This has been a really slow news week in terms of anything major developing, so finally there is some decent casting news to pass along today. The upcoming Tony Scott (Taking of Pelham 123) directed film Potsdamer Platz will see several stars join the cast for the film. Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2), Jason Statham (Crank), Christopher Walken (Scott’s True Romance), and Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) are all on board, so says The Playlist. The film is about:
…a drama about two soldiers in a New Jersey-based crime family who try to expand internationally. The title is a placeholder for now, as it will change to match the location shift from Germany to Puerto Rico. The film is based on an the original script by Buddy Giovinazzo (“Life Is Hot In Cracktown”) that has been re-written by the “Sexy Beast” team of David Scinto and Louis Mellis.
Potsdamer Platz, if indeed the title changes, is actually a busy trade center in Germany where a train station resides. Sounds kinda like Scott’s last film, especially if there is a hi-jacking. But should we expect anything else really? Scott has made a career out of middling actioners and with this cast being assembled, the expectations might be slightly higher, but essentially the same. Let me know if you think this could be a worthwhile endeavor based on this info. I’ll provide more on the project as it comes in.
With the usual summer hype surrounding a sequel of this magnitude, Iron Man 2 had a lot to live up to. The weight of the proverbial iron didn’t crush this film, but it certainly didn’t resist said weight and reach the height of the first Iron Man. In IM2, Robert Downey Jr. is back as the titular iron one, but he is joined by a bevy of well-known stars for the sequel. Most notably, gone is Terence Howard, Rhodey from the first film, his replacement is the venerable Don Cheadle. Also joining the fray are Scarlett Johansson, a more prominent role for Samuel L. Jackson, the always strong Sam Rockwell (Moon), the resurrected career of Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and usual suspects Jon Favreau (also the director) and Gwyneth Paltrow. Just getting a title card long enough to fit all these names is a task in and of itself. With such a cast, it was hard for the hype meter not to reach dizzying levels.
Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark in Iron Man 2.
Iron Man 2 finds RDJ’s Tony Stark in a vulnerable spot where the government wants his “weapon” and Rockwell’s Justin Hammer, a Hammer Industries CEO and competitor to Downey’s Stark Industries, is trying to assemble said weapon to sell to the government and acquire unknown riches. Meanwhile, Stark is in meltdown mode, stressed from running the company and being Iron Man, so his confidante Paltrow’s Pepper Potts can come in and be the antidote for what ails him. Additionally, Rourke’s Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash) is of questionable origin, out to gain revenge on Stark for what Tony’s father did to his father. ScarJo is a kick-ass assistant (and potentially more) to Paltrow, who has ulterior motives and Jackson’s Nick Fury plays a role along those lines as well. Rhodey mainly in-fights with his buddy Stark who loses control at a party, which leads to further plot machinations. Each character has their own mini-plot which doesn’t always serve the movie as a whole well. Convolution galore, as far as the plot goes. It’s not that it’s ridiculously hard to follow, but it also doesn’t flow like a rushing river either.
The film is long and dialogue heavy, but the action sequences do live up to what those in a summer blockbuster should. Iron Man and War Machine whiz around the sky, Black Widow has some nice fight sequences, and all in all, from that standpoint, things are lively. Unfortunately, the action is a little too sparse between the long dialogue sequences. For instance, Paltrow’s Potts appears to be consistently whiny, her character virtually destroying the fun in most scenes she is in. To her credit, this isn’t really all on her, it is the way the character is written, Meryl Streep (hang it up – by the way) couldn’t make Potts any more tolerable. Alternately, Rourke is strong in his vignettes as a real threat to Stark. Of course, Downey Jr. brings the goods, a natural acting talent, breezing through dialogue with whipper snapper flow. Alas, there is no Ghostface sighting like in the original (deleted scene here) which would have helped for simple comedy. Ultimately, there isn’t enough to raise the bar enough to make it a strong recommend.
ScarJo lends her assets to the "Iron Man" party.
This is average summer fare. It provides what is expected, nothing more, nothing less. It’s easy to be underwhelmed by the results, given the hype, but I find that to be a bit unfair in this case. This isn’t The Dark Knight, something I think many film fans were either clamoring for or hoping for. Iron Man 2 is serviceable entertainment and a decent way to get the summer season moving at the turnstiles. Just don’t expect anything transcendent and with the proper mind set, you’ll be entertained.
