Mark Wahlberg Glares, Smuggles Cash And Guns In New Contraband Poster

Contraband, which hits theaters on Jan. 13, stars Mark Wahlberg as a former criminal gone straight who is forced to re-enter the life when his wife’s younger brother gets mixed up with the wrong people. It’s the classic “just when you thought you were out” scenario, and Wahlberg’s the ideal choice to play a smoldering lead tearing his way through an international gang of thieves as the threat level escalates. We ran the first trailer a few weeks ago, and now there’s an official poster:





Yep. Looks like Wahlberg’s ready to go to great lengths to protect his family from some pretty nasty thugs. I don’t know enough about Contraband director Baltasar Kormákur, an Icelandic filmmaker whose credits include Jar City and Inhale. So we have to lean on the cast, which is pretty impressive. Wahlberg’s going into battle with Ben Foster, Diego Luna and Giovanni Ribisi to protect his significant other, played by the beautiful Kate Beckinsale. Who wouldn’t risk their life for her?

J.K. Simmons and Lukas Haas lend a hand in support, but this doesn’t look like an acting showcase. It looks like one major action set piece after another, and after a full season of Oscar-pedigreed dramas, we’re going to be looking for a little brain candy like Contraband. The poster might not do much for you, but now that you’ve seen it and the trailer, what are your thoughts?

Spielberg's The Adventures Of Tintin Already A Hit

 it's not very often that an American movie opens in other countries first, especially several months before its U.S. release date, and especially one as high-profile as a new film from Steven Spielberg. But being that it's based on a comic strip character infinitely more popular in Europe than in the U.S., Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn has already opened up overseas, and in a good sign for what we have to look forward to come December, is already doing quite well.

Things were already looking up when reviews first started coming in and were overwhelmingly positive, suggesting had made the kind of fun globetrotting adventure story he completely missed on with the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Now The LA Times reports that audiences also like that they see. Tintin opens in 19 foreign markets over the weekend and made an estimated $55.8 million, opening at #1 in 17 of those markets. In France it had the second-biggest opening weekend of the year, and it also did very well in Belgium, Spain and Britain.

The Times also has some interesting numbers that prove how much more it has to make before becoming a success-- they estimate that it cost its producers between $150 million and $175 million after tax credits, and another $100 million will go on top of that to market it. Most surprisingly, about 30% of Tintin's gross will go directly to Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who produced the first installment and plans to direct a second one if Secret of the Unicorn is a hit. That's an astonishingly large cut of the profits, but Spielberg and Jackson are pretty accustomed to making giant movies and making sure they get their fair share. And at the rate Tintin is going right now, they seem to have made a gamble on this franchise that paid off.

Secret of the Unicorn opens in the United States on December 21, which gives us just under two months to keep hearing about it from overseas and get excited for the comic character most of us had never heard of a year ago.

Mark Wahlberg Glares, Smuggles Cash And Guns In New Contraband Poster

Contraband, which hits theaters on Jan. 13, stars Mark Wahlberg as a former criminal gone straight who is forced to re-enter the life when his wife’s younger brother gets mixed up with the wrong people. It’s the classic “just when you thought you were out” scenario, and Wahlberg’s the ideal choice to play a smoldering lead tearing his way through an international gang of thieves as the threat level escalates. We ran the first trailer a few weeks ago, and now there’s an official poster:

Yep. Looks like Wahlberg’s ready to go to great lengths to protect his family from some pretty nasty thugs. I don’t know enough about Contraband director Baltasar Kormákur, an Icelandic filmmaker whose credits include Jar City and Inhale. So we have to lean on the cast, which is pretty impressive. Wahlberg’s going into battle with Ben Foster, Diego Luna and Giovanni Ribisi to protect his significant other, played by the beautiful Kate Beckinsale. Who wouldn’t risk their life for her?

J.K. Simmons and Lukas Haas lend a hand in support, but this doesn’t look like an acting showcase. It looks like one major action set piece after another, and after a full season of Oscar-pedigreed dramas, we’re going to be looking for a little brain candy like Contraband. The poster might not do much for you, but now that you’ve seen it and the trailer, what are your thoughts?

Catherine Zeta-Jones Signed On For Broken City

Catherine Zeta-Jones hasn’t been around much over the last few years, but it looks as though she has a flurry of projects in the works, one of which puts her opposite Russell Crowe. The No Reservations actress has been signed on to star in the Allen Hughes directed Broken City.

Deadline reports that Zeta-Jones is set to play Russell Crowe’s character’s wife in the upcoming Broken City. The film, which is in pre-production, stars Mark Wahlberg as a detective who’s hired by Russell Crowe’s character, who also happens to be the mayor of New York. Zeta-Jones plays the mayor’s wife, who also happens to be cheating on her husband. When her secret-boyfriend ends up dead, Wahlberg’s character does a bit more digging and uncovers a conspiracy that may involved the mayor.

Broken City begins shooting in New York next month. Zeta-Jones may have been laying low for a few years, but she appears to be making up for lost time as she has a number of other films in the works, including Rock of Ages, directed by Adam Shankman, Playing the Field, which stars Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, and Jessica Biel, and Laying the Favorite, which stars Bruce Willis.

Anne Hathaway Set To Produce, Star In Paranoia Thriller Puzzler

Anne Hathaway is one of our busiest actresses these days. When she isn’t hosting the Oscars, she’s holding down gigs in high-powered mega-sequels like The Dark Knight Rises or lining up roles in adaptation of Broadway classics. Now it sounds like she’s ready to try on another hat: Producer.

Hathaway will produce and star in the thriller Puzzler for Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter reports. It’s vaguely described as a female-driven paranoia story, and draws comparisons to Sydney Pollack’s 1975 drama Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. The trade says Karl Gajdusek will tackle screenplay duties, though his most recent credit is Joel Schumacher’s Trespass, with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, which didn’t exactly light the world on fire.

Still, it’s encouraging to hear that Hathaway’s spending some of the industry cred that she has been building up by appearing in impressive films, collaborating with visionary directors (Ang Lee, Jonathan Demme and Christopher Nolan, to name a few), and being an overall ambassador for the Hollywood community. It would be in her best interest to lure one of her past collaborators to Puzzler, so that it gets off on the right foot.

There’s a small niche of actors in their late 20s and early 30s who are poised to transition into the power brokers of the next generation, the talents who should lead by example and throw around a little influence to make sure good films are produced. I’d put Hathaway in that company, and I’m excited to see if Puzzler is a project worth exploring.

Ben Stiller Will Direct Horror Film The Mountain At Fox

Ever the busy beaver, Ben Stiller always seems to have half a dozen films going that he’s involved with in one capacity or another. Still hard at work on the remake of the classic Danny Kaye comedy/fantasy crossover The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Stiller has four other movies slated for a 2012 release, and has just added one more.

According to Deadline, Fox has snatched up rights to The Mountain, to be based around the characters in Edith Wharton’s novel Summer. This won’t just be an adaption though. Summer follows Charity through a sexual awakening, an unplanned pregnancy with a man engaged to be married to someone else, numerous marriage proposals from her own guardian, and a life of prostitution. Sounds like a bit of a downer, not unlike Wharton’s more famous Ethan Frome.

Instead a horror story will be built around the main characters, though that sort of story seems like it could be horrific enough. The new story will follow a woman, presumably Charity Royall of Summer, as she unlocks the secrets of her past. So perhaps this is less an adaptation than it is a continuation. The task of building the story falls to Stiller, who will also direct, and Reality Bites writer Helen Childress. This will be the third team up for Childress and Stiller after Reality Bites and The Snowy Day which is currently in development.

Stiller has acted in a lot of not-so-great films, but his directorial track record is solid so it will be interesting to see him take on a new genre. Here’s hoping he keeps himself off camera for this one. More on The Mountain as the script gets wrapped and they near production.

