RobertKnepper Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This may sound silly, but there's no way that The Day The Earth Stood Still would exist today in any sort of proverbial vacuum. To get the most obvious reason out of the way, we wouldn't have the 1951 original to lift from, in which an extraterrestrial visitor advises Earthlings to knock off their paranoid Cold War aggression, or else. Secondly, this incarnation is so transparently indebted to the likes of Twentieth Century Fox's other PG-13 sci-fi actioners, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, that it's hard to imagine the same studio putting out this film first. Better yet, try seeing this particular re-imagining come about without the success of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds bolstering the profile of other '50s sci-fi efforts (new variations on Forbidden Planet and When Worlds Collide loom still on the horizon).

No, I'm afraid that it was fated to be that the Earth would stand still once more, albeit in Manhattan instead of Washington D.C., because that's how Roland Emmerich would've done it, and with a robotic threat adjusted from the height of Yao Ming to something several stories taller. Who needs flying saucers when giant orbs will do? And why bother with a pesky still-relevant message against the tolls of war when environmental concerns are all the rage? If anything, TDTESS '08 shares most characteristics with the aforementioned metallic menace: it's sleek, loud and incapable of expressing emotion beyond some big booms.

One would like to think that they're only asking for so much when they opt to see a flick titled Transporter 3, and that fulfills our end of the bargain. We, the audience, provide the expectations, however modest, and they, the filmmakers, provide the execution. Frank Martin knows when he has to deliver; after all, it's his job.

Olivier Megaton, on the other hand... not so much.

Megaton has taken on the job after serving as second-unit director on Hitman. Given that both stories are about stoic bald dudes kicking butt across Europe with a native femme in tow, I'd guess that's as good a qualifier as any, though not good enough in hindsight. Our stoic bald dude is Frank Martin, natch, and he's once again played by Jason Statham with all the steely glares and ab crunches that come with the territory (and seemingly every role he takes).

Well, for those of you out there who are fans of Jason Statham's Transporter franchise, I've got some good news for you: Variety reports that Statham has signed to star in a third installment! He will reprise his role as the butt-whooping mercenary driver/delivery man Frank. The film will be produced by EuropaCorp, who were behind the first two flicks. However, there have been some personnel changes for the film; the previous director for the last two films, Louis Leterrier, has been replaced by Hitman's 2nd Unit director, Olivier Megaton -- which might not exactly be a step up if you consider the reviews for that particular cinematic gem. Joining Statham in the cast is Prison Break's Robert Knepper, who judging by some of his creepy performances will probably star as the bad guy in this scenario.

The first two films in the franchise were written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, but the two have not been confirmed to pen the new script. Just like for the first two films, Besson will not be pulling any directing duties, but will be involved as a 'hands-on' producer. There is no word yet on the story, but I'm sure that Besson is keeping in mind that the franchise has a running box-office total of $130 million, so it shouldn't take long to put one together. Transporter 3 will shoot for 16 weeks on location in Russia and France starting sometime in March or April. There is no release date so far, but let's be honest, we aren't dealing with Citizen Kane here so it shouldn't take long before Transporter 3 hits theaters.

Question: Do we really need a third one?

It still doesn't have a title, and it still doesn't officially have a Bond girl, but according to Empire magazine, Bond 22 has found its villain. Of course, we don't know the character's name nor anything about him, except that he will be played by French actor Mathieu Amalric (Munich). The casting of Amalric was actually announced a few weeks ago by Fox News, but it couldn't be confirmed until Empire today got it out of the actor himself. He did hint at one loose detail about the movie, that it would be about childhood. Now, in the context of the quote, it actually appears that Amalric is saying that the desire to play a Bond villain stems from his childhood, but Empire understood his words differently, or at least spun them so that it seems like he said Bond 22 will focus on 007's childhood (as if James Bond Jr. and Agent Cody Banks weren't bad enough, now we may get a precocious young Bond). Empire also points out that Eva Green has dropped hints that Bond 22's villain will be her Casino Royale character's boyfriend, which would make sense now that we've heard Green will not appear in the next film, though photos of her character will.

This news would indicate that the Denver Post was wrong in claiming Robert Knepper would be playing the next Bond villain. Unless, of course, there's multiple bad guys -- a trend Hollywood has been a fan of lately. Either way, Amalric is an excellent choice to play the (or a) Bond baddie, and not just because he has that same foreign creepy look that Casino's Mads Mikkelsen has. The actor is receiving rave reviews for his starring role as a paralyzed sufferer of locked-in syndrome in Julian Schnabel's critically acclaimed new film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Fans of Amalric's need not worry that because of Bond 22 he will be more sought after for big Hollywood movies (as if any Bond villain actor ever was). The actor told Empire that taking the role is simply funny to him, it's not necessarily what he wants to do with his career and he will continue doing "very small French film[s] for free with [his] friends."

Just a few weeks after the launch of a teaser trailer for the video game flick Hitman, Twitch has a look at a new French poster for the film (there are also a few stills, but it doesn't look like anything we haven't seen already). The film version of the best-selling Eidos Interactive game is the first English-language feature for director Xavier Gens, and the script was written by Swordfish scribe Skip Woods -- but I will try not to hold that against the movie. Back in January, when Deadwood's Timothy Olyphant was confirmed as Agent 47, I wasn't sure he was the right choice for the part. But, after catching the trailer, I will admit he's a pretty good match -- and the Ava Maria was a nice touch. Olyphant stars as the precise and genetically engineered assassin, Agent 47, who is caught up in political intrigue in a chase across Europe -- with plenty of killing along the way. Rounding out the cast is Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper, and Olga Kurylenko.

Now, I never quite managed to get though the 2nd game back in 2002; since it turns out I am not as adept at systematic murder as I thought. But, I definitely gave it points for the "creative' violence and cinematic visuals of exotic locations; both of which are a pretty solid foundation for any good action movie. The production took its time to get rolling, and fans probably remember the seemingly endless stream of conflicting casting reports before Olyphant finally scored the part. Despite Hitman's slow start, the film hasn't wasted any time since; the production began shooting last March, and is already slated for release on October 17.