Tag: James McAvoy

Bacon & Lawrence Join X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Cast

THR’s Heat Vision is reporting that Jennifer Lawrence, the actress who’s been getting rave reviews for her work in WINTER’S BONE, has been cast as Mystique in Fox’s X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. They go on to say that 20th Century Fox  and director Matthew Vaughn have been furiously casting the movie, which focuses on Marvel’s superpowered team X-Men in a younger incarnation than the previous trilogy.

The role is a big jump in terms of exposure for Lawrence, who is generating awards buzz for WINTER’S BONE, and also marks her first studio feature. The actress is about to topline thriller THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET, which begins production in Ottawa in August, and will then segue to England for X-MEN.

Kevin Bacon is playing the villain, but as of now his identity is a tightly guarded secret. Ahhh Damn. This keeps Bacon from the next TREMORS movie that I was SOOO counting on, TREMORS: THE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER.

Before Charles Xavier ( James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-MEN.

Nicholas Hoult, Alive Eve, Caleb Landry Jones and Aaron Johnson also star. Conceived by Bryan Singer, written by Jane Goldman, and directed by Matthew Vaughn (KICK-ASS), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS begins shooting in London later this summer and will be in theaters on June 3, 2011.

Source: Heat Vision/The Hollywood Reporter

X-Clusive X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Possible Casting News

WAMG has what is some possible casting news on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.

On Saturday night, during the “V.I.P. Meet and Greet” for the ‘Celebrate TWILIGHT Night: ECLIPSE’ here in St. Louis, Jack Houston “Royce King” of TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE told us,

“I just recently returned from England from a screen test for X-MEN: FIRST CLASS.”

Prior to the evening’s event, Houston met with our own Melissa Howland during the press junket and enthusiastically spoke of his upcoming work on Al Pacino’s WILDE SALOME and Scorsese “Boardwalk Empire” from HBO, but said nothing about an audition. Unfortunately, before we could ask him for which role he specifically auditioned for, Huston’s security team whisked him away to the next event.

With producers Bryan Singer and Lauren Schuler Donner still casting the remaining roles for X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, Huston could indeed find himself being part of another big franchise. So X-MEN fans…which big character from the upcoming film is left to cast?

As Showbiz411.com reported, Michael Fassbender (Magneto) will join James McAvoy (Professor Xavier) and Benjamin Walker (Hank “Beast” McCoy) in director Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming blockbuster about Marvel’s superhero team of X-Men in their youth. According to Deadline Hollywood, Alice Eve is now in negotiations to play Emma Frost. From 20th Century Fox, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has a scheduled start date of August 2010 and is due to hit theaters on June 3, 2011.

Anna Kendrick and Jonathan Levine are WITH CANCER

UP IN THE AIR Oscar hopeful Anna Kendrick and ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE and THE WACKNESS director (and past WeAreMovieGeeks guest blogger) Jonathan Levine have both signed on to respectively co-star and direct the film until recently titled I’M WITH CANCER.   According to a release from Mandate Pictures, they will be joining the project which already has James McAvoy and Seth Rogen attached to star.

Written by Will Reiser, the film stars McAvoy as a young man who learns he has the disease.   The screenplay was based on Reiser’s actual accounts of battling and successfully winning against cancer.   Kendrick has signed on to star as the young psychologist who helps McAvoy’s character cope.

Principal photography is set to begin in February in Vancouver.   We just want to give a hearty congratulations to Levine, a truly gifted director and an awesome guy to boot.

Robert Redford to Direct Lincoln Assassination Film

robert redford

It looks as if Robert Redford might be stepping in to take charge where Steven Spielberg is dragging his feet.   Redford won’t be doing a film about the life of Abraham Lincoln, though.   Instead, he will be directing ‘The Conspirator,’ a film about Mary Surratt, one of the conspirators behind the Lincoln assassination.   The screenplay was written by “The Bronx is Burning” scribe, James Soloman.

Surratt was a boardinghouse owner in DC.   She sympathized with the Confederates during the Civil War and supplied John Wilkes Booth and David Herold with weapons after the assassination had been completed.   Redford’s film will also deal with a young, Union soldier named Frederick Aiken who believed the woman to be innocent and who was appointed to defend her.

