Ghostbuster fans have waited for what seems like an eternity for a follow-up, but the spooky adventure comedy is on track for a third apparition 23 years after Ghostbusters II hit the big screen. Speaking with Esquire , Dan Aykroyd said that he and director Ivan Reitman are “closer than we ever have been” to getting the project underway, he noted via Yahoo U.K. One obstacle though is that Ghostbusters I & II star Bill Murray may be a no-show, though Aykroyd and Reitman are holding out that he may just come on board in the end. “I’m not sure Billy [has to sign on] anymore, since he abrogated his rights by sort of saying, two years ago, ‘I don’t want to be involved,'” Aykroyd said according to Yahoo Movies U.K. “The picture company I think had some clause in there that if he actually passed on the third of fourth offer, he no longer has a view of the franchise.” But a Ghostbusters III sans Murray will not be a mortal wound should the likely re-do go ahead. The creative team, he notes, will even leave a space should all work out in the end. “We have to move on, but we’ll always leave a hole for him. He’s always there. He can always come back at any time and be rebuilt into it, as far as I’m concerned. That’s up to his lawyer and the picture company to work out, but creatively, he will always be a part of it.” Continuing Aykroyd added: “If it does not happen, the life of Dan Aykroyd and his family and friends will be quite full without Ghostbusters 3 .” [Source: Yahoo U.K. ]
There’s a question that The Impossible , the new film from Juan Antonio Bayona ( The Orphanage ), demands be asked, and that is — is it easier for audiences to relate to tragedy when it’s filtered through white characters? This is not a new issue. The movies have a long tradition of approaching stories about people of color, both at home and abroad, through the experiences of Caucasian protagonists, a habit that speaks to both (probably not unfounded) ideas about audience preferences and prejudices and the linked reality of what most of our movie stars still look like. The Impossible is set during the 2004 tsunami that hit South East Asia the day after Christmas, killing over 230,000 people and devastating Indonesia, India, Thailand and other countries, but it’s about how one expat family on holiday weathers the tragedy, an uplifting tale of survival and endurance amidst the ruin. On one hand, yes, it feels undeniably strange and selective to approach the worst tsunami in history by way of vacationing foreigners, with representatives of the local Thai population limited to those who come to their aid. The film begins with the family — Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts), and their sons Lucas (Tom Holland), Simon (Oaklee Pendergast) and Thomas (Samuel Joslin) — arriving on a turbulent flight, and ends with their worse for the wear departure on another one, and the relief that accompanies that trip to safety comes with an awareness that many of the other people left behind do not have a home elsewhere to go back to. On the other hand, The Impossible , which was written by Sergio G. Sánchez, is based on the true story of a Spanish family (transformed here into a British one) who were some of the many visitors to the area whose trip abroad turned into a nightmare. Their experiences aren’t unworthy of being dramatized simply because they’re not representative of the underreported norm, and the film recreates the horrifying saga in ways that are startlingly visceral, including a masterful sequence in which the first wave arrives like a monster in a horror flick. This story being told doesn’t mean that others are silenced, and The Impossible benefits from taking a limited perspective on an awful larger incident rather than try for something more panoramic. What may be a more relevant question for The Impossible is what its aims are as a movie. It’s a thoroughly and effectively sappy effort about a family searching for one another after an incredible catastrophe in the trappings of traumatic gore film — or vice versa, but either way the two halves sit uneasily beside one another on screen. As in The Orphanage , Bayona demonstrates he has a talent for the disturbing or flat out frightening and a taste for the sentimental, and it’s perhaps because this is a film about a real and recent disaster that both feel amplified, the shock and suffering turned up to apologize for or counterbalance the unabashed drippiness that follows. From a pure filmmaking perspective, it’s the first half that really impresses and perturbs, as Henry, Maria and the kids arrive from Japan to spend their holidays in a gorgeous beachside resort in Khao Lak. They film themselves on Christmas morning opening presents on the veranda, they release a paper lantern on the beach at night, and they sit poolside getting sunburns with other Western tourists and talking about their careers while the boys frolic in the water. The tsunami takes them completely by surprise, as it did almost everyone affected, rumbling from the horizon and taking out everything in its path. We stay with Maria as she’s swept away in the chaotic mass of water, the camera sticking with her as she clutches a tree and howls in pain and upset, then cutting over to Lucas as he’s pulled in the current, the two trying to reach each other in a world suddenly upended. It’s a tour de force sequence, and one that manages to outdo a similar one in Hereafter with little effort. But it’s what follows that’s enough to evoke a physical reaction, as Maria trudges through the wreckage, too stunned to notice the tattered muscles exposed in the gaping wound in her leg. The suffering Watts portrays — she climbs, dripping blood and crying in pain, into a tree and in a later scene coughs up what looks like lung tissue — looks all too agonizingly real, and enabling that requires a committed and deeply believable bit of acting. But watching her ordeal is enough to make you feel shaky, and almost as troubling are the sequences that follow in which Henry trudges through the splintered remains of their hotel, looking for the rest of his family, either alive or dead. The Impossible drops you into the experience of living through the tsunami in specific, achingly realized detail, then pulls back to provide a happier ending. After so much anguish, the need to balance it out with something positive is understandable, but it’s difficult not to be aware of just how much Bayona is yanking on heartstrings as he arranges for near misses and hospital misunderstandings, teary phone calls and kindly old women (Geraldine Chaplin!) providing companionship to forlorn children. Any glimpses of good amidst the destruction are welcome, but after that jarring, unforgettably immediate account of the tsunami, the latter half of The Impossible is so disappointingly movie -ish, tying a bow on the events after portraying them too vividly to allow them to be wrapped so neatly. It wrings out tears with an industrious efficiency that leaves you feeling manhandled after the exhilarating, terrifying footage that’s unfolded before. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Skyfall has overtaken the likes of Avatar in Britain at the box office. Also in Wednesday’s round-up of news, Matt Damon is a possible addition to a George Clooney -directed period drama; Les Misérables is set for Xmas Imax bow; the Academy will honor Pedro Almodovar ; and the Dubai International Film Festival is removing pro-Syrian ruler filmmakers films from its roster. Skyfall is U.K.’s Highest Grossing Film of All Time In 40 days of release, the 23rd James Bond movie has grossed $151,795,059 to become the highest grossing film in Great Britain ever, overtaking previous records set by Avatar . Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall opened in 587 U.K. theaters on October 26th, Deadline reports . Matt Damon Eyes George Clooney’s Monuments Damon is in negotiations to join period drama The Monuments Men , which will be directed by George Clooney in January in Europe. Along with the two, the film will star Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban. The story “confronts the final chapter of Germany’s rule, which came down to the absolute destruction of everything that makes a culture keep its standing, including the lives that are lost and the sacrifices that are made,” Deadline reports . Les Misérables to Bow in Select Imax Theaters The film will open in select Imax theaters in New York, L.A., Toronto and Montreal the same day as its nationwide Christmas-day release. It will have an extensive Imax roll out internationally in January, Variety reports . Academy to Honor Pedro Almodovar in London Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the British capital. Special guests will include his brother Agustin Almodovar, filmmaker Stephen Frears, fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, singer Alberto Iglesias and scriptwriter Peter Morgan, THR reports . Dubai and Cairo Film Fests Remove Pro-Syrian Ruler Films The Dubai International Film Festival dropped Basil al-Khatib’s historical drama Mariam , Abdul Latif Abdul Hamid’s The Lover and Joud Said’s My Last Friend from its official selection this year after protests from the Arab film community due to the directors’ support for Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad. Dubai takes place December 9 – 16. Screen reports .
