Ryan Reynolds has played two of the most popular contemporary comic book heroes in Green Lantern and Deadpool (sorry, Hannibal King fans but he does not count as “popular”), and if you thought his next big role would be as another, then you’d be wrong. Instead he’ll play a character that has an even bigger fanbase and superpowers of his own, the little electric yellow rodent we all know as Pikachu.
Reynolds will be the lead voice in Detective Pikachu, Legendary Entertainment’s live-action film about the sleuthing pocket monster. It’s based on the video game series which has only been released in Japan. Rob Letterman (Goosebumps) is directing, with Justice Smith (The Get Down) and Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) already part of the cast.
How long before we can get a Deadpool/Pikachu crossover? I can see them both now, battling it out in their deerstalker hats. [THR]
The best way to get beyond the bad news of having to fire your director from a major film, is to simply replace him and move on. And that’s what 20th Century Fox has done by hiring Eddie the Eagle‘s Dexter Fletcher to replace Bryan Singer on Bohemian Rhapsody, just a couple of days after the latter was canned.
This all started last week when we learned production on Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic that stars Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, had been halted due to Singer’s absence following Thanksgiving break. It was a couple of days later that Fox, following what had been a pattern of unexplained absences by Singer, decided to part ways with him. Reports surfaced that Malek had argued with him over the unprofessional conduct, which included being gone so often that the cinematographer had to fill-in as director. Singer has refuted these reports, saying he needed the time away to tend to a family illness.
Whatever the case, Singer’s out and Fletcher is in. I joked that they would call Ron Howard but Fletcher isn’t much different. He’s not a filmmaker who has a signature style that would clash with Singer’s, but he’s a professional and will be there on set when he’s supposed to be. That has to count for something. Interestingly, this is sort of a reunion for Fletcher who was the original director attached to the project back when Ben Whishaw was briefly on board. The whole thing fell apart over creative differences stemming from the film’s tone. The band wanted it to be lighter and PG-13 rated, and I guess after helming the family-friendly Eddie the Eagle Fletcher feels he can give them that.
Following the tremendous response to Logan, director James Mangold has been busy lining up new projects. While he’s apparently working on an X-23 spinoff movie, when that could happen will largely depend on his schedule that is getting more crowded by the week. And now he’s added one more that will definitely be a priority because of the big star attached.
Mangold will direct a movie about kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, with Elle Fanning set to star. The film will document Hearst’s 1974 abduction by the Symbionese Liberation Army, only for her to turn around and join the group that had been holding her captive. The film is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book, “American Heiress”.
No word on when this will shoot but you can bet Fox 2000 will want to move quickly on this with a busy star like Fanning on board. [THR]
I’m not sure we actually need a new Ocean’s 11 movie of any kind. The prior trilogy, which was full of dudes plus Julia Roberts and the occasional Catherine Zeta-Jones, was fine for its time and the first one actually holds up pretty well. Can’t say the same for the sequels that followed. But it turns out that with everything going on in Hollywood right now, Sandra Bullock’s Ocean’s 8 may be arriving at exactly the right time, and she knows it.
EW has released a new image featuring Bullock as Debbie Ocean, the thieving sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean, along with co-stars Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, and rapper Awkwafina. Missing from this shot is Anne Hathaway, but since she’s already played renowned cat burglar Catwoman she can afford to take some time off.
While this image is pretty cool, what’s even better is Bullock’s attitude about the whole thing. Last year the female-led Ghostbusters film faced a ton of backlash from sexist guys who couldn’t accept women rebooting the classic comedy. They put the cast through a social media crucible like nothing we’ve ever seen, and Bullock practically dares for the same thing to happen to her or her co-stars…
“They did put them through hell. And I’m still trying to figure out why. Forget what the final product was! There were four or five of the most talented comediennes in that film. Everyone should’ve just taken a breath and said, “let’s see what happens.” It doesn’t take just five people to make a movie. It’s pretty much like around 300. So I keep reminding everybody, if you hate my film remember there’s another 299 people all around me. We’re not a reboot. We’re just a this is what’s happening in 2017. It’s not even a passing of the torch. It’s a parallel story of another family member that was raised in the same family Danny Ocean was and what happens when Debbie steps out of jail with all of these amazing, powerful women.”
Bullock admits they’ve already taken some heat, but she isn’t scared…
“We got some but boy, I mean, I’ll tell you, we’ve got some feisty women that will fight right back. It’s like, let’s just take a breath and let’s just see if we come up with something fun. There should be a moratorium. There should be a rule, you’re not allowed to say anything nasty until after it comes out. Obviously that’s never going to happen.”
Nope, probably not. I can’t help but wonder how Ghostbusters would do if it came out now rather than a year ago. It might have fared a bit better. Hopefully Ocean’s 8 won’t get dragged down by a bunch of insecure dudes when it opens next year on June 8th.
