Sunday, October 26, 2014

Weekend Movie News 10-24-14 to 10-26-14

        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)


        The next entry in the Fast & Furious franchise is officially titled Furious 7 and will see a trailer released one week from today as part of a live event to be streamed online Saturday, November 1 at at 12pm PST and released an official synopsis which reads: Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Furious 7. James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favorites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black. They are joined by international action stars new to the franchise including Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell. Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel and Michael Fottrell return to produce the film written by Chris Morgan.

        The new title is a bit of a surprise given the confusion surrounding the title of the previous film. Although advertised as Fast & Furious 6, that film's actual onscreen title was Furious Six, a moniker that director Justin Lin confirmed to ComingSoon.net was the "actual" title. "It was always designed to be 'Fast Five' and 'Furious Six,'" Lin told us in an interview last year. "'Furious Six' was going to be a kind of culmination and wrap-up of 'Fast & Furious' itself. I had it that way and that's the way it's going to be."

        I really like this title. It gives a sense to the film that the main crew in the film is pissed and ready to take revenge for (SPOILER ALERT) Han's death (in the end credits scene in Fast 6). The film has a star-studded cast and I cannot wait to see the film and to see Paul Walker's last performance. Hopefully the trailer can continue my excitement.



        Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the writers and directors of The LEGO Movie have signed a deal to write the sequel for Warner Bros., according to Deadline. There's no word yet on whether they'll direct it as well again. The first film earned an impressive $468 million at the worldwide box office earlier this year on a budget of $60 million. Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman provided the voices.

        The sequel will be produced by Dan Lin and Roy Lee along with Lord and Miller, and Jill Wilfert, Matt Ashton, Chris McKay and Kara Lord Piersimoni are executive producing. Warner Bros.' Greg Silverman, Courtenay Valenti and Chris Defaria are overseeing the film for the studio. The studio had originally scheduled The LEGO Movie sequel for May 26, 2017 before announcing that The LEGO Batman Movie was being put on the fast track first for a release that year under the direction of Chris McKay. That movie will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith and feature the return of Will Arnett as the Dark Knight. The LEGO Movie sequel is now expected to hit theaters after 2017.

        This is really great news to hear. I feel that if Miller and Lord hadn't wrote/directed the first film then I don't think it would have been as successful as it was. To know that they'll be writing the sequel gets me excited and hopefully they come back to direct it.



        Although The Dark Knight trilogy helmer Christopher Nolan both provided the story and served as producer on Zack Snyder's apparent DC Cinematic Universe launcher Man of Steel, don't expect Nolan or his brother, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, to be eyeing any of the films on Warner Bros.' massive upcoming slate. "I love those guys and my brother was involved in 'Man of Steel' with Zack [Snyder] and David [Goyer]," Jonathan told ComingSoon.net today during the press junket for he and his brother's latest, Interstellar. "I kind of feel like that chapter for us is closed." He does not, however, rule out one day returning to a big screen DC Comics film. "To be continued somewhere farther down the line?" he asks with a smile. "Maybe."

        These are not shocking comments. Christopher Nolan has gone on record saying that The Dark Knight Rises was his last comic book film. Now he could change his mind, but for now we as fans just have to move on and accept that for the time being there will be no Nolan directed superhero film in the near future.



        David Ayer's recently-confirmed DC Comics adaptation Suicide Squad has, according to recent reports, targeted high profile talent like Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie and Will Smith. Now, Deadline reveals that Ayer is also looking to add Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg, continuing the arc of his Lex Luthor, set to debut in next year's Zack Snyder-helmed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru back in 1959, the Suicide Squad team has included countless DC villains among its ranks, including Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Bane, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy, Count Vertigo, Deathstroke, and Harley Quinn. The CW's "Arrow" introduced their own version of the team in the most recent season of the series and the recent animated film, Batman: Assault on Arkham, offered another version of the team.The line-up for "Task Force X" in the upcoming film is rumored to include the super strong Blockbuster, the self-replicating Multiplex, the speedster Jaculi, the illusion-casting Mindboggler, the original Captain Boomerang George Harkness, the animal mimicker Vixen, and Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot.Suicide Squad is currently set for release on August 5, 2016.

        I honestly don't know what to think about this news, On one hand I'm excited by the fact that Lex Luthor could be involved with the Suicide Squad, but I'm also skeptical. I say that because I don't know if Eisenberg will be able to do the film. I mean the man has a busy schedule (currently filming Batman v. Superman and getting ready to start on Now You See Me 2)and since the film comes out in 2016 he would have to start production on the film very soon. There is a possibility that he could go ahead and start filming his scenes for the film, but I just find it highly unlikely that he'll be involved with the film.



        While attending the Abu Dhabi Film Festival to collect a lifetime achievement award, veteran producer Edward R. Pressman told The Hollywood Reporter that production on his long-awaited remake of The Crow will begin production "in the spring" and boldly referred to it as "the anti-Spider-Man." "It still has a big fan base even though it was so long ago," Pressman said. "But the generation today doesn’t even know 'The Crow.'" In addition to Alex Proyas's original Crow and its many sequels, Pressman is also responsible for bringing pop culture properties like Conan the Barbarian, Masters of the Universe, Street Fighter and Judge Dredd to the screen.

        As for who will fill the shoes of original star Brandon Lee, who was tragically killed during shooting of the 1994 movie, Dracula Untold star Luke Evans is currently attached to wear the iconic makeup, having talked about the part and its fidelity to James O'Barr's original source material back in January."We just want to be as authentic and loyal to the original comic as possible," Evans stated, "and that means the story will be different. It’s not about us ripping off the Brandon Lee movie, that stands alone as a brilliant piece of cult film and a great performance, but we’re going back to the book, the original book. And that’s exciting because we’re bringing to the screen a lot of parts of the story that were never really told. I’m just prepping, it’s all very physical at the moment."

        Evans will star in the lead role of Eric, who will become The Crow after meeting an untimely demise. Set to be directed by F. Javier Gutierrez, the film features a script by Cliff Dorfman. Series creator James O’Barr will also work as a creative consultant on the film. No release date is currently set.

        I'm really glad to hear this news. Look if you know me, then you know how much I love The Crow and how special the performance of Brandon Lee is to me. I've really been wanting to see a remake simply because I want to see how the film turns out in this new age of film-making. I personally love Luke Evans in the lead role (eventhough I would have preferred Jared Leto) and I'm just glad to hear that the film will finally go into production.

        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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