When Gone Girl caught fire, adaptations of Gillian Flynn's other ice-cold thrillers were put into development around the same time as the film take on that bestseller. But David Fincher's Gone Girl failed to capture the Academy's attention in the same manner many assumed it would, and now other Flynn-related projects are inevitably losing quite a bit of steam. Take Dark Places for example - the thriller boasts an ensemble cast powered by Charlize Theron, and yet it's avoided exposure at the U.S. box office yet, despite screening overseas and slowly plotting other release dates. What exactly happened?
Unlike in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the Avengers are hailed (at least stateside) as villain-conquering heroes, the world of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice appears to cast superheroes in a much less favorable light. Perhaps that's only to be expected, given the catastrophic amount of damage Superman (Henry Cavill) did to Metropolis while duking it out with General Zod (Michael Shannon) in Man of Steel. But Warner Bros. and DC are definitely playing up the public's dissatisfaction with crime fighters in new promo art for the blockbuster.
Former Batman Michael Keaton experienced a whirlwind comeback last fall when he powered Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) to a Best Picture win and nine total nominations (including one for Keaton's performance). Now, he'll be in the thick of the awards race once more with Tom McCarthy-directed drama Spotlight, which Open Road has dated for November 6.
With Avengers: Age of Ultron old news by now, attention is turning fast to next year's Captain America: Civil War, an Avengers-sized cinematic event that will find the Cap (Chris Evans) facing off with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) over the issue of government oversight, which creates a serious rift in the superhero team. Today, JoBlo has some new details on the pic, and though these are rumors until we hear otherwise, the site does have a fairly good track record for this sort of thing.
Making Fifty Shades of Grey was a horrifically punishing experience for everyone other than book author E.L. James. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson has gone on record about how on-set battles over the creative nature of the adaptation left her feeling like she never wanted to make a movie again, while stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are both seeking hefty pay raises in order to justify going through the same torment for two sequels. Now, screenwriter Kelly Marcel, who was forced to collaborate with James directly, has fired some shots in Universal's direction about how the studio left her to fend for herself against the obstinate author.
Walt Disney Animation Studios has been turning out some truly fantastic films in the past few years, from Tangled to Frozen, so it's pretty exciting to see the company aiming high with one of its upcoming features: anthropomorphic fantasy Zootopia.
One of England's most exciting filmmakers is tackling his biggest project yet in thriller Free Fire, and today brings word that he's recruiting some red-hot talents to round out the pic's cast. Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) has tapped Jack Reynor (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Sam Riley (Maleficent) and Noah Taylor (Submarine) for supporting roles in the film.
After playing the straight man, with hilarious results, in comedies 21 Jump Street and Ride Along, Ice Cube is taking on a similar role once again for New Line comedy Fist Fight, which he's in talks to co-lead with Horrible Bosses' Charlie Day.
Pitch Perfect 2 hit all the right notes at the box office for Universal, so it comes as absolutely no surprise that the studio is moving ahead with a third installment in the high-grossing college a cappella comedy franchise. Scribe Kay Cannon, who penned the first two installments, is now in negotiations to write Pitch Perfect 3.
Actor/musician/Twitter philosopher Jaden Smith has joined the cast of Netflix's The Get Down, a '70s-set musical drama to be directed by The Great Gatsby helmer Baz Luhrmann.
