Star Wars fans worldwide learned Tuesday the celestial shattering news that George Lucas had sold Lucasfilm , and its most famous offspring to Disney for $4.05 billion. That news even surprised none other than Luke Skywalker himself. Actor Mark Hamill said he was surprised by the news, though he and fellow Star Wars veteran Carrie Fisher had met with Lucas who told them he wanted to do additional episodes in the decades-long franchise. “Yeah, last August, he asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I’ve heard about…,” Hamill told EW . “So when he said, ‘We decided we’re going to do Episodes VII, VIII , and IX ,’ I was just gobsmacked. ‘What? Are you nuts?!’ [laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that’s the way it should be – and it’s great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories.” Hamill said in the interview that he feels “anxious” about what’s going on and admitted to mixed feelings about the sale, but said there has been a historical silver lining when Disney has picked up other marquee properties. “They haven’t done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It’s one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense.” Hamill noted that Lucas himself is in a “good place” today, which wasn’t exactly the case back when they were filming the earlier Star Wars . He recalled that his co-stars tried to lift his spirits on the set, which would come with mixed results. “He was not a jolly guy on set. [laughs] I always felt badly for him because he agonizes over details, and I’m sure after imagining it in his head for so many years, to see it realized — he’d look up and just hang his head and groan. Harrison [Ford], Carrie [Fisher], and I were always trying to cheer him up and joke him out of his doom and gloom.” [ Source: EW ]
It looks like Jamie Foxx may join the second round of The Amazing Spider-Man , joining Andrew Garfield and director Marc Webb . Variety reports the Django Unchained star is in early talks to play Electro in the follow-up set for 2014. The character is a Spider-Man nemesis who acquires the ability to control electricity after he’s struck by lightning. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 back in 1964. Lightning figures prominently in a post-credit sequence scene in The Amazing Spider-Man , hinting at the likelihood that Electro may appear in the sequel. Along with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone is set to reprise her role, while Shailene Woodley is in talks to play Spidey love interest Marty Jane Watson. The Amazing Spider-Man took in over $262 million domestically and over $750 million worldwide this year. [ Source: Variety ]
Flight , the first non-motion-capture feature Cast Away and Forrest Gump filmmaker Robert Zemeckis has directed in over a decade, is the kind of movie that, people like to bemoan, the industry doesn’t make anymore. It’s a solid, burnished work made about adults for adults and anchored by Denzel Washington in a role that calls for some classic star gravitas. It’s a mainstream film, but a consciously meaningful one, occupying that increasingly perilous mid-budget middle ground in a world continually drifting toward the opposing poles of massive blockbusters and scrappy indies. There’s not a superhero in sight and not a trace of nuance either — it’s the straightforward drama of a man forced by circumstances out of his control to confront the destructive way he’s been living his life. That Flight turns out to be a disappointingly standard addiction story in its second half also serves as a reminder that Hollywood tends to be more invested in these types of self-serious movies than most actual audiences. In its need to reach a smug, by-the-book end goal of redemption and recovery, the film sheds much of the life and complexity it shows in the beginning, devolving from a morally ambiguous story to a story all about its moral. Based on a screenplay by John Gatins ( Real Steel ), Flight ‘s opening sequences are a dazzling display of studio filmmaking at its limber heights. The camera follows Captain Whip Whitaker (Washington) out of a night-long bender and through the start of what should be a quick, routine Orlando to Atlanta flight. Halfway through, however, the plane malfunctions and things go wrong with terrifying rapidity. In the wake of the crash, friends and family mourn the lost while the press and public clamor for someone to blame, and we learn that Whip may be a great pilot — he’s his best self in the air — but he’s also a functional alcoholic in deep denial. It’s not Whip’s fault the plane starts to go down, but when it does he proves himself capable of grace under pressure in a situation the film portrays through some hair-curling images: people flipped and scrabbling around the ceiling of the plane’s fuselage, tearful panic, plummeting altimeters, flaming engines and the ground rushing up at an angle one never wants to see in real life. The dreamlike way in which Whip watches the wing of his plane take out a church spire in the seconds before impact, like a later shot in which a bloody tear trickles out of his damaged eye as he recovers in the hospital, presents a sliver of lyricism to the sequence and its stunned aftermath, in which Whip isn’t sure whether he’s a hero or a failure. Flight is so sensorially sharp and electrically present in its initial gambit that the movie’s descent into a trudging tale of a problem drinker in the second half brings the film to ground literally and symbolically. Washington turns in a smart, ego-free performance here that goes some way toward making Whip into a character whose