Here comes Santa Claus with a sack full of brand new movie trailers! This past week has been an especially big one for promotional material, brand new trailers dropping for “Aftershock,” “The Place Beyond the Pines,” “Scary Movie 5” and more.
We’ve also got a bit to discuss in the way of casting news. Kristen Stewart herself confirmed there’s some “f***in’ amazing” things in the works for “Snow White and the Huntsman 2” and over at Marvel, the suits have their eyes on Zachary Levi or Jim Sturgess to lead “Guardians of the Galaxy.” We’ve also got Ricky Gervais locked down for “The Muppet 2” and Jonathan Graff all set to voice the male lead in Disney’s “Frozen.”
Ready for all the details so you’re in-the-know for the holiday party prattle? It’s all coming your way in the weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. Kristen Stewart Locked for “Snow White and the Huntsman 2:” It’s official; “Snow White and the Huntsman” is Kristen Stewart’s franchise. After the whole KStew/Rupert Sanders debacle, plans were up in the air – would Stewart get the boot? Would Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman become the main man? No and no. During a chat about “On The Road,” of “Snow White and the Huntsman 2,” Stewart told Indiewire, “Oh, it’s gonna be fuckin’ amazing. No, I’m so excited about it, it’s crazy.” Sounds like she’s definitely down for more, huh?
2. Zachary Levi or Jim Sturgess for “Guardians of the Galaxy” Lead: Marvel Studios is honing in on its “Guardians of the Galaxy” lead. According to Variety, the shortlist for the role of Peter Quill has become a super shortlist. In fact, it’s down to just two options – Zachary Levi and Jim Sturgess. The character is described as a “charming troublemaker.” He’s the son of an alien father and human mother, who grows up to work as an interplanetary policeman. Apparently “Guardians of the Galaxy” is on the funnier side as compared to the other Marvel properties, which would make you think Levi would be prime to lead, but as a non-“Chuck” fan, Sturgess’ more serious acting chops are the bigger draw.
3. Rebel Wilson Will Host the MTV Movie Awards: Russell Brand, Jason Sudeikis, Aziz Ansari, Andy Samberg and all those folks are pretty hilarious, but Rebel Wilson? This should be good! MTV recently announced that the “Bridesmaids” and “Pitch Perfect” star is locked to host the MTV Movie Awards on April 14, 2013. (Yes, a little on the early side this year.) In honor of the big news, MTV also unveiled the event’s very first trailer and, sure enough, it offers up a taste of what Wilson is like at her best – and hungriest.
4. Ricky Gervais Set to Lead “The Muppets 2:” With Jason Segel taking a pass on being the man among Muppets yet again, Kermit and co. are in need of a new actor to take them through another adventure and now it’s confirmed that that actor will be Ricky Gervais. The news first broke via THR, the outlet reporting Gervais was in negotiations for the role, but then Gervais himself took it one step further, tweeting, “I have just signed up to play the lead in the next Muppet Movie. I have the biggest trailer but Kermit will spend some time in my sink.” Apparently production will begin in January and will include loads of cameos, but the story will keep the focus on three main human characters including Gervais and Ty Burrell who’s set to play a “lazy Interpol inspector.”
5. Jonathan Groff Will Voice Main Character of “Frozen:” Disney’s “Frozen” just got its leading man – er, mountain man. The studio announced that Jonathan Groff of “Glee” and the Broadway musical “Spring Awakening” is set to star alongside Kristen Bell in the 3D animated feature. Bell will voice Anna, a “fearless optimist” who joins forces with Groff’s Kristoff to track down her sister, Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel), and put an end to her evil spell that locks the kingdom in an eternal winter. You can catch all the action when “Frozen” hits theaters on November 27, 2013.
6. 2012 Black List: The list of the best unproduced screenplays of 2012 has arrived and even just based on their summaries, there’s some very intriguing features in the mix. This year’s Black List highlights include “Rodham,” a piece by Young Il Kim about Hillary Rodham Clinton from back during the Watergate scandal when she was the youngest lawyer chosen for the House Judiciary Committee and Carter Blanchard’s “Glimmer” about a trio that disappears in the woods leaving two friends left behind to discover what happened to them through video tapes. As a Columbia University MFA film student myself, I’ve got to draw attention to Shane Atkinson’s “Penny Dreadful,” the longer version of a fantastic short about a kidnapping scheme that goes awry and leaves poor Dennis stuck trying to manage a sadistic little girl. There’s tons of promising material to take a look at, so click here to scroll through the full 2012 Black List.
7. No James Franco for “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes:” No, it’s not a sure thing, but based on what James Franco told MTV, it looks like there’s a good shot the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” series will move on without him. While he did plan on having a small part in the sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” now that the first film’s director, Rupert Wyatt, is long gone, Franco explained, “My guess is I won’t be in it. Nobody’s talked to me since Rupert left.” Even when Wyatt was attached, “Dawn” wasn’t exactly a “Rise” family reunion. Franco noted, “A lot of the human characters that were in the first movie were dead in the sequel that Rupert was going to direct. But there was one scene, between Caesar and my character, maybe even just like on a video that was left behind.” It does sound like things won’t proceed as originally planned, but you never know how (or if) they’ll shape up.
8. Trailers: “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” “This Is The End,” “Turbo:” It’s been a big week for trailers, so big in fact, we need two Cheat Sheet sections to share the must-sees. First up is the trailer for the Steve Carell-starrer, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” It’s looking a little too slapstick and silly for my comedic taste, but with “Now You See Me” due out next year as well, perhaps magic movies will be all the rage. Nice and timely, the first trailer for “This Is The End” dropped this past week, showing off how Seth Rogen and James Franco opted to stay safe during the last day of the Mayan calendar and also how it all goes down in the movie. On the PG side, we’ve got our very first look at Turbo in action – very, very slow action. Poor little Turbo may take 17 minutes to move only a few inches, but based on this teaser trailer, he’ll have no trouble stealing hearts in the full feature.
9. Trailers 2: “Scary Movie 5,” “Aftershock,” “The Place Beyond the Pines:” More horror movies, more “Scary Movies.” The first trailer for “Scary Movies 5” is here and, even though it’s poking fun at newer movies, it should come as no surprise that the overall shtick and all the little gags look very familiar. Speaking of which, even though the premise of Eli Roth’s “Aftershock” suggests the film could be a big winner, its first trailer dumbs it down to a mindless gore-fest. “The Place Beyond the Pines,” on the other hand, now this looks like something with some serious potential. Ryan Gosling leads as a motorcycle stunt rider who uses his riding skills to make off with a hefty haul after robbing a bank, money he steals to give to his newborn son.
10. Box Office: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” may have held strong enough to take another $36.7 million to the bank, but overall, it was a rather weak weekend at the box office. Newcomer “Jack Reacher” only took $15.6 million on a $4,654 per theater average while “This Is 40” didn’t fair much better, posting $4,132 per theater for a $12 million opening weekend total. “Rise of the Guardians,” however, fell a mere 17.4%, letting it take another $5.9 million while “Lincoln” dropped just the slightest bit more for a $5.6 million weekend seven haul. Paramount certainly isn’t ringing in the holidays early. On top of “Jack Reacher’s” weak performance, the studio also has to deal with “The Guilt Trip’s” dismal start, just $5.4 million in total with a rock-bottom $2,217 per theater average. (via Box Office Mojo)
