It’s with great sadness THN reports that the acclaimed award-winner actor, James Gandolfini, best known for his portrayal in HBO crime-drama THE SOPRANOS, has passed away at the age of 51. The actor is said to had suffered a heart attack while in Italy.

Gandolfini won three Emmy awards for his brilliant role of conflicted mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit series which ran from 1999 to 2007. He also gave standout performances in Tony Scott’s frenetic action-thrillers TRUE ROMANCE , THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 and CRIMSON TIDE. Outstanding supporting roles in THE LAST CASTLE, GET SHORTY and Armando Iannucci’s big-screen transition of biting political satire THE THICK OF IT with IN THE LOOP.

His most recent efforts include Oscar-nominated military drama ZERO DARK THIRTY, magical comedy THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE and the still-to-be-released assassin thriller, VIOLET & DAISY.

R.I.P. James Gandolfini, you’ll be sadly missed by those of us here at THN.

Source: Deadline

The post R.I.P. James Gandolfini Dead At 51 appeared first on The Hollywood News.

Director: Yuan Zhang.

Starring: Duan Bowen, Li Xinyun, Lv Yulai, Shi Shi.

Running Time: 96 minutes.

Synopsis: Newly dumped San Bao (Duan Bowen) eats a glass in drunk desperation while out on the town. With the help of his best friend and a hospital wardmate, the trio help each other through their individual problems.

Young, poor and restless, the characters at the heart of BEIJING FLICKERS may border on eccentric, but Yuan Zhang paints a realistic portrait of the struggles of getting by. Dealing with money, politics and the bonds of family, this is not your run of the mill social commentary.

Opening with San Bao’s narration, we learn that he hasn’t spoken in over one hundred days. Sending us back in time to discover the origins of his muteness, we witness how his happiness literally vanished in the form of runaway labrador pal, Lucky. As sickeningly metaphorical as this may be, the film rolls with comic undertones that work very much to its advantage, especially in its darkest moments.

Bowen’s natural presence ensures his silent protagonist is a fascinating one, never overcompensating through expression or physicality. Though he is undoubtedly the centre of the film, BEIJING FLICKERS never focuses on anyone specific, introducing numerous interlinking yarns that compliment its central quartet. However, it’s hilarious, plastic surgery-loving Xioa Shi (Shi Shi) who steals the show with his comic timing and transfixing dancing. A poetry-spewing breath of fresh air who forms an attachment to the silent San Bao while recovering in hospital, he threatens to walk away with the film with the subtlest of glances.

Women may be the source of San Bao and best friend Wang Ming’s (Lv Yulai) troubles, but both sexes are given equal weight. The duo may drown their sorrows, but the fairer sex are also shown as victims and arguably struggle even more to get by in Yuan Zhang’s world. Lead female You Zi (Li Xinyun) escapes the sexual predators that many of her housemates fall foul to, proving both fun and mesmerising as the talented singer songwriter who recovered San Bao’s phone after his moment of glass-munching madness.

Bloody violence may be shied away from, but suicide remains a prominent theme and occasionally threatens to kill the fun dead in its tracks. Some may wish to die, others float along in numb existence, and the rest work every hour possible to make ends meet in a place where money dictates. Allegiances may be tested by those assumed as family, but this is a film full to the brim with the bittersweet pains of trying to make it. Apart from some indulgent stealth mode fun when plotting hypothetical revenge on a friend’s ex-boyfriend, there’s no fancy tricks here. Political unrest (notably regarding healthcare) shines through in a world where brotherhood and friendship are portrayed as the one true cure, but BEIJING FLICKERS remains a very enjoyable ensemble piece due to its excellent casting and infectious nature.

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The remake, which is being produced by Will Smith and Jay Z, was eyeing up Sandra Bullock to play the infamous alcoholic caretaker of the orphanage, but it looks like the deals went flat and never made it out of negotiations. It is unclear on who the studio are looking for next.

Even though they don’t have Bullock, they still have BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD’s Quvenzhané Wallis. She is set to play Annie after Will Smith’s daughter Willow dropped out. Jamie Foxx and Brit Samantha Mumba (REMEMBER HER?!) is also rumoured to be in the film.

