Wednesday, August 28, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (MAN OF STEEL CASTING, TONY JAA IS FURIOUS, SIMON PEGG X-FILES)

Worlds Finest FanArt

MOVIE ROUNDUP  
(MAN OF STEEL, THE HUNGER GAMES, 
SPAWN & MORE)

Worlds Finest FanArt
MAN OF STEEL 
A few days ago, the Internet exploded with the news that Ben Affleck would be playing Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel.

To say this news was divisive would really be understated as this news brought a wave of positive and extreme negative responses to this bit of news.  

According to The Hollywood Reporter, talks began between Snyder, Warner Bros. and Affleck earlier this year. After completing work on Man of Steel, Snyder reportedly had an idea for a follow-up and the studio began to gauge interest from actors, including the rumored Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling. Affleck was open to the idea and began discussing the story and the character with Snyder and when he liked what he heard, negotiations began for him to appear.

Now this isn’t the first time that Affleck has been linked to the role. About a year ago DC announced their plans for a Justice League film, at the time Affleck was under consideration to not only play Batman in Justice League but to direct the film as well. I’m thinking that his casting in the Man of Steel sequel would be the first step towards that goal.

So while many people might not be looking forward to seeing Ben Affleck as Batman, a Justice League film directed by him will definitely have any fan excited.

The trade adds that Affleck will shoot Gone Girl from September until February, then shift to the Superman/Batman film from February to August (while doing pre-production on Live By Night), then tackle that film, a Prohibition gangster movie, as writer-director-star next September.


While many celebrities have been throwing in their 2cents on the casting, with Joss Whedon the Avengers director showing tremendous support for Affleck, there was always just going to be one’s mans voice that mattered on this matter, and that’s Matt Damon.

Superman Vs Batman logo FanArt
Speaking with the Times of India (via CS), Damon unsurprisingly had encouraging things to say about Affleck playing Batman:

“I think it will be great. It will be terrific. I know there are a lot of people grousing on the Internet. I just think it’s kind of funny. You know, he’s not playing King Lear. It’s Batman! Certainly within his skill set. If anybody saw Argo or The Town, and all the work he’s been doing lately, it’s way more nuanced and interesting and way more difficult than Batman! Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kind of gruff voice at people. Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that.”

As for those that have suggested Damon play Robin to Affleck’s Batman, the actor laughed off the idea:

“I am a little older than Ben. I never saw Robin as older than Batman. Somebody sent me a picture actually (of his face photo shopped on Robin’s body and Ben’s on Batman’s). It was really funny. But it’s safe to say I won’t be Robin.”

Man of Steel's Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Superman in the film along with co-stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.

David S. Goyer is scripting the new film from a story he co-created with Zack Snyder. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan and Wesley Coller serving as executive producers. It is scheduled to hit theaters on July 17, 2015.

Superman vs. Batman will be released on July 17, 2015.

X-FILES 3
X-Files fans have been clamoring for a third film in the series for a long time and every time the subject is brought up, the stars and creators always say they'd love to do it.

Gillain Anderson & Simon Pegg
While the stars and creators of the show would love to have a 3rd film that is not a decision they get to decide, but that still doesn’t stop Chris Carter from talking about it though.

In an interview with Empire he said, “I think all of us are interested in putting the band back together. I have an idea for a third movie in my head. The colonization date has passed and that is something we wouldn't ignore. For the second movie, we only had the budget for a standalone story, but we want to go back to the mythology."

Carter then went onto say that if the third film indeed receives the green light that he would like Simon Pegg to join the gang:

"Gillian [Anderson] worked with Simon Pegg on a movie and told me that he was a big fan. We actually thought about putting him in the second movie, but there was no part for him. I certainly would think about him if we were to go forward in any way."

SPAWN
After years and years of talk of a potential Spawn film, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane is talking and he says that a new take on his Image Comics antihero could be in front of cameras as early as next year.

“The thing that keeps slowing it down is that the negotiation I’ve done is I write, produce, direct,” McFarlane tells The Gate (via The Hollywood Reporter), “but I’ve got to push a lot of my other endeavors off to the side so I can just get tunnel vision on it. And so everybody at my company is now going, ‘We’ve got to find Todd the time to finish all this.’”

He goes on to say that the film is looking at a 60-70 day shoot and reiterates his previous claims that the project will differ greatly from big screen version released by New Line Cinema in 1997.

