First Footage from 'Jack Reacher'

Granted this is an international trailer - albeit not even in English unless you click the subtitles button - but we have our first official look at footage from Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher.

For those who don't know, Jack Reacher is based off Lee Child's bestselling novel, One Shot, the 9th book in the author's Reacher series.

I must say, having read One Shot and enjoyed in tremendously, it's almost crazy seeing many of the scenes in the novel ripped off the pages and brought to life.  And for those still bitching about Tom Cruise playing the title character, please stop.

The one thing I will say about Jack Reacher is that though he is a great character, I never really got the sense the guy was in danger much considering the size of the man described in the book.  There's never any real threat to someone who is larger and more powerful then everyone else.  It wouldn't make for much of an exciting movie if the guy playing Reacher was walking through everything so easy without really breaking much of a sweat.  If anything, it'd be kind of boring.

Anyway, I think Cruise will do great and can't wait until the official domestic trailer is released online sometime early this week.  I guess it'll be playing in front of The Amazing Spider-Man (great exposure).

Opening in theaters on December 21, the thriller is based on Lee Child’s best-selling novel "One Shot" and stars Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins, Alexia Fast, Robert Duvall, Jai Courtney and Werner Herzog.

The film was directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a script by Josh Olson and McQuarrie.

Update on Sun, July 1, 2012 by John DiNicola

Sorry guys, looks like the trailer has been taken down due to copyright issues.  As I stated in the article, the domestic trailer will be online in the next couple days so we'll be sure to post that once it's available.

New Domestic Trailer for 'Looper'

With the International trailer for Looper hitting yesterday, we Americans now get our 'official' look at the film with the newest domestic trailer.

I must say it does look good, really good, however - like Jamie mentioned as well - I am pretty weirded out by Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a young looking Bruce Willis.  Hey, maybe if they want to reboot Die Hard they can just get him to play John McClane!

Yeah, that would suck.

Anyway, here's the newest look at Looper with the film's official synopsis below:

In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. The film is written and directed by Rian Johnson and also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels. Ram Bergman and James D. Stern produce.

Peter Berg Blames 'Battleship' Failure on 'Avengers'

When Battleship first opened internationally back in April, it was a solid success.  With a gross of $235 million, the Peter Berg directed "Transformers at sea" film was primed to do at least modest business at the domestic box office, probably somewhere between $100-150 million, at least.

Little did Berg and pretty much everyone at Universal know, The Avengers was about to become the third highest grossing movie of all-time (just passed $600 million domestically today) when it opened the first weekend in May, two weeks before Battleship.

Now, with Battleship having pretty much bombed at the box office with a weak gross of only $63 million, Berg has come out and admitted it was a mistake to open the film in the heat of 'Avengers' mania and how he would have handled the release differently:

"We kind of ran into a wall when 'Avengers' refused to go away ... 'The Avengers' outperformed everything. It was impossible for 'Battleship' to get any oxygen."

"I would have loved to have come out three weeks before 'The Avengers' domestically, like we did internationally.  We did OK, but in hindsight — which my grandmother used to say is worth about a bucket of spit — we would have [released the movie] ahead of 'The Avengers,' not realizing it would have become, I think, the second biggest film in history behind 'Avatar.'"

Actually Pete, it's the third highest behind Titanic too, but we get the point.

However, I think there is some truth to what Berg is saying.  While I went into Battleship with low expectations, it ended up being a pretty solid popcorn, action flick that certainty deserved more then a $63 million domestic gross.  Had it opened in April like it did internationally, I really could have seen it hitting $150 domestically, considering there would have been no other real competition besides The Hunger Games, and that skewed to a different audience anyway.  Not to mention, since the film's star Taylor Kitsch had been the face of the other notable box office 'bomb' this year, John Carter, it would have been nice to see him catch a break (dude's talented, watch Friday Night Lights).

Regardless, the film's performance "is what it is."  Here's hoping it finds some success on DVD and Blu-ray (John Carter has already).

