Screen Rant » Ross Miller

’47 Ronin’ Snags Japanese Cast & Production Start Date

Ross Miller — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:21:31 +0000

The last we reported on the Samurai epic 47 Ronin, we heard that it would be shot in 3D as opposed to being converted after the fact. The film will star Keanu Reeves and will be shot under the direction of first-time feature director Carl Erik Rinsch (you may remember he almost directed the scrapped Alien prequel and recently chose 47 Ronin over the Logan’s Run remake).

Thanks to an official press release from Universal Pictures we now know that 47 Ronin will start principal photography in less than two weeks time on March 14th. The last we heard, the film was set to be released on November 21st, 2012, and if that date is still correct, then it gives those involved in making the film plenty of time.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the project, ...

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New ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4′ Trailer Mixes It Up

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:15:46 +0000

Way back in the summer of 2010 (seems so long ago now, doesn’t it?) we got our first teaser trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the highly-anticipated fourth installment in the monumentally successful franchise. The teaser featured the lovable rogue Captain Jack Sparrow talking directly to us, the audience, letting us know what sort of stuff we can look forward to seeing in the fourth film, with a bit of self-poking thrown in for good measure.

Since then we’ve had a few more trailers, TV spots and featurettes to wet our appetites for Pirates of the Caribbean 4, and today we have another new trailer to enjoy, one which mixes together the styles of previous ones ...

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Inception Leads 2011 Saturn Award Nominees

Ross Miller — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:57:31 +0000

As we edge ever closer to the biggest movie award ceremony around, the Oscars, we have another set of nominations to mull over: The 37th Annual Saturn Awards.

While the Oscars, Golden Globes and the BAFTAs tend to recognize the more “serious” films (some would say in a way that is out of touch), award ceremonies like the Saturn Awards nominate films that average moviegoers would likely champion as their favorites of the year – not to mention the ceremony also recognizes the best TV shows and DVD release the year had to offer.

Last year the Saturn Awards were dominated by a little film called Avatar (you may have heard of it), but as you’ll see below fan favorite Inception dominates things this year with a whopping nine nominations, while other popular films like ...

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First Look At ‘Toy Story’ Short ‘Hawaiian Vacation’

Ross Miller — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:35:50 +0000

Thought you’d seen the last of Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang of famous toys? Think again. No this is not news that a Toy Story 4 is on the way (as of last November there are no plans for a fourth film) but rather our first look at the upcoming Toy Story short that will play before Pixar’s next film, Cars 2, this summer.

We found out just before Christmas that the first of many planned Toy Story shorts would focus on fan-favorites Ken and Barbie (as seen together in Toy Story 3) as they plan a trip to Hawaii. Disney animator Floyd Norman previously used the words “Ken and Barbie want to go to Hawaii” to describe the premise of the short, the ...

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‘Bad Teacher’ Red Band Trailer: Cameron Diaz Cusses Like a Sailor

Ross Miller — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:30:37 +0000

The Office writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg may not have had much success (critically or financially) with the period comedy Year One, but that hasn’t stopped them for giving big-screen comedy another shot. As well as penning the script for the much-talked-about Ghostbusters III, the writing duo have also written a new (what looks to be) very R-rated comedy entitled Bad Teacher, and today we have the red band trailer for the film.

Directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Bad Teacher stars Cameron Diaz as, well, a bad teacher who swears like a trooper and generally treats her work (including her pupils) like crap. The story follows Diaz’s Elizabeth Halsey as she attempts to woo one of her fellow teachers (Justin Timberlake) while trying to get her class to achieve ...

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Christopher McQuarrie To Write Live Action ‘Star Blazers’ Movie

Ross Miller — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:33:39 +0000

Hollywood has never been shy, particularly in this young 21st century, of looking to decades past for ideas for big-budget, live-action features that (mostly) draw in huge crowds, with Transformers being one of the most successful examples.

Now we’re hearing word from Deadline of another well-loved animated series coming to the big-screen in live-action form – the anime series Star Blazers.

For those of you who don’t know, Star Blazers was an anime series first broadcast in the U.S. in 1979, based on the more elaborately named Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamato. Star Blazers was basically an edited (and some would say watered-down) version of Yamato with the voices re-dubbed and some new scenes thrown in. It is considered the first popular anime to have an overarching plot, which meant ...

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‘Donnie Darko’ Director Making Thriller ‘Corpus Christi’

Ross Miller — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:54:43 +0000

Richard Kelly has made a career out of dealing with sci-fi or metaphysical elements in such films as Donnie Darko, Southland Tales and most recently The Box. But Kelly appears to be changing things up a bit for his next film, a contemporary thriller entitled Corpus Christi.

