Film
Ryan Reynolds Interview For Daniel Espinosa’s Gritty Thriller ‘Safe House’
Feb 9th
Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds co-star in the action-thriller ‘Safe House.’ Washington plays the CIA’s most dangerous traitor, who stuns the intelligence community when he surfaces in South Africa. When the safe house to which he’s remanded is attacked by brutal mercenaries, a rookie (Reynolds) is forced to help him escape. As the masterful manipulator toys with his reluctant protégé, the young operative finds his morality tested and idealism shaken. Now, they must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, ’Safe House’ co-stars Nora Arnezeder, Vera Farmiga, Ruben Blades, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, Tim McGraw, Robert Patrick, and Sam Shepard. The film is due to hit cinemas February 10th in the US, and Febuary 24th in the UK.
What was it that attracted you to this script? Also, your character is very much an ideologue to begin with, that slowly breaks down over the course of the film….
Ryan Reynolds: I wanted the chance to work with who I think is the greatest actor working in Hollywood today, Denzel, and that was a huge impetus, but I just love the idea of this guy slowly being disillusioned by everything he believes in. It’s the slow disintegration of God and Country for him, and that’s what means everything to this guy. Watching that be peeled away slowly, measure by measure by Tobin Frost, just kind of feeling that. These days it’s about what we don’t know that’s more terrifying, and I liked investigating that kind of world.
I feel like that line can blur between jingoism and idealism, a little bit. I think we start out, my character, as a God and country guy, he’s a patriot, he has that kind of mentality. But then layers of that are slowly pealed away, he has to deal with a lot of disillusionment. He sees that this job he signed up for is incredibly murderous and corrupt in a lot of ways. And then he’s seeing this sort of weird perverting mirror image of himself in this guy who’s much older and who’s been doing it a lot longer. I know for a fact, spending time with these guys that have been in the CIA for 30 or so years, that when you talk to them they started out with a real, ultra patriotic, idealism that really gets replaced by a kind of cynicism later. But part of that is because they’ve spent their entire life as a lie. They have to lie to their wife and children, for 20 or 30 years….I spoke to one guy who just revealed to his wife and children what he does for a living after 25 years, 25 years! That is amazing, I just asked, “What was the reaction like?” I was fascinated, and he replied, “Not good,” (laughs). It’s tough, because when you go to bed….all those details, it makes her wonder, “What was true? What was wasn’t?”
Billy Connolly Joins Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ As Dain Ironfoot
Feb 9th
Awesome news! The Wrap reveal that Billy Connolly has signed on to play Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield, in Peter Jackson’s two-part movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit.’ Commenting on the casting addition, Jackson had the following to say: “We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbitis now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!”
The two Hobbit films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ which Jackson and his film-making team brought to the big screen in the fantastic blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.’ ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ has been pencilled in for a December 14th, 2012 release date. ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’ will hit cinemas December 13th, 2013.
Reprising their roles from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movies are Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The ensemble cast includes the likes of Martin Freeman, who’s taking on the central role of Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Aidan Turner, and now Billy Connolly. Check out the synopsis for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ below.
Director Marc Webb Talks ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’
Feb 9th
The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with director Marc Webb to talk ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ following the release of the films new theatrical trailer earlier in the week. On the topic of the new trailer and the response to the sneak peeks of footage from the film that a select number of fans around the globe were lucky enough to attend, the director said: “How could you feel anything but good? It was really wonderful; I mean, I enjoyed the events in particular, because it was very affirming. We’ve been working in our secret laboratory for so long that it’s nice to get it out.”
Webb illustrated some of the various factors they chose to focus on with the final trailer, many of which were enhanced by the fact that they’re now finished with filming and have a better sense of how everything fits together: “We felt it was really important to give the audience a more specific idea of what the film would look like. When you do a teaser trailer it’s always tricky, because we were still shooting the movie when that was being cut. This time we wanted to show Peter and Gwen a little bit more. To get to know more of the characterization, and a lot of the visual effects stuff that we’ve been working on, just to display the attitude of the film that we’re trying to create.”
