This week, Will Smith changed his mind again on whether he’s going to be in ‘Independence Day 2’. TJ has more to say about Philip Seymour Hoffman and his big scene left to shoot on ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’. It seems like a digital recreation of the guy is in order so that the film can be finished. ‘Star Wars VII’ will be starting production in May. ‘The LEGO Movie’ was the big deal this week. It brought in a truckload of money on it’s opening weekend, and it was quite a good film. TJ wrote a review, and talked about it with Joe Darnell and Chad Hopkins on ‘The MovieByte Podcast’. And speaking of ‘The LEGO Movie’, a Fox News anchor has completely lost his mind and says the film is anti-business and anti-capitalist. What is his reasoning? Well the villain is named Lord Business. That’s some deep analysis right there. The director of R.I.P.D. will be directing the ‘Divergent’ sequel, ‘Insurgent’ which isn’t even in theaters yet. And of course, find out what to see this weekend!
Show Links
Yes, no, maybe: those are the three answers Will Smith has given to 20th Century Fox about returning for “Independence Day 2” aka “ID Forever” over the past few years. But now it seems he’s made up his mind. Almost.
Deadline reports that Smith won’t be starring in the sequel that is set for a 2016 release
Sources touched on the fact that Hoffman still had one major scene left to film in Mockingjay, Part 2, and that certain filmmaking tricks would have to be employed to complete the movie. Today, yet another version of that story is circulating, with The NY Post becoming the first outlet to confirm that the filmmakers will “digitally recreate” Hoffman in this pivotal scene.
Multiple sources now have confirmed for us that “Star Wars Episode VII” is set to start shooting mid-May and will run through September of this year, and most principal casting on the film is complete, with many announcements still to come.
Everything is awesome for the team behind The Lego Movie (Cinema Score: A). The 3D animated extravaganza is estimated to have earned a spectacular $69.11 million this weekend — the biggest opening of the still young year, and the second largest February opening ever (the top spot belongs to 2004′s Passion of the Christ).
The basic plot is actually fairly simple, and I’m definitely not saying that’s a bad thing. Overcomplicating such a film would have been a great downfall.
The LEGO Movie may be a smash hit as it participated in the capitalist system of film and movies, but that doesn’t matter to this intrepid Fox anchor. As a matter of fact it kind of upsets him because of how anti-capitalistic the film is. I mean, just look at the name of the villain, it’s Lord Business.
Be careful! Chad might unleash “The Kragle”! In this episode we find out that no one is going to be taken in ‘Taken 3’. Seems like maybe they want to think about a name change then, doesn’t it? Of course Joe, having written a review of ‘Taken 2: Please Take it Back’ has something to say about all this. We also now know the start date of the principle photography for ‘Star Wars VII’. Joe may not be too excited about this, but Chad and TJ are. And then, Chad and Joe get all excited about ‘Back to the Future — The Musical’ coming in 2015. Yeah, they’re geeks. And before diving into the primary review of ‘The LEGO Movie’ the stupidity of Fox News Hosts must be discussed because it directly relates to ‘The LEGO Movie’. And the consensus on said film is that it was quite awesome.
Joe, Michael, and our first-time guest, Rusty, discusss Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’: the thought-provoking story about the relationships of Theodore Twombly. This lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his computer’s OS that is designed to behave like a sentient being. ‘Her’ stars Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, and Chris Pratt.
Summit are really confident that everyone is going to see their big, juicy YA adaptation “Divergent” next month. Or they’re at least hoping that their confidence and premature announcement that a sequel is coming will encourage audiences to a buy a ticket. Either way, they’re making plans so that they’re prepared when “Divergent” becomes an (inevitable?) hit film. And they are pinning their hopes on the guy who directed “R.I.P.D.” to keep the franchise moving.
I had hoped to have seen the original RoboCop by the time I wrote this article this weekend so I could have a better idea of what I was in for and a more well informed opinion. Alas, between Netflix playing stupid with the disk, and it not being available for instant watch, that hasn’t happened. It is available for digital rental on Amazon, so I reckon I’ll do that (probably tonight) before I see the remake this weekend at the box office.