Chris Evans Wins the Role of ‘Captain America’ for new Marvel Movie
After nearly two years of speculation, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Monday that Chris Evans will be playing Marvel Comics' iconic hero Captain America in the big-screen adaptation.
The movie, titled "The First Avenger: Captain America," was announced in 2008 after Marvel Studio's first production, "Iron Man," became a box-office hit. The names of many actors -- from established stars to mostly unknowns -- have been rumored to be up for the role for months. Action movie veterans Channing Tatum ("G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra") and Garrett Hedlund (the upcoming "Tron Legacy") were reportedly considered, as were TV regulars Chace Crawford ("Gossip Girl") and Scott Porter ("Friday Night Lights"). Even wild-cards like "The Office" funnyman John Krasinski tested for the part.
Chris Evans was a late addition to the roster of potential leads, but he had already established himself as a comic-book hero by playing the Human Torch in the two "Fantastic Four" movies. This goes against director Joe Johnston's stated intention to use an unknown actor for the role. But Evans is an American, which was Johnston's other requirement (and left out foreigners like Australian "Avatar" star Sam Worthington).
Director Steve Pink Travels to the Past with ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’
Steve Pink is best known for writing the contemporary comedy classics Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, which starred his good friend and producing partner John Cusack. In fact, the Chicago born friends along with fellow producer D.V. DeVincentis formed a production company called New Crime Productions, which developed the popular films.
However, the writer and occasional actor added director to his resume when he helmed the 2006 film Accepted starring Jonah Hill. Now Pink has returned to the director's chair with his new '80s homage movie Hot Tub Time Machine, opening in theaters on March 26th, which stars Cusack, Rob Corddry (What Happens In Vegas...), Craig Robinson(Pineapple Express) and Clark Duke (Sex Drive).
In addition to Cusack the movie features many actors who had a big impact on '80s films including Crispin Glover (Back To The Future), Chevy Chase(Fletch) and William Zabka (Johnny from The Karate Kid). We recently had an opportunity to travel to Lake Tahoe, Nevada and sit down with the talented filmmaker to talk about his new film, collaborating with Cusack, the movie's hilarious cast and the '1980s.
READ INTERVIEW WITH STEVE PINK
‘High Society’ on The CW: Rich people behaving badly
The CW's new reality series"High Society" follows the lives of New York socialite Tinsley Mortimer and her friends through parties, nights out, fashion excursions and other rarefied things that socialites do.
The show also -- and brace yourself for this one -- will show Mortimer and her cadre of pals engaging in some distinctly un-classy behavior. We know -- an unscripted show in which the well-to-do act out. What will they think of next?
There are no Gloria Vanderbilts or Peggy Guggenheims among this cast of aging children of unearned privilege, but Tinsley herself does not seem a bad sort, especially when set against some of her costars, and the narrative, of which (as narrator) she clearly approves, portrays her as a heroic, even innocent young woman, getting out of a long and respectable but no longer satisfactory marriage, against the endlessly restated wishes of her mother, who literally recoils from the walls of her daughter's new, merely Midtown Manhattan apartment.
But reality TV runs on train wrecks, and to that end the producers have enlisted frenemies Jules Kirby and Paul Johnson Calderon, respectively, described here as a "Trust Fund Partier" and "Page Six Scandal Boy." Clearly they were brought in to be colorful and controversial; neither seems to play a significant part in Mortimer's life. Calderon, who was in the papers for stealing a waitress' purse, calls Kirby "the queen of the dregs of society," and she calls him a "disgusting, vile human being" who should "die in a fire." Each stands a good chance of being first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
‘Hobbit’ prequel movie to start shooting with new look
'The Hobbit' prequel is about to start shooting very soon, most likely by the end of summer.
One of Peter Jackson's frequent collaborators says the "Lord of the Rings" director passed the torch to Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro to give the trilogy's two-part prequel, "The Hobbit," a fresh look.
After the huge success of the "Rings" series, Jackson is now working on adapting the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel that takes place before the trilogy. But this time the Oscar-winning New Zealand filmmaker is producing and working on the script, relinquishing directing duties to Del Toro, whose credits include "Pan's Labyrinth" and the two "Hellboy" movies.
Longtime Jackson collaborator, art designer Richard Taylor, says he thinks his friend gave up the director's chair "probably because he's spent so long in Middle Earth ... and probably felt a director such as Guillermo could bring something passionate and unique and original and new to the content for the sake of the fans," referring to the imaginary world where the novels are set.
Will the ARRI Alexa finally kill film?
