3-3-15 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)

        “Something will happen,” Suicide Squad director David Ayer tweeted Sunday. It now seems that Ayer was referencing two more tweets that he and star Jared Leto shared today, showing off the behind the scenes of a haircut Leto had done to prepare for the role. It’s now been some time since Ayer’s last tweet so, unfortunately, it looks likely that the below two images are all we’re getting today. Leto joins two-time Academy Award nominee Will Smith as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru back in 1959, the Suicide Squad team has included countless DC villains among its ranks. 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. Written and directed by Ayer, Suicide Squad is setting up shop in Toronto, Canada at their Pinewood extension. Following two months of pre-production, the film will shoot from April until September for a planned August 5, 2016 release.

(courtesy of David Ayer)

          I really like this sneak peak. I know all of the ladies are absolutely heartbroken about Jared Leto losing his hair and beard, but for him to play The Joker this has to happen. I'm really looking forward to the full reveal of Jared Leto as The Joker. I'm excited for this film and I cannot wait to see it. 

        After only being confirmed in November, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is already in front of director Oliver Stone’s camera playing the infamous NSA whistleblower for hot-button biopic Snowden, as seen in set photos via Open Road Films and JGL himself and you can check out the picture below. Snowden is written and directed by three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Stone (Platoon, JFK). The script is based on the books “The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man” by Luke Harding and “Time of the Octopus” by Anatoly Kucherena. The latter book mainly deals with former information analyst Snowden’s time in Russia hoping to get asylum while the United States was demanding his extradition to potentially face jail time for leaking classified information. The film co-stars Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Olyphant, Zachary Quinto and Melissa Leo. Snowden is produced by Moritz Borman, Eric Kopeloff and Philip Schulz-Deyle, and is scheduled for release on December 25 of this year.

(courtesy of Open Road Films)

        This is a really great photo. It's absolutely shocking how much JGL looks like Snowden and I think this could be his best role yet. I love the pairing of JGL and Stone, but I'm still pretty worried about the film. I say that because Oliver Stone has had a few duds come out recently and I just worry that this film will be one of them. Hopefully I'm wrong and it becomes one his best films yet.

        Jessie Usher, who headlines the Starz original series, “Survivor’s Remorse,” has taken a leading role in director Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day 2. Emmerich himself broke the news on his official Facebook page with The Hollywood Reporter chiming in to reveal that Usher will be playing Dylan Hiller, the son of Will Smith’s Captain Steven Hiller from the original ID4. Ross Bagley played the part in the 1996 original. “My producing partner Harald Kloser noticed Jessie in between sets of pushups at the gym and gave him an audition,” Emmerich says of the chance encounter that brought Usher to his attention. “As they say, the rest is history!” Set to hit theaters June 24, 2016 (almost exactly 20 years after the original), Independence Day 2 is looking to begin production in May with a script most recently rewritten by Carter Blanchard (best known for the short-lived 2009 series “G vs E”). Previous drafts were done by Emmerich and Dean Devlin, and then by James Vanderbilt. Although Will Smith will not be returning, Bill Pullman is expected reprise his role as President Thomas J. Whitmore. Emmerich has also confirmed via Twitter that Jeff Goldlbum is now confirmed as is Liam Hemsworth, who was rumored for a leading role last month. Golblum will reprise his role as David Levinson while it is believed that Hemsworth will be playing the son in law of Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore. The original Independence Day opened on July 3, 1996 and earned an impressive $817.4 million worldwide. Emmerich is also set to produce the sequel alongside Devlin and Harald Kloser.

        This is great casting. I know a lot of people didn't even care that this film was coming out and I was one of them.  But the addition of Goldblum makes me really interested in the film. He was the best part of the first film and he could do the same in this one. I'm also curious how they will work him Jessie Usher as Will Smith's son because Smith isn't coming back. I figure that they'll write off the character by saying he died due to some after effects of being in the alien ship, but who knows. All I know is that the film has now got me interested and I'm somewhat looking forward to it. 

        The upcoming holiday horror comedy Krampus has added three to its cast today with The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap bringing word that Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, “United States of Tara”), David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Cheap Thrills) and Adam Scott (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, “Parks and Recreation”) are all set to star in the second directorial feature from Trick ‘r Treat writer and director Michael Dougherty. Based on the ancient legend of a pagan demon who punishes wicked children, Legendary Pictures’ Krampus is a twisted horror comedy set during the holidays. Scott and Collette will play a married couple who have had their daughter taken. Koechner will, meanwhile, play another father whose own child has gone missing. Co-written by Todd Casey and Zach Shields, Krampus will also star Emjay Anthony (Chef, It’s Complicated), Stefania Owen (The Lovely Bones, “The Carrie Diaries”) and Allison Tollman (“Fargo,” Fresno). Universal Pictures will release the film on December 4, 2015 where, at the moment, is it opening with no significant box office competition.

        This is great casting. Now granted this isn't Kevin Smith's version of The Krampus, but this one looks promising. All three of these actors are great in comedies and I think that they will be a major part of this film being a success. I'm looking forward to both this version and Kevin Smith's as well.

        “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” one of Robert A. Heinlein’s several Hugo winning novels, is heading to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter today brings word that an adaptation is in the works with “Arrow’s” Marc Guggenheim adapting the 1966 tome and X-Men: Days of Future Past‘s Bryan Singer planning to direct. There will be a title change, however, as the big screen version will be known instead as Uprising. Set in the year 2075, the original novel follows a rebellion against the Earth by humans living on a Lunar penal colony. Heinlein is no stranger to the big screen. In 1950, he adapted his own novel Destination Moon for a George Pal production. Director Stuart Orme subsequently brought Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters to the screen in 1994. Then, Paul Verhoeven adapted the author’s Starship Troopers three years later. Earlier this year, Michael and Peter Spierig offered their own take on Heinlein’s story “All You Zombies” with their film, Predestination, starring Ethan Hawke. Lloyd Braun and Thor Halvorssen are planning to produce Uprising with Andrew Mittman and Jason Taylor serving as executive producers. Singer is next set to helm his fourth X-Men film,  X-Men: Apocalypse, which is about to begin production in Montreal. Look for it in theaters May 27, 2016 and check back for further details on Uprising as they become available.

        This sounds like a great and interesting idea. Bryan Singer is known for creating interesting visuals and is able to tell great stories and this film is right up his alley. This sounds like a really interesting story and I'm curious to see how Singer does with the project. 

        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