fate we might care about. He’s a man who’s been ignoring his issues for so long we don’t at first grasp the depths of them ourselves — but his later cycle of self-abuse feels as familiar and repetitive as the flight scene itself feels fresh. Watching Whip sober himself up with some blow after a boozy dalliance with a flight attendant before traveling to the cockpit, we get the squirmy, tightrope-act sensation of observing someone disturbingly good at getting by while hammered. He’s experienced enough as a pilot and drinker to take off smashed and thread his plane through tricky, stormy weather. Watching him tempt fate again and again as he is investigated in te aftermath of the crash is far less compelling. Whip is looking for someone or something to force him to stop, and apparently a brush with death while transporting more than 100 people in his care isn’t enough. Characters invested in Whip not being held responsible for the accident, for professional reasons or friendship — including Don Cheadle as his attorney, Bruce Greenwood as his union representative, Tamara Tunie as a flight attendant colleague and an amusing John Goodman as his drug dealer — try to protect him, but Whip doesn’t seem that committed to protecting himself. The forced spirituality of the film, which attaches a lot of meaning to the phrase “act of God,” is revealed in the weight it gives to the coincidences that trigger behavior. A smack addict named Nicole (Kelly Reilly), who eventually befriends Whip, reneges on her promise not to inject drugs after knocking the box containing her works onto the floor. Whip himself has temptation thrown in his face at the worst possible moment thanks to a neighboring door not being locked. Washington does find interesting sides to and knotty conflicts in Whip. His charisma, charm and competence don’t quite cover up a sharp and sometimes frightening edge, and it’s painful to watch the way he drinks, like it’s his duty to finish up all the alcohol in sight long after he’s stopped enjoying it. But the film isn’t as willing to push the character as much as the actor playing him, and the lack of mystery attached to whether Whip could be even partially at fault for what happened is ultimately as contrived as the big finish, which gives his character an unearned and unnecessary nobility. In the context of the film, the crash becomes the biggest and most distasteful act of god of them all, an elaborate, bloody way to get a guy to an AA meeting. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
May the farce be with you! In the wake of news that Disney will be producing more Star Wars movies as a result of its acquisition of George Lucas’ LucasFilm on Tuesday, the geniuses at Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco have posted some very funny parody posters of what the interstellar franchise will look like under the influence of the House of Mouse. I’m partial to the Boba Fett-meets-Buzz-Lightyear hybrid, but the image of the Jawas taking over for the Seven Dwarfs and spiriting off a comatose Snow White is a keeper, too. The full Boba poster and a third featuring the characters from Peter Pan silhouetted against the Death Star can be found at the Team Coco website . There’s such great material for satire here that I have a feeling that this is just the beginning. Walt Disney as Darth Sidious, anyone? Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, film critic/festival programmer Scott Foundas joins the Village Voice ‘s publications; Gerard Butler eyes a WWII-era drama; and Bryan Singer is confirmed for X-Men . Scott Foundas Joins Village Voice As Principal Film Writer Foundas served as Associate Program Director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Prior to that he was the film editor at the Village Voice ‘s sister paper, LA Weekly . Foundas’ features and reviews will appear in all of the Voice Media Group’s publications, including: Village Voice (New York), LA Weekly (Los Angeles), Westword (Denver), New Times (Phoenix), Houston Press, Dallas Observer, Riverfront Times (St. Louis), New Times (Miami), City Pages (Minneapolis), New Times (Broward), SF Weekly (San Francisco), Seattle Weekly, and OC Weekly (Orange County). He will begin December 3rd. Around the ‘net… Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton and Jacki Weaver Join JFK Drama Parkland The drama centers on the chaotic events that occurred at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on the day that JFK was assassinated Tom Hanks is producing, Collider reports . Gerard Butler Joins Dynamo The story is based on the landmark soccer game that took place between an occupied Ukrainian soccer team and their Nazi occupiers during WWII. Butler will play Nikolai Trusevich, the all-star goalie who served as a leader for the team and inspired the war-ravaged city of Kiev. Dynamo will shoot in 2013 in Europe, Deadline reports . Josh Duhamel Eyes Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum in You’re Not You Duhamel is in negotiations to star in the drama, which tells the story of a self-absorbed college student who undergoes a life change when she begins a part-time job taking care of a woman (Swank) who has Lou Gehrig’s disease. George C. Wolfe ( Nights in Rodanthe ) is directing, THR reports . Bryan Singer to Direct X-Men Singer will return to the franchise he helped launch. He’ll direct X-Men: Days of Future Past , the next installment of 20th Century Fox’s superhero series. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence will return. Fox hopes to make the July 18, 2014 release date it set for the sequel, Deadline reports .