Here is a video promo / trailer of sorts (some internet heads are claiming legit trailer, though I suspect it simply cannot be) for Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming actioner The Expendables. The video plays out in trailer-like fashion but is in many ways a jumbled mess of ass-kicking action, cheesy dialogue, and explosions. This sounds right about par for the course of what we expect to see come next year from this film. It is a good compliment to this behind the scenes video for the movie.
The cast includes a bevy of action movie “has beens” and “still ares” (TM) in Sly himself, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, etc. There are no glimpses of Arnold (who has an expected cameo) or Bruce Willis (ditto), and its sad that there will not be a Steven Seagal sighting in the pic. That is just a swing and a miss there, but I believe they tried. If nothing else, the video shows a firm glimpse of what the internet has anticipated as a general good time at the theater next year. Enjoy the mayhem.
Last night, TV’s “Entertainment Tonight” aired a five-minute segment about their visit to the set of Iron Man 2. Most of the filming appears to have been taking place during the racetrack scene (which you’ve not doubt seen pictures of by now) and the appearance of Mickey Rourke in his Whiplash garb.
Interviews abound with Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson. Don Cheadle gets to answer one question…about Scarlett Johansson. Nobody would accuse “ET” of having journalistic integrity. Sadly, no Rourke camera time is had. On a positive note, Downey continues to transform himself into what’s probably the most likable personality in Hollywood. Just years ago, I hated the guy with a passion. A “Tonight Show” joke from the 1996 Summer Olympics, will always stick with me: “Another world record was broken today, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested for the 317th time.” Downey has put in a lot of work to climb back on top and I’m happy he’s the soul of this franchise. I don’t think anybody could do it like he can. Enjoy the video.
There are a couple of new pics for upcoming films I thought you’d be eager to check out, so rather than separating them into different posts, I figured I’d hit you with both at one time.
Iron Man 2 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated films for next year and we last brought you a pic of Mickey Rourke as main baddie, Whiplash. Up to this point, I don’t believe we’ve seen Scarlett Johansson sporting the hair color her first-name would suggest, as the character Black Window.
The new issue of Entertainment Weekly features a spread of Iron Man 2’s cast of Robert Downey Jr., Rourke and Johansson on its cover for their Comic Con preview. Below is that cover and a photo of Johansson doing her thing in costume.
Not to be outdone, though, we have a couple of new pics, courtesy of Filmsactu.com, from Wes Anderson’s upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox. Last week, we brought you an image that wasn’t of the highest caliber. Here, the picture has been expanded like full-screen to wide-screen, plus a solo shot of the George Clooney-voiced Mr. Fox. Enjoy.
Here is the first photo of Mickey Rourke in character as Whiplash in Iron Man 2. It was widely publicized that Rourke had intentions of turning down the role at first, due to a lack of money, but we can officially put all that to rest with this first pic of him in full regalia. Can’t really say much from this photo alone, but the Iron Man sequel is one of the most anticipated films of next year. Chime in with your thoughts of the pic that conjures images of Mad Max.
Here with our weekly Wednesday news recap, we decide to start off familiarly with some comic book news. Kenneth Branaugh’s big screen adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Thor seems to have cast its two primary characters. Thor himself is to be played by 25-year-old Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, whom you probably saw for the first time in Star Trek, as James T. Kirk’s father. [Deadline Hollywood]
Branaugh also found a foe for Hemsworth in British actor Tom Hiddleston to portray Thor’s nemesis, Loki. Hiddleston is even less known than Hemsworth, but both will be blowing up come May 20, 2011. [The Moving Picture]
From comics to board games (the latest craze for some very unknown reason) comes the news that director Peter Berg (Hancock) is looking to turn Battleship into a feature film. This craze hasn’t actually materialized in a film just yet, but I’m curious to see what the result will be. I honestly can’t imagine all these things will continue to be greenlit after the first one comes out. [Film-o-filia]
George Clooney is set to star in A Very Private Gentleman, about an assassin who hides out in a quaint village and ends up developing relationships with the townsfolk, doing his best to conceal his identity. Assassin movies are always cool. Clooney is always great. I’m sure the marriage of the two will be something to behold. [Celluloid Tongue]
Check out some concept art of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in the upcoming Iron Man 2, courtesy of [New Film Dimension]. I think it looks kinda cool.
