After making just $30 in its initial limited release theatrical run in 2006, Leo Grillo’s indie noir Zyzzyx Road — which starred an on-the-cusp Katherine Heigl and an in-decline Tom Sizemore and also managed to misspell the California desert locale it was named for , unless that was intentional — will be released digitally this summer by the intrepid folks at GoDigital. “We love the story behind this film and are thrilled to be part of what we believe will be a happy ending, I am confident it will make us more than $30,” said GoDigital Director of Marketing Barry Daffurn of the distribution coup. Ba-dum ching! Oh, humor. What’s not funny: Actually watching any part of Zyzzyx Road . Here’s the trailer, see for yourself! Every time you curse Heigl for making yet another inane chick flick , just remember: She’s already paid her penance in advance. Zyzzyx Road will be available digitally via GoDigital this summer. [Press release]
Mmm-hmm : “‘I am not being Harvey Weinstein, showman,’ he said in a separate interview on Friday. ‘I am not using the ratings system for publicity . Yes, I’ve done it in the past . Mea culpa for that.’ But, he said of Bully , ‘this is completely out of passion.'” [ NYT ]
An eagle-eyed reader of Warner Bros.’ exhibitors site passes along word today that The Dark Knight Rises has earned — wait for it — a PG-13 from the MPAA ratings board for “intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality, and language.” Sensuality! I knew Batman and Bane were going to get close, but not that close. [ Nolanfans via Collider ]
Maybe it’s because I’ve been obsessing more than usual over Joel Kinnaman since rolling through all of Season 1 of AMC’s The Killing in a matter of days (I know, late to the party), but I dare any other Kinnaman-lover out there to watch the new trailer for Lola Versus and not fixate on the future RoboCop ‘s 10 seconds of trailer screen time. Phew. That said, it’s quite winning on its own, thanks to Greta Gerwig ‘s charm and the hazy-golden gleam of the New York City streets she’s traipsing along as she tries to figure out what to do after fiance Kinnaman calls off their engagement. In the span of two minutes I was hooked by Gerwig’s adorable moping, Zoe Lister-Jones’ spunk, the relatable crisis that is turning 30, single or otherwise, and those fleeting moments of beautiful Joel Kinnaman. Oh, did I mention Joel Kinnaman is in this? What, may I not covet Kinnaman like you covet your wispy WASP-y dream girl (whom I also adore because Gerwig is irresistibly appealing even when chattering about weddings and boys)? Anyhow! After many a micro-indie outing for Gerwig ( LOL , Hannah Takes the Stairs ), bigger indies ( Greenberg ) and a few mainstream toe-dips ( Arthur , No Strings Attached ), Lola Versus might be the charming vehicle that shows mainstream audiences why we love her so. Co-scripted by director Daryl Wein and co-star Lister-Jones (who both acted in and wrote 2009’s break-up indie Breaking Upwards ), Lola Versus will be distributed by Fox Searchlight, who’s pushing the film’s similarities with 2009’s hit (500) Days of Summer . Head to Apple for HD. Synopsis: Greta Gerwig plays Lola, a 29-year-old woman dumped by her longtime boyfriend Luke (Joel Kinnaman) just three weeks before their wedding. With the help of her close friends Henry (Hamish Linklater) and Alice (Zoe Lister-Jones), Lola embarks on a series of desperate encounters in an attempt to find her place in the world as a single woman approaching 30. What do you think — is Lola Versus the new (500) Days of Summer ? (500) Days of Kinnaman , perhaps? Lola Versus will premiere at Tribeca before opening in limited release on June 8.
Ever since growling his way through 2008’s gloriously B-movie-esque B-movie Taken , Liam Neeson ‘s been enjoying his newfound status as the gruff hero with killer instincts and a particular set of skills that you want on your side in the event of a kidnapping/ assassination attempt / jailbreak / wolf attack . So why fix something that ain’t broke? Enter Non-Stop , Neeson’s next actioner and an airplane-set excuse to see Neeson smash heads and deliver straightfaced epic one-liners. Variety reports that Neeson, currently gracing screens reprising the role of Zeus in Wrath of the Titans , is in negotiations to lead the high concept action pic about “a worn-out air marshal who faces a threat while traveling on an international flight.” Simple premise, high bone-crushing potential! We don’t even need to know a single thing more about Non-Stop that what its title and setup tells us. We already know what Neeson can do with some tape and a handful of minibar bottles! Neeson’s upcoming slate features a crapton of action as is, even beyond Wrath ; he co-stars in Peter Berg’s Battleship this May and, as revealed recently, reprises his role of Ra’s Al Ghul in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in July. The recently-filmed Taken 2 is due in theaters this October, with a plot that sees Neeson’s onscreen daughter Maggie Grace step up to save her now-kidnapped parents. Non-Stop will be directed by Jeff Wadlow ( Cry_Wolf , Never Back Down ) from a spec script by John Richardson and Chris Roach, under superproducer Joel Silver. Fun fact: At 59, Neeson is already five years older than Harrison Ford was when he fought off evildoers thousands of feet above the ground in Air Force One , which also brings to mind the only two things that could make Non-Stop better — A) if worn-out air marshal Neeson was also the President of the United States, and B) if his plane was carrying killer snakes. (Or Sam Jackson.) [ Variety ]
