Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Want to be an Extra in David O Russell’s The Fighter? Want to see Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale fight it out in a boxing ring? Do you live near Lowell Massachusetts? Details after the jump.
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The Fighter has been struggling to make it to the big screen for the last two years, and is finally back on track with David O Russell at the helm. Production is set to begin in a couple weeks, and the final casting announcements are being made.
Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams is in final negotiations to star opposite Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in the sports bio. Adams will play “a tough, gritty bartender and former college high-jumper” who ends up dating Wahlberg’s character. I can just imagine Adams performance now, complete with what I’m sure will be a very believable Massachusetts accent. But could it possibly rival Amy Ryan’s performance in Gone Baby Gone?
David O Russell To Direct Christian Bale in The Fighter
Posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
The Fighter has been struggling to make it to the big screen for the last two years, and is finally back on track with David O Russell at the helm. Christian Bale is now signed to play Dicky Eklund, a real life boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded after a run of drugs and crime. Dicky shepherded his half-brother “Irish” Micky Ward in a Rocky-like rise to world lightweight champion. Ward fought throughout the mid-’80s and ’90s, but he’s best remembered for three battles with Arturo Gotti, two of which went down as the greatest in the history of the sport. Ward lost each one.
Everybody’s Having a Date Night With Tina and Steve
Posted on Monday, April 13th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Common, Kristen Wiig, Taraji P. Henson and Leighton Meester have all signed up for roles in Shawn Levy’s Date Night. The headline stars, already announced, are Steve Carrell, who I love, and Tina Fey, who most people love and I kind-of-like-a-bit. The films seems set to be some kind of rom-com take on After Hours, or maybe an inverted version of Adventures in Babysitting.
Variety have indicated who the various new cast additions will be playing, and I’ll bullet point that for you after the ever-essential break.
Bryan Singer Circling Prisoners With Mark Wahlberg
Posted on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Entertainment Weekly are reporting that Bryan Singer has become interested in directing Prisoners. The project first made news when Aaron Guzikowski’s hot spec script started doing the rounds with Mark Wahlberg attached to star. There’s been a whole hive-load of buzz about this one, and I can see why Singer would at least give it careful consideration, but is it really a package he should attach to? Even the least of his past projects - Superman Returns and X-Men - had some real high points in their screenplays, and more than their fair share of rock-steady solid pages too. Can Prisoners compare?
Much of the basic set up of Prisoners is reminiscent of The Lovely Bones, quite oddly. Wahlberg’s role in each film would be the rough equivalent too - the father of an abducted young girl who sets off on her trail ahead of the police and seems set upon exacting some vigilante justice. In most respects, however, the screenplays couldn’t be more different…
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg Set for The B Team from Adam McKay
Posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
“Woo.” To Hollywood’s long line of buddy-cop duos we can now add Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The pair will team up for The B Team, an action-comedy from director and uber-reliable Ferrell collaborator Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers). “Woo.” No other plot-points were given, but according to the trades, a bitchin’ bidding battle went down on Tuesday. The script is by Chris Henchy, who wrote Ferrell’s Land of the Lost reboot and co-produces HBO’s Entourage with Wahlberg and East Bound & Down for Gary Sanchez Prod.
So, what do you guys think? Under McKay’s eye, the project won’t make for smelly summer tripe a la Bulletproof or I-Spy, and if an R-rating is in the cards, that would equal amazing in blood spray. Though, I doubt that’s the case, judging by a title that spoofs a Mr. T show and upcoming remake. Ferrell remains attached to star in a Sherlock Holmes comedy alongside Sacha Baron Cohen and produced by Judd Apatow, and is still making a mint on Broadway (and Conan’s final show) as some Texan guy.
via Pop Watch
Mark Wahlberg vs. Andy Samberg
The Pitch:
On the last Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg did a sketch called Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals, which was essentially a two minute imitation of Wahlberg. We featured the video in a previous VOTD. This past week Wahlberg appeared on Jimmy Kimmel. The above video shows Mark’s reaction to the Sketch. And below you can watch the opening from this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, which briefly features Wahlberg, and the final confrontation where Wahlberg finally comes face to face with Samberg.
