You know that famous quote commonly attributed to Alexander the Great about how he wept when there were no more worlds to conquer? We're starting to think that Zack Snyder feels much the same way, except that his version of conquering the world is more about finding ways to re-release his movies with extra footage attached at all costs.
To be fair, this isn't exactly a new phenomenon for Snyder. His 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" reboot eventually led to an unrated cut down the line and his comic book movie "Watchmen" ended up with several different versions post-release. He pulled the same trick once again with both "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and, most infamously, his "Zack Snyder's Justice League" experiment that resulted in a completely different movie altogether compared to the theatrical cut. He's planning on returning to the exact same well with his two-part "Rebel Moon" epic...
To be fair, this isn't exactly a new phenomenon for Snyder. His 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" reboot eventually led to an unrated cut down the line and his comic book movie "Watchmen" ended up with several different versions post-release. He pulled the same trick once again with both "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and, most infamously, his "Zack Snyder's Justice League" experiment that resulted in a completely different movie altogether compared to the theatrical cut. He's planning on returning to the exact same well with his two-part "Rebel Moon" epic...
- 4/9/2024
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Director Ridley Scott, who is directing the biopic ‘Napoleon’ starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role, said he cast the Hollywood star after his Oscar winning performance as Arthur Fleck in ‘Joker’. As reported by Deadline, while speaking to Empire Magazine, Scott said: “I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte’. He looks like him.”
Phoenix went on to say that he was nostalgic at the idea of reuniting with the director after he had played the role of Roman Emperor Commodus in ‘Gladiator’ which garnered him critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination.
He told the outlet: “The truth is, there was just a very nostalgic idea of working with Ridley again. He’s approached me about other things in the past, but nothing that felt like it would be as demanding for both of us. And so I really liked the idea of jumping...
Phoenix went on to say that he was nostalgic at the idea of reuniting with the director after he had played the role of Roman Emperor Commodus in ‘Gladiator’ which garnered him critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination.
He told the outlet: “The truth is, there was just a very nostalgic idea of working with Ridley again. He’s approached me about other things in the past, but nothing that felt like it would be as demanding for both of us. And so I really liked the idea of jumping...
- 8/1/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
“Napoleon,” Ridley Scott’s historical epic about the French military leader, is nearly here (it’ll debut in theaters on Thanksgiving and on Apple TV+ at a later date). And in a new interview with Empire Magazine, Scott is revealing what made him think of Joaquin Phoenix when it came to the title role. As it turns out, while Scott and Phoenix previously worked together on 2000’s Oscar-winning “Gladiator,” the idea to cast Phoenix as Napoleon came to Scott while he was watching a different film: “Joker.”
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte.’ He looks like him,” Scott told Empire.
Elsewhere in the chat with Empire, Scott compared Napoleon to other historical figures while noting that Bonaparte was “extraordinary.”
“I compare him with Alexander The Great. Adolf Hitler. Stalin. Listen, he’s got a lot of bad s–t under his belt,” he said.
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte.’ He looks like him,” Scott told Empire.
Elsewhere in the chat with Empire, Scott compared Napoleon to other historical figures while noting that Bonaparte was “extraordinary.”
“I compare him with Alexander The Great. Adolf Hitler. Stalin. Listen, he’s got a lot of bad s–t under his belt,” he said.
- 7/31/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Arthur Fleck by way of Napoleon Bonaparte? According to “Napoleon” writer-director Ridley Scott, “Joker” is directly related to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in the upcoming period piece.
Scott revealed to Empire magazine that it was Phoenix’s turn in Todd Phillips’ DC film that led him to cast the “Gladiator” alum in “Napoleon.” Phoenix won the Best Actor Oscar for 2019’s “Joker.”
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte,'” Scott said of watching the film. “He looks like him.”
Scott continued of the real-life Bonaparte, “I compare him with Alexander the Great. Adolf Hitler. Stalin. Listen, he’s got a lot of bad shit under his belt. At the same time, he was remarkable with his courage, and in his can-do and in his dominance. He was extraordinary.”
In the joint Empire interview, Phoenix noted that “Napoleon” is not like a typical biopic...
Scott revealed to Empire magazine that it was Phoenix’s turn in Todd Phillips’ DC film that led him to cast the “Gladiator” alum in “Napoleon.” Phoenix won the Best Actor Oscar for 2019’s “Joker.”
“I’m staring at Joaquin and saying, ‘This little demon is Napoleon Bonaparte,'” Scott said of watching the film. “He looks like him.”
