Behold Aleksei Sytsevich– a.k.a. The Rhino.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb tweeted this first image of Paul Giamatti as the thick-skinned villain, although it is obviously before the character is fitted with his ramming horn and armor that is surgically grafted to his radiation-enhanced body.
The first trailer for the newest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is now online, and there’s plenty of ancient grudges, unclean civil hands, and death-marked love on display in this peek at the film.
While the other buzzy Shakespeare adaptation of 2013 — Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing — went the route of a fresh, modern interpretation, this Romeo and Juliet is going back to the play’s Elizabethan roots, with period costumes, a shoot in Verona and other Italy locations, and a young pair of actors playing the leads. The film’s Juliet, Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), who shot the film when she was 15 years old, is much closer to Juliet’s age (nearly 14) than most actors taking on the role these days, and the film’s Romeo, Douglas Booth (The Pillars of the Earth) was 19 during production.
But as traditional as this adaptation is, the trailer has some modern touches, like the song “Skin” by industrial pop artist Zola Jesus. The preview also does some interesting things structurally, kicking off with the very last lines of the play, and concluding on quite a sweet, romantic note (complete with a ride off into the sunset) that we all know is not how we’ll see Romeo and Juliet’s tragic story end when the film opens in theaters later this year.
Check out the trailer below: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images; Marvel
Spider-Man’s latest foe — a horny Paul Giamatti.
The Sideways and John Adams actor is in talks to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man sequel as the bruising villain Rhino — a man who had armor and a ramming horn surgically grafted to his radiation-enhanced body to become an unstoppable fighting force. READ FULL STORY »
The title itself should demand a spoiler alert: John (Rob Mayes) dies at the end of the movie…or does he?
In the new film John Dies at the End, based on the cult comedic horror novel by David Wong, there is a new drug called “Soy Sauce,” and weird and disturbing occurrences keep happening to those who use it, including out-of-body experiences that allow people to move beyond the space-time continuum. At the same time, a paranormal invasion of some kind is underway….coincidence? Unlikely. Will John and David (Chase Williamson) be able to save everyone from all the completely nonsensical stuff that keeps happening? What if Paul Giamatti helped them?
In an exclusive clip from the film, David and newspaper reporter Arnie (Giamatti) have their first meeting about all the craziness. Check it out below: READ FULL STORY »
The kookball horror romp John Dies at the End has had many lives: First as a serialized internet novel on the internet way back in 2001, then as a published (and quickly out-of-print) paperback novel, and now as a completely crazypants-looking film. The movie — directed by cult director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep) — stars a pair of average dudes (Rob Mayes and Chase Williamson) who come into contact with a strange substance and have to fight against invaders from an alternate dimension. Or something. Paul Giamatti and a gigantic monster made of raw meat are also involved. Watch the trailer: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
• Gerard Butler is attached to star in Dynamo, about the real-life soccer match during WWII between a team of starving Ukrainian players and a well-fed German team, commonly referred to as “The Death Match.” The project is based on the book Dynamo: Defending The Honour Of Kiev; no director is yet attached. [Deadline]
• Moving forward in time for historical dramas, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) are set to star in Parkland, which examines the assassination of President John F. Kennedy through the prism of Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where Kennedy was brought after he’d been shot. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing. The film is based on Vincent Bugliosi’s tome Reclaiming History: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy. The project, which is aiming to arrive in theaters next year in time for the 50th anniversary of JFK’s death, does not yet have a director. [THR]
• Olivia Wilde, Hailee Steinfeld and Nicole Behaire (Shame) have signed up to star in the Civil War period drama The Keeping Room, about two sisters and their slave who fend off Union soldiers from attacking their home. Daniel Barber (the UK film Harry Brown) will direct from a script by first-time feature writer Julia Hart. [THR]
• Romany Malco (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Think Like a Man) has joined Last Vegas, as the hotel concierge at the hotel where four old friends (Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline) have gathered for a bachelor party. Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) is directing from a script by Crazy, Stupid, Love screenwriter Dan Fogelman. [Deadline]
