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Tuesday, March 16
Most of the initial buzz coming out of the currently ongoing South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, has focused on the world premiere of director Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass. In addition to being a crowd-pleaser, Kick-Ass generated mostly positive reviews from critics.
However, another highly-anticipated genre movie that had fans at the festival talking is the Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators, a direct sequel to the original Predator (ignoring Predator 2). While the Nimród Antal-directed movie is four months away from release and did not screen in its entirety, the first official poster for the movie debuted and fans in attendance were offered a first look at some of the finished footage in a behind-the-scenes featurette that includes commentary from Rodriguez, as well as concept art and a glimpse at a monster more terrifying than the Predators themselves.
Thankfully, for those of us unable to attend SXSW, the featurette has now been made available online, courtesy of Movieweb. Enjoy!
Next Showing: Predators opens July 9
Posted 3/16/2010 by BrentJS
Related: Robert Rodriguez | Predator 2 | Predator | Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass | Predators | Nimrod Antal
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In The Runaways, which opens this week, Kristen Stewart plays the rocker Joan Jett — quite a change from The Twilight Saga's Bella Swan, not to mention her earlier roles. So how did Stewart make the transition?
We've tracked her transformation from cute child actor to awkward teen to full-blown sex symbol in Kristen Stewart's Path to Hotness.
Next Showing: The Runaways opens March 19
Posted 3/16/2010 by reelz
Related: Kristen Stewart | Twilight | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn | The Runaways
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Principal photography on director Scott Stewart's (Legion) latest movie, Priest, has wrapped and Canadian ET was on hand for the final day of shooting to talk to stars Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Stephen Moyer. The interviews are brief and not altogether enlightening, but the clip does include a behind-the-scenes look at a creepy subterranean set and some of the wire-work action in the movie.
Based on the Korean comic book by Min-Woo Hyung, Priest takes place in a "retro-futuristic" world in which warrior priests stand in opposition to vampires and their sub-human slaves. The movie was originally slated to open in October, but the release was pushed back to January 2011 to accommodate 3-D conversion. Karl Urban and Maggie Q also star.
Next Showing: Priest opens January 14, 2011
Posted 3/16/2010 by BrentJS
Related: Paul Bettany | Stephen Moyer | Priest | Cam Gigandet | Scott Stewart
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Fans of romantic movies, such as the recent Dear John (which bounced Avatar from its top slot at the box office last month), are likely no stranger to the Lifetime and Hallmark networks, which excel in creating made-for-TV movies about people falling in love through a variety of improbable circumstances. However, Hallmark's latest, Healing Hands, seems to be what is known as a "curveball" and appears influenced by the current comic book movie trend.
The movie follows a janitor (TV-movie veteran Eddie Cibrian) who learns he has the power to heal others, only that power is slowly killing him. Don't worry, this is a Hallmark movie, so we think everything will work out, but that doesn't mean a certain type of movie fan — and you know who you are — won't delight in this latest trailer for Healing Hands, which premieres March 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, 8 p.m. CT. Just remember to have the Kleenex handy.
Posted 3/16/2010 by reelz
Related: Eddie Cibrian | Lisa Sheridan | Healing Hands
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Back in 2003, Warner Bros. was desperately trying to figure out how to bring two of their most iconic characters back to the big screen. The Batman franchise had crumbled beneath the neon campiness of Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin five years earlier and there had not been a new Superman movie in theaters since the equally terrible The Quest for Peace in 1987.
The answer to Warners' dilemma seemed to be to combine both characters in one spectacular movie: Batman vs. Superman. The title alone is enough to make many comic book movie fans quiver in anticipation. And, with Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) working on the screenplay and Wolfgang Petersen (Troy) attached to direct, the movie seemed like a sure-fire blockbuster.
Fast-forward seven years and we now have director Christopher Nolan's brilliant Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as well as the mediocre Superman Returns, Bryan Singer's homage to the original Superman, but no Batman vs. Superman. So, whatever happened to the team-up movie? In a recent interview with MTV, Petersen said that it came "pretty close" to being made.
And then the studio got a single Superman script I think from J.J. Abrams at that time, and [Warner Bros. chief] Alan Horn was so torn – because it’s such a fascinating concept to do a Batman versus Superman film. And I still think it would be to do that. But the studio decided to try separate versions of Superman and Batman, and then maybe think about down the road if you want to bring them together in one film.
It's long been known that Warners had been pursuing Josh Hartnett for the role of Superman. What was not known before now is that the only other actor in serious contention for the role was Christian Bale, who stars in Nolan's Batman movies as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Considered for Superman and now playing Batman? Obviously, Bale has "superhero" written all over him.
For his part, Petersen has no regrets about Batman vs. Superman falling by the wayside. Warners offered him the job directing Troy shortly thereafter, and he has nothing but praise for Nolan's take on Batman.