Talking about his reinvention of Spider-Man for the big screen, and the significant differences from its predecessors in terms of its narrative, Webb said: “There’s narrative differences, like the Gwen Stacy saga is something from the comics that I’ve always really, really love. There’s what happened to his parents, which is a huge thing. But there’s the villain, Dr. Connors and The Lizard, which never came to fruition in the movies.” Providing more details on the inspiration on how to adapt The Liazard, Webb explained: “We spent a lot of time thinking about the biology of a lizard, and how his muscles work, and there’s an entire staff of people dedicated to making him look lifelike. It is an extraordinary task, and very, very difficult. It takes a lot of time, which a lot of people in this room can attest to.”
First Images Of Will Smith & Jaden Smith On The Set Of M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘After Earth’
Feb 8th
With production currently underway on M. Night Shyamalan’s Will Smith and Jaden Smith starring sci-fi adventure ‘After Earth,’ a number of images have emerged from the Costa Rican set of the film courtesy of Smith’s official Facebook page and Shylamalan’s Whosay account.
Formerly titled ’1000 A.E.,’ ’After Earth’ is set 1,000 years into a future where humans no longer live on Earth after it becomes inhospitable. The elder Smith is playing a hero, while Jaden is his son, considered a failure as a warrior. When the two crash-land on Earth, it’s up to the son to save himself and his estranged father after their ship crashes. Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo are also on board, playing Will Smith’s daughter and wife respectively. The script is by Shyamalan, Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) and Stephen Gaghan (Traffic). ‘After Earth’ has a release date penciled in for June 7th, 2013.
Arnold Schwarzenegger & Sylvester Stallone Confirmed To Star In ‘The Tomb’
Feb 8th
Summit Entertainment and Emmett/Furla Films has just announced that Arnold Schwarzenegger will star opposite Sylvester Stallone in the action-thriller ‘The Tomb,’ which will be directed by Swedish filmmaker Mikael Håfström (1408, The Rite). ’The Tomb’ follows Ray Breslin (Stallone) who is the world’s foremost authority on structural security. He’s analyzed every high security prison and has gained a vast array of survival skills. But all Ray’s ingenuity and knowledge are about to be put to work in the most challenging test he’s ever faced: escaping from the master prison of his own design. Schwarzenegger, in the role of Church, plays a complex inmate with multiple shades of grey. He’s the guy who fights to keep the prisoners from losing their humanity in their darkest hour as they struggle together to stay alive. The film will start filming in Louisiana, US this spring.
Schwarzenegger and Stallone will next be seen on screen together in ‘The Expendables 2,’ which is currently in post-production and will be released this summer by Lionsgate. Schwarzenegger just wrapped filming Jee-woon Kim’s ’The Last Stand.’ An Emmett-Furla Films/Mark Canton production, ‘The Tomb’ is produced by Atmosphere Entertainment chairman Mark Canton (300, Immortals), Randall Emmett (Lay the Favorte, Rambo), George Furla (Lay the Favorite, Rambo), Robbie Brenner (Machine Gun Preacher, A Perfect Getaway), and Kevin King-Templeton (The Expendables, Rambo, Rocky Balboa). Emmett/Furla Films is financing the project. Summit holds worldwide distribution rights to ‘The Tomb’ and will release the film in North America.
New Clip From ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ – Starring Nicolas Cage & Idris Elba
Feb 8th
Yahoo! Movies has set loose this new clip from the barmy looking action adventure film ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.’ It has been several years since making a deal with the Devil and Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), living in self-imposed isolation, finds himself as the only person who can help save 10-year-old Danny – and ultimately the world – thanks to his unwanted and uncontrollable power – his ability to transform into the hell-on-wheels monster known as The Ghost Rider. Directed by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank, Gamer), ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ opens February 17th. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Ciarán Hinds, and Violante Placido. Check out my interview with Nicolas Cage and Idris Elba for the film here.
Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze in Columbia Pictures’ and Hyde Park Entertainment’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. In the successor to the worldwide hit Ghost Rider, Johnny – still struggling with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter – is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when he is recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciaran Hinds). At first, Johnny is reluctant to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider, but it is the only way to protect the boy – and possibly rid himself of his curse forever. Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Screenplay by Scott M. Gimple & Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer. Story by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comic. Produced by Steven Paul, Ashok Amritraj, Michael De Luca, Avi Arad, and Ari Arad.