The past seven days

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Victor Rasuk joins Fifty Shades of Grey

Victor Rasuk has been confirmed for the cast of Fifty Shades of Grey. He will be playing Christian Grey's romantic rival and Anastasia Steele's classmate, Jose Rodriguez. For an easy comparison, Jose to Christian is like Jacob was to Edward in Twilight.

29-year old Rasuk has previously starred in Lords of Dogtown and Raising Victor Vargas. I recognized him right off as the guy who played the wounded soldier in Stop-Loss. He will also star in the upcoming reboot of Godzilla starring director Sam Taylor-Johnson's husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson.




Star Wars team seeks to delay Episode VII

Last week we got some pretty major news that Michael Arndt had been replaced with Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams for the Star Wars: Episode VII script. This comes just about a year after Disney announced their purchase of Lucasfilm and the announcement of a seventh Star Wars film. We now have news that the Star Wars team has requested a delay of the film until 2015, but was shut down by Disney.

There is still no official release date for Episode VII, however Disney is constantly hammering their intent for a 2015 release. It has been rumored as of late that the film will be released in December 2015 for a Christmas release. However, with the current script rewrite and no solid casting news, the deadline is cutting very close because filming is supposed to start in London in early 2014.
The word is that producer Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of the creative team has requested a delay for the film until 2016 and was promptly denied by Disney. The speculation is Disney CEO Bob Iger is adamant about the 2015 release due to pressure from the shareholders and demand for merchandising and revenue by 2015. This also could be due to rumors that Tomorrowland at Disneyland will be revamped and redesigned as a so-called "Star Wars Land" with a new speeder bike attraction and a life size Millenium Falcon. Similar rumors are circulating at Disneyworld in Florida for a Star Wars addition to the Hollywood Studios park.
However, some are suggesting that J.J. Abrams is confident in the 2015 release and it is primarily Kennedy that is pushing for the delay. The two are apparently working in sync with the casting, though. There is also a rumor that Michael Arndt had treated Disney to a 50-page script for a seventh film before Lucasfilm was even purchased, so this new trilogy has been in the works for quite sometime already.

I am doubting this is all due to tension between Kennedy and Abrams. She has been a longtime producer for Steven Spielberg and has been on several high pressure projects, so I think she knows what she is doing. Hopefully this pressure will give Disney some sense and not release a half-assed project for once. I am still not fully on board to this new Star Wars movie and if it sucks because Disney rushed it I am going to be even more upset. 


Wednesday, October 30, 2013

[Updated] Fede Alvarez not leaving Evil Dead 2

Just a couple days after Sam Raimi was confirmed to direct Army of Darkness 2 it has been announced that Fede Alvarez will not return to direct his Evil Dead sequel. After Alvarez's 2013 reboot of the horror classic was a decent success, Alvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues were tapped to return for a sequel. Sayagues is now claiming he and Alvarez are off the project.

Alvarez already hinted the sequel was at a standstill at Comic-Con in July stating that they were struggling to think of a great story to tell. Sayagues is now saying he and Alvarez left the project months ago because they had no story to present. Sayagues told Gorosito.TV:
“Look, I am sorry to tell you this but that movie won’t happen. Evil Dead 2 is not going to happen, at least not with us involved. We left that project many months ago because we preferred to put our energies on other things. I don’t know if the producers still have intentions of making it. But what I can tell you is that we are not part of that project.”
To me that sounds like plain arrogance that he believes that Evil Dead 2 won't happen without them. If the studio wants it bad enough they will find people to do it. Period.  However, if Alvarez and Sayagues really left the project months ago and the studio hasn't publicly replaced them yet the sequel might not happen after all.
Alvarez and Sayagues are moving their focus onto their upcoming sci-fi film Machina. The original short film, Panic Attack!,  is what landed Alvarez the Evil Dead directing chair to begin with.

I find this interesting in a way because Alvarez is the one who leaked that Sam Raimi was returning for Army of Darkness 2 and he has had no comment about leaving Evil Dead 2. Not to mention the studio has said nothing. I would classify this as rumor for right now and would advice Sayagues to shut the hell up.



[UPDATE] Changed to rumor patrol. Fede Alvarez has already taken to Twitter and is telling people, "Don't believe everything you read online."
Alvarez has said the interview Rodo Sayagues gave has been taken out of context and he meant Evil Dead 2 is not taking priority over Army of Darkness 2. He also included the sequel to the 2013 Evil Dead reboot is very much alive. 

Aaron Taylor-Johnson confirmed for The Avengers 2

It has been rumored for quite sometime, but we now have confirmation that Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) has officially joined the cast of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. He will be playing Quicksilver, aka. Pietro Maximoff. Quicksilver is the son of Magneto and brother of Scarlet Witch (aka, Wanda Maximoff). Scarlet Witch will be played by Elizabeth Olsen. The third new cast member to join Taylor-Johnson and Olsen, so far, is James Spader who will be playing Ultron. 

Taylor-Johnson will be the Marvel version of Quicksilver as Evan Peters is tackling the same character for Sony in X-Men: Days of Future Past.


The Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Walking Dead renewed for season five

AMC has announced they have renewed the network favorite The Walking Dead for a fifth season. This is no surprise as the season four premiere three weeks ago drew in over 20 million viewers making it the most watched show on television.

AMC President Charlie Collier made this statement:
“We are very happy to make what has to be one of the most anti-climactic renewal announcements ever: The Walking Dead is renewed for a fifth season,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “This is a show that has erased traditional distinctions between cable and broadcast. Its expanding base of passionate fans has grown every season, most recently – and most notably – with the season four premiere earlier this month, which broke viewership records for the series and became the biggest non-sports telecast in cable history. On behalf of the incredible team on both sides of the camera, thank you to the fans and here’s to more Dead.”

I think this is great news. Season four started off slow, but I think it has started to pick up and has been pretty crazy in episodes 2 and 3. Bring on the dead.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - First Trailer

X-Men: Days of Future Past is set for theaters on May 23, 2014.



I personally think this trailer looks fantastic. I liked X-Men: First Class, but I think Days of Future Past already looks a lot better and more intriguing. I think the darker tone is very present and will work throughout the film. The plot follows Wolverine as his consciousness is sent back to 1973 to recruit the scattered X-Men to help fight the rise of The Sentinels, robots programmed to exterminate mutants. 

Trick 'r Treat 2 announced at fan screening

Trick 'r Treat has built up a cult fanbase ever since it first screened back in 2007. The Michael Dougherty film, featured by Bryan Singer, has been screened at numerous horror festivals and conventions including Fangoria, Fantasia Film Festival, and Fantastic Fest. The film got a limited release in 2009 and even after all this time the fanbase has managed to pretty much keep the film along with its twists a secret.

