First Trailer for Dylan Thomas Biopic 'Set Fire to the Stars' with Elijah Wood

The name Dylan Thomas may not be immediately recognizable to some, but those who followed the Welsh poet's work consider him a celebrity. And like many of the giants in his chosen field, Thomas lived a turbulent life controlled by his personal demons, making his frequent trips to America  quite the experience for those having to deal with him. The biopic Set Fire to the Stars will bring the story of his first stateside tour to the big screen, and here's a look at the trailer.

Announced at the beginning of the year with Elijah Wood and Celyn Jones as the stars, the latter in the role of Thomas, the story follows a week in the alcoholic poet's life as he sets out on a series of performed readings in 1950s New York City. Wood plays John Brinnin, Thomas' friend and fellow writer who tried to keep his hell raising  friend in line and found it to be a nearly impossible task.

Shot in beautiful black & white by director Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey),  the film also stars Shirley Henderson, Steven Mackintosh, and the ever busy Kelly Reilly. No release date for this one yet but it's due to hit the U.K. next month. I was hoping to see it make one of the upcoming festivals around here but that doesn't seem to be happening.[Live for Films via ThePlaylist]

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Elijah Wood is Obsessed with Sasha Grey in Trailer for 'Open Windows'

Movies about the dangers of the Internet Age are nothing new, and have been around since Sandra Bullock was having her identity screwed around with in The Net. And ever since then these movies have mostly had the same core themes presented in much the same way. So it's somewhat refreshing to see Timecrimes director Nacho Vigalondo attempt to do something different with his uniquely-designed thriller, Open Windows, which has been generating some solid buzz on the festival circuit.

Elijah Wood is back in another creepy genre role as Nick, the lovelorn fan of superstar actress Jill, played by Sasha Grey. When she refuses to go out on a date with him, Nick becomes even more obsessed and begins watching her through his computer, only to have some mysterious maniac with an agenda start messing around with them both. Vigalondo presents the entire movie through computer windows, putting us in the uncomfortable position of voyeur. It sounds like it could only work as a short-term gimmick but it does add a bit of novelty to this trailer, and if the tension stays high enough Vigalondo's creative presentation could payoff big.

Log in to Open Windows when it hits theaters September 29th.


Open Windows - Trailer / Bande-Annonce #2 [VO|HD] by Team Lyricis

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Elijah Wood Joins 'The Last Witch Hunter'; Jennifer Connelly Boards 'American Pastoral'

Vin Diesel can be heard right now voicing Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he's got another action-fantasy franchise on the way in The Last Witch Hunter. Elijah Wood is the latest to join the supernatural flick which, co-starring alongside Michael Caine and Rose Leslie. Breck Eisner is directing the film which centers on an immortal witch hunter who teams up with one of his natural enemies to save modern day New York City from a coven seeking to unleash a plague on humanity.

With Philip Noyce's adaptation of Philip Roth novel American Pastoral set to film early next year, Jennifer Connelly has taken the female lead opposite Ewan McGregor. She'll play the wife to Seymour "Swede" Levov, a Jewish-American businessman who sees his happy existence ruined by the political climate of the 1960s when his daughter commits an act of terror protesting the Vietnam War.

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Jeff Goldblum Returns for 'Independence Day 2'; Berenice Bejo Joins 'After the Storm'; Rainn Wilson Leads 'The Boy'

* Jeff Goldblum is seeing a couple of his most cherished franchises coming back at the same time with Jurassic World and Independence Day 2. And while fans may hope he'll appear in both, that sadly won't be the case. While talking to Huffington Post about The Grand Budapest Hotel, Goldblum revealed that he won't be returning as Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World, which isn't a surprise considering it's basically a soft reboot. But he did confirm Roland Emmerich's previous statements that he would be back as David Lewinson in the Independence Day sequel, opening July 1st 2016. One out of two ain't bad.

* Berenice Bejo (The Past) will star in After the Storm, a psychological thriller from French actor/director, Safy Nebbou. Based on Arthur Dreyfus' novel Belle Famille, the story centers on "a mother who can’t accept the accidental death of her five-year old son and instinctively hides his body. After the child is declared missing, the police launches a massive investigation that sparks a media frenzy, comforting the mother in her denial."