Scott continued of the real-life Bonaparte, “I compare him with Alexander the Great. Adolf Hitler. Stalin. Listen, he’s got a lot of bad shit under his belt. At the same time, he was remarkable with his courage, and in his can-do and in his dominance. He was extraordinary.”
In the joint Empire interview, Phoenix noted that “Napoleon” is not like a typical biopic...
- 7/31/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
On paper, "Alexander" looked like a surefire hit. Colin Farrell, who starred as the titular world-conqueror in the 2004 film, certainly thought so. And who could blame him? Helmed by an acclaimed director in Oliver Stone and featuring a stacked cast that included Sir Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Rosario Dawson, Val Kilmer, Jared Leto, and Christopher Plummer, it seemed like the perfect vehicle to catapult the young Irish actor to superstardom. The film also featured a very robust budget of 155 million, and every bit was needed to capture the scale and scope of Alexander the Great's life.
And then, the terrible reviews started to come in. The box office receipts didn't. Stone's epic biopic managed a measly 34 million domestic, and barely scraped past its budget worldwide with 167 million, all told. A mere four years after his breakout role in "Tigerland," Farrell started to question his own talent and the future...
And then, the terrible reviews started to come in. The box office receipts didn't. Stone's epic biopic managed a measly 34 million domestic, and barely scraped past its budget worldwide with 167 million, all told. A mere four years after his breakout role in "Tigerland," Farrell started to question his own talent and the future...
- 1/29/2023
- by Jeff Kelly
- Slash Film
Colin Farrell has the Brad Pitt curse; he has the talent of a character actor but he's too hot to be anything but a leading man. As such, Hollywood didn't quite know what to do with him during his breakout in the 2000s.
I'd point to two directors who best understand how to use Farrell. First, there's the man who discovered him: Joel Schumacher. In their second collaboration, "Phone Booth," Farrell played Stu Shepard, a sleazy PR operative who has to confront his sins. Some early proof he was more than just a pretty boy.
Then there's Martin McDonagh, director of "In Bruges" which is, for my money, still Farrell's best movie. When I watched Farrell play Ray, a fledgling hitman hiding out in Belgium after a job gone wrong, I realized what a great, and hilarious, actor he can be. The resulting story is the funniest movie ever made...
I'd point to two directors who best understand how to use Farrell. First, there's the man who discovered him: Joel Schumacher. In their second collaboration, "Phone Booth," Farrell played Stu Shepard, a sleazy PR operative who has to confront his sins. Some early proof he was more than just a pretty boy.
Then there's Martin McDonagh, director of "In Bruges" which is, for my money, still Farrell's best movie. When I watched Farrell play Ray, a fledgling hitman hiding out in Belgium after a job gone wrong, I realized what a great, and hilarious, actor he can be. The resulting story is the funniest movie ever made...
- 1/29/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Nothing beats a good villain theme. Yet despite being the world's dominant media franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't produced many memorable character themes (I'll defer an explanation to Every Frame a Painting), and there are even fewer villains with a signature leitmotif.
That doesn't mean they don't have unofficial villain songs, though. In a recent interview for the upcoming issue of Total Film, which hits shelves next Thursday, Jonathan Majors revealed he brought his own theme for Kang the Conqueror to the set of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." While director Peyton Reed and star Paul Rudd were listening to '80s New Romantic bands, Majors was getting into the mindset of a conqueror with the rap song "9mm." A track on David Banner's 2008 album "The Greatest Story Ever Told," the song features Akon, Lil Wayne, and Snoop Dogg.
The lyrics are just one part of the sound in "9mm,...
That doesn't mean they don't have unofficial villain songs, though. In a recent interview for the upcoming issue of Total Film, which hits shelves next Thursday, Jonathan Majors revealed he brought his own theme for Kang the Conqueror to the set of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." While director Peyton Reed and star Paul Rudd were listening to '80s New Romantic bands, Majors was getting into the mindset of a conqueror with the rap song "9mm." A track on David Banner's 2008 album "The Greatest Story Ever Told," the song features Akon, Lil Wayne, and Snoop Dogg.
The lyrics are just one part of the sound in "9mm,...
- 1/28/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
“Inspirations for Kang — Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar. Start there,” Jonathan Majors told us at Deadline’s Sundance studio recently about his influences for playing Marvel’s next giant villain, Kang the Conqueror.
“Counterpoints, which is also important in creating character is to figure out how does he encounter people,” the Primetime Emmy nominee added.
“‘You’re smart, watch out how smart I am. You can look at Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, that’s the superhero of superheroes, etc.”
