Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

NEWS

All the news from film and the world of the gays

Emma Stone, Michael Keaton & Zach Galifianakis Find Birdman

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emma-stoneA couple of months ago director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu revealed he was going in a slightly different direction with Birdman. He made his name with heavy dramas such as Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful, but Birdman in a comedy.

Now he’s started filling out the cast, and has got some great names involved. THR reports that Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis have all signed up for the movie. The film is about a once-famous actor (Keaton) who’s almost completely identified with playing an iconic superhero (a neat meta-note for the former Batman).

He’s now keen for people to see him in a different light by lining up a comeback in a Broadway play. The plot takes place entirely at one location over the span of three days, as he tries to juggle his comeback attempt with his family life, which takes a toll on his sanity.

Emma Stone will play his daughter, a young woman fresh out of rehab who works as her dad’s assistant. Watts meanwhile will be an actress in the play, while Galifianakis will play the production’s conniving producer.

Shooting will start early next month (which suggests Stone will be finished on Amazing Spider-man 2 by then).

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Will Poulter Offered Lead In Maze Runner Adaptation

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will-poulterThose in the US may recognise Will Poulter from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but us Brits may well have seen him in the likes of Son Of Ranbow, Wild Bill and even TV’s School Of Comedy.

Now 21-years-old, he’s long shown a lot of promise, which may be coming to fruition, as we’ll see him later this year opposite Jennifer Aniston in We’re The Millers, and now Deadline reports that he’s circling the lead in the planned adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult novel, The Maze Runner.

The Maze Runner is the first book in James Dashner’s sci-fi trilogy. The story follows a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a strange place called the Glade with no memory aside from his first name. The Glade is an enclosed structure populated by other boys, and is surrounded by tall, stone walls that protect them from monsters called Grievers that live in the Maze, which surrounds them.

Every day, some of the kids, known as Runners, venture into the labyrinth trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit. As soon as Thomas arrives, unusual things begin to happen and the others grow suspicious of him. The Maze seems familiar to Thomas, but he’s unable to make sense of the place despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. When the first girl arrives in the Glade, she brings a message that she will be the last one to ever arrive in the Glade, as the end is near.

The book has been compared to The Hunger Games and Divergent, so there are big hopes for the film version, and if it succeeds it could certainly give Poulter’s career a big bump – assuming he signs on, of course.

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Jon Stewart Taking A Break From Daily Show To Direct Rosewater

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jon-stewartJon Stewart has become much loved (and hated in some circles) for The Daily Show, but doing that doesn’t give him much time for anything else. He has taken small acting roles in the likes of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and Death To Smoochy, but in order to make his feature directorial debut he’ll be taking an 12-week break from The Daily Show this summer (with John Oliver filling in for him).

Deadline reports that Stewart is set to write and direct Rosewater, based on the 2011 book ‘Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival’ by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy. The book is about Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari’s four-month stint in a Tehran, Iran prison. He was accused of plotting against the government.

After the ordeal, Maziar Bahari appeared on The Daily Show to promote the book. This led to Stewart and Bahari became friends, and the host starting to think about turning the book into a movie. He’s commented, “I am a television person who is accustomed to having a thought at 10 a.m. and having it out there at 6:30 p.m. and moving on, so this is a little scary, yes. But one of the reasons we are in this business is to challenge ourselves, and I really connected to Maziar’s story. It’s a personal story but one with universal appeal about what it means to be free.”

Shooting is scheduled to begin in June.

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Easy A Director Will Gluck Takes On Agatha Christie Disappearance Adventure

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will-gluckThere’s long been a lot of interest in what happened to Agatha Christie when she went missing in 1926. Now Will Gluck is going to try and tell us the answer, as Deadline reports that he’s signed up to helm Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) to direct Agatha for Paramount Pictures, based on Allison Schroeder’s spec screenplay.

As nobody really knows what happened to Christie during those 11 days, the film speculates about the events. Christie went missing in December 1926, sparking a massive manhunt for the beloved author, before she was found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Yorkshire, England, registered as Mrs. Teresa Neele from Cape Town, South Africa.