No casting has been completed, though, according to Risky Biz Blog, James McAvoy is near the top of the list, probably for the role of Aiken.   Produced by Greg Shapiro, Rob and Web Stone and Brian Peter Falk, ‘The Conspirator’ looks to begin shooting sometime in the Fall.

‘Wanted 2’ Finds a Tiggerish Screenwriter

wanted10

No, we will not be seeing James McAvoy wearing a red shirt and no pants.   No, we probably won’t be seeing Angelina Jolie in orange and black striped bouncing on a springy tail.   We probably won’t be seeing Ms. Jolie, at all.   The sequel to last summer’s high-intensity actioner, ‘Wanted,’ is being birthed, and Universal has tapped screenwriter  Evan Spiliotopoulos to punch out a screenplay.

In case you don’t recognize Spiliotopoulos’ name, or, if the Pooh euphemisms above are lost on you, then you probably should know that this is the same screenwriter who co-wrote ‘Pooh’s Heffalump Movie.’ Â  Quite a leap from one project to the next, don’t you think?

Timur  Bekmambetov is attached to direct the sequel, which is based on  the comic series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.   No word yet on whether McAvoy is returning, or if he’s stuck in a hole in his house.   Okay.   Winnie-the-Pooh jokes are over.

What do you think? Â  Does ‘Wanted’ deserve a sequel? Â  Is the co-writer of a film like ‘Pooh’s Heffalump Movie’ the right choice to adapt this? Â  Are you still reeling that Ram-Man put ‘Wanted’ on his best of 2008 list? Â  Let us know by commenting below!

TTFN.

Source: THR

Review: ‘Wanted’ 2-Disc Special Edition…

We raved about ‘Wanted’ after we watched in theaters and it still holds the entertaining aspect as well on DVD, but now you get a few extra features that you didn’t see in theaters.

Here is my review of the movie:

This has to be one of the most entertaining movies since ‘Shoot Em Up’, but this movie was done on a much larger scale. The casting was absolutely flawless†¦ James McAvoy was funny in the humorous scenes, but you could still buy him as a new up and coming bad ass assassin. Oh, and Angelina Jolie was a pure sex kitten! Morgan Freeman turned in a great performance and delivers one of the greatest lines in the movie†¦ “Kill this Mother%&$*er†, it was old school and had perfect execution. The movie stretches itself around a few things that you just have to buy into for the movie, curving bullets, flipping cars, a bath that can heal even the deepest of wounds (knife through the hand) in a matter of hours.

This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, twists and plows through action craving emotions and leaves no apologies. This movie is like the best one night stand of your life, and when you wake up she is gone never to be heard from again†¦

Here is what you can expect for the bonus features:

There isn’t a whole lot to the bonus disk, you get an extended scene, a digital copy of the movie(which is awesome if you rock an iPhone or iPod), and a few behind the scene’s features. Its definitely worth a watch if you really dug the movie.

The thing I am disappointed in, is the fact that the sex scene between James McAvoy’s character, and Jolie’s character wasn’t included. If you remember back he mentioned this in an interview and how it was very intimidating for him. Bummer, maybe we will see that in a super delux edition down the road sometime.

All in all you should definitely buy this DVD, or try to WIN A FREE COPY from us…

WAMG First Look at ‘The Last Station’

The film, based on the book The Last Station, is about the life of famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer). Mirren plays his wife Sofya. The much in demand James McAvoy plays Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy’s secretary. Mirren and Plummer were replacements for Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins. Paul Giamatti also co-stars. The film is being directed by Michael Hoffman, whose biggest hit to date was the Pfeiffer/Clooney romantic comedy One Fine Day (1996). But since this is a period bio will we see it in this years Oscar race? Hoffman’s only Oscar film previously was the 17th century drama Restoration (1995) which won  for costume design & art direction.

Helen Mirren has another big year ahead of her with  three films coming our way. The other biggies are an A list ensemble crime thriller (State of Play) and one true story about a brothel in Nevada (Love Ranch) directed by her husband Taylor Hackford (Ray).

Review: ‘Wanted’

The movie geeks all showed out last night for ‘Wanted’, and we all have a great opinion on this flick. Hit the read more to see all of our reviews, this movie will definitely not disappoint anyone! We gave this movie a collective rating of [rating: 4/5]

Continue reading Review: ‘Wanted’