David Leitch is the most sought after director in Hollywood. After co-directing John Wick he set off on his own with Atomic Blonde, and has Deadpool 2 right around the corner. His name has been rumored for a number of big projects but recently agreed to direct the Fast & Furious spinoff with Dwayne Johnson. Now he’s signed up for another big film, the video game adaptation The Division, which already has two huge stars attached.
It’s been a couple of years since Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal signed up to star in The Division, based on the popular first-person shooter game series. At the time it was Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) on board to direct, and at the time I argued it was a terrible choice for UbiSoft after they went with an indie filmmaker for Assassin’s Creed. Leitch makes a lot more sense because he has the blockbuster style and knows how to shoot an action scene like a champ.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is a military shooter game/RPG set in a dystopian New York City in the aftermath of a lethal smallpox outbreak transmitted through paper money. In the months that follow the city has descended into chaos, and a special task force known as The Division is sent in to help restore order.
The plan is for Leitch to begin shooting in early 2019. [Variety]
For the record, this isn’t breaking my previously stated promise not to do anymore Infinity War stories because this pertains to Josh Brolin and Avengers 4. With two Marvel movies on the way in the next few weeks, Brolin has been doing an insane amount of interviews, dropping details on Infinity War and Deadpool 2 all over the place. Somebody ought to rein him in, especially now that he’s spoiling stuff about Avengers 4.
While Brolin has previously said not to expect Thanos to stick around very long, it’s been up in the air whether the villain would survive the events of Infinity War. Well, Brolin pretty much confirmed it to Total Film while talking about the motion capture process, along with spoiling who he shares integral scenes with…
“You’ve got to walk around in a onesie and imagine yourself as an actor with some impact. It starts messing with your head. I’m Josh, who’s got dots on him, and a onesie, and a helmet can, and I’ve got Scarlett right there, and I’ve got Brie, and Don Cheadle, and [Chris] Hemsworth, and Chris Evans, and [Robert] Downey…I’m sitting there and I’m looking like I look, which is not 700lb and purple and eight feet tall.”
Oh, thanks for that, Josh. So it looks like the events of Infinity War will carryover to Avengers 4 in a more direct way than we knew. He also confirmed Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is definitely in the fourth Avengers movie, since we know she isn’t in the third. So again, thanks Josh.
Avengers: Infinity War opens April 27th, with Avengers 4 arriving in May 2019.
Before I ever saw Hamilton the one thing I knew about Daveed Diggs was his rapping ability. His lyricism was already well-known and he has found a way to meld it into his acting career pretty seamlessly. And there is no better example than in his new film, Blindspotting, which opened Sundance earlier this year to rave reviews, including from yours truly.
Joined by his frequent collaborator Rafael Casal, the film will be part of the continued national conversation about race relations and law enforcement. Set against the backdrop of gentrified Oakland, it follows two best friends, one white and the other African-American, and the varying experiences they have in the wake of a police shooting that killed an unarmed black man. The trailer gives you a hint of director Carlos López Estrada’s energetic visual style. It starts off with kind of a loose, Friday sort of feel but the intensity picks up towards the end. The one thing we don’t get a sense of Diggs’ character rapping through some of the film’s most crucial scenes, including the big payoff moment that is one of the most powerful things I’ve seen all year and is sure to wake a lot of people up.
Imagine you leave behind a life you don’t want to live anymore: an ex-husband, a soon-to-be-ex, and a house full of memories you’d rather leave behind. You decide to start over, buy a fixer-upper with a gorgeous view of the water, meet someone new and wonderful, and feel more than abundantly content in this new home and routine. Then imagine being told that your home – and the homes of your neighbors – are being taken and bulldozed so that a private corporation can set up shop there instead.
That is the true story of Suzette Kelo, portrayed magnificently by Catherine Keener, in Little Pink House, based on the book by Jeff Benedict. At first glance, even from the trailers, the movie seems predictable, even if you know the outcome of the real-life case, like a classic David-and-Goliath, small town folks take on The Man and Big Corporate.
