James Marsden Replaces Paul Walker in The Best of Me

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Due to the untimely death of Paul Walker late last year, James Marsden has replaced the actor in the upcoming Nicholas Sparks film adaptation, The Best of Me.

The Best of Me will be directed by Michael Hoffman with a script written by Will Fetters and J. Mills Goodloe. Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name published in 2011, the book is officially described as follows:

In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Carolina. But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths.

Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for the funeral of Tuck Hostetler, the mentor who once gave shelter to their high school romance. Neither has lived the life they imagined… and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their lives. As Amanda and Dawson carry out the instructions Tuck left behind for them, they realize that everything they thought they knew—about Tuck, about themselves, and about the dreams they held dear—was not as it seemed. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers will discover undeniable truths about the choices they have made. And in the course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead: Can love truly rewrite the past?

Marsden, also known as Liz Lemon’s lover,  most recently appeared in Adam McKay’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

The Best of Me was originally planned to be released on October 17, but it’s a good bet that the project will now arrive in theaters at some point in 2015.

Full Cast Announced for FX’s “Hoke”

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FX has officially completed casting for their upcoming series, “Hoke.” According to the finalized cast list, the series will star star Paul Giamatti, Oona Chaplin, John Carroll Lynch, Robert Wisdom, Jordi Mollà and Tammy Blanchard.

“Hoke” is a darkly comedic drama based on Charles Willeford’s series of novels “Sideswipe,” “New Hope for the Dead” and “The Way We Die Now”. It is a story of mid-life crisis and murder that features the hardboiled and possibly insane homicide detective, “Hoke Moseley” (Giamatti), in pre-chic Miami circa early 1980s.

Oona Chaplin plays “Ellita Sanchez,” a sharp young homicide detective recently promoted from dispatcher to Hoke’s new partner. John Carroll Lynch plays “Bill Henderson,” an old guard Miami PD detective and Hoke’s former partner who is equally as miserable in the recently diversified department. Robert Wisdom is “Major Brownley,” the head of the Miami PD Homicide Squad who has a long history with Hoke and his antics. Jordi Mollà plays “Armando Zuniga,” a sociopathic Cuban man who arrives on the shores of Miami in the rumpled, faded clothing of a peasant Cuban refugee and integrates into the city posing as a famous poet of the Cuban people. Tammy Blanchard plays “Loretta Hickey,” the striking mother of a murdered drug addict who Hoke comes across while investigating the case.

The pilot episode of “Hoke” was written by Scott Frank who will also direct the pilot episode. Frank will later serve as co-showrunner with David Manson if the show goes to series. Frank, Manson, Curtis Hanson, Carol Fenelon, Paul Giamatti and Dan Carey serve as executive producers.

“Hoke” is produced by FX Productions, and production on the pilot will begin this spring in Miami.

5 Teases for the Upcoming Game of Thrones Season 4 Trailer

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APRIL 6. Guys, we just have to make it to April 6. HBO has officially announced the return of “Game of Thrones” to take place on, you guessed it, April 6 with the season 4 premiere. The first trailer will air this Sunday at 8:58 p.m. ET before “True Detective,” but you can get five early teases below.

Members of the ensemble cast includes Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, Natalie Dormer, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner. However, season 4 will also see several new stars join the cast for the season.

The executive producers are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield, and co-executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin.

Season 4 will be based on the second half of the novel, “A Storm of Swords.” The book is the third in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series written by George R.R. Martin.

To get you even more excited, as if that was possible, HBO has released 5 Vines teasing the official debut of the trailer this weekend. I am not sure why they couldn’t just release the trailer considering all the effort they put into release vines but oh well. You can watch them below!

Sam Neill Will Not Be Reprising His Role For Jurassic World

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Dr. Alan Grant is like so over dinosaurs. Can you blame him though, really? Sam Neill recently announced that he will not be appearing in the newest film in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World. 

Neill recently spoke with The Examiner (via JurassicWorld.org) and said,

“I’m sure it’s going to be great but they don’t need me… I think there’s a whole new cast and a whole new look at things, and I think that’s great. As I said, I’d never say no, but I wish them [well].”

Despite appearing in the first and third film of the franchise, Neill is resolute in not continuing the series with his character.

