Paramount Wants Kenneth Branagh for Jack Ryan's Return

Jack Bender walked from Paramount's umpteenth attempt at rebooting Jack Ryan (Formerly Moscow, now untitled) in as many years last week. "Scheduling conflicts," they say was the culprit. Everyone I've spoken to indicates otherwise, but it's pointless to get into that.

Prospects for Tom Clancy's CIA analyst-turned-action hero looked murky, at best. Though this latest update doesn't altogether get them out of the dangerous oceans of Development Hell, it throws in a life-preserver. Vulture says Paramount is in talks with Kenneth Branagh to take the directorial reign.

Thinking outside of the box mindset, good dealings with the studio (Thor, bitches!); a good choice all around. Paramount still wants to get this going once Chris Pine wraps Star Trek 2. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Optimistic getting Branagh and Pine remains a solid choice for Ryan. Still in the "I'll believe it when I see" phase after all the delays, truth be told.

No Lost In Translation Here - The Dictator Still Isn't Funny

In a day or so, this could pop up as the official trailer at QuickTime or Yahoo. But for the moment, First Showing noticed the French-subtitled trailer for The Dictator over at Daily Motion.

One of these days there'll be something here to make me laugh. Perhaps in the finished product in May? It is plot-centric (Unless you've actually read the press releases detailing the main plot with Anna Faris as the love interest). But if you plan on seeing Dark Shadows or The Avengers for the fourth time that weekend instead, why bother?

TV Spot for Lockout

This is a bit of an under the radar action film that is basically the Die Hard formula set on a outer space maximum security prison, with Guy Pearce seemingly having a blast as a wisecracking John McClane style badass sent in to rescue the President's daughter from aforementioned prison.

Personally I think it looks a lot of fun and seems to have pushed the limit of it's budget with reasonable success.

Comingsoon.Net

New Prometheus TV Spot

Expectations were high for this and so far it has exceeded them in look and tone, could this really be as good as we all hoped? I sure think so, Ridley has not made a career out of sci fi films but the twice he's took on the genre he's created classics, Prometheus looks like a hat-trick!

Comingsoon.Net

Snow White & The Huntsman - 60 Second TV Spot

This has been the surprise package for me of this summer's blockbusters, hopefully the film lives up to the awesome trailers as the view is that this will kick off a trilogy on an epic LOTR's style scale.

The new spot features a bit of new footage including a scene with the Queen and a young Snow White as well as scene with the Queen and the Prince, a character that has not featured a lot in the promotion.

Comingsoon.Net

Total Recall Trailer Preview

This is one of the films I'm most anticipating this summer and as has now become a thing with studios, we have a trailer preview which looks very cool, the visual style reminds me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Cast returns for 'Thor 2', will shoot in London

Per an audition call sent out by Marvel Studios and Disney, Thor 2 has retained virtually all the cast members from the first movie for the sequel, including Chris Hemsworth as the titular character. (Yes, even Stellan Skarsgaard and Kat Dennings are back as Dr. Selvig and Darcy.) Instead of returning to New Mexico, Marvel has elected to move production (which begins this summer) to London's Shepperton and Pinewood Studios (as well as additional filming at Marvel's Manhattan Beach Studios). 

Natalie Portman, whose return was called into question last December by THR when Marvel removed Patty Jenkins from the director's seat (and replaced by Alan Taylor), will also return as Jane Foster. It's likely she will fit this movie between her back-to-back Terrence Malick films, Lawless and Knight of Cups. (Whether she'll be back for Thor 3 is unclear.)

Marvel Studios and Disney will release Thor 2 on November 15, 2013.

"Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" Poster

Wei Te-sheng's epic film Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale reclaims an extraordinary episode from 20th-century history, which is little known, even in Taiwan.  Between 1895 and 1945, the island was a Japanese colony inhabited not only by the majority (Han Chinese Immigrants) but also by the remnants of the aboriginal tribes who first settled the mountainous land.  In 1930 Mouna Rudo, the leader of the Seediq tribe settled on and around Mount Chilai, forged a coalition with other Seediq tribal leaders and plotted a rebellion against their Japanese colonial masters.  It was to begin at a sports day meeting where the assembled tribesmen were to attach and kill the Japanese officials and would then broaden to sieges on police stations and local government offices in the region.  The initial uprising took the Japanese by surprise and was almost entirely successful.  But the Japanese soon sent in their army to crush the rebellion, using aircraft and poison gas.

