Film Nerd News #6

FNN fans, I apologize for the lateness of this edition, I’m just waking up from a coma after spending all weekend in Westeros. And yes, I’m shortening iGR‘s Film Nerd News to FNN because I’m just awesome like that. Just a wait a few weeks until I go full d-bag and starting adding hashtags to this mofo! #Ihopenot

Anyways, this week features a some interesting news:

3/25 - Marvel continues to make interesting casting choices with the latest to join CAPTAIN AMERICA 2

As the headline says, Marvel‘s seemingly made it a mission to make odd/interesting casting choices for their Phase 2 films. The news that they’ve brought in UFC fighter Georges St. Pierre to play Batroc the Leaper in the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I literally know nothing about the character but like I said, the casting is pretty interesting. He joins an already stellar cast that includes Chris Evans (Sunshine) as the returning titular hero, Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) as Nick Fury, Robert Redford (The Sting) as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, Frank Grillo (The Grey) as Crossbones and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) as The Falcon. That’s a pretty interesting cast for Anthony & Joe Russo (Community) who are making the large leap from mostly comedy TV shows to big budget stuff. It’ll be interesting to see how well they do (as an avid Community fan, I have faith) but it shouldn’t be too difficult with a cast like that.

3/27 - Another name added to the cast of TRANSCENDENCE

Kate Mara (House of Cards) has joined Wally Pfister‘s (The Dark Knight trilogy) directorial debut Transcendence. She joins an already stellar cast of Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Carribean franchise), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) and Rebecca Hall (The Town). It’s interesting to note that Kate’s sister Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) was being considered for that role that eventually went to Hall. As a huge fan of Christopher Nolan‘s (The Dark Knight trilogy), I’m really excited to see Pfister’s debut since he was an integral part of most of Nolan’s films. It doesn’t hurt that Nolan himself is producing this for his frequent collaborator.

3/27 - We finally find out what Matthew Vaughn is doing: THE SECRET SERVICE

While he’s been pretty busy as a producer lately, it was still a mystery as to what Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) was going to direct next after dropping out of the X-Men: Days of Future Past gig. Of course, he was rumored to be the one taking over the Star Wars franchise at one point but that seemed to be nothing more than just a rumor. So the news that he found his next directorial effort: The Secret Service, based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass). It’ll even be done in time for a November 14, 2024 release date as well, apparently. It’s definitely an intriguing premise but I’m at the point where I’m willing to give Vaughn the benefit of the doubt with anything he decides to do so I’d probably be interested regardless.

3/28 - TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE gets a release date, unsurprisingly during Oscars season

A release date has finally been set for Steve McQueen‘s (Shame) next directorial effort, Twelve Years a Slave: December 27, 2012. It features a cast that includes a reunion with Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) as well as Chiwetal Ejiofor (Children of Men) as the lead. Brad Pitt (Seven), Paul Dano (Looper), Scoot McNairy (Argo), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of a Southern Wild) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) support. With that kind of cast, it’s no wonder it’s getting a release date during prime Oscars season.

3/28 - Christopher Nolan has found his lead for INTERSTELLAR and it may surprise you

Christopher Nolan definitely has a knack for making interesting casting choices. First it was Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) as The Joker and then to a lesser extent, Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as Bane. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Nolan has cast Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike) as the lead for his next directorial effort, Interstellar, right? You’d think so but I still find it pretty surprising but I’m not really sure why. I mean, McConaughey has actually been on a decent roll lately with films like The Lincoln Lawyer, Magic Mike and he’s getting strong buzz on the upcoming film, Mud. Still, he’s not exactly the guy I thought of that would be the first person cast in Nolan’s next film. That said, it will be interesting to see if the rest of the cast features frequent collaborators or if he’ll continue to bring in people he hasn’t worked with before.

That’s it for the this week’s edition of FNN! Look out for a new edition of TV Nerd News very soon but more importantly, don’t forget to follow me on the Twitter @kyle_igr and the site @igresponsibly!