The author never explained her unusual disappearance (it’s believed to have been caused by problems in her marriage). However the script turns the events into an action-adventure, which is described as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Romancing the Stone.

There’s no new on when it might shoot, although it may be a while, as Gluck recently signed on to write and direct Sony’s planned Annie remake.

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Hollywood Remake Of Gay Swedish Hit Patrik Age 1.5 In The Works

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patrick-1-5-posterWorld cinema LGBT-themed movies rarely get English-language remakes and it’s even rarer for Hollywood to put one into development. However that’s what’s happening with the charming gay-themed Swedish movie, Patrik Age 1.5, which THR reports has been picked up by Fox 2000 (the indie arm of 20th Century Fox) for an American do-over.

They’ve hired Allan Loeb to come up with screenplay. He’s previously written the likes of 21, Here Comes The Boom, Rock of Ages, The Dilemma and Just Go With It. Laurence Mark (I, Robot for Fox) and Nigel Sinclair (End of Watch) will produce. The US version will be called Patrick 1.5.

Ella Lemhagen’s 2008 film is about a gay couple who are thrilled to be told they’ll be adopting an 18-month-old son. However it turns out that the decimal point was in the wrong place, as rather than the kid being 1.5, he’s actually 15. Not only that, he’s a bit of a delinquent who’s openly homophobic.

As THR points out, gay parenting has been largely ignored by mainstream cinema, even while it’s become an increasingly hot button topic in the public consciousness. However films such as The Kids Are All Right – which grossed $35 million worldwide on a $4 million budget – shows there is an audience out there for well-made movies about the subject.

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New Iron Man 3 Trailer Arrives – A bit of a darker tone for Tony Stark

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It’s not long at all until Iron Man 3 hits UK cinemas on April 25th and the US on May 3rd, so it’s time to kick the hype up a gear with an ace new trailer. It suggests a more serious tone than the first two films, with Tony Stark dropping his jokey, cocksure attitude as The Mandaring emerges and threatens to rip his life apart.

Luckily though he’s going to spice things up with a whole team of iron people!

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

‘Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce and Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.’ [Read more…]

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Big Gay Love Starring Jonathan Lisecki & Nicholas Brendon Launches Kickstarter Crowd-funding Campaign

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A couple of months ago we reported on the movie Big Gay Love, which was shooting at the time in LA. Now the film is in the can, but it’s not yet complete, so the filmmakers have launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise $20,000 to help edit the film, add music, sound design, color correction, and make digital prints for festivals.

They’re already nearly halfway there, but if you want to help, there’s still time and plenty of rewards on offer, depending on how much you give.

The film stars Jonathan Lisecki (writer and director of Gayby) and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer). The Kickstarter campaign describes it as, ‘a comedy about a chubby gay man who overcomes discrimination based on his looks to find love on his own terms!

‘The devastating effect of our physique-obsessed culture is explored in the comedy Big Gay Love. In the movie, Bob (played by Jonathan Lisecki of Gayby) appears to have it all – a great job, fabulous friends, and is about to become a first time homebuyer. But his success hasn’t come without a price for Bob has become the chubby gay man everyone adores, but nobody desires. When true love does find Bob in the form of a chef named Andy (Nicholas Brendon), he doubts if the relationship could be real for his years of living in insecurity has gotten the best of him. To keep up appearances with his friends, Bob considers going under the knife to fit in and be perfect. But underneath it all he longs for something more.’

Director Ringo Le told us, “Not only is it a funny film, it’s an important film that deals with body issues in the gay community… We’re hoping to complete our goals on Kickstarter otherwise we can’t get the film out to audiences by Pride month June 2013.”

“People like me don’t usually get to play the lead in a romantic comedy,” says Jonathan Lisecki. “There’s something so nice about the script which was respectful of all human beings. It’s a touching, funny, lovely piece.”

