Sony Will Sneak Peek Parts of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ in Select Cities on February 6
by Russ Fischer on Jan.27, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Earlier today we talked about some of the story aspects in Marc Webb‘s The Amazing Spider-Man that play into the ‘untold story’ that Sony is promising from the film. I assumed we’d have to wait a while longer before learning more about the story, but that might not be the case.
Projections have been seen around the city of London this evening pointing audiences to TheUntoldStoryBegins.co.uk, and a similar website, TheUntoldStoryBegins.com, should be launching soon in the US. The UK site gives a chance to sign up for “a sneak peek into the untold story,” which will take place on Monday February 6.
The exact details of the sneak peek are unknown at this point — we don’t know what will be shown, though I might be on the same seven minutes or so that were shown in Japan not long ago, which will likely set up some of the early story with Peter Parker’s lost parents. The footage could also be more or less the same reel that was shown at Comic Con last summer.
Sadly, it seems like the selection of cities in which the sneak peek will take place is pretty limited. Right now the US website mentions Berlin, London (which seems to be sold out), LA, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, NYC, Paris, Rio, Rome, Seoul, Sydney, and Tokyo.
It’s great that this is an international promo, but there will be many people outside those few cities that want to see whatever Sony is cooking up. ComingSoon reports that advertising is going up in Rio, New York and LA in addition to the London projections, and I’d expect that more will be seen in the other cities, too.
Sorry, India: David Fincher’s Unwillingness to Cut Nudity Means No Release For ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’
by Russ Fischer on Jan.27, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Briefly: David Fincher is committed to the integrity of his films. He’s committed to it to the degree that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo won’t be released in India, because the director refused to make cuts. Variety reports that the January release of the movie was delayed to February, and that the Central Board of Film Certification demanded cuts to five scenes featuring nudity.
But when Sony conferred with David Fincher, he said the film could only be released uncut and unaltered. (Optical censoring is sometimes used to blur nudity, though that was evidently not an options here.) And so: no Dragon Tattoo for India. A local Sony spokesperson said,
Sony Pictures will not be releasing ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ in India. The Censor Board has adjudged the film unsuitable for public viewing in its unaltered form and, while we are committed to maintaining and protecting the vision of the director, we will, as always, respect the guidelines set by the board.
Casting Bits: Mary Louise Parker Replacing Demi Moore in ‘Lovelace’?, Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly in ‘Writers’
by Angie Han on Jan.27, 2012, under Stuff We Like
It was just a few days ago that Demi Moore dropped out of the porn biopic Lovelace after being hospitalized for “exhaustion,” but it looks like filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman may be close to finding their replacement already. Us Weekly reports that Weeds star Mary Louise Parker is being considered as a possibility to step in for Moore, who was previously set for a small part as feminist icon Gloria Steinem.
If the report proves true — and if Parker accepts — she’ll be joining a sprawling cast that includes Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Noth, Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Debi Mazar, Wes Bentley, Romeo Brown, Robert Patrick, Eric Roberts, and Chloë Sevigny, with Amanda Seyfried starring as Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace. Shooting on the project is currently underway in Los Angeles, though no release date has been announced at this time. Parker will next appear in the comic book adaptation R.I.P.D. opposite Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. [via Moviefone]
Update: Actually, it turns out that Sarah Jessica Parker will take the Gloria Steinem role. Perhaps US Weekly got a couple wires crossed; the names are close enough.
After the jump, things get complicated between Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly.
Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly are in talks to star a “funny and touching” indie drama called Writers, the feature dirctorial debut of Josh Boone. The script, also by Boone, follows an eventful year in the lives of a successful novelist (Kinnear), his ex-wife (Connelly), and their two as yet uncast kids (a college-aged daughter and a teenage son), as they try to navigate their tricky relationships with one another.