What sets Little Pink House apart is the nuance brought to the opposing sides by the actors. Catherine Keener’s Suzette Kelo is strong but fragile at the same time, humble but willing to step into the spotlight to be the voice of the movement to protect not only her home and her neighbors’ homes but the houses of homeowners across America and the world as her case goes to the US Supreme Court. On the other side, Jeanne Tripplehorn’s Dr. Charlotte Wells is hired by the governor to court a big company to invest money in Kelo’s economically failing town. She could have easily played Wells as being cold and calculating, but that would bely the kind and charming nature of the woman who was chosen to perform this task for those exact traits. As a viewer, you can especially feel the grey of the dilemma when watching Wells argue for investing in the town, bringing more opportunities to people who have not had the chance to prove themselves or sufficiently provide for their families for a long time. I also appreciate the performance of Callum Keith Rennie, who brings a warm depth to Suzette’s stoic boyfriend, Tim.
I do wish this movie was a little tighter. The pacing is rather slow and, while the choice makes sense for the setting and the character of Suzette Kelo, it was difficult to feel engaged with the story until about halfway through. It also made the jumps in time rather awkward, as there are years of conflict between when Suzette paints her house pink and when her case reaches the Supreme Court. Additionally, while I liked Rennie’s performance and his character fleshed out Suzette’s personality further, Keener was strong enough in delivering this character that scenes with Tim felt like a small and unnecessary subplot. The cast of characters also started growing quite a bit towards the end as the momentum of the film picked up, but by then there wasn’t much time to develop them, which was a shame considering how much time was wasted in the beginning of the film.
All in all, I was surprised that I didn’t know anything about this case and found myself looking up the Kelo v. City of New London case, eminent domain, and the subsequent legislation that was passed as a result right after watching. It’s a political issue that isn’t talked about often but is not quite irrelevant in today’s climate, so it’s worth a watch to learn about what the precedent is as far as what got it to the Supreme Court and to see the strong acting performances.
It’s starting to feel like Halloween again with the return of Michael Myers. The legendary slasher returns on the first poster for Danny McBride and David Gordon Green’s Halloween, a sequel that takes place years after the first movie and ignores everything that happened in earlier films. Becoming quite the common practice lately, isn’t it?
There aren’t a ton of story details but we know Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, along with Judy Greer as her daughter. Both of them, along with Laurie’s granddaughter, are once under threat when Myers makes his return. I assume he’ll be carrying his trusty butcher knife? Only this time Laurie is ready for him, or at least that’s what Curtis said in her latest tweet.
The chances of Deadpool 2 hitting the extraordinary box office heights of its predecessor are pretty slim. But so what? The first movie hit $783M, broke numerous records including becoming the most successful R-rated movie of all-time. Recent weeks have seen rumors emerge that test audiences weren’t happy with it, and while those stories were debunked it’s good to get some visual confirmation that everything is okay.
Everything. Is. Okay.
The new and apparently “final” trailer for Deadpool 2 is a riot, with Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth taking liberal potshots at Marvel (see this post’s title) and DC. Ahhhh yes, everything is okay. In this hilarious and action-packed footage we get confirmation of a few X-Force members, and the introduction of an awesome new one; Peter, a regular guy with zero powers played by comedian Rob Delaney. Zazie Beetz’s Domino kicks ass, Colossus punches stuff and gets punched, Shatterstar gets a moment to shine, and Terry Crews as Bedlam makes you forget how lame the comic book version was.
We hadn’t heard much about The Equalizer 2 since Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua began working on the sequel to 2014’s hit action film. That all changes today with the release of the first trailer, which finds Denzel back beating people up to help others in need, but this time the scope has a larger, more international flavor like his own version of Taken.
Marking Denzel and Fuqua’s first ever sequel, itself kind of amazing, The Equalizer 2 once again centers on retired agent Robert McCall, who has become a hired gun for the powerless. The trailer begins with McCall taking his activities all the way to Turkey, where he’s still doing that thing with the watch, clocking down the seconds it takes to dispatch his foes. But after that we see the on-screen death of an important character from the first movie, and McCall jumps into action to get the people responsible.
