Monday, February 15, 2016

2-15-16 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)


        WARNING: This May Contain Spoilers. Rey took her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga, Star Wars: Episode VIII, which began principal photography at Pinewood Studios in London on February 15, 2016. Check out Lucasfilm‘s epic Episode VIII announcement video below, featuring footage from Ireland’s Skellig Michael Island (aka “Ahch-To” in the Force Awakens shooting script) and a certain legendary Jedi warrior!!! Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is written and directed by Rian Johnson and continues the storylines introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, welcomes back cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. New cast members will include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and talented newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. Star Wars: Episode VIII is produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski. Joining the production crew will be some of the industry’s top talent, including Steve Yedlin (Director of Photography), Bob Ducsay (Editor), Rick Heinrichs (Production Designer), Peter Swords King (Hair and Make-Up Designer), and Mary Vernieu (US Casting Director). They will be joining returning crew members Pippa Anderson (Co-Producer, VP Post Production), Neal Scanlan (Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Jamie Wilkinson (Prop Master), Chris Corbould (SFX Supervisor), Rob Inch (Stunt Coordinator), Ben Morris (VFX Supervisor), and Nina Gold (UK Casting Director). Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled for release December 15, 2017.


        I love this announcement teaser. It's nothing much, but just knowing that production has started on this film just gets me excited. It makes the film feel more real and I love the fact that they are showing a continuation of the final shot of Episode VII. What also makes this announcement even better is that they have officially confirmed that Benicio Del Toro as a member of the cast and I have no doubt that he will be a villain and quite possibly a Sith Lord. The other big surprise was the addition of Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran to the cast. Now I don't know a whole lot about her or the things she has been in so I'm looking forward to seeing what she brings to the film. As for Laura Dern, her addition has already started a large amount of rumors on who she will be and the one that seems to be most constant one is that she'll be Rey's mother which I can absolutely see and could she possibly be a version of Mara Jade (Luke's wife in the novels). All I know is that we are now on the path to Star Wars Episode VIII. 



        With Sony Pictures providing us with a Valentine’s Day trailer tease and the full trailer set to debut online on March 3, Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot has debuted its first teaser poster from the upcoming film featuring the iconic “No Ghosts” logo. The Ghostbusters movie stars Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones in the four lead roles. The film is also set to feature Chris Hemsworth as the new secretary, Andy Garcia as the Mayor of New York City, Michael K. Williams as a character named “Hawkins,” Matt Walsh as a character named “Rourke,” and Neil Casey as the film’s villain. New York City’s NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan is also set to appear as news anchor in the film. “I’m having a lot of fun playing with genres,” Feig told ComingSoon.net of the new film last year, “…I love the original film, but I also just love the idea of busting ghosts and kind of paranormal warriors. I thought, ‘You know, if I could do this with the funny women I know and kind of just do a new origin story…’ I’m more interested in what would happen today. You know, you see things on TV about ghosts, but none of it’s real. What if, suddenly, something started happening? What happens when that just begins to happen to people? Also, how do they develop their technology? It’s not as fun if they’re just handed their proton packs. It’s why it’s not as fun to do a sequel. The fun is getting there.” The Ghostbusters movie is directed by Feig from a script he co-wrote with Katie Dippold. It will debut in theaters on July 15.

Ghostbusters

        I really like this poster. It's nothing flashy or groundbreaking, but it is a step closer to finally seeing this film. I was surprised that the trailer wasn't released during Saturday Night Live this past weekend due to Melissa McCarthy was the host and fellow cast members Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon are current cast members of SNL and it would've made a lot of sense instead of waiting an entire month for the trailer. As you all know I wasn't a big fan of this when it was first announced, but it has since grown on me and now I'm looking forward to an all female version of Ghostbusters.



