September 19, 2011

Brad Pitt has downplayed recent reports he saved an extra on the set of his upcoming sci-fi spectacular World War Z.

Speaking to EW, the Hollywood hunk doesn’t deny that he might have helped an extra to her feet, but he suggests the idea that it’s any big deal is ridiculous.

Asked about the recent story by the magazine, Pitt claims to have no knowledge of it, saying “I make a point of not seeing that stuff” – referring to internet celebrity gossip.

Pressed for details on the story, Pitt says, “That’s bulls—. Listen, when someone falls down, you’re going to help.”

He adds, “A lot of our scenes are with masses of people. We’ve had several scenes where people have fallen down.

“I have not saved any lives, okay? People fall and twist ankles—the extras have really been giving it. And you don’t want people to get hurt. If I’m not the first one there, someone else is.”

Based on the horror novel by Max Brooks, World War Z tells the story of a post-apocalyptic, global battle between humans and zombies.

Pitt produced the big screen adaptation, which is scheduled for a December 21, 2012 release.

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September 9, 2011

Kate Winslet says even though she’s appeared in various states of undress in everything from Titanic to The Reader, she ‘hates’ shooting nude scenes.

The star tells V Magazine that while she recognizes that on-set nudity is sometimes part of the job, it’s something she’s never grown comfortable with.

“I hate it! Listen, make no mistake, I just get on it,” she tells the magazine. “I just go in and say, ‘Oh f— let’s do it,’ and boom. If you complain about it or procrastinate it’s not going to go away.”

Winslet, who stars in the new Steven Soderbergh thriller Contagion, says no matter how many times she does it, she’s never gotten over the strangeness of getting naked in front of the camera.

“It’s a profoundly bizarre thing to do,” she explains. “As actors you talk about it all the time. You can literally be tangled in sheets, and you turn to the other actor and say ‘What the f— are we doing?’ Dear Mom, at work today I had so-and-so’s left nut sack pressed against my cheek.

“It’s sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms.”

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September 3, 2011

Brett Ratner says he regrets including a joke about epilepsy in his new movie now that Lost star Greg Grunberg has called for a boycott of the film.

A new trailer for Ratner’s upcoming thriller Tower Heist features a clip from a scene in which Eddie Murphy’s character mocks Ben Stiller’s character for having had epilepsy as a child. In the clip, Murphy calls Stiller “little seizure boy” twice.

“TERRIBLY OFFENSIVE TRAILER for #TowerHeist – Making fun @ people w/ seizures is NOT FUNNY & WRONG! “Seizure Boy!” REALLY? #Boycott RT,” Grunberg – whose 15-year-old son Jake is epileptic, according to The Hollywood Reporter – wrote on the social networking website Twitter.

Now TalkAboutIt.org, an epilepsy-related foundation started by Grunberg, says Ratner has written to the organization, apologizing for the joke.

“I am so sorry you are offended,” Ratner wrote. “I sincerely feel bad.”

The director also claims to have asked Universal Studios to remove the clip from the trailer for the movie.

Grunberg says he’s still hoping for an apology from the studio. “Just for them to reach out to the epilepsy community and say, ‘We mean no personal harm to anybody,’ which of course they don’t,” he says. “They probably just don’t even realize the people they are offending and how this could possibly offend people.”

“THANKS @BrettRatner for ur SINCERE APOLOGY to the Epilepsy Community!” Grunberg later Tweeted. “I’m lifting my personal boycott of ur hilarious film #TowerHeist RT.”

Tower Heist opens everywhere November 4.

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September 2, 2011

Johnny Depp has told Disney he won’t star in The Lone Ranger unless buddy Gore Verbinski gets to direct the picture.

Disney recently halted pre-production on the potential blockbuster when the studio and Pirates of the Caribbean director Verbinski were unable to agree on a budget. Verbinski had asked for $275 million to make the movie, but Disney didn’t want to pay more than $200 million.

Deadline reports that the director has gone back to the studio with a new budget set at $220 million – which may not be low enough to get the greenlight from the studio.

But insiders tell the site that Depp – who just happens to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world – has made it clear he won’t make the movie without Verbinski at the helm. Depp and the director previously worked together on the first three Pirates movies and the animated hit Rango.

Depp had been slated to play Tonto in the western remake, with The Social Network’s Armie Hammer set to play the Ranger himself.

An insider tells Deadline that the conflict is between money and Verbinski’s artistic vision.

“This isn’t about a specific number we’re trying to hit,” says the source. “At this point it’s about the vision of the movie and what is the price for that vision.”

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August 24, 2011

Clive Barker wants the world to know he has and had nothing to do with the new Hellraiser movie headed to the big screen.

The master of horror — who created the Hellraiser franchise and its central villain, the diabolical Pinhead, with his 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart — has taken to Twitter to distance himself from Hellraiser: Revelations.

Revelations is the latest installment in the film series that began in 1987 with the original Hellraiser, written and directed by Barker himself.

“Hello, my friends. I want to put on record that the flic out there using the word Hellraiser IS NO F—IN’ CHILD OF MINE!” Barker tweeted.

“I have NOTHING to do with the f—in’ thing,” he continued. “If they claim its from the mind of Clive Barker, it’s a lie. It’s not even from my butt-hole.”

In case you thought it might be from there.

Blastr reports that Hellraiser: Revelations was rushed through production by Dimension Films in order to ensure the studio retained the legal rights to the Hellraiser franchise.

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