James McTeigue’s reuniting with FilmNation Entertainment for Message from the King, a character-driven thriller that “centers on Jacob King, an enigmatic outsider who comes to Los Angeles to investigate the sudden and mysterious disappearance of his sister.” McTeigue, who just wrapped up work on FilmNation’s The Raven with John Cusack playing Edgar Allan Poe, will be directing Message from the King from a script by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell.
FilmNation Entertainment’s head of production Aaron Ryder and Rhodri Thomas of The Ink Factory are producing. Filming is expected to start in late fall. FilmNation hasn’t announced a projected release date.
“After working with James on The Raven and then seeing a cut of the film, it was very clear to us that we needed to make his next movie. We are thrilled to be working with him again,” stated FilmNation’s Aaron Ryder.
Added The Ink Factory’s Rhodri Thomas, “This script harks back to our favorite character-led thrillers of the 1970s, but depicts Los Angeles in a distinctive, contemporary light. With James at the helm, we’re sure to see something exciting and original.”
In addition to Message from the King, writers Cornwell and Butcher are working on adapting Warren Ellis’s graphic novel series, Gravel, for Legendary Pictures.
Warner Bros has released the official poster for Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, a thriller about the spread of a deadly virus. Set for release on October 21, 2011, Contagion features an A-list cast that includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jude Law.
The Plot:
Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.
Jason Mraz has revealed his plans for an international concert tour set to kick off on August 7, 2011 in Mountain View, California. Mraz’s tour will include benefit concerts to help raise funds for charities including the Japanese disaster relief efforts and Farm Aid. Mraz’s 2011 international concert tour will include stops in Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe before winding up in San Diego, Ca on November 28th and 29th.
Mraz will be joined by his friend, percussionist Noel “Toca” Rivera, for most of the tour.
The schedule gets underway with a performance at the Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE) benefit concert slated for August 7th at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. Proceeds from the event – which features a star-studded line-up that includes Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Morello, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Doobie Brothers, and many others – will go to support Japan disaster relief efforts and organizations worldwide working to promote safe, alternative, non-nuclear energy.
From there, Jason and Toca will head to Kansas City, Missouri, where they will perform at this year’s Farm Aid benefit concert, scheduled for August 13th at Livestrong Sporting Park.
In September, Mraz and Rivera’s impromptu travels will begin in Morocco and will take them throughout Europe, where they will immerse themselves in local culture, seeking unique performance spaces and treasured surf spots. Their European tour will kick off in Southwest France, where they will headline the inaugural Groundswell Festival, an eco-friendly surf and music festival being held in the Landes Region near Hossegor, the surf capital of Europe. Following the festival, the duo will make stops in Prague and Berlin.
November will see them performing special select shows at such iconic venues as Australia’s Sydney Opera House and New York’s Carnegie Hall. While in Australia, Mraz and Rivera will take the opportunity to visit some of the world’s treasures there that they have never experienced, including Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock). The tour will conclude on November 28th and 29th with a pair of eagerly awaited, special, intimate shows at Spreckels Theatre in Mraz’s adopted hometown of San Diego.
Mraz will also perform a number of U.S. shows fronting his own Super Band.
“I dig the groove Toca lays down with his drum,” Mraz says, “and the delicate touch he finds on the harmonies. He’s like every member of the Dave Matthews Band and Boyz II Men rolled up in one prize wind-up teddy bear designed to beat a drum.”