We now have had an announcement brought via a fan screening of the film that there is a sequel in the works. There are no details beyond the initial announcement, but this is very good news not only for Trick 'r Treat fans but for the horror genre. You can watch the Q&A announcement here.

For those of you who have never seen Trick 'r Treat, it is basically a loosely tied together horror anthology that all have a dark twist to them. I personally love Trick 'r Treat and it still makes me a bit disappointed that more people haven't seen it. I am definitely excited and looking forward to this sequel.



And as a little bonus, here is a Sam cosplay I saw at a horror convention in Dallas in 2011.






Monday, October 28, 2013

Emile Hirsch to play John Belushi in biopic

Emile Hirsch has landed the role of John Belushi in the upcoming biopic by Steve Conrad. Filming is set to start in New York City in the spring. Conrad is directing from his own script adapted from the biography, "Belushi," written by Judy Belushi Pisano and Tanner Colby.
Hirsch has previously starred in Into the Wild, Alpha Dog, Milk, Savages, and has recently filmed the television mini-series Bonnie and Clyde

The biopic will cover Belushi's life and height of fame including the timeframe of The Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live, and Animal House. It will also cover his most famous SNL skit characters such as the samurai, Joe Cocker, William Shatner, Marlon Brando, and Elizabeth Taylor. It will also cover Belushi's unexpected death at age 33 by an overdose of a heroin/cocaine mixture.



Fifty Shades of Grey production delayed

Surprise, surprise.

It has been announced that Focus/Universal have made the decision to delay production on Fifty Shades of Grey by a little over one month. Now instead of starting on November 1st, filming will not start until an unnamed date in December if not later. This comes after Jamie Dornan was cast in replacement of Charlie Hunnam as Christian Grey. Delaying the start of production could mean the film will not make the August 1, 2014 release date.

This doesn't come as a shock to me. My personal theory is the fact that no one wants to be in this movie is holding it back. So far several actors have passed on the supporting roles and the only supporting characters to be cast is Christian's brother Elliot (Luke Grimes) and Anastasia's mom Carla (Jennifer Ehle). There are still a lot of characters that need actors. Here are just a few:

Jose Rodriguez (Ana's friend)
Kate Kavanagh (Ana's roommate)
Ethan Kavanagh (Kate's brother)
Carrick and Grace Grey (Christian's parents)
Mia Grey (Christian's sister)
Dr. Flynn (Christian's psychiatrist)
Elena Lincoln (Christian's business partner)
Leila Williams (Christian's ex-submissive)
Jason Taylor (Christian's bodyguard)
Ray Steele (Ana's stepdad)



I think it's pretty unrealistic that they cast all of these characters and more in four days or less and give people adequate time to prepare. It's bad enough Dornan was just cast last week.
I think they should delay this movie anyway because it shares the date with Guardians of the Galaxy. There is no way this movie will beat that at the box office. 


Dexter coming to Netflix on October 31st

For those who have never watched the popular Showtime series Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall, you soon won't have an excuse as Netflix has struck a deal with CBS Films which will make the show available on instant streaming. The first four seasons will be made available on October 31st, just in time for Halloween, while seasons 5-8 won't be up until January 1st, 2014.
Dexter tells the story of a blood splatter analyst who leads a secret life as a serial killer who hunts down criminals who haven't been brought to justice.

I am one of the unfortunate persons who doesn't have Showtime, so I have never seen an episode of Dexter. I have heard good things and will most likely give it a shot when it's streaming. From what I have heard the show really started to slip away after season four, so I might just watch those and stop.


First poster for Muppets Most Wanted

I'm sure this means a trailer will be coming soon.



I don't quite understand why Tiny Fey looks oddly thin, why there is a Dr. Evil impression, or why Ricky Gervais is even in the movie, but I'm sure this will be a fun one for the children.

Muppets Most Wanted comes to theaters on March 21, 2014. 



via EW.

Ridley Scott confirms Prometheus sequel

After the overall disappointment from Prometheus many speculated if the announced sequel was actually going to happen, especially after scribe Damon Lindelof left the project. During a press conference for The Counselor this weekend Ridley Scott decided to open up about Prometheus 2.
Scott confirms that the script is still being written and is indeed still in development. Jack Paglen was hired to try and continue the storyline of The Engineers, David, and Elizabeth Shaw back in June and is apparently still trying to figure things out. However, it is unknown if Noomi Rapace or Michael Fassbender will return for a Prometheus sequel or if the sequel will be forced to fast forward sometime into the future to allow new characters to be introduced. Ridley Scott is on board to produce but isn't sure he will direct.

The way this all sounds I think they should just stop while they are behind. I didn't hate Prometheus but I wasn't a huge fan. I think they showed way too much of the movie in previews, teasers, photos, etc. and it was just a big mess. And despite what they said, it was an Alien prequel. They lied big time on that one. You don't put a Xenomorph at the end of the movie and say it isn't connected to Alien.


Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Final Trailer

We now have the final trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I think this movie looks better and better whenever something new comes out. I cannot wait.

[EDIT] Check out my review of Catching Fire here.







Saturday, October 26, 2013

Sam Raimi to direct Army of Darkness 2

Fede Alvarez has done the liberty of confirming some speculated news for us. The director of the 2013 Evil Dead reboot confirmed via Twitter that Sam Raimi will return to the Evil Dead franchise and direct Army of Darkness 2, the sequel to the 1992 film Army of Darkness.
In addition to Raimi returning (according to Alvarez) we got confirmation earlier this week that Bruce Campbell will be returning for the film as well.
This marks Raimi's first Evil Dead film since 1992 and puts speculation to rest that a sequel to the 2013 reboot could be considered Army of Darkness 2. There will indeed be two separate films as Alvarez is currently working on Evil Dead 2, the sequel to his reboot.  Whether the films will be tied together as a means to bring the two series based off the same story together is unknown, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. There is no word on which film will come first, either.

Welcome back, guys!



Marcia Wallace passes away at 70

Marcia Wallace, who famously voiced Mrs. Krabappel on The Simpsons, has passed away at the age of 70. Wallace also starred on The Bob Newhart Show. She would have been 71 next week.

She won an Emmy for her vocal skill on The Simpsons in 1992 and had been called a brilliant talent by show producer Al Jean. She appeared on over 100 episodes of the animated show as Bart's fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Krabappel.
Wallace also had several appearances on television over the years including spots on ALF, Full House, Bewitched, Taxi, and Murphy Brown.

RIP, Marcia. Thank you for giving me my favorite teacher.

Rob Letterman to direct Captain Underpants

Director Rob Letterman has been tapped to direct the next Dreamworks Animation adaptation, Captain Underpants. Nicholas Stoller has written the script adaptation of Dav Pilkey's children's hero that has 10 books written about him.
Letterman previously directed Monsters vs. Aliens and Shark Tale for Dreamworks while Stoller has written scripts for Fun with Dick and Jane, Get Him to the Greek, The Muppets, and the upcoming sequel Muppets Most Wanted.

