Naming and perception can be everything. Say you're making a boxing movie, and people might be interested. Tell everyone you're making a film about Jake LaMotta, and there's instant name recognition. Tell people it is called Raging Bull II, and that recognition turns to scorn. Another LaMotta film is well and good, but hitching it…
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When it was revealed a movie called Raging Bull II was actually being made, most of us were just waiting for the lawsuit to happen. Then it did. The producers and owners of Martin Scorsese's 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull sued the Martin Guigui-directed, William Forsythe-starring picture, which was endorsed by the film's subject, boxer Jake…
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You might have wondered how Jake LaMotta and producers have the right to make a film named Raging Bull II, when no participant in the original film, save LaMotta, is involved. MGM started wondering the same thing, then checked back over the old contracts LaMotta signed with United Artists (now owned by MGM) when the…
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It's probably unfair to judge Raging Bull II -- which, yes, is really happening -- based only on these two early production stills. But stacked up against Martin Scorsese's original movie, which used a stark black and white aesthetic to brutal effect, these pics don't have a lot of juice, and that doesn't flatter the…
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What can I say? This one is happening, just as we feared it would. Martin Guigui (who?) is directing a hybrid prequel/sequel to Martin Scorsese's landmark 1980 boxing film Raging Bull. This one, Raging Bull II, was co-written by Guigui and Rustam Branaman, and stars William Forsythe as the older Jake LaMotta, and Mojean Aria…
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