Variety is reporting that Kelly will both write and direct Corpus Christi (Latin for “Body of Christ” and the name of a Western Catholic feast), which is described as a more straightforward narrative than what he’s used to. The film deals with a very timely subject – the Iraq war, or at least the consequences of it when it comes to the soldiers themselves. Here is Variety’s plot description:

Texas-set story concerns an unstable Iraq war veteran who forges a strange friendship with his boss, a wealthy and politically ...

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New Red Band Trailer & Poster for ‘I Saw the Devil’

Ross Miller — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:42:31 +0000

Some of the most entertaining, thrilling, emotional, not to mention violent films released these days come from Korea, with movies like Oldboy and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (to name but a couple) achieving international acclaim and success.

Today we have a red-band trailer and poster for another Korean movie, an intense revenge thriller/horror called I Saw the Devil. The film stars two of Korea’s most successful actors, Min-sik Choi and Byung-hun Lee, stars of the aforementioned films Oldboy and The Good, The Bad, The Weird, respectively (Lee also starred as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe).

Before we get to the new trailer and poster, check out the official synopsis for I Saw the Devil:

Kyung-chul (Choi) is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one ...

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‘Frankenweenie’ Official Synopsis & Story Details

Ross Miller — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:56:43 +0000

Fans of famed Gothic director Tim Burton have another one of his films to look forward to in the next couple of years – a feature-length 3D stop-motion animation film called Frankenweenie, which is based on Burton’s own 1984 live-action short film of the same name.

Although based on the ’84 short (which last 30 minutes), this feature-length version of Frankenweenie will inevitably flesh out a lot of the story and themes in order to fill a longer runtime. In order to give you a better idea of what to expect from the movie, Walt Disney Studos has released the official synopsis and some interesting production notes.

Take a look at the official synopsis for Frankenweenie below:

From creative genius Tim Burton comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing ...

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Charlize Theron Boards ‘Prometheus’; Fassbender Talks ‘Alien’ Linkage

Ross Miller — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:23:22 +0000

For what seemed like forever, we we waited eagerly for things to get moving on Ridley Scott’s planned Alien prequel. However, just last month it was revealed that the film wouldn’t be a prequel to Scott’s original Alien but rather a whole new sci-fi flick entitled Prometheus.

The original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was rumored to be the frontrunner to star in the Alien prequel before it was retitled but once it was, she was cast as the lead in Prometheus. The much sought-after actor Michael Fassbender (our new Magneto in X-Men: First Class) joined the cast soon thereafter, in the role of some sort of android character. And we’re now hearing word that Oscar-winner Charlie Theron has also joined the cast.

Variety is exclusively reporting that Theron has joined the cast of Prometheus, although ...

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Bill Nighy and Stanley Tucci Join ‘Jack the Giant Killer’

Ross Miller — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:49:48 +0000

Fans of myths and fairytales will probably want to mark their movie going calendars for Jack the Giant Killer, director Bryan Singer’s forthcoming new take on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale.

After being given the official green light by the studio, the search was on to find a suitable actor play the titular Jack. Names such as Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) were mentioned as strong contenders. And while Jack has yet to be cast (Johnson still appears to be the frontrunner) we now know of two veteran actors who have joined the cast as a couple of very intriguing characters.

The Wrap reports that Bill Nighy (Harry Potter) and Stanley Tucci (Captain America, The Lovely Bones) have ...

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Four More Join Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds in ‘Safe House’ [Updated]

Ross Miller — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:32:52 +0000

Update: Latino Review reports that another actor has joined the cast as one of the assassins. See below for details.

Last summer it was revealed that box office draw Denzel Washington was in talks for the lead role in a new thriller entitled Safe House. Then just a few weeks after that it was revealed that another highly sought after role in the film was snagged by Green Lantern himself, Ryan Reynolds.

However, two actors are rarely enough to occupy an entire movie (although tell that to Reynolds who delivered a one-man show in last year’s Buried!) and so it’s been announced via Variety that four more actors have joined the cast of Safe House: Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Robert Patrick and Liam Cunningham.

Safe ...

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Christian Bale Might Re-team With ‘Machinist’ Director for ‘Concrete Island’

Ross Miller — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:17:15 +0000

Christian Bale is enjoying serious buzz right now for his powerful portrayal of a crack-addicted former boxer in the multi-Oscar-nominated The Fighter. Add that Best Supporting Actor buzz (and almost guaranteed win) with him soon donning Batman’s cape once more in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises and it’s safe to say Bale is a “hot” actor in Hollywood right now.

On top of Nolan’s second Batman sequel, Bale is rumored to star in Triple Frontier, a film about organized crime along the border shared between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, which is to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). However, we’re now hearing word that at some point in the next couple of years Bale may reunite with director Brad Anderson for a film called Concrete Island.

Both Shock ...

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Mel Gibson and ‘The Beaver’ Get Delayed

Ross Miller — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:52:44 +0000

One of the oddest movies set to hit theaters in 2011 is the Jodie Foster-directed The Beaver, which stars the ever-controversial Mel Gibson as a man who utilizes a toy beaver puppet in order to get his life back on track.

