Happy Sunday, Shockya readers! Who’s ready for their weekly dose of must-known movies news? This week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet is overrun with casting updates, and some big ones at that. We’ve got everything from new additions to the cast of The Hunger Games to Lindsay Lohan’s attempt at getting back on the big screen.
Looking for some eye candy? We’ve got that, too. Not only did a handful of impressive trailers drop during the week, but some great stills, too. The Hangover Part II, Fright Night, Melancholia and so much more in this week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. Hutcherson & Hemsworth in The Hunger Games: The Hunger Games love triangle is complete; Lionsgate has lined up Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth to play Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, respectively. The boys will join Jennifer Lawrence in the highly anticipated big screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ first of three Hunger Games books in which 24 teens fight for their lives in a televised death match. Peeta is one of two “tributes” selected to fight on behalf of District 12, the other being Lawrence’s character and the film’s lead, Katniss Everdeen. All Katniss’ hunting partner and best friend Gale can do is stay behind, tend to her family and hope she returns. (via Coming Soon)
2. Sean Hayes is The Three Stooges’ Larry: A few weeks back a rumor surfaced claiming Hank Azaria and James Marsden were the frontrunners to play Moe and Larry in Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s The Three Stooges. Well, turns out at least half of that rumor is false because it’s not Marsden, but Will and Grace’s Sean Hayes who’ll assume the role of Larry alongside Will Sasso’s Curly. What does this mean for Azaria’s involvement? While it doesn’t mean he’s out, it certainly proves that the aforementioned rumor is, well, just that, a rumor; it can go either way. In non-rumor Three Stooges news, Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara is in talks to assume the female lead in the film. (via Deadline and Showblitz)
3. Michael Shannon in Man of Steel: Our new Superman, Henry Cavill, will battle quite the actor in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have hired Michael Shannon to star as General Zod. “Zod is not only one of Superman’s most formidable enemies, but one of the most significant because he has insights into Superman that others don’t,” Snyder explained. “Michael is a powerful actor who can project both the intelligence and the malice of the character, making him perfect for the role.” In addition to Cavill, Shannon joins Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent. (via Reuters)
4. Rock of Ages Gets Its Lead: So far we’ve got Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Paul Giamatti and possibly Amy Adams. Can the Rock of Ages cast get much better? Well, hopefully because director Adam Shankman just found his lead, Diego Boneta. Diego who? Unless you’re a fan of 90210, Pretty Little Liars or caught ABC Family’s Mean Girls 2, you likely don’t even know who this guy is. He does have a single available on iTunes and, based on the preview, it sounds like he can sing. One thing I know for sure? He’s pretty nice to look at! The plan is for Shankman to get behind the lens and begin filming on May 19th. (via Variety)
5. Lindsay Lohan Back on the Big Screen: Lindsay Lohan has had a busy week and surprisingly, it’s all career-related. Apparently director Tyler Shields is interested in having Lohan play Sharon Tate in his film Eyes of a Dreamer, a piece about Charles Manson’s murderous rampage in August of 1969. The material is ghastly and Shields knows it. “I’m just going to be directing people to do the craziest s— they’ve ever done,” he explained. “[But] I’m going to find a way to do it where it doesn’t turn people off, but it gives you the feeling of it. I want this to really hit people in a really specific place.” Eyes of a Dreamer isn’t the only potential project on Lohan’s plate. Victoria Gotti passed on both Sienna Miller and Blake Lively, opting to go with Lohan to play her in the tentatively titled Gotti: Three Generations. Why the notoriously tumultuous Lohan over Miller and Lively? Gotti’s ties to the Lohan family might have something to do with it. (via EW and TMZ)
6. The Hangover Part II Trailer Debacle: Did you get a chance to catch the trailer for The Hangover Part II in theaters? If you did, lucky for you because it’s officially been pulled due to some inappropriate monkeying around. Warner Bros. was in such a hurry to get the trailer up and running, they never got official clearance from the MPAA. “In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. The studio didn’t mention the exact portions they plan to trim, but rumor has it, it’s that last scene where that super cute monkey is engaging in some dirty activity with a water bottle. You may not be able to see it for yourself in theaters anymore, but you can check it out right here. Oh, the beauty of the Internet. (via LA Times)
7. First Stills From Fright Night: The first images from Craig Gillespie’s 3D remake of the 1985 Tom Holland film Fright Night have arrived and fans of the original should be pleased. We’ve now got a total of six stills on the loose all of which do an impressive job at resurrecting the imagery from the first film. There’s a great shot of Colin Farrell as Jerry Dandrige, the dashing, but vicious vampire next door as well as one of our new leading man, Anton Yelchin as Charley Brewster trying to ward off the evil. We also get glimpses of Imogen Poots as Amy Peterson attempting to lock and load and a shot of Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Charley’s best pal, Evil Ed. See them all for yourself over at Shock Till You Drop.
8. RIP Sidney Lumet: 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Fail-Safe, The Wiz and many more. After 50+ years of filmmaking, director Sidney Lumet has passed away at the age of 86 from lymphoma. Lumet has over 50 titles to his name of which 14 were nominated for Academy Awards, totaling over 40 nominations combined. There are scores of Lumet remembrance pieces out there, so if you’d rather not sort through the lot, I’d suggest checking out the video posted by CBS News and Life’s “Remembering Sidney Lumet” photo gallery.
9. Trailers: Crazy, Stupid Love, Warrior, Daydream Nation, Melancholia: Have you had it with all the recent lame comedies? You’re in luck because according to the new trailer for Crazy, Stupid, Love we really could have something genuinely hilarious on the way. Smart writing and a heartfelt and unique twist on the typical genre conventions; could it really be true? My hopes are high. Looking for something with a little more action? Check out the new trailer for Warrior. Not only does this film boast two stellar actors, Inception’s Tom Hardy and Animal Kingdom’s Joel Edgerton, but a fair share of action in the ring as well. Now let’s take it back to the romance realm with the new trailer for Daydream Nation. This one features Kat Dennings as a teen who’s uninspired by her classmates so opts to pursue a relationship with her teacher. Lastly, in true Lars Von Trier fashion, we’ve got the completely confusing trailer for Melancholia. Apparently it’s some sort of end-of-the-world romantic drama. Have fun trying to figure this one out.
10. Box Office: While Russell Brand is likely pleased that Hop snagged the top spot two weekends in a row, Arthur underperformed. Yes, Arthur still assumed the second position with $12 million, but Hanna certainly stole some of its thunder. In fact, Hanna nearly topped Arthur missing out on the #2 spot by just about $300,000 even though it debuted in about 700 less theaters. And who knows? Perhaps the actual numbers as opposed to the weekend estimates could call for a ranking swap. Soul Surfer came in at #4 with an impressive $11.1 million. That one actually managed to top Hanna’s per theater average of $4,861 with a notable $5,014 per location. Coming in at #5 is Insidious with $9.7 million, which proves the film has more staying power than its horror genre counterparts, only dropping 26.6% from week one to two. As for Your Highness, its box office performance wound up reflecting its widely negative reviews, the film only managing to earn $9.5 million its first weekend out. (via Box Office Mojo)
By Perri Nemiroff
