You know what? I like the name of this post. Puns be damned.
Guess who’s back for more gravely voiced, neck snapping fun?! Why it’s Liam Neeson who will reprise the role of Bryan Mills for a third Taken movie. His payday? A very hefty $20 million which puts him in the big daddy group of top earners in Hollywood.
This is almost a no-brainer for EuropaCorp when you consider that Taken 2 made over $375 million worldwide off of a $45 million budget. Now the only thing to decide is who gets to be on Neeson’s bad side in the trilogy capper? I would like to suggest some little known about group of Inuit tribesman mafia in Alaska that does human trafficking through an intricate set of ice tunnels beneath the Earth.
Director Roland Emmerich has confirmed that Will Smith will not be continuing his role for Independence Day 2, mainly due to the fact that “he’s too expensive.” Personally, I was a big fan of the original movie, but perhaps Smith’s recent box offices catastrophes show that this is for the best.
Monsters University took the top spot at the box office this past weekend. That was expected. What was not expected was that the long-suffering Brad Pitt zombie flick World War Z would blow away expectations in its opening. The $200 million dollar film which went through multiple delays and re-shoots was only expected to bring in about $40 million. After a solid $25 million Friday it went on to gross $66 million, which is the largest opening in Pitt’s career.
Man of Steel fell off steeply, but still managed $41 million and has already passed Superman Returns gross in only two weeks.
1. Monsters University- $82.0 million/ $82.0 million
Now no one can really blame Carrey if he feels this strongly, but there is always the thought that could be simply a PR move to distance himself from any possible backlash when the movie is released.
In response, Mark Millar, creator and writer of the Kick-Ass comics, took to his blog to write a response to Carrey’s back down.
“As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us HIT-GIRL was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much. My books are very hardcore, but the movies are adapted for a more mainstream audience and if you loved the tone of the first picture you’re going to eat this up with a big, giant spoon. Like Jim, I’m horrified by real-life violence (even though I’m Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorcese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-Wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it’s the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim’s character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place. Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life. … Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider for all the above points. You’re amazing in this insanely fun picture and I’m very proud of what Jeff, Matthew and all the team have done here.”
What do you think? Does this feel like a heartfelt move or a bit of damage control?
For those of you who (a) like me, are addicted to Kickstarter, or (b) like me, enjoy musicals (particularly funny ones), or (c) unlike me, have not yet grown tired of this zombie craze, then this is for you.
Ryan McHenry, the man who brought us Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal, has decided that a full-feature Zombie Musical is his next goal, and is using Kickstarter to raise just over $150,000 for the job. For as little as $1.50, you can become an executive producer or even have your own “____ won’t eat his/her cereal” clip made exclusively for you.
This is exactly what I look for from Kickstarter — fun ideas and fun incentives, and this campaign will definitely get some of my money.
After numerous years of rumors and promises it looks like Earth will be spending another 4th of July weekend fighting for our planet. 20th Century Fox has set that weekend in 2015 for the release of Independence Day 2.
Roland Emmerich will direct from a script he and Dean Devlin have written as the first of a two-part story. Bill Pullman is returning as the former President Thomas Whitmore as alien reinforcements arrive to have another go round with humanity 20 years after Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum welcomed them to Earth.
Smith will most likely not be coming back, but seeing as After Earth just took a Battlefield Eart sized dump at the box office and he has said no to Men in Black 4, he might want to rethink that decision. He needs a hit like a crack addict.
Robert Downey, Jr. is already a very rich man. Now he is most likely Johnny Depp, buy his own island rich. The cinematic Tony Stark has officially signed on for the next two Avengers movies.
Here is the statement from Marvel:
Marvel is pleased to announce the signing of Robert Downey, Jr. to reprise the role of the “billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist.” Under the two-picture agreement, Downey will star as Tony Stark/Iron Man in “Marvel’s The Avengers 2” and “Marvel’s The Avengers 3.“
There is no planned Iron Man 4 in the deal which should surprise no one since RDJ has been very vocal that he felt Iron Man 3 was a natural ending to the Tony Stark story and does not want the character to carry another movie.
This should also be a good sign for the other actors that have been having contract disputes with Marvel (Hemsworth, Evans, Ruffalo and Johansson) since it has been reported that Downey was holding out to try and get them more more money in their deals.
J.J. Abrams has gone on record saying that the production of Star Wars: Episode VII would not be a super secret ordeal and this may be the beginning of the truth.
Bleeding Cool has uncovered what they are calling a 100% accurate casting call for the return to the galaxy far, far away. Take a quick look.
-Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.
-Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.
-A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.
-Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’ t need to be particularly fit.
-A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.
-Forty something male, fit, military type.
-Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.
Now rumors have been heavy that the next film will focus on Han and Leia’s twins, Jacen and Jaina Solo. Does this casting call give you those impressions? Give us your best guesses as to who these possible people could end up being in the comments below!
Now this is more like it. While this may be the third trailer for Anchorman: The Legend Continues, it is the first one with actual footage from the movie.
In it, Ron and the Channel 4 News Team have gone their separate ways and are only spoken in legend, but when they are offered to help start the first 24-hour news network in the 80’s you know what that means…a Journey montage!
Anchorman: The Legend Continues releases on December 20th.
How will Ken Levine follow-up the critical and commercial success of [amazon_link id=”B003O6E6NE” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Bioshock: Infinite[/amazon_link]? By making the jump to feature films. Warner Bros. has brought on the acclaimed writer to script a new version of William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s classic sci-fi story.
Will anyone else find it funny if Sanctuary ends up being a giant lighthouse?
