Category: Movies

The light is green for Martin Scorsese and Silence, the adaptation of Shusaku Endo‘s novel which the director has wanted to make for many years. We’ve talked about Scorsese directing Silence for years. Now financing is locked for the movie, Paramount is on board to distribute, and Silence will finally begin shooting later this month, in Taiwan.

Deadline reports that extra financiers, Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films, have come on board the project to complete the funding for the movie. So, yeah, even a director like Scorsese has to scrape up funding for a movie that isn’t likely to be a big box-office performer. That’s what the business is today.

Silence will star Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Tadanobu Asano. in the story of 17th-century Jesuit priests who attempt missionary work in Japan. The film will begin shooting on January 30. Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) scripted, and Paramount will distribute domestically. That won’t be until 2016, however.

Scorsese said in a statement,

I’ve wanted to make Silence for almost two decades, and it is finally a reality. It is heartening to have adventurous partners like Fabrica and SharpSword to work with on this picture.

Here’s the description of Silence:

Young Portuguese Jesuit Sebastião Rodrigues is sent to Japan to succor the local Church and investigate reports that his mentor, Fr. Cristóvão Ferreira, has committed apostasy. (Ferreira is a historical figure, who apostatized after torture and later married a Japanese woman and wrote a treatise against Christianity.)

Fr. Rodrigues and his companion Fr. Francisco Garrpe arrive in Japan in 1638. There they find the local Christian population driven underground. Security officials force suspected Christians to trample on fumie, which are crudely carved images of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed. The novel relates the trials of the Christians and increasing hardship suffered by Rodrigues, as more is learnt about the circumstances of Ferreira’s apostasy.

The post Martin Scorsese Gets Full Funding for ‘Silence,’ Production Begins This Month appeared first on /Film.

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As the Sundance Film Festival kicks off, even those of us stuck at home miles away from Park City are getting a first look at some of this year’s highlights. One of those is Racing Extinction, the new documentary from Louie Psihoyos (The Cove).

Racing Extinction looks at humanity’s role in mass extinction, revealing how close we are to losing thousands of species. Watch the Racing Extinction trailer after the jump.

The Oceanic Preservation Society debuted the Racing Extinction trailer on YouTube.

Racing Extinction has been on our radar for a little while already — it was on Germain’s list of 30 films to look forward to at the festival. We don’t have a review to run just yet, but the Racing Extinction trailer serves up an alarming and intriguing peek.

Psihoyos’ The Cove offered an alarming look at dolphin slaughter. People definitely took notice, and the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. Racing Extinction looks even more ambitious, with an even bigger scope. The truths it reveals aren’t pretty, but they are important.

Here’s the Racing Extinction synopsis from Sundance:

Louie Psihoyos’s The Cove (2009 Sundance Film Festival, U.S. Documentary Audience Award) exposed viewers to the brutal practice of dolphin slaughter. The Academy Award-winning director now bears witness to a global problem—mankind’s role in precipitating mass extinction, potentially resulting in the loss of half of the world’s species.

Believing that images can stimulate empathy and in turn change behavior, Psihoyos joins forces with activists, scientists, nature photographers, and cutting-edge inventors to draw attention to the dangers we face. While covert operations reveal the horrific black-market trade in endangered aquatic species, the film’s broader lens uncovers the even more disastrous consequences of human activity, chiefly the release of ocean-killing methane and carbon from energy consumption.

With stakes as high as the survival of life on the planet, Racing Extinction dispenses with apathy or fatalism to emerge as an urgent, affirming call to action to stem the tide before it’s too late.

The post ‘Racing Extinction’ Sundance Trailer: ‘The Cove’ Director Sounds the Alarm for Mass Extinction appeared first on /Film.

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So what’s the Super Bowl superhero bet between Captain America and Star Lord? Which Oscar winner might be up for Suicide Squad? Want to watch the Flash’s big fight from earlier this week? What is Suicide Squad star Cara Delevinge up to? Did Scoot McNairy reveal anything about his role in Batman v Superman? Which Avengers movie does Anthony Mackie want to be in? Does Sebastian Stan know his part in Captain America: Civil War yet? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits.

Justin Santora‘s Batcave is the latest in the Geek Art Batman series.

Captain America and Star-Lord, Chris Evans and Chris Pratt, have made a friendly Marvel wager over next week’s Super Bowl. Vanity Fair has a fun recap.

UNCONFIRMED TWITTER RUMOR: Pending more concrete sourcing, I hear Gary Sinise supposedly in talks to join SUICIDE SQUAD as GENERAL EILING.

— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) January 22, 2015

The tweet says it all. Rumor that Gary Sinise could be in Suicide Squad.

Sebastian Stan told Variety he hasn’t heard anything or see a script yet for Captain America: Civil War.

Spoiler TV, via Comic Book Movie, posted a ton of photos from the upcoming Flash episode The Sound and The Fury.

A new Marvel banner teases something called “Battleworld” in regards to Secret Wars.

New Loki shirt via Shirtoid.

Here’s the battle between Flash and Captain Cold from the recent episode.

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The post Superhero Bits: Captain America Civil War, Batman, Superman, The Flash, Avengers: Age of Ultron appeared first on /Film.

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Simon Pegg has some big writing credits to his name — stuff you’ve probably seen, like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, and Spaced. Now he’s reportedly set to co-write Star Trek 3, and will work on the script with Doug Jung.

Deadline reports. Jung created the TNT series Dark Blue, and has worked with Bad Robot before, which the site says led to this writing assignment. Pegg, naturally, is already connected to the Star Trek reboot universe, having played the engineer Scotty twice before. He was already set to reprise that role for the third film. Deadline suggests we may see more of Scotty thanks to Pegg’s script involvement, but that may just be supposition on the site’s part.

Beyond that, we don’t know what the two will be working with, story-wise. We do know that Justin Lin recently took the job directing the film, after Roberto Orci’s stint as director ended.

Rumors, driven in part by guesses based on the ending of Star Trek Into Darkness, have suggested that this film will be more of a classic Trek space adventure, with much more action in deep space.

Whatever Pegg, Jung and the rest of the team are cooking up, it’ll have to be ready soon, as Star Trek 3 is set for release in July 2016, and has been reported to be set to start shooting in Vancouver in April of this year.

The post Simon Pegg Co-Writing ‘Star Trek 3′ appeared first on /Film.

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UPDATE: Jake Gyllenhaal has passed on Suicide Squad. Original story follows with update below.

That Suicide Squad cast just got a hair less impressive. Tom Hardy has dropped out of the film, leaving his role as leader Rick Flagg up for grabs. The Mad Max and Inception actor was set to co-star with Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney and Cara Delevingne in the DC Comics adaptation, written and directed by David Ayer.

Despite Hardy’s exit, everything on the film is still on schedule. It’ll shoot this Spring aimed at an August 5, 2016 release date. Still, a replacement for Hardy is needed, and fast. In a very cool twist of events, apparently Ayer is looking at Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Hardy. Read more about the Jake Gyllenhall Tom Hardy Suicide Squad news below.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the Hardy news and The Wrap broked the Gyllenhall news.

The Wrap says the reason for Hardy dropping Suicide Squad is the film he’s shooting, The Revenant, is going over schedule into mid-March. Once he’s done with that, he’ll have to promote the summer release of Mad Max: Fury Road. Suicide Squad is expected to shoot in April, so he won’t be able to fit it in.

Gyllenhaal isn’t signed for the film yet, but would obviously be a great replacement if everything works out.. He and Ayer worked together on End of Watch and in recent years, Gyllenhaal has become even more of a diverse, exciting actor. His performance in Nightcrawler was grossly snubbed during this year’s awards season. Next, he’ll be seen totally transformed in the boxing movie, Southpaw.

The idea of Tom Hardy in another superhero movie — with his face showing this time — was incredibly awesome, but the potential of Gyllenhaal replacing him almost better. It’s just another nod at the fact this Suicide Squad script must be incredibly good to attract this A+ List cast for a villain driven superhero film.

Are you disappointed Hardy is out? Is Gyllenhaal the right guy for the job? Who else could play Rick Flagg?

UPDATE: 1/21/15:  Variety reports that Jake Gyllenhaal has passed on the role. It makes sense as he just started a role on Broadway and probably wouldn’t have the time to jump directly into this movie, which starts shooting in the Spring. When there’s more information, we’ll let you know.

The post Tom Hardy Is Out of ‘Suicide Squad,’ Jake Gyllenhaal Won’t Replace Him appeared first on /Film.

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Gareth Edwards has begun testing actresses for a lead role in his 2016 Star Wars standalone movie. There’s no word what the role is but The Hollywood Reporter reports Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo star Rooney Mara, and recent Oscar nominee Felicity Jones are all testing for a part in the film.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the potential Tatiana Maslany Star Wars news. According to the piece, these are just three actresses testing for the role and Jones might not be able to commit because she’s already cast in Ron Howard’s Inferno.

