Actor Tom Hardy will produce and possibly star in the film adaptation of the Vertigo comic 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, according a report by The Hollywood Reporter.
Dean Baker was also brought in to produce as Chris Borrelli has a completed script.
Running for 100 issues from 1999 to 2009, ‘100 Bullets’ centered on an enigmatic man named Agent Graves as he presents different people, for reasons unknown, with a gun, the identity of the person who ruined their lives … and a hundred rounds of untraceable ammunition.
Side note: Azzarello loves his baseball and heroes!
As the summer movie season draws to a close, the kids head back to school, the temperatures (eventually) drop, and superheroes and cartoon characters take a backseat to more serious fare. Now is the time to look forward to pictures with aspirations for awards or, at the least, aspirations for more adult-oriented storytelling. Now is the time for the FALL MOVIE PREVIEW.
Let’s look through the highlights from September, October, and November; the theme early on feels heavy, even foreboding, as we dive headlong into the underworld, the border drug wars, and Cold War espionage. Along the way there are also a few harrowing adventures, a few scares and, of course, a brand new ride with 007…
SEPTEMBER
Historically, September is a muddled dumping ground of films not good enough to make the summer slate, and other pictures too aimless to be considered for Awards Season. Occasionally, a movie will break the mold (American Beauty came out in September), but the status quo is for studios to dispatch drivel while kids and parents are readjusting to school, and fall festivities hit their stride. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year, as studios appear to be anxious to get some of their more hotly anticipated properties out earlier than usual.
M. Night Shyamalan makes yet another attempt at a comeback in September with The Visit (Sep. 11), a supernatural thriller that shows M. Night may be tracking back to his roots. The film centers around two young kids sent away to their grandparents for a visit, only to discover Grandma and Grandpa are rather disturbed and, maybe, even possessed. While the trailer does show promise of some scares, I’m a little disappointed Shyamalan is taking the found-footage route. The technique is tired at this point, and if Shyamalan truly wanted a comeback maybe he shouldn’t try and jump on the back of a fledgling horror subgenre. I am holding out hope, however, that the director can have at least a brief resurgence.
The following Friday is when September overloads cinemas with some intense, anticipated material. First up is Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger in the star-studded Black Mass (Sep. 18). Depp is unsettling in his appearance, and the surrounding cast that includes Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, and Sienna Miller among many more, is more than promising. That same week, Denis Villeneuve’s drug-cartel thriller Sicario drops, and may be my most anticipated of the fall. Sicario stars emerging action star Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and the great Benicio Del Toro. And just in case you forgot, here is the sizzling second trailer:
As if the one-two punch of Black Mass and Sicario weren’t enough, that same weekend audiences will get to witness the death-defying dramatization that is Everest (sep. 18). The film, based on several books, one being Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, follows a group of climbers on their trek to the top of Mt. Everest, and the subsequent avalanche that places them in peril. The cinematography in the Everesttrailer looks breathtaking, making it one that begs to be seen in IMAX.
That same weekend brings us The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Sep. 18), but I’m not sure anyone cares about those Y.A. adaptations anymore.
Rounding out September is Hotel Transylvania 2 (Sep. 25) which, judging by its non kid-friendly opening date and distance from Halloween, indicates there is little faith behind an animated sequel to a poorly received original movie. There is also Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno (Sep. 25), a cannibal horror movie Roth has been shopping around for a couple of years.
OCTOBER
The best month of the entire year for a myriad of reasons kicks off with a bang at multiplexes. Up first is Ridley Scott’s The Martian (Oct. 2), starring Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars after an accident forces his crew to leave him behind:
The source material, Andy Weir’s electric novel, is brilliant in its mix of humor, tension, and hard science. Hopefully this will be Scott’s rebound picture, after both Prometheus, The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings, missed their respective marks.
Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk (Oct. 9) tells the dramatized story of Philippe Petit, and his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center in the late 70s. The story was told in the 2008 Oscar-Winning documentary Man on Wire, but Zemeckis is aiming to bring some dramatic flair to the incredible story, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role of Petit. Zemeckis is one of the more underrated visual storytellers of his generation, and the trailer for The Walk showcases his ability to create a sense of awe in his camera:
That same week, audiences can check out yet another version of Peter Pan in this new origin story, Pan (Oc. 9), which looks at this distance to be a bit of a mixed bag. And then there is Masterminds (Oct. 9), the new comedy starring Zach Galifianakis and Kristin Wiig as incompetent armored-car thieves. The film is directed by Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jared Hess, and it does look funny. That doesn’t always mean it will be funny.
