Tag: Ewan McGregor

Don Cheadle Stars as Miles Davis In KILL THE TRUMPET PLAYER

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Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, and Zoe Saldana will star in BiFrost Pictures’ KILL THE TRUMPET PLAYER, it was announced today.

KILL THE TRUMPET PLAYER tells the story of a few dangerous days in the life of Miles Davis, the virtuoso, fighter and genius, as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (McGregor) to steal back his music.

Cheadle will play Davis and will make his feature directorial debut from a script co-written with Steven Baigelman.

BiFrost principal Daniel Wagner is financing and will produce the project along with Robert Ogden Barnum, Cheadle and Lenore Zerman for their Crescendo Productions banner, Darryl Porter, and Vince Wilburn Jr. Executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Cheryl Davis, Erin Davis, Cassian Elwes and Baigelman. Herbie Hancock, a legend in his own right and close collaborator of Davis, will participate in the project as well. The project was packaged by UTA which arranged the financing and is representing U.S. rights. Leading international films sales company IM Global is handling international distribution and will be introducing the title at the upcoming American Film Market.

Wagner commented, “Don is one of our generation’s greatest actors, and this is the role he was born to play. His take on the conventional biopic of one of music’s most celebrated icons is cinematic “jazz” and too unique to resist. It fits naturally with BiFrost’s commitment to support talent and their passion projects, so we are thrilled to work with Don on his feature directorial debut.”

Cheadle is best known for roles in CRASH, Steven Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S TWELVE and OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, as well as for his Academy Award-nominated performance as Best Actor in 2004’s HOTEL RWANDA. He has most recently been seen as Colonel James Rhodes in IRON MAN 3 and as Marty Kaan in the Showtime series “House of Lies,” for which he won a Golden Globe in 2013. Cheadle is represented by UTA.

McGregor is best known for his roles in THE IMPOSSIBLE, GHOST WRITER, BEGINNERS, MOULIN ROUGE, TRAINSPOTTING and the STAR WARS franchise. McGregor was nominated for a Golden Globe last year for his work on the feature SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN. He will next be seen in the crime drama SON OF A GUN and he is currently shooting MORTDECAI opposite Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow. McGregor is represented by UTA, Sloane Offer and United Agents in the UK.

BiFrost Pictures’ current slate of projects include Paul Bettany’s directorial debut SHELTER, with Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie; THE GIRL WHO CONNED THE IVY LEAGUE, to be directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and starring Amanda Seyfried; and the recently completed THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT, directed by David Burris and starring Minka Kelly, Haley Joel Osment, and Noah Wyle and based on the award-winning novel by Ron Rash.

Principal Photography Begins On MORTDECAI Starring Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregorGwyneth Paltrowjohnny depp

Lionsgate and OddLot Entertainment have announced that principal photography has begun in London on the action comedy MORTDECAI.

Based on the popular three-novel anthology by Kyril Bonfiglioli, which has amassed a significant cult following, the film features an all-star cast including Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany and Olivia Munn.

Juggling some angry Russians, the British Mi5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist, debonair art dealer and part time rogue Charlie Mortdecai (Depp) must traverse the globe armed only with his good looks and special charm in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.

No release date has been set for MORTDECAI, but with Depp set to play “The Wolf” in Rob Marshall’s INTO THE WOODS along with the start of PIRATES 5 postponed, the actor will have time to focus on his additional duties as producer on the David Koepp film.

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Guy Burnet, Michael Byrne, Michael Culkin, Jonny Pasvolsky, Ulrich Thomsen, and Paul Whitehouse have also joined the cast of the film with a script written by Eric Aronson.  Andrew Lazar, Christi Dembrowski and OddLot’s Gigi Pritzker are producing the project.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger said, “Kyril created a rich, immersive world with fresh characters, and we are thrilled to bring his beloved story to life with our friends and partners at OddLot. With David Koepp at the helm and a brilliant all-star cast, MORTDECAI will captivate audiences and keep them on the edge of their seats.”

OddLot’s Gigi Pritzker added, “The teams at OddLot and Lionsgate have been eager to start production of MORTDECAI. The cast of this film is phenomenal and the storyline is hilarious. It will be incredible to see it all captured over the coming weeks and we look forward to sharing it with fans of Kyril’s novels worldwide.”

MORTDECAI marks the first project under Lionsgate and OddLot’s multiyear, multipicture co-financing and distribution deal which the companies announced last month.

2nd Trailer For AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Debuts Starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts And Ewan McGregor

MERYL STREEP and JULIA ROBERTS star in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Ewan McGregor star in the brand new trailer for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9th.


(Yahoo! Movies)

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed  women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre earlier that year.

It continued with a successful international run and was the winner of five Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Play.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is directed by John Wells (THE COMPANY MEN) and features an all-star cast, including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.

The Weinstein Company will release the film Christmas Day, December 25th.

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Photos: CLAIRE FOLGER © 2013 The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved.

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Meryl Streep And Julia Roberts Star In AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Trailer

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Coming to theaters November 8, here’s the first trailer for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning play by Tracy Letts, and directed by John Wells (“Shameless”, THE COMPANY MEN). Stars Meryl Streep as pill-popping matriarch Violet Weston and Julia Roberts as her complicated adult daughter Barbara.

Along with some of the male leads, definite nods for Roberts and Streep. But is there a 4th Oscar in store for Meryl? And does Julia find herself in the Best Supporting category? We’ll know for sure how the Weinstein Company’s film fares when the nominations are announced Thursday, January 16, 2014.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Letts’ play made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre earlier that year. It continued with a successful international run.

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THE IMPOSSIBLE – The Review

The release of the original AIRPORT in 1970 began a new type of cinema genre: the “disaster” movie. For the next ten years or so the big studios (and some small) hit upon the formula of throwing a whole bunch of stars together (often providing work for many former screen gods and goddesses) and have them try to survive a catastrophe. One producer, Irwin Allen, became known as the disaster movie king with THE POSIEDON ADVENTURE and THE TOWERING INFERNO. These films were thought of as grand escapist entertainments, popcorn flicks. But what about a disaster that really happened? True life disasters have been the backdrop for many Hollywood epics such as SAN FRANCISCO and IN OLD CHICAGO. Those films had fictional characters in stories set in those calamities. THE IMPOSSIBLE is the story of how a real family dealt with a real event that we all saw news reports of several years ago. It’s a more intimate tale than those Allen extravaganzas, but the emotions are as large as any of the cast lists and budgets as those 70’s box office champs. This is about the power of Mother Nature and the determination of a family.

This family consists of mom Maria (Naomi Watts), dad Henry (Ewan McGregor), teenage son Lucas (Tom Holland) and his grade-school aged brothers Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast). They’ve decided to spend the end of the year holidays at a gorgeous beachfront resort on Thailand. Everyone seems to be having a wonderful time except the sullen, surly Lucas (ah, the teen years!). Then the day after Christmas 2004, early in the morning as they frolic in the pool, a powerful tsunami hits. The gigantic title waves destroy everything and separate Maria and Lucas from Henry and Thomas and Simon. The story follows mother and eldest son as they try to get to safety, survive, and hopefully re-unite with the rest of the family in a faraway, foreign land that’s been transformed into a chaotic hellscape.

The heavy dramatics of this horrific situation require gifted actors to relay the characters’ raw emotions, and this cast is more than up to the challenge. Joslin and Pendergast are indeed adorable, but avoid the stereotypes of child actors. We want to protect these sweet tykes from all the evils and dangers. They’re naturals. McGregor showed a bit of his paternal nature in the Star Wars prequels, but here he gives us a fabulous film father, full of courage and determination. He’s not super-human, though. A scene in which he makes a cell phone call to England is heart-wrenching as all his emotions bubble up to the surface. Watts gets most of the parental screen time and this is some of her best film work. Maria may be the most physically battered of the family, but somehow she pushes through the pain to live on and bring the family back together. Amazingly, she’s also able to inspire her eldest son. Holland as Lucas has perhaps the most challenging role and gives one of this year’s best performances. In the opening scenes he’s snippy and rude to everyone. Lucas is almost an adult and is eager to distance himself from his much younger siblings and, especially, his parents. But when the tides rise he realizes how much he still cares for them all, particularly when he and his Mom encounter a six year-old all alone in the floating debris. Later, Lucas is able to put his selfishness aside and help those much worse off than himself. It’s great work from a remarkable young actor at the beginning of a hopefully long screen career.

