Movie News After Dark
The day’s top headlines in bite-size portions
The biggest news of today had to be that from now on all underdog baseball movies are utterly moot. Other than that, there were a few pretty big trailers that dropped this morning, the first for Danny Boyle’s awesomely-titled T2 Trainspotting, which I talk about here, and the second official look at Wonder Woman, which Christopher Campbell discusses here. There was also a new trailer for Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, but there are only so many of us and so much time in the day, so check that out for yourself right here.
In other news, the long-troubled film adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved series The Dark Tower just got a lot longer and a little more troubled. EW has the exclusive news that the film’s release, which was set for February 17th of next year, has now been pushed back to a summer 2017 release. According to the site, post-production deadlines are the problem, as the visual effects are going to take longer than originally expected. Furthermore, producers want more time to promote the film, which still has no official trailer despite being four months out from its original release date. Under the condition of anonymity, one source had this to say to EW:
“It’s a very fiscally responsible budget, and trying to stay in budget to make money and stay profitable means the VFX won’t be finished in time [for February]. Now that there’s more time, they’re not paying rush charges to get the effects where they need to be.”
So then this isn’t a total derailment, just a delay, which is good because Sony, the studio backing the film, is hoping it will be the first of many. There are, to-date, seven novels in The Dark Tower series, not to mention a handful of short stories and a comics run, so if the quality is there and audiences respond, this could be a very lucrative franchise. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are your leads, playing the iconic roles of Roland the Gunslinger and the Man in Black, respectively.
Speaking of beleaguered productions, Deadpool 2 has lost another key member of its production team. In the wake of the first film’s director, Tim Miller, leaving the project over the all-too-common and super-vague “creative differences” with lead actor Ryan Reynolds, now composer Tom Holkenborg, better known to audiences as Junkie XL, has decided he too will be stepping away. While Miller’s departure came down to script issues, budget size, and overall vision for the project, Holkenborg’s comes out of loyalty. In a message posted to his Twitter, he explains he simply can’t imagine the project without Miller.
“Since it was revealed that Deadpool’s brilliant creative director Tim Miller would not be involved in the project anymore, I have undertaken some soul searching. Tim was the driving force behind Deadpool and me getting involved in this amazing project. Deadpool without Tim at the helm just does not sit well with me and that is why I have decided not to be involved with the second chapter.”
Ouch, sounds like things are a little sore over on that set. Don’t cry for Junkie XL though, he’s got plenty on his slate, including the scores for Godzilla 2, Justice League, and The Dark Tower (as long as it makes it to release). No word yet on his or Miller’s replacement.
Shane Black’s new Predator movie ‐ THE Predator, caps mine ‐ got some casting news today, via THR: seems alongside Boyd Holbrook’s Special Forces commando, actress Olivia Munn (The Newsroom, X-Men: Apocalypse) will be playing some kind of scientist. Black is directing off a script from Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps, The Monster Squad) from a story the two old friends came up with together. Next to nothing is known about the plot except for where the story will be set: the ‘burbs. So basically The Predator is going to Attack the Block. Fine by me, I’d watch Shane Black direct an all-mime version of West Side Story off-Bowery, and Fred Dekker forever earned my allegiance with The Monster Squad. There are five Predator films to date ‐ the original two, the two where the Preds go up against Aliens, and the Robert-Rodriguez-produced Predators from 2010 ‐ but I’ve got good money on this being the best since the first, and maybe even better. Shooting is supposed to start this February, so if all goes well we could see The Predator by the end of 2017.
And lastly, don’t call it a comeback, but apparently The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise is a franchise again, but not the way you’re probably hoping. Fede Alvarez, director of Don’t Breathe and the Evil Dead remake, is being reported by Variety as the lead contender for the job at the helm of The Girl in the Spider Web, which Sony has just started to develop. So no David Fincher, which is fine, Alvarez is a intelligent director who’s proven himself capable of crafting onscreen tension, but what about Tattoo stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig? They’re not mentioned yet, one way or the other, but don’t be surprised if neither reprises their roles. The Girl in the Spider Web is a sequel, but not a direct sequel to the first part. It’s based on the fourth novel in the series, the only outside the Millennium Trilogy and the only not actually written (as a novel) by Steig Larsson; it was instead penned by David Lagerkrantz some years after Larsson’s death based on the author’s notes. So while it has the same characters, they aren’t in the same place we left them at the end of Tattoo. Who knows, though? If Spider Web cast news leads and proves as proportionally successful as Alvarez’s films to date, they could always go back and reboot the Millennium Trilogy with whoever they sign. Again, this isn’t a deal signed in stone, but what is for sure is that you haven’t seen the last of Lisbeth Salander.
Related Topics: Comics
