Take a J.G. Ballard novel about a high-tech luxury apartment complex that becomes the site of massive class warfare, add British auteur Ben Wheatley as director, Tom Hiddleston to star, and Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller as secondary characters, and you've got the makings for one hell of a movie. That's the formula for the upcoming film High Rise, which will start shooting in July.
Following the divisive but successful series finale of CBS's hit How I Met Your Mother, the spin-off project How I Met Your Dad seemed like a done deal at the same network. Not so, according to Deadline, who tells us this morning that the show has not been picked up by CBS. The network's option on the series expires today, so unless there's a sudden miracle, the spin-off series will not go forward at How I Met Your Mother's parent network.
If you want a grizzled old cowboy nowadays, you do not go for Clint Eastwood; you go for Tommy Lee Jones. The actor has made a career out of trading on his laconic Texas accent and craggy features, not to mention his stellar acting ability, turning roles in No Country For Old Men and Lonesome Dove into quietly brilliant performances. Now he's at it again, this time directing himself alongside Hilary Swank in the western drama The Homesman, which will be premiering at Cannes.
Terry Gilliam's dream project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, has been languishing in production limbo for years now. The closest the project came to fruition was in 2002, when it became the subject of the fascinating documentary Lost in La Mancha - a film largely concerned with the total failure of Gilliam to actually make a movie about Don Quixote. But reports continue to surface that the director is trying to resurrect his re-telling of the famous epic about a Spanish gentleman who imagines that he's a romantic knight-errant.
Having just sat through the very strange Machete Kills, I can honestly say that I'll never look at Sofia Vergara the same way again. As Gloria on Modern Family, she's already proven that she can be funny; as probably the most entertaining secondary character in Machete Kills, she's proven that she can be lewd. But as a co-star in an comedy set to premiere in the already overloaded Summer of 2015? I'm not so sure.
Quentin Tarantino's lawsuit over the leaked The Hateful Eight script has ended with a fizzle rather than a bang. Despite filing an amended complaint on May 1, the director has now opted to withdraw the lawsuit against the website Gawker altogether.
Johnny Depp was once labeled the greatest actor of his generation and, like many greatest actors of their generations, he's gone through a bit of a rough patch, role-wise. Where he was once known for his versatility and indie choices, he's now become a caricature of his former self, appearing in too many Disney movies and blasé thrillers where he basically plays the same quirky character over and over again. Maybe this will all change with the upcoming comic thriller Mortdecai though, in which Depp plays a charming international spy/terrorist/art dealer/all around rogue who also sports one remarkable mustache.
There are times when I wonder what's in the local water over in Hollywood. I'm willing to bet that someone has floated an idea for rebooting every single TV series and movie franchise to be even halfway popular over the past 50 years or so. The latest in that ever-growing list of unnecessary reboots are the popular TV shows Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, from the 90s, and Green Acres, from the 60s.
In the time-honored Disney tradition of beating a good thing to death with a stick (or a lightsaber), Disney CEO Bob Iger yesterday claimed that there are "at least three" Star Wars spin-offs in the works. The films will be released between 2016 and 2018, coinciding with the "off" years for the main trilogy, with plans to stretch the spin-offs into the indefinite future.
Man, it feels like it's been a whole three days since we had any Star Wars: Episode VII rumors to report on. I was getting kind of worried. Thankfully, the kind folks over at AICN (via The Playlist) have picked up an idea that the working title for Star Wars: Episode VII will be (brace yourselves).... Star Wars: Episode VII - The Ancient Fear.
