Watching the new The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, it’s hard – make that impossible – not to compare it to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, another summer 2012 movie based on comic books, featuring a distraught superhero, terrifying villains, and a major attack in New York City a.k.a. Gotham City. So, which one comes out on top, Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne / Batman or Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man?
Well, perhaps both, depending on who’s watching. Whereas Warner Bros.’ somber-toned The Dark Knight Rises is clearly aimed at a more adult crowd, The Amazing Spider-Man‘s distributor Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures is apparently after the teenage and pre-teen crowd – notice the brighter colors, juvenile humor, emphasis on action and explosions – with just enough psychological conflict to let us know The Amazing Spider-Man is not all about big kabooms and funky costumes.
Something else that comes to mind: Will audiences embrace Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker the way they embraced Tobey Maguire’s a decade ago? If so, is there hope for a post-Christopher Nolan, post-Christian Bale Batman in the near future? Or, for that matter, a post-Robert Pattinson Edward Cullen, or a post-Daniel Radcliffe Harry Potter? Just a thought.
After all, the Batman, Twilight, and Harry Potter franchises have earned their studios’ hundreds of million of dollars. Would they be willing to let go of those for good?
In addition to Andrew Garfield, The Amazing Spider-Man features The Help‘s Emma Stone, Longtime Companion‘s Campbell Scott, Apocalypse Now‘s Martin Sheen, Norma Rae‘s Sally Field, Notting Hill‘s Rhys Ifans, Shark Night 3D‘s Chris Zylka, The Secret Lives of Dentists’ Denis Leary, Life of Pi‘s Irrfan, Red Dawn‘s C. Thomas Howell, and Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.
(500) Days of Summer‘s Marc Webb directed from a screenplay by Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3‘s Alvin Sargent and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ Steve Kloves. The Amazing Spider-Man opens July 3.
Andrew Garfield ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Trailer 3: Haunted Son
“This life is not an easy one,” says Andrew Garfield / Peter Parker in this latest The Amazing Spider-Man trailer. (Please scroll down.) “I’ve made enemies,” adds Parker / Garfield. “Powerful enemies. I’ve put those I love in danger. But the one thing that has haunted me my entire life is finding the truth about my parents.” One of Peter Parker’s (a.k.a. Spider-Man’s) enemies is The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Another is Emma Stone’s father, who has 500 cops looking for poor Peter.
With The Lizard, the monolithic Oscorp Corporation, and the useless cops after him, what’s a Marvel superhero to do? Call his fellow The Avengers? Nope. Come and get the truth about his parents. And weave a web or two throughout New York City along the way. [Text has been amended, as Spider-Man not a DC superhero.]
In addition to Andrew Garfield, Rhys Ifans, and Emma Stone, The Amazing Spider-Man features Longtime Companion‘s Campbell Scott as Peter Parker’s father (which means that Peter’s grandparents were George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst), Apocalypse Now‘s Martin Sheen, two-time Oscar winner Sally Field (Norma Rae, Places in the Heart), Shark Night 3D‘s Chris Zylka, The Secret Lives of Dentists’ Denis Leary, Life of Pi‘s Irrfan, Red Dawn‘s C. Thomas Howell, and Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.
(500) Days of Summer‘s Marc Webb directed from a screenplay by Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3‘s Alvin Sargent and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ Steve Kloves. The Amazing Spider-Man opens July 3.
Romeo and Juliet: Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth
‘Romeo and Juliet’ for ‘Twilight’ Crowd
Starring LOL‘s Douglas Booth and True Grit‘s Hailee Steinfeld, a new version of Romeo and Juliet is currently being shopped around at the Cannes Film Festival.
Partly financed by Austrian design house Swarovski, this latest adaptation of Shakespeare’s love story was written by Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and directed by Carlo Carlei. A Best New Director David di Donatello nominee for The Flight of the Innocent (1993), Carlei’s previous English-language foray, the Matthew Modine vehicle Fluke, was a major box office flop in 1995. In recent years, Carlei has worked on Italian television; his most recent TV movie was a remake of Roberto Rossellini’s Il General della Rovere (2011), starring Pierfrancesco Favino in the old Vittorio De Sica role.
According to the Los Angeles Times blog 24 Frames, producer Ileen Maisel wants “every teenager in the world to come see” Romeo and Juliet. To make the narrative more accessible, the new movie offers its dialogue in “understandable iambic pentameter,” which, according to one of film’s publicists, is supposed to make this version a “Romeo and Juliet for the Twilight Generation.”
