Ok, we’re back for another installment of wild and wacky stories in film! Behold!
Captain America: Civil War made $ 25 million on it’s Thursday preview night screenings. Everybody is projecting it to make $ 200 million over the opening weekend. The Marvel/Disney train keeps on a’rolling.
Bruce Willis is starring in a Death Wish remake, but it turns out the directors, Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, who directed the film Big Bad Wolves, have left the project, due to “creative differences”. I never really know what that means, but luckily we have a translation from these guys that will enlighten us: “…we wanted to stay away from the original and problematic (albeit fun to watch) Michael Winner film, and move more towards the spirit of the original novel by Brian Garfield – an excellent minimalist novel that never got the cinematic treatment it deserved. We wanted to follow the vision of the director who originally was set to make it, but ultimately was not allowed to – Sidney Lumet. Lumet wanted to direct a film about a simple man, he even thought of Jack Lemmon for the lead, which experiences a terrible tragedy and then falls to the depths of hell. When we imagined the thriller in our minds we thought Taxi Driver, Falling Down… with a bloodcurdling finale like Sicario.”
Well, apparently that’s not what the studio wants. Too bad, too, because this idea sounds really cool. But I’m guessing MGM and Paramount are looking for something far more superficial and action-y. Oh well, Hollywood often likes money more than the actual craft of film making.
If you’re looking for a new perspective on a Shakespeare story, Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts will star in a new spin of Hamlet in a film titled Ophelia. If you’re thinking this film will tell the Hamlet story through the female perspective, you’d be right.
Based on the book by Lisa Klein, penned by Semi Chellas (Mad Men), and directed by Claire McCarthy, the drama will be set in the 14th century, where Ophelia takes center stage as the Queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet and their forbidden love blossoms. As war brews, lust and betrayal are tearing Elsinore Castle apart and Ophelia must decide between her true love or her own life in order to protect a very dangerous secret.
Looks like Universal is certainly eager to construct their Classic Universal monsters universe. Russell Crowe is in talks to play a Dr. Jekyll-type role that will appear in their Mummy reboot next summer, with the possibility of the character getting its’ own standalone film.
Some characters, like Johnny Depp in The Invisible Man (!?), will start out with their own films, while other Universal monster characters may make cameos in other films first. Ok, Universal, whatever you say.
We have some New Mutants news: director Josh Boone is teasing some possible New Mutants characters. He posted some sketches on Instagram by legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz that may give some idea of who we’ll see in the film. He used the hastag #newmutants, so yeah, looks like a hint to me.
Some of the lesser known characters were sketched and posted, including Magik, Wolfsbane, Mirage, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock. X-Men: The New Mutants could be quite interesting if these are the characters we get. I’m in!
In this week’s “Simon West make s a new movie” story, director Simon West is set to direct War Wolf, written by Andy Briggs and Paul Finch. Fortitude International will launch international sales in Cannes. “War Wolf” is the first in a planned franchise of films under a partnership between West, Fortitude International and Amber Entertainment centered around the magical world of the Loup de Guerre.
War Wolf is set in 1356, after decades of relentless war between the French and English armies, with English solider Earl Hugo awarded the castle of his enemy, the French assassin Mauchet. But in the walls of the castle and the lands that surround it, someone has reawakened the Loup de Guerre, the ferocious War Wolf of French legend and the nightmarish creature is now on a killing spree. Oh, there’s a monster in it? I’ll check it out.
Wow, in this week’s “Sorry I wrote a shitty script” story, the writer of Dragonball Evolution (2009), Ben Ramsey, is now apologizing for how bad it was. Ramsey expressed how sorry he was to fans that his Dragonball Evolution script was such a dud, saying it “marked a very painful creative point” in his life. After years of deflecting the blame, he’s taking responsibility for how disappointing it was, admitting that when chasing after the project for the “big payday,” it was as a businessman rather than a true fan. Having learned that going into a creative project without the passion for it is a recipe for disaster, Ramsey ended the letter saying that he’s now only working on things he truly cares about.
Well, I have to give it to him, at least he’s owning it. There are a lot of other writers that should do the same.
In this weeks “If rumours were horses…” story, fans of the rather good 2012 film Dredd have been hoping ever since then for a sequel – or something. Star Karl Urban has even said on numerous occasions that he would totally be on board for another turn as the Judge, but not much has happened in regards to bringing any of that to fruition. However, once again Urban has shined a tiny ray of hope to bringing Dredd back to screens – but small ones this time. The words “conversations are happening” have been spoken in regards to a possible Netflix or Amazon series for Dredd. Again, that’s all that’s been said. So we aren’t really any closer to this being a reality, but we can certainly continue to hope – in vain, or not.
In this week’s “Staying out of the 21st Century” story, Woody Allen does not own a computer, and has subsequently NEVER sent an email in his life. It’s also pretty safe to say he will never read a word of print on this website. I suppose at his age that isn’t terribly unusual, but how about Winona Ryder not using the internet out of fear? Uh, well, yeah, I guess that isn’t too surprising either. ; )
In this week’s “Will the new Han Solo please stand up” story, actor Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) has won the coveted role as the young Han Solo in the stand alone Star Wars film that is now in pre-production. No pressure, Alden, no pressure.
In this week’s “Where have you been?” story, actor Eric LaSalle has been added to the cast of Woverline 3 in an unspecified role. Don’t know if he’s a Marvel character or one created specifically for this film. But it’s his first film in 10 years. However, he’s been in television in various capacities in front of, and behind, the camera. Apparently he’s been directing lots of shows like Once Upon a Time, CSI: Cyber, Rosewood, and Lucifer. Well, at least he’s keeping busy.
In this week’s “Reboot, sequel, which is it?” story, the cult classic, The Craft, is now said to be a sequel taking place 20 years after the original, instead of being a reboot. Fans of the original witchcraft based film have been not-so-terribly pleased about the idea of a reboot, but may be more into a sequel. It seems clear that four new young actresses will be cast in this, but no word as yet if they will bring any of the original stars into the mix. No release date or title for The Craft 2 yet, nor any information as to the plot.
In this week’s “Those are some mighty lofty expectations” story, Universal’s next classic monster movie update, The Mummy, has some potentially overblown proclamations to make about itself. Here’s where it starts:
“Tom Cruise headlines a spectacular, all-new cinematic version of the legend that has fascinated cultures all over the world since the dawn of civilization: The Mummy.” ~ Wow, I guess the whole world is awaiting this film with bated breath. And if that wasn’t enough, check out how much Universal is pumping this up:
“Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.”
“…terrors that defy human comprehension.” If we are to believe everything Universal tells us, The Mummy is gonna fuck our reality up. Pretty big talk, Universal. Can you possibly live up to it? We’ll see.
In this week’s “One more cook in the kitchen” story, Warner Bros. has seen fit to add Ben Affleck to the Justice League film as an executive producer. Now, depending on how much control that gives him, it could mean that he’ll be helping Zack Snyder and writer Chris Terrio in guiding the creative side of the film. Persoanlly, I hope that’s true. But who knows. Far as I’m concerned, Snyder needs as much help as he can get.
And in this week’s “It’s important to me” story, Nathon Fillion has closed a deal to return to Castle for season 9, if ABC renews it. Co-star Stana Katic and ABC already annouced in April that she would not be returning. Fillion must have made a deal for some serious money, though. He’s renegotiated each of the past few seasons. Well done, sir.
~ Neil T Weakley, your average movie-goer, bringing you all the film news that’s fit to print. Or not.