Captain Underpants starts off as two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, create the best superhero in their school and bring him to life. Captain Underpants' true identity is a real secret because he doesn't even know who he really is.

I personally used to love the Captain Underpants books and I read them as a kid. This should be a fun movie.


Friday, October 25, 2013

Luke Grimes cast in Fifty Shades of Grey

Luke Grimes has joined the cast of Fifty Shades of Grey and will be playing Christian Grey's brother, Elliot. The character is described as a tall, muscular man in his 30's with blonde curly hair and blue eyes. He was adopted alongside Christian and their sister, Mia Grey. He is quickly involved with Anastasia's best friend, Kate.

You recently may have seen Grimes on True Blood and Brothers and Sisters. He is the next addition to a rather vacant cast so far consisting of Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Roles that still need actors include Anastasia Steele's mother and her friends Jose and Kate. 


Thursday, October 24, 2013

Clive Barker to write Hellraiser remake

Horror legend Clive Barker will write a remake of Hellraiser, the horror classic with Pinhead. Barker wrote and directed the original Hellraiser in 1987 and oddly enough pitched the idea of a remake himself. In addition to Barker returning there is confirmation that Doug Bradley will reprise his role as Pinhead. This was posted on Barker's Facebook page:
"HOT FROM HELL! My friends,I have some news which may be of interest to you. A few weeks ago I had a very productive meeting with Bob Weinstein of Dimension Pictures,in the course of which I pitched a remake of the first HELLRAISER film. The idea of my coming back to the original film and telling the story with a fresh intensity-honoring the structure and the designs from the first incarnation but hopefully creating an even darker and richer film-was attractive to Dimension. Today I have officially been invited to write the script based upon that pitch.What can I tell you about it?Well, it will not be a film awash with CGI. I remain as passionate about the power of practical make-up effects as I was when I wrote and directed the first HELLRAISER. Of course the best make-up in the world loses force if not inhabited by a first-rate actor. I told the Dimension team that in my opinion there could never be a Pinhead without Doug Bradley,and much to my delight Bob Weinstein agreed. So once the papers are signed , I will open a Lemarchand Configuration,dip my quill in its contents and start writing . I promise that there will be nowhere on the Internet where the news of my progress will be more reliable than here ,because the only author of these reports will be Your Infernal Corespondent ,me. My very best wishes to you
all,my friends.
Clive."
Clive Barker's writing and directing credits include Hellraiser, Candyman, Lord of Illusions, and Nightbreed.


Days of Future Past trailer to premiere October 29th

We now have word, along with some first footage, that the first trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past will premiere next week on October 29th. This comes the same day we received a first trailer for fellow Marvel film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (you can view it here).

X-Men: Days of Future Past follows Wolverine as his consciousness is sent back to 1973 to help Professor X, Magneto, and the rest of the X-Men stop the rise of the Sentinels, giant robots who are programmed to eliminate mutants.
Seeing that this serves as both a sequel and prequel to an extent, we will be seeing a lot of familiar characters portrayed by the same actors we have seen before. Returning actors for Days of Future Past include Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Shawn Ashmore, and Ellen Page along with those returning from X-Men: First Class. We also have new cast members like Peter Dinklage and Omar Sy. Basically, Days of Future Past is sure to be interesting.

And like I said, there is some minor footage you can watch right now. Apparently it is the small amount that was shown at Comic-Con in July. You can watch it at the X-Men Movies Instagram.

First trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier


In the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger, we follow the Captain as he struggles to adapt to the current world and fights his moral center in regards to the moral "grey area" S.H.I.E.L.D. operates in. It also serves as a re-introduction to his wartime friend Bucky Barnes, aka. The Winter Soldier. Bucky has been engineered into a super assassin.

I think this is a great first trailer and it seems to promise a decent amount of action and conflict. It doesn't give any background to The Winter Soldier, but I'm sure this isn't going to be the only trailer we will have. I also like the new Captain America suit.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens up on April 4, 2014. It stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, and Anthony Mackie.

Star Wars: Episode VII script to be polished

Star Wars: Episode VII will be penned by none other than director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. The duo is taking over for Michael Arndt and will be polishing the script so they can make the Spring 2014 date for production.
Kasdan has previous Lucasfilm writing credits including Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. He also has previous credits with J.J. Abrams including Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, and Lost.

This isn't a really surprising move, in my opinion. I expected Abrams to take over the script at some point. I am looking at the bright side on this right now... at least they didn't bring in Damon Lindelof.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Jamie Dornan joins Fifty Shades of Grey

After Charlie Hunnam dropped out of the project, we have our new Christian Grey.

Jamie Dornan, best known these days for his role in Once Upon a Time, has been cast as the young billionaire in Fifty Shades of Grey. The 31-year old Irish actor replaces Charlie Hunnam and puts to rest once again the fangirls calling for Matt Bomer. You also may have seen Dornan in the BBC series, The Fall.
He joins Dakota Johnson, who will play Anastasia Steele, in the adaptation of the first installment in the popular book trilogy. The story follows a young college student as she enters a controlling relationship with a troubled, BDSM obsessed billionaire. Dornan was brought in for a screen test on Friday of last week and beat out Billy Magnussen (As the World Turns) for the role.
Now Universal can focus on casting the other supporting characters, such as Anastasia's roommate Kate, which was apparently underway when Hunnam unexpectedly dropped out. Rumor has it that Juno Temple and Frank Grillo have passed on offers to join the project.


Judging from what I see, I think Dornan is a much better choice for Christian Grey. He is more attractive, in my opinion, and fits the character description a lot better. I also think he looks a lot like Henry Cavill who was rumored to have been considered at one time. We will see if Dornan remains attached, though. If the script was really the reason Hunnam dropped out we could potentially see Dornan leave too. We won't know until production starts.



Production restarts on The Mortal Instruments sequel

Constantin Films was confident enough to greenlight a sequel to The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones before the film's release. After City of Bones opened to an extremely disappointing box office and seeming lack of interest from regular viewers in August, the sequel was indefinitely delayed. However, we now have word that Constantin Films has restarted production on the sequel, The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, due to the loyalty of the fanbase and the positive reception received from the fans.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones starred Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Kevin Zegers. It introduced viewers to a teenage girl who was a descendent of warriors who protect Earth from demons. She joins forces with her kind and fights to protect her city in an alternate universe.

This is a rather surprising move due to the fact that the fanbase for The Mortal Instruments is nowhere near those for franchises like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Twilight. The studio will no doubt continue to see disappointing box office reception and numbers for the sheer fact that the fanbase isn't enough to support the films on their own.
Some sources are claiming that the marketing is what failed the film and it was a fluke that City of Bones was a box office failure. Apparently the claims are trying to support the fact that the marketing appealed only to the young teen fans and made the aged 20-30 fans feel that the film had been dumbed down to appeal to the younger viewers. The same thing could be said about any adaptation of a book series.
I personally didn't see this movie because it not only looked really bad, but the story sounded just as stupid. The fact that it got horrible reviews and did so badly justified me never seeing it. Sorry City of Ashes but I won't see you either. 




