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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August 24, 2011

Paul Rudd says he spent months growing out his huge beard for the new comedy Our Idiot Brother.

The funnyman grew an outrageously over-sized beard for the movie, in which he plays Ned, a naive hippie who sees the best in everyone. The star says beard management ended up becoming a big part of his work for the picture.

“Well, I kept it for about two weeks after we wrapped,” Rudd tells indieWIRE.com. “I don’t really know exactly how long it took to grow. Probably a couple of months. I had to maintain it during shooting, otherwise it would have gotten really big.”

The star says the ability to grow facial hair quickly is something that comes naturally. “I can grow a big, sizable beard quickly,” he admits. “But then it gets to the point where it starts looking less civil war and more Fiddler on the Roof.”

Rudd, who stars with Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer in the new flick, says playing the optimistic and good-hearted Ned actually rubbed off on him during shooting.

“You know, I’m not really a method actor or anything,” he says. “But it is true, that if I work on something, the experience of being the character everything does start to permeate into your everyday life. As a result, I was very happy during the shooting of the movie. It’s not often that you get to play somebody that has absolutely no cynicism, or is not judgmental in any way. And on top of it all I got to wear short shorts and Crocs.”

Our Idiot Brother opens everywhere August 26.

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August 10, 2011

The director of the upcoming comedy 30 Minutes or Less has defended the movie against accusations it exploits the victim of a real-life crime.

In the movie, Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg plays a pizza deliveryman strapped with a bomb and forced to rob a bank. The storyline echoes the real life case of Brian Wells, who in 2003 died in similar circumstances.

Wells robbed a bank while wearing a bomb and died when the bomb, which was around his neck, exploded. Authorities later alleged Wells had been involved in the planning of the crime. An in depth story in Wired magazine that ran last year suggested Wells was in on the plot but thought the bomb would not be real — and that he was double crossed by his accomplices.

Whatever the case, Wells’ family has spoken out against 30 Minutes or Less. His sister Jean Heid told the Associated Press, “”It’s hard for me to grasp how other human beings can take delight and pride in making such a movie and consider it a comedy.”

But director Ruben Fleisher says the flick has nothing to do with the Wells incident.

“Anyone who hasn’t seen the movie can’t judge,” Fleisher tells Moviephone. “Because they haven’t seen the movie, and it doesn’t really relate to that story other than the fact that there’s a bomb strapped to somebody’s chest. They’re not really related in any way, so I think a lot of people are prejudging it without information.”

Along with Eisenberg, the comedy stars funnymen Aziz Ansari and Danny McBride. Moviephone asked the Zombieland director if anyone on set ever felt discomfort with the storyline.

“No, because it’s a comedy and it’s not that dark, there’s not much darkness,” Fleisher says. “There’s not really a connection to the movie and the case you’re referring to. The movie is a broad commercial comedy that’s really funny and that’s the movie we made. It never veers on dark.”

30 Minutes or Less arrives in theatres August 12.

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July 8, 2011

Mark Wahlberg and Jonah Hill will team-up for the action-comedy Good Time Gang.

The unlikely duo will play mercenaries who decide to get serious by taking on a terrorism related case, only to soon find themselves in over their heads.

The Los Angeles Times reports that more than a few insiders who have seen the script by Max (son of John) Landis, have compared Good Time to the action-comedy franchise Lethal Weapon.

No director has been selected just yet for the project which will be produced by RCR Pictures, an independent company backed by world champion poker player Chris Ferguson.

For Hill the role represents yet another attempt to demonstrate his chops as something other than a comedic actor.

The Get Him to the Greek and Superbad star has been trying to diversify his portfolio lately by taking on a dramatic role in the baseball drama Moneyball and more action-comedy in the big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street and The Sitter, his quasi-reimagining of 80s hit Adventures in Babysitting.

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Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation

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