They Came Together
Co-written by David Wain and Michael Showalter and directed by Wain, this winking takedown of romantic comedies stars Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler as the central couple destined to be together, despite the many obstacles they must overcome—including the fact that he’s a candy company executive threatening to close down her mom-and-pop candy store. With solid early reviews and a great supporting cast, will They Came Together be a surprise summer hit for the team behind 2001’s Wet Hot American Summer, or will it become a beloved cult classic? Find out beginning June 27th and then a year or so later when they’re on a midnight movie double bill.
It's official: Star Wars cast revealed
With a photo and official announcement on Star Wars.com, J.J. Abrams and the Star Wars team revealed the main cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. As expected, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker will reprise their roles from the original trilogy, and they will be joined by John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. While Driver has long been rumored to be playing the villain, speculation has turned to what roles the other newcomers will play and who else will be joining the cast. The photo has been dissected by many, and with Ridley sitting between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, the consensus has been that she’s their daughter. Could J.J. Abrams really make it that easy on us? Probably not, but you never know. And do we assume Andy Serkis will be in some sort of motion capture get up? Boyega has been rumored as one of the young leads for awhile, and Max von Sydow is the favorite to play a new Sith lord, but he is equally skilled at playing menacing and mirthful. In addition, Heat Vision reports that a major female role is still to be cast (possibly the one Lupita Nyong'o and Maisie Richardson-Sellers met with the director about). If you need more Star Wars news, check out the video below about how the Expanded Universe will be integrated in storylines going forward, and look for more news on May 4th (aka Star Wars Day).
An extended look at The Fault in Our Stars
Based on John Green’s best-selling 2012 novel, The Fault in Our Stars follows Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgort) as they meet at a cancer support group and fall in love. Josh Boone (Stuck in Love) directs from a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber ((500) Days of Summer). Laura Dern and Sam Trammell play Hazel’s parents, and Nat Wolff plays Augustus’ friend Isaac, while Mike Birbiglia plays the chipper support group leader. Look for it in theaters June 6th.
Let them fight
While previous trailers have teased the possibility of other monsters in Godzilla, this new preview provides definitive evidence, and the best look yet at the star of the show, who, according to Japanese fans, needs to go on a diet. So who will Godzilla be fighting? Is it Gigan or Kumonga with the spider-like arm, Rodan or Destoroyah with the wings, or are the monsters brand new creations? Ken Watanabe will most likely let us know beginning May 16th.
A second look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
It’s summer, and Michael Bay is destroying another city. He’s not directing the chaos— that’s Battle: Los Angeles and Wrath of the Titans helmer Jonathan Liebesman’s job—but Bay is producing this reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. In this iteration, Shredder (William Fichtner) and his evil Foot Clan have a hold over New York City, and it’s up to Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello to save it, with the help of reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) of course. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits 2D and 3D theaters on August 8th.
A Long Way Down
Based on the novel by Nick Hornby and directed by Pascal Chaumeil (Heartbreaker) from a script by Jack Thorne, A Long Way Down stars Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, and Aaron Paul as four lost souls who form a dysfunctional family, dubbed by the media as the Topper House Four, after they meet unintentionally at Topper’s Tower, a London high-rise where they all go on New Year’s Eve to commit suicide. The film received very poor early reviews at the Berlin film festival and upon its release in the UK, but it will make it into North American theaters on July 11th after a VOD debut June 5th.
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
Mike Myers makes his directorial debut with this look at the life of one of his friends, music manager Shep Gordon. The film tracks the perennial Hollywood insider from manager of Alice Cooper and creator of the “celebrity chef” phenomenon to philanthropist and guardian of four children. Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon earned mostly good early reviews at TIFF last fall and opens in select theaters on June 6th.
Save the cheerleader, kill the world?
Written and directed by Lucky McKee (The Woman, Red) and Chris Sivertson (I Know Who Killed Me), All Cheerleaders Die stars Caitlin Stasey as Maddy, a girl with a grudge against the captain of the Blackfoot High football team. When Maddy joins the cheerleading squad, she convinces them to take revenge, but when their plans get derailed, a supernatural power steps in to help them. With decent early reviews, this genre mash-up of high school cheerleader movie and horror hits VOD on May 8th and select theaters on June 13th.
Justice League and more coming from WB and DC
This week in the Wall Street Journal, Warner Bros. president of worldwide production Greg Silverman confirmed that the Man of Steel sequel starring Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg, will be followed by a Justice League movie. Zack Snyder will direct both movies under the current plan to shoot them back to back. In another article on Warner Bros. business, the WSJ claims that “nine other movies based on DC comics” are in development.
Quick notes: Rumors, release dates, casting news and more
- London Has Fallen, the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, will hit theaters on October 2, 2015.
- Tim Burton’s Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, and Terence Stamp, will be released on December 25th.
- The Imitation Game, the story of mathematician Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), will come to theaters on November 21st.
- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, which played as two separate films (His and Hers) at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, will open on September 21st. It is unclear if it will be released as two films, though its upcoming Cannes screening as a single 2-hour film suggests that its theatrical future lies in this shorter combined format.
- Steven Spielberg will direct an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG. Melissa Mathison (E.T.) will adapt the story about a little girl and a big, friendly giant. - THR
- Joaquin Phoenix will star in Woody Allen’s next film. - Deadline
- Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) will direct an adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s 2011 Harry Hole novel The Snowman. - Variety
- Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) is in talks to re-team with his Macbeth star, Michael Fassbender, for Assassin’s Creed. - Deadline
- Kevin Smith’s Christmas horror movie Anti-Claus (previously known as Comes the Krumpus) will star Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, and Michael Parks. - THR
- Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) will adapt and direct a big-screen version of Tom Reiss’ Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, And The Real Count of Monte Cristo. - Deadline
- Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, and Charlotte Le Bon are in talks to join Joseph Gordon-Levitt in To Reach the Clouds, Robert Zemeckis’s drama based on highwire artist Philippe Petit’s memoirs. - Variety
- Will Ferrell is attached to star in The Yank, the story of “a mild mannered insurance courier who gets caught up in a conspiracy to steal the Crown Jewels in London.” - Deadline
- Jude Law will replace Michael Fassbender and play Thomas Wolfe opposite Colin Firth as Max Perkins in Genius. - Screen Daily
- Analeigh Tipton (Crazy, Stupid, Love) will star in Viral for directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. - Deadline
- In addition to last week’s announcement that he’s developing Kung Fu for the big screen, Baz Luhrmann is in talks to direct an untitled Elvis biopic. - The Wrap
- Tim Blake Nelson is in talks to play eccentric scientist Harvey Elder in Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four. - Heat Vision
- Gavin Hood (Ender’s Game) will direct Colin Firth as a military intelligence officer in the drone-focused spy movie, Eye in the Sky. - Deadline
- Hailee Steinfeld has joined the cast of Pitch Perfect 2. - Variety
- Morena Baccarin (Homeland) has joined Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale and Nia Long in the cast of Paul Feig’s comedy Spy. - THR
- Scott Eastwood will star in The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, director George Tillman Jr.’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Longest Ride. - Deadline
- Actor and screenwriter Danny Strong (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) will make his directorial debut with Salinger’s War, a drama based on Kenneth Slawenski’s biography JD Salinger: A Life. - THR
- Johnny Knoxville will star in Sick Day. The story of three friends who take a day off of work together each year will be rewritten by Jordan Cahan and directed by Jeremy Garelick. - Deadline
- Sandra Bullock is circling director Tate Taylor’s project about Brownie Wise, the sales exec who made Tupperware a household name. - THR
- Eddie Redmayne will play 1930s Danish painter Einar Wegener for director Tom Hooper in The Danish Girl, the story of Wegener’s sex change operation. - Deadline
- Ryan Guzman (Step Up Revolution) will star as Rio in Jon M. Chu’s live-action Jem and the Holograms film. - THR
- Clive Owen, Greta Gerwig, and Julianne Moore will star in Maggie’s Plan, a “romantic comedy of manners” from director Rebecca Miller. - Variety
- Dakota Fanning is attached to star an adaptation of Susannah Cahalan’s memoir Brain On Fire: My Month Of Madness. - Deadline
- David Goyer (Man of Steel) will write the remake of The Fantastic Voyage for director James Cameron. - Heat Vision
- Steven Bernstein (Decoding Annie Parker) will direct Rhys Ifans as Welsh poet Dylan Thomas alongside co-stars John Malkovich, Diego Luna, Zosia Mamet, and Tony Hale. - Variety
- Eran Creevy (Welcome to the Punch) will direct Autobahn, starring Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones as a young couple caught between two criminals played by Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley. - THR
Comments (0)