“In order to be the super villains of super villains, how do I counter-act that in the zeitgeist?,” explains Majors about his acting discovery process for Kang, “I could write a book on this at this point.”
Majors’ Kang the Conqueror made his debut in the Marvel/Disney+ series Loki. If you haven’t been watching, in the next subsequent phase of the MCU, Kang is the next big baddie after Thanos,...
“Counterpoints, which is also important in creating character is to figure out how does he encounter people,” the Primetime Emmy nominee added.
“‘You’re smart, watch out how smart I am. You can look at Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, that’s the superhero of superheroes, etc.”
“In order to be the super villains of super villains, how do I counter-act that in the zeitgeist?,” explains Majors about his acting discovery process for Kang, “I could write a book on this at this point.”
Majors’ Kang the Conqueror made his debut in the Marvel/Disney+ series Loki. If you haven’t been watching, in the next subsequent phase of the MCU, Kang is the next big baddie after Thanos,...
- 1/21/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
His life seems right out of a Bollywood potboiler. Pulled out of school and put to work on his family’s agricultural land, he is married off young but frustrated at the bickering between wife and mother, he goes abroad to make a career. In a few short years, he is not only a celebrity sportsman and a popular film star, but a cultural icon.
This was the life of Deedar Singh Randhawa, or Dara Singh, as we better know him.
Capable of tossing villains around without breaking a sweat, stopping airplanes with his bare hands, and chasing criminals to the moon in his onscreen persona, and in real life, boasting of a long bout as an unbeaten wrestler in both the amateur and professional circuits, and once lifting up a portly Raj Kapoor in his trademark “aeroplane” spin move in public, his very name was synonymous with sheer strength...
This was the life of Deedar Singh Randhawa, or Dara Singh, as we better know him.
Capable of tossing villains around without breaking a sweat, stopping airplanes with his bare hands, and chasing criminals to the moon in his onscreen persona, and in real life, boasting of a long bout as an unbeaten wrestler in both the amateur and professional circuits, and once lifting up a portly Raj Kapoor in his trademark “aeroplane” spin move in public, his very name was synonymous with sheer strength...
- 11/19/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Gal Gadot Wears a Triple Crown as Cleopatra VII — Gal Gadot will portray the wily monarch Cleopatra of ancient Egypt. But not the crowns of three kingdoms, as did the descendant of Alexander the Great’s beloved general, Ptolemy V. Instead Ms. Gadot plays the eponymous character, joins with Laeta Kalogridis in writing the script (the first [...]
Continue reading: Cleopatra: Gal Gadot Wears a Triple Crown as the Famous Pharaoh...
Continue reading: Cleopatra: Gal Gadot Wears a Triple Crown as the Famous Pharaoh...
- 7/12/2022
- by David McDonald
- Film-Book
Currently in pre-production Paramount Pictures "Cleopatra", starring Gal Gadot, is being directed by Patty Jenkins ("Wonder Woman") in a new period biographical drama scripted by Laeta Kalogridis, produced by Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven, Jenkins, Gadot and Pilot Wave Motion Pictures' Jaron Varsano:
"...'Cleopatra' is the daughter of 'Ptolemy', an ancestor of the leader of the army of 'Alexander the Great'...
"...who became the lover of Rome's 'Julius Caesar' and 'Marc Antony', and a powerful political leader in her own right, before killing herself."
Elizabeth Taylor starred as "Cleopatra" in a 1963 feature.
Click the images to enlarge...
"...'Cleopatra' is the daughter of 'Ptolemy', an ancestor of the leader of the army of 'Alexander the Great'...
"...who became the lover of Rome's 'Julius Caesar' and 'Marc Antony', and a powerful political leader in her own right, before killing herself."
Elizabeth Taylor starred as "Cleopatra" in a 1963 feature.
Click the images to enlarge...
- 7/10/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
With the snap of a Kevin Feige’s finger, “Avengers: Endgame” might not have been the end of Chris Evans as Captain America.
Disney+ series “Moon Knight” was set to include a possible series of cameos, including Evans reprising his famed, decade-long role as Steven Rogers. “Moon Knight” writer Jeremy Slater revealed to Discussing Film that the Oscar Isaac-led Marvel installment was prime for other MCU appearances, but ultimately the series opted to stand more on its “own two feet” in the canon.
“There were definitely different times in the writing process where we talked about cameos because cameos are one of the most fun things to discuss in a writer’s room,” Slater said, reflecting on the series. “What happens if we try to get Chris Evans back as old Captain America? You know, you sit there and play that ‘what if’ game among your writers.”
