Roland Emmerich Adds Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman, and Joey King to 'Stonewall' Cast

Before Roland Emmerich embarks on his Independence Day sequel or a Stargate reboot, he's fitting in a drama that's a bit off the beaten path for him. Filming has begun on Stonewall, a gay rights drama titled after the famous 1969 Stonewall Riots. With much of the cast already in place, the final additions have now been made.

Bouncing back off the cancellation of NBC's Dracula, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is joining the Stonewall cast, along with Ron Perlman and Joey King. Already on board are Jeremy Irvine, Jonny Beauchamp (How to Make It In America) and Caleb Landry Jones (X-men: First Class), with the film centering on Danny Winters (Irvine), a young gay man in 1969 New York caught in the middle of the violent riots between the bar's gay patrons and the police that became a galvanizing even in the fight for gay rights.

King will play Irvine's sister while Perlman is the shady bar owner colluding with the corrupt police. Is this Emmerich reaching for an Oscar? Or will his more outrageous tendencies (He won't add a bunch of world-destroying earthquakes, will he?) sink what sounds like a promising and important film? [THR]

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Roland Emmerich Directing New 'Stargate' Trilogy; 'Independence Day 2' Gets Rewrite

News on Roland Emmerich's Independence Day 2 has, quite often it seems, been accompanied by updates on a potential Stargate reboot. Emmerich and producer/writer Dean Devlin have been talking about an update of their 1994 sci-fi blockbuster, which grew into a multimedia franchise that included three TV series and a pair of DVD sequels, and now it has been officially announced and in the form they always hoped it would be.

Emmerich will direct and Devlin will produce a new Stargate trilogy set up with MGM and Warner Bros. Kurt Russell and James Spader starred in the original film which dealt with the discovery of a wormhole leading to other civilizations that may have influenced Earth. Stargate banked more than $200M back in 1994 which was no chump change back then.

Stargate may be a ways off as Devlin is busy making his directorial debut on Geostorm, while Emmerich is shooting Independence Day 2, which is now getting a rewrite from Carter Blanchard. Blanchard is the guy penning that forever-developing Spy Hunter film. While this is a step in the right direction, without Will Smith on board and no A-list star to replace him this still feels like a project that is treading water. As it stands, Independence Day 2 is penciled in for July 1st 2016.

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Jeremy Irvine Climbs 'Stonewall'; Brie Larson Enters 'Room'; Salma Hayek Joins 'Sausage Party'

* Roland Emmerich has decided on his first post-Independence Day 2 film, and the only explosions in it will be the booming sounds of activism in the streets. Emmerich has been developing a gay rights drama titled Stonewall, based on the famous 1969 police raid at gay bar the Stonewall Inn. As the patrons fought back against the cops, it became one of the key moments in the gay rights movement. And starring in the film will be Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), starring as a young man who experiences his political awakening during the riots. Production on the Jon Robin Baitz-scripted film will begin soon. [Deadline]

* After a sterling 2013, Brie Larson has signed on to a number of projects to keep busy this year. She's already lined up Judd Apatow's next film, Trainwreck, and an adaptation of Matthew Quick's The Good Luck of Right Now. And now she's agreed to star in Room, directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Frank) and based on Emma Donoghue's best-selling novel which was partially taken from a true story. Larson plays Ma, "a woman kidnapped as a teenager who has been held captive for years in a tiny room where she lives with her 5-year-old son Jack. To the boy, Room is the only home he’s ever known." Guh, sounds creepy. Larson, who won't return for 22 Jump Street, will be seen next in The Gambler opposite Mark Wahlberg. [Deadline]

* So it won't be a total Sausage Party for the animated R-rated comedy, which features the voices of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, James Franco, David Krumholtz, Nick Kroll, and Edward Norton. Kristen Wiig is already on board, and now there's another shot of estrogen with the addition of Salma Hayek. Penned by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the film takes place in a supermarket and follows a sausage that falls out of his shopping cart and embarks on a quest to learn the truth about his existence. Hayek will, sadly, voice a taco named Teresa.

