Tag Archives: Joel Edgerton

Trailer: The Thing (prequel) Red Band

Posted on by Arleigh

One of the films which I’m looking forward to with some trepidation, but also some excitement is the prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing that was released in 1982. This prequel will show the initial unearthing of the “Thing” from the Antarctic ice by Norwegian researchers from the 1982 film (shown only as video recordings) and how it got loose and destroyed the Norwegian Camp.

Dutch filmmaker Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. was the one picked to direct the film with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (known by many as Ramona from Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) taking the lead role. Many fans of the Carpenter film feel this prequel should never have been made. As a hardcore of the Carpenter film I can’t say that I agree with the decision to create this prequel, but I also won’t say that I’m not looking forward to it.

There had always been noise to create a sequel to Carpenter’s classic and at times even the master himself was involved in trying to get it done. This prequel became the final stab at continuing the story first started by Carpenter and I’m interested in how this new cast and crew will tell a story only hinted at in the original film.

The Thing is set for an October 14, 2011 release date.

Trailer: The Thing “Prequel” (Official)

Posted on by Arleigh

If there’s one film which genre fans have been up in arms about being remade it would be John Carpenter’s The Thing. It’s one of those films which just continues to gain a loyal and zealous following despite being a major flop in the box-office when it was first released in 1982. One way producers were able to drop the remake idea was just to set a film as a prequel to the Horror Master’s classic sci-fi horror.

Using a screenplay by Eric Heisserer (which used elements from Ronald D. Moore’s own script for a possible prequel/sequel), 2011’s The Thing will be a prequel set on the ill-fated Norwegian Antarctic Research Station. Dutch-filmmaker Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr. will be doing the directing duties with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Ulrich Thomsen leading a cast half of which are Norwegian.

The film has been in production since March 2010 and was suppose to have a 2010 October release date. Problems either with the film’s post-production or just problems within Universal Pictures shelved the film for almost a year.

The Thing definitely looks to use Carpenter’s Steadicam and minimalist-style and the trailer shows scenes that seemed lifted right out of Carpenter’s own film. Maybe it was how the trailer was cut, but it also seemed to have more jump-scares than the ’82 classic. Some people will never accept this film even without seeing the final product. I, who consider Carpenter’s film one of the best films ever made in that era, will give this film a look-see before making a final judgement. I thought remaking Dawn of the Dead was going to be a disaster, but that film more than lived it to it’s predecessor and was very good on its own merits. I hope Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.’s prequel also does just as well.

The Thing is set to have an October 14, 2011 release date.

Site Review’s of Carpenter’s The Thing: Arleigh’s and Leonard’s

Possible leads for Bourne Legacy

Posted on by leonth3duke

After joining this site smack dab in the middle of a two month internship followed by my final semester at college I have not had much time to make a post. Luckily for me things have slowed a bit and I have found time to do things other than study…like blog, as I’m about to do now.

I caught this bit of news on a few websites and I couldn’t help but voice my opinion on the matter, which has to do with the casting of the lead for “Bourne Legacy”, which is in essence a spin-off of the original Bourne trilogy. It is being directed by Tony Gilroy who previously directed Oscar nominated “Michael Clayton”, and the quirky rom-com-spy-thriller…thingy, “Duplicity”. However; he is most notably known by fans of the Bourne franchise for working on the screenplays of the first three.

Little is known about “Bourne Legacy” as far as the plot is concerned other than it takes place in the same universe, at roughly the same time (most likely following the events of Ultimatum), and is not a reboot/remake, will not contain Jason Bourne’s character, but his presence in the world will be known by characters within “Legacy”…hence why I consider this to basically just be a spin-off…just one not containing any previously known characters.

I’ve always been skeptical about “Bourne Legacy” and the closer and closer this project gets to actually being made the more and more I wish they would just not make another film tied into that universe, or wait for Greengrass and Damon to come back for a fourth. But this being Hollywood, where studios love to milk popular franchises dry, it is going to be made whether fans or non-fans like it or not. So, the best I can hope for is that they don’t totally mess it up.

I think what has many worried, including myself, is the actor who will be cast in the lead role. More recently speculation as to who the studio might go for has increased with many names being thrown around and at one point Shia LaBeouf’s name was mentioned and I had almost lost just about all faith that they could pull of anything comparable to the original trilogy. (I think it is pretty obvious that I’m not a fan of LaBeouf…) Luckily it seems that he will not test for the film. Within the last few days it seems that the list of possible actors has gotten shorter and below are four guys who the studio want for testing:

(Garrett Hedlund, Joel Edgerton, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans)

Personally, as a big fan of the first three, the only guy on that list that I can even remotely see playing a character similar to Bourne is Edgerton. He has an edge to him, and doesn’t have the “pretty boy” looks of the other three, a characteristic that I do not associate with Jason Bourne. Not to mention that from what I have seen from these four, Edgerton is the better actor, but of course that is just my opinion and I really haven’t seen enough from any of them to draw any strong conclusions.

Anyway, they will be testing for the role in the first week of April, not sure when we will get an official announcement as to who they pick but it is a decision I eagerly await. I’m trying to keep some faith in this project, hoping they keep the franchise alive long enough for possibly Damon and Greengrass to team up once again.

Personally, I would love for them to cast Edgar Ramirez who was phenomenal in Carlos, and continue the story with his character, who played Paz, a fellow spy tracking Bourne down in the third film where he got little screen time and just about zero lines. I think the best route to take with the story of “Bourne Legacy” would be to start up right after his interactions with Bourne’s character in Ultimatum and have him investigate a bit about the conspiracies below the surface, which eventually leads to him being chased down as he tries to figure it all out, focusing on what happened with Bourne and other Treadstone/Blackbriar agents. This way they could actually set up the return of Matt Damon as Bourne because of course it would all eventually lead back to him.

But who knows. Tony Gilroy is a competent director and great writer, so “Bourne Legacy” does have a chance, it is just that my love of the original Trilogy that has me worried. Still I’ll probably be there opening day…having watched the first three the night before.

What are your thoughts on the short list/”Bourne Legacy”? Who, out of the four, would you choose? Which actor would you choose who isn’t on that list?

The Thing Prequel Casts Its Leads

Posted on by Arleigh

The Hollywood Reporter blog has reported that Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been cast in the lead role of the soon-to-be filming prequel of the classic scifi/horror The Thing. Slashfilm has picked up on this story and I have confirmed with someone involved in the casting process that she has been cast who I trust explicitly.

She will play the role of Kate Lloyd, the paleontologist chosen to travel to Antarctica to help the research team in the Norwegian camp which has found something buried in the Antarctic ice. The casting of Joel Edgerton in the male lead role of Sam Carter, the American helicopter pilot tasked with bringing the character Kate Lloyd to the Norwegian base, rounds out the news on lead casting.

Ms. Winstead has had her share of being part of a genre production (Final Destination 3 and Grindhouse) so she will not be out of place in such a production. She has enough acting skills to balance out her good looks. With the relatively young look of both leads there’s a chance that writer Eric Heisserer may include a romantic subplot between the two characters. I sure hope that is not the case since this film doesn’t really need it to appeal to the audience. Would I be averse to having some sort mutual attraction, even if just hinted at, between the two character? Not at all, but a fullblown romance just for the sake of having it in the story would be the wrong way to go about it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter