"Devil" Trailer

Here's the latest trailer of Devil.
The film is advertised as being "From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan" as it was written by him.
The concept is pretty simple: There is a group of people trapped in an elevator, and one of them is the devil. I find it quite interesting.

What do you think?

Jonathan Nolan May Direct Superman Film?

Time to come out from his brother's shadow? Jonathan Nolan, 'Dark Knight' director Christopher Nolan's brother, may direct the next 'Superman' film. Jonathan is a hell of a writer, he co-wrote The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento with brother Christopher; but he has never directed a film.

This actually makes a lot more sense than you think. We knew Chris was brought in by Warner Brothers to Godfather the project and play producer as well. Well he may have been brought in to help his brother direct the movie as well. I don't think it's necessarily a co-director scenario, as much as it is an overlooking the process arraignment.

I didn't want to post this yesterday because it sounded like a far fetched rumor, but now it's becoming more news than rumor. I really don't have much of a personal opinion about this. I wish Chris Nolan had a clone and he was making 'Superman', but that's not possible. So for now, I'll take his brother. If it's confirmed, I'll let you know. But for now, I'm OK with it.

"Thor" Official Photo of Anthony Hopkins as Odin!

Is it me, or is it getting more and more exciting with every released photo of this film!? Anthony Hopkins as Odin in the Marvel Comics Thor! Sick!! Courtesy of the LA Times.

Got so excited about the photo I forgot to mention that both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger will be in 3D. Marvel is cashing in! I don't really care about announcements like this, I expect it for every future tent-pole movie. I actually could see 3D working for these superhero films more so than other movies that have been presented in 3D.

We know Thor wasn't shot in 3D, so it's up to the Captain film and then The Avengers to be shot in 3D. When will this stupid gimmick go away!?

Now It's Helen Mirren's Turn... "RED" Poster Looks Awesome

A few days go Bruce Willis, now Helen Mirren. Where you at Mr. Freeman?

"Wicked" Film Coming Soon! Who Should Direct?

You really had to have seen the musical to appreciate this post. My wife and I saw Wicked last year in Los Angeles and fell in love. Wicked is "the untold story of the witches of Oz". The musical is so good, so clever, such a spectacle, I walked out thinking to myself, "this is going to make an amazing movie". And here we are a little over a year later, and the news has been announced of such a film.

Deadline broke the story, reporting that Universal will be distributing the film and that the studio has met with various directors. The list includes: J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), James Mangold (Knight and Day), Ryan Murphy (Eat Pray Love), and Rob Marshall (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Chicago).

Check out the Deadline article for details of how the movie came to be. I'm going to instead look at what each of these rumored directors brings to the table:

J.J. Abrams

The man can direct an event film. I have never seen a single episode in the 60+ years of Star Trek. One trailer later, I was hooked. I loved Abram's take on the series. The movie was a major success and that's entire because of Abrams.








James Mangold

Mangold has a hell of a resume. His movies are highlighted with inspired performances by numerous actors/actresses. 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Girl Interrupted, and Copland are all great stories involving human emotion. This will be necessary as Wicked is not all about song and dance. The characters have real problems, and how those problems and emotions are portrayed on film is vital to the movie's success.





Ryan Murphy

I feel like I've been living under a rock or something because I've never seen an episode of "Glee" before. The musical comedy sitcom was just nominated for 19 EMMYS! Holy wow. Murphy is one of the creators/writers/directors of the show. So this makes sense. His writing talents could help with the movie. But to be honest with you, I wouldn't change a darn thing, the writing of the play is too good to toy with. But Murphy will obviously know how to use a camera to capture the choreography involved in a musical, interesting choice.



Rob Marshall

Rob Marshall is right now directing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth entry in the 'Pirates' franchise. That shows the man can handle a massive production, which Wicked will be. There's sets, costumers, locations, special effects, etc. All of which will need Marshall's expertise. The man was nominated for an Oscar, for a MUSICAL (Chicago) for God's sake. Chicago went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but Marshall lost in the Best Director category.



