Summit Entertainment has announced a release date for the comic book adaptation Red. The espionage thriller starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren will hit theaters on October 22nd 2010, up against SAW VII and Antoine Fuqua’s crime thriller Prisoners.
Morgan Freeman makes a great authority figure. His warm but rumbling voice, piercing eyes and increasingly snowy hair lend him all the essential qualities of command. No surprise that he is so often cast as a military officer, the president of various nations, and even God. (Where does he go after that? Galactus, maybe?)
What we really need is a diagram that clearly illustrates the many roles Freeman has played, and how they relate to one another in terms of authoritative presence. Oh, you say there is one? Indeed there is, and it is brilliant. Check it out after the break. Read More »
The first reviews of Clint Eastwood’s new film Invictus have begun to appear online. The story tells the “inspiring true story” of how the newly elected President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s underdog rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match, to help unite their country. But will Invictus be in the running come awards season? Lets take a look at some quotes from the first reviews.
The Hollywood Reporter: “A temperate, evenhanded perhaps overly timid film about an intemperate time in South Africa.” … “for those who do buy tickets, it will be a pleasure for them to encounter a movie that’s actually about something.” … “It’s a film about a nation’s psyche, not its individuals. Where you would love a vigorous portrayal of two larger-than-life personalities, the film tiptoes through polite scenes where everyone speaks and acts with political correctness.” … “The game scenes are skillfully done — the sound of the body hits lets you know why rugby is an orthopedist’s delight. CGI shots and other effects seamlessly fill the stands with thousands and convert contemporary South African locations back 14 years.”
More after the jump.
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Posted on Friday, November 13th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
There are a great many comic books being adapted to film these days, and it’s easy to get lost as you wade through the sea of adaptations, potential projects and also-ran efforts. But a good cast will get and keep my attention every time, and the lineup for Red, Robert Schwentke’s adaptation of the Warren Ellis-penned comic book. The cast was already stellar, and now a few more excellent names have been added. Ernest fucking Borgnine? That’s crazy! He’s 92! Read More »
Posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Here are your casting notes for the morning before Page 2 hits. Katie Holmes is on an upswing and Morgan Freeman gets into comedy. I’d love to see him do a lot more comedy, so long as it’s not along the lines of Bruce Almighty, and hopefully this new R-rated project would do the trick. Read More »
Warner Bros has released the first trailer for Clint Eastwood’s new film Invictus, which tells the “inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country.” Matt Damon plays Pienaar, and Morgan Freeman plays Mandela.
Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.
Invictus looks like it will definitely be in the running come awards season, which shouldn’t be a surprise, especially considering the track record of the modern-era Eastwood’s films. Watch the trailer embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Morgan Freeman is in talks to star alongside Bruce Willis in a big screen adaptation of Warren Ellis’ Wildstorm comic book Red for Summit Entertainment.
Posted on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
Photos have surfaced from the set of The Human Factor, the Nelson Mandella biopic directed by Clint Eastwood that is currently shooting on location in South Africa. The pics show co-star Matt Damon outfitted as Francois Pienaar, captain of the 1995 South African rugby team that took the World Cup and “capped Mandela’s miraculous 10-year effort to bring 43 million South Africans together in an enduring bond.” Morgan Freeman, who is co-producing with Eastwood, will play Mandella primarily during the years following his 23-year imprisonment, in which he served a term as president after the fall of apartheid. Set for release in December, the film is based on the book Playing the Enemy by John Carlin. Photos via TB&U. One more after the jump.
Also of note, Eastwood’s previous directorial effort (and possibly his last as an actor), 2008’s Gran Torino, continues to hold at the box office in lieu of being blatantly shut-out of the Academy Awards and dividing /Film’s staff. As of yesterday, it has taken in a massive $142 million plus, the biggest domestic gross of his career.
Posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
David Fincher has been trying to get Rendezvous With Rama off the ground for some time now. Arthur C. Clarke’s 1972 novel is set in the 22nd century, a group of human explorers, who intercept a thirty-mile-long cylindrical alien starship that passes through Earth’s solar system, and attempt to unlock its mysteries. Last we heard the Zodiac director was still waiting on a script, with preliminary plans to shoot the film using performance-capture. Our friends at First Showing got a chance to speak with Fincher over the weekend, and the director confirmed that the project will probably never happen.
“It looks like it’s not going to happen. There’s no script and as you know, [Morgan Freeman's] not in the best of health right now,” admitted Fincher. “We’ve been trying to do it but it’s probably not going to happen.”
This is unfortunate. I think I speak for everyone in saying that the idea of Fincher making a Sci-Fi movie should induce geekgasms. And I’m talking about a science fiction film where he has full control, unlike Alien 3. The plot however never fully intrigued me, and without Fincher or someone on his level involved, I’m not sure I care to see it on the big screen. I mean, who exactly wants to see Paul WS Anderson’s version of 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
When Morgan Freeman got into a car accident, the blogosphere was declaring The Dark Knight a cursed film. When Issac Hayes died immediately after Bernie Mac, some observed that Samuel L Jackson might be next due to the trio’s connection through the upcoming movie Soul Men. I don’t think anyone actually believes in these things, do they?
Now Defamer is declaring The Curse of Billy Bob Thornton. The latest death watch conspiracy theory involves the many co-stars of Thornton who have have suffered death, injury or sickness. John Ritter, Bernie Mac, J.T. Walsh, and Heath Ledger all died prematurely. Morgan Freeman and Shia LaBeouf both suffered car accidents, and Patrick Swayze got diagnosed with cancer. And there is also Jim Varney, best known for his character Ernest, whose final film before he died was Thorton’s Daddy and Them.
And while we’re at it, something tells me Kevin Bacon could be connected to any of these people within three degrees…
