Wednesday, September 25, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (DUMBER & DUMBER TO, NEED FOR SPEED & GOTHAM TO TV)


MOVIE ROUNDUP 
(Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey are Dumb, the Gods of Egypt have a Need for Speed)

DUMB AND DUMBER TO
After years and years of stagnation on the Dumb and Dumber sequel, production is finally underway, with the first images of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels back in character have been revealed by none other than Carrey himself. 

The Farrelly brothers return to direct, the story picks up in Rhode Island 18 years after the events of the first film, and The Walking Dead’s Laurie Holden recently landed the female lead.

This past Sunday Jeff Daniels managed to win the Best Actor in a Drama series Emmy Award and now he returns to Dumber and Dumber.

"There are some things [that] we're going to do in 'Dumb and Dumber To' that make the toilet scene [in the original] seem lame”, he stated when speaking to E! after the awards. “It pales in comparison and I can't divulge what, but just that they've topped it. [The] best thing about it? I get to work with a comedic genius."

He will be returning ofcourse with Jim Carrey and Daniels is also starring alongside Rachel Melvin, Kathleen Turner, Brady Bluhm, Laurie Holden and Steve Tom.

GODS OF EGYPT
Gerard Butler is rumored to be eyeing a role in directors Alex Proyas, Gods of Egypt. Alex Proyas, the man behind I, Robot and The Crow, has been trying to develop a film based on the classic novel, Paradise Lost which told the story of Lucifer’s fall from heaven and his subsequent role in the Garden of Eve. Alas that has come to nought, as Proyas turns his attentions to the Gods of Egypt.

Geoffrey Rush is said to have signed onto the film, as he will be joining "Game of Thrones" actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (aka Jamie “Kingslayer” Lannister).

Proyas is directing from an original screenplay by Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama. The film tells the story of a common thief teaming with Gods on a magical quest. Coster-Waldau is playing Horus, God of the Sky, who teams with Hathor, the Goddess of Love, and the human thief to avenge the death of his father, Osiris.

Rush, who won an Academy Award for his role in Shine, will play Ra, the Egyptian sun God, who is father to both Set and Osiris.

NEED FOR SPEED
DreamWorks Pictures has released the first trailer for Need for Speed, starring Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malek, Harrison Gilbertson, Scott 'Kid Cudi' Mescudi, Michael Keaton and Dakota Johnson.

Opening in theaters on March 14, 2014, Need for Speed captures the thrills of the video game franchise in a real-world setting. The story chronicles a near-impossible cross-country race against time—one that begins as a mission for revenge, but proves to be one of redemption. In a last attempt to save his struggling garage, blue-collar mechanic Tobey Marshall (Paul)—who with his team skillfully builds and races muscle cars on the side—reluctantly partners with wealthy, arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Cooper). Just as a major sale to car broker Julia Bonet (Poots) looks like it will save the business, a disastrous, unsanctioned race results in Dino framing Tobey for manslaughter.

Two years later and fresh out of prison, Tobey is set on revenge with plans to take down Dino in the high-stakes De Leon race—the Super Bowl of underground racing. To get there in time, Tobey must run a high-octane, action-packed gauntlet, dodging cops coast-to-coast and dealing with fallout from a dangerous bounty Dino put on his car. With his loyal crew and the surprisingly resourceful Julia as allies, Tobey defies odds at every turn and proves that even in the flashy world of exotic supercars, the underdog can still finish first.



GOTHAM SERIES
Deadline reports that Fox will bring the Batman inspired Gotham series to TV.  The show will see Commissioner Gordon working as a detective at the Gotham City Police Department before he even meets Batman.  In an interesting note, the Caped Crusader is not intended to be part of the series.  Also interesting to see Fox land the project, which might be an indication of its tone since it isn’t playing on The CW, a network that has found success with the DC property Arrow, and hopes to repeat with a Flash spin-off.

Fox has also made a series commitment for Gotham, scripted by Bruno Heller (The Mentalist).

The news comes as Fox won out on a bidding war for the Warner Bros. TV property.

My guess is that the TV series will be focused on Commissioners Gordon young days as Detective, long before Batman comes into the picture. Hopefully he will take down some memorable villains!

ESPN: THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN
Derek Cianfrance is set to adapt ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun, The Wrap Reports. Cianfrance is known for his heavy Dramas with films like Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines. 

Based on a book of the same name, ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun, synopsis is as follows:

It began, in 1979, as a mad idea of starting a cable channel to televise local sporting events throughout the state of Connecticut. Today, ESPN is arguably the most successful network in modern television history, spanning eight channels in the Unites States and around the world. But the inside story of its rise has never been fully told-until now.

Drawing upon over 500 interviews with the greatest names in ESPN’s history and an All-Star collection of some of the world’s finest athletes, bestselling authors James Miller and Tom Shales take us behind the cameras. Now, in their own words, the men and women who made ESPN great reveal the secrets behind its success-as well as the many scandals, rivalries, off-screen battles and triumphs that have accompanied that ascent. From the unknown producers and business visionaries to the most famous faces on television, it’s all here.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (FAST 7, A SLIGHT TRICK OF HAND & MORE)


MOVIE ROUNDUP 
(FAST 7, LIFE & EMMA WATSON) 


FAST AND FURIOUS 7
'Fast and Furious 7' is revving up and speeding into production with star Vin Diesel busily doing the promotional rounds for his latest 'Riddick'. After many rumours and reports of action icon Kurt Russell being a new addition to the 'Fast and Furious' franchise, Vin Diesel has just put his foot down and accelerated proceedings by declaring the rumours true.
 
Speaking to Extra, Diesel explained "There is a very big rumor that Kurt Russell will come in, and because it's you, I'll give you a little more… the eighth script in the series is somewhat akin to 'Escape from New York.' This won't make sense now, but it will make sense later. Kurt Russell was the perfect person to introduce in '7' to play out the eighth storyline that everyone is going to go crazy on."

Escape from New York features Russell as the one eyed anti hero Snake Plissken, an ex-soldier turned criminal who agrees to save the President of the USA when he crash lands in a future Manhattan island that is now a totally anarchic and impenetrable maximum security prison. With microscopic explosives injected into his body, Plissken is forced to cooperate and complete his mission.

"Game of Thrones" star Nathalie Emmanuel has joined the cast of Fast & Furious 7, which Universal Pictures will release in theaters on July 11, 2014.

Deadline says that, while her character description is staying under wraps, "Emmanuel will be part of the pedal to the metal team led by Dom Toretto, played by Vin Diesel."

THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU
A new adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi horror novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, is in the works at Warner Bros. through Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, Deadline reports.

Published in 1896, The Island of Dr/ Moreau follows shipwreck survivor Edward Prendick, who winds up on the mysterious Noble's Isle. There, the titular Moreau, a former London physiologist, has taken to experimenting on animals and, through vivisection, has created human-like beasts.

The new film would mark the sixth feature-length adaptation of Wells' story. The tale most was most recently brought to the big screen with a 1996 take directed by John Frankheimer with Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando in the leading roles.

LIFE
Director Anton Corbijn has snagged two leading men for his upcoming Life. The Wrap reports that both Dane DeHaan and Robert Pattinson are set to star.


Scripted by Luke Davies, Life is based on the true friendship formed between actor James Dean (DeHaan) and photojournalist Dennis Stock (Pattinson).

Pattinson, best known for his role as Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga, can next be seen in David Michod's The Rover. DeHaan, meanwhile, soon stars in Kill Your Darlings before taking on the part of Harry Obsorn in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Production planned to begin in February 2014.

A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE HAND
Sir Ian McKellen (magneto) is teaming up with The Fifth Estate director Bill Condon on A Slight Trick of the Mind. Based on a novel of the same name by Mitch Cullin, the screenplay is being adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher. The story is described as follows:


In 1947, Sherlock Holmes, long retired, lives in a sleepy Sussex village with his housekeeper and her amateur-sleuthing son. But far from living out a peaceful retirement, he is haunted by an unsolved case from fifty years ago. He remembers only fragments: a confrontation with an angry husband, a secret bond with his beautiful but unstable wife.

Condon and McKellen previously worked together on Gods and Monsters.

AI Film CEO Aviv Giladi added: "Bill Condon and Ian McKellen are a perfect match for this clever and intriguing project, the third on our current production slate. The next few months will be exciting as we move closer to shooting with our producer partners Anne Carey and Iain Canning."

YOUR VOICES IN MY HEAD
Emma Watson will star in Francesca Gregorini's Your Voice in My Head, written by acclaimed novelist Emma Forrest and adapted from her New York Times Bestseller.

Watson was previously attached to star in the project when it was at Warner Bros. Pictures with "Harry Potter" director David Yates directing. Later, both Yates and Watson left the project and Emily Blunt was attached to star for a while.

Your Voice in My Head, whose script was awarded a position on the prestigious Black list, will start shooting on November 4, 2013 in New York and is based on Emma Forrest’s inspirational story of a young bipolar English woman living in New York and the heroic, selfless psychiatrist who saves her life while fighting for his own.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

MOVIE ROUNDUP (GRAVITY, TRANS4MERS, FF7 & MORE)


MOVIE ROUNDUP (GRAVITY, TRANS4MERS, FF7 & MORE)

 
GRAVITY
Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity is grabbing headlines the world over as the film is yet to release and already its widely praised by critics with whispers of its Oscar worthiness.

James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) had no reservations in calling Gravity “the best space film ever done” while praising not just the technical achievements, but the performance of Sandra Bullock.

Here’s what Cameron had to say in reaction to seeing Cuarón’s Gravity speaking to Variety:

“I was stunned, absolutely floored.  I think it’s the best space photography ever done, I think it’s the best space film ever done, and it’s the movie I’ve been hungry to see for an awful long time … What is interesting is the human dimension. Alfonso and Sandra working together to create an absolutely seamless portrayal of a woman fighting for her life in zero gravity.”

He then went on to praise Bullocks performance in the film, saying:

“She’s the one that had to take on this unbelievable challenge to perform it. (It was) probably no less demanding than a Cirque du Soleil performer, from what I can see … There’s an art to that, to creating moments that seem spontaneous but are very highly rehearsed and choreographed. Not too many people can do it. … I think it’s really important for people in Hollywood to understand what was accomplished here.”

Gravity looks to be a visual spectacle, as James Cameron explains some of the technical aspects of filming:

“I read the script, and I thought it was tremendously challenging to shoot with a high degree of veracity to get the real look of zero gravity … I’m sure Alfonso had a real uphill battle with the studio, with everyone involved, to get it the way it needed to look. But he knew in his mind how it needed to look, and he went after it.”

Gravity, opens October 4th in the US and the 18th here in SA. Im really looking forward to this film and i think you should too! 


TRANS4MERS
In an interview with Beijing News, Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura seemed to confirm the appearance of the Dinobots in the new Transformers film.


We then got further confirmation when the official poster for the film released as it is officially titled, Transformers: Age of Extinction.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles and Bingbing Li, Transformers: Age of Extinction opens June 27, 2014. 

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY


A contingent of Fifty Shades of Grey fans are so upset over the casting of Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson as protagonists Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively, in the big screen adaptation of the BDSM bestseller that they have created an online petition demanding the roles be recast.


According to Variety, "many loyalists had set sights on White Collar’s Matt Bomer to play the troubled billionaire and Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls fame to play Steele, and started a Change.org petition in protest of the decision, which has received more than 7,000 signatures in less than 24 hours." It was up to roughly 12,000 signatures at the time of this article's publish.

FAST & FURIOUS 7

Hollywood veteran Kurt Russell is in talks to join the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise in an undisclosed part for director James Wan (The Conjuring).

Role that Russel is in talks for was originally offered to Denzel Washington, who turned down the role, which looks to be a lot bigger, then many of thought.

Russell has a few more projects in the works including the Jay Baruchel-starring comedy The Art of the Steal, and Bone Tomahawk, a Western with Peter Sarsgaard and Jennifer Carpenter.


GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) is set to voice the CG Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy. This is Cooper’s first venture into voiceover work.


He joins Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Zoe Saldana, Glenn Close, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker and John C. Reilly in the cast, and Vin Diesel has been talking about coming on board to voice the tree-like Groot. Disney is set to release Guardians on August 1, 2014