Mid October always brings with it a few scary flicks, and this year we get one for the kids and one for the adults. First up is the meta kids horror Goosebumps (Oct. 16), based on the popular kid’s novels from R.L. Stine. The rub here is that Jack Black plays Stine in the film, and his creations come to life in the “real world.” Goosebumps looks like some solid fun for pre-teens who are fans of the books… if, do kids still read those books? For adults wanting scares, there will be Guillermo del Toro’s much-anticipated haunted house sendup, Crimson Peak, which looks to be a lavish and hyper-stylized gothic stunner:
In the midst of scary cinema is Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, taking on the Cold War in Bridge of Spies (Oct. 16). The film tells the story of an Insurance lawyer (Hanks), who is pulled into the Cold War to try and bring back a pilot being held prisoner in the Soviet Union. The trailer does little for me, to be honest, as it looks like stuffy Oscar bait. But who can really deny Spielberg and Hanks the chance to impress?
Vin Diesel looks to branch out from his Fast and Furious cash cow to try and kickstart another franchise with The Last Witch Hunter (Oct. 25). That same weekend, Bill Murray and Bruce Willis lead a USO-themed comedy, Rock the Kasbah (Oct. 25). The film, directed by Barry Levinson, looks to be a little mix of The Men Who Stare at Goats and Levinson’s less successful, whimsical ensemble comedies like What Just Happened. I’ll hold out hope because of Murray’s involvement.
NOVEMBER
November kicks off with a bit of counter-programming, as Spectre (Nov. 6) and The Peanuts Movie (Nov. 6) share cinemas. Spectre brings back Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes to the Bond franchise, and the additions of Dave Bautista and Christoph Waltz on the villainous side add some incredible intrigue. The trailer looks appropriately amazing, especially the glimpses of the opening action sequence, set in Mexico City:
Early November also brings us Spotlight (Nov. 6), a true story involving corruption and sexual abuse in the New England Catholic church system. The cast is spectacular, with Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci taking on the heavy subject matter. Surely this cast will produce an Oscar nominee or two.
The rest of November is lackluster, outside of the final entry into the Hunger Games franchise with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (Nov. 20). Other studios appear to be steering away from the mid-November release date, fearing that Mockingjay’s clout will overshadow their films. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, however, audiences will get a fall Pixar treat with The Good Dinosaur (Nov. 25) and another entry into Universal’s attempt at a monster-movie universe with Victor Frankenstein (Nov. 25). The first “MMU” entrant was last-year’s flaccid Dracula Untold, but Victor Frankenstein has the strength of James MacAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe in its corner.
Did we miss anything big in our Fall Movie Preview? What are you looking forward to the most?
Amidst all the news this weekend of the terrible performance of Fantastic Four–being beaten out by Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation in its second weekend–it’s gone relatively unnoticed that the newest entry in the Dragon Ball Z franchise, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, was one of the weekend’s winners as far as per-theater average goes.
For those who don’t get nerdy about box office results, the per-theater average refers to the amount of money a film makes compared to the number of theaters that the film actually screened in. For instance, while Rogue Nation had an average of $7,147 in 3,988 theaters, Resurrection ‘F’ came in with $9,934 in a meager 183 theaters.
To compare that to a recent anime box office success, 2012’s The Secret World of Arrietty opened to a much wider 1,522 theaters but a more modest per-theater average of $4,235 and went on to become the 5th highest-grossing anime film in America.
Speaking of which, by the weekend’s end, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ slipped into the 9th spot on the top 10 list of the highest-grossing anime films in the U.S. Only two films in the top 10–Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and The Wind Rises–had better opening weekend per-theater averages, and each of those opened to less than 30 theaters.
Riding on solid reviews–like our own Logan Peterson’s from a few days ago—Resurrection ‘F’ has brought in a nice-sized crowd, as far as anime films go in U.S. distribution. FUNimation–the film’s distributor–is clearly doing something right with their marketing ploy of an 8-day run for the animated feature, forcing fans to flock to theaters in droves while the film is still in theaters.
5 million at the box office over a week-long period, means nothing for 90% of films, but for an anime film released in the U.S. by someone other than Studio Ghibli, and without the name Pokémon in the title, that’s big doings. While this is more likely a testament to Dragon Ball Z fandom rather than love for anime at large, I have to hope that this seemingly renewed life over so few days is a good sign for future anime releases in the U.S.
Winona Ryder has confirmed there will be a sequel to Beetlejuice headed our way.
The actress told Seth Meyers Monday on Late Night saying “Um, I think I can confirm it, because Tim Burton did this interview — like, it was very hush hush, top secret … and then he was doing some press for Big Eyes and he did an on-camera interview and he said, ‘Oh yeah we’re doing it and Winona’s going to be in it.'”
Of course Tim Burton and Michael Keaton had both made mention of a Beetlejuice sequel last year, but now with Ryder’s confirmation, Beetlejuice has been mentioned three times. You know what that means…
What do you think of a Beetlejuice sequel? It will probably be thirty years after the 1988 original by the time we see it.
Gene Wilder has been retired from filmmaking for several years now. His last appearance on a screen of any kind was his cameo on Will & Grace more than a decade back. It seems now, however, that Wilder is being recruited by none other than Steven Spielberg to return to the screen.
AICN broke the news yesterday that Spielberg had reached out and even had meetings with Gene Wilder about returning to acting, though the specific project in question has not been confirmed. As Quint said as AICN, Spielberg may want Wilder to simply do voice work for The BFG. After all, The BFG is Rold Dahl, and Gene Wilder did star in a little film called Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. However, there is a much more intriguing possibility, that the director wants the legendary star to portray James Halliday, the man behind the virtual world, the OASIS, in Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One.
Spielberg is set to begin filming Ready Player One next year, and the release date of December 2017 is set, so it would make logistic sense that he would be reaching out to Gene Wilder for the role. Beyond logistics, Wilder would be absolutely perfect for the role of Halliday, who was a reclusive gamer and computer whiz in the story, and eventually became the mythic spector of Cline’s pop-culture adventure.
It would be great to see Wilder back in front of the camera, especially in a role like this. Again, this is mere rumor at this point, and who knows if Wilder is willing to make the comeback. If anyone could convince him, though, I feel like Steven Spielberg could pull it off.
In a recent Uproxx interview with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie, the filmmaker was asked about the chance of a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow (since he was a co-writer for last year’s well-received film, directed by Doug Liman). McQuarrie confirmed he wants it to happen.
This all started when, during an interview with MTV while promoting the latest M:I movie, Tom Cruise confessed to having shared an idea with Christopher McQuarrie and director Doug Liman for a second installment. McQuarrie candidly remembers this:
“When we went out to dinner when we were making Mission and Tom said, “I have an idea for the sequel to Edge, and I said, “I don’t want to fucking hear it. I do not want to know!” And he pitched the idea to me and he finished pitching it, I was like, “Goddammit, why did you do that?”…It all comes down to Warner Bros. and Doug Liman and Emily Blunt saying yes. The idea is there.”
I’ll venture to say that we have on board two of the major people involved: the star and the screenwriter, and that is great news for fans of the original. Cruise also mentioned asking Emily Blunt and her response being “Give me another year, please,” so we may also count her in down the road.
Finally, in terms of marketing, McQuarrie lamented the way Edge of Tomorrow was sold to the public:
The movie didn’t have the moments that a trailer needs to tell you, “This is the experience you’re going to have.”…If people are talking about your movie on social media the weekend that it opens and telling each other to see the movie, you’re already fucked. It’s not a driver of getting people to go see a quality movie. You need to be building your social media campaign a year before the movie comes out. […] Edge of Tomorrow didn’t have a presence on social media until the weekend it came out, then people go, “Oh my God, it’s really good” … it was too little, too late.
There will certainly be more news regarding another Edge of Tomorrow now that the cat’s out of the bag. Are you excited?
The latest Bryan Singer X-Men: Apocalypse teaser on Instagram shows a a fight club scene with hashtag ‘ANGEL.’ In the comic Warren Worthington III (Angel) loses his wings and Apocalypse transforms him into Death, one of the four horsemen. Worthington later changes his name to Archangel.
Could this fight club scene be where Angel loses his wings and Apocalypse recruits him to become a horsemen? Ben Hardy has been cast to play Worthington. On Hardy’s Twitter you can see concept art of Angel with real wings in the fight club. In Singer’s Intagram post you can see Hardy screaming. Did he just lose his wings?
About X-Men: Apocalypse:
Ancient mutant Apocalypse is unearthed after 5,000 years and recruits his four horsemen; Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Angel (Ben Hardy). The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse try to reboot the world through destruction.
X-Men: Apocalypse is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac (Apocalypse), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Lana Condor (Jubilee), Olivia Munn, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
The film is set in 1980s and we will see younger versions of previously-seen characters.
X-Men: Apocalypse opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
Melissa Benoist takes ownership of the Kryptonian mantle in the new trailer for CBS’ Supergirl ‘A Hero Will Rise.’
The show stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El, Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott, Jenna Dewan Tatum as Lucy Lane, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw, Peter Facinelli as Maxwell Lord, and, Dean Cain and Helen Slater as Kara’s adoptive parents.
