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

Johnny Depp Signs Up For Wally Pfister’s Transendence

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Wally Pfister has found much acclaim as the cinematographer on the likes of Moneyball and all of Christopher Nolan’s movies since Memento (winning an Oscar for Inception). Now he’s planning to turn director, and he’s already eyeing some heavyweight talent to head up the movie, as Johnny Depp is in negotiations to star in Transcendence.

The screenplay comes from newcomer Jack Paglen, although unfortunately the plot is being kept under wraps. Pfister is getting his friends to help though, as Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas are serving as executive producers on the movie, which will be financed and produced by Alcon Entertainment.

Wally Pfister commented, “I’m thrilled, and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Johnny. He is a creative and intelligent artist whom I feel will bring great depth to the character and the overall narrative.”

Principal photography is set to begin early next year. (Source: Variety)

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Source Denies Matt Bomer Lost Out On Superman Role Because He Was Gay

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A few days ago we reported on an interview given by Jackie Collins in which she claimed that the reason White Collar star Matt Bomer lost out on the role of Superman was because he was gay. At the time we commented that it was difficult to tell how she might know this, but now it appears it may have been confusion over which Superman he was supposed to be part of (reports said she was talking about Man Of Steel, when it was actually an earlier incarnation he was up for), as well as an assumption it was his sexuality rather than the vagaries of Hollywood that ruled him out.

A source has told E! that the only time Bomer lost out on a Superman role was when Brett Ratner was due to take on the comic character, back in the early 2000s. The source says, “Matt was Brett’s Superman. He would never have not cast Matt because he’s gay. Brett knew Matt was gay. They’re good friends. Matt not being Superman had nothing to do with his sexuality. It was because the director changed.”

After Ratner left, the project became Bryan Singer’s 2006 film Superman Returns. As Singer is gay himself, it’s unlikely he’d have fired Bomer for his sexuality, he just wanted someone who better fitted him own vision of Superman. (That said, the more conspiracy minded might wonder if the studio didn’t want a gay director and actor, especially when you consider they worried after the movie’s release that Superman Return’s lacklustre box office was due to people being put off by ridiculous news reports saying Superman in the film was ‘too gay’).

Collins had claimed, “Matt Bomer, who is the most gorgeous looking guy and the star of White Collar, he was up for the role of Superman. ‘He had not come out of the closet but people in the know knew he was gay. His audition tape went in and he called up the agent. Someone didn’t like him and told them he was gay. They said, ‘No, no, we can’t cast you.’The reason he didn’t get cast was because he was gay.”

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Lana Wachowski Opens Up About Her Suicidal Feelings While Growing Up Transgender

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For a few long time, Lana and her brother Andy Wachowski – directors of the likes of The Matrix and Speed Racer – deliberately eschewed publicity and press, but recently, in the run up to the release of Cloud Atlas, Lana has reversed that policy. She’s not just opened up about her filmmaking, but also about her transition from living as a man to outwardly expressing her gender identity as a woman.

To acknowledge her stepping out as one of the most successful, high profile transgender people in the world, on October 20th she was given the Visibility Award at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual San Francisco gala dinner. At the event she gave an emotional speech, detailing the difficulties she faced growing up transgender, such as the times she contemplated suicide. Video of that speech has now appeared via THR, so you can watch the whole thing above.

She also spoke to the trade paper about why she’s decided to be more in the public eye and accept the award. Lana said, “They’ve [the HRC] been contacting me off and on for a while and I’ve always said no, I don’t do that sort of thing. But they happened to call again, which was interesting. I think they were reacting to the video that we posted. I said I don’t think I can do it, I don’t think I have time because the schedule was too difficult. But then, it just sort of worked out strangely that a hole opened up and I was going to be in San Francisco and I thought, well, it was just the universe saying I should do it. And my wife thought it was a good idea to do it now.”

As for the difficulties of giving the speech, she adds, “I knew that I would do this [open up about her life] eventually, but it was interesting that I didn’t want to inhabit the memory too closely. A lot of them are very painful memories. I had practiced the speech once before I went on with my partner and I cried several times while I was doing it, and she said, ‘Come on! You don’t want to be blubbering in front of 1,000 people in tuxedos.’

“So when I did it, I did try to have a little bit of distance from the actual emotion of the memory. And then when I wasn’t talking so much about myself, and I was thinking about someone who was like me when I was young, feeling that I was fulfilling the example that I was looking for when I was young.”

