'The Martian' Review

New Trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Revenant'

If you're unfamiliar with the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, I'll give you a quick breakdown:

It's directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who won the Oscar most recently for both Best Director and Best Picture with last year's Birdman. It not only stars DiCaprio but also Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter and Lukas Haas. It's based in part on the novel by Michael Punke (The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge) in which the film's official synopsis is as follows:

Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT is an immersive and visceral cinematic experience capturing one man’s epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.

That's not all though.

You see, the director, Iñárritu, wanted the film to be as authentic as possible. This resulted in filming of the project actually beginning last October in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada and concluding just this past August in southern Argentina. Why such a long production you ask? It's because the crew only filmed with natural light, deep in the wilderness for authenticity. This led to a constant battle against the elements to get scenes filmed and ensure what is put on screen isn't a result of 'CGI'.

As you can see from the trailer below, it looks as if everyone involved in the film has pulled off something truly breathtaking. Every scene here looks amazing and I don't doubt for a second this was probably the most grueling shoot any of the actors and crew members have gone through to make this film. If this thing doesn't end up a serious Oscar contender this upcoming season, I will be shocked.

Sound off with your comments below. What do you think of the trailer?

The Revenant opens in limited release on Christmas Day and expands nationwide on January 8th.

Source: 20th Century Fox

Jamie Foxx Describes Opening Scene to Mike Tyson Movie

A Mike Tyson movie starring Jamie Foxx is something that's been in the works for years, and by years I mean I can recall reading about it as far back as 2009 when Tyson was promoting his role in The Hangover. The former heavyweight champ joked that Foxx - in order to accurately portray his prime physical presence back in the day - would have to 'take a lot of steroids...lift weights...eat a lot'.

Fast forward to last year, we got official word that not only would Foxx be playing Tyson in a film biopic, but that screenwriter Terrence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, The Wolf of Wall Street) would be penning the screenplay. Winter was coming off his Oscar nomination for the aforementioned film.

Then earlier this year, it was announced by Foxx himself that none other than Martin Scorsese would be directing. This actually wasn't too much of a surprise considering Scorsese had frequently worked with Winter on a number of projects as well as the director's experience in helming a boxing film (Raging Bull anyone?).

Not much has been heard on the project since, but just this morning I came across a video earlier this year (which I've posted below) where Foxx details the opening scene to the film and man, does it sound good. Mike Tyson's story has always been one of triumph and tragedy, going from being on top of the world to losing everything. For those unfamiliar with his life, I've also attached a clip from earlier this year as well when Foxx was on The Ellen Show, talking about playing the former boxer.

Just check both of them out, I'm sure it'll grab your attention:

Sources: Variety, Entertainment Weekly, YouTube

New Promo Video for 'The Martian' Wants to Bring Mark Watney Home

If you haven't noticed lately, a lot of posts on this site have been for the upcoming 20th Century Fox release of The Martian.

There's other stories to write about in Hollywood currently, but this movie opens in a little over a week and it deserves to do well. It's based off a great book, it's got a hell of a talented cast, and from all accounts, it's turned out to be a fantastic film (still 97% on Rotten Tomatoes).

So with that said, I have brought the new promo video for The Martian, featuring an in-world, global union to bring the United State's astronaut, Mark Watney, home safely. It's actually pretty well done, certainly showing off what I hope is a strong theme throughout the film of people coming together to save another...and on a global scale, that's pretty great.

You can view the promo video below and sound off with your comments as well. What do you think of the promotion for the film thus far?

“If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do.”

Source: 20th Century Fox

Learn About the Ares 3 Crew and Their Mission from 'The Martian'

So if you haven't been able to tell, the hype and fandom for The Martian is growing.

The film hits theaters in less than two weeks, it's Rotten Tomatoes score keeps going up (now at 97%) and 20th Century Fox is seemingly taking out all the stops in promoting the heck out of it.

The studio has now released an amazing Mission Guide for the film that you can view and download in PDF format by clicking HERE. Yes, HERE.

The extremely detailed and beautiful guide gives a comprehensive look at each crew member as well as specifics of how the Ares 3 mission has come together, from inception to returning home.

If you have a few minutes, take the time to view and read through it as it really is an awesome promotional piece for the film.

The Martian hits theaters nationwide October 2nd.

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

Source: 20th Century Fox

New Clip from 'The Martian': Fear Mark Watney's Botany Powers

Many fans of Andy Weir's novel, The Martian, are pretty psyched to see the film adaptation starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott.

The trailers have looked great, the early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive (sitting at 96% currently on Rotten Tomatoes), and now we are starting to get some short clips from the film via 20th Century Fox.

It's nothing spoiler-ish (I mean if you've read the book you basically know the movie), but the less than 1 minutes scenes are more to give you an idea of the tone for the film than anything else.

In the clip below, it's basically Matt Damon's main character of Mark Watney doing one of his many video log entries to discuss how he's going to survive with limited food resources on Mars. The humor is seemingly there, along with the obvious visual detail you can tell the filmmakers put into what was a big budget project. See for yourself below:

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney’s safe return. Based on a best-selling novel.