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Two 'Independence Day 2' Scripts Written, But Only One Includes Will Smith

The success or failure of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day sequel may depend on whether Will Smith returns as fighter pilot Captain Heller. For the most part, Smith has played close to the vest on his decision, and it seems like every time a new rumor surfaces on the issue, the situation has changed. Emmerich isn't taking any chances, and had screenwriter James Vanderbilt pen two different versions of the script.

While talking to ThePlaylist, Emmerich revealed that Will Smith's character is included in only one of the two scripts that have been completed by Vanderbilt. It's an unusual approach but makes sense just in case production needs to move forward without him. The director does seem confident, though, remarking that "It's looking good" on a Smith return.

What's unclear is if either script includes Captain Heller's grown up son, who some have been saying could be played by Michael B. Jordan. The only confirmed cast at this stage are the returning Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, although Emmerich has suggested there could be more. He also seems to have scrapped plans to split the story into two separate movies.

Independence Day 2 is set to open July 3rd 2015.

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Roland Emmerich to Reboot 'Stargate' As a Trilogy

Before he became known as the guy who just makes really ridiculously over-the-top disaster flicks, 2012 and White House Down director Roland Emmerich was best known for helming 1994's Stargate. The sci-fi flick was his first smash hit, banking nearly $200M, and went to spin off into countless TV series. Emmerich and producer/co-writer Dean Devlin have spoken often about revisiting the franchise they created, and now it sounds like it's finally going to happen.

While talking to Digital Spy, Emmerich revealed he met with MGM to pitch a rebooted Stargate franchise....

Emmerich: "We went to MGM, who has the rights, and proposed to them to do a sequel, but as a reboot... and reboot it as a movie and then do three parts. Pretty soon we'll have to look for a writer and start."

While that's hardly a firm confirmation, the fact that he's already talking about a writer and a production start is a pretty good sign. The original film starred James Spader and Kurt Russell, with the central idea involving a stargate or wormhole that enables travel across the universe. Of course there are extraterrestrial encounters, and it becomes clear that human civilization may have been influenced by aliens.

Emmerich doesn't say whether he would direct, but if he does Stargate would likely have to wait until he finishes up with his planned Independence Day sequels, which may or may not star Will Smith.

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Will Smith May Return for 'Independence Day 2'

It's funny how things change after a film most expect to be a hit turns out to be one of the summer's biggest bombs. While Roland Emmerich was out doing press for White House Down, he was asked about the possibility of Will Smith returning for Independence Day 2, the sequel to the sci-fi flick that helped make the actor a superstar. At the time, Emmerich said Smith was not in his plans at all, noting that he was "too much of a marquee name" and "too expensive". He would backtrack a little soon after, saying he hoped to get Smith at least for a cameo. But now in an interview with Digital Spy, Emmerich's saying Smith could indeed don his flight suit one more time as part of the sequel....

Emmerich: "It changes every month. I sometimes say 'No, Will Smith will not be in it,' because he didn't want to do it before but now we have a meeting planned where we want to talk about it again."

Maybe after his After Earth got pounded into dust this summer, Smith is looking for something easily bankable to maintain his grip as the summer box office champ? The story being ironed out by James Vanderbilt is still unknown, but we know there's a place for Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman to reprise their roles. A July 3rd 2015 release date has been set by 20th Century Fox, although there's a suggestion that it may be closer to 2016 when the film hits theaters.

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Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman Back For 'Independence Day 2'; Will Smith Wanted For Cameo

Roland Emmerich is supposedly out on tour to promote this week's White House Down, but he's spending a good deal of time talking up the newly-confirmed Independence Day sequel. Unfortunately, a lot of the buzz he's generating has to do with its complete lack of Will Smith, because he's "too expensive" and a "marquee name", which still makes no sense considering its a summer blockbuster. Emmerich did say that half the cast would be made of newcomers and the other half familiar faces, and now a couple of those who are coming back have been confirmed.

