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Rapidly rising actress Olivia Wilde is the latest star to be cast in Andrew Niccol first directorial effort since 2005's "Lord Of War" with the ageist sci-fi thriller formerly titled, "I'm.mortal."
In an interesting twist, Wilde will play the mother of the film's protagonist despite being four years younger than the actor in the actual role; none other than "The Social Network" star Justin Timberlake. How is this possible, you ask? The story is, of course, set in a world where time has become a currency with the rich achieving immortality and never aging past 25. Wilde's appearance will be something of reunion for the two, since both previously appeared in Nick Cassavetes' 2006 crime-drama "Alpha Dog."
Lead Timberlake plays a rebel from the ghetto who is falsely accused of murder and is forced to go on the run with a beautiful hostage, to be played by Amanda Seyfried . "Mad Men" star Vincent Kartheiser also co-stars as Seyfried's father in a similar predicament to the Wilde-Timberlake situation; Cillian Murphy will play a law enforcer known as a 'timekeeper' and Collins Pennie, his right hand man.
Wilde's addition adds further steel to the cast and tops off what is already shaping up as the biggest 12 or so months of her career with Joseph Kosinski's "Tron: Legacy" and Paul Haggis' "The Next Three Days" due for imminent release. She then has the ensemble butter-carving comedy "Butter" and Jon Favreau's comic-adaptation "Cowboys & Aliens" due on the horizon. She's certainly come a long way since that lesbian cameo in "The O.C."
Shooting on Niccol's film should begin any time now with Strike Entertainment trio Eric Newman, Marc Abraham and Kristel Laiblin producing. 20th Century Fox will distribute the pic. [TheWrap]
Looks like speculation has ended, with "Easy A" star Emma Stone looking to step into the massive shoes of Kirsten Dunst as Spider-Man's redhead love interest Mary Jane Watson for Sony's untitled "Spider-Man" relaunch. Deadline Hollywood has announced that Stone should be expecting an offer very soon to star alongside Andrew Garfield in Marc Webb's "re-imagining" of the Spidey mythos. Stone has made some good money for Sony with both "Zombieland" and "Easy A," so it's no surprise they would pick someone so prominent on their Rolodex.
We like Stone, but it's hard to say anything positive or negative about what is such a secretive project. Though there is fresh talent all around, how much pressure will Sony feel to adhere to the formula that led the "Spider-Man" franchise to become a billion dollar extravaganza? In other words, will Stone being doing the damsel-in-distress BS that Dunst visibly grew bored from, or will she have a chance to utilize her comedic talent and make Mary Jane a fully-functioning character that might convince girls these movies are worth watching on their own?
Sony remains on the hunt for a Gwen Stacy character as well, revisiting the love triangle/square that helped the maligned "Spider-Man 3" to almost $900 million in worldwide theatrical gross. Adding Stone, who's appeal isn't exactly va-va-voom but more bubbly and warm suggests they might go in another direction for the Stacy character, but it's hard to say what's going on in Sony offices regarding this massive gamble, even with names like Mia Wasikowska and Dianna Agron being tossed around. But we're still bitter about not getting Oded Fehr as Kraven in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man IV: Keep On Webbin'" so maybe we're not the ones best suited to speculation.
Even after the good folks at Fox skullfucked the continuity of one of their prized franchises, they seemed adamant about making these demented square pegs fit. Bleeding Cool begs to differ, sharing what they've learned about a crucial sequence for "X-Men First Class" that borrows liberally from the opening moments of 2000's "X-Men."
In Bryan Singer's original film, many remember the initial moments of Erik Lensherr, the boy who would be Magneto. He is taken by SS soldiers to be lorded over in a concentration camp and separated from his family in WWII Poland. Suddenly, his magnetic abilities manifest, as he starts to manipulate the surrounding fences, almost in the shape of a malevolent claw. It's a wonderful sequence, and the three following films, despite their highlights, never arrived at a moment as psychologically troubling.
