PatrickStewart Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You might remember the big shocker last month that Terrence Howard wouldn't be returning as Rhodes in Iron Man 2 because he got replaced by Don Cheadle. The actor said he found out through the trades like the rest of us, and rumors began to run rampant. Now EW is trying to get to the bottom of things and got an interesting bit of news from insiders who say that two things were to blame for the recasting -- money and Howard's performance. The latter isn't too interesting -- apparently Favs wasn't happy with the footage.

But the former -- it appears that Mr. Howard was the highest paid actor on set. Oh yes, he signed first for some hefty sum, and no one else, not even the Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. got as much. So the story goes -- Howard got a drastically reduced offer for #2 unsurprisingly, balked, and Cheadle was tapped. It all sounds fishy to me. Who let the pay get so out of whack, and why are the powers that be upset with his performance when everyone else likes it!?

Meanwhile, the Bruno shenanigans continue in a rather appropriate forum. Yahoo reports that Sacha Baron Cohen's character crashed a rally supporting Proposition 8 -- the bill trying to ban gay marriage in California. I wonder what his poster said...

Finally, I'd like to make a request. In a world where we get movies-musicals-movies, and slews of adaptations, I want to see the latest Waiting for Godot production get its own feature film. Variety reports that a British production is gearing up with -- get this -- Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Professor X and Magneto. Doing Samuel Beckett!! McKellen will play Estragon, while Stewart plays Vladimir. Now this is worthy of the big screen. Kevin Kline got to follow Pirates of Penzance to the big screen, so it's possible ... I hope.

You might have heard rumblings a few years ago about another adaptation of William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. This came on the still-hot heels of the Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes version that came out that year. However, this one was going to put a bit of a spin on things. Under the hands of Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, the classic play was going to rise out of the desert of Nevada -- The Merchant of Venice Vegas. Aptly housed at the Venetian Resort, the adaptation would explore greedy gambling and money as well as the relationship between Antonio and Basanio using the city's gay scene. Of course, McKellen was approached by Stewart to play Antonio. At the time, some believed it was a bit over-the-top.

For a while, there has been no word on the project, but it's still been running under the radar. While discussing his upcoming Shakespeare roles for the Minerva Theatre in Chichester, Stewart chatted a bit about Venice, a play he was into since he was "12 and my English teacher put a copy of The Merchant of Venice in my hand... I just took to it, like being thrown into water and finding you can swim. All I ever wanted to do was Shakespeare, the other things were just happy accidents." While he made no mention of McKellan, he explained that he will produce and star in the film (as Shylock, I presume), which came out of an argument with John Logan over the play. After Stewart argued that it wasn't a "loathsome play," Logan decided to adapt it for the actor. Unfortunately, that's all there is to say for now -- there's no news on when, or of a definitive cast. Me, I'm just hoping this does well enough that he decides to bring his Prospero to the screen next, which he hit out of the park with New York Shakespeare Festival's version of The Tempest.

[via MovieWeb]

Hell hath frozen over, and there's some less shocking news to boot:

• Go figure! In April I mused that Mike Tyson might have a future in Bollywood, after he took part in a music video for the Indian flick -- Fool and Final. I never thought it would actually happen, but hell hath frozen over! Variety is reporting that the ear-hungry boxer wants to act in Bollywood movies. Apparently, Tyson says that "the atmosphere was very congenial, happy and energetic" on the set, although I'm not sure I can imagine him saying "congenial." Nevertheless, he's thinking about an acting future in India and is discussing the possibility with Firoz Nadiadwala, who produced Fool -- "We seriously intend to work toward it." I wonder what the folks over in India will think of the troubled man potentially becoming the next Bollywood star? It's just so surreal.
• Patrick Stewart, the ever-loved Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier, is once again warming up his narrating voice. He is going to be the voice behind the English-language version of the Earth documentary, which follows three animal families -- polar bears, elephants and hump-backed whales "on epic journeys across the world's most demanding and spectacular landscapes." I'm sure that means we'll have lots of cute moments intermingled with sad, animal realities. The actors describes the film as "a beautiful, comic, moving, urgent, private view of the environments and creatures with whom we share our home planet. It urges us, while delighting us with dazzling images, to address the pressing and desperate needs of this our fragile earth." So basically, it's the same old animal documentary material.
• Finally there's some strange, foreign weirdness by way of the folks over at Twitch. They've found trailers, a promo reel and making-of video for Italian director Stefano Bessoni's Frammenti di scienze inesatte. The man himself posted the clips on YouTube, and while the movie is from 2005, I wonder if this means it will get beyond its limited, Italian release. The movie is about a headmaster of medicine and natural science who has a number of strange students, such as a researcher of angels, who rent out an old house from him. He tries to support them, but also has a secret he is keeping from them. The clips look cool and go quite well with the music. Unfortunately, the making-of film has no subtitles, so you've got to either ignore the sound or brush up on your Italian. Warning: some of the clips are NSFW -- there are autopsy scenes that show people lying nude on the doctor's slabs.