• Saturday Night Live‘s Jay Pharoah, longtime comic character actor Bryan Callen (The Hangover), and actress Tika Sumpter (Sparkle) have joined the comedy Ride Along, about a security guard (Kevin Hart) forced to accompany the cop brother (Ice Cube) of his fiancée (Sumpter) on his regular beat. Pharoah will play an informant, and Callen will play an undercover cop alongside John Leguizamo. Tim Story (Think Like a Man) is directing. [Variety]
Read more:
Casting Net: George Clooney lands Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, John Goodman for ‘Monuments Men.’ Plus: ‘Captain America’ 2 finds its Crossbones
Casting Net: Arnold Schwarzenegger reviving Conan the Barbarian in new film. Plus: Adam Sandler, Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler
Casting Net: Johnny Depp embracing ‘Transcendence.’ Plus: Bradley Cooper, Rhys Ifans, Katt Williams
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
• Seth Green is joining Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pantoliano in The Identical, an indie drama that traces the history of rock-and-roll from the 1940s through the 1960s through the prism of a single family, with Liotta and Judd as the father and mother, and Green as a drummer who falls into the classic indulgences of an American rock star. Music video director Dustin Marcellino is making his feature debut with the film, from a script by Howie Klausner (Space Cowboys). [Variety, THR]
• Aubrey Plaza, Topher Grace, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi and Philip Baker Hall are all likely to join Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan in the romantic comedy A Many Splintered Thing, about a guy who tries to woo an engaged woman after they meet at a charity dinner at which he impersonates a wealthy benefactor. Commercial director Justin Reardon will helm the film from a Black List script by Christ Shafer and Paul Vicknair. [Variety, Deadline]
• Kevin Costner has officially signed a deal to star in an untitled thriller (previously titled Three Days to Kill) about a dying secret service agent going on one final mission. McG is attached to direct from a script by seasoned-actor-action-movie specialists Luc Besson (Taken) and Adi Hasak (From Paris with Love). [Variety]
• Jean Dujardin, Cate Blanchett, and Paul Giamatti are being considered for roles in George Clooney‘s next directorial effort, The Monument’s Men, about the effort to find stolen art during World War II — but no deal is yet in place for any of the actors. Clooney would also star, and is writing the script with regular collaborator Grant Heslov from Robert M. Edsel’s book of the same name. [TheWrap]
Read more:
Casting Net: Elijah Wood to be ‘The Late Bloomer.’ Plus: Miles Teller, Richard Madden
Casting Net: Wes Bentley, Brit Marling join Lincoln biopic ‘The Green Blade Rises.’ Plus: Martin Freeman, Judi Dench, Steve Coogan
Casting Net: Justin Timberlake drinking in ‘The Last Drop.’ Plus: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank
Image Credit: Dan Steinberg/AP
• In either the most shrewdly or poorly timed piece of casting news this month, Alex Pettyfer is closing in on a deal to star opposite Kristen Stewart in Cali, an action film about two lovers who disappear after making a bundle on a bogus snuff film. Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, The Notebook) is directing from a script by Michael Diliberti (30 Minutes or Less). As of press time, no huntsmen or vampires appear to be involved in the film. [Variety]
• Jason Schwartzman, Paul Giamatti, and Ruth Wilson (BBC’s Luther) have signed up for Saving Mr. Banks, about the struggle between Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) over the feature film adaptation of Travers’ children’s novels about magical nanny Mary Poppins. Schwartzman will play Richard Morton Sherman, who penned many of the songs in the Disney version of Mary Poppins; Giamatti will play Travers’ L.A. chauffeur; and Wilson will play Travers’ mother in flashback sequences. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) is directing from the script by Kelly Marcel (creator of the Fox series Terra Nova). [Variety]
• Vince Vaughn may be keen on branching beyond his current comedy persona. His production company Wild West Picture Show Productions, has picked up the rights to Ridley Pearson’s thriller The Risk Agent – about a hard-charging hostage extraction expert working to free a Chinese citizen in Shanghai — as a possible starring vehicle for Vaughn. The project remains in the development stage, however, so it has a long road to hoe before getting a greenlight. [Deadline]
Read more:
Casting Net: Denzel Washington to play ‘The Equalizer.’ Plus: Jon Favreau, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber
Casting Net: Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks sign on for ‘Inevitable Defeat.’ Plus: Kellan Lutz, Camilla Belle to play straight lovers in a gay world
Casting Net: Kenneth Branagh to play villain in (and direct) Jack Ryan film. Plus: Lena Headey, Abigail Breslin, Josh Holloway
