Tag: Much Ado About Nothing (1-10 of 10)

May 17 2013 09:49 PM ET

Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' kicks off Seattle Film Fest with great fanfare

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Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing has been on the festival circuit since September, but no other festival has made ado about the film quite like the Seattle International Film Festival, where Much Ado screened for a crowd of 3,000 on Thursday.

The Shakespeare adaptation – which Whedon shot in a 12-day stealth production at his house during what was supposed to be his post-Avengers vacation – kicked off the festival for its opening night at Seattle’s McCaw Hall in what became a record-breaking event shortly after ticket sales opened. The gala screening and party sold out in six hours on April 8, which went on to become the biggest box office day in SIFF’s 39-year history.

“We knew there was going to be a lot of demand but we didn’t really think it was going to go that fast,” SIFF artistic director Carl Spence told EW about the event that featured appearances by Whedon and cast members. “We’ve had other films with major stars that have done well and sell out, but it usually takes a couple of weeks.” READ FULL STORY »

May 15 2013 07:03 PM ET

Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' to open Oscars Outdoors screening series; See full lineup

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It’s much ado about movies at Oscars Outdoors this summer.

The screening series launched by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year is returning to Los Angeles this summer, along with some New York screenings in partnership with Rooftop Films Summer Series. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 24 2013 06:59 PM ET

Watch Sean Maher, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, more Whedonverse favorites in newest 'Much Ado About Nothing' trailer -- VIDEO

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Much Ado About Nothing just got another trailer, this one made for the U.K. The newest peek at Joss Whedon’s take on the beloved Shakespeare comedy spotlights the Bard’s wittiest couple, Benedick and Beatrice – much like the first trailer – though here there’s less merry war and more mountains of affection.

To the tune of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Beatrice (Amy Acker) and Benedick (Alexis Denisof) are shown falling for each other – and literally falling down the stairs of Whedon’s house (where the film was made during a 12-day shoot). The trailer gives us more glimpses of the play’s other central couple, Hero (Jillian Morgese) and Claudio (Fran Kranz), and also features footage of the villainous Don John (Sean Maher) plotting to ruin their wedding and getting it on with Conrade – a role that got a gender reversal in Whedon’s interpretation.

Check out the trailer below: READ FULL STORY »

Apr 11 2013 09:00 AM ET

'Much Ado About Nothing': Check out the new poster for Joss Whedon's Shakespeare adaptation -- EXCLUSIVE

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A man in a pool donning a snorkel and grasping a martini doesn’t exactly shout Shakespeare.

Yet that image is becoming ever more closely associated with William Shakespeare by Bardolaters and Browncoats who are eagerly anticipating the June release of Much Ado About Nothing as interpreted by a modern bard, Joss Whedon. The image of a party-ready and dive-ready Fran Kranz (Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods) was originally seen on a mysterious website that first hinted at the existence of the production, and now it’s on the film’s newest poster.

Shakespeare’s comedy about the “merry war” and reluctant romance between his wittiest couple, Benedick and Beatrice, made its way into Whedon’s home about a decade ago, at one of the Firefly and Avengers maestro’s famed play readings among friends. There, Amy Acker (Angel, Cabin in the Woods) and Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse) took on the roles of Beatrice and Benedick, the same parts they play in the film, which Whedon shot over 12 days at his Santa Monica, Calif. home during what was supposed to be his post-Avengers vacation. The stealth production for Much Ado rallied together many actors familiar to fans of the Whedonverse, including Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), and Tom Lenk (Buffy, Cabin in the Woods).

Here EW exclusively debuts the new poster for Much Ado About Nothing, which features Kranz as Claudio — one half of the play’s other central couple — taken from Whedon’s interpretation of a key scene featuring Claudio and the villainous Don John (Firefly’s Sean Maher). It’s a poster that evokes more of Much Ado’s comedy, while the international poster was more about the romance, with Benedick and Beatrice locked in each other’s gaze. Underneath the title is the first tagline for the film: “Shakespeare knew how to throw a party.” READ FULL STORY »

Mar 7 2013 05:42 PM ET

SXSW: Five movies we can't wait to see

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The South by Southwest Film Festival kicks off this Friday evening, March 8 in Austin, TX. The opening night festivities include a double feature of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, with stars Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, and Olivia Wilde on hand to welcome movie lovers to the venerable Paramount Theater, and the highly anticipated remake of the 1981 cult horror classic Evil Dead. The nine-day festival will celebrate 133 films, from the US premiere of Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, in which former Disney stars run amok, to the world premiere of I Am Divine, Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary about the legendary drag queen. There will be conversations with the likes of Danny Boyle and Matthew McConaughey, red carpets with Willie Nelson and Billie Joe Armstrong, and movies premieres of Big Ass Spider! and Unhung Hero, whose self-explanatory titles are a thing of pithy and bold beauty. Out of so many riches—Before Midnight, Don Jon, Good Ol’ Freda, You’re Next, The East—it’s cruel to pick what intrigues us most, but here are five flicks for which we can’t wait to turn off our phones. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 7 2013 10:30 AM ET