Director Juan Antonio Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE) has done a masterful balancing act with this film. There is the grand scale tragedy, with incredible special effects topping the flood sequence in Clint Eastwood’s HEREAFTER. The tidal waves that approach the resort seem to crash forward like classic B-movie giant behemoth. But they are no fantasy, no guy-in-a-rubber-suit. Maria’s stunned confused stare turns quickly to horror and panic as she tries to get to her loved ones. Later, we wince in pain as the rushing waters batter her body and tear her flesh. And then there’s the confusion as she and Lucas try to communicate with the staff at the overwhelmed hospital (the wounded occupy every hallway and closet space). Bayona goes beyond the devastation to explore this family dynamic. It takes the fury of nature to make these people truly cherish their life together. The scenes of death and destruction are powerful, but just as memorable is the love and determination of this couple as they struggle to find each other. Yes, seeing the kids in danger may be tough for parents (well, anyone really) to watch, but its celebration of family will touch your heart. THE IMPOSSIBLE is a disaster film with a stirring paternal love story at its heart.

5 Out of 5 Stars

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum: Here’s Comes The New JACK THE GIANT SLAYER Trailer And Poster

Giants! Beanstalks! Magic Beans! Ready for a epic adventure? Watch the Ian McKellen narrated, fantasy-filled trailer for director Bryan Singer’s JACK THE GIANT SLAYER.

JACK THE GIANT KILLER tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend – and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

A vast improvement over the teaser trailer we showed you last December when the film was scheduled for a June 2012 release. I really like the tailor-made cast. Nicholas Hoult (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) as Jack, Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle, Stanley Tucci (JULIE & JULIA) as the deceitful Lord Roderick, Ian McShane (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES) as the besieged King Brahmwell, Bill Nighy (HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS) as the giants’ leader General Fallon and Ewan McGregor (THE IMPOSSIBLE) as palace guard Elmont.

Singer reassembled some of the people he likes to work with best for this 3D movie. The screenplay comes from Singer’s long-time collaborator Christopher McQuarrie. The two previously worked on THE USUAL SUSPECTS and VALKYRIE, while the creative filmmaking team includes director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel (X-MEN, SUPERMAN RETURNS) and editor John Ottman (X2, SUPERMAN RETURNS).

Along with scribe McQuarrie, the screenplay is also by Darren Lemke (SHREK FOREVER AFTER) and Dan Studney, with a story by Darren Lemke & David Dobkin. I’m absolutely mad over the look of the film too – the production designer is Gavin Bocquet (STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH). Singer filmed his new take on the fairytale on location in and around London.

From Warner Bros Pictures, JACK THE GIANT KILLER stomps into theaters in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D on March 1st.

Visit the film’s official site: http://jackthegiantslayer.warnerbros.com/

“Like” it on facebook:  www.facebook.com/jackthegiantkillermovie 

Follow on Twitter: @wbpictures #JacktheGiantSlayer

Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor Star In THE IMPOSSIBLE Trailer


© 2012 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

A powerful story based on one family’s survival of the 2004 tsunami, check out the first trailer for Summit Entertainment’s THE IMPOSSIBLE starring Naomi Watts, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast and Ewan McGregor. The film is set to screen in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her.

Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, THE IMPOSSIBLE is a journey to the core of the human heart.

Directed by J.A. Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE),  THE IMPOSSIBLE comes to theaters December 21, 2012.

“Like” it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheImpossibleMovie

Follow on Twitter: @SummitEnt  #TheImpossible


© 2012 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Win Passes To The SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN Screening In St. Louis

From the director of Chocolat and the Oscar-winning® screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire comes the inspirational comedy SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN. When Britain’s leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help realize a sheikh’s (Amr Waked) vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. But when the Prime Minister’s overzealous press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) latches on to it as a “good will” story, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.

WAMG has passes to the SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN screening – Thursday, March 22 at Plaza Frontenac.

OFFICIAL RULES:

1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.

2. FILL OUT YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL ADDRESS BELOW. REAL FIRST NAME REQUIRED.

3. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN stars Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas – For what 1996 movie was Thomas nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award?

WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN THROUGH A RANDOM DRAWING OF QUALIFYING CONTESTANTS. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PASSES WILL NOT BE SUBSTITUTED OR EXCHANGED. DUPLICATE TICKETS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED

In theaters March 2012
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HAYWIRE – The Review

Everybody loves a good action film, right? But, what happens when a filmmaker more known for art house films takes a stab at a more mainstream Hollywood genre? Steven Soderbergh is, if nothing else, a highly curious, even enigmatic filmmaker. The same creative vision that came up with films such as SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE (1989) and SCHIZOPOLIS (1996) also created the OCEANS ELEVEN through THIRTEEN films. In between were some great films that fall somewhere between art house and mainstream, like THE LIMEY (1999), CHE: Parts 1 & 2 (2008) and the recently disturbing CONTAGION (2011).

