Welcome to The Extras! A daily dose of all the smaller movie related news, clips and just plain cool stuff that you might have missed!
- Chris Pratt has already proven himself to be awesome. But now his awesomeness apparently extends to having the powers of precognition. The Guardians of the Galaxy and LEGO Movie star will also be leading next year’s Jurassic World, something that he apparently predicted back in 2011 when he shot this humurous video on the set of Parks & Rec.
- Is your soul ready for some more long, dark teatimes? Chronicle screenwriter and human Energizer bunny Max Landis is apparently working on a new TV series around Douglas Adams other, non-Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy creation Dirk Gently. In Adams’ stories, Gently runs a “holistic detective agency” investigating supernatural, time travel and generally absurd cases based on “the interconnectedness of things”. The books have previously been adapted in a BBC series a few years back. Here’s Landis, probably rambling at overcaffeinated hyperspeed, on getting the gig, and it’s narrative potential:
“Alongside the obvious yada yada, I’m a lifelong fan, Long Dark Teatime of The Soul (the second Dirk Gently novel) is one of the best books ever. Douglas Adams is a visionary who forever changed the way science fiction is written and talked about and even thought about and even the way real actual science is thought about and without whom our culture would be noticeably different for the worse. I’d also just like to say holy crap, it’s Dirk Gently.
This is any writer’s ultimate project, and in the current TV space, it fits ridiculously well. Imagine a playground where you could come with any mystery, no matter how improbable, convoluted or totally insane and then, simply by finding the right connections, you could tie it all down to one man, one private eye. If you’re familiar with the property, you know: there’s no freaking rules. Ancient gods? Sure. Larceny and petty crimes? Of course. Extra-dimensional aliens? I mean, probably; as long as you can make it funny, Dirk’s on the case. This is a dream project of mine, no joke, and I absolutely positively couldn’t be happier.”
- Poster of the Day: The Matrix poster with glow in the dark overlay
- Ever since we got to know her as ballbusting starfighter pilot turned space angel in Battlestar Galactica, fans have been clamouring for Katee Sackhoff to get in the superhero movie business. One property in particular, the role of Ms\Captain Marvel seems tailor made for her, and there have been a fan campaign directed at Marvel to make it happen. And over the last few days, fans thought their prayers were finally being answered as Sackhoff sent out a series of very intriguing tweets.
I’m wearing red leather to my meeting with @TheRealStanLee today, sorta just seemed appropriate.
— Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) July 29, 2014
Headed out for day one of a super secret job….I will send photo clues throughout the next 3 days! Clue #1 pic.twitter.com/1mVRmQKNmE — Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) August 2, 2014
Clue #2 pic.twitter.com/giXoQB8y3W
— Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) August 3, 2014
And then just as people were already typing up the headlines to their new Ms Marvel blog entry, Sackhoff brought the whole party crashing down last night.
Clue #4 Secret Project NOT a @Marvel project. Xoxo
— Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) August 4, 2014
So who the hell is she playing then, and for what movie or TV series?
- You’ve seen what I think about Guardians of the Galaxy, and we’ve heard what you guys think about Marvel’s latest blockbuster. But now it’s time for the most important opinion on the movie. That’s right, it’s time to hear what the great Terran hero Kevin Bacon thinks of the movie.
- And now some news to make you sad. According to reports, Taylor Kitsch has been offered the lead role in director Patrick Hughes’ American remake of The Raid. Now to be fair, I’m sweet on a number of things Kitsch has done (my unflinching love for John Carter is well documented), but there is no plane of existence in which he is fitting analogue for the original’s martial arts badass Iko Uwais. There was talk for a long time that the better credentialled Frank Grillo was in contention for the lead, but there’s no mention of him in the latest reports. It is also noted that Kitsch himself has not yet accepted the offer.
- Elijah Wood has joined Vin Diesel’s fantasy-actioner The Last Witch Hunter, which sees Diesel’s titular immortal witch hunter having to team up with on of his mortal enemies (Rose Leslie) to stop the covens of New York City from unleashing a plague on humanity. I’m guessing that somewhere along the line, Wood’s character is going to be asked to throw a ring into a volcano.
- Here’s the first look at star Charlie Cox on the set of Marvel\Netflix’s upcoming Dardevil series. Unfortunately it’s not in his horny leather garb (make of that what you will), but rather as his civilian identity, blind lawyer Matt Murdock.
- And anything Daredevil can do, Batman can do better. A video has popped up showing off some set footage from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and giving us our first (grainy, at a distance) look at Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne.
- One of my favourite scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy involves Starlord braving the vacuum of space with no extra protection other than his trusty helmet. The moment I saw it, I knew that people who had been conditioned by decades of movies would call foul, because everybody knows body experience explosive expansion in space, right? Wrong. What Guardians did is actually far more scientifically accurate as Badass Digest explains in this very informative article.
- Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot had zero presence at San Diego Comic-Con a few weeks back, as they were apparently too busy getting their work done. And now they’ve done it. Kata Mara, who plays Susan Storm aka Invisible Woman in the movie, tweeted this pic of herself along with her four co-stars Miles Teller (Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch) and Jamie Bell (Benjamin Grimm aka The Thing), in which she announced that filming on the reboot has now officially wrapped.
That’s a wrap on #FantasticFour! Thanks to my boys @Miles_Teller @michaelb4jordan @1jamiebell for the fun times… pic.twitter.com/7ZdgvlBsP3
— Kate Mara (@_KateMara) August 2, 2014
- And because the internet demanded it, I give you Nicolas Cage as Disney Princesses.
- Rocky vs Apollo Creed. John McClane vs Hans Gruber. Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader. Superman vs Zod. Michael Bay’s explosions vs a good script. These are some of cinema’s biggest rivalries, and now, thanks to the folks at Adult Swim, we finally get to to see one more rivalry brought to life. So step right up and place your bets! Who do you think will win in the titanic struggle of a Star Wars Tie Fighter vs a Thai Fighter!
If you have anything you would like to contribute to Extras, whether it be interesting stories, funny videos, or artistic photos of yourself in morally questionable poses, feel free to drop a mail to kervyn@themovies.co.za.
Last Updated: August 5, 2014