Like clockwork you can count on a new Woody Allen movie every year. That’s fine. Plenty of directors do only one movie a year; the difference is that Allen is a legend who has been coasting by telling the same story for decades. Sure, he dresses them up differently; sometimes he sets them in France, sometimes he has one of the characters be a con artist, and sometimes, like in the middling Wonder Wheel, he uses a Coney Island amusement park as the background.
In this case, the 1950s Coney Island setting makes for one of Allen’s most evocative, with cinematographer Vittorio Storaro capturing the nostalgia of the era. You can practically feel the weightless freedom of the Ferris wheel, smell the stale popcorn and hot dogs, as Vittorio’s images enrapture with warm oranges and reds, occasionally shifting into darker hues to match the fatalistic tendencies of the story’s tragic characters. And they are all tragic in their own way, which seems to be the point of Allen’s melodrama; the director clearly in a mood to try and recapture the dark magic of Crimes and Misdemeanors but skewing closer to the serviceable Match Point.
To be fair, I think Allen is best when his mood is sour like this, but Wonder Wheel still feels like too much of a retread to get a pass. In the first 30 seconds I wanted to shut it off outright, as lifeguard/narrator Mickey Rubin (Justin Timberlake, super miscast) tells us he has “aspirations of being a great writer”. Ugh, really? He’s a classic Allen trope character; pretentious, stereotypically charming, and forgettable. Because he fancies himself a playwright he looks for the tragic flaw in everyone he meets, which means we too will be told exactly what is wrong with them, rather than allowing the actors to show us. If Mickey is a classic Allen trope, he’s responsible for carrying on a classic Allen fail.
The story’s actual focus belongs to Ginny, played by the wonderful Kate Winslet in a performance that is better than the script allows for. A former actress now a waitress working a the carnival’s fish shack, she’s stuck in a loveless marriage to a hump appropriately named Humpty (Jim Belushi), with who she has a fire-starting son (Jack Gore). So life isn’t good, but she finds fleeting moments of happiness in the affair she’s carrying on with Mickey, who naturally analyzes the Hell out of this adulterous situation for us. Yeah, that’s passionate. The walls start closing in on Ginny with the arrival of Humpty’s estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple, beneath her), a sexy, spunky little number who drives the men wild, including Mickey.
Oh, and Carolina has mobsters (including Paulie Walnuts!!!) chasing after her.
Gangsters, adultery, arson, it all makes for a Shakespearean level tragedy minus the pathos or the character development to make much of an emotional impact. Allen gives his characters a lot of things to say but not much to actually do, and while that’s okay if we don’t get to see much of Belushi it’s a crime with Winslet. She alone gives us a character worth sympathizing with, as Ginny, despite her indiscretions, is simply a woman who wants more than the meager life she’s stuck in. In her desperation for excitement she’s made missteps, and Allen at first seems to sympathize with her situation, too. But no, he instead spends the bulk of the film obsessing over her age, and emphasizing every way in which she is wrong. It’s not something you ever see him do with the plethora of male characters put in similar situations.
Allen hits on the “tragic flaw” theme so hard he doesn’t realize his own failings, up to and including parallels to his own personal life. Without giving too much away, there comes a point when Mickey, who finds himself the prize in a battle of the heart between Ginny and Carolina, is forced to make a decision. In doing so he practically quotes Allen during his public apology for pursuing his then-stepdaughter Soon-Yi, “The heart wants what it wants”. Poor Mickey. Screw you, Ginny, for ruining everything, but that Mickey guy…man, can’t believe he was put in such a predicament. He had no say in the matter, the heart wants what it wants.
You can watch Wonder Wheel and never think for a second about Allen’s problematic perspective, but still find it to be an underwhelming film. I keep thinking at some point Allen will put all of the pieces together again and deliver one final classic. But even here, with a terrific lead performance by Winslet and beautifully effective cinematography, Allen ended up being his own worst enemy.
Disney just can’t quit Rob Marshall, can they? The director has already directed three movies for the Mouse House: Into the Woods, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and he’s currently wrapping up on Mary Poppins Returns. But that simply isn’t enough, so now he’s been offered to direct Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Yeah, Marshall’s a pretty boring and obvious choice, but he’s made Disney a lot of money so it’s easy to see why they love him. The film should be a musical right up Marshall’s alley with music from Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda and the legendary Alan Merken. The good news is that Disney is clearly happy with Marshall’s work on Mary Poppins Returns, which means it should make quite a splash when it arrives next holiday season.
