Hollywood is making the low-blow a higher art form.
That’s one way to look at the escalation of exotic testicle mayhem on the preview screens at CinemaCon, the Las Vegas convention where studios show theater exhibitors the next big thing in film entertainment.
Judging by the first two days of presentations, it’s clear that Hollywood will be keeping its eye on the ball through the end of 2014. Consider: READ FULL STORY »
When last we left the citizens-turned-superheroes of Kick-Ass, half of them were dead and the other half were covered in blood. But three years have been kind to Chloe Moretz’ Mindy Macready and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Dave Lizewski. She has nice bangs, he has a nice body… which they still use to totally take down any evil persons who get in their way. Did we hope for any different?
Bonus: some new footage of Jim Carrey’s Colonel Stars and Stripes, who brings with him the promise of gray-haired nihilism and a plan for a super-group of Kick-Assers. Or, put another way, “Try to have fun. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
The cult-hit superhero dark comedy Kick-Ass earned a modest amount of money back in 2010, and the film’s following has only grown in the last few years. The film’s success made a cool-kid superstar out of Chloë Grace Moretz and landed director Matthew Vaughn the X-Men: First Class gig. This summer brings Kick-Ass 2, which sees a slightly older Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass joining forces with a whole league of hilariously bargain-bin superheroes, including an unrecognizable Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes. Also, Christopher Mintz-Plasse is back as Red Mist, although now he’s given himself a new name which is unprintable on this family website. So watch the NSFW trailer below: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic
• Michael Fassbender and Domhnall Gleeson (Never Let Me Go) are attached to headline the rock-and-roll comedy Frank, about an up-and-coming musician (Gleeson) who joins a band headed by an outlandish frontman (Fassbender). Leonard Abrahamson (What Richard Did) is directing from a screenplay by Jon Ronson (The Men Who Stare at Goats, the book) and Peter Straughan (The Men Who Stare at Goats, the film). [Variety]
• Jim Carrey has joined Kick-Ass 2 as Colonel Stars, who joins the motley crew of vigilante masked heroes sparked by the titular green-suited star (Aaron Johnson). Carrey joins Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Donald Faison. Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) is directing from his script. [Deadline/Twitter]
• Jason Clarke (Lawless) will play Abraham Lincoln’s father Tom Lincoln in the The Green Blade Rises, the Terrence Malick-produced biopic about the childhood and adolescent years of the 16th President of the United States. Diane Kruger will play Abe’s stepmother, Sarah. Regular Malick collaborator A.J. Edwards is writing and directing. [Deadline]
Read more:
Casting Net: Michael Pitt to play Hollywood legend’s husband. Plus: Brie Larson, Thomas Ian Nicholas
Casting Net: Michael Douglas aiming to play Ronald Reagan. Plus: Michael Keaton new ‘Robocop’ villain
Casting Net: Evan Rachel Wood in talks to play female trucker in ’18 Wheel Butterfly.’ Plus: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Frances Fisher
Image Credit: Chelsea Lauren/WireImage.com
• Carey Mulligan is in talks to star in the comedy thriller Nancy and Danny, about a gold-digger aiming to land a man she crushed on in high school. James Marsh (the documentary Man on a Wire) is directing from a script by Brad Ingelsby (the upcoming crime thriller Out of the Furnace). [THR]
• Tom Hardy and Michael Shannon are attached to star in The Long Red Road, an adaptation of Brett C. Leonard‘s play about an alcoholic named Sam (Hard), who’s drinking his life away on a South Dakota Indian reservation. Shannon would play his older brother; Leonard will pen the adaptation. In 2010, Hardy headlined the world premiere of the play at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. That production was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, but it’s not clear whether he will join the feature film version. [Variety]
• Zoe Saldana will play the singularly voiced singer Nina Simone in the long-in-the-works biopic Nina, and David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will play her longtime manager Clifton Henderson. Cynthia Mort (who wrote The Brave One and created HBO’s Tell Me You Love Me) is directing from her screenplay. [THR]
• Joy Bryant (NBC’s Parenthood) has joined the untitled adaptation of David Mamet’s play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which itself was previously adapted into the 1986 romcom About Last Night… starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. Bryant will play a Los Angeles woman who enters into a one-night stand with a man (Michael Ealy) that becomes a full-blown relationship, to the strenuous objection of their respective friends (Regina Hall and Kevin Hart). Steve Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine) is directing from a script by Leslye Headland (Bachelorette). [Deadline]