While at a Q&A hosted by Movies.com, Emmerich revealed that Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum would be reprising their roles. Pullman was President Thomas J. Whitmore, the first cinematic Commander-in-Chief to be terrorized by Emmerich. It's unlikely he'll still be in office, but hey, maybe he instituted martial law after the last alien invasion? Goldblum, who may be returning to play an eccentric nerd in Jurassic Park 4, will come back and do the same here as computer specialist David Levinson. He also confirmed the film will have its flag-waving debut on July 3rd 2015.

As for Will Smith, the door is probably closed but Emmerich hopes he can come back for a cameo. Here's the quote from the Q&A moderator...

[Emmerich] elaborated a bit and said he still hasn’t presented Smith with the final product and hopes he can get him for a cameo to “pass the torch,” so to speak.

So there's still a chance, albeit a small one. Although the idea of Smith passing the torch is a disconcerting one, because you know exactly who he'd want to pass it to.

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Will Smith Won't Return For 'Independence Day' Sequel

A very large part of the $800M Roland Emmerich's Independence Day brought in was on the shoulders of Will Smith, who was just becoming the superstar he would turn out to be. As Emmerich has been chatting up a sequel for the last couple of years, Smith has been non-committal on whether he would suit up for another go 'round. 20th Century Fox finally made the film official earlier this week by dating it for 2015, with no mention of Smith. As Emmerich makes the rounds to hype White House Down, he talked to the New York Daily News about who would be a part of the Independence Day 2 cast, and more importantly, who wouldn't be...

Emmerich: "Will Smith can not come back because he’s too expensive, but he’d also be too much of a marquee name. It would be too much. We have like maybe half of the people that you know would know from the first film and the other half people who are new."

This sounds like rear-end covering, actually, because it makes no sense that the studio would turn down having Smith as part of a summer blockbuster. More likely that Smith turned it down to pursue other projects. The last film was seventeen years ago when his career was in a completely different place. As for those "people that you know", Jeff Goldblum has talked about returning in the past, and it wouldn't be surprising if Bill Pullman did, as well.

Emmerich's plan to make this a two-part story titled ID Forever Part 1 and ID Forever Part 2 seems to be in place, and he went on to say they're "not doing a total reboot", but something he calls "totally unusual", whatever that means. James Vanderbilt, who penned White House Down and The Amazing Spider-Man, is currently rewriting Emmerich's script, so maybe that's where the "unusual" stuff will come in.

It's quite a gamble planning for two movies with the resiliency of Independence Day very much in question. One has to believe that an A-lister, or someone on the verge of it, will come aboard to help justify the prominent July 3rd 2015 release date.

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New Extended Trailer for 'White House Down' with Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx

After a blistering 2012 in which he had three $100M-grossing hits, plus a couple of well-regarded indie projects, Channing Tatum's 2013 has gotten off to a quieter start. He paired up with Steven Soderbergh for the third time in Side Effects, and basically passed the hero torch over to Dwayne Johnson in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. This summer, Tatum takes on his first solo blockbuster in White House Down, the latest film from Independence Day director, Roland Emmerich.

The latest trailer is basically a four-minute cut of the version released awhile ago, with all of the Emmerich-style spectacle you'd fully expect from the disaster movie maestro. Tatum plays John Cale, a DC cop and former soldier whose past transgressions get him rejected for a job in the Secret Service, but while touring the White House afterwards with is daughter, a paramilitary group storms the building and takes over. Jamie Foxx plays the President who is rescued by Cale and then, in buddy comedy fashion, they make an oddball pairing as they go on the offensive. This seems to be living up to its billing as "Die Hard in the White House", but will audiences care after sitting through the similar Olympus Has Fallen?

Co-starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, and Jason Clarke, White House Down opens on June 28th.

