Giant Killer, which is kinda similar to Jack and the Beanstalk, except Caruso's version will be more "adult" as it follows a young farmer who ventures off into the land of giants on a mission to save a kidnapped princess.
Why do I care so much about
Jack the Giant Killer? Well, because it so happens that I played Jack in the third grade as part of my class' performance of -- yup --
Jack the Giant Killer. So speaking as someone who's battled those pesky giants before (and won!), this project will be no easy task. No word on where this leaves Caruso's adaptation of
Y: The Last Man, which was
supposed to start shooting early next year, but when they're looking for their Jack, one imagines the director will put a call in to the star of his previous two films first (ahem, I believe he goes by the name of LaBeouf).
Posted Jan 6th 2009 2:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Animation, Casting, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
When you've had trouble getting financing, had to move to a
new company, and lost your
lead actor, things don't bode well. So, how do you increase confidence in a film about
Tintin? You grab
Simon Pegg and
Nick Frost, naturally. Ohhhh yes, folks!
Variety has confirmed that Pegg and Frost have been cast as
Thomson and Thompson -- the mustachioed and bumbling detectives. While they might not be completely identical like the almost-matching men from the comic, I would love to see Simon and Nick dressed up as the pair. This whole deal might be performance capture, but maybe, just maybe, some promo material could be live action? Or maybe a brief live-action short to accompany the film? Please? (If you haven't already guessed, I'm a rabid fan of
Hot Fuzz.)
Production is supposed to start in a month, but we're still without our star -- the one who will have to fill Thomas Sangster's shoes. With Pegg and Frost attached, along with Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, who could hold their own? Freddie Highmore?
Posted Jan 6th 2009 10:57AM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Action, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
So remember that whole
Shazam! movie, with
John August writing,
Peter Segal (
Get Smart) directing and
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson starring as the villain, Black Adam? Last year we talked about this project a lot, wondering which actor would eventually play Captain Marvel, as well as teenager Billy Batson. In fact, as recently as
November of 2008,
Variety had reported that
Shazam! was part of Segal's first-look deal with Warner Brothers. (The project was originally set up at New Line, but moved to Warners when they went under.)
However,
over on his blog, August says the project is now dead in the water after several re-writes, most of which came about after the studio wanted him to take the film from a lighter action-comedy to something much darker (a la
The Dark Knight). And regarding the recent news that Segal would be directing, August notes that "press releases often have little relationship to reality." He does admit, though, that the movie may still happen ... just not with him onboard and not anytime soon. Which is a shame, because this pitch -- "Like
Big, but with superpowers ..." -- definitely had potential.
Were you looking forward to
Shazam!?
Posted Jan 6th 2009 10:03AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Horror, Deals, Warner Brothers, Scripts, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Western
If you watched
Horton Hears a Who last spring and immediately thought "This is exactly how I see
Jonah Hex," I would have demanded to know what narcotic you were on. Then, I would have had to apologize because you clearly weren't alone. Someone at Warner Bros was thinking the same thing, because according to
The Hollywood Reporter, Horton's helmer
Jimmy Hayward has stepped in as the director of
Jonah Hex.
After
losing Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the studio has been frantically searching for a replacement, as they hope to begin shooting in March or April.
McG and
Andy Fickman were both on the short list, and back in December, Lexi Alexander was r
eportedly interested in the script. Instead, they chose a former PIXAR man, who made his directoral debut with
Horton Hears a Who.
From all reports, they're keeping the Neveldine/Taylor script, so there is that, but Hayward is expected to give it his own mark. Who knows, maybe it's a smaller step from Dr. Seuss to a scarred cowboy than I'm able to picture. You can even argue that animated films and comic books have a lot in common, so you can't really judge ... but it's still a surprising pick, all creative differences considered.
So, will the choice of Hayward tip the balance for
Josh Brolin or not?
THR is still listing him as attached, but last we heard,
he was still undecided as to whether or not to take the lead -- and it all hinged on who was sitting in the director's chair. Will he approve of Hayward over Neveldine and Taylor? Or will he depart for the open prairie, leaving Hayward without a cowboy?
Posted Jan 5th 2009 10:02AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, Images
Check out a preview of the merchandising terror that awaits us this summer when
Terminator: Salvation hits theaters. While I would like to think they're rough prototypes, they look pretty darn finished ... and wow -- these remind me of the action figures we had back in the 80s, the ones that looked absolutely nothing like Harrison Ford or Mark Hamill. I thought today's children were going to be safe from that kind of disappointment.