As it turns out, director Matthew Vaughn is a big fan of that scene, and intends to recreate the milieu with his brand new cast and crew. However, Bleeding Cool won't reveal a major digression between the scene and accepted continuity, but say that up to a point, the moment in the new film will be a scene-by-scene recreation. Singer is serving as a producer and quasi-godfather to the new film, but its unclear as to whether the new "twist" in this scene is merely a small surprise within the already-established X-universe or, as hinted in the article, a motion towards a brand new continuity.
It's been confirmed that the majority of the new film will take place in the 1960s, so perhaps some course correction may take place? The opening of the first film clarifies that the bulk of the X-Men adventures take place in the "near future," and in "First Class," 15 year old "Son Of Rambow"'s Bill Milner will play Lensherr, who ages twenty-something years later into Michael Fassbender. In keeping with original chronology, Ian McKellan's Magneto in the original films is in his mid-seventies, which... doesn't seem all that accurate. Perhaps this is the first step towards continuing a series without an antagonist deep into his early-bird-special years.
By now on this blog you've probably read about "Snabba Cash" and Daniel Espinosa so we'll try not to bore you too much with the rehash.
"Snabba Cash," or "Easy Money" as it will be known in the U.S. when it's released later this year is a taut little crime thriller we admire (see our review from TIFF 2010).
We're not the only ones who were impressed with it and earlier this year, the Swedish-made crime thriller that weaves together the intersecting lives of three disparate men was the hit of Hollywood and everyone wanted a piece of its director (he took meetings for "Wolverine 2" and more A-list gigs and eventually landed "Safe House" with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington).
Even before all that buzz happened, the American remake rights to "Snabba Cash" were scooped up fast in a bidding war that Warner Bros. won with Zac Efron in the lead. That was back in April of this year and the wheels are turning. According to the L.A. Times, Noah Oppenheim — who wrote the Steven Spielberg produced "Jackie," which Darren Aronofsky is set to direct with his wife Rachel Weisz attached as the titular lead — has been hired to pen the script (a word of advice, the script is great, translate it into English, turn it in, get your paycheck and don't fuck with a good thing).
Suffice to say Oppenheim's career is on the rise. In the original film, Joel Kinnaman — who is becoming hot in Hollywood himself having already nabbed a role in "The Darkest Hour" opposite Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby — plays Johan 'JW' Westlund as a young, ambitious economics student who gets in over his head becoming a coke runner, so it'll be interesting to see Efron in his first non-squeaky-clean role. What will the tweens think?
Fox 2000 (a 2oth Century Fox subsidiary) has nabbed the rights to a new film — not a biopic — about the seminal Californian pop outfit, The Beach Boys.
The projects is coming under the aegis of actor John Stamos who is one of the co-producers on the film (along with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo responsible for "Hairspray" and attempting the new "Footloose")
And you're probably thinking, wtf Stamos? But then you're not fully remembering history. In 1990, he started playing drums and recording with the Beach Boys during their "Kokomo" days. Stamos actually does still tour with the group until this day. As someone much younger than everyone else in the group (the group are all approaching their '70s; though these days it's just scoundrel Mike Love, Bruce Johnston --who joined in 1965 after Brian Wilson left -- and a bunch of other touring musicians), we imagine Stamos must have some stories.
However, those stories won't matter — not even legendary ones like Brian Wilson going nuts trying to best The Beatles with Pet Sounds and Smile. It's not a biopic and or band film in any way. Variety describes it as a "feature musical set to the music of the Beach Boys" which would mean something in the vein of "Across the Universe," the Julie Taymor film set to Beatles music (but generally not having much to do with The Beatles themselves or their history). But the real impetus of this picture is less arty like that pic and more success-oriented like Universal's "Mamma Mia!" which grossed an astounding $609 million worldwide and used the music of Abba set to a fictional storyline (the same idea will happen here and you know the studio is hoping to create a repeat of that financial success).
No plotlines were revealed according to THR, and the script is being written by Susannah Grant, who penned "Erin Brokovich."
We'll admit we're a bit bummed that this isn't a biopic, but maybe that's for the best as rock biopics can be an embarrassing affair. Another reason might be that the rights to the Beach Boys story is obviously in the hands of several people and Mike Love — who has launched several lawsuits against his more talented bandmates and now owns the rights to the band's name — isn't the most well loved member of the group. Suffice to say if/when someone did try and get a biopic of the band off the ground, there could be several legal obstacles and this simply might be easier (and if you're a "Mamma Mia!" studio head, simply thinking more profitable).
It would be nice ("wouldn't it be nice?"), if the song selection centered around records like Pet Sounds, the incredibly underrated Sunflower, Surf's Up, 20/20, Friends and the late-60s, early '70s period, but we won't be at all surprised if the film just focuses on Surfin' Safari through All Summer Long. Granted, those are still some great songs, but they still pale in comparison to the more refined work that came later on.
Facing insurmountable odds, the LA Times reports that "The Hobbit" is only days away from getting an official green light to begin production from Warner Bros., New Line and MGM.
According to their sources, Peter Jackson is close to finalizing a deal that will see him direct both films in the two-part set, overseeing a production that will cost an estimated $500 million. Both parts will be shot together and the first film is being tentatively slated for a holiday 2012 release, with part two arriving in December 2013. But before you get too excited, the project still faces a few hurdles it will have to jump even if the switch is flipped.
First of all, MGM is bankrupt, and while they are said to be close to reaching an agreement with the over 100 debtors they owe money to, the project will need to find half of its financing. Spyglass Entertainment chiefs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, who are widely expected to be taking over management duties at MGM, will have Barber approaching potential investors including 20th Century Fox or Warner Bros. themselves to put up the rest of the budget. Warner Bros. may potentially throw in additional funds in exchange for additional distribution rights in various territories.
As for the very public, and ugly, union battle? The LA Times says that the situation is close to being resolved and even some lingering rights issues with the Tolkien Estate are said to have been cleaned up to allow everything to move forward without delay.
All that said, January is the magic date that filming will need to begin. If it doesn't start in the first quarter of 2011, the project will most likely be delayed again, and we would imagine, Peter Jackson, who has stoically stood by the film in its darkest hours, would probably move on.
There are a lot of little gears that need to be oiled for the machinery on "The Hobbit" to get rolling, but it looks like the once creaking project is bubbling back to life. As we reported this summer, Jackson has already quietly been taking meetings and watching tapes and we would guess he already has his talent selected and agents will be ready to sign deals once production is given the thumbs up. Sylvester McCoy and Martin Freeman have already been strongly rumored to be joining the cast.
So, hope is still alive, Middle Earthers. Not all is lost yet on "The Hobbit."
The already ginormous cast of vampires, werewolves and brooding teens in the two-part emo finale of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" is now adding four more thesps, MyAnna Buring ("The Descent"), Mia Maestro ("Poseidon"), Casey LaBow ("Skateland") and Christian Camargo ("The Hurt Locker").
The quartet will be part of the Denali clan, with "Buring playing Tanya, a rival to Kristen Stewart’s Bella for the attention of Edward (Rob Pattinson), while LaBow will play Kate, who has the ability to produce an electric current that can shock opponents. Maestro portrays Carmen and Camargo is Eleazar, the two Spanish heads of the coven, which in the “Twilight” universe is the only other non-human-feeding vampire clan besides the the Cullen clan."
The four actors join the recently announced Maggie Grace (who plays the villainous Irina) and Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee) along with the extended cast that includes Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Anna Kendrick, Jackson Rathbone, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz and Rami Malek.
The films shoot this fall and will thrill tweens and moms who should know better when
the first installment arrives November 18, 2011. Part two is scheduled to hit theaters on November 16, 2012.
Rapidly rising actress Olivia Wilde is the latest star to be cast in Andrew Niccol first directorial effort since 2005's "Lord Of War" with the ageist sci-fi thriller formerly titled, "I'm.mortal."
