Now that it’s been a few years since Justin Timberlake brought sexy back (and thank God he did,) the former *N Sync-er has been working on expanding his Hollywood career as an actor.
After a slow buildup in such films as Alpha Dog, Southland Tales, Black Snake Moan and The Love Guru (okay, that one was a mistake) JT is now in line to make his biggest move yet to movie stardom.
The Like I Love You singer is playing it smart and covering all the bases, appearing in the upcoming The Social Network – David Fincher’s exploration of the origins of Facebook – as well as the family friendly live-action/CGI comedy Yogi Bear.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Timberlake is now on the brink of signing on to his biggest role to date, as he is in talks to take the lead role in the sci-fi blockbuster I’m.mortal.
EW reports that New Regency and 20th Century Fox have been meeting with the pop star about the project, which is “one of the most sought-after sci-fi projects in the marketplace today.”
To be written and directed by Gattaca filmmaker Andrew Nichol, the story is about a future earth in which no one gets old and nothing is more valuable than time. Timberlake would play a poor man falsely accused of murdering a rich man for his time.
Mamma Mia! star Amanda Seyfried has already signed on to play a rich girl JT’s potential character kidnaps while on the lam.
Timberlake’s people are keeping quiet, refusing to confirm or deny the speculation. Shooting is scheduled to begin in just a couple of months however, so we should know something soon.
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Over the course of his long career, Sylvester Stallone has made ten films that feature either Rocky or Rambo, his two most popular characters. Even though the actor has claimed at various times to have retired both the boxer and the soldier of fortune, for some reason the brawny brawlers keep coming back.
Now, while promoting his brand new macho extravaganza The Expendables, the 64-year-old actor has admitted he finds the idea of yet another Rambo film “intriguing.” This time, however, with a twist.
When last we saw John Rambo, he was older and more reticent than he’d been in the past. But what has Stallone interested now is the idea of a prequel, in which the early years of the tough guy are revealed.
While participating in an online Q&A with readers of the website Ain’t It Cool News, Stallone was asked his thoughts on shooting a Rambo movie with a younger actor in the lead.
“I certainly think this is worth pondering because it’s intriguing to find the whys and wherefores of how people have come to become what they are,” says the star. “The traumas, the loss and the tragedy of being in Vietnam would certainly be a great challenge for a young actor and it would be ironic that Rambo directs younger Rambo after having played it for 20 plus years.”
There’s nothing more set in stone than that, but the idea has promise. If The Expendables surpasses expectations to become one of the biggest hits of the summer, Hollywood’s recent love for reinvention may lead Stallone to the director’s chair.
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Poor M. Night Shyamalan.
The Last Airbender director started off his filmmaking career with the kind of success that can be hard to top. When The Sixth Sense debuted in 1999, it shocked and delighted crowds, made almost $700 million at the box office and was nominated at the Oscars for Best Picture.
But ever since, Shyamalan has struggled to reconnect with audiences and critics, as films such as Signs, The Village and The Happening have drawn as many jeers as cheers.
Faced with staggeringly bad reviews for Airbender, Shyamalan has found himself on the defensive, lashing out at critics and suggesting that he’s being unfairly picked on by the critical elite.
Now the director claims to have figured out why critics give him such a hard time. According to an interview Shyamalan gave to Britain’s Total Film magazine, it’s because he suffers from the same fate as retired basketball legend Michael Jordan.
“Look, I loved Michael Jordan, right?” Shyamalan says. “He was my favourite basketball player. When I used to watch him at Madison Square Garden there would be 25,000 people booing every time that he touched the ball, screaming abuse at him. And it was because the entire stadium was there to see him be spectacular. They were like, ‘I don’t want you to disappoint me or hurt me.’”
Shyamalan says the public’s reaction to him is the same. “I’m no Michael Jordan but maybe I get a little of that… Reviews of my movies often spend a lot of the time talking about me, not the movie!”
Despite the harsh criticism, The Last Airbender has grossed over $150 million at the global box office.
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For the past couple of years it’s seemed as though the quickest way to get a green light in Hollywood has been to base your project on a hit flick or TV show from the 1980s. But the question has always been, what happens when that well runs dry?
We may be getting our first clue from today’s news about Columbia Studio’s plans to remake the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi hit Total Recall, which was originally released in 1990. That’s right kids, it’s time to break out the flannel because 90s retro is here.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman is in talks to direct the remake. Based on the Philip K. Dick story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, the original picture was directed by Paul Verhoeven.
The story, you’ll recall, is about a man who dreams of traveling to Mars, goes to Mars and ends up leading an insurrection in a Martian colony. It’s basically Arnie Goes To Mars.
OR DOES HE? The great thing about the movie was that, much like current blockbuster Inception, audiences had a tough time figuring out which part of the movie was “real” and which part was just a dream.
Scribe Kurt Wimmer is hard at work on the script as we speak, but no star is yet attached to the project. In addition to helming the last of the Die Hard flicks, Wiseman also wrote, directed and produced the Underworld series of vampire versus werewolf movies.
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The bad news continues to pile up for Mel Gibson. Even as the former Sexiest Man Alive weathers a tidal wave of bad publicity, the actor still hopes to maintain his directing career.
But that’s going to be a challenge for the Lethal Weapon star if his peers in Hollywood decide to keep their distance from both him and his scandals. And it looks like that might be what’s happening.
Throughout the controversy surrounding tape recordings that appear to capture Gibson using racist and sexist language while threatening physical violence against his ex-girlfriend, the Passion of the Christ director has continued to develop an epic movie he hoped to shoot about Norse Vikings.
Leonardo DiCaprio had been slated to lead the cast of the seafaring drama, but now it appears the Inception star may be the first to jump ship.