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Channing Tatum's pecs save the day in new trailer for 'White House Down'

Who says Hollywood is out of ideas? So what if White House Down is the second film in as many months to feature a buff Secret Service-type who must endure explosions, terrorists, and some really long hallways to rescue the kidnapped President? That doesn't necessarily mean it'll be a bad movie, just one that looks ridiculously predictable.

Directed with relish by Roland Emmerich, the latest trailer has arrived and it looks like he hasn't lost his touch for blowing up national monuments.The setup is both a little too cuddly and totally implausible, as Tatum plays a Dad who takes his kid to the White House while he interviews for a Secret Service gig. Turned down for the job, he gets another chance to prove himself when the building is overrun by group of heavily-armed insurgents, and Tatum must not only rescue the President but keep his daughter out of danger. Jamie Foxx plays what is probably the first President to ever fire a rocket launcher, and the tone in general is silly and over-the-top. At least in that way it differs greatly from the deadly serious Olympus Has Fallen. 

Co-starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Jason Clarke, Joey King, and Richard Jenkins, White House Down opens on June 28th.  

 

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Two new posters for 'White House Down' starring Channing Tatum

Is there room for two flag-waving action movies in the span of a few months where one guy has to infiltrate the White House and rescue the President from terrorists? We just saw Gerard Butler do his "Die Hard in DC" routine with Olympus Has Fallen, and now Channing Tatum gets his turn to save the day in Roland Emmerich's White House Down.

Two new posters have been released for the film, one which is pretty generic with Tatum walking away from a burning White House. Uh, shouldn't he be running towards it and trying to...I dunno...save some folks? He kinda looks like a coward.  Anyway, the other one is better and recalls Emmerich's memorable destruction of the building in Independence Day.

Starring Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins and Jason Clarke, White House Down opens on June 28th. [IMPA]

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Channing Tatum is the USA's only hope in new trailer for 'White House Down'

Good Guys Walk Away from Explostions

One of these days I'll have to do some research about the odd 'Rule of Two' that Hollywood seems to adhere to. Dante's Peak and Volcano. Armageddon and Deep Impact. I could go on and on but every year there seems to be two of the same movie made. This year the topic is attacking the White House. Last weekend gave us the first of two films on defending the home of the world's most powerful leader in Olympus has Fallen. Next up is Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx in White House Down, which seems to be on a bit of a larger scope than Olympus and brings a bit more in the talent section than the Gerard Butler action thriller. Today we get our first live action look at what White House Down is all about in this new trailer. Should our wallets go to DEFCON 2 or should we be pre-ordering tickets?

Honestly, it's really, REALLY hard to tell from this trailer. There are some great moments like seeing Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx taking "The Beast" (code name for President Obama's limosine) on a high speed chase and into a pool. Then there are some moments that make you realize that this is a movie directed by Roland Emmerich who, while not the harbinger of crap that some make him out to be, is most certainly hit or very far miss. Of course those hits have been fewer and very far inbetween in the previous decade with his last big movies being the horribly recieved Anonymous, 10,000BC, and 2012. Wow, I guess he kind of is a crap harbinger.....still this film has potential to be a comeback to the glory days of Independence Day. Take a look and let us know what you think!

White House Down - Trailer No. 1

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Maggie Gyllenhaal to help save the President in 'White House Down'

For an actress as tough and feisty as Maggie Gyllenhaal, it's a little surprising we haven't seen her kick more butt on screen. I remember her getting a little violent early in her career in Cecil B. Demented, but that's pretty much it. She's not someone given to ducking a good challenge, though, and next she'll attempt to make a Roland Emmerich film half way decent by starring in White House Down.

Described as a combination of Die Hard and Con Air, the film currently stars Channing Tatum as a single dad and Secret Service agent who must rescue the President when it's attacked by a paramilitary outfit. Gyllenhaal will play another agent working alongside Tatum's character, making this her first real potential blockbuster since The Dark Knight.

