Film
Jesse Eisenberg Interview For ‘Now You See Me’
May 30th
The Four Horsemen, a magic super-group led by the charismatic Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), perform a pair of high-tech magic shows, first astonishing audiences by robbing a bank on another continent, and then exposing a white-collar criminal and funneling his millions into the audience members’ bank accounts. FBI Special Agent Dylan Hobbs (Mark Ruffalo) is determined to make the magicians pay for their crimes – and to stop them before they pull off what promises to be an even more audacious heist. But he’s forced to partner with Alma (Melanie Laurent), an Interpol detective about whom he is instantly suspicious. Out of desperation he turns to Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), a famed magic debunker, who claims the bank heist was accomplished using disguises and video trickery. One thing Dylan and Alma agree on is that the Horsemen must have an outside point person, and that finding him (or her) is key to ending the magicians’ crime spree. Could it be Thaddeus? Or Alma? Or could it really be…. magic?
As pressure mounts and the world awaits the Horsemen’s spectacular final trick, Dylan and Alma race to find an answer. But it soon becomes painfully clear that staying one step ahead of these masters of illusion is beyond the skills of any one man – or woman. Opening on May 31st in the US and June 21st in the UK, ‘Now You See Me’ features a top-notch cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Common, Michael Kelly, Elias Koteas and Michael Caine. Louis Letterier (Clash of the Titans, The Transporter) directs.
Even more than the other Horsemen, Atlas is conscious of his audience even when not on stage. What was it like for you playing a character who’s playing a character?
Jesse Eisenberg: Atlas is playing a character the whole time, because he sees himself as a performer. In every other movie I’ve done it’s been a more naturalistic way of performing, because you’re playing a human and your showing a vulnerable side… but with this character he’s someone who feels more comfortable playing this character. He changed his name to J. Daniel Atlas from something far less flattering (laughs), and he is ‘on’ all the time. He is cocky and self-assured, always performing. But really, he’s playing his idea of a magician and hiding behind that persona. Atlas needs to always be in control, which is one of the reasons he’s able to do these incredible illusions. But it is very freeing as an actor playing that, in that it feels like anything you do can be right.
I Guess It Was Inevitable…. Grumpy Cat Gets A Movie Deal
May 30th
Deadline are reporting that Grumpy Cat (real name Tardar Sauce), the cranky-faced cat voted Meme of the Year Award at the 2013 Webby Awards, has a shot at getting her famous sourpuss on the big screen, as Broken Road’s Todd Garner and Sean Robins, and Grumpy Cat’s reps (manager Ben Lashes and rep Al Hassas… yes, a cat has a manager and a “rep”) have teamed up to “produce and assemble a package for a Garfield-like feature film with the now famous frowning feline at the center. In the film, Grumpy Cat will be given the power of speech.”
Grumpy Cat’s popularity originated from a picture posted to Reddit by the brother of her owner Tabatha Bundesen on September 22th, 2012. Alongside winning a Webby, Grumpy Cat was named the most influential cat of 2012 by MSNBC (face, meet palm), a most important Meme of 2012 by Mashable, and she has appeared in various news and TV shows including the likes of The Today Show, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper Live, VH1 Morning Buzz, The Soup, CBS Evening News, TMZ and USA Today. The official Grumpy Cat Facebook page has over 930,000 likes and the official YouTube Channel has over 120,000 subscribers and over 20 million views.
Brad Pitt & Fana Mokoena Highlighted In First ‘World War Z’ Clip: “I Can’t Leave My Family”
May 30th
Yahoo! Movies has unveiled this debut clip from the upcoming post-apocalyptic zombie flick, ‘World War Z.’ Based on Max Brooks’ fantastic novel of the same name, ‘World War Z’ features a top-notch cast in Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Fana Mokoena, Matthew Fox and David Morse. The story revolves former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself. Look out for the film in cinemas on June 21st.
Glenn Close Set To Join Marvel’s ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’
May 30th
According to reports, Marvel Studios has tapped Glenn Close to play a major role in the James Gunn-directed ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ The six-time Academy Award nominee will reportedly be playing a leadership role in Nova Corp, the intergalactic space patrol. Close’s role has been described as “the closest thing to the one that Samuel L. Jackson plays in Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ movie”.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ finds Peter Quill leading a group of alien superheroes as they protect the solar system from an evil alien race. The cast currently features Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer and Michael Rooker as Yondu. Ophelia Lovibond, Enzo Cilenti and Lee Pace will also star, although it’s currently unknown who they are playing. Production on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ will start in June and Disney will release the film on August 1st, 2014.
‘Kon-Tiki’ Helmers Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg To Direct ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 5′
May 30th
Deadline bring word that the ‘Kon-Tiki’ directing team of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have landed the job of helming ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 5.’ Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp have all reportedly signed off on the choice, and negotiations are underway on a deal that will make quickly. The duo will come aboard to prep the blockbuster movie for a late 2013 or early January 2014 start.
While Jerry Bruckheimer is again producing and Johnny Depp is set to return as Captain Jack Sparrow, plot details are currently being kept under lock and key. Furthermore, it’s not clear whether actors from past installments, such as Geoffrey Rush or Penelope Cruz, would return to reprise their roles. The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise has grossed more than $3.5 billion worldwide with the 2011 ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ grossing more than $1 billion worldwide.
Zack Snyder Talks On The Approach To Superman’s Iconic ‘S’ Glyph In ‘Man Of Steel’
May 30th
Speaking to CTV AM, director Zack Snyder shed some light on the design of the iconic ‘S’ glyph on Superman’s chest in ‘Man of Steel.’ “When we were talking about designing the costume and what would be the ‘S’ glyph on Superman’s chest, at first people were like, ‘Are you going to do it exactly as it’s been done before? Are you guys going to reinvent it so maybe there won’t be an ‘S’? Maybe, there will be some like other cute, modern design elements.” But I was like, “No, there’s got to be the ‘S.’ The ‘S’ is so important, because Superman if you look at him and he doesn’t have his ‘S,’ it’s like, ‘What? That’s not Superman.’”
Zack Snyder continued, “And so I really wanted to get after the mythology of what the ‘S’ was, and the why of it, and the society he comes from that has these glyphs on the chests of the different characters. And so yeah that was like a big thing to me of trying to say what is the why of the ‘S’. And you know in the trailer you see Russell says, ‘This means hope.’”