Paul Feig to produce new Peanuts movie

Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) is set to oversee the new animated Peanuts film slated for 2015. Peanuts will be directed by Steve Martino and will be based off the characters created by Charles Schulz. This will be Paul Feig's first animated feature.

Despite Feig's involvement with adult comedies such as Bridesmaids and The Heat, Peanuts is promised that the film will be family friendly. The script has been written by Schulz's son Craig along with Bryan Schulz and Cornelius Uliano. Peanuts is slated for release on November 6, 2015.


Tom Hardy to play Elton John in biopic

The Elton John biopic, Rocketman, finally has its leading man. Sources say Tom Hardy will play John in the film to be released by Focus Features. Hardy seems to be most known for his roles in The Dark Knight Rises, Warrior, and Inception.

Not much is known about Rocketman just yet, but we do know the film will focus on Elton John's rise to fame from childhood to present day. John is expected to re-record a lot of his memorable hits to match the emotion and tone of the film. There is no word just yet on whether Hardy will perform any of the music himself but I would expect him to do so. He is very versatile.

Rocketman is scheduled to begin filming in Fall 2014 and will be directed by Michael Gracey.


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

New teaser poster for Captain America: The Winter Soldier

We have a fairly plain but new teaser poster for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.



To me the poster resembles the Star Trek Into Darkness poster, but what can you do. They all kind of look the same these days.

In addition to the poster we will also be getting the first official teaser trailer on Thursday.

Wonder Woman rumored for Batman vs. Superman

Warner Bros. President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Greg Silverman, has touched on the rumor that Wonder Woman just might show up in Batman vs. Superman (aka, Man of Steel 2)*. Silverman stated,
"Wonder Woman is an amazing character. I think it’s a great opportunity both for box office success, but also to have an amazingly powerful female superhero." 
Now, this doesn't guarantee that she will appear in the film but at the same time it isn't ruling out a solo film. To me it sounds like they don't know what they want out of Wonder Woman before or after Justice League. Regarding whether Wonder Woman will have a solo film or not Silverman responded,
"We are taking it all very seriously and are trying to do a plan that’s respectful to those characters and maximizes the stories as best they can, so everything that has been speculated are things that we’ve thought about."

Silverman also tried to reassure moviegoers that Warner Bros. did make the right decision in casting Ben Affleck as Batman. The studio is sticking to their guns in stating that both Superman and Batman will be pushed to their full potentials and the characters will be done justice. He urges us to wait and see the movie because the script that Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer put together is what is important, not the casting.


Would I like to see Wonder Woman in Batman vs. Superman? No.
Why not? It seems like Warner Bros. is trying to pull a Marvel, once again, and include the scattered heroes in major movies to round out Justice League without having to do solo films for each hero. Think of how Black Widow showed up in Iron Man 2 and how Hawkeye showed up in Thor. Those minor inclusions gave Marvel what they needed to round out The Avengers. It's the same concept. Instead of having a solo Wonder Woman film, she could just show up in Batman vs. Superman. They could in theory do the same with Green Lantern. If the solo Flash movie actually does happen we could potentially see Green Lantern pop up so we don't have yet another solo movie about him.

Oh Warner Bros. and DC... you just can't catch a break.













*via Variety

National Treasure 3 is still happening

Or so they say.

The third installment of National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage, was rumored to be released in December 2011. That obviously didn't happen and the expected release was shifted to December 2013. It is already nearing the end of October and we still have no National Treasure 3. It hasn't even entered full pre-production yet. So what is going on with this movie?

Well, director Joe Turteltaub is insistent that a script is being worked on. He and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are still hopeful that the film will happen by 2015. Turteltaub cites the difficulty of creating a great mystery that is based on historical fact. Not to mention the difficulty of not just recreating the previous two movies. Everyone wants the movie to happen, but no one can seem to get a legitimate script put together. It was already two years ago that Brian Koppelman and David Levien were hired to write the script for National Treasure 3 and we still have nothing.

Maybe this would be the appropriate time to hang it up and just leave it alone. I personally am not a fan of the National Treasure movies, so I wouldn't really care if the third one never happened.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Ben Whishaw eyed for Freddie Mercury biopic

After the departure of Sacha Baron Cohen in the planned Freddie Mercury biopic the question has been who will step in and play Mercury. Well, Queen drummer Roger Taylor gave some insight on who the band wants to star in the movie.

Taylor stated that the band is hoping that 33-year old Ben Whishaw will step in and play Freddie Mercury. Whishaw previously played Q in Skyfall and had a role in Cloud Atlas. If he is cast he will be replacing Sacha Baron Cohen who departed in July due to creative differences with the band. Word was that Queen wanted to make the movie a PG-rated, family friendly movie and Cohen didn't see it that way. However, the band tells a different story claiming they felt Cohen would distract viewers from the movie due to the fact that his performances are so unique to him.


I still just don't want this to happen. I hope the whole project bombs out.


[Rumor] Tim Burton in talks for Beetlejuice 2

Beetlejuice 2 has been in negotiations for a couple years now and it kind of fell off the radar as of late. The project has revived a bit with news that director Tim Burton is apparently in talks to return to direct the sequel. Burton directed the original Beetlejuice back in 1988. Burton has stated his potential involvement depended on the quality of the screenplay being written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Apparently the script must be acceptable to Burton.
Filming for Big Eyes just wrapped and Burton is expected to direct Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Reports are saying his next film most likely won't be Beetlejuice 2, but his flirtation with the project is getting more serious.

Along with the rumored return of Tim Burton, it is also being rumored that Michael Keaton could return and reprise the role of Beetlejuice. Keaton has previously stated that he would love to reprise the role and would "do it in a heartbeat."


I don't even want this sequel to happen, but I will say that it makes me a tiny bit more comfortable with it if both Burton and Keaton return for the project.


Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Fifth Estate has worst opening of 2013

Yeah, did you guys catch The Fifth Estate? Well no one else did either.

The film about the famed WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, only brought in $1.7 million this weekend at the box office. It directly faced off against Carrie and Escape Plan and both films, including previous releases of Gravity and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, beat out The Fifth Estate in a landslide.
The Fifth Estate has now beat out previous worst opening weekends for Paranoia, Movie 43, and Getaway as they all made more money at the box office. The math evens out to a gross of less than $1,000 per theater. If you figure the average movie ticket is around $8-$10 that isn't a whole lot. The film cost Dreamworks $29 million to produce and had a rather big name star with Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness).


