Universal Pictures released a second TV spot for the comedy A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST during Sunday evening’s MTV Movie Awards.
Seth MacFarlane directs, produces, co-writes and plays the role of the cowardly sheep farmer Albert in A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST.
After Albert backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a mysterious and beautiful woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in love. But when her husband, a notorious outlaw, arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test.
Starring alongside MacFarlane are Oscar winner Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman and Neil Patrick Harris. MacFarlane reunites many of the filmmakers behind Universal and MRC’s hit film Ted including Scott Stuber (Bluegrass Films) and Jason Clark who produce, and Wellesley Wild and Alec Sulkin who co-wrote the script.
A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST will open in theaters May 30, 2014.
The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.
The beloved characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from “X-Men: First Class,” in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future.
The film stars Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Omar Sy, Peter Dinklage and Halle Berry.
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST opens in theaters on May 23.
Complete with brand new footage, watch the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES TV Spot from the MTV Movie Awards.
The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan.
Based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Characters Created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman with a Screenplay by Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec and Evan Daugherty, Producer Michael Bay (the blockbuster Transformers franchise) and director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans) bring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the popular franchise that has captivated audiences of all ages for decades, into the 21st century.
The film is based on master story-teller John le Carré’s worldwide bestselling book. Anton Corbijn (The American) directs this modern day thriller with Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright and two-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe toplining an ensemble cast.
Hamburg, Germany: 2012. A mysterious, tortured and near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run (Grigoriy Dobrygin) arrives in the city’s Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father’s ill-gotten fortune. Nothing about this young man seems to add up; is he a victim or a thief or, worse still, an extremist intent on destruction? Drawn into this web of intrigue are a banker (Dafoe) and a young female lawyer (McAdams) who is determined to defend the defenseless. All the while, they are being watched by the brilliant, roguish chief of a covert German spy unit (Hoffman), who fights to put the pieces together as the clock ticks. In an adrenaline laced and heart-rending escalation of tension and collision, it’s not long before he becomes everyone’s most wanted man.
A MOST WANTED MAN, a cerebral tale of intrigue in the vein of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is also contemporary and deeply human, touching themes in love, rivalry and politics we live with every day.
Anton Corbijn’s statement on Philip Seymour Hoffman, who passed away on Feb. 2, 2014: ‘He was a giant of a man’
The director of A MOST WANTED MAN, Hoffman’s last completed film, recalls working with an outstanding actor who liked to immerse himself in his character and give his all.
I’m not sure where to start when looking at Philip’s legacy as it is overwhelming in its scope and depth. But that immediately tells you a lot about his choices. He was the best character actor I can think of, and if you look at just the smaller roles he occupied, then those performances alone set him apart from his contemporaries. His strength was a total immersion in the role and a lack of vanity. At the same time, he hated what he loved, that was his curse – he would tear himself to pieces over his performances.
It was my girlfriend Nimi who, upon reading the script of A Most Wanted Man, immediately suggested I approach Philip Seymour Hoffman; in retrospect, there was only one choice. It was obvious that he would be the person to bring this John le Carré character to life. I always imagined this man to have a strong physicality as well as intelligence and a certain kind of leadership. When Phil and I watched the film together in its early stages, I could not believe that the guy sitting next to me was the same person as the one on screen. The belief in the reality of his character was total. Despite any issues he was dealing with outside of the film, domestic or otherwise, the performance never suffered.
Our first meeting was on a still shoot I did with him for Vogue in New York in 2011. While they were mending his trousers in an adjacent hotel room, we used the downtime to discuss the film and his role. He was sitting in his underwear, of course, but he never let his focus shift to the absurdity of the situation. He was serious about the work.
Initially there was some unease between us on the set of A Most Wanted Man, which I attribute to my inexperience as a director and in not verbalising my needs from actors in a way they are used to. But, gradually, Phil and I got to a place where the movie started to flow naturally and he didn’t need much direction any more; he totally became the character of Günther Bachmann. He even signed off as Günther on an email to me when he got back home, after the film finished.
