After a month-long hiatus, The Indiependent film team are finally back with our ‘In Case You Missed It’ News feature! Amongst the headlines in this week’s article, we’ll be covering all the latest trailers to have hit the internet in our absence, as well as the low-down on what’s happening this Awards Season in the world of film.
NEWS: CASTING, CANNES AND CONTROVERSY
Paul Feig announces all-female cast for Ghostbusters 3
For a long time, Ghostbusters 3 was a project that was spoken about only in rumours. Speculation about a new paranormal comedy in the series hit a low after the death of co-creator/Ghostbuster, Harold Ramis – and seemed only more unlikely after Bill Murray declared his reluctance to revisit the franchise. However, Bridesmaids director, Paul Feig has now declared that his plans for an all female reboot are fully underway – with the main casting and a release date already in the pipeline. Feig favours past collaborators Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy as his main stars, in addition to Saturday Night Live contributors Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. He has also said that he plans to start filming in mid-July this year, ready for release in July 2016.
Emma Watson Confirmed as Belle in Beauty and the Beast
Harry Potter actress Emma Watson has finally made a popular dream-casting wish come true, as she announced that she is to play Belle in an upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. Directed by Bill Condon (Breaking Dawn, Dreamgirls), the film will follow in the footsteps of other recent fairytale movies such as Into The Woods, Maleficent and Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming re-imagining of Cinderella. Declaring the news on Facebook, Watson enthused about the role, saying; “It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to ‘Be Our Guest’ and sing ‘Something There’. My six-year-old self is on the ceiling — heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it.” Watson’s Perks of Being A Wallflower writer/director Stephen Chbosky is working on the script, while Hellboy‘s Guillermo Del Toro is set to produce. Filming and release dates are yet to be announced.
Benedict Cumberbatch in controversy following comments about racial prejudice in acting
Much controversy has followed Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch this week after he used the term ‘coloured’ in an interview with US chat show host, Tavis Smiley. He was discussing the diversity problems that Black British actors face in comparison to American actors, when an anti-racism charity called the Sherlock actor out on his reference to the performers as being ‘coloured’ – arguing that the term had cause to offend because of it’s historical connotations. Cumberbatch has since apologised, declaring himself to be “an idiot” who was “devastated to have caused offence.” However Selma actor, David Oyelowo – who is also British – has been one of several black actors to come to Cumberbatch’s defence on the matter, calling the outrage stemming from the incident ‘ridiculous’. Oyelowo stated; “To attack him for a term, as opposed to what he was actually saying, I think is very disingenuous and is indicative of the age we live in where people are looking for sound bites as opposed to substance.” With support from fellow performers like Oyelowo, Cumberbatch has since remained quiet on the matter, focusing instead on filming for the Sherlock Christmas special.
Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner and others cast as young Mutants in X-Men: Apocalypse
In yet more casting news, Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner has been cast as the young Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse. The actress, who has played Northern heiress Sansa Stark since 2011, will be taking on the red-headed role made famous in the original trilogy by Famke Janssen. Actors Alexandra Shipp and Tye Sheridan will also play the younger counterparts of Storm and Cyclops, respectively – roles played previously by Halle Berry and James Marsden. Shipp is best known for appearing in Nickelodeon show ‘House of Anubis‘, while Sheridan has appeared in films such as The Tree of Life and Mud. All three will accompany James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence in the latest mutant extravaganza, set to be released in 2016.
Star Trek 3 finds it’s new director and star Simon Pegg is confirmed to be co-writing
Since our last news piece, Star Trek 3 has finally found a replacement director for Roberto Orci. Despite names such as Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish cropping up, the job was eventually landed by Fast and The Furious director, Justin Lin. As well as this, it has been announced that Simon Pegg – who plays Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott in the franchise – will be co-writing the script. Best known for his work with Edgar Wright on their Cornetto Trilogy, Pegg’s involvement with the script is sure to add a new level of fun to the series. With the main cast, including Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Karl Urban all set to return, Star Trek 3‘s release is currently billed to be in July, next year.
The Coen Brothers named as heads of the Cannes 2015 Jury
The Coen Brothers have been named as heads of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Jury. Joel and Ethan, who are best known for directing and writing films such as Fargo, True Grit and No Country For Old Men, will be at the forefront of the judging panel for this year’s awards. This is the first time that the festival has allowed two people to lead the jury. Of their appointment, the brothers stated; “We look forward to returning to Cannes this year. We welcome as always the opportunity to watch movies there from all over the world. Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career. Presiding over the Jury is a special honor, since we have never heretofore been president of anything.” The duo have a wealthy history with the festival, having won the Palme d’Or in 1991 for Barton Fink amongst other accolades. The 86th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held from the 13th to the 14th May 2015.
