Review: 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'

When How to Train Your Dragon went on to be a smash and rival Pixar's Toy Story 3 at the Oscars, it must have shocked Dreamworks Animation as much as it did everyone else. The studio had been around probably a lot longer than many thought, and for every creative and box office success like Shrek or Kung Fu Panda, there were numerous other retreads and copycats. Anybody remember MegaMind? Didn't think so. But sequels have proven especially difficult, with few ever coming close to matching the original. Does the string of bad luck continue with How to Train Your Dragon 2?

The answer is a resounding "No" as How to Train Your Dragon 2 is bigger and soars higher than the first and will undoubtedly be one of the year's best animated features. Dean DeBlois takes the directing reins solo this time, and rather than coasting along with what worked before he's expanded and evolved the 'Dragon' universe into someplace unpredictable and dangerous.

Five years have passed and Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is on a different sort of journey, one where he is literally charting a new world astride his dragon pal, Toothless. The rough-housing Viking village of Berk has changed more than Hiccup's slick new armor, with the townspeople living in peace with the dragons they once hated. Astrid (America Ferrera) is now firmly his woman, the people respect him (mostly), and now his father Stoic wants him to take over the role of Chief. Is he ready to handle that kind of responsibility? Does he even want to be Chief? Hiccup must again decide whether to be his own viking or follow in his father's footsteps.

The emotional throughline may be familiar, but honestly it's probably going to be a theme throughout the entire franchise, and it resonates due to a screenplay that throws many unexpected twists into the mix. On one of Hiccup's outings he encounters a group of dragon trappers led by the brash Eret (Kit Harington), who is ensnaring the creatures for Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou), a man building up an army. But while Drago's plans are for evil, Hiccup also encounters the mysterious Valka (Cate Blanchett), a hermit hidden away in an icy cave where she has created a dragon sanctuary of sorts. This isn't about changing the hearts and minds of the Berk people anymore, Hiccup must try and prevent full-scale war while also finding out the secrets to his past.

In some ways the film follows the typical path set by most follow-ups in that there are deeper questions, more characters, and bigger action in the 'Empire Strikes Back' mold. And that also means some of the humor slips into the background, or at least it seems to be relegated to Hiccup's pals (voiced by TJ Miller, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and more) who seem to be around only to appease younger viewers. That's not to say there aren't plenty of laughs, but this is definitely the dark middle chapter of a larger story, one where Hiccup again endures terrible and shocking loss that may be tough for younger audiences. We don't get to see nearly enough of Hiccup and Astrid as a couple, which would have made for a nice parallel with another romantic relationship rekindled in the film. More interesting and explored in greater detail is the bond between Hiccup and Toothless which is stronger than ever but still somewhat tenuous and easily manipulated. Drago, a villain of uncertain ethnic origin, is impressive only in his physical and mental dominion over pretty much everybody, but giving him a stronger motivation would have made an already-great film even better.

And of course the film is a visual stunner with aerial sequences that will take your breath away, and many of the dogfights (dragonfights?) have that Star Wars sizzle; you'd think they were piloting X-wing fighters. Even during the slower moments it's worth taking time to just soak up the surroundings and take in the lush colors and unique creature design. Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men) had a hand in crafting the film's look and the result stands apart from anything we've seen from Dreamworks before. With heart and action to spare, How to Train Your Dragon 2 reaches incredible heights.

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Sienna Miller Scales 'High-Rise'; Gerard Butler Joins 'Den of Thieves'; Peter Sarsgaard Leads 'Experimenter'

* Sienna Miller and Jeremy Irons have joined Tom Hiddleston in High-Rise, the next film from Kill List and Sightseers director, Ben Wheatley. Adapted from J.G. Ballard's novel, this one is set inside a luxury high-rise apartment where a violent class war erupts amongst the tenants. Irons will play the building's architect, with Miller a his aide who strikes up a romantic relationship with Hiddleston's character. [ScreenDaily]