Ben Stiller Will Direct Horror Film The Mountain At Fox

Ever the busy beaver, Ben Stiller always seems to have half a dozen films going that he’s involved with in one capacity or another. Still hard at work on the remake of the classic Danny Kaye comedy/fantasy crossover The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Stiller has four other movies slated for a 2012 release, and has just added one more.

According to Deadline, Fox has snatched up rights to The Mountain, to be based around the characters in Edith Wharton’s novel Summer. This won’t just be an adaption though. Summer follows Charity through a sexual awakening, an unplanned pregnancy with a man engaged to be married to someone else, numerous marriage proposals from her own guardian, and a life of prostitution. Sounds like a bit of a downer, not unlike Wharton’s more famous Ethan Frome.

Instead a horror story will be built around the main characters, though that sort of story seems like it could be horrific enough. The new story will follow a woman, presumably Charity Royall of Summer, as she unlocks the secrets of her past. So perhaps this is less an adaptation than it is a continuation. The task of building the story falls to Stiller, who will also direct, and Reality Bites writer Helen Childress. This will be the third team up for Childress and Stiller after Reality Bites and The Snowy Day which is currently in development.

Stiller has acted in a lot of not-so-great films, but his directorial track record is solid so it will be interesting to see him take on a new genre. Here’s hoping he keeps himself off camera for this one. More on The Mountain as the script gets wrapped and they near production.

Anne Hathaway Set To Produce, Star In Paranoia Thriller Puzzler

Anne Hathaway is one of our busiest actresses these days. When she isn’t hosting the Oscars, she’s holding down gigs in high-powered mega-sequels like The Dark Knight Rises or lining up roles in adaptation of Broadway classics. Now it sounds like she’s ready to try on another hat: Producer.

Hathaway will produce and star in the thriller Puzzler for Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter reports. It’s vaguely described as a female-driven paranoia story, and draws comparisons to Sydney Pollack’s 1975 drama Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. The trade says Karl Gajdusek will tackle screenplay duties, though his most recent credit is Joel Schumacher’s Trespass, with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, which didn’t exactly light the world on fire.

Still, it’s encouraging to hear that Hathaway’s spending some of the industry cred that she has been building up by appearing in impressive films, collaborating with visionary directors (Ang Lee, Jonathan Demme and Christopher Nolan, to name a few), and being an overall ambassador for the Hollywood community. It would be in her best interest to lure one of her past collaborators to Puzzler, so that it gets off on the right foot.

There’s a small niche of actors in their late 20s and early 30s who are poised to transition into the power brokers of the next generation, the talents who should lead by example and throw around a little influence to make sure good films are produced. I’d put Hathaway in that company, and I’m excited to see if Puzzler is a project worth exploring.

Iron Man 3 Will Shoot Primarily In North Carolina

Back when Marvel Films established a studio in Manhattan Beach, it was believed that every feature produced by the studio would film at the Southern California facility. That didn’t last long. North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue announced today that Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 will film in North Carolina’s EUE/Screen Gems Studios, a 150,000-square-foot located in Wilmington.

"We aggressively pursued this piece of business,” said EUE/Screen Gems co-owner and COO Chris Cooney, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This film is a game changer -- not only for our studios, but for the entire state of North Carolina. It feels great to bring this project to Wilmington, a place where we’ve invested emotionally and financially since 1996. Today, our vision becomes reality.”

It’s newsworthy because the first two Iron Man installments, directed by Jon Favreau, filmed in Manhattan Beach. But by moving to the Tar Heel state, Marvel’s taking advantage of North Carolina’s 25-percent film incentives. THR says Iron Man 3 will be the largest production ever filmed at EUE/Screen Gems, which previously played host to I Know What You Did Last Summer and 28 Days, as well as the beloved television show Dawson’s Creek.

But Iron Man isn’t the only major feature to be filmed in North Carolina as of late. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutchinson just wrapped months of production on Gary Ross’s The Hunger Games in Shelby and Charlotte. And films adapted from Nicholas Sparks novels regularly film in North Carolina, as the best-selling author is a native.

As for Iron Man 3, we know it stars Robert Downey Jr. as multi-billionaire Tony Stark, but we don’t know who he’s fighting against or with. We’re assuming the character will be in a unique spot after The Avengers, so we’ll continue to follow this project’s progress over the next few weeks and months.

Sylvester Stallone To Enter The Tomb

It would seem that Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone share more than a history as badass '80s action heroes and a scene in last summer's The Expendables. While Willis and Schwarzenegger were both attached to the film at one point, it is now Stallone who will be starring in The Tomb.

The project was originally going to behelmed by Training Day's Antoine Fuqua, but the film is now without a director but has locked in its star. Producers, including 300 backer Mark Canton, have already begun their search for a new filmmaker, and have yet to set a start date for production. The script was originally written by Miles Chapman, but has been rewritten by Jason Keller and is set up at Summit and Emmett/Furla Films.

According to Variety, in the movie Stallone will play Ray Breslin, a structural security expert who specializes in prisons. One day he is framed for a crime he didn't commit and is (here comes the irony) thrown in a jail that he designed. In order to prove his innocence, he must find the person that set him up.

Looking at the lineup that preceded Stallone I am going to take a wild stab and say that The Tomb is probably action packed, but I do have one slight problem: I'm not sure that I can believe that Sylvester Stallone is "the world's foremost authority on structural security." Big action blockbusters expect the audience to suspend their disbelief a little bit, but this might just be too much to ask.

Iron Man 3 Will Shoot Primarily In North Carolina

Back when Marvel Films established a studio in Manhattan Beach, it was believed that every feature produced by the studio would film at the Southern California facility. That didn’t last long. North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue announced today that Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 will film in North Carolina’s EUE/Screen Gems Studios, a 150,000-square-foot located in Wilmington.

"We aggressively pursued this piece of business,” said EUE/Screen Gems co-owner and COO Chris Cooney, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This film is a game changer -- not only for our studios, but for the entire state of North Carolina. It feels great to bring this project to Wilmington, a place where we’ve invested emotionally and financially since 1996. Today, our vision becomes reality.”

It’s newsworthy because the first two Iron Man installments, directed by Jon Favreau, filmed in Manhattan Beach. But by moving to the Tar Heel state, Marvel’s taking advantage of North Carolina’s 25-percent film incentives. THR says Iron Man 3 will be the largest production ever filmed at EUE/Screen Gems, which previously played host to I Know What You Did Last Summer and 28 Days, as well as the beloved television show Dawson’s Creek.

But Iron Man isn’t the only major feature to be filmed in North Carolina as of late. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutchinson just wrapped months of production on Gary Ross’s The Hunger Games in Shelby and Charlotte. And films adapted from Nicholas Sparks novels regularly film in North Carolina, as the best-selling author is a native.

As for Iron Man 3, we know it stars Robert Downey Jr. as multi-billionaire Tony Stark, but we don’t know who he’s fighting against or with. We’re assuming the character will be in a unique spot after The Avengers, so we’ll continue to follow this project’s progress over the next few weeks and months.

Sylvester Stallone To Enter The Tomb

It would seem that Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone share more than a history as badass '80s action heroes and a scene in last summer's The Expendables. While Willis and Schwarzenegger were both attached to the film at one point, it is now Stallone who will be starring in The Tomb.

The project was originally going to behelmed by Training Day's Antoine Fuqua, but the film is now without a director but has locked in its star. Producers, including 300 backer Mark Canton, have already begun their search for a new filmmaker, and have yet to set a start date for production. The script was originally written by Miles Chapman, but has been rewritten by Jason Keller and is set up at Summit and Emmett/Furla Films.