I don't see this as very surprising. I didn't even know what The Fifth Estate was about until a couple weeks ago. The marketing was terrible and the subject matter shouldn't have even been touched so soon. No one wants to go see a movie about WikiLeaks.


Friday, October 18, 2013

Carrie - Review

In this revamp of the horror classic, a social outcast teenager is pushed to unleash her telekinetic powers onto her peers and her overbearing mother after being tricked for the last time at her senior prom in Carrie.


I wouldn't say that I was necessarily excited for Carrie, but I was looking forward to seeing it. First of all, the 1976 Carrie is by far one of my favorite movies. Not to mention the fact that I love the original book by Stephen King. I will admit that after seeing the first teaser I was a bit concerned and even after seeing the full trailer I wasn't too pro on this remake. However, I did say I would see it. Now that I have seen it I wouldn't say it was completely atrocious, but it was pretty darn bad.

I want to start off by saying something that I said a long time ago: Chloe Moretz is too pretty to be Carrie White. Seriously, she is a really cute girl and appears to be very lively. Carrie is not lively and is supposed to be fairly plain and not necessarily pretty. This was an issue for me throughout the entire movie. Even when they attempted to make Moretz appear plain and a little ragged it didn't work. If they were determined to put her in this movie I would have given her the role of Sue Snell. But she was Carrie and I wouldn't say she did a terrible job but she wasn't on par with what she has done in the past. I have a fairly high expectation from Chloe Moretz because she is that good. In this movie I think she was held back and it was an unfortunate case of bad direction and a poor script. Her sweetness is believable and even the creepiness, but for some reason it didn't all come together. She was definitely just out of her element.
Julianne Moore did a fantastic job, though. She played Margaret White wonderfully. Not the same as Piper Laurie, obviously, but she did it good. As for the rest of the cast I wouldn't compliment any of them, especially Judy Greer. I really like Greer and I think she is a great comic actress, but she was so bland and flat in this movie. Comparing her to the original gym teacher played by Betty Buckley it was borderline insulting. Billy Nolan was a waste of a character in this one, too. Alex Russell probably has a grand total of 5min of screentime.
As far as direction goes, I think Kimberly Peirce really missed the mark here. She was coming off a great movie with Boys Don't Cry, but I have to remind myself that was 14 years ago already. Peirce hasn't directed since 2008 with the military drama Stop-Loss and I'm beginning to think there is a reason she only has three major films under her belt.
One thing that I thought would bother me that surprisingly didn't was bringing the story into the present day. Yes, the kids had cell phones and video cameras and the cliques were a lot more pronounced but I wouldn't say it didn't work. I thought it worked pretty well. The beginning "plug it up" scene played into the whole movie due to the fact that Chris Hargensen recorded everything on her cell phone and posted it online. It brought it up to the times and it was believable.

Now I must mention what really irked me and unfortunately there are spoilers, so if you haven't seen Carrie yet and don't want to know... go away and come back after you've seen it!








Last chance.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones first trailer



Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the spin-off to the first four Paranormal Activity films. It is breaking suit from the series not only because it is being released outside of October, but it is the first one to focus on characters outside of Katie's family. Or so it seems. It also has a Latino cast. From what it seems in the trailer, the lead character is connected to Katie and Kristi in some way.
I think this looks miles beyond the previous movies for the sheer fact that it doesn't appear to be a sleeping film. By that I mean continuously watching the characters sleep in night vision while nothing exciting happens until the last 10min of the movie. I personally hate the Paranormal Activity movies so I doubt I will see this in theaters, but I am sure I will see it at some point on DVD.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones will be in theaters on January 3, 2014.




















#TheMarkedOnes

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Damon Lindelof leaves Twitter

Have the internet haters actually accomplished something?

TV veteran writer Damon Lindelof, mostly known for penning the J.J. Abrams show Lost, has abruptly left Twitter and deleted his account. The scribe has come under fire in recent years not only for his atrocious ending to Lost, but basic failures at the box office and with fans including Prometheus, Cowboys & Aliens, and World War Z.
Lindelof's Twitter had recently been flooded with "haters" and detractors after the series finale of Breaking Bad. Some users going far enough to tell Lindelof to take notes from the finale so he can write a decent screenplay. After his Twitter was deactivated people came out in pretty decent numbers to still mock and taunt Lindelof. One reader went to Bitter Script and tweeted, "THAT'S how @DamonLindelof ends his run on Twitter? Gotta say, I'm underwhelmed and angry. I bet he didn't have that planned from the start."
People are fairly shocked that Lindelof left Twitter. He was funny, generous with replies, and fed a lot of the trolling himself. However, he was an easy target and apparently he knew it. He also acknowledged the disappointment viewers had with Lost once tweeting, "In related news, my therapist just hit the jackpot."


I think this is hilarious. I personally find Lindelof overrated and overused and if he can't take the heat he needs to get out of the kitchen. All the guy had going for him was Lost and he pissed off the entire fanbase with the finale.


Justin Bieber joins Christmas day releases

The new Justin Bieber concert documentary, Believe, has decided to crash the Christmas day box office joining the already crammed schedule including Jack Ryan, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Grudge Match, and Ronan 47. The new Meryl Streep drama August: Osage County will also open in limited release the same day.

The Bieber film has Jon M. Chu returning to direct. This move isn't surprising as Bieber's 2011 concert film, Never Say Never, made over $100 million at the box office and brought the young fangirls to the theaters in droves. Bieber will also be releasing a new song the week prior to the film's release.





I didn't even know this little punk kid had another movie being made. When is it going to stop? I am tired of the band films. These should be direct-to-dvd releases or paired with deluxe editions of CDs. That's what they used to be.
My guess is at least one of these movies is going to be shifted on the schedule. That is way too many movies to be released on one day, especially Christmas day.

Charlie Hunnam cites creative differences for 50 Shades departure

Previously when it was announced that Charlie Hunnam had dropped out of Fifty Shades of Grey it was due to scheduling difficulties citing that he would not have proper time to juggle Sons of Anarchy with prepping for the film. It seems that the scheduling conflicts were just some of the problem because now the story has changed.

Hunnam now cites creative differences as reasoning for suddenly dropping out of the film after being cast for less than a month. These differences caused him to turn down $125,000 payday, so they must have been pretty strong. It also appears that Hunnam was submitting his own script notes and demanding more script control after his notes were not taken and/or approved.
His departure has created a lot of problems with the filming schedule. The studio is frantically trying to find a new Christian Grey so they can make the November 1st start to principle photography and still release the film on August 1, 2014. It is notable to mention that Dakota Johnson is still set to play Anastasia Steele and the current frontrunners for Christian Grey are Jamie Dorner, Christian Cooke, and Alexander Skarsgard. The studio is confident they can still make the release date, but they may be forced to delay production a week or so while the casting search continues.
Whoever is cast must prepare for the sudden fandom. It is also suspected that the fandom added to Hunnam's decision to leave the project. He already had to hire extra security for his Sons of Anarchy appearances and has had to cancel appearances already. Allow me to repeat that he had only been cast less than a month and already that was happening.