OK this post has gone on long enough. Who should direct the amazing musical turned film, Wicked?

Why Angelina Jolie Is Turning Down "Wanted 2"

Wanted was a comic book movie adaptation that I really enjoyed. Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy were great in the film. The movie was profitable, so a sequel was inevitable right? Will everyone be coming back? The answer is no. Angelina Jolie will not be. Then there were rumors Kristen Stewart would be joining the sequel. Let's make sense of all of this.

[SPOILER ALERT]
Angelina Jolie's character, Fox, dies at the end of Wanted. So I thought this was always a stupid story. Why dig so deep to make her character come back to life or any of that stupid stuff. During a press junket for the upcoming spy thriller, Salt, Angelina Jolie sat down with comingsoon.net. She commented on the sequel, and her rejection of it.

Being dead makes it difficult. They were (trying to bring me back) but I kind of feel like if I die in a movie, I should die actually. I'm that way, and that character is not as complex as Salt. It would just be doing the exact same thing in another movie, so it's not that interesting to me.

[END SPOILER ALERT]

I already liked Angelina Jolie before this, now I like her even more. How refreshing is it to hear an actress or actor say, "I'm not just going to take the money, this has to make the most sense in the movie". I completely agree with Jolie's decision and think it's the right thing to do.

A few weeks ago I presented a way to make a sequel work for Jolie's character. How about a prequel? Kristen Stewart could show us the Fox's younger years and her inception into the fraternity. That would be pretty cool! We'll see what happens.

Edward Norton's Official Response to "The Avengers" Fiasco...

I read this really early in the day and wasn't sure if I even wanted to post it. But it's late, I'm up, why not? Edward Norton officially responded to The Avengers fiasco that was made public this past weekend. Here's a quick summary and then Norton's response via his Facebook page.

1. Rumor hits the web that Edward Norton will not reprise his role as the Hulk in The Avengers movie.

2. President of production for Marvel, Kevin Friege releases a statement about why they chose to "fire" Norton.

3. Norton's agent releases a statement defending his client and calling Friege's comments "mean spirited".

Now Norton's statement, my thought's after:

As most of you know, I don't like to talk much about the business of making movies because it means a lot to me to protect the audiences's fullest enjoyment of the 'magic' that films can have. But I am so appreciative of the outpouring of support from fans of the Hulk and the Avengers that I feel it would be rude not to respond. So here goes: It seems it won't work out for me to continue playing Bruce Banner for Marvel in "The Avengers". I sincerely hoped it could happen and be great for everyone, but it hasn't turned out as we all hoped. I know this is disappointing to may people and that makes me sad. But I am very sincerely grateful to Marvel for extending the offer and even more so for giving me the chance to be a part of the Hulk's long and excellent history. And I really can't thank the fans enough for how much enthusiasm you've sent my way about what Louis and I tried to do in our turn with the legend. It emans a lot to me. I grew up with Banner and Hulk and have been a fan of every incarnation. I'm really proud, and very blessed, to have been one of them and will be thrilled to see him live on through other actors. Hulk is bigger than all of us, that's why we love him, right?

Sincerely,

Edward Norton

I'm really surprised, pleasantly, by Norton's response to the whole thing. He's seems at peace with what's taken place, and calm about it. Other actors would have gone OFF! I think this is the best move possible by Norton. This turns Friege's comments on himself; all of a sudden Friege looks like the jerk in this whole thing. I still think all the stories about Norton are true, he's difficult, he has an attitude and ego that very few in Hollywood can match. But damn the man can act. Stay tuned in the week leading up to Comic-Con, when it's expected Marvel will announce Norton's replacement.

By the way, if you've been reading other blogs today, you read the rumor about Joaquin Phoenix getting an offer to play Bruce Banner... yeah, ummmm... that's not going to happen. Let's hope not anyway! Remember what I said... Cillian Murphy.