Wall Street 2 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oliver Stone's sequel to his classic '80s tale of slick, money-hungry stockbrokers, Wall Street, is racking up quite the cast. Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps already has Shia LaBeouf, Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella, Michael Douglas, and arthouse It Girl Carey Mulligan (An Education) signed up for a 21st century take on greed on whether or not it's good (answer: probs not). But the big rumor all summer has been that Josh Brolin will take over the role of the villain after Javier Bardem turned down the role.

Well, as our buddies over at the esteemed website The Playlist point out, in this weekend's New York Times Oliver Stone casually confirms the rumors that Josh Brolin will indeed be playing the villain, and Charlie Sheen will be popping up in a cameo as his character from the original, Bud Fox.

Now that the real Wall Street and its counterparts around the world have felt the collective shudder of the past year's financial implosion, Stone is hoping to show some hope for redemption for Gekko.

"In his first run at Wall Street, Mr. Stone produced characters and a portrayal that lived longer than he ever expected and with unintended consequences. But he never would have made a second version if it didn't appear that the system, and high finance, had finally been brought to its knees.

'We wouldn't have done this movie in 2006,' he said. "'Things were too loose. I didn't want to glorify pigs.'"

Money never sleeps and Shia LaBeouf gets such great cinematic parents. Variety reports that Susan Sarandon is in negotiations to join Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. And with that, we've got yet another reason to wonder if #2 will boast one of the best casts of 2010.

Should she sign on the dotted line, Sarandon will play Shia LaBeouf's mom. As we've already learned, he's playing a new Wall Street trader who "falls under the seductive influence of Gordon Gekko." Frankly, I'd much rather Susan fall for Gordon's seductive charms, but that would be an entirely different movie.

As it stands, Ms. Sarandon only gets to play mom again -- hopefully with some dramatic flair and not just motherly concern. But as all of these great names sign on, are any of you worrying about the project more? I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but LaBeouf has inspired a solid stream of skepticism once he hit it big, and now he's going to star in a highly anticipated film surrounded by a lot of beloved, uber-talented names. There will be no action to fill in the blanks, no explosions (one would assume) to distract us from any unevenness. Can he really hold his own against Sarandon, Michael Douglas, Frank Langella, and the rest?

Sometimes the unlikeliest movies attract the strongest casts. Is it the coincidence of schedules, the attraction of a high-quality director, or a dynamite script? Maybe it's all three in the case of Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, which is drawing quality actors like the proverbial flies to honey.

A couple of months ago, we heard that Javier Bardem was the top pick for the role of a villainous hedge fund manager. Now Variety says that Josh Brolin is "reportedly circling a part," though it doesn't specify which one, and other rumors are circulating that actress Carey Mulligan (An Education) may be up for the role of Winnie, the estranged daughter of Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas, reprising his role). Variety also reports that Frank Langella is "in talks" to play the old-time broker / mentor to up-and-coming trader Shia LaBeouf, whose character is engaged to Gecko's daughter. The latter bit of news sounds more solid than the other casting rumors.

Douglas won an Academy Award for the original Wall Street, and Langella was nominated for last year's Frost/Nixon, so the caliber of the cast is definitely trending upwards -- I'd love to see those two argue with each other! Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps is already a strong contender for the unofficial title of "Best Cast of 2010," and if they keep adding high-quality actors, it won't even be a contest. Of course, the quality of the film itself depends on the well-modulated execution of a good script, and that remains to be seen.

Now we're talking! Javier Bardem will bring Anton Chigurh, his character from No Country for Old Men, roaring back to life in the sequel to Oliver Stone's Wall Street. The hired assassin with the funny haircut will stalk financial company executives, using a fire extinguisher to put the fear of God into those heartless suits who stole America's money and refuse to give an accounting for their actions.

Unfortunately -- at least to my way of thinking -- that's not quite how the Wall Street sequel will play out, but it's not that far from the truth, either. Instead of playing a bad guy who sets things straight, Bardem will, in fact, play "a stock-shorting worldwide hedge fund manager," according to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily. He is the villain of the piece, held responsible for the suicide of the hero's mentor.