Motion picture equipment manufacturer ARRI is set to release its new high-end digital movie camera, known as the Alexa, and some people in the industry are calling it the final nail in film cinematography’s coffin. Sure, we’ve heard that prediction before but early hands-on reports of the Alexa seem to back it up. Final details have not been officially released, but so far we know the Alexa platform will have a 35mm-size 3.5k pixel sensor with 800ASA sensitivity, onboard HD recording, and shooting speeds up to 60fps.
ARRI held the “world premiere” of the Alexa prototype in February at the AFC (Association of French Cinematographers) event held in Paris. More than 200 professional Directors of Photography had the opportunity to get a hands-on demonstration of the new digital camera system.
ARRI is certainly no stranger to the motion picture industry. The Munich, Germany, based company already offers another digital camera, the Arriflex D-21. The company also makes film cameras, lighting fixtures, and digital image processing systems.
Entering ‘Green Zone’ visual effects shock and awe
Director Paul Greengrass, whose frenetic filmmaking style has been popularized by the successful Bourne franchise, revs it up for the Green Zone, a political thriller starring Matt Damon about the futile search for WMD during the chaotic early days of the Iraq War.
Once again, Greengrass chose Double Negative to make it all look convincing with his own version of "shock and awe" (LipSync Post was also a contributor).
Indeed, since shooting in Iraq was obviously out of the question, the London-based studio was tasked with doing the next best thing: making it look exactly like Bagdad in 2003 by shooting in Morocco. This was ideal for all the urban scenes, back street houses and maze-like passages. In fact, in addition to meticulous research, some of the cast members were actually serving soldiers who had toured the real thing and the filmmakers were greatly reassured by how authentic these soldiers found the locations.
Tales From the Script: 5 Things I Learned Interviewing Screenwriters
Writer Peter Hanson recently interviewed dozens of screenwriters and gleaned some valuable lessons for writers looking to break in:
Sitting down for intimate conversations with dozens of Hollywood’s best writers was a transformative experience. Although I’ve been a professional screenwriter for many years, most of my work has been in the independent realm, so collecting material for Tales from the Script gave me a crash course in the realities of writing movies at the film industry’s top levels.
NEW MOVIES IN THEATERS – March 19, 2010
THE BOUNTY HUNTER
Director: Andy Tennant
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler
Studio: Columbia Pictures
The Plot: A bounty hunter (Butler) learns that his next target is his ex-wife (Aniston), a reporter working on a murder cover-up. Soon after their reunion, the always-at-odds duo find themselves on a run-for-their-lives adventure with a bunch of New Jersey heavies in pursuit.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Stars: Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
The Plot: Seventh grader Greg Heffle (Gordon) outlines the events and adventures of his daily life in the diary his mother forces him to keep.
THE RUNAWAYS
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon
Studio: Apparition
The Plot: A chronicle of the groundbreaking Los Angeles band The Runaways, who formed in 1975 and were led by teenagers Joan Jett (Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Fanning).
REPO MEN
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Stars: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Alice Braga
Studio: Universal Pictures
The Plot: Set in a world where artificial organs are readily available for purchase, a man (Law) who makes his living repossessing organs from those who fail to make their payments first finds himself outfitted with a new heart, then forced to go on the run when he falls on hard financial times.
New Superman movie in the works with director Chris Nolan
And so now comes talk that director Christopher Nolan is thinking of rebooting the Superman franchise.
The topic at the Batcave on Monday night was the future of that other superhero — you know, the one from Metropolis. “It’s very exciting; we have a fantastic story,” Christopher Nolan said while sipping tea in the sleek editing suite that fills the converted garage next to his Hollywood home. “And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”
Nolan was standing next to his wife, producer Emma Thomas, his partner in all of his films — including “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight,” the grim franchise that pulled in more than $1.3 billion at theaters worldwide — and he was explaining their plan to take on a challenge that has frustrated Hollywood for two decades: getting another Superman film franchise off the ground.
INTERVIEW: Martin Scorsese escapes ‘Shutter Island’
In the 1970s, at a time when he was being feted as one of the young lions of the 'new Hollywood’, Martin Scorsese was a man beset by deep anxieties and forebodings. Fragile in health and temperament, he was convinced that every breath might be his last, a terrified flier who during take-off would clutch a crucifix in his hands until his knuckles turned white.
He was also a man burdened with superstitions, with a particular phobia about the number 11: avoiding flights in which the numbers added up to 11, and refusing to travel on the 11th of the month, or stay on the 11th floor of hotels. So the fact that I was meeting Scorsese on November 11 occasioned some apprehension.
'I’d noticed that, too,’ Scorsese says when I point out the date. He gives a resigned shrug. 'It’s either very good or very bad.’
The superstition, he says, had to do with his own obsessive nature when he was younger.
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