Posted Nov 4th 2009 9:32PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, Casting, Sony, Scripts, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp
Sony's thriller
The Tourist just keeps sending its talent packing. Originally set to be
a vehicle for Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron, it shifted gears last month and was re-cast with
Angelina Jolie and
Sam Worthington. But once again,
The Tourist finds itself without travel arrangements for a male lead as
Variety reports that Worthington is out due to "creative disagreements" and
Johnny Depp is in.
Depp is still in talks to play the hapless American tourist, and with the way this film is going, one can't assume it's finalized. But if it is, it might just be the casting coup of 2010. A Depp-Jolie pair-up has been something dreamed about by a lot of producers and studios over the years. Once upon a time,
rumor even had them attached to play Cathy and Heathcliff in
Wuthering Heights. People want to see them having onscreen sex. It'd be the hottest thing since ... well, Brad Pitt and Jolie having sex onscreen. (And off. Hey, I'm just being honest. There was a reason everyone wanted to see their offspring.)
The Tourist is also on the hunt for a director.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was circling the project, but departed alongside Worthington over those whispery creative differences. Reportedly, a lot of directors are interested, including
Alfonso Cuaron. While shake-ups can be be a sign of a bad film, I'd like to think that a thriller that winds up with Jolie, Depp, and Cuaron came together exactly as it was meant to.
Posted Oct 19th 2009 2:32PM by Jenni Miller
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, Casting, RumorMonger, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Remakes and Sequels
Angelina Jolie's pet project
The Tourist might finally have a director, according to
Variety. Internationally acclaimed director and writer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck "hasn't formally entered into negotiations," but it's looking likely that the man behind the critically hailed film
The Lives of Others will be hopping behind the camera for this 2011 release.
Jolie reportedly turned down the sequel of
Wanted in favor of
The Tourist (although the rumors of her return of the sexy tattooed assassin
remain at large) but she was holding out on officially signing on to
The Tourist until Spyglass found a director she approved of.
Strangely enough, Tom Cruise was originally set to costar but dropped out in favor of
Knight & Day with Cameron Diaz. Jolie's latest film,
Salt, was originally set to star Tom Cruise, but then he backed out, the writers did a quick fix-me-up on the script, and voila -- here's Evelyn Salt!
In any case, this remake of
Anthony Zimmer is about an Interpol agent hot on the trail of a former paramour and criminal; the spy makes use of an American tourist to help find her. Sam Worthington (
Avatar) costars as the tourist, and according to
/Film, Jolie plays the ex. On the other hand,
Variety is reporting that she plays the Interpol agent.
Hollywood Reporter is taking the safer route and not saying what Jolie's role will be. Yikes!
2011 sounds like one of those things where the movie keeps getting pushed back more and more until the stars and director are all like, "Whatever, I have no idea what's happening with that any more." But remember when Angelina Jolie provided us guilty pleasure movies like
The Bone Collector? I would be happy to see her as the spy or the criminal; what do you think?
Posted Oct 15th 2009 5:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Thrillers, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Lists, Nicole Kidman, Trailers and Clips
It's not that strange for two people who work together to fall in love, but it does seem to happen an awful lot in Hollywood (although to be fair, most of us don't spend our days rolling around half-naked with our co-workers). So even though it might be easy to fall in love at work, it isn't as easy for a couple to stay in love once they're spending every waking moment together -- and the latest celebrity couple who will put my theory to the test is
Anna Paquin and
Stephen Moyer (better known as Sookie and Vampire Bill) from HBO's
True Blood. The two fell in love (and got engaged) while working on the vampire soap, and now they're heading back to work together in the thriller,
Open House.
According to
IMDB, the story will center on a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and are trying to offload their palatial home during a weekend 'open house'. But, things start to get a little weird when it turns out one of the potential buyers never left. The film was written by Paquin's brother Andrew (who will be making his directorial debut), and the cast will include
Tricia Helfer (
BSG), Rachel Blanchard (
Spread), and Brian Geraghty (
The Hurt Locker) in unspecified roles while the
True Blood stars will play the married couple.
Moyer and Paquin aren't the first real-life couple who like to work together, and over the years plenty of Hollywood power couples have tried and failed to translate that relationship onto the big screen. After the jump: some other famous real-life couples on the big screen...