UPDATE: Nikki Finke clarifies today (via Fox) that Bardem is not onboard ... yet ... though that's who they want for the role.

Gordon Gekko has been planning his comeback since 2007, when word hit that the man was getting out of jail and getting a new Wall Street movie called Money Never Sleeps, with Michael Douglas returning to his role. At that time Oliver Stone, the co-writer and director of the original, was not being swayed by Douglas' begging, and had given a big fat NO to the idea. When the movie was fast-tracked last October, he still wasn't interested, and that wasn't really surprising ... but something seems to have changed.

MSNBC reports that not only is Douglas reprising his role, but that 20th Century Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant says that Stone is on-board. He went on to say: "We need to keep the story line under wraps, but it's literally ripped from today's headlines. It's going to be very big and very cool." Apparently, big and cool enough to lure back Mr. Stone. In addition to Stone, Entertainment Weekly tells us Shia LaBeouf is in negotiations to play a young stock trader in the film.

Does the filmmaker's inclusion help your interest in the film? What about LaBeouf? I must say, for me, it's not so much the fact that Stone's involved, but the why -- is he simply getting a sweet paycheck, or was he lured in by a story we'd actually want to see? Could this be a sequel project that's actually worthy? It'd be a nice change.

Here's a round-up of some stuff (and things) currently causing waves online:

-- Word has it the first full length trailer for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek will debut in front of [insert popular film here] this November. TrekMovie claims it will be a "real trailer" with actual "footage from the film." Imagine that! If it does indeed premiere in November, the most likely place for it will be before Quantum of Solace on November 14th. In a related piece, Abrams has confirmed the running time to be about two hours.

-- Principal photography on Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (new spelling) has begun in Germany (see initial poster to the right), and what appears to be the full, final cast has been announced (and it includes some familiar Tarantino regulars). Joining Brad Pitt will be Diane Kruger, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Brühl, Eli Roth, Samm Levine, B.J. Novak, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Paul Rust, Michael Bacall, Omar Doom, Sylvester Groth, Julie Dreyfus, Jacky Ido, August Diehl, Martin Wuttke, Richard Sammel, Christian Berkel, Sönke Möhring, Michael Fassbender, Mike Myers, Rod Taylor, Denis Menochet and Cloris Leachman. Yeah, you like that last one, right?

-- With the Sex and the City movie slowly becoming the new Citizen Kane for women, a whole slew of ladies are looking to "get in" on the sequel in some capacity. The latest appears to be Jennifer Lopez (or J-Lo) who, sources say, is itching to sign up. They note, "Jennifer has got her heart set on joining Carrie and the girls. The bosses are trying to think of a way of fitting her in without it being cheesy." [via Hollyscoop]

Odds and ends from Monday:

• I don't know about you, but I sure was wondering which project David R. Ellis would choose to follow up Snakes on a Plane. Monkeys on an Escalator? Elephants on a Corporate Retreat? Nope. Nada. Zip. Variety announced that Ellis has been tapped to direct Asylum for Hyde Park Entertainment. Though no snakes are involved in this one, pic will center around a group of college freshman who learn their dorm used to be an insane asylum. Not for nothing, but my college dorm was full of nutjobs. However, something tells me the infamous "freshman fifteen" is the least these kids need to worry about.
• Ahh, there's nothing like taking a nice, relaxing cruise to help reignite your marriage. Well, that's unless you're part of a horror script that was just picked up by Touchstone Pictures. Brothers Noah and Alexi Hawley unloaded their script, Dead in the Water, which marks their first sale as a writing team. Pic will follow a couple who, while traveling on a cruise, become engulfed in some horrific nightmare after the ship picks up a mysterious man at sea.
• Are you one of those people who walk around quoting lines from Wall Street constantly in order to impress friends who wish you would just shut up already? Well, 20 years after the original film starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen hit the screen, comes word that a sequel is definitely in the works. According to Moviehole via "someone at FOX," Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas are currently writing the script, which would be set 20 years after the first. Story will pick up as Gordon Gecko is released from prison and will follow the sleaze as he attempts to adapt in a completely different world. Most likely, Sheen will not be back. But, knowing both Stone and Douglas are involved does make me feel somewhat good about it. You?