Take a look at the speech above, as it really is worth watching the whole thing.

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New Django Unchained Trailer Arrives – Fresh footage from Tarantino’s flick

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A rather cool new trailer has arrived for Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie, which is set for UK release on January 18th. Here’s the synopsis: ‘Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.

‘Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.

‘Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (amuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival.’

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First Hobbit TV Spot Debuts – Not much story but plenty of action

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I think it’s safe to assume that as the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey approached on December 14th, we’re going to be seeing a lot of TV spots and other promos. The first has now arrived, which in 30 seconds tries to assure there’ll be plenty of action and more of the Lord Of The Rings feel that audiences so loved. If you’re already excited about the film’s release, you’ll be able to get you tickets from November 7th.

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Empires Of The Deep Trailer – Olga Kurylenko turns mermaid in a $130 million flick

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Empires Of The Deep has been a bit of a troubled production, and despite a $130 million budget, it doesn’t look like the final product is going to blow us all away. The movie is set in an underwater world, revealing the fantastic realm of the mermaids, who end up at war with all manner of deep sea beasties. Olga Kurylenko stars. The film is the passion project of Chinese real estate tycoon Jon Jiang, who wrote the script himself (hence the dodgy dialogue), and it has a revolving door or directors before Michael French ended up in the chair, despite the fact he’s never handled anything even remotely on this scale. No release is currently set for the 3D movie, and don’t expect it to be a box office triumph when it does.

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Safe Haven Trailer – Julianne Hough enters Nicholas Sparks world

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Hollywood simply can’t get enough of Nicholas Sparks. After the success of The Notebook we’ve had Nights In Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One and now Safe Haven. The film is due out early next year, and now the trailer has arrived. Here’s the synopsis: ‘When a mysterious young woman named Katie (Julianne House) appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo (Sobie Smulder). Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport.’ Lasse Hallstrom directs, who also helmed Dear John.

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Jeremy Renner & Julianne Moore Join Al Pacino In Imagine

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For quite a while now, Al Pacino has been attached to Imagine, a John Lennon infused drama being put together by writer/director Dan Fogelman. However production has been delayed, partly due to casting issues, as while Steve Carell was set to play Pacino’s son, he dropped out.

Now things are moving forward again, with Deadline reporting that Pacino has been confirmed for the film and he’s been joined by Jeremy Renner and Julianne Moore. Pacino will play an aging rock star who decides to turn his life around after discovering a letter John Lennon wrote to him. He sets out to track down the son (Jeremy Renner) he has never met. Julianne Moore will play the manager of a small New Jersey motel the rocker moves into.

The current plan is for production to kick off sometime between April and May of next year.

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James Cameron Plans To Direct The Informationist

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While James Cameron will be busy making Avatar sequels for the next few years, it appears he’s already mulling what to do afterwards, as his company Lightstorm Entertainment has rights to the acclaimed 2011 novel The Informationist by Taylor Stevens. The current plan is for Cameron to direct, although Variety reports it’s possible he may ending up simply producing.

Published in October 2011, Stevens’ tale is about Vanessa ‘Michael’ Munroe, an information specialist, whose work is in-demand by corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. When a Texas oil billionaire hires her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood. Betrayed, cut off from civilisation, and left for dead, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget.

Cameron will produce with Lightstorm partner, Jon Landau. The producers expect to hire a writer to adapt the novel shortly. Here’s what James Cameron had to say about the story, “Taylor Stevens’ Vanessa Michael Munroe is an intriguing and compelling heroine with an agile mind and a thirst for adventure. Equally fascinating for me is her emotional life and her unexpected love story. I’m looking forwarding to bringing Vanessa and her world to the big screen.”

This news does make us wonder about Battle Angel, which Cameron has long been developing, and he’d suggested was still on the card after Avatar 2 & 3. It now appears he’s either dropped that or we’ll have to wait even longer.

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Skyfall World Premiere Wrap-up Video – See what went down on the red carpet

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The World Premiere of Skyfall took place last night at the Royal Albert Hall (they’re sidestepping its usual Odeon Leicester Square home for this one), in the presence of Prince Charles and his wife Camilla. If you missed the red carpet action on the livestream, you can catch up with this video from the event, featuring all the stars of the movie talking up the film. Take a look.

 

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