Tuesday, April 22, 2014

4-22-14 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)



        Although Attack the Block helmer Joe Cornish's name has been said to be in the running for the gig, Variety today reports that writer/producer Roberto Orci is after the director's chair on the upcoming thirteenth Star Trek feature film. The trade adds that Orci has the full support of Bad Robot, but that Paramount Pictures isn't necessarily sold on someone without big screen directing experience. Orci is nevertheless splitting creatively from his former writing and producing partner Alex Kurtzman, who himself is slated to helm Sony Pictures' Venom. Kurtzman, who will continue to produce but not write along Orci, previously directed the indie drama People Like Us, which Orci co-scripted.

        There's no announced timeframe for the next Star Trek film as of yet, but the franchise will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016. If the plan is to have a film in theaters to tie into the occasion, a director is likely to be confirmed in the very near future.

        I'm really to hear this news. I've known that a Stark Trek 3 was coming in 2016, but hearing Roberto Orci's name being mentioned sounds awesome. The man has helped write the past two Star Trek films so he knows what is going on. The one concern for me though is that this would be his directorial debut and it makes me a little skeptical. 




        The Walt Disney Studios controls some of the most popular film franchises on the planet. From Star Wars: Episode VII to the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fan-favorite films are coming out of one place. Very few people there can actually speak about the progress on all these films, except one man, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Horn was speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival today in New York (via Bloomberg) and had a lot to say about some of the juggernauts in the Disney stable.

        First, Star Wars: Episode VII, which Horn says has nearly completed casting, but they're not ready to announce it just yet."We're not prepared to announce it yet but we will be very shortly announcing what we're doing....We did some second unit work in Abu Dhabi and other places, because we have all these locations we have to film and we have to give it that "Star Warsian," if I can use that as an adjective, look. So we needed to go to different places that give us the right look and feel and we did have second unit work shooting already but we haven't commenced the main part of principle photography yet."

        I'm really getting Star Wars fatigued. I've heard enough rumors to last me a lifetime that concern casting for the film. If they don't announce on May 4th or at the upcoming annual Star Wars celebration then we may never hear an announcement. I'm really excited for the film but honestly just go ahead and get it over with.



        Having just recently joined the ranks of Twitter, Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr. has delivered the first official photo from the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron featuring the actor and executive producer Jeremy Latcham. While there's not much to the actual photo, perhaps Downey will be following in the footsteps of Dwayne Johnson on the Hercules set and bring us images from time to time?In other "Avengers" news, Nuke the Fridge has confirmed with former "The Incredible Hulk" Lou Ferrigno that he will be returning to voice the big green guy in the 2015 release. Ferrigno previously provided the voice for the Hulk in 2012's The Avengers, the 2008 release The Incredible Hulk, as well as Ang Lee's 2003 film HULK.

        Currently in production, the film also stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Kretschmann, Paul Bettany, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and James Spader. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, Avengers: Age of Ultron will hit theaters on May 1, 2015.​

downey avengers set

        It's great hearing all of The Avengers news. It's just great to know that a filmis finally in poroduction and I'll guarantee that we'll see more photos from the set. Also hearing that Lou Ferrigno is coming back to voice is good to hear. I mean he is the hulk so i'm glad that they are continuing the tradition. 



        The comic strip science fiction hero Flash Gordon is heading back to the big screen! The Hollywood Reporter today brings word that 20th Century Fox has secured the big screen rights to the character, who celebrates his 80th anniversary this year.Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne (who are, alongside Roberto Orci, writing the next Star Trek feature film as well) will draft Flash Gordon, based on an outline by The Adjustment Bureau writer/director George Nolfi. There is no word yet on whether not Nolfi may be looking to direct.

        Created by Alex Raymond in 1934, Flash Gordon began life a serialized comic strip, following the intergalactic adventures of the titular hero, his fellow adventurer and love interest, Dale Arden, and brilliant scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. Together, the trio explore fantastic interplanetary locales like Mongo, home of the devilish Ming the Merciless.Tremendously popular in the late 1930s as trio of big screen serials, Flash Gordon has since been adapted for both the big and small screen in a variety of different forms. Director Mike Hodges' feature film (which boasted a soundtrack by Queen) failed to impress at the box office in 1980, but has since emerged as genuine cult classic. That film's star, Sam J. Jones, played homage to the character in Seth MacFarlane's 2012 comedy Ted.

        I'm really excited to hear this news. I'm a huge fan of Flash Gordon and I've been dying for a new film. The guys writing the film are also involved in writing the next Star Trek film so if that film is great then I have no doubt a Flash Gordon movie will work.



        Andrew Dominik's big screen adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde is moving forward with TheWrap today reporting that Jessica Chastain is in talks to play Norma Jeane Baker, aka Marilyn Monroe. The source material, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, was published in 2000 and is officially described as follows:

        She was an all-American girl who became a legend of unparalleled stature. She inspired the adoration of millions, and her life has beguiled generations of fans and fellow artists. The story of Norma Jeane Baker—better known by her studio name "Marilyn Monroe"—has been dissected for more than three decades, but never has it been captured in a narrative as breathtaking and transforming as Blonde. In her most ambitious work to date, Joyce Carol Oates, one of America's most distinguished writers, reimagines the inner, poetic, and spiritual life of Norma Jeane Baker—the child, the woman, the fated celebrity—and tells the story in Norma Jeane's own voice: startling, rich, and shattering. This most intimate portrait of Norma Jeane reveals a fragile, idiosyncratically gifted young woman who makes and remakes her identity, ever managing to survive against crushing odds to become the definition of stardom. Bit by bit, she tells her own epic story of how an emblematic American artist—perpetually conflicted and intensely driven—lost her way.


(photo courtesy of Brian To / WENN.com)

        If you want to get someone to play Marylin Monroe then Jessica Chastain is the perfect fit. I mean she is one of the most talented actresses working in the business today. Even while ,looking at the picture, they actually look very similar. I wouldn't have been interested in the film anyway, but now that Chastain will probably take the role, this has now certainly peaked my interest.


        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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