With "The Wolverine" now defanged a bit thanks to Darren Aronofsky leaving the director's chair and the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan where the film was supposed to shoot, Fox has put the brakes on the highly anticipated sequel which apparently boasts a strong script from Christopher McQuarrie. While Hugh Jackman and the studio are eager to right the many wrongs of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" they are wisely not rushing to get the film moving again. However, last week, intel burbled up that Fox was beginning to look at directors to take on the film with David Slade -- who pretty much had the gig prior to Aronofsky's arrival -- and Dun...
Read More »Earlier in the year, the tepid box office returns were something to be ignored, as 2011 was competing with the previous year, with both “Avatar” and then the anomaly of “Alice In Wonderland” each raking in a cool billion. Well, it’s April, and it’s time for Hollywood to panic. There have been no genuine out-of-the-box hits so far this year and lots of flops, and the two (barely) $100 million grossers considered underperformers (“Rango” and “Just Go With It”). Let’s face it, part of it is a failure of marketing, but the blame must be laid on inadequate product. Even when it comes to the early year doldrums, this has been a banner year for garb...
Read More »Fox has played it smart since Darren Aronofsky left "The Wolverine." Instead of a rush of shortlist candidates hitting the web, and studio and its star, Hugh Jackman, have kept cool, insisting they want the right person for the job. But it appears we've just seen the tip of the iceberg of potential ...
Read More »9 More Revelations From Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga & The Film's Burgeoning Action StarDuncan Jones' suspense-filled sci-fi-ish time-twister, "Source Code," starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright, isn't particular hard to follow, but if you haven't seen the film, you might not quite understand the conceit yet. Essentially it's like "Groundhog's Day" only set within the framework a sci-fi thriller. In the film (and all of this is taken from the official Apple trailer synopsis, so do not cry spoilers, please) decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown ...
Read More »British Filmmaker Talks His 'Superman' Meetings With Christopher Nolan & Wanting To Stick To His Original ProjectsOnly an elite few group of filmmakers get offered a chance to meet with Christoper Nolan to discuss potentially directing the new "Superman" film he's producing, let alone first time filmmakers, but that's exactly what happened to Duncan Jones. Though he bowed out of the running on his own volition and Zack Snyder got the gig, it's a rather huge testament to Jones' unique filmmaking aesthetic that he was even allowed in the front door. But after Jones' low-key sci-fi debut "Moon" hit at Sundance 2008, the British director (and son...
Read More »Lead Character Won't Speak At All In Film -- Hence The TitleWith his sophomore effort "Source Code" set to open Friday, director Duncan Jones is in the midst of some serious press promotion rounds. The filmmaker is currently traveling around the country to introduce advanced screenings of the sci-fi actioneer everywhere from SXSW (where we first caught the film) to last Friday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. After the screening, Jones was asked about the status of his long gestating film "Mute," which was recently announced to be made into a graphic novel. Jones gave a variation on the same answer he's been giving recently, but e...
Read More »Shia LaBeouf And Logan Marshall-Green Are Also Names New To The Casting MixThe field for the next Jason Bourne -- well not really, but the next guy who will be-on-the-run in his footsteps is narrowing. About a month ago, a long list of contenders emerged including names both big and small such as Ja...
Read More »Duncan Jones' "Source Code" booted up at SXSW, kicking off festivities last week, and word has been good. In our review, we noted that "Jones remains a strong and original voice in a genre badly needing of both" and whatever you may think of his followup to "Moon," it is undeniably unlike any other ...
Read More »Calls His Next Film "Big Sprawling Fun"SXSW is underway which means we'll be spending the next week or so in Austin catching movies, talking with talent and trying to find space for beer and BBQ somewhere in the there. The festival kicked off last night with Duncan Jones' highly anticipated follow-up to "Moon," the time looping thriller "Source Code." It was received quite well from audiences who hit the screening last night and today and the director and cast ran the press gauntlet answering questions about the film. Naturally, with news arriving just before the festival that the director's long-gestating dream project "Mute" was headed the ...
Read More »When Duncan Jones' mysterious debut feature "Moon" was released back in 2009, the Internet collectively collapsed under the weight of its own enthusiasm. Jones was heralded as a bold new visionary, someone to rescue the tired sci-fi genre from the Hollywood trappings of big-budget spectacle. And whi...
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