Posted on Friday, May 10th, 2013 by Russ Fischer
Pictured above is the new logo for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Its more or less what you’d expect to see.
Pictured below is a new photo from the film, released by director Matt Reeves. It is, I think, exactly what you might hope to see from this film. Three words: apes on horses. (And Jason Clarke confronting them.) See the pic below. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, May 9th, 2013 by Russ Fischer
There have got to be many great papers out there on the clash of mainstream and counterculture ideas in X-Men stories. Just as a starter, the whole cycle is based on a discriminated minority (mutants), but for much of the series said minority is officially headquartered in Westchester, NY. You don’t get much more whitebread than Westchester. (Except for the fact that, irony probably intended, the area was originally heavily settled by an Algonquian people, the Lenape.)
Bryan Singer‘s next film, and the next installment of the cinematic adaptations of those stories, is X-Men: Days of Future Present. Being as it deals with the possible internment and extermination of mutants, that mainstream vs counter-culture angle might be out in full force.
The time-traveling conceit in the film allows Singer to make use of the cast he originally assembled for 2000′s X-Men, and the group that starred in the prequel X-Men: First Class from 2010. We’ve already seen a shot of Patrick Stewart playing the older version of X-Men leader Charles Xavier. Now we’ve got a shot of James McAvoy playing the younger Xavier, replete with full-on period style: long locks, facial hair, and a polyester shirt.
Posted on Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 by Russ Fischer
Matt Reeves has been shooting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, his sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, for a little while. (Don’t think too much about the prequel/sequel status of these films as they relate to the original Planet of the Apes films — thats just a wormhole.) While we don’t have a photo from the film at this point, the tardy “start of production” announcement does come with news that Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans) and Enrique Murciano (Traffic) have roles in the film, and also reveals more plot info than we’ve previously known. Read More »
Posted on Monday, May 6th, 2013 by Germain Lussier
Two of the most anticipated sequels in history will reportedly start filming around the same time. Star Wars Episode VII and Avatar 2 will each begin production early in 2014, according to the producer of one project and star of the other. Bryan Burk, the long-time producer for J.J. Abrams and co-founder of Bad Robot, suggested the window for Star Wars. Zoe Saldana, the star of James Cameron‘s Avatar, mentioned the shooting schedule for Avatar 2. Saldana, who’ll next shoot Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, also confirmed what we’ve already known, that both Avatar 2 and 3 will shoot back to back. Read their quotes below. Read More »
Posted on Sunday, May 5th, 2013 by Russ Fischer
Bryan Singer continues his practice of beating paparazzi and spy photographers to the punch with photos of the cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past. The director/producer has used twitter to offer first looks at characters such as Storm, and now he’s given fans the first image of Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde. Well, the first look at the actress as she appears in this film; she first played the character in X-Men: The Last Stand, released in 2006.
In the Days of Future Past comic storyline from 1981, Kitty Pryde is one of the primary characters, as an older version of the character possesses her younger self, and is the method by which the X-Men learn of a possible future in which mutants are interred in prison camps, or, in the case of high-profile figures, exterminated. We don’t know how large Page’s role will be in Singer’s film version of the story, however. She may set the story in motion, and act one link between the two cinematic X-Men casts, or she may have a much larger role. Regardless, see the full pic below. Read More »
Posted on Friday, May 3rd, 2013 by Germain Lussier
Generally, doing a Q&A on Twitter is futile. With only 140 characters total, accurately conveying the question and answer in a single tweet is a challenge. The other option, spreading the answers over several tweets, just looks bad. It’s one of the reasons why Reddit AMAs have become more of the go-to for the interative, online question and answer session with the fans.
Hugh Jackman did a Twitter Q&A for The Wolverine on Thursday and actually came up with a clever new spin. He read tweeted questions and shot video responses to them. He discussed all matter of the July 26 film, as well as X-Men: Days of Future Past. We’ve embedded all eleven questions below. Read More »
Posted on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 by Angie Han
Let’s be real: Superhero movies have historically tended to be lily-white affairs. Sure, there’s the occasional Nick Fury or Storm or War Machine, but the vast majority of leading heroes have been Caucasian. If a new casting rumor is to be believed, though, Josh Trank‘s upcoming Fantastic Four could be an exciting exception.
Trank is reportedly considering his Chronicle star Michael B. Jordan for the role of Johnny Storm a.k.a. The Human Torch, a traditionally white character who was played by Chris Evans in earlier films. Combined with whispers from earlier this week that Allison Williams could play Sue Storm, it looks like casting on the movie is starting to heat up. More information after the jump.
Posted on Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 by Russ Fischer
James Mangold‘s take on Marvel’s popular character hits later this summer, in July, and we’ll probably see at least one more meaty trailer before the opening date. But for now, the one-minute trailer for The Wolverine that premiered at CinemaCon is now online, and you can watch it below. (This is most of the CinemaCon reel, at least — attendees also saw a bit of the train fight sequence, which isn’t here, and I believe a couple other minor bits, too.)
There’s a lot of footage here we’ve seen already, but there’s also enough new stuff to merit a look. The new footage doesn’t contribute much to our understanding of what the film’s full story arc covers, but it does give you a better look at the Silver Samurai and also offers a neat shot of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) seemingly overwhelmed by ninja.
