Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Germain Lussier
It’s a tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. Guillermo Del Toro is attached to another project. This time he’s upgraded from producer to director of a new version of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast for Warner Bros., which will be written by Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’ Diary). Read more after the jump.
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Peter Sciretta
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.
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Germain Lussier
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 »
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Russ Fischer
The sequel news keeps coming, and this is almost a specialty update on a couple of upcoming ‘next chapters.’ Below it’s all Muppets and Star Trek as we run down the possibility of sequels to The Muppets and The Dark Crystal, and look at the licensing plans Paramount has for the now-shooting sequel to Star Trek. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Germain Lussier
They eventually made a fourth Indiana Jones. That’s what I tell myself each time Dan Aykroyd comes out and speaks, with the utmost confidence, that a third Ghostbusters will eventually be made. Like the Jones sequel, Ghostbusters 3 is a movie that has been long rumored and discussed ad nauseum. So I figure if Spielberg, Lucas and Ford can find a common ground after years of conjecture, the same will probably happen for the Ghostbusters crew.
Of course, we all know the main hold out has been Bill Murray but in the latest twist, Aykroyd suggests they could “Jack Ryan” that role and just make it with someone else. I wonder what Sony has to say about that. Read more after the jump. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Germain Lussier
Eli Roth is making the earth move. The man behind the Hostel series, co-star of Inglourious Basterds and producer of The Last Exorcism has teamed up with successful Chilean filmmaker Nicolás López to make Aftershock, an English-language action-thriller inspired by the Chilean earthquake. It follows a group of six friends (including Roth, several international movie stars and a cameo by pop superstar Selena Gomez) struggling to survive after a massive earthquake hits their city and society crumbles around them. Most of the film will include realistic, practical effects.
Aftershock is still shooting in Chile but Lopez and Roth are ready to debut the first official images from the film exclusively here on /Film.
After the jump, check out these images, learn about the cast, filmmakers and more. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Germain Lussier
Want to see new toys from The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man? How can you help out with the Ghost Rider controversy? What’s the title of the latest Superman DVD movie? Which villain should star in The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Is Frankie Muniz really starring in a superhero movie called Pizza Man? How did Tom Hardy describe the first time he stood in front of Batman on the set of The Dark Knight Rises? What kind of scents can be made from The Avengers? Why is Batman standing with Miley Cyrus and a bear above? How does all The Avengers footage available look edited together? And want to see even more superhero toys from Toy Fair? Read about all that and more in today’s MASSIVE Superhero Bits. Read More »
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 by Russ Fischer
The hook for the film Lovelace is pretty simple: Amanda Seyfried plays the first crossover porn superstar, Linda Lovelace. Shouldn’t be difficult to sell a movie based on that idea, alone, but there is something fairly uncomfortable about the prospect. Linda Lovelace later said that much of her porn work was coerced by her abusive husband Chuck Traynor, played in this film incarnation by Peter Sarsgaard. It’s not the sort of tale that can be represented on sex appeal alone, lurid and easy as that would be.
And, yes, the movie that Howl directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman are putting together sounds like it will be a fairly dark affair. It takes primary inspiration from Eric Danville‘s biography The Complete Linda Lovelace, which traces her progression from unknown to unlikely mainstream icon, to anti-porn activist. The film is still shooting and so we won’t likely see any footage for a couple months yet, but in the meantime we’ve got a couple new stills from the film, and a recreation of the poster for Deep Throat, featuring Seyfried in character. Read More »
