First Trailer for 'The Walk' has Joseph Gordon-Levitt Atop the Twin Towers

James Marsh's 2008 documentary Man on Wire was one of the year's most critically acclaimed films, depicting in the style of a heist thriller Philippe Petit's extraordinary high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The film was, in a way, a love letter to the building many of us hadn't seen in full glory since the events of 9/11. Robert Zemeckis will try to do them and Petit's extraordinary achievement justice with The Walk, a 3D spectacle starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the famous tightrope performer.

The first trailer for The Walk sends audiences soaring up the World Trade Center towers, and it looks like Petit's story will be fashioned into an uplifting drama rather than a caper. Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit, a French performance artist who hoped to spread a little joy to the world by walking the tightrope between the Twin Towers at the obvious risk of his own life. To do it he needed a plan a few willing accomplices, played by Charlotte Le Bon (Mood Indigo), James Badge Dale (Iron Man 3), Ben Schwartz (House of Lies), and Ben Kingsley as his mentor.

One of the underlying points of Marsh's film and likely to be part of Zemeckis' is how much things have changed in the decades since Petit made his walk. Something like that can NEVER happen again in today's post-9/11 era, and that in and of itself is pretty sad. This trailer, however, looks terrific.  The Walk opens October 2nd 2015.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt 'To Walk the Clouds'; Lily Collins Learns 'How to Be Single'

* Last month we learned Joseph Gordon-Levitt was eying the lead role in Robert Zemeckis' 3D high-wire film, To Reach the Clouds, based on the book by famous tightrope walker, Philippe Petit. Now Deadline reports the deal is closed and Levitt will star as Petit, whose incredible 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Center towers was chronicled in James Marsh's documentary, Man on Wire. The new title of the film is To Walk the Clouds, and Zemeckis plans on filming this summer.

* It's been a busy day for Lily Collins. Earlier today she came aboard Warren Beatty's long-developing Howard Hughes biopic, and now she's in talks to star in How to Be Single, an adaptation of Liz Tuccillo's 2008 book. Directed by Christian Ditter (Collins' director on Love, Rosie) and produced by Drew Barrymore, the story centers on a New York publicist whose response to a night out with her girlfriends is to pack up and travel the world looking for other ways women are handling being single. Through seeing the world, she falls in love, suffers heartbreak, all while her friends are back home dealing with other issues. [Variety]

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt 'To Reach the Clouds' with Robert Zemeckis

Remember James Marsh's incredible 2008 documentary, Man on Wire? The film used re-enactments and archival footage to chronicle Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The film won all sorts of awards and ended up on a number of Top 10 lists, so it's no surprise that the story is being retold with a pair of big names attached.

Twitch reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in To Reach the Clouds, an adaptation of Petit's book to be directed by Robert Zemeckis. Coming off the high-flying drama Flight, Zemeckis is clearly in love with the idea of defying gravity and has been trying to get this film moving for a couple of years.

One of the cool things about Man on Wire was that it was constructed like a heist movie as Petit and a small group of confidants helped him plan the daring and very illegal act. Hopefully the narrative version will maintain some of those aspects. No word on when filming could begin but with Gordon-Levitt on board it could be soon.

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Sure Shots: Robert Zemeckis; Kevin Costner; Alexander Payne

* After years away from live-action flicks, Robert Zemeckis is making his return with the Denzel Washington-led drama, Flight. Next up, he'll take over directing Taking Flight, and no, it isn't any kind of sequel or follow-up.  Zemeckis will now take over the project from David Gordon Green(Pineapple Express), who has apparently dropped it, likely to full concentrate on his Suspiria remake. Based on Bob Friel's proposed book,  Taking Flight: The Hunt for a Young Outlaw, the film follows Colton Harris-Moore, a young criminal who started stealing cars and boats at a young age, teaching himself how to fly in order to evade capture. At the age of 18 he escaped a halfway house and kicked his criminal activities up a notch, earning the nickname the "Barefoot Bandit" because on occasion he committed his thefts without shoes on. Earlier this year he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. Dustin Lance Black(Milk) is writing the script.[THR]

* Let the comeback of Kevin Costner continue! Already shinin' after the success of Hatfields & McCoys, along with his upcoming role in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, Costner has lined up two more projects. Costner is in talks to join Paramount's Jack Ryan reboot, which has Chris Pine starring as a younger version of the Tom Clancy character. Costner would play a mentor to Ryan, similar to the Admiral Greer character James Earl Jones played in Patriot Games. Actually, Jones is expected to reprise his role as Greer in the prequel, which is pretty cool in and of itself. Kenneth Branagh is directing, and hopefully we'll get a title for the film soon.

