With WonderCon just having wrapped up, this has been a big week for new promos for some of the more highly anticipated releases of the coming months. In addition to your weekly trailers section, we’ve also got a poster roundup and WonderCon overview running through all the latest out of Anaheim.
There’s also two big items in the realm of motion capture news. Judy Greer recently boarded “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” as Caesar’s love interest, Cornelia, while Alan Ritchson got his co-cast for Jonathan Liebesman’s “Ninja Turtles.” Meanwhile, Roland Emmerich’s been busy talking “White House Down” and divulging “Independence Day” sequel plot secrets while Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz, and Sam Rockwell all opted to team up with Lynn Shelton for “Laggies.”
Check out the details of all those stories and much more in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. Judy Greer Joins “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Andy Serkis will have to share the motion capture spotlight in the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” because according to Vulture, Judy Greer just snagged the role of Cornelia. You might recall the female chimp’s appearance in the first film as portrayed by dancer Devyn Dalton, but this time around, Cornelia is due for a significant expansion and Greer’s husband is likely more excited than anyone. It turns out, he’s got a major “Planet of the Apes” obsession. Not only did a pair of chimps top their wedding cake, but “Planet of the Apes” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” were both playing during the cocktail hour. At about the same time, Greer was on the award circuit for “The Descendants,” which is where she bumped into her “13 Going on 30” co-star, Serkis, and he recommended she vie for the part. Now if only Greer can keep plot spoilers from her husband. She joked, “It’s funny, because when I talk to my husband about the movie, he’s like, ‘I don’t want to know! I do want to know! Do you think you should tell me? Don’t tell me!'” Hopefully Greer can hold out until the film hits theaters on May 23, 2014.
2. “Independence Day” Sequel Update from Roland Emmerich: With “White House Down” approaching its summer 2013 release, director Roland Emmerich recently revealed some plot details for future endeavors, the “Independence Day” sequels, “ID Forever Part I” and “ID Forever Part II.” Emmerich told Entertainment Weekly that the films will take place 20 years after the original, which could mean a timely 2016 release and also ample time to change those silly titles. The first wave of aliens we met in the 1996 release send their buddies a distress call, instructing them to send reinforcements.” The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back.” Emmerich continued, “And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.” Bill Pullman is due to return as President Whitmore, but the films will have a fresh roster front and center. “It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over.” Not only did Emmerich already complete the two scripts with co-writer Dean Devlin and pass them off to James Vanderbilt for rewrites, but he’s also already developing ideas for the art department. “It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.” Keep an eye out for even more “Independence Day” updates, as Emmerich’s likely to stay chatty through the June 28th release of “White House Down.”
3. WonderCon 2013: It’s been a busy weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center with WonderCon highlighting a number of highly anticipated upcoming films including “Pacific Rim,” “The Conjuring,” “The Mortal Instruments” and more. Comingsoon.net has the goods on “The Conjuring,” which kicked off its event by running through the hide-and-clap scene from the trailer followed by a new piece in which two of the Perron girls are terrorized by the demonic presence in their house. Geeks of Doom was on hand for the “Pacific Rim” panel at which Guillermo Del Toro showed off a brand new trailer in which, “a 25-story high Jaeger robot [dragged] an oil tanker behind it through the streets of Hong Kong, to use as a bat against a Kaiju, followed by a two-fist slap to the Kaiju’s head.” News from the “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” panel comes from CinemaBlend.com. They live blogged the event, which featured stars Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kevin Zegers, and author Cassandra Clare. The gang discussed the usual – their roles, appealing to the book’s fanbase, etc. – and then introduced the film’s new trailer, which wrapped with “all kinds of action, including giant flamethrowers” and “werewolves crashing through a window and attacking a bunch of bad looking dudes.” Over at the “Evil Dead” panel, via Collider, Fede Alvarez addressed his hopes to make an “Evil Dead” sequel that could connect with Sam Raimi’s potential “Army of Darkness 2” for an epic finale for both. Cinema Blend also live blogged the “Much Ado About Nothing” panel, which included a trailer, thoughts from Joss Whedon and each member of the cast, and then not one, but two clips from the film. Click on the respective links to get the details from each event and keep the convention excitement flowing because in just a couple of weeks, Shockya.com will be bringing you the goods from CinemaCon in Las Vegas firsthand!
4. Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz, Sam Rockwell Join “Laggies:” After the wildly charming and poignant, “Your Sister’s Sister,” anything connected to Lynn Shelton is appealing, but now that she just locked a stellar cast for “Laggies,” that one’s even more worth keeping an eye on. According to Deadline, Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz and Sam Rockwell are all locked to star in the dark comedy. Hathaway will play Megan, a young woman who reacts to her boyfriend’s marriage proposal by pretending to go on a career retreat while she’s really hiding out with her new best friend, Moretz’s character, 16-year-old Annika. Mark Webber is in talks to play Megan’s boyfriend and Rockwell is said to be in as a character named Craig. While Anonymous Content pulls this one together, keep an eye out for Shelton’s Sundance 2013 entry, “Touchy Feely,” which is due for a worldwide release via Magnolia Pictures.
