Back in December we got word that David Cronenberg would in fact shoot The Talking Cure, an adaptation of the Christopher Hampton play about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that was floated as a possible Cronenberg project back in 2007. At the time, he seemed to have a fantastic cast lined up: Christoph Waltz as Freud, Michael Fassbender as Jung, and Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, the patient with whom both men have a relationship of sorts.
Now, sadly, Waltz has dropped out. But Cronenberg’s recent go-to actor, Viggo Mortensen, has stepped in to replace him. Read More »
Dimension and the Weinstein brothers will finally open John Hillcoat’s filmed version of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road on November 25. We’ve seen one trailer already, but that one was out back in May. Now there’s a new trailer just one month before the film opens. Check it out after the break. Read More »
John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen and Codi Smit-McPhee, is finally starting to be seen. The picture screened for some press in New York City earlier this week, and is now getting decidedly mixed critical notes out of the Venice Film Festival. Now five clips from the film are online, comprising about twelve minutes of footage. See them all after the break (if you just can’t wait for the film). Read More »
Dimension Films has finally released a movie trailer for John Hillcoat’s feature film adaption of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. Earlier this week Esquire Magazine published a review of the film, calling it “The Most Important Film of The Year.”
The film tells the story of a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit McPhee.) traveling through a desperate, post-apocalyptic world. The flap jacket on the book describes the setting as “burned America.”The film co-stars Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron, and Guy Pearce.
As expected, the trailer is really playing up the post-apocalyptic imagery and more genre/thriller elements. Watch the trailer after the jump and tell me what you think in the comments below.
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Esquire Magazine’s Tom Chiarella has posted the first review of John Hillcoat’s feature film adaption of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, and calls it “The most important movie of the year.” Here are a couple excerpts:
“The Road is no tease. It is a brilliantly directed adaptation of a beloved novel, a delicate and anachronistically loving look at the immodest and brutish end of us all. You want them to get there, you want them to get there, you want them to get there — and yet you do not want it, any of it, to end.”
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Dimension Films and 2929 Productions have finally announced that they will be releasing John Hillcoat’s adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel The Road, on October 16th 2009.
The film was originally set to debut during the 2008 Oscar season, but was supposedly pulled due to visual effects issues. Many speculated that the Weinsteins were starting to doubt the dark film’s award potential. Many had expected the film to be dumped in the first quarter dumping ground, but an October release shows that the studio still has some confidence in potential award consideration.
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Yeah yeah, we all wanted another killer gaping orifice movie. Celebrated director David Cronenberg is in talks to helm The Matarese Circle, a global conspiracy thriller based on the 1979 book by the late author Robert Ludlum (the Bourne franchise). Denzel Washington is already attached to play one of the leads in the MGM production, with an adapted screenplay to be written by the duo Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (3:10 to Yuma, Wanted, Wanted 2, CTK).
Set during the Cold War, the novel follows two rival spies—one U.S./CIA, the other a Soviet/KGB—who team to uncover and defeat a ruthless Illuminati-like organization called the Matarese that’s behind a century-old conspiracy to crush world governments. There’s also a “mysterious love interest.” Okay, this is where I’ll begin pasting…
“The spies share a genius for espionage—and a life of terror and explosive violence. Sworn enemies, they have vowed to terminate each other—yet now they must become allies.”
Though his name is not mentioned in the announcement or attached to the film, Cronenberg fave, Viggo Mortensen, told E! last month that they were discussing a possible third feature together. Is this it? Washington is signed to play the American, while an actor in the Soviet role was not given. In 2007’s Eastern Promises, Mortensen memorably played a Russian gangster/informant, which earned him an Oscar nod.
Though The Matarese Circle is poised from the get-go to reach a different box office level than Cronenberg’s previous works, it continues the director’s path away from hardcore genre classics like Videodrome, Scanners, Crash and The Fly. Over at CHUD, Devin pours out a bit of 40 oz. for those glory days, and even though seeing Cronenberg explore Alex Jones’s territory could be appealing, I dunno. I mean, did Denzel watch Dead Ringers and quip “my man“?
Discuss: Cronenberg’s Bourne? Thoughts from those who have read the book?
Uhhh: First Showing’s Alex Billington says he didn’t like A History of Violence or Eastern Promises and feels Cronenberg has fallen off. Enjoy Kirk Cameron’s filmography, Alex.
Source: Variety / Amazon
Four stark profile posters for Ed Harris’s revival Western, Appaloosa, have popped up at IMP Awards. The film reunites Harris with his A History of Violence co-star Viggo Mortensen for a tale of “two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.” The widow is played by Renee Zellweger, and the antagonist by Jeremy Irons, who seems like a inspired choice for this type of genre and setting.
Harris’s previous film, the 2001 biopic Pollock, garnered two Oscar noms including Best Actor for his performance. Opening this October, early buzz for Appaloosa from the TIFF is mixed, with disappointed comparisons to recent feted Westerns like The Proposition and 3:10 to Yuma. We’ve included the other two posters after the jump, as well as the original one-sheet released earlier this year. And for Western buffs, the film is an adaptation of Robert Parker’s novel, not a remake of Marlon Brando’s The Appaloosa (1966). Factoid: the title refers to a breed of horse.
Discuss: With this cast, where do you expect Appaloosa to fall in comparison to recent Westerns?
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Dimension Films has released new production photos for John Hillcoat’s upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Road in USA Today.
Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen, Academy Award winners Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and 12-year-old Kodi Smit McPhee star in the the story of a man (Mortensen) and his young son (Smit-McPhee) traveling through a desperate, post-apocalyptic world. The flap jacket on the book describes the setting as “burned America”.
“Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.”
And where do you find this post-apocalyptic burned America? In Pittsburgh of course. Hillcoat didn’t want to go the CGI route, and instead found abandoned coal fields, a deserted amusement park and an 8-mile stretch of closed freeway (some of which is seen above) in and around Pittsburgh. The photos look fanatically bleak.
The Road is scheduled to hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles in mid November and expand on November 26th 2008.
Guillermo del Toro will enter pre-production on the two-film big screen adaptation of The Hobbit after Hellboy II: The Golden Army hits theaters in July. Variety reports that Warner Bros has already had “preliminary contact” with three actors from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy about reprising their roles for the upcoming prequels:
- Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)
- Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
- Andy Serkis (Gollum).
Guillermo promises that he is doing everything in his power to bring all the original team back.
“We will all be involved in the script in some fashion but the exact definition is about a week away,” del Toro told the trades. “I am all for keeping the actors who originated the parts, as much as availability and their willingness will allow.”
Basically, del Toro knows he needs to please the fans, first and foremost. It should be noted that on May 24th, WETA will be hosting a one-hour live online chat with Jackson and del Toro to answer the 20 most asked fan questions/concerns. Smart move.
Previously
Serkis lists The Hobbit on his upcoming production calendar on his official website and last month McKellen confirmed to Empire Magazine that he will return.
“Yes, it’s true. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part, and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down; I loved playing Gandalf.”
No word on Ian Holm who played an older Bilbo Baggins in Fellowship, will likely be recast as he is getting too old (76) to play the part.
