Sun, February 3, 2013 One of these days I'll see something from Oz: The Great & Powerful that makes me want to see it. Just not tonight and not from this Super Bowl TV spot. Maybe on opening night?
Sun, February 3, 2013 The Lone Ranger Super Bowl TV spot is surprisingly about the Lone Ranger. No fooling, Johnny Depp barely hogs up the screen!
Sun, February 3, 2013 Why bother sitting through the Super Bowl when the Star Trek Into Darkness spot is here to watch online? Whoever Benedict Cumberbatch is playing (Will they please get it over with and admit he's Khan!?), he's "better at everything."
Everything a Super Bowl spot should be. Show a lot with very little time and have us wanting more.
Sun, February 3, 2013 Typically I only write a blog discussing one piece of film news in general but considering this is Super Bowl weekend - and a lot of great news has come out in the world of Hollywood the past couple days - I figured I'll just recap the most interesting stuff:
Johnny Depp has been attached to Cross Creek's crime thriller Black Mass as Boston's most notorious gangster, Whitey Bulger, to be co-produced and co-financed with Exclusive Media, and directed by Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man), it was announced today by Cross Creek Pictures President Brian Oliver and Senior Vice President Tyler Thompson and Exclusive Media's Co-Chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.
Black Mass will be released by Universal Pictures in the US through Cross Creek’s distribution deal with the studio. The film is scheduled for a May 2013 start date.
The film will be produced by Brian Oliver, Tyler Thompson, Nigel Sinclair, Tobin Armbrust, John Lesher, and Christi Dembrowski. Cross Creek Pictures Sr. VP of Production Adam Kassan, will oversee production for the company. Alex Walton, Exclusive Media's President of International Sales and Distribution, will introduce Black Mass to overseas buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.
Cross Creek recently purchased the New York Times bestselling book "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob," written by former Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerald O'Neill and published in 2001 by Harper Collins. O'Neill is a Pulitzer, Hancock and Loeb prizes winner and Lehr, a Pulitzer finalist, has also won the Hancock and Loeb awards. Writer Mark Mallouk wrote a completely new screenplay adaptation of the book, following the June 2011 capture of Bulger, who had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for more than a decade.
"I could not be more thrilled to have the biggest star in the world and Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson to finally bring this incredible story to the big screen. We have been working on this project since we originally optioned the book in 2005. 'Black Mass' expertly details the twists and turns of this highly complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its corrupt political machine, as well as exposing the worst scandal in FBI history. It's also an examination of loyalty to family, Irish heritage, and South Boston.-- Commented Brian Oliver.
"We are thrilled by the opportunity to bring Mark Mallouk's terrific screenplay to the screen with perhaps this generation's biggest and best actor and a director who's work makes him one of America's iconic filmmakers. Occasionally a film project comes along that is truly exceptional - from the terrific subject matter to the chance to collaborate again with our long time friends and partners at Cross Creek, and to have the opportunity work with the unique and inimitable Johnny Depp. We are truly delighted to be involved in 'Black Mass,'” commented Nigel Sinclair and Guy East.
Black Mass tells the true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. However, after the Feds closed in on their targets, they double crossed Bulger and ultimately prosecuted him, along with his partner in crime and the original FBI agent working with him.
Fri, February 1, 2013 
With Zack Snyder's Man of Steel already in the can, Warner Brothers is still primed to start production on Justice League (provided Man of Steel performs well at the box office this coming June). As first reported by El Mayimbe of Latino Review, WB has reportedly offered Snyder the gig.
But should Snyder turn down the offer, WB has their sights on the runner-up for the director's chair, which is apparently Iron Man 3's Shane Black. Jeff Robinov is apparently a big fan of Black, and the guy got his first break selling his spec Lethal Weapon to the studio way back in the 1980s.
It's still tentative, but WB's directorial picks ain't too shabby so far. Big question is this, if Black does direct JL... will it be set around Christmastime like all his other films?
Thu, January 31, 2013 Could you see any difference between this and the trailer? Good. Glad it wasn't just me.
This World War Z spot is expected to air before the kick-off Sunday. Paramount's way of saying, "We know it sucks. So we won't make you watch during the actual game."
