His big-screen debut is still a few weeks away, but that hasn’t stopped 20th Century Fox from naming newcomer Josh Trank as its frontrunner for directing its planned reboot of Fantastic Four. The studio seems confident that Trank’s work on Chronicle, out Feb. 3, is strong enough to consider handing him the keys to a big-budget franchise.
Success or not, Lionsgate is pulling for the long haul when it comes to “The Hunger Games” series. With the first film just a couple months away, word is that Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), who adapted the first book, is well underway scripting the second installment, Catching Fire.
Who’s one to let kids come between friends? This week on Trailer Tracker we get a new spin on the rom-com with Friends with Kids starring Kristen Wiig, John Hamm, Adam Scott and Maya Rudolph. Next, cult director Wes Anderson returns with his project Moonrise Kingdom, which assembles the eclectic cast of Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand.
Surging beyond expectations, heist thriller Contraband gave Mark Wahlberg one of the best openings of his career, whereas the 3-D re-release of Beauty and the Beast opened solidly in second.
Despite the phenomenal box-office take of Alice in Wonderland, it wasn’t exactly Tim Burton’s finest achievement. However, he’s hopefully back to form with Dark Shadows, an adaptation of a gothic soap opera. It’s naturally dark, so here’s hoping it lacks the faux-edginess of “Wonderland.”
This week’s Recommendation of the Week is the Blu-ray re-release of the Steven Soderbergh movie about of the War on Drugs Traffic. Featuring an assemble cast and winning a number of awards Traffic tells the story of the War on Drugs from the perspective of law enforcement, drug barons and the family of a user. The re-release comes courtesy of the Criterion Collection and despite not being about to report on their features their re-releases are often high quality affairs. The major First Release of the week is The Ides of March, the highly praise political drama by George Clooney that features a cast of acting heavyweights. The rest of this week’s First Release is sadly a unremarkable affair, though tweens may get a kick out of Taylor Lautner’s Abduction. If you are looking for a re-release the Criterion Collection offer us the French movie Belle de Jour and you also could have a double bill of two Robin Williams movies.
Even though it has been four years since The Dark Knight and the sequel is only 6 months away, the wait for The Dark Knight Rises continues to grow more and more frantic. Now, Entertainment Weekly has “Rises” at the center of its 2012 preview, and have snatched 5 new production photos.