His character had a team of young detectives, Nina Hoss and Daniel Brühl among them, and on and off set he would be very much like their mentor. He would be protective of them and available as an actor with advice or encouragement. On the other hand, he would not hang out with actors who played roles that he, as a character in the film, had no time for. At night, we exchanged emails over scenes to come and to work out where we were going with it. He had a incredible take on his character and the film as a whole and it was fantastic to share this with him. We bonded over many things in the end, music being one of them. I made him a tape of songs I wanted to use in the film which he loved very much, particularly the Tom Waits track Hoist That Rag, as he too had been listening to it recently.
Fox Searchlight has released 11 new images from director Amma Asante‘s BELLE.
BELLE is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral.
Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson), Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing.
Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar’s son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield’s role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in 18th century England.
“The power of Gugu, for me, is that she is able to reach inside the character and allow anyone to understand Dido’s unique experience,” says the director. “What she wants is equality. It’s not that nothing is good enough for her, it’s that she wants to be seen as equal to Elizabeth and the other ladies of her status and class at the time. Gugu puts that across fantastically. I knew she would be a good comrade in the process of recreating this 18th century black heroine.”
Standing between Dido Belle and what she wants – both in love and in the changing of the laws that support slavery – is the man who raised her: her great uncle Lord Mansfield, a hugely influential figure right at the peak of the battle against the British slave trade. On the one hand, he is a man devoted to law, order and preserving the British state. But on the other, he is a loving man with a deeply human impulse to treat Dido as he would any family – even if that means controlling who she marries.
“Lord Mansfield is a fascinating character because he really straddles the point of change that is happening at the time we come into this story,” says Amma Asante. “He is a man of conditioning, a man who definitely feels that the world is a better world if rules are in place. But he is also a man of progress, who is able to look forward when many of his peers cannot.”
Asante found it a wonderful historical surprise that Mansfield treated Dido as he did.“He didn’t choose to make Dido a servant, he didn’t choose to hide her – he chose to make her a central part of the family, to enshrine her in the painting that still exists today,” notes Asante. “There aren’t the words for me to express that. I’m in awe of the level of courage that must have taken.”
When Lord Mansfield died in 1793, he left in his will the statement, “I confirm to Dido Elizabeth Belle her freedom,” suggesting the importance of making her status absolutely clear to the world.
Belle passed away tragically young even for those times at age 43 – a few years after the slave trade was abolished — of unknown causes. Her last traceable relative, Harold Davinier, died in 1975, ironically a free white South African living in the era of apartheid.
BELLE had it’s World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festivallast September, it’s New York Premiere as the Opening Film at the 2014 Athena Film Festival in early February and the United Nations recently screened the film along with Amma Asante and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Watch the video HERE.
Written by Misan Sagay, BELLE’s cast includes Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson, Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Penelope Wilton, Academy Award nominee Miranda Richardson, Tom Felton and Matthew Goode.
Disney is giving amateur baseball pitchers in the nation a chance to compete for a $1 million prize in the Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest. The Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest is being held to celebrate the opening of Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM, an incredible true story about two young men who went from never throwing a baseball to getting a Major League tryout.
Amateur baseball pitchers – male or female, who are legal United States residents at least 18 years of age or older – are invited to qualify to compete in the preliminary rounds of the Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest at either Walt Disney World Resort in Florida,Disneyland Resort in California or at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day at the Tribeca Family Festival in New York City. The three contestants from each location who throw the fastest pitches will advance to the finals and have a chance to compete for a $1 million prize at the world premiere of Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM in Hollywood, California.
Official rules are available on Disney.com’s “Million Dollar Arm” homepage:
Presented by SUBWAY restaurants, the three qualifying events will take place on April 25 and 26, from 7 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at both Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, Calif. and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World and on April 26 only, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day during the Tribeca Family Festival in New York City. Contestants will throw three pitches, each tracked by a radar gun, in an attempt to throw the fastest pitch. All participants will receive tickets for themselves and a guest to see an advance screening of Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM at an AMC Theatres location later that evening.
