Baz Luhrmann Considering Elvis Biopic

Saving Mr. Banks' Kelly Marcel is writing the script

Baz Luhrmann hasn’t definitely said what he’ll be doing cinematically to follow The Great Gatsby – he’s pondering several potential films including the big screen version of Kung Fu . Now The Wrap has heard he’s in negotiations to make an Elvis Presley film for Warner Bros.

Music has always played a big part in Luhrmann’s films, so this makes some sense from that standpoint. The studio has secured the rights to all of the music star’s songs, so there will be full freedom to pick and choose from his back catalogue. And Saving Mr. Banks’ Kelly Marcel is already at work on the script.

What we don’t yet know – aside from whether Luhrmann will take the gig – is where in The King’s life the story will focus, or whether it’ll take the A-Z life plot angle and follow him from his younger days through his mega stardom, movie roles to his battles with his own fame and his untimely death. It wouldn’t be the first attempt to bring his life to the big screen, and it’ll join the likes of Last Train To Memphis , which has Mick Jagger as a producer.

from Empire News

Colin Firth Finds An Eye In The Sky

Gavin Hood will direct the drone thriller

Drones remain very much a hot topic and a source of drama for films that want that extra political edge. And now, Eye In The Sky, a film about use of the unmanned weapons, has emerged from the depths of development hell pulled by leading man and producer Colin Firth.

With Firth’s company Raindog Films working with Entertainment One to get the film made, Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood has come aboard to call the shots for the thriller. With a script from Guy Hibbert that was originally developed at BBC Films, Sky follows the complicated chain of authority that is firmly yanked when a new wrinkle enters a drone mission. The focus is on a few characters involved, including military intelligence officer Colonel Michelle Madden, remotely commanding a drone operation to locate terrorists in Nairobi. When the team discovers that their targets are planning a suicide mission, the targets are marked for death instead. Then, just as pilot Steve Watts is set to destroy the safe house, he spots a nine-year-old girl entering the kill zone and must pass the request for confirmation of the next step up to the highest levels, including our own foreign secretary.

“The use of unmanned aircraft in modern warfare and in the so-called 'War on Terror’ poses critical questions for us all,” Firth says in a statement picked up by Deadline. “Raindog was launched with the hope of making challenging thoughtful films, and I’m pleased to be a part of an exploration into such a crucial issue.” The story has been floating for a while, and in 2011, it looked like Five Minutes Of Heaven director Oliver Hirschbiegel might take it on. Now, though, Hood is in the director’s chair and Entertainment One will be offering the film to distributors at the upcoming Cannes film market.

from Empire News

Armie Hammer Set For Mine

A new thriller from The Conjuring's producers

Armie Hammer may not have seen the career boost he might have expected when The Lone Ranger failed to connect with audiences, but he’s still booking films. Variety reports that he’ll star in a psychological thriller called Mine .

No, the film won’t see him playing a live-action version of the seagulls from Finding Nemo. He’s actually set to play a soldier who finds himself stranded in the desert after a failed assassination mission. Exposed to the rigours of the harsh environment, he’ll have to battle life-threatening dangers and psychological trauma as he tries to survive.

Fabio Guaglione and Fabio Resinaro are set to co-write and direct the film, aiming to star work in the autumn, with The Conjuring's producer Peter Safran overseeing the shoot. We’re just hoping Hammer doesn’t have flashbacks to his Ranger days. Next up for the actor is Guy Ritchie’s big screen version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which will see Hammer’s Ilya Kuryakin paired with Henry Cavill’s Napoleon Solo as the agents trying to stop a mysterious criminal organisation’s nuclear plans. It’ll be out in the UK on January 16 next year.

from Empire News

Frank Miller's Ronin Heads For TV

And The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman has a clone drama

Frank Miller’s Ronin is a comic book story that has frustrated movie folk – most famously Darren Aronofsky – for years in their attempts to turn it into a movie. The US Syfy channel thinks it can make it work as a TV series, and has announced its plan to do just that.

The news about Ronin comes amidst a wave of other releases from the channel, as it prepares to pimp its fresh new wares to advertisers at today’s Upfront presentation. Ronin finds a 13th century samurai on a quest to avenge his slain master reborn in a corrupt, futuristic New York, where he must defeat a demon that is the reincarnation of his master’s killer. In the show, he’ll awaken in the body of medical guinea pig Billy, and must find a powerful sword that boasts magical properties.

Also on the board for the channel is Letter 44, adapted from the Oni Comics series, for which Jonathan Mostow will write, executive produce and direct the pilot. Charles Soules’ comic book series focuses on an incoming US president Stephen Blades, who discovers a letter from his predecessor outlining how NASA discovered an alien construction project in our nearest asteroid belt and has dispatched a secret team of astronauts to investigate. They’re about to arrive…

Clone, as reported by The Wrap, is another graphic novel-spawned project, this time from Walking Dead co-creator/writer/producer Robert Kirkman. The series will chronicle what happens when retired soldier Luke Taylor discovers that the man who has broken into his home is his clone, part of a big biotech conspiracy that threatens everyone around him. We can see why Syfy might want to be in business with Kirkman, who is one of the team behind the biggest cable hit on US TV, and the concept brings to mind Orphan Black, which is gathering plenty of buzz as it enters its second season.

