Extras! – 07 March 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!

Some may find it irrelevant, some may wonder who let man-beast Joan Rivers loose that night on the Oscars. But there’s no denying that a ton of work goes into creating the event. With the awards all wrapped up, here’s a new video of host Ellen Degeneres showing just how much effort it takes to create an Oscar night, from rehearsals through to selfies.

I’ve got no problem with the right actor being cast for the role of the right fictional actor. Most times, right rhymes with white, and that should have nothing to do with a role. Ask Michael B Jordan, who has to now weather his way through undue criticism because he’ll be paying the role of a fictional white character. But as Jordan says, it was always going to happen:

It was expected. You kinda know going into it that people are used to seeing something one way, it’s a continuity thing more than anything. People don’t like change too much. But annoyed? Eh, you just kinda accept it, it is what it is. You can’t make everybody happy. You just gotta accept that and know. I’m an actor, I have to do my job. I’m going to do my job the best I can and the way I’ve been doing it my entire life, my entire career. I grew up a comic book guy, I read comic books as a kid growing up, and the Fantastic Four/Human Torch is one of my favorite characters so I’m going to give it my everything. I can’t wait. I don’t really let it bother me at all. I just want to go into it and do the best job I can. We’ll see what happens.

As for why he took the role, it’s because it’s something that Jordan hasn’t done before:

The Human Torch is, ‘yknow, that’s fun. That’s going to be a good time…To play a superhero? That’s dreams coming true. It’s not going to be hard. It’s going to be fun to kind of show a side of me that I don’t really get to show on screen, to be a little bit lighter, funnier, just more personality. It’s going to be fun.

Speaking of great actors who kicked ass as fictional white people, Idris Elba has a new gig lined up. While Asgard remains locked up, ol’ Heimdal will be lending his commanding voice to the new Jungle Book film on the way. Directed by Jon “Iron Man” Favreau, Elba will be roaring into the heavy VFX film as Shere Khan, the deadly tiger who wants to kill Mowgli before he grows into a Tarzan-level threat. We are cats in the apocalypse!

Poster of the day:

It’s been a while since my clothing has had a Z carved into it, but enough about Kervyn and his sugar-filled rage attacks. 2005 was the last time that anyone saw Zorro on the big screen, with most people wanting to forget that particular train wreck known as The Legend of Zorro.

Still, Zorro is and always will be a cool character, and a reboot is inevitable. The latest person to attempt to bring the infamous outlaw to the big screen is Chris Boal, who is busy penning a new script. Boal, a former playwright, has already sold two scripts to Warner Bros for other projects, with his Zorro being described as:

the ambition of the movie is less traditional swashbuckler, and more of a Dark Knight-style unveiling of the character with a new backstory, gritty realism and emotional core. There will be swordplay, combined with the martial arts that came from Europe and created a deadly combination of action and lethal fighting systems that combined swords, daggers, grappling and bare knuckles. Boal was a competitive fencer on the national circuit before becoming a writer.

No, just no. Zorro is not dark and gritty. Zorro is a romantic hero of the people, mixing the charm of Tony Stark with the skill of Batman. And that’s why he rocks.

Scuse me while I kiss the sky ladies. We haven’t heard too much about the upcoming Jimi Hendrix movie, which surprising due to the fact that includes talent such as Andre 3000 in the lead role, and a script from John “12 Years A Slave” Ridley. Wondering if this movie can lay down some heavy riffs while setting a guitar on fire? Well then you’re in luck, because here’s your first look at Andre in the movie.

Well that’s a red hot Oscar contender right there.

Sometimes, it’s good to be bad. Ask Thomas Kretschmann, who in addition to menacing the Avengers next year, will also be antagonising Rupert Friend in the upcoming Hitman reboot, Agent 47. That’s at least two villains per bald-headed assassin now, as Zachary Quinto is also ready to tangle with Friend and co.

Prometheus. Land of the Lost. Two films which are stupendously crap on their own. But happens when you combine them? Something that can only be described as…genius.

Last Updated: March 7, 2014