Continue reading Real-Life Romances On The Big Screen
Posted Jun 25th 2009 4:02PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Awards, Fandom, Angelina Jolie
Some critics' groups rush to hand out awards weeks before the year of eligility is over. Other groups, like the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films, prefer to take their time. The 35th annual Saturn Awards were presented last night in beautiful downtown Burbank, California, honoring the best in genre films for the 2008 calendar year. The top awards, as listed by FearNet, went to Iron Man (Science Fiction), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Fantasy), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Horror), and The Dark Knight (Action / Adventure / Thriller).
The Academy also found room to honor Angelina Jolie as Best Actress for Changeling, which makes me wonder how that film could possibly qualify as a genre flick. Horror, perhaps? More major awards went to Robert Downey, Jr. as Best Actor and Jon Favreau as Best Director for Iron Man, Heath Ledger as Best Supporting Actor, and Tilda Swinton as Best Supporting Actress. Wall-E took home Best Animated Film and Let the Right One In was presented with the Best International Film award. And here are the awards that make the Saturns stand out for genre fans: Lance Henriksen received the Life Career Award, and Leonard Nimoy nabbed the Lifetime Achievement Award.
I was following the awards show via Twitter, and the most entertaining account was the one by loquaciousmuse; she made it sound like a blast. If you're out of state, $40 buys an Academy membership with award voting privileges. The least expensive in-state membership is $150, which also grants access to more than 100 special screenings.
Posted Jun 16th 2009 7:03PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Action, Casting, Universal, RumorMonger, Angelina Jolie, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
You know, it's not that I think
Angelina Jolie can't handle action, it's just that she's never really been given the chance to do it in a film that was...well, good. The bullet-bending comic book flick,
Wanted is a perfect example. Granted, Jolie was livelier than I have seen her in a long time, but I still walked out of the theater wondering why she has never blossomed into the bad-a** heroine I desperately want her to be. Well, maybe she is going to get another chance, because Universal has been making ground with a
Wanted sequel. So while most of us were pretty sure that we wouldn't be seeing Ms. Jolie again,
Wanted's director
Timur Bekmambetov seems to think otherwise. During an interview with the Russian news site,
RIA Novosti, Bekmambetov told them that
Wanted 2 will start prepping in July, and that Jolie would be returning for the sequel.
Warning: Wanted spoilers ahead...So think back to the half-baked mess that was
Wanted, and you'll remember that Jolie's assassin commits 'suicide' -- on-screen, front and center. It was even rumored to be a condition of Jolie's participation in the film that she would die at the end (I guess to avoid committing to a sequel). But maybe Bekmambetov is engaging in some wishful thinking about Jolie's return, or he knows something we don't because he seemed positive that Jolie would be back. Last April, Evan Spiliotopoulos was
hired to write the script, and it's a strange choice, but one thing is for sure, he is going to have to get awfully creative if they plan on bringing Jolie back from the great beyond.
After the jump; Who else could return for Wanted 2 and Jolie is still saving the world (without a gun) in her PSA for World Refugee Day...Continue reading Is Angelina Jolie Back for 'Wanted 2'?
Posted May 21st 2009 2:02AM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Cannes, Festival Reports, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino
Nothing like a little war movie to bookend a day at the Cannes Film Festival. Lines began forming at the crack of dawn to see the first screening of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds this morning, and, still, many were shut out. (Erik Davis rounded up the first reactions from those who did manage to gain admittance.) Evening brought the glamour, as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie led a parade of celebrities down the fabled red carpet for the black-tie and gown gala presentation. As a cherry on top, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell screened at midnight.
Films Sold. Amazingly -- or maybe not, when you consider all the free publicity it's already accrued -- Lars Von Trier's highly controversial and divisive Antichrist sold to IFC Films. The company says they will release the same version as the one screened in Cannes, according to indieWIRE. Specific release plans were not announced, but expect it this fall, in order to capitalize on the buzz. Also, I suggest a poster highlighting Willem Dafoe's previous, religiously-titled movie: "From The Last Temptation of Christ to ... Antichrist!"
Much less controversially, IFC also picked up Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, which the company describes as the director's "most accessible, crowd pleasing film." More details at indieWIRE.
Key Screenings. Competition: Alain Resnais' drama Wild Grass, starring Mathieu Amalric (the reviews so far, collected by David Hudson at IFC's The Daily, range from reserved to rave). Un Certain Regard: Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's supernatural-tinged drama Nymph (Todd Brown at Twitch reviews), Luc Mullet's Land of Madness. Directors' Fortnight: Axelle Ropert's The Wolberg Family (a small town mayor's obsession with his family), Ho Tzu Nyen's Here (a middle-aged man deals with life as a patient in a medical institution).