Edwards’ Star Wars standalone will be the second Star Wars movie out of the gate, scheduled for release December 16, 2016. It starts filming this Spring at Pinewood Studios outside London. Gary Whitta wrote the first draft of the script and since then Simon Kinberg has reportedly taken over some writing duties.

The official plot of the film has yet to be revealed but we were the first to report it most likely will be about a group of characters, potentially bounty hunters, stealing the plans for the first Death Star.

Sources for The Hollywood Reporter did not confirm that plot, nor did they confirm Kinberg’s involvement, both of which we broke here on /Film. They did say testing for the film began in the UK and is now happening in the US.

As for these actresses, they are all seriously talented and seriously intimidating. You’d have to think, though Mara is the bigger name stateside, fans would be pulling for Maslany to break out of her major TV role on Orphan Black. She’s got a huge following and chameleon-like ability to play all sorts of roles, as evidenced by the role on that hit show, which returns in April.

So what role is Edwards casting? Some kind of female bounty hunter would be the best bet. Likely a new character. Then again, that’s purely speculative. It could be Princess Leia’s step-mother for all we know.

What do you think of Rooney Mara or Tatiana Maslany potentially starring in a Star Wars movie?

The post ‘Star Wars’ Standalone Testing Rooney Mara, Felicity Jones and ‘Orphan Black’s’ Tatiana Maslany appeared first on /Film.

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It’s been an up and down news cycle for The Huntsman, which will be Universal’s prequel to the 2012 film Snow White and the Huntsman. First there was the news that it would leave out Snow White, but then came the announcement that Frank Darabont would write and direct. In a surprise move, however, Darabont pulled out of directing last week, thanks to “creative differences.” Now Universal has signed Cedric Nicolas-Troyan — the second-unit director and visual effects supervisor on the original film — to direct The Huntsman.

THR has the news, which was previously rumored by Schmoes Know. Nicolas-Troyan scored an Oscar nomination for his visual effects work on the original film. He also recently worked as second unit director on Maleficent, in addition to many other credits. He has been linked to the Highlander reboot, but whether or not that will happen now is open to question. Universal is trying to push The Huntsman into production quickly.

While Kristen Stewart will not return as Snow White, Chris Hemsworth will be back to play the title role, and Charlize Theron will once again play the queen Ravenna. The film is a prequel, with THR saying the script by Darabont focuses on “the Huntsman and Ravenna’s lives before the arrival of Snow White.”

Emily Blunt is also in talks for a role; she’ll play Ravenna’s sister.

The Huntsman is set for release on April 22, 2016. Here’s what Universal said about the film when it was officially announced:

The fantastical world of 2012’s global hit SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN expands to reveal how the fates of two characters, The Huntsman Eric and Ravenna, intersected before they met Snow White. Chris Hemsworth and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron return to their roles in a new epic action-adventure, THE HUNTSMAN. Three-time Oscar® nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) directs and wrote the current draft of the screenplay, with earlier drafts by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Producer Joe Roth (Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland) once again leads the team in a breathtaking new tale from the legendary saga.

The post Cedric Nicolas-Troyan to Direct ‘The Huntsman’ After Frank Darabont Departure appeared first on /Film.

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Want to see a possible look at the Bat armor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Could Sinister Six actually be getting ready to shoot? Are their problems with the Justice League script? What power is Oscar Isaac excited for in X-Men: Apocalypse? How long did Paul Bettany know about his role in Avengers: Age of Ultron? Will season one of The Flash have a big cliffhanger? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits.

Comic Book Movie says this may be an image from a crew gift given to people on Batman v Superman. We aren’t sure if that’s true.

Techtimes is reporting a rumor that the Justice League script is currently reading as too complicated.

A Vancouver resident says production on Sinister Six is beginning to come to the area.

Batman News found an interview with a fight choreographer on Batman v Superman talking about designing a fight with such different heroes.

Comic Book Movie found some new Avengers: Age of Ultron merch, including Funko Pops and this new image.

Oscar Isaac told Coming Soon that Apocalypse will be changing all the molecules in his body in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Film Sketchr posted some cool Reverse Flash concept art by John Gallagher.

Talking to EW, Grant Gustin said the end of the first season of The Flash has a big surprise.

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The post Superhero Bits: Batman v Superman, Sinister Six, Age of Ultron, X-Men Apocalypse, Justice League appeared first on /Film.

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When theater attendance is declining overall, a little extra showmanship never hurts when trying to convince audience that theaters are the number one way to see a film. Food and drink, live personal appearances and quote-along events have become the obvious go-tos for most programmers. But some want to go a bit further. Take the Kingsman upgrade offered at one UK theater during a preview screening of Matthew Vaughn‘s film Kingsman: The Secret Service. If seeing the movie isn’t enough, how about being escorted into the film though a gauntlet of stunt performers in a live action scene? Check out video below.

In truth, this video probably makes the experience look a lot more frenetic than it really was — the highlighted couple looks bemused more than exhilarated at the end. But it’s a neat idea regardless, and there are fans who would be ecstatic to get this sort of treatment.

The video comes from Vue Cinemas in the UK, which hosted this event, and has Kingsman opening on January 24. Their video page explains: “On Thursday 8th January 2015, Vue cinema-goers got offered a ‘Kingsman’ upgrade …but what that entailed was not entirely what they were expecting.”

Kingsman opens in the US on February 13. Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Mark Strong, Jack Davenport, Sofia Boutella, and Sophie Cookson also star.

Based upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, X-Men First Class), Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

The post UK Theater Surprises Fans With Interactive ‘Kingsman’ Upgrade appeared first on /Film.

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After original plans for a wide release got all screwed up, The Interview went on to become Sony’s “#1 online film of all time.” But it still wasn’t enough to make The Interview turn a profit, according to the National Association of Theater Owners, which sounds all too pleased with their assessment.

Regardless, Sony is pressing on with The Interview‘s digital rollout, striking a deal to make the comedy available on Netflix just one month after its theatrical/VOD bow. More on The Interview Netflix debut and The Interview Sony losses after the jump. 

Patrick Corcoran, vice president of NATO, laid out his case in a column for BoxOffice. “In this simultaneous-release game, Sony is $30 million in the hole and almost out of cards,” he wrote.

Sony had planned a traditional theatrical wide rollout for The Interview, but scrapped those plans after the group behind the Sony hack threatened violence. That decision brought widespread criticism from President Obama (among many others), and Sony wound up giving it a limited theatrical opening and a simultaneous VOD release. (That chain of events, by the way, is grossly misrepresented in Corcoran’s article.)

According to THR, this pissed off major theater chains, who had wanted Sony to delay The Interview‘s release rather than cancel it outright. NATO refrained at the time from commenting publicly due to the sensitive nature of the situation, but Corcoran’s piece now makes the group’s views clear. “Game not changed,” he crowed.

By Corcoran’s estimates, here’s what The Interview made:

• $30 million from digital outlets (based on what Corcoran calls a “generous” total revenue estimate of $50 million; the studio itself has reported $40 million in sales and rentals so far)
• $3.5 million from domestic ticket sales (based on an estimated final box office of $7 million; it’s grossed $6 million so far)
• $10 million from international ticket sales (a guess which Corcoran again calls “generous,” and which is based on figures for Rogen’s last several films)

And here’s what The Interview cost:

• $44 million production budget (based on leaked info; Sony insiders claim to THR the figure was closer to $40 million)
• $30+ million marketing budget (Sony insiders claim the figure was closer to $20 million, but others dispute that)

In contrast, he argues, Sony stood to make about $12.5 million more had the traditional release proceeded as planned.

Corocoran’s whole column is worth a read if you’re curious about NATO’s take on The Interview rollout. He crunches the numbers and concludes it’s “game over” for simultaneous releases. Which seems kind of optimistic. Regardless of how The Interview did, it’s unlikely that any one title will settle the question of release windows once and for all. But hey, he has to defend his people.

While he makes some good points about Sony’s struggle to make its money back on The Interview, it hardly seems fair to point to this movie as evidence that day-and-date releases don’t work for studios. Considering the film wasn’t conceived of and (initially) marketed with a VOD release in mind — and considering the massive controversy surrounding it — Sony is probably just relieved it was able to recoup some of its costs.

In any case, Sony is embracing The Interview‘s popularity with people who are willing to watch movies on the Internet. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced that the comedy will come to its streaming service just weeks after its initial release on VOD and in theaters.

“We are thrilled to offer exclusively the controversial comedy, The Interview, to our US and Canadian members beginning this Saturday, Jan. 24 – just thirty days after it debuted in theaters and pay-per-view,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders (via THR). 

The post ‘The Interview’ Hits Netflix This Weekend; Did the VOD Release Lose Money for Sony? appeared first on /Film.

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