While they’ve circled various projects since, Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg haven’t made a movie together since 2002’s Catch Me If You Can. That could be about to change, though, as Deadline reports they may collaborate on a movie about Civil War general and 18th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant.
The film would be an adaptation of Pultizer Prize winner Ron Chernow’s book, Grant, which attempts to put a positive spin on Grant’s military service and two terms as President. Chernow is an amazing writer, especially in the realm of political history. His book on Alexander Hamilton is recognized as a driving influence on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton musical. David James Kelly (Robin Hood, Logan) was hired to pen the screen adaptation.
Spielberg and DiCaprio are in talks to take on the film which is set up at Lionsgate and seen as a priority for the studio. It’s easy to see why, as they could have a potential Lincoln on their hands. That film actually included Jared Harris playing Grant in a very small role.
It’s all going to depend on working out the duo’s busy schedules. Spielberg has Indiana Jones 5 and a West Side Story remake coming up, while DiCaprio will star in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Jackie Chan has slowed down on the grueling stunts (Leave that shit for Tom Cruise to do) but he’s still out there cranking out action movies. The Hong Kong superstar stays busy stateside; he worked on The Lego Ninjago Movie, The Foreigner, and The Nut Job 2 domestically last year; but saves the most insane stuff for his home country. Such is definitely the case with the bonkers tech thriller, Bleeding Steel, which sounds like it should be one of Derek Zoolander’s famous “looks”.
I don’t know if anybody has played a heroic cop more than Chan, but he’s at it again in Bleeding Steel in which he squares off against a pissed off “super bio-warrior” played by Australian actor Callan Mulvey. I’d be pissed too if I looked like Patrick Stewart when part of the Borg collective.Yes, this is a Chinese/Australian co-production which makes for an interesting clash of styles. The action is clearly Hong Kong inspired and bordering on the surreal, while many of the locations are set in Sydney. You can spot the Sydney Opera House in one action sequence. There’s a lot of English dubbing, too, which is definitely a turn off if you’ve seen some of Chan’s recent domestic flicks.
The synopsis can do a better job of explaining the plot than I ever could: In an action-packed drama reminiscent of ’80s techno-sci-fi thrillers, Jackie Chan stars as Lin, a police inspector in modern Hong Kong. While tracking down a deranged, mecha-enhanced villain, Lin discovers that a geneticist’s lost bio-chemical invention has been surgically implanted into his missing daughter. With the help of a young hacker, Lin connects the dots between the device that haunts his daughter, his enemy’s sinister army, and a strange cultural phenomenon called Bleeding Steel.
Eh, alright. Directed by Leo Zhang, Bleeding Steel hits select theaters and VOD on July 6th.
If a superhero movie doesn’t have a post-credits scene, does it truly exist? Ever since Marvel began the craze a decade ago fans know that sticking around through every possible moment is a must, and that’s whether you’re watching a comic book movie from Marvel Studios, Warner Bros., or Fox. Obviously that includes Deadpool 2, and you may have already heard a little about how insane that one is (If you haven’t, read my review), but the writers had another idea that would have gone even further and featured an appearance by another Fox/Marvel veteran.
Speaking with Uproxx, Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick revealed they had a post-credits scene in mind that would have included Captain America himself, Chris Evans.
Wernick said, “There were different codas kicked around. There were more X-Force interviews that were talked about. One was Chris Evans as Human Torch.”
Ohhh yeah, Chris Evans had a career before he donned the red white and blue of the Avengers’ leader. He played Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch in a pair of underwhelming Fantastic Four movies for Fox. Evans fit the role perfectly at that point in his career, and I think it’s safe to say he was a high point for that franchise. Those movies aren’t as bad as they are often made out to be, either, but it was a different time with different expectations.
Anyway, it never came together because somebody chimed in with a better idea so Evans was never even asked. Reese adds, “No, no, we never got that far. Someone had the idea we actually did and we thought that was better. But we definitely had a lot more X-Force interviews with bizarre, random people coming in to interview.”
Hmmm…I’m dying to know about those X-Force interviews. Maybe on the Bluray release?
Lately there has been a lot of buzz about two Star Wars spinoffs that don’t even officially exist. Yesterday was Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy saying that a Lando Calrissian movie is “next”, which, honestly, may have just been her way of enticing more people to buy Solo: A Star Wars Story tickets, especially with Donald Glover at the top of his game right now. The other is the long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi film, and today it’s TMZ that has further details that border on a confirmation.
Except, of course, that it isn’t a confirmation. Nothing is official regardless of what they think they’ve found out. They say the previous rumor of Stephen Daldry (The Reader) directing is true, and a start date in London is being eyed for next spring. The film would be a direct prequel to A New Hope, with Obi-Wan on Tatooine watching over a young Luke until tensions rise between local farmers and a tribe of Sand People brings him out of hiding.
That sounds really…really…crappy. That’s Act I, right? And presumably this would mean Ewan McGregor back in the Jedi robes? He’s been open to returning and has aged just enough that he could slide back into the role pretty easily. No need to pull an Ehrenreich on this one.
