After making an auspicous debut with the claustrophobic Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried, Rodrigo Cortés delivered a wholly disappointing follow-up in the form of Red Lights, a weak alien invasion pic that completely fell apart in its final act. Here's hoping that the director's next effort gets him back in our good graces - Lionsgate announced today that it has set Cortés to helm Down a Dark Hall, based on the 1974 YA novel from I Know What You Did Last Summer author Lois Duncan.
Though there have been numerous documentaries about former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, Hollywood has yet to produce a straight-up biopic about the popular sports figure. However, if recent comments from the man himself are to be believed, that's about to change.
Comic-Con came and went, and one of the less buzzy films highlighted there was 20th Century Fox's upcoming Hitman: Agent 47, which finds Rupert Friend, of Showtime's Homeland, stepping into the title role of a nameless assassin. The trailer screened in San Diego hasn't yet found its way online, though we did see two action-packed images featuring Friend and co-star Hannah Ware (Shame) hit the web a few days back.
Before a single frame of footage had been shot, Quentin Tarantino's Western The Hateful Eight was making headlines in a very bad way. A copy of the script got leaked to the 'net, which displeased the Pulp Fiction filmmaker to such a degree that he called the project off altogether for a while. Then, after tempers cooled, Tarantino revisited the idea and realized just how terrific it was. So, he organized a live reading and proceeded to cast the actors who participated in a film version of The Hateful Eight.
The Fast & Furious franchise is continuing its tradition of casting gorgeous chanteuses in bit parts, with word that Fancy singer Iggy Azalea has a cameo appearance in next year's Fast & Furious 7. The anticipated tentpole, which was dealt a serious blow when actor Paul Walker died in a car crash mid-way through shooting, recently wrapped production.
In one of its most ambitious undertakings to date, the BBC is teaming with The Weinstein Company and Look Out Point to bring viewers a sprawling, six-part miniseries adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic tome War and Peace. Now, the pieces are falling into place for the series, with word that Lily James and Paul Dano are circling lead roles in the project.
Just yesterday, we brought you new shots from Fox's upcoming trilogy topper Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb, and now the first trailer for the December release has arrived, promising patient fans of the franchise (which last reared its head in theaters circa 2009) a fittingly spectacular and eventful finale.
Ever since Twilight, Robert Pattinson has set about creating a truly intriguing filmography for a star his age. Already, the talented actor has worked with two extremely talented directors, David Cronenberg and David Michôd, on three thought-provoking films (Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars with Cronenberg, and The Rover with Michôd). Next up, he'll appear in films by Werner Herzog (Queen of the Desert), Anton Corbijn (Life), Olivier Assayas (Idol's Eye), Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader) and James Marsh (Hold on to Me).
This December, Warner Bros. will release the final installment in Peter Jackson's mega-successful Hobbit trilogy, and execs over at that studio are already scrambling to find a fantasy franchise capable of replacing it. The studio, which also released all eight Harry Potter films, already has Joe Wright's Peter Pan origin tale Pan, David Yates' Tarzan and Guy Ritchie's Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur on the docket, but none of those exactly scream 'franchise.' Recently, Warner Bros. announced that it was optioned another sprawling fantasy series with plans to create a franchise - Anne McCaffrey's bestselling Dragonriders of Pern series.
Though Fox's Gotham may be my most anticipated show of the 2014-15 fall season, I'll also be keeping a close eye on another comic-influenced series - NBC's Constantine, which adapts Alan Moore's beloved graphic novel Hellblazer. With Matt Ryan in the lead role and a refreshingly dark and Gothic feel, this series may just manage to do justice to its source material (provided it isn't axed as quickly as most of NBC's other ambitious shows).