* After ditching that awful Point Break remake, Gerard Butler has jumped right into another potentially terrible heist movie. He'll star in Den of Thieves, which is co-written and directed by Christian Gudegast, Butler's writer on London Has Fallen. The story centers on a "legendary bank heist crew decides to rob the Federal Reserve in Los Angeles right under the nose of a rogue sheriff’s deputy." [Variety]

* Peter Sarsgaard and Winona Ryder will headline the biopic, Experimenter, The Stanley Milgram Story. Milgram was the social psychologist whose controversial 1961 experiment studied human willingness to obey authority figures by instructing subjects to deliver what they believed to be painful electric shocks to complete strangers. Michael Almereyda (Hamlet) is directing, with Sarsgaard as Milgram and Ryder as his student and future wife, Sasha Menkin.

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Edgar Ramirez Replaces Gerard Butler in 'Point Break'

Well, that didn't take long. There hasn't exactly been a lot of positive buzz swirling around this Point Break remake, and when Gerard Butler dropped out a few days ago there wasn't a lot of concern about it one way or the other. Production will still go on with Luke Bracey in the role Keanu Reeves made famous in Kathryn Bigelow's film, and some other guy will take over in trying to fill Patrick Swayze's shoes. And now we know that "other guy" will be Edgar Ramirez.

Ramirez has signed up to play extreme sports enthusiast Bodhi, joining Bracey and Ray Winstone in the Ericson Core-directed crime flick. The story will follow a cop who infiltrates a gang of international criminals who also happen to be into extreme sports.

Filming on Point Break begins next month. Ramirez will be seen next in horror Deliver Us from Evil.

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Gerard Butler Exits 'Point Break' Remake

That Point Break remake nobody asked for that would have been set in the world of extreme sports has just suffered a major set back. Is it the kind of set back that will derail the project for good? Well, normally losing your star is a big deal, but when it's just Gerard Butler then things continue on like nothing happened.

Butler has dropped out of the film which would have seen him playing Zen surfer dude/thief Bodhi opposite Luke Bracey's Johnny Utah. Apparently a combination of creative differences and Butler's busy schedule led to the departure, which makes one wonder what his beef with director Ericson Core was? This is a Point Break remake, after all. Was he expecting another Coriolanus? Butler will instead spend his time gearing up for London Has Fallen which shoots this fall.

As for Point Break, production is still set to begin next month with a different lead. [THR]

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'London Has Fallen' Set for October 2015; Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart Returning

Last year saw the release of two movies that had the same "terrorists invade the White House" storyline released within weeks of one another. There was White House Down, which was directed by Roland Emmerich with Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx starring. Before that was Olympus Has Fallen, which had the less-impressive duo of director Antoine Fuqua and star Gerard Butler. Maybe because it was the first to hit theaters Olympus Has Fallen wiped the floor with Tatum's flick domestically, and so a few months ago a sequel was ordered up with the laughable title, London Has Fallen.

The unfortunate title has stuck, and now the film has a release date of October 2nd 2015, joining what is shaping up to be the busiest blockbuster year in history. Gerard Butler is back in the lead role of agent Mike Banning, who will be attempting to save an entire country or something, rather than just some stupid old building. Here's the synopsis:

The sequel begins in London, where the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances. His funeral is a must-attend event for leaders of the Western world. But what starts out as the most protected event on earth, turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful leaders and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. Only three people have any hope of stopping it: the President of the United States, his formidable secret service head (Butler), and an English MI-6 agent who rightly trusts no one. 

Aaron Eckhart is also returning, presumably still as the POTUS, but maybe there will be a twist and he'll be on the side of evil this time? Eh, probably not. No word on who will play this skeptical MI-6 agent but I have a feeling it will be a woman because skeptical English chicks with guns are hot and this is hardly the brainiest of franchises. Yep, this is starting to look like a franchise, isn't it?

No word on when filming will begin but we can expect it to be soon, assuming a director can be found in short order.