The Martian stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover and Chiwetel Ejiofor. It is directed by Ridley Scott from a script by Drew Goddard.

The film opens nationwide October 2nd.

Source: 20th Century Fox, Rotten Tomatoes

Director Rupert Wyatt Exits 'Gambit'

Well here's a bit of a problem.

After signing on to direct the film just three short months ago, Rypert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) has left 20th Century Fox's X-Men spinoff, Gambit. The film is set to star Channing Tatum in the lead role of Remy LeBeau AKA Gambit, the card-wielding, Bo staff-fighting mutant from New Orleans.

It's reported Wyatt's exit stems from script issues which have caused the project's budget to inflate, resulting in the shoot being extended and conflicting with another project Wyatt has been working on.

The director had this to say in an official statement:

"I was very much looking forward to working with my friend Channing and the team at Fox, but regrettably a push in the start date now conflicts with another project. I thank them for the opportunity, and I know that Gambit will make a terrific film."

The film is definitely a high priority for the studio. With Hugh Jackman hanging up his claws as Wolverine in a couple years, they are banking on Tatum's Gambit to become the lead star of the X-Men franchise.

My take though? I think Wyatt got the hell out of Dodge while he still can. After the disaster that was Fantastic Four, along with Tatum flirting with exiting the project himself just a couple months back, it's pretty obvious this thing is in trouble. I just hope they're able to land a solid replacement for Wyatt as director.

We'll see.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Woody Harrelson Joins PLANET OF THE APES

That headline is about all anyone knows. 

True Detective and White Men Can't Jump star Woody Harrelson will be warring with the Apes as the untitled Planet of the Apes threequel has brought the acclaimed actor on as a villain character known as "The Colonel".

All that is know so far is that, like Dawn, the cast from the previous entry will not be returning, as actor Jason Claarke confirmed earlier this month.
Matt Reeves, who helmed the GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME 2008 thriller Cloverfield as well as 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will return to close out the trilogy from 20th Century Fox.

Recently, Hispanic actor Gabriel Chavarria joined the secretive film as well. 

We last left Caesar after fighting between his people and the humans, with an all-out war between the humans and the apes finally starting to begin. 

King Kong Heading to Warner Bros. for Godzilla Movie Showdown

Well, can't say this is too unexpected.

With the 'cinematic universe' becoming a go to thing now for film franchises, Legendary Pictures has announced their King Kong film, Kong: Skull Island, is being moved from Universal to Warner Bros. with a plan to have their big guy match-up with last year's Godzilla reboot.

Since Legendary left Warner Bros last year and went to Universal, it was quite interesting to hear the production company announce a King Kong film when they had just made another monster film in Godzilla for Warner Bros. The idea was thought that if only this were under the same studio, a showdown of the two famous cinematic monsters in a feature film could finally happen.

I guess they had the idea the whole time too as Kong: Skull Island will now be distributed under Warner Bros. with it's release date still in place of March 10th, 2017. Production is gearing up to start the end of this year, early next year with a cast that includes Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Corey Hawkins and possibly Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Wilkinson and John C. Reilly. Remember, originally Michael Keaton and J.K. Simmons were part of this cast, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. I wonder if this change in direction for the film had anything to do with it?

Gareth Edwards - who directed last year's Godzilla reboot - is still attached to helm the sequel (due out June 8th, 2018), but now it must be wondered if his vision for the follow-up will be changed by this new plan to connect with King Kong. Also, Max Borenstein, who wrote Godzilla and is writing Godzilla 2, also wrote Kong: Skull Island. Huh, I bet that's just a coincidence.

Anyway, this all sounds pretty exciting if you're a huge Godzilla fan or King Kong fan or both. I guess they'll have to make Kong much larger for these films though as we all know he scaled that skyskraper, and well, Godzilla is as tall as that.

We'll keep you posted on more as it becomes available. Sound off with your comments below.

Source: Deadline

Tom Cruise and Doug Liman Re-Teaming for 'Luna Park'

Keeping in line with Tom Cruise's MO nowadays, the actor is looking to stay with what works.

Just as he's been working fluently with Christopher McQuarrie (wrote and directed Jack Reacher, co-wrote Edge of Tomorrow, co-wrote and directed Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation), he's sticking with Doug Liman as well, who directed Edge of Tomorrow and the recently completed cartel thriller Mena, due out in 2017.

The new project is Luna Park, a long in-development sci-fi film for Liman, whose been attached for years.

It follows a group of former renegade space employees who travel the world stealing equipment to get back to the moon, where they must acquire a vital energy source.

Yeah, doesn't sound the most intriguing, but did you see Edge of Tomorrow? I trust they know what they're doing.

Luna Park was actually greenlit by Paramount back in 2011 but the studio pulled the plug when their financier, Skydance Productions, backed out due to a ballooning budget. However, given Cruise's great relationship with both Paramount and Skydance Productions, it might be a safe bet to assume they'll end up back together.

For Cruise though, the guy is like a machine lately, showing no signs of slowing down and hitting practically everything out of the park, even at 53!

Looking forward to this project.

Source: Variety