“It’s not going to be a giant budget [film] with a lot of special effects,” he says. “It’s going to be more of a horror movie and a thriller movie, not a superhero one.”

“Spawn,” which launched as a solo-series in 1992, follows the adventures of Al Simmons, an assassin who, after being murdered, returns to the world as a Hellspawn, a demonic undead creature powered by necroplasm.


FAST AND FURIOUS 7
Tony Jaa
While the world was still in recover mode after the big Batman Affleck announcement, the following day it was announced that Tony Jaa would be joining James Wan’s Fast and Furious 7.  

Tony Jaa is the star of the Ong Bak series as well as The Protector, although this will mark his first Hollywood film, Jaa has gained International recognition for some of the most mesmerizing fight and stunt scenes. He was previously linked for potential roles in Live Free and Die Hard and Rush Hour 3, but it looks certain that he will be making his debut in Fast and Furious 7.

The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Jaa would join Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson and MMA Champion Ronda Rousey who just signed onto the film herself, with many more franchise favorites expected to be confirmed in the days to come.

While FF6 proved to be action orgy, it might have lead to many believing that the Fast and Furious franchise running out of steam, but with actors such as Statham and Jaa joining the franchise it seems the franchise still has quite the punch!

Natalie Dormer
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY
The second installment in the Hunger Games franchise, Catching Fire, will be releasing on November 23rd later this year, but it would seem the studio has its eyes on the future as three new stars join the cast of the film series as the third film gets ready to start shooting in just 3 weeks time!

Stef Dawson has been cast as Annie Cresta, Finnick’s (played by Sam Claflin) love interest, in the final two chapters of the Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockinjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.

While, Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) has officially signed on to plays the role of Cressida in both The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2. Book fans will remember Cressida as the film director who, along with Castor, Pollux, and Messalla, flees The Capitol to join the rebellion and ends up taking her camera crew on a journey to follow Katniss and get footage of the uprising.

Stef Dawson
Evan Ross on the other hand, is set to play Messalla, Cressida's (Natalie Dormer) cameraman, in the final in the final two chapters of the Hunger Games series, The Hunger Games: Mockinjay - Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.

Both those films will be directed by Francis Lawrence, which based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Mockinjay follow Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) journey as she leads the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical and corrupt Capitol. As the war that will determine the fate of Panem escalates, Katniss must decipher for herself whom she can trust and what needs to be done, with everything she cares for in the balance.

Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland and Julianne Moore are slated to star with the first part hitting November 21, 2014 and the final film arriving November 20, 2015.

Filming is set to begin in just a few weeks in Georgia.

While Catching Fire releases on November 23rd later this year. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP NEWS

MOVIE ROUNDUP (RAMBO, SHIELD and AVENGERS)

Bringing you the latest Movie news 


RAMBO


Entertainment One (eOne) announced that it has firmed up a co-development pact with Avi Lerner (Rambo, The Expendables) and Nu Image to develop and produce a television series based on Rambo.


The parties are currently in negotiations with Sylvester Stallone to be involved with the project on a creative level as well as potentially reprise his iconic role as the original Rambo.

Rambo is a cult classic series of movies and an epic feature film character starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo. Based on the David Morell novel "First Blood," the film is about a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand to hand combat and guerrilla warfare. The series consists of the films First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III and Rambo.

Under their exclusive option arrangement, the partners will collectively develop the series and shop it to broadcasters in the US and internationally.

In a press release, John Morayniss, the CEO of eOne Television said,  “Rambo fans cover all demographics and we’re confident that we’ll quickly find this series a home.”

SHIELD TV SERIES
Entertainment Weekly has just debuted the cover to their next issue and it features none other than Joss Whedon and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." stars Chloe Bennet and Clark Gregg. In the issue, EW says Whedon talks about all things "Buffy," "Firefly," and The Avengers, but he made time to drop an interesting quote about the upcoming TV series too.

“This is basically a TV series of ‘The Zeppo’ [episode of Buffy], which was a very deliberate deconstruction of a Buffy episode in order to star the person who mattered the least,” Whedon says. “The people who are ignored are the people I’ve been writing as my heroes from day one. There’s a world of superheroes and superstars, they’re celebrities, and that’s a complicated world — particularly complicated for people who don’t have the superpowers, the disenfranchised. Now obviously there’s going to be hijinks and hilarity and sex and gadgets and all the things that made people buy the comics. But that’s what the show really is about to me, and that’s what Clark Gregg embodies: the Everyman.”

