Science Fiction Fix: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Third "Crank" Is On The Way

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Mark Nevedine tells Empire that not only is a third "Crank" film being planned, they're trying to get "Luther" and "Thor" star Idris Elba in the next one.

Nevedine and his cohort Brian Taylor recently shot "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" with Elba. Nevedine says "we joking-but-not-quite-jokingly joked about that with Idris while we were over in Romania and Turkey. Just trying to figure out a way of getting him into Crank 3. There are so many different ways that Crank 3 could go. We’ve been talking about the top 50 ideas we what to do for Crank 3, so we’re just trying to pair them down. By the way, Crank 3 is going to happen, the studios are really excited about it – it’s just all about timing."

Despite the last film's ending, Jason Statham will be back as Chev Chellios in this outing. "With Crank, basically, you insert another quarter and you play the game again. It’s kind of like what thrills me and Brian, it’s whatever we feel like doing there in the moment, whatever we wanna do, we just do and make it happen. The important thing is what powers Chev. It was adrenaline that kept him alive in the first one, it was electricity in the second one, you know, it’s all about what will keep him alive in the third one. It’s just fun slinging those ideas around."

Denzel Washington Is "The Equalizer"

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Denzel Washington is attached to star in the film version of the classic 1980's TV series "The Equalizer" in development at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists says Variety.

Edward Woodward starred in the classic CBS television series about Robert McCall, a former operative of a covert intelligence organisation who seeks redemption for his dark past via offering his services to those being persecuted and in need of help.

Combining his skills both investigative and deadly, McCall brings justice to various hoodlums, killers, dealers, rapists and other scum on the streets of New York City. He also performed assignments for the head of his former organisation and dealt with his estranged son.

The show was noted for its memorable theme tune, McCall's signature Jaguar XJ6 car, and its realistic handling of the spy world with sometimes brutal violence and a lack of fancy gadgets.

The project has been in development for years originally at The Weinstein Company back in 2005 before Escape Artists picked it up. A little over a year ago Washington's "American Gangster" co-star Russell Crowe was attached as the lead while Paul Haggis was to write the script.

Richard Wenk ("The Mechanic," "Expendables 2") has now been hired to pen the latest draft. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch will produce.

Christmas Box-Office Proves Decent

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A bunch of films hit at Christmas this year and for once the reviews were generally pretty strong for many of them. Some performed admirably, others not so much. Yet considering the general lack of attendance at cinemas over the past few months it looks like for once the 4-day holiday weekend will be slightly up on last year despite a slow Christmas Eve.

Faring the best in the top spot was "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" which looks set to take $46.2 million for the four day holiday - holding strong in its wide opening on Wednesday after a five day IMAX exclusive bow. The movie has already racked up a total of $78.6 million domestically and $140 million overseas.

The sequel "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" took in $31.8 million at #2 for a total of $90 million so far. A worldwide launch is being held back until January so it will be a while before international numbers are in, and while a disappointment compared to its originator - it's looking like it won't be the bomb some feared.

In third place "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" added $20 million to its $57 million domestic total so far. Disappointing compared with the previous entries but, again like 'Holmes', not a dud either.

A big surprise was Steven Spielberg's "War Horse". Opening Sunday, a few days later that most of the other releases, it still managed to pull in $15 million over just two days - putting it in third place on those two days and 7th place overall.

Most everything else however disappointed. David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" adaptation, Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin", and Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo" opened a tad soft in 4th with $19.1m, 5th with $16.1m and 6th with $15.6m respectively.

The strongly reviewed 'Girl' now sits at $27.8 million domestic - not that shabby for a 160 minute R-rated adult thriller. It's a costly film though so it'll need to do well overseas to fill in the hole, which will be tricky considering the relatively recent Swedish film adaptation was such a big international hit. Also a bevy of strong art house films including "The Artist," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," "Shame," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "In the Land of Blood and Honey," "Carnage," and "A Dangerous Method" siphoned off much of the adult audience.

