"The Man From U.N.C.L.E" Shooting September 9th & Adds Jared Harris To Cast

Principal photography will begin on September 9 on Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." The film is the first to be made under filmmaker Guy Ritchie's and producer Lionel Wigram's new production shingle, Ritchie/Wigram Productions, which has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Having successfully re-imagined the classic detective Sherlock Holmes in two hit films, the pair now bring their fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series by bringing super spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin to the big screen.

Henry Cavill ("Man of Steel") stars as Napoleon Solo opposite Armie Hammer ("The Social Network") as Illya Kuryakin, alongside stars Alicia Vikander ("Anna Karenina"), Elizabeth Debicki ("The Great Gatsby"), Jared Harris ("Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows"), and Hugh Grant ("Cloud Atlas") as Waverly.

"Guy and I have long loved these characters, and wanted to start from scratch with our own take and create a film steeped in the 1960s for today's audiences," said Wigram. "We are particularly happy about our cast, who all bring something special to the film. Henry, Armie, Alicia and Elizabeth are among the best and most exciting actors of the next generation. In addition, we are thrilled to be working with Hugh Grant, who we have known and been fans of for many years, and Jared Harris, who did such a great job for us as Moriarty."

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." centers on CIA agent Solo and KGB agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

The screenplay is written by Ritchie and Wigram, who also serve as producers. John Davis ("Chronicle") and Steve Clark-Hall ("RocknRolla," the "Sherlock Holmes" films) are also producing. David Dobkin is executive producer.

Ritchie's behind-the-scenes creative team includes two-time Oscar®-nominated director of photography John Mathieson ("Gladiator"), production designer Oliver Scholl ("Jumper"), editor James Herbert (the "Sherlock Holmes" films), Oscar®-nominated costume designer Joanna Johnston ("Lincoln") and Oscar®-winning key makeup and hair designer Sarah Monzani ("Quest for Fire," upcoming "Edge of Tomorrow").

Filming will take place in England, with location filming also in Italy, in Rome and Naples.

A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Han Zimmer Talks About Possible Return To The Batman Universe & "Batfleck"

I really loved Han Zimmer's Dark Knight Trilogy score, although repetitive at times I thought it captured the character and the universe perfectly. I didn't feel the same way with Man Of Steel. Outside of a couple of the pieces, I wasn't enthralled with the score. I could be possible that I was so used to the Williams Score(s) being associated with Superman that I was jaded, but I just wasnt' feeling it.

RED CARPET NEWS caught up with Zimmer and asked him about the possibility of him scoring the upcoming Batman vs Superman project and for his thoughts on the casting of Affleck.

On Returning To Score Batman:

"This is really complicated for me...because we all went, 'Okay, we're done with Batman,' and now it's sort of getting smuggled back in. I'll have to have a think about that one. I might give you a new Batman if I do it."

On The Casting Of Ben Affleck:

"I actually think it's a really good choice, because #1 he's a great filmmaker. He's smart. He wouldn't have taken it if he had set himself up for a fall. And, you know, he's a bit older these days and that's what we need, and he's got a good chin."

Seth Rogan Faces Of With Zac Efron In "Neighbors" Red-Band Trailer

The Judd Apatow "tree of humor" is at it again with a red-band trailer for the upcoming Neighbors (May 9th,2014). The film stars Seth Rogen (also producing) & Zac Effron with Nicholas Stoller on directing duties. Stoller has directed comedic favorites Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek and The Five-Year Engagement.

A young couple suffering from arrested development who are forced to live next to a fraternity house after the birth of their newborn baby.

MUSIC TELEVISION & FIND MOVIE TRAILERS

Ben Stiller Embraces Shark Week On New "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Poster

From the looks of the footage we've seen I'm expecting Ben Stiller to enjoy some major success behind behind and in front of the camera for The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. I am certainly excited about it and the interweb buzz has been solid thus far. I'm hoping this is a bit of a career transformation for Stiller taking him away from the slapstick comedy realm which he has been trying to do for the last several years. Check out the new poster for the film below.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is based on James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

YAHOO MOVIES

Holiday Weekend Box Office: August 30 - September 2

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Lee Daniels' The Butler - $20 million

2.  One Direction: This Is Us - $18 million

3.  We're The Millers - $15.9 million

4.  Planes - $10.6 million

5.  Instructions Not Included - $10 million

6.  Elysium - $8.3 million

7.  The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - $6.8 million

8.  Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - $6 million

9.  Getaway - $5.5 million

10.  Blue Jasmine - $5.3 million

Summer took its last gasp at the box office this Labor Day weekend - its been gasping all summer, actually - and Lee Daniels' The Butler managed to take the 4-day holiday weekend with an estimated $20 million.  That's its third weekend in first place (although those One Direction kids took the regular 3-day weekend), and the drama has now grossed $79 million domestically, and should cross the $100 million mark as we head right into awards season. 

