Chris Hemsworth Challenges Moby Dick in the Trailer for 'In the Heart of the Sea'

Other than Robert Downey Jr., nobody has found more success outside of Marvel than Chris Hemsworth, and he's done it by taking on a wide array of roles both big and small. Last year he had a chance to work with Ron Howard on the F-1 racing film, Rush, a performance that showed what he could do when given a challenging dramatic role to chew on. And after wide critical praise, Hemsworth is teaming with Howard again for In the Heart of the Sea, a film based on the true story that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

The trailer for the sea-faring film has been released, focusing on the multiple dangers faced by whaling crews in the 19th century. Starring Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Holland, Michelle Fairley, Cillian Murphy, and Ben Whishaw as Herman Melville, the film tells of the 1820 incident involving the New England whaling ship Essex and an attack by a whale of mammoth size. What follows is a harrowing story of vengeance and survival, powerful enough to inspire Melville to retell it in his classic novel.

In the Heart of the Sea opens March 15th 2015.


Heart Of The Sea : bande annonce VO HD by cloneweb

Read More

Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer make 'The Choice'; William Hurt Joins 'Race'

You won't get much of a break between Nicholas Sparks adaptations for awhile, fellas. The Best of Me opens this month, followed by The Longest Ride early next year, and the next one has already found its tragic romantic couple. Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Teresa Palmer (Take Me Home Tonight) will star in The Choice, which centers on a couple in a small coastal town and "spans a decade of their love affair, which is ultimately tested by life’s most defining events." Vague much? At the helm for this one is Ross Katz, who directed the buzzed-about festival comedy Adult Beginners.  Hollywood has been trying to turn Walker into a star and audiences just aren't buying it, but maybe this will do the trick. [Deadline]

Veteran actor William Hurt (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) will hit the starting line for Race, the Jesse Owens biopic from director Stephen Hopkins. Stephan James stars as the controversial Olympic athlete, with Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, Carice Van Houten, and Amanda Crew co-starring. Hurt will play Jeremiah Mahoney, President of the Amateur Athletic Union who helped lead a boycott against the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Read More

Benjamin Walker Joins '2:22'; Katie Holmes Joins 'Woman in Gold'; Luke Evans Takes 'SAS: Red Notice'

* Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and the lovely Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four) have joined a film that sounds like so many other Groundhog Day-esque flicks about repeating the same events over and over. They'll star in 2:22, a psychological thriller directed by Paul Currie that centers on “a man whose life is permanently derailed when an ominous pattern of events repeats itself in exactly the same manner every day, ending at precisely 2:22 PM." Palmer plays a woman he falls in love with and must save from the mysterious events. So in case Source Code and Edge of Tomorrow just aren't enough here's another one you can look forward to. Moon co-writer Nathan Parker wrote the script, and the film once had Armie Hammer circling the lead role.

* Katie Holmes' comeback continues with her joining the fact-based drama, Woman in Gold, which already stars Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, and Daniel Bruhl. Simon Curtis directs the film about Holocaust survivor about Maria Altmann's fight against the Austrian government to retrieve several priceless Gustav Klimt paintings stolen from her family during the war. Holmes will be seen next in The Giver.  [ScreenDaily]

*  Remember when Luke Evans was red hot after Fast & Furious 6 and The Hobbit? Well, he's coming back down to earth a little bit, joining a fairly generic sounding action thriller titled SAS: Red Notice. Directed by Nick Love (The Sweeney), the story takes place in the "Channel Tunnel, where 100 meters underground 20 accused war criminals hold 400 hostages. Only one man can get them out alive – Tom Buckingham – an SAS operator who is trying to save his relationship with the woman he loves. The explosive conflict rages from Central London to the very heart of Paris, where Tom uncovers a conspiracy." [ScreenDaily]

Read More

Benjamin Walker and Ben Lloyd-Hughes Find 'The Moon and the Sun'

One played the axe-wielding President in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the other was a member of Dauntless in Divergent, but now Benjamin Walker and Ben Lloyd-Hughes find themselves in another fantasy adaptation.

Variety reports the two actors will join the previously-cast Pierce Brosnan, Fan Bingbing, and Kaya Scodelario in The Moon and the Sun, based on Vonda McIntyre's novel. Directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer), the film follows King Louis XIV, who is determined to protect the future of France by reigning for all eternity. His search for immortality leads him to capture and steal the life force from a mermaid, but soon his 18-year-old illegitimate daughter discovers the mystical creature and strikes up a friendship with her."  Suffice it to say this isn't the King Louis story you'll find on The History Channel.