After Gibson’s real life shenanigans made it a dubious decision for the studio to release The Beaver, Summit Entertainment finally bit the bullet just before last Christmas and set a March 23, 2011 release date for the movie. However, it has just been revealed that the movie will now hit theaters two months later than before.

Deadline reports that Summit has decided to delay the release of The Beaver, with the comedy/drama now opening in limited release on May 6th, and opening up for a wider release two weeks later.

So what’s ...

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Jason Segel Is An ‘Undercover Cop’

Ross Miller — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:25:14 +0000

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will soon be teaming up to star in the undercover cop movie 21 Jump Street, the big-screen version of the ’80s TV series of the same name. But not content with just one movie of this kind, Hollywood is going to deliver us another comedy about an undercover cop entitled, well, Undercover Cop.

Risky Business is reporting exclusively that comedic actor Jason Segel is attached to star in the bluntly titled Undercover Cop (whatever happened to imaginative titles?) which is being set up by DreamWorks Studios with Steve Zaillian’s Film Rites banner producing.

Although specific plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being, we do know that Undercover Cop is inspired by, “the true story of a former cop that infiltrated the New Jersey criminal ...

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Ben Affleck To Direct Political Thriller ‘Argo’

Ross Miller — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:15:56 +0000

Ben Affleck impressed fans and critics alike with his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone and then went on to prove those proclaiming “beginner’s luck” wrong by knocking it out of the park again with his second film, the Oscar-nominated The Town.

There has been a lot of interest in what Affleck would choose as his third directorial project, with various projects being rumored including Replay, about a man who keeps living his life over and over Groundhog Day-style; The Trade, about the 1970s wife swap of New York Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich; and American Bullshit, about a famous 1980s FBI undercover investigation. However it appears that Affleck has chosen his next project in the form of the political thriller, Argo.

Variety reports that Affleck is officially in negotiations to direct Argo, ...

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Paramount Moving Forward With New ‘Pet Sematary’ Movie

Ross Miller — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:06:11 +0000

There appears to be somewhat of a new Stephen King obsession going on in Hollywood right now. Last September we heard about a huge movie/TV crossover adaptation of King’s epic Dark Tower series; a new movie based on IT has been in the works for almost two years; and just a couple of days ago we heard word of Warner Bros. developing a new film based on King’s beloved book The Stand.

To add to those three we’re going to be getting a new adaptation of one of King’s beloved novels: Pet Sematary, the book which the author himself regards as his scariest.

We reported on the new new Pet Sematary movie way back in March of last year, with 1408 screenwriter Matthew Greenberg being hired to pen the script. Since then we haven’t ...

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Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ Being Adapted as a Feature Film

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:33:59 +0000

Last year an unprecedented movie/TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series was announced, with director Ron Howard onboard and Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend) writing the script. But if an adaptation of King’s mammoth Dark Tower series wasn’t enough, then how about a big screen version of one of King’s other legendary stories, The Stand?

Heat Vision is exclusively reporting that Warner Bros. has teamed up with CBS Films to bring King’s “magnum opus” The Stand to the big screen. The two companies will co-develop and co-produce the feature film adaptation, with CBS possibly co-financing the film and WB handling worldwide distribution and marketing.

A director, writer or stars aren’t in place (yet) but WB and CBS will reportedly sit down with potentials in the next few weeks in order to figure ...

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John Woo Producing 3D Remake of ‘The Killer’

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:47:11 +0000

The idea of remakes generally seems to irritate most serious movie fans. Remakes of older, classic films are (usually) annoying enough, but perhaps the worst remake sin Hollywood can commit is to remake a well-respected foreign language film in English.

However, if there’s money to be made then Hollywood will make (or remake) pretty much anything. Such is the case with the long-gestating remake of John Woo’s 1989 classic action flick, The Killer, originally starring Chow Yun Fat. An English language remake of The Killer has been in the cards for years, but after several unsuccessful attempts to remake it in English it looks like things are finally moving forward.

The news comes from an official press release (via Deadline): Essential Entertainment has joined forces with Woo’s own Lion Rock Productions to bring the ...

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Watch the First Two Minutes of ‘Rio’

Ross Miller — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:55:15 +0000

Animated films are more popular than they have ever been and just one of the many animated features soon to hit our screens is Rio, the latest from Blue Sky Studios, which brought us the hugely successful Ice Age franchise (amongst others).

A few weeks ago we got a look at the colorful world of Rio via five exotic posters, each highlighting the various different characters that populate the film. Now we have a sneak peek at the first two minutes of the film.

Before we get to the video, here is the official synopsis for Rio:

“Blu is a rare species of blue macaw resident at a bookstore in Minnesota, who is the last of his kind. When scientists learn that another macaw was spotted in South America, and that the macaw, Jewel, is female, they take ...

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