Home Entertainment Extras! Wolverine: The Musical, Josh Brolin has a dame to kill for, Fifty Shades of Grey will get kinky, Texas gets another Chainsaw, Tina Fey is a muppet and 3D is dead! Plus much more!

Extras! Wolverine: The Musical, Josh Brolin has a dame to kill for, Fifty Shades of Grey will get kinky, Texas gets another Chainsaw, Tina Fey is a muppet and 3D is dead! Plus much more!

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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!

Our name might have clued you in, but in case you didn’t notice we don’t really do TV stories around here. Well, that is unless they’re a) Doctor Who and b) some sort of spin-off from a movie. Da Vinci’s Demons, the new series from the STARZ network, is neither, but the man behind it is David S. Goyer, a lowly screenwriter you may have heard of. I mean, he only wrote Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Man of Steel, Dark City, Blade, etc.

Here’s Goyer talking about the series revolving around the adventures of the titular Renaissance Man as well as the newly released trailer for it.

“We’ve embellished it with what I’m calling historical fantasy; he had an incredible life and we didn’t have to embellish as much as you’d think. I didn’t want to do Ye Olde Historical Drama; I wanted to do something historical, viewed through a modern prism… Da Vinci is kind of superhero-y, there are so many legends and tall tales about him. People have said aside from Christ he’s the most recognizable figure in the world. My approach wasn’t unsimilar to adapting Batman and Superman — obviously we did a lot more research.”

It’s already been revealed that English funnyman Ricky Gervais will be playing the lead (well at least the lead that doesn’t have somebody’s hand up their butt) in The Muppets 2, and now it looks like that movie might be getting even funnier. SNL and 30 Rock funny lady Tina Fey is apparently in “late negotiations” to star as the film’s female human lead.

Movie trivia time! Steven Spielberg has been wanting to make an Abraham Lincoln biopic with Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead for a very long time now. Nine years to be exact. Unfortunately, Day-Lewis is infamous for being extremely selective about which roles he plays, and actually turned Spielberg down the first time. The script for the film went through a couple of revisions (and a few more rejections from Day-Lewis), and in the end Spielberg got his man, and more than likely some award gold. And the way he got him? He asked Leonardo diCaprio to speak to him and tell him that Spielberg wouldn’t do the movie without him.

And now that he’s standing on the verge of probably adding more ornaments to his mantlepiece, the director has revealed the letter that Day-Lewis sent him upon his first rejection to explain exactly why he would pass on the role.

Dear Steven,

It was a real pleasure just to sit and talk with you. I listened very carefully to what you had to say about this compelling history, and I’ve since read the script and found it in all the detail in which it describe these monumental events and in the compassionate portraits of all the principal characters, both powerful and moving. I can’t account for how at any given moment I feel the need to explore life as opposed to another, but I do know that I can only do this work if I feel almost as if there is no choice; that a subject coincides inexplicably with a very personal need and a very specific moment in time. In this case, as fascinated as I was by Abe, it was the fascination of a grateful spectator who longed to see a story told, rather than that of a participant. That’s how I feel now in spite of myself, and though I can’t be sure that this won’t change, I couldn’t dream of encouraging you to keep it open on a mere possibility. I do hope this makes sense Steven, I’m glad you’re making the film, I wish you the strength for it, and I send both my very best wishes and my sincere gratitude to you for having considered me.

Stan “The Man” Lee recently celebrated his 90th birthday, but despite some recent medical problems the comics legend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He’s carved out a niche for himself as every single Marvel related movie seems to now have an obligatory Stan Lee cameo. It’s a practice that began with 1989’s The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon. If you’ve missed out on some of the The Man’s cameos though, then have no fear, as some enterprising soul has gone and compiled them altogether in one video. Excelsior!

The Great Explosive One, Michael Bay, has revealed on his blog that he’s officially cast reasonably unknown Irish actor Jack Reynor as the other male, opposite Mark Walbergh, in Transformers 4. He also revealed some more about the direction of the movie.

“I just hired a great new actor for Transformers 4 to star against Mark Wahlberg. Jack Reynor, he is an Irish kid that came to America with 30 bucks in his pocket. Pretty ballsy. Seriously who does that? Anyway I spotted him in a great little Irish movie WHAT RICHARD DID. This kid is the real deal.

Transformers 4, is not a reboot. That word has been floating around on the net.

This movie takes place exactly 4 years after the war in Chicago. The story makes a very natural transition, and reason as to why we have a whole new cast. This Transformers will feel very different then the last three. We are embarking on a new trilogy.

Michael”

Just one day after news that Joseph Gordon Levitt was cast in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, news has broken that Josh Brolin will also be joining the adaptation of Frank Miller’s seminal comic book series. Brolin will be taking on the role of the vigilante Dwight. Now as those of you who actually pay attention during movies may recall, Clive Owen already played this character in the first film, and the two guys obviously look nothing alike. So what gives? Well, this press release excerpt explains it all:

“Dwight is one of the favourite characters from Miller’s books and the 2005 film. In Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Dwight is hunted down by the only woman he ever loved, Ava Lord, and then watches his life go straight to hell. Chronologically, this story takes place prior to The Big Fat Kill [The story that the first film drew from] and explains how Dwight came to have a dramatically different face.”

Co-writers/directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller released this joint statement about the casting:

“Dwight is a constant character throughout the Sin City world and A Dame To Kill For is a defining episode in his life. We’re looking forward to Josh’s take on Dwight.”

In case you didn’t know, Hugh Jackman is actually a Tony Award winning stage performer, and he’s currently putting those musical talents to use over in Les Miserables. Jackman is probably most well known of course for Wolverine, the comic book character that he has immortalized on screen. Now Wolverine is fond of saying that he is the very best at what he does, but it looks like that if it was up to Jackman, then what Wolverine does would be sing.

And in case you’re wondering, yes, Jackman has already done a Wolverine musical.

Darryn, this next story is just for you. If you’re been worried that Fifty Shades of Grey‘s feature film adaptation would get toned down – because last time I checked, explicit BDSM sexcapades was not one of those four quadrants that studios are always looking for – then worry not. Screenwriter Kelly Marcel says that all your favourite kinky stuff will still be in there.

“Well, there is going to be a lot of sex in the film. It will be NC-17 [the equivalent of a British 18 certificate]. It’s going to be raunchy. We are 100 per cent going there.”

“We did go through and decide which are our favourites [sex scenes] and which are not. Most of them are in there, but I can’t say more than that.

She also indicates that won’t just be about the sex.

“Regardless of what you may think of the writing, this is a modern love story, involving two complex characters, and that’s what I’m interested in… I don’t care what anybody says, there is something about Christian that is old-fashioned and romantic.””

Yeah, because there’s nothing that sweeps a girl off her feet quite like being hogtied.

3D is dead. That’s the big news coming out of the current Consumer Electronics Show, and it’s making me smile from ear to ear. OK, yes, they are referring more to home usage, and how the current for TV manufactures is bigger size screens and ultra high resolutions, but sooner or later those Hollywood execs have to look up from those cocaine covered prostitute breasts and see just how much most movie fans dislike it in their cinemas.

You might be wondering why a film like Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra – helmed by Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh and starring Oscar winner Michael Douglas in the lead role as the flamboyant entertainer, with fellow Oscar winner Matt Damon as his lover – is not getting a theatrical release, but is instead being made for US cable TV network HBO. It’s simple really: It’s too gay. Soderbergh explained to Studio Briefing.

“[The studios] said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after [the success of] Brokeback Mountain, by the way… I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us… Studios were going: ‘We don’t know how to sell it.’ They were scared.”

“Ultimately, I think more people will see it [on HBO] and that’s all you care about.”

Here’s the first official promo (i.e. not behind the scenes/on set) picture showing off the principal cast of Gary Oldman, Liam Hemsworth and Harrison Ford in corporate espionage thriller Paranoia. The film will see Hemsworth as an entry level worker who gets blackmailed by his ruthless boss (Oldman) into spying on a corporate rival (Ford).

Yo, Gary! What the heck is so interesting over on the left there?!

Ask any female between the ages of 12 and 112 and they’ll probably tell you that Ryan Gosling already has all the physical attributes for him to be a superhero. This is something that hasn’t escaped the notice of ScreenCrave, who asked the young actor if he would ever do a superhero movie.

“Here’s the thing. Drive was my attempt at the superhero movie. I had a costume and everything. The scorpion jacket. It was like my cape. It was like the idea of a guy that had seen too many superhero movies and then decided that he was going to make himself one.”

So what, he had the power to drive really fast and make all girls swoon with a single half-smile? Sounds awesome!

Despite the fact that Texas Chainsaw 3D just released this weekend past, Millenium Films have already greenlit a sequel called Texas Chainsaw 4. Now here’s the thing though: The “3D” part of the recently released film’s title was added there because the movie makes use of 3D technology, not because it’s the 3rd movie. Technically, it’s the 7th movie released in the franchise, but it’s supposed to be a direct sequel to the original, ignoring the other two sequels – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 – as well as the three remakes that followed since then. All of which would mean that calling this new sequel Texas Chainsaw 4, makes about as much sense as trying to nail jelly to a tree.

Despite what your opinion on JJ Abrams’ work may be (you’re still upset about the Lost finale, aren’t you?), as a film fan, you can’t help but laud his approach to revealing details about his project. Which is to say, that he actually doesn’t. As somebody who hates few things as much as movie trailers that give away the entire movie, this secretive approach is something I’ve always appreciated, yet for some reason that I simply cannot work out without giving myself an aneurysm, some people have taken Abrams to task over it. While talking to EW though, the filmmaker came to the defense of his clandestine ways:

“I will sit in a meeting before a movie with 80-some people, heads of departments, and literally say that all I ask is that we preserve the experience for the viewer,” Abrams says. “Every choice we make, every costume fitting, every pad of makeup, every set that’s built — all that stuff becomes less magical if it’s discussed and revealed and pictures are posted online. I just want to make sure that when somebody sees something in a movie they didn’t watch a 60-minute behind-the-scene that came out two months before.”

“It’s not like there are threats, it’s not like we’re begging them every day. We just say up front that all the work we’re doing is about making this a special experience for the viewer; let’s preserve that as long as we can.”

 “Why do I want to see [a behind-the-scenes element of the film] if it’s something I don’t even understand yet?” Let me experience it so I know what the movie is and have the opportunity to get sucked into that experience, and feel like, ‘Oh my god, that world is real, that ship is real, that battle is real’  … If I’ve [already] seen how ILM or whatever visual effects company made that look real, you’re ruining it before it even exists.”

“It’s only fun to keep things quiet when it finally comes out as scheduled, because then you feel like, ‘Oh I didn’t just spend six months ruining the movie for people. It’s not fun during the experience of withholding. Because then you sound like a coy bastard … and you’re sort of being a jerk. It’s about making sure that when you see the movie — or the show when it airs — that you didn’t read the synopsis that came out of my fat mouth because I’m answering a question that I’m grateful anyone would even ask — which is, ‘What happens?’ I would rather people experience what happens rather than being told what happens and then have it confirmed.”

I could not have said it better myself, Mr Abrams.

Inception may have come out quite some time back now already, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t still talking about it. And by talking about it, I actually mean making fun of it courtesy of this honest trailer.

Last Updated: January 9, 2013

One Comment

  1. Fifty shades of Sasha Gray is still a better movie..

    Reply

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