Nine finalists chosen during these qualifying events will have a chance to compete for the $1 million prize at the world premiere of Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm.” The top three eligible pitchers with the fastest pitches from each qualifying round location will be flown with his or her guest to the final contest, which will take place at the world premiere of Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM in Hollywood, Calif., on May 6. Each of these finalists will throw three pitches on Hollywood Boulevard. Any eligible finalist who throws one 100 mph strike (out of three pitches) will become a potential winner of the $1 million grand prize.
The nine finalists and their guests will be VIPs at the film’s premiere along with stars, filmmakers, major league players, coaches, scouts and celebrities.
Based on a true story, sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) finds that business has changed and things aren’t going well for his career. In a last ditch effort to save his livelihood he concocts a scheme to find baseball’s next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a major league baseball star, JB travels to India to produce a reality show competition called “The Million Dollar Arm.”
With the help of cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur Mittal from “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma from “Life of Pi”), two 18-year-old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them to major league contracts and make a quick buck, JB brings the boys home to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their element in India, the boys, who have never left their rural villages, are equally challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball, JB, with the help of his charming friend Brenda (Lake Bell), learns valuable life lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.
Directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy, Disney’s drama MILLION DOLLAR ARM stars Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Lake Bell and Alan Arkin. The producers are Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and Joe Roth. The executive producers are Palak Patel, Kevin Halloran, Bill Simmons and Connor Schell.
The film will be release in the United States on May 16, 2014.
Jude Law plays DOM HEMINGWAY, a larger-than-life safecracker with a loose fuse who is funny, profane, and dangerous. After twelve years in prison, he sets off with his partner in crime Dickie (Richard E. Grant) looking to collect what he’s owed for keeping his mouth shut and protecting his boss Mr. Fontaine (Demian Birchir).
After a near death experience, Dom tries to re-connect with his estranged daughter (Emilia Clarke), but is soon drawn back into the only world he knows, looking to settle the ultimate debt.
DOM HEMINGWAY OPENS AT THE LANDMARK TIVOLI IN ST. LOUIS FRIDAY, APRIL 18TH!
WAMG invites you to enter to win Run-Of-Engagement Passes (Good for 2) to DOM HEMINGWAY. The passes are good from April 21 through run of engagement at Landmark Tivoli.
All you have to do is enter your full name and email address, as well as your favorite Jude Law movie, in our comments section below – it’s that easy!
Watch this new clip from HERCULES with the son of Zeus himself, Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
From director Brett Ratner, HERCULES will be in theaters July 25th.
Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’ film HERCULES, starring Dwayne Johnson, bows on July 25th. Based on Radical Comics’ Hercules by Steve Moore, this ensemble-action film is a revisionist take on the classic myth, HERCULES.
The epic action film also stars Golden Globe Winner Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan and Academy Award-nominee John Hurt.
The trailer for Guillermo Arriaga’s lead anthology film, WORDS WITH GOD, has debuted.
WORDS WITH GOD is based on a concept by Guillermo Arriaga ( AMORES PERROS, 21 GRAMS, THE BURNING PLAIN) with original music by Peter Gabriel (“Why Don’t You Show Yourself?”) and shaped into its current form by Nobel Prize award winner Mario Vargas Llosa.
The faith themed anthology is directed by filmmakers Guillermo Arriaga, Hector Babenco, Bahman Ghobadi, Amos Gitai, Emir Kusturica, Mira Nair, Hideo Nakata, Warwick Thornton and Alex de la Iglesia. Along with Guillermo Arriaga, Alex Garcia and Lucas Akoskin (who both founded BN Films) are producing the film.
In WORDS WITH GOD, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature length film. WORDS WITH GOD is ultimately the first part of the Arriaga-helmed Heartbeat of the World feature film series, which will include Encounters, a look at sexual identity (currently in pre-production), Into the Bloodstream, an exploration into drugs; and Polis, an examination of politics (with the latter two in development).
WORDS WITH GOD will be released both in its feature length capacity, and as stand-alone films from each director. The film will be launched later this year at film festivals, followed by a worldwide cinema release.