5. “Divergent” Adds Three: Neil Burger’s adaptation of Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” takes another leap towards rounding out its cast. Kate Winslet, Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney and Theo James are already all on board and, this past weekend, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Ben Lamb and Christian Madsen joined in, too. Via Summit Entertainment, Lloyd-Hughes took the role of Will, a friend of Beatrice’s (Woodley) during faction initiation. Lamb has been cast as Edward, another member of Beatrice’s initiation class who’s targeted for receiving the highest ranking in the group. Lastly, Madsen will portray Al, an initiation group member in the exact opposite position of Edward, a tough spot to be in as, should you not make it through the initiation process, you’ll end up factionless, and there’s no worse fate in the world of “Divergent” than being without a faction. Principal photography is set to commence in April in Chicago with the film heading towards a March 21, 2014 release.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Quartet Complete: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have assembled! Just recently news got out that Megan Fox was a lock for the role of April O’Neil and Alan Ritchson of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” signed on to play Raphael, and now Deadline ID-ed the final faces behind the remaining turtles. Pete Ploszek will go motion capture “Avatar” style to bring Leonardo to life while Jeremy Howard will step in as Donatello. Lastly, Noel Fisher, who you might recall as Vladimir in the final installment of “The Twilight Saga” will don Michelangelo’s signature orange bandana. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes is producing for director Jonathan Liebesman who’s expected to have “Ninja Turtles” good to go for a June 6, 2014 release against Gareth Edwards’ “Godzilla.”
7. Katherine Heigl and Patrick Wilson for “North of Hell:” Patrick Wilson will get his dark comedy on with Katherine Heigl. As reported by Deadline, the pair just signed on the dotted line to lead Darko Entertainment’s “North of Hell.” Wilson is due to step in as Don Champage a successful, wealthy businessmen who has it all – including a relentlessly controlling wife (Heigl). “Skateland’s” Anthony Burns will get behind the lens to bring the Carlo Allen, Ted Elrick and Tom Lavagnino-penned script to life. Production is expected to begin in April in Louisiana.
8. Poster Roundup: In addition to our trailer section, we’re in need of a poster-specific one because the past seven days have been loaded with must-see designs. First up are the six new character posters for “The Great Gatsby” and the pair of banners that hit the web after “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” WonderCon panel. We’ve also got the series of “Pacific Rim” Jaeger robot designs, which have been hitting the web country by country for the past few days, and an unnervingly serene entry for Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers.” “Kick-Ass 2” added character posters for Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, and Jim Carrey while James Wan’s “The Conjuring” got its very first design, rocking an unsettling shot of a seemingly empty noose. “White House Down” also got a trio of teaser posters and a Channing Tatum design while “The Wolverine” added three different shots of Hugh Jackman looking very ready for a fight. Last up is the very first “Ender’s Game” poster, which has our hero front and center, on the brink of entering the Battle Room.
9. Trailers: “You’re Next,” “Wolverine,” “White House Down:” The very first trailer for the much talked about “You’re Next” has arrived and it certainly rocks the power to rouse just as much curiosity as the nonstop word of mouth with its wicked beat and effective spin on the home invasion scenario. The new trailer for “The Wolverine,” on the other hand, shows off some striking imagery and vicious battle sequences, but is drowning in far too much exposition to build momentum resulting in a piece that’s actually quite boring. We shift back to the positive side with the first trailer for “White House Down.” After having been hit with one too many tacky promos for “Olympus Has Fallen,” “White House Down’s” craftier approach is incredibly invigorating and ups the stakes tenfold.
10. Box Office: “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” may not have hit the first film’s $54.7 million mark, but $41.2 million on a $11,078 per theater average is still a very solid start. As expected, “The Croods” held on strong, only dropping 39.3% and taking another $26.5 million to the bank. “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” wound up coming in on the higher end of the Tyler Perry high teens, low 20s spectrum, taking #3 with an impressive $22.3 million. “Olympus Has Fallen” took a tough hit, but still managed to secure the 4th position with $14 million while “Oz The Great and Powerful” claimed #5 with $11.6 million even after losing 461 theaters. Unfortunately for “The Host,” that meant no top five for its opening weekend. The latest from Stephenie Meyer only took a fraction of what the author has grown used to with “The Twilight Saga,” kicking off its likely very short run with a mere $11 million. (via Box Office Mojo)
