NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

James Gandolfini Up For Animal Rescue Opposite Tom Hardy & Noomi Rapace

March 12, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

james-gandolfini James Gandolfini is in talks to join the cast of Animal Rescue, according to Variety, which is one of the two movies Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace are planning to make together this year. Michael R. Roskam (Bullhead) is set to direct.

The movie is based on Dennis Lehane short story about a Boston bartender who desperately attempting to free himself from his past criminal life. After he rescues a pit bull from a garbage can, He gets caught up in a heist gone wrong and a murder revolving around Mafia-controlled bar where he works. No details were given regarding the character Gondolfini will play if he does sign on.

Dennis Lehane also wrote the screenplay, which should go into production sometime this year.

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ACTORS: James Gandolfini, Noomi Rapace, Tom Hardy DIRECTORS: Michael R. Roskam FILMS: Animal Rescue

Melissa McCarthy Circling St. Vincent de Van Nuys

March 12, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Melissa McCarthy is busy proving that you don’t have to be 21 and a stick figure to be a female movie star. She’s currently the hottest comedy actress around and now Deadline reports that she’s been offered the female lead in St. Vincent de Van Nuys, although she’s yet to officially sign on.

The movie is about a cantankerous old man (Bill Murray) who forms a bond with the 12-year-old son of a single mother (the role McCarthy is circling) who moves in next door. It seems likely McCarthy will agree, as she auditioned for the role rather than the offer coming out of the blue.

Theodore Melfi is making his directorial debut based on his own script, which was featured on The Black List of the best unproduced screenplays in 2011. The movie is being pitched as being in the same vein as Silver Linings Playbook and As Good As It Gets.

The writer-director commented, “The relationship transforms both the man and the boy and even though he teaches the kid everything about his decadent lifestyle, from fighting to drinking, gambling and how to cheat lie and steal. And the 12-year-old has such a pure soul that he only extracts the good from all this.”

Shooting should start this summer on a $13 million budget. It may be timing that’s the main issue over whether McCarthy does officially sign on, as she’s also due to shoot her directorial debut Tammy this summer, once the latest season of her TV show Mike & Molly comes to an end.

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ACTORS: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy

David Strathairn Circling Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla Reboot

March 12, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

David-Strathairn David Strathairn (Bourne Legacy, Good Night & Good Luck) should have been shooting season 3 of Alphas soon, but seeing as that show was cancelled, he’s got a bit of spare time on his hands. Now Variety reports that he is in negotiations to join the cast of Godzilla for Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, which is due to start shooting this spring.

There are no real details given regarding the actor’s role, but insiders reveal he is playing a military character. The film once more goes into a world being threatened by a giant lizard, with the promise that it will be closer to the tone of the original Japanese movies than Roland Emmerich’s 1998 movie.

Aaron Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, and Juliette Binoche are also in talks to star, but are waiting for a final script before they fully sign on. Gareth Edwards (Monsters) is directing from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, Dave Callaham, and Frank Darabont.

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ACTORS: David Strathairn DIRECTORS: Gareth Edwards FILMS: Godzilla

LGBT Iris Prize Film Burger Gets Its World Premiere Tonight On BBC2 Wales In The UK

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

burger We like the Iris Prize at Big Gay Picture Show. While most festivals simply pat the filmmakers on the back and hope they’ll be able to make some connections at the event, Iris is far more practical. The LGBT short film festival is the world’s largest gay and lesbian short film prize, valued at £25,000, helping filmmakers with the money and expertise to actually make a new film.

Now the fourth short film to be produced by Iris is due to receive its world premiere screening in the UK on Monday 11th March 2013 on BBC Two Wales. The film comes from Norwegian writer/director Magnus Mork, who won the 2010 Iris Prize for The Samaritan. His new film, Burger, was filmed on location in Cardiff, Wales on a cold November night and includes strong performances from the ensemble cast of colourful characters which includes actors from the city’s Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It follows people – gay and straight, male and female, couples, singles and friends – who frequent a burger bar late at night.

“Completing a film is always a significant moment in the life of film production but securing an audience is even more exciting. This is why having Burger start its journey with a screening on the BBC in Wales is a great way to build an audience and share this amazing film,” said Berwyn Rowlands from the Iris Prize.

The next Iris Prize Festival, takes place in Cardiff from 9th-13th October 2013.

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New Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser Has Loads Of New Footage

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Star Trek Into Darkness is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated movies of the years, so any titbits we ca get are more than welcome. Now an action-packed new teaser trailer has been released, featuring loads of fresh footage, with Kirk zooming all over space and wanting to take on Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘It says, ‘In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness. When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.

‘With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.’

The film hits UK cinemas on May 9th, 2013, with a US release on May 17th.

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ACTORS: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto DIRECTORS: JJ Abrams FILMS: Star Trek Into Darkness

Jay Roach To Direct Lance Armstrong Biopic

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Just hours after Lance Armstrong admitted to doping, a biopic was announced with Paramount and J.J. Abrams producing an adaptation of Juliet Macur’s book Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong. Now Warner Bros. has a competing Armstrong biopic in the works, with Deadline reporting that Jay Roach (Meet The Parents, Game Change) is set to direct from a script by Scott Z. Burns (Side Effects).

The Warner movie has secured the life rights of Tyler Hamilton, who was one of Lance Armstrong’s teammates on the United States Postal Service cycling team. He was one of the first to testify that Lance Armstrong was using performance-enhancing drugs, which Lance strenuously denied at the time. The studio is also trying to secure rights to the life stories of several others involved in the scandal.

Charles Roven and Alex Gartner are producing through their Atlas Entertainment company. It’s likely only one of the Armstrong biopics will go forward, but we’ll have to wait and see which one it is.

