January 2009 News Archive (Page 7)

Watchmen WILL be coming to a theater near you in March.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the war over the film between Fox and Warner Bros. has been settled.

The agreement, finalized late last night, states that Warner Bros. must fork over a chunk of change (including old development costs, plus interest) and a portion of the film's theatrical revenues to its rival studio. Reports estimate the cash figure at $1.5 million, while other sources say Warner Bros. might be ceding as much as 8.5 percent of the box office receipts.

Fox will also receive a piece of future sequels or spin-offs.

It's an Iron Man sequel rumor no more:

Sam Rockwell will, indeed, portray Justin Hammer in the 2010 follow-up film.

“We had a phone conversation about it... They were like, we don’t have a script but this is the deal and this is the character," Rockwell told MTV.

Rockwell said he signed on, though, because he was a fan of the original Iron Man, which his girlfriend - the gorgeous Leslie Bibb - played a role in.

As for this Justin Hammer fellow?

“He’s a rival [of Tony Stark],” Rockwell said. “He takes over all the weapons stuff after Tony’s left.... I don’t know if he takes over Stark Industries... He’s a money dude. That’s about all I can say.”

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker team up for the final chapter of The Fast and the Furious franchise this spring.

In Fast & Furious, the dup head back to the streets where it all began, as they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles.

Here are two new images of the stars from the action film;

Might Emily Blunt portray Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2?

The character is a Soviet super spy that doubles as Black Widow, a beauty in a skintight black costume that is enhanced by high-tech weaponry.

If verified, Blunt will join the previously-announced villains Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell in the sequel.

Blunt's film resume includes The Devil Wears Prada, The Jane Austen Book Club and Charlie Wilson's War.

Iron Man 2 is scheduled for a May 7, 2010 release.

Idris Elba, best known for portraying Stringer Bell on The Wire, will appear on multiple episodes of The Office.

The actor will portray a new rival to Dunder Mifflin regional manager Michael Scott, according to Variety.

Look for Elba - whose film credits include Rocknrolla and The Unborn - will appear in six episodes later this season.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has come out with his annual movie award nominations.

Here's a look at the nominees in a few major categories:

BEST FILM

• THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
• FROST/NIXON
• MILK
• THE READER
• SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

DIRECTOR

• CHANGELING – Clint Eastwood
• THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – David Fincher
• FROST/NIXON – Ron Howard
• THE READER – Stephen Daldry
• SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• BURN AFTER READING – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• CHANGELING – J. Michael Straczynski
• I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Philippe Claudel
• IN BRUGES – Martin McDonagh
• MILK – Dustin Lance Black

Continue Reading...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is mere months away.

Earlier today, during at the Television Critics Association press tour, screenwriter Roberto Orci spoke to IGN about the wildly-anticipated sequel.

Storywise, how does the sequel compare to the first one?
It's an extreme [jump] from the first one. The outrageous, crazy humor is more outrageous, but then so is the serious side of it and so is the stakes of the Transformers plot and the seriousness with which some of their mythology is treated. So it kind of swings wildly between those two extremes, and that I think was one of the successful parts of the first movie. Again, some of the die hard fans will be equally annoyed at some of the things they see, but I can also say they will be more gratified than they were for the first one, to see how some of the Transformers story and how their battle takes place in the second one.

Jamal Woolard is new to the movie world.

He stars as Biggie Smalls in Notorious - and he recently sat down with Moviefone to discuss the role. Here are excerpts from the interview:

They held a massive search to cast the Notorious B.I.G. Did you go through the casting process?
Oh, man, did I ... I had to do all that, man. I had to get in my zone, I had to gain the weight ... I put myself in Biggie boot camp. I was in Charlotte and got a call from one of my friends. He told me about it; he was like, "Yo, man, I think you should go try out for it. You're the funniest, you a ladies' man, you know we from the 'hood. Let's go get it, son!" So I said, "Lemme try, ya know?" And I went out and I read on it. I seen the [other people trying out for the role], that's what made me gain the weight cause I seen how many big dudes [were] out, like, "Whoa, they huge!" I'm not that huge. So I ate. I was at 285, went to 340.

What else was "Biggie boot camp" besides putting on the weight?
You know, [studying his] behavior, mannerisms, his movement, his patterns, his hands, how he'd scratch the back of his head, [keep his] chin up high, cotton balls in the mouth, the walk, the speech, the rhymes, the delivery. I studied both albums, and 'Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits,' cause you know his mom loves country music, so I had to know what that sound like. It [was] a lot.

Sorry, High School Musical fans.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Vanessa Hudgens is not up for a role in the Twilight sequel, New Moon, contrary to recent rumors.

Sources inside Summit Entertainment and Hudgens' camp told the magazine that producers aren't looking at the young actress for the upcoming follow-up.

At this moment, the only actors confirmed for the movie are Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

Samuel L. Jackson, who made a cameo appearance as Nick Fury in the Iron Man credits, says negotiations have broken down between him and the studio.

The actor told The Los Angeles Times that he may not appear in Iron Man 2 after all.

"There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don't know. Maybe I won't be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], 'We're not making that deal.'"

Do you wanna see Samuel L. Jackson in Iron Man 2?