Thu, January 31, 2013 
Lightning never strikes twice. So I'm not expecting G.I. Joe: Retaliation to surprise us and be as enjoyably stupid as the first. Expectations were so low; it was bound to surprise. That and we might be guilty of indulging in nostalgia there.
As the marketing ramps up, many will forget (Given the awful attention spans in our community) how Paramount pulled the G.I. Joe sequel from June 2012 at the last minute, dumped it in March, added 3D after the fact and those reshoots to resurrect Channing Tatum. I know producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura denied it. I don't buy it. Like he's really gonna fess up to a spoiler before his movie opens?!
Whatever the outcome, I hope its director Jon Chu doesn't get too fried. The Internet collectively decided he was a shitty choice the moment he was hired. And that was only due to his association with Justin Bieber. Without ever giving him a chance. Because that's how we roll. Guilty until proven innocent.
Not one to wait 'till its box-office turnout (or lack thereof), Chu has lined up his next project. He'll helm Matched, Disney’s adaptation of the Ally Condie-penned young-adult sci-fi novel. It's one of those "In a world full of rules, one woman decided the rules were made to be broken!" There's even a book trailer for it. Yeah, the concept is new to me too. Check it out below.
Hope it works out for Chu for all the bullshit he went through. For all we know, he could be our answer to Steven Spielberg or Christopher Nolan in ten years. Then who's laughing?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Thu, January 31, 2013 
Disney was gearing up for a new Cinderella 'till Mark Romanek dropped out. The guy who bailed from The Wolf Man at the 11th Hour should really be trusted with $100 million only never again!
Cate Blanchett is set as the evil stepmother and they seem to still want to make this version. Enter Kenneth Branagh as Vulture reveals he's in discussions with the studio to take over. Talks are underway to keep it on track for a fall start in the UK. Jack Ryan must be further along than we thought.
Did Branagh wake up one morning and say, "You know, I like fluff!" That's not snark on my end (I actually quite like the choice). It's just funny to think back to Branagh the younger man starred and directed in those Shakespeare productions. As he's getting on up there, does he like the idea of making films his kids would sit through?
Thu, January 31, 2013 
Neill Blomkamp is taking conventional wisdom on these great actors and flipping it for Elysium. Matt Damon is Lex Luthor in bio-armor, Sharlto Copley is a dwarf extra from The Hobbit and Jodie Foster appears to be channeling Tilda Swinton as per Simply Jodie.
Its due out this August and we're long overdue a trailer. Only glimpses seen were at Comic-Con to raves but that was last year. I want my Elysium footage, damn it!
Back to Foster, I don't know how most took her "Coming Out But Not Really... But Really" speech at the Golden Globes. She's always come across as someone you could strike up a conversation with over coffee (Doesn't strike me as a beer person). Yeah, everyone knows she's gay. Who. Cares?!?
You know some douchebag, probably one of the E!s or Entertainment Tonights, will ask. When it does blow it off and move on, Jodie.
Thu, January 31, 2013 
Don't know if Sony is fooling themselves or everyone else. If they're going to make The Girl Who Played With Fire (the second of the Millennium Trilogy), stop yapping. Go make it. All they're doing is kicking a slowly, deflating tire.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo didn't come anywhere close to its pre-release hype. Easily David Fincher's worst film (Alien 3 and Panic Room fans, high five!) and it didn't light a fire at the box-office. Not a soul is clamoring for the return of Lisbeth Salander and the key principles have moved on just fine.
David Fincher recently picked Gone Girl as his next project, Daniel Craig is coming off Skyfall (the biggest James Bond in history) and Rooney Mara scored an Oscar nomination as Salander (well-deserved; the film's criticisms notwithstanding) and got lots of good gigs lined-up like Side Effects and Terrence Malick's latest.
Latest excuse come Sony's way is Craig wants too much money. He headlined the first $1 billion grossing 007 and figures he's due a pay-raise. They're threatening to write his character outta the script. Smells like an empty threat. Mikael Blomkvist wasn't the prominent character in the book, true, but they want Craig's mug on the posters for international appeal.
In real life, if someone spent this much time promising to do something and they still hadn't, guess what? They're never going to. Once they settle with Craig, look for another excuse why The Girl Who Played With Fire hasn't been made.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter