Screen Rant » fast and furious

Fast & Furious DVD/Blu-ray Details

Kofi Outlaw — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:48:19 +0000

It’s been less than two months since Fast & Furious revved into theaters and sped off with $300+ million at the worldwide box office – just enough time for Universal to prep the DVD/Blu-ray versions of Fast & Furious in order for you to enjoy the ride all over again from the comfort of your home this Summer.

Screen Rant has the skinny on what all you can expect from both the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Fast & Furious. Check it out:

Fast & Furious will be come in three versions: a single-disc DVD ($26.96 SRP), a two-disc special edition DVD ($34.98 SRP) and a two-disc special edition Blu-ray ($39.96). Here’s a list of the features you can expect from the two-disc DVD/Blu-ray special editions (the single-disc DVD is pretty much just the movie):

Special Features:

(Two-disc Special edition DVD and Blu-ray only)
- “Under The Hood: Muscle Cars & Imports” featurette
- “High Octane Action: The Stunts” featurette
- “Shooting the Big Rig Heist” featurette
- “Driving School With Vin Diesel” featurette
- Original short film “Los Bandoleros”
- Digital copy

U-Control: (Blu-ray only)
- Paul Walker and director Justin Lin take control of your player to reveal exciting behind-the-scenes details
- Virtual Car Garage: look closely at the hot cars, then create your own custom vehicle and share it with your friends

BD-Live: (Blu-ray only)
- Create your own Fast & Furious Video Mashup featuring action and music from the film, then share it via BD-Live
- BD-Live Center

I always like the DVDs and Blu-rays that come with a digital copy of the film. It’s nice when studios make it easy for you to tote around your favorite flicks on your favorite portable digital media players. The rest of the features seem pretty standard for this kind of release – the exception being the Blu-ray feature where you design your own custom cars. That sounds pretty sweet.

For those with short memories: Fast & Furious reunites the original cast of 2001’s The Fast and the Furious (Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez), as they try to bring down a Mexican drug lord who is using street racers to smuggle drugs across the borer. If you read Screen Rant’s review of Fast & Furious, then you already know that this fourth film in the franchise manages to deliver the fun and frills that were missing from other F&F sequels. The Fast & Furious gang are back on top of their game.

Fast & Furious hits both DVD and Blu-ray on July 28, 2009.

Source: Movie Web & Box Office Mojo

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: April 26, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:45:35 +0000

This week:

Beyonce is Obsessed with being number one; Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are Unstoppable; it’s all Greek to Warner Bros. with Odysseus; James Marsden hassles the “Hoff” in Straw Dogs; will DiCaprio Beat the Reaper? Catherine is Keener for Jackson.

Box Office

It looks like all the independent women threw their hands up in the air for Beyonce Knowles starring Obsessed. The female fronted film grossed $28.5 million – which is about $10 million more than the studio predicted.

Zac Efron had to settle for a runner-up spot this week with an $11.5 weekend take for 17 Again. The film has so far banked about $39 million clearly going through the door-marked profit.

Channing Tatum (who’s on the cusp of big things with G.I Joe) and Iron Man’s (but not Iron Man 2) Terrance Howard came a close third this weekend with $11.3 million for Fighting.

Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr was fourth with The Soloist. The film which co-stars Jamie Foxx was delayed by Paramount and although reviews were good it couldn’t make enough sweet music. With a weekend gross on just over $9 million it looks like The Soloist might have to sing for its supper.

Monsters vs. Aliens earned another $8.5 million. With a total of almost $180 million – expect a sequel.

State of Play couldn’t use its good reviews to build on its audience. With just over $7 million it looks like the Russell Crowe/ Ben Affleck film will have to find its audience on DVD.

Hannah Montana: The Movie has now banked $65 million (if you care) at least Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus will be happy. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s Fast and Furious has powered to $145 million. I wonder how fast and furious the next installment will be?

Movie News

1. Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are like er… Tony Scott and orange filters – inseparable.
Washington is in talks to star in Unstoppable, Scott’s runaway train movie.