"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." will premiere on ABC  in the USA on September 24.

AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON
Marvel is still on the hunt for their Scarlet Witch for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron and Bleeding Cool is reporting that Elizabeth Olsen has become the frontrunner. Previously, actress Saoirse Ronan was rumored for the role, but she has reportedly passed on it.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) has been rumored too be playing Scarlet Witch brother, Quicksilver, however that remains to be confirmed. Although the Kick-Ass star has been talking about the character in great length , leading many to believe that he will indeed be suiting up for the Avengers sequel.

Elizabeth Olsen can be seen next in Spike Lee's Oldboy this November and then Gareth Edwards' Godzilla reboot (also starring Taylor-Johnson) in May 2014.

FOCUS
Rodrigo Santoro is set to play the antagonist in Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming Focus. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the 300 star will appear opposite Will Smith and Margot Robbie in the con artist tale from writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love.)

The film is said to involve a romance between a professional conman and someone just learning the criminal art and how their past relationship comes back into play when they meet up again years later. Santoro's part is said to be that of the owner of a Formula One racing team who enlists Smith's character's services and enters them both into a romantic triangle with Robbie's.

Earlier iterations of the project were planning to feature the pairings of both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and, later, Ben Affleck and Kristen Stewart in the leading roles.

Rodrigo Santoro as Xeres

Santoro, who starred earlier this year in The Last Stand, can soon be seen reprising his role as Xerxes in March 7, 2014's 300: Rise of an Empire.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (Chappie, Guardians of Galaxy, & Ronda Rousey)


MOVIE ROUNDUP

CHAPPIE
Elysium has hit theaters in the US recently and will soon becoming to cinemas right here in SA, but director Neil Blomkamp already has his eye on his next feature film, called Chappie.

Sony Pictures has announced Blomkamp will begin filming this October. As well as Directing, Blomkamp has written the screenplay with Terri Tatchell and will be producing alongside Simon Kinberg.

Chappie tells the story of a robot imbued with artificial intelligence who is stolen by two local gangsters who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes.

The film will star Sharlto Copley as the voice of Chappie, with Ninja and Yolandi Visser, rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, as the two gangsters.

VIN DIESEL ON MARVEL AND SCI-FI
Last Sunday Vin posted a pic of Groot, a member of Guardians of the Galaxy up on his Facebook page, since the film is already filming and the voice of Groot hasn’t been confirmed, many fans took this as confirmation that Vin Diesel would be the voice of Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy film.

Diesel spoke with The L.A. Times about the role and his ongoing social media presence.

"I’m an actor," the Furious Six star tells the outlet. "Not everything has to be the most obvious choice. And sometimes, the best thing you can do — as far as Steven Spielberg and his advice — is to defy expectations. So if everybody thinks you’re going to go for this one thing and you flip it entirely and go for the strangest Marvel character, it’s interesting. And when something is interesting, it’s inspiring."

Diesel goes on to explain that, while fans speculated that Marvel Studios might not be happy with his social media teases, the reality is rather different.

"The last thing they are is mad," he says. "I’m pretty open, but I have been secretive about this. I went to Comic-Con and I got blasted while I was on the Hall H panel for 'Riddick.' Someone asked a Marvel question. I couldn’t say anything because of that secrecy."

Fans have been speculating for months, who Vin might be playing within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even now many believe that he could in fact be voicing Rocket Raccoon! Thee most badass Raccoon who will ever see!

Guardians of the Galaxy, which also stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly and Glenn Close, is now shooting, targeting an August 1, 2014 release.

In other Vin Diesel news, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Vin is now set to lead Soldiers of the Sun, an original spec script from Arash Amel (Grace of Monaco) designed to become a potential series at Universal Pictures.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Soldiers of the Sun follows a group of soldiers who do battle with Orcs (said to be an alien race) as they search for a legendary city of gold in Mexico.

Universal is also home to Diesel's similarly ensemble-fueled The Fast & the Furious franchise. The seventh film in the record-breaking franchise is being directed by James Wan (The Conjuring) and will hit theaters July 11, 2014.

EXPENDABLES 3
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Mel Gibson and Antonio Banderas will appear in Expendables 3. Gibson will indeed be playing the villain of the film, as it was speculated for a couple of months, while Banderas role hasn’t been confirmed.


Glen Powell has also been confirmed for a role in the film. He'll play a military hacker and drone expert in the ensemble sequel.

