movie news: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, J. Edgar and King of Heists
No CommentNo time for news on Cinerama last week, too many films coming out! I only had a chance to cover one of these items on air this week as well. No matter, I’m gonna give you the news I didn’t get to say too.
If you want to hear the rest of the panel’s take on the news, you can listen to the show live online on the Phantom 105.2 website or through the iPhone or Android apps. You can also listen on UPC channel 935 or if you’re in Dublin you can tune into FM 105.2…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
planned release date: 21 Dec 2011
You might remember, back in 2009 the Swedish film version of best selling Swedish novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was moderately successful however given the massive popularity of the novel and of it’s sequels we can hardly surprised that an English language version is on its way.
This December we will see David Fincher’s take on the story, starring Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist. To be honest, I do think it’s a little soon for there to be remake but David Fincher is one of those few directors who I’m happy to see anything by.
The first full trailer came out recently and at 3 minutes 45 seconds, it’s a long one. At first look it does seem to be very plot heavy, compared to the excellent teaser trailers, it seems to be giving a lot away. I can’t help but wonder though if it feels to me like it’s giving away more than it is, since I’ve read the book and seen the original film.
They do seem to be oddly worried about the idea that people won’t be able to follow the plot. Some months ago they released bios for 20 of the characters. You can see them on the TGWTDT website here. I have to say, it was a little confusing reading it as the Swedish names were unfamiliar to me however I can’t imagine that there will be as much of a problem with a film.
All that said, I can’t wait to see this film. I loved the book but I was never entirely happy with the original film adaptation. If there’s a director out there that can do it justice it’s David Fincher. And of course how can I not mention that the score is being done by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Oscar winners for Fincher’s last film, The Social Network. Personally, I found it exciting to hear the familiar strains of their music building up in this trailer. Oh yes, can’t wait.
Have a look yourself, I’m very interested to hear what you think of it. If you are familiar with the story – is it giving it all away? And in particularly does it look to you like he’s taking a different tack with the story? It looks to me like the way they are revealing the story might be quite different from the book.
[pro-player width=”585″ height=”327″]http://www.averagefilmreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/video/TGWTDT/GirlWithTheDragonTattoo_ITR-C_online_QT_lo.mov[/pro-player]
click to watch the HD version
J. Edgar
planned release date: 20 Jan 2012
We also saw the release of the first trailer for J. Edgar, starring the ageless Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Watts, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer – who you might remember as the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network.
The film is a biographical drama about the life and times of J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial first director of the FBI who reigned there from 1935 till his death in 1972.
Hoover was controversial for many things, including rumours that he was a cross-dresser, but the main accusations levelled against him involved The Bureau’s penchant in those days for harassing political activists, keep close tabs and detailed files on political leaders and using illegal methods against so deemed “radical” group – methods such as wiretapping, burglary, falsifying and planting documents and spreading false rumours.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely? In any case it should make for a fascinating film.
With a November release in the US it undoubtedly has its eye on the Oscars… and why not? Director Clint Eastwood has been nominated for best in show 4 times and won twice and 7 out of his last 8 films have been nominated for Oscars in various categories. Even Hereafter was nominated for one. I thought no-one liked Hereafter!
Anyway, you can have a look at the trailer below. Is this one you’re planning on catching when it comes out?
King of Heists
planned release date: TBC
If you look up his IMDb page, you’ll see Jeremy Renner’s been around in the background a long time… I know the earliest I remember him from was 28 Weeks Later in 2007, but his filmography stretches a hell of a lot further back than that. It really took the huge critical success of The Hurt Locker, and the accompanying Oscar nomination, to make him the in-demand actor he is today.
Since then his rise has been nothing less than meteoric, another Oscar nominated performance in The Town and high profile roles in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy mean that he’s one of the few leading men of choice at the moment.
With this in mind, the news comes to us that he’s been cast in King of Heists, based on the J. North Conway’s non-fiction book, King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America. It’s the story of the biggest heist by the man reputed to be greatest bank robbery in US history, George Leslie.
Who? Exactly. He was never caught out for his part in the Manhattan Savings Institution robbery in 1878 and his involvement only came to light after his death 9 years later. His gang made off with $3,000,000 from that heist and it was the largest bank robbery of its time. More than that though, is it estimated that at one point George Leslie and his gang were responsible for 80% of the bank robberies in the United States.
As yet, there is no planned release date or production schedule for this film but it will undoubtedly be some time after Renner’s upcoming turns in The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy next summer.
That’s it for the news this week. Hopefully there’ll be time for more next week!
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