Production on the film is scheduled to being this March in North Carolina, with Judy Cairo (Crazy Heart) producing. Kinnear stars in next month’s Thin Ice with Alan Arkin and Billy Crudup, and recently wrapped Craig Zisk’s The English Teacher, while Connelly is slated to appear in Dustin Lance Black’s directorial debut What’s Wrong With Virginia. Kinnear and Connelly co-starred in last year’s Salvation Boulevard. [THR]
‘Chronicle’ Director Josh Trank Responds to ‘Fantastic Four’ Rumor: “I Know as Much as You Guys Know”
by Angie Han on Jan.27, 2012, under Stuff We Like
With the strong buzz surrounding his feature debut Chronicle, I’ve no doubt that director Josh Trank has a bright future ahead of him. But as he plans his next steps, there’s one previously rumored project that he’s apparently not lined up for, or at least, not yet. In a recent interview, Trank responded to recent reports that he’d emerged as the frontrunner to helm 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot by saying that the stories had been news to him as well. More after the jump.
A couple of weeks ago, Variety reported that Fox execs were “high on Chronicle” and simply waiting to see how the movie did in theaters before offering the Fantastic Four gig to Trank. However, when asked about the project by SuperHeroHype, Trank gave the following response:
I know as much as you guys know. I’m totally serious. I know as much as you… I saw that leak online and I was like, ‘Um, okay, I’m trying to finish Chronicle right now.’ This is weird. There’s nothing to say, ‘Chronicle’ is exactly the kind of superhero movie that I wanted to make and, going forward, I want to have some original ideas and different things I’m working on.
Trank’s comments don’t rule out the possibility that the studio really does plan to offer him the gig, but if that’s the case, it seems they haven’t made their intentions clear to the young filmmaker quite yet.
The new Fantastic Four, which will be a reboot rather than a sequel to the previous Fantastic Four films, has been developing at Fox since about 2009. Although various directors and stars (including filmmakers Akiva Goldsman, David Yates, James McTeigue, and Joe Carnahan and actors Adrien Brody, Amber Heard, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Bruce Wills) have been attached or rumored at various points, none of the names have stuck and the movie has neither a director nor stars signed on at present.
Trank’s Chronicle, a found-footage film centered around three teens (Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan, and Alex Russell) who gain mysterious powers, opens February 3.
What Can We Learn From the Official Synopsis For ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’?
by Russ Fischer on Jan.27, 2012, under Stuff We Like
Sony is rebooting Spider-Man’s screen image, and director Marc Webb has shot The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker, Emma Stone playing Gwen Stacy, and Rhys Ifans playing Dr. Curt Connors, the man who becomes the Lizard.
We know the basics of the story — Spider-Man’s beginnings are among the most oft-told comic book stories — but Sony has proclaimed that The Amazing Spider-Man will feature the untold story of Peter Parker’s early years. We don’t have a lot of info that illuminates what, specifically, the untold aspects of the story are. But a new official synopsis from Sony provides a few clues.
AICN shot out this synopsis:
One of the world’s most popular characters is back on the big screen as a new chapter in the Spider-Man legacy is revealed in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Focusing on an untold story that tells a different side of the Peter Parker story, the new film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, with Martin Sheen and Sally Field. The film is directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by James Vanderbilt, based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Matt Tolmach are producing the film in association with Marvel Entertainment for Columbia Pictures, which will open in theaters everywhere in 3D on July 3, 2012.
“The Amazing Spider-Man” is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
Some of this info came out originally in a recent Japanese press conference.
There isn’t a lot here that is truly new, but that bit about the briefcase and its relationship to Connors and the work being done at Oscorp is a new angle, at least with respect to the versions of Spider-Man that we’ve seen on screen. We’ve known that Parker’s parents (specifically his father) would cast a big shadow on the story in this film, and that the father plotline ties to Oscorp. (And the origin of Parker’s web-shooters, which will likely explain how a high school student — even a whiz kid like Parker — wears something so advanced.)