Soderbergh’s newest undertaking is called HAYWIRE, an action-thriller written by Lem Dobbs, who also wrote THE LIMEY and DARK CITY. The film follows a young female former marine named Mallory, played by Gina Carano. While working in Barcelona for a private firm, a rescue mission goes terribly wrong and Mallory finds herself on the run from both her employers and the law as she attempts to uncover the truth of what happened and clears her name. Her immediate boss and ultimate threat is Kenneth, played by Ewan McGregor, who has an oddly youthful and off-putting charm about him in this film. The opening scene of HAYWIRE somewhat sets the mood for the film, as Mallory is sitting quietly in a café when her former teammate Aaron, played by Channing Tatum, shows up and they confront each other, revealing that HAYWIRE isn’t going to pull any punches, but it’s going to address the audience on it’s own terms.

HAYWIRE is not unlike so many other films of the genre, most notably the BOURNE trilogy, whereas a highly trained agent goes rogue after being framed and must fight his way back to freedom. The difference between that franchise and this film, however, is in its state of mind. The Bourne films were rugged, frantic and jarring, whereas HAYWIRE has a sort of poetic rhythm, a sort of jazzy cool cat ease to the way the film flows. The score, composed by David Holmes, is highly influenced by and contributes greatly to the spontaneously freeform feel of the film, which slows and mellows during the dramatic dialogue-driven scenes and then ramps itself up for the action sequences.

One of the best parts of HAYWIRE are the fights, not merely for the fights themselves, but for the intensely kinetic, superbly choreographed ballet of combat dynamics that these scenes present to an audience not normally accustomed to realistic technique. Whereas similar films have Jason Bourne fighting in a blurred, nearly incomprehensible frenzy, HAYWIRE puts the fight on display, front and center. The success of this is due in great part to Gina Carano, a professional fighter turned actress with a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1 and a mixed martial arts record of 7-1-0. Yeah, this is one attractive and highly dangerous person in real life, so imagine how she stands out on-screen.

HAYWIRE also benefits, perhaps controversially, from the cinematography, which is provided by Peter Andrews. For those of you less familiar with the filmmaker’s history and tendencies, Peter Andrews is actually Steven Soderbergh, who often serves as his own director of photography, a relatively uncommon thing amongst Hollywood films. Soderbergh has a subtle experimental eye for shooting his scenes, often going with alternative choices in angle and composition that sometimes challenge the viewer’s sense of what should be expected.

HAYWIRE actually surprised me with its unconventional flair, complete with a quality performance from Gina Carano and an original twist on the genre, something we last had with Joe Wright’s HANNA (2011). In addition to all of this, Steven Soderbergh uses his status to fill out the supporting cast with Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Michael Fassbender, with whom Gina Carana shares an intimately brutal scene.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Check Out The New JACK THE GIANT KILLER Poster & Trailer

Fee-fi-fo-fum! The classic tale gets a new twist in this new trailer and poster for Bryan Singer’s 3D epic action adventure JACK THE GIANT KILLER starring Nicholas Hoult & Ewan McGregor!

JACK THE GIANT KILLER tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittinglyopens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend–and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

Hoult and Singer recently collaborated on the Singer-produced “X-Men: First Class”. JACK THE GIANT KILLER also stars Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle; Stanley Tucci (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Julie & Julia”) as the deceitful Lord Roderick; Ian McShane (“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” HBO’s “Deadwood”) as the besieged King Brahmwell; Bill Nighy (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) as the giants’ leader General Fallon; and Ewan McGregor (“Star Wars,” “The Ghost Writer”) as palace guard Elmont.

Singer is directing from a screenplay by Darren Lemke and Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney, story by Darren Lemke & David Dobkin. The film is being produced by Neal Moritz, David Dobkin, Bryan Singer and Patrick McCormick.

The creative filmmaking team includes Singer’s longtime collaborators, director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel (“X-Men,” “Superman Returns”) and editor John Ottman (“X2,” “Superman Returns”). The production designer is Gavin Bocquet (“Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”).

JACK THE GIANT KILLER was filmed on location in and around London with an expected Summer 2012 release.

Visit the film’s official site: http://jackthegiantkiller.warnerbros.com/

“Like” it on facebook: www.facebook.com/jackthegiantkillermovie