Superhero movies like “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Solider” may have taken a pass on New York Comic Con, but their presence is certainly felt in the form of big plot and casting updates. However, that’s not to say NYCC was without highly anticipated films. In fact, the event featured some of the best of the best in upcoming horror, nice and appropriate for the upcoming holiday.
Awards season is right around the corner as well and we’ve got a number of Oscar nominated and winning directors hard at work on their next projects. David Fincher is busy raising funds to get his adaptation of “The Goon” into production while Clint Eastwood continues to try and fill the cast of “A Star Is Born.” Kathryn Bigelow, on the other hand, is already sitting pretty, unveiling the trailer for her latest, “Zero Dark Thirty,” a film that’s bound to have a major societal impact and possibly an Academy one, too.
Catch up on all of that and much in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. New York Comic Con: While New York Comic Con still can’t compare to the madness that is San Diego Comic Con, it’s getting there. For folks with a soft spot for horror, NYCC featured an exciting line-up of films including “Silent Hill: Revelation 3D,” “The Bay,” “Carrie,” “Evil Dead,” and more. Of the bunch, “Evil Dead” was certainly the standout, benefiting from Bruce Campbell’s showmanship as well as a sneak peek at the film with a gore factor that absolutely blew the audience away.
2. “Thor: The Dark World” Official Synopsis: What’s all this Dark World nonsense about? It’s finally time to find out! Via Coming Soon, the official synopsis of “Thor: The Dark World” has arrived. This time around, Thor is trying to save Earth and the Nine Realms from Malekith who strives to shroud the universe in darkness.
3. David Fincher’s “The Goon” on Kickstarter: Budding filmmakers will be pleased to know that even an Academy Award nominated director needs a hand when bringing a film to life. Producer David Fincher and directors Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller are using Kickstarter to raise a total of $400,000 so they can finally kick off the filmmaking process and bring Eric Powell’s comic book, “The Goon,” to the big screen.
4. More in the Running for “Captain America 2:” Someone is raining on Emilia Clarke, Jessica Findlay Brown, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots and Alison Brie’s parade. Despite reports that Marvel narrowed it down to these five ladies for the female lead in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Latino Review is reporting that it’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead at the top of the list. Apparently there’s also two male villain roles in need of casting, one of which could be filled by Nikolaj Coster Waldau or Josh Holloway.
5. Shailene Woodley the New Mary Jane Watson?: New leading ladies all around! “Spider-Man 2” is also on the hunt for another female lead and Sony is honing in on Shailene Woodley for the role of Mary Jane Watson. Variety also reports that the studio is on the hunt for a new Harry Osborn and that Electro might be one of the film’s main villains.
6. Deborah Ann Woll Is “Officially Dating:” “Are We Officially Dating?” is, well, officially worth keeping an eye on. Zac Efron and Miles Teller have been attached for a bit, but now, according to Deadline, Deborah Ann Woll is the first actress to crash their party. The romantic comedy is about a trio of guys who vow to stay single just as each inches closer to finding true love. Woll’s set to play one of the guy’s ex-wife.
7. “Jurassic Park 4” Almost Starred Dinosaur Men: I want “Jurassic Park 4” just as much as the next “Jurassic Park” diehard, but I’m thankful the filmmakers didn’t jump the gun and run with the disconcerting cross-breeding plot. Reddit user Sketchampm posted a set of concept art images that were produced for William Monahan and John Sayles’ 2005 script, showing what it might look like had Jurassic Park scientists come up with human/dino DNA concoction.
8. No More “A Star Is Born” for Beyonce: Clint Eastwood is back to square one with his remake of “A Star Is Born.” Not only is the film still without a male lead, but, according to Variety, Beyonce had to back out thanks to an overloaded schedule. Rather than scramble to refill the spot, Eastwood and co. are focusing on the John Norman Howard role, Eastwood already having approached Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp and Bradley Cooper with Cooper being the most likely to take the gig.
9. Trailers: “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Hitchcock,” “Gangster Squad:” We’ve always known Kathryn Bigelow’s latest focuses on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, but thanks to the film’s full trailer, we finally get a sense of how Bigelow plans to tell the tale and what her odds are at scoring another Academy Award. We’ve also got our very first look at Anthony Hopkins in action as Alfred Hitchcock, and while the film is titled “Hitchcock,” Helen Mirren’s Alma Reville makes an equally profound impression. The new trailer for “Gangster Squad” isn’t all the bad, but when thrown in the mix with visceral pieces like “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Hitchcock,” it comes across as a bit too Hollywood.
10. Box Office: “Taken 2” takes the top spot yet again. As expected, the sequel suffered a hefty 54.6% hit, but thanks to a big opening weekend, it still managed to amass a total of $22.5 million this time around. Ben Affleck’s “Argo” opened fairly strong, taking $20.1 million on a $6,225 per theater average while “Sinister” managed to post $18.25 million with about 700 fewer theaters. “Hotel Transylvania” continues to enjoy its long legs, dropping just 36.1% from weekend two to three and earning another $17.3 million. Newcomer “Here Comes the Boom” rounds out the top five with a mere $3,981 per theater average and just $12 million in total. (via Box Office Mojo)
