DAVID DUNN

Poor Quentin Tarantino. The guy just can’t catch a break.

In 2012, the filmmaker got heat for the controversial violence and racial slurs in the Academy Award-winning Django Unchained. Then in early 2014, Tarantino’s screenplay for The Hateful Eight was leaked onto the internet. Now, Tarantino is catching heat from police officers all around the country as they protest Tarantino’s newest film after his recent activism against police brutality came to light.

Last month, at a rally being held in Washington Square Park, New York, Tarantino referred to multiple officers as “murderers” in response to the recent killings of unarmed civilians at the hands of police. Tarantino later clarified his statement, saying that he is not “anti-cop”, but that the instances he cited does constitute murder.

The police didn’t take too kindly to his activism. Jim Pasco, President of the Fraternal Order of Police, said that himself and 330,000 officers will be gathering to give Tarantino a “surprise” before the premiere of The Hateful Eight. 

“The right time and place will come up, and we’ll try to hurt him in the only way that seems to matter to him,” Pasco said. “And that’s economically.”

Pasco would not elaborate any further as to what the police force is planning. The Hateful Eight is scheduled to premiere on Christmas Day.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Cinemablend, The Hollywood Reporter

We’re about to get a whole lot more of Transformers.

The announcement came from Hasbro Studios president Stephen Davis, who announced during a Q&A session at the MIP Junior Conference 2015 that Hasbro, along with Paramount Pictures, director Michael Bay, and writer Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) finished up a 10 year plan expanding the Transformers film franchise.

“They plotted out the next 10 years of ‘Transformers,'” Davis said. “Similarly, we are doing the same in television and digital. So stay tuned: ‘Transformers 5’ is on its way. And 6. And 7. And 8.”

That’s it. I’m done.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: ComicBook.com, Cinemablend

Tom Cruise and Doug Liman are at it again.

The actor and director team collaborated on last year’s Edge of Tomorrow, which starred Cruise as an army major who gains the ability to respawn and relive experiences after being killed. The team’s second collaboration, Mena, stars Cruise as a former airline pilot turned drug smuggler, and is scheduled for release in January 2017. Now, they’re teaming up for their third project together called Luna Park, which functions as a science-fiction heist picture about a group of people who venture to the moon to steal a highly-valued energy source.

Luna Park has been a passion project of Liman’s for quite some time. Stuck in development since 2011, Luna Park was attracting names like Chris Evans and Andrew Garfield to the project and was originally green lit for release by Paramount. However, the project ended up going over budget and was eventually canned.

With Cruise now on board for the project, that helps the movie a lot with financing. His production company Cruise/Wagner has funded plenty of films that were box office successes in past years, including the Mission Impossible movies and 2012’s Jack Reacher. With Cruise on board as producer, that will definitely help get the track moving on Luna Park for Liman and Paramount.

No word yet on whether Cruise will star in the film too or not. Stay tuned for updates.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Variety, Screenrant

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle is at it again. This time with a sequel, no less.

In a sit-down interview with Deadline, Boyle revealed that he wants to take another crack at Trainspotting 2. With a sequel stuck in development hell since 2013, news that the sequel is on its way initially came as a shock. But as Boyle described it, not only does he fully intend to make Trainspotting 2: he intends for it to be his next project.

“All the four main actors want to come back and do it,” Boyle said. “Now it is only a matter of getting all their schedules together, which is complicated by two of them doing American TV series’.” 

The two he’s referring to, of course, is Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle, who respectively star in the shows “Elementary” and “Once Upon A Time.” The other two actors, Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner, are available and have expressed their interests in returning for a sequel.

Taking place ten years after the events of Trainspotting, the crew consisting of Rent Boy (McGregor), Spud (Bremner), Sick Boy (Miller) and Franco (Carlyle) join up again to make a porn film after their drug-induced adventures in Trainspotting. While Boyle has said that the book’s not-so-subtly-titled sequel Porno by Irvine Welsh is not as strong as Trainspotting was, he said he would like to follow the same events in Trainspotting 2 and stick to the same realms that the characters were written in.