Finally, there are other series, including space bounty hunter series Killjoys, and Ascension, which stars Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer in the tale of a seed mission to a distant world that is in the middle of its 100-year-long voyage. The murder of a young woman causes the ship’s population to question the true nature of their voyage. How many of these shows will make it over to the UK remains to be seen, but that will probably depend on how well they perform in the States.

from Empire News

John Cleese Joins The B Team

Baywatch spies?

If the idea of actors from a cheesy but beloved TV series pressed into service against a new, real-world threat has you thinking Galaxy Quest, you'e not alone. But The B-Team, which has just announced John Cleese as its villain, plans a different take on the idea.

Baywatch veterans Alexandra Paul and Jaason Simmons came up with the idea that their cheesecake and surf melodrama stomping grounds were also used as a cover by the CIA to gather intelligence while the cast were out on international promotional tours at the tail end of the Cold War. When a new villain (Vachon, to be played by Cleese) blackmails the agency and they learn he’s a diehard Baywatcher, the actors are summoned back into action to take him down. Prospects for a Hoff cameo? Not given in Screen International's report, but we give it 30% Hoffness at this moment.

Michael Brody turned the concept into a workable screenplay and The Lives Of The Saints’ Chris Cottam is set to start the cameras rolling in Budapest this September. Cleese, meanwhile, is busy getting ready for the reunion with his old Python pals, which we now know will be shown in cinemas for the benefit of those who couldn’t snag tickets.

from Empire News

Bob Hoskins: 1942 - 2014

The actor dies age 71

Sad news to report this afternoon: veteran British actor Bob Hoskins has died, aged 71. His agent said Hoskins died of pneumonia in hospital on Tuesday. He announced his retirement from acting in 2012 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Born in 1942, Hoskins’ career spanned 40 years. It started with various TV roles – including in Dennis Potter’s Pennies From Heaven – and ended with recent supporting parts in Snow White And The Huntsman and Made In Dagenham.

Arguably his most respected turn was his breakthrough role as Harold Shand in The Long Good Friday, for which he was widely praised. In 1986 his brusque-but-tender turn as a call girl's confidant in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Since then, he's taken parts in films as diverse as Brazil, Nixon, Neverland and Spice World. His take on Smee was a scallyish highlight of Steven Spielberg's Hook.

Hoskins, however, was probably best known for playing the lead role (along with his cartoon co-star) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988. The groundbreaking live-action / animation hybrid wasn’t straightforward to film, and afterwards Hoskins began to hallucinate that his co-stars were real. “I had learnt how to hallucinate," he remembered. "If you do that for eight months it becomes hard to get rid of.”

With his gruff voice and stocky appearance, he was a beloved character actor for Hollywood, in demand with directors such as Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and Robert Zemeckis (as well as Roger Rabbit, he appeared in Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol in 2012). But as Empire readers revealed when he retired in 2012, the honour role of Hoskins favourites is long and glorious.

Following the announcement, his family released the following statement: “Bob died peacefully at hospital last night surrounded by family, following a bout of pneumonia. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time and thank-you for your messages of love and support.”

He is survived by his wife Linda, and his children Alex, Sarah, Rosa and Jack.

from Empire News

New footage galore in new How To Train Your Dragon 2 featurette: watch now

A new featurette has arrived online for How To Train Your Dragon 2, featuring a whole host of previously unseen footage.



The new film picks up five years after the events of the original, with things having changed on the island of Berk, where dragons and Vikings are now living together in perfect harmony.



However, the proliferation of dragons on the island has made things a tad more chaotic, which makes for some extremely fun action sequences…



Take a look at the new featurette, below…







We've heard this kind of "bigger and better" hype about sequels before, but judging by the footage on show here, it certainly seems that Dreamworks Animation have knocked it out of the park in the visual stakes…



Directed by Dean DeBlois and featuring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler and Cate Blanchett, How To Train Your Dragon 2 will open in the UK on 4 July 2014.

via Total Film

Sony teases Sinister Six villains in US release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Sitting through the end credits is usually a sure-fire way of making sure you don't miss any additional Marvel content, but Sony has taken things a step further for the US release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , by asking audiences to Shazam the song that plays at the end of the film.



Doing so automatically unlocks some bonus material on the user's mobile device that teases Drew Goddard's Sinister Six film, and its rogues gallery of villains.



Happily for those who have already paid to see the movie in the UK, you can simply Shazam the music video below to unlock the content, and take a look at who we can expect to see in the new film…







Judging by the signature equipment on show in that brief video, the lineup looks like containing Green Goblin, Rhino, Doctor Octopus, Vulture and Kraven the Hunter.



The only issue up for debate is whether the mask shown in the image above refers to either Mysterio or The Chameleon, but online consensus seems to have it down as the latter.



The film has yet to receive an official release date, but could be heading into production as soon as next year, with Sony expected to clarify its plans over the coming weeks.

via Total Film