As bad as they are (are those
happy cyborgs?), there's actually a little Sam Worthington spoiler involved in the next set, which I'm including after the jump. As
Slashfilm notes, it's not technically a spoiler if you were watching the trailer and putting two and two together, and the marketing will probably let it slip anyway. But just in case, I'm putting the next photos after the jump -- and then including our
Terminator: Salvation gallery so you can remember what Christian Bale actually looks like. That
is supposed to be Bale, right?
Continue reading 'Terminator: Salvation' Action Figures are Scary and Spoilery
Posted Jan 4th 2009 12:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Animation, Fandom, Exhibition, Newsstand, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing
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During the Chargers vs. Colts playoff game yesterday, NBC was airing commercials advertising a 3D trailer for the movie
Monsters vs. Aliens (first of its kind?), which will also coincide with the airing of a full episode of the TV show
Chuck in 3D. The trailer will arrive at the end of the 2nd quarter of the Superbowl, and yes -- you'll have to pick up a pair of 3D glasses to watch it. Apparently, these 3D glasses -- which will be just like the ones you wore growing up, with one side red and the other blue, will be available at select Pepsi and Sobe kiosks leading up to the big game. No word on where these special kiosks are located, but I'm sure there will be a formal announcement and/or a website with exact details coming very soon.
Is it a fun gimmick that'll give folks something to look forward to during the Superbowl? Yes, definitely. People like little things like this, especially the ones who have kids and host big game day parties. But does it show the world how far we've come in the advancement of 3D technology? Not really. These will probably be the same glasses I wore to watch 1991's
Nightmare on Elm Street 6. Then again, maybe it's about getting people used to the idea of 3D again -- bringing it into their homes, seeing how far they'll go to buy the glasses on their own, etc ... What do you think? Is this something we should be excited about?
[image via
engadgetHD]
Posted Jan 2nd 2009 5:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Horror, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
It isn't just superhero stories that do brisk business in Hollywood these days -- horror comics are popular too.
Variety reports that the latest to be optioned is
The Night Projectionist, an upcoming miniseries published by Studio 407, which will be brought to the big screen by Myriad Pictures. The two have also teamed up for
Hybrid, which will begin production later this year.
Penned by Bob Heske, it's a story more along the lines of
30 Days of Night than the bloodsuckers of
Twilight or
Underworld. The story kicks off in 18th century Romania (as all vampire stories must) as a village prepares to lynch a village girl for launching a vampire plague that is destroying their humble townsfolk.
Fast forward to present day and Halloween's Eve, where an all night Dracula-thon film festival is taking place in a decrepit theater. Unluckily for the attendees, the projectionist is a vampire -- and with his help, the human audience is trapped inside, ready to be feasted upon. (This could happen to any one of us -- carry a crucifix to your next all-night film festival, readers.) It all connects back to that unlucky Romanian village, and the man who betrayed it all those years ago.
You can catch a preview of the comic over on
Studio 407's website -- the art is fantastic and there is actually a pretty cool twist in just 8 pages of story. (For the artistically inclined, there's also a behind-the-scenes look at the artwork on
Horror Comic Book News.) Heske's first issue isn't due on shelves until February, but it's gotten
good reviews from Ain't It Cool News, Comics Bulletin, and the Rundown already. Definitely one to look out for.
Posted Jan 2nd 2009 1:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Family Films, Newsstand
Zack Snyder isn't a director that lets a little legal drama bring him down, and currently he's busy at work on
Guardians of Ga'Hoole, the
Lord of the Rings of owl stories. (Two young friends of mine have since assured me it's a really good series; I should drop hints until they lend it to me.)
Sydney's
Daily Telegraph is reporting that Aussie up-and-comer
Ryan Kwanten has joined the voice cast of
Ga'Hoole, along with fellow Aussies
Hugh Jackman and
Hugo Weaving.
While their involvement hasn't been confirmed anywhere else, this certainly could be the "schedule conflict" alluded to in Jackman
dropping out of Cleo -- but would Snyder really reuse two memorable parts of the
Happy Feet voice cast? Then again, why wouldn't he? Weaving is The Voice of All Voices, and Jackman did a pretty memorable job in
Happy Feet and
Flushed Away. Plus, they're Australian, which is where most of the
Ga'Hoole work will be done. You might as well save on the production costs by using the local talent, right?
