No one really doubted that Steven Spielberg's long-gestating, class-AA historical biopic Lincoln wouldn't land a release date in the middle of Oscar season. But with Disney announcing today that it will release the Daniel Day-Lewis-starring, Tony Kushner-written film in limited release on Nov. 9 — three days after Election Day — the studio has situated Lincoln in a zone ripe for hype.
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Per the latest dispatch from the MPAA ratings board, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest is officially "Rated R For sexual content, graphic nudity and language. Release Date: October 12, 2012." And thus were dashed the hopes of families everywhere. Maybe the new Kevin James movie is an option that weekend? OK, never mind. [via @ropeofsilicon]
Maybe call it a trailer preamble. Tidbits of the backstory and a tease of M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming sci-fi pic After Earth spread around the internet after the film's official site launched a run-down of the backstory. The video gives an account of a 1908 spacecraft crash and the subsequent discovery of a technology called "Lightstream" that propelled humankind forward, before ultimately destroying it. Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith star in the project, which is slated for release next June.
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Good morning! By which I mean just go back to bed: "'Bane' is the terrorist in the new movie who drives the caped crusader out of semi-retirement in the final Batman movie. Democrats, who believe they have Romney on the ropes over the president's assault on his leadership at Bain Capital, said the comparisons are too rich to ignore. 'It has been observed that movies can reflect the national mood,' said Democratic advisor and former Clinton aide Christopher Lehane. 'Whether it is spelled Bain and being put out by the Obama campaign or Bane and being out by Hollywood, the narratives are similar: a highly intelligent villain with offshore interests and a past both are seeking to cover up who had a powerful father and is set on pillaging society,' he added." [Washington Examiner via Big Hollywood]
There has been some push-back in the blogosphere over the apparent "genetic enhancement" associated with Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner in the all-new manifestation of the Bourne series, The Bourne Legacy, which comes out next month. But director Tony Gilroy assures that the latest film is "consistent" with the three previous installments, which of course starred Matt Damon.
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The market for films addressing Barack Obama's 2008 presidential candidacy and his term to date in the Oval Office has proven volatile at best: Hagiographies like the all-access, Edward Norton-produced By the People co-exist alongside a cottage industry of microbudget anti-Obama slam pieces like Hype, The Obama Deception and this past weekend's 2016: Obama's America. And thanks in part to election-year grassroots mania (and an interview with the president's Kenyan half-brother), the latter film may yet prove to be the most lucrative of the Obama subgenre to date. But this weekend's other release, The Obama Effect? Not so much.
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Recalling his early years mixed with Sixties feminists and Black Panthers, filmmaker John Waters again charmed and amped an audience at the start of Outfest late last week where he received the Los Angeles LGBT film festival's 2012 Achievement Award. Never one to bore or to deliver a saccharine tale, he implored the audience to take a "Act Bad" and to use humor as a way of social dissent. He told a cheering audience to hail fashion insults outside the homes of anti-gay politicians and told budding filmmakers that if a studio says your story is "too gay," then to get your "gay screenplay friends and go back to the studios and yell out the grosses of all their hetero-flops." He talks about being a Yippie ('to get laid') in the '60s and a hilarious chant in London at a protest against the pope. The 30th edition of Outfest runs through July 22nd in L.A.
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Richard D. "Dick" Zanuck, a scion of old Hollywood who produced blockbusters like Jaws and such Oscar-friendly fare as Driving Miss Daisy, died today after suffering a heart attack. He was 77. Zanuck took the production reins of 20th Century Fox — which his legendary father Darryl had helped bring to prominence before him — by the time he was 28. He would later team with partner David Brown to shepherd the work of Steven Spielberg to prominence before working with a deep roster of filmmakers including Sidney Lumet (The Verdict), Ron Howard (Cocoon) and frequent collaborator Tim Burton. Zanuck is survived by his wife Lili Fini Zanuck (with whom he shared Best Picture Oscar honors for Driving Miss Daisy) and sons Harrison and Dean. [Deadline]
The Dark Knight Rises director heaped praise on actress Anne Hathaway ahead of the final Batman installment, which opens July 20th. He said Hathaway performed so well as the human-feline-vixen that she deserves her own spin-off movie. But that doesn't necessarily mean the British-born filmmaker will spearhead a Catwoman enterprise himself.
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Magic Mike has already scored just under $78 million at the box office since its release in late June and the production budget was only $7 million. Minus the marketing budget, the stripper feature has likely already packaged a hefty sum. But never mind the money, there's plenty of skin to be had, so why not let the strip show go on? Actors flexing their hot bods is a winning formula, and Tatum teased recently that another round of Magic Mike is in the early stages.
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The ever-expanding Crowdsource Era has a new milestone: Charlie Kaufman needs $200,000 to help make a 40-minute stop-motion animated film called Anomalisa, and he's inviting exiled Community creator Dan Harmon — and you — along to help.
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Say what you will about Michael Jackson. He was the self-anointed King of Pop, but legions of fans around the world were his willing subjects for decades, crossing generations. So there is at least a reasonable in-house audience just itching for more about the moon-walker and Spike Lee is just the man to deliver. Lee and Jackson were friends in life and the filmmaker, whose Red Hook Summer opens next month, is working on a documentary tied to the 25th anniversary of the release of Jackson's Bad album.
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There could be a new cold-blooded young buck waiting in the wings to play 007 if and when Daniel Craig is over his stint in the role. Heartthrob Robert Pattinson is eyeing the future post-Twilight and has dabbled recently with roles in Bel Ami (which didn't do so spectacularly at the box office) and Cosmopolis which opens in the U.S. next month, but failed to whip up a frenzy in Canada where it opened last month. Still, the dashing actor packs some fan-base mojo and James Bond could be a place down the line and the actor has taken a peek.
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"Why did I put all my money into this? Is this going to work? God, do you hear me? Where are the people? I’m so scared. How will I pay these people? Why did I do this? I can’t pay my rent, they are going to repossess my car. The year was 1992, July 8th-12th. All these questions were crowding my mind. I was a 22-year old wannabe... but what I wanted to be I didn't know." Relax, Tyler Perry — you've spoken to Movieline! You've made it! All downhill from here. [TylerPerry.com]
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