The Moon and the Sun will open in 2015. [THR/Variety]

Read More

Sure Shots: Ridley Scott; Alexander Skarsgard; Chris Columbus

* Oh joy. More Biblical epics. I thought this was Hollywood? Godless heathen Hollywood? So why are there so many movies based on religious fairy tales in the works? The latest comes from Ridley Scott, who tells Esquire that he's working on a film based on Moses, the guy with the parting of the seas and the Ten Commandments and stuff. The film will be appropriately titled Moses, and is likely the same one being developed by 20th Century Fox, who probably want to keep working with Scott now that Prometheus is only a few days from release. Don't expect to see this happen any time soon, as Scott has about half a dozen flicks on the burner.

* Alexander Skarsgard and Benjamin Walker are the top two contenders to co-star in The Great Wall, the silly sounding action flick from Ed Zwick(The Last Samurai). Whoever snags the role will join your future Man of Steel, Henry Cavill, in the story about two British soldiers in the 15th century who uncover a mystery surrounding the The Great Wall of China's construction. Skarsgard has had it rough lately with two straight bombs in Straw Dogs and Battleship. Walker is mainly untested as a leading man, but will get a chance to be all presidential in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. [Deadline]

* Chris Columbus(Rent) has picked up the rights to John Grisham's baseball novel, Calico Joe, with plans to write and direct. The book follows a young Major League Baseball prospect who has his promising career ruined by a near fatal beanball. Based in part on the true story of Ray Chapman(the only player ever to die due to a MLB injury), it follows the lasting effects the beanball had on everyone involved in the incident, including the pitcher who threw it. Columbus will also produce the film through his 1492 Productions. [Deadline]

Read More

Sure Shots: Marc Forster; '21 Jump Street'; Tom Hiddleston

*Universal apparently hasn't learned a thing about mashing up genres after the disastrous Cowboys & Aliens. The studio has pegged Marc Forster to direct Cowboy Ninja Viking, based on the comic by A.J. Lieberman Riley Rossmo. Written by Zombieland scribe Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick, the story centers on a secret government program using multiple personality disorder patients as powered field agents. The story follows Duncan, who has a cowboy, viking, and ninja's attributes to draw from. Forster has gone from being the guy behind prestige films like Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, and Stranger than Fiction, to being a guy who gave us the terrible Quantum of Solace and awful Machine Gun Preacher. What the hell happened? [Deadline]

* Even though 21 Jump Street doesn't open until March 16th, the early buzz has been so good that Sony is already down for another helping. Jonah Hill revealed over the weekend that the sequel has gotten the greenlight and is being written right now. Presumably it'll be by him and Michael Bacall(Project X) again, but that hasn't been verified yet. That the studio has this much confidence is a good sign. [E!]

* Tom Hiddleston, Bella Heathcoate(In Time), Benjamin Walker(Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Lily Collins, and Jessica Brown Findlay(Downtown Abbey) are all circling the lead roles in Winter's Tale, the directorial debut by Hollywood super scribe Akiva Goldsman(The Da Vinci Code). Based on the fantasy novel by Mark Helprin, the story follows Irish immigrant Peter Blake, who falls in love with the terminally ill Beverly Penn while breaking into her home. Did I mention Peter has a guardian angel in the form of a flying white horse? There's even more craziness to be found, but the book was favorably received when it was published in 1983. Earlier this month we learned that Goldsman had called in a few old markers and got his buddies Will Smith and Russell Crowe to make appearances in the film.

Read More

1st look at Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Maybe it's because I haven't read Seth Grahame-Smith's book yet, but I don't know what to think about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I've heard dismal things about his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the adaptation of that novel has had more than a few problems getting underway. On one hand I love the premise, which has Lincoln surviving a vampire attack as a kid and spending the rest of his life(and his time as President) as a secret killer of the bloodsuckers.  Timur Bekmambetov(Wanted, Night Watch) is directing, which is also a positive. The cast rocks: Benjamin Walker, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jimmi Simpson, Alan Tudyk, and Robin McLeavy are all featured heavily. So what's my issue? Tone.

Bekmambetov describes the film as a cross between D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln(back in 1930) and Noferatu. To me that sounds like a train wreck in the making. Might be a better idea to tackle this thing from a pure camp angle, like Bubba Ho-Tep or something.

We're still more than a year away before the June 22nd 2012 release date hits, but Fox is getting out in front of things by releasing the first image from the historical horror. It comes courtesy of the New York Times(via The Playlist), and doesn't really show much but it does give us our first look at Benjamin Walker as "Honest Abe". 

Read More

Benjamin Walker is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

He turned down the role of Beast in X-Men: First Class in favor of playing our 7th President in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and now he'll get his shot at the 16th. Deadline reports that Benjamin Walker has just been signed to star in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based on Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 horror novel.

Walker beat out a number of contenders for the role, including Adrien Brody, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Josh Lucas. Directed by and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov(Wanted), the story reimagines 'Honest Abe' as a vicious slayer of the bloodsuckers all throughout his presidency. Tim Burton is co-producing as well. Grahame-Smith himself handled the scripting chores, with a planned 3D release already set for June 22nd 2012.

Read More