The well-reviewed 'Tintin' has already racked up $239 million overseas to add to its $24 million domestic haul so far so its fortunes States-side don't matter a great deal. Very few films based on American comics (aside from some key titles like Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men) do any real business outside North America, so it's not a huge shock that a Belgian comic has the opposite reaction even though the crowds who did see it gave it a high score.

In eighth was the Russian alien invasion thriller "The Darkest Hour" which fizzled with just $5.5 million, while "New Year's Eve" slunk down to ninth with $5.0 million. Rounding out the Top Ten was the George Clooney-led "The Descendants" which is going well with a $33.7 million haul so far despite being on only a quarter of the screens of much of the rest of the Top Ten.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Germain’s 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2012

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If 2012 is the end of the world, that’s all right with me. Hollywood has overstocked the Mayan calendar’s final year with so many potentially amazing movies that trying to cut it down to a top ten was virtually impossible. How could movies like The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave or Lincoln not be on this list? Ten then became twenty, which was more satisfying but there were still a few major films lingering.

So, while I could have easily done 30, here are my ten most anticipated films with a bloated honorable mention list. Is your most anticipated on the list?

Here are my honorable mention anticipated films of 2012, from least to most anticipated:

John Carter, This is 40, World War Z, Gangster Squad, Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln, The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave, American Reunion, Looper

And now the top 10, complete with photos and brief descriptions.

10. Les Miserables – While I have a feeling this musical might get bumped to 2013, it’s one of my favorite stories of all time and not only has an unbelievable cast (Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen) but a newly-minted Oscar-winning director in Tom Hooper. Short of seeing the show on Broadway, this is the adaptation fans have dreamed of. Release date: December 7, 2012

9. The Hunger Games – If you don’t know, you haven’t read the books. Gary Ross‘ film is a mix of Battle Royale and The Truman Show with a fantastic, kick-ass female character (Jennifer Lawrence) who rebels against an oppressive government in a fight to the death arena on live TV. Release Date: March 23, 2012. Watch the trailer here.

8. Moonrise Kingdom - It’s Wes Anderson‘s latest and he’s never made a movie I dislike. Throw in Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and more along with the Anderson classics (Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, etc.) and it could be about a white room and I’d line up to see it. Release Date: May 25, 2012.

7. Ted – Seth McFarlane‘s feature film debut stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in the story of how an offensive, brash teddy bear comes to life to the detriment of his owner. Think Child’s Play but with Family Guy laughs. Release Date: July 13, 2012.

6. Django Unchained – The fact that it’s Quentin Tarantino should be enough. But the bounty hunter, Western slave story combined with a cast that includes Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell, just to name a few, would make this number 1 in any other year. But then there were five. Release Date: December 25, 2012

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth to tell the classic prequel story to The Lord of the Rings with the full cast returning, Martin Freeman as Bilbo, a higher frame rate and 3D? This movie would be number 1 in any other year, but then there were four. Release Date: December 14, 2012. Watch the trailer here.

4. The Dark Knight Rises – I know, I know. Number four is a travesty considering this is the final Christopher Nolan Batman movie. But let me explain. First of all, we’ve seen it before: IMAX, amazing actors, action, practical effects and Nolan’s hard boiled take on Batman. This story is new, but we’ve seen the vision before. Second, Bane’s voice. Third, there are three movies that – incredibly, I want to see more. I know Nolan will blow us away, but it’s simply a stacked year. Release Date: July 20, 2012. Watch the trailer here.

3. The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite filmmaker and remember, this is a personal list. Hence the incredibly high ranking. With each and every film he seems to top himself and this one, about a man who forms his own religion after coming back from war, should be beautiful. Throw Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix into the mix and you have an insta-Oscar-contender before a trailer is even released. It might be out in 2013 but I’d imagine it gets finished sooner. Release Date: TBD.

