The DreamWorks Animation film Megamind has gone through few changes: last fall Robert Downey, Jr. dropped out as the lead of the voice cast, and was replaced by Will Ferrell. Then the film got a new title when the original OoberMind was changed to the current Megamind. When Peter reported that change he said the film was sounding “more and more DreamWorks-like,” which isn’t such a good thing. Now there is a teaser, and I have to agree. Check it after the break. Read More »
Posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 by Russ Fischer
Atonement director Joe Wright is assembling the key cast for his teen assassin film Hanna, which already has Saoirse Ronan as the female lead. Now the movie that Brendon called “a kind of Nikita-meets-Leon, Kick-Ass-meets-Bourne mash-up” has a male lead: Eric Bana will play (I’m assuming) Hanna’s father, who has spent most of the girl’s fourteen years training her to be a killer.
The film shoots in March with Wright directing from a script by Seth Lochhead. [Variety]
After the break, Ed Helms finds yet another comedy; this time, it’s the directorial debut of writer Etan Cohen. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 by Russ Fischer
Not a lot of cast announcements this week, as Sundance has a great deal of Hollywood on hold. But there’s one big story and a handful of small ones to report. The big one is that Will Ferrell is reportedly going to star in a remake of I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single. That’s a French film from 2006, and in this version Ferrell would play “a 40-something bachelor whose seven sisters and mom try to force him to get married, prompting him to ask a friend’s sister to leave him at the altar so that everyone will leave him alone.” No writer or director is yet on board. [Pajiba]
After the break, new projects for Jay Mohr, Mandy Moore and Kellan Lutz. Read More »
Posted on Saturday, January 16th, 2010 by Hunter Stephenson
In recent times, Adam Scott has sparkled in pop-culture for two masterful performances as manicured, modern cornholios in the Will Ferrell-endorsed comedies Step Brothers and Eastbound & Down. In the former, his character coached an obnoxious wife and kids in a caravan acapella of “Sweet Child of Mine,” while faithfully rocking a Bluetooth headset. In the latter, Scott was a delusional assistant to an assistant of a Major League Baseball team who brags to Kenny Powers that his black AmEx can purchase fellatio from the Jonas Brothers. Ironically, Scott’s character proceeds to offer sex—even with “the kids”—to recruit Powers, a karma-deal that snorts the iconic wind from Powers’s mulleted sails.
On Party Down, one of the strongest and most left-field cable series to debut last year, Scott has managed to be just as funny and biting as the lead amongst a stellar ensemble cast. His character, Henry Pollard, is an out-of-work actor riding out his prime and the recession as an L.A. caterer, a role fleshed out with drama, depression and romance. But I was still surprised to see Scott’s performance in the upcoming indie, The Vicious Kind, which recently earned him an Independent Spirit Awards nom for Best Male Lead. He’s in serious company with Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth for playing a construction worked named Caleb Sinclaire. A self-righteous, aimless man with an estranged father (J.K. Simmons) and a misogynistic albeit amusingly bleak worldview, Caleb sinks to new lows in making a hate-play on his innocent brother’s weary girlfriend (Brittany Snow).
Posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Last night it was announced that Dreamworks Animation had signed a deal with video game company THQ. In the press release, a new name was listed for the upcoming 2010 superhero comedy Oobermind. The new title will be MegaMind, which off the bat is not only a lot easier to say, but gets the point across quicker. The original working title for the film was Master Mind. In August, Robert Downey Jr had dropped out of the project, and was replaced by Will Ferrell. DWA’s supossed answer to The Incredibles is sounding more and more Dreamworks-like every day, and that’s not a good thing.
Posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Consider this a follow up of sorts to our recent piece on the death of the movie star: Forbes has compiled a list of the top ten overpaid stars in Hollywood. Topping the list is Will Ferrel—who has had a string of box office duds lately (Land of the Lost’s failure comes to mind), yet still commands a high salary. According to Forbes, Ferrell’s films earn an average of $3.29 for every dollar he was paid. Compare that to Forbes’ most bankable star, Shia Lebeouf, whose movies make an average of $160 for every dollar of his compensation.
Posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
Will Ferrell is set to star in a $10 million independent dramedy, Everything Must Go, based on a work by renown, late short story author Raymond Carver entitled “Why Don’t You Dance.” The project marks the feature debut of newcomer Dan Rush, a former commercials director whose screenplay for Everything was included on last year’s insidery Black List. Ferrell will play “a relapsed alcoholic” who loses his job, and naturally, his wife gives the heave-hoe too, leaving the character to launch a four-day yard sale on their lawn. The character’s main objective: generating quick beer money.
Unofficial photos have evidently leaked from the Big Apple set of Adam McKay’s The Other Guys. As First Showing notes, these might as well be premature studio-approved stills from the action comedy, which just began filming and is due late summer 2010. Missing from the pics are new recruits Sam Jackson and Dwayne “Tooth Fairy” Johnson as the badass cops to Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg’s desk-assigned officers. I expected the latter duo to look goofier and less kempt—no vintage Panama City t-shirts?—but the style is in line with what McKay has called a less surreal tone when compared to his classics, Anchorman and Step Brothers…
Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
The ensemble cast for The Other Guys, the latest collaboration between funnymen pals Will Ferrell and writer/director Adam McKay, is of a higher-profile than on their previous flicks, sans Anchorman. Today brings news that Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “Tooth Fairy” Johnson will play stud “super cops” to the unfulfilled desk pigs played by Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Rob Riggle, and Craig Robinson. In addition, Brit comedy and Alan Patridge mastermind, Steve Coogan, will play the villain, automatically kicking the craziness up a notch. Last week we reported that Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, and a Wayans have mounted up for unspecified roles.
Posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Robert Downey Jr won’t be voicing the title character in DreamWorks Animation’s Oobermind after all. Variety reports that Will Ferrell has replaced Downey Jr. in DWA’s response to Pixar’s The Incredibles. No word on why Downey decided to drop out of the project. Aside from the story being a superhero satire, he was a large reason I was interested in the project, But to combat the bad news, DreamWorks has also revealed that Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill will also be providing voices for the project. Both names are not only typical casting decisions from DreamWorks Animation, but have both previously voiced characters for DWA features.