Jason Mraz 2011 Tour:
* denotes Super Band date – All other dates acoustic with Toca Rivera
AUGUST
7 Mountain View, CA MUSE Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre
13 Kansas City, MO Farm Aid at Livestrong Sporting Park
SEPTEMBER
17 Hossegor, France Groundswell Festival at Landes Region
20 Prague, Czech Republic Palac Akropolis
21 Berlin, Germany Passionskirsche
24 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion* (w/ Colbie Caillat)
25 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Wireless Pavilion*
NOVEMBER
19 Sydney, Australia Sydney Opera House
20 Sydney, Australia Sydney Opera House
23 New York, NY Carnegie Hall
25 New York, NY Carnegie Hall
28 San Diego, CA Spreckels Theatre
29 San Diego, CA Spreckels Theatre
Lisa Stewart (producer), Paul Berges (writer), Gurinder Chadha (writer), Kevin Lima (director), AR Rahman (EP/composer), Stephen Schwartz (EP/lyricist), Chris Chase (producer) – PRNewsFoto/DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc
The filmmaker responsible for making James Marsden as a prince and Amy Adams as a fairy tale princess spring into song in Enchanted will be directing a movie about singing monkeys. DreamWorks Animation just announced Kevin Lima will direct the “Bollywood-style animated musical adventure” film, Monkeys of Mumbai.
The title could be changed prior to the film’s release – although I’m voting they keep it.
Lisa Stewart and Chris Chase are producing. Stephen Schwartz is the lyricist and A.R. Rahman (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Bombay Dreams) is the film’s composer. Schwart and Rahman are also executive producing. The script is being written by Gurinder Chadha & Paul Berges (Bride & Prejudice, Bend It Like Beckham).
“Kevin is a brilliant director and someone we’ve long wanted to work with at DreamWorks Animation,” stated the studio’s Chief Creative Officer, Bill Damaschke. “We are thrilled to welcome him, Chris, and Lisa on board to round out the excellent creative leadership team on Monkeys of Mumbai.”
“Ever since Enchanted, I’ve been looking for a film musical and when DreamWorks Animation approached me with the prospect of doing a Bollywood musical with such renowned collaborators, I knew this was the one,” added Kevin Lima.
According to the press release, Monkeys of Mumbia is “inspired by the great Indian epic tale of The Ramayana – but retold through the point of view of its monkeys. Monkeys of Mumbai revolves around two common monkeys who become unlikely heroes in a last-ditch effort to stop an ancient, thought-to-be-mythical demon from conquering the world.”
Written and directed by Peter and Bobby Farrell, Hall Pass is an R-rated comedy about two couples who are given hall passes – permission to cheat – for one wild week. Starring Jason Sudeikis, Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and Christina Applegate, the R-rated comedy hit theaters on February 25, 2011.
Jason Sudeikis as Fred: “You know what I love about divorcees? They love sex.”
Owen Wilson as Rick: “Is that true?”
Fred: “I don’t know, I’d like to think so.”
Fred: “What about the known correlation about floppy boobs and large-mouth vaginas?” “Hey, I’m Billy Big Mouth Vagina.” (singing) “Home, home on the range. Where the big mouth vaginas feel strange. Where nothing is good and it can’t fit your wood.”
Christina Applegate as Grace: “Large mouth vaginas?”
Jenna Fischer as Maggie: “You thought that was funny?”
Rick: “No.”
Maggie: “Really, you were laughing like a Hyena when he said it.”
Grace: “What the hell is wrong with you two? You are completely obsessed with sex.”
Fred: “Honey, obsessed is a very strong word.”
Grace: “Oh yeah, this morning you left the computer on cockgobblers.com.”
Fred: “I get my weather from that site.”
Rick: “You know how we dominated our JV basketball?”
Fred: “Yeah, our senior year.”
Rick: “What’s this?”
Fred: “Pick up lines to get the ball rolling.”
Rick: (reading) “You must be from Ireland because when I look at you my penis is Dublin.”
Rick: (saying to 2 girls at the bar) “So are you women from Ireland, per chance?”
Girl: “No.”
Rick: Oh I’m very surprised to hear that news because when I look at you my wiener doubles in size.”
Richard Jenkins as Coakley: “Check this out. Hot, not.”
Rick: “That’s awesome. You’re like A Beautiful Mind.”
Coakley: “That girl in the black is checking you out.”
Fred: “The one who looks like the chief from Cuckoo’s Nest?”
