Thursday, August 18, 2016

8-18-16 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)


        It was revealed back in March that Zendaya had taken the female lead in Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios‘ upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. Today, The Wrap offers an update, claiming that Zendaya will be playing none other than Mary Jane Watson! Mary Jane Watson was first mentioned in 1965’s The Amazing Spider-Man #25 as being the niece of Aunt May’s next door neighbor. For more than a year, Aunt May tried to set up Peter Parker on a date with MJ, who herself wasn’t fully revealed until 17 issues later. In 1987’s The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 Peter and Mary Jane were married. The marriage was retroactively undone in 2008, however, when Peter made a deal with the supernatural villain Mephisto to save his dying Aunt. Mary Jane was played on the big screen by Kirsten Dunst in all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Shailene Woodley was cast in the role for Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, although her sequence was ultimately cut from the film.  The  Spider-Man: Homecoming cast also Marisa Tomei, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Robert Downey Jr., Kenneth Choi, Donald Glover, Michael Keaton, Logan Marshall Green, Martin Starr, Hannibal Buress, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., J.J. Totah, Abraham Attah, Michael Mando, Bokeem Woodbine, Angourie Rice, Martha Kelly and Tyron Woodley Scripted by Vacation writers and directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Spider-Man: Homecoming will, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, feature characters from throughout the MCU. Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming will hit regular theaters and IMAX on July 7, 2017.

        This is really interesting news to hear. I'm not really familiar with any of her work so I'm not too for sure of how she'll do in the role. However, I'm actually excited for the change in skin color for Mary Jane. Now I know for some people change is hard, but honestly is Mary Jane's skin color an essential part to her character? I think it's great to re-introduce Mary Jane after not seeing her at all in the two previous Spider-Man films (although we were supposed to in The Amazing Spider-Man 2). I really like this change and hopefully it plays out the right way and she knocks out the performance. 



        Academy Award winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Suicide Squad) is set to join the previously-announced cast of Alcon Entertainment’s Blade Runner sequel, which includes Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Carla Juri, Mackenzie Davis, Barkhad Abdi, David Dastmalchian, Hiam Abbass, Lennie James and Dave Bautista, it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicarrio, Prisoners) is directing the film to be released October 6, 2017. The film will be released by Warner Bros. in North America and Sony Pictures Releasing International will distribute in all media for all overseas territories. The sequel is set several decades after the 1982 original, with Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role as Rick Deckard. The film is written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, and succeeds the initial story by Fancher and David Peoples based on Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.” Story details are not being revealed. States Johnson and Kosove, “We are thrilled that Jared has agreed to play a key role in the ‘Blade Runner’ sequel. He is a phenomenal actor, and we know he will create a truly memorable, never before seen character.” Alcon Entertainment acquired the film, television and ancillary franchise rights to Blade Runner in 2011 from the late producer Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic science-fiction thriller. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will produce along with Johnson and Kosove. Bud Yorkin will receive producer credit. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers. Ridley Scott and Bill Carraro will also executive produce. The Thirty Seconds To Mars frontman currently stars as The Joker in Warner Bros.’ blockbuster hit Suicide Squad which shattered several records following its recent $135.1 million debut and just crossed $500 million worldwide. He earned over 60 awards including an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance in the award winning Dallas Buyers Club.

        I love this casting. I'm a huge fan of Jared Leto going all the way back to his performance in Requiem for a Dream (check it out if you haven't seen it) and I'm a big fan of his band 30 Seconds to Mars as well. I'm glad that he decided to come back to acting after taking a small hiatus and so far it's served him well. I think he along with Dave Bautista will be replicants just like the group of six from the original film which possibly seeing both of them as replicants could be pretty awesome. I love the original film and so far I love everything about this film so far and I'm just really glad that it comes out next fall.



        When Tessa Thompson was cast as Valkyrie in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, it came with the addendum that her character would be the new love interest for the title character and that Natalie Portman wouldn’t be returning. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Portman confirmed that Thor: Ragnarok is no fluke and she’s finished playing Jane Foster. “As far as I know, I’m done. I don’t know if maybe one day they’ll ask for an ‘Avengers 7’ or whatever, I have no idea. But as far as I know, I’m done.” Portman appeared in the first two Thor films, with references made to her character in both of The Avengers movies as well. It’s worth noting, however, that just because Portman is finished with the franchise doesn’t mean Marvel won’t eventually recast the character for another appearance which they’ve done multiple times already with War Machine (replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle) and The Hulk (replacing Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo). Thor: Ragnarok stars Chris Hemsworth as the god of thunder once again, along with Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Idris Elba, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Ragnarok will smash its way into theaters on November 3, 2017.

