This film adaptation of the famous Jack Kerouac novel has been in the works for years. And while it still doesn’t have an official release date for most of the world, they have released a new trailer for the project through the projects Facebook page.
Russell Banks originally wrote the screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola who had bought the rights for the film in 1980. It is now being helmed by Brazilian director Walter Salles. The new director prepared for the project by tracing Kerouac’s journey and filming a documentary.
The plot is as follows:
After the death of his father, Sal Paradise (Sam Riley, playing Kerouac’s alter-ego), an aspiring New York writer, meets Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund, playing the fictionalized Neal Cassady), a wild and infectiously charismatic ex-con. They hit it off immediately. Determined to avoid the pitfalls of a narrow, prescribed life, Sal hits the road, joining Dean on what evolves into a life-changing physical and emotional odyssey. Thirsting for freedom, they discover the world, the ecstasy of experience, the connectedness of humanity and ultimately themselves.
The film has an all-star cast which includes:
Sam Riley as Sal Paradise
Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty
Kristen Stewart as Marylou
Kirsten Dunst as Camille
Viggo Mortensen as Old Bull Lee
Amy Adams as Jane
Tom Sturridge as Carlo Marx
Steve Buscemi
Elisabeth Moss, as Galatea Dunkel
Alice Braga, as “Terry”
Danny Morgan as Ed Dunkel
Terrence Howard as Walter
Rocky Marquette as Alfred
Imogen Haworth
Marie-Ginette Guay as Gabrielle Levesque (Aunt of Sal Paradise)
Unfortunately, it is unknown if the film will be released anytime soon, but it is a step forward to have the trailer released. Hopefully this means that we won’t have to wait much longer for it.
It seems that Josh Trank, the director of Chronicle is in talks to direct a Spider-Man franchise spin-off. The movie which has been in the works at Sony since 2008 is called Venom, reports the LA Times.
It wasn’t that long ago in 2009 that Gary Ross; director of the Hunger Games; was in the very same talks to direct a Venom feature film. A draft of a potential script was produced several years ago, but Sony has since been looking for a new writer.
Venom made his first appearance in Spider-Man #252 as Spider-Man’s alien costume; made of a black liquid substance that moved of it’s own free will. The costume is actually a parasitic symbiote, but Spider-Man doesn’t know that yet. All he knows is that the costume makes it so he can change into whatever outfits he wants at anytime, plus it has somehow produces web fluid without replacement cartridges or web spinners. So the webhead returns with his new toy from the Secret Wars; a Marvel comics crossover.
A later full examination of what Spider-Man is wearing is conducted and Peter Parker freaks out as the symbiote tries to permanently latch on to him. Like a good super natural monstrous being, the symbiote has it’s share of weaknesses; loud noises and fire.
The symbiote is seperated from Peter Parker and is spurned like a jilted lover. Really? It’s trying to force itself onto another sentient being and it’s still has the gall to think it’s in the right. No means no!
Isn’t this the character traits of someone who is crazy? It turns out that other symbiotes also think the Venom entity is mentally unstable. Venom wants to share consciousness with the host rather than outright dominate.
To top it off, when venom bonds to another host, it also augments the new host with the exact same abilities as Spider-Man. If it’s really pissy, it’ll share with the host all of Spider-Man’s secrets like a gossipy ex-girlfriend. Also like ex-girlfriends, they tend to want lots of blood sacrifices. Venom now makes their host take on the appearance of Spider-Man with the addition of impossibly toothy smile and long serpentine tongue. Why? The better to eat people with of course.
So that’s that’s what Venom is all about. Since Spider-Man, the symbiote has passed on from one host to another like a case of alien German herpes; and somehow passed onto Peter Parker’s childhood bully, Flash Thompson. Hah! How’s that for karma? It was in the 90’s the Venom contracted the popular Anti-Hero bug that was sweeping the comic book bad boys of it’s day.
Though it remains to be seen if this Venom movie has any connection to the upcoming movie, The Amazing Spider-Man, it’s definitely unlikely that there will be any resemblance to Sam Raimi’s take of the Spider-Man villain. That’s right, no Topher Grace portrayals where Venom doesn’t look scary at all. It especially got ruined when the mask kept peeling back so Topher could talk more.
So out of the slew of potential candidates, who will be the subject host of the Venom symbiote? It’s almost like asking who my favorite Doctor is from Dr. Who, except less important. Two well known hosts are Eddie Brock, the muscle head failed photographer, and Mac Gargan, the original Spider-Man villain known as the Scorpion.