Who knows if the report is even remotely accurate, but there’s nothing set in stone after Episode IX and it’s funny that so much is coming out about this movie all of the sudden. They need something for 2020, don’t they? Whatever projects Lucasfilm have in the pipeline by Rian Johnson and the Game of Thrones creators certainly won’t be ready.
Basically, we don’t know anything for certain, and anybody who says they do isn’t being honest. Nothing is certain until Lucasfilm lets us know, and they won’t until they’re good and ready.
Never having been in a book club before I’ve always assumed they weren’t really about reading books, but about finding one more reason to drink wine and gossip. My assumptions were proven accurate by the new rom-com for women of a certain age, Book Club, which features a gaggle of screen legends enjoying the grape’s benefits while chatting about their love lives. Like a slightly more hip (no broken hip jokes, please!) The Golden Girls, this fearsome foursome find laughs in their various romantic encounters inspired by that most literary of works, Fifty Shades of Grey.
If the thought of four older women getting hot ‘n bothered at the thought of Mr. Grey makes you queasy then chances are this isn’t your bag. But we are talking about Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen here; if they can’t sell this slightly raunchy trip into Nancy Meyers territory then nobody can. While the romance is strictly of the Sex and the City variety, it’s hard to escape the feeling that these ladies are just having a ball in one another’s rarified company. And I’m fairly sure that’s real chardonnay in those glasses, just sayin’.
Fonda plays Vivian, the group’s resident Blanche Devereau, a buxom and very wealthy hotelier who has spent her life free from commitment but not suitors. Diane Keaton is recent widower Diane (Hey, who’s gonna forget that?), who just wants to be left to live her life despite the objections of her helicopter daughters (Katie Aselton and Alicia Silverstone, both deserve better) who want her to move closer to them. Bergen is stiff-as-a-gavel federal judge Sharon, who has been reluctant to get back into the dating pool since her divorce years earlier. Steenburgen is the spring chicken of the bunch as Carol, a talented chef who still has the hots for her husband (Craig T. Nelson) after many years together, but lately can’t seem to get his motor running.
All four women are relatively happy but too comfortable, which is why the always-randy Vivian suggests they get acquainted with E.L. James’ bestseller that was written exactly for women like them. “We shouldn’t be doing this at our age”, one says, but of course it’s definitely what they should be doing to prove that it’s never too late to bring passion into your life. I’m not sure Fifty Shades is the best vehicle to discover that lesson, but over the course of reading the entire trilogy (Yes they make it through all three books!!!) they all begin to experience the finer things. And no, none of it involves BDSM, S&M, or even AARP. Diane gets a genuinely sweet romance with a handsome airline pilot (Andy Garcia), a bachelor looking to settle down with the right woman. Vivian reconnects with an old flame (Don Johnson) and tangles with some of the bad choices she made out of fear. Carol, after a predictable Viagra mishap, has to learn to appreciate her husband for more than sex.
The best stuff is saved for Bergen’s Sharon, who braves the rigors of modern technology and the online dating scene. Bergen remains a treasure, and her clumsy attempts to create a Bumble profile pic are hilarious. They get her back out there on the prowl and into the trousers of Richard Dreyfuss and Wallace Shawn, who should be so lucky.
None of the various storylines gets enough time to mature, and some of the sight gags are so corny they should be served with movie butter. An example finds the gardening Carol’s water meter reach “moist” while reading Fifty Shades’ steamy pages. Plenty of jokes about safe words, bondage, and an unfortunate conversation about Spanx are hit or miss. It should be noted that at the screening I attended the audience howled most at the cheap stuff, suggesting maybe they had gotten into the rosé beforehand. It would be easy to pick at the extreme amount of privilege these ladies share, but what fun is that when you’ve got Bergen and Dreyfuss stumbling out of a backseat with their trousers to the wind?
Director and co-writer Bill Holderman, known for Robert Redford pics All is Lost and A Walk in the Woods, is smart enough to back off and let his ladies lead the way. The demographic they’re reaching out to is one Hollywood too often ignores, so much so they didn’t think to open it on Mother’s Day weekend. For them, Book Club should prove to be just the right vintage.
How does one of the most surreal and macabre movies to debut at Sundance ever not have a red band trailer? For too long we had to contemplate that with Boots Riley’s absurdist comedy Sorry to Bother You, but contemplate no more.
Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, and Omari Hardwick star in the directorial debut by The Coup frontman Boots Riley, a bizarre update on what it means to “sell out” in today’s world. Stanfield plays a stuggling telemarketer who becomes the best by using his white voice (which is David Cross) and ignoring his friends. But it gets him into a very special club run by a coke-snorting, gun-waving Armie Hammer, who is hiding secrets that when are one giant “WTF” moment.