If Washington cho-cho-choses (I know I made that joke before) the action pic will be their fifth film together…

Their fourth The Taking of Pelham 123 opens on June 12.

Source: Variety

2. Warner Bros. have won a major bidding war for the script Odysseus.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story centers on the legendary hero Odysseus, famed king of Ithaca, who returns to his island after 20 years of fighting the Trojan Wars, only to find his kingdom under the brutal occupation of an invading force. Odysseus single-handedly defeats every last man and takes back his wife, his son and his kingdom.”

Warner’s seem to love Greek based movies – a few years ago they had Troy, 300 and they have the forthcoming Clash of The Titans.

Haven’t they heard the expression “beware of Greeks bearing gifts”?

Source: Variety

3. James Marsden will play the Dustin Hoffman role in Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs remake.
The former X-Man will star in the film which is due to start shooting in August.
The controversial original film Sam Peckinpah saw an American return to his wife’s rural village in England, only for the locals to turn nasty.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Brian Koppelman and David Levien have been hired to adapt the Josh Bazell novel Beat the Reaper in the hopes that Leonardo DiCaprio will star.

“The drama, being developed as a potential star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, revolves around a Manhattan ER doctor whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes him from his former life as a hitman.”

Well, we haven’t seen this since A History of Violence.

Source: Variety

5. Catherine Keener will join former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd in Christopher Columbus’ Percy Jackson.

The non Warner Bros. produced Greek fantasy film “put(s) Greek gods in modern times, (it) involve (s) Poseidon’s half-human son, Percy, who is on a quest in modern America to prevent a war among the gods.”

Keener will play Percy’s mother in the film which is currently shooting in Canada.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Walker & Diesel Travel Furiously Fast To Brazil

Rob Keyes — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:11:27 +0000

In a radio interview Friday on the Valentine in the Morning show, Paul Walker, star of three of the four Fast and the Furious movies, revealed that there will be a fifth installment in the franchise.

He explains that that he and Vin Diesel would both be back to reprise their character roles and that the film would take place in Brazil.

Walker had this to say about Fast and Furious, which opened last weekend, and the next film:

“This was supposed to be it… There wasn’t supposed to be the open-ended closing like there was. When I first read the screenplay, I was like, ‘Man, look what they’re doing.’ But without question, with the way things opened up, Vin and I will be coming back, we’re making a fifth one, and we’re going to Brazil, that’s it.”

The conversation then led to asking Walker why he came back for this film after not doing the third.

“Vin didn’t do the second one, and fans would always ask me, Why didn’t Vin do the second one? I didn’t really have an answer for them,” he said. “And then I didn’t do the third one. And guys would come up to me on the street and be like, ‘Hey, why weren’t you in the third one?’ And when they ask the question, it’s kinda like they got that look…saying, ‘Don’t tell us you’re too good for us now.’”

Money talks!

They’ve finally figured out the formula – For the movie to bring in big bucks, they need to bring back the main cast! Who would of thought? That’s exactly what they did with Fast and Furious and the movie had a massive opening weekend and now they’re already planning another sequel.

I wonder what they’ll call the next installment – They’ve completely abandoned any sort of numbering scheme with the movies so far, using a subtitle for the third film (Tokyo Drift) and dropping the two appearances of the word “the” from the original title for Fast and Furious. Maybe they can drop the “and” and go with Furiously Fast?

What do you think of yet another Fast and the Furious movie?

Source: E!

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: April 12, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:57:39 +0000

This week:

Miley is smiley over the box office; Gyllenhaal joins Thompson and Fiennes in Nanny McPhee; Terrance Howard may not be in Iron Man 2 – but he will star with Method Man and Gooding Jr in George Lucas’ Red Tails; Jennifer Garner likes Butter and we discover Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth.

Box Office

Well if you thought that Fast and Furious’ $70+ million gross was impressive last week then you’ll be amazed that the Hannah Montana The Movie with Miley Cyrus banked $34 million over the weekend. That’s enough to mend Billy Ray’s Achy Breaky Heart.

