chiwetel ejiofor Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Considering the critical reception that a Roland Emmerich film usually receives, I am always a little surprised by the actors who are willing to sign on for one of his films. Although to be fair, it wouldn't be the first time that John Cusack had signed on the dotted line for a less-than-stellar project. The Hollywood Reporter has now announced that Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Oliver Platt are all in talks to join Cusack in Emmerich's apocalyptic thriller, 2012. According to THR, "Glover is in talks to play the President, with Newton in discussions to play his daughter. Platt is in negotiations to play the president's chief of staff."

Thanks to Erik, we now have a few more details about the story, and that it centers on an academic researcher (Cusack) who "opens a portal into a parallel universe and makes contact