If you want your geek movie to do well, there are a handful of major stars it would be very much in your best interest to cast. Kevin Munroe, director of the upcoming cinematic revamp of theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is of course quite aware of this fact, and like all good CGI film directors, he's out to fill his flick with major Hollywood stars as voice talent -- but voice talent, it seems, with a geeked-up background. Here's the run-down on what we've learned this week:

• Patrick Stewart. Geek credentials -- Living legend. Captain Picard of Trek fame, and Professor X of X-Men fame. They don't come bigger than this dude in the geek world. Stewart will be Max Winters, a "tech industrialist who is amassing an army of monsters in the city."
• Sarah Michelle Gellar. Geek credentials -- television geek queen, as the star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Gellar is the voice of April, who is a "researcher" in this film, instead of a news host. She's also the resident den mother for the turtle boys.
• Chris Evans. Geek credentials -- just building the resume, but off to a very strong start as the Human Torch from Fantastic Four. Evans is Casey Jones, the crazy guy with the hockey stick.
• Kevin Smith. Geek credentials -- creator of Jay and Silent Bob, and high-profile comic book fan. Smith's just got himself a small part as a small time chef.
• Zhang Ziyi. Geek credentials -- all sorts of wire-fu, including House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Ziyi provides the voice for lead villain Karai, leader of an army of Foot Ninjas.

America has had a weekend to digest the new X-Men film, and early indications are positive. The numbers are big and the reviewers are happy. Once again America has reminded the industry why they've been pouring all this money and effort into superhero films.

Lest we forget in the midst of the Age of the Silver Screen Hero, much of the credit and thanks goes to those fans who have frequented the comic book shops these past decades, keeping our heroes in business long before Hollywood made them blockbusters. If it weren't for the True Believers, Marvel would have closed shop years ago (they flirted with monetary disaster on more than one occasion) and who knows where Professor X and his students would be now. So what do the dedicated have to say about the latest installment of Marvel on screen? They were worried in the run-up; afraid of what director Brett Ratner might do. I've been in touch this weekend with some serious geeks, folks who know Professor X better than Patrick Stewart, and they've got some great opinions on this stuff -- so I'm going to let them do the talking. The Geek Beat is proud to present our very first Geeks' Referendum!

Patrick Stewart has been vocally leading the way for a fourth X-Men film, loudly and repeatedly voicing his disbelief in the studio's insistence that this is indeed the final film. His fellow actors have chimed in on both sides ... but the studio remains strong in their denial. In a recent interview, Stewart admitted both that he had no actual knowledge of a sequel, and that the film people keep telling him there will be no more -- but he still doesn't seem to quite buy it. In the meantime, he said he has no plans other than his twelve month contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stewart again said the work he has done on the X-films was fantastically fun and he'd love to do it again: "I read piles of comic books. It was the most fun research that I've ever done. I always do a lot of research for roles and all I did was read. The studio just sent over a huge pile of comic books and my son said, 'And they're paying you?'"

So do you think the studio actually finished with X-Men, or do you, like Stewart, believe it's just a clever ploy to milk as much cash as they can from part three? Or perhaps it is somewhere in between. Might the studio be waiting to see the final box office numbers before making an official decision on a return? And don't you wish someone would pay you to read piles of comic books?