Boyle currently has his hand’s full with the upcoming biopic Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender and scripted by Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network). Boyle also directed 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, and best picture winner Slumdog Millionaire.

Steve Jobs will be released October 9, 2015.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Deadline, Screenrant

One of Hollywood’s most notable horror icons has left us today.

Wes Craven, 76-year old filmmaker, producer, and writer, died today as a result of brain cancer. The full statement released by his family is below:

“It is with deep sadness we inform you that Wes Craven passed away at 1 p.m. on Sunday, August 30 after battling brain cancer. He was 76 years old. Craven was surrounded by love, in the presence of his family at his Los Angeles home.

Craven is survived by his wife, producer and former Disney Studios VP Iya Labunka, older sister Carol Buhrow, son Jonathan Craven with wife Rachel Craven and their two sons Miles and Max; daughter Jessica Craven with husband Mike Wodkowski and their daughter Myra-Jean Wodkowski; and Wes’ stepdaughter Nina Tarnawksy. Craven was predeceased by his parents Paul Eugene Craven, a machinist who passed away when Wes was 5 years old, his mother Caroline, a bookkeeper, and his older brother Paul James Craven.

One of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, Craven was also a nature lover and committed bird conservationist, serving as a long-time member of the Audubon California Board of Directors. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 2nd, 1939. Craven was a longtime summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard where he moved permanently 3 years ago before returning to Los Angeles for work and health reasons.

In addition, Craven continued to be active as a mentor and producer to newer filmmakers, and is an Executive Producer of the upcoming feature film ‘The Girl in the Photographs’ which will premiere at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival.”

Craven was indeed a large influence to the film industry. He wrote and directed the original Nightmare On Elm Street, as well as writing, directing, and producing the entire Scream series. Craven also directed films such as The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House On The Left, Red Eye, and Music of the Heart, which earned actress Meryl Streep her twelfth Academy Award nomination. He also contributed a short to the anthology film Paris, je t’aime, and served as an executive producer for multiple remakes of his own films, including the 2006 film The Hills Have Eyes, 2009’s The Last House On The Left, and the current MTV television adaptation of Scream.

Craven was not a consistent filmmaker by today’s standards. Hell, he’s had as many failures as he has successes (Don’t look at My Soul To Take or Cursed). But Craven was passionate, he loved what he did, and he inspired other filmmakers to do the same. I think that’s the most important thing to know of any industry, is to do what you love and encourage others to love what they do.

Rest in peace, Wes. Freddy Krueger will haunt other people’s nightmares forever, but he knows to leave the horror master’s alone.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap

Out of the gate, and into the fire.

Sony Pictures Entertainment recently published a list of its planned film releases for up until 2019. While some films included on the list were releases most already knew about (Paul Feig’s Ghosbusters and The Magnificent Seven remake), there were a few surprises on there that peaked heads and boggled minds. Here are the top three.

Bad Boys 3 & 4

Yeah, you knew this was coming eventually. The original cop-buddy movie directed by Michael Bay and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith is getting not one, but two movie sequels. Bad Boys 3 has a planned release date of February 17, 2017, while Bad Boys 4 is slated for the summer of 2019. While there are no confirmations of Lawrence and Smith currently on board for it just yet, it’s hard to imagine Sony making this movie without them. Unless, of course, they’re as stupid as Universal Pictures was when they decided to make a Blues Brothers sequel without John Belushi.

Either way, this isn’t so much bad news as it is confusing. Everything is getting a sequel nowadays, so it’s no surprise Bad Boys is getting one either. My only question is why did you wait 12 freaking years to do it? Nobody cares about Bad Boys anymore. We haven’t seen anything in over 10 years, so why would we get hyped up now when it’s been dead for so long?

