PaulBettany Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Geek Daily: Quotes From 'Green Lantern', 'Priest', 'We3' and 'Thor'
Filed under: Fandom », Scripts », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
First, let's talk The Green Lantern -- or rather, read what Marc Guggenheim told Sci Fi Wire about it. He assures fans that the film is moving forward, and that he's written yet another draft of its screenplay. "You know I really can't [say anything]. I've sworn a blood oath of secrecy in relation to the project. But, you know, the thing I can tell you is that it is a very loving and respectful approach. The goal here is to do the best cinematic representation of the Green Lantern character. You know, there's no desire on anyone's part to completely change the character and just call this other character Green Lantern and try to ... draft off the name recognition. This is all about 'How do we bring the best version of this character to the silver screen?'"
SciFi Wire also caught up with Don Murphy for a We3 update. John Stevenson is still attached, the script is done, and now they're just looking for a studio that'll give it a home. "We're working with a director named John Stevenson. Don't be confused, though. Even though he directed Kung Fu Panda, the movie's going to be live action. It's going to be a combination CG, puppetry [and] real animals. We have a great script, a great director, and we're trying to figure out who's going to pay for it in this marketplace, but we're looking."
Cam Gigandet Takes Orders From 'Priest'
Filed under: Action », Horror », Independent », Casting », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Western »
Something must happen to you when you play a vampire in Twilight or Underworld -- you just can't steer clear of the supernatural and fangs. Cam Gigandet (whom the Twilighters know as the evil vampire and Bella-snatcher, James) is now set to stake his former cinematic kin in Priest opposite Paul Bettany, but he isn't straying too far from his bloodsucking roots. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gigandet will be playing a young wasteland sheriff who is part vampire. (I'm never sure how this works. To me, being a vampire is like being dead or pregnant -- there's no in-between.) He partners up with Ivan Isaacs (the titular priest) in order to find Isaacs' niece, who just happens to be the girl he loves. She's been kidnapped by vampires, the latest casualty of a battle between man and vampire that has raged for centuries.
Priest is based on Hyung Min-woo's popular manga series, and will be directed by Scott Stewart. Though Cory Goodman's script has reportedly changed things quite a bit, one thing it is keeping is the Western / horror setting, which intrigues me, even if my girlish curiosity does make me long for its old cast and Sam Raimi as producer. But hey, at least it's set to finally happen. All they need now is the niece, and a few bad vampires to set against Gigandet and Bettany. Say, is Michael Sheen available?
Paul Bettany Is Ordained for 'Priest'
Filed under: Action », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », Casting », Newsstand », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Religious », Western »
Paul Bettany obviously has a thing for the sacrilegious. Fresh off playing the Archangel Michael in Legion, Bettany is reteaming with director Scott Stewart for Priest, ScreenGems' adaptation of Hyung Min-woo's popular manga series. Bettany will play Ivan Isaacs, the warrior priest who turns his back on the Church to rescue his niece from a pack of vampires. The role once belonged to Gerard Butler, until the project fell apart sometime in 2006. ScreenGems revived the project last December with Stewart, keeping Cory Goodman's screenplay.
The casting came about not out of Bettany and Stewart's desire to reunite for religion, but due to ScreenGems president Clint Culpepper, who apparently thought Isaacs needed to be played by a former albino monk: "I knew the moment I saw Stewart's first cut of Legion that Bettany was Priest and so I mentioned it to him immediately."
Whether this Priest will make it any further into production than Andrew Douglas and Gerard Butler's will remain to be seen -- but since everyone wants their own religious pseudo-western, I bet the second time will be the charm. I still wish Butler's version would have taken off, but Bettany is probably a better physical choice for the role. He bears an uncanny resemblance to the art, anyway. I'm not a huge fan of the series, so hopefully some manga experts can weigh in with what they think of the casting.
Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany Debate 'Creation'
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Casting », Deals », Celebrities and Controversy », Scripts », Newsstand », Religious »
Acting couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly must have decided that life would be too calm after November 2008 -- so they have signed to play Charles and Emma Darwin in Creation. Yes, the Darwins. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be directed by Jon Amiel, from a script penned by John Collee, and based on Randal Keynes' book Annie's Box. (Keynes is Darwin's great-great grandson.) The film will portray Charles Darwin as a man torn between his love for his deeply religious wife, and his growing belief in a world where God has no place. I hope that they explore Darwin's personal struggles and belief more deeply than the plot description suggests. To sell him as an athiest smacks of wanting to stir up controversy -- Darwin always called himself an agonostic, and his rejection of Christianity stemmed as much from the tragic death of his daughter, Annie, as his research. It's a complex and fascinating biography, one that, as a lover of science and the history of it, I would love to see done with real justice.
The cast is certainly more than capable -- Bettany and Connelly are both wonderful, and they'll be joined by Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Annie Darwin has yet to be cast. (I can't help but be amused by the fact that Bettany and Northam have played Darwin-inspired characters before, in Master and Commander and Possession, respectively. Pet interest, perhaps?)
I know the merest mention of Charles Darwin is enough to cause an epic flame war in the comments. If it's possible, try to keep discussion only to the film, the actors, the book, and Darwin's biography. That may be too much to hope for, but I beg you to remain respectful and tolerant of one another.
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Paul Bettany Recover in Tasmania
Filed under: Drama », Casting »
There were some subscriber-only hints about this movie over at THR earlier this year, and now the cats out of the bag. Variety reports that Maggie Gyllenhaal and Paul Bettany are heading to Australia for director Shirley Barrett's South Solitary. The feature is one of many that is going to be funded by Film Finance Corp., as it gears up to join the Australian Film Commission and "make a super agency called Screen Australia."According to IMDb, the film will focus "on a disgraced young woman and a soldier suffering from the ongoing effects of shell shock who discover a great need for companionship and hope in the face of hostile elements." I have a feeling you can tell who will play what role. There is no word on when this will be set, but it could be either present-day or the past, since one of the other films being funded focuses on Australian SAS soldiers in Vietnam (The Last Man).
Dennis Quaid and Kate Walsh Join Paul Bettany's 'Legion'
Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Casting », Newsstand », Religious »
Variety reports that Paul Bettany's Legion has just added a whole crowd of actors, including the star power of Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh, and Tyrese Gibson. They will be headlining a cast that includes Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Adrianne Palicki, Kevin Durand and Willa Holland. They've signed on just in time, as the movie is about to start shooting in New Mexico.Legion is a thriller that stars Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it. It is director Scott Stewart's first feature film, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Schink.
I am quite intrigued by the movie, as I am a sucker for any kind of Biblical thriller. The problem is that they are almost always terrible. (Though I will always give props to The Prophecy for proving that the Devil does, in fact, wear a mullet.) The combination of Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid gives me some hope though, since they generally pick good scripts. We'll see if this is one of them.
Paul Bettany Gets Ready to Fight God
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Scripts », Religious »
We might have well-meaning prophets roaming the earth in the form of Jonny Lee Miller on television, but things are about to get meaner on the big screen as God gets ticked off with Earth. I imagine this will be nothing like Two of a Kind, where John Travolta and Olivia Newton John had to fall in love for God to not wipe out the human race. Instead, there's thrills, an archangel, and the arid desert.Variety reports that Paul Bettany has signed on to star in an upcoming thriller called Legion. From a script by Scott Stewart and Peter Schink, which Stewart will direct, the film focuses on "what happens when God loses faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind's only hope lies in a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert who are aided by the archangel Michael (Bettany)." Now, I get how humans can save the day against monsters and the like, but just how do you fight God? I can only imagine that these guys will have to prove their worth to save the day, because it's not like you can point a bazooka at the sky and put the big Dude in his place.
So, apparently Stewart's script involvement was a rewrite, and Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper says: "I was so impressed with his rewrite that I took the meeting with him, and his visual presentation closed the deal. I'm sure he had the same impact on Paul." Sounds...impactful. Production begins next month in New Mexico, so I imagine we'll hear about more cast soon, and then get to see this impact for ourselves soon enough.