Radar Online claims to have spoken to an inside source who has confirmed that Leo is backing out of any commitments he may have made to work with Gibson. “Not a chance,” said the source when asked if DiCaprio was still considering the film.
The insider continued, “Leo has earned the right to pick and choose who he works with and Mel Gibson is not one of them.”
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First Disney transformed their animated classic Alice in Wonderland into Tim Burton’s 3D live-action extravaganza. Now the House of Mouse is planning on converting a modern piece from cartoon to live action.
The legendary Chinese adventure Mulan, first brought to the screen in 1998, is now set for a remake with real people, according to a report on ChannelNewsAsia.com.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Zhang Ziyi is set to star in the movie, after having pushed the studio to get behind the project. The report says the project will boast a $100 million budget.
The story of a female warrior who must disguise herself as a man to take her father’s place in the army, Mulan is based on the legend of Hua Mulan, who is believed to have lived during the Wei Dynasty (386-534). Whether the story is real or myth remains unknown and is still debated.
Disney’s original animated production of Mulan was a smash hit, grossing $304 million at the box office and scoring Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.
Chuck Russell, director of The Mask, has come on board to helm the picture, which will be shot in English and 3D. Filming is set to begin in China this October.
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UFC star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has only just begun his acting career, but after playing a starring role in this summer’s The A-Team, the beefy bruiser says his thespian days may already be over.
The reason? Hollywood just doesn’t pay as well as the fight game.
Jackson took over for Mr. T in the action romp as the fist-swinging B.A. Baracus, but the 32-year-old fighter says he makes more money in the octagon than he does on a studio set.
Jackson told the UK’s The Sun that if he were to keep making movies he’d end broke and that it’s always been more important to him to make a good income than to be famous.
“For what I get paid for doing movies now I would end up in the poor house,” Jackson told the paper. “I have a lot of bills. I make more money fighting. I don’t know if it’s politically incorrect to talk about money, but I didn’t start fighting to be famous. I started fighting to put food on the table – I got kids, you know?”
Lest anyone think the Tennessee-born grappler is only concerned about fast cars and bling, Jackson is quick to point out that his concerns run much deeper. “My family in Memphis are quite poor,” he says. “So I have to take care of them.”
Jackson recently signed a 6-fight contract with the UFC and is expected to face Brazilian Lyoto Machida in his next match in November.
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The odds were kind of against alternative stand up comic Zach Galifianakis having a big career in Hollywood. His comedy was weird, he’s got a big beard and his last name is almost literally impossible to spell.
But fortunately, thanks to a little blockbuster called The Hangover, Galifianakis suddenly has one of the hottest careers in Tinseltown.
Deadline reports that the 40-year-old comedian has just inked a deal with Dreamworks to star in Reply All, a comedy about a guy who hits the wrong button while sending an “indiscreet” email.
Galifianakis will produce the picture, which will be written and executive produced by Phil Johnston. Johnston had been shopping Reply All all over Hollywood and Dreamworks had the best reply.
It’s just the latest in a string of gigs for Galifianakis. Next on the docket for the funnyman will be a starring role in It’s Kind of a Funny Story, then he’ll team with Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. in Due Date before heading off to Thailand with the boys for The Hangover 2.
The next chance for fans to check him out on the big screen however, is this Friday. Look for him in the sure-to-be-hilarious Dinner for Schmucks, co-starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell.
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It’s a good time to be Russell Brand. First, he starred in Get Him To the Greek, one of the funniest movies of the summer. Next, he announced his engagement to the gorgeous pop star Katy Perry.
Now Deadline reports that the British funnyman has just signed on to star as a Renaissance-era swordsman in the action-comedy Hawkwood.
Thus far, most of Brand’s Hollywood roles have consisted of variations on the same theme: drunken lout. He played the drunken lout Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and then reprised the role for Greek. He’s also currently shooting a remake of Dudley Moore’s Arthur, in which he plays Arthur, a drunken lout.
But the interestingly-coiffed star is starting to spread his wings and explore his theatrical options. He’s already filmed Julie Taymor’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in which he plays Trinculo and after Arthur, he’ll provide the voice for the son of the Easter Bunny in the animated comedy Hop.
But Hawkwood is a character near and dear to the comic’s heart as he was the one who got the ball rolling on the project at Fox. The real-life John Hawkwood was a master swordsman and a soldier-for-hire back in the 14th century.
Production on Hawkwood will likely begin once Arthur wraps and Brand has married his California Gurl.
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Ever since he decided that the last thing he wanted to do was spend more time with Hobbits, director Guillermo del Toro has been quick to line up new projects. Now the fantasy auteur has announced his biggest plans to date.
Del Toro famously quit his work on the two upcoming Hobbit films earlier this summer. The Pan’s Labyrinth director had agreed to co-write and shoot both installments of the Lord of the Rings prequel, but left the project once the scripts were done.
Following that shocking turn of events, del Toro’s first announcement was that he would be writing and producing The Haunted Mansion for Disney. But that still left room on his schedule to direct a picture.
Now Deadline reports that the Hellboy helmer has signed on to take the reigns on an epic, 3D adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s fantasy classic At The Mountains Of Madness. Even better, Avatar mastermind James Cameron is also coming on board to produce.
Lovecraft’s story is about a scientific discovery at the South Pole that suggests that human beings are actually descended from aliens. It doesn’t take long after that for scary things to start happening.
Del Toro first set up the project at Dreamworks way back in 2004 and the film was greenlit in 2007. The director then put those plans on hold to work on The Hobbit, but you already know how that turned out.
Shooting on At The Mountains of Madness is scheduled to start next summer.
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