From the moment I heard about Rampart the movie placed high on my ‘must-see’ list. The Messenger director Oren Moverman reunites with Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster to tell a story about the LAPD’s disgraced Rampart division, with a script originally written by LA crime master James Ellroy. Ice Cube is a good cop and Ned Beatty is in the movie, as are Sigourney Weaver and Steve Buscemi.
The movie has hit some festivals and I’m already hearing so much about how good Harrelson is in the film that I’ve just had to shut down all of the chatter until I get a chance to see the film. Rampart is scheduled for a limited Oscar-qualifying run in New York and LA starting next week, but most of us won’t get a chance to see it until January 2012.
There is a trailer right now, however, so you can get a taste of Harrelson’s performance as “the most corrupt cop you’ve ever seen on screen.” Watch it below. Read More »
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I don’t have any belief that The Expendables 2 is likely to be the movie I hope it will be. After the first movie, I’m not even convinced that this sequel is fated to be a solid action movie. But magic can happen. While we wait to see any footage from the movie that Simon West has been directing in Bulgaria, here’s a poster that also acts as the best collage of aging action stars you’re going to see this year.
I can easily see some young action fan having made a similar version of this poster by collaging stills in the late ’80s or early ’90s. This one really ups the ante with leather, flying dirt and a lot of thousand-yard (well, maybe 400-yard for some of those guys) stares.
Check out the full poster below. Update: image has been removed at the request of the studio. Read More »
Mark Steven Johnson, the director of the first Ghost Rider film, as well as of Daredevil, Simon Birch and When in Rome, is now set to direct a movie called Killing Season. This will be the first film to team Robert De Niro and John Travolta, and the two actors will face off in a pretty classic adventure scenario. Read More »
Briefly: The focus as we’ve covered The Expendables 2 has been the list of actors returning from the first movie, and the other ’80s and ’90s action stars that might join in the sequel. All told, the list is pretty huge already: Sylvester Stallone will be joined by Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The assembled circumference of all those biceps would enclose a bus; collect the cast’s testosterone and you’d probably be able to fuel it for a cross-country run.
Now we’ve got a new, younger body to add: Liam Hemsworth, junior brother of Chris ‘Thor’ Hemsworth and one star of The Hunger Games, has signed on. We don’t know his role, but the thinking is pretty transparent: bring in female audiences under 24. The Expendables 2 shoots soon in Bulgaria under the direction of Simon West. Nicolas Cage and John Travolta remain possible participants as well, because the cast just wouldn’t be ridiculous enough without them. [Variety]
The last time we had good word on The Expendables 2, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger had been confirmed for meaty roles alongside returning star Sylvester Stallone and presumably returning actors Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews and Jet Li.
Donnie Yen, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and John Travolta have all been rumored as well, with one report seeming to confirm the participation of classic ass-kickers Norris and Van Damme. (And Travola, too, though he’s less of an ass-kicker.) Now we’ve got word, straight from Stallone, that Norris, Van Damme are indeed in the film, and a Nicolas Cage and John Travolta will show up if things can be worked out. Read More »
Briefly: There has been a crazy amount of speculation about the cast of The Expendables 2, which will shoot soon. Given that the original film isn’t exactly beloved, that speculation goes to prove that the concept of putting aging action stars together into a ‘one last mission’-type picture is enough to ignite significant public interest.
We still don’t know what new talents might be joining the sequel, but Deadline reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis have now closed deals to take substantial roles in the film. Both had parts in the original, but neither amounted to more than a cameo. Simon West will direct the sequel in October, and Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews and Jet Li are all likely to return alongside Sylvester Stallone. Moviehole reported over the weekend that Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, and Scott Adkins are all confirmed, based on a leaked cast list, but those names are not confirmed at this point. Donnie Yen, also rumored, is yet to be confirmed as well.
The recent story that Donnie Yen has been offered a part in The Expendables 2 is starting to make a bit more sense. Not that it takes any sort of science to figure out why producers would try to land one of the world’s best current action stars for a film that is expressly designed as a showcase for such actors, mind you.
But there’s a new detail that changes the context just a bit. As financier Nu Image seeks to maximize profit in the booming Chinese movie market, the company is now in talks with a Chinese company to co-finance the film. That would lead to two things. First, some of the film would be shot in China. Second, the rules restricting revenue sharing from imported films wouldn’t apply to The Expendables 2, so Nu Image would be able to collect a lot more of the profit made in the country. Read More »
Here’s something that’ll get me into the theater for The Expendables 2 right quick, if it pans out: Donnie Yen, one of the current champion fighters on film, has been offered a role in The Expendables 2. That’s according to Twitch, which says that producer Avi Lerner offered Yen a “tailor-made” role in the film, which should shoot in October. Yen’s own people confirmed the offer, but didn’t give any indication of whether he’s likely to take it. Read More »