I loved Dark Knight! I was completely sucked into it, blown away by it. I thought right away it deserved an Academy Award for Best Picture, and I was really disappointed that it didn’t get it. I thought Heath Ledger was just phenomenal. I am a big fan of that movie.
Posted 3/16/2010 by BrentJS
Related: Christian Bale | Josh Hartnett | Wolfgang Petersen | Christopher Nolan | J.J. Abrams | Batman & Robin | Batman Begins | Heath Ledger | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Andrew Kevin Walker | The Dark Knight
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For now, the dust has settled in the "War For October 22," which saw Lionsgate exercise a contract option that pulled Saw VI director Kevin Greutert off of Paramount's sequel to Paranormal Activity and onto Saw VII. Greutert complained about the ordeal online, while Paramount searched for a new director. With both movies now quietly working toward their identical October 22, 2010 release date, Saw VII co-screenwriter Patrick Melton told Dread Central what it was like when Greutert arrived on the set with only a few weeks to prepare and began rewriting the script.
It was a very hard situation to replaceyour director two weeks before the beginning of production. Kevin'smind was in a completely other space, prepping his own movie inParanormal 2, and so he was getting up-to-speed as Saw VIIwas going into production. It's pretty hard to wrap your brain around, "How am I going to shoot this next scene?" if you've never even thoughtabout it before. He has a lot of ideas, but it's a bit hard and extreme toimplement all of these ideas because sets have been built, people havebeen cast, props have been bought or created, and with the Saw filmsthey are so specific in set design because of the traps. It becomesvery problematic and difficult to change things a whole bunch right inthe middle of it.
But if anyone can do it, it's Kevin. He'sbeen involved in every single Saw movie, and he directed the last oneso he knows the limitations of the crew and the limitations of theresources, and so he's been able to adapt pretty quickly, and it'slooking good. Because we are playing with the idea that this may be thelast Saw movie and we are trying to wrap things up, it's made it a tonmore ambitious.
Melton says that Greutert and his crew are "half through" its production schedule, and, considering it may be the last Saw movie ever made (and what horror franchise hasn't made that promise), that Saw VII, or as it may be called once it makes it to theaters, Saw 3D: Endgame, will be "bigger" than the previous sequels.
In this one we have bigger traps and more traps and more characters — especially characters from the past — than we've had inprobably any other Saw movie. It's definitely the most expensive andambitious Saw movie that we've done. Some of it is in response to lastyear's Saw VI, which, while being the most critically acclaimed Sawfilm in a while, didn't do particularly as well (at the box office) aseveryone would have hoped, so we are going pretty far with this one interms of the scale and intensity of the traps and the amount of twists,especially into the third act, which is just a plethora of twists andreveals.
I can't speak much of what the film is, but once you see it, you'llunderstand that there is quite a bit of resolution (to the series).There is a place where it can go, but it's been undecided at this pointif the series will continue. If we end it with this one, then theentire franchise and story will be wrapped up in a nice pretty package.
The "package" will also be in 3-D, which Melton says won't be employed for cheap scares.
Have you seen Jaws 3D lately? It's dreadful. Thatlocked-off shot of the shark coming towards the screen is just awful,but that was the "3D moment" with the shark coming out into theaudience. The whole 3D thing is tricky because on one hand it's agimmick, but on the other it can make the theater-going experience abit more fun. It is a bit of an experiment with Saw VII because the Sawfilms are fast and sort of wildly cut, which doesn't work all thatparticularly well with 3D. If it works, it'sgoing to be great because it's going to have that pace and ferocitythat the Saw films have but also those fun, in-your-face moments in 3Dwith the traps and the blood.
Posted 3/16/2010 by Ryan
Related: Patrick Melton | Saw VII | Paranormal Activity | Kevin Greutert
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Monday, March 15
The last Green Lantern casting update added British actor Mark Strong to the cast as eventual arch nemesis Sinestro, and now director Martin Campbell is heading to New Zealand for the two latest additions. THR reports that Temuera Morrison, known to fanboys around the world as Jango Fett from the second Star Wars trilogy, has joined the cast as Abin Sur, a member of the Green Lantern Corps and, according to the comics, the preceding Green Lantern to Ryan Reynolds's character of Hal Jordan.
Fellow New Zealand actor (as well as Eagle vs. Shark writer/director) Taika Waititi has also joined the cast in the role of Hal Jordan's best friend. Waititi's latest directorial effort (as Taika Cohen), Boy, is what brought him to Campbell's attention.
No word on whether the current Kiwi craze Green Lantern is experiencing will mean Flight of the Conchords will contribute to the soundtrack.
Posted 3/15/2010 by Ryan
Related: Taika Cohen | Martin Campbell | Green Lantern | Temuera Morrison