* Rainn Wilson and Elijah Wood last paired up on the horror-comedy, Cooties, which I caught at Sundance and thought was pretty funny. Now they're back together again for another horror, titled The Boy. Wilson will star, along with Mike Vogel, David Morse,  Zuleikha Robinson and Bill Sage. The rather ambitious project put together by co-writer/director Craig MacNeill is viewed as a trilogy "tracking the childhood of a future serial killer, with installments depicting the character at ages 9, 14 and 18, respectively, and ending with his full transformation to an iconic mass murderer." Wood is on board as a producer, and this one sounds potentially awesome if done right. [TheWrap]

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Bruce Willis is 'Captive'; Aubrey Plaza Joins 'Mortdecai'; Elijah Wood 'Sets Fire to the Stars'

* Bruce Willis can still pack 'em in, especially for the most tired of action movies, and he's just added another one in hopes of getting more of your money. He'll star in the boringly-titled Captive (*yawn*), about "an American real estate magnate living in Brazil who is kidnapped and held for ransom at a prison cell hidden in a Sao Paolo landfill while a detective specializing in ransom cases tries to find him." Directing is Simon Brand, who helmed the mediocre "whodunnit" Unknown. [Variety]

* Production on the Johnny Depp-led comedy Mortdecai has moved to Los Angeles, and along with it a handful of promising new additions have been made to the cast. Aubrey Plaza, Jeff Goldblum, and Oliver Platt have joined Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, and Paul Bettany in the adaptation of Kyril Bonfiglioli's books about the titular art dealer and part-time rogue who goes off on a quest involving a stolen painting and missing Nazi gold. David Koepp is directing, and with this cast Mortdecai could be Depp's best film in years.

* Elijah Wood will play famed poet John Michael Brinnin in the indie drama, Set Fire to the Stars.  Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey) will co-write and direct the story which chronicles Brinnin's friendship with Welsh writer Dylan Thomas, played by Celyn Jones. Thomas led a turbulent life led by his personal demons and a stormy marriage, and I suspect the bulk of the film will deal with how Brinnin tried to help his friend through it. Production begins later this month.

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Elijah Wood Gives a Life-or-Death Performance in Trailer for 'Grand Piano'

The premise behind Eugenio Mira's thriller Grand Piano has always sounded way ridiculous, too ridiculous to be taken seriously. The film stars Elijah Wood as a concert pianist with stage fright who finally gathers the courage to make a comeback. But when he sits down to play those ivory keys, he finds a note in his sheet music saying he'll be killed if he misses a single note. Does it screw up his big return? Or inspire him to greatness?

Reviews out of Fantastic Fest have been glowing, with Brian De Palma's name mentioned early and often in any discussion I've had with those who have seen it. John Cusack plays the villain, who we hear more than we actually see, and while the "bad guy barking orders from afar" thing has been played out this year (lookin' at you, Getaway!), this film looks to have a sense of urgency and immediacy that is captivating.

We'll see how it all turns out when Grand Piano hits VOD on January 30th, followed by a theatrical run March 7th.


Grand Piano - Trailer VO by Daily Movies Switzerland

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Elijah Wood Stalks Sasha Grey in Trailer for 'Open Windows'

Ready for another film to remind you that personal privacy and Internet security are a thing of the past, but mixed with a dash of celebrity obsession horror? Then Open Windows may be what you're looking for, and you get to watch the formerly squeaky-clean Elijah Wood take on another creepy role as he stalks porn star Sasha Grey.

The first trailer for Open Windows has logged on, and once you get beyond the ridiculous amount of computer screens, mouse clicks, and email, it looks like a very flat thriller that plays like Phone Booth with a keyboard. Directed by the once-promising Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes), the film has Wood as a fan obsessed with an actress played by Grey. When a mysterious figure grants him the ability to spy on her through her computer, he indulges in it until his benefactor starts barking orders over Skype or something. None of this would happen if Grey would do like any sane person would do and toss a blanket over her webcam. That's not paranoid, is it?

Grey is a better actress with her clothes on than people give her credit for, and Wood has taken to films like this better than expected, but Open Windows is a film we can probably toss into the Recycle Bin, assuming it ever gains a release date.


