All the worthwhile movie news from the week.
Untitled Batman vs. Superman Movie
Forget the "2015" you see on the official logo over there: this puppy just got pushed back to May 6, 2016. This frees up its original release date (July 17, 2015) for Pan, an origin story for Peter Pan that apparently sounded like a good idea to somebody. The DC property's new release date, however, sets up a direct confrontation with Marvel, as they have also slated that day for an unannounced movie of their own. I predict nerds slap-fighting in opposing movie lines.
Read: Batman-Superman Movie Bumped to 2016, Sets Up Marvel Showdown
Forget the "2015" you see on the official logo over there: this puppy just got pushed back to May 6, 2016. This frees up its original release date (July 17, 2015) for Pan, an origin story for Peter Pan that apparently sounded like a good idea to somebody. The DC property's new release date, however, sets up a direct confrontation with Marvel, as they have also slated that day for an unannounced movie of their own. I predict nerds slap-fighting in opposing movie lines.
Read: Batman-Superman Movie Bumped to 2016, Sets Up Marvel Showdown
The Wolf of Wall Street
American debauchery apparently plays much better overseas than I anticipated as The Wolf of Wall Street is performing quite well worldwide. That doesn't mean it isn't encountering a little resistance to its more depraved elements: plenty of foreign countries with tighter censorship laws are trimming scenes or just outright banning the movie. Be warned: you can't read the below article without being exposed to minor spoilers like what those scenes are, although in a vacuum, I have to believe somebody who hadn't seen the movie would find scene descriptions like "co-star Jonah Hill's public masturbation sequence" fascinating.
Read: Wolf of Wall Street Censored, Banned Overseas
American debauchery apparently plays much better overseas than I anticipated as The Wolf of Wall Street is performing quite well worldwide. That doesn't mean it isn't encountering a little resistance to its more depraved elements: plenty of foreign countries with tighter censorship laws are trimming scenes or just outright banning the movie. Be warned: you can't read the below article without being exposed to minor spoilers like what those scenes are, although in a vacuum, I have to believe somebody who hadn't seen the movie would find scene descriptions like "co-star Jonah Hill's public masturbation sequence" fascinating.
Read: Wolf of Wall Street Censored, Banned Overseas
The Gambler
The producers of the already ill-advised remake of The Gambler (the original doesn't hold up?) apparently never saw The Happening, because they continue to push ahead under the assumption that Mark Wahlberg can make for a convincing teacher. Adding to their casting, Emory Cohen (Place Beyond the Pines) will play one of Wahlberg's students. He joins the ranks of Brie Larson, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, and Michael K. Williams which already looks like a murderer's row of "You're too good for this" actors.
Read: The Place Beyond the Pines Actor Joining Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler
The producers of the already ill-advised remake of The Gambler (the original doesn't hold up?) apparently never saw The Happening, because they continue to push ahead under the assumption that Mark Wahlberg can make for a convincing teacher. Adding to their casting, Emory Cohen (Place Beyond the Pines) will play one of Wahlberg's students. He joins the ranks of Brie Larson, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, and Michael K. Williams which already looks like a murderer's row of "You're too good for this" actors.
Read: The Place Beyond the Pines Actor Joining Mark Wahlberg in The Gambler
Untitled Sandman Movie
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has already been announced as a producer for the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic series Sandman, but he says it's still too early for any specifics. He wouldn't rule out the possibility of directing or starring either, so between his involvement and the concept of the series being "seven personifications of concepts such as 'dream', 'desire' and 'despair' as entities that exist throughout the universe and interact with the rest of us, even without our knowledge" it sounds like it could be promising.
Read: "It's Very, Very Early": Joseph Gordon-Levitt Talks Sandman
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has already been announced as a producer for the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic series Sandman, but he says it's still too early for any specifics. He wouldn't rule out the possibility of directing or starring either, so between his involvement and the concept of the series being "seven personifications of concepts such as 'dream', 'desire' and 'despair' as entities that exist throughout the universe and interact with the rest of us, even without our knowledge" it sounds like it could be promising.
Read: "It's Very, Very Early": Joseph Gordon-Levitt Talks Sandman
Singapore's Infinite Studios
It's common knowledge at this point that if you want to shoot on the cheap, Toronto is a great place to do it. For at least some projects (Toronto retains the crown as "easiest to stand in for an American metropolis"), Singapore would like to throw their hat in the ring. The Singaporean government opened Infinite Studios, a part of its Mediapolis site due to be completed in 2020. This isn't just for Asian media companies as Discovery Networks will set up shop for their regional projects there as well. As local facilities like this one catch up in technology, Hollywood's advantage in the global market will continue to dissipate.
Read: Infinite Studios Launches In Singapore
It's common knowledge at this point that if you want to shoot on the cheap, Toronto is a great place to do it. For at least some projects (Toronto retains the crown as "easiest to stand in for an American metropolis"), Singapore would like to throw their hat in the ring. The Singaporean government opened Infinite Studios, a part of its Mediapolis site due to be completed in 2020. This isn't just for Asian media companies as Discovery Networks will set up shop for their regional projects there as well. As local facilities like this one catch up in technology, Hollywood's advantage in the global market will continue to dissipate.
Read: Infinite Studios Launches In Singapore
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thomas Kretchmann (Stalingrad) has joined the next Avengers movie, reportedly as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, an antagonist for both Captain America and Nick Fury. He joins the entire cast of the first movie, plus Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlett Witch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver, and James Spader as Ultron. It sounds fairly bloated, but if there's anyone I trust to manage it, it's Joss Whedon. Still, a bit of regression to the mean in terms of quality is probably expected at this point.
Read: Stalingrad Actor Thomas Kretchmann to Play Villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thomas Kretchmann (Stalingrad) has joined the next Avengers movie, reportedly as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, an antagonist for both Captain America and Nick Fury. He joins the entire cast of the first movie, plus Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlett Witch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver, and James Spader as Ultron. It sounds fairly bloated, but if there's anyone I trust to manage it, it's Joss Whedon. Still, a bit of regression to the mean in terms of quality is probably expected at this point.
Read: Stalingrad Actor Thomas Kretchmann to Play Villain in Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Boy
Elijah Wood's production company, SpectreVision, will produce a movie about the rise of a serial killer based on characters from the novel Miss Corpus and explored in the short film Henley (an interesting name choice, given Dexter's preferred killing apparel), called The Boy. The first of a planned trilogy, The Boy will explore the killer at age 9, before the next two films take place at 14- and 18-years-old. It could certainly wind up being something that hasn't been done before, especially if they show a little restraint and have zero killing in the first movie. I like to think playing Kevin in Sin City and co-starring in The Good Son has uniquely prepared Wood for the task.
Read: Sundance: Elijah Wood to Reveal the Rise of a Serial Killer With The Boy
Elijah Wood's production company, SpectreVision, will produce a movie about the rise of a serial killer based on characters from the novel Miss Corpus and explored in the short film Henley (an interesting name choice, given Dexter's preferred killing apparel), called The Boy. The first of a planned trilogy, The Boy will explore the killer at age 9, before the next two films take place at 14- and 18-years-old. It could certainly wind up being something that hasn't been done before, especially if they show a little restraint and have zero killing in the first movie. I like to think playing Kevin in Sin City and co-starring in The Good Son has uniquely prepared Wood for the task.
Read: Sundance: Elijah Wood to Reveal the Rise of a Serial Killer With The Boy