Well, Romeo and Juliet does play a key role in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. In Chris Weitz’s 2009 movie, the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) gets to recite a brief poem to the human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), and subsequent plot twists and turns lead the teenage couple to Italy and a, huh, near-death experience.
Now, making accessible film versions of Romeo and Juliet is nothing new. Directed by George Cukor, MGM’s 1936 adaptation starring Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard was a major box office hit. No one seemed to care that Shearer, 35, and Howard, 43, were old enough to be Romeo and Juliet’s parents.
Just as accessible and even more successful was the 1968 Best Picture Oscar nominee directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. That Romeo and Juliet grossed $38.9 million in North America, or approx. $230 million adjusted.
Among the other movie versions of Romeo and Juliet, which pop up much more frequently than once every generation, are several silent ones (even silent screen vamp Theda Bara got to play Juliet); Renato Castellani’s Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Romeo and Juliet (1954), starring Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall; and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
Not to mention Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ multiple Oscar-winning musical West Side Story (1961) and Eytan Fox’s Middle-East political drama / gay romance The Bubble (2006), respectively starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer / Ohad Knoller and Yousef Sweid as the star-crossed lovers.
Also in the (possibly) 2013 Romeo and Juliet cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Damien Lewis, Ed Westwick, Natascha McElhone, Paul Giamatti, Lesley Manville, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Christian Cooke, Laura Morante, Tomas Arana, and Tom Wisdom.
Romeo and Juliet (1968) box office: The Numbers. Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth / Romeo and Juliet photo: Swarovski Entertainment.
Julianne Moore ‘Carrie’: Fanatical Christian Mother
Julianne Moore is officially set to play Margaret White, the fanatical Christian mom in Carrie, Kimberly Peirce’s new film version of Stephen King’s novel. Chloë Grace Moretz will play the telekinetically adept debutante Carrie. In 1976, Brian De Palma’s original adaptation of the horror story made Sissy Spacek a star. Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Piper Laurie played Carrie’s mother in De Palma’s film.
Deadline.com is the source for this news and for negotiations going on between MGM / Screen Gems and Gabriella Wilde to play the role originated by Amy Irving. The Carrie remake – or readaptation – was penned by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
Julianne Moore has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997) and Stephen Daldry’s The Hours (2002), and Best Actress for Neil Jordan’s The End of the Affair (1999) and Todd Haynes’ Far from Heaven (2002). Earlier this year, Moore received widespread praise for her portrayal of US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in the HBO movie Game Change.
In addition to Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, and Amy Irving, the original Carrie cast featured Nancy Allen, William Katt, John Travolta, Betty Buckley, and Priscilla Pointer. Spacek lost the Best Actress Oscar to Network‘s Faye Dunaway. Laurie lost in the Best Supporting Actress category to another Network player, Beatrice Straight.
Julianne Moore / Far from Heaven photo: Focus Features.
Sam Claflin ‘The Quiet Ones’: Hammer Supernatural Thriller
Sam Claflin (William) Hammer Films’ supernatural thriller. Sam Claflin, Prince William in Snow White and the Huntsman, is set to co-star with Jared Harris in The Quiet Ones, a Hammer Films ghost movie.
Sam Claflin movies
Sam Claflin has two major feature films to his credit: Rob Marshall’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a domestic box office disappointment (in relation to previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies), but a major international blockbuster starring Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz; and Rupert Sanders’ upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman, in which Claflin plays Prince William / Prince Charming opposite Kristen Stewart’s Snow White, Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman, and Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen Ravenna. I should add that the IMDb lists only a third Sam Claflin movie credit: James Strong’s sports drama United.
Hammer’s The Quiet Ones
The Fast and the Furious executive producer and Quarantine 2: Terminal director John Pogue are the two forces behind The Quiet Ones, the story of a professor who leads several of his students in the creation of a poltergeist from negative human energy. Tom De Ville wrote the screenplay, with additional assistance from Pogue, Craig Rosenberg, and Oren Moverman.
Earlier this year, Hammer had a major international hit with the Daniel Radcliffe movie The Woman in Black, which took in $126.14 million worldwide. James Watkins directed.
Sam Claflin / The Quiet Ones source: Variety.
Andrew Garfield / The Amazing Spider-Man photo: Jaimie Trueblood / Columbia Pictures.
Andrew Garfield / Emma Stone / The Amazing Spider-Man photo: Jaimie Trueblood / Columbia Pictures.