Kill The Messenger Trailer Arrives Online

Jeremy Renner wants to handle the truth

True-life tales of journalistic crusading have spawned some classic films, including All The President’s Men. And in this age of endless government suspicion, freedom of information and Big Brother attitudes, they are, if anything, even more relevant. Kill The Messenger finds Jeremy Renner as a driven reporter who digs up a story so juicy, he can’t help but share it, even through he knows the juice comes laced with poison for anyone spilling the details. Check out the first trailer for the dramatic thriller on Apple.

Kill The Messenger, which has director Michael Cuesta working from Peter Landesman’s script, is based on the true story of investigative reporter Gary Webb. Working at the San Jose Mercury News, Webb uncovered evidence of the CIA’s involvement in the spread of cocaine in Los Angeles. The stories tied the Agency to a scheme that funded Contra rebels in Nicaragua via the drug trade. 

His three-part series, called Dark Alliance, hit newsstands in 1996, and led to a long, vicious smear campaign against the journalist and Webb’s suicide in 2004.

Cuesta has rounded up a strong ensemble to support Renner, including Rosemarie DeWitt, Paz Vega, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Tim Blake Nelson, Robert Patrick, Barry Pepper, Ray Liotta and Oliver Platt. The film itself lands here on November 28.

from Empire News

Ready For Avatar: The Live Show?

James Cameron working with Cirque du Soleil

When James Cameron said in 2012 that he was in the Avatar business, he, in true James Cameron style, was not messing around. With three sequels to the film about to kick off shooting, a theme park attraction planned for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park in Florida, the world of Pandora-set spin-offs is growing again with news that there will be a touring live show based on the movie.

Following in the tradition of Marvel, DC and other companies, Fox and Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment are putting together the show for a global tour next year. And since this is James Cameron, no half-measures are involved, with the director cooking up the concept alongside no less a company than Cirque du Soleil. The idea, apparently, was hatched years ago, before Avatar itself had even reached cinemas and become a big hit.

“Our relationship with Jim Cameron began with my visit at his Avatar cutting room,” says Daniel Lamarre, Cirque du Soleil president and chief executive in a statement picked up by The Wrap. “I am thrilled that almost five years later, Cirque du Soleil will be able to explore the very inspirational Avatar realm for the live stage.”

No details are available about what the show might entail, as the creative team is not yet in place. But if you’ve always wanted to see Stephen Lang, Colonel Quaritch represented by modern performance dance and acrobatics, you may yet get your chance. The Avatar film sequels, meanwhile, are scheduled to hit in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, let this invade your lugholes. Just because.

from Empire News

Latest How To Train Your Dragon 2 Featurette Lands

Meet the dragons (and their riders)

If you’re a fan of How To Train Your Dragon, you probably have a good handle on the human Viking characters we met in that film. But in the sequel, we get to know a few more, plus a lot of new reptilian, fire-breathing friends. To get you caught up on who’s who, cuddle up with your soft toy Toothless and settle in to watch the new featurette.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is set five years after the events of the original movie changed everything on the isolated island of Berk. With humans and dragons successfully united, everyone has their own ride, a dragon they’ve connected to. While Astrid (America Ferrera), Snoutlout (Jonah Hill) and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his own reptile pal Toothless journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds.

When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the centre of a battle to protect the peace. Now, they must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons…

With Gerard Butler, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, T.J. Miller and the rest back for a second run, we’re also introduced to new characters played by Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington and Cate Blanchett. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is out on June 24.

from Empire News

64% All Cheerleaders Die

Teenage outsider Maddy is keeping some dark secrets and holding a serious grudge against the captain of the Blackfoot High football team. When Maddy joins the school's elite and powerful cheerleading squad, she convinces her new friends to help...



from Rotten Tomatoes: Upcoming Movies

New Writer Hired For Independence Day 2

Carter Blanchard plotting the next invasion

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have been talking up the possibility of an Independence Day sequel almost ever since the first film destroyed a landmark near you, but it’s the looming 20th anniversary of the gung-ho sci-fi that has finally kicked Independence Day 2 into gear. Emmerich and Devlin initially wrote their own screenplay draft, before James Vanderbilt swooped in for a pass. Now the project has gained its third screenwriting round, with the latest draft to be hammered out by Carter Blanchard.

Blanchard's is one of those names not yet tested by the box office but suddenly much sought after in Hollywood. He currently has at least half a dozen completed screenplays in the works, ranging from the simply-optioned to the well-into-pre-production. He's worked on thrillers Diver and Near Death, the horror Dead Asleep, the Simon Kinberg-produced family film Kindergarten Heroes, and Ruben Fleischer's videogame adaptation Spyhunter. He also sold his spec script for the sci-fi Glimmer to Dreamworks, earning himself a personal call from Steven Spielberg in the process.

