Abbie Cornish and Jim Sturgess Face the 'Geostorm'; Carra Patterson Joins 'Straight Outta Compton'

 For his directorial debut, Dean Devlin is following in his buddy Roland Emmerich's footsteps with Geostorm, a film that sounds like 2012 meets White House Down. Gerard Butler is already on board to star in the sci-fi adventure flick, and now in talks to join him are Abbie Cornish, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, and Andy Garcia. Butler plays a stubborn but charming satellite designer who must work with his estranged brother (Sturgess) to save the world from a man-made storm when the weather controlling satellites malfunction. This is followed by a trip into space and a plot to assassinate the President. Seriously. Cornish will play Sturgess' girlfriend, who happens to be a Secret Service agent, with Harris as the Secretary of State and Garcia as the President. Filming is to begin in October. [THR]

Between the hails of gunfire filming is still underway on N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, and now the role of another key hip-hop figure has been cast. Carra Patterson (Why Did I Get Married Too?) will play Eazy-E's wife Tomica Woods in the film which chronicles the rise of the legendary rap group. Woods married Eric "Eazy-E" Wright on the eve of his death due to AIDS complications. Woods inherited the Ruthless Records label from him and is one of the film's producers.

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Maya Rudolph Joins 'Big Hero 6'; Sandra Bullock Eyes 'Tupperware Unsealed'; 'Max Steel' Adds Andy Garcia

* With Disney Animation's Marvel film Big Hero 6 coming this November, the voice cast is starting to round into shape. Joining TJ Miller and the newly-announced Jamie Chung is Maya Rudolph in an undisclosed role. The film is based on the Marvel comic that follows a young genius named Hiro, who along with giant robot Baymax defends the citizens of San Fransokyo alongside an oddball team of heroes. Rudolph has previously voiced characters in Shrek the Third, Turbo, and The Nut Job. [TheWrap]

* Sandra Bullock may be about to throw a Tupperware party. She's circling the lead role in Tupperware Unsealed, in which she would play trailblazing sales exec Brownie Wise, credited with coming up with the idea for Tupperware parties that swept the nation in the 1950s. She soon became as popular and successful as the product itself, becoming the first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week. This also put her into conflict with Tupperware creator, Earl Silas Tupper, who forced her out of the company. Tate Taylor (The Help) is writing and directing based on the book by Bob Kealing. [THR]

* Andy Garcia is the latest, and biggest, name to join Max Steel, the latest Mattel toy to be turned into a potential film franchise. Ben Winchell stars as teenaged Max McGrath who combines with his alien friend Steel to become the heroic Max Steel. Garcia will play a mysterious scientist in what is said to be a pivotal role. Ana Villafañe co-stars as Max's love interest, Sofia Martinez. At the helm is Stewart Hendler with a script by Christopher Yost (Thor: The Dark World).

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New Trailer for 'Rob the Mob' with Michael Pitt, Ray Romano, and Andy Garcia

A few years ago director Raymond De Felitta made a minor ripple throughout the art house scene with City Island, an easy little family comedy that felt like a throwback to the indie ensembles of the 1990s. It featured a great lead performance by Andy Garcia as a cop/wannabe actor, and apparently it worked out pretty well because he's starring in De Felitta's follow-up, the unusual crime film Rob the Mob.

The first trailer has arrived and the reason this is "unusual" is the casting, which includes Michael Pitt, Broadway star Nina Arianda, and Ray Romano in a rare dramatic role. The story is pretty compelling  as well, set in 1992 and based on the true story of a Queens couple who robbed mafia-owned establishments repeatedly until they found something huge and became targets themselves.

Looks pretty solid, and that cast should keep things interesting since it's unlikely we'll see this mix ever again. Rob the Mob opens next year on February 21st.

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First Trailer for 'At Middleton' with Vera Farmiga and Andy Garcia

Early last year Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga became attached to an indie romance titled Admissions, and it kind of disappeared from view after that. In the meantime we got Admission, the Tina Fey rom-com that has a similar campus romance plot device, but where that film was sort of forgettable, the newly-titled At Middleton looks like a real charmer.

The first trailer has been released, and mature audiences starving for a little attention may want to take note of this one. Farmiga plays a spirited mother taking her daughter Audrey (Vera's sister Taissa Farmiga) on a walking tour of her new college, while Garcia is a stiff, buttoned-up surgeon dropping off his son. When the two meet, well sparks don't exactly fly but they do grow in intensity over the course of a single day. Yeah, it looks like a Before Sunrise spinoff or something, but there are worse films to be compared to.

Co-written and directed by Adam Rogers, At Middleton hits theaters and VOD on January 31st.

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Vera Farmiga and Andy Garcia join indie romance, 'Admissions'

The beauty of Vera Farmiga, besides her hypnotic ocean blue eyes, is that she puts just as much of herself into supporting turns as when a leading lady. Last year saw her co-starring with Jake Gyllenhaal in the sci-fi actioner, Source Code, and making a strong directorial debut with Higher Ground. After another supporting bit in Safe House, Farmiga is now back in a lead role, joining Andy Garcia in the indie romance, Admissions.

Adam Rogers will direct and co-write the script with Glenn German, focusing on a "once in a lifetime relationship that develops between two strangers over the course of a single day". Oh, it's one of those movies. Farmiga plays a free-spirited mom taking her daughter on a walking tour of a small college. Garcia, who is also producing the film, plays a buttoned up heart surgeon taking his son on the same tour. After both fail to connect with their kids in a comical fashion, the two parents decide to spend the rest of the afternoon together instead.

Farmiga just recently wrapped shooting of The Warren Files, the upcoming horror from James Wan. Garcia has been in small budget territory for awhile now, having recently starred in the acclaimed indie comedy, City Island. He'll be seen next in For Greater Glory, based on the Mexican Cristero War. [Deadline]

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Trailer Time: 'For Greater Glory', starring Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria

Dean Wright has been behind the visual effects for a few films you might have heard of, including Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia, M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. He's doing something a little different for his writing and directorial debut, however, taking on the Mexican Cristero War with For Greater Glory(aka Cristiada).

Wright has pulled together a strong cast for the historical epic, with Andy Garcia playing the reluctant General Gorostieta, who comes out of retirement to lead a rebellion against the anticlerical government in power.  Eva Longoria is his wife, with Catalina Sandino Moreno(Maria Full of Grace), Peter O'Toole, Oscar Isaac, Bruce Greenwood, Ruben Blades, and Nestor Carbonell.

The Crisero War is actually very interesting, and I'm curious to see how Blades plays President Calles, an atheist who enacted the anti-Catholic laws which led to the uprising. Overall the film looks good, but has a score and bad voice over that gives it the impression of a made-for-TV movie. 

For Greater Glory opens on June 1st, but you can check out the first trailer below....[Comingsoon]

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Thoughts on Pink Panther 2

It's so bad it doesn't deserve a full review. But I do have some thoughts, which I'll keep mercifully brief so as to get away from this film as soon as possible.

-It's sad when the best part of the entire film was the minute long animated title sequence.

-Seeing the actual Pink Panther reminded me that I'd rather watch him sell pink home insulation than watch this crap again.

-I feel sorry for Steve Martin. He gets double blame as he also wrote this mess.

-Any film where Jean Reno isn't sporting a mustache or beard needs to be looked upon with scrutiny.

-Andy Garcia has gone from playing strong ethnic characters to slummin' it as limpdick racially insensitive caricatures.

-The TV spots for this film are quite truthful in that this is a better film than the first, which is akin to saying that it's better to step in old dry shit than fresh wet shit.

3/10

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