Posted Apr 22nd 2009 1:15PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, Casting, Deals, Mystery & Suspense, Sony, Scripts, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Angelina Jolie
It's a strange thing to live in a world where
Dan Brown became a franchise before Patricia Cornwell. The rights to the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series have been languishing at Columbia (the very home of Robert Langdon) since 1992, but now the series has been dusted off, sold to Fox 2000, and assigned to
Angelina Jolie.
According to
Variety, Fox has won rights to all 16 of the Scarpetta books, and is eying it as a potential franchise along the lines of the Jason Bourne films. They're developing the first thriller now, which won't be tied to any one book, but will probably cherry-pick out of all Scarpetta's gruesome cases. The plan has met with approval from Cornwell, who discussed the idea personally with Jolie and her manager, Geyer Kosinski before handing over the rights.
I'm not an avid reader of
Cornwell's books, but Jolie seems like a good fit for the sophisticated Scarpetta. While the coloring's different, Scarpetta's a workaholic who dresses well, drives a Mercedes, attracts handsome guys, and handmakes Italian food. She's kind of perfect, just like Jolie. But hardcore fans (and I know they're out there) may have other ideas.
Regardless of what you might think of the casting, I think it's pretty cool that we may get a female-led franchise, and one based around the cool, rational science of forensic pathology. It's the closest thing to a
Bones movie that I'll ever get, so I'm all for it.
Posted Apr 2nd 2009 10:02PM by Peter Martin
Filed under: Action, Drama, Fandom, Angelina Jolie, Quentin Tarantino, Cinematical Seven, Lists
Growing up in Los Angeles as an admittedly shallow, callow youth in the 70s, I always wanted a stylish hot rod so I could attract the girls who liked guys in fast cars. Alas, I had to be content with puttering around in very practical, somewhat beat-up used cars (1964 Chevy Corvair, graduating to a 1965 Ford Falcon), but dreams die hard. Even though I'm still driving a very practical, somewhat beat-up used car, I still yearn for a sizzling hot motor vehicle and an attractive lady passenger urging me to go faster, faster.
These thoughts are prompted by the imminent release of the hot rod-loving Fast & Furious, due in theaters tomorrow, which features the return of the gorgeous Jordana Brewster and the equally lovely Michelle Rodriguez, two talented ladies who have a definite need for speed. (Oh, yeah, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel are back, too, and so is director Justin Lin.) In their honor, we present our seven favorite, fabulous hot rod girls.
1. Tracie Thoms, Death Proof
Tracie Thoms packs an unbeatable combination of brains, beauty, and bravado as Kim, a stunt woman in Quentin Tarantino's twisted ode to 70s car chase movies and 80s slasher flicks. Kim is rowdy and rambunctious with her girlfriends, but her hot rod heart starts beating fast when she revs up the engine of a borrowed 1970 Dodge Challenger, with Zoe Bell precariously perched on the hood. Smashing!
Continue reading Cinematical Seven: Our Favorite Hot Rod Girls
Posted Feb 13th 2009 12:15PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Angelina Jolie, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
With yesterday's
Wachkowski Bros / Superman rumor came the inevitable speculation as to who would be the man to fill out Superman's underoos. Would Brandon Routh return? Does a reboot mean he's out, and someone like Jon Hamm might be in? It might just be my imagination, but it seems like there's a reluctance to see Routh get the boot. Fandom has been mixed on his performance in
Superman Returns but hell, fandom is mixed on
Returns in general. As much as we might want a fresh start, it seems a bit unfair and strange to recast Superman already.
But what is the time frame on recasting? From the general hysteria that surrounded the Angelina Jolie-less
Tomb Raider reboot, I'd say the general public feels like the actor or actress in question ought to be dead and buried. (I'm not talking about the
Cinematical readers, who handled it in an objective manner. I'm thinking of regular news outlets who breathlessly announced "Jolie booted from
Tomb Raider?!" As if she was weeping copiously over losing her twin semi-automatics, and not racking up
Changeling nominations.)
Yet only a mild disappointment has followed rumors that Edward Norton might be replaced as
The Incredible Hulk -- though we were all pretty shocked that they were remaking/recasting the character so soon after Eric Bana went green. Maybe a general numbness has set in when it comes to Bruce Banner, though, because fandom seems to simmer with a threat of violence should Christopher Nolan recast the Joker.
What would the reaction be if they recast Wolverine? Tony Stark? Would it be safe to recast the Fantastic Four?
It's a question worth putting out there. Which characters (and it doesn't have to be comic book related -- any franchise will do for the discussion. Throw in Axel Foley or Jack Sparrow if you want.) can safely be recast? Is there a time limit? Does it depend purely on the performance? Is any character truly untouchable?