If all goes according to plan, Fifty Shades of Grey will be released on August 1, 2014. It is to be directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Paramount at odds with Darren Aronofsky

Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic, Noah, has hit a crossroads with Paramount Pictures. After disappointing test screenings of the film, Paramount is wanting to change the final cut of the film and Aronofsky is not too pro on the idea. He has enjoyed success, including Oscar attention, from films such as Black Swan, The Wrestler, and Requiem for a Dream. However, his independent style is clashing with a company that wants a blockbuster hit at the box office.

Noah had a budget of $130 million and managed to draw an impressive cast including Russell Crowe, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, and Anthony Hopkins. Given the subject matter, Paramount chose to do the test screenings with largely religious audiences including a screening in a largely Jewish area in New York, a mostly Christian audience in Arizona, and a control group in Orange County. All three areas reported concerns and troubling responses from the viewers and has prompted the studio to want to change the film. Darren Aronofsky has been unresponsive so far.

At this point there is no telling how this one will end or if Noah will make its planned release date on March 28, 2014.

Poehler and Fey to host Golden Globes in 2014 and 2015

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler certainly made an impression with their hosting chops earlier this year. The SNL alums have been booked to return as hosts for the Golden Globes in 2014 and 2015. This comes after the pair set a 6-year high in ratings drawing in a total of $19 million viewers.

All I have to say is I hope you liked them because they're back! I'm just happy Ricky Gervais won't host.


Nick Robinson in talks for Jurassic World

We just had a casting announcement for Ty Simpkins and previously one for Bryce Dallas Howard. We now have news that Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer) is in talks for a role in Jurassic World. The 18-year old is apparently being sought after to play Simpkins' older brother.If you didn't see The Kings of Summer and are a television watcher, you might have seen him on Melissa & Joey as he is a regular cast member there.
In addition to Robinson, it appears that Jake Johnson (New Girl) is up for an unspecified role as well. I know this guy from No Strings Attached because I don't watch New Girl.


I have personally never seen Nick Robinson so I don't know what to expect from him, but apparently his role in The Kings of Summer was pretty good. I like that they aren't going for typical blockbuster actors, so we will see how this ensemble ends up. 



Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow, is set to hit theaters on June 12, 2015.

World War Z - Review

A former UN investigator is called back into duty as a fast spreading zombie pandemic begins to overrun the human population in World War Z.


I skipped World War Z in theaters because of the disaster it was in the making. The reshoots, delayed release, rewrites, etc.. Not to mention I heard many mixed reviews once it did come out. I heard a majority of people say it was not good to start off with. Then it morphed into people saying if you didn't read Max Brooks' novel you will love it. However, if you did read the book you will hate it. Let me start off by saying I did read the book.
With that said, I did not like this movie and it wasn't just because they seemed to use the book title only. The script was terrible, it was mostly ADR dialogue and it was obvious, the characters had practically no development, the story had very little development, and the zombies were atrocious. It was like the zombies were track stars and stuntmen at the same time. That and the fact that a majority of them were CGI.

As far as the story goes, as I said it was very underdeveloped. They just threw us right into this movie and dragged us along for the ride. The script was badly written and I can't even imagine what the script was like before all the rewrites. I also have a gripe that it was all fairly unrealistic. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't think the United States military would depend on the United Nations to save the human race. They would rely on their own; Army Rangers, Navy Seals, USMC Scouts, etc..
It was all just a stretch. Brad Pitt's character going to Israel and managing to escape on a random airplane and crash landing real close to the World Health organization, and surviving a steel spike wound that stabbed right through his body, was ridiculous. That spike would have ruptured many of his vital organs and killed him, I have no doubt. Plus he was walking around just fine after it was removed like nothing happened.

I can't even continue this review. I hated World War Z so much. The events in the book were not even touched on in the movie. They used the title and the main character and raped the rest of the storyline.

Ugh, what a mess. I'm glad I didn't see this in theaters.





Frontrunners for Ant-Man revealed

Everyone who was hoping for Simon Pegg needs to sit down to prepare for some pretty unsurprising news.

The frontrunners to lead Edgar Wright's Ant-Man are apparently Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Surprise? No. It seems that these two are in just about everything these days.
It is being reported that both Gordon-Levitt and Rudd are going to meet with Edgar Wright and Marvel executives once more before a decision is made. The role of Ant-Man (aka, Hank Pym) is that of a brilliant scientist who invented a substance giving him the ability to shrink in size as his own will. Wright is apparently searching for a normal looking actor with a witty sense of humor.


Monday, October 14, 2013

Replacements for Charlie Hunnam rumored for Fifty Shades of Grey

Since news broke of Charlie Hunnam dropping out of Fifty Shades of Grey the internet has been buzzing about who will replace him. And of course the calls and demands for Matt Bomer have come back in full force.
We now have new rumors that Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) and Jamie Dornan (The Fall). The studio is also exploring former options such as Theo James (Divergent) and Christian Cooke (Magic City). Previously rumored was Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), but he is officially out of the running due to scheduling conflicts.

In addition to the casting crunch, director Sam Taylor-Johnson has hired Patrick Marber to do a final rewrite of the script. It is guessed that this rewrite will occur to polish the script to whoever is re-cast as Christian Grey.

Either way a replacement for Hunnam needs to be locked down fast or else the release date may not happen. The current release date for Fifty Shades of Grey is August 1, 2014. Production was supposed to start later this month so we will see how this one goes. My guess is they are going to have to push this one back a couple months so they can find a replacement and allow them to fully prepare for everything. Out of the above choices I think I would pick Alexander Skarsgard due to his overall physical appearance, but at the same time I don't want it because he has a promising career. Whoever is cast in this movie will see their career get flushed down the toilet.

Ty Simpkins lands lead role in Jurassic World

Ty Simpkins (Insidious) has landed a lead role for Jurassic World, the upcoming fourth installment to the Jurassic Park series. This makes it obvious that they will continue the dinosaurs terrorizing of the children.

In addition to the casting of Simpkins, it was announced a week or so ago that Bryce Dallas Howard had entered negotiations for a lead role as well.


Avatar coming to Disney World in 2017

James Cameron's 2009 feature Avatar has inspired a new land at Walt Disney World in Florida. The new "Avatar Land" is planned to open at Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2017. The land will offer new rides, entertainment, nighttime shows, shopping, dining, and presumably the chance to meet the Na'vi, the inhabitants on the planet Pandora. The announcement was made at the Tokyo D23 Expo this past weekend and comes as James Cameron is prepping work for the first Avatar sequel scheduled for release in 2016. There will be a total of three sequels. It is also expected that the land will focus on the first and second sequel and not just the original 2009 film.

