James Wan Directing Fast & Furious 7

We recently reported that Justin Lin was finally leaving the high octane world of the Fast and Furious franchise. Director Lin had been responsible for the past 4 installments, including Fast and Furious 6 which is set to have it’s world premiere in London next month.

Now Universal have apparently move appropriately fast to replace him, opting for Saw and Insidious director James Wan. It’s an interesting move which sees the horror director definitely changing gear with a dramatic shift over to the action genre.

Here’s what departing director Lin had to say about the news:

“I’m extremely proud to be part of the ‘Fast’ franchise, it is an experience I will always treasure. It’s time for me to move on to other things and I’m thrilled that Universal and [producer Neal H. Moritz] have selected James Wan to lead the franchise into its new chapter.”

John Hurt Receives Cultural Honour

Global cultural diplomacy organisation Liberatum has awarded veteran British actor John Hurt CBE its prestigious annual Cultural Honour for his contribution to cinema at a glittering gala reception and dinner at Spice Market in W London – Leicester Square attended by leading figures from the worlds of art, film, music, theatre, media, literature and fashion.

Liberatum founder Pablo Ganguli said of the award:

”John Hurt is one of Britain’s most cherished cultural icons. His incredible voice, which is instantly recognisable, and his magnificent  talent in acting have given us countless memorable films to fall in love with over and over again. Liberatum also applauds his work in supporting Amnesty International’s extremely important causes and promoting human rights. We pay tribute to a great cultural figure.”

Previous recipients of the Liberatum annual Cultural Honour include Gore Vidal, Sir VS Naipaul, Terry Gilliam, Sir Peter Blake, Marianne Faithfull andDame Zaha Hadid. This year’s award was presented to John Hurt by Pablo Ganguli, in association with artist and sculptor Svetlana K-Lié, who has created the award.

John Hurt has enjoyed a celebrated film career spanning six decades and is considered one of Britain’s most cherished and versatile actors. His credits include leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York, and Caligula in I, Claudius. Further film highlights include Midnight Express, Alien, the Harry Potter series and the recent adaptation of Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Hurt has also worked extensively in theatre and television. He is the recipient of two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award and four BAFTA Awards including a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award and was awarded a CBE in 2004 for services to drama.

Last night’s event was attended by guests including Billy Zane, Amber Atherton and founding Rolling Stones Member Bill Wyman.

Exclusive Red Carpet video interviews below with John Hurt and celebrity guests:

Elysium Trailer

Here’s the debut trailer for Elysium, the much anticipated new film from District 9 director Neil Blomkamp. The film is set in 2154, when the Earth has become an almost uninhabitable hell-hole and the world’s rich and elite have escaped to the off-world paradise of Elysium.

Matt Damon plays one of the unhappy people stuck on earth, desperate to reach Elysium and conveniently armed with a sinister looking exo-skeleton than gives him virtual superpowers.  Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley also star.

Full trailer below:

Filth Trailer

Check out the first official trailer for Filth, the big screen adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel, starring James McAvoy as depraved cop, trying to solve a brutal murder whilst winning himself a promotion. Directed by Jon S. Baird the film also stars Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Jim Broadbent, EddieMarson, Martin Compston and Kate Dickie.

Check out the thoroughly filthy trailer below for a foul mouthed taste of what sort of lurid insanity you can expect from the full film, due out later this year:

Arrested Development Season 4 Posters

Netflix has gloriously revived Arrested Development for a new 4th season, catching up with the amusingly dysfunctional Bluth family. They’ve released a series of nine character based posters to advertise the re-launch. For those familiar with the genius of the show it should be fairly easy to figure out which character each one refers to. Though if you’ve never watched the show before you may be slightly confused why they made a Banana Mr Manager…