If you don’t want to have anything spoiled you might want to avoid this one.
Also starring Melissa Leo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Moonlight’s Ashton Sanders, and Sakina Jaffrey, The Equalizer 2 opens July 20th.
If you’ve been dying to hear Melissa McCarthy talk about her “mom boobs” then Life Of The Party is here to make your life complete. Directed by McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone, who previously worked with her on Tammy and The Boss, the comedy centers on Deanna, a middle-aged mom fresh from a bitter divorce who decides to go back to college, the same one her daughter attends. Get ready for plenty of weed jokes, jokes about being old, and McCarthy joking about how the frat boys love her Vagoogle.
SYNOPSIS: “When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna (McCarthy) turns regret into re-set by going back to college…landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who’s not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna — now Dee Rock — embraces freedom, fun and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.”
Also starring Gillian Jacobs, Molly Gordon, Maya Rudolph, Julie Bowen, Matt Walsh, Adria Arjona, and Jacki Weaver, Life Of The Party opens May 11th.
Leave it to Warner Bros. to turn good news into shredded wheat. They were praised for hiring indie filmmaker Cathy Yan to direct their Harley Quinn spinoff, Birds of Prey, that would also feature Batgirl in a prominent role. With the red-hot Christina Hodson working on the script this was already shaping up to be one of their most promising movies. But now Justin Kroll at Variety says it’s more complicated than that because more than one script is in play.
Kroll tweets that two Birds of Prey scripts are being written, with Harley Quinn and Batgirl the only thing they share in common. What’s not clear is if Hodson is working on both but that’s not likely. Perhaps Warner Bros. feels Hodson’s plate is full enough since she’s working on the Batgirl solo movie, too, but this just seems like a needless complication.
In better news, Kroll thinks the Suicide Squad sequel, delayed to make room for Birds of Prey, may shoot immediately after. If true, it’s still a high priority project and won’t be left on the backburner for too long. Currently Gavin O’Connor is in line to direct with Margot Robbie and Will Smith definitely back as Harley Quinn and Deadshot. Hopefully we’ll start hearing more about the other characters to appear in both of these team movies.
Couple of BIRDS OF PREY tidbits I’ve learned since the Cathy has come on as director. There are two versions of script, only constant is Harley and Barbara Gordon in both. remaining characters different in both scripts.
Common and James Badge Dale are joining Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss in The Kitchen, a crime drama based on the Vertigo Comics series. Set in the 1970s, it follows the wives of Irish mobsters who take over the business when their husbands are imprisoned. The film marks the directorial debut of Straight Outta Compton writer Andrea Berloff. Common will play FBI agent Gary Silvers with Dale as Kevin O’Carroll, husband to Haddish’s character Ruby. Also in the cast are Domhnall Gleeson, Brian d’Arcy James, Margo Martindale, Bill Camp, with new additions Jeremy Bobb (Godless) and Myk Watford (No Country For Old Men).
This must be the day for finding new Disney villains. Hot off Ed Skrein being named the baddie for Maleficent 2, Disney has now found its heel for Jungle Cruise. Edgar Ramirez will join Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, and Jack Whitehall in the adventure film based on the popular theme park ride. Johnson plays a boat captain transporting a brother and sister to tree said to possess healing powers, only to run into problems from wild animals and competing expeditions. Ramirez will play a villain with a conquistador background. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Jungle Cruise begins shooting next month. [THR]
Here’s something I missed from last month. Tomb Raider star Alicia Vikander, American Honey‘s Riley Keough, and Ben-Hur‘s Jack Huston will star in The Earthquake Bird. Netflix’s adaptation of the Susanna Jones novel has Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice) writing and directing. The Tokyo-set noir thriller centers on an a female expat accused of murder when her best friend goes missing in the wake of a tumultuous love triangle with a handsome photographer. [Deadline]