Posted Feb 5th 2009 8:02PM by Jeffrey M. Anderson
Filed under: Angelina Jolie, Columns, 400 Screens, 400 Blows
400 Screens, 400 Blows is a weekly column that takes an in-depth look at the films playing below the radar, beneath the top ten, and on 400 screens or less.
The "Best Actress" Oscar category is usually pretty dull, for two reasons. The main reason is that movies are often generated with men in mind, but the other reason is that, when women actually do get great roles, they're usually too challenging or obscure for Academy voters to bother with. Voters prefer to stick with the usual, heavily dramatic, preferably suffering women characters. And this year is no different. Thus
Angelina Jolie gets nominated for losing a child, rather than
Michelle Williams for losing a dog. It doesn't matter that almost anyone you ask probably likes
Wendy & Lucy (13 screens) better than Changeling; it's the degree of suffering we're talking about here. (Not to mention that Jolie's performance is based on a true story -- actual, real-life suffering -- while Williams' is not.)
That said, there's one thing the Academy likes better than suffering, and that's giving "make up" awards to actors, filmmakers and artists that they've overlooked, which explains why so many great talents have won for their worst work. (Prime example? Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. I need say no more.) It's almost as if this year's Best Actress category has been specifically arranged, handicapped for the benefit of Kate Winslet, so that the six-time nominee can finally take home her first statue, for one of her least relevant films (though not her worst; that would be Iris). Not only is she in there for a Nazi/Holocaust movie -- a genre that she herself made fun of in an episode of "Extras" -- but the Academy made sure that her competition was so far behind her that there's practically no other choice.
Continue reading 400 Screens, 400 Blows - "Best" Actresses
Posted Nov 8th 2008 3:33PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, RumorMonger, Fandom, Scripts, Newsstand, Angelina Jolie, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
A handful of geek news bits are the perfect way to end the week. There's all kinds of intriguing little quotes scattered all over the Internet tonight, and I've compiled them all below to give your mouse finger and Google toolbar a rest. Enjoy!
As always, the Old Canuckehead gets first grab --
X-MenFilms.Net was informed by Fox that the first
X-Men Origins: Wolverine teaser is supposed to be attached to
The Day the Earth Stood Still, which hits theaters on December 12th. Will we see the same footage that most of us glimpsed via YouTube bootleg from San Diego ComicCon? I bet we will!
Buried in that
Ain't It Cool News scoop on
J. Michael Stracynzki was the news that he had just finished his rewrite of
Thor. I think the God of Thunder is moving faster than Captain America.
MTV's Splash Page caught up with
Robert Downey Jr. and pressed him for word on the
Terrance Howard/Don Cheadle swap. He stayed classy, of course: "I had nothing to do with that decision. I love Terrence very very much. That's all I'll say because I haven't talked to him yet ... I've always admired Don [Cheadle]. It's one of those situations where I still don't quite know what happened or why. Here's what happens too: things happen and you wind up commenting on them before you've actually talked to the people and it's in poor taste." He also stressed that the
Iron Man franchise will be an "interactive" one, with he and Jon Favreau striving "to make sure we don't piss off the public that put us in the position we're in."
Continued after the jump.
Continue reading Geek Daily: Teased by 'Wolverine,' Thor, 'Kick-Ass' Villains, and More
Posted Oct 17th 2008 12:02PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Angelina Jolie
There is something rather odd in the way Hollywood values the external beauty of its players, while simultaneously decrying it for being shallow and unrealistic onscreen. Have you ever noticed that? This came to mind when I was reading
Changeling press a few weeks ago -- you might have read Clint Eastwood's sincerely lovely quote regarding his leading lady,
Angelina Jolie: "She is an actress hampered by her gorgeous face, I think the most beautiful face on the planet. People sometimes can't see past that, to her talent. She's on all these magazine covers so it's easy to overlook what an amazing actress is underneath." It's an interesting thought, and a valid point when it comes to Jolie's career -- her looks and personal life outstripped her Oscar win long ago, and her acting talent was called into question soon after meeting Brad Pitt.
However, I don't really want to debate Jolie's talent, but rather the idea that an actor or actress can be hampered by their looks. (And yes, we discussed a variation of this in regards to
Keira Knightley a few weeks ago.) Remember when Spike Lee didn't want to cast Halle Berry in
Jungle Fever because he thought she was "too pretty"? The same problem nearly prevented Joe Wright casting Keira Knightley in
Pride and Prejudice -- he thought she was too attractive to play Elizabeth Bennet. Unfortunately, I can't think of any comparable stories regarding male actors, and Google is coming up woefully short. Paul Newman always struggled against it, though, but I don't know if he was ever hampered by it.
