Filed under: Action, Casting, Paramount, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, War

The Marvel jury may still be out as to who will win Captain America’s shield, but we know who he’ll be facing off with in The First Avenger: Captain America. According to THR’s Heat Vision, Hugo Weaving is in talks to reunite with Joe Johnston to play Cap’s nemesis, the Red Skull. It’s not yet signed, and Heat Vision cautions that negotiations are in “a delicate stage.” As with all the Marvel contracts, actors are reluctant to sign on for multiple films.

I did an enormous breakdown of the Red Skull for Halloween, but in case you don’t want to read that many words, here’s the short version: The Red Skull has been embodied by a number of men over the Marvel years, but the original was a German named Johann Schmidt. His father tried to kill him at birth, a Jewish girl spurned him, and he just happened to wind up being recruited by Adolf Hitler. Hitler wanted to create the most terrifying Nazi of all, and he had Schmidt wear a red skull mask to enhance his horrors. (Later, an accident with one of Schmidt’s poisonous cocktails turns him into a real red skull.) He becomes such an instrument of fear and propaganda that America seeks to create the ultimate American symbol to fight him: Captain America. Red Skull is defeated, but is later found to be in suspended animation, so he’s a villain we could see appear in Avenger films. (Hence the multiple film contract.)

Many were hoping Christoph Waltz might be called upon to play another Nazi, but as his star ascended and he joined The Green Hornet, that seemed unlikely. An actor whose voice is the embodiment of menace (sorry, Mr. Weaving), Weaving is a very traditional choice, but that doesn’t make it a bad one. He’ll be perfect. Now let’s hope we can say the same for Cap.

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Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting

Ever wonder what a romance would be like if Love Letters and Before Sunset came together for the story of two people connecting once a year over a couple decades? Brit author David Nicholls explored that topic with his novel One Day, and Coming Soon has learned that this will be Lone Scherfig’s next feature. Yes, the great eye behind An Education is gearing up for another new twist on romance, and this time Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess are along for the ride. Producer Nina Jacobson says it will start production this summer in London, and that the leads’ details are being sorted out right now.

As the Guardian review explains, the story focuses on Emma and Dexter, who meet on July 15, 1988 (St. Swithin’s Day), have a one night stand, and then proceed to see each other only one day a year — every July 15. Emma is the girl in love with the free-spirited, bed-hopping Dexter, and struggles to deal with her feelings while he revels in all things hedonistic. Of course, as with life, the tide turns as her life improves and his falls apart. But remember — this all plays out one day a year, in what the review called: “a very persuasive and endearing account of a close friendship … the flirting and the banter that sometimes hide resentment and sometimes yearning, the way the relationship shifts and evolves as the years pass.”

Being an all-out sucker for good banter and romantic realism, I’m in. But the true ringer is a retro story — 1988-2008 — done Scherfig style. If this is even a half as good as An Education, it’ll be something to keep an eye on. And, thank god, something to keep Anne Hathaway temporarily away from the fluff romcom crap she always signs up for.

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Filed under: Drama, Independent, Casting, Deals, Scripts

What happens when a hero goes bad and heads up a criminal empire? We’re about to find out. Variety reports that there’s a new indie gangster film in the works called Criminal Empire for Dummys, which might be yet another irritatingly misspelled title, but also boasts a bad-ass cast. Milo Ventimiglia, Gary Oldman, and Malin Akerman will star, with Michael Clarke Duncan and Harvey Keitel also on the roster. Cliff Dorfman (Entourage) wrote the script, and will make it his feature directorial debut.

The film will focus on a “charismatic young man” played by Ventimiglia, “who relates the do’s and don’ts of running a criminal empire through a flashback to his own rise from a tragic childhood and life in the ghetto to eventual position as a multinational drug and criminal kingpin.” Last year, however, things were playing out a little differently.

During TIFF, Arclight Films was pushing the feature as a vehicle for Chris Evans, Keitel, and Rachel Bilson. Somewhere along the way, the Human Torch exited, a hero without a spunky name entered, Akerman slipped into Bilson’s spot, and this is the big surprise: Keitel got downgraded from co-star to supporting gig. The same Arclight blurb also gave a whole different tone to the project as well. “Lesson One — If you’re gonna be a gangster, you’re gonna get caught. Not a matter of if. Just a matter of when. Thus starts our journey as we follow the rise of the infamous Ray Ford. From his severely fractured home, to the U.S. Marine Corps, to the housing projects of the deep south, to running the largest criminal empire known worldwide.”

