First Trailer For Sci-Fi PASSENGERS Looks Like An Awesome Ride!

Director Morten Tyldum's PASSENGERS looks VERY promising. First of all the casting is intriguing with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence headlining (Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne are no slouches either). But what I find most interesting is the mystery behind being woken up too soon on an epic space journey. Let's hope what has been done before is not repeated here - perhaps something original. I don't think that's too much to ask from screenplay writer Jon Spaihts.

Here's the movie's storyline:
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are two passengers onboard a spaceship transporting them to a new life on another planet. The trip takes a deadly turn when their hibernation pods mysteriously wake them 90 years before they reach their destination. As Jim and Aurora try to unravel the mystery behind the malfunction, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction... only to be threatened by the imminent collapse of the ship and the discovery of the truth behind why they woke up.

Should look amazing in 3D. Can't wait to see this!

PASSENGERS opens on December 21.

Movie Review: EDGE OF TOMORROW - 9.1 Stars! No Spoilers

EDGE OF TOMORROW is an excellent movie and well worth seeing in 3D and especially IMAX 3D.  While it is my second highest rated review this year (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER scored 9.2 stars), had director Doug Liman tackled a few things in a different way, EoT would have had my endorsement as the year best movie thus far.  But it certainly is in the same league as Cap.

Probably my largest complaint with the movie is the third act.  The first two acts had exceptional pacing and was just about perfectly edited - I'll talk about the finale later on in the review. Liman whisked us along with numerous "time loop gags" that worked very well for me - these are inventive and while the premise is reminiscent of GROUNDHOG DAY and BACK TO THE FUTURE, it is still it's own beast.  At no time was my suspension of disbelief blown by something reminding me of another movie.  So rest assured, the most important aspect of this movie - time loop - was done well.

I made the mistake of watching Tom Cruise on the late night talk show circuit and I came away with a very scripted and safe take of the actor.  It's getting worse.  A canned public persona.  Hated it.  I feel he's not capable of being himself in public.  I understand the microscope he is under and that many don't trust his instincts (probably including himself), but wow, I hated watching it.  I won't again.

Emily Blunt's publicity tour however was very upbeat, funny and great to watch. Well, at least up to the point where she starts to talk about Cruise and his quirks. Then it becomes quite awkward. Even the international premieres that opened in 3 cities all within 24 hours was Cruise's idea and while interesting, I don't believe it was worth keeping a mother from her child for that long. Blunt has just given birth. I'm sure that didn't go over very well with her and her family.

HOWEVER, Cruise's performance in EDGE OF TOMORROW is inspired!  He has come a long way as far as taking chances on screen.  In fact his best scenes in EoT are when his character is vulnerable.  Taking into account his performance in TROPIC THUNDER, Cruise is morphing into someone audiences can start to relate to, and not an actor who only plays characters that are safe and invincible.

Domestically EDGE OF TOMORROW is not performing as well as it should be. Cruise may have over extended his stay as a top tier actor in the minds of most - especially the younger crowd. In fact EoT ($29m) opened third behind a strong opening from THE FAULT IN OUR STARS ($48m) and Disney's strong hold over MALEFICENT ($34m). Internationally though, Cruise is still a behemoth of the box office taking in an astounding $82m this weekend bringing us to a total of $140m.

Half the movie's take has been in 3D thus far (47%) and while I thought the 3D was done well - there wasn't anything about the conversion that stood out for me. It was just there. It certainly helped with the immersion and suspension of disbelief - especially with the "Matrix sentinel" influenced aliens, but with the sci-fi genre (and horror for that matter), I like to have a few scenes dialed way up to amplify the anxiety. Other than my preference, there's nothing overly wrong with the 3D.

What shone for me was the story, suspension of disbelief and the visual effects / stunts. This, of course, is an awesome combination of superlatives to have for a sci-fi movie and thus a very nice score of 91 stars.

The weakest links in the movie I felt was the third act, directing and character development. Yes, Cruise character Major Cage goes through significant change but I felt as though there wasn't enough development for me to be invested in his character all that much. The final act lost the movie's outstanding pace and editing, plus I can think of many things that WOULD have worked much better than what finally made it to the screen. I haven't read the original source material (ALL YOU NEED IS KILL), but I bet you it's different in the finale somehow. If you know, please let me know.

So - well worth going to see! I recommend it and endorse the IMAX 3D version. It's a VERY close second to CAPTAIN AMERICA for this year's best movie, so go see it.

EDGE OF TOMORROW is now playing in 3D, IMAX 3D and flat.

MUST WATCH: Two More GRAVITY Trailers!

