I'm sure you've heard of the hilarious animations ICE AGE and RIO right? Well supposedly here's more of the same from Blue Sky.
EPIC stars the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Pitbull, Beyonce Knowles, Judah Freidlander and Steven Tyler.
Here's the storyline for the movie: EPIC is a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive and the forces of evil who wish to destroy it. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world… and ours.
Check out the first trailer for Fox's 3D animation EPIC! To me the first 30 secs or so really reminds me of THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES - and I guess some FERN GULLY thrown in. Not a bad combination but not entirely original to me. Still the imagery looks impressive and Fox has come a long way with their animations
Here's the storyline for the movie: EPIC is a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good who keep the natural world alive and the forces of evil who wish to destroy it. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world... and ours.
Those are some serious numbers for a sequel so be prepared for a very nice launch for JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND when it lands in North America on February 10!
The sequel starring Dwayne Johnson this time around rather than Brendan Frasier has already claimed $26.5 million in only 8 markets. Don't forget about Josh Hutcherson who seems to be heating up his commodity lately, especially with THE HUNGER GAMES posed to explode this year.
Given the strength of the original's strong international clout it was just about a no-brainer for Warner Bros. to launch internationally first and it is becoming more and more prevalent as an opening gambit for studios.
From THR: Journey 2 opened nearly three weeks ago in Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, where the Chinese New Year holiday makes for prime moviegoing. It also opened in Australia and New Zealand, where there are school holidays. The sequel has earned $6.6 million in Korea, followed by $5.6 million in Australia, where Fast Five -- also starring Johnson -- did massive business.
I find the success overseas to be very interesting. Certainly because the movies are based on classic Jules Verne tales it helps, but it seems that there were no repercussions to using Johnson instead of Frasier which is surprising me. Perhaps The Rock's star is bigger than I thought!
We are going to find out soon enough if Dwayne Johnson can fill the rather large boots of Brendan Fraser who starred in the first movie of this new franchise JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D. You see Fraser has an absolutely huge and diehard following overseas probably due to his famous MUMMY roles. But Johnson is bigger here in North America so it is an interesting thing to watch.
Josh Hutcherson is returning though to try and elegantly segue this second installment. It seems they are still in the family action adventure business so that is going for them. I hope their visual effects will improve, but so far the clips are not showing me that.
I'm looking forward to seeing Michael Caine again - I saw him at ShoWest a few years ago. A class act.
Here's the movie's storyline: Young adventurer Sean receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist–a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean’s new stepfather joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter, they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shock waves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.
Look for JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND on February 10, 2012.
And here we go! Part 2 of the family oriented popcorn JOURNEY franchise begins its marketing quest to bring in viewers. As far as trailers go, I like them to first introduce characters effectively and then throw them into turmoil. I don't think this trailer succeeds, but more on that later.
Here's the storyline: The new journey begins when young adventurer Sean (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist--a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.
Director: Brad Peyton Writer: Richard Outten Studio: New Line Cinema Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson Release: February 10, 2012
There is simply too much turmoil in this trailer right from the get-go. I want to know these characters more to be attached to it. How do they explain the lack of Brendan Frasier? How did The Rock get involved? Too many questions.
I was waiting for the real reason why Dwayne Johnson was in this movie (I wasn't quite buying that he was some sort of expert in saying that the island was going to blow) and it wasn't really provided until the end of the trailer. Bouncing a berry off of his chest is pure gold. Pure gold Jerry!
Brendan Frasier eat your heart out. Not a complete fail for a trailer (the effects look half decent) but c'mon. Characters please.
I did a little digging and located the studio shooting location for Brad Peyton's JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. The adventure film starts shooting today in Wilmington, NC according to the city's StarNewsOnline.
The production is set to run through to February 10 and is centered mainly in the EUE/Screen Gems Stage 10 (the largest on site). Also, a brand spanking new water tank has been built specifically for this production.
We have seen exterior production shots already here.
Green screen will also play an obvious key role in production and all that activity will be housed in yet another sound stage. The original movie had PLENTY of green screen scenes if you will recall.
Here's the movie's storyline: Josh Hutcherson will reprise his role as young adventurer Sean Anderson in this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D," the first live-action film ever to be shot in digital 3D. Dwayne Johnson stars as Sean's stepfather, Hank Parsons; Michael Caine as Sean's grandfather, Alexander Anderson; Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzman as a father-daughter tour guide team; and Kristin Davis as Sean's mom, Liz Anderson.
The new journey begins when Sean receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist — a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter, they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.
For our complete JOURNEY 2 coverage clickhere. More info when I get it! Stay tuned...
Got some brand spankin' new behind-the-scenes photos from Brad Peyton's sequel to JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. Warner's JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND stars Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens and the fine character actor Luis Guzman. It just so happens that we have shots of all of them via Comingsoon.
Click on the images to enlarge...
Here's the movie's storyline: Josh Hutcherson will reprise his role as young adventurer Sean Anderson in this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D," the first live-action film ever to be shot in digital 3D. Dwayne Johnson stars as Sean's stepfather, Hank Parsons; Michael Caine as Sean's grandfather, Alexander Anderson; Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzman as a father-daughter tour guide team; and Kristin Davis as Sean's mom, Liz Anderson.
The new journey begins when Sean receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist — a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter, they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.
Interesting casting choice with Dwayne Johnson - he is along the same mold as Brendan Fraser when it comes to comedic relief. Fraser has that outstanding worldwide following though - can Johnson compete? We'll see on September 23, 2011.
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!
Brendan Fraser may not be making that trip after all. According to Deadline, Fraser is closer to leaving JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 2 than returning, as the project will be going forward with a different director than Fraser would prefer. Eric Brevig (Fraser's choice) is still engaged with YOGI BEAR and is not available for the sequel and which has prompted New Line / Walden to set up Brad Peyton (CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE; a conversion btw) for the director's chair. JOURNEY will be shot in native 3D, just like the original.
It doesn't matter who is at the helm for actor Josh Hutcherson (Fraser's nephew in the original) - he is returning for the sequel.
I see Fraser returning. Personally I think the two parties will meet somewhere in the middle and get him back in the driver's seat. Fraser has a HUGE worldwide following and is needed to ensure a successful second crack at the franchise. Just a hunch. What do you think?