'Open Windows' - Primer avance (VOSE - HD) by El Séptimo Arte

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Sure Shots: Joel Edgerton; John Cusack; Max Greenfield

* The busy year for Joel Edgerton(Warrior) continues, but the cool thing about it is he's not taking a simple route to making a name for himself. After selling his script for One Night Stand, and aiding his Aussie buddy David Michod develop The Rover with Robert Pattinson, Edgerton is set to produce, write, and star in a new thriller titled Felony. He'll play a police officer who has a couple of drinks and accidentally runs a cyclist off the road. He lies when questioned about it, leading to a situation that only gets worse for everybody. Matthew Saville(Noise) will direct when production gets underway in November. [THR]

* John Cusack wants you to forget about The Raven. Badly. He has to want that, otherwise I've lost all faith in the man. Unfortunately, the latest film he's joining continues to sound like an atrocious piece of crap. He'll join Elijah Wood in Grand Piano, which has a retired concert pianist with extreme stage fright forced back at the keys when a threat is made against his family. No joke. Adding to the jambalaya of stupid is Damian Chazelle(The Last Exorcism 2) as writer, and Eugenio Mira as director. Oi. [Variety]

* Max Greenfield(New Girl) has joined They Came Together, the promising rom-com spoof starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. Directed and co-written by David Wain, the film is basically a send up of every romantic comedy trope we've all come to expect. Rudd will play an exec whose corporation is trying to take over the little shop owned by Pohler's character. Greenfield will play Rudd's no-good younger brother. [Deadline]

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Confirmed: Elijah Wood will return as Frodo in 'The Hobbit'

So I guess it wasn't a typo, eh? Deadline's mentioning of Elijah Wood as a possible star of The Hobbit set off a lot of red flags. The reason is that Frodo is absolutely nowhere to be found in The Hobbit as it takes place years before The Lord of the Rings, so his presence makes zero sense. Even less sense than the rumored presence of Legolas(Orlando Bloom), who at least has the benefit of being an elf with near immortality. But it's appearing more and more likely that Wood will indeed be reprising his role as Frodo Baggins, and while last night I expressed some anger over that possibility, it appears that his presence will be minor and actually makes a little bit of sense.  Theonering.net have the story...

As readers of “The Hobbit” know, the tale of “The Downfall of The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit or There and Back Again,” are contained in the fictional “Red Book of Westmarch.” In Peter Jackson’s LOTR films, the books are shown on screen and written in by Bilbo and Frodo and handed off to Sam Gamgee. (Not explained on film are Sam’s progeny later having the book and being Wardens of the Westmarch — hence the book’s title.)

So what it sounds like is that Frodo will either be reading the book or somebody will be relaying the story to him. I can work with that. It doesn't really disrupt Tolkien's original story in any way. At this point he might as well bring back all the surviving characters. Maybe they can all sit around a campfire during second breakfast and have a different person read a different chapter?

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Rumor: Elijah Wood to appear in 'The Hobbit'?

Earlier today it was announced that Warner Brothers had gained the worldwide distribution rights to The Hobbit. Not an unexpected development in the least, but in the story released by Deadline, there was this little curveball...



"I've learned that Warner Bros will, in fact, pay the entire cost of the two installments of The Hobbit, a price-tag that is expected to exceed $500 million. Now, the question will be which cast members from The Lord of the Rings come back for encores. I've heard talk of conversations with Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and possibly Elijah Wood. I'd heard Orlando Bloom was also in talks before the holidays. Returning actors will need to be locked in shortly."

We already knew about Serkis(as Gollum), and McKellen(as Gandalf). Those two are integral parts to the story and of course they're coming back. We even knew the rumors about Orlando Bloom showing up as Legolas, but what's this junk about Elijah Wood? Presumbably he'd be returning to the series as Frodo, but that would make absolutely no sense at all given The Hobbit's timeline which takes place considerably before The Fellowship of the Ring.

Maybe it was just a simple mistake. Let's hope so. I'm willing to overlook some creative license with the adaptation because The Hobbit has a fairly limited story that needs to be expanded. But adding a character like Frodo into the mix would be going overboard.

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