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Gerard Butler Leads 'Geostorm'; Taylor Lautner to 'Run the Tide'; James Franco is 'Michael'

* Dean Devilin, a frequent collaborator of Roland Emmerich who helped pen the Stargate screenplay, is set to make his directorial debut with Geostorm. Gerard Butler will topline the sci-fi flick as a stubborn but charming satellite designer who, when the world’s climate-controlling satellites malfunction, has to work together with his estranged brother to save the world from a man-made storm of epic proportions. A trip into space follows, while on Earth a plot to assassinate the president begins to unfold." Filming is to begin this fall, which will give Butler plenty of time to finish up starring in the Point Break remake. [THR]

* Remember Taylor Lautner? Yeah, he was pretty big once. Now the former Twilight hunk is going the indie route, entering talks to star in Run the Tide. Directed by Soham Mehta with a Rajiv Shah script, the story centers on "a man who kidnaps his younger brother and flees for the California coast when their drug-abusing mother is released from prison determined to rebuild their family. With nothing but the open road ahead of them, the brothers race away from a past they never wanted towards a future that could have been as their mother and her ex-husband follow in close pursuit." Well, it sounds better than Abduction, anyway. [TheWrap]

* Gus van Sant has tapped his protege Justin Kelly to direct Michael, a gay-themed film that will star James Franco as the title figure. But don't expect this to be another gay rights story. Instead, the story is based on the New York Times article, My Ex-Gay Friend, about Michael Glatze, a gay rights activist who suddenly renounced his homosexuality and became an anti-gay crusader. Sounds right up Franco and van Sant's alley. Filming begins this summer. [Deadline]

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Gerard Butler to Try and Fill Patrick Swayze's Shoes in the 'Point Break' Remake

That Point Break remake you didn't ask for is still happening, and actually seems to be progressing along as if they are trying deliberately to make it terrible. No longer just a surfing and heist flick for bros, it's now set in the world of extreme sports because that's like totally cool now, and a director you've never heard of in Ericson Core is at the helm. And now to try and step into the void left by the late great Patrick Swayze is Gerard Butler, because why the heck not?

THR reports Butler is in final negotiations for the role of Bodhi, which Swayze played in the Kathyrn Bigelow-directed cult classic. According to the site, Bodhi is “an expert extreme sports athlete who also seeks to find nirvana through the conquest of a series of athletic feats such as surfing 100-waves. He saves Johnny Utah, the undercover FBI agent, and brings him into the fold of international criminals." The part of Utah has yet to be cast, but maybe they can find someone else who is extremely average and likely comes pretty cheap? How much you want to bet Garrett Hedlund is being sent a script right now?

To Butler's credit he did take Olympus Has Fallen to a surprising $161M last year so maybe he's got some of his mojo back from the 300 days.  Plus he's an avid surfer and recently starred in the surfing drama, Chasing Mavericks.

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New Trailer for 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'

Hard to believe by the time Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon 2 takes to the skies it will have been four years since the $500M hit took Hollywood by surprise, posing one of the first real challenges to Pixar's dominance.  No time was wasted in taking advantage, growing the franchise with video games, a Cartoon Network series, ice shows, and of course plans for a pair of big screen sequels to make a complete trilogy. Whether or not the magic can be recaptured is unclear, but the latest trailer suggests the film will be much bigger than before.

Jay Baruchel is back to voice the Hiccup, who is older and maybe not so much wiser, still riding high with his dragon buddy, Toothless. The discovery of an undiscovered land with new and exotic dragons sets off a battle to restore peace, with Cate Blanchett coming aboard to voice a mysterious dragon tamer, who sort of resembles Diane Fossey of Gorillas in the Mist. Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Mintz-Plasse are back, along with other new additions Djimon Hounsou and Kit Harington.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 opens June 20th 2014.


How To Train your Dragon 2 by itsartmag

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Rumor: Zack Snyder Meeting with 'Watchmen' Star Jeffrey Dean Morgan for Batman Role

Whenever a major superhero role like Batman is up for grabs, it's reasonable to expect a flurry of names thrown around for it. But along with that it's expected that many news sites will put a few of those names out there themselves, because superhero casting stories are a great way to drive up traffic. There's probably been a good deal of that going on as the contenders for Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder's Superman vs. Batman (or Batman vs. Superman or whatever it's called) continue to pile up.

