Behind The Scenes BATTLESHIP Clip With Rihanna

As far as behind the scenes clips go, this one is not all that exciting simply because it is full of Entertainment Tonight tinsel rather than content unfortunately. Certainly gets the word out, but it could have much more appealing.

Rihanna does her thing firing off her modern gatling gun, but I'm not sold on her yet either. She'll bring in a younger audience, but for me the one saving grace of this project to date is Liam Neeson. I am a fan of Taylor Kitsch (so far), but I reserve my "I can carry a movie" judgement until I see JOHN CARTER.

Here's the BTS clip:

I have removed the clip as it has an annoying autoplay feature I can't turn off!! Here's the link to view it on ET's site.

Ok, maybe I am a bit too skeptical but they need to push some other buttons for me. Bring in some special effects guys - or the alien design team. Discuss what they did that was different of course discuss 3D. Let's go!

First Look At Rihanna In BATTLESHIP

We knew Rihanna was in it but how well would she perform in Peter Berg's BATTLESHIP? Well she looks pretty good actually as a weapons specialist for what seems to be a heavy caliber gatling gun! Kinda reminds me of "Ol' Painless" that Jesse Ventura carried around in PREDATOR.

Still, such a weapon would do little against the alien ships we saw in the trailer, so are we to assume that the alien creatures themselves get up close and personal? One would think, wouldn't one.

Actually her hair looks a little damp in the pic - perhaps she needs an umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh?

Here's the storyline:
Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiance; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

BATTLESHIP opens May 12, 2012. More when I get it! Oh and once again a nice photo is ruined by someone's watermark. No need to give my source on this one, it's plastered on the shot.

FIRST LOOK: New BATTLESHIP Trailer!

We all knew it was coming - A Peter Berg directed take on the game BATTLESHIP. But will it be any good?

From the first look at the trailer it seems somewhat compelling in that Liam Neeson seems to be on his game. The effects look half decent and judging by the content seen it seems the 3D should be good. I won't give away everything in the trailer until you see it, but it could deliver a great popcorn movie.

Here's the storyline:
Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd as Hopper’s older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

Check out the very high altitude shots of the vessels on the ocean - JUST like in the game. I think I can guess that somehow these alien ships can camo themselves VERY well which would require the navy to guess locations and shell those spots liberally - hoping to score a hit. That is just a guess though - but it seems reasonable given what I just saw.

Here's hoping for a great ride! BATTLESHIP weighs anchor on May 18, 2012.

Huge Casting News: Neeson Signs On For BATTLESHIP And Caine Close To Joining JOURNEY 2!!

Wow! Some on the edge action oriented movies just got a whole lot more endearing for me.

I have always been a huge Liam Neeson fan and especially after TAKEN took the world by storm at the box office, he has been on a bit of a action genre smorgasbord. Variety says that next up for Colonel Hannibal Smith is actually playing an Admiral in Universal's BATTLESHIP.

**Note: Even though director Peter Berg is not shooting the movie in 3D, I am still covering it in case Universal decides to convert it in post production (and hopefully doing a good job of it). After all, the project did start out as being shot in native 3D.

Neeson joins Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker and Taylor Kitsch on the cast.

The movie is centered on an alien invasion with the entire planet in jeopardy.

Look for BATTLESHIP in theaters May 18, 2012.

**AND**

Michael Caine is reportedly (THR) close to signing on for JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Yes, the legend himself will have significant screen time and will be involved in several action sequences supposedly involving giant bees!

Caine will be joining Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson on the cast. Hutcherson's and Johnson's character set out to find his grandfather (played by Caine) who has been lost on a mythical island. You can read more info on the casting of The Rock right here.

Solid, legitimate acting has just been added to these two projects and my expectations just rose quite a few notches. Here's hoping they can deliver.

Another casting possibility of note is Natalie Portman reportedly being offered the lead in GRAVITY, Alfonso Cuaron's space thriller with Robert Downey Jr. The $80 million sci-fi is about a female astronaut sent to make repairs on the Hubble Telescope. She becomes the sole survivor when space debris hits her transport and will have to find a way back home. Apparently Portman has yet to read the highly anticipated movie's script, so I have not posted on this yet in full form. I will if she grabs it!

Peter Berg Talks Stereoscopic 3D For BATTLESHIP!

**UPDATE Dec 3 - Check out the awesome write up about Latino Review's trip aboard a Destroyer with Berg. Turns out George moves his Battleship pieces during the game too... :-)

Jim here. I will be one of the first to admit: "How are they going to pull this movie off?" I mean the game itself would be very hard to make into a movie - but the BRAND is worth a ton of awareness from the get-go. So I certainly get why there is a push to make this movie.

Now the director, Peter Berg (HANCOCK) is talking stereoscopic 3D - at least for select scenes: "... he is thinking about shooting some of the film's scenes in 3-D, he is also considering IMAX) as well as a tease of his next project -- his much discussed adaptation of the Afghanistan war novel Lone Survivor."

Cool. While I am still struggling a bit with the premise of the movie, I know that sweeping ocean vistas with a huge battleship to focus on in 3D would look amazing. Thanks for the heads up Adam!

Source: IGN