Paul Bettany Joins 'The Secret Lives of Bees'
Filed under: Drama », Casting »
After making a big impact on us all with his saucy Geoffrey Chaucer and then snaring Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind, it seemed like Paul Bettany's cinematic career was set on the road to superstardom. Instead, he's found himself a handful of roles that keep him around, but not on the tip of tongues -- like Lars Von Trier's Dogville, that Wimbledon movie, and The Da Vinci Code. Now he's got a bunch of films on the way and has just added another. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Bettany has signed on to the cast of The Secret Life of Bees.That's the flick I told you about last month that has Dakota Fanning fleeing her abusive dad with Jennifer Hudson and moving in with some eccentric sisters who make honey (played by Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys). While all this is going on, she uncovers details about the mystery that is her deceased mom. Bettany will play T. Ray Owens -- unsurprisingly, the widower and abusive dad of Dakota's Lily. That's a pretty darn good choice -- he resembles the young star, and I'm sure he can pull of a creepy and conflicted man. Also added to the cast is Hilarie Burton (One Tree Hill), who will play Lily's deceased mom Deborah in some flashbacks. I'm not a follower of One Tree, so you fans out there will have to comment over her suitability in the role.
This could be a good little drama, and at the very least, should be a bit less fuss-causing than Dakota's Hounddog. Writer/director Gina Price-Bythewood will get production going later this week in North Carolina.
Jennifer Connelly Drops Out of Clive Barker's 'Born'
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Casting », Deals »
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The producers of the upcoming horror-thriller Born -- the team includes Clive Barker and Guillermo del Toro, among others -- have reached out to Bloody-disgusting.com to clear up rumors that the cast that was locked back in June had dropped out of the project and torpedoed its prospects for getting made. Well, the rumors were partially right -- Jennifer Connelly has flown the coop, presumably because of a scheduling conflict with her next big payday, The Day the Earth Stood Still, opposite Keanu Reeves. Her husband, Paul Bettany, is still on board with the project, though, so take heart. The producers also told BD the film is currently prepping for a February start date, although there was no mention of what actress has stepped in to take Connelly's place. Seems like they'd already have that taken care of, if the film is indeed ready to roll.
Born is being directed by Daniel Simpson, whose only prior credits are two short films, and the story revolves around a couple who settle down in an English town to raise their family only to find their "perfect life" shaken up when the husband's claymation art starts to come to life and terrorize them in some way. The film was written by Simpson, along with Barker and Paul Kaye, and was originally supposed to go back in August. Very little info on the delay had leaked out until now. Connelly is currently in pre-production for Earth, stepping into the role of Helen that was previously played by Patricia Neal in the 1951 original. Stay tuned for further developments.
Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green to Star in Futuristic Thriller 'Franklyn'
Filed under: Action », Drama », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Casting », Scripts », James Bond », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
The upcoming futuristic thriller Franklyn will offer something for the fellas (the gorgeous Eva Green) and something for the ladies (the man-gorgeous Ryan Phillippe). The film will be set simultaneously in both contemporary London and a faith-dominated future metropolis without separation of church and state. According to Variety, the film will tell the story of "four lost souls divided by two parallel worlds on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates." It's Sliding Doors meets The Matrix! Sounds mighty confusing, but I'm intrigued. The film will co-star Sam Riley, who plays Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis in Control (read James' positive review here).
First-time director Gerald McMorrow wrote the screenplay and will direct the film. According to IMDb, John Hurt is in the Franklyn cast as well, but since that's not part of the Variety announcement, take that with a grain of salt for now. The movie has undergone a lot of casting changes, it seems. Last we heard about the project, Ewan McGregor was attached to star, but it appears that is no longer the case. Paul Bettany was attached to the Riley role at one point. I don't know much about Riley, but I do know getting Phillippe for McGregor is something of a step down. Phillippe is improving, though, I must give him props for holding his own against an incredible Chris Cooper performance in the too little-seen Breach. Green is probably best known as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, but holds a special place in my pants heart for her almost entirely nude performance in The Dreamers. Dreamy.
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