This joint is crazy weird, but that’s part of its charm. Riley has a distinct visual style and an aggressive attitude, and comes up with some brilliant sight gags, like Stanfield’s character literally dropping in on the people his cold calls are disrupting. Riley has a bright future ahead of him no matter what, but I really want to see how people respond to this.
The cast of It: Chapter 2 casting expands with the additions of James Ransone and Andy Bean, who will be joining Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, James McAvoy, and the returning Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Clown. The sequel will once again be directed by Andy Muschietti from a Gary Dauberman script, reuniting the team that made last year’s movie a $700M hit.
Ransone and Bean will be playing adult versions of Losers’ Club members Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris, respectively. Eddie was previously played by Jack Dylan Grazer and Stanley by Wyatt Oleff. Chastain will play Bev Marsh, McAvoy is eyeing the role of Bill Denbrough, with Hader as Richie Tozier. The roles of Ben Hanscom and Mike Hanlon haven’t been filled but news on that shouldn’t be too far away.
I’m completely unfamiliar with Andy Bean, who had roles in Power and Transformers: The Last Knight. If you know Stephen King’s novel then you probably know what’s up with Stanley. Let’s just say it makes sense to go with less of a big name. Ransone may not be the biggest star of the bunch but he’s been great in everything from The Wire to Tangerine to Sinister and its unfortunate sequel. He excels at playing very nervous, anxious characters and that is Eddie to a tee.
Amazon has kept mum about their Lord of the Rings TV series. All we really know is that it’s going to cost a lot of money, more than $1B dollars, and that Peter Jackson may or may not get involved. With that much loot being poured in, it makes sense that Amazon would want to tailor the show to attract the same audience that loved Jackson’s movies. A report from TheOneRing.net, the most trusted source on Tolkien news, says the series will center on a younger version of Aragorn, who was played by Viggo Mortensen in Jackson’s movies.
[BREAKING] We have confirmed from multiple sources that @AmazonStudios new billion-dollar #LOTR series will open its first season centered on a young Aragorn.
This could be disappointing news for those hoping a completely new narrative with never-before-seen characters. But think about it, who else to center a show like this around than the noble Aragorn, who grew up unaware of his royal lineage and destiny to be the king of Isildur and the thrones of Arnor and Gondor. Plus, he’s a familiar character that could draw in fans of Jackson’s original trilogy, which remains very popular.
The phrasing also suggests a second season could focus on a different character, although I’m not exactly sure that’s what TheOneRing was trying to imply. It’s just me taking a guess at what Amazon might do.
The Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves reunion we’ve been waiting for since Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and A Scanner Darkly, I guess) is here, and this time there’s very little bloodshed or paranoia. Plenty of meet cutes, though, which could be just as distasteful depending on your attitude towards rom-coms. Destination Wedding is the new comedy starring the ’90s heartthrobs, and it finds them falling in love at, you guessed it, a destination wedding.
Written and directed by Victoria Levin, the film centers on cynical and generally unpleasant wedding guests Frank and Lindsay. After a disastrous encounter at the airport on their way to a friend’s nuptials in Italy, the two are forced together again which is when the ice in their hearts begins to melt. The worse thing a wedding guest can do is upstage the engaged couple, but I’m guessing that’s exactly what will happen here.
This actually looks pretty harmless and could end up being quite enjoyable. Reeves and Ryder still have “it”, that intangible quality that makes them likable no matter what. And Levin, who previously directed the Anton Yelchin/Berenice Marlohe romance 5 to 7, knows his way around a complicated affair of the heart.
Here is the official synopsis: DESTINATION WEDDING reunites two of Hollywood’s most adored stars, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, as the socially awkward Frank and Lindsay. When they meet on their way to a destination wedding, they soon discover they have a lot in common: they both hate the bride, the groom, the wedding, themselves, and most especially each other. As the weekend’s events continually force them together – and their cheerlessness immediately isolates them from the other guests – Frank and Lindsay find that if you verbally spar with someone long enough, anything can happen. When debate gives way to desire, they must decide which is stronger: their hearts or their common sense.
The classic DC Comics storyline “The Death of Superman” comprises three distinct chapters: Doomsday!, Funeral for a Friend, and Reign of the Supermen. All three are great, among the best DC has ever published and they were a massive hit that comprised more than a year’s worth of stories into 1993. There have been numerous adaptations of it in various forms, even some of it was used as part of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in the fight against Doomsday, but we’re only now getting a complete version with the animated film, The Death of Superman.
Featuring the voices of Jerry O’Connell as Superman, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Rainn Wilson as Lex Luthor, and Jason O’Mara as Batman, the movie depicts Superman’s fatal clash against the unstoppable creature known as Doomsday. In the comics Doomsday shreds through all of Earth’s heroes before it comes down Superman as the only one who can stand up against the threat.
A sequel, titled Reign of the Supermen, will be released in 2019 and will show how the world mourns Superman’s death. It should also feature the emergence of four heroes inspired by Superman’s sacrifice.
The Death of Superman hits digital release on July 24th, following by Blu-Ray/DVD on August 7th.
