Image Credit: Disney/Pixar
New programming for the 10-day Los Angeles Film Festival has been announced today, including pre-screenings of summer movies and a conversation with an acclaimed filmmaker.
Man of Steel, the latest Superman adaptation directed by Zach Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, will be screened on June 12, before the festival officially kicks off. The film opens wide on June 14. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Clay Enos
The official soundtrack for Man of Steel is now available for pre-sale on Amazon, and with the pre-sale comes clips of the score by epic movie music maestro Hans Zimmer.
Fans got an early listen to the score in the third preview for the movie, a rather nostalgic, adventure-ready trailer that brought to mind so many beloved moments in Superman’s story more so than the previous previews that highlighted the more gritty, Dark Knight-esque feel that Man of Steel seems to be introducing to the franchise. Helping evoke that tone was steadily building, triumphant music by Zimmer — that trailer music is the third track on the album. But judging from the brief clips now available of each track, the full score has both grand, epic and solemn, meditative tracks that should help create the action-packed yet also character-driven and contemplative movie Man of Steel is aiming to be.
READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Anne Marie Fox
No one plays imposing and unsettling quite like Michael Shannon. The looming 6’4″ actor, best known for his characters in Revolutionary Road — for which he was nominated for an Oscar — Take Shelter, and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, commands attention in every scene he’s ever done, wielding a hollowed-out stare that can even shake audiences seated in the last row of the theater. There’s always a hint of menace behind those unblinking eyes, the potential for something wild and dangerous — even when his character’s intentions are pure.
In The Iceman, which opens in theaters on May 3, Shannon plays a man whose intentions are most definitely not pure. Richard Kuklinski was an infamous mob killer who admitted to more than 100 murders after he was finally captured in 1986. At home, in a leafy New Jersey suburb, he’s the loving husband to Winona Ryder’s willfully naive wife and doting father to their two daughters. But when he goes to work, he’s the grim reaper, dispatching victims with extreme prejudice.
In a way, playing a cold-blooded murderer is just a prelude for what’s next. In Man of Steel, the ginormous Superman reboot that flies into thousands of theaters on June 14, Shannon plays General Zod, the hero’s Krypton-born arch-enemy. It’s by far the biggest movie he’s ever appeared in, and millions of boys and girls will get their first glimpse of that powerful glare, pure, delightful kryptonite to their young moviegoing hearts.
Click below for an exclusive video from The Iceman, in which sweet, soft-spoken Richie has his first date with his future wife, and then read a interview with Shannon, as he discusses playing Zod, that hilarious Funny or Die soliloquy, and why he used to be terrified of Bill Murray. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Universal/Warner Bros.
We’re a full month away, but do you know what are you doing this Memorial Day? If two studios have their way, you’ll be spending a big chunk of it in a movie theater where a pair of highly anticipated sequels will be facing off. On May 24, the Warner Bros. comedy The Hangover Part III and the Universal action-adventure Fast & Furious 6 will premiere with hopes of drawing on their similarly young, male core demographic—while not stomping on each other’s toes in the process. “It’s as close to a coin-flip weekend as you’ll ever see in the summer season,” says Phil Contrino, VP/chief analyst of BoxOffice.com. “Eighteen-to 34-year-old males—that’s the bread and butter for both [franchises]. Those people will have to make a decision that weekend.” Past performances show the franchises to be extremely well matched: Fast Five opened with $86.2 million in April 2011, while The Hangover Part II opened with $85.9 million on Memorial Day weekend that same year. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Clay Enos
Henry Cavill had nearly 75 years of Superman comics to consider before putting on the red cape, but four books in particular from the character’s recent history helped him shape Man of Steel. READ FULL STORY »
Faster than a speeding bullet?
That pretty much sums up a few of the new images we see in the latest Man of Steel trailer. Some of the scenes are impossible to figure out without a bit more context, but Entertainment Weekly has some clues that might help explain a few of the more inexplicable shots.
A close study also reveals that director Zack Snyder has slipped in a reference to another major Superman villain.
Here’s a deeper look at what’s hidden in the trailer: READ FULL STORY »
Another new look at Man of Steel has been released, giving us a look at a civil war playing out on the far-off world of Krypton, and some truly touching moments between a son and his two fathers — one natural, the other adoptive.
In a new promo for Man of Steel, a static-y General Zod (Michael Shannon) has a message for Earth.
“My name is General Zod. For some time your world has sheltered one of my citizens. I request that you return this individual to my custody. To Kal-El, I say this. Surrender within 24 hours.” Watch it below.
Image Credit: Clay Enos
When Man of Steel hits theaters on June 14, it won’t just mark the arrival of a new Superman — it will also lay the groundwork for the future slate of films based on DC Comics.
Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, spoke to EW for this week’s cover story on the Zack Snyder-directed, Christopher Nolan-produced movie, and allowed a peek over the wall of secrecy surrounding their DC Comics plans: “It’s setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it’s definitely a first step.”
Will Man of Steel include references to other DC heroes headed to the big screen, as Marvel did with its pre-Avengers series of flicks?
“I think you’ll see that, going forward, anything can live in this world,” he said. “[Nolan’s] Batman was deliberately and smartly positioned as a stand-alone. The world they lived in was very isolated without any knowledge of any other superheroes. What Zack and Chris have done with this film is allow you to really introduce other characters into the same world.”
The newest TV spot for Man of Steel doesn’t feature too much new footage, but it further develops the bleak-messiah tone seen in earlier trailers. Angelic music, introspective narration, Kevin Costner as the voice of American everydad, and almost no colors besides Superman’s red cape? Message received: This ain’t Superman IV: Quest 4 Peace. Watch below. READ FULL STORY »