Look at Sin City. There was a nine-year gap in between that film and A Dame To Kill for. That film ended up bombing at the box office and losing half of its budget in the process. What does Sony hope to achieve now that it’s bringing these two clumsy cops back?

We’ll see how it performs in 2017, but for now, don’t wait up to be read your miranda rights.

Uncharted

Another attempt at a successful film adaptation of a video game, Uncharted tells the story of Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who is searching for his ancestor’s long-lost loot on the shore of El Dorado. The award-winning video game series is developed by creators Naughty Dog, with its fourth installment expected for release in early 2016.

Other than the planned release date for the film adaptation (June 2017), there isn’t much to go on for this film adaptation. Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon was originally scheduled to direct, but left the project after citing creative differences with Sony. Screenwriter Mark Boal is currently attached to write the screenplay, and while his filmography seems a little too serious for the tone of Uncharted (his credits include The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty), a closer look observes that he actually has writing experience for video games too, credited for writing the story to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Either way, it looks like this adaptation is in an interesting position for a 2017 release. With it being among the movies included on Sony’s release list, we can definitely expect some new details to emerge soon.

The Dark Tower

Probably the most exciting release to see on Sony’s slate is Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, which follows the story of gunslinger Roland Deschain and his quest to find a dark tower which he believes to be the center of all universes. The fantasy series has been described by many as the famous writer’s magnus opus, and the realization of a film adaptation has been fought for years now by filmmakers including Ron Howard and J.J. Abrams.

It has been stuck in development hell since 2007, but it looks like it’s finally happening.

The first film’s expected release date is January 2017. While there is currently no cast or writers attached, director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is attached to the project. If Sony is confident enough to put this on their release calendar, then there must be negotiations going on behind closed doors that Sony isn’t ready to reveal yet.

Either way, one of King’s most cherished stories is getting traction on being put onto the big screen. King fans have no reason not to be excited.

You can read the full list of Sony’s release schedule up to 2019 here. In the meantime, what release are you most excited for? Leave your comments in the section below.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Forbes, Deadline

You ninja fans out there might have to get your shuriken stars ready. A live-action Naruto film is coming.

Variety broke the news a mere hour ago. Production studio Lionsgate is in negotiations for the film rights to a Naruto movie, and they’re tapping visual effects artist Michael Gracey to direct the film.

Based on the Japanese manga written and illustrated by artist Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto tells the story of a village ninja who grew up alone and hated by all of the townspeople for reasons unbeknownst to him. Wanting to redeem himself in the eyes of the village people, Naruto trains hard, aspiring to become Hokage: the headmaster and leader of the village.

Being a fan of Naruto since high school, I couldn’t be more excited at hearing that a live action film is in the works. And yet, I have concerns about this project. First of all, Avi Arad is producing through his company Arad Productions alongside Erik Feig, Geoff Shaveitz and Kelly O’Malley. While Arad has been involved of many successful studio projects (X2, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man), he’s equally been involved with many busts as well (Bratz: The Movie, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Robosapien: Rebooted). Arad has been involved in a number of successful movies, but just because he’s on board does not guarantee the movie’s success.

There’s also the difficulty of adapting Naruto onto the big screen. To date, there has been very few successful big-screen adaptations of Manga material to date, the majority existing in the Foreign market anyway. Oldboy and Death Note were critically acclaimed films that successfully adapted their manga material, but Speed Racer and Priest were likewise movies equally panned by its same audience. The American version of Oldboy suffered even worse than those movies were.

That’s not to say that a Naruto film can’t work, and it definitely has a lot of material to work with, but it’s at a difficult time of manga-to-film adaptations. It’s starting off in a struggling market. That’s not a good indication for any production, whether it be based off of a manga or not.