The Devil in the White City is a book that has been bouncing around Hollywood for several years, waiting on an adaptation. Now it appears that Martin Scorsese will be adapting Erik Larson’s bestselling novel, teaming up for the sixth time with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The novel tells the story of H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer, who murdered an untold number of people at the World’s Fair in Chicago, in 1893. DiCaprio will take on the role of Holmes with Captain Phillips scribe Billy Ray working on the screenplay, according to the report in Deadline late last night.
Here is the synopsis of The Devil in The White City:
Not long after Jack the Ripper haunted the ill-lit streets of 1888 London, H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) dispatched somewhere between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women, in the churning new metropolis of Chicago; many of the murders occurred during (and exploited) the city’s finest moment, the World’s Fair of 1893. Larson’s breathtaking new history is a novelistic yet wholly factual account of the fair and the mass murderer who lurked within it.
If The Revenant doesn’t get DiCaprio that elusive gold statue from the academy later this year, it seems that The Devil in The White City would do the trick. Then again, how many times have we said that very same thing about Leo throughout the years?
The star of ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Cindy Williams stopped by to talk about her new book ‘Shirley, I Jest.’ Williams talked about one of the funniest scenes on ‘Laverne & Shirley,’ and the time Jim Morrison pranked her, but the most animated part of our conversation was when Williams talked about her relationship with Andy Kaufman.
Bonus track: ‘True Detective’ Season 2 review
ABOUT CINDY WILLIAMS
Actress, writer, and producer Cindy Williams has starred in some of the most historical movies and television programs in entertainment history. Her career began in the 1970s in prestigious movies like Travels with My Aunt (with Maggie Smith, directed by George Cukor), American Graffiti (with Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, and Richard Dreyfuss and directed by George Lucas), and The Conversation (with Gene Hackman and directed by Francis Ford Coppola).
Once she and Penny Marshall played “loose girls” on the hit TV show Happy Days, the network quickly ordered a spin-off of the dynamic comedy duo. After changing their characters to blue-collar workers in the mid-West, they made their debut in Laverne & Shirley in 1976. The show quickly became the most-watched American television program, surpassing Happy Days in popularity. The show remains in syndication around the world and has a very loyal following of original and new fans.
Cindy continues to work in her first love, the theater, as she performs in musicals all over the country, and she is currently promoting her book, SHIRLEY, I JEST.
ABOUT CINDY’S BOOK SHIRLEY, I JEST
Actress, writer, and producer Cindy Williams shares some of her most memorable stories in this hilarious and heartfelt new book — including her role as Shirley Feeney in the iconic TV show Laverne & Shirley.
Cindy Williams is one of the most recognizable names and faces of 1970s & 1980s television. While millions have been entertained by her good-natured personality and comedy antics, she has rarely spoken about her life in entertainment, and how she came to star in one of the most popular shows of all time.
Without privilege or wealth, Cindy worked as a waitress at diners and clubs like The Whisky a Go Go until she finally got her big break, first in movies like American Graffiti and The Conversation, and then in television. In fact, Laverne & Shirley debuted in the number 1 spot with over 60 million viewers — something unheard of in today’s fractured TV landscape!
With her trademark humor, Cindy shares stories of her experiences in her personal life (growing up in a blue-collar family), show business and her encounters with entertainment giants like Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball, Little Richard, Cary Grant, Jim Morrison, Ron Howard, and many more. Of course, she also talks about her professional partnership and personal relationship with her co-star and friend Penny Marshall.
Cindy also reveals the real reason she left the popular TV show, Laverne & Shirley – something that would (hopefully) never happen today – and should not have happened then! Many people think she walked out, but that’s not what happened. She had even started filming the 8th season, without a contract.
Here’s what others are saying about Cindy Williams and her book, SHIRLEY, I JEST:
“Cindy Williams: Talented in everything she does. Writing her first book is NO exception…get ready to enjoy.”- Henry Winkler
“Cindy Williams has the comedic timing of Lucille Ball and the physical prowess of Dick Van Dyke. She’s one of our best!” – Suzanne Somers
“What can I say about my best friend? She is hysterically funny, loves dogs, and over-tips. Get ready to go on a wonderful roller coaster ride that is Cindy Williams’ life.” – Lynne Stewart
“Cindy’s book brings back a lot of great personal memories, but it also entertained the hell out of me. The lady can write!” – Ron Howard
“You thought she could act, well wait and see how well she writes. Great book by a great friend.” – Penny Marshall
“A great read – I couldn’t put it down. Not a word of it is true. Cindy who?” – Harrison Ford
