This afternoon there was a report that Paramount definitely has plans for a fourth Transformers movie to be released in 2014. That wasn’t a big surprise, as we’ve been reliably certain that a fourth, and possibly a fifth movie have been in development for the past few months.
Now producer Lorenzo DiBonaventura says that the fourth film is definitely planned for 2014, and that Michael Bay will direct, despite any back and forth statements to the contrary. What’s the story, and what characters are involved? They don’t know yet. Read on for more details, including a statement from Bay with a specific release date. Read More »
.
Please Recommend /Film on Facebook
Today I came home from lunch to find a big box sitting on the front door of /Film HQ. Inside the box I found a backpack, inscribed on the backside with “Property of Peter Parker”. This is the same exact backpack that Andrew Garfield wore in The Amazing Spider-Man footage we saw at Comic Con and at the recent “Untold Story” event. The only difference is this bag is missing Peter’s skateboard. This is one of the most elaborate pieces of viral marketing that I’ve ever seen in person. The backpack was filled with the types of things you would expect a high school student to have: notebooks, a binder, school books and more.
Inside I found a clipping from the Daily Bugle with articles on Spider-Man and Captain Stacey (Gwen’s father). In the notebook, I found many handwritten calculations, either classwork or maybe for a project Parker is working on at home, alongside many preliminary designs for Spider-Man’s logo, suit and mask. Each page is handwritten in pencil or pen, sometimes featuring highlighter highlights. The binder contains a bunch of film negatives and a few printed photos, none of which appear to contain any characters from the film. The backpack also contained personal items like Parker’s sunglasses and sneakers, and school supplies like safety lab goggles, pencils, compasses, a set of keys and more.
I’m not sure what to make of the contents, and I’m sure some of you have more time to look through the items and figure out what they might mean, or what clues might be hidden inside. What does this all have to do with The Amazing Spider-Man? Will it lead up to a real-world event? Hit the jump to look through the photos for yourself. And please report any findings in the comments below.
Read More »
One of the major obstacles Disney is currently facing with their massive blockbuster John Carter is explaining how and why this movie, which looks so similar to so many others, was made at all. It’s based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, first published in 1917, that has become so engrained in the popular conscious it has almost lost its identity. Burroughs’ vision was so ahead of its time and influenced so many things that came after, those properties have long since taken ownership. But the fact of the matter is, without John Carter, there’s no Star Wars, no Avatar, no Blade Runner, almost no sci-fi in general.
Aiming to fix some of that, Disney has released a 90-second featurette reintroducing the world to John Carter. They’ve also thrown in a bunch of new footage to sweeten the pot. But not too much. The Andrew Stanton-directed film starring Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong and others will be released March 9. Check it out after the jump. Read More »
While most of my memories leading up to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace were positive, the best one I have as a direct result of the movie was falling off a chair from laughing so hard at the video review by Red Letter Media. The 70-minute evisceration of the film is a work of unparalleled genius and turned the review persona of Mr. Plinkett into an internet legend.
With the film being released in theaters this weekend, Red Letter Media couldn’t pass up the chance to get a few more views by following George Lucas’ lead and converting the review to 3D. Check it out. Read More »
It’s easy for some to completely write of Transformers: Dark of the Moon as a forgettable Summer big budget blockbuster, but I think it would be wrong to overlook the technical achievements of some of the awesome action sequences.
ILM and Digital Domain have both released videos breaking down all the work that went into the action you saw on screen. You might be surprised to find out that Optimus Prime, Autobots and Decpticons weren’t the only CG additions in the film. Whole real-world environments and complete shots were created within the computer – buildings, vehicles, bridges, skyscrapers, cities and planets.
For me, these visual effect breakdown videos are the closest thing we have these days to the “Movie Magic” specials from my childhood. While I agree those were more fun, and nothing will beat the magic of practical effects done right, its still fun to get a look behind the curtain and see how the magic was constructed. Watch the videos embedded after the jump.
Read More »
Douglas Trumbull, the man who helped redefine visual effects in cinema working on films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Blade Runner, has very lofty goals. Despite being on the outside of Hollywood looking in, for the most part, since the mid-eighties, the director is still trying to push the limits of cinema in innovative and interesting ways. He’s talked about using a new, high-speed 3D system and recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to go into more detail. A lot more detail.
Trumbull said he’s working on a film that will “reinvent the movies.” A “first person cinema reality which is indistinguishable from reality” set 200 years in the future, dealing with “man’s place in the universe.” He says it’s “way beyond anything that Peter Jackson and Jim Cameron have been doing or are thinking of.”
You’ve got to read more details after the jump. Read More »
Briefly: There’s not much info at this point, but both Variety and Deadline are reporting that Legendary Pictures has scrapped the Alex Proyas film Paradise Lost. Read More »
Joseph Kosinski is set to follow Tron Legacy with an original sci-fi idea that he hatched as a proof of concept graphic novel a couple years ago. The film is Oblivion (which has also been called Horizons, and said to be untitled as well) and was originally housed at Disney before the studio cut it loose. But the film ended up at Universal with Tom Cruise in the lead role, and now Morgan Freeman has joined the cast in an important role. Read More »
