Movie News After Dark
The day’s big headlines in bite-size portions.
If the Blade Runner 2049 trailer released the other day with its sun-scorched landscape, hazy atmosphere, and desert-esque desolation made you think the world of the film had been drastically altered since last we saw it, these seven photos released exclusively to EW should take you back (or forward?) to the dystopic megacity we all know and love.
No new big surprises here, other than our first look at Ana Del Armas (Knock Knock, War Dogs), the film’s female lead, but we have learned direct from the mouth of director Denis Villeneuve that the film will be R-rated, as was the original. With as much stuff as we’ve seen this week, it seems tough to believe we have to wait almost a year to see the finished film, but October 6th is the release date, so your sci-fi jones will have to be sated by Alien: Covenant first. Until then, check out the photos below.
But while we’re on the subject of Denis Villeneuve, between Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 he’s become the next big thing in sci-fi, and his next project is pretty much going to place him at the top of the genre: Variety is reporting he’s in talks for another big-screen adaptation of Dune. There’s not much more to the story than that, but man oh man, Dune is a project that deserves a faithful, big-time, quality adaptation, and for my money and apparently Legendary Entertainment’s, Villeneuve is the man.
Dune was previously made into a feature by David Lynch, who took over from Alejandro Jodorowsky, but that version, to put it politely, was a catastrophic failure. With more than a dozen books in the Dune-iverse, is Villeneuve the man to finally bring this saga in all its glory to the silver screen? SPOILER ALERT: yes, yes he is.
If you’ve read Erik Larson’s non-fiction book The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America about the country’s first (well-known) serial killer H.H.H. Holmes, who plagued the Chicago World’s Fair at the turn of the last century, then you know it has “movie” written all over it. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio knew it, too, so he purchased the rights to the book way back in 2010 with an eye to star in the project for his number one collaborator Martin Scorsese. The road to development has been a little rocky based on scheduling issues, but now that Scorsese has completed and is releasing this week his passion project Silence, the road has been cleared and the first tentative steps to the sixth collaboration between the actor and director has begun.
Speaking to Sun Media, Scorsese said:
“Right now, there is a script being worked on. One of the things that I had to stop for the past six months [to complete ‘Silence’] was my meetings on that script. They want me to start again in January and see if we can find a way because it’s an extraordinary story.”
Okay, so admittedly, that’s not the most solid piece of news, but it’s still the most definitive we’ve had on the project since we heard DiCaprio had the rights. Whenever The Devil in the White City is ready to shoot, it won’t be Scorsese’s next film, that’s The Irishman which reunites him with actors Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel and sees him work with Al Pacino for the first time. That film is in pre-production now for a 2018 release, so if Devil is coming, it’s after that. Silence, however, opens wide this week, and to commemorate the occasion there’s a brand new international trailer which I’ve embedded below. Watch it, then get thee to a theater.
If ever there was going to be a spiritual cousin to Twin Peaks, that cousin is apparently the CW’s take on the Archie Comics world, Riverdale, set to premiere next month. Besides boasting Madchen Amick in the cast (Shelly from TP), Riverdale seemingly mirrors pretty much everything else about that other series: small, unassuming town into which a murder ripples the social fabric, bringing to light myriad indiscretions swept under the rug, a teen-centric cast indulging in decidedly-adult behavior, that dark-woods atmosphere, a predilection for diner food, and a fixation with water. When I heard about this show, I’ll admit it, I wrote it off as another of the network’s melodramatic situational dramas, but once the footage started rolling in, I shut my fool mouth and now count myself among the legions eagerly waiting to see just how this plays out. Another trailer was released yesterday, and it will only pique your curiosity further. One thing is for sure: this ain’t your mama’s Archie Andrews. The pilot drops on January 26th.
And lastly today, we thought we’d leave you with a little bedtime story of sorts, via the cool, craggy, deep and melodic voice of Liam Neeson. What we’ve got here is the actor reading the first chapter of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls, the film adaptation of which stars Neeson as the titular monster. No movie makeup or CGI here though, just the man staring you straight in the eyes as he tells his tale, interspersed with clips from the film, which releases January 9th. If you got kids, gather them ‘round for Uncle Liam’s tall tale.
That’s all the news that’s fit to type. See you tomorrow night, film fans.
