KristenBell Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When a show that struggled to make three seasons, with two complete reboots, gets tapped for a feature film, you don't hold your breath in anticipation. Last August, we learned that Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell were meeting to discuss turning Veronica Mars into a feature film. That news was confirmed by Thomas in January, and it sounded like things would work out and actually head into production.

But the tide is finally turning to the expected demise. EW's Ausiello talked with Bell at the Saturn Awards, and she said: "I don't think it will ever happen, and here's why: [Series creator] Rob Thomas and I had a powwow, and we were both 100 percent on board. We took our proposal to Warner Bros. and Joel Silver told us that there is no enthusiasm [there] to make a Veronica Mars movie, and that is unfortunately a roadblock we cannot compete with."

Can't say that's a surprise. When I spoke with Silver at TIFF last year, he said he was open to discussion about the idea, but didn't sound exactly keen. And speaking as a big fan who loves Bell's Mars, I can't say I blame him. If the audience wasn't there for the show, they're not going to be there for a feature film, no matter how much we'd wish it so.

The title may be generic, but the cast is not. Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, and Faizon Love accompany their significant others -- Malin Akerman, Kristen Davis, Kristen Bell, and Tasha Smith -- on a vacation to paradise in Couples Retreat. There is a catch, however: intensive sessions of relationship therapy are mandatory and counselor Jean Reno doesn't take "no" for an answer. The first trailer is up at the Fruit Factory (AKA Apple.)

While there's a degree of over-familiarity with the basic premise, the trailer is very promising, edging into the naughty side of PG-13. (According to Erik Davis' post on the movie last year, that's the rating they're aiming for.) Bateman and Bell make for a good, edgy couple of Type A-personalities on the brink on break-up who ask three other couples to come along on their retreat to save money. Old friends Vaughn and Favreau have great chemistry, of course, and have worked with Bateman before. I'm not a huge fan of Akerman or Davis -- they're both lovely and have bright personalities but not a lot of comic snap. Seeing Reno as a buff instructor makes me giggle. Favreau wrote the script, based on an idea by Vaughn, and another old pal, Peter Billingsley, makes his directorial debut.

Couples Retreat is heading for release on October 9, a crowded date on the release schedule: The Informant (drama), Night of the Demons (horror), Whip It (comedy), and Zombieland (horror comedy) are also due out that day. Does the concept or the cast -- or the trailer -- grab you?

Three casting bites, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter:

She may have wowed us all with her kickass teen detective on Veronica Mars, but her big-screen work continues to lack the same verve. On the heels of When in Rome and Couples Retreat, Kristen Bell has signed on to Andy Fickman's You Again. She'll play a woman who finds out that her brother is gearing up to marry the evil girl who made her years in high school a living hell. Not happy with the idea, she tries to find a way to reveal the girl's true evilness to her brother. Aren't there any mysteries to solve? Joel Silver, let Rob Thomas make the film. Bell needs better!

Meanwhile, the wonderful Sally Hawkins, the woman behind Happy-Go-Lucky, has grabbed herself a sci-fi gig. Hawkins, along with Charlotte Rampling, Nathalie Richard, and Andrea Riseborough, have signed onto Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go. This is that sci-fi drama that Keira Knightley signed onto last month, which focuses on three boarding school friends who get a rather shocking surprise as young adults. Unfortunately, there's no word on who these newest cast members will play. Boarding school teachers? The people behind the sci-fi twist?

Lastly, Emily Blunt might not be signing on for a little Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, but Elisabeth Moss, Sean P Diddy Combs, and Rose Byrne sure are. They're the new castmembers added to Get Him to the Greek -- the flick where Hill has to get the wild rocker Brand from London to LA, "becoming introduced to an out-of-control life of hookers and blow along the way." Yay. More hookers. Hollywood definitely doesn't have enough of them. Moss will play Hill's repressed doctor girlfriend (not the kind with Calamitous Intent), Combs will be Hill's record company boss, and Byrne will be Brand's ex, "a Courtney Love-type rocker." Loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but this pic has yet to wow me.

Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy:

• Despite previous rumors to the contrary, Max Weinberg will be making the trip to the west coast when Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show (just look how thrilled he is!).
  
• Pop up lots of fracking popcorn because the Battlestar Galactica series finale is going to be a three-hour event.
• Nerd alert! The terminally hot Summer Glau from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be appearing alongside the socially awkward cast of The Big Bang Theory in an upcoming episode.
• Complete with embedded videos, here's a look back at eight of the greatest dream sequences in TV history.
• ...and finally, Kristen Bell fans can rejoice. The former star of Veronica Mars will be making a guest appearance on the STARZ series Party Down.

Okay, whatever, so the Fanboys premiere is, like, soooo last week, but a friend just pointed me toward this pretty cool video from the evening and I thought you folks might want to check it out. Very rarely do I wish to be in Los Angeles (as someone who grew up in NYC, I'm afraid I'd literally melt if I spent too much time over there), but this premiere -- with its stormtroopers, Jedi knights and good vibes -- looked like a whole lotta fun. And as someone who's followed the uncomfortable three-or-so-year journey this film has taken on its way to the big screen, watching video of the actual premiere was pretty neat.

Our peeps over at Gen Art hosted the premiere, post-screening Q&A and after party, and you'll be able to check out brief snippets of it all below. On hand were Fanboys director Kyle Newman, his lovely wife Jaime King, Sam Huntington, Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell and Chris Marquette. And since you're probably wondering when Fanboys will be arriving in a city near you (it's currently screening in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin), then I'm happy to say that on February 20 the film will be expanding to Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Atlanta, Denver, New Haven, Orlando, Phoenix, Columbus, OH and Raleigh , NC. So keep and eye out, fanboys (and girls).