There's still no confirmation on yesterday's story that Jamie Foxx is considering playing the leader of the free world, but let's hope he does. This movie might need all the help it can get. White House Down is slated to open next year on November 1st. [Variety]

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Jamie Foxx may team with Channing Tatum for 'White House Down'

How ironic would it be to have Jamie Foxx playing a vengeance seeking freed slave in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained(new trailer here), and then playing the President of the United States in White House Down, set in the building that was built by....well, slave labor? Whatever, it's been interesting to see this latest turn for Jamie Foxx, who went from comedian to respected dramatic star to now an action lead.

Variety reports that Foxx is set to join White House Down, joining Channing Tatum in the Roland Emmerich-directed rescue flick. Tatum will play a family man and Secret Service agent who is the only one who can save the President when the White House comes under attack by terrorists. How come every time an African-American plays the President it's always to preside over some sort of disaster?

James Vanderbilt(The Amazing Spider-Man) wrote the script, which is being described as in the vein of Die Hard. We'll see about that, but I like the idea of Foxx moving from Django Unchained into something like this. Plus, it'll be a trip to see him getting rescued by Tatum. They should be doing buddy comedies together or something. Expect production to begin soon, as they still need to beat out the similar sounding film, Olympus Has Fallen, which has Gerard Butler in the lead.

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Channing Tatum will save the Presidency in Roland Emmerich's 'White House Down'

When we refer to Channing Tatum as the "John Cena of Hollywood", we do it out of love. The guy has worked his butt off to become a legit star, despite people constantly knocking him for his looks and tendency to be shirtless.  He's had one heck of a 2012 already, scoring two huge hits in The Vow and 21 Jump Street, while also banging out an artsy action flick in Steven Soderbergh's Haywire. Now he'll venture into solo action hero territory as the lead in Roland Emmerich's White House Down.

Featuring a pricey script($3M!) by James Vanderbilt, the film has Tatum starring as a Secret Service agent and family man called in to save the President when the White House is taken over by terrorist forces.  There's something of a race to the finish line to see which film can be completed first, as Relativity has essentially the same film getting made in Olympus Has Fallen, which has Gerard Butler starring and Antoine Fuqua directing.

Tatum's made plenty of brawny flicks in the past, but they were either franchises like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, or smaller aimed films like Fighting or The Eagle. With Sony putting some serious cash in backing White House Down, we're going to get our best look yet at Tatum's viability on his own.  He couldn't have picked a better director to do it with, as Emmerich(Independence Day) very rarely makes a box office dud. [THR]

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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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Godzilla Returning to the Big Screen!

I should've posted about this yesterday, but honestly after Roland Emmerich's(there's that blasted name again!) disastrous 1998 Godzilla film, everytime I hear the giant lizard's name my brain slips into a protective coma. Looks like I'll either have to get that checked out or get used to taking plenty of naps, because Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers are looking to bring the famous creature back to the big screen. Toho Co., the studio responsible for creating Godzilla, signed over the rights to produce the feature in hopes of a 2012 release date. The film will also be distributed throughout Japan courtesy of Toho.

Do you want to know just how bad Emmerich's Godzilla film was? As bad as his other films are, and you all know by now that I count a number of his disgraces on my bottom 10 of all-time, none of them were so distasteful that another studio had to go out of their way to destroy Emmerich's version in an entirely separate film, but that's exactly what happened.

Emmerich's film featured a creature who bore about as much resemblance to Godzilla as Pikachu does. It was a friggin' mutated iguana, for chrissakes. Toho Co., in a bid to distance themselves from the blight on their hallowed franchise, renamed it Zilla. Then, in their next film titled Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho had the REAL Godzilla show up and stomp the living crap out of Emmerich's pale imitation in less than 30 seconds. That wasn't just a shot across the bow at Roland Emmerich's putrid film, it was a full on barrage.

No word yet on a possible director to helm the project.

You can read more of Heatvision's coverage of this story here.

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