Now, those tween screams you may have heard while you were watching The Butler most definitely came from screenings of One Direction: This Is Us.  The British pop sensation did just fine with its intended audience this weekend, eaning $18 million over the holiday. 

But the big success of the weekend came from the Spanish-language film Instructions Not Included, which earned a whopping $10 million in less than 350 theaters, landing in a fifth-place spot on the weekend's top ten.  That is pretty damn fantastic.

Not so fantastic was the car chase thriller Getaway, whose positively dreadful reviews drove away all of the potential audience.  It sputtered with $5.5 million in ninth place this weekend.

If its any kind of indication what kind of summer this has been at the box office, World War Z, which was predicted to be one of the summer's biggest flops, managed to cross $200 million domestically, thanks to a double-bill re-release with Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend.  Go figure.

We're The Millers also continues to do well, crossing the $100 million mark over the holiday with $15.9 million.  It's been a great summer for R-rated comedies, with The Heat ($157 million), and This Is The End ($96 million) also proving popular with audiences.

And with that, summer movie season 2013 comes to a close.  Most would agree, not a moment too soon.  We're not done with superheroes and blockbusters yet, as Thor: The Dark World, and the latest installments of The Hobbit and The Hunger Games will still be hitting the multiplexes this year.  But as festival season is kicking off, we've got lots of good grown-up stuff (Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, Prisoners, The Monuments Men, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, to name a few) opening in theaters over the next few months, which is shaping up to be pretty fantastic, so we're looking forward to it.

You MIGHT Be Seeing This Cumberbatch Guy In Your New STAR WARS Film...

 

 Benedict Cumberbatch, who recently played an anime badguy playing a "tragic" villain in this summer's Star Trek Into Darkness decided he loves 'ol J.J. so much he might as well add a few more millions to his bank account by starring in 2015's highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII.

Film Chronicles claims that we might be seeing an official report on Benedict Cumberbatch, star of BBC's "Sherlock", pretty soon confirming him for an un-named role in the new Star Wars film, obviously any plot details are scarce, and casting details are even scarcer.

 How Cumberbatch fits into the new movie is entirely open to conjecture (seeing as we know zero plot details so far!) Casting calls suggest we may see three or four early twentysomething Solo / Skywalker offspring in the film, which seems to count Cumberbatch out at a wise thirty-seven years old. Would Abrams use him as a villain for the second time in a row, or might he make an infinitely more appealing and energetic new Jedi hero, perhaps keeping the peace with Luke Skywalker? I know I’d rather cheer for Cumberbatch than hiss at him. 

The article then goes on to quote a Total Film interview with Cumberbatch:

‘I’ve already asked him (Abrams) if I can be a lightsaber and we’re in talks – about whirring sounds and the rates for the lights and everything [laughs].’

 He goes on to say he loves Han Solo, which might work given the fact we're maybe getting Solo's son:

‘I was much more connected to [Star Wars] as a kid, in the way that a lot of kids are because it’s immediate storytelling, very simple – a beautifully, outrageously simple narrative in a way – and a wonderful three-act melodrama, opera. And I loved them. I really, really loved those films and I always wanted to be Han Solo. Everything Harrison Ford did I just thought was the coolest thing ever’

What would you guys think? Do you want to see this guy in your Star Wars stuff as a Sith Lord or maybe a wise mentor? His voice would work well for either; and no matter what he's cast as this comes on the eve of the inevitable flood of Tumblr gifs and posts about OMG TOTALLY HAWT Cumberbatch is.

The star recently dipped out of Guillermo Del Toro's haunted house epic, Crimson Peak which starts filming around the same time as J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII.

Personally, I think with a little CGI, Cumberbatch would make a great Alien side character...

 

Here Are Your Leads For The MOST Anticipated Film in History: 50 SHADES OF GREY

 

After all these months of waiting, horny high-school girls and leathery cougars itching for "that touch" can put down the Kindle Fire and rejoice, because the lead roles in the big-screen adaption of E.L. James' "50 Shades of Gray", the novel that began as Twilight fanfiction, have finally been cast.

