Emma Stefansky
Record Number of Animated Films Eligible for an Oscar This Year
Since the introduction of the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002, we’ve seen a steady exponential increase in animated movies over the years. Pixar, and, by extent, Disney, has usually dominated the competition, with eight wins out of ten nominations, followed by DreamWorks and Disney’s animation studio. This year, we have a record 27 movies eligible for the award, and while the Academy can pick only five to nominate, for now it’s anyone’s game.
Emma Watson Just Released the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Teaser Poster, and It’s a Throwback
When the news that Disney was making a live-action Beauty and the Beast movie dropped, we all wondered one thing: how close was this version sticking to the original? Would the costumes look the same? Would the inanimate object characters be changed at all? Would there still be songs? From what we’ve seen, it looks like everything in this version, will look the same, just more realistic. Emma Watson’s Belle still has her blue-and-white outfit, the Beast looks similar, if not a little more uncanny-valley, and Lumiere and Cogsworth look more or less like themselves, just with a few tweaks.
Bad Day to Be a Helicopter in the New ‘Kong: Skull Island’ International Trailer
It wouldn’t be a monster movie without some good ol’ destruction of expensive vehicles, would it? In the climax of the original King Kong, Kong terrorizes Manhattan by climbing up the Empire State Building and yanking down the planes trying to shoot at him. They didn’t use helicopters as much back in 1933, but now we do, and guess what Kong is going to be throwing literal palm trees at in the new movie?
’Jurassic World 2’ Currently Casting More Kids for Dinosaurs to Scare
We’ve gotten tons of information about the vague feel of J.A. Bayona’s Jurassic World 2 — it’ll deal, metaphorically, with the modern-day treatment of animals — but we haven’t heard much about the actual plot. Today, though, it sounds like Universal is finally getting the ball rolling with news of an open casting call for a child actor. Jurassic World attempted to update the franchise for modern audiences, but at least one tradition has stayed the same: it’s not a Jurassic Park movie without kids running form dinosaurs.
Vin Diesel Will Say ‘I Am Groot’ in Sixteen Languages for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’
For those of us who were even more enamored than we thought we’d be by a talking raccoon and a slightly-less-wordy walking tree, Guardians of the Galaxy was an absolute delight. Luckily, all of our favorites are returning for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and we’ll get to see our favorite Vin Diesel-voiced sapling once again, now quite a bit diminished in size from his last appearance. For the first film, Diesel learned how to say his character’s recurring line “I am Groot” in six different languages, and now he says the director of the sequel is making him learn almost three times that many.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Batman? Zack Snyder Wants It to Happen
Currently, our onscreen Batman is beefed-up, steely-gazed Ben Affleck, but other men have played the caped crusader before, and other men will play him in the future. With the world of DC comics as wild and crazy as it is, there is plenty of opportunity for other characters to take up the black cowl: even Bruce Wayne’s own father, which is something Zack Snyder has had in the back of his mind ever
Disney’s ‘Lion King’ Remake Taps Veteran Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson
With the news that Jon Favreau was directing a live-action remake of arguably THE most popular Disney movie of all time, The Lion King, people were undoubtedly excited. Favreau successfully launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s Iron Man, believed by many to still be the best Avengers movie, and has had a few notable successes since, including Chef in 2014 and this summer’s almost-entirely-CGI remake of The Jungle Book. The latter did so well that Disney hired Favreau again to direct The Lion King, and today it was announced that the film has found a screenwriter.
‘Jurassic World 2’ Will Be a Metaphor for the Modern Treatment of Animals
The universe that Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg created with 1993’s Jurassic Park is a world ripe with all kinds of possibilities. What would a world in which the resurrection of extinct species is a reality be like? Can an ostensibly foolproof system of controlling these creatures and making sure they don’t escape their enclosures really work? (No.) Does life, uh, find a way? (Yes.) This summer’s Jurassic World chose to tell a simpler, more action-y tale than its predecessors, but from what Colin Trevorrow has said about its sequel, Jurassic World 2 will take a more nuanced approach to the possibilities of genetically resurrected dinosaurs.
Clint Eastwood’s Next Film Will Be About Kidnapped Aid Worker Jessica Buchanan
Clint Eastwood is no doubt riding high off the success of airplane pilot true-life drama Sully, and he’s ready for his next biopic. Today, he announced he would be tackling the story of Jessica Buchanan, the aid worker who was abducted in Somalia in October 2011.
‘Ocean’s 11’ Spinoff ‘Ocean’s Eight’ Finally Has a Release Date
We’ll just have to wait a while to get it.
‘Wolverine 3’ Will Be ‘Very Different in Tone’ According to Hugh Jackman
The third and, as far as anyone’s saying, final installment in Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine movies is coming out a mere six months form now, but so far everything about it has remained a mystery. We know that Jackman is in it, but we don’t know a whole lot more than that, aside from a possible R rating. We’re bound to get more news soon, but for now Jackman himself is the only one giving us any clues as to what his next movie will be like.
‘Assassin’s Creed’ Director Says Bones Were Broken During Filming
The Assassin’s Creed movie might not be coming out until December, but director Justin Kurzel is already building up the hype. After a Total Film interview in which he revealed that he was already looking at the possibility of a sequel, today he discussed how the movie was made, how the characters fit into their 15th century Spain setting, and how many bones were broken.