Viggo Mortensen Rumored for Villainous Role in Quentin Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight'

It's expected that Quentin Tarantino will begin filming The Hateful Eight in January for release later that year around awards time, but first he must finish putting together his cast. Only Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell seem to be confirmed for it, while some who were part of the live table read may or may not return. Rumors suggest he's angling for much bigger names, possibly even Jennifer Lawrence, while a new rumor has surfaced that Viggo Mortensen could be targeted for a role.

According to the New York Daily News, Mortensen was spotted by a hotel guest talking with Tarantino at the Greenwich Hotel about a "ruthless gang leader" role. If this sounds like the shakiest of sources then you'd be right, but stranger things have happened. What's the difference between this source's eavesdropping for info and the recent Aquaman rumors that everybody is quick to believe? Not much, if you ask me. Give them both the side eye until something is actually confirmed.

But Mortensen teaming up with Tarantino for a bloody Western flick like The Hateful Eight is potentially awesome, and it would be good to see the actor in a high-profile mainstream role again after years in art house territory. Mortensen has taken on the genre before, starring in 2008's Appaloosa alongside Ed Harris.

Read More

First Trailer for Algerian War Drama 'Far from Men' Starring Viggo Mortensen

Wondering where Viggo Mortensen has been lately, and why you haven't seen him in anything since A History of Violence? He's been keeping a low profile with under the radar films that have been premiering at festivals before vanishing from view.  When The Road is the biggest film he's done over the last five years you know he's made a concerted effort to stay out of the spotlight, and his new movie Far from Men probably won't be hitting the multiplex either.

The first trailer for Far from Men has been released ahead of its premieres at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. Directed by David Oelhoffen and loosely based on Albert Camus' short story, The Guest, the film follows a schoolteacher escorting an accused murderer (Zero Dark Thirty's Reda Kateb) escape through the mountains during the Algerian War. The film seems to have many of the elements that make a great Western, and it probably doesn't hurt to have a score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, who brought the same to John Hillcoat's The Proposition some years back.

Here's the official synopsis: The year is 1954, the Algerian War is beginning, and village schoolteacher Daru (Viggo Mortensen, also appearing at the Festival in Jauja), who formerly served with the French army, is caught in the crossfire. Born in Algeria but Spanish by lineage, he’s a man out of time and place, perceived as alien by ethnic Algerians and their French colonizers alike. When Daru is ordered to escort a dissident named Mohamed (Reda Kateb, of Zero Dark Thirty and A Prophet) to a regional police garrison, he’s prompted to question where his loyalties truly lie. That inquiry becomes all the more pointed as rebels and soldiers begin to clash, forcing Daru and his captive to form a tenuous alliance as they flee through the treacherous, wintry Atlas mountains.


VFF (2014) - Far From Men Trailer - Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb Drama [HD] by MovieTrailerz

Read More

New Trailer for 'The Two Faces of January' with Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, and Kirsten Dunst

The combination of Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac should be enough to put a lot of eyes on international crime thriller, The Two Faces of January. But for many the real draw will be author Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), as the film marks yet another of her famed novels brought to the screen. When the last trailer for the film debuted a U.S. release date had yet to be secured, but that has now changed.

The latest trailer plays up the noir aspects and picturesque locale in Greece, Paris, and Crete. Mortensen and Dunst are a wealthy couple abroad who encounter a tourist/scam artist (Isaac) and rope him into their murderous plot while the wife may be falling for their new companion. It's another dark, complicated emotional morass from Highsmith, adapted and directed by Drive writer Hossein Amini.

The Two Faces of January has been given a VOD release on August 28th, followed by a limited theatrical run September 26th.

Read More

Viggo Mortensen is 'Captain Fantastic'; Jennifer Aniston Joins 'Mean Moms'; Tina Fey does 'The Taliban Shuffle'

* Despite the title, Captain Fantastic isn't a new Marvel or DC superhero movie. It's the next film from Matt Ross, director of  28 Hotel Rooms, and he's found a pretty good leading man in Viggo Mortensen.  It almost sounds like Mortensen is going back into The Road territory, playing "an idealistic father who, after a decade of living off the grid in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, must return with his six young kids to assimilate back into society." Filming is set to begin this summer.

