"Catching Fire" gets it's senior citizen

     For those of you familiar with the second "Hunger Games" novel you already know that the 75th Hunger Games involves a kid of all-star team of past winners, one of which is an 80 year old woman named Mags.  Mags is a former District 4 winner and mentor to another prominent character Finnick Odair.
     Well "Deadline" reports that "Lionsgate" has officially found their lady.  Seventy-five year old Lynn Cohen will play the role of Mags.  The Munich actress will begin filming the sequel next month along with Joshua Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Chris Hemsworth.

Three films to rule them all: "The Hobbit" is officially a trilogy

     Sigh.
     Well I suppose once serious negotiations started that this news was probably inevitable, but Peter Jackson and company have officially announced that The Hobbit will now be a trilogy.  I thought about paraphrasing the actual announcement but upon further reflection I thought that Middle Earth's biggest ambassador summed it up best:



"It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.'

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, "a tale that grew in the telling."

Cheers,

Peter J"Peter J"

     Although I still have some concerns about this decision (I mean let's be real here this action intentionally or not will maximize profits) I only recently discovered that the entire Hobbit shoot*, took only ten days less than the ENTIRE shoot for all three Lord of the Rings films.  That tells me that Jackson and company filmed a hell of a lot of material not directly depicted in "The Hobbit" but only alluded to in the novel or described in The Lord of the Rings appendices.  As such, it would probably be impossible to cram all that material into just two films.  To do so, at least as Peter Jackson implies from the above statement, means that a massive chunk of what was filmed would be completely trashed.  In light of this...well I guess more Middle Earth is always a good thing.
     This decision raises an interesting question when it comes to subtitles however.  Obviously the first film, An Unexpected Journey, is set in stone, but will the second film still be called There and Back Again?  Doubtful.  I think that title will go to the third and final film and that the second film will take on a different title.  Maybe The Desolation of Smaug? 
     Also as to the release date of the third film the logical choice would be December 12, 2014, however various reports are stating that the third film may actually be released in summer 2014.  More on this story as it develops.
     In the meantime the debut of the first part in this new trilogy is now just slightly over four months away!

*By shooting time I mean the actual number of days that filming took place.  The amount of days for all three films was about 250 however actually principal photography began in March 2011 and ended a little over four weeks ago.

Ah Mission Control to "X-Men First Class" sequel we have a subtitle

     After the critical and box office success of X-Men: First Class it was inevitable that there would be a sequel.  Well now we have a title AND a release date for said sequel.
     According to "IGN" and producer Bryan Singer, the sequel will be titled X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Now if that title sounds odd it's because it's probably meant to.  Apparently the title refers to a two part story arc published in "Uncanny X-Men" back in 1981.  (And no I didn't know that off the top of my head.  Contrary to popular belief I do have somewhat of  a life.)
     The story "deals with a dystopian alternative future where mutants are incarcerated in internment camps."  It also involves time travel to "prevent a fatal moment in history which triggers anti-mutant hysteria." 
     Let's see.  Mutants? Check.  Hot mutants?  Check.  Dystopian sci-fi plotline?  Check.  Time travel?  Check.  Social relevance?  Check.  Yeah, I'm all in on this one.
     Filming is slated to begin this January with a release date of July 18th, 2014.
    

The final word on GBIII? Get your proton packs primed but without Bill Murray

     I made a solemn vow to fans of Flicktastic that I would not report anymore information on the proposed Ghostbusters III until there was a definitive answer as to whether it was actually happening.
     That answer has arrived.
      After much equivocation, delays, screams, threats, promises, and (reportedly) shredded scripts, Mr. Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) sat down for an interview with "The Metro" regarding the project.  According to Aykroyd the third installment in the franchise IS happening with production set to begin next year.  Aykroyd says they "have a great new writer on it" that's going to "satisfy the fans."
     For those of you hoping that Bill Murray would be a part of this film, you can put that desire in the Ecto Containment Unit.  Aykroyd says Murray will not be involved and though he's sad about the prospect of a Ghostbusters movie without Murray, he goes on to say that "Ghostbusters III can be a successful movie without Bill."  The vodka magnate* also says that the third film will be a passing of the torch to a new generation of ghostbusters.  This makes sense because the other three of them (Ray, Egon, and Winston) will all be in their 60s when the next film takes place.  However, it does seem like a blatant move to restart the franchise.  As long as they get the right people (Jessie Eisenberg anyone?) I'm totally on board with this.
     I can honestly say that I'm relieved to see Ghostbusters III finally moving forward, even if it is without Bill Murray.  Although he would have added value to the film, the bottom line is that he dragged his feet on this project for over two years.  He's about 70% to blame for Ghostbusters III not already being on DVD, rather than months away from production.  Frankly, I no longer care that he's not a part of this movie. 
     Furthermore, Akyroyd reveals that the project has the studio's full backing which is excellent news.  There were rumors circulating that the studio wouldn't get behind the project without Murray but with the recent financial success of the last Indiana Jones movie and also Rambo, they've obviously changed their tune.
     If production starts next year I anticipate a summer 2014 release date which would dovetail nicely into the 30th anniversary of the original Ghostbusters.
     My only question is if Ray Parker Jr. is going to make another music video.  Well that and who ya gonna call?