So far the list of possibilities includes Josh Brolin as the supposed frontrunner, with Ryan Gosling, Joe Manganiello, Matthew Goode, and a handful of others also in the mix. Latino Review would later throw their sketchy two cents into the mix by including Gerard Butler, who is almost certainly not on Warner Bros.' radar for the part. But Think McFly Think have an interesting story that says Snyder is setting up a meeting with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who was fantastic as The Comedian in Snyder's Watchmen adaptation.  Morgan, who will soon be wrapping up a brilliant run on Starz' Magic City, is 47 years old and fits the "older" Batman Snyder is said to be looking for. He also starred in Warner Bros.' The Losers, based on the DC/Vertigo comic, so again this is the studio keeping their search "in the family".

Morgan may not be a household name, but neither was Henry Cavill and that seems to have worked out like gangbusters. Certainly it's not as far-fetched as this classic Batman rumor involving WWE poster boy John Cena.

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Sure Shots: Spike Lee; Gerard Butler; Andrea Riseborough

* As Michael Mann continues to put the pieces together for his untitled cyber-thriller with Chris Hemsworth, it looks like he's been forced to drop a film he'd been attached to for a couple of years. Mann has dropped out of directing his gold mining tale, Gold, and has been replaced by Spike Lee. Based on a true story written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman, the film is based on the 1993 Bre-X gold mining scandal, and follows a prospector who uncovers what he believes is one of the largest gold mines in the world in the Indonesian jungle. Lee is currently wrapping up his Oldboy remake, so the hope is that Gold will be his next project once he's finished. [TheWrap]

* It looks like Olympus Has Fallen has made Gerard Butler a bankable action star again, so much so that he's taking on roles designed for actors half his age. Butler will take the lead role in The Raven, a conspiracy thriller about a man with superhuman powers hunted by the government. Liam Hemsworth was in talks for the part just last month, and obviously the script by Justin Marks and Michael Gilio is age-neutral if Butler can just step right in. Ricardo de Montreuil is directing, with Mark Wahlberg adding another credit to his name as producer.

* It's been a pretty good year for Andrea Riseborough already, with Disconnect, Oblivion, and the upcoming IRA thriller Shadow Dancer (review of that here) boosting her profile in a major way. Earlier today we learned she'll be starring in the dark fairy tale The White Circus, but she's hardly finished as she's set to topline The Silent Storm alongside Homeland star Damian Lewis. Riseborough plays “an enigmatic outsider living on a remote Scottish island who is caught between her commanding husband and a 17-year-old delinquent.” BIFA-nominated filmmaker Corinna Villari-McFarlane (Three Miles North of Molkom) will write and direct, with some powerful backing coming from the producers of Skyfall. [ScreenDaily]

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Sure Shots: Romany Malco; Gerard Butler; 'Riddick'

* While he's expected to return for the upcoming Think Like A Man sequel, Romany Malco is keeping plenty busy in the mean time and capitalizing on that film's unexpected success. He'll next join screen legends Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and Robert De Niron in Last Vegas, a comedy from director Jon Turteltaub. The story follows a group of four old friends who hit the city of sin to celebrate the impending marriage of the last of them to remain single. Mary Steenburgen plays a lounge singer that causes friction between Douglas and De Niro, while Malco is a concierge name Lonnie. [Deadline]

* Gerard Butler has an obvious fondness for sports movies, in particular of historically significant soccer matches like in The Game of Their Lives, one of his early breakout performances. Next up he'll star in Dynamo, which is based on the true story of a soccer match game between an occupied Ukrainian team against their Nazi captors during WWII. Based on the novel by Andy Dougan, and adapted by Eli Richbourg, the film will chronicle how the starving Ukrainian team stood up against the Nazi plan to establish physical superiority in the match, ultimately inspiring the battered people of Kiev. Butler will play Nikolai Trusevich, an all-star goalie and cornerstone of his team. A director is still being sought, with plans to shoot next year in Europe. Butler will be seen next as an ex-soccer star in the romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps. [Deadline]