Continue reading Discuss: Too Attractive to Be Believable?
Posted Sep 24th 2008 2:02PM by Thomas DiChiara
Filed under: Drama, Universal, Angelina Jolie, Oscar Watch, Images
Click poster to enlarge
The last time
Angelina Jolie received an Oscar nod was for playing a mental patient in 1999's
Girl, Interrupted, for which she took home the statue for Best Supporting Actress. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, consider this:
Winona Ryder -- and not Jolie -- was a box-office draw back then.
Now, after years of strong and sometimes overlooked performances (ahem,
A Mighty Heart), Jolie is once again receiving battalions of Oscar buzz, this time for her role in
Clint Eastwood's Changeling (get your exclusive first look at the poster above).
Based on real events that transpired in 1920s Los Angeles,
Changeling is the tale of a mother (Jolie) whose abducted son is
seemingly returned to her by the LAPD. Turns out the boy is not her flesh and blood, however -- or so she adamantly claims -- and thus Mama Jolie sets out to wring the truth from a corrupt police department unwilling to listen to her.
Changeling opens in limited release Oct. 24 and expands wide on Oct. 31.
Posted Sep 12th 2008 11:03AM by William Goss
Filed under: Drama, Awards, Cannes, Mystery & Suspense, Universal, Angelina Jolie, New York, Oscar Watch, Trailers and Clips
As we've started to get our fair share of trailers for the coming prestige projects -- Frost/Nixon, The Soloist, Zack and Miri Make a Porno -- I was curious as to why we'd yet to get one for Clint Eastwood's period drama, Changeling, if it were set to open by the end of next month. Particularly after Kim's Cannes review, I wanted to get a proper glimpse beyond a brief clip...
Perhaps hearing my prayers or just tiring of my complaints, Yahoo! Movies saw fit to post the trailer (watch it after the jump as well), in which a young mother (Angelina Jolie) in 1928 Los Angeles finds herself standing up against a corrupt police department when her missing son is returned, or rather replaced by a different child altogether.
Even if the same piece of score hadn't been used in both of their trailers, I'd still have felt a need to draw a correlation between this and last October's missing-kids-and-corrupt-cops powerhouse, Gone Baby Gone (of course, it doesn't hurt that Amy Ryan shows up in both of them). From Eastwood's end comes a particular tinge of Mystic River, and so far as I'm concerned, all of those signs point to something substantial waiting for us when Changeling opens in limited release on October 31.
Continue reading Angelina Jolie Wants Her Kid in 'Changeling' Trailer
Posted Aug 13th 2008 8:02AM by Christopher Campbell
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Angelina Jolie, New York, Cinematical Indie, War
Some people may consider the New York Film Festival a simple "Best Of" sort of event, but the fact that it compiles selections from earlier film fests and merely showcases them in a competition-free program is what I love about it. For those of us New Yorkers who can't always make it to the highlands of Utah and Colorado or the exotic seaside locales of Italy and Southern France, it's nice to know that major festival highlights will likely make their way to Lincoln Center in late September, early October.
This year, the lineup for the 46th NYFF
is being noted for its inclusion of films that previously screened at Cannes back in May. Even Steven Soderbergh's four-hour
Che (aka
The Argentine and
Guerilla), which played to mixed reactions in France, even while picking up a best actor prize for star
Benicio Del Toro, has been given a spot. Also featured are Cannes leftovers
Waltz With Bashir,
Wendy and Lucy, Grand Prix-winner
Gomorrah and Clint Eastwood's
Changeling, which stars
Angelina Jolie and has the honor of being NYFF's centerpiece film. Opening the festival is the Palm d'Or winner
The Class, while the closing film is Darren Aronofsky's
The Wrestler, which premieres a few weeks prior at the Venice Film Festival.
Other exciting big name films include Mike Leigh's
Happy-Go-Lucky, Wong Kar-Wai's
Ashes of Time: Redux, Lucretia Martel's
The Headless Woman and Olivier Assayas'
Summer Hours. Surprisingly, Charlie Kaufman's
Synechdoche, New York, which screened at Cannes, is New York appropriate and is scheduled to open in October, is missing from the lineup.
The complete list of NYFF selections, courtesy of
The Hollywood Reporter, can be found after the jump:
Continue reading NYFF Nabs 'Changeling', 'Wrestler' and 'Che'
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