Freestyle Digital Media Captures Romantic Comedy "A Bird Of The Air"

Freestyle Digital Media LLC (FDM) has acquired all rights North America (excluding US theatrical) for director Margaret Whitton’s colorful romantic comedy A BIRD OF THE AIR from Tashtego Films LLC.  Based on Joe Coomer’s acclaimed novel The Loop, the film stars Jackson Hurst (“Drop Dead Diva”) and Rachel Nichols (“Conan the Barbarian”), and is from an adaptation by screenwriter Roger Towne. Produced by Steven Tabakin and Margaret Whitton, and executive produced by Warren Spector, the film will debut on April 10, 2012.  A BIRD OF THE AIR was theatrically released in the USA by Paladin in the fall of 2011.

A mysterious parrot brings Fiona (Rachel Nichols) into the nighttime world of Lyman (Jackson Hurst), a quiet loner who works on the highway helping stranded motorists. When a talkative parrot flies into his trailer, Lyman becomes obsessed with returning the bird to its owner, leading him to Fiona, a determined librarian who insists on helping in the search. Together the pair set off on a journey to solve a mystery from the past that leads them towards a future neither imagined.

The film has garnered many favorable reviews, including Elvis Mitchell (The Treatment/KCRW) who hailed it as "A terrific film!"  Jackson Hurst was also singled out as "marvelously low-key and sexy" (Film Journal International) and according to The New York Times "Rachel Nichols is consistently appealing."  The Times also remarked that "Philippe Rousselot's nighttime shots of highway tragedy are dreamily atmospheric."

The cast also includes Linda Emond, Buck Henry, Judith Ivey, Matte Osian, Rocco Sisto, Phyllis Somervile and Louis Zorich. Whitton, a former actress (“Major League,” “The Secret of My Succe$s”) is making her feature film debut as director.

The deal was brokered by Susan Jackson, CEO of Freestyle Digital Media, and Steven Tabakin of Tashtego Films in New York.

Said Jackson:  “The film has a charming, offbeat humor that should appeal to all lovers of romantic comedies, dogs and parrots alike.”

Freestyle Digital Media’s recent slate of releases includes DEADHEADS, the acclaimed horror-comedy from directors Brett and Drew Pierce, SWINGING WITH THE FINKELS starring Mandy Moore and directed by Jonathan Newman, and TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN directed by Stuart Beattie, which also marked the first feature film debut on Facebook back in February.

Good Evening, Dear Inspector: First Picture of Russell Crowe as Javert

Last week, we got a peek at the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Les Miserables via some set photos of Hugh Jackman looking awfully scary in his full post-prison Jean Valjean wardrobe.  This week, thanks to the prying eyes of The Sun, we now have our first look of Russell Crowe skulking the set around as Valjean's nemesis, Inspector Javert:

A few fans on some of the theater message boards were complaining that Javert should not be on a horse.  I'm not sure I get this complaint.  They do understand that not having this take place on stage means these characters can actually go outside now, right?  I'm not sure how to break it to them that famous revolving stage used in the show will likely not be needed in the movie either.

Inspector Javert, as fans not complaining about horses know, is the ruthless police inspector who pursues Jean Valjean for decades after he breaks his parole.  He cares not a bit for people who steal bread to save their starving families, destitute mothers dying in the street, or student-led insurrections on the streets of Paris.  But on the lighter side, he does get to suffer the total indignity of being outed as a spy by a 10-year-old.  That part was fun.

Not to be outdone, Hugh Jackman popped on Twitter earlier tonight to once again show off his scraggly convict look, which he promises will changing soon, as his post-parole-breaking character will be seeing better days as a mayor, factory owner, and adoptive father.  But here's one last look:

Speaking of prison breaks, if you'd like to get an idea of what a Les Mis-style parole break looks like, you can check out this video of the scene being shot where Valjean tears up his yellow ticket-of-leave (the one that will essentially forever mark him as a convict).  And if you listen very closely, you can also hear Hugh Jackman impressively hitting the last note of this song.

I can't wait to see this.  Les Miserables opens in theaters in December.