* Vin Diesel and series director David Twohy have been aiming for an R rating for Riddick, the third chapter in their multi-platform Chronicles of Riddick franchise. After the poor response to 2004's PG-13 rated The Chronicles of Riddick, the thinking has been that fans expected the same level of action and violence seen in the original Pitch Black.  In the end, Diesel got his wish as the MPAA has rated the film R for "strong violence, language and some sexual content/nudity." The film stars Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Karl Urban, Bokeem Woodbine, and more in a story that has Riddick stranded on a savage alien planet with no hope for escape, until he activates an emergency beacon that alerts his enemies of his whereabouts.  Universal Pictures plans to release Riddick some time in 2013.

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Production halted on Albert Hughes' 'Motor City'

And another Albert Hughes film crashes and burns. With filming a mere three weeks away, the plug has been pulled on his vengeance thriller, Motor City, possibly closing the book on what has been one of the more troubled productions of the year. Originally set for Dominic Cooper in the lead role of a guy seeking revenge on those who framed him, with the hook being that the protagonist only gets one line of dialogue. Cooper would eventually drop out, quickly followed by Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeremy Renner taking over before Gerard Butler was finally settled on. The film also lost Gary Oldman and Amber Heard, with new additions Mickey Rourke and Adrien Brody barely having signed on before the other shoe dropped.

Strangely enough, the reason for the shut down has nothing to do with all the casting woes, but some rather intricate behind-the-scenes dealings. Although no official release date has ever been announced, Warner Bros. had apparently given the film's producers a hard March 31st deadline. That date was set to coincide with the foreign distribution deals that were in place, but the producers realized that it gave them too short of a time window for successful post-production. With the admission that the March 31st date couldn't be hit, the film was unable to secure a bond, and that puts us where we are today.

Now, this in and of itself doesn't mean the movie is dead. The producers released a statement saying that the start date was being pushed back, and since Warner Bros. is merely doing distribution, Motor City should still have all of its funding. The problem is that a delay like this could cause them to lose the few stars they've managed to, and a downgrade in talent obviously could hurt the film's prospects of success. Most financiers I know don't want to invest in a money losing project, so we'll just have to wait and see how this whole thing develops. [Deadline]

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Gerard Butler won't return for '300: Battle of Artemisia'

In case you forgot, and you can be forgiven if you have, there's a sorta sequel to 300 that's in production right now. Titled 300: Battle of Artemisia, the film takes place during the same time frame as the last film, but follows a totally different story mostly focusing on Xerxes(Rodrigo Santoro) and his quest for godhood. One thing the film is lacking in substantial quantities is star power, and so fairly early on we started to hear that maybe Gerard Butler and Lena Headey would come back and reprise their roles as Leonidas and Queen Gorgo. While it's possible Headey could appear in a cameo, Butler is leaving 300 in his rear view mirror. He tells MTV....

Butler:  "I'm not doing it. They're filming [the '300' sequel] right now. I wish them the best, but it didn't [work out]. It wasn't really my thing."

Considering all the crap Butler puts out there on a regular basis, I'm curious to know what his "thing" is. Maybe he took a look at the mostly unknown cast of Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Jack O'Connell, and Callan Mulvey, along with unproven director Noam Murro(Smart People) and decided it was best to stay far away. Can't really say I blame him.

300: Battle of Artemisia could turn out awesome, but it doesn't look like it right now. We'll find out when it opens on August 2nd 2013. 