“I’m happy to be part of an independent gay film production that gives a deeper appreciation of diversity. Our cast is amazing and it’s a wonderful story,” adds Nicholas Brendon.

Take a look at the teaser video above and then head over to Kickstarter to find out more. [Read more…]

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James Franco Calls On Australian Censor To Overturn Ban Of LGBT-Film I Want Your Love

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We reported last week that the notoriously ban-happy Australians censors have refused to give a permit for Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love to screen at Aussie film festivals this year. While most previous bans had been handed down to films that mixed sex and violence or covered other contentious issues, I Want Your Love is an intimate film that merely happens to contain real, consensual, non-violent sex.

It wouldn’t have been the first time the Aussie censors allowed real sex in a movie, but as this was gay sex, it’s led some to claim the decision has homophobic.

Now James Franco has stepped into the debate. He worked with Mathews recently on Interior Leather Bar, and so Travis reached out to Franco about the ban, with the actor now making an appeal to overturn the ban in a Youtube video.

He says, “I don’t know why in this day and age something like this, a film that’s using sex not for titillation but to talk about being human, is being banned. It’s just embarrassing. I hope you’ll reconsider.”

As things stand, I Want Your Love is banned from screening at its planned showings at the Melbourne and Brisbane queer film festivals (although there is the possibility they’ll show the film anyway and risk a fine).

Take a look at Franco’s appeal above.

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Damon Wayans Jr And Jake Johnson Say Let’s Be Cops

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damon-wayans-jrDamon Wayans Jr has spent the last couple of years starring in the sitcom Happy Endings, but now he’s hoping to follow in his father’s comedy movie footsteps with Let’s Be Cops. Deadline reports that Wayans and Jake Johnson have signed up to star in Let’s Be Cops.

Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door) will direct, based on a script he co-wrote with writing partner Nick Thomas. The movie ‘is about two best friends looking for a little more out of life. They impersonate cops for kicks, but when they unknowingly mess with a real mobster, the game gets real.’

Wayans Jr. has previously popped up in small roles in the likes of The Other Guys and various projects his relatives have been involved in, but this will be his first starring role. There’s no news on when the movie might shoot.

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Confirmed As A Stand-Alone Movie Set 95% In Space

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guardians-of-the-galaxy-concept-art
Phase II of Marvel’s cinematic universe kicks off this summer with Iron Man 3, followed by Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Avengers 2. Now Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige has been talking to SFX about the movies and Guardians Of The Galaxy in particular, which is the unknown quantity in the line-up.

When asked whether ‘cosmic’ would be a ‘fair description’ of Phase II, he said, “I wouldn’t say that in a broad sense. The Thor film and the Guardians of the Galaxy film certainly are cosmic. Guardians and Thor will take the brunt of the cosmic side of the universe, particularly Guardians, which is 95% in space.”

He also confirmed that Guardians will be a stand-alone film, although leaving things over for crossovers in the future. “It’s much more of a standalone film,” he says. “It takes place in the same universe [as Avengers]. And when we’ve been on the other side of that universe in other movies, you might see those characteristics in Guardians, but the Avengers are not involved with what’s happening out there at this time.”

Feige also promises the movie will dig deeper, saying “I think Iron Man 3 shows the other side of Phase 2, which is delving deeper into the characters. Throwing them on a much more personal journey. And Captain America will showcase… What’s exciting to me about Cap – sort of about Iron Man 3 too if you look at it – is it’s tonally almost like a different genre. Shane Black has described Iron Man 3 as a Tom Clancy sort of political thriller, which I like a lot. We hired our directors on Cap because they loved our explanation that we really want to make a ’70s political thriller masquerading as a big superhero movie. Just like with the first film – we got Joe Johnston because we said, ‘We want to do a ’40s World War Two movie masquerading as a big superhero movie.’ I love that we’re doing a sequel to a film that’s a completely different genre than the first film. I think that’s fun. And the comics do it all the time.”

Guardians Of The Galaxy is due out August 14th 2014.

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