2. The Avengers – I know, I know. The Avengers over The Dark Knight Rises? Let me explains. Unlike The Dark Knight Rises, which is the third film in a trilogy, we’ve never seen a group superhero movie on this scale before. It’s the culmination of not two but FIVE movies and the basis for a whole bunch after it. Joss Whedon is the writer/director and as awesome as it will be to see Batman fight Bane or Catwoman, seeing Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury all fighting at once is almost unfathomable. I literally can’t believe this movie is being made. Will it be better than Batman? Not likely. But the potential is there. Release Date: May 4, 2012. Watch the trailer here.

1. Prometheus – It hasn’t, but it feels like decades have passed since we last saw an honest-to-goodness, classic sci-fi movie. The genre helped many of us begin to love film itself and the man behind Blade Runner and Alien is partially responsible for that. Well Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi with this sort-of Alien prequel which looks like it could potentially be a film that brings smart, big budget sci-fi back. We’re talking game changer. Damon Lindelof co-wrote it. Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba and Charlize Theron co-star. Footage looks incredible. More than any of the amazing movies above, this is the one I’m waiting for. Release Date: June 8, 2012. Watch the trailer here.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Financing and Distribution Set For Keanu Reeves’ Directorial Debut ‘Man of Tai Chi’

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For some time, Keanu Reeves has been talking about directing and acting in a film called Man of Tai Chi.

Now he has funding set up for the movie, thanks to money committed by Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, China Film Group, Wanda Media and Universal, which will distribute in the US. As he has said before, the film will shoot in Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau, with dialogue in Mandarin and English, and martial artist and actor Tiger Chen will star.

A press release went out announcing the funding, and that the film will start shooting in February.

Tiger Chen is “a young martial artist whose fighting skills brings him to a realm of vast opportunities, and painful choices.” Reeves also stars, and while today’s release doesn’t specify any real detail, he has said before that he wanted to play the villain.

Previously, he said,

There’s 18 fights. We’ve timed it out. It’s about 40 minutes of fighting. I want to make a good, solid kung fu movie. Good story, good plot — but let’s get some good kung fu going!

I’ve liked the idea of this movie for a while and still do — sure, Keanu has his shaky moments as an actor, but it has been evident time and again that he commits himself fully to projects. I want to see how his very own kung fu movie will turn out.

Hi-Res, Clean Images From ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

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Over the last week, we’ve been lucky enough to finally have some moving images from Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises to dissect. With the IMAX release of the film’s first six minutes, as well as the theatrical trailer, there’s been incessant discussion about Bane’s voice, his cruel intentions, Selina Kyle’s necklace and all types of insane minutia. However, just a few short weeks ago, everyone was excited about a series of images from the film that appeared in Empire Magazine showing Tom Hardy as Bane and Christian Bale as Batman in a few new locals and poses. Those images, previously only available as scans from the magazine, have now become available without all the photoshopping. Now you can zoom in on Batman’s new gun, Bane’s outfit and more with incredible detail. Check out the images below.

Thanks to Comic Book Movie for the heads up.

The difference between these images and the moving ones, of course, is that these come with a distinct lack of context. Batman with the gun (or whatever that is, maybe a portable EMP?) is obviously from some kind of action scene, one shot in IMAX as it appeared briefly in the prologue’s finale. The full Body Bane image, without his coat, is likely from one of his fights with Batman, probably the one that was teased at the end of he teaser trailer. Bane’s head down shot is probably just a promo image and the photo of Batman on the Batpod looks like it’s from the same scene as the gun.

As for when or where any of these scenes take place, I have no idea. I write Superhero Bits everyday, have seen literally every single spoiler spy photo, and couldn’t tell you what is happening in these scenes. Point to Christopher Nolan.

Do any of you have an idea of what each of these images means for the film?