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Sure Shots: Shailene Woodley; Nicolas Winding Refn; Gerard Butler

* Still riding high on the acclaim she received for playing George Clooney's rebellious daughter in The Descendants, Shailene Woodley has been awfully choosey about what she'll do next. While she's still juggling a number of potential opportunties, she's jumping at the chance to star in The Spectacular Now, based on the novel by Tim Tharp and directed by James Ponsoldt(Smashed). The story follows Sutter Keely, an alcoholic, hard partying high school senior who passes out and wakes up on Aimee's(Woodley) front lawn, and decides to date her merely as a social reclamation project. Instead, it's Aimee who teaches him a lesson about his current way of life not being all it's cracked up to be. The script comes from Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber(500 Days of Summer), with Shawn Levy on board to produce. [Variety]

* Here's what I like about Nicolas Winding Refn. All of his movies seem to fit perfectly into his wheelhouse. Strong, muscular movies that run counter to the typical Hollywood crap, with a distinctly European twist. While we wait for him to wrap up filming on Only God Forgives with his best bud, Ryan Gosling, Refn has been jumping into the producer arena. Not only is he producing a remake of his own original film, Pusher, but now he'll back a prequel to 1998 cult horror, Maniac Cop. William Lustig and Larry Cohen, who directed and wrote the original film about a serial killer dressed in a cop uniform, will return as producers but no director is in place yet. Could Refn take the job himself? Probably not, as he's already got a lot on his plate. After Only God Forgives wraps, he'll take on I Walk with the Dead starring Carey Mulligan, and the eventual remake of Logan's Run. [DailyGrindhouse]

* Gerard Butler has been all over the place lately, with one long gestating project finally landing a director, and Butler joining another another one. First, Tommy Wirkola(Dead Snow) will direct Afterburn, based on the graphic novel by Scott Chitwood and Paul Ens' about a future earth where the Eastern Hemisphere has been destroyed by a massive solar flare. In the aftermath, a team of recovery experts will venture into this dangerous hot zone and recover valuable artifacts. Antoine Fuqua had been lined up to direct at one point.

Next up, Butler has entered talks to star in the boringly titled Manhunt, an action film from Breck Eisner(Sahara) about a team of FBI agents who team with a renowned bear hunter to track down a domestic terrorist escaped into the North Carolina wilderness. Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby(Iron Man, Children of Men) wrote the script.

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The race is on as Antoine Fuqua takes on White House invasion flick, 'Olympus Has Fallen'

Stop me if you've heard this before. Two movies, both on the exact same subject, get green lit around the same time and have to race to beat the other into theaters. In some cases, like with the two competing Linda Lovelace flicks, one has a clear advantage and one likely won't make much noise. Or more recently with Mirror Mirror vs. Snow White and the Huntsman, both will come out and appeal to two very different audiences. We're seeing something similar play out between two movies that are being described as Die Hard if it was set in the White House.

With Gerard Butler signing on just a couple of weeks ago, Antoine Fuqua is now set to direct Olympus Has Fallen, about a down 'n out Secret Service agent called into sudden duty when terrorists ransack the White House. The search for a director had to be stepped up after Columbia Pictures acquired White House Down, which is essentially the same flick, only with a script by James Vanderbilt and Roland Emmerich circling the director's chair. Didn't Emmerich already blow up the White House in Independence Day? Anyone want to take bets whether he'll do it again?

Olympus features a script by a pair of newcomers, but still has the advantage with Butler already in tow. He and Fuqua worked together on Hunter Killer, which is due out on December 21st. In order to ensure that they beat White House down to the punch, production is expected to be moved up from September to as early as June. [THR]

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Gerard Butler to take on 'Motor City'?

Has Albert Hughes's continuing casting headaches on Motor City finally come to an end? Dude can't catch a break! He went through the same crap while trying to set up Akira for Warner Brothers. He get cursed or somethin'? Initially set to star Chris Evans before getting passed to Dominic Cooper, he left for another film only to have Jake Gyllenhaal take over for a day. That led to the most recent talk of Jeremy Renner circling the lead role. Well, the latest to flirt with the vengeance thriller is Gerard Butler, with Variety reporting he's entered talks.

The most interesting part of all this to me has been watching the pursued actors start to skew older. Renner and Butler are both in their early 40s, a far cry from Gyllenhaal, Cooper, and Evans. With Amber Heard set to play the girlfriend of the main character, a petty crook who gets out of prison seeking revenge on the guy who framed him for the crime, the age gap is starting to widen. I wouldn't be surprised if Heard gets replaced at some point for somebody a bit older.  Gary Oldman will play the target of Butler's rage if the deal comes through.