On the other hand, Universal has their own live-action adaptation in the works…somewhere, and it sounds like they’re willing to push a few boundaries with the underwater tale. Sophia Coppola had been eyed to direct with Chloe Moretz as Ariel. But that one has sunken “under the sea” and may never come up to air. You can bet Disney won’t let the same thing happen to them. [Deadline]
Y’know that forever-developing John Gotti biopic John Travolta’s been working on? The one that used to be called Gotti: Three Generations and had Joe Pesci attached a lifetime ago? Well, just 10 days before it was finally to hit theaters, Lionsgate has cancelled the release, dropping it from their slate completely and selling it back to the original producers.
So what’s up? While initial reports painted a bleak picture for the project, Travolta took to Deadline to reveal his version of truth. Upset over the tiny platform release Lionsgate had planned, Travolta teamed up with producer Edward Walson, one of the guys behind Cafe Society and Wonder Wheel, to pursue other distribution options. Travolta no doubt sees this as a potential award-winning role for him as the infamous Gambino crime boss, and will want to position it for an appropriate wide release date in 2018.
Gotti is directed by Kevin Connolly, yes the guy from Entourage, and co-stars Kelly Preston, Stacy Keah, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Ella Bleu Travolta, and Spencer Lofranco.
Filming on The Crow Reborn finally seems to be happening. It only took about a decade of fits and starts, castings, firings, and legal messiness before Jason Momoa came on to star and Corin Hardy to direct. But not everybody is happy that it’s finally getting off the ground. Alex Proyas, who directed Brandon Lee in the cult favorite 1994 film, the one where the actor was tragically killed in a freak accident, thinks it’s a very bad idea.
Proyas’ took to Facebook and revealed why he thinks this reboot is a terrible idea, and you won’t be surprised to learn it has to do with Lee and the final performance of the young man’s short career. Here is just a small part of what he had to say…
“ ’The Crow’ would not be a movie worth ‘remaking’ if it wasn’t for Brandon Lee. If it wasn’t for Brandon you may never have even heard of this poignant little underground comic. It is Brandon’s movie. I believe it is a special case where Hollywood should just let it remain a testament to a man’s immense talent and ultimate sacrifice – and not have others re-write that story or add to it. I know sequels were made, and TV shows, and what have you, but the notion of ‘rebooting’ this story, and the original character – a character Brandon gave life to at too high a cost – seems wrong to me. Please let this remain Brandon’s film.”
You can see why Proyas would feel this way. Brandon Lee’s death on a movie he was directing must still haunt him all of these years later. But this is the age of blockbuster franchises and The Crow is a relatively well-known property and that means it can’t lay dormant for long. Hopefully this new version finds a way to honor Lee and do his memory proud.
Step right up, folks! We’re offering our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum. The film also stars Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Zac Efron, and Rebecca Ferguson.
SYNOPSIS: “The Greatest Showman” is a bold and original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and the sense of wonder we feel when dreams come to life. Inspired by the ambition and imagination of P.T. Barnum, “The Greatest Showman” tells the story of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerizing spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. “The Greatest Showman” is directed by exciting new filmmaker, Michael Gracey, with songs by Academy Award® winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) and starring Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman. Jackman is joined by Zac Efron, Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya.
Note the start time, because this screening takes place on Sunday, December 10th at 10AM at AMC Hoffman Center in Alexandria, VA. If you’d like to attend, simply register at the Gofobo ticketing site here and download one Admit-Two pass. Please remember that having tickets does not guarantee entry as all screenings are first come first served. You’ll need to arrive early to ensure receiving a seat. Enjoy the show!
Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water has been a consistent presence in the awards so far this season, but it has REALLY struck a chord with the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The group, which I am a proud member of, has honored Del Toro’s film with a whopping 14 Critics Choice Awards nominations.
Del Toro’s dark fairy tale dominated the acting and technical categories, earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress for Sally Hawkins, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Surprising are the nominations that went to Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins, which could be a sign of things to come. The Post, Dunkirk, Lady Bird, and Call Me By Your Name tied for a distant second with eight nominations. In a disappointing swerve, The Florida Project only finished with three nominations, and somehow, SOMEHOW, Mudbound was blanked for Best Picture. How is that possible?
In the BFCA we do things a little bit differently. Ironically, although we are a bunch of critics our choices tend to be more populist. So you get Daniel Kaluuya in the Best Actor category for Get Out, Patrick Stewart in the Best Supporting Actor field for Logan, and separate categories for action movies, sci-fi, and comedies where you’ll find Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman, and more.
Full list of nominees, including TV, are below. The Critics Choice Awards will be announced on January 11th 2018.
