Tom Hardy to Officially Play Elton John in Film Biopic 'Rocketman'

There had been reports a while back that Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) was in talks to star as musical legend Elton John in the appropriately titled, Rocketman, and today, that news is official.

Rocket Pictures sent out a press release confirming Hardy will indeed play the title role in the film biopic, following the famous musician from child prodigy to industry legend.  Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) wrote the script and directorial newcomer, Michael Gracey, will helm the picture.

The flick is set to start shooting next fall (which I'm sure gives Hardy plenty of time to get 'in character') and will be released nationwide by Focus Features.  Sir Elton John himself will also re-record many of his famous hits to coincide with the film's story.

While I am not the biggest Elton John fan, there isn't a person alive who doesn't know his music so I am very psyched to see what a guy like Tom Hardy will do with this role.  If executed properly, this could get him Oscar recognition.

See below for the official press release:

TOM HARDY TO STAR AS MUSIC LEGEND ELTON JOHN IN ROCKET PICTURES’ ROCKETMAN

FOCUS FEATURES PLANS MAJOR U.S. RELEASE

LOS ANGELES (October 23, 2013) – Tom Hardy will star as Elton John in Rocket Pictures’ Rocketman, and Focus Features has come aboard to give the film a major U.S. release, producers announced today.

The Hardy deal caps a lengthy search to cast the role of Elton in the film, which will be co-financed by AI Film.

Much like the man himself, Rocketman is a larger-than-life movie musical spectacle that tells the story of a child prodigy turned music legend.  Elton will re-record many of his iconic hits to parallel the emotional beats of the film that will have audiences on their feet, singing along to his much loved music.  The film is scheduled to shoot in fall 2014.

Incoming Focus CEO Peter Schlessel, brought Rocketman from FilmDistrict to Focus Features.

Rocketman is produced by Steve Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish of Rocket Pictures and Lawrence Bender on behalf of AI Film, the film production and financing company created out of the acquisition of Icon by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries.  Sir Elton John and Len Blavatnik are executive producing, along with AI Film CEO Aviv Giladi and Focus Features CEO Peter Schlessel.  UTA Independent Film Group arranged financing for the project and negotiated the project’s sale to FilmDistrict.  Good Universe is handling international sales.

“Tom is a stellar talent who will add extraordinary depth and nuance in bringing Elton’s story to life,” said Rocket Pictures CEO Steve Hamilton Shaw.  “We are excited to have such a gifted actor on board, and equally excited to be in the hands of Peter Schlessel and the entire Focus Features team.”

“Tom is quickly becoming known as one of the world’s most versatile actors, and like others at the top of their craft, he has proven his ability to transform himself completely into the character or subject found in the material,” said Schlessel.  “We are confident that Tom will embody the physicality and spirit of Sir Elton.  This, in conjunction with the creative team led by Michael and Rocket Pictures, will provide the foundation for something that will be a unique cinematic event.”

Rocketman will be directed by Michael Gracey (Fox’s upcoming The Greatest Showman on Earth starring Hugh Jackman, and Disney’s The Muppet Man). The original screenplay is written by Academy Award® nominee Lee Hall (War Horse, Billy Elliot).

British actor Hardy will next be seen in Steve Knight’s Locke and in the reboot of the Mad Max franchise for Warner Bros. and George Miller.  Hardy recently wrapped Child 44 with director Daniel Espinosa and Animal Rescue for director Michael Roskam.  He most recently starred in The Dark Knight Rises and previously worked with director Chris Nolan onInception.  His credits include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bronson and Warrior.  He is represented by CAA, Lindy King at United Agents and attorney Jason Sloane.

Source:  Rocket Pictures

New Trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Safe to assume, it's funny and features one-liners that will be trending on Twitter in minutes. But I'm making it a point to avoid the new Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues trailer.

I don't want practically every joke (and ones that didn't make the final edit) ruined for me in two minutes. That happened on the original and though I grew to love it over the years that initial reaction was pretty sour. So I can't tell you if the big cameos are blown, what off the wall comments Brick makes or how Champ secretly lusts for Ron this time.

Stephen Lang Set To Terrorize Alien-Cat-Smurfs in AVATAR 2-4 Despite Death

 

If you're one of the masses who saw James Cameron's 2009 block-buster, AVATAR, you'll have noted that Stephen Lang was a great bad-guy who really stole the show as the menacing Colonel Quaritch, and then he got stabbed in the chest and died.

Well, it turns out that his hatred for glowing Blue Native American Alien-Cat Smurfs is so intense that death itself won't hold him back, as Deadline confirmed that James "The Man" Cameron has confirmed Lang is set to return in AVATAR 2, AVATAR 3, and AVATAR 4, a long with Perseus and Uhara of course. 