Retirement can be so lucrative, it is worth a re-do. The surprise box office smash The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel will likely get another whirl. Raking in $130 million worldwide with a budget of only $10 million – those are golden box office numbers. The John Madden-directed film starred Judi Dench , Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith and Billy Nighy as English retirees in India. Screenwriter Ol Parker will write the script for Marigold 2, which does not have an official title. Dench, Nighy, and Smith are apparently willing to head back into a charmed retirement once again, according to Moviescope. It is not known if John Madden will be making a return to the director’s chair for the second installment. Based on author Deborah Moggach’s novel The Foolish Things , the box office triumphant was seen by some as evidence that a gap exists in the market for films serving an older demographic. Maggie Smith recently criticized Hollywood for youth obsession, saying that films that portray older people have historically performed well at the box office. “It seems to me there is a change in what audiences want to see,” she said. “I can only hope that’s correct, because there’s an awful lot of people of my age around now and we outnumber the others,” she said. “I don’t think films about elderly people have been made very much. But I think of [films like] Cocoon and Driving Miss Daisy and they always seem to be fairly successful, so it’s a bit baffling as to why everybody has to be treated as if they were five years old.” Smith is currently starring in the third season of the hit British television series Downton Abbey , which will be released in the U.S. in January. Dench is starring as 007’s boss M in the latest Bond pic Skyfall , which opens in the U.S. next month. [ Moviescope , The Guardian ]
The Vatican has apparently caught wind of Skyfall mania and it even gave its opinion through its official l’Osservatore Romano newspaper. The 23rd James Bond pic even nabbed a rare review, calling it one of the best in its 5 decades. l’Osservatore Romano ‘s Skyfall green light is a sea-change for the publication which only has a print circulation of 15,000. Its influence is far higher, however, when its editorial which reflects Vatican policy, is splashed in papers and websites around the world. For Skyfall l’Osservatore Romano published five articles, according to Reuters . The paper noted in its main article “007 License to Cry” that the latest installment presents the British super-operative in a less cliché manner, and “more human, capable of being moved and of crying: in a word, more real.” In another article, the paper compares the lineage of Bond actors from Sean Connery to the current Daniel Craig. Craig told the paper he feels “very different” from his predecessors, but noted that Connery is a “point of reference.” The Catholic Church famously condemned Federico Fellini’s classic La Dolce Vita when it debuted in 1960 through l’Osservatore Romano, which viewed a scene from the film as a parody of Christ’s second coming. It was subject to widespread censorship including a full ban in Spain until after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. The first Bond film, From Russia with Love came out in 1963. [ Source: Reuters ]
Get ready for more Star Wars , and possibly further incarnations of your favorite George Lucas properties: The Walt Disney Company is buying LucasFilm for $4.05 billion, with plans to release Star Wars: Episode 7 in 2015. Great idea, or ” Nooooooo! ” worthy? Weigh in, Movieliners! [UPDATE: Disney head Bob Iger says Disney’s planning Star Wars 8 and 9 to follow.] Disney CEO Bob Iger discussed the deal in a press release: “Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas. This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars , one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.” Lucas addressed the sale and what it means for the Star Wars franchise, which will continue under Disney in 2015: “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.” I can’t imagine classic Star Wars fans are excited about the prospect of the franchise chugging along without its guiding creator, but then who among us would take a bullet for the last trilogy? We all knew it was too big not to continue along in countless spin-offs and sequels and various other merchandising opportunities, so handing the reins to fresh voices while Lucas goes off and makes his smaller personal projects could work out just fine. [UPDATE: According to Iger, Disney’s LucasFilm deal includes Star Wars 8 and Star Wars 9 to follow the 2015 debut of Star Wars 7 , along with plans to incorporate the Star Wars brand into Disney’s theme parks.] The sale, however, also opens the door for Disney to potentially revive Lucas’s other Lucasfilm properties. I’m not talking Indiana Jones here. Is the world ready for Howard the Duck 2.0 ? (I’m not even sure if that’s a possibility, just trying to prepare you for the inevitable Lucasfilm catalog cash-grabs.) The Disney-Lucasfilm merge also calls to mind the first great collaboration between a (current) Disney entity and Lucas’s world: Namely, the Star Wars episode of The Muppet Show . ” It seems we’ve landed on some sort of… comedy-variety show planet .” More of this, I can get behind. [via press release]
Robert Pattinson ‘s likeness has caused a tizzy among adherents, with many crying foul. Madame Tussauds unveiled the Twilight star’s wax figure this week in England and his synthetic apparition hasn’t exactly gone down with some fans who say the full-body R-Patz doesn’t resemble the real-life actor. The suited up waxed Robert Pattinson took four months and $240,000 to make. Pricey for sure, but that’s barely 1% of the $25 million the living, breathing, British passport-holding Pattinson reportedly made for his Twilight finale, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 . Nevertheless, the eternal Pattinson did bring fans out of the – uh – wood-work when it had its official unveiling in the U.K. resort town of Blackpool where it will be staying until the end of November. Madame Tussauds had to hire extra security to protect the statue as hundreds of fans queued up to see it. Many were disappointed though by the likeness. A recent vote by a fan site had a 65% thumbs down on the Wax-Patz. Still, it should be a top draw. It will be making a worldwide tour after its Blackpool debut. And what do you think? [ Source: Examiner.com ]
Disney’s 2011 family adventure Mars Needs Moms wasn’t just a box office disappointment; it was a box office disaster , one of the worst in movie history . Mars producer Robert Zemeckis , appearing at the Philadelphia Film Fest with his latest Oscar-hopeful, Flight , prefers to remember Mars Needs Moms another way: “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar .” Zemeckis’s bold answer matched the bold question that prompted his trip down memory lane during Flight ‘s post-screening Q&A session on Saturday night. Following a string of massive career hits ranging from the Back to the Future franchise to Oscar juggernaut Forrest Gump , the Zemeckis-produced Mars Needs Moms opened last year as the filmmaker’s most high profile critical and commercial failure. ImageMovers Digital, the Zemeckis-founded CG house that produced Mars as well as his own films The Polar Express , Beowulf , and A Christmas Carol , was shut down after completing Mars , while plans to embark on a Yellow Submarine pic with Disney were also scrapped; needless to say, it’s probably not Zemeckis’s favorite topic of conversation. (For what it’s worth, Flight , Zemeckis’s Denzel Washington -starring return to live-action film, played well with the Philly crowd.) But one Philadelphia Film Fest attendee was eager for answers. Film critic Martin Schneider penned a reasonably questioning if snarky review of Mars Needs Moms at the time of release, criticizing the film for a slew of offenses ranging from its animation to character development, with particular scrutiny of the film’s “anti-gay,” anti-progressive gender messaging. He seized the opportunity during the Philadelphia Film Fest closing night film event to share how offended he was by the film, asking Zemeckis to explain: What happened ? For his part, Zemeckis didn’t flinch. Prior to the film’s screening, Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt told the audience that the director would be taking questions, and that they could “ask him anything.” It’s tough to say whether or not Zemeckis expected the subject of his history-making bomb to pop up, but when faced by his accuser he kept his cool under pressure, like Denzel’s alcoholic hero Whip Whitaker. And then Zemeckis flew the airplane upside down, so to speak. “It was not marketed properly,” he said of the 3-D CG sci-fi flop, which cost a reported $150 million to make and made back just $38.9 million upon release, becoming the worst Disney performer of all time and one of the most miserable wide release 3-D openings in history. Zemeckis said Mars Needs Moms had been lost in the studio shuffle. He called it “breathtaking.” “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar ,” he continued. “It’s the way 3-D should be presented.” Meanwhile, in a career built on crowd-pleasers and after a decade spent attempting to bridge the uncanny valley with CG children’s films, Flight marks only the second film Zemeckis has directed to earn an R-rating. (His first? 1980s’s Used Cars .) Rated R “for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity, and an intense action sequence,” Flight wasn’t gunning for anything less, given its full-tilt dive into the depths of addiction. “There was no way an adult drama was ever going to be anything other than R-rated,” said Zemeckis. Still, he earned applause with a parting shot at the MPAA: “I hate the ratings system. I think it’s horrible and despicable, and we should get rid of it.” Flight opens nationwide November 2. For more info on the Philadelphia Film Fest, head here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