        Lionsgate has released the final Divergent Series: Allegiant trailer, which you can watch below. The third installment in the blockbuster action adventure franchise stars Golden Globe nominee Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, and the Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts. Golden Globe-nominated actor Jeff Daniels also joins the cast for the third and fourth films in the franchise with a list of returning cast members that also includes Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Keiynan Lonsdale and Jonny Weston, as well as Mekhi Phifer and Daniel Dae Kim. New cast members include Nadia Hilker and Bill Skarsgård as well. After the Earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Allegiant‘s Tris (Woodley) must escape with Four (James) beyond the Wall that encircles Chicago to finally discover the shocking truth of what lies behind it. Based on author Veronica Roth’s New York Times best-seller, Allegiant is being directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim and Adam Cooper & Bill Collage and Stephen Chbosky. Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher are producing the film through their Red Wagon Entertainment banner along with Pouya Shahbazian. Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are executive producing through their Mandeville Films banner along with Barry Waldman and Neil Burger. Erik Feig, Co-President of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, Gillian Bohrer, Lionsgate’s EVP of Production & Development, and Matt Janzen, Lionsgate’s VP, Production & Development, are overseeing the project for the studio. The Divergent series of books have been perennial New York Times best-sellers since 2011. Book sales of the Divergent trilogy have surged to over 34 million copies worldwide, up from 17 million at the time of Divergent’s March 21, 2014 release. “Allegiant” sold 455,000 copies on its first day of release in 2013 to break a company record for Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Publishers. Pre-orders for “Allegiant” exceeded those of any book in the history of HarperCollins. The first two Divergent films have grossed more than $550 million at the global box office and are Lionsgate’s highest-grossing films domestically outside The Hunger Games and Twilight franchises. Lionsgate will release Allegiant theatrically in North America through its Summit Entertainment label on Friday, March 18. The fourth installment, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, is slated for release on June 9, 2017.


        I have to call it like I see it and say that this wasn't a bad trailer. It doesn't do much for convincing people who aren't the target audience in seeing the film with the lack of narrative, but it did offer a lot of action and it peaked my interest. Look a lot of you know that I really don't like this franchise at all and honestly I'll probably end up hating this film as well. I think this franchise had a lot of potential, but there were just too many similarities to The Hunger Games for me to even be interested. 



        Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment have revealed the first full trailer for the animated film Sing, which will be released on December 21, 2016. You can check out the Sing trailer below. Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly star in a musical comedy about finding the shining star that lives inside all of us. Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. Featuring more than 85 hit songs, Sing is written and directed by Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy.


        I really enjoyed this trailer. It had laughing quite a bit and it looks like it could be really charming. I'll tell one thing that will help determine this films success and that's if Zootopia does well. Zootopia basically has a world filled with nothing, but animals (like this film) and if it works, then it shows that audiences are interested in the material and it can work. I like the cast that has been assembled for the film and I'm very interested to hear a few of them sing. However it is going to be coming out after Star Wars Rouge One and it will go one-on-one with Assassin's Creed and the film will be great counter-programming, but I don't know how well it will do financially. 



        Warner Bros. Pictures has just released a new look at their upcoming sci-fi thriller Midnight Special! Check out the new Midnight Special trailer featuring the impressive ensemble cast, which includes Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard, Bill Camp, Scott Haze and Paul Sparks. From Mud and Take Shelter writer and director Jeff Nichols, Midnight Special follows a father (Michael Shannon), who goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately his father risks everything to protect Alton and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever in this genre–defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human. Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, who previously collaborated with Nichols on Take Shelter, are producing the film, with Glen Basner, Hans Graffunder, and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos serving as executive producers. Also reuniting with Nichols behind the scenes is director of photography Adam Stone, production designer Chad Keith and editor Julie Monroe. David Wingo is composing the score.


        This is a very dark and mysterious trailer. I honestly have no idea what is going on in the film other than the basic premise and that adds a lot of intrigue in seeing this film. The cast that has been assembled for the film is just outstanding and it's great to see someone like Michael Shannon leading his own sci-fi film and I'm excited to see what he does. I think this film can be a hit as long as the mystery has enough to build the anticipation in seeing what the ultimate outcome will be.

        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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