Not so very long ago, Ian McKellen slyly suggested he'd love to reprise his role as Magneto in the upcoming spin-off prequel origins flick. McKellen reasoned that filmmakers could use the same techniques they used for a flashback scene in X-Men: The Last Stand to retro-age him and Patrick Stewart so they could play their respective younger selves. Recently, the ever-blunt Patrick Stewart said was what on all of our collective minds when he was asked about such a cinematic feat: "If we're really looking at the early days, a real prequel, sure, you've got to have young actors." Prompted to suggest an actor to play a younger version of himself, Stewart sagely and humorously suggested "my son!"

Stewart also fielded a question or two about the rumored upcoming return to the Star Trek franchise. Stewart admitted to being "astonished," because the "old regime" at Paramount (Sheri Lansing and her posse) had declared a very clear death of the franchise after Nemesis. He said he knew of a great script which had been "put to sleep" not long after Nemesis, but he has no idea if it will be the base for a new film, or even if the Next Gen crew will figure into the film in any way. Needless to say, he'd love an opportunity to return. Many of his fans would doubtless like it too.

Just when we think we've finally got those pesky "X-Men 4 and 5" rumors under control, who better to throw the whole deal back into wild speculation than Professor X himself, Patrick Stewart?That's right, after all the assurances Brett Ratner has made regarding the X-Men franchise being only a trilogy and ending after this one (it's titled The Last Stand, for crying out loud), the rumor mill refuses to die. Stewart appeared this week on the British television show Rich and Judy, and while there briefly discussed the upcoming X-flick, making the insidious claim that "labeling the third film as 'the last one' could be just a tease to draw audiences to the theater."

What is this you say, Patrick? A movie studio using strong rumor and fan eagerness to increase their profits? Perish the thought! I am sure if they continue after this one, it will only be because they thought long and hard after the third film, and honestly decided that another movie was in the best interests of the franchise. Or their wallets. Whatever. At any rate, Stewart is clearly speculating, and likely not privy to any insider info, so take his opinion as you will. Myself, I think I'll be glad to see it finished.

Okay, maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but Patrick Stewart did say some very good things about the upcoming X-Men movie in the latest issue of Dreamwatch Magazine. Hmm, I wonder if Dreamwatch is watching my dreams because, lately, they've been really freaking weird. In the interview, he gave director Brett Ratner some props saying that the guy really "hit the ground running" once he took on the project. He said that Ratner put an enormous amount of pressure on the cast and crew, so much so that Stewart found himself working from six at night till six in the morning towards the end of shooting. Not for nothing, but isn't that normal for an actor?

In regards to the actual film, Stewart adds, "The script, I believe, is the best script of the three. It's very intense, it's very emotional, it's very personal about the individuals that we've already got to know in the first two movies. It has some astonishing set-piece sequences. It has a number of quite significant deaths. [From] what I've seen so far, I think, it's likely to be extraordinary. Some absolutely outstanding work is happening in Vancouver - including from some of the new people who've come on board... If anyone saw Brett's Red Dragon, which I thought was an outstanding film, I don't think they have any reason to be nervous".

Actually, I saw Red Dragon - but that doesn't make me nervous. I think anything associated with the name Brett Ratner is what really makes me want to lock myself in a closet until some friendly voices come to tell me that everything is going to be okay. I'm just wondering who has more on the line here - Ratner with X3 or Bryan Singer with Superman Returns? What do you think?

From a post on MovieHole.net (and obvious from watching the supplementals on Disney's Bambi DVD): "Star Trek: The Next Generation" captain Patrick Stewart will play Bambi's father in the direct-to-DVD sequel, Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest, due from The Mouse in the first quarter of 2006. Disney has previously tapped a number of its classic franchises for its DTV racket, with mixed (but mostly crappy) results. They have proved that they can create something new and original with franchise potential, like Sky High, so why must they cannibalize so shamelessly? I am a die-hard Disney fan (albeit partial to the artistry of Walt and the Nine Old Men), but enough's enough. March on to the future without climbing over the broken bodies of Cinderella, Peter Pan and 101 overworked and now very inbred Dalmatians.