ANOTHER TWO! Tim here, and a third trailer and fourth trailer for Gravity arrived! Unlike the previous One Shot Trailer that hit yesterday, the first one is a sequence from the film that contains a couple of intense shots as the two main characters (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) attempt to grab hold onto a satellite. This trailer, just like the previous, is a heart pumping thriller.

The second new trailer is also one shot. It seems to take place after the events depicted in the other one shot trailer that hit yesterday. This one is a really cool shot that starts inside the spacesuit helmet of Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) as a POV and then moves to an extreme close-up of her face before drifting away from her. All the while she is spinning freely in space above the Earth, which is lit up by all the lights from our cities. The illumination of the Earth at night paired with her desperate calls for an answer to her transmissions is chilling.

There seems to be unease that the filmmakers are showing us too much ahead of time. However, one has to remember that these are only 2-minute clips from a feature-length film. That means there's 85-110 minutes of screen time left based on the average feature length. If anything these are great teases that make me excited to see the entire thing.

Check out the two new trailers below:

GRAVITY opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on October 4.

MUST SEE: First Look At Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS!!

Here's your first look at one of the most anticipated movies of the decade, Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS!

Click on the image to enlarge.

Definitely in space isn't it? Wagers on who this actor is and what it is he/she is carrying?

Certainly looks ALIEN-esque! Right colors. Helmet seems about right when you think back to the original movie. I want MORE!!

MUST SEE: New Poster For Disney's JOHN CARTER!

This is a project I really have high hopes for. Disney's JOHN CARTER (after having dropped the "OF MARS") is on digital principal production right now and for the rest of the year. The studio has made available an early look through this teaser poster!

Love the font use in this - and the transparent red reminds me of the work Marvel did with THOR's posters. Nice job.

The movie is based on the classic sci-fi novel A PRINCESS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Here's the movie's storyline:
Civil War vet John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the lush and wildly diverse planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians and is on the brink of collapse, Carter discovers that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

Director: Andrew Stanton
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Producers: Susan Montford, Colin Wilson, Jim Morris
Screenplay: Michael Chabon
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, James Purefoy, Dominic West, Lynn Collins
Release Date: Friday March 9, 2012

More on JOHN CARTER when I get it!!

Image via JoBlo

GRAVITY Starts Production In May - Alfonso Cuaron Will Convert In Post

Well I am a bit disappointed with the news, but Alfonso Cuaron will be converting GRAVITY to S3D during post production. The hugely anticipated Sci-Fi thriller about a space mission gone wrong and an attempted return to earth will start lensing at the end of May.

The producer of the movie, David Heyman (image) told Collider: “The whole film has been pre-vised and figured out, it’s f*ckin’ awesome. I mean, unlike anything you’ve seen in space. It’s just great.”

"We’re using technology that’s never seen before. This film will be more immersive, I believe, than anything you’ve seen before. You will really feel like you are in space. It will not be an objective view of space, it will be an immersive view of space. And you know as you say, with Children of Men, he loves these long shots. It’s gonna be a really bold, bold film."

And further on S3D: "…actually, we did some tests. Because this film is being made almost entirely digitally, a huge amount of it’s being made digitally. 3D felt like a really organic—because so much of it’s being done digitally, you can make the 3D in a post process much more easily than if you were shooting all live-action or sitting in a room."

Sounds as though much of the movie will be CG, including the sets, so yes that is true: 3D conversion should be easier and a bit more elegant. Cuaron still has to shoot with 3D in mind and I actually hope he enlists an experienced stereographer; just to give him the tips almost anyone would need while shooting - especially marathon shots.

Good luck to Cuaron on this - George Clooney and Sandra Bullock should ace their roles as they are both excellent actors. Hopefully the conversion will be a good one. Looking forward to more news!

Charlize Theron Lands PROMETHEUS!

I was hoping for her to land the part and she did. Charlize Theron will headline Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS sci-fi epic says Variety.

Theron will share screen time with Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, both of whom are perfect for their parts IMO.

Theron is a great actor. Anyone who has seen MONSTER will attest to that. If she can bring that intensity to the role, than I think we have casting gold for PROMETHEUS.

GRAVITY Attracts Clooney!

Yes! Finally we have some rather solid casting news for the long awaited and much anticipated Alfonso Cuaron science fiction thriller GRAVITY.

George Clooney has reportedly signed (via THR) on as the important first act character that survives an outer space tragedy along with the major star of the film, Sandra Bullock. It seems Bullock will carry the second and third acts by herself.

Warner Bros is looking to start production in the spring.

Here is the supposed storyline (via Scriptshadow - SPOILER ALERT): The script follows Ryan Stone, an engineer whose career path unexpectedly puts her on a space shuttle, doing repairs. (In a more recent draft, she’s working on repairing the Hubble.) She’s paired with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. But things go very wrong. The Russians just blew up something that “creates a chain reaction of spraying debris that hits multiple satellites, which also end up exploding, and all of a sudden thousands of pieces of debris are heading straight towards the space shuttle.” Cutting forward a bit, that debris destroys the shuttle and eventually leaves Ryan alone, trying to make her way to the International Space Station and rescue.