Source: MTV News

Behind the Scenes Look at Keanu Reeves' 'Man of Tai Chi'

Well I'll be dam, the man actually does know Kung Fu.

In case you're wondering what Keanu Reeves has been up to for the past half-decade, he's actually been keeping himself quite busy.  He wrapped production a while back on Universal's 47 Ronin (due out next year) - which tells the story of the legendary Samurai clan who set out to restore their master's honor - and has been hard at work on making his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi.

For those not familiar with martial arts, Tai Chi is a style of Kung Fu emphasizing self-defense, health, and particularly, slow movements.

Man of Tai Chi is set around a young martial artist's journey through Beijing (to be played by Tiger Chen, who worked on The Matrix stunt team) with Reeves himself playing the picture's villain.

With shooting currently going on in Hong Kong, Reeves recently offered a behind the scenes look on the type of camera work he'll be using to capture the film's fight scenes, known as Bot & Dolly's Iris, the world's most advanced Robotic motion control camera system.

As you can see in the video below, the new camera technology is able to move all-around during a fight scene without sacrificing accuracy, detail, or precision of any kind.

With Reeves having participated in the revolutionary "bullet time" and "wire-fu" shown in The Matrix, it looks like the man wants to take martial arts on film another step further.

Source: TwitchFilm

Jonah Hill Cast in Quentin Tarantino's 'Django Unchained'

With a release date scheduled for Christmas Day this year as well as filming having begun well over six months ago, it's surprising to hear casting is still going on for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

Deadline reports funnyman / dramatic actor Jonah Hill (Moneyball, 21 Jump Street) has joined the film in an unspecified role.  If you recall, Hill was originally up for the role of Scotty Harmony, the kid who loses freed slave Django's wife, Broomhilda, to the both evil and charming plantation owner, Calvin Candie.

Django Unchained tells the story of a slave-turned-bounty hunter, Django (Jamie Foxx) who - with the help of a former dentist, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) - goes on the hunt to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from the aforementioned evil plantation owner (to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio).

Hill has been on quite the roll since scoring an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in last year's Moneyball.  21 Jump Street (which he both starred in and co-wrote) was a hit earlier this year, grossing more than $100 million, while he also recently joined the cast of Martin Scorsese's The Wolf on Wall Street, with DiCaprio as well.  He also has the alien invasion comedy, The Watch, coming out next month with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.

More news on the film as it becomes available.

Source: Deadline

Abbie Cornish In Talks to Join 'RoboCop'

Abbie Cornish (Limitless, Sucker Punch) is in talks to join the Jose Padilha directed remake of Paul Veroheven's 1987 sci-fi classic, RoboCop.

Cornish would play the thought-to-be widowed wife of cop-turned-RoboCop, Alex Murphy (to be played by Joel Kinnaman of AMC's The Killing).

MGM has been putting this project on fast-track over the past few months as Gary Oldman recently joined the cast to play the scientist behind the development of RoboCop as well as Samuel L. Jackson who is reportedly playing a media mogul.

Production is set to begin on the project this September in Toronto with a scheduled release date of August 9th, 2013.

Expect more castings news on this project in the months ahead.

Source: Deadline

Bradley Cooper to Produce & Likely Star in NAVY Seal Flick 'American Sniper'

American Sniper will be the first project for Bradley Cooper's new production company, 22nd & Indiana, over at Warner Bros.

Cooper - who formally set up the company in Burbank on March 1st - will produce and likely star in the flick; an adaptation of the autobiography of NAVY Seal Chris Kyle, who recorded the most sniper kills for any American in military history.

Newcomer Jason Dean Hall will write the script along with Andrew Lazar (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) and Peter Morgan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) producing.

American Sniper - whose complete title is American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History - tells the true story of how the Texas native Kyle came to record the highest number of sniper kills for an American while losing his love for his wife in the process.

The book has been praised for its detailed, first-person accounts of sniper attacks which come from both far and close distances.

No word on when the film is likely to be released or a formal shooting date but expect more news by the end of the year.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

James Cameron Making Only 'Avatar' Films from Here on Out

To say this story is depressing is an understatement.

I am probably one of the biggest James Cameron fans you are going to find.  I've seen all of his movies (multiple times) and pretty much read every book written about the guy.  Safe to say, he is THE MAN to me.

That's why it brings me such disappointment to write this article which basically explains - according to Cameron himself - that he will no longer make any other movies in his lifetime except Avatar films.  Yup.  Read for yourself via the New York Times:

“I’ve divided my time over the last 16 years over deep ocean exploration and filmmaking. I’ve made two movies in 16 years, and I’ve done eight expeditions. Last year I basically completely disbanded my production company’s development arm. So I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the Avatar business. Period. That’s it. I’m making Avatar, Avatar 2, Avatar 3, maybe Avatar 4, and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts. And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the Avatar landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing.”

I am speechless.  Really.  This man is such a gifted filmmaker and to have him say he will solely focus on making Avatar feature films the rest of his life is heartbreaking.

I know a lot of people love Avatar.  That's pretty much an understatement too considering it is the highest grossing film in box office history.  I saw it 3x in theaters myself.  But I will let you all in on a little secret that I think many have realized since it came out in 2009: it is not a great movie.

Avatar was a film that made its money on its groundbreaking special effects, not its story.  I've seen it a few times on television since it came out, and I'm sorry, it's a very weak film.  The story is thin and the plot is extremely cliché.  You know how you know a movie withstands the test of time and ages well?  When you see it on TV in passing and have to stop and watch it for the remaining scene or the remainder of the film because you know it's so good.  The Godfather is one of those films.  So is Jaws.  And The Dark Knight, of course.  But I'm sorry, Avatar is not one of those films.  It's too much style over substance.  Period.

Now James Cameron will focus his attention on bringing us more Avatar over the next decade, decade and a half, thinking his sci-fi sequels are the most anticipated thing of all-time.  They're not.  By the time Avatar 2 comes out, it will be a full 7 years (2016) since the original was released.  It will not be as successful, because Avatar will not age well.  It will lose its luster over the next few years.  Trust me.

James Cameron has always been an extremely intelligent guy, but he's making the stupidest mistake of his life.

'Daredevil' Reboot Getting A Rewrite

Right before I started writing this article I realized something:  It has been nearly 10 years since Ben Affleck suited up for the original Daredevil back in 2003.  Wow how time flies.

Anyway, Deadline is reporting that David James Kelly (not too familiar with his work) has been hired to rewrite Twentieth Century Fox's Daredevil reboot for director David Slade (30 Days of Night, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse).

Slade has been attached to the project since last year which will adapt Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Born Again storyline, which ran in the comics in the mid-1980s.  The Born Again story involves Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) turning Matt Murdock's life upside down - attacking his friends and family - after learning his true identity of Daredevil.

No release date or shooting schedule is set yet but expect the cameras to start rolling sometime next year.

Megan Ellison to Serve Up 'American Bullshit' with Russell, Bale, & Cooper

Though it's unlikely to be called this once released, Deadline is reporting that Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, are in majors talks to fund the political/crime drama, American Bullshit, with David O. Russell attached to direct as well as Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper set to star.

American Bullshit is said to be centered around the 1970s sting operation, Abscam, that took down a number of corrupt U.S. Congressmen.  No word yet on who Bale and Cooper will play, though it's safe to assume Bale will play a government agent of sorts and Cooper will likely bring back his "prick-like" qualities he so glowingly showed off in Wedding Crashers to play a corrupt politician.

This will be a reunion of sorts for the three as Bale and Russell previously teamed for The Fighter (which earned Bale an Oscar) as well as Cooper and the director having recently worked on The Silver Linings Playbook, due out later this year.

For those who don't recall, it was reported about a month ago that Russell and Bale were circling the project, though Russell came out and somewhat denied the validity of the story.  Funny how these things turn out.

No official word yet on when production will begin but all assuming things go well with contract negotiations and such (always such a delicate process in Hollywood), it's a sure bet this thing will go before the lens by the end of the year.

More on this project as it becomes available.