With the press release announcing the commencement of shooting on Sam Raimi‘s Oz the Great and Powerful, I’d hoped we might have some small casting additions. Maybe a role for Ted Raimi? Nothing new on that front, however. So we’ll make do with the knowledge that James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams lead the cast.
The release does have a few good tidbits of info, however, such as the fact that cinematographer Peter Deming (Evil Dead II, Drag Me to Hell, Lost Highway) is shooting. That’s great news; I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Deming’s work for many years, and thought he did a wonderful job on Drag Me to Hell. Additionally, Howard Berger is “[creating] the looks of several of the unique denizens of Oz, including creatures such as the Whimsies, the Tinkers and the Winkies, as well as the ghastly look of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
The official synopsis follows after the break. Read More »
.
Please Recommend /Film on Facebook
Jamie Chung has two big Legendary Pictures films behind her this year, Sucker Punch and The Hangover Part II, and now (probably not as a response) she’s going indie for the film Knife Fight. That’s the one starring Rob Lowe where he plays “a political crisis manager who specializes in playing hardball on behalf of scandal-plagued clients.” Jamie Chung will be his savvy assistant. Quite a few other people are in talks for roles, too: Julie Bowen, Connie Britton, Jennifer Morrison, Rebecca Mader and Titus Welliver. Bill Guttentag directs and co-wrote the script with Chris Lehane; the film will shoot next month in San Francisco, and a release is planned for October 2012, timed around the next US Presidential election.
Before Knife Fight makes it to theaters, Jamie Chung will be in Premium Rush, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and was written and directed by David Koepp. [Variety]
After the break, Oz: The Great and Powerful and American Reunion get minor additions. Read More »
Briefly: In February we talked about how the start of the summer movie season has essentially been pulled back from Memorial Day weekend to early March. Next year continues that trend as March 2012 is packed with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, John Carter, The Hunger Games, Clash of the Titans 2 and now Relativity’s Snow White film. Disney looks like it wants to continue the early summer trend in 2013, as the studio has just dated Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful for March 8, 2013. Read More »
Seth McFarlane has already built a television empire and he’s about to do the same thing at the multiplex. He’s currently shooting Ted, an R-rated comedy about a man whose Christmas present from the 1970s, a talking teddy bear, comes to life and achieves fame as a foul-mouthed womanizer. Mark Wahlberg is the lead, Mila Kunis is his girlfriend and McFarlane himself will play the bear in full motion capture. Scheduled for release July 13, 2012, Ted also stars Joel McHale, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Warburton and more.
And while we already know the basic plot, a scooper over at Flixist has uncovered a few details that aren’t necessarily major, but give a great idea of where McFarlane is going with this. These should be considered spoilers. And completely mental. Read More »
Director Sam Raimi is assembling quite the cast for his Wizard of Oz prequel Oz The Great and Powerful. First he locked up James Franco to play a traveling salesman who finds himself in the magical land, then he cast Franco’s Date Night co-star Mila Kunis as the impressionable young witch Theadora, followed by Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz as her evil sister Evanora and now Variety reports that he’s cast Oscar nominee Michelle Williams as Glinda, the good sister who, along with Franco, battles for control of Oz against the brunette beauties. Read More »
Sam Raimi‘s semi-prequel to The Wizard of Oz has a villainess. Oz: The Great and Powerful already had James Franco set to play the man who becomes the wizard, and Mila Kunis as the witch Theodora. (Spelled ‘Theadora’ in today’s trade break.) That character has an evil sister, Evanora, and that is the role that Rachel Weisz is now negotiating to take. Read More »
Patrick Warburton, who will always be Puddy to some, and will always be The Tick to me, has been a part of Seth MacFarlane‘s show Family Guy since the beginning. So I’m surprised to see that it has taken so long for him to be cast in Ted, Mr. McFarlane’s live-action/CGI hybrid comedy in which Mark Wahlberg has to deal with the adult aftereffects of wishing his teddy bear to life. Read More »
Walking the Oscar red carpet last month, Mila Kunis was very wishy washy on whether or not she’d be co-starring with James Franco in director Sam Raimi‘s prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Oz, The Great and Powerful. She can now give a definitive answer. The Black Swan star will, in fact, star in the film, portraying Theodora, the youngest and most important of three witches battling for control of Oz. According to Variety, actresses such as Olivia Wilde, Amy Adams, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley and Rebecca Hall are being considered for the other two sisters. Read more about how those characters fit into the film and other fun stuff after the break. Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