No Bully -style quibbling here: Per a just-issued press release email, the Weinstein Co. approves of the MPAA’s decision on their other Very Important Movie of the year, the boobtacular June sequel Piranha 3DD . ” PIRANHA 3DD accepts a well deserved Rated R for ‘sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language, and some drug use,'” writes a rep for the company. See, they can totally accept the MPAA’s decision without turning it into a shameless opportunity for publicity ! [Press release]
This just in from CheapOair , offering travel deals to the Charlotte, NC area that played host to the Hunger Games production. “Visit the DuPont State Recreational Forest (also known as the arena in the movie) where you can find a dramatic landscape of waterfalls, hideaway lakes, streams and pines, as well as the spot where Peeta camouflaged himself in the movie, and traces of the pyrotechnics from the fireball sequence.” While you’re at it, how’s about a lovely spring picnic on the site where children lost their lives fighting to the death in the movie? Sign me up! But wait, there’s more! “Next on your itinerary you can make a night out of Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood which is home to artsy galleries, bars and restaurants, as well as the spots where the Hunger Games cast spent their nights out. Barnardsville also hosts a Navitat Canopy Tour, which is home to one of the many ziplines in Western North Carolina. Close by this stop, pre-game scenes with Katniss and Gale were filmed in Pisgah National Forest.” Ah, yes. For just a few hundred dollars you can sit in the woods where Katniss and Peeta pondered their escape from the living fascist nightmare that is the Capitol on Reaping Day! Unfortunately, the CheapO deals seem to offer hotel and airfare only ($717 for 4 nights from NYC! $561 for 3 nights from LA!) and aren’t a part of a coordinated Hunger Games tour, which of course do exist. Pure Vida Adventures offers a day-long Hunger Games Survival School for just $150 that “focuses primarily on the nonviolent survival skills including fire and shelter building, knot tying, snares, off trail travel, and navigation.” And for a more immersive experience, you can pay $389 to Hunger Games Fan Tours to spend the weekend divided into “districts,” get trained in archery, sling-shots, camouflaging, and sling-shots, and zip line through the trees at night to feel just like Katniss and Rue before testing your skills against the other tributes. (Sans battle royale, I’m assuming.) It’s only a matter of time before some enterprising hotelier in North Carolina gets the idea to open a Hunger Games -themed establishment, a la Twilight . Perhaps decorated in the sparse, coal-mining shanty chic of the Everdeen home?
While filming Michael Bay ‘s next non- Transformers pic Pain & Gain , based on the bizarre, freaky real life story of a band of Florida bodybuilders who committed a heinous series of crimes in the ’90s, star Mark Wahlberg put on quite the show for peeping photographers. Clad in workout gear and some very short shorts, he gave us quite the memorable first look at the modest little $20 million black comedy, as you can see after the jump. Candid photos caught Wahlberg in character as Daniel Lugo, the real life manager of the Sun Gym in the Miami suburbs at the center of the extortion and kidnapping plot chronicled in a 1999 Miami New Times article by Pete Collins . (Collins’ article served as the basis for Pain & Gain and is a fascinating read.) Also onboard for the film, due in theaters in 2013: Dwayne Johnson, Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Rob Corddry, and Rebel Wilson. On this particular day Wahlberg was running and doing weird sit-ups for the cameras, which led to shots like this, which gives us a look at either Wahlberg’s Lugo rage face or his beefy workout face. And of course, this gem for the ages: You decide: Pain or Gain? [ Socialite Life via Slashfilm ]
Honestly, I can’t tell which way is up with some of the news coming out of the April Fool’s Day weekend. Does James Cameron want in on a Prometheus sequel? Is the Queen collaborating with 007 for the Olympics? Surely Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels aren’t seriously going to shoot the long-gestating sequel to 1994’s Dumb & Dumber this fall once the Farrelly brothers are done promoting April 13’s The Three Stooges , right ? Well, the first was an April Fool’s joke, and the jury’s still out on whether or not The Sun pranked the blogosphere with their James Bond exclusive. But Coming Soon’s Silas Lesnick pinky-swears that the Dumb & Dumber sequel story is true, straight from the Farrelly’s mouths this weekend at the Three Stooges junket. “We’re getting set to shoot Dumb and Dumber 2 in September,” said Peter Farrelly. “It’s the first sequel we’ve ever done and we’ve got Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels back.” According to Farrelly, he, brother Bobby, and star Daniels were already gung-ho about picking up again with Lloyd and Harry. (Farrelly also seems to discount the studio-made prequel Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd , as we all should.) Once Carrey was onboard, the project started moving. “He had just watched Dumb and Dumber ,” explained Farrelly, “and he said, ‘This is the perfect sequel. Let’s do it.'” [ Coming Soon ]
He’s about to embark on his ambitious one-man Mark Twain show , and soon enough Val Kilmer will also be a doctor, courtesy of William Woods University ! Kinda. “It’s embarrassing if you have a brother with a real doctorate. [Laughs.] I called him up without thinking — I was so excited! — and said, ‘You won’t believe it! They called me out the blue. I’m going to be just like you! Dr. Kilmer.’ There was a long pause, and I immediately realized what a mistake this phone call was.” [ Vanity Fair ]