Luc Besson and his Europacorp studio are also looking at Costner for the role of a dying assassin in Three Days to Kill, a film which Besson is co-writing along with Adi Hasek. Sounding like The Professional with a ticking clock subplot, the story centers on the ailing killer who wants to reconcile with his daughter before he dies, while also tackling one final assignment. Apparently, McG(This Means War) is circling the directing gig, which means the movie may suck something fierce. [Deadline]

* Years in the making, Alexander Payne(The Descendants) is finally going to see his road trip comedy, Nebraska, headed to the big screen. The film has officially been greenlit, and will star Bruce Dern(Big Love) and Will Forte(MacGruber) in the two lead roles, that of an aging, hard-drinking dad who goes on a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his underachieving son to claim a sweepstakes prize he may not have actually won. Budgeted at $13M, this is a pretty big opportunity for both Dern and Forte, especially in the wake of Payne's recent Academy Award success. The script comes from Bob Nelson, with a recent polish by Payne. No word on when filming begins, but Paramount's plan is to have it ready by next year's awards season. [Deadline]

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Confirmed: Denzel Washington to take Flight with Robert Zemeckis

Back in June we first learned that Robert Zemeckis(Who Framed Roger Rabbit) was making his first movie with real, living human beings since 2000's Castaway, and he'd locked up Denzel Washington to join him. Well that was going a bit overboard as it was hardly confirmed, but now it's been confirmed. Washington will star in Flight, a drama about an airline pilot deemed a hero after saving his passengers from certain disaster.

It's not that simple, of course. The pilot's role in the disaster starts getting picked at by investigators and journalists, and soon he begins to crack under the pressure, with accusations of alcoholism and drug use surfacing. I'm assuming this guy is no Sully Sullenberger. John Gatins(Real Steel, Coach Carter) wrote the script, with shooting set to kick off this fall.

I'm hoping this will give Washington a chance to stretch his acting muscles. He hasn't been doing it often, let's be honest. We all recognize him as an amazing talent, but what has he done since Training Day to back that status up? Not much.

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Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis team-up for Flight

Y'know how long it's been since Robert Zemeckis made a film with real live human beings in it? It was 2000 and the film was Castaway, with Tom Hanks getting a bit too chummy with a volleyball.  Since then he's been completely wrapped up in making the "performance capture" technology he helped develop into a Hollywood force, and had some success for awhile(The Polar Express, Monster House, A Christmas Carol) until Mars Needs Moms performed so badly that it killed the entire company. Zemeckis has been circling a number of flicks to helm since, but his next one appears to be at the top of his list. 


The LA Times reports that Zemeckis has locked up Denzel Washington to star in Flight, a film about a airline pilot who becomes a national hero when he successfully lands a malfunctioning plane and saves everybody. The problem is it was him who caused the problem to begin with, exacerbated by his addiction to drugs and alcohol. The pilot's union and the airline work together to hide his secret from the public, causing an even greater burden. Did I mention that the pilot's name is Whip Whitaker? Does this suddenly sound like a less serious film? I bet it does. Here's hoping Paramount forces somebody to change dude's name. I love the premise, though. Kinda sounds like if Sully Sullenberger was a total heel.

The script was written by John Gatins, who is something of a hot commodity now after writing Shawn Levy's rock 'em sock 'em robot pic, Real Steel(and it's eventual sequel). Gatins also wrote the basketball drama Coach Carter and the Freddie Prinze Jr. teen romance, Summer Catch.

Shooting will begin in the fall, meaning that we'll be waiting even longer for Zemeckis to get around to his Roger Rabbit sequel. Le sigh.

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Trailer Time: Mars Needs Moms!

Disney has released the first trailer for Mars Needs Moms!, the next film from Robert Zemeckis and his ImageMoversDigital. They're the same folks behind The Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, and other performance capture flicks.This will actually mark the final film from the company, which is closing it's doors next year. Sad days. I really like the improvements they've made over the years.  Check out the trailer below followed by the plot, and look out for Mars Needs Moms! on March 11th, 2011!



Take out the trash, eat your broccoli—who needs moms, anyway? Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Produced by the team behind Disney's A Christmas Carol and The Polar Express, Mars Needs Moms showcases Milo's quest to save his mom—a wild adventure in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling). With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebel Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo just might find his way back to his mom—in more ways than one. Based on the book by Berkeley Breathed.

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