TRAILERS
Fantastic 4
Up until a couple days ago, nothing had been released on the Fantastic 4 reboot. Not even any posters, all we’ve had as an audience so far are rumours about story lines and characters. For example Doctor Doom apparently being an internet blogger. However Fox has finally decided to drop the first teaser trailer and it’s better than we expected. Every Fantastic 4 film so far has been nothing short of horrifically terrible, so Fox don’t have to do much to make this film a step up, the real question is ‘Do we even care about the Fantastic 4 anymore?’ with Age of Ultron and Batman v Superman coming soon? I for one couldn’t answer that for you, I just know that I really want this film to be at least some kind of good. The teaser shows off elegant cinematography and a dark tone seasoned with some intricate VFX shots.
Fantasic 4 stars a talented young ensemble cast in Miles Teller (Whiplash), Kate Mara (House of Cards), Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station), Jamie Bell (Snowpiercer) and finally Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of The Apes). Directed by Josh Trank (Chronicle), the film will be released in cinemas 7th August.
Child 44
Child 44 seems to be one of the most quietly anticipated films of the year, it even makes an appearance on our ‘What We’re Watching in 2015’ article. With the release of it’s trailer it’s only gotten fans of the bestselling book and the outstanding individual cast members even more pumped. The film follows a serial killer and rapist of children on the loose during 1950’s Soviet Russia, Leo Demidov played by Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Locke, The Drop) is a disgraced MGB agent trying to follow the tracks and bring the killer to justice alongside commanding officer Nesterov portrayed by Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, The Dark Knight Rises). There have been two trailers released, this is the US trailer which I believe focuses more on plot and characters, The UK trailer puts the spotlight on action and drama. Moreover there has been some upheaval about the russian accents in the film being too fake or stereotypical, what do you think? tweet us at @indie_pendent_
The thriller also stars; Noomi Rapace (The Drop) , Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Joel Kinnamen (RoboCop) and Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of The Apes), Child 44 will be in cinemas from April 17th.
Ant-Man
Though (literally) diminutive in comparison to it’s other upcoming Marvel counterparts, Fantastic 4 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, the trailer for Ant-Man tries it’s best. Starring usual funny man Paul Rudd (Anchorman, This is 40, Role Models) and Michael Douglas, the film follows the story of petty crook, Scott Lang (Rudd) who – after an unusual altercation with Scientist Hank Pym (Douglas) – finds himself equipped with the technology to become Ant-Man; a superhero who can decrease in size but become much stronger for it. Lang must safeguard the technology from various threats – including ‘Yellow Jacket’ (Corey Stoll), who wants to weaponize the suit – and plot a heist that will save the Earth. Though it’s still yet to be determined whether Rudd’s ‘goofy comic to buff action hero’ transformation will be as successful as Chris Pratt’s in Guardians of The Galaxy, the premise of Ant-Man is still quite interesting. So long as it doesn’t stray too far into “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” tropes, it should be fun. Ant-Man is set to be released 17th July 2015.
Ted 2
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…. Though Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane’s first outing with Ted was tremendously successful, the sequel looks set to suck. Following the critical disaster that was ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West‘, Ted 2 sees the foul-mouthed teddy bear getting married and – wait for it – looking to conceive a child with his new bride. Obviously, being a teddy bear, this is impossible – so he looks to his best friend John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) for ‘assistance’ on the matter. But that isn’t the end of it, as in a (despairingly typical for a sequel) twist, Ted is sanctioned to prove to a court of law that he is human before gaining custody of his child. Mila Kunis – having ventured into brighter and better things in recent years – is nowhere to be seen, and is replaced by Amanda Seyfried, who plays Ted’s defence lawyer. Maybe I’m being pessimistic, maybe it’ll be just as amusing as the first film, but for now I’m not hedging any bets. Also starring Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman, Ted 2 is set to be released in July 2015.
AWARDS SEASON UPDATE
Since our last article, Boyhood was among the leading films to triumph at award ceremonies such as The Golden Globes and The Screen Actors Guild Awards. Richard Linklater won Best Director at the Globes, while Birdman won Best Screenplay. Michael Keaton won the gong for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, while Eddie Redmayne won not only the Globe, but the SAG award for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Julianne Moore further strengthened her hold on the upcoming Best Actress Oscar, by winning at both the Globes and the SAGAs for her performance in Still Alice. Whiplash actor JK Simmons and Boyhood’s Patricia Arquette have also continued to be showered in accolades. For more on the upcoming nominations for both The BAFTAs and The Academy Awards, look at our previous news features, here and here.
Words by Annie Honeyball and Eddie Michael
Compiled by Annie Honeyball