If you’re going to mess with a classic like The Jungle Book, you’d better set out to impress and that seems exactly what Disney is trying to do with the first trailer for next year’s live-action take on Rudyard Kipling’s stories.
It focuses on some very impressive looking special effects and action, suggesting this will be one to look out for it’s released April 2016.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Directed by Jon Favreau (“Chef,” “Iron Man,” “Elf”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johannsson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.’ [Read more…]
There’s already a lot of interest in The Danish Girl, which looks set to catch the zeitgeist and the interest in transgender people and issues that has been growing in the public consciousness over the last couple of years. It certainly feels like the right time for a film about a trans* person to find mainstream success.
I’d almost forgotten the videogame series Assassin’s Creed was getting a movie, partly because it’s been in the works for so far. However, while game to movies have a bad reputation, you have to hope that the presence of Michael Fassbender might raise this one above the rest. It also appears they’re trying to make the film it’s own animal, as Fassbender will play a character created specifically for the movie.
It’s certainly worth making a new movie about the Stonewall riots, as while most people have heard of them, even many gay people have no idea what actually happened, beyond the fact it’s the place where the modern gay rights fight is said to have started.
There are going to be a few gay-themed movies lining up in the hoping of scoring award nominations (and perhaps wins), including Roland Emmeric’s Stonewall, as well as Freeheld. The trailer for the latter has now arrived, and you can watch it below.
While it’s a safe bet Batman v Superman will do good business, 2015’s other major DC Comics adaptation, Suicide Squad, is a more uncertain proposition. It’s not surprising then that the film wanted to use Comic Con to introduce the world to the movie and they’ve now released the first look trailer for us all to see.
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice decided Comic Con was a good time to unveil the first full length trailer, and to show us this is a film that plans to be dark, brooding, epic and seemingly pretty intense. Along with Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman, it also gives us a look at Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
Roland Emmerich normally spends his time destroying as much of the world as possible in the likes of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 (he’s currently shooting the sequel to Independence Day), but for his next film he’s looking at a conflict that took place on a slightly smaller scale but had massive ramifications in th years afterwards – the 1969 Stonewall riots.