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DIRECTORS: Jay Roach

Josh Duhamel May Cameo in Transformers 4

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Josh Duhamel in Transformers

Michael Bay has long suggested that Transformers 4 would see a complete overhaul of the human cast (and perhaps new looks for the robots), but Josh Duhamel has now suggested that there may be room for him to return as Major Lennox, as least for a cameo.

Josh told THR, “[Michael] said he wants to put me in it someplace. I don’t know if he was just saying that because he had me on the phone and he felt obligated or what, but you know what? I got to do three of those. It changed my career, it changed my life getting to be a part of something that big, so I’m grateful for even doing the first three of them.”

Last month, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura also said that a Shia LaBeouf cameo may be possible, if something within the story evolves naturally. However, with LaBeouf off being angry and arty, as well as suggesting he’s left Hollywood behind, it seems unlikely he’d want to come back.

At the moment the only confirmed cast members are Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, and Jack Reynor, with shooting due to start later this year.

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ACTORS: Josh Duhamel, Mark Wahlberg DIRECTORS: Michael Bay FILMS: Transformers: Age Of Extinction

Evil Dead 2 Script In The Works, With More Talk Of A Fourth Raimi Movie

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The remake of Evil Dead hasn’t opened yet, but it premiered at SXSW on Friday, garnering a mixed but more positive reaction than many had expected. At the post screening Q&A, director Fede Alvarez confirmed (via THR) that Sony Pictures is so happy with the movie that a screenplay for Evil Dead 2 is already in the works, with the hope of it becoming a trilogy.

The reviews coming out of SXSW have suggested the remake may be the goriest movie ever released by a major studio, so if you like blood and guts, you’re in for a treat.

However if your wondering what this means for the mooted fourth Sam Raimi Evil Dead movie, Bruce Campbell and producer Robert Tapert have been talking about it, and suggesting that if it is made, it will be a direct sequel to the final film, 1993’s Army Of Darkness.

Raimi said last week that he would start writing Evil Dead 4 this summer with his brother Ivan. However he later said he’d been pressured into saying that by fans, although others involved have said it is indeed in the works. It was Rob Tapert who said the fourth Raimi Evil Dead is actually going to be Army of Darkness 2 (via ComingSoon). He explains. “That would be Army of Darkness 2. Everybody calls it Evil Dead 4, but Army Of Darkness wasn’t called Evil Dead anywhere except by the fans.”

That also helps explain how they could continue the franchise even at the same time as the original is being turned into a remake trilogy.

Bruce Campbell added to the rumours saying, “Sam threatens this every six months. I’ve heard this a thousand times, because in the back of his mind, he never wants to let go, because he loved making these movies. We all loved making them together. They were a nightmare to make, very difficult, but they lasted the test of time, so he’s not going to let that go, and I’m never going to say ‘no.’ It’ll be me and a walker fighting some other old guy. But that’s what he does and who knows? It may happen.”

We’ll just have to wait and see if it ever does happen.

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FILMS: The Evil Dead

Oz Is Great & Powerful At The US Box Office With An $80m Opening

March 11, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

The question this weekend wasn’t whether Oz The Great And Powerful would top the US box office, but how much it would take. While expectations meant that anything under $80 million would have been seen as a disappointment, if the final figures hold up, Oz just scraped in with $80.2 million.

Although it’s less than Alice In Wonderland (which many have been comparing it to, due to it being a new take of a classic fantasy, produced by Disney and released at the same time of year), that film benefited from being released just as the craze for 3D reached its zenith in the wake of Avatar, so comparisons are slightly unfair.

Oz’s opening is by far the biggest of 2013 so far, and more than double last year’s Disney debacle, John Carter. The House Of Mouse will be breathing easier, with all eyes on whether it can continue to make decent numbers over the coming weeks (although it’s likely to make far more internationally that it has in the US).

The only other new opener was the Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace film Dead Man Down, which sank with a fourth place opening and a $5.3 million take.

Warner will also have more to worry about concerning Jack The Giant Slayer, which had a weak start last week and has now plummeted 63% from it opening take to $10 million. It means that despite having a similar budget to Oz (around the $200 million mark), Jack is likely to wind up grossing less in its entire run than Oz has in its first weekend.

Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of March 8th-10th.

Rank	Title	Weekend Gross (millions)	Total Gross to date (millions)
1	Oz The Great And Powerful	$80.2	$80.2
2	Jack The Giant Slayer	$10.0	$43.8
3	Identity Thief	$6.3	$116.5
4	Dead Man Down	$5.3	$5.3
5	Snitch	$5.1	$31.8
6	21 And Over	$5.0	$16.8
7	Safe Haven	$3.8	$62.8
8	Silver Linings Playbook	$3.7	$120.7
9	Escape From Planet Earth	$3.2	$47.8
10	The Last Exorcism Part II	$3.1	$12.0

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FILMS: Oz The Great And Powerful, Jack The Giant Slayer, Identity Thief, Dead Man Down, Snitch, 21 & Over, Safe Haven, The Silver Linings Playbook, Escape From Planet Earth, The Last Exorcism Part II

Love Free or Die Trailer – Inside the life of gay bishop Gene Robinson

March 9, 2013 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Wolfe Video has set an April 9th US DVD release date for the documentary Love Free Or Die, about retired Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, who caused great controversy in 2004 when he became the first priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated as a bishop in a major Christian denomination.

His ordination threatened to cause a schism in the worldwide communion, with many saying being gay and in a relationship was incompatible with the Christian faith. However Robinson didn’t let that put him off, and over the years has become increasingly vocal in the civil rights struggle, getting married and calling on those who use faith to say being gay is wrong to realise that they are incorrect.

The documentary won a Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Take a look at the trailer above. [Read more…]

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DIRECTORS: Macky Alston FILMS: Love Free Or Die