Fast & Furious sped past the magic $100 million mark with a weekend total of $28 million. Down an okay 59% after its mega opening the Vin Diesel/ Paul Walker pic has now made off with $118 million.

Monster Vs. Aliens brought its total up to $144 million after making another $22 million.

Observe and Report had a modest $11 million weekend. If people observe and report that it’s good then it might have legs (highly doubtful), otherwise it’ll be a DVD performer.

Knowing managed to grab another $6.5 million bringing the total of the Nic Cage film to just under the $70 million mark. I Love You, Man did about $½ million less and its at $58 million.

The Haunting in Connecticut scared up another $5 million giving the low budget horror a pretty decent $46 million.

Dragonball Evolution crashed and burned with a not so good $4.5 million opening. Seriously – who decides to make a movie like this when everybody knows from day one that it’ll be terrible and that’ll tank?

Duplicity eeked out $2 million. It’ll never see $40 million.

Movie news

1. Maggie Gyllenhaal will star in the sequel to Nanny McPhee 2. The Dark Knight star joins Emma Thompson and Ralph Fiennes in the film. The family pic starts shooting next month at Shepperton Studios in England.

Source: Production Weekly

2. George Lucas’ Red Tails has finally started getting its cast together. Cuba Gooding Jr and Terrence Howard and Method Man will join many others in the Anthony Hemingway directed film.

Lucas said:

“I’ve been wanting to do Red Tails for 20 years, and we’ve finally got the means to showcase the skill of the Tuskegee pilots. We’re working on techniques which will give us the first true look at the aerial dogfighting of the era. And our top-notch cast will really make this story special.”

Source: Dark Horizons

3. Jennifer Garner is attached to produce and possibly star in Butter.
According to the Hollywood reporter:

“Butter follows a young orphan who, after being adopted by a Midwestern family, discovers she has an uncanny talent for butter-carving. She eventually finds herself up against the ambitious wife of the retired reigning champion in a town’s annual butter-sculpting contest.”

The script was written by Jason Micallef.

It butter be good!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Jake Kasdan will direct the comedy Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth.

“The story centers on a Burt Dickenson, one half of successful two-man team who accidentally kills is partner and loses his inner magic. He has to find a way to rekindle it to fight his rival, a magician named Xander Storm.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now folks. See you at the movies.

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Fast & Furious Review

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:14:29 +0000

Short Version: It’s The Fast and The Furious franchise we’re talking about here – either you already love it or already hate it for what it is, and Fast & Furious will do little to change your mind either way.

Screen Rant Reviews Fast & Furious

By now you should know exactly what The Fast and the Furious franchise is all about: Candy-colored cars, candy-colored babes, tough guys performing crazy racing sequences and somewhere in all that eye candy, something of a plot. The franchise’s fourth installment, Fast & Furious, tries to show a little growth by injecting a “serious” plotline into the mix, but as is the case with every other installment of the series, that plotline falls way behind the pretty cars, pretty people and pretty crazy car stunts fans have come to love.

Here’s the quick rundown of the “plot” this time around: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his sweetheart Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are still out there in the world doing what they do best: leading a team of highway pirates on high-speed hijacking runs. Dom and Letty have been on the run ever since undercover FBI agent Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) let them walk at the end of the first film, and with every new extravagant hijacking, the law picks up on Toretto’s trail again, forcing him and Letty to go back on the lamb and start all over again in a new place.

After so much running, Dom decides that Letty, whom he loves more than anything, is only going to get hurt being around him when there is such a big target on his back. He decides that what’s best for her and everyone he loves is for him to go his own way. And so he does.

The consequences of that decision eventually draw Toretto back to Los Angeles, looking for revenge against a Mexican drug cartel who have been using street racers as coyotes for smuggling heroin across the U.S./Mexican border. While Toretto uses his street-thug tactics to infiltrate the cartel, agent Brian O’Connor (now a full-fledged FBI suit) uses his G-man authority and experience in the street racing circuit to infiltrate the same cartel. Toretto and O’Connor of course end up side-by-side undercover as the two best drivers on the cartel’s team, rekindling their uneasy friendship in order to bring the bad guys down, Fast & Furious style.

Justin Lin, who directed the series’ last installment, Tokoyo Drift, does an okay job at the helm this time around. The action sequences are gnarly, and the rest of the time… really, who is paying that much attention to the cinematography the rest of the time? The direction is not so bad that it makes you cringe, but it’s not going to win any awards either. As I said, the action sequences are the meat and potatoes in these films, and in this case they are executed pretty well.

The “actors” in the film (Diesel, Walker and amber-skinned hottie Jordana Brewster reprising her role as Toretto’s sister/O’Connor’s love interest) are just as stiff and robotic as ever, a fact even more noticeable in this film since the script calls for “emotional resonance.” That’s OK with me though: these aren’t characters I expect to be sitting around getting in touch with their feelings. They express themselves behind the wheel, and the stunt cars do all the emoting the actors can’t.

Something that was missing from Fast & Furious, however, was the sense of fun and camp that has helped define previous installments of the franchise. The “serious” plot is a deterrent to any kind of humor, and the jokes that do find their way into the script are mostly corny inside ones, winking back at earlier installments of the series. A perfect example: a street racer who is feeling the heat coming down decides to leave the country, exclaiming, “I hear they’re doing some pretty crazy stuff over in Tokyo.” (Wink, wink.)

In the end, those who were fans of the original Fast and the Furious will get a kick out of seeing that story carry on in Fast & Furious. Those who were disgusted by the first film will steer well clear of this installment as well; those who liked the first film but have been disappointed by each subsequent sequel, will maybe have their love of the franchise rekindled, maybe not.

Two things are certain, however: Fast & Furious has enough of a built-in fanbase to rake in a ton of money at the box office, and it will likely be enough money to warrant another sequel. This franchi$e is not going to be driving off into the sunset anytime soon, for better or for worse.

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Movie News Wrap Up: April 6, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:10:00 +0000

This week:

The box office is Furious; Jack Bauer leaves 24 for Joel Schumacher’s Twelve; Paul Weitz looks at Little Fockers; Rosemarie DeWitt and Chris Cooper are Company Men; Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman stare into the Rabbit Hole; we make a date for Sex and The City 2 and Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg are Prisoners.

Box office
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker raced into the number one position with Fast and Furious. The action sequel banked a massive $72 million over the weekend – showing that there is plenty of gas left in the Fast and Furious franchise. Maybe Vin Diesel will get those Riddick movies made after all.

Monster vs. Aliens dropped to second place but it still managed to gross $33 million giving the animated film a gross of over $100 million.

The Haunting in Connecticut took another $9.6 million bringing the total gross to a pretty decent $37 million.

Nicolas Cage’s hair banked another $8 million, giving Knowing a total gross of $58 million.

I Love You, Man brought its total up to $49 million while fellow comedy film Adventureland had a disappointing opening of $6 million.

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen saw Duplicity bank an additional $4 million giving the star driven thriller a $32 million total.

Movie News

1. Joel Schumacher will direct an adaptation of Nick McDonell’S novel Twelve. According to Variety:

“Story follows a high school dropout-turned-drug dealer. His lucrative life sours when the dealer’s cousin is brutally murdered on an East Harlem playground and his best friend is arrested for the crime.”

The cast of the film includes Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Curtis Jackson (or 50 Cent), Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland.

Sutherland and Schumacher have made numerous films together over the years – A Time To Kill, Lost Boys, Phone Booth and Flatliners. Schumacher also directed Emma Roberts’ aunt Julia in Flatliners and Dying Young.

Did I mention that Schumacher also directed a little film called Batman and Robin?

Source: Variety

2. Paul Weitz is in talks to direct Universal Pictures Little Fockers, the second sequel to Meet The Parents.

The director has previously helmed the first American Pie film, About A Boy and In Good Company.

The Focker flick is expected to start shooting in July.

Source: Variety

3. Rosemarie DeWitt has joined the cast of Company Men and Chris Cooper is in negotiations to sign on to the film. The corporate downsizing drama will star Kevin Costner, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones.

How many Oscar winners can you fit into one film?

Rosemarie DeWitt will play Affleck’s wife while Cooper would play a white collar worker losing his job.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Aaron Eckhart will join Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole.

“[The film is a] story of a happily married couple whose lives are disrupted after their 4-year-old son is killed in a traffic accident and the redemptive journey they must undertake to regain happiness.”

Sounds like a bundle of laughs. It’ll be interesting to see if Kidman can emote.

Source: Variety

5. Warner Bros. have set a date for Sex and the City 2. Be prepared to be carried away (again) on May 28, 2010.

The first film made a mind boggling $412.6 million worldwide.

That’s an awful lot of shoes for Sarah Jessica Parker.

Source: Variety

6. Batman and Terminator Salvation star Christian Bale may join Mark Wahlberg in Prisoners.

The plot is as follows:

“After his 6-year-old daughter and her friend are kidnapped, a small-town carpenter butts heads with a young, brash detective in charge of the investigation. The father is a Bible-reading, deer-hunting survivalist. The cop, meanwhile, can’t wait to get to the city. Feeling failed by the law, the father captures the man he believes responsible and begins to torture him in a desperate attempt to find out what he did with the girls, whom he’s convinced are still alive.”

Bryan Singer is pondering directing the film.

Nothing is set in stone yet but if Bale, Wahlberg and Singer io sign then expect a studio to snap the project up.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Vin Diesel Talks Potential Superhero (And Villain) Roles

Ross Miller — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:45:50 +0000

In a recent interview promoting his new film Fast & Furious, muscle-man Vin Diesel spoke about which comic book characters he would like to play if he ever gets the chance. It’s no secret that Diesel is a bit higher on the geek-o-meter than you might think just by looking at him – for instance, it is publicly known he is a big Dungeons & Dragons fan (the board game, mind you… not the movie).

He already had his eye on Daredevil at one point, but we obviously know Ben Affleck landed the role instead. In the interview, Diesel has given some thoughts on which types of comic book characters he would like to play. Which are those? Well, namely Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom.

He didn’t explicitly say he would like to play Doctor Doom, but a character much like him:

“I would be [more] apt to play a villain,” Diesel revealed to MTV News. “[I'd like to play] the protagonist of a story that is also like a Marvel villain – like Doctor Doom or something.”

But going more specific, Diesel expressed interest in pursuing the idea of playing Sub-Mariner:

“I have some superhero favorites,” Diesel admitted. “I talked to ['The Surrogates' director] Jonathan Mostow about ‘Sub-Mariner,’ which could be interesting because of its World War II-New York connection.”

On a related note, over the years there has been some whispers about the Transporter himself Jason Statham possibly playing Sub-Mariner, as well as Daredevil (which comes full circle to Diesel wanting to play that character, too).

Maybe if the rumors about the Fantastic Four franchise is being rebooted come true, then Diesel might have a shot at playing Doctor Doom. I don’t know nearly enough about the character from the original comics to say whether he would play a good Doctor Doom or not, but I’m sure there would be a big debate amongst fans about that one.

If you’re not that familiar with the character you may find it interesting and rather surprising to find out that he is one of the oldest superhero characters (created in 1939), and thus still respected and rather popular amongst readers. The Sub-Mariner is the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis – regal and egotistical to the extreme.

By the way, a Sub-Mariner movie is already on its way with Surrogates director Jonathan Mastow rumored to be directing.

I’m not particularly a fan of Diesel – sure, he’s entertaining in the right roles (I enjoyed watching him as Riddick, even if the second movie sucked), but he’s no thespian. It’s strange to have not seen him playing a comic book character long before now – is it just me or does it seem like he was born and bred for that sort of thing?