The main cameos that were “seriously discussed,...
Disney+ series “Moon Knight” was set to include a possible series of cameos, including Evans reprising his famed, decade-long role as Steven Rogers. “Moon Knight” writer Jeremy Slater revealed to Discussing Film that the Oscar Isaac-led Marvel installment was prime for other MCU appearances, but ultimately the series opted to stand more on its “own two feet” in the canon.
“There were definitely different times in the writing process where we talked about cameos because cameos are one of the most fun things to discuss in a writer’s room,” Slater said, reflecting on the series. “What happens if we try to get Chris Evans back as old Captain America? You know, you sit there and play that ‘what if’ game among your writers.”
The main cameos that were “seriously discussed,...
- 6/27/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
In the 2000s, the critical, financial, and Oscar success of Ridley Scott’s ancient Rome actioner “Gladiator” led to studios chasing the same highs. A string of high-budget period action films were greenlit in its wake, such as Wolfgang Petersen’s Greek epic “Troy” (loosely based on the Iliad), Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven,” and Oliver Stone’s ambitious but ultimately messy “Alexander.” Stone wasn’t the only established filmmaker that attempted to tell the story of the ancient Macedonian general and king, Alexander The Great.
Continue reading Baz Luhrmann Says Mel Gibson Nearly Played Leonardo DiCaprio’s Father In His Unmade ‘Alexander The Great’ Epic at The Playlist.
Continue reading Baz Luhrmann Says Mel Gibson Nearly Played Leonardo DiCaprio’s Father In His Unmade ‘Alexander The Great’ Epic at The Playlist.
- 6/26/2022
- by Christopher Marc
- The Playlist
Exclusive: I’m hearing from sources that Universal is circling Cleopatra, the Gal Gadot epic which was set up at Paramount with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier EP/director Kari Skogland helming the project.
While interested in the project still, Paramount was not prepared to meet the timeline that the creative elements necessitated.
Deadline first told you about the project being set up at Paramount with Gadot, Jenkins and Skogland. No deals are in place at Universal.
The package is produced by Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven, Gal Gadot and her Pilot Wave Motion Pictures partner Jaron Varsano. Laeta Kalogridis wrote the screenplay and is serving as EP. Wonder Woman filmmaker Patty Jenkins is also an EP.
Uni’s potential interest here is no coincidence given how Roven is currently working with the studio on the Christopher Nolan WWII feature, Oppenheimer.
Cleopatra is the daughter of Ptolemy, ancestor of...
While interested in the project still, Paramount was not prepared to meet the timeline that the creative elements necessitated.
Deadline first told you about the project being set up at Paramount with Gadot, Jenkins and Skogland. No deals are in place at Universal.
The package is produced by Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven, Gal Gadot and her Pilot Wave Motion Pictures partner Jaron Varsano. Laeta Kalogridis wrote the screenplay and is serving as EP. Wonder Woman filmmaker Patty Jenkins is also an EP.
Uni’s potential interest here is no coincidence given how Roven is currently working with the studio on the Christopher Nolan WWII feature, Oppenheimer.
Cleopatra is the daughter of Ptolemy, ancestor of...
- 6/17/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
For fans of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the news from California this Monday morning hit hard, like the sudden loss of a treasured longtime friend (or for many that “girlfriend next door”).
Here’s how E! Online reported her passing:
Hollywood has lost a beloved legend.
Doris Day, the actress and singer who personified classic Hollywood in the ’50s and ’60s, has died, the Doris Day Animal Foundation announced on Monday. According to the foundation, Day died at her Carmel Valley, Calif. home early Monday while surrounded by a few close friends.
“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in a public statement. Day was 97 years old, recently celebrating her birthday on April 3.
For 20 years, 1948 to 1968, Ms. Day was a staple of movie theatres. A few years ago I included her in...
Here’s how E! Online reported her passing:
Hollywood has lost a beloved legend.
Doris Day, the actress and singer who personified classic Hollywood in the ’50s and ’60s, has died, the Doris Day Animal Foundation announced on Monday. According to the foundation, Day died at her Carmel Valley, Calif. home early Monday while surrounded by a few close friends.
“Day had been in excellent physical health for her age, until recently contracting a serious case of pneumonia, resulting in her death,” the foundation said in a public statement. Day was 97 years old, recently celebrating her birthday on April 3.
For 20 years, 1948 to 1968, Ms. Day was a staple of movie theatres. A few years ago I included her in...
- 5/14/2019
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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