Forgot those two. It would require far too much writing and ret-cons to make any of the previous hosts a viable character. I hope they go with someone completely knew or relatively new enough.
You want a movie that will make Spider-Man fans sit up and take notice? Make the new host Miles Morales; that’s right, the kid who’s the new Spider-Man.
You can expect voting results the day after the voting closes.
Round 1
March 12- 14: Future Apocalypse VS Global Catastrophe
March 13- 15: The Female Leads VS The Male Leads
Round 2
March 16 -19: Future Apocalypse VS Global Catastrophe
March 17-20: The Female Leads VS The Male Leads
Round 3
March 22 – 25: Semi-Finals for Future Apocalypse VS Global Catastrophe
March 27 – 29: Semi-Finals for The Female Leads VS The Male Leads
Round 4
Determine Bracket Champions
March 31- April 3
Championship
April 5th- 9th
Round 2 and 3 match-ups will be determined by the highest/lowest next highest/next lowest, etc..
Round 4 will feature the last two competitors in each bracket therefore determining the bracket champion who will go on to the tournament championship.
Best of luck to all the books, and don’t forget to come back Monday to start voting!
Also, if you want to vote on some more great fantasy and sci-fi novels, be sure to check out our big sister tournament up at BookSpotCentral where they are hosting a full 64 book bracket!
Optionated is excited to offer our readers a chance to win a great prize pack in honor of the upcoming theater release of the film Being Flynn.
Being Flynn from Focus Features arrives in theaters March 16th, 2012
About Being Flynn
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Focus Features
Starring: Robert De Niro, Paul Dano, Olivia Thirlby, Lili Taylor, Wes Studi and Julianne Moore
Written & Directed By: Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”)
Based on the Memoir By: Nick Flynn
Synopsis:
Can one life story have two authors? Being Flynn is the new dramatic feature from Academy Award-nominated writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy). Adapted from Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir Another Bulls—t Night in Suck City, the movie explores bonds both unbreakable and fragile between parent and child. Nick Flynn (portrayed in the film by Paul Dano of Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) is a young writer seeking to define himself. He misses his late mother, Jody (four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore), and her loving nature. But his father, Jonathan, is not even a memory, as Nick has not seen the man in 18 years. Jonathan Flynn (two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro) has long defined himself as a great writer, “a master storyteller.” After abandoning his wife and child, Jonathan scrapes through life on his own terms, and ends up serving time in prison for cashing forged checks. After prison, he drives a cab for a number of years, but with his drinking and eccentricities now accelerating, he loses his job. Despite the occasional grandiose letter to his son, he has remained absent from Nick’s life. Suddenly facing eviction from his apartment, Jonathan impulsively reaches out to Nick and the two come face-to-face. The older man is eloquent and formidable; overwhelmed, Nick nonetheless prepares to integrate his father into his own life. But, as quickly as he materialized, Jonathan flits away again. Moving on, Nick takes a job at a homeless shelter, where he learns from Captain (Wes Studi) and Joy (Lili Taylor) how to relate to the guests who arrive night after night. Seeing the homeless – some permanently, some temporarily so – and hearing their stories, Nick finds purpose in his own life and work. He also sustains a romance with a co-worker, Denise (Olivia Thirlby). Then one night, Jonathan arrives, seeking a bed, and Nick’s senses of self and compassion falter. To give the two of them a shot at a real future, Nick will have to decide whom to seek redemption for first.
Evocatively told, ruefully funny, and moving in its depiction of the ties that bind, Being Flynn tells a story that reveals universal truths.
About The Soundtrack:
The original motion picture soundtrack for BEING FLYNN, features 15 original songs by Badly Drawn Boy, including the tracks “I’ll Keep The Things You Throw Away,” “Asleep At The Wheel,” “Harbor Street Check-in,” and more. Download on iTunes, buy from Amazon.
The soundtrack is available digitally now and physically on March 27th.
Track listing:
I’ll Keep The Things You Throw Away
Asleep At The Wheel
Harbor Street Check-in
If It’s Too Late
Last Day
The Smile Behind Your Face
Priest Rant
Coming To Your Senses
Sell My Blood
The Space Between My Ears
Jonathan Goes To Work
Letter, Mirror
Another Day, Another Night
Letter To The President
Let It Rain
What You Get:
One (1) winner will receive:
$25 Movie Theater Gift Card
Movie-Tie in Book
Soundtrack
How To Enter:
Send an email with your name and shipping information to contest@bsckids.com. Please make the title Being Flynn so we know which contest you are entering. If you follow us on Twitter (@Optionated_) or Facebook you get two chances to win, just make sure you include the name you follow us under in the entry email. We will be announcing winners on March 14th! Good Luck!