The cast currently includes Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Kellan Lutz, Victor Ortiz and Ronda Rousey. Ronda by the way, has signed on Expendables 3 as well as Fast and Furious 7 both films will be filming soon, so it will be a hectic few months for the UFC champion.  

 The film set to shoot soon in Los Angeles, rumored additional cast members have been said to include Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, Nicolas Cage and Milla Jovovich, although none have been, as of yet, confirmed.
Ronda Rousey 
Both Banderas and Gibson will also appear in Machete Kills, which will be released on October 11.

The Expendables 3 will be directed by Patrick Hughes and is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 15, 2014.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (Thor, DiCaprio and Expendables 3)


MOVIE ROUNDUP 

Here is some of the latest and hottest news to come out this week!


THE FUTURE OF MARVEL… THAT THOR TRAILER!
Since their beginning Marvel has always looked to the future to plan what comes next even before their present obligations have been fully realized.

We already know that there will be Two Marvel films in 2016 and one in 2017, yet there still no word on what those films might be. Nevertheless Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige says they've got things mapped out even further down the road.

"I could arguably say what we're planning for the year 2021," Feige told WIRED. "Will that happen? I don't know. But what we planned for 2015 in 2006 is happening." Marvel's 2015 plans include Avengers: Age of Ultron and the long awaited Ant-Man feature.

Feige also teased further expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with future films. "Five years ago, looking at our plan, we knew that if Avengers was going to work, the movies had to stand alone," he says. "Now we have to prove to the studio that we're more than just these five characters, these five franchises."

It has been hinted in the past that Marvel has plans for new characters in Phase Three like Doctor Strange and The Black Panther, while many fans have been eagerly waiting to hear Marvel announce a Captain Marvel and Heroes for Hire feature.

In other Marvel related news, a new Trailer for THOR: THE DARK WORLD released, and MAN! IT LOOKS GOOD!

Check it out below



Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Kat Dennings, and Jaimie Alexander all return as their respective characters as well. New additions are Zachary Levi as Fandral and Christopher Eccleston as Malekith.

WHATS NEXT FOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce and potentially star in King Harald, a historical biopic about Harald Hardrada, the 11th century Viking king.

DiCaprio, who recently appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained and Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, reteamed with Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street, which would be releasing a little later this year.

Leonardo DiCaprio has also been said to be in talks for a live-action, Hollywood adaptation of Robotech. Latino Review reports that Leo turned down a role in Star Wars: Episode 7 to potentially star in this Robotech adaption.

This certainly isn’t the first time that Leonardo has been linked to an anime adaption, as he has been in talks to produce Ninja Scroll as well as produce and potentially star in an Akira adaption, in the past.


X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
"Brightest set I've ever filmed on," Singer tweets, following with the hashtags, "#3600framespersecond #Quicksilver"

It appears that, to capture Evan Peters'  (aka Quicksilver) turn as the fast-moving son of Magneto, Singer is capturing footage in extreme slow motion. The end result of 3600 frames per second will appear 150 times slower than standard film and, as such, requires significantly more lighting to expose each frame. Although it's hard to see exactly what he's filming, you can check the basic setup in Singer's image below.

Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, Halle Berry, Daniel Cudmore, Fan Bingbing and Boo Boo Stewart also star in the mutant ensemble, set for release July 18, 2014.

EXPENDABLES 3
Stallone tweeted recently that Harrison Ford would be making his debut in the latest Expendable film, with Bruce Willis exiting the franchise.

Stallone stated that he has “been waiting years for this” re: working with Ford 


Stallone followed the news up with a tweet that appears to be aimed squarely at Willis: “GREEDY AND LAZY... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE.” 

Red Hill director Patrick Hughes is poised to direct the sequel with a cast that includes Jackie Chan, Nicolas Cage, Wesley Snipes, Kellan Lutz, and Milla Jovovich. There have been rumours that Mel Gibson will be playing the villain, but nothing has come of that as yet.

Production on Expendables 3 should begin later this year or early next year, as the film is slated for release on August 15, 2014.

THE WOLVERINE


Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) was originally supposed to helm the latest Wolverine adventure, alas he passed on the film and as a result James Mangold took the reigns.

Recently Aronosfky tweeted


With James Mangold replying,



Awww isn’t that lovely! The Wolverine got Aronofsky’s approval, as well as my own, CLICK HERE FOR MY REVIEW.

Definitely an awesome film, I suggest you check it out, and if you did already check it out again!