Screen Rant » drive

Nathan Fillion’s Castle Stands Strong

Rob Keyes — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:10:54 +0000

Can you believe it?! Nathan Fillion is the lead in a television series that made it to a second season!

Castle, the new hit ABC series is moving full steam ahead into its second season and it looks like it just might have a bright future.

I don’t get it. Everyone who watches Fillion on screen immediately falls in love with the guy and the characters he plays, yet he’s had two shows in a row canceled on him early. Join us as we look back at some key moments in Fillion’s career and talk about his recent successes…

Although, he made a name for himself with Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place alongside Ryan Reynolds, Nathan Fillion’s cult following began with Joss Whedon’s Firefly, which was incredible, but was unfairly treated by Fox and thereby canceled only a fraction into its first season. Fan support managed to bring a great feature film (Serenity) to theaters but it didn’t bank well at the box office.

Next, Fillion played a part in the final 5 episodes of Whedon’s Buffy series which also soon ended. Then, he starred in a show called Drive which lasted approximately one night before it got the axe. I don’t feel too bad about that one though.

After a stint on Desperate Housewives and his role as Captain Hammer in the internet phenomenon that is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the Canadian actor finally has a steady gig in a lead TV role.

His latest show is called Castle and if you’ve not watched it, you should. He plays the title character, Richard Castle, a cocky, humorous and lovable New York writer who specializes in writing murder mysteries. The show is about him using is connections with everyone who matters in New York (including the Mayor) to force the department (whose entire staff also loves him) into a partnership with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), an officer who happens to be an obsessed fan of his work.

While entirely reluctant to work with Castle, she has no choice and must allow him to tag along to write stories based on their adventures (he loves it when they get called to horrible crime scenes). The show follows Fillion’s character and Beckett as they solve the crimes of the city and while Fillion writes novels about a character based on her. They have their ups and downs as their relationship continues to develop and the viewers get to watch their great interaction on screen.

The show is funny, well-written and full of heart. The best example of the latter is when we get to see Castle at home with his daughter and mother. They represent three extremes that make the perfect family and their relationship and interaction is a treat to watch. The comedy bits of the show only work because its Fillion and I can’t picture the series working with anyone else in the role – he’s made for this part.

Click to continue reading about Castle’s ratings and Nathan Fillion’s other current work…

Hugh Jackman’s Next Projects (Including Wolverine 2)

Ross Miller — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:09:24 +0000

Last week Screen Rant reported on the fact that Hugh Jackman would like to see the Wolverine sequel involve the Japanese saga from the original comics. But at that point it was just the wishful, albeit informed, thinking of the Wolverine actor and not actual confirmation that that’s the direction a sequel would go.

Seed Productions, which is a company started by Jackman, Deborah-Lee Furnass and John Palermo (and is associated with 20th Century Fox), has started ramping up several projects for Jackman to star in. And, yes, one of which is the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Seed are planning to focus squarely on the Japanese storyline that Jackman wishfully spoke of last time he was interviewed about the sequel, which is set to continue on from the after-credits sequence [possible spoiler ahead] that saw Jackman in Japan, speaking the lingo. Seed will produce the film, as they did with Wolverine, but no writer has been hired to write the script as of yet.

The other projects on the horizon for Jackman include Personal Security, which will see the Australian play a tough police detective; an adaptation of a James Sallis novel called Drive which will see him drive race cars by-day and getaway cars by-night; and a modern version of the Rogers & Hammerstein musical Carousel in which Jackman will play Bill Bigelow.

Oh, and for those of you who enjoyed his little performance at the beginning of the Oscars earlier this year, along with Carousel, Jackman also plans to star in a Broadway musical next year called Houdini. It is to be directed by Jack O’Brien (Hairspray) with the music written by Danny Elfman (a regular of Tim Burton).

Wow, Jackman is certainly going to be a busy boy over the next couple of years or so. It’s good to see him take on a variety of roles, particularly those which are undoubtedly a lot smaller in scale than any of the X-Men movies. However, it appears that Wolverine is where a lot of his passion lies, going by his enthusiasm for the sequel’s Japanese angle that we know they are planning.

That passion can only be a good thing for the Wolverine sequel…

So what do you think of them moving ahead with the Japanese storyline for the Wolverine sequel? What do you make of the other projects that have been lined up for Jackman?

Source: Variety

Neil Marshall To Take Hugh Jackman For A Drive

Niall Browne — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:30:49 +0000

British director Neil Marshall (Doomsday) has signed up to direct Hugh Jackman in Drive, an adaptation of the novel by James Sallis.

The plot of the film follows Jackman’s character – a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for robberies. However, things take a turn for the worse when he discovers that somebody has put out a contract on his life. Expect lots of car-based mayhem.

The Universal Picture which has been scripted by Hossein Amini is scheduled to begin shooting this summer. Time will tell though if Jackman will indeed star, as the actor has a schedule packed as tight as Posh Spice’s suitcase.

The first time I came into contact with Neil Marshall’s work was when I saw the trailer for Dog Soldiers at the cinema (you yanks would call that a movie theater). It was a neat spin on the TA soldier recruitment adverts that screen over here in the UK. There was enough originality in the trailer to make me watch the film, and it blew me away. It was one of the best British made films in the last 25 years.

His follow up The Descent lacked the dark humor of Dog Soldiers, but it also ratcheted up the tension, delivering a first rate horror film that was quite a success at the box office.

I haven’t yet seen Doomsday, but it looks like a good mix of early John Carpenter and the Mad Max films, and what is there not to like about that?

As much as I like the concept of this film and the fact that Jackman is starring, I see it as a step back for Marshall. I think that he is a talented writer-director with a unique voice and I would hate to see him become a hack for hire in Hollywood. Maybe Drive could be something special, maybe an action packed version of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Marshall is quoted as saying:

“This is something I haven’t done before, and I’ve wanted to bring a British sensibility to an L.A. shoot and a scorched classic film noir concept. Hoss is a fantastic writer, and he’s written three amazing car chases in the film. He’s turned them into dramatic scenes as opposed to the usual crash, bang, wallop. I would like to be shooting it this summer.”

At the very least we should see another Marshall horror classic soon as he has Sacrilege in the pipeline; which Variety calls; “a horror story set in the Old West.”

I’ll pretty much watch anything Marshall makes following The Descent and Dog Soldiers, so I’ll put my faith in his talent and say that I’m looking forward to this. I just hope that he walks away from Hollywood unscathed.

Source: Variety