Matthew Monagle
The Original ‘Powers Rangers’ Cast Were Not Invited Back for the New Movie
These days, if you reboot a franchise, you give the original cast members a couple of seconds of screen time. It’s pretty much a win-win scenario as far as producers are concerned. Fans who believe that sequels and remakes are heresy will be somewhat satiated by the involvement of original cast members, while newcomers won’t have any idea why the crowd around them is cheering for that background character. Sure, it’s fan service, but let’s be honest: some properties need a little bit of fan service more than others.
Watch Michael Bay Use his ‘Bayhem’ Camera on the Set of ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’
Michael Bay is a simple guy. He likes lots of explosions, frequent cutting, and keeping the audience as close to the action as humanly possible. So when digital camera company RED approached the director about designing his own promotional rig, of course it would be handheld, and of course it would be named “Bayhem”. What’s the point in being one of the world’s leading experts in cinematic destruction if you can’t have a little fun with yourself every now and then?
Japanese Blockbuster ‘Shin Godzilla’ Sets its American Release Date
It’s been twelve years since Japanese film studio Toho released its last Godzilla movie, the longest gap between films dating back the first Godzilla movie in 1954. And while Japanese audiences have always loved their kaijū (“strange monsters”) movies, the fact that international audiences are starting to develop a taste for giant monsters has set the stage for Toho to bring back their most famous creation in the 2016 blockbuster Shin Godzilla.
Mackenzie Davis Responds to Those ‘Deadpool 2’ Rumors
Sometimes, when you have a surprise hit on your hands, you get a little bit of freedom to go outside the box with your casting choices on the sequels. That seems to be the approach taken by the producers of Deadpool 2, anyways. A few weeks ago, we wrote about the rumors that Kyle Chander and Mackenzie Davis were atop the wishlist for Cable and Domino, respectively, in the next Deadpool movie. And now Davis has spoken openly about her lack of conversations regarding the role.
You Have Chris Pratt to Thank for Kurt Russell’s Role in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: whenever you need to cast someone as a giant floating face planet, get Kurt Russell. Russell has long been one of our most self-deprecating movie stars, an immensely talented actor with movie star looks who, for some wonderful reason, always preferred to play the buffoon over the action hero. Movies like Big Trouble in Little China and even the more recent The Hateful Eight reveal that Russell is never happier than when making fun of his movie star persona.
Stephen Lang Says ‘Avatar 2’ Will Start Production in 2017
I’m probably the only person in the world who is actually excited for more Avatar movies. It’s a fact I made my peace with ages ago. If more Avatar films means more opportunities for James Cameron to direct large-scale futuristic war movies, and demonstrate more of the gruff “brothers-in-arms” humor that made Aliens such a success, then you can go ahead and make your Braveheart jokes. I’ll suffer through some wonky storytelling if it means more Cameron action sequences, thank you very much.
Dwayne Johnson Confirms the New ‘Jumanji’ Movie Is a Sequel
This weekend, as he normally does, Dwayne Johnson went on Instagram to say goodbye to his most recent movie shoot and say hello to the next thing in his pipeline (seriously, the only time this guy sleeps must be when he is flying from one movie location to another). And while it’s worth noting that Johnson thanked many of the Fast 8 cast and crew excluding Vin Diesel — the feud lives on! — it was another small comment about his upcoming production of Jumanji that turned a few heads.
Michael Pena Confirmed for ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’
It’s a testament to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Ant-Man was a critical and commercial success despite its highly publicized production issues. While many of the other films in the series deal with world domination or destruction, Ant-Man lowered the stakes a little bit and gave us an old-fashioned heist film about a group of lovable losers and an evil corporation. And none of these losers were quite so lovable as Michael Pena’s Luis, who stole an entire film from both Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd.
Tom Cruise’s Salary Negotiations Have Shut Down ‘Mission: Impossible 6’
At this point in his career, there shouldn’t be much cause for behind-the-scenes drama when it comes to Tom Cruise movies. Cruise wants to star in another Jack Reacher movie? Pay the man. Cruise wants to play a special forces operative fighting a centuries-old mummy? Pay the man. Cruise wants to release a movie where all he does is run for two hours? By all that is holy and good in this world, pay the man!
Eddie Murphy Gets Serious in the First ‘Mr. Church’ Trailer
Now that we have a little bit of distance from movies like Norbit and Meet Dave, it’s probably time to start thinking about an Eddie Murphy renaissance. In his day, Murphy has been an award-winning comedian, a movie star and a serious dramatic lead; a few bad decisions over the last decade should not be enough to unravel his talent as a perform
The ‘Fast 8’ Cast Photo Is the Very Definition of Cool
Throughout the production of Fast 8, the cast and crew of the upcoming Fast and the Furious sequel have used their Fridays as a time to share some pretty great photos and video on the movie’s Facebook page. Some of these posts have been behind-the-scenes videos of a shot in progress; others have been footage of the cast involved in charity work in the various countries they have visited. Each post not only suggests the size and scale of the movie, but the impact of the film series on the entire world.
Check Out the First TV Spot for ‘Doctor Strange’
Television spots are always something of a mixed big. On the one hand, you’re rarely going to see new content in television ads, and the new trailer for Marvel’s Doctor Strange is certainly no exception. On the other hand, though, just the fact that a television spot exists means that the release of the movie is just around the corner. To its credit, this new spot also really highlights the things we’re already excited to see: freaky inter-dimensional travel and the impassive teachings of Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One.