Extras! 05 June 2014

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!

• I feel the need… the need for a hilarious honest trailer featuring homo-erotic classic Top Gun.

• Darren Aronofsky, the Oscar nominated director of such big screen hits as Black Swan, The Wrestler and Noah, will be headed to the small screen next as he will be adapting Margaret Atwood’s post-apocalyptic MaddAddam book trilogy for HBO. No, this is not a series of books about Mad Max’s grammatically challenged cousin. The series, comprised of the books “Oryx and Crake”, “Year of the Flood” and “MaddAddam”, takes place in a future where mankind has been devastated by a “waterless flood” brought about by the genetic engineering machinations of giant corporations.

Aronofsky will executive produce and possibly also direct the show, and is currently meeting with prospective writers. Here’s the first book’s synopsis:

‘Oryx and Crake’ is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.

• Posters of the Day: The Bride of Frankenstein by Mike Mignola

• Making just short of $400 million on a $170 million budget, director Rupert Sanders’ Snow White and the Huntsman was a big enough success to warrant a sequel. There was just the teeny weeny problem of Sanders and star Kristen Stewart being caught snogging it up, nearly ending Sanders’ marriage. And since Universal Pictures doesn’t seem to want to get rid of their Snow White (although I would be totally cool with Rupert Sanders just directing Chris Hemsworth in a movie called “The Huntsman”), that means finding a new director for the sequel. And according to Deadline, the short list of possible helmers currently consist of Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile), Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, Miracle) and Andy Muschietti (Mama).

If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on Muschietti to get the gig. Darabont is easily the most accomplished of the lot and not only may he be too big an ask, but this is not quite his type of movie. The latter is also true for O’Connor, on top of the fact that he just signed up and is also in contention for a handful of other products. Muschietti was supposed to helm Universal’s The Mummy reboot, before the deal fell through, so he not only has a clean slate but also already has a relationship with the studio.

• And the Case of the Missing Ant-Man Director is still unsolved. In that same article from Deadline, they note that besides for Rawson Thurber (We’re The Millers, Dodgeball), who was left behind as the default option due to first option Adam McKay pulling out and Ruben Fleischer probably being unavailable, the publication has apparently been hearing that Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Michael Dowse (What If, Goon) also have their names in the mix.

Out of those three options, I would say give it Dowse. He proved on Goon that he could do quirky comedy and action while still having lots of heart.

• There are a lot of mutants in X-Men: Days of Future Past. A lot. And there was supposed to be even more. One of whom, we learn from this gallery of alternate costumes by concept artist Phillip Bouette, would actually have been everybody’s favourite useless X-Man, Jubilee.

• If you happen to be interested in a naked, singing, dancing Kristen Bell (and I have a feeling that some of you are) and you happen to find yourself in Los Angeles at the beginning of August, then you may be happy to know that she – along with some other TV folks you may recognize, will be starring in a one-weekend only stage production of Hair.

• Did you know that Chandler Riggs, who plays Rick Grimes’ 15-year old son Carl on The Walking Dead, has a 29-year old female stunt double named Emily Brobst? Of course you didn’t, because you never checked out this list of 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Walking Dead.

• So it would seem that director JJ Abrams is not happy about all those leaked Star Wars: Episode VII set photos from the last few days. Well, he’s maybe not happy, as this cheeky note implies.

If you don’t get the joke, Abrams is referring to people saying that the Millenium Falcon is in the film when all we’ve seen is an unfinished cockpit, and he’s posted this message on the holo-chess board seen in the Millenium Falcon during Episode IV: A New Hope.

• If you haven’t yet seen the latest episode of Game of Thrones, THEN DO NOT CLICK PLAY ON THIS VIDEO. For the rest of us, check out people’s reaction to that now infamous fight.

• Movies.com asked their readers What Elements from the Original ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy Need to Be in ‘Episode VII’?, and their fans responded. With jokes. Okay, some had some valid input. But mostly jokes.

• Mech: Human Trials is an intriguing little short film by Patrick Kalyn who wrote, directed and did the special FX. Kalyn created the film to use as a pitch for a full-length feature film, which he and Black List scribe Mike Le will be shopping around to potential buyers.

After a serious accident, a man is introduced to a designer street drug promising to restore his ravaged body. Desperate to mend himself, he becomes consumed by the drug – only to discover it is threatening his humanity.

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: June 5, 2014