And finally, there’s Gracey. He’s got his visual work cut out for him for sure. He served as digital compositor film films such as 2005’s The Magician, 2003’s Ned Kelly and 1997’s Amy. He’s also slated to direct the 2016 film The Greatest Showman On Earth, starring Hugh Jackman, so he has directing experience under his belt. But as a filmmaker who is just now breaking into the directing profession, I’m scared for him and how well he can handle a property as complex and challenging as Naruto is. Stefen Fangmeier was the visual effects supervisor for films such as Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan before he directed 2006’s Eragon. The film was almost immediately panned from both critics and readers of the novel, and it killed his directing career almost instantly. I’m worried Gracey might end up in the same boat as Fangmeier.

What do you guys think? Are you excited that a Naruto film is on its way, or do you think the production needs its own substitution jutsu? Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Variety, ComicBook.com

The next Star Wars solo film has just gotten more awesome. And it’s also about a Solo, incidentally.

The second part of the upcoming Star Wars anthology series was announced as a prequel to Han Solo’s story before the events of A New Hope. That film is going to be helmed by 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. With the screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon, the story focuses on a young Han Solo and how he rose to become the thief, smuggler, and gun for hire that eventually got involved in the rebel crusade with the likes of Luke Skywalker and Princess Lea.

“This is a dream come true for us,” Lord and Miller said in a press release. “And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.”

I’m very excited at hearing that these two are helming a Han Solo prequel. The director’s have received critical acclaim from the 21 Jump Street series, but The Lego Movie was just as, if not more, funny, action-packed, and heartfelt as the 21 Jump Street films are. Han Solo is one of the most charismatic and smirking characters out of all of Star Wars fandom. To hear that his story is being told from Lord and Miller’s creative mind is very exciting.

What do you guys think? Are you as excited as I am that Han Solo’s story is being handled by this comedic couple? Or do you think someone else is needed with an attitude as rebellious as the pilot’s himself is?  Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Star Wars.com, The Hollywood Reporter

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has found its Peter Parker.

It was officially announced earlier today that actor Tom Holland, most known for roles in 2012’s The Impossible and Ron Howard’s upcoming sea epic In The Heart Of The Sea, would be cast as the rebooted Spider-Man in the upcoming superhero film Captain America: Civil War. After an extensive search for the next Spider-man boiled down  between actors Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game), Matthew Lintz (Kill The Messenger) and Charlie Rowe (“Red Band Society”), producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal set their sights on Holland after they concluded screen tests last week.

In addition to casting Holland as Parker, Pascal and Feige also selected the filmmaker to helm Spidey’s titular reboot. Jon Watts, director of 2015’s Cop Car and 2014’s Clown, is set to direct the film, slated for a 2017 release. While Watt’s film work isn’t well known enough to make a claim on how well he will handle Spider-Man, he has directed a handful of television episodes for the Onion News Network. So take that for whatever judgement you have at this news.

Other than that, I’m excited to see Holland take on the role. I was opting for Rowe, and really I wanted Andrew Garfield to return for the role (I’m still cursing at Sony for killing off The Amazing Spider-man series so quickly). However, Holland is definitely not a bad choice. He has a variety of dramatic roles under his belt, and it will be interesting to see how he handles a younger role planted within the MCU.

What do you guys think? Are you excited to see Holland swing into action? Or were you hoping another actor would put on the mask?

Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Marvel.com, The Hollywood Reporter

We have our Newt Scamander.

It was confirmed that Academy Award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne was slated to portray the lead in J.K. Rowling’s upcoming Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Although rumored for the role for some time, it was announced yesterday in a press release by Warner Bros. president of creative development Greg Silverman.

Redmayne’s character will reportedly involve him being a foremost “magizoologist” who searches the wizarding world for magical creatures to catalog for his novel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which eventually becomes a textbook that is part of the curriculum for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. No one else has been announced as part of the cast yet, but the film was scripted by J.K. Rowling and will be directed by David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter films. The movie is scheduled to release November 2016.

What do you guys think? Are you excited to see Redmayne searching for fantastic beasts, or do you want him to be eaten by one instead?

Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: TIME, The Hollywood Reporter