All-Female Expendables Movie In Talks
The testosterone fuelled success of the Expendables franchise both in terms of its box office haul and reinvigorating the careers of countless former action superstars may span an unlikely all-female version.
Dredd producer Adi Shankar is reportedly keen to persuade a host of female action stars to band together for their own ensemble adventure. Shankar is currently in talks with several as yet unidentified big-name stars with plans to put his own money behind the project.
Expendables 2 director Simon West, who was previously responsible for Angelina Jolie’s gun totting performance as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, has already given his reaction to the news and seem to lie the idea.
“I like the idea of seven or eight women mercenaries. It would be Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Milla Jovovich, the list goes on. Helen Mirren, Jamie Lee Curtis would be great.”
Fanboys are already eagerly speculating which action heroines might feature, with names like Carrie Anne Moss, Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Michelle Rodriguez, Michelle Yeoh, Linda Hamilton, Kate Beckinsale , Summer Glau and Gina Carano all being mentioned with various degrees of seriousness.
It remains to be seen exactly who Shankar actually has in mind and whether or not fans have as much interest in watching women of a certain age blow things up as they clearly do in older gentlemen with explosive anger management issues.
Disney To Remake The Rocketeer
Disney’s new studio head Alan Horn is reportedly keen on giving cult classic The Rocketeer a second chance on the big screen, over 20 years after their first effort directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America) was publically declared a box office disappointment.
Created by Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer is a 1980’s comic book hero created, much like Indiana Jones, as homage to the Saturday matinee heroes of the 30’s and 40’s. This retro hero is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a secret prototype jetpack that allows him to rocket into the sky ready to do battle with evil Nazis and rescue darling dames in distress.
The 1991 film version starred Billy Campbell, Alan Arkin, Jennifer Connolly and then James Bond Timothy Dalton. It generally was well received by critics and existing fans of the comics, but failed to perform at the box office due to ineffective marketing campaigns and being unfairly labelled as a kid friendly Indiana Jones rip-off.
Disney is currently hearing pitches from several writers as they try to decide what direction to take the new project in. The studio will be hoping that if they get it right this time they can once again make ‘flying jetpack’ the present children are most likely to want, but least likely to actually get…
On The Road Autograph Competition
In celebration of Red Carpet News TV passing One million channel views we have a special On The Road competition. We recently covered the UK Premiere in London and now it’s your chance to win a handsome picture autographed by the film’s leading man Sam Riley (Control, Brighton Rock).
The rules are very simple and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is follow the instructions below:
Step 1: Follow us on Twitter @RedCarpetNewsTV – https://twitter.com/RedCarpetNewsTV
Step 2: Tweet us the following message to enter the prize draw:
@RedCarpetNewsTV I want to be On The Road with Sam Riley & Kristen Stewart #OTR #Competition #RedCarpetNewsTV
Step 3: Check back on Twitter or here at www.redcarpetnewstv.com where we’ll be announcing who’s won.
* It’s one entry per Twitter account, but of course if you want to get your friends and family to throw their own Twitter names into the hat as well it’s a legitimate tactic.
We’ll be picking the very lucky winner at the end of next week on Sunday 26th August.
Prize pictured below:
Our Red Carpet Interview with Sam Riley Below:
Total Recall Review
The Plot:
For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid, even though he’s got a beautiful wife who he loves, a mind-trip from company Recall sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life – real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man as he finds himself on the run from the police.
Now where have we heard that before…ah yes the prosthetics heavy, Arnie grunting, mission to mars 1990’s original….well not quite.
The Good:
For those who remember the original, the idea of a Total Recall remake could be a complete mistake, as the nostalgic elements that make up the Paul Verhoeven version stay cemented in your mind as the ultimate pre CGI (almost) 2084AD adventure. But fear not, as this version isn’t half bad.
Total Recall (2012) stars Colin Farell as Douglas Quaid, Kate Beckinsale as Lori Quaid and Jessica Biel as Melina. Although this film definitely pays homage to the original, it does not frame by frame, line by line, recreate it, thankfully. Infact the great thing about this version is that it manages to blend Total Recall, Blade Runner and Star Wars into a sci-fi cocktail with a little bit of iRobot as the garnish on the glass.
Yes there are elements of the setting, particularly towards the beginning, where despite its oriental decoration looks decidedly like the colony you’ve seen before, and within the first twenty minutes a three breasted lady once again graces the screen, but there is no Johnny Cab and everything else is a lot less Fifth Element but a bit more Terminator Salvation in feel.
Now how about our Doug Quaid? Well he’s no Arnie, but Colin Farrell is convincing and I’m pleased to say that his accent doesn’t drop once! Farrell really does bring Quaid into the 21st Century with his smoldering looks and buff physique and he convinces the audience expertly that he really does have no clue what is going on and has no idea (for the majority) who to believe. Beckinsale also shows us that her Underworld training has come into good stead as she really does pack a punch, she’s utterly convincing as Lori even if on the odd occasion you do want to tie her hair back so you can see more of her gorgeous face.
The Bad:
Now from the gorgeous to the ridiculous, although the casting in general is strong, Biel included, Bill Nighy in just two scenes makes you wonder if there was an element of laziness as Len Wiseman transforms him from Viktor King of the Lycans to Matthias a rather lack lustre Head of the Resistance. Thank goodness he’s only in it for a short time, as I don’t think he, along with the rest of the audience believed a single word he said, or that he would maintain that awful mock American accent for more than two minutes. It’s a shame because that and the fact that the film was just a tad too long made it ever so slightly uncomfortable towards the end.
The Ugly Truth:
Overall Total Recall is not going down in the history books for anyone to reference as a masterpiece of our times, but it does showcase some flawless action sequences, slick CGI and an action film to enjoy on a Friday night. Definitely worth a watch but not sure if it will be top of your Christmas list.
Check out the Official Trailer below:
Robert Pattinson talks Cosmopolis, Mission Blacklist & Queen Of the Desert
Twilight star Robert Pattinson spoke exclusively to MTV Live ahead of the USA release of Cosmopolis, his new film directed by David Cronenberg. Rob spoke in depth about shedding his inhibitions for the daring role as a jaded billionaire who’s life rapidly unravels as he travels across Manhattan in search of a haircut. He admitted that working with Cronenberg was the first time he ever felt like “a real actor”
Rob talked about the recent news that he will be playing T.E Lawrence in a new film Queen Of the Desert by director Werner Herzog , co-starring Naomi Watts. The Twilight Star confirmed that his next film will be The Rover with Animal Kingdom Director David Michôd. Fans may be startled to hear that Rob is actually really planning on filming his biopic of the man who caught Sadam Hussain - Mission Blacklist in Iraq.
Other hi-lights of the 30 minute chat included Rob discussing his recent passion for going to LAPD shooting ranges before calling himself a pussy for not being willing to have actual sex on screen in a Lars von Trier film. Rob also chatted about his English accent and confirmed he prefers Puppies to Kittens in the eternal battle of cuteness.