Video of the Day is a daily feature of /Film showcasing geekarific video creations. Have a video we should be feature on VOTD? E-Mail us at orfilms@gmail.com.
The Fighter: Pitt Out; Wahlberg Worried; Location Scouting
Posted on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a concrete update on Darren Aronofsky’s The Fighter, the real-life story of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s (to be played by Mark Wahlberg) unlikely road to the world lightweight title. His Rocky-like rise was guided by half-brother Dicky (Brad Pitt), a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime. When we talked with director Darren Aronofsky last month, we got the impression that The Fighter might not be happening. It wasn’t anything Aronofsky said in particular, but what he didn’t say, and how he said it
“We have a beautiful screenplay. It’s based on, you probably know, Mickey Ward. It’s a great great project. As I told you I love sports movies. Rudy and Chariots of Fire are some of my favorite films. Fighter is a great script. Scott Silver wrote it. He’s the guy who wrote Eight Mile. So we have a great script, we’re just trying to cast it and try and figure out how it’s going to get made,” said Aronofsky, later adding: “Mark is training. Mark’s totally gung-ho” … “It’s been in development so long there’s a lot of money against it already. They’re trying to figure that out but I’m ready to go on it.”
Scott Silver is just the last on the long list of writers who have done work on the project. An older screenplay draft I have lists four writers: Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Lewis Colick and Paul Attanasio. So when Aronofsky says “there’s a lot of money against it already” he means that Paramount has dished out a lot of money in the development of the film
Wahlberg told MTV that an October shoot was planned, but that is no longer the case. It doesn’t sound good but Wahlberg isn’t giving up. He’s been training for the role for almost two years. The actor tells Coming Soon:
“I’m so focused on “Fighter” and that’s not even happening so it’s all depressing. I’m just looking for the next thing. I’m always looking for the next thing. I’ve done three or four movies since I’ve been training for Fighter,” Wahlberg said, later adding: “They finally got the green light, now we have to figure out the cast thing. I’m going to meet with Darren Aronofsky on Tuesday in New York so we’ll see.”
Am I the only one confused about what he jsut said? At first he says it isn’t happening, then five seconds later says that it got a greenlight, they just need to figure out casting and he’s meeting with Darren this week. The actor went on to say how he could “train for another six months and look like a world class fighter” giving the project more realism than probably any other Hollywood boxing project to date. Sounds like a case of mixed signals to me.
But what exactly is the casting situation that Wahlberg is referring to? The Playlist just spoke with Aronofsky at the New York Film Festival, and the director reluctantly admitted that Brad Pitt is no longer involved with the project.
“We’re having some problems casting it,” Aronofsky said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Doesn’t exactly sound promising does it? Pitt joined the project last year, replacing Matt Damon, who had become too busy with other projects. And I’m willing to bet that Damon’s slate hasn’t cleared up much in the last 13 months. Ward is a key role with certain talent requirements. And from what I was told, Aronofsky is currently working to develop Robocop for MGM. But don’t count The Fighter out just yet.
I have it on good authority that location supervisions from Paramount have been scouting out locations in Lowell Massachusetts over the last few weeks. They have been visiting bars, taverns and local gyms. So the big question is, why would they be doing location scouts if the film isn’t moving forward? There is so much good buzz about the script, and with Aronofsky’s The Wrestler garnering so much attention and even award buzz, you would think that Aronofsky would have his pick of talent for the upcoming project. You would also think that Paramount would be eager to push this film into production no matter how much money the film has racked up in development so far…
Rumor: Sarah Palin to Appear on SNL / Weekend Update
Posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
Rumors continue to circulate that Sarah Palin will appear on Saturday Night Live to combat Tina Fey’s gosh darn perfect impression of her. No official confirmation as of yet. The Chicago Sun-Times parlays that in lieu of a rerun this Saturday, Palin may pop up on the first Weekend Update prime time special, airing this Thursday at 9:30 p.m. EST on NBC: “some sort of Palin tweak of Fey’s American Express commercials is [rumored to be] in the works.” We think it would be more appropriate if Palin teamed up with Mark Wahlberg to talk to a moose and then winked it to death in front of a live and horrified studio audience. Meanwhile, Vulture reports that SNL’s Congress-skewering bailout sketch has been yanked from Hulu and NBC.com, possibly igniting a censorship controversy.
In semi-related TV news, the NY Post reports that John McCain may reschedule a much publicized and abruptly canceled appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman for mid-October.
Discuss: Do you think SNL should have Palin on? If so, what should happen?
Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals
The Pitch: In this clip from Saturday Night Live, Mark Wahlberg (imitation by Andy Samberg) talks with Animals.
Video of the Day is a daily feature of /Film showcasing geekarific video creations. Have a video we should be feature on VOTD? E-Mail us at orfilms@gmail.com.
Even Bruce Wayne is beginning to think Max Payne will be a sizable hit and worth seeing. A new theatrical trailer for Fox’s video game adaptation contains even more shots of the hypnotic angels-of-death that continue to puzzle the games’ followers. We learn herein that the winged beings are referred to as “valkyries,” and reward people who “die in violence.” Clarification, meh. Backed by the vocals of Marilyn Manson (our second reference today, k), the new trailer better emphasizes a brooding, escalatory tone that plays the right notes of fanboy nihilism. Also present are the high-charged visuals that wowed our staff at Comic Con. For a PG-13 video game gun-porn flick with many doubters, my latest impression? For what it is, Max Payne clicked.
Current comparisons online to the R-rated, totally cheeseball Hitman are predictable and warranted, but the confidence expressed in the press by Mark Wahlberg and John Moore—once attached to X3—doesn’t seem like a contractual shill-routine to me. This trailer’s vague mix of occult imagery and organized crime recalls past genre fare like The Crow and middling efforts like End of Days, and Constantine, but there’s also the sense that TDK’s rating boundary-pushing was a real inspiration. And, c’mon, Mila Kunis firing a machine gun is equal doses ridiculous and hormone-tickling. I hereby move my chips over from Punisher: War Zone to Max Payne; admittedly, this is not a major gamble, but Payne does feature Ludacris in a fedora. Hope I’m right.
Max Payne opens on October 17th.
Discuss: Will Max Payne be a hit? What’s your impression of the final theatrical trailer? Is it cool or stupid or both? Are the valkyries symbolic or real?
Mark Wahlberg Says Max Payne > The Dark Knight
Posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
Another morning on Slashfilm, another Kid Icarus in Hollywood. Previously, Robert Downey Jr. used the web to hawk an Iron loogie at The Dark Knight and DC Comics, and now Mark Wahlberg—who enjoys lighting cigarettes in the rain—says he’d pummel The Caped Crusader. Put down the Pop Tarts and take a deep breath, fanboys.
“I’m not talking about financial box office, I’m talking about one-on-one with these [puts up fists],” Wahlberg squealed to MTV while flexing in front of a mirror.
We interrupt this quote to bring you a witty message from ODB. And we’re back. Moreover, Wahlberg offered a direct and slightly ‘mo challenge to Bruce Wayne…
“Take off the suit and if you want to go one-on-one, two-on-one, and put a couple of you guys together—they all like to put the comic book characters together—come at me.”
Who is he calling “they”?! Of course, this braggadocio is in reference to October’s Max Payne, the PG-13 adaptation of Rockstar Games‘ framed cop-shoot ‘em up franchise.
“I guarantee you there’s not a badder dude in a movie this year than Max Payne. This is like my characters from The Departed, Fear, Four Brothers, all mixed into one, times ten.”
Wait a second, Fear? Mebbs he has a point.
Discuss: Should Christian Bale bother retorting in front of a mirror? Chris O’Donnell?
/Film reader, Jones Johnson, says, “Nobody’s badder than Michael Jackson. …I have doubts.”
/Film reader, Reggie, nicely references Walhberg as “a white dwarf heading for a black hole.”