With the script only calling for one line of dialogue by the main character, Butler seems like an odd fit. I'm guessing they'll be counting on him to bring some of the same macho charisma he brought as Leonidas in 300. Not sure it'll work, but we'll see. 

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Sure Shots: Will Gluck; Hugh Jackman; Gerard Butler

* Even though Will Gluck has found great success with two straight comedies featuring Emma Stone(Easy A, Friends with Benefits), he's doing something totally different for what looks to be his next film. THR reports he'll direct How to Disappear Completely, a remake of the 2007 Swiss drama, Vitus. That film featured actual child prodigy Teo Gheorghiu as a 12-year old pianist whose creativity and genius is stifled by his overbearing parents. Ed Solomon(Men in Black) wrote the script for Gluck's version, but the director is expected to do a rewrite on it.

* For more than two years now, Hollywood has been trying to get a film based on Aaron Guzikowski's Black List approved script for Prisoners, and even though a number of big names(Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender) were interested, it somehow never got made. Guzikowski ended up writing Contraband, which featured Mark Wahlberg, another name on the list of contenders. In the end, though, it appears the film will finally take place with the first guy ever to circle the lead: Hugh Jackman.  Directed by Denis Villeneuve(Incendies), the film centers on a carpenter who takes the law into his own hands when the cops are useless finding the man who kidnapped his daughter and best friend. Capturing and torturing the suspect, he begins to question whether or not he's got the right guy. Sounds like an interesting morality play. Let's hope the wait was worth it.  Filming could begin early next year, or whenever Jackman is done shooting The Wolverine. [THR]

* While we wait to see if Gerard Butler will be back for 300: Battle of Artemisia, he's taking on a film that sounds like it could've been ripped from any season of 24. Take your pick.  He'll star in Olympus Has Fallen, about a downtrodden ex-Secret Service agent who comes to the rescue when the White House is overrun by terrorists. The script comes from newcomers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, and if they want to make it awesome they'll add Kiefer Sutherland and Wesley Snipes. Right now. [Variety]

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Antoine Fuqua, Gerard Butler team up for 'Afterburn'

I can scarcely think of a more appropriate pairing.  Gerard Butler and Brooklyn's Finest director Antoine Fuqua are set to team-up for a big screen adaptation of Afterburn, Red 5's 2008 sci-fi comic featuring an earth that has been devastated by a massive solar flare. The first draft of the script was written by Matt Johnson(Into the Blue), but according to Deadline a rewrite is in the works and in the hands of Christian Gudegast. Gudegast wrote the script for the Vin Diesel actioner, A Man Apart, which wasn't all that bad. Tobey Maguire is along for the ride as co-producer on the project.

It's assumed that Butler will play the main character of Jake, a treasure hunter who heads to the Earth's surface to scrounge for any left over valuables after the disaster.  I never had a chance to read Afterburn, but I heard decent things about it. Check out the full synopsis below.

In the near future, a massive solar flare strikes the dayside of the Earth, utterly destroying the Eastern Hemisphere. Europe, Africa, Asia, India and Russia are turned into wastelands. What life remains becomes mutated from radiation and fallout. This is the backdrop for Red 5 Comics’ adventure series, AFTERBURN.

Beneath the ash, death and tragedy, treasures both modern and ancient lay unclaimed. Enter Jake and his team of “recovery experts”. For the right price, they are willing to enter the quarantine zone to retrieve items for rich Western clients. The Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone, the Crown Jewels — no job is too big or small. Along the way, they must face rival treasure hunters, rogue armies, pirate gangs, and hostile mutants. But as the saying goes — amid chaos, there’s profit.

