Film News Roundup 13

            The 2015 film slate just got a little bigger. George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” is now set to be released on May 15, 2015. The release date will come almost 30 years to date since the last installment of the film series. Tom Hardy stars as Max Rockatansky, (the role made popular by Mel Gibson) a police officer of a dystopian future. Joining him is Academy Award winner Charlize Theron.

            It hasn’t been an easy road (no pun intended) for “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The film has had many setbacks since pre-production began in 2009. Filming was set to begin in the summer of 2010 but torrential rain caused major flooding in Australia were the film was set to film. Official filming began last summer but concerns about going over budget and lengthy reshoots have delayed the film’s release. But with a set release date, it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing our favorite “road warrior” on the big screen sooner rather than later.

            Lending their support in the film are Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Zoe Kravitz, and Riley Keough.  

            Other films receiving release dates this past week include Universal’s “The Purge 2,” Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland 2,” “The Jungle Book,” and Warner Bros. “Heart of the Sea.”

            With the success of “The Purge”, there was no doubt that Universal would quickly move ahead to release a sequel for the horror film. The next chapter of “The Purge” will open in theaters on June 20, 2014. James DeMonaco returns as writer/director alongside producer Jason Blum.

            Disney is moving ahead with director James Bobin (“The Muppets”) in their return to “Wonderland.” Taking over the reins for Tim Burton, Bobin will be joined by Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp as they are set to reprise their respective roles of Alice and the Mad Hatter. “Alice in Wonderland 2” will be released on May 27, 2016.

            The live-action “The Jungle Book” is slated to open in theaters October 9, 2015. The film will be directed by Jon Favreau (“Elf, “Iron Man”).

            Finally, Ron Howard’s film adaptation of “In the Heart of the Sea” about the disaster of the whale-ship Essex (the inspiration for “Moby Dick”) is set to be released March 13, 2015. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, and Brendan Gleeson.

Film News Roundup:12

Earlier this week Disney released the first poster and trailer for the upcoming film “Maleficent”, starring Angelina Jolie in the titular role. The film retells the story of “Sleeping Beauty” from the point of view of the self-proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil.”

The poster puts Jolie front and center, teasing us with her malevolent eyes. The trailer only showcases a bit of Jolie, while mostly putting the focus on the young Princess Aurora portrayed by Elle Fanning. Probably the highlight of the trailer is the beautiful production design and the CG fantasy world that has been created for the film. First time director, Robert Stromberg’s forte has been production design and that clearly shows in the trailer; he previously worked as production designer for “Alice in Wonderland” and “Avatar”, winning Academy Awards for his efforts on the films.

Maleficent also stars Sharloto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Leslie Manville. The film opens in theaters on May 30, 2014. 

Another poster and trailer that landed this week was for Darren Aronofsky’s (“Requiem for a Dream,” “Black Swan”) “Noah.” The film is an adaptation of the Bible’s Great Flood story. Not since the golden age of Hollywood have we seen and epic Biblical story come to life.

However, it hasn’t been an easy road for Aronofsky and Paramount Pictures. In the recent weeks mumblings have surfaced that test screenings for the film haven’t done well with general, Jewish, and Christian audiences. This has led Paramount to request Aronofsky to make edits to the film.

That being said, the trailer for the films looks fantastic. Filming for the film took place in Iceland, which gives the film en even more epic look. There are plenty of great visuals ranging from the Great Flood to the animals embarking the ark. Overall, the ambitious film aims to capture mainstream audiences with its great visuals and character-centric narrative; count me in as one that has been sold on the film.

The film stars Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ray Winstone, Douglas Booth, and Anthony Hopkins. “Noah” opens in theaters March 28, 2014. Check out the poster and trailer below.

Film News Roundup: 11

After much speculation of when or if “Star Wars: Episode VII” would arrive in theaters in 2015, Disney gave fans a fixed date for the film’s release; the J.J. Abram’s helmed film will open in 3D on Dec. 18, 2015.

            Just last month, Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over scriptwriting duties for Michael Arndt. All sings point to that the studio wanted to give the filmmakers more time to get a solid script finished before shooting begins in the spring.