Cameron and Disney Imagineers unveiled some concept art along with an explanation of the new land.



This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. First off, I didn't even know Disney had rights to Avatar. This is something I would expect from Universal Studios, not Disney. However, this will add a lot of stock in the attraction sparse Animal Kingdom park. Avatar Land will join Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, and Dinosaur.






Sunday, October 13, 2013

Madonna texts during 12 Years a Slave premiere

I normally wouldn't post about this but I found it hilarious.

Madonna attended the premiere of 12 Years a Slave at the New York Film Festival and promptly texted throughout the whole film. A fellow moviegoer asked that she put her phone away and Madonna claimed it was required for business and called the woman an "enslaver." After the movie was over she ducked out of the theater quickly and is now being dubbed the "worst person in America" by the Hollywood elite that attended.

As a result of her apparent rudeness and entitled behavior, Alamo Drafthouse president Tim League announced that Madonna is no longer welcome at Alamo Drafthouse cinemas calling her "unbearably rude to others."


12 Years a Slave stars Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Egiofor, and Quvenzhane Wallis. It hits theaters on October 18th.

Gravity - Review

After a Russian satellite is destroyed, two surviving members of an American space crew drift into space as they struggle to make it back to earth in Gravity.



I didn't know much about Gravity until just recently. The only thing I knew was that Natalie Portman had been attached at one time but either dropped out or wasn't officially cast. I got interested after seeing the first previews surfaced and I finally did get to see it today. All I can say is I sense some Oscars coming their way.

I liked just about everything about this movie. It had great effects (repeat, great effects), amazing sound design, and great acting. I was a bit concerned about watching a movie that only had two actors in it, but it worked great. Sandra Bullock knocked it out of the park and George Clooney was a great support for her.
The only thing I would have loved is if the movie was a little bit longer. Because it was only 94 minutes there was a lot that could have been expanded on that wasn't. For example, the mission itself. You get that the mission was to put some new software on the Hubble Telescope but that was it. You don't really get why Sandra Bullock's character was hired by NASA, you don't really learn what kind of doctor she was, etc.. You also don't find out a whole lot about Clooney's character except for the fact that this was going to be his last mission before retirement.

But despite the minor issues with the plot I did like Gravity a lot. It was played out very smoothly and was very high anxiety for the audience. It kept me interested and stressed. Well done.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Teen Wolf renewed for fourth season

MTV has renewed its werewolf drama Teen Wolf for a fourth season. In addition to a new season they will be launching an aftershow, Wolf Watch. The aftershow seems to be the newest television trend. MTV has them for just about every show they air and AMC has banked on aftershows for The Walking Dead (Talking Dead) and Breaking Bad (Talking Bad), both hosted by Chris Hardwicke. Wolf Watch will be hosted by series veteran Jill Wagner.

This announcement comes at New York Comic-Con after Teen Wolf just wrapped up their most watched season to date. It will join the network's teen comedy, Awkward, as it was just renewed for a fourth season as well.


I tried watching Teen Wolf and quit halfway through the pilot episode. I'm surprised that it's lasted this long, but at the same time I'm not.


Fifty Shades of Grey loses Charlie Hunnam

All the fangirls who were complaining can rejoice all at once.

Charlie Hunnam was the lucky one to sign on last month to play Christian Grey in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. However, he has reportedly dropped out of the project.
Universal released the following statement:
“The filmmakers of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”


Filming for the adaptation was supposed to begin later this month to meet the August 1, 2014 release date, but with this announcement that could change if they can't find an immediate replacement for Hunnam. This does make sense as Hunnam has a very busy schedule with Sons of Anarchy and that role requires him to maintain a specific look for an extended period of time.
I'm not upset that he dropped out because I think this movie would have ruined his career. Bottom line. He can do better things and not have the Fifty Shades stigma looming over him like Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are still living with the Twilight stigma. It lasts a long time. Hell, people still pigeonhole Sigourney Weaver for Alien and that came out in 1979.

How much you want to bet people are going to immediately go out and start demanding Matt Bomer again.


Adios, Charlie. You have chosen wisely. 


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to get full season

ABC has ordered 9 more episodes from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to round out a full 22-episode season. The superhero based show is being boasted as one of the best new shows on television and opened as the highest rated show in four years averaging around $7 million viewers per episode. This will mark Joss Whedon's first full season since The WB yanked Angel off the air in 2004 and Dollhouse went off after two seasons.

Agents becomes the third fall premiere show to be picked up for a full season. Others include Sleepy Hollow on Fox and The Blacklist on NBC. 


Archer takes you into the Danger Zone for Season 5 promo

Seriously, call Kenny Loggins cause you're in the danger zone... from Top Gun!


This is the best thing I have ever seen. Archer returns in January 2014 on FX. Now excuse me while I go watch it again.

[Updated] Chris Pine may join Horrible Bosses 2

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) and Chris Pine (Star Trek) is apparently being courted by the studio to star as a father/son pair of horrible employers in Horrible Bosses 2. Speculators are guessing Waltz will most likely turn the project down due to scheduling conflicts, but there is no word on whether Pine is interested or not.

I think this sounds too similar to the pairing of Donald Sutherland and Colin Farrell in the first movie, except in the first one Sutherland was a good boss but died and left the company to his "dipshit, coke-head son."

Horrible Bosses 2 has Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day all returning. It is set for release on November 26, 2014.

[UPDATE] Chris Pine has been confirmed for Horrible Bosses 2 as of October 14th. He will play one half of a father and son team that steals a main character's idea for an invention. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Curse of Chucky - Review

Curse of Chucky reunites us with the famous, possessed Good Guy doll as he unleashes mayhem onto a new family.


I saw a preview for Curse of Chucky a couple months back and figured I would watch it just because I have seen all the Child's Play movies. I wasn't expecting it to be good and I wouldn't say this movie was necessarily good, but it was enjoyable.

Beware, this will contain spoilers.



The characters were fairly weak and you didn't really learn who they were until the movie was toward the end and the acting wasn't great either, but it fit with a typical direct-to-dvd horror movie. I recognized Fiona Dourif because she was in True Blood for a while. It's always nice to have Brad Dourif back, too. Although he was seen more as a human in this movie than the voice of Chucky.

I did fairly enjoy this movie because it was hilarious and entertaining (for me), but there were things that I didn't like.

1. The whole thing with Charles Lee Ray being obsessed with the daughters' mom and that's the reason he was killed in the toy store... dumbest thing ever. I re-watched Child's Play and it doesn't make sense. That means someone was friends with a serial killer.
2. I didn't like the whole lesbian storyline between the mom and the nanny. I thought that was stupid.
3. The new CGI, animated Chucky doll was weird looking. It took away from the classic doll movements seen in the previous movies.
4. The husband was an idiot.
5. The police officer that bites it in the end had practically no relevance at all and was hardly seen.