March is known for at least one thing every years, NCAA March Madness and it is right around the corner. And with that is the continuation of the BSC Book Tournament. In case you were curious, yes the two events ARE similar! Our tournament is set up in the style of March Madness where we will eventually crown the Best Dystopian Novel of 2011 (as voted by our readership).
This is the first year Optionated will be participating in the BSC Book Tournament. Because of the world wide phenomenon caused by The Hunger Games over the last year, our tournament will give you a taste of The Hunger Games with 32 dystopian novels fighting to be crowned the winner.
The rules are these: eligibility is determined by a book being published for the first time in 2011, in the science fiction or fantasy genre, YA inclusive (anthologies are only considered if they are not reprints). The selected contestants are bracketed out into four groups; within each bracket the seeds are matched highest to lowest, and a voting poll is put up on our website. The poll will remain open the designated length of time (schedule TBA), and winners are determined strictly by the highest number of votes. The winners of each round of voting will be matched to their next opponent on a pre-designated schedule (to be announced at the end of this week, in advance of any match-ups). Repeat the steps until we have four bracket champions, who will then play against one another to determine which books proceed to the consolation round, and which to the championship.
Because, as with Highlander, in the end there can be only one.
You can see our list of 32 contestants in their four brackets below:
Future Apocalypse Bracket
Incarceron – Catherine Fisher
Ship Breaker – Paolo Bacigalupi
Birthmarked – Caragh M. O’Brien
Fever Crumb – Philip Reeve
Legend – Marie Lu
The Death Cure – James Dashner
Across The Universe – Beth Revis
All These Things I’ve done – Gabrielle Zevin
Global Catastrophe Bracket
Epitaph Road – David Patneaude
The Eleventh Plague – Jeff Hirsch
Enclave – Ann Aguirre
Wither – Lauren Destefano
Awaken – Katie Kacvinksky
Ashes – Ilsa Bick
Delirium – Lauren Oliver
Eve – Anna Carey
Female Lead Bracket
Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
Matched – Ally Condie
The Line – Teri Hall
21 Erased – Barbara Rayne
Helper 12 – Jack Blaine
Divergent – Veronica Roth
Dark Parties – Sara Grant
Bumped – Megan McCafferty
Male Lead Bracket
The Scorpio Races – Maggie Stiefvater
The Gardener – S.A. Bodeen
Ashfall – Mike Mullin
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
The Water Wars – Cameron Statcher
Dark Life – Kat Falls
Vortex – Robert Charles Wilson
Dark Inside – Jeyn Roberts
Voting will begin on Monday, March 12, 2012 for the Future Apocalypse Bracket and Global Catastrophe Brackets and on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 for the Female Versus Male brackets.
It seems that the new Dr. Suess adaptation, “The Lorax” has surpassed expectation at the box office during its opening weekend. The film took in $70.7 million which also happens to be the biggest opening of 2012 so far (although I’m guessing that will be easily by The Hunger Games) it is also the most ever for Universal animated film. Considering they expected to bring in $40 million, I am pretty sure Universal is ecstatic with the figures.
“The Lorax” was the movie audiences definitely wanted to see. The PG-rated book adaptation from Universal and Illumination Entertainment now stands as the biggest-opening animated family film that is not a sequel. It also comfortably sits as the fourth biggest opening of all time for Universal as well as the biggest opening weekend for a movie based on a Dr. Suess Book.
Until “The Lorax” had hit theaters, the biggest opening weekend of 2012 had been set with “The Vow” which had debuted with $41.2 million. The difference is a little less than $30 million which in of itself is pretty staggering.
Part of the success that comes with family films like “The Lorax” is that larger groups of people tend to go together than any other type of film. Because of this, the numbers tend to be higher.
Universal’s head of distribution said the biggest part of the success of the film is the film itself. The audience survey company Cinemascore gave it an “A” and the marketing campaign for the film began quite early to bring attention to it. She also stated,
“People said to me, ‘Why not open it in the summer?'” Rocco told TheWrap Sunday morning. “Why not now, when there’s a lack of family films? ‘Journey 2’ is the last one, and it is in its fourth week.”
The marketing campaign was basically flawless, if you ask me. Universal partnered with MANY companies to get their word out and endorsements for the movie. Companies, including Mazda, The Nature Conservancy, IHOP, Pottery Barn, HP and Whole Foods, to promote the film. They also used to eco-friendly message to appeal to the masses.
On opening weekend, “The Lorax” was definitely a family movie. 68% of the audience included children 12 and younger attending with their parents (or guardians). Interestingly though, the movie seems to skew to female audiences with 57% being female on opening weekend and among those who were 13 and older, 63% were female.
The film has only been open a short time but its already made back the money it cost to make it (it cost less than $70 million to make).
Chris Renaud directed the movie, which starred the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White and Ed Helms. Illumination’s Chris Meledandri produced.
Here are the weekend’s top 10 movies at the domestic box office: “The Lorax” ($70.7 million)
“Project X” ($20.8 million)
“Act of Valor” ($13.7 million)
“Safe House” ($7.2 million)
“Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds” ($7 million)
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” ($6.9 million)
“The Vow” ($6.1 million)
“This Means War” ($5.6 million)
“Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” ($4.7 million)
“The Artist” ($3.9 million)
If you have been pregnant, are pregnant, known someone who was pregnant, or watched any movie/television show where a character is pregnant, you most likely have heard of the book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” written by Heidi Murkoff. The book chronicles, well, exactly what it says. What you need to know when expecting a child. Frankly, it was only a matter of time before they somehow managed to turn the pregnancy help book into a movie.
Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies we have a new trailer for the upcoming film.
The film follows all the things that couples face when they are confronted by the new frontier of parenting. It focuses on seven different couples as they experience and live through the thrills, terrors, surprises, aches, and pains of preparing for their new lives as parents.
The adaptation has an all-star cast that features: Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks, Chase Crawford, Matthew Morrison and Dennis Quaid.
The book was originally published in 1984 and consistently tops The New York Times Best Seller list in the paperback advice category. It is also one of USA Today’s ”25 Most Influential Books” of the past 25 years and has been described as “the bible of American pregnancy”. According to USA Today, 93 percent of all expectant mothers who read a pregnancy guide read What to Expect When You’re Expecting.
I can guess that 93 percent of women are going to see this film as well. Although pregnancy and birth scare me so it might be a while before I watch this film. The only saving grace of this film is that it features the always hilarious Elizabeth Banks, who I am pretty sure can do no wrong. And she brings her Avery Jessup type personality to the role (as you can see in the poster above).
The closer the film adaptation of The Hunger Games gets to hitting theaters, the more people who admit to LOVING this series. (Myself included). Several celebrities have recently taken to Twitter to spread their love for the dystopian trilogy including Demi Lovato and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Carly Rae recently tweeted:
Completely obsessed with THE HUNGER GAMES! I found the beach… I had my book and it was a beautiful day.
Then superstar Demi also made sure her fans knew of her love for the series by tweeting this message:
Okay guys… I admit it…. I’M SO EXCITED FOR THE HUNGER GAMES!!!!!!! Aljkshkflakcjjk!!!!!! I can’t stop reading Catching Fire… I LOVE it… #hungergamesaddict Anyway.. In bed, snuggled up with Catching Fire… Perfect way to end my day! #goodnight y’all! ❤ P.S. is it weird that I wish I had Peeta to snuggle with at night like Katniss did?! Haha.. Swoon ❤ #hungergamesaddict
It is not just teen superstars either who love this amazing series.
Kristen Bell wasn’t afraid to admit that she was a fan, she recently tweeted,
“not just ‘a’ hunger games fan. THE hunger games fan. read both books twice & am silently salivating for the 3rd.” Later, she also tweeted: ”believe it baby! 2nd time i read it aloud 2 friends & did different voices for each charachter. i am the king of the nerds!”
Twilight star Robert Pattinson isn’t bitter about the new trilogy taking over the world because he loves The Games as much as we do.
“I sort of came across it last year, and I didn’t realize it was the most enormous thing in the world. It’s good! It will be a good movie.”
Elizabeth Banks plays Effie Trinket in the The Hunger Games, but her love for the series is totally genuine. She recently tweeted,
“MOCKINGJAY!!! Clearing three days of my life to devour this book. 3rd in Hunger Games trilogy. Read these!”
