Some days, there are bits and bobs of news that don’t have quite enough meat on the bone for a full article. Still, they’re cool tidbits worth getting some love. We round them up for you in our Quick Hits column.
Nolan North Shares His Experience On The ‘Uncharted’ Set
Two weeks ago, Tom Holland revealed the first pic of himself as a young Nathan Drake on the set of Sony’s Uncharted movie. And last week, production wrapped on the film. Among those first batch of pics was one of Holland with Nolan North, who franchise fans know as the longtime voice of Nathan Drake in the video game series. Now, North has shared a video of himself talking about his time on the Uncharted set and it’s one that fans will find interesting. Check it out:
Josh Hartnett Explains Why He Turned Down Superman And Batman Roles
Back in the 90s and early 00s, Josh Hartnett was Hollywood’s next big thing, a teen heartthrob with the talent to be a leading man. And then…he fell off the radar. In 2014, he resurrected his acting career with a major role in Showtime’s Penny Dreadful series and has been far more active since, both in acting roles and in interviews, which he eschewed for a good decade. A few years ago, he opened up about largely dropping out of the limelight, explaining his sudden rise to fame freaked him out and made him feel as though he was losing control of his life and scrutinized every second of the day. It sent him to a dark place and he realized he needed to step away until he had a better grip on the scrutiny that comes with fame. It all ties into a recent interview he gave with Metro in which he explained why he turned down major superhero roles like Superman and Batman back in the day, saying he didn’t want to be someone else’s tool or puppet. “I was very aware of the choices I was making and I wanted them to be my choices. There were a lot of powers that wanted me to pursue those films, but I have always been interested in stories about people and I didn’t want to be boxed into that superhero type,” he explained before pointing out that it was also a different kind of scenario back then when superhero actors didn’t wield the power they do now in Hollywood. “Back then a lot of actors had to fight really hard to get their career back after they played those characters.” Credit to Hartnett, he knew who he was and what he wanted. You have to respect a young actor who knows his own mind instead of going for the paycheck or the fame.
‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark 2’ To Embrace The Original Artwork Even More
Last year, director André Øvredal’s movie adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s iconic children’s story collection, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, hit theaters. It only made $104.5 million worldwide, but on a small budget of $25 million, it was a success, and this past April came the news that Paramount had greenlit a sequel with Øvredal back as director. This time, says the director, he plans to lean even further into Stephen Gammell’s beloved artwork from the original books. Speaking to Collider, Øvredal assured fans they can expect even more of it in the sequel. “I learned so much on Scary Stories, but also about Scary Stories and I do think that we’ll tap even more into [illustrator Stephen] Gammell’s visual world in the sequel than we did in the first movie,” he explained. As for when we might see production begin on this, however, don’t hold your breath. It’s in development but they’re taking their time to do it right. “Production-wise we’re in a holding pattern,” he explained, “but not really because we’re just developing the story and the script, which is a time-consuming process because there’s no point in making a sequel to that movie unless it’s elevated and it’s great and it’s ideally better than the first movie.” Count us in.
‘The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special’ Drops Its First Trailer
2020 has been the weirdest year ever, but one good thing is coming out of it: The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special. What is certain to far less of a trainwreck than the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978, this one will be an animated special piloted by Star Wars LEGO minifigs. Actors from the live-action movies and voice talent from the animated series are reprising their roles, including Kelly Marie Tran, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Matt Lanter, Tom Kane, James Arnold Taylor, and Dee Bradley Baker. The special will reunite Rey, Finn and Poe, Chewie, Rose, Threepio and Artoo for a Life Day feast. Rey sets off on a new adventure with BB-8 to gain a deeper understanding into the Force, and she’s accidentally hurled through time to various iconic moments in Star Wars cinematic history. But will she make it back in time to celebrate the holidays with her friends? The first trailer dropped today and it’s as adorable as you’d expect.
Love it.
Joe Manganiello Dyes His White Deathstroke Mohawk Blue
It looks like Joe Manganiello is done filming his scenes for Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut, if his hair is anything to judge by – or just about to begin. The actor, who is appearing in the director’s cut (or, at this point, entirely new movie) as Deathstroke, has been sporting a white Mohawk for the last few weeks. But on Twitter, he sported a new look, revealing that he’d dyed that white Mohawk bright blue, along with the caption, “Time to go to work…” Anyone who follows movie news knows hair changes are a big deal. So it’s possible that he’s dyed his hair having finished filming Snyder’s movie, or that the blue hair is the color he’ll sport in the film and the white hair was simply him going through the process of bleaching it to hold the color. Either way, it marks a clear change in his Justice League filming status. And I think we can agree: Joe Manganiello looks awesome with bright blue hair.
Seriously considering dying my hair blue right now.
‘Tenet’ Coming To Home Video In December
A few months after serving as Hollywood’s guinea pig meant to jumpstart audiences returning to theaters, we now know when Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is coming to Blu-ray/DVD and on-demand. Though movie theaters in Los Angeles and New York City are still closed, Tenet will arrive on 4K, Blu Ray, DVD, and digital on December 15th. Both the 4K Ultra Hi-Def combo pack and the Blu-ray will include the hourlong featurette “Looking at the World in a New Way: The Making of Tenet,” an exploration of the production told by the cast and crew behind it. Here are the retail prices for each format:
- 4K UHD – $44.95
- Blu-ray – $35.99
- DVD – $28.98
- Digital – varied
So there you have it. If you have’t gotten to see Tenet in theaters, you can in about six more weeks.
Kristen Bell & Jonathan Groff To Star In Musical ‘Molly And The Moon’
Look alive, Frozen fans and musical fans alike: America’s sweethearts Kristen Bell and Jonathan Groff are set to star in a live-action musical Molly and the Moon together. The original musical is one of the hottest packages coming out of American Film Market, with an impressive team behind it. How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas penned the script and will also serve as co-directors on the film. Harvey Mason Jr. (Sing, Pitch Perfect trilogy) will serve as the executive music producer, Stephanie Diaz-Matos (The Get Down) is music supervisor, and Nathan Larson is on composing duties. The story is reportedly grounded in the personal experience of Thomas shortly after HIMYM became a hit. After their son and first child, Elliot, was born, Thomas and his wife discovered he had a rare genetic defect called Jacobsen Syndrome. As a result, Elliot needed open-heart surgery at two weeks old and weighing just three and a half pounds. The traumatic experienced shaped Thomas, as well as Bays, who had a front-row seat to it all, and they realized it would make for an incredibly inspiring but serious story grounded in their love of music. Count us in.
‘Gotham’ Star Donal Logue Joining ‘Resident Evil’ Origin Movie
A few weeks after learning of the Resident Evil franchise reboot, the already stacked cast is getting a little more stacked. Gotham alum Donal Logue is set to join the project in the role of Chief Irons. Brian Irons is the police chief of the Raccoon City PD, and, like many of his fellow police officers and detectives, is deeply embroiled in the corporate and political corruption of the city. It’s something of an “opposite side of the coin” role for Logue, who played the jaded but loyal detective Harvey Bullock over Gotham‘s five seasons. Logue joins a cast that already includes Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, and veteran Neal McDonough as William Birkin. Johannes Roberts is set to direct and also wrote the script, which will reportedly hew much closer to the original Capcom video games than Milla Jovovich’s Resident Evil movie series, and will revolve around the first two games.
Josh Brolin Won Halloween Because…Well, Just Look
Honestly, this isn’t news. But with Election Week upon us and everyone’s stress levels at an all-time high, we need levity any place we can get it. So I’m sharing with you Josh Brolin attempting to do karate while wearing a giant inflatable baby costume for Halloween. Thank me after you watch. Unfortunately, I can’t embed Instagram or Facebook posts into WordPress anymore (Thanks, Facebook!) so you’ll have to head to Brolin’s Instagram page for the full thing. In the meantime, here’s a screenshot:
Trust when I say it gets better from there.
Helena Bonham Carter And Pierce Brosnan To Star In A Romantic Comedy
Fans who have been clamoring for more middle-aged romance, this is for you: Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan are set to star opposite each other in rom-com Not Bloody Likely from writer-director Joel Hopkins reports Deadline. The movie will tell the story of the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, which was famously turned into the Oscar-winning Audrey Hepburn musical My Fair Lady in 1964. Brosnan is set to play Shaw, who is determined to cast Bonham Carter’s famed Mrs. Pat Campbell in the role of Eliza Doolittle. But is her casting really just a ploy for Shaw to rekindle his once-great love and recapture the one who got away? Said producers Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite in a statement, “This is exactly the kind of film the world needs right now. A feel-good story that will make you laugh and make you cry for the right reasons. We can’t wait to get started.” Neither can we.
Vietnam War Drama ‘The Things They Carried’ Gains A Stacked Cast
The Things They Carried may be an indie film, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t already attracted some of Hollywood’s hottest young talent and one established veteran. Deadline reports that Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Bill Skarsgård (It & It Chapter Two), Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island), Tye Sheridan (X-Men franchise), Stephen James (If Beale Street Could Talk), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), Martin Sensmeier (The Magnificent Seven), Moises Arias (Monos) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) are set to join the project. The casting is also not over yet, according to reports. Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is set to direct the adaptation of Tim O’Brien’s acclaimed collection of stories about a platoon of young soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War with the script coming from Oscar-nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith. Expect there to be a bidding war on this project and for it to get almost immediate Oscar buzz.