According to Variety, in the movie Stallone will play Ray Breslin, a structural security expert who specializes in prisons. One day he is framed for a crime he didn't commit and is (here comes the irony) thrown in a jail that he designed. In order to prove his innocence, he must find the person that set him up.

Looking at the lineup that preceded Stallone I am going to take a wild stab and say that The Tomb is probably action packed, but I do have one slight problem: I'm not sure that I can believe that Sylvester Stallone is "the world's foremost authority on structural security." Big action blockbusters expect the audience to suspend their disbelief a little bit, but this might just be too much to ask.

A Dumb And Dumber Sequel Is In The Works

Could Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne be headed back to the big screen for more dumb (and dumber) shenanigans? That may be in the works, but before you groan about remakes and bad prequels, it sounds like this one will be a sequel and helmed by the Farrelly brothers, who directed the original film more than a decade ago.

Deadline reports that with The Three Stooges wrapped, Peter and Bobby Farrelly are looking at working on a sequel to the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber. Sean Anders and John Morris have been hired to write the script, which is hoped next on deck for the Farrelly brothers to direct. Ideally, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels would return to reprise their big-hearted, dim-witted characters Harry and Lloyd. As Deadline points out, Carrey isn’t usually big on sequels, but he apparently made hints about the D&D sequel while promoting Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

The original film wasn’t just funny because it was about two dumb guys doing and saying dumb things. If that were the case, I suspect the prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, which was not directed by the Farrelly brothers, would’ve been better received. Much like the Farrelly’s other films, there’s a balance between silliness, funniness, and heart in Dumb and Dumber that made us laugh, left us feeling good and gave us a lot of silly lines to quote for years to come ("Uh, what is the soup du jour?"). The only way I’d want to see a Dumb and Dumber sequel is if the four key ingredients are on board (Farrelly, Farrelly, Carrey and Daniels). We'll have to wait and see if there's confirmation that Carrey and Daniels are available and up for it.

A Dumb And Dumber Sequel Is In The Works

Could Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne be headed back to the big screen for more dumb (and dumber) shenanigans? That may be in the works, but before you groan about remakes and bad prequels, it sounds like this one will be a sequel and helmed by the Farrelly brothers, who directed the original film more than a decade ago.

Deadline reports that with The Three Stooges wrapped, Peter and Bobby Farrelly are looking at working on a sequel to the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber. Sean Anders and John Morris have been hired to write the script, which is hoped next on deck for the Farrelly brothers to direct. Ideally, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels would return to reprise their big-hearted, dim-witted characters Harry and Lloyd. As Deadline points out, Carrey isn’t usually big on sequels, but he apparently made hints about the D&D sequel while promoting Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

The original film wasn’t just funny because it was about two dumb guys doing and saying dumb things. If that were the case, I suspect the prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, which was not directed by the Farrelly brothers, would’ve been better received. Much like the Farrelly’s other films, there’s a balance between silliness, funniness, and heart in Dumb and Dumber that made us laugh, left us feeling good and gave us a lot of silly lines to quote for years to come ("Uh, what is the soup du jour?"). The only way I’d want to see a Dumb and Dumber sequel is if the four key ingredients are on board (Farrelly, Farrelly, Carrey and Daniels). We'll have to wait and see if there's confirmation that Carrey and Daniels are available and up for it.

Josh Holloway, Chris Brown Down For Breakdancing Drama Planet B Boy

Planet B Boy, Benson Lee’s feature film adaptation of his own award-winning documentary of the same name, has added some high-profile men to its cast.

Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, Josh Peck and fleet-footed pop star Chris Brown have signed on to the production, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Like Lee’s doc, the new Planet B Boy will be set in the world of international breakdancing. Unlike Lee’s doc, this new story will play up a classic underdog tale about a struggling breakdancing team who must rise up to a challenge and persevere in the Battle of the Year International Championships in France. So it’s like Warrior with the worm, or The Karate Kid with pop-lock and beatbox instead of “wax, on, wax off.”

Screen Gems set up this project in 2009 after seeing Lee’s documentary and realizing that while breakdancing faded in the U.S. decades ago, it remained extremely popular around the world. Brin Hill and Chris Parker developed a screenplay off of Lee’s doc, following the blueprint of similar rise-up dramas. THR says Planet B Boy will begin shooting in Los Angeles before moving on to location shots in Montpellier, France.

And why not? Craig Brewer’s Footloose brought dancing back to the big screen, TV audiences can’t get enough of Dancing With the Stars, the Step Up movies make decent money, and Hollywood’s enamored with retro, so this might be the best time to bring back breakdancing, which was enormous in the 1980s. Maybe some filmmaker will blow the dust off of Breakin’ and its gaudy sequel, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo because those films sucked and remakes can only drastically improve them.

Anne Hathaway Set To Produce, Star In Paranoia Thriller Puzzler

Anne Hathaway is one of our busiest actresses these days. When she isn’t hosting the Oscars, she’s holding down gigs in high-powered mega-sequels like The Dark Knight Rises or lining up roles in adaptation of Broadway classics. Now it sounds like she’s ready to try on another hat: Producer.

Hathaway will produce and star in the thriller Puzzler for Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter reports. It’s vaguely described as a female-driven paranoia story, and draws comparisons to Sydney Pollack’s 1975 drama Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. The trade says Karl Gajdusek will tackle screenplay duties, though his most recent credit is Joel Schumacher’s Trespass, with Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman, which didn’t exactly light the world on fire.

Still, it’s encouraging to hear that Hathaway’s spending some of the industry cred that she has been building up by appearing in impressive films, collaborating with visionary directors (Ang Lee, Jonathan Demme and Christopher Nolan, to name a few), and being an overall ambassador for the Hollywood community. It would be in her best interest to lure one of her past collaborators to Puzzler, so that it gets off on the right foot.

There’s a small niche of actors in their late 20s and early 30s who are poised to transition into the power brokers of the next generation, the talents who should lead by example and throw around a little influence to make sure good films are produced. I’d put Hathaway in that company, and I’m excited to see if Puzzler is a project worth exploring.

Josh Holloway, Chris Brown Down For Breakdancing Drama Planet B Boy

Planet B Boy, Benson Lee’s feature film adaptation of his own award-winning documentary of the same name, has added some high-profile men to its cast.

Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, Josh Peck and fleet-footed pop star Chris Brown have signed on to the production, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Like Lee’s doc, the new Planet B Boy will be set in the world of international breakdancing. Unlike Lee’s doc, this new story will play up a classic underdog tale about a struggling breakdancing team who must rise up to a challenge and persevere in the Battle of the Year International Championships in France. So it’s like Warrior with the worm, or The Karate Kid with pop-lock and beatbox instead of “wax, on, wax off.”

Screen Gems set up this project in 2009 after seeing Lee’s documentary and realizing that while breakdancing faded in the U.S. decades ago, it remained extremely popular around the world. Brin Hill and Chris Parker developed a screenplay off of Lee’s doc, following the blueprint of similar rise-up dramas. THR says Planet B Boy will begin shooting in Los Angeles before moving on to location shots in Montpellier, France.

And why not? Craig Brewer’s Footloose brought dancing back to the big screen, TV audiences can’t get enough of Dancing With the Stars, the Step Up movies make decent money, and Hollywood’s enamored with retro, so this might be the best time to bring back breakdancing, which was enormous in the 1980s. Maybe some filmmaker will blow the dust off of Breakin’ and its gaudy sequel, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo because those films sucked and remakes can only drastically improve them.

Brad Pitt Joining Michael Fassbender for Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave

Steve McQueen’s Shame, which reaches theaters on Dec. 2 after a successful festival run, is a riveting, uncompromising look at a Manhattan sex addict, played to perfection by McQueen’s frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender. It’s a powerful film that should contend for multiple awards as the Oscar race marches along. And I mean no disrespect by looking past Shame, because it’s great, but hot damn, McQueen’s next project sounds fantastic and I’m kind of wishing it were opening on Dec. 2, as well.