I didn’t think we needed another Grimm-related film after the atrocity that was The Brothers Grimm, but that’s what we’re getting with Grimm, which Bruce Willis is helping deliver to us. [Latino Review]
Lastly, we leave you with some Ghostbusters 3 news in which Dan Aykroyd states he wants Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”) and Alyssa Milano (“Who’s the Boss”) to be the new team of people who bust ghosts. WHAT? [Rama's Screen]
So, while the plethora of yesterday’s April Fools jokes were primarily meaningless and pointless exercises in stupidity, there were a few that were funny (still pointless, mind you) and yet I’m still not entirely sure we are out of the dark yet. The latest movie news is below.
The full list of Transformers robots that will appear in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is officially made public. [USA Today] has the entire list.
More Megan Fox news drops as she is “a slender beauty with wings” in Passion Plays, opposite Mickey Rourke. [Risky Business Blog] Might this be the perfect woman opposite Mickey? How happy is he? I am sure he will do everything he can to get in her pants too.
[The One Ring] claims that there might be a third Hobbit film, meaning the original two planned by Del Toro need expansion. Not sure if this is a joke or not, but other sites have also reported on it, so we’ll leave the guesswork to you.
[Spike] has thoughts on Robert Patrick’s involvement in Terminator 5, which has already been green-lit. McG and T2’s Patrick are tight but nothing is confirmed yet.
Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Cillian Murphy join Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Leonardo DiCaprio is the lead in the sci-fi/psychological film. [Cinematical]
It’s a little older, but [IESB] breaks down a planned Vin Diesel The Chronicles of Riddick sequel. Pitch Black was pretty well done, but Riddick bombed hard, leaving Fast & Furious to prove Diesel still has clout.
[UGO] interviews Quantum of Solace Director Marc Forster to discuss that film, World War Z, and his other films and interests well.
The “Mount Rushmore of Forgettable Actors” is conceived at [MCN] and while I disagree with some of the names on the list, it is a mildly intriguing concept at least.
Since almost everybody knows about this by now, I went straight to the source [Variety] for the news that X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been leaked online. Check the torrent sites to see it early. But I don’t advocate that. I’ll tell you what’s up but leave the ethical/moral part to you.
The Mickey Rourke, “will he or won’t he” saga with Iron Man 2 has reached a conclusion. He is in, with a pay raise. It was widely reported that he was offered $250,000 to join the cast, a paltry sum in some people’s eyes, that he apparently turned down. But with Robert Downey Jr’s heavy recruitment and further negotiations by Rourke’s agent, he got a boost in pay (an unreported sum) and is officially going to be a part of the film. Variety has the scoop on more goodies regarding the process, and the character that Mickey will be playing.
When Downey, Rourke as well as (other) actors… took part in a roundtable discussion with Newsweek’s David Ansen, Downey interrupted the proceedings, reached across the table and flat out asked Rourke to do “Iron Man 2.”
Rourke also met with Jon Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux and got to be part of the development of his character. He’ll play Whiplash, a character that includes elements from that comicbook villain and Crimson Dynamo, another Russian baddie.
This is good news for the franchise, Rourke is a great actor, he will be playing Whiplash, which means next to nothing to me, since I don’t know much about the comic books but I am sure he will be a great fit. I still loathe that Jackson is involved, but what’s a brother gonna do, continue to whine about it? It is what it is. Those who know more about Rourke’s Whiplash character, please share about what his role is with regards to Iron Man. Thanks.
Some of the greatest casting speculation in recent months has been that of Mickey Rourke taking on a role in the sequel to last years’ summer smash, Iron Man. It was widely reported that he was offered $250,000 to play a role in the film. Then of course, there has been speculation about which character he might play. All of this talk going on for a film not yet shooting and not yet due until 2010. That’s some serious heat for a guy who 3-4 months ago was all but an also-ran as far as actors went. Then came The Wrestler, a stellar comeback performance, and now comes word that he is out of Iron Man 2…currently. He tells NY Mag:
...for his rumored role as a villain in Iron Man 2… “Right now, we’re not doing Iron Man 2,” Rourke told us grimly.
A statement of clarity, without saying much, if you know what I mean. Essentially, it sounds like, due to his role in Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables, he may be busy (and making more money) or he simply wants to get more money for what would be his work in the near automatic blockbuster in 2010. I am betting more than anything that it is the latter. His agent at ICM, David Unger is supposedly trying to hammer out a deal worth more money, but with Marvel already ousting Terrence Howard in favor of Don Cheadle in an apparent cost-cutting move, it might be difficult to see Rourke getting more money to come on board. This will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but in my estimation, this is far from done…regardless of what is currently being reported as a back out. What say you?