Jurassic World will star Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Nick Robinson and Irrfan Khan. It is to be directed by Colin Trevorrow with the screenplay co-written by Derek Connolly.  Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley are producing.

Trevorrow confirmed that the film will feature Isla Nublar, the island from the first film, and that it will take place 22 years after the events of that film. The film franchise is based on the the 90’s novel series by Michael Crichton.

Return to Isla Nublar in 3D starting June 12, 2015.

Rainn Wilson Drama “Backstrom” Gets Series Order at Fox

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Rainn Wilson is coming back to television. Fox has picked up his newest series entitled, “Backstrom.” The series was developed by CBS during the 2013-14 pilot season. Fox has ordered 13 episodes, and production will begin early this year. A formal premier date has not yet been announced.

“Backstrom” will be based on the books by Swedish criminologist/novelist Leif G.W. Persson. The hourlong crime drama centers on an overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries and fails to change his self-destructive behavior. Wilson stars as Detective Everett Backstrom. This is Wilson’s first television project since his iconic role as Dwight Schrute on “The Office.”

“Bones” executive producer Hart Hanson penned the pilot and will be executive producing via his overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Persson and Niclas Salomonsson are also on board as EPs. Mark Mylod (Shameless) directed and exec produced the pilot. Wilson will produce.

“Hart Hanson and Rainn Wilson are the perfect combination of creative vision and onscreen talent to bring this one-of-a-kind character and story like Backstrom to Fox,” said Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly. “I’ve been in business with Hart for a long time, and not only does he have a rare gift for infusing darker themes with relatable humor, he’s one of the best showrunners out there today. Together with Rainn — who absolutely nails this role and makes it a classic FOX character — I think we’ve got something really special here.”

Wilson said,

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to get a chance to dig into Detective Everett Backstrom. For an actor it’s rare to get a crack at a role of such intelligence, humor and complexity. He’s a delightfully disheveled misanthrope with a twisted, brilliant mind and a heart of barbed wire. Truly the role of a lifetime. Hart Hanson is an incredible writer and showrunner and I couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with him. Last but not least, Fox is the perfect home for this fun and disturbed piece of entertainment. They are passionate about the show and I’m ecstatic to be working with Kevin Reilly again — he launched The Office on NBC and fought tooth-and-nail for us to stay on the air, let’s not forget — and to be on the same network as my frenemy, Mindy Kaling.”

Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected), Dennis Haysbert (24) and Page Kennedy are set to co-star.

Fox Options “Influx” For Film

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20th Century Fox has officially optioned the novel “Influx” by Daniel Suarez for the big screen, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter. The novel, which releases in stores on February 20, is officially described as follows:

Are smart phones really humanity’s most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th century—fusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common disease, extended human lifespan, and a host of other world-changing advances—have remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960’s failed to arrive?

Perhaps it did arrive… but only for a select few.

Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what they’ve been working toward for years: a device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics—the crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel Prize. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.

They are living in our future.

Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady resists, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?

And if they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?

Currently, no one is attached to the production of Influx as of yet.

Zoe Saldana to Star in NBC Miniseries Rosemary’s Baby

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ZOE SALDANA at Premiere of Star Trek into DarknessNBC’s upcoming four-hour miniseries reboot of “Rosemary’s Baby” has officially cast Zoe Saldana in the lead role. Saldana will play Rosemary, the iconic young wife and would-be mother who, with her husband, moves into a Paris apartment that has a darkly storied past. After finally getting pregnant, she becomes increasingly suspicious that both her husband and their mysterious neighbors have ulterior motives about the future of her child.

The series is based on the 1967 best-selling novel by Ira Levin which was previously adapted for the big screen starring Mia Farrow.

Saldana is most known for her role in the biggest box-office hit of all time, Avatar. She has been nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. and Washington, D.C., Film Critics Assn. for her role in 2009’s Star Trek reboot. She is an ALMA Award winner for Colombiana and earned BET and Image Award nominations for The Losers and Avatar.

“Zoe has proven that she is one of our most gifted actresses and we think she has the perfect combination of spirit and gravitas to take on the title role from Ira Levin’s infamous novel,” said Quinn Taylor, Executive Vice President, Movies, Miniseries and International Co-Productions, NBC Entertainment. “With Zoe leading the cast under the direction of Agnieszka Holland, this reimagined event mini-series is off to a great start.”