        I don't think anyone is shocked by this news. From all accounts we've heard, Natalie Portman was a terror to work with on the sets of both Thor films. You know it's bad when Kenneth Branagh has a hard time getting to you. It also didn't help that Patty Jenkins (director of the upcoming Wonder Woman) was kicked off of Thor: The Dark World which angered Portman and then she didn't get along well at all with the final director Alan Taylor. Seeing as we've not seen her at all in the two Avengers films and that she's not in Thor: Ragnarok, it's a safe bet that this story is true and I honestly couldn't be happier.



        Screenwriter Max Landis took to Twitter early this morning to offer an interesting tease, saying: “Since I get the question all the time: There’s only one of my dad’s movies I’d ever be willing to try to remake and I’m already doing it.” Landis’ father John directed a number of high profile films in his career, including The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, ¡Three Amigos!, Coming to America, but perhaps most importantly, An American Werewolf in London. Bloody-Disgusting did some digging and has come to the conclusion that Landis might be working on a reboot of the 1981 classic. The site points to a few tweets Landis made last month discussing upcoming projects using codenames with one project titled “Moors.” With one of the many famous quotes from An American Werewolf in London being “Keep clear of the moors,” it’s possible that this could be the project Landis was teasing. Check back here for confirmation on the project as we learn it. Starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne, the original An American Werewolf in London was the winner of the first regularly-given Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (previous winners Planet of the Apes and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao were honorary awards) for Rick Baker’s effects work on the titular Lycanthrope.  A remake of the film was previously in development in 2009 from Dimension Films with a script by The Number 23 scribe Fernley Phillips; however, it managed to keep off of the moors.

        I honestly don't know how to feel about this. Look Max Landis is an inventive writer and he's come up with a lot of great ideas that were and weren't executed well. At times he can also be a little pretentious and his comments about the character of Rey in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens drew a lot of heat from people. Nevertheless, he does have a great talent and I think it'd actually be cool for him to write a remake of one of his dads films. This is the perfect choice because a modern re-telling is something that could work especially now with the makeup and CGI advancements we've made since the original film came out. If he ends up not writing this particular film, I think it's be neat if he re-wrote Animal House, but made it connected with the original film. 



        CBS Films and Lionsgate announced today that Taylor Kitsch (Lone Survivor, True Detective) is joining Dylan O’Brien (Deepwater Horizon, The Maze Runner) and Academy Award-nominee Michael Keaton (Birdman, Spotlight) in the adaptation of Vince Flynn’s massive bestseller American Assassin. Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Cuesta (Kill The Messenger, “Homeland,” “L.I.E.”) will direct the thriller from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff (“The Americans,” “Ultimate Rush”). Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Deepwater Horizon, Red) and Nick Wechsler (The Road, Magic Mike) are producing the film. American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.

        Published by Atria Books and in mass market paperback by Pocket Books, both imprints of Simon & Schuster, American Assassin is one of fifteen novels set in the world of counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp. Every single one has been a New York Times bestseller, the three most recent entries have been number one New York Times bestsellers and the series has sold nearly twenty million copies to date. “For more than a decade Vince Flynn drew praise from the intelligence community for bringing his millions of readers into an intricately constructed world that refuted many of the tired Hollywood clichés about the clandestine services,” said Cuesta. “Authentically realizing that world means bringing together an extraordinary cast and letting them portray characters that defy audience preconceptions. We are incredibly fortunate to have an actor of Taylor’s talent joining Michael and Dylan and I believe that together this team will deliver the riveting realization of ‘American Assassin’ that Flynn’s fans have always wanted.” Senior Vice President of Production Mark Ross and Vice President of Production Alex Ginno are overseeing the project for CBS Films. American Assassin will be the latest release in the partnership between CBS Films and Lionsgate. The film will be co-financed by the two companies with CBS Films handling production and marketing and Lionsgate handling distribution.

        I really like this casting. Taylor Kitsch is a really great actor, he's just not always picked the best parts. Yes he's done Lone Survivor and even tv shows like True Detective and Friday Night Lights, he's also been in a lot of terrible films (John Carter, Savages, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Battleship and a few others) so maybe he just needs to fire his agent? I think he's a decent fit for the film, I just don't think this is the type of character he should be playing, but what do I know. 


        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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