Sunday, March 22, 2015

Weekend Movie News 3-20-15 to 3-22-15

        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)


        Paramount Pictures today announced the official title for the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise! Writer and director Christopher McQuarrie’s film will be named Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation and you can watch the first teaser below. In “Rogue Nation,” Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF. Helmed by McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher), the new Mission: Impossible movie stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner (Marvel’s The Avengers, Kill the Messenger), Alec Baldwin (The Departed, “30 Rock”), Simon Pegg (Star Trek, The World’s End), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Dawn of the Dead), Simon McBurney (The Last King of Scotland, The Theory of Everything) and Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules, The Red Tent) and features a screenplay by Will Staples and Drew Pearce. A Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot production, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation will hit 2D and IMAX theaters July 31.


        This was actually a bland teaser. Now granted it was a teaser and the full trailer is coming tomorrow, but since I have to judge it as it is, it didn't get me excited whatsoever. It had a couple of good spots, but there was some forced comedy towards the end and it was horribly edited. Hopefully the full trailer will impress me more when it drops tomorrow. 



        SuperHeroHype Forums member ‘omermer’ translated an interview with Gal Gadot from Israel in which she talks about learning she was cast as Wonder Woman, the reactions, her preparation and what we can expect from the character. Here are some highlights from the interview: When she got the official notice she got Wonder Woman she was in the clouds. Literarily. She was on her way to a job in New York waiting for the answer. Gal: “I never had to wait so long for a reply. It was a month and a half of torture. It was a crazy roller-coaster. I couldn’t talk about it to anyone. On the day they promised a reply I was flying to NY for another gig. When the plane landed I saw I had a lot of missed calls. I called my agent still sitting in the plane with the belt on. She told me ‘ Congratulations! You got the part.’ During the flight I set next to a really nice man. A scientist from The Weizmann Institute of Science. He talked the entire flight about quantum physics. Now, imagine me, sitting on the plane, looking for a little piece of privacy, burring my head between my legs and starting to scream ‘Oh my god!’ again and again, because I just can’t believe it. Then I hang up the phone and he looks at me like ‘what just happened?’ and asks if everything is alright. I tell him ‘ I can’t really say anything but you will probably read about it tomorrow in the paper.'” Preparations for the role took many months during which she worked with a personal trainer that taught her everything a super heroine needs to know in order to take down villains. Gal: “It was very intensive. When I was young I was a real tomboy so I really enjoyed the experience. I see Alma wanting to dress like a princess and put on lipstick and it surprises me. I asked my mom if I was like that too but she said all I wanted back then was to play ball, sweat, and scrape my knees. Interviewer: “Someone heard your prayers.” Gal: “Yes, I get to play the strongest most empowering woman ever – Wonder Woman. I’m so grateful and I thank god every day. I want to devour it and enjoy every bite. “ Interviewer: “By the way, what are Wonder Woman’s powers?” Gal: “She has unbelievable endurance. She is exceptionally strong. She can jump really high and practically fly. She know tons of martial arts styles. She is a strong and serious Woman.” Gadot will make her debut as Wonder Woman in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, hitting theaters on March 25, 2016. She will then star in a solo Wonder Woman movie on June 23, 2017, before joining the Justice League on November 10, 2017. Justice League: Part Two is also scheduled for June 14, 2019.

        These are some pretty great comments. Now granted when Gadot was first announced for the part I wasn't that excited, but she has grown on me. I really like how she is committed to the role by getting in shape and getting to know the character. We won't get to see how she does for a year, but I think she will pull off the character really well.



        The New York Daily News brings word that the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 will begin filming next month in New York City and Buffalo. “There is no better way to project the character of this city than through television and film,” Council Member Dan Garodnick said. “And what’s more New York than pizza-loving ninjas and a talking rat?” Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form will return to produce the upcoming sequel which features a script by returning screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec. Megan Fox is expected to reprise her role of April O’Neil along with William Fichtner as Eric Sacks. The original film also starred Will Arnett, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Danny Woodburn, Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub. It grossed more than $485 million at the worldwide box office. Though unconfirmed, previous reports on the sequel have alluded to the inclusion of the likes of Bebop and Rocksteady or even the interdimensional Krang as potential villains. Set to be directed by Earth to Echo‘s David Green, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is set for release on June 3, 2016.

        This is pretty great news to hear. Look did I love the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie... no, but I still enjoyed most of it. It was obvious that the film was going to have a sequel and now we've got one in the works. I really do hope they introduce Beebop, Rocksteady, and possibly Casey Jones. As I said before I thought the first film did a good job with handling the characters and I can't wait to check out the second film.



        Heat Vision is reporting that Sony Pictures is in development on a top-secret take on the classic Shakespeare play “Romeo and Juliet” titled Verona, to be produced by Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman). Though details of the spec screenplay by Neil Widener and Gavin James are being kept under lock and key, the retelling of the romance between two young lovers from opposing families will be stylistically similar to Zack Snyder’s 300. The classic tale/high school english class staple has been adapted countless times for the screen, including Baz Luhrmann’s violent/hyperstylized modern reimagining William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, James Gunn and Lloyd Kaufman’s transgressive Tromeo and Juliet, and a 2013 version with updated language starring Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth. Roth is currently in post-production on Disney’s sequel Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, starring Johnny Depp, and pre-production on prequel film The Huntsman, starring Chris Hemsworth.

        Do we really need another Romeo and Juliet film. we literally just had one come out no less than two years ago and Gnomeo and Juliet cam out back in 2011. This story has been told over and over and over again and frankly I'm sick of it. It's a great story and it's William Shakespeare's most known work, but we do not need a film so soon. 



        Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Diego Luna, Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves have all officially signed on for The Bad Batch, the new film from A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night‘s Ana Lily Amirpour. Amirpour, who took home the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director on her debut feature, wrote and will direct the new film. The Bad Batch, which is being produced by Annapurna Pictures and VICE, tells a dystopian love story set in a Texas wasteland where a community of cannibals resides. Waterhouse, who stars in the week’s The Divergent Series: Insurgent, will play “Arlen,” with Momoa (the future Aquaman) starring as “Miami Man,” Luna (“Matador”) as “Jimmy,” Reeves as “The Dream” and Carrey as “The Hermit.” Annapurna’s Megan Ellison will produce alongside VICE’s Danny Gabai and Sina Sayyah. Annapurna’s Sammy Scher will be the executive overseeing the day-to-day development and production of the project while VICE’s Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti will Executive Produce. Production on The Bad Batch begins in April in and around Los Angeles. Annapurna International plans to sell the film at the Cannes Film Festival.

        This film sounds so crazy that I like it. I mean who doesn't want to see a dystopian future with cannibals living in Texas. The cast is stacked from top to bottom and it's going to be really interesting to see Jason Mamoa, Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves on-screen together because they all three have such different styles and personalities. This is a crazy concept, but I'm looking forward to 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

No comments:

Post a Comment