* It was last summer we learned of Mean Moms, based on the book by Rosaline Wiseman, the author who wrote the book that inspired Mean Girls. Well now we know Jennifer Aniston will be leading this one, playing "a happily married mother of two who moves from a small town to the high class suburbs where she is faced with confronting the cutthroat world of competitive parenting." Beth McCarthy-Miller is directing this one, which comes from the same studio Aniston scored with on Horrible Bosses and We're the Millers. [TheWrap]

* Tina Fey is hooking up with 30 Rock writer Robert Carlock for The Taliban Shuffle, which would be awesome if it were a sequel to Hollywood Shuffle. Alas, it isn't, as the film is based on journalist Kim Barker's memoir about her time  "as a fish-out-of-water in Kabul, filing stories about militants, being a woman in wartime Iraq and Pakistan, dealing with boredom interspersed with dashes of violence and the promiscuous war correspondent culture."  Fey will produce, as well, and this one is pretty early with a director still being sought. [THR]

Read More

Trailer for 'The Two Faces of January' Starring Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, and Oscar Isaac

Throughout his screenwriting career, Hossein Amini has excelled at literary adaptations, penning films based on the works of Thomas Hardy (Jude), Henry James (Oscar-nominated The Wings of the Dove), James Sallis (Drive), and more. It's helped him to become one of Hollywood's most successful writers, even delving into blockbuster territory on occasion, and so it makes sense that for his directorial debut Amini would turn to another cherished author to adapt. In this case it's Patricia Highsmith and her 1964 thriller, The Two Faces of January.

The first trailer and poster for the film have been released, which assembles the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac, and Viggo Mortensen. Set in 1962, the story centers on an American couple, him a con artist, who find themselves on the run in Greece and must seek help from a mysterious guide. Tensions and passions rise as the trio pass from one gorgeous locale to the next in what looks like a solid potboiler.

The Two Faces of January opens in the U.K. on May 16th but is playing the Berlin Film Festival now. Hopefully we'll get it here later this year.

Read More

Rachel Weisz joins Robert Pattinson and Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars'

David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis turned out to be quite the head-scratcher, and I'm not sure even his fans were able to get behind it. It looked for awhile like there would be something of a return to normalcy with the developing Eastern Promises sequel, but that flamed out. Fortunately one of Cronenberg's long-developing projects appears to be picking up steam.

Rachel Weisz is the latest to join Maps to the Stars, an industry satire penned by Brad Wagner that has been described as "very acerbic" and follows agents, actors, and managers with an emphasis on two children ruined by Hollywood depravity. In the works since around 2006, the film gained momentum earlier this year when Robert Pattinson came aboard, and Viggo Mortensen has now been confirmed as well. Pattinson, Mortensen, Weisz, and Cronenberg? Yeah, I'll take that.

I didn't enjoy Cosmopolis one bit, and Pattinson was awful in it, but maybe the second time will be the charm? Surely something will rub off on him working alongside Mortensen and Weisz. Filming is set to begin in May. [Allocine via ThePlaylist]

Read More

100% more Viggo Mortensen in the trailer for 'Everybody Has a Plan'

Chances are you've never heard of director Ana Piterberg's Argentinian thriller, Everybody Has a Plan. Heck, neither had I until scrolling through TIFF's line-up a couple of weeks ago. On paper it sounds like just another throwaway Spanish crime flick, following a desperate man who takes on his twin brother's identity after he dies, as a means of starting life over again. Of course it has disastrous results, with his brother's criminal past coming back to haunt him, but all in all there's not much to set the story apart from any other. Until you realize that it stars Viggo Mortensen, and that he's playing dual roles requiring him to speak perfect Spanish.

The film recently screened in Toronto, and hopefully nobody who attended caught a look at this new trailer beforehand because it pretty much gives everything away. Few can play tortured individuals hiding murky pasts better than Mortensen, who pulled off much the same thing in A History of Violence, and he looks like the sole reason to get excited for this film. Unfortunately, Everybody Has a Plan doesn't have an American release date yet, and considering Will Ferrell couldn't make a Spanish-language film work earlier this year it's doubtful we'll ever get it.

Read More

David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen, and Vincent Cassel returning for 'Eastern Promises' sequel

In 2007, David Cronenberg followed up his surprise hit, A History of Violence, with the Russian gangsta film, Eastern Promises. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, and Naomi Watts, it was a film that a lot of critics loved, but I think is best remembered for being so vastly different from typical Cronenberg stuff. I think it sort of lives and dies by the one scene everyone remembers, with a buck naked Mortensen embroiled in a bloody, wet brawl in a Turkish bathhouse.