            Traditionally, the previous “Star Wars” films were all released in the month of May. I would argue that the December date helps the studio get away from having to compete with other major summer blockbusters, including one of their own: “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

The “Star Wars” fandom is probably the most ravenous in pop-culture. Unquestionably, generations of people can’t wait for this movie to arrive sooner that later.  Let the countdown commence for Dec. 18, 2015!

It seems that the “Terminator” reboot is moving full steam ahead. Director Alan Taylor (“Game of Thrones,” “Thor: The Dark World”) is prepping to begin testing actors and actresses for the roles of Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese respectively.  

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the actresses testing for the role of Connor are Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”), Brie Larson, (“Short Term 12”) and Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”). Connor was originally played by Linda Hamilton in the first two “Terminator” films directed by James Cameron. Sarah Connor is the mother of John Connor, the leader of the human resistance against Skynet, a sentient artificial intelligence system.

For the role of Kyle Reese, Garret Hedlund (“Tron: Legacy’) and Boyd Holbrook (“The Host) are on the shortlist to play the time traveling father of John Connor.

Also, reports claim that Taylor is hoping to cast Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as his new John Connor. However, there hasn’t been a meeting between the two to discuss the role.

Furthermore, Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to reprise his iconic role as the Terminator. His role is being describes as “a Terminator robot in a time-spanning story that sees him tasked to protect Sarah Connor as she grows up.”

            While there hasn’t been any confirmation from Paramount Pictures that these reports are factual, I would be pleased if they came to fruition. The actors and actresses that could be possibly involved in this film are extremely talented and would be a great addition to this film franchise.

            The “Terminator” reboot is set to be released July 1, 2015.

Film News Roundup: 10

Reports surfaced last month that Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” was likely going to move to a Christmas date due to editing issues. Those rumors proved to be true. Earlier this week Paramount Pictures chairmen Brad Grey officially signed off to move the film to Dec. 25 after watching Scorsese’s new cute of the film.  Scorsese’s original running time was over 180 minutes; the theatrical release of the film will run at 165 minutes.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” will be facing off against “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “47 Ronin,” Grudge Match,” and the Justin Bieber documentary “Believe” on Dec. 25. The film faces steep competition to win the box-office but its Dec. 25 date puts it in the heart of Oscar contention.

Also, Paramount Pictures released a new trailer for the film. While the first trailer showcased the more eccentric tone of the film, the latest trailer presented more details of the film’s plot. The film is based of Jordan Belfort’s memoir. Leo DiCaprio stars as a Belfort, a hard-partying New York stockbroker convicted of security fraud and money laundering. One of the many highlights of the trailer is the chemistry between DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. The dynamic relationship between both actors will surely be a major part of the film that I can’t wait to see.

Check out the trailer below. The film also stars, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Margot Robbie, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal, and Rob Reiner.

Warner Bros. released a new trailer for “The LEGO Movie.” The film is helmed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of “21 Jump Street” and “Cloudy with a Change of Meatballs.” The film revolves around an ordinary guy named Emmet (Chris Pratt) who is thought to be the Special, the one who can save the LEGO universe from the evil President Business (Will Ferrell).

As surprisingly funny the first trailer was, this new trailer was a stroke of genius that raised my expectation for the film; it had multiple laugh out loud moments that required me to re-watch the trailer over and over again. One standout was the appearance of the LEGO Batman voiced by Will Arnett; you can never go wrong by adding Batman in your film, even in LEGO form.

The voice cast also includes Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders, and Jonah Hill. “The LEGO Movie” hits theaters on February 7, 2014. Check out the trailer below.

In other news, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has officially signed of to play Quicksilver, aka, Pietro Maximoff in “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.” The Wrap reported that the deal took long to finalize because there was concern the filming schedule of the Marvel sequel would interfere with Taylor-Johnson’s promotional obligations for “Godzilla”; apparently that was sorted out.

            Taylor-Johnson joins James Spader as two of the new cast members to join the film; we’ve yet to hear official word of Elizabeth Olsen joining the cast.

You can see Taylor Johnson and the rest of the Avengers when “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.