Charlie Hunnam, the star of FX's acclaimed "Sons of Anarchy" who's career obviously failed to kick off after Pacific Rim got buried in the sea of Box Office Blunder this summer, has been cast as Christian Gray, starring opposite him will be Dakota Johnson (21 Jump Street, Beastly, "Ben and Kate") as Anastasia Steele.

James tweeted the news this morning:

 

50 Shades of Gray is a trilogy of novels detailing the erotic and passionate romance of college senior Anastasia Steele, and young hot-shot businessman Christian Gray.

The film is set to release August 1, 2014, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy) on a script written by Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks, "Terra Nova" on FOX).  

Also, I'll be drinking your nerd tears when this beats out Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy on that fateful August weekend. 

HBO Will Bring Back Michael Crichton's WESTWORLD As a Nolan/Abrams Production

 

BAD ROBOT Am I right?! HAH Get it?

Anyway, Deadline broke the news that the 1973 film, written and directed by the late Science-Fiction writer Michael Chrichton, who wrote several other books that would go onto silver-screen gold with "Jurassic Park", "Congo", "Timeline", "The Lost World", and "The 13th Warrior", will be adapted into an HBO Television series produced by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. 

Westworld is described as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. 

The series will be written by Nolan and "Burn Notice" writer Lisa Joy.

WESTWORLD is the story of an amusement park named Delos, where for a $1000 fee, a guest can indulge in their wildest fantasies, from sex, to fun, to murder, with the parks thousands of incredibly life-like and responsive androids. Obviously, things run amok, and Delos' guests are in for the fight of their lives.

Jonathan Nolan just finished writing the screenplay for Chris Nolan's upcoming Interstellar, and I have no doubt that "Westworld" will shock and awe audiences, adding another notch to HBO's impressive belt. 

Tom Hiddleston Dishes On Loki's Future In Your 800 Upcoming Marvel Things

 

Speaking with MTV about his upcoming film, Thor: The Dark World, Hiddleston dished on what Loki's future looks like in Marvel's Cinematic Universe after he wrecked New York, got his shit handed to him by The Hulk, and has been confirmed not to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

"It's a roller coaster, no question," Hiddleston said. "It's full of ups and downs and loop-de-loops and twists and turns. It will take you to places you haven't seen before."

Hiddleston said, going on:

"Loki has a very complicated relationship with Thor," Hiddleston said of his role in the film. "He is an agent of chaos without equal in the world he inhabits. He knows his true nature. He knows he doesn't belong in the family of Asgard, and he's locked away in the beginning of the film in the deepest, darkest recesses of the dungeon as public enemy number one."

It's not long before foe becomes friend, however, as Thor and Loki are forced to forge an unlikely alliance against Malekith. "Lo and behold, Asgard needs his help," the actor teased. "That's going to be a very complicated allegiance."

Hiddleston then went on to say about Loki and what fans should "maybe" expect:

 "I do feel like there's some unfinished business between Loki and the Hulk," he said. "I feel like he didn't get a fair fight. Who knows, you'll have to see what happens in 'The Dark World' to find out where Loki finishes up."

Thor: The Dark World comes out November 8, and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, and Christopher Eccleston. 

Possible Titles for TRANSFORMERS 4. Sadly, One Isn't TF4: TRANSNADO

 

SuperheroHype reports that they've received an update on the possible title of Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers 4, because if there's one thing we know, it's the Transformer series is built on some bad-ass subtitles. Dark of the Moon and Revenge of the Fallen where great, and also offered a look into the film's plot. Could any of these three be the same for Bay's 4th?

The same brand protection agency that registered TransformersDarkoftheMoon.com back in 2010, has registered a few new domain names that could be possible titles for Michael Bay's untitled Transformers sequel.

MarkMonitor, which is also the registrar for the Transformers 4 official website, registered names for Transformers: Last Stand, Transformers: Apocalypse, and Transformers: Future Cast.

I'm a bit disappointed, the subtitles for the other two films were kind of unique, and the only one that stands out in this group is 'Future Cast'.

Anyway, we'll probably know soon what the next installment of Bay's franchise will be called.

Transformers 4 stars Mark Wahlberg, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, T.J. Miller, Han Geng and Titus Welliver and is due out June 27, 2014.