Fanboys premiere hosted by Gen Art & The Weinstein Company from Gen Art Film on Vimeo.

When it comes to Veronica Mars, I know fans have some pretty strong feelings about the possibility of their beloved TV show getting the big-screen treatment -- but it looks like fans are going to have to get used to the idea. iF Magazine recently spoke with Mars creator, Rob Thomas and he told them that the unexpected scale-back of his current series Cupid has freed up plenty of time to get to work on the feature film version of the teen sleuth, and that it looks like a feature film will be gearing up for production.

For those of you who might have missed Veronica's short run on TV, here is a little primer: Mars (as played by Kristen Bell) was a high school student/private investigator who each week would take on a different small town mystery. Once described as "a little bit Buffy, and a little bit Bogart", Mars would solve crimes all the while dealing with the blow back from being abandoned by the popular crowd, and some serious personal issues. The show was beloved by fans, and even though it only lasted three seasons, it hasn't stopped fans from being awfully protective of their blond P.I.

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Cinematical has been given an exclusive look at the first official still for Astro Boy (see above), while our very good looking cohorts over at Moviefone have just debuted the first teaser (see below or over on Moviefone in glorious HD). Based on the popular Japanese manga and television series, this computer-animated 3-D version of Astro Boy is being produced by those wizards over at Imagi Animation Studios, and stars the voices of Freddy Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane and Eugene Levy.

From the synopsis: "Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers. Powered by pure positive "blue" energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly-not to mention the purest spirit on the planet. Embarking on a journey across the planet to discover his powers, Astro Boy encounters a netherworld of robot gladiators and other comic characters, and learns the joys and emotions of being human. When he learns his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals all his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City, in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to embrace his place in the world."

Astro Boy will soar into theaters on October 23, 2009.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Fanboys (which I can safely say is a film we've all been waiting a long time to see), along with a handful of brand spanking new images. Luckily Mr. Weinberg and myself managed to catch a screening of the flick back in July during Comic Con and I'm happy to say Fanboys is a funny, heartwarming geeky trip full of countless movie references (most of them Star Wars related) and plenty of memorable quotes. Oh, and did I mention Kristen Bell in a Slave Leia costume? Yes sir. (And you can see two pics of her as Slave Leia in the gallery below.)

For those of you who've been living on the Death Star for the past couple years, Fanboys tells of a group of friends who, prior to the release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, decide to drive across country and break into Skywalker Ranch in an attempt to show their friend the film before he dies of cancer. Fanboys stars Dan Fogler (in his funniest role by far), Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Chris Marquette, Sam Huntington and more cameos than you know what to do with (let's just say Seth Rogen plays two roles). As of right this very second, it looks like we'll finally be able to catch Fanboys in theaters on February 6, 2009.

Click below for a larger image of the poster and below that to enter our gallery of exclusive new photos.

If you want to broaden the appeal of a romantic comedy, it helps to grab an array of actresses -- like say, a girl who is not only known as a modern Nancy Drew, but also a hot-tempered Hero, a woman who starred in one of the hot rom-coms of 2008 (Sex and the City), and a girl who can smack down baddies in an alternate time of superheroes and impending doom.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, and Malin Akerman have signed on for a new film called Couples Retreat. Now Akerman, at least, has had some iffy luck with this genre, so here's what ups the ante -- it's written by Iron Man Jon Favreau, and will be directed by collaborator Peter Billingsley (better known as the Christmas Story kid). So, it's not your everyday comedy. In fact, "rom" has been completely left off the genre placement of this project so far, but it is a comedy about romance. (Is there a difference?!)

The story involves four couples working on their relationships at a tropical island resort, so who are the men in romantic peril? Jason Bateman gets to be married to Bell, Favreau is also co-starring as Davis' husband, and Vince Vaughn gets to canoodle Malin. As for the fourth, Faizon Love is attached, but there's no word on his leading lady.

Believe me, I struggled long and hard to come up with a catchy title like 'From Mars to Metro City' or something like that, but hey, sometimes a pun just isn't going to happen and it's best to move on. Variety reports that Kristen Bell has signed to voice the female lead in the feature film adaptation of Astro Boy. If you know your Astro Boy, you probably don't remember many female leads in the story, but hey, count your blessings if this is the only change in store for the classic manga tale.

Astro Boy was written by Timothy Harris, and is the story of a boy robot who is abandoned by his creator and left to fend for himself in the wilds of Metro City. The robotic Pinocchio tale had it all, absent father figures, betrayal, and robot gladiators, you know, just your usual kid's story. Bell will be joining Nicholas Cage, Freddie Highmore, Nathan Lane, and Bill Nighy in Imagi Studios 3-D update of the classic manga.

So while she may not be Harley Quinn (but I guess it doesn't hurt to fantasize), Bell has three other projects in various stages of production. Unfortunately, they seem to be the usual run of the mill romantic comedies that all young actresses seem to have to make at some point in their career. Bell will also be making a reappearance on TV's Heroes this season as the electrifying baddie, Elle Bishop. But none of these projects will get Bell fans hyped like the rumored Veronica Mars flick -- no matter how misguided that idea might be.

Astro Boy is scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2009.


[Thanks: Coming Soon]