Avatar star Zoe Saldana talked about the film while on the red carpet before the VMAs saying,
“I am looking forward to the movies. I am a very big gary Ross fan. I know he’s going to make it rain with this movie.”
Tyra Banks may have her own novel out but she can’t help but tweet love for the sequel, Catching Fire.
“Just finished sequel to HUNGER GAMES book called CATCHING FIRE. Soooooo good!!! u should get both!”
Emily Blunt recently told MTV News about how much she loves the book and how she wishes she was young enough to play Katniss.
“I’m kind of riveted by it and terrified by it at the same time. I can’t stop reading it.”
Bill Gates is the last person you would think to be on this list, but when Scholastic asked him to share his list of novels that shaped his life, The Hunger Games showed up on his list.
Even though Emma Roberts didn’t get a part in the movie, she still admits to loving to book.
“I’m really excited to see the movie. I read all the books a couple weeks ago, and I’ve got all my friends hooked. It’s totally cool and I can’t wait to see it.”
Will all this love for the series, I have to ask, who doesn’t love this series? (or at least is excited for the movie?).
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island has already raked in over $270 million at the box office worldwide. With such a huge success, the only logical thing is to milk it for more. Warner Bros. has tapped director Brad Peyton with writers Brian and Mark Gunn to create the next movie. It is not known yet whether we will see Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson or Michael Caine in the next movie. If they really wanted to make it a grand tie in, they’d have all three plus Brendan Fraser from the first movie.
The film which is a sequel to Journey to Center of the Earth 2008, is also inspired by Jules Verne, The Father of Science Fiction. The movies thus far have followed the naming convention of Verne’s novels as well as the general setting. However I doubt the Rock is really what the first nerd author had in mind.
Obviously the movies take place with a familiar, more contemporary start point than what the books were written for; back in the 18th century and all. Even the characters are written from scratch and have no bearing on the current day story. Starting from present day civilization, the adventurers find themselves in extraordinary places and situations. Then again, not all of Verne’s work is cut out for adaptation. It would be funny though if I ever saw a Journey movie called Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen. It’d be more hilarious if they could somehow bend the movie away from the topic of slavery; maybe they’d make it about vampires.
I haven’t watched these movies. Up until I saw the title, I didn’t even remember they existed until I saw the trailers for both. If I look away from the screen right now, I’m convinced that the memories will fade again and I’ll have to start tracking the memory by drawing on myself with a marker. So I have no real reasonable argument to make against watching these movies. In saying that, I’m not a very reasonable person.
Where’s the steam punk action? The novel that this movie is loosely based on is a tie in to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Even back then, publishers were all about sequels and crossovers. As I understand it, there is a scene in the movie where the heroes need to take Nemo’s Nautilus, but that’s backwards!
The third movie Journey 3 is currently being slated for release sometime in 2014. The next adventure will most likely be called Journey 3: From the Earth to the Moon. It’s pretty much planted as the Rock gives Sean the very same Jules Verne book in the current movie. In Verne’s story, a gun club fires an oversized bullet ship into space; via the gun called Columbiad. It’s not that different than being shot to the moon by a rocket called Columbia.
What can we expect from adventures on the moon? Well if we can look past the deadly sentient robots, we can enjoy what Fungineers have created.
We’re whalers on the moon,
We carry a harpoon.
But there ain’t no whales
So we tell tall tales
And sing our whaling tune.
Fans, doesn’t it feel like The Hunger Games will never get here? Well in another day of impatiently waiting, we are being treated to another BRAND NEW clip from the film. The clip comes from the great people over at Lionsgate and debuted on Yahoo! Movies earlier today.
Of course it doesn’t follow the happenings of the Arena, that is being left for movie night, but it does show the fateful first meeting between Katniss and her stylist Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz.
I have to say, this is a great look into what the actual full film will be like. So far, I haven’t seen hardly anything that will make me think my excitement for the movie is misappropriated. This whole scene captures the over all emotion of the scene in the novel perfectly. If you had doubts about Kravitz playing the role, this clip should definitely ease your mind.
We (thankfully) have only about 2 weeks left till the premiere (where I will be eagerly awaiting my seat in the theater), but there is a chance we might get one more exclusive clip before the big day.
The Hunger Games is the movie adaptation of the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins. It is followed by the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay.
The plot for the film is as follows:
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the governing body, the Capitol, of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Katniss Everdeen volunteers as a tribute to save her sister from going in to the ghastly arena. She is joined by Peeta Mellark, a boy she knew who once saved her life.
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