Source: THR

The post Sandra Bullock Will (Now) Not Be Miss Hannigan In ‘Annie’ appeared first on The Hollywood News.

Breaking news alert! The 50 SHADES OF GREY movie adaptation of the popular ‘Mommy-porn’ novel of the same name has found a director in Sam Taylor-Johnson (above left with husband, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson), helmer of the John Lennon biopic NOWHERE BOY.

The film is based over at Universal and Focus Features, with Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca producing, along with the writer of the source material EL James.

The novel, which has sold 70 million copies in e-book and print form (wow), revolves around the relationship between a girl named Anastasia Steele and a guy named Christian Grey. Apparently, there’s a lot of sex involved. They do a lot of sex.

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

The rights to the novel were snapped up by Universal last year after a massive bidding war, and is a hot ticket in terms of director too, but I feel that Taylor-Johnson could be a perfect choice. The question is, who will she cast in the main roles? Could we see young Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Christian? We’ll bring you more news as we get it.

Source: Deadline

The post Sam Taylor-Johnson Confirmed To Direct ’50 Shades Of Grey’ Movie appeared first on The Hollywood News.

Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez.

Starring: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Casey Wilson, Dean Stockwell, Troian Bellisario, Dale Dickey.

Running Time: 87 minutes.

Synopsis: Samuel (Jonathan Groff) is a self-assured twenty-something on the road to find himself. A metaphorical and physical journey, the Ivy League graduate finds himself challenged by all he meets.

Pretentious and socially awkward, Samuel buries his head in stories of the American Dream while trying to find his place after graduation and a succession of failed relationships. Parental issues may be hinted at, but Alvarez’s film focuses on the positives of self-discovery rather than the negatives of reminiscing.

The planting of Henry David Thoreau and Willa Cather may come across as obvious, but when Samuel emerges as a walking cliché of privileged youth, you expect nothing less. Bright-eyed but reserved in exuberance, Groff’s know-it-all wanderer is easy to dislike. Finding himself working in an apple yard having never seen a day of manual labour, his initial unwillingness to get stuck in ruffles more than a few feathers. However, boss man Hobbs (Dean Stockwell) takes a chance on him which sees Samuel shot up the apple manufacturing ranks.

Thrown into the lion’s den (or should that be hens’?), Samuel finds a rare masculine ray of hope in the form of forklift driver, Curly (Corey Stoll). Turning in consistently impressive roles of late, Stoll cannot escape from feeling shortchanged when serving as little more than a catalyst for realisation. Where one particular, somewhat uncomfortable scene appears to belong to another movie, C.O.G. could easily have excluded this comical interlude and removed Curly entirely.

After Hobbs sends him to run errands early on in the film due to fruit-related tardiness, Samuel bumps into the infectious Jon (Denis O’Hare). A self-proclaimed atheist, the meeting is brushed off by the youngster, but God is shown to work in mysterious ways when the two find their paths crossing at a later juncture. At its most comfortable and engrossing when spent with Jon and Samuel, there is a beautiful shred of spirituality that runs throughout. It may open and close as a road movie of sorts, but the reluctance to let Christ into his life lets Groff showcase an impressive range that results in the audience wanting him to succeed. And, thankfully, its treatment of religion never falls into offensive parody; most touching in a stunning church-based scene that sees tears streaming down Samuel’s face.

Alvarez’s second directorial outing owes a great deal to Groff and O’Hare. Interesting and thought-provoking, this very promising piece feels cut off a little too soon when a lot about Jon is left unexplained. A film of many parts, the road to finding out who Samuel truly is deserves to raise Jonathan Groff far above his Broadway hero status.

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The musical, originally made for the stage by Jason Robert Brown, tells the story of Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress and Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist. Through out the musical, we see the deconstruction of their love affair and marriage. In the musical, the characters never directly interact on stage except for one musical number, so we can’t wait to see if that will make it to the screen!

While Jeremy Jordan is a big star on Broadway, the film will only be his second role in a feature film. THE LAST 5 YEARS starts shooting in New York next week.