Fassbender once again will team up with McQueen for Twelve Years a Slave, based on an 1853 autobiography of a free man from New York who is tricked into slavery while on a trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to Fassbender, though, Screen Daily (via The Playlist) reports that Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor are joining the cast.

Pitt reportedly has been developing this story for years, and plans to produce through his Plan B shingle. McQueen, who co-wrote the Slave screenplay with Three Kings scribe John Ridley, begins filming next year, though we don’t know yet when the film could reach theaters.

It’s going to be a tough wait. McQueen shows such progress as a patient, probing filmmaker from his debut, Hunger, and then from Shame. I’d essentially watch Fassbender or Ejiofor in anything, and adding Pitt to the mix only increases anticipation. Pitt’s involvement also could get Slave into more theaters, so long as McQueen avoids the NC-17 rating that may cause distribution headaches for Shame distributor Fox Searchlight.

Brad Pitt Joining Michael Fassbender for Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave

Steve McQueen’s Shame, which reaches theaters on Dec. 2 after a successful festival run, is a riveting, uncompromising look at a Manhattan sex addict, played to perfection by McQueen’s frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender. It’s a powerful film that should contend for multiple awards as the Oscar race marches along. And I mean no disrespect by looking past Shame, because it’s great, but hot damn, McQueen’s next project sounds fantastic and I’m kind of wishing it were opening on Dec. 2, as well.

Fassbender once again will team up with McQueen for Twelve Years a Slave, based on an 1853 autobiography of a free man from New York who is tricked into slavery while on a trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to Fassbender, though, Screen Daily (via The Playlist) reports that Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor are joining the cast.

Pitt reportedly has been developing this story for years, and plans to produce through his Plan B shingle. McQueen, who co-wrote the Slave screenplay with Three Kings scribe John Ridley, begins filming next year, though we don’t know yet when the film could reach theaters.

It’s going to be a tough wait. McQueen shows such progress as a patient, probing filmmaker from his debut, Hunger, and then from Shame. I’d essentially watch Fassbender or Ejiofor in anything, and adding Pitt to the mix only increases anticipation. Pitt’s involvement also could get Slave into more theaters, so long as McQueen avoids the NC-17 rating that may cause distribution headaches for Shame distributor Fox Searchlight.

The Dark Knight Rises Won't Occupy Wall Street After All

Remember those rumors that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises would film scenes at New York City’s Occupy Wall Street rallies? Yeah, well, like many theories swirling around Nolan’s anticipated Batman sequel, it turns out to be false.

Warner Bros. reps have told EW that Nolan’s production crew will not be shooting in Zucotti Park, which is the hub of the OWS protestors. The rumors began circulating when casting call notices seeking extras to play law enforcement agents "within a city besieged by crime and corruption." The jives with the chaos Nolan appeared to be filming on the streets of Pittsburgh over the summer in some heavily photographed outdoor shots. Anonymous sources at the time leaked information that the Occupy Wall Street movement could provide a backdrop, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Still, Nolan will have plenty to shoot while in New York City for the next two weeks. I just wonder if he and his crew will do a better job of hiding what they are filming than they managed to do in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, where set photos and videos were as prevalent and numerous as the bats in the caves beneath Wayne Manor. For those unaware, The Dark Knight Rises reportedly concludes Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and features Christian Bale’s hero going up against Tom Hardy’s Bane and Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman. It will be in theaters on July 20, 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises Won't Occupy Wall Street After All

Remember those rumors that Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises would film scenes at New York City’s Occupy Wall Street rallies? Yeah, well, like many theories swirling around Nolan’s anticipated Batman sequel, it turns out to be false.

Warner Bros. reps have told EW that Nolan’s production crew will not be shooting in Zucotti Park, which is the hub of the OWS protestors. The rumors began circulating when casting call notices seeking extras to play law enforcement agents "within a city besieged by crime and corruption." The jives with the chaos Nolan appeared to be filming on the streets of Pittsburgh over the summer in some heavily photographed outdoor shots. Anonymous sources at the time leaked information that the Occupy Wall Street movement could provide a backdrop, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Still, Nolan will have plenty to shoot while in New York City for the next two weeks. I just wonder if he and his crew will do a better job of hiding what they are filming than they managed to do in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, where set photos and videos were as prevalent and numerous as the bats in the caves beneath Wayne Manor. For those unaware, The Dark Knight Rises reportedly concludes Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and features Christian Bale’s hero going up against Tom Hardy’s Bane and Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman. It will be in theaters on July 20, 2012.

Tobey Maguire Spotted In Costume On The Set Of The Great Gatsby

Set photos of Tobey Maguire used to be a very different thing. Less than a decade ago the actor was running around the streets of New York City wearing red and blue tights as one of the greatest superheros of all time. Now, however, that job has been relegated to Andrew Garfield and today we have a new kind of Tobey Maguire set photos. The actor is currently in production on Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in which he plays the central protagonist, Nick Carraway. Now we get to see exactly what that looks like.

Check out a few of the photos below or the full gallery over on CelebBuzz.








I must say, it's really strange to see someone wearing clothes out of the 1920s and carrying around an iPod. Otherwise, Maguire really looks great in the part and it will be exciting to see how it turns out. We can always rely on Luhrmann to get the aesthetic right, the question is whether or not the story will come together.

The Great Gatsby co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Gemma Ward and Callan McAuliffe. Also being adapted by Luhrmann, the movie will be hitting theaters on December 25, 2012.

Tobey Maguire Spotted In Costume On The Set Of The Great Gatsby

Set photos of Tobey Maguire used to be a very different thing. Less than a decade ago the actor was running around the streets of New York City wearing red and blue tights as one of the greatest superheros of all time. Now, however, that job has been relegated to Andrew Garfield and today we have a new kind of Tobey Maguire set photos. The actor is currently in production on Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in which he plays the central protagonist, Nick Carraway. Now we get to see exactly what that looks like.

I must say, it's really strange to see someone wearing clothes out of the 1920s and carrying around an iPod. Otherwise, Maguire really looks great in the part and it will be exciting to see how it turns out. We can always rely on Luhrmann to get the aesthetic right, the question is whether or not the story will come together.

The Great Gatsby co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Gemma Ward and Callan McAuliffe. Also being adapted by Luhrmann, the movie will be hitting theaters on December 25, 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises Preview Will Only Be Available In Real IMAX

As reported last week, a six-minute preview for the finale of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, will be attached to IMAX screenings of Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The situation seems like a win-win, as both films made extensive use of IMAX cameras during production, meaning that the best way to see each individual film will be on the biggest screen imaginable. There's one catch though: there are actually two kinds of IMAX theaters: the real kind, which have screens that can stand at about 80 feet tall; and fake IMAX (or LIEMAX), which has screens that are typically about 30 feet tall. It turns out that cinemas are being specific about where exactly the Dark Knight Rises footage will be shown.

AMC has learned that the six minute prologue for the new comic book movie will only be shown in authentic IMAX theaters showing the 70mm print of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The official locations haven't been announced yet and there is no reason given for the move. Mission: Impossible will be arriving in IMAX theaters five days before its full release, hitting on December 16th and going wide on December 21st. To find the real IMAX theater closest to you (it may not be fully up-to-date), consult this handy Google Map.

Obviously this is going to seriously limit the number of people that will actually be able to see the footage (if you look at the map I linked to above, there are very few real IMAX theaters in the midwest), but in a way this is a good thing. The whole point of his promotion is to see the prologue in its best format, and that doesn't happen if the audience is going to screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in LIEMAX. Let's just hope that the footage is worth it for the folks that are traveling fifty miles to see it.