BEST PICTURE
The Big Sick
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Florida Project
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
BEST ACTOR
Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
James Franco – The Disaster Artist
Jake Gyllenhaal – Stronger
Tom Hanks – The Post
Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out
Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game
Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
Meryl Streep – The Post
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe – The Florida Project
Armie Hammer – Call Me By Your Name
Richard Jenkins – The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Patrick Stewart – Logan
Michael Stuhlbarg – Call Me by Your Name
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige – Mudbound
Hong Chau – Downsizing
Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip
Holly Hunter – The Big Sick
Allison Janney – I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer – The Shape of Water
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Mckenna Grace – Gifted
Dafne Keen – Logan
Brooklynn Prince – The Florida Project
Millicent Simmonds – Wonderstruck
Jacob Tremblay – Wonder
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Dunkirk
Lady Bird
Mudbound
The Post
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
BEST DIRECTOR
Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water
Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk
Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name
Jordan Peele – Get Out
Steven Spielberg – The Post
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor – The Shape of Water
Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer – The Post
Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Jordan Peele – Get Out
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
James Ivory – Call Me by Your Name
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber – The Disaster Artist
Dee Rees and Virgil Williams – Mudbound
Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game
Jack Thorne, Steve Conrad, Stephen Chbosky – Wonder
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins – Blade Runner 2049
Hoyte van Hoytema – Dunkirk
Dan Laustsen – The Shape of Water
Rachel Morrison – Mudbound
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Call Me By Your Name
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, Jeff Melvin – The Shape of Water
Jim Clay, Rebecca Alleway – Murder on the Orient Express
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis – Dunkirk
Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola – Blade Runner 2049
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer – Beauty and the Beast
Mark Tildesley, Véronique Melery – Phantom Thread
BEST EDITING
Michael Kahn, Sarah Broshar – The Post
Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos – Baby Driver
Lee Smith – Dunkirk
Joe Walker – Blade Runner 2049
Sidney Wolinsky – The Shape of Water
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Renée April – Blade Runner 2049
Mark Bridges – Phantom Thread
Jacqueline Durran – Beauty and the Beast
Lindy Hemming – Wonder Woman
Luis Sequeira – The Shape of Water
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Wonder
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Thor: Ragnarok
War for the Planet of the Apes
Wonder Woman
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Breadwinner
Coco
Despicable Me 3
The LEGO Batman Movie
Loving Vincent
BEST ACTION MOVIE
Baby Driver
Logan
Thor: Ragnarok
War for the Planet of the Apes
Wonder Woman
BEST COMEDY
The Big Sick
The Disaster Artist
Girls Trip
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Steve Carell – Battle of the Sexes
James Franco – The Disaster Artist
Chris Hemsworth – Thor: Ragnarok
Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick
Adam Sandler – The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip
Zoe Kazan – The Big Sick
Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
Emma Stone – Battle of the Sexes
BEST SCI-FI OR HORROR MOVIE
Blade Runner 2049
Get Out
It
The Shape of Water
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
A Fantastic Woman
First They Killed My Father
In the Fade
The Square
Thelma
BEST SONG
Evermore – Beauty and the Beast
Mystery of Love – Call Me By Your Name
Remember Me – Coco
Stand Up for Something – Marshall
This Is Me – The Greatest Showman
BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Shape of Water
Jonny Greenwood – Phantom Thread
Dario Marianelli – Darkest Hour
Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer – Blade Runner 2049
John Williams – The Post
Hans Zimmer – Dunkirk
TELEVISION NOMINATIONS FOR THE 23rd ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS
Best Drama Series
American Gods (Starz)
The Crown (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
This Is Us (NBC)
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)
Paul Giamatti – Billions (Showtime)
Freddie Highmore – Bates Motel (A&E)
Ian McShane – American Gods (Starz)
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul (AMC)
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan (Showtime)
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Caitriona Balfe – Outlander (Starz)
Christine Baranski – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Claire Foy – The Crown (Netflix)
Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black (BBC America)
Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Robin Wright – House of Cards (Netflix)
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Bobby Cannavale – Mr. Robot (USA)
Asia Kate Dillon – Billions (Showtime)
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones (HBO)
David Harbour – Stranger Things (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Michael McKean – Better Call Saul (AMC)
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gillian Anderson – American Gods (Starz)
Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones (HBO)
Ann Dowd – The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Cush Jumbo – The Good Fight (CBS All Access)
Margo Martindale – Sneaky Pete (Amazon)
Chrissy Metz – This Is Us (NBC)
Best Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Black-ish (ABC)
GLOW (Netflix)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Modern Family (ABC)
Patriot (Amazon)
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson – Black-ish (ABC)
Aziz Ansari – Master of None (Netflix)
Hank Azaria – Brockmire (IFC)
Ted Danson – The Good Place (NBC)
Thomas Middleditch – Silicon Valley (HBO)
Randall Park – Fresh Off the Boat (ABC)
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristen Bell – The Good Place (NBC)
Alison Brie – GLOW (Netflix)
Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
