I'm fairly confident this will be the highest grossing movie I see in cinemas this year. Whether Captain Jack Sparrow will defeat Transformers, Captain America or Cars 2 remains to be seen - nevertheless the haul for this nautical juggernaut will be substantial. As you know it made my most anticipated movie list for the year, and I expect to see the usual hijinks and fun that we expect from the series - just hopefully more focussed than At World's End.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is released on 20 May 2011.
Showing posts with label On Stranger Tides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label On Stranger Tides. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Tuesday Trailers - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Sunday, 23 January 2011
20 for 2011: 6 - Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Sailing into number 6 on the countdown is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Proving I'm as vacuous and empty-headed as most movie goers, like a pre-programmed automaton I will flock to see the fourth peaen to commercialism that is the Pirates series of films. It's hard to imagine any of these years crop of releases claiming the box office crown of 2011, only the new Transformers film has any remote chance (Pixar have only a sequel to a middling performer, the coic book releases are minor characters and Potter and Twilight never seem to be able to make that final leap to the top).
That won't be the only reason to watch, from the trailer there looks to be a scenery chewing competition between Rush and Ian McShane as Blackbeard, not to mention Johnny Depp coming back to do a caricature of his previous performances of Jack Sparrow. It'll be interesting to see if Rob Marshall can carry off action scenes with the same talent he displays with his musicals (all cuts and close-ups, with most of it happening in the characters heads).
I expect my comments come across as cynical, given my thoughts why would this juggernaut appear so high on the countdown? Does the relentless selling of the movie compensate for my fear of it's history? Apparantly so. And to be honest I'll probably leave my brain at the door and just have bit of fun watching it.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Amnesia again (Film News - 06/11/10)
It's not been the busiest week for news, only a couple of new projects kicking off, but there has been an avalanche of casting rumours and with our monthly scour of IMDb there are a load more potential movies that have begun the production process.
Trap for Cinderella
Loss of memory has been a plot standby of thrillers since cinema began, no matter how unlikely it actually is it's amazingly how many characters wake up next to a corpse with no idea of how they got there. So whilst this latest take on the subgenre may lack originality it's good to see it's going to be taken seriously.
Iain Softley is directing and producing this production which sees it's main character (Micky) wake up terribly burned after a house fire in which her childhood friend (Do) has been killed. But is Micky really Do and is she really involved in the attempted murder of herself. Or something like that.
Sure this sounds like first class tosh, but we're a little short on new films this week so bare with me.
I'm not completely sure how Cinderella is involved with this story. I suspect there's a major subplot I've not picked up on yet...
Read on for recurring nightmares and literally half a dozen casting moves.
Darkchylde
John Carpenter may have spent the last eight years or so hiding in a box (I know that isn't true but he may as well have been) but it seems he's returned with a new vigour. The Ward, his latest horror, is set to hit cinemas early in the new year and he's also signed up for this comic book adaptation. It concerns the recurring nightmares of Ariel Chylde (pictured right, I don't think this is a comic for kids), nightmares about strange demonic beasts, and nightmares that reach a whole new level when she begins to transform into the beasts during the day times.
I don't know whether this is part of a planned franchise or a stand alone movie but expect Ariel to be investigating the background of the creatures whilst fighting for control of her own psyche.
Casting News
I said it was mainly casting didn't I? So the latest dogged rumours are as follows: both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are interested in reuniting with Jesse James director Andrew Dominik for his next crime thriller, now entitled Cogan's Child, the hunt for the next batman female lead goes on with Charlize Theron and Vera Farmiga both in talks with Christopher Nolan, the long list for Daisy in Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby with Keira Knightley, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams all in contention, the follow up to Valentine's Day (New Years Eve) does have a growing cast list including Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin and Reese Witherspoon - but why does that seem such a boring trio of actresses, Judi Dench is apparently due to snog Johnny Depp in a Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides cameo and Francis Ford Coppola's horror project, Twixt now and sunrise, is picking up more names with Alden Ehrenreich and David Paymer both linked.
Depp wonders which way to tip his head when kissing Dame Judi.
Production News
And if all those castings weren't enough here's a long line of new films that have kicked into production (most of which we already knew about). Francis Ford Coppola gets his second mention of the post as Twixt now and Sunrise is not only in production but already filming. Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo and Garry Marhall's New Year's Eve have finally shifted from in development to pre production (even though they both already had release dates). World War 2 Native American story Bless Me, Ultima has started filming, Bryan Singer is moving on with Jack the Giant Killer, The Hobbit (parts 1 and 2) look like they will be happening soon, filming has begun on The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Spielberg has decided that his next project will be Robopocalypse and James Cameron is putting all of his efforts into Avatar 2 and Avatar 3.
The following two movies were surprises though when I looked them up:
Ghost of Munich
Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest) has been mulling over adapting Georges-Marc Benamou's novel about a postwar journalist's investigation into the 1939 Munich conference (famously attended by Hitler and Neville Chamberlain) for several years so it's a pleasant surprise to see it's back on his things to do list.
Too Big to Fail
I originally thought this look at the collapse of the banking system was going to be made for TV, hence I ignored the earlier news stories, but looking at the details it looks like a cinematic release may be on the cards. With Curtis Hanson directing a cast that includes James Woods, Michael O'Keefe, Paul Giamatti and William Hurt that has to be a good thing. 