Joss Whedon's 2013 to-do list: 'The Avengers 2,' 'Much Ado About Nothing,' and maybe more 'Dr. Horrible'

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Will 2013 finally be the year that Joss Whedon’s legion of fans get to sing along with the long-awaited sequel to his 2008 Internet sensation Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion? The geek pop polymath who gave us Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and a surprisingly successful indie about a band of superheroes no one had ever heard of called The Avengers made no promises when Entertainment Weekly caught up with him late last year, but he did say that putting a crooning Doogie back in a lab coat is on his “to do” list.  “We really want to shoot it next year. We feel strong about the idea and we have a bunch of stuff written,” said Whedon, who is currently directing the pilot episode of Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. series while also writing the script for the sequel to The Avengers, plus prepping the release plan for his film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, due in theaters this summer. In between: The occasional napping.

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Nov 29 2012 06:12 PM ET

Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' adaptation gets June 2013 release

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Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for EW

To be, or not to be … Joss Whedon.

The Avengers writer-director’s film adaptation of the comedic Shakespeare classic Much Ado About Nothing has been slated for a June 7, 2013 joint theatrical release by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, according to a press release Thursday.

The contemporary take on the play stars Whedon alums Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Nathan Fillion, plus Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Clark Gregg, and Reed Diamond. Whedon and his wife Kai Cole produced the film through their studio Bellwether films, with Daniel Kaminsky as a co-producer, according to the release.

The movie, about bickering lovers Beatrice (Acker) and Benedick (Denisof), was filmed in only 12 days. Any loyal fan of Acker and Denisof in Whedon’s Buffy spinoff Angel, or Fillion in Whedon’s sci-fi western show Firefly, will appreciate the stars’ performances in Much Ado.
READ FULL STORY »

Sep 4 2012 06:44 PM ET

Joss Whedon on 'Much Ado About Nothing' and how Shakespeare and 'The Avengers' are similar

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Joss Whedon’s name has been flung around the movie stratosphere with Thor-worthy momentum since his superhero blockbuster The Avengers staked a claim on the box office this summer.

But the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly creator still feels relatively nervous, modest, yenta-ish and excited when it comes to film festivals. His equally modest, black-and-white Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing premieres Saturday at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The festival runs from Thursday through Sept. 16.

“I’ve been to two festivals in my life, and I’ve never been to Toronto. I haven’t really been making festival movies. This is new territory for me,” Whedon told EW.com. “I’m kind of festive. Toronto has an amazing rep. The entire cast is coming. That’s so exciting for me, since they’re all my buddies. I would like to find a distributor and would really like to see other people’s movies.”

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Oct 24 2011 08:17 PM ET

Joss Whedon on his secret film of 'Much Ado About Nothing': 'This is the best vacation I've ever taken' -- EXCLUSIVE

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After wrapping production on Marvel Studios’ gargantuan summer tent-pole The Avengers, writer-director Joss Whedon was supposed to go on a monthlong vacation with his wife, Kai Cole. Instead, Whedon tells EW exclusively that his wife suggested he finally make the feature film version of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing he’d been ruminating over for years.

And so he did — adapting the script, casting the film with Whedonverse alums like Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker (Angel), Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel), and Sean Maher (Firefly), and shooting the self-funded, black-and-white indie in secret over 12 days at his Santa Monica, Calif., home. (Production wrapped on Sunday, and Whedon says it will be ready for spring 2012 film festivals.) How did Whedon pull all this off? What was it about this particular Shakespeare comedy that drew him in? And what did stars Sean Maher — who plays the fiendish villain Don John — and Amy Acker — who co-stars with Denisof as the sarcastic, talky couple at the center of the play — make of all of this ado about Much Ado? Check out EW’s exclusive Q&As with Whedon, Maher, and Acker below, as well as exclusive shots of Maher, Denisof and Acker from the film:  READ FULL STORY »

Oct 24 2011 03:44 AM ET

Joss Whedon announces secret film of 'Much Ado About Nothing,' ability to warp time and space at will

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Just kidding about the second thing. And yet it seems that as far as Joss Whedon is concerned, writing and directing the massive comic book tentpole blockbuster The Avengers; writing and overseeing the Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith comics for Dark Horse; readying the long-in-limbo The Cabin in the Woods (which he co-wrote and produced) for an April 13, 2012 release by Lionsgate; and developing a post-apocalyptic web series with Warren Ellis is just not busy enough. Earlier today, actor Nathan Fillion, among others, tweeted out a link to muchadothemovie.com, announcing that Whedon had finished principal photography on a film presumably based on William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.  READ FULL STORY »

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