Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman Cast In Hesher
Posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Last year, we featured a beautiful zombie short film titled I Love Sarah Jane. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out right now. It was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and many regional film festivals around the world. And aside from being awesome, it is notable for featuring Mia Wasikowska, who has gone on to become Alice in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
Writer/director Spencer Susser has been working in commercials and music videos , but is finally making his first feature film, an indie dramedy titled Hesher starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman. Susser has been developing Hesher for the last four years, as well as a feature film adaptation of Sarah Jane (which I hope someday gets made). The film, co-written with David Michod, tells the story of a 13 year old boy named T.J..
Rainn Wilson and James Gunn Hawking New Superhero Script
Posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Some little bird tells me that PG Pornocrat and Slither-meister James Gunn is going out to “indie producers” with the script for a new superhero project. The same little bird also reveals that Rainn Wilson is attached to the script, and that the premise is something like an “f’ed up low rent Watchmen“. This little bird - as has become increasingly common this last two months or so - is the little Twitter bird. Oh, how he sings and sings and sings.
Last night, Rainn Wilson tweeted some details of the script not once, but twice. I’ve just grabbed a screen cap for you, and put it below the break with some more details.
Michael Bay revealed a couple new details in an interview with the New Jersey Times. The story picks up with Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) visiting Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) at a fictional East Coast school with an Ivy League feel. Apparently Banes didn’t have enough money to go to college and was left behind in Los Angeles. And while the first movie was about a boy and his first car, Bay says that the new movie “is all about Sam growing up and going to college … a teenager growing into a man.” Rainn Wilson was spotted on set the same day that they were shooting a scene where Sam is late to his Astronomy 101 class, which might mean that Wilson is Witwicky’s Astronomy professor. Photo to the right thanks to TLive.
Josh Duhamel who played Captain Lennox in the original film tells Empire Magazine that the biggest change in the sequel is “who [Lennox is] working with “, emphasizing the “Who he’s working with.” This seems to confirm speculation that the Autobots might have to form an alliance with the Decepticons to fight something bigger. Could those rumors about Fallen actually be true?
And for those wondering, the cool “Revenge is Coming… 2009” set-up pictured at the top of this post (thanks to KD), was on display at The My Little Pony Fair 2008 (who knew?), which took place at Hasbro, Inc.’s Providence, Rhode Island headquarters last week.
LOL: The Many Faces of Rainn Wilson in Entertainment Weekly
Posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
In this weeks issue of Entertainment Weekly, Office star Rainn Wilson (The Rocker) did a photoshoot as Xena: Warrior Princess, MacGyver, Pauile Walnuts from The Sopranos and Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Check out the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly for the full photos. EW.com has a video from the Xena photoshoot.
Rainn Wilson has been cast in Michael Bay’s Transformers 2, and will be playing the part of a professor.
“I play a college professor,” he told MTV before jokingly adding, “that turns into a robot, and turns into a car.”
We got a tip earlier in the month that Bay and Company will be shooting some scenes at the University of Pennsylvania. And we know that Jonah Hill turned down the role of Sam Witwicky’s (Shia LaBeouf) college roommate. So it’s likely that Rainn will be playing Witwicky’s college professor, probably in an early segment of the story. Rainn claims he hasn’t even read the script yet, and that it’s only a cameo role.
The two new casting choices revealed thus far (Hill who ultimately decided not to do the film) definitely hint at a screenplay laced with comedy, like the original film.
School of Rock with teens instead of squirts equals this new trailer for The Rocker. Example: “You don’t ask your parents for permission to rock!” And if you watch closely Rainn Wilson (yes, veddy good on The Office) even begins to resemble Jack Black in SoR near the end.
There are some laffs here: fat guy hurricane’ing snot on a hot gal’s forehead (Superbad’s Emma Stone), noodle eating, Jeff Garlin off the bat…and Wilson sprinting is always funnay. There is dated lameness here: a band called ADD, creepy girl saying “Hello YouTube,” porn site password jokes in 2008, cliche “it’s about the music” confession, an unfunny recreation of 1988 (hard to do). Not appearing much, if at all, here, but on the plus side: Fred Armisen, Aziz Ansari, Jane Lynch. Hard to say if this Fox Atomic (ohai) comedy is going to connect or whimper off like a sappier Hot Rod. Who’s the audience, Office fans with bored nephews?