So do you think Diesel would play a good Sub-Mariner or Doctor Doom? Or should he never be allowed to play any sort comic book role?

Source: MTV Splash Page

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Has The Recession Impacted Hollywood?

Heath McKnight — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:59:51 +0000

A while back I talked about how the global economic slow-down was affecting Hollywood (How Is The Economy Affecting Movie Studios?). Now as new films go into development or production, studios are looking for ways to keep costs down. It looks like the recession has hit Hollywood, too.

With production set to start on Monday, Iron Man 2 is a lock for being one of the most anticipated films of 2010. New co-stars Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, and Don Cheadle (taking over the role of Rhodey from Terrence Howard, ) join returning cast Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow for the sequel to the 2008 smash hit.

So with the kind of numbers Iron Man made last year (over $580 million in worldwide box office), it would be safe to assume Rourke, hot off his Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, and Scarlett Johansson (who is pretty much hot in almost everything she does) were offered a nice chunk of change for the chance to play the villain Ivan and the Black Widow, right? Wrong! Each were offered only $250,000 for their roles and settled for around $400,000 (according to The Daily Beast), and I’ll assume a nice chunk of the profits, too.

Oh, and the chance to potentially star in more Marvel movies.

Heck, at one point Samuel L. Jackson (who showed up at the end of Iron Man in a brief cameo as Nick Fury head of SHIELD), was willing to walk away from the newly minted Marvel Universe because as he said, “[S]omebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it.” Well the good news is, Sam and Marvel struck a deal for him to appear in NINE movies as Fury!

Okay, I know I’m only focusing on Marvel Studios right now, and for the record I’m really excited about Iron Man 2 – I’m a huge Iron Man fan! But there’s more to the recession and Hollywood than just one film.

I’ve been reading that stars’ salaries and perks (private jets, mega-trailers, etc.) are being re-negotiated, writers are seeing their scripts sell for less than their previous ones, development on new movies is slowing down considerably (which could also be blamed on the ongoing contract negotiations between SAG and the studios, see “The Latest On The Potential SAG Strike“), and more cost-cutting items.

It’s being reported by /Film that Fox is now refusing to help pay for 3D glasses for Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which can cost up to a $1 million per 3D movie (hello Fox, Avatar is opening in 8 months). Now theater owners are pretty upset with the studio making this decision, and are threatening to show the film in only standard 2D. Why is Fox haggling over the cost? I’m guessing recession is on their minds.

So far this year people are going to the movies in droves. Universal’s fourth Fast and Furious movie, which features the original cast, is set to make over $65 million this weekend. That’s a huge record for an April release, and a great signal that the box office is going to do well this year. Given the fact that movies generally do very well when the economy goes south (escapism, perhaps?), it doesn’t make a lot of sense to aggravate movie theater owners right now.

Studios and their corporate owners may be in fear of the recession, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding, or in this case: the box office. They’ll likely increase production and we’ll have some great films to see in the next couple of years. I think Hollywood is smart to reign in costs all around and not just with star salaries, but I hope they don’t go so far as to hurt the overall quality of the films.

Source: The Daily Beast

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – April 2, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:50:21 +0000

This week:

Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington Circle David Cronenberg and make him nervous; Tony Scott cho-cho- choses his next project; Kevin Spacey is The Father of Invention and Paul Walker and Vin Diesel start the engine on Fast and Furious 5!

1. David Cronenberg has been talking about The Matarese Circle – a thriller that may possibly star Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington.The film would be the first (real) time that Cronenberg has played the Hollywood game. Having said that he nearly helmed Basic Instinct 2, what a lucky dodge that was!

While Cruise and Washington aren’t officially attached they are interested in the film that has a rewrite by Cronenberg on the way.

Cronenbeg told The Toronto Star:

“I’ve spoken to both Tom and Denzel, and they both want to do it. Usually when I write, I don’t visualize the characters, because I want them to have a life of their own, but in this case I am writing it specifically for these two actors. Tom and I get along very well. I was at his house in L.A. a couple of weeks ago, and he’s very excited.”

However, it seems that Cronenberg is slightly nervous playing in the big leagues:

“They’re waiting to read my script, so I’m under a lot of pressure and I don’t want to screw it up. It’s not easy to keep all the satisfying elements people expect and still find a way to subvert the genre and surprise the audience.”

Source: Toronto Star via Joblo

2. A-list action director Tony Scott will direct Unstoppable for 20th Century Fox.
According to Variety:

“The drama involves an unmanned runaway train that is carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals. An engineer and his conductor find themselves in a race against time.”

Writer Mark Bomback and Scott are currently working on the script in order to tailor it to Scott’s needs.

I’m a huge fan of Tony Scott’s movies so this is going to move up my must see list for the next year or two.

The main question is will it star Tony Scott favorite Denzel Washington?

Scott’s next movie is the trained themed Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 starring John Travolta.

3. Kevin Spacey will star in and produce Father of Invention.
According to Variety:

“Story centers on a humble inventor-turned-egomaniacal billionaire who loses it all when one of his inventions goes horribly awry. After eight years in federal prison, he returns bankrupt, homeless and determined to rebuild his reputation and fortune.”

Sounds like a Lex Luthor spin-off movie!

Source: Variety
5. A fifth Fast and Furious movie (is that the right thing to call it?) is in the works.
When being interviewed by Moviesonline Paul Walker said:

“It’s beyond rumors at this point. I’ve spoken with executives at Universal and they’re pretty serious about it. They’re developing it. They know where they want it to take place. They want to do it in Europe.”

Walker and Vin Diesel are expected to return if Fast and Furious is on the fast track to profitability.

Source: Moviesonline

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

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New Trailer For ‘Fast & Furious’ Disappointing

Rob Keyes — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:26:56 +0000

The brand new full trailer for Fast & Furious is out and it’s not that great.

Fast & Furious is the fourth installment in the franchise and it brings back all of the major players from the original film including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster.

There was a teaser trailer that came out back in September for this movie which had no dialogue –it was just one long action scene that was pretty amazing. In fact, it was perfection to me and I loved it for this type of movie – especially since we know the characters and what they’re trying to do.

With this new full trailer however, I don’t feel the same at all. About half way through the trailer after the Casino Royale-styled chase scene intro, we start hearing some dialogue and tidbits about the story and it made me lose my excitement.

I’ll also say I didn’t like the choppy film style at the beginning.

Watch and see what you think:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Soulja Boy… really?

It’s a little odd to see this trailer come out today as we confirmed earlier in the week that Fast & Furious would be having a trailer during the Super Bowl. If this is the same trailer to be broadcast with the big game, why aren’t they saving it till then? Or do they even have more footage to show come February 1st?

For comparison, here is the original teaser from a few months back:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Much better I think.

What do you think of the new trailer and how does it compare to the first?

Fast & Furious opens in theaters April 3, 2009.

Source: Yahoo Movies

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Which Movie Trailers Will Air During The Super Bowl?

Rob Keyes — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:51:06 +0000

We’ve all heard stories of the insane amounts of money it costs to run TV spots during the Super Bowl ($3 million for a 30 second spot this year) but it’s certainly not stopping several of the major studios from debuting their highly-anticipated trailers during this year’s broadcast from Tampa Bay.

The following snippet from a Variety article lists the confirmed trailers:

Confirmed for this year’s roster are high-profile titles like Paramount’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Star Trek” and “G.I. Joe“; Sony’s “Angels and Demons“; DreamWorks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens“; and Universal’s “Land of the Lost” and its fourth installment in “The Fast and the Furious” franchise. Disney is also planning to use the game to raise the profile for Pixar’s next toon, “Up.”

As we expected a while ago, we will be getting the very first ever trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as well as G.I. Joe which we haven’t had any new information on in a very long time.

One trailer that has already generated quite a bit of hype is that of Monsters vs. Aliens which DreamWorks Animation is promoting through a full 90-second trailer and the distribution of 125 million pairs of 3D glasses as the trailer will be aired in 3D. This blows my mind and I’m happy that we’re getting some innovative marketing that will get the kids involved.

Some studios such as Warner Bros. (who have Terminator Salvation, Harry Potter 6 and Watchmen coming out) and Fox (who has Wolverine, Ice Age 3 and Night at the Museum 2 debuting this year) have not purchased any ad time however they could be holding out till last minute to get a reduced rate by NBC to fill its remaining open slots.

The Super Bowl is one of the most watched television events in the world and is probably the only broadcast where people actually look forward to the commercials – now us movie buffs have even more to get excited about this year!

Are you excited for the plethora of teasers header our way during the February 1st broadcast?

Source: Variety

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New Posters: Underworld, Fast & Furious, Land Of The Lost

Rob Keyes — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:02:58 +0000

Here we have a few new posters for your viewing pleasure, including the very firsts for Fast & Furious and Land of the Lost.

Land of the Lost is a comedy which follows a forest ranger and his two kids who mistakenly end up in the land of dinosaurs (and other creatures). It stars Will Ferrell, Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) and Danny R. McBride (Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder).

I’m pretty big fan of Danny McBride now that I think of it. I think he was pretty hilarious in Pineapple Express and I like how he came out of nowhere two years ago and is now in a lot of the biggest comedies each year. I don’t know much about this movie but if the dinosaurs don’t look terrible, this should be a fun (and funny) flick – if you’re a Will Ferrel fan.

Next we have the first poster for Fast & Furious (Fast and the Furious 4). I wasn’t a big fan of the second or third installments but I did like how they tied together the Tokyo Drift movie with the originals by having Vin Diesel appear with a cameo at the end. This newest installment brings back all the characters from the first movie and from the teaser trailer released back in I pretty excited for this film.

Lastly, we have the third poster for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. This one features my favorite, Lucian, and is in the same style as the last two posters which featured Viktor and Sonja.

Land of the Lost hits theaters June 5, 2009. Fast & Furious debuts April 3, 2009. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans comes out January 23, 2009.

Sources: IGN, MTV, Cinematical

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xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage

Niall Browne — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:09:25 +0000

Poor Vin Diesel, the man just can’t get a break. He hit the big time about a decade ago with Pitch Black. He followed that movie up with The Fast and the Furious and xXx, however he refused to star in follow-ups to these. Instead opting for The Chronicles of Riddick, a big budget sequel to Pitch Black, a film that failed to meet expectations (as well as its budget at the box office).

Following the failure of Babylon A.D. and the loss of “street cred” due to The Pacifier, Diesel is returning to the “furious” franchise next summer with Fast and Furious (the fourth film in the series), while news has come in today that the bald star and original xXx director Rob Cohen are mulling a return to the “modern Bond” franchise they started in 2002 (following Ice Cube’s disastrous sequel).

So what the heck is up with Vin Diesel?

Do these choices merely reek of desperation or a cunning game plan?

My thinking is that Diesel is a little desperate. Every A-list star needs a franchise to fall back on – it’s a safety net for when things get rough. For examples of this see Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Ford (and Eddie Murphy over the last five or so years) – when the chips are down return to your glory days.

Diesel however cooked his goose before he actually bought it by bailing on xXx and The Fast and the Furious and betting all his chips on the Riddick franchise. It would appear that Diesel is trying to regroup and solidify his standing in Hollywood by attaching himself to some films that make money (it isn’t called show business for nothing) so that he can make his oft mooted Hannibal film and continue his “epic story” for Riddick. Oh … and pay the mortgage on his mansion.

It seems that Hollywood is biting – Sony is interested in another xXx, however as the rights are owned by former Revolution Studios head, Joe Roth, he’ll be shopping the film around town for a solid deal. With Rob Cohen, now hot after the new Mummy (and was previously “cold” after Stealth) and Diesel taking a pay cut due to back to back bombs, it looks like we might eventually see xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.

It really does look like X gonna give it to ya.

Source: Variety

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