However, I do have to admit that I loved when Jennifer Tilly showed up again. I wasn't expecting it, although I should have, but that surprised me pretty good. The reveal that Tiffany was back in her own body sending Chucky off to new families was great.

Overall not the best movie, obviously, but it was enjoyable. I would probably watch it again if I was bored enough.




Tuesday, October 8, 2013

First clip from Toy Story of Terror emerges

Toy Story of Terror doesn't premiere until next week, but we now have the first clip from the new Halloween short. The short finds the Toy Story group with Bonnie as she takes them along on a road trip. After the car breaks down, they check into a spooky motel and one of the toys goes missing.


Toy Story of Terror premieres on ABC on October 16th.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Gravity shatters October box office records

Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity has opened to a record breaking box office weekend. The space drama opened to $55.5 million making it the biggest opener for both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Bullock's closest opening weekend is The Heat which opened to $39 million and Clooney's is Batman & Robin which opened to $42 million.

The real frontrunner here is the film's 3D option. 3D theaters accounted for $44 million of the film's revenue. IMAX screens also made the impact with $11 million of the total sales. The 3D also shined overseas as 3D income accounted for 70% of the film's $27 million international weekend. Having over 80% of the opening weekend be because of 3D makes Gravity the biggest 3D opener in box office history ahead of Ang Lee's Life of Pi (68%) and James Cameron's Avatar (72%). 


Friday, October 4, 2013

Horns obtains distribution; release set for 2014

The new Daniel Radcliffe supernatural thriller, Horns, has obtained distribution by Dimension Films and RADiUS-TWC and is set for release in 2014. Horns debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and is directed by Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D).

Horns tells the story of a small-town man, Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe), who is accused of the rape and murder of his girlfriend (Juno Temple). Shortly after he awakens with giant horns on his head. The film also stars Heather Graham, Joe Anderson, and James Remar. It got pretty decent reviews at Sundance, so it will be interesting to actually see what this one is all about.




Saoirse Ronan uses a lightsaber?

This is just getting worse.

News broke a while back that Saoirse Ronan had read for Star Wars: Episode VII, but of course no one has been officially cast yet. She has now elaborated on her audition and stated that she used a lightsaber. However, she didn't see a script.


Well then.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Conjuring now the third highest grossing supernatural film

In case you were confused on how good The Conjuring was, let this give you some insight.

James Wan's The Conjuring is now the third highest grossing supernatural horror film. It is directly behind The Exorcist and The Sixth Sense. That is including the international box office. Without the international numbers it is currently behind The Exorcist, The Sixth Sense, What Lies Beneath, and The Blair Witch Project. It is currently only $3 million away from knocking Blair Witch out of fourth place.

Why is this such a big deal? It proves that horror can be a box office hit and isn't just for a cult genre of fans. It also shows that horror can work in the summer and not just around Halloween.


The Conjuring was fantastic so this makes me very happy. I can't say enough good things about this movie.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Ted 2 set for June 2015 release

Seth MacFarlane's sequel to 2012's Ted, appropriately titled Ted 2, will hit theaters on June 26, 2015.

Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, told the story of a man living with a teddy bear who came to life when he was a young boy. It was Universal's biggest hit in 2012 making $550 million at the box office. MacFarlane will return to voice Ted and will also be writing and directing the sequel.
The sequel will join a very busy 2015 schedule including Jurassic World, Inside Out, Assassin's Creed, The Terminator, and Independence Day 2. Ted 2 will hit just 2 weeks before Universal's Despicable Me spin-off, Minions.

I personally hated Ted, so this is definitely a 2015 release I will be skipping.



Focus Features will absorb FilmDistrict

Universal has announced that the subdivision, Focus Features, will be absorbing FilmDistrict. The reasoning behind the move is FilmDistrict CEO, Peter Schlessel, taking over for Focus Features. This will give Focus the opportunity to release a wide variety of films and increase them to at least 10 films per year. All FilmDistrict films released after January 2014 will be released as Focus Features.

This year Focus only had four releases this year (Admission, The World's End, Closed Circuit, and The Place Beyond the Pines), and they are looking forward to absorbing the specialty projects FilmDistrict has enjoyed such as Insidious, Evil Dead, and Drive.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

World of Warcraft film set for 2015

Add another movie to the long list of 2015 releases.

Legendary Pictures and Universal have announced their intent to release Warcraft on December 18, 2015. The film is indeed based off the popular computer game World of Warcraft. The Duncan Jones film will compete directly with Ron Howard's Inferno and could potentially compete with Star Wars: Episode VII as the film is expected to announce a December 2015 release.
Recent news reported that Paula Patton was in negotiations for a lead role. Other sources are saying Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Paul Dano, or Anson Mount could join her as a male lead.

This release comes after Legendary decided to break ties with Warner Bros. earlier this summer.


Paramount eliminates 110 positions; layoffs in marketing, finance, and more

I guess distributing Michael Bay movies has finally taken its toll on Paramount.

The company announced they are eliminating 110 positions from the company including spots in finance, IT, legal, and marketing. This follows previous layoffs Paramount made in 2008 where they reduced their workforce by 7% across the board.
This also follows a rather low income year for the studio. Ironically enough, the biggest hit they had this year was World War Z which brought in over $500 million at the box office. It is joined by flops such as Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and Pain & Gain. Despite the flops Paramount is expected to end on top with the releases of Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Anchorman: The Legend Continues. Marketing is currently working on campaigns for these films, but seeing that the marketing department is suffering layoffs who knows how in depth the campaigns will be.

In addition to Paramount layoffs, NBC announced that NBC Digital will be reducing their workforce by 5%. Not a great time to work in the entertainment industry, I guess.

Mark Gordon planning to revive Chronicles of Narnia

It has been three years since we got the third Chronicles of Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and it appeared that the film series had faded away and died. The first film of the existing trilogy, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, was a hit but it proved to be difficult to keep an audience.

We now have word that the Mark Gordon Company has paired with the C.S. Lewis Company and is taking over for Walden Media with their intention to finally release the fourth installment, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. Walden Media had previously announced, while they were still attached, that they wanted to skip ahead to the sixth book, The Magician's Nephew. However, Walden Media and Narnia seemed to fade altogether giving no reason for another film.
The Silver Chair brings us less than a year ahead but decades ahead in Narnia. Aslan calls Eustace Stubb and Jill Pole back to help find Prince Caspian's son, Prince Rilian.


There is currently no writer or director attached along with no word on whether any previous cast members will be returning for a fourth installment.
The Mark Gordon Company has produced a number of films and television shows including Saving Private Ryan, Source Code, The Patriot, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Army Wives.







I am personally very excited for this. I love The Chronicles of Narnia and liked the movies as well. I was wondering when they would finally release a fourth movie.