Coakley: “No, the one sitting next to her.”
Coakley: “Well, that may be plausible if her lips weren’t shaking and her fingernails were not chewed down to the nub.” “And that bag, man, is a little too big to be bringing into a club, unless she needs room for a $5 footlong.” “So you have a woman that quit smoking. She’s tense, she’s hungry. It all adds up to what?”
Fred: “That woman needs something in her mouth.”
Coakley: “That’s my boy, let’s go!”
We could make a bunch of spider and bug-related puns here, but instead we’ll just simply announce the arrival of the first official trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. Columbia Pictures is revamping the franchise with a new director – Marc Webb – and a new Spidey – Andrew Garfield – after three Spider-Man films featuring Tobey Maguire in the lead role and Sam Raimi behind the camera.
Hitting theaters on July 3, 2012, The Amazing Spider-Man is an origin story, however, the exact details of the plot haven’t yet been totally revealed (more should be known by the end of this weekend after the film hosts a panel and Q&A at Comic-Con).
With Charlie Sheen no longer in the picture (he’s working on Anger Management), it’s up to Ashton Kutcher to step up and take over co-starring duties alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T Jones on CBS’ primetime hit comedy, Two and a Half Men. And CBS is kicking off the new-look campaign by showing some skin.
Robert Redford will produce, direct, and star in the political action thriller The Company You Keep, based on the book by Neil Gordon. Shia LaBeouf has been cast in one of the lead roles, as announced on July 19, 2011 by Voltage Pictures and Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises. Lem Dobbs (Haywire, The Limey) adapted Gordon’s novel for the screen.
The Company You Keep chronicles the story of a former Weather Underground militant wanted by the FBI for 30 years, who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by a young, ambitious reporter hell-bent on making a name for himself. Redford plays the former radical at the center of this nationwide manhunt and LaBeouf, the determined journalist doggedly chasing him and his story.
Robert Redford, Bill Holderman, and Nicolas Chartier served as producers, with Craig J. Flores executive producing.
“This is an edge-of-your-seat thriller about real Americans who stood for their beliefs, thinking they were patriots and defending their country’s ideals against their government.” said Voltage producer Nicolas Chartier. “It is absolutely amazing to have Shia LaBeouf, arguably the brightest young star in Hollywood today paired with the global icon Robert Redford.”
The film’s currently in pre-production and is set to film in Vancouver in September.
LaBeouf recently starred in the box office sensation Transformers: Dark of the Moon, reprising his role in the Michael Bay series of action films based on the popular Hasbro brand. He recently starred in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and can be seen in the upcoming drama The Wettest County in the World, directed by John Hillcoat and written by Nick Cave.
Glee The 3D Concert Movie (Motion Picture Soundtrack) -PRNewsFoto/Columbia Records
Gleeks, mark August 9th on your calendar. That’s when the soundtrack for Glee The 3D Concert Movie (Motion Picture Soundtrack) will be available in support of the film’s short theatrical run that kicks off on August 12th. The soundtrack features 22 songs from this summer’s concert including “Don’t Stop Believin'” and the Glee original tune, “Loser Like Me.” The Warblers even make an appearance on the album singing “Teenage Dream,” “Silly Love Songs,” and “Raise Your Glass.”
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie was directed by Kevin Tancharoen and features all the principal cast members. The TV series will return for its third season on Fox on September 20, 2011.
Glee The 3D Concert Movie (Motion Picture Soundtrack) Track List
Woody Allen’s 42nd feature film has set a record. Allen’s Midnight in Paris, a romantic comedy starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Sheen, has become the veteran filmmaker’s highest-grossing movie of his lengthy career.
As of July 17, 2011, Midnight in Paris had grossed $41,792,695 in North America, moving past 1986’s Hannah and her Sisters. It’s also one of Allen’s best-reviewed films of the past decade.
The Story: This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It’s about a young man’s great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.
