Trailer for Omnibus 'The Turning' with Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, and More

Omnibus films have always had a hard time finding an audience, no matter the amount of big names that may be attached. Case in point the Australian anthology film The Turning, which features performances by Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, and Miranda Otto, along with segments directed by David Wenham, Mia Wasikowska, and Justin Kurzel. Completed in 2013, it still hasn't secured a U.S. date but has a new trailer ahead of its U.K. release.

Based on the short stories of Tim Winton, The Turning tells ten interweaving stories largely centered on the troubled Lang family. Here's the official synopsis:

Ten stories interweave in their respective narratives, creating an intriguing and twisting central plot-line that often centres around the enigmatic members of the Lang family, each consumed by their shared pasts.

The Turning explores the impact of past on present, how the seemingly random incidents that change and shape us can never be escaped or let go of. All of the stories are bound together by recurring themes; the passing of time, regret, addiction and obsession.

A 90-minute broadcast version aired in Australia early last year, but the cut headed to theaters elsewhere would presumably run the full 180 minutes. The Turning opens in the UK on February 6th.

Read More

Justin Kurzel to Direct Michael Fassbender in 'Assassin's Creed'

The partnership between Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen has helped catapult them both into the Hollywood elite, earning the filmmaker a Best Picture win for 12 Years a Slave and Fassbender an Oscar nomination. And now it seems as if Fassbender is going to help launch his Macbeth director Justin Kurzel into stardom, as well.

Kurzel will take on his first blockbuster in Assassin's Creed, based on the hit UbiSoft video game. Fassbender takes on the lead role of Desmond Miles, a bartender kidnapped by a shady corporation and forced to to use the "Animus", a device that allows him to relive the memories of his ancestor, Altair, an assassin with knowledge of hidden artifacts.

Kurzel's taking a big step from Macbeth or his breakthrough film, Snowtown, and it will be interesting to see what he does with a bigger sandbox to play in. Assassin's Creed is due to hit theaters on August 7th 2015. [Deadline]

Read More

Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Chastain, and Ralph Fiennes may star in John Le Carre's 'Our Kind of Traitor'

Finally Mads Mikkelsen is starting to gain some attention outside of his native Denmark. The Dutch actor has been one of the best for a very long time, getting his biggest breaks in Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher and in After the Wedding. Lately he's been everywhere, winning Best Actor at Cannes for The Hunt and starring in A Royal Affair, Denmark's entry for the foreign Oscar. To most he's still just the bad guy from Casino Royale, but that will likely change once they see him in NBC's Hannibal series. Phew!

That's not even the half of it, though, and Mikkelsen is striking the iron while it's hot. The Wrap reports he's being targeted for an adaptation of Our Kind of Traitor, an espionage novel from the great John Le Carre(Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). Not only that, but Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes may be in the running as well. Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Drive's Hossein Amini, the story follows a young English couple who become acquainted with a Russian businessman, not realizing he's a money launderer with plans to defect before his rivals kill him. They get caught up in his schemes which lead to a deadly chase spanning Marrakesh, London, France, and the Swiss Alps.

Now, no deals are in place for any of them just yet, and Chastain's reps have made it clear she hasn't even seen an offer. So in other words this may or may not happen. It'd be awesome if it does, though!

Read More