Production will kick off later this month in New Orleans. Ventimiglia… Evans… Which hero do you prefer as criminal kingpin?

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Filed under: Animation, Casting, Family Films, Newsstand, Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino may not have won an Oscar last Sunday, but according to IGN, he won a role in Raja Gosnell’s live-action movie The Smurfs instead. Small consolation, there, I guess. Tarantino will be joining a cast that includes Neil Patrick Harris, certifiably insane comedy legend Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf and part-time lesbian Katy Perry as Smurfette. Tarantino will of course be playing the most annoying smurf of them all — Brainy Smurf.

I could not stand Brainy Smurf when I was a kid. The bespectacled know-it-all demanded respect from the other smurfs in a whiny, nasal twang, always warning against some calamity that was sure to befall the smurfs, or thinking of himself as the second-in-command to Papa Smurf. The other smurfs never seemed to like him much, and who can blame them? He could’ve ended up in the bottom of Gargamel’s kettle, and I wouldn’t have cared.

The obvious joke here is to re-imagine Tarantino’s trademark dialogue, replacing “smurf” (as smurfs do) for some of his choice expletives, so please allow me to make the obvious jokes now.

“Lemme tell you what ‘Like a Smurfette’ is about. It’s all about this smurf who’s a regular smurf machine, I’m talking morning, day, night, afternoon, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf, smurf.” (from Reservoir Smurfs)

“I don’t need you to tell me how smurfing good my coffee is, okay? I’m the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Smurfette goes shopping, she buys SMURF. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it, I want to taste it. But you know what’s on my mind right now? It ain’t the coffee in my kitchen, it’s the dead smurf in my garage.” (from Smurf Fiction)

Or you could just watch someone’s homemade parody video after the jump.

Continue reading Quentin Tarantino Gets Smurfing Smurfy in ‘Smurfs’

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Filed under: Comedy, Casting, Deals

As further proof that nothing’s ever dead in Hollywood, Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media has signed on to co-finance an untitled sketch comedy film so old that it was once killed by Tipper Gore. Kavanaugh stepped in after Overture recently lost the project, and will be producing with comic buddy Charles Wessler, Pete Farrelly and GreeneStreet Films’ John Penotti. Tim Williams and Tucker Tooley will executive produce. Wessler’s project was ditched by Paramount ages ago after old Tipper said it wasn’t family friendly — 17 directors and 15 actors later here we are.

So far Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Banks, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Emma Stone, Matt Walsh, Tony Shalhoub, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kieran Culkin, Chloe Moretz, and Patrick Warburton have signed on to the project which is being shot on the fly with a variety of directors. Pete Farrelly, Brett Ratner, Elizabeth Banks, Bob Odenkirk and Griffin Dunne have directed segments so far and Relativity has confirmed they are still gathering more names to throw into the pot. Shooting is expected to wrap up in May.

Is there still an audience for thematically-connected sketch comedy film in a world of Date Movies or has its time passed? Will the punchline be Brett Ratner’s involvement?

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Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting, Remakes and Sequels

I’m apparently in the minority, but I was really looking forward to John Krasinski playing Steve Rogers in the Captain America movie. Well, so much for that. On the bright side, though, The Hollywood Reporter brings news of another potential franchise for the TV star. And it’s in a genre that more of you are likely to accept Krasinski in than that of superhero movies. Yes, the genre is romantic comedy, which more and more is being deemed by Hollywood as franchise material.

Krasinski is in talks to co-star alongside Ginnifer Goodwin in an adaptation of Emily Giffin’s chick lit best seller SomethingBorrowed , about a woman who steals her best friend’s fiancee. As we learned two years ago, the film was set up by Hilary Swank and her producing partner Molly Smith. Since that initial announcement, a script has been turned in by 90210 writer/producer Jennie Snyder and The Girl Next Door director Luke Greenfield is set to begin shooting this spring.