“Steven was so memorable in the first film, we’re privileged to have him back,” Cameron said. “I’m not going to say exactly HOW we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor, who’s also become a good friend.”

The obvious reason here would point to cloning; and hey, it's a good way to bring back such a memorable villain as Colonel Coffee-Mug.  

What do you all thing? Good choice in bringing Lang back? I love him; but I hope he has some cool secondary villains to add some flavor. 

No plot details as of yet, obviously, but Cameron will continue to direct with different writers set for each of the upcoming installments, with Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Jurassic World, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), and Shane Salerno (SAVAGES, Shaft) splitting up sequel-duties. 

AVATAR 2 will begin filming October 2014, with a predicted December 2016 release. 

New Poster for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER- Trailer In 2 Days

 

With Marvel's next 'Phase 2' Film, Thor: The Dark World gearing up for release, the nerds, who are never satisfied and always hungry, have been given a new poster, courtesy of Marvel's Official Twitter, for the NEXT Phase 2 film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which shows Captain America contemplating his life before jumping out into a relaxing sky-diving trip.

 

Director Joe Russo (You, Me, and Dupree) said this would be a much more emotional film, which is what I think everyone expected anyway:

"[The Winter Soldier is] very emotional for a Marvel film." He added, "It allows us to care about Steve Rogers as a character. So when there is jeopardy we're on-board with him."

What do you all think? Excited? The first Captain America was *my* personal favorite of the Avenger movies, and I just want to see Cap finally have his dance with Peggy.... :(

Also worth noting is the fact Cap'n seems to have his old helmet back, and his costume looks (at least) more in tune with his outfit in The First Avenger, which was WAY more badass looking than that dumpy colorful Halloween costume they put on him for The Avengers 

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy — the Winter Soldier. Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Georges St-Pierre, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp and Maximiliano Hernández with Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier launches April 4, 2014. 

Tm Burton In Talks To Direct "Beetlejuice 2"

Say his name three times and get ready for his (possible) comeback, Tim Burton is considering a return to the director's chair for Beetlejuice 2.

Rumors have presisited for years regarding the sequel, with Michael Keaton even going as far as to say that if Burton was on board, "count me in."  At the moment, his involvement is still up in the air, but I wouldn't be surprised if he signs on within days of Burton taking the job.

The original is a classic and one of my favorite films of all-time.  It's one of the movies that shaped my childhood and helped solidify my intrest in Burton's style.  Michael Keaton is an actor that I still follow with intense intrest.  If he's in a film, I normally check it out.  So, needless to say, if this sequel happens, it moves right to the top of my Must See list.

Fingers crossed!

Warner Bros. Buying Rights to Novel 'Blood on the Snow' as Potential Starring Vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio

Warner Bros. is in negotiations to buy the film rights to the upcoming Jo Nesbo novel, Blood on the Snow, to be released this upcoming spring.

The project will be developed by Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, as a potential starring vehicle for the ever so in-demand actor.

Blood on the Snow tells the story of a hitman who falls in love with his boss's wife after he is assigned to kill her.  Not very original, but under the banner of DiCaprio's production company, I'm sure it'll be something worth seeing.

The author, Nesbo (who goes under the pseudonym Tom Johansson), will also publish the book's sequel, More Blood on the Water, for release in the spring of 2015.  Maybe this will become DiCaprio's franchise.

The Oscar nominated actor - who is currently taking a break with no upcoming projects on his schedule - can next be seen in Martin Scorcese's The Wolf of Wall Street, tentatively scheduled for release this Christmas Day.

Source:  Deadline

International Poster For "Rio 2"

In Rio 2, we find Blu, Jewel and their three kids living the perfect domesticated life in that magical city. When Jewel decides the kids need to learn to live like real birds, she insists the family venture into the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in with his new neighbors, he worries he may lose Jewel and the kids to the call of the wild.

Trailer For Wes Anderson’s "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Starring Ralph Fiennes

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.  The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.

TV Spot For "Dallas Buyers Club" With Matthew McConaughey & Jared Leto

Matthew McConaughey stars in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These were the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over how to combat the virus. Ron, now shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, and bereft of government-approved effective medicines, decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments from all over the world by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and outcasts - who he once would have shunned - and established a hugely successful “buyers’ club.” Their shared struggle for dignity and acceptance is a uniquely American story of the transformative power of resilience.

GOTHAM NEWS

"The Raid 2" Banner

Picking up right where the first film ends, The Raid 2 follows Rama (Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and uncover the corruption in his own police force.

Written and directed by Gareth Evans, the 2014 release stars Iko Uwais, Tio Pakusadewo, Putra Arifin Scheunamann, Julie Estelle, Alex Abbad and Roy Marten.