Scott Abbott and James Wong are writing the screenplay. Production is set to begin shortly in Paris, where the story is now set.

 

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World on Digital HD Feb 4 and Blu-ray Feb 25

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Marvel is officially releasing Thor: The Dark World on 3D Combo Pack, Single-Disc Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand February 25th and will be available on Digital 3D and Digital HD on February 4th!

The release features exciting bonus features including an exclusive first look at Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, never-before-seen extended and deleted scenes.

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World continues the big screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself.  In the aftermath of Marvel’s The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos… but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness.  Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor and Natalie Portman reprises her role as Jane Foster. Tom Hiddleston also returns as Loki while  Anthony Hopkins appears as Odin.

Bonus Features:

  • Never-Before-Seen Extended and Deleted Scenes
  • Gag Reel
  • Exclusive Look – Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Get an exclusive first look at the latest installment in the Captain America franchise and its incredible cast of characters, including Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Director Nick Fury, Chris Evans, our hero Steve Roger’s, his new ally Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon played by Anthony Mackie, and a mysterious enemy from the past…the Winter Soldier played by Sebastian Stan.
  • Audio Commentary with Director Alan Taylor, Producer Kevin Feige, Actor Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau.
  • A Brothers’ Journey:  Thor & Loki
    • In this 30 min feturette go behind the scenes with filmmakers and cast as we explore two of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Universe with stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) & Tom Hiddleston (Loki), and journey through the key moments that have defined and endeared these characters to audiences around the world.
  • Scoring Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World with Brian Tyler
    • Go behind the scenes with the filmmakers and acclaimed composer Brian Tyler for a look at the creation of the movie’s stunning original score.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Hungarian Hit The Notebook

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Sony Pictures Classics have officially acquired the North American rights to the Hungarian film, The Notebook. The film is an adaptation of the Agota Kristof bestselling novel of the same name. It received The Grand Prix Crystal Globe, the top prize at the 2013 Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. The film also received The Europa Cinemas Labels Award, which supports theatrical exhibition in Europe, and had its North American premiere at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.

Set on the onset of WWII, The Notebook, which stars Ulrich Thomsen and Ulrich Matthes, tells the story of thirteen year old twins abandoned by their parents and forced to live with their cruel grandmother in a village on the Hungarian border. Studying the evil surrounding them, the twins learn to rely on their loyalty to one another, ultimately surviving in the face of challenging circumstances.

The film was the Hungarian entry for Best Foreign Language Film and was directed by Janos Szasz. It was filmed by Academy Award nominated Christian Berger and is produced by Intuit Pictures, in co-production with Hunnia Filmstudio, Amour Fou and Dolce Vita Films.

Szasz said,

“To make this movie was a wonderful and a painful journey for me, like a time machine, took me back into the war time. The jungle of fear and immorality.”

Sony Pictures Classics also commented,

“We have wanted to buy this film following its successful showings at the Toronto Film Festival. We have never really seen a movie quite like this. Based on a famous European novel, The Notebook portrays the World War II experience as a Grimm fairy tale brimming with darkness and foreboding evil. It is fresh, brilliantly told by director Janos Szasz with stunning cinematography by the great Christian Berger. It is great to collaborate again with Dirk Schuerhoff and Beta Cinema with whom we have shared success in the past.”

AMC Debuts Teaser Art For the Return of The Walking Dead

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The second half of the fourth season of “The Walking Dead” has gotten its own teaser art courtesy of AMC. The art features Carl for once in the forefront with Rick behind him. Above the father/son duo is the tagline, “Don’t Look Back.” You can see it above!

“The Walking Dead” will return (finally) on Sunday, February 9th. The mid-season premiere will be followed by a brand new episode of “Talking Dead” at 10pm.

The zombie survival series continues to be the #1 show on all of television among the coveted 18-49 demographic and remains the highest-rated series in the history of cable television. The first eight episodes of its fourth season delivered an average of 13 million viewers and 8.4 million adults 18-49.

It is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The series has been well received and has received many award nominations including ones for the Writers Guild of America Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series (Drama). The series has also attained strong Nielsen ratings, surpassing various records for a cable series, including receiving 16.1 million viewers for its season four premiere to become the most-watched drama series telecast in basic cable history.