Luke Evans to Star in 'The Crow' Remake

That didn't take long.

Just this week, it was reported that Alexander Skarsgard was up for the title role in the remake of the 1994 cult classic, The Crow, starring the late Brandon Lee and directed by Alex Proyas, but it seems things change quickly.

Up and coming leading man, Luke Evans - the baddie in Fast & Furious 6 as well as the lead in next year's Dracula Year Zero - has been set to topline the reboot based on the famous dark comic book series by James O'Barr.

Evans was apparently the original choice for both studio Relativity Media and director F. Javier Gutierrez but his busy schedule conflicted with the filming start date as the actor is out promoting F&F 6 as well as gearing up to film Dracula (ironically, this film was originally going to be directed by Alex Proyas himself).

I guess they wanted Evans badly as word comes they have pushed the start date to early next year to accomdate his schedule.

I'm still bummed they are remaking this film but Evans seems like a fine choice considering his acting talent as well as his resemblance to Brandon Lee.  Besides, he's a hell of a lot better pick than Alexander Skarsgard would have been.

More to come on this project as further casting is expected to take place over the coming months.

Source: Deadline

Logan Lerman Joins David Ayer's 'Fury'

Following last week's news that Shia LaBeouf had joined the cast of director David Ayer's WWII actioner, Fury starring Brad Pitt, comes word that Logan Lerman is the newest addition to the cast.

Lerman will play Norman Ellison, a typist and the youngest member of the five-man crew aboard a tank (nicknamed Fury) led by Pitt's character, Sgt Wardaddy.   

When Wardaddy's crew find themselves outnumbered behind enemy lines during the demise of the Nazi regime, they must battle it out against an entire fleet of the German Army.

Fury was written on spec by Ayer himself and is being produced for $80 million by QED Pictures with Sony Pictures distributing worldwide.

Lerman is coming off last year's critical hit, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and can next be seen in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - out in August - as well as the Darren Aronofsky directed, biblical epic, Noah, starring Russell Crowe, which hits theaters Spring 2014.

Fury is currently in pre-production and looks to start filming this fall for a November 2014 release.

Source: Deadline

Alexander Skarsgard the Frontrunner for 'The Crow' Remake?

I've never understood why Hollywood is so enamoured in remaking good movies. 

I mean doesn't the old adage go, "If at first you don't succeed, try again" not "If at first you succeed, do it one more time"?

Point being, 1994's The Crow.

The Alex Proyas-directed supernatural thriller starring the late Brandon Lee is a cult classic.  A modern, comic-noir film that to this day attracts new fans while still exciting old ones.  It's reasons such as this that it baffles me as to why Hollywood would want to remake it. 

Shouldn't you be remaking good properties that you already managed to completely fuck up?  Daredevil comes to mind.  Green Lantern too.  But instead, let's redo a film that is in all accounts well-made, and ham it up with modern day special effects (sorry the best CGI still can't mimic half-decent practical effects...you know it's fake).

Word comes today that True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard (no charisma whatsoever), is said to be the favorite for the F. Javier Gutierrez helmed remake.

News had come out last week that Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, was the one to beat but that reportedly was nothing more than a simple conversation had.  Skarsgard though, is the one be talked about as his lead role in - what do you know - the remake of Tarzan has been put on hold (hey buddy, enjoy all that hair while it lasts before you start losing most of it like your dad did).

Regardless of who they pick, I'm sorry, but you can't replace the presence of Brandon Lee.  It was almost cathartic that his last film was about rising after death and the man practically did that by the success of a movie that was completed following his own tragic killing on set.

We'll see who's picked soon enough as production on the film is rumored to begin by year's end.

Source: Deadline

Larry Gilliard Jr. Joins 'The Walking Dead' - Season 4

For those of you who never watched The Wire, remember that kicker from The Waterboy who befriends Adam Sandler's Bobby Boucher?

Good, because the actor who played him is named Larry Gilliard Jr. and he just joined the cast of The Walking Dead for its upcoming 4th season.

Gilliard Jr. will play the role of Bob Stookey, an former Army medic turned alcoholic who - in the graphic novels - was a resident of Woodbury that saved the Governor's life after being tortured by Michonne.

Due to the series having a track record of not exactly following the books, it's safe to assume the character will have a somewhat different storyline on TV.