Everything that can go wrong does go wrong as the movie becomes a series of near death experiences. Ryan must jump from point to point – whether it be to a vessel, a station, or an oxygen tank – and survive long enough to make the journey to the next point after that (and so on). Each destination is accompanied by dangerous debris, dropping oxygen, and the strong chance that whatever she’s trying to get to might not be there. Think Apollo 13, but with the odds stacked 1 million times higher against you, if that’s possible.

GRAVITY is rumored to have a MASSIVE opening scene that has Cuaron capturing a 20 minute shot! Amazing if this turns out to be true. Remember watching CHILDREN OF MEN and that scene where Clive Owen is searching for the baby and mother in that ravaged apartment building? ONE shot.

Single shot scenes really bring you into the action! Combine that with immersive 3D in space and you have a sure winner. Can't wait! Huge anticipation for this movie guys!!

Morgan Freeman: RENDEVOUS WITH RAMA Still In The Works!

MTV got a chance to talk to Morgan Freeman during the recent RED junket and he confirmed rather clearly that Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA is still in the works.

Freeman: "That's a gotta be done movie. We just have to figure out how to do it. We've been trying for 15 years now to get a script, and you would think that it is easier than it is? It's not. It's really hard. (David) Fincher is still part of that conversation."

Check out the whole interview (rather short) below:



Here is the storyline from the novel (POTENTIAL SERIOUS SPOILERS):
The "Rama" of the title is an alien star ship, initially mistaken for an asteroid and named after the king Rama who is considered to be the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu (Clarke mentions that by the 22nd century, scientists have used the names of all the Greek and Roman mythological figures to name astronomical bodies, and have thus moved on to Hindu mythology). Asteroid 31/439 is detected by astronomers in the year 2130 while still outside the orbit of Jupiter. The object's speed (100 000 km/h) and the angle of its trajectory clearly indicate that this is not an object on a long orbit around our sun; it comes from interstellar space. Astronomers' interest is piqued when they realize that this asteroid not only has an extremely rapid 4 minute rotation period but it is quite large in size for an asteroid. An unmanned space probe dubbed Sita is launched from the Mars moon Phobos, and photographs taken during its rapid flyby reveal that Rama is a mathematically perfect cylinder, 20 kilometres in diameter and 54 kilometres long, made of a completely featureless material. In other words, this is humankind's first encounter with an alien space ship.

The manned solar survey vessel Endeavour is sent to study Rama, as it is the only ship close enough to do so in the brief period of time Rama will spend in our solar system. Endeavour manages to rendezvous with Rama one month after the space ship first comes to Earth's attention, when the giant alien spacecraft already is within Venus' orbit. The 20+ crew, led by Commander Norton, enters Rama and explores the vast 16-km wide by 50-long cylindrical world of its interior, but the nature and purpose of the starship and its creators remains enigmatic throughout the book.

The only lifeforms are the cybernetic "biots" who completely ignore the humans, and who are busy all about the spacecraft, appearing to be prepping Rama for a major upcoming maneuver. After several adventures and misadventures, including a 1 gigaton nuclear missile fired from Mercury with the intent of destroying Rama, Endeavour is finally forced to leave a few weeks later as Rama moves too close to the Sun for Endeavour's cooling systems to compensate. Rama is then flung out of the solar system toward an unknown location in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud, harnessing the Sun's gravitational field with its mysterious "space drive" for use in a slingshot maneuver.

I REALLY hope this thing gets made. Freeman has earned the right to champion a movie like this to fruition and quite frankly it deserves to be made. This classic novel belongs on the big screen and in stereoscopic 3D!

More when I get it... Thanks for the heads up Adam!

Alexandre Aja Biting Into COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE Next?

I really don't know what to expect with the upcoming release of Alexandre Aja's PIRANHA 3D this weekend. On one hand, I am a big Aja fan (THE HILLS HAVE EYES, MIRRORS) but on the other hand the super advance word on this movie is 'cheese', but that may have changed in the editing room after getting feedback - or it could have just been a vicious attack for no reason. I do know that no movie critics have been allowed to preview the movie. I am an eternal optimist though, so I will be the first in line.

This brings me to Aja's next project: He has been talking (via Collider) about writing and directing an adaptation of the Japanese manga COBRA THE SPACE PIRATE, which he grew up watching on TV in Europe.