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Snyder already writing 300 sequel

Zack Snyder sure seems to think he'll be behind the director's chair for Xerxes, the sequel to 300. In fact, he and Kurt Johnstad have already started writing the script. But...does that mean creator Frank Miller has finished the Xerxes graphic novel? Snyder doesn't really say but...what would he be adapting if it wasn't done?? Here's what Snyder told Hero Complex....

Snyder: It’s really going to depend on what the studio wants to do and what we do when we finish; I don’t have a directing deal in place but we are writing it, so call it intent. If there was a crime they could probably convict me.

That certainly implies that the comic book script is finished. Miller has been working on the script for his six-issue mini series since around March of last year, with Snyder closely following the process. The story would take place ten years before the events of 300, and follows Xerxes, the Persian king responsible for the invasion of Sparta. Snyder's description of the plot makes it sound absolutely amazing.

This movie follows Themistocles and the Battle of Artemisium, which coincidentally happens on the exact same three days as the Battle of Thermopylae. This one starts off with a quick retelling of the why of the Persian wars. It starts off at the Battle of Marathon and then it goes back to Themistocles finding out that Persians are invading again. and off we go over to learn a little bit about why Xerxes is the way he is.


Darius gets wounded at Marathon and he’s super cool and like a great guy. Even the Greeks are like, ‘Darius is awesome.’ After Darius dies, Xerxes [his son] is so distraught, but Darius had told him, ‘Don’t attack the Greeks, only a god can punish the Greeks.’ So that’s when he calls his mystics and wizards and says, ‘Make me a god so I can avenge my father.’

I can't wait for this. It already sounds better than 300 did. Don't get me wrong, I liked 300 fine. I just think any guy who's seen it more than twice might need to be a bit more honest about why he keeps watching it.

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Punch Drunk DVDs: 2/16/10

Law Abiding Citizen
F. Gary Gray's surprisingly well made thriller features Gerard Butler as a revenge seeking father, exacting brutal justice after his wife and daughter are murdered during a home invasion. Jamie Foxx plays the slick, career minded attorney who becomes the target of Butler's rage. A fun, cat 'n mouse game between two actors that are clearly having a good time. Just don't take it too seriously.








Coco Before Chanel
Audrey Tautou(Amelie, The Da Vinci Code) stars in this biopic of the famous fashion mogul, Gabrielle Chanel. The film chronicles her humble beginnings starting as a seamstress, who worked her way up through the fashion ladder to become a global icon.









Black Dynamite
Right to the top of my netflix queue goes this riff on the blaxploitation genre of films from the 1970's. Michael Jai White stars as the ass kickin' ex-CIA operative who seeks to get revenge on the drug dealers who killed his brother. Don't expect a spoof on the level of I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Black Dynamite plays it straight, even with cameos by Arsenio Hall, John Salley, and Tommy Davidson.








Good Hair
My contention is that every African-American male on the planet needs to watch Chris Rock's hilarious, insightful documentary. Why? So we can truly see where we stand in relation to a black woman and her hair. We are a distant 2nd, my friends. Actually, we're at least 3rd. Her hair, then her hair dresser...and then maybe us.









Revanche
Gotz Spiellman's tragic drama tells the tale of forbidden love, vengeance, and the dark corners of the human soul. It's the story of a love between an ex-con, now working as a guard in a whorehouse, who falls head over heels for one of it's prostitutes. If their relationship is ever discovered, it would mean death at the hands of their boss, and so the two stoop to desperate measures in order to be free to live their own lives.








Hunger
Before Michael Fassbender exploded onto American big screens in Inglorious Basterds, he had already made international waves and earned awards for his performance here. Hunger features him as Bobby Sands, IRA leader and prisoner at Belfast's Maze Prison in 1981. He and his brothers begin a brutal, agonizing hunger strike to protest their lack of political prisoner status according to the British government. A stirring, star making performance that simply cannot be missed.







Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever
It's never a good sign when the director petitions to have his name removed from the credits, but that's what Ti West tried to do. I'm a big fan of the original Cabin Fever, for whatever reason, and am intrigued that they are continuing with the story with the same lead character(Rider Strong is back!?), but I have the worst feeling this one is going to be a mess.

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