• Elle Fanning (Super 8) is attached to an adaptation of Kevin Henkes Newbery award-winning YA novel Olive’s Ocean, a coming-of-age tale about a teenager who learns a girl named Olive, who had recently died, had admired her from afar. First-time feature screenwriter Christina Hammonds Reed is penning the script. [Deadline]
• Along with landing a high profile release date next June, Kick-Ass 2 added two more actors to its ranks. Morris Chestnut will play the legal guardian for Chloe Moretz‘s Hit Girl (a role that seemingly was originated by Omari Hardwick in the first film). And Robert Emms (War Horse) will play Insect Man. Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) is directing. [Deadline/Deadline]
• Speaking of Morris Chestnut, he’s also joining the thriller The Hive, as the love interest for Halle Berry‘s 911 call operator, who fields a frantic phone call from a kidnapped girl (Abigail Breslin). Brad Anderson (The Machinist) is directing from a script by Richard D’Ovidio (Thir13en Ghosts). [Deadline]
Read more:
Casting Net: Robert Pattinson to play Lawrence of Arabia. Plus: Tobey Maguire, Dermot Mulroney, Robin Wright
Casting Net: Aaron Paul taking ‘A Long Way Down.’ Plus: Eric Bana, Christoph Waltz, Richard Dreyfuss
Casting Net: Steve Carell will help Will Ferrell ‘Swear to God.’ Plus: Heather Graham’s back for ‘The Hangover Part III’
Image Credit: Dan Smith/Lionsgate
Universal is coming off a decent summer, with a big R-rated comedy hit (Ted), a movie that successfully rebooted a money-minting franchise (The Bourne Legacy), and a movie that appeared to kickstart a new money-minting franchise (Snow White and the Huntsman) before recent events intervened. (They also released two Taylor Kitsch movies. But hey, Savages was swell!) The studio just announced the 2013 release dates of seven movies, and it’s a diverse slate. The Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman comedy Identity Thief was moved up from May 10 to February 8 release. Likewise, the extra-dimensional rerelease Jurassic Park in 3D — previously slated for a mid-July bow — will now open on April 5. The time-traveling romcom About Time, starring Rachel McAdams and directed by Love Actually‘s Richard Curtis, will hit on May 10. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Rob Kim/FilmMagic.com
• Shia LaBeouf — apparently undeterred by the onslaught of “Shia LaBuff” jokes in the wake of his full-frontal appearance in a recent Sigur Ros music video — is in talks for an unspecified role in director Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac. As the title implies, the film follows the erotic adventures of a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) from her first sexual experience through age 50, with von Trier shooting both explicit and not-as-explicit versions of the film. Stellan Skarsgard will play the woman’s husband, but likely not her only sexual partner, because that would be a bit of a let down, frankly. [THR]
• Ryan Reynolds is going spooky, starring in the psychological thriller Queen of the Night, about a father who begins to think is missing daughter is still alive eight years after she was abducted thanks to a series of unnerving clues. Director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) also penned the script with David Fraser. They’ll start shooting in February. [Deadline]
• Malin Akerman is negotiating to join the expanding cast of the thriller Breacher, about a team of DEA agents who start dying off one by one after they use an official operation as cover for a robbery. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Terrence Howard, and Dawn Olivieri (House of Lies) costar, with Joe Manganiello also recently in talks for a role. David Ayer (Harsh Times) is directing. [Variety]
• Kim Basinger has signed up for the indie drama One Square Mile, as the mother of a troubled teenager (Kelly Blatz, Prom). Richard Jenkins, Cam Gigandet, and Analeigh Tipton costar. Charles-Olivier Michaud (Snow & Ashes) is directing. [THR]
• Donald Faison (Clueless, NBC’s Scrubs) is in talks to join Kick-Ass 2 as Dr. Gravity, a heroic compatriot (and Columbia University English major) to the title masked vigilante. Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are all returning for the sequel. Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down) is writing and directing; original helmer Matthew Vaughn is producing. It starts shooting this fall. [Deadline]
Read more:
Casting Net: Reese Witherspoon will be ‘The Beard.’ Plus: Julianne Hough, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Casting Net: Jennifer Lawrence may go to ‘Ends of the Earth.’ Plus: Mickey Rourke, Kevin Costner, and a ‘Catching Fire’ baddie
Casting Net: Kristen Stewart aiming to ‘Lie Down in Darkness.’ Plus: Diane Kruger boards Terrence Malick’s Lincoln biopic