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Short New International Trailer for Laika's Stop-Motion 'ParaNorman'

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"Do you see ghosts, like, all the time?!" Focus Features has debuted another short new international trailer for Laika's ParaNorman, their upcoming stop-motion animated horror comedy starring Norman, just a normal boy who can speak to the dead. The first US teaser trailer was debuted back in October, but this new one is a bit different and sheds a bit of light on the story and Norman as a character. Norman is voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee and while this international trailer does have subtitles on it, they at least use the original English voices as well. This looks like so much fun, can't wait to see more over the next year. Enjoy!

Watch Now on FirstShowing.net

Watch: A Teaser Trailer for HBO's McCain/Palin Film 'Game Change'

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Even though HBO Films delivers their flicks on cable, most of their productions are much better than some of the stuff that hits the big screen. That's why we like covering projects set up at the cable network from time-to-time and that brings us to this first teaser trailer via THR for Game Change, a film chronicling the campaign run to the White House by Senator John McCain, played by Ed Harris, and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, played by Julianne Moore. This likely won't be the most objective film coming from Jay Roach, the same director behind HBO's Recount, but it does look like it's going to be pretty damn good.

Watch Now on FirstShowing.net

Thursday, December 22, 2011

‘Star Trek 2′ Will Feature “Original and Unique” Approach to Villain, Bruce Greenwood to Return as Pike

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With all the Star Trek 2 rumors floating around it’s almost easy to forget we don’t actually know a whole lot about the story at this point. That hasn’t changed, and likely won’t in the near future, but producer Bryan Burk and co-writer/producer Roberto Orci have revealed a couple tidbits of information sure to get fans speculating wildly. (Not that it takes much.)

While doing interviews for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Burk revealed that they’d be doing something “original and unique and different” with the villain. Meanwhile, Orci has confirmed that Bruce Greenwood will be reprising his role as Christopher Pike in the sequel. Read more after the jump.

Burk wouldn’t confirm or deny any of the rumors that have been swirling around, but told MTV (via TrekMovie.com) that the sequel would take a fresh approach to the villain:

There are amazing villains throughout the Star Trek universe, as well as new villains as we did in the last film. There are a lot of directions we can go in the film and in this particular case we chose to do something that would be original and unique and different and again on paper I think we made the right choice.

Burk also commented on the freedom to hit the ground running in the new film, having already set up the central premise and core characters in the last one:

What is exciting about it is, unlike the last film where we were restarting and resetting up all the characters, we are going to jump right in and we don’t have to set up everyone again and we can go right into it. For those who haven’t seen it, go get it right now. We are kind of in a mad dash at the beginning of the film. In all of our conversations we reference our favorite films and in Empire Strikes Back it is spectacular how they were able to pick up immediately and carry on from the last one.

As for Greenwood, Orci revealed in a recent comment at TrekMovie.com that the actor would very likely be returning as Pike, who was promoted to the rank of Admiral in the last movie. “Spoiler alert!” wrote Orci. “We wrote a part for Greenwood. Let us hope he says ‘Yes!’”

Unlike much of the cast, Greenwood did not have a set option for the sequel. But he’s said in the past that he would like to play Pike again, so it seems likely he’ll come aboard. What exactly he’ll be doing or how prominently he’ll feature, however, remains — as with so many things about this film — unknown.

Science Fiction Fix

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Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Third "Crank" Is On The Way

Denzel Washington Is "The Equalizer"

Christmas Box-Office Proves Decent

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Germain’s 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2012

Monday, December 26, 2011

Financing and Distribution Set For Keanu Reeves’ Directorial Debut ‘Man of Tai Chi’

Hi-Res, Clean Images From ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Short New International Trailer for Laika's Stop-Motion 'ParaNorman'

Watch: A Teaser Trailer for HBO's McCain/Palin Film 'Game Change'

Thursday, December 22, 2011

‘Star Trek 2′ Will Feature “Original and Unique” Approach to Villain, Bruce Greenwood to Return as Pike

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