Here is a breakdown of the manga:
The series follows the adventures of Cobra who lived an ordinary life until enemies started to hunt him down. Cobra surgically alters his face, and erases his own memory to hide from his enemies. Cobra starts to regain his memories and then unites with his old partner Lady Armaroid and his ship Tortuga. Later in his adventures, Cobra meets the Royal sisters whose map-tattoos lead to treasure. The Cobra manga has also spawned nine sequel series… [and] later served as the basis for a feature-length film adaptation, a 31-episode anime series that retells the film’s story, and two original video animations.

So what does Aja have to say about the project (via Deadline)?
“I grew up dreaming about Cobra. My day was, finish school, run home and switch on the TV and I was hardly the only one. Kids did it in France, Italy, Spain, all over Western Europe. For many people there is Star Wars and nothing else, but for me and my writing partner Gregory, there is Star Wars and Cobra. I am so surprised it never crossed the ocean and made the same impact in the U.S., because it is so big everywhere else. There are 60 books, a lot of TV animation and so many adventures, pirates and bad guys that it is perfect to be reinvented into a really cool space opera adventure franchise for a new generation.”

“It should be in 3D, science fiction and 3D are a good mix. I’ll start work on the script soon, but I have been carrying this inside me for thirty years and we are talking to the creature designers of films like Avatar and Star Trek, building a new world and doing it the right way.”

Looks like Aja and I are going to get along just fine. We'll see how well his PIRANHA 3D conversion works out for him, and he has plenty of time to decide to shoot in native 3D or not for his next project.

I just want to see a Hollywood adaptation of a good Manga. We are still waiting on Cameron's BATTLE ANGEL and Spielberg's GHOST IN THE SHELL to name a couple of other top line projects.

Glad to see Aja has landed on the 3D side of Hollywood's creativity line! Bring it on Alex...

PLANET OF THE APES Prequel Perhaps Coming In 3D!!

Jim here. Wow. Big news here: Fox is investing in their PLANET OF THE APES franchise with a prequel entitled RISE OF THE APES (tentative title). Variety reports that 20th Century Fox will release the scifi thriller June 24, 2011.

Here is the kicker! Peter Jackson's Weta has partnered with Fox to deliver the effects for the movie which promise photo real apes for the first time ever.

From Variety: RISE OF THE APES is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of war for supremacy.

Rupert Wyatt is directing, Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa writing with Peter Chermin and Dylan Clark producing.

Stunning isn't it? Many of Fox's tentpoles are going to be 3D in the coming years and, coupled with Weta's involvement, this points rather hopefully toward three dimensions for RISE OF THE APES. Sounds completely up my alley and with the Weta team behind the ape project, I am totally stoked. Who is with me? :-)

FLASH GORDON Going 3D!

Jim here. Am I surprised anymore at the number of sci-fi and horror movies that are going S3D? Nope. It is really more about what projects get green lit at all and which ones don't.

Breck Eisner (THE CRAZIES), director just spilled the beans to Collider that FLASH GORDON will be in 3D. Native 3D? Well judging by Eisner's choice of words I would say no: "Yes, this will definitely be a 3D movie. Like I said, when it’s the right kind of movie, you want to use the right kind of technology, so we intend to shoot it for 3D."

"...shoot it FOR 3D." Sounds like a 2D shoot that is optimized for a post production conversion to 3D. This is not confirmed, but certainly rings about right.

Here is what Eisner had to say about the movie itself: "Flash Gordon is a project I’ve been pursuing for years. It’s a true passion of mine. Sci-fi is a real passion of mine. And I finally got it set up at Sony and we hired the two writers, [Matt] Sazama and [Burk] Sharpless. I’ve been breaking story with them since I finished post on The Crazies, for the last two months or so. We finished that process; we’re now putting pen to paper, or keys to keyboard, and writing the script. We should have that in a month or two. And I think we have an awesome story. It’s not in any way connected to the camp of the ’80’s and it’s not connected to the serials of the ’50’s. It’s very much looking back to the original Alex Raymond strips; it’s imagining that Alex Raymond were to draw the strips today instead of in the ’30’s and ’40s and what would they be? It’ll be action and adventure; it’ll be aggressive and dynamic and intense with a really strong lead character who goes on an interesting personal journey over the course of the movie."

Sounds like he has got a good grip on what needs to be done with FLASH GORDON to make it a success. I know the 1980's version left a lot to be desired. We will keep our ear to the ground on this one and watch for telltale signs of his direction in THE CRAZIES. Early of course, but I think FG could turn out to be well worth watching.

Check out the remainder of the interview at Collider.

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I am going to talk a bit more about the movie Outlander coming up soon - you know the Jim Caviezel, Ron Perlman, John Hurt movie with yours truly in it! Some more behind the scenes fodder. Stay tuned! Outlander (The Weinstein Company) is coming out later this year...