Wall Street financial markets - collapse not included.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Film News (13/02/09)
You just can't move without finding exciting news stories this week, overall there have been 13 different press releases that have struck me as projects to look out for. That's pretty much a record for me and as a result this weeks post will be scattershot, focusless and messy. Hang on that's every Saturday news post only even worse. And on to it...
Contagion
I think we all know that I am a huge fan of Steven Soderbergh. Frankly I think he's a genius, with an enormous output and a clever way of balancing high-profile marquee productions with more intimate experimental work. This week it was announced he's working on Contagion, an international deadly virus thriller. It's not the sort of thing that has been tried on such a massive scale before (most virus plots focus on small communities such as Outbreak). It's definitely going to be one of his bigger pictures with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Kate Winslet all circling roles.
Here's a flu virus in action - Steven Soderbergh not pictured.
Read on for Penelope, Rachel and Cate casting news, 70's comedies, US Presidents, metaphoric violence, original musicals, Russian spys and social satires!
Dream House
Our first major casting story is the addition of Rachel Weisz to the it's-not-a-remake-but-sounds-exactly-the-same-as-Cold-Creek-Manor Dream House. She will be married to Daniel Craig, which in itself is quite a dreamy proposition.
Hanna
Also signing on to a new project is Cate Blanchett, who has taken an unnamed role in Joe Wright's child trained to kill flick. This shouldn't be a big surprise as there's a big hole in her schedule where Wright postponed his Lady Mountbatten/Nehru picture for Hanna in the first place.
Laverne and Shirley/New Years Eve
There seems to be some confusion about what's next on Garry Marshall's slate. New Line, sensing box office gold with this weekends Valentine's Day have already started the ball rolling on a sequel - that is using the same concept of a star studded selection of relationships all intersecting on New Years Day. Names in the hat for who'll be in that one.
In the meantime Garry's been joking(?) on the red carpets that's he's planning a big screen adaptation of "Laverne and Shirley" - the long running spin-off from "Happy Days". I'll confess I don't know the series so I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing.
Personally I'm planning on seeing Marshall's latest magnum opus this afternnon so I'll get back to you on whether I think he should be allowed behind a camera again.
Untitled LBJ Biopic
From the austin360.com website (I think it's just a local arts/tourism site) comes the news that Robert Benton is prepping for a biopic about 36th US President Lyndon B. Johnson. All we know from the story, which can be found here, is that filming will likely take place elsewhere in order to receive more favourable tax cuts. It seems that would be bad news for the Texan economy. HBO are producing so this may or may not get a theatrical release, but either way the story of LBJ is probably ripe for the telling.
Little War of Our Own
Beacon pictures have picked up Dan (The Hurricane, Murder in the First) Gordon's script about a small town drifting towards violence during the second world war, effectively mirroring the international political scene at the time. It will up to the Sheriff to keep the peace before it's too late. This could be a modern western, or just pure allegory, either way it may just work.
Melancholia/Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Penelope Cruz has hit the headlines for signing on to two widely diverse projects. The first is Lars von Trier's catastrodrama Melancholia, and the second will be seeing her square off to Johnny Depp in the next Pirates installment. Both projects, which I'll be honest I was probably going to see anyway, have just got a lot more interesting.
Robocop
The remake of the seminal 80's action thriller is not yet dead in the water. In spite of rumours that Darren Aronofsky was against shooting in 3D and that MGM were equally reticent about the R rating the director favours, writer David Self is convinced the project is still go. There are certainly practicalities about the production that need to be finalised as there would be when dealing with a "large corporation" but there's nothing major in the way. Other than Aronofsky's Black Swan, which is due to be released later this year, of course.
Song is You
Based on the novel about Arthur Philips, the story revoles around a middle aged commercial director, going through a bad patch in his life (I'm mentally casting Paul Giamatti) who feels a connection with a club singing ingenue. A tenous romance then plays out with him guiding her career and her becoming his inspiration to reinvigorate his life. Sounds dreadful - only the plan is to make a musical about it. I hope thet means original songs. There are so few musicals writeen directly for screen that I hope they're good when they do try.
The Terminal Spy
Do you remember when there were multiple Alexander Litveninko project hangiong around Hollywood, with Johnny Depp being very vocal about his wish to play the former KGB spy? Well finally one of these is beginning to get moving with news that the authoritive Alan S. Cowell's investigative best-seller is being developed. He's the former chief of the London Bureau of the New York Times so it'll be well researched and at the same time won't hesitate from pointing the finger where it needs to be pointed. Whther any adaptation will be able to fit in the complexities of the case, or whether Depp will be involved in this one remains to be seen.
Turn of the Century
Finally I'm turing to on of the most promising directors of the 1970's, but equally one who never really made good on that original promise: Peter Bogdanovich. It's been 9 years since his underrated Cat's Meow so we're certainly due this Kurt Anderson adaptation. The novel has been favourably compared to the yuppie classic "Bonfire of the Vanities", a social satire which should fit Bogdanovich's style. Let's hope it does - I want to see a re-emergence of the once feted auteur.
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