Continue reading John Krasinski Ain’t Cap, But He May Have a New Franchise

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Filed under: Action, Documentary, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, RumorMonger, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, War

Last year, Slashfilm reported that blogger extraordinaire Ariana Huffington was claiming she was shooting scenes for a secret sci-fi film directed by the Wachowskis. (We’re not calling them brothers here!) Huffington said it was a movie about the Iraq War but filmed from the perspective of the future. She had photos of herself with Andy and Lana, backed by green screen, and it was all very odd. At the time, our Erik Davis speculated it could be Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of Cloud Atlas, which the Wachowskis are producing. But Slashfilm is now reporting that Jesse Ventura has also filmed a role in the secret movie, and what he says just adds to the mystery.

Ventura appeared on the Howard Stern show yesterday, and when asked if he’d ever return to the big screen, he revealed he had filmed some sci-fi weirdness with the Wachowskis. He doesn’t know what the film is, he was shown no script, and he was merely told to improv.

“They brought me [in], and they brought Arianna Huffington in after me. Arianna was there, and they had her looking like Cleopatra … Do you remember what John Travolta looked like in that horrible film Battlefield Earth? They put multicolored dreadlocks on me all the way to here. They gave me this crazy beard that was hanging down pointed, looked like Travolta, right? And they put a third eye in the middle of my forehead. Because what this is, is this is a hundred years in the future, and they wanted me to talk about the current war in Iraq and how I felt about it. And so I got to vent, looking like this maniac in this whole outfit.”

Continue reading Jesse Ventura Also Involved In Secret Wachowski Project

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Filed under: Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom

On Thursday morning of last week, I spoke to actress Olivia Williams about her participation in Roman Polanski’s film The Ghost Writer. Although I would have been happy to digress into a lengthy discussion on the finer points ofher performance as Miss Cross in Rushmore, this writer’s favorite film of all time, we mostly spoke about the new film, Polanski and her career in general. Towards the end of our time, however, I did take a moment to ask about her cameo in X-Men: The Last Stand, which she explained she did as a favor for director Brett Ratner.

“Brett Ratner was a big Rushmore fan growing up,” she explained.

Continue reading New Old News: Olivia Williams on Her ‘X-Men 3′ Cameo

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Filed under: Action, Casting, Paramount, RumorMonger, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, War

I suspect Marvel may actually be Big Brother. Yesterday afternoon, Fox 411 and their anonymous source confirmed that John Krasinski was Captain America, as we had reported earlier, and Twitter exploded in righteous debate and indignation. (I was one of them, yes.) Fanboys and girls only enjoyed about an hour of that before Deadline Hollywood Daily suddenly had a Captain America scoop: Krasinski was out of the running, as are Chace Crawford, Scott Porter, Michael Cassidy, and Patrick Flueger.

But there’s two new possibilities in the mix. THR’s Heat Vision says that one is Wilson Bethel of HBO’s Generation Kill, a series still sitting in my queue, so I’m not familiar with him yet. Another exciting possibility being called up for a screen test is Chris Evans. He already has quite a few comic roles under his belt, most notably as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four. Going purely off Twitter, the geek community immediately perked up when his name came into play. Evans has clocked in some fine performances, but he never cracks that glass ceiling. Cap would be the role to do it in. He’d be a better pick than Krasinski. I can see Evans as a soldier struggling against his costume and USO restraints. In fact, I can see that really, really well.

Evans and Bethel face competition from Mike Vogel and Garrett Hedlund, who are still in the running. DHD and Heat Vision both note that Marvel they really like Hedlund (and you caught a glimpse of him in that Tron: Legacy trailer), but he hasn’t tested yet. His reps reportedly balked at the 9 film contract and the low paycheck, but apparently not enough to take him out of talks.

Continue reading Captain America Still Not Cast? New Actors Auditioning?

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Filed under: Casting

At Cinematical, we like to ponder casting choices. Actors and actresses are, after all, the face of the movie - their names and performances usually acting as the main draw to a film. (Unless we’re talking about James Cameron, of course, whose grandiose action often distracts viewers sufficiently away from bad acting.) But when we ask you, our beloved readers, for casting picks, age rarely comes into play with your choices. Do you believe that age is nothing but a number when it comes to casting?

Sometimes it’s essential to fudge aging. Times have changed, and the masses won’t embrace, for example, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet if her ripe age of 13 remains intact. Adolescence has been stretched, and modern audiences don’t take kindly to the old days of barely post-adolescent matrimony. Match that with practical concerns — the lack of range in young actors, the child labor restrictions in place — and it just makes sense to bump up the base age a bit.

But what about the other scenarios?

Continue reading How Important is an Actor’s Age When Casting?

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