I for one was pretty disappointed by not just last season's finale, but the show's entire 2nd half once it returned from it's winter hiatus (probably having something to do with yet another showrunner, Glen Mazzara, being fired because AMC is too difficult to deal with).  They better start giving quality talent more creative control when it comes to their one rating's juggernaut or else I can already start to see the steady decline of this show.

The Walking Dead begins production on Season 4 next month under new showrunner Scott M. Gimple (let's see how long that lasts) and is set to premiere this October.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Shia LaBeouf Joins David Ayer's 'Fury'

Shia LaBeouf is reportedly in talks to join writer/director David Ayer's Fury, an action-thriller set at the end of World War II involving a battle-hardened Sergeant and his five-man crew who - with command of a Sherman tank - cross over enemy lines to face-off against the heart of Nazi Germany.

Brad Pitt is already on-board to play the lead role of Sgt Wardaddy (wow?) while LaBeouf will play a military officer under the command of Pitt's character.

Ayer - coming off the very underrated End of Watch - is currently prepping the film while finishing up his next flick, Ten, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, set for release next January.

LaBeouf can currently be seen in the Robert Redford directed, The Company You Keep, while Pitt has the summer blockbuster, World War Z, coming out June 21st.

Filming on Fury is set to begin in September with a firm release date set for November 14th, 2014.

Source: Variety

Jim Carrey to Headline Comedy 'Ricky Stanicky'

Jim Carrey is going back to his roots.

The once most-bankable comedic name in Hollywood is reteaming with an old friend in writer Steve Oedekerk (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Bruce Almighty) for the Summit comedy, Ricky Stanicky.

Oedekerk will direct the film which is described as an ensemble comedy ala The Hangover about three teens who pull a prank and accidentally burn down a house in their neighborhood.  To get out of their mess, they create a fake person to take the blame: Ricky Stanicky.  Fast forward twenty years later, the trio is still using the made-up individual to get out of every uncomfortable situation in their lives.  When their girlfriends and wives demand a meeting with Stanicky, the three hire an out-of-work actor to play the part.

Carrey - obviously - will take on the role of the man hired to play Stanicky.

The still exceptionally talented comedian has been quietly putting in strong work recently with supporting turns in both The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and the upcoming Kick-Ass 2.  He is also still attached to the highly-anticipated sequel, Dumber and Dumber To, which is still awaiting the official greenlight.

Production on Stanicky is set to begin this summer so expect forthcoming news on the project as the season approaches.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Bradley Cooper Joins 'Jane Got a Gun'

Well that took long enough.

After last month's whirlwind of bad new involving the indie western, Jane Got a Gun (which you can read about here), word comes that Bradley Cooper has joined the cast as the film's villain, replacing the recently departed Jude Law.

The film, to be directed by Gavin O'Connor and also starring Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton, is set around Jane (Portman) whose husband returns home near death and decides to seek revenge against the man responsible (Cooper) while teaming with her ex-lover (Edgerton).

Filming on the flick is said to be going surprisingly smooth since beginning two weeks ago, even with all the chaos going on around production of the film.

Cooper is expected to get to work on the project immediately.

Source: Deadline

Justin Lin Will Not Direct 'Fast & Furious 7'

Rob Cohen's eyes just became as big as flying saucers.

In what is rather surprising news, word came out yesterday that director Justin Lin - whose helmed the past four Fast & Furious movies including this summer's upcoming Fast & Furious 6 - won't be returning for the inevitable Fast & Furious 7.

No, it's not because he clashed heads with the studio, Universal, or the film's cast (if anything, the relationship is probably anything but).  It's because the studio wants the next film in theaters by next summer and Lin doesn't feel he can make that release date.

I for one find this to be the absolute dumbest move a studio - not the director of course - can make.

Why would you rush out the next film in less than a year's time?  Your Fast & Furious film every two years seems to be working great with each subsequent film surmounting the previous one, so why would you screw with that formula?  I mean if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'm sure the cast and crew aren't too happy about this as they realize films that are rushed out never work.  The best example I can think of is the Twilight films, believe it or not.

Yeah, I'm not a fan, but it's pretty obvious the studio rushed those sequels out after the original was such a hit.  Their mindset was as long as we can put moving pictures up on screen with people talking, the movie will sell.  Hell, even the original director (Catherine Hardwicke) didn't return because of that crap.

Did Chris Nolan rush out his Batman trilogy?  Hell no.  That dude took his time developing those films and look how they turned out.

It's pretty obvious Universal wants the next film out quickly because of the big ending that leaked a few months back, which sets up the next film.  Yeah, it's an exciting twist, but just as many people will go see the film in two years as they will next year (and I bet you it would be an overall better film too).

No word on what Lin is now going to do with all his free time but I can only hope he re-attaches himself to Terminator 5 that he was so interested in doing a couple years back.

Universal plans to announce the new director for F&F 7 by next week (my money's on the original film's director, Rob Cohen, as happy as he'll probably be).

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

'Prometheus' Sequel in Jeopardy Without Damon Lindelof? Apparently So.

Really?

Not that I thought Prometheus was that great to begin with when it came out last summer (probably most underwhelming film I've seen in a while after all that hype), but that hasn't stopped 20th Century Fox or director Ridley Scott from wanting to make a follow-up (over $400 million at the global box office will do that).

It was made clear following the release of the film that a sequel was going to get made with a likely release date of 2014 or 2015.  The snag though was that screenwriter Damon Lindelof (Lost) - who came in and did a rewrite of the film's original script when it was going to be an Alien prequel - would not be returning due to scheduling conflicts (apparently you're that busy when you're an overrated screenwriter).

Many didn't think this was that big of a deal as they are plenty of qualified writers out there who could crack a story for a sequel to a mediocre film.

Well, apparently not.

Word comes now that director Ridley Scott and Fox are 'freaking out' because Lindelof jumped ship before coming up with a story for the sequel.  Supposedly, they have no idea how to proceed and are taking ideas from anyone and their mother who might be able to come up with something worthwhile.

I'd be the first to call BS on this one, only because - as I'll state again - Lindelof to me ain't that great of a writer and I'm sure there's plenty of high talent out there who can do just as good a job (if not better) then he could have done.

Lindelof seems to feel the same way as he has come out and responded to the supposed 'jeopardy' the sequel is in, stating:

“As to whether Ridley and Fox are ‘freaking out’ about me not working on a sequel, well that’s news to me. I retain awesome relationships with both. More importantly, the idea that there aren’t many, MANY writers out there capable of taking the reins is sort of ridiculous. I did not map out a trilogy and then walk when the going got tough. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know me and doesn’t know the truth.”

At least the guy doesn't seem full of himself and is willing to respond to ridiculous rumors if he hears them.

I guess we'll see how this story plays out as we're likely to hear more on this project in the coming months.  Scott is just finishing up his next film, The Counselor, and Fox is going to want to get this film out before people start to lose interest (though I didn't think there was much for this thing to begin with).

Source: Bloody Disgusting, /Film

Roland Emmerich Talks 'Independence Day' Sequels

In what's been talked about since the original hit theaters back in the summer of '96, many have long wondered when a sequel to Independence Day would come to fruition.

While there has been many discussions about the film over the past several years - ranging from shooting two films back-to-back to Will Smith being offered $50 million to return - there hasn't been official movement on the project(s) in terms of a start or release date.

While beginning the promotional tour for his newest action-centric flick, White House Down (which looks amazing), director Roland Emmerich has of course given new updates as to when we might finally see, as he likes to call it, ID Forever Part 1 & ID Forever Part 2.

In terms of the story, Emmerich states the aliens return to earth 20 years after the original invaders attacked due to a distress call sent by the first wave in the original film:

”The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back,” explains the director, who completed two scripts with Independence Day co-writer Dean Devlin and has given them to White House Down writer-producer James Vanderbilt for a rewrite. ”And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.”

The director also discusses how he is already working with an art department to create a world for the film as well as who we might see return:

“It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane,” he explains. And while there may be some familiar faces in the sequels — Bill Pullman has already confirmed that he is onboard; Will Smith has not — their storylines will focus on a new generation of human heroes, including the stepson of Will Smith’s Independence Day character (played in that film by Ross Bagley). “It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over.”

Finally, Emmerich has this to say in terms of the first sequel's ending:

“The first one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again [from the aliens].”

I'll say this, Independence Day is a classic.  It's a film that can be watched multiple times and never get old (especially during the 4th of July).  With that, I can only hope the amount of time that has passed since the film was released has served the original filmmakers well in coming up with the right ideas and right story (which it certainly sounds like) to do the first film justice.

Honestly though, if it looks anything like the trailer for White House Down, this thing will be beyond f***ing EPIC.

Source: Entertainment Weekly