I'm not going to sit here and pretend that this is travesty on par with Eat Sh*t and Die Hard or remaking Rocky Horror. Nevertheless, there is something crushingly sad in the dulcet, Autotuned strains of The Time, the Black Eyed Peas' brand-new aural rape of a soundtrack classic you didn't know you ever actually liked -- until now.
That was fast. Less than 24 hours after Mel Gibson was tossed overboard by Todd Phillips in an effort to keep the cast of The Hangover sequel from outright revolt, a replacement has been named. Liam Neeson, come on down! "I just got a call to do a one day shoot on Hangover 2 as a tattooist in Thailand, and that's all I know about it," Neeson told Variety. The actor was invited to take the role by his A-Team co-star, Bradley Cooper. Excited? Yeah, didn't think so. [Variety]
If you had "Never" in Movieline's Tree of Life release date poll, it looks like you just lost. According to Box Office Mojo, Terrence Malick's long (long) delayed film will get a theatrical release on May, 27, 2011. Considering this is Malick though, you'll probably want to jot that down in pencil. Very light pencil. [Box Office Mojo via AwardsDaily]
That Eric Stoltz shot five weeks of footage as Marty McFly in the original Back to the Future is hardly a revelation. But now that the footage has finally been released, this bit of pop culture trivia has gotten a second life. Yes, it's fascinating; but think for a second of a job you may have at one point in your life that didn't work out -- for whatever reason -- because your bosses found someone that they deemed was better. Could you imagine the terms of your departure being discussed on every nook of the Internet? Welcome to the current life and times of Eric Stoltz. How is he feeling about it? Well, the closest we're going to get to that answer is found in this unearthed interview with Stoltz from 2007.
The Superman casting-rumor mill is whirring a little louder than usual this week since the disclosure that director Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. are considering a leading man closer to middle-age than to fresh-faced youth -- which automatically got every one back on the Jon Hamm casting tip. One fan even went so far as to mock up a likeness of the DC title hero as he might look if played by Hamm -- on Halloween, in the Sears Portrait Studio.
We all know that Mel Gibson was fired from the sequel to The Hangover and we all know that it likely had something to do with Zach Galifianakis' ardent protests. But was peer pressure involved, too? That's what TMZ says: "Our sources say some of the production people became belatedly upset [about the Gibson hire] because they were getting so much crap from friends, so they began objecting." Well, duh. Here's guessing Galifianakis' stance won't lose him many friends or fans. [TMZ]
Also in the Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Warner Bros. would rather not hear your pitches until next year... there's been a Tea Leoni sighting... Fox wants to spin-off Bones with a currently non-existent character... and more ahead.
Hint: Not really. It's a franchise weekend through and through, great for the 18-25 demographic and Paramount Pictures itself, which will earn back the combined budgets of its two newest hits by, say, lunchtime on the West Coast. But how will they fare for the weekend as a whole? Let's discuss!
New Line Cinema has just given the thumbs up to director Bryan Singer's "dark version of the classic fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk." How dark? Well, it's currently titled Jack the Giant Killer. So much for subtlety. Nothing else is confirmed, but rumors say it will be shot in 3-D (duh) and that Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy, Kick Ass) is a favorite for the lead. [Collider]
Fans of BBC's The Office, rejoice. Martin Freeman is now actually, really, 100 percent officially confirmed to play Bilbo Baggins. According to Peter Jackson, "Despite the various rumors and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us." I wish he would have told us that before we spent all that time speculating and spreading rumors. But that's not all! The list of actors playing each of the film's many dwarves have been announced as well. Get to know them as Movieline breaks it down after the jump.
· Mark Salling, the Amadeus-loving hunk from Glee, has unleashed his first music video, "Illusions." It's fine. Except one of the lyrics is, "I found myself sympathizing with the character's plight." Why is he reading transcriptions of my ninth-grade Great Books discussions? [Vulture]
Howdy, Quaid. According to THR, Colin Farrell is the leading candidate to star in Len Wiseman's contemporary remake of Total Recall for Neal Moritz and Original Films. Farrell is apparently ahead of both Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender on the wishlist, which is good since both of them are booked up until the apocalypse. No offers have been made just yet, meaning by the time filming commences next March an entirely different actor might be starring. [THR/Heat Vision]
· With Halloween a little over a week away, what better time than now to dress your terrifying pit bull up like a character in Avatar, crawl around on the floor with him and put the video on YouTube. Right? Click ahead to melt your brain and stick around for more Buzz Break.
Halfway between its blockbuster opening and imminent Oscar showcase, Inception remains squarely in the zeitgeist -- that all-too-rare original idea still being milked to death by fans (e.g. Spike TV's Scream Awards) and detractors (South Park) alike. But here's an idea: What if we could use Inception for actual good in Hollywood? In other words: What if a brave group of dream warriors could enter the subconscious of Hollywood power players to, let's say, incept a few fresh concepts here and there -- for the better?
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jersey Shore producer SallyAnn Salsano explains how she's managed to tame the egos of her Guido superstars. "If any one of them is like [cries a very Snooki-like "Waaa!"] -- you know, giving me anything," Salsano explained, "I'm like, 'Really? A year ago you were in your mother's basement and I had to give you $4 for Gatorade and cigarettes.' So we all laugh and move on." There you have it. Now go down to your basement, unlock that Snooki monster and use your new Guido-taming skills to make millions. [THR]
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