With so many promising projects in the works, this weekend’s Cheat Sheet is all about the upcoming films you should keep on your radar.
Even before “RED 2” hits theaters, Summit already has “RED 3” in the works while Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are gearing up for Bond 24 by honing in on a potential replacement for Sam Mendes. Craig Zobel just snagged Chris Pine and Amanda Seyfried for his adaptation of “Z for Zachariah” while Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski just scored Asa Butterfield and Chloe Mortez for their feature debut, “The White Circus.”
Looking for the details on those stories and more? They’re all here in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. “RED 3” in the Works: “RED 2” first hits theaters on July 19th, but Summit is already making moves for round three. According to THR, the Lionsgate division brought back Jon and Erich Hoeber to follow up their work on the first two installments with a script for a third. Lorenzo Di Bonaventure and Mark Vahradian are back as well to produce, but none of the cast is locked to return just yet. However, should the script get approval, the film could go into production as early as January 2014, so additional updates could come fairly soon.
2. Moretz and Butterfield Reunite for “The White Circus:” The “Hugo” duo, Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield, will come together again in Germany and Serbia in February 2014 for “The White Circus.” The film will mark the feature debut of the acclaimed animated shorts duo Clyde Henry, which breaks down to Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. As reported by Screen Daily, the film is being dubbed a “dark fairytale with moments of brilliant black comedy.” The story hones in on a downed young pilot, stranded in a war-torn town. While there he “befriends a talking circus bear, falls in love with a cabaret singer and challenges a maniacal despot.” Andrea Riseborough and Christian Friedel are due to star as well with Terry Gilliam on board to executive produce.
3. Scarlett Johansson Set to Direct “Summer Crossing:” Soon we’ll see what Scarlett Johansson is capable of behind the lens because, according to ComingSoon.net, she’s locked to direct the adaptation of Truman Capote’s first novel, “Summer Crossing.” The narrative takes place in the summer of 1945 and focuses on a 17-year-old debutante who falls for a Jewish valet parking attendant. Apparently Capote trashed the piece before it was published, but it popped back up in 2004 courtesy of Capote’s former editor. Johansson gave this quote regarding the endeavor: “Several years ago I began working alongside the Capote estate and writer Tristine Skylar to adapt ‘Summer Crossing,’ an inspired early work of Truman’s which has long captured my heart. Being able to bring this story to the screen as my full-length directorial debut is a life dream and deep privilege.” Johansson’s dream will come true when “Summer Crossing” goes into production in early 2014.
4. Chris Pine & Amanda Seyfried Board “Z for Zachariah:” If the fact that “Compliance” director Craig Zobel was set to adapt Robert C. O’Brien’s “Z for Zachariah” wasn’t enough to pique your interest, wait until you check out the cast Zobel just locked – Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, and Amanda Seyfried. The 1974 novel tells the tale of Ann Burden, a 16-year-old girl who thinks she’s the only survivor of a nuclear war. Seyfried will lead as Ann while Ejiofor will play her surprise visitor, a scientist named Loomis. As far as I know, the novel only involved the two characters, but THR reports that Pine’s character is “another survivor” and one that “complicates matters.”
5. Blunt, Baranski, Pin & Gyllenhaal Go “Into the Woods:” Yet another one to watch starring Chris Pine is the musical “Into the Woods.” Director Rob Marshall already has Johnny Depp on board to play “a hungry and sexy variation of a fairy tale wolf” and Meryl Streep as the witch, but now he might also have Pine, Jake Gyllenhaal, Christine Baranski, and Emily Blunt, too. According to THR, both Pine and Gyllenhaal are just shy of the deal making stage for the roles of the two princes, Cinderella’s Prince and Rapunzel’s Prince. Via The Wrap, Blunt is in negotiations to play the film’s female lead, the baker’s wife, while Baranski is said to be in a similar stage, but for an unknown role. However, the outlet does point out that when Baranski participated in a reading of the script in October, she played Cinderella’s stepmother.
6. Christopher Nolan for Bond 24?: After such a successful installment, it’s a bit of a bummer that Sam Mendes won’t return for another round of Bond, but it seems as though Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson know what they need to do to fill his shoes. As reported by the Daily Mail, they’ve approached Christopher Nolan for the gig. As the article notes, the effort is only in the early stages and there’s quite a few reasons for Nolan to pass, namely his upcoming film “Interstellar,” but what’s the harm in asking? According to the Daily Mail’s source, Bond 24 will require a year to 18 moths of pre-production followed by six months of filming, so whoever gets the gig is going to be well, bonding with Bond for a long, long time.
7. Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch in “The Avengers 2:” There’s been talk of the brother-sister duo Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch joining the ranks of the Avengers for the second installment, and now Joss Whedon himself is hinting at just that, too. Of the pair, Whedon recently told IGN, “You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.” According to SuperHeroHype, Whedon is still writing and nowhere near ready to offer these roles, but apparently Saoirse Ronan is his Scarlet Witch “prototype.” There’s rumors of some serious casting contract issues, but at the moment, “The Avengers 2” is still locked for a May 1, 2015 release.
8. New “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Poster: Although still eager for the film’s very first full trailer, “Hunger Games” fans got a nice surprise this week, a brand new poster for the sequel, “Catching Fire,” via the film’s official Instagram account. The design sticks with a similar color palette and texture as the character posters, but ditches the fancy garb and chair for a more picturesque and rugged mountaintop setting. Check out the new poster for yourself over at IMP Awards.
9. Trailers: “Europa Report,” “VHS 2,” “Last Vegas:” Unfortunately for “Europa Report,” “Gravity” did the lost in space thing and did it much better. Unless there aren’t enough critical acclaim quotes in the film’s new trailer to make the point, clearly there’s something very intriguing here, but the promo falls short in terms of pacing and building suspense. The very red band trailer for “VHS 2,” on the other hand, will not only have you on the edge of your seat in a mere two minutes, but sufficiently terrified, too. If you can’t handle the trailer, the full feature will undoubtedly scar you for life, but if you get a disturbing dose of pleasure from the carnage like me, it’s an absolute must-see. Last up is a trailer for what’s basically “RED” meets “The Hangover,” “Last Vegas.” Who knows if the full film will amount to much more than the shtick of seeing Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Kline drunk in Vegas, but based on the trailer, that in itself is amusing enough.
10. Box Office: As expected, “Star Trek Into Darkness” hit it big this weekend, kicking off its run at #1 with $70.6 million, but it’s impossible to gauge the film’s success until we see how fast it falls. “Iron Man 3” held on strong enough moving into weekend three. Even with the competition from “Star Trek,” it still managed to keep 48.5% of its weekend two profits, letting it take another $35 million to the bank. As for “The Great Gatsby,” it held on well enough, dropping 53.2% for $23 million, bringing its domestic grand total to $90 million, just shy of its $105 million production budget. “Pain and Gain” took a mere 38% hit, but that’s because it just doesn’t have all that much to lose anymore. It’s $3.1 million weekend four total earned it the #4 spot on the top ten, just ahead of “The Croods,” which barely edged out “42” for #5 with another $2.75 million as compared to the latter’s $2.73 million. (via Box Office Mojo)