Source: Deadline

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Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme is on board to direct a new TV pilot from the creator of Showtime’s crime drama ‘Brotherhood’; Blake Masters. Co-produced by Fox TV Studios and AMC Studios, LINE OF SIGHT will begin with Lewis Bernt, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator, surviving a mysterious plane crash (remind you of ‘Lost’ anyone?) and setting out to discover what caused the accident.

Since his Academy Award for Best Director Demme has continued to make a whole host of movies including PHILADELPHIA, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.  He has directed a couple of TV pilots but nothing that has taken off so this could be his break into regular programming!

There’s no casting confirmed for the project, or a schedule date, but this is definitely one to watch judging by the talented people behind the camera announced so far!

Source: Deadline

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With the recent release date announcement for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3 and 4, fans of the web-slinging superhero, and in-particular Marc Webb’s interpretation, should be excited at the prospect of more adventures from Peter Parker and his alter-ego. However, many of us are skeptical at the number of villains being included in the currently-shooting sequel.

We know both Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti are on main villain duties as Max ‘Electro’ Dillon and Aleksei ‘The Rhino’ Sytsevich respectively. Not forgetting Chris Cooper and Dane DeHaan’s inclusion as the menacing father and son team of Norman and Harry Osborne (the iconic ‘Goblin’ duo). It’s also come to light Colm Feore’s character will be Adrian ‘The Vulture’ Toomes, while Felicity Jones has let slip in an interview that her role could/will be Felicia Hardy aka The Black Cat. There is also that lingering Chameleon rumour. Now, that’s a breathless number of conflicted characters to be introduced in one blockbuster.

After we’ve previously seen Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Watson in set stills, she’s now confirmed her character is being saved for the third instalment of Webb’s franchise. It was expected she would only the have an introduction in the film, but she states:

Of course I’m bummed. But I am a firm believer in everything happening for a specific reason…Based on the proposed plot, I completely understand the need for holding off on introducing [Mary Jane] until the next film.

So, with her scenes already shot alongside Emma Stone, does that mean Stone’s tragically doomed character Gwen Stacey is sticking around for at least part three? We’ll keep you posted but this increasingly beginning to look like this could be a back-to-back shoot or certainly scenes included in the next effort.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 is released 2nd May 2014. It stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Colm Feore, Shailene Woodley, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper, Dane DeHaan and Jamie Foxx.

Source: EW

The post Could Marc Webb Be Shooting ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ & 3 Back-To-Back?! appeared first on The Hollywood News.

In this new look at DIVERGENT, we see Shailene Woodley as Tris and Theo James as Four posing for the latest cover of Entertainment Weekly. It looks like the film will stay true to the book too, as you can by the character’s tattoos (We have to admit, we love the little attention to detail!)

DIVERGENT, adapted from the novel by Veronica Roth, tells the story of a teenage girl seeking to break free from her homogeneous society that divides people based on human traits. Alongside Woodley and James, it will star Kate Winslet, Zoe Kravitz, Ashley Judd, Maggie Q and Ansel Elgort.

We’ll have to wait until March 2014 (ugh) to find out if it lives up to the hype!

Source: EW

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The first casting breakdowns of a number of the main characters who’ll venture to a galaxy far, far away have been revealed for the J.J. Abrams-directed STAR WARS: EPISODE VII. The science-fiction sequel has began casting here in the United Kingdom today, with call sheets asking for the following traits for the acting participants. Whether some of these descriptions have already been filled by the likes of the expected returning trio of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher remains to be seen but certainly one of these roles could be linked to the male duo, and also the rumour Jonathan Rhys Meyers has already joined the cast.

A young man aged between 20 and 25, witty and smart, fit but not classically handsome.

Man in late twenties, also fit, but this one is handsome and confident. 

Late teenage girl, independent, good sense of humour, also… physically fit . 

Second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and physically fit. 

Man in his forties, obviously physically fit, this one is a military type. 

A man of around thirty or so, this one is an intellectual type. 

Finally, a guy aged around seventy, strong opinions and tough.

The consistent suspicion that the main character will be a young female continues to gather momentum. We’ll continue to follow the project as it develops.

Source: Bleeding Cool

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