The Dark Knight Rises Preview Will Only Be Available In Real IMAX

As reported last week, a six-minute preview for the finale of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, will be attached to IMAX screenings of Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The situation seems like a win-win, as both films made extensive use of IMAX cameras during production, meaning that the best way to see each individual film will be on the biggest screen imaginable. There's one catch though: there are actually two kinds of IMAX theaters: the real kind, which have screens that can stand at about 80 feet tall; and fake IMAX (or LIEMAX), which has screens that are typically about 30 feet tall. It turns out that cinemas are being specific about where exactly the Dark Knight Rises footage will be shown.

AMC has learned that the six minute prologue for the new comic book movie will only be shown in authentic IMAX theaters showing the 70mm print of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The official locations haven't been announced yet and there is no reason given for the move. Mission: Impossible will be arriving in IMAX theaters five days before its full release, hitting on December 16th and going wide on December 21st. To find the real IMAX theater closest to you (it may not be fully up-to-date), consult this handy Google Map.

Obviously this is going to seriously limit the number of people that will actually be able to see the footage (if you look at the map I linked to above, there are very few real IMAX theaters in the midwest), but in a way this is a good thing. The whole point of his promotion is to see the prologue in its best format, and that doesn't happen if the audience is going to screenings of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in LIEMAX. Let's just hope that the footage is worth it for the folks that are traveling fifty miles to see it.

Harry Potter DVDs And Blu-Rays To Disappear On December 29th

For years the Walt Disney Company has employed a unique way of releasing DVDs. The studio will release its movies for a limited time only before taking them off the market and putting them in the "Disney Vault." It's a fairly brilliant idea, as it works perfectly with the concept of supply and demand: the less time a movie spends on the market, the higher instant demand will be. It's such a good strategy that it's a wonder why no other company has tried to mimic the style. Now Warner Bros. has apparently decided to do just that with one of the biggest franchises in its collection.

Reuters reports that WB will pull all Harry Potter DVDs and Blu-rays from the shelves on December 29th. Amazingly, this also includes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which is set to debut on home video on November 11th, giving consumers only 48 days to pick up a copy. On that same day a full box set - including all eight movies - will go on sale as well. The article says that this move may indicate that Warners is planing a release of the films, similar to what Disney did with The Lion King 3D (which ended up pulling in $92 million before the end of its run). It's unknown if this means the studio is planning 3D conversions as well. The Harry Potter films will still be available digitally and on-demand.

As though DVD sales of the final Harry Potter movie weren't going to be big enough, this should bring in a ton of cash for WB's home video department. All those people who have waited to buy the movies as a complete set are now forced to act immediately. Now I just have to wonder how this move will affect the price for each disc.

Harry Potter DVDs And Blu-Rays To Disappear On December 29th

For years the Walt Disney Company has employed a unique way of releasing DVDs. The studio will release its movies for a limited time only before taking them off the market and putting them in the "Disney Vault." It's a fairly brilliant idea, as it works perfectly with the concept of supply and demand: the less time a movie spends on the market, the higher instant demand will be. It's such a good strategy that it's a wonder why no other company has tried to mimic the style. Now Warner Bros. has apparently decided to do just that with one of the biggest franchises in its collection.

Reuters reports that WB will pull all Harry Potter DVDs and Blu-rays from the shelves on December 29th. Amazingly, this also includes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which is set to debut on home video on November 11th, giving consumers only 48 days to pick up a copy. On that same day a full box set - including all eight movies - will go on sale as well. The article says that this move may indicate that Warners is planing a release of the films, similar to what Disney did with The Lion King 3D (which ended up pulling in $92 million before the end of its run). It's unknown if this means the studio is planning 3D conversions as well. The Harry Potter films will still be available digitally and on-demand.

As though DVD sales of the final Harry Potter movie weren't going to be big enough, this should bring in a ton of cash for WB's home video department. All those people who have waited to buy the movies as a complete set are now forced to act immediately. Now I just have to wonder how this move will affect the price for each disc.

Weekend Box Office: Paranormal Activity Scares Up Record Opening

For the first October in seven years there isn't a Saw movie tormenting theaters, but audiences didn't seem to mind at all. The long-running series appears to have a solid replacement. Paranormal Activity 3 secured that franchise's success this weekend by landing not only the biggest opening of the series so far, but the biggest ever opening for September or October.

Last year Paranormal Activity 2 made a huge smash at the box office hauling in $40 million its first weekend out. This weekend the third film topped that success, bowing in at a shocking $54 million, a fall opening record. No doubt Paramount is celebrating that little fact, but even more exciting for them are the profits. Like its predecessors, Paranormal Activity 3 was shot on a shoe string budget ($5 million to be exact), meaning the movie has already paid for itself ten times over with even more on the way.

The latest rendition of The Three Musketeers did more buckling than swashing, taking in only $8 million for a very weak fourth place. That marks the second ever worst opening for director Paul W. S. Anderson, but that shouldn't be a surprise. Musketeers isn't the first cinematic concept Smith has butchered. You might remember him as the guy who brought you the disaster that was Alien vs. Predator.

It was an even worse weekend for spy-ish spoof Johnny English Reborn, but unlike most movies arriving in US theaters its release here is more an after-thought than an event. The movie already has more than $100 million in sales around the world, making the $3 million it made to take ninth place this weekend just a little bit of icing on the cake.

Weekend Box Office: Paranormal Activity Scares Up Record Opening

For the first October in seven years there isn't a Saw movie tormenting theaters, but audiences didn't seem to mind at all. The long-running series appears to have a solid replacement. Paranormal Activity 3 secured that franchise's success this weekend by landing not only the biggest opening of the series so far, but the biggest ever opening for September or October.

Last year Paranormal Activity 2 made a huge smash at the box office hauling in $40 million its first weekend out. This weekend the third film topped that success, bowing in at a shocking $54 million, a fall opening record. No doubt Paramount is celebrating that little fact, but even more exciting for them are the profits. Like its predecessors, Paranormal Activity 3 was shot on a shoe string budget ($5 million to be exact), meaning the movie has already paid for itself ten times over with even more on the way.

The latest rendition of The Three Musketeers did more buckling than swashing, taking in only $8 million for a very weak fourth place. That marks the second ever worst opening for director Paul W. S. Anderson, but that shouldn't be a surprise. Musketeers isn't the first cinematic concept Smith has butchered. You might remember him as the guy who brought you the disaster that was Alien vs. Predator.

It was an even worse weekend for spy-ish spoof Johnny English Reborn, but unlike most movies arriving in US theaters its release here is more an after-thought than an event. The movie already has more than $100 million in sales around the world, making the $3 million it made to take ninth place this weekend just a little bit of icing on the cake.

Sherlock Holmes 3 Gets Iron Man 3 Screenwriter Drew Pearce

The newest trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows made it look like the action comedy sequel will be more of the same, and for once that's actually a good thing. Guy Ritchie's jangly, funny, only mildly bombastic 2009 movie was a pleasant surprise that holiday season, and with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law back to squabble with each other and run around Victorian England, they don't really need to change the formula too much to replicate the success. And apparently at Warner Bros., they're already convinced they have.

Deadline reports that the studio has already hired a screenwriter, Drew Pearce, to start working on Sherlock Holmes 3, just short of two months before the second film is set to hit theaters on December 16. If you recognize Pearce's name, it's not from anything he's written but what he'll have in the future-- he's the writer working with Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr. on the upcoming Iron Man 3. Downey Jr. is one of those actors who's powerful enough to bring in his own writers, so it seems clear that he likes what he's seeing on the next Iron Man installment and has brought Pearce over for yet another lucrative gig.