The Rocker opens nationwide on August 1st.
Discuss: What do you think of the trailer for The Rocker? Are soft-irony movies about white guys “rocking out!!!” still funny sans the already championed Anvil! The Story of Anvil?
Monsters vs. Aliens: New Photo and Cast Revealed
Posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
DreamWorks Animation has revealed the voice cast and released a new photo for their 2009 computer animated 3D film Monsters vs. Aliens.
Based on the horror comic Rex Havoc, the film attempts to reinvent the classic 1950’s monster B-movie starring Reese Witherspoon as Susan Murphy, a California girl who, on her wedding day, has the bad luck to be hit by a meteor, which causes her to grow to be 49 feet, 11½ inches tall. Captured by the military, she’s renamed Ginormica. The rest of the cast includes:
- Rainn Wilson - the evil alien Gallaxhar
- Hugh Laurie - Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.
- Seth Rogen - the jellylike B.O.B.
- Will Arnett - the half-ape, half-fish Missing Link
- Kiefer Sutherland - General W.R. Monger
- Stephen Colbert - The President
Sounds like an interesting concept, almost like a mainstream version of Grindhouse, but computer animated and in 3D. The voice cast also sounds very appealing. This will be Seth Rogen’s fourth turn as a computer animated character over the a period of just one year (Spiderwick, Horton, Kung Fu Panda).
Monsters vs. Aliens hits theaters on March 27th 2009.
Discuss: Is anyone interested in a computer animated 3D retro monster b-movie?
source: USA Today
Rainn Wilson’s Audition Tapes: Juno, Paranoid Park, I’m Not There, Diving Bell and A Mighty Heart
Posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
If you didn’t catch last Saturday’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, then you missed Rainn Wilson’s hilarious audition videos for the Best Feature nominees. Don’t worry, /Film has your back. Check them out below.
Juno:
Paranoid Park:
I’m Not There:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly:
A Mighty Heart:
First Look: The Rocker; Plus Two Negative Test Screening Reviews
Posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 by Peter Sciretta
Our friends at FilmSchoolRejects has a first look at Rainn Wilson in the upcoming Fox Atomic film The Rocker. Too bad the movie is gonna suck. I recently came across two reader submitted test screening reviews of the film, and sadly, prospects don’t look good:
This review is from “Ralphie”:
“Not very good. Think of it this way, it was School of Rock with the story of Kickin’ it Old Skool’. The beginning of it seemed so promising and then turned into a horribly plot comeback movie. Rainn Wilson had the Dwight, from the office, comedy but it seemed to show up the wrong places. Christina Applegate is seen about 10 minutes in the whole movie, and of course she plays the love interest in the movie with Rain Wilson but the plot completely fails in showing any of the relationship growing in between them. Rainn Wilson has a few one liners and there were 1 or 2 funny scenes but that is all to be expected out of this movie. If you dont get to see this movie you are seriously not missing out on anything.”
This review is from “Old Blue”:
“It has a few funny moments, almost not enough to really call a comedy. This was basically a little kid movie. and the plot was like nearly straight out of school of rock, but minus the school. Will Arnett plays the singer of the 80s band and hes kick ass, but there arent too many high points about the film. through the movie there are like 2 love interest lines and none of them are developed, the movie almost lacks focus. while its definitely a come back story for rainn wilson there is little else that drives the plot and every bump in the road is a very minor one. Also the kid appears to be a metal fan but writes these lame post punk, pop/emo songs. I mean for that kind of stuff the music wasn’t really that bad. But the band opposes 80s hair metal and i dont know, seems very mis matched. A movie for like 13 year olds.”
Official Plot Synopsis: The Rocker tells the story of a failed drummer who is given a second chance at fame. Robert “Fish” Fishman is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n’ roll dream until he is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. Twenty years after his rock star fantasies are destroyed, just when Fish has finally given up all hope, he hears that his nephew’s high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer. They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band, giving him a chance to reclaim the rock God throne he’s always thought he deserved, and taking the young band along for the ride of their lives. Also staring Christina Applegate, Emma Stone, Teddy Geiger and Josh Gad.
The Rocker will hit theaters in 2008.