Going by Wiki's character list (don't read it, it's chock full of spoilers), I can hazard a guess as to which Aussie will be playing what owl -- Kwanten is probably going to be the young hero, Soren. Jackman sounds rather perfect for Twilight, "a confident and boastful owl who is always singing songs about himself." There's far too many wise and kingly owls to assign one to Weaving, so we'll have to wait and see on that one. I'm really very curious about this film -- an epic about owls sounds a lot more promising than half the stuff that gets optioned, anyway. At least there will be no question as to who owns the rights to
this Snyder film.
Posted Jan 2nd 2009 12:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, Fandom, Newsstand, Brad Pitt
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This past week, a whole lot of you probably took in a screening of
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (I took the girl to see it last night), and you've probably shared your opinions with friends, family and significant others. Some feel it's just way too long, while others argue it needs to be long in order for you, the audience member, to "feel" and adequately "experience" the main character's life-long journey. One aspect of the film a lot of people have discussed was how -- and there might be
mild spoilers here -- if
Brad Pitt's character starts out as a tiny old man, he should turn into an adult-sized baby at the end of the film. That would make the most sense, right?
Well, director
David Fincher sat down with
MTV recently and admitted that the original plan was to have Pitt play the baby. He says, "We were prepared to do that ... We just ran out of money. We could have made him into a baby. Anything you want to do, you can do now." Now THAT would've been worth the price of admission all on its own ... even though the image of Pitt as a big, weird-looking baby may have been all folks talked about afterward. Fincher also addressed those comparisons to
Forest Gump, noting: "
Forrest Gump? What's that? Instead of the ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances, I thought of [Benjamin] as an extraordinary man in very ordinary circumstances. I don't know how much an audience can relate to a guy who's aging backwards that ends up looking like Brad Pitt. My whole thing from the beginning has been that it's not high concept. The reason it's relatable is how it's dramatized. Everybody remembers their first kiss and hangover and person they fell in love with."
For those who've seen it, what do you think: Should Pitt have played an adult-sized baby?
Posted Jan 2nd 2009 10:32AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Music & Musicals, Romance, Casting, RumorMonger, Newsstand
Here's the first good news of 2009!
Variety reports that
Hugh Jackman is now off the official wishlist for
Cleo, the
Steven Soderbergh musical that will reportedly star
Catherine Zeta-Jones as the legendary Egyptian queen, and feature the music penned by Guided by Voices.
Jackman has apparently left talks not because of the concept, but due to a scheduling conflict. (Maybe it's
Drive, since everything else has vanished from his IMDB page.)
Ray Winstone remains in discussion to play Julius Caesar, and Zeta-Jones is still rumored to be Cleopatra herself.
I may be one of the few celebrating the news. I know Soderbergh is a master of taking preposterous concepts and turning them into cinematic brilliance, but a Cleopatra rock musical just sounds like a spectacularly bad idea. Jackman is a wonderful stage performer, and I've been dying to see him in a movie musical for years. (If you've never seen his pre-Wolverine turn in
Oklahoma!, do yourself a favor and rent it now.) But not this one -- Soderbergh or not, it just sounds too campy to be believed.
Since
Variety is stumped as to what caused the schedule conflict, I'll make a New Year's wish and hope his production shingle has decided to really get moving on that remake of
Carousel. Jackman has had the rights to it for awhile, and to see him singing and dancing in that is ten times better than seeing him as a rocking Mark Antony.
Posted Jan 1st 2009 1:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Action, Drama, Cannes, Fandom, Distribution, The Weinstein Co., Newsstand, Quentin Tarantino, War
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So it seems The Weinstein Co. has opted to release Quentin Tarantino's
Inglourious Basterds on August 21, 2009, which seems to be a strange date for not only a Tarantino flick, but also one starring
Brad Pitt that's set during World War II. Late August is usually dumping ground for iffy action flicks and C-grade comedies. This past August 22 saw the release of
Death Race, The House Bunny and
The Longshots, to give you an example of the type of films we expect to arrive on that weekend.
Tarantino has already stated that he wants to screen
Basterds at the Cannes Film Festival in May, so we assume some sort of cut will be finished by then. One imagines the buzz from that first screening will dictate the film's final release date. Personally, I can't see it staying in late August. Remember a similar move was attempted with the WWII flick
Valkyrie, which was originally a June release before being pushed back to Christmas. If
Basterds receives any type of awards buzz out of Cannes, the Weinstein Co. will package it right up, toss it into the Toronto Film Festival or The New York Film Festival and release it in the fall.
All I know is that both The Weinstein Co. and Tarantino should think real hard about when they want to release this film, especially after the botched release of
Grindhouse on Easter weekend. It should be interesting to see where this sucker eventually ends up. When do you think a film like
Inglourious Basterds should hit theaters?
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