The Oscar-winning producer of this year’s anti-Obama doc 2016 Obama’s America is calling foul after the Academy released its Documentary Shortlist for Oscar consideration earlier this week. [ Related: Academy Names 15 As Best Documentary Oscar Contenders; ‘Central Park Five’ Snubbed ] Gerald Molen, who produced 1994’s Schindler’s List (with Steven Spielberg and Branko Lustig) won the Academy Award for Best Picture said political bias is to blame for 2016 not making the cut of 15 titles to advance to the next round. Directed by Dinesh D’Souza, the pic took in a cool $33.44 million domestically, earning more at the box office than the 15 who did advance to Oscar-nomination eligibility combined. Molen, however, said D’Souza believed the Academy – which is criticized by conservatives of being largely liberally biased – might snub the doc. “Dinesh warned me this might happen,” Molen said with a laugh, according to THR . “The action confirms my opinion that the bias against anything from a conservative point of view is dead on arrival in Hollywood circles. The film’s outstanding success means that America went to see the documentary in spite of how Hollywood feels about it.” 2016 Obama’s America is not the only box office cash-cow that didn’t make the short list for 2012. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz’s Katy Perry: Part of Me did not join the fifteen. Though not quite as successful as 2016 , the Katy Perry movie did gross over $25.3 million domestically (and over $32 million worldwide). Both D’Souza’s 2016 and Michael Moore’s 2004 not-so-subtle anti-Bush smash Fahrenheit 9/11 may indicate an emerging cinematic convention: Anti-presidential incumbent non-fictions turn out the crowds, but not the Oscar nominations. Fahrenheit outstripped 2016 at the box office, taking in over $119 million in 2004 dollars and it even scored the Cannes Palme d’Or that year. But it did not receive an Oscar nomination. Still, the Oscar snub has caught the eire of its filmmakers and they’re not above throwing a bit of light-hearted shade to some of those films that did make the list this week. “I want to thank the Academy for not nominating our film,” D’Souza said. “By ignoring 2016, the top-performing box-office hit of 2012, and pretending that films like Searching for Sugar Man and This Is Not a Film are more deserving of an Oscar, our friends in Hollywood have removed any doubt average Americans may have had that liberal political ideology, not excellence, is the true standard of what receives awards.” [ Source: THR ]
Aviation and music tycoon Sir Richard Branson and his son Sam Branson are no fans of the War on Drugs and they’re hoping a new film that they launched on YouTube will do for their cause what An Inconvenient Truth did for the issue of global warming. Produced through the younger Branson’s production company, Sundog Pictures, Breaking the Taboo features a host of notables including former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, other former world leaders as well as experts and other household names in a doc hoping to change hearts and minds about the global war on drugs. Clinton is shown in the trailer saying the War on Drugs, which has cost billions and jailed thousands in the U.S. alone, “hasn’t worked.” Morgan Freeman narrates the English version of the pic, the trailer of which opens with Richard Nixon’s proclamation ushering in the U.S. War on Drugs. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal narrates the Spanish version of the film, which has its trailer available on YouTube. The site indicated the full-length Breaking the Taboo will bow December 7th. “I am hoping in the same way that Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth opened people’s eyes to global warming issues…, Branson told The Guardian . This film will open people’s eyes on the war on drugs and the failed war on drugs and make it easier for people who want to be brave and do something about it.” Sam Branson said the film will head to YouTube because of its “potential to reach millions. Both Branson look to countries such as Portugal and Spain where drug users receive treatment as opposed to jail time as providing an example. Sir Richard calls the legalization of marijuana as “inevitable” and added that most in power secretly agree with him. “I have hardly ever come across a politician that won’t say – off the record – what needs to be done…in the end they just need to be brave.” Washington and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana in the most recent election and the U.N. general assembly voted to hold a special session on drugs in 2016. Obama is also seen in the film before being elected saying that a change is needed, though he has held the line on decriminalization earlier this year. “We would be hopeful that in a second term Obama intends at the very least to start treating drugs as a healthcare problem, not a criminal problem,” said Sir Richard Branson. Check out the trailer below : [ Source: The Guardian ]
Shane Carruth has traversed back from the future to deliver us the first teaser trailer to his upcoming film Upstream Color . The writer/director/star of 2004’s Primer (and, eerily, NOTHING ELSE!!!!) is bringing his secretive new project to Sundance next month. (Between this and Zal Batmanglij’s The East , the Sundance team should seriously consider rechristening the 2013 Fest as “Paranoid Futurists Hit The Slopes!”) After a few days of sending out cryptic twitpics from the @UpstreamColor account (close-ups of text on a page, which some sleuthed were actually taken from the works of Henry David Thoreau) today we finally got a link to a short teaser on Apple. Before this, all we knew about the film was that “a man and a woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism.” After watching the teaser, we don’t know much more. The opening shot includes: A jug of independently spinning ice water, a copy of Thoreau’s Walden (thematic constant!) and a man calmly explaining that his head is made from the same material as the sun. Why not? Some creepy rumbles follow, then the sound of rising strings, then a dude wearing headphones, a shot of a pig, followed by a whole lot of God-knows-what including a man angrily landscaping. Personally, I was taken by the shot of colored vapor emerging from – I dunno, cells? Grapes? It reminded me of the “Bring home the motherlode, Barry!” sequence of Panos Cosmatos’ remarkable head film Beyond The Black Rainbow. Hey, upstream COLOR and BLACK RAINBOW? Could this be some sort of cross-universe dealie? (No, it can’t. Unless you are on the right drugs when you see it, in which case, it’s all one big film, man.) RELATED ARTICLES: Sundance 2013 Images: ‘Fruitvale,’ Shane Carruth’s ‘Upstream Color,’ Rooney Mara & Casey Affleck In ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ Sundance 2013: Where Stephenie Meyer, Harry Potter & Pussy Riot Worlds Will Collid e [via Apple ] Follow Jordan Hoffman on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Angelina Jolie says she’s thinking about giving up acting to be a stay-at-home mom, but hasn’t she been semi-retired for a while now? Jolie, who can generate headlines simply by pursing her pillow lips a certain way, started the Internet buzzing when she told Britain’s Channel 4 News (via the Huffington Post ): “I think I’m going to have to give up the acting as the kids hit the teenage years…too much to manage at home.” Jolie also told the British broadcast concern that if her acting career “went away tomorrow I would be very happy to be home with the children.” But after looking at her work schedule as of late, I can’t help but think that she’s already begun saying her goodbyes. Her last films were released in 2011 and, technically speaking, she didn’t appear in either of them: She wrote and directed In The Land of Blood and Honey , and she was the voice of Tigress in Kung Fu Panda 2 . In other words, she was last seen onscreen in the flesh in 2010. Yes, she’s currently shooting Maleficent (and her four-year-old daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt reportedly has a minor role in it), but that doesn’t hit screens until 2014. She’s also rumored to be talking Tigress again in Kung Fu Panda 3 , but that isn’t expected out until 2016. According to IMDb , she’s also working on a project with La Femme Nikita filmmaker Luc Besson slated for 2013, and that Cleopatra and, sadly, Salt 2 may be in the works, but those projects are more tentative. If Jolie does follow through on her intent to retire when her kids hit their teens, she doesn’t have a lot of time for smoldering close-ups. The eldest of her six kids, Maddox is 11, and if you’ve read any Bret Easton Ellis , you know that the kids of Hollywood royalty grow up faster than their civilian counterparts. The good news is that, with her marriage to Brad Pitt in the works , Jolie won’t have to worry about fading from the public’s short-term memory if she does retire from the screen for a while. She’s one of those rare actresses whose life makes a more interesting tale than some of the movie choices she’s made. Unless she follows in the footsteps of Brigitte Bardot, the camera will always love her. [ Channel 4 , Huffington Post ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl will make his directorial debut — and a smart tax write-off — at the Sundance Film Festival with the premiere of Sound City , a documentary about the legendary Van Nuys, California recording studio where Nirvana’s Nevermind , Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours were recorded among many influential classics . If you’re a Foo fan like me, or you saw Grohl’s controversial acceptance for Best Rock Performance at the 2012 Grammys, then you know the guy loves analog recording. As he said then, “It’s not about what goes on in a computer” that makes great rock ‘n’ roll but the “human element.” Well, he took a lot of crap for that speech, in part, because Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light album — which led to the Grammy — was recorded on all analog equipment but then went through a digital post-production process. But I have a feeling that Grohl will get his point across in Sound City , which tells the story of the funky studio with the magic vibe. Sound City ceased to operate as a recording studio in 2011, but still houses sound stages. Grohl now owns the Neve 8028 analog recording console that was instrumental to its allure. I’m sure it helped him research the picture. Check out Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and all the other rock greats in the clip. Related Story: Dave Grohl’s Sound City Love Letter: Read What’s Behind the Rocker’s Directing Debut Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The Sexiest Man Alive is looking to take an acting break. 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike star Channing Tatum is planning to put the acting gigs on hold next year in favor of working on his directing chops with production partner, Reid Carolin. “[Reid and I] have about three to four ideas that we love that are all in the hopper. By the end of next year, we’re going to shut things down and write the first thing that we’re going to direct,” Tatum told EW . “We’re going to be like, alright, no more acting parts for a minute, let’s take a few and really get caring about that section of our career.” Tatum and Carolin are in the midst of developing a Magic Mike sequel – and with a nearly $166 million worldwide gross from the first installment and a production budget only a fraction of that – then why not? They’re also developing a pic on 1970s daredevil, Evel Knievel. Still, Tatum won’t be absent from the big screen in 2013. He’s set for Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects in addition to action pic White House Down along with Jamie Foxx and Maggie Gyllenhaal as well as drama Foxcatcher from Bennett Miller. “I love the steps that I’ve taken acting-wise. That has been a wild sort of exploration,” Tatum said. “But I don’t want to just keep putting [directing] off for these fun and incredible opportunities.” Tatum gave a shout-out to Soderbergh for showing him and Carolin the filmmaking craft. “I don’t think Reid and I would have the balls to try to make a movie without learning what we did from Soderbergh and [assistant director] Greg Jacobs,” Tatum said about the Magic Mike director. “It was like a crazy crash course Cliff Notes on directing and how to make movies, literally get them done. We had a Matrix -style download, like a plug in the back of the head and bloop! I know Kung Fu now.” People magazine named Tatum its 2012 Sexiest Man Alive last month. [ Source: EW Inside Movies ]
The highly anticipated Les Misérables is on track to become this year’s Chicago — a crowd-pleasing, award-winning, budget-busting musical extravaganza that will sharply divide audiences on the respective talents of its singing, emoting, showboating stars. The stakes are raised by the actors having sung their parts live on set — accompanied by a piano, with the orchestra added in post-production — instead of recording the songs in the safety of a studio and lip-synching during their scenes. The debates over who proved a genuine triple-threat and who embarrassed themselves will last for weeks as we barrel into Oscar season, but let’s get the ball rolling now by ranking who we’re expecting to dazzle us — and who’ll disappoint. Spoilers — for a 27-year-old musical and a 150-year-old novel — below. Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean. Ever since he slashed and sneered his way to the big screen in X-Men , we’ve been hearing nonstop about the one-man entertainment machine that is Hugh Jackman. Although he’s been a staple on Broadway for the last decade, Les Miz is Jackman’s biggest opportunity yet to show off those fabled lungs. There’s reason to expect much from the Tony-winning actor; his live performances amply attest to his vocal clarity and range and effortless panache. But there’s always a chance that Jackman might become a victim of high expectations — or drown in the fuddy-duddy cheesiness of his musical theater background . Anne Hathaway as Fantine. Hathaway’s supporting turn as the doomed, consumptive prostitute is the closest thing Les Miz currently has to an Oscar clinch. After a surprisingly foxy performance as Selina Kyle in this summer’s The Dark Knight Rises and a tabloid- and award-friendly 25-lb weight loss — perhaps she got some dieting tips from co-star Christian Bale? — all eyes are on her. The actress’s musical resume is thin, but previews show an emotion-choked rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” that might not work for, say, the radio, divorced from the context — but sounds perfect for an extended death scene. Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert. Like his colleagues Gadget and Clouseau, Inspector Javert is a somewhat ridiculous figure: an uptight dunce who can’t see what’s right in front of him. Crowe seems slightly miscast as the relentless lawman; Javert doesn’t deserve the actor’s heartbreakingly wounded eyes. The tantrum-prone actor has received a lot of ridicule over the years for his soft rock vanity band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts , a band whose name’s so awful it’s got to have broken some record for terribleness. But all of that hardly matters when Crowe’s voice is such a sexy combination of tenderness and gravel you’ll forgive him for stealing Captain Crunch’s uniform. Samantha Barks as Éponine. For a certain generation, there is no other Éponine than Joey Potter . The challenger to our nineties nostalgia is Samantha Barks, a 22-year-old West End veteran who first found fame as third-placer on an American Idol-style singing competition in the U.K. Barks went on to perform the role of Éponine on stage for a year. Her version of “ On My Own ” for the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary concert, already all over the Internet, shows off her tasteful but slightly too pop-influenced take on the lovelorn aria. Barks can outbelt Katie Holmes by a mile and a half, but can our hearts be full of love enough for two Éponines? Eddie Redmayne as Marius Pontmercy. As an oblivious rich kid and a character that appears out of nowhere halfway through the story, Marius is one of the more challenging roles to nail. Add a dopey romance based on love at first sight, and Redmayne seems set up for failure. Fortunately, the trailers and some pre-fame memorabilia suggest that the freckle-faced Brit with the unexpectedly low baritone will more than acquit himself. Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Of all the characters in the main cast, Cosette is by far the most thankless. She’s a boring beacon of virtue without a single song to call her own. (Even the iconic “Castle on a Cloud” is shared with the grasping Mde. Thénardier.) This makes the casting of Seyfried, who displayed her thin, reedy trill of a voice in Mamma Mia! , the world’s first narrative karaoke video, a decent if unexciting choice. With a cast already so bursting with talent, though, Seyfried’s minor role might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as Monsieur and Madame Thénardier. The closest thing the ultra-serious Les Miz has to comic relief are the black humor exploits of the corrupt Thénardiers, Éponine’s parents and Cosette’s temporary guardians. Baron Cohen and Bonham Carter are undeniably gifted, intelligent, hard-working performers, but their recent film roles — mostly as cartoonish villains who don’t have a chromosome in common with actual human beings — have become increasingly one-note. If the musical Sweeney Todd , in which SBC and HBC co-starred, is any indication, they’ll be just fine for actors without musical training — as well as gratingly and hopelessly stuck in a never-ending Borat joke/Tim Burton movie. More on Les Miserables : Early Reaction: Oscar Race Heats Up As NYC Screening Of ‘Les Miserables’ Prompts Cheers & Tears New ‘Les Miserables’ Trailer: Will Jackman, Crowe, Hathaway Sing Their Way To Oscar? WATCH: Jackman, Hathaway And Seyfried Sing In Extended Making Of Les Miserables Clip Inkoo Kang is a Boston-based film journalist and regular contributor to BoxOffice Magazine whose work has appeared in Pop Matters and Screen Junkies. She reviews stuff she hates, likes, and hate-likes on her blog THINK-O-VISION . Follow Inkoo Kang on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