Plot-wise, what we think we know about the possibly-titled ID4-EVER is that it involves the alien reinforcements summoned by a distress call in the first film finally arriving after the long, wormhole-assisted journey to our planet. They are somewhat miffed, on arrival, by the destruction of their first wave. That ignites a new battle for an Earth on which the surviving humans have haphazardly learned to harness the left-behind alien technology. Visits to the alien homeworld are not on the agenda: "It's always about the Earth getting invaded", says Emmerich.

Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum have both indicated their willingness to come back, but Will Smith has proved more of a sticking point. Initially Fox categorically ruled him out as being, these days, both too busy and too expensive. Since the disappointment of After Earth, however, there have been hints that his casting may not be impossible after all.

It’s not all returning cast though: two decades on, there are strong indications of a Next Generation element. “It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over,” says Emmerich. Michael B. Jordan has been in talks for an unspecified role. Son of Smith?

Independence Day 2’s current release date is July 1, 2016.

from Empire News

New Writer For Independence Day 2

Carter Blanchard plotting the next invasion

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have been talking up the possibility of an Independence Day sequel almost ever since the first film destroyed a landmark near you, but it’s the looming 20th anniversary of the gung-ho sci-fi that has finally kicked Independence Day 2 into gear. Emmerich and Devlin initially wrote their own screenplay draft, before James Vanderbilt swooped in for a pass. Now the project has gained its third screenwriting credit, with the latest draft to be hammered out by Carter Blanchard.

Blanchard's is one of those names not yet tested by the box office but suddenly much sought after in Hollywood. He currently has at least half a dozen completed screenplays in the works, ranging from the simply optioned to the well into pre-production. He's worked on thrillers Diver and Near Death, the horror Dead Asleep, the Simon Kinberg-produced family film Kindergarten Heroes, and Ruben Fleischer's videogame adaptation Spyhunter. He also sold his spec script for the sci-fi Glimmer to Dreamworks, earning himself a personal call from Steven Spielberg in the process.

Plot-wise, what we think we know about the possibly-titled ID4-EVER is that it involves the alien reinforcements summoned by a distress call in the first film finally arriving after the long, wormhole-assisted journey to our planet. They are somewhat miffed, on arrival, about the destruction of their first wave. Which ignites a new battle for an Earth on which the surviving humans have haphazardly learned to harness the left-behind alien technology. Visits to the alien homeworld are not on the agenda: "it's always about the Earth getting invaded", says Emmerich.

Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum have both indicated their willingness to come back, but Will Smith has proved more of a sticking point. Initially Fox categorically ruled him out as being, these days, both too busy and too expensive. Since the disappointment of After Earth, however, there have been hints that his casting may not be impossible after all.

It’s not all returning cast though: two decades on, there are strong indications of a Next Generation element. “It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over,” says Emmerich. Michael B. Jordan has been in talks for an unspecified role. Son of Smith?

The film’s current release date is July 1, 2016.

from Empire News

Anthony Mackie Still Pursuing Jesse Owens

As Stephan James steps into a competing project

Flying high on the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie is hoping his impressive work to date can help him finally realise a long-held dream: playing Olympic legend Jesse Owens on the big screen. He’s been attached to a biopic of the man before, and now seems intent on producing his own, untitled take on Owens.

With We Are Marshall’s Jamie Linden on script and co-producing duty, Mackie is set to offer up the project that will chronicle some of Owens’ life and career. He showed his sprinting abilities early in his native Alabama and eventually earned a place on the American Olympics team in 1936. Though Adolf Hitler had tried to ban black and Jewish athletes from competing, he relented in the face of a potential boycott, and was angered when Owens surged to a victorious sweep of four gold medals. Despite his legendary achievement, the runner still faced racism at home.

Owens’ inspirational tale is fuelling several projects at the moment, with Disney adapting a book and The King's Speech writer David Seidler at work on another biopic. Then there’s Race, which has just had to replace its leading man. Though the filmmakers had thought they’d locked in John Boyega, a certain small job has lured the actor away. All is not lost for the Race team, however, as Stephen James will step in to take his place. Stephen Hopkins is directing the film, written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse.

James, who first appeared on Canadian high school series Degrassi: The Next Generation, has cropped up in films such as Perfect Strangers and Home Again. He’ll next be seen in sports pic When The Game Stands Tall and is at work on Selma alongside David Oyelowo and Tom Wilkinson.

from Empire News