*Dan Aykroyd has his own brand of vodka called Crystal Vodka that comes in a skull bottle.  Weird.

DVD and Blu Ray release dates for the week of July 30th

*Blu ray only
**DVD only

Here are the Blu ray and DVD releases for July 31st:

Le Havre, Damsels in Distress, ATM, Hijacked, LOL, The Bunny Game, Forever Marilyn*, The Seven Year Itch*, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*, How to Marry a Millionaire*, There's no Business like Show Business*, River of no Return*, Total Recall*, The Grand Illusion*, Hatfields and McCoys, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 14**, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (series)**, The Magic School Bus**, Melrose Place (series)**, Shark Week: 25th Anniversary Collection

"Man of Steel" teaser trailer offers something other than the typical superhero rhetoric

     I have to admit that when I went to see The Dark Knight Rises I was eagerly anticipating the teaser trailer for next year's Superman re-boot, Man of Steel.  At first I was extremely disappointed because it didn't show really anything at all.  There was no Superman vs. Zod scenes, no shots of The Daily Planet; hell there wasn't even a shot of Amy Adams as Lois Lane!  Instead what we got was a very dreary depiction of a grungy Clark Kent moonlighting as a fisherman and in general looking like an outcast.  Only at the end of the trailer was Superman (Henry Cavill) flying.
     The more I thought about it though and after watching it I few times, I changed my mind.  This trailer comes across as very intriguing because it sets up a story of what kind of Superman audiences are going to see next.  I have to admit the voiceover and music* just gives me chills.  With Zack Synder (300, Watchmen) at the helm and Christopher Nolan producing, I have a very good feeling about Man of Steel.  And after the overwhelming disappointment that was Superman Returns, I think the world is in desperate need of a good Superman movie.
     Interestingly enough, Warner Bros. released two cuts of the teaser trailer with different voiceovers.  One had Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner) Superman's Earth father doing the voiceover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKWJZsjm5U and the other had Jor-El (Russell Crowe) Superman's biological father doing the other http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-toIu5JscE&feature=relmfu.  Both are excellent but I prefer the Jor-El version.
     Man of Steel opens June 14th, 2013.

*The background music is from The Lord of the Rings movies.

Drew Goddard dishes on his involvement in the "World War Z" rewrite

     Several weeks back I reported that next summer's potential box office hit World War Z, was on shaky ground.  Studio execs were extremely disappointed with the script and 5-7 weeks of re-shoots will begin within the next month.  Thankfully, screenwriter Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) has been brought in to revamp the third act of World War Z which was the main source of contention at the studio.
     However, numerous rumors have flown about indicating that Goddard was going to re-write the ENTIRE script, so he spoke to "Collider" in order to clear the air.  Goddard states:

“I think a lot of that got blown out of proportion. It really was like, they asked me to come look at the movie and give ideas on how to help, and that’s what happened. That happens all the time, I don’t know why this got blown up with World War Z and it suddenly became a big thing. It’s the sort of thing that happens with screenwriters all the time where you give your ideas on what could help, you write some scenes for people… I feel bad for the sort of magnifying glass that that movie’s under because this is just a normal part of the process, this is just what happens… My involvement was just watch the movie, give some ideas, write some scenes that might help, ADR, just sort of fill in stuff, which is what I did.”

     Having just read the book, "Tales from Development Hell" I can categorically say that Goddard is right on the money.  This is nothing new in Hollywood.  Unfortunately, I also think that when this situation happens, especially when the movie is based on excellent source material, the chances are 50/50 that things will work out alright.  I have to respect the fact that studio wants to do re-shoots because they think WWZ is a disaster. That shows me that they care about putting out a good product, at least on the surface.  Whether or not the adjustments pay off will have to wait until next year.