There have been rumblings of a possible sequel for awhile now, but it always seemed unlikely for a variety of reasons. It's not a film that screams for a follow-up, and all the principle players are extremely busy. But, what has been clear is that Cronenberg and Mortensen have a soft spot for it, and wanted to return. Now it looks like it's definitely happening, with Vulture reporting that Cassel is also set to reprise his role as the insane Kirill, the mobster's son and boss to Mortensen's Nikolai. Cronenberg will direct, based on a script by original writer, Steven Knight. The story would take place not long after Eastern Promises ended, with Kirill and Nikolai now apparently having inherited the Family throne from the former's father. We probably won't be seeing Watts come back, as her story wrapped up neatly enough.

If all goes according to plan, we'll see Eastern Promises 2 hit production some time next year. I'm interested in seeing where this one goes, mainly because it's so unexpected.

Read More

Christian Bale to star in 'Out of the Furnace', from director Scott Cooper

Scott Cooper may have hit it big with 2009's Crazy Heart, but it's doubtful anybody knows his name. The success of that film belonged almost entirely to Jeff Bridges, who justifiably won Best Actor for his role as a hard drinking country music cliche. Since then, Cooper has put his name to a number of projects, with none of them getting off the ground yet. Now three years later he appears to be making some serious headway on one of them, with Christian Bale taking the lead in Out of the Furnace.

Cooper took the job last year, but we haven't heard much on it since, but with Bale attached it's going to have a lot of eyes on it.  Set in 1986, Bale will play an ex-con who puts his plans to marry his girlfriend aside to seek revenge on the men who killed his brother.  The film is described as a gritty throwback to the hardcore thrillers of the 1970s and early 80s, based on Brad Inglesby's script titled The Low Dweller. 

Sticking with a familiar face, Cooper is looking to his Crazy Heart co-star, Robert Duvall, for a role. With Leonardo Dicaprio and Ridley Scott's production companies on board, a number of big names are circling this one. Viggo Mortensen is being eyed for the villain role. Casey Affleck, Taylor Kitch, Channing Tatum, and Garrett Hedlund are being looked at for the role of Bale's brother. All of this is going to depend on Bale's signing on the dotted line, which is expected to happen soon.

Variety notes that Bale was approached about starring in this awhile back, but due to his shooting two Terrence Malick movies this year, it wasn't clear how it could work out. The plan is for filming to begin on Out of the Furnace right after Lawless wraps, and before Knight of Cups begins in September. Good deal.

For Bale, he really seems to be flexing his acting muscles now that his  Batman days are over. He can currently be seen in The Flowers of War, which is being largely ignored by...well, everyone. The Dark Knight Rises puts an end to Christopher Nolan's trilogy on July 20th 2012. [THR]

Read More

No Viggo Mortensen in Zack Snyder's Superman

Briefly...

Zack Snyder's been out pumping up his big female action/adventure flick, Sucker Punch, but of course he gets asked about Superman left and right. While talking with Latino Review, he was peppered with questions about it, and left most of them unanswered. Except for one, dealing with the long sitting rumor about Viggo Mortensen joining as General Zod...

Okay how about this...Is Viggo Mortensen still a person of interest in Superman now that he’s locked into Snow White?

Zack Snyder: Yeah Viggo is not going to be in the movie let’s say that right now. I can clear that up.

The "Snow White" mentioned is Rupert Sanders' Snow White and the Huntsman, which currently has Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron starring alongside Mortensen. If you want to see just how many different ways Zack Synder can say "No comment", check out Latino Review's story here!

Read More

Viggo Mortensen to join Superman as General Zod?

Back in October, shortly after Zack Snyder was named as the director of Warner Brothers' next Superman flick, he told everybody that General Zod would not be a villain in the story.  At the time I questioned the validity of his comment since the script hadn't been close to completion yet. A few months later and we start hearing rumors of actresses being up for the role of Ursa, an evil Kryptonian and one of Zod's two primary colleagues. Pretty much told us that Zod would in fact be involved in some capacity. Now there's even more evidence to that fact, as THR reports that Snyder and Christopher Nolan are eyeing Viggo Mortensen(A History of Violence) for the role.

Labeled a "person of interest" like he's an accessory to a murder or something, Mortensen is considered to be at the same stage as Kevin Costner at this point in that both are wanted but not signed as of yet. Costner has been rumored to play Jonathan "Pa" Kent. With Mortensen already in talks for another big tentpole flick, Snow White and the Huntsman, it remains to be seen if he'll be able to tackle both.

Zod was most famous portrayed by Terrence Stamp in 1978's Superman: The Movie.

Read More