Monday, June 2, 2014

6-2-14 Movie News

        Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is some movie news with some of my thoughts and opinions (which will be in BOLD print). So without further ado...


(NOTE: All of these stories come from comingsoon.net)


        Lupita Nyong'o joins the recently announced cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. This year, her breakthrough performance in 12 Years a Slave earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gwendoline Christie, currently starring in the hit television series "Game of Thrones" as Brienne of Tarth, has also been cast in the production. She can next be seen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.

        "I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of 'Episode VII,'" says Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "It's thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape."

        Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the Saga Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

        This is great and exciting news. After watching 12 Years A Slave I'm a huge fan of Lupita Nyong'o and I can't wait to see her in Star Wars: Episode 7. Now as for Gwendoline Christie I can't really say much about her since I'm not a huge fan of Game of Thrones, but this is great to have an even  more divesre cast for the film. 



        Speaking of Star Wars, Last month, production officially kicked off on Star Wars: Episode VII in the Abu Dhabi desert and director J.J. Abrams even treated us to a sneak peek of the set in a video. The production has since moved to Pinewood Studios in London where it will finish up the rest of the shoot, but TMZ  has managed to get their hands on over 40 photos (which you can check out here) from the Abu Dhabi set which include close-up shots of some extras, props, sets, and new creatures.

        These set photos are awesome. I'm excited that we are getting more Star Wars news after not getting any for more than a year. Nobody knows how excited I am for this film. Can it just be December 18th, 2015 already.



        Never one to shy away from contemporary nonfiction, W. and World Trade Center helmer Oliver Stone is now planning to adapt for the big screen Luke Harding's recent book, "The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man." The Guardian has the news, reporting that production is planned to begin before the close of the year. The book, from the newspaper's own correspondent, was published earlier this year with the following official description.

        It began with a tantalizing, anonymous e-mail: "I am a senior member of the intelligence community." What followed was the most spectacular intelligence breach ever, brought about by one extraordinary man. Edward Snowden was a 29-year-old computer genius working for the National Security Agency when he shocked the world by exposing the near-universal mass surveillance programs of the United States government. His whistleblowing has shaken the leaders of nations worldwide, and generated a passionate public debate on the dangers of global monitoring and the threat to individual privacy.

        In a tour de force of investigative journalism that reads like a spy novel, award-winning Guardian reporter Luke Harding tells Snowden’s astonishing story—from the day he left his glamorous girlfriend in Honolulu carrying a hard drive full of secrets, to the weeks of his secret-spilling in Hong Kong, to his battle for asylum and his exile in Moscow. For the first time, Harding brings together the many sources and strands of the story—touching on everything from concerns about domestic spying to the complicity of the tech sector—while also placing us in the room with Edward Snowden himself. The result is a gripping insider narrative—and a necessary and timely account of what is at stake for all of us in the new digital age.

        The Snowden Files will be racing to the big screen against another project set up at Sony Pictures. That film, announced last month, is based on Glenn Greenwald's (also a reporter with The Guardian) Pulitzer Prize-winning "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State."

        This is pretty interesting news. I'm a huge fan of Oliver Stone's work and this seems like a perfect fit for his next project. Whatever you say about Edward Snowden good or bad, it's still an interesting story to be told on the big screen and I'm excited to see what Stone does with the story. 



        Warrior helmer Gavin O'Connor has, according to Variety, lined up a new project in Massacre in the Himalayas, a big screen adaptation of reporter Freddie Wilkinson's true account of how a group of climbers came under attack by Pakistani terrorists and how one man, Zhang Jingchuan, managed to survive. You can read the report in its entirety at Men's Journal.

        O'Connor most recently took over the troubled production Jane Got a Gun after the formerly-attached Lynne Ramsay refused to direct. Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Rodrigo Santoro, Noah Emmerich and Ewan McGregor star in the western, which is now slated for release on February 20, 2015.

        This is really cool news to hear. I'm a huge fan of Warrior and what he was able to do with that film. This film sounds like it's right up his alley and I can;t wait to see what he does with the film and story. 



        With just over two months to go before Paramount Pictures' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits the big screen, toy-centric blog Idle Hands has posted images from this month's book, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History," which, as part of its celebration of the many iterations of the franchise, showcase concept art for the new big screen versions of Shredder and Master Splinter. Check them out below and click on the images for even more over at Idle Hands!

        In the August 8 release, starring Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn, Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub and William Fichtner, darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O'Neil (Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan.



        These concept art pieces look really good. If the characters look this good in the film then I'm actually a little bit more excited for the film. Look I know that people have doubts about the film, but I'm actually looking forward to it and I can't wait to see it.


        So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, which of these stories peaked your interest or was there another story that interested you? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                                         Jonah Sparks

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