Different sets of writers have taken care of the first and second Sherlock Holmes movies, so it's not like this is a writer-centric franchise changing directions. It's good news for two franchises, actually-- Sherlock Holmes 2 is apparently good enough that they're expecting interest in a sequel, and Iron Man 3 is good enough that Robert Downey Jr. wants to keep that writer in the fold.

Sherlock Holmes 3 Gets Iron Man 3 Screenwriter Drew Pearce

The newest trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows made it look like the action comedy sequel will be more of the same, and for once that's actually a good thing. Guy Ritchie's jangly, funny, only mildly bombastic 2009 movie was a pleasant surprise that holiday season, and with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law back to squabble with each other and run around Victorian England, they don't really need to change the formula too much to replicate the success. And apparently at Warner Bros., they're already convinced they have.

Deadline reports that the studio has already hired a screenwriter, Drew Pearce, to start working on Sherlock Holmes 3, just short of two months before the second film is set to hit theaters on December 16. If you recognize Pearce's name, it's not from anything he's written but what he'll have in the future-- he's the writer working with Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr. on the upcoming Iron Man 3. Downey Jr. is one of those actors who's powerful enough to bring in his own writers, so it seems clear that he likes what he's seeing on the next Iron Man installment and has brought Pearce over for yet another lucrative gig.

Different sets of writers have taken care of the first and second Sherlock Holmes movies, so it's not like this is a writer-centric franchise changing directions. It's good news for two franchises, actually-- Sherlock Holmes 2 is apparently good enough that they're expecting interest in a sequel, and Iron Man 3 is good enough that Robert Downey Jr. wants to keep that writer in the fold.

Ben Stiller Will Direct Horror Film The Mountain At Fox

Ever the busy beaver, Ben Stiller always seems to have half a dozen films going that he’s involved with in one capacity or another. Still hard at work on the remake of the classic Danny Kaye comedy/fantasy crossover The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Stiller has four other movies slated for a 2012 release, and has just added one more.

According to Deadline, Fox has snatched up rights to The Mountain, to be based around the characters in Edith Wharton’s novel Summer. This won’t just be an adaption though. Summer follows Charity through a sexual awakening, an unplanned pregnancy with a man engaged to be married to someone else, numerous marriage proposals from her own guardian, and a life of prostitution. Sounds like a bit of a downer, not unlike Wharton’s more famous Ethan Frome.

Instead a horror story will be built around the main characters, though that sort of story seems like it could be horrific enough. The new story will follow a woman, presumably Charity Royall of Summer, as she unlocks the secrets of her past. So perhaps this is less an adaptation than it is a continuation. The task of building the story falls to Stiller, who will also direct, and Reality Bites writer Helen Childress. This will be the third team up for Childress and Stiller after Reality Bites and The Snowy Day which is currently in development.

Stiller has acted in a lot of not-so-great films, but his directorial track record is solid so it will be interesting to see him take on a new genre. Here’s hoping he keeps himself off camera for this one. More on The Mountain as the script gets wrapped and they near production.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Talks For Django Unchained With Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained already stars one actor who started out young and has since been hailed as one of the best of his generation, with Leonardo DiCaprio expected to play an evil slave owner in the Civil War-era film. Now he might be ready to bring in the next generation of talent. Variety reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to join the film, which is set to start shooting in January with a cast rounded out by Jamie Foxx, Kurt Russell and Don Johnson, plus Tarantino veterans Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.

Variety doesn't have details on which role Gordon-Levitt might play, and even over at The Playlist, where they've read the script, they're a little bit stumped. But word has been that Tarantino is reshaping the script before shooting begins, so it's entirely possible that he took a shine to Gordon-Levitt and cleared room for him in the story. Who can blame him? Between his terrific, still-underseen turn in this fall's 50/50, his gravity defying acrobatics in Inception, his everyman demeanor in 500 Days of Summer, and of course, the mysterious promise of him playing a villain in next summer's The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt is turning heads everywhere. You don't wonder which great director he'll work with next, but how long it will take him to work for all of them.

Given recent news that Sony has pushed Gordon-Levitt's film Premium RushDjango works out, he'll have a hell of a year set up-- Dark Knight Rises in July, Premium Rush in August, and Django Unchained set for a lightning fast turnaround in time for Christmas Day next year. Hard to think of anyone who deserves it more.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Talks For Django Unchained With Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained already stars one actor who started out young and has since been hailed as one of the best of his generation, with Leonardo DiCaprio expected to play an evil slave owner in the Civil War-era film. Now he might be ready to bring in the next generation of talent. Variety reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in talks to join the film, which is set to start shooting in January with a cast rounded out by Jamie Foxx, Kurt Russell and Don Johnson, plus Tarantino veterans Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz.

Variety doesn't have details on which role Gordon-Levitt might play, and even over at The Playlist, where they've read the script, they're a little bit stumped. But word has been that Tarantino is reshaping the script before shooting begins, so it's entirely possible that he took a shine to Gordon-Levitt and cleared room for him in the story. Who can blame him? Between his terrific, still-underseen turn in this fall's 50/50, his gravity defying acrobatics in Inception, his everyman demeanor in 500 Days of Summer, and of course, the mysterious promise of him playing a villain in next summer's The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt is turning heads everywhere. You don't wonder which great director he'll work with next, but how long it will take him to work for all of them.

Given recent news that Sony has pushed Gordon-Levitt's film Premium RushDjango works out, he'll have a hell of a year set up-- Dark Knight Rises in July, Premium Rush in August, and Django Unchained set for a lightning fast turnaround in time for Christmas Day next year. Hard to think of anyone who deserves it more.

Paranormal Activity 3 Scores Impressive $8 Million From Midnight Showings

Paranormal Activity 3 is a big-budget entry in the horror franchise, in that it cost $5 million when the first film cost $11,000. And yet, the latest scarefest still managed to make back its budget through midnight screenings alone. Deadline reports that PA3 brought in $8 million from midnight screenings last night, nearly $2 million more than the second film in the franchise did last year, and even more than the first film made in the first weekend it opened in limited release (remember, before it was an enormous franchise, Paranormal Activity was just a little plucked-from-Sundance sleeper success).



That's not good news just for those of you who only want to see Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters packed with fellow horror fans, but for the movie industry in general, which hasn't seen a real, new hit since Rise of the Planet of the Apes-- yes, you're right, that movie did come out forever ago. Sure, they managed to mint money with the re-release of The Lion King 3D, but if 3D re-releases start becoming the only kinds of movies that make money, we're all in for grim times. Whether or not you like the surveillance cam, jump-scare styles of the Paranormal Activity franchise, the series is one of the more original and enduring ideas out there, and is pretty much the opposite of the bloated Hollywood idea of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on toy/comic book adaptations that nobody wants.

Paramount is projecting a $35 million opening weekend for Paranormal Activity 3, but Deadline suggests it'll be way more than that. Congratulations, Hollywood! People like you again!

Paranormal Activity 3 Scores Impressive $8 Million From Midnight Showings

Paranormal Activity 3 is a big-budget entry in the horror franchise, in that it cost $5 million when the first film cost $11,000. And yet, the latest scarefest still managed to make back its budget through midnight screenings alone. Deadline reports that PA3 brought in $8 million from midnight screenings last night, nearly $2 million more than the second film in the franchise did last year, and even more than the first film made in the first weekend it opened in limited release (remember, before it was an enormous franchise, Paranormal Activity was just a little plucked-from-Sundance sleeper success).



That's not good news just for those of you who only want to see Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters packed with fellow horror fans, but for the movie industry in general, which hasn't seen a real, new hit since Rise of the Planet of the Apes-- yes, you're right, that movie did come out forever ago. Sure, they managed to mint money with the re-release of The Lion King 3D, but if 3D re-releases start becoming the only kinds of movies that make money, we're all in for grim times. Whether or not you like the surveillance cam, jump-scare styles of the Paranormal Activity franchise, the series is one of the more original and enduring ideas out there, and is pretty much the opposite of the bloated Hollywood idea of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on toy/comic book adaptations that nobody wants.

Paramount is projecting a $35 million opening weekend for Paranormal Activity 3, but Deadline suggests it'll be way more than that. Congratulations, Hollywood! People like you again!

Warner Bros Wants Ben Affleck To Direct The Stand

It’s probably fair to express some doubts about whether The Stand is the kind of book that can be adapted to the big screen while still maintaining the excellent story and character depth that author Stephen King brought to the novel, but it’s also difficult not to be excited about the project, especially when you consider the casting possibilities. While the cast of the upcoming big-screen adaptation has yet to be determined, Warner Bros has chosen a director.

The Stand tells the story of an outbreak that destroys a good portion of the world’s population, leaving the survivors to split into two groups, one good, and the other evil. That's the very-condensed synopsis of the story. Much like some of Stephen King’s other excellent stories, The Stand is character-driven, with the story being told through different people, all of whom are connected by what’s going on.



According to Deadline, Warner Bros has handed the task of directing and adapting the novel to Ben Affleck. As Deadline notes, the actor, who has been doing some work behind the camera lately, including his current directorial project, Argo, has proven his skills as a director with Gone Baby Gone and The Town. The Stand won’t be an easy task, but Warner Bros apparently thinks he’s up for it. It may be worth noting that Deadline doesn’t state whether this is a done deal for Affleck to direct, or if Warner Bros has merely offered him the job and are hoping to move forward if he is available and interested.

King’s The Stand was adapted to a miniseries back in the ’90’s, with Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald playing the leads. Other notable cast members include Rob Lowe and Laura San Giacomo. The miniseries was a decent adaptation, if memory serves, however even with the story spread out over six hours, it still felt abridged by comparison to the book. Is it too much to hope that they’ll split the movie into (at least) two parts when adapting it to the big screen?

Fast And Furious Six And Seven Could Share One Plot

When it comes to franchise films, using two movies to tell one story doesn't always work out for the best. Two recent examples of this include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End as well as The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. What ends up happening is that you have two incomplete films with a lot of bloat. But perhaps the Fast and Furious franchise can break that streak.

Somewhat confirming previous reports, the LA Times is saying that Universal is heavily considering filming the next two installments of the popular Vin Diesel-Paul Walker series back-to-back, but the added twist is that the two movies would be telling one story between them. Chris Morgan, who was hired to write the next installment before Fast Five was even released, is apparently currently working with director Justin Lin on the story, though details are being kept secret. Should the movies be filmed back-to-back, it would likely mean that Fast Six would miss its May 24, 2013 as Lin would be shooting the seventh movie instead of cutting the sixth.

While the Pirates and Matrix movies are two examples of back-to-back movies that didn't really work, it should be noted that Back to the Future Part II and Part III as well as The Lord of the Rings movies were all shot together, so there is a history of it working on some level. The problem that may end up presenting itself is that the Fast and Furious movies have never really been big on plot in the first place, so spreading one over the span of two movies may end up being a little thin. Then again, all that fans really care about in these movies are the car chases, so as long as they keep those going I'm sure audiences will be satisfied.

Warner Bros Wants Ben Affleck To Direct The Stand

It’s probably fair to express some doubts about whether The Stand is the kind of book that can be adapted to the big screen while still maintaining the excellent story and character depth that author Stephen King brought to the novel, but it’s also difficult not to be excited about the project, especially when you consider the casting possibilities. While the cast of the upcoming big-screen adaptation has yet to be determined, Warner Bros has chosen a director.

The Stand tells the story of an outbreak that destroys a good portion of the world’s population, leaving the survivors to split into two groups, one good, and the other evil. That's the very-condensed synopsis of the story. Much like some of Stephen King’s other excellent stories, The Stand is character-driven, with the story being told through different people, all of whom are connected by what’s going on.



According to Deadline, Warner Bros has handed the task of directing and adapting the novel to Ben Affleck. As Deadline notes, the actor, who has been doing some work behind the camera lately, including his current directorial project, Argo, has proven his skills as a director with Gone Baby Gone and The Town. The Stand won’t be an easy task, but Warner Bros apparently thinks he’s up for it. It may be worth noting that Deadline doesn’t state whether this is a done deal for Affleck to direct, or if Warner Bros has merely offered him the job and are hoping to move forward if he is available and interested.

King’s The Stand was adapted to a miniseries back in the ’90’s, with Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald playing the leads. Other notable cast members include Rob Lowe and Laura San Giacomo. The miniseries was a decent adaptation, if memory serves, however even with the story spread out over six hours, it still felt abridged by comparison to the book. Is it too much to hope that they’ll split the movie into (at least) two parts when adapting it to the big screen?

Fast And Furious Six And Seven Could Share One Plot

When it comes to franchise films, using two movies to tell one story doesn't always work out for the best. Two recent examples of this include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End as well as The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. What ends up happening is that you have two incomplete films with a lot of bloat. But perhaps the Fast and Furious franchise can break that streak.

Somewhat confirming previous reports, the LA Times is saying that Universal is heavily considering filming the next two installments of the popular Vin Diesel-Paul Walker series back-to-back, but the added twist is that the two movies would be telling one story between them. Chris Morgan, who was hired to write the next installment before Fast Five was even released, is apparently currently working with director Justin Lin on the story, though details are being kept secret. Should the movies be filmed back-to-back, it would likely mean that Fast Six would miss its May 24, 2013 as Lin would be shooting the seventh movie instead of cutting the sixth.

While the Pirates and Matrix movies are two examples of back-to-back movies that didn't really work, it should be noted that Back to the Future Part II and Part III as well as The Lord of the Rings movies were all shot together, so there is a history of it working on some level. The problem that may end up presenting itself is that the Fast and Furious movies have never really been big on plot in the first place, so spreading one over the span of two movies may end up being a little thin. Then again, all that fans really care about in these movies are the car chases, so as long as they keep those going I'm sure audiences will be satisfied.

Catherine Zeta-Jones Signed On For Broken City

Catherine Zeta-Jones hasn’t been around much over the last few years, but it looks as though she has a flurry of projects in the works, one of which puts her opposite Russell Crowe. The No Reservations actress has been signed on to star in the Allen Hughes directed Broken City.

Deadline reports that Zeta-Jones is set to play Russell Crowe’s character’s wife in the upcoming Broken City. The film, which is in pre-production, stars Mark Wahlberg as a detective who’s hired by Russell Crowe’s character, who also happens to be the mayor of New York. Zeta-Jones plays the mayor’s wife, who also happens to be cheating on her husband. When her secret-boyfriend ends up dead, Wahlberg’s character does a bit more digging and uncovers a conspiracy that may involved the mayor.

Broken City begins shooting in New York next month. Zeta-Jones may have been laying low for a few years, but she appears to be making up for lost time as she has a number of other films in the works, including Rock of Ages, directed by Adam Shankman, Playing the Field, which stars Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, and Jessica Biel, and Laying the Favorite, which stars Bruce Willis.

Carey Mulligan Cast In Coens Brothers' Latest, Circling New Spike Jonze

Carey Mulligan’s riding one of the hottest streaks we’ve seen in some time. She regularly works with challenging directors, from Oliver Stone (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) to Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go). This year, she’s co-starring in two instant classics in Drive and Shame. And she’s currently hard at work on Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby opposite Leonard DiCaprio.

Wow.

But don’t think Mulligan’s content to rest on her laurels. Variety reports that the actress has secured two high-profile gigs that would make any talent salivate. The fact that she's in both almost isn’t fair. According to the trade, Mulligan will be the female lead in Joel and Ethan Coen’s folk-music drama Inside Llewyn Davis. Following that, she’ll appear in an as-yet-untitled feature to be directed by Spike Jonze.

Both projects sound great. The Coens already have cast Oscar Isaac as a musician breaking into New York’s scene in the 1960s. As the trade notes, if Mulligan needs to sing, Shame proves the actress has the pipes. As for Jonze’s feature, it reportedly reunites him with screenwriter Charlie Kaufmann (Adaptation) for a film about global leaders having to meet to discuss what Variety calls “cataclysmic events.” Joaquin Phoenix has already been cast in the picture, which would begin shooting next spring.

About the only other actress touching Mulligan’s streak right now is Anne Hathaway, who also continues to add one major project after the next. Actors rarely go wrong collaborating with storytellers like the Coens and Jonze, and we’re happy that a legitimate talent like Mulligan is getting these outstanding chances to flex her muscle and make what we hope are great films.

Carey Mulligan Cast In Coens Brothers' Latest, Circling New Spike Jonze

Carey Mulligan’s riding one of the hottest streaks we’ve seen in some time. She regularly works with challenging directors, from Oliver Stone (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) to Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go). This year, she’s co-starring in two instant classics in Drive and Shame. And she’s currently hard at work on Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby opposite Leonard DiCaprio.

Wow.

But don’t think Mulligan’s content to rest on her laurels. Variety reports that the actress has secured two high-profile gigs that would make any talent salivate. The fact that she's in both almost isn’t fair. According to the trade, Mulligan will be the female lead in Joel and Ethan Coen’s folk-music drama Inside Llewyn Davis. Following that, she’ll appear in an as-yet-untitled feature to be directed by Spike Jonze.

Both projects sound great. The Coens already have cast Oscar Isaac as a musician breaking into New York’s scene in the 1960s. As the trade notes, if Mulligan needs to sing, Shame proves the actress has the pipes. As for Jonze’s feature, it reportedly reunites him with screenwriter Charlie Kaufmann (Adaptation) for a film about global leaders having to meet to discuss what Variety calls “cataclysmic events.” Joaquin Phoenix has already been cast in the picture, which would begin shooting next spring.

About the only other actress touching Mulligan’s streak right now is Anne Hathaway, who also continues to add one major project after the next. Actors rarely go wrong collaborating with storytellers like the Coens and Jonze, and we’re happy that a legitimate talent like Mulligan is getting these outstanding chances to flex her muscle and make what we hope are great films.

Bradley Cooper May Be Steven Soderbergh's Man From U.N.C.L.E

It turns out that Steven Soderbergh has been having a hell of a time trying to find someone to play Napoleon Solo in his adaptation of the 1960s spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The role was originally going to be played by George Clooney, who was forced to drop the project. According to new reports, both Matt Damon - who has worked with Soderbergh on the Ocean's trilogy, The Informant! and last month's Contagion - and Johnny Depp both turned down the part, but now it looks like the movie has finally landed its leading man.

Variety is reporting that Bradley Cooper has been offered the role of Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. While nothing is official, the project would add to the many titles that the actor currently has in development, including Alex Proyas' Paradise Lost and David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook. The role was originally played by Robert Vaughn in the television series. The plot revolves around two agents for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement - Solo and his Russian counterpart, Illya Kuryakin - saving the world from the evil forces of THRUSH. The script was written by Scott Z. Burns the movie is expected to go into production early next year.

It goes without saying that it's an interesting transition to go from an actor like George Clooney to Bradley Cooper. Both have very different styles and are known for playing very different types of roles. Despite the fact that the production is working from established source material, it's hard not to wonder if the project will be adapted to better suit Cooper. But what do you think of the pick? Is Cooper the right man to play Napoleon Solo?

Bradley Cooper May Be Steven Soderbergh's Man From U.N.C.L.E

It turns out that Steven Soderbergh has been having a hell of a time trying to find someone to play Napoleon Solo in his adaptation of the 1960s spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The role was originally going to be played by George Clooney, who was forced to drop the project. According to new reports, both Matt Damon - who has worked with Soderbergh on the Ocean's trilogy, The Informant! and last month's Contagion - and Johnny Depp both turned down the part, but now it looks like the movie has finally landed its leading man.

Variety is reporting that Bradley Cooper has been offered the role of Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. While nothing is official, the project would add to the many titles that the actor currently has in development, including Alex Proyas' Paradise Lost and David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook. The role was originally played by Robert Vaughn in the television series. The plot revolves around two agents for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement - Solo and his Russian counterpart, Illya Kuryakin - saving the world from the evil forces of THRUSH. The script was written by Scott Z. Burns the movie is expected to go into production early next year.

It goes without saying that it's an interesting transition to go from an actor like George Clooney to Bradley Cooper. Both have very different styles and are known for playing very different types of roles. Despite the fact that the production is working from established source material, it's hard not to wonder if the project will be adapted to better suit Cooper. But what do you think of the pick? Is Cooper the right man to play Napoleon Solo?

Mark Wahlberg Glares, Smuggles Cash And Guns In New Contraband Poster

Contraband, which hits theaters on Jan. 13, stars Mark Wahlberg as a former criminal gone straight who is forced to re-enter the life when his wife’s younger brother gets mixed up with the wrong people. It’s the classic “just when you thought you were out” scenario, and Wahlberg’s the ideal choice to play a smoldering lead tearing his way through an international gang of thieves as the threat level escalates. We ran the first trailer a few weeks ago, and now there’s an official poster:




Yep. Looks like Wahlberg’s ready to go to great lengths to protect his family from some pretty nasty thugs. I don’t know enough about Contraband director Baltasar Kormákur, an Icelandic filmmaker whose credits include Jar City and Inhale. So we have to lean on the cast, which is pretty impressive. Wahlberg’s going into battle with Ben Foster, Diego Luna and Giovanni Ribisi to protect his significant other, played by the beautiful Kate Beckinsale. Who wouldn’t risk their life for her?

J.K. Simmons and Lukas Haas lend a hand in support, but this doesn’t look like an acting showcase. It looks like one major action set piece after another, and after a full season of Oscar-pedigreed dramas, we’re going to be looking for a little brain candy like Contraband. The poster might not do much for you, but now that you’ve seen it and the trailer, what are your thoughts?

Dark Knight Rises Prologue May Run Before Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol In IMAX

You may have very little memory of I Am Legend, the 2007 post-apocalyptic Will Smith film, but you probably very much remember the six minutes that ran before it in theaters. Oh, yes you do. Back in December 2007 Warner Bros. pulled the fairly unprecedented move of showing the opening scene of the movie in front of I Am Legend, one of the many steps they took to subtly promote what would go on to become the biggest movie of all time. It's a strategy that worked already once, so why not try it again? Slashfilm hears from an exhibitor source that they'll be doing just that, showing an eight-minute prologue for The Dark Knight Rises in front of all IMAX showings of this December's Mission: Impossible-- Ghost Protocol.

Yes, Dark Knight Rises is a Warner Bros. movie while Mission: Impossible is coming from Paramount, but Dark Knight Rises made extensive use of the IMAX cameras, and I can see the studio wanting to show off some footage on the gigantic screen to entice audiences to come back and see the whole thing in July. If you saw The Dark Knight in IMAX you remember how stunning those sequences were, especially the aerial shots above Gotham in the opening sequence. Plenty of people are already excited for The Dark Knight Rises based on online trailers alone, but there really is nothing like seeing it on the biggest screen possible.

Warner Bros. refused to comment on Slashfilm's story, and we may not know for a while if this sneak peek really is happening. But it sounds like a pretty good plan to me. What do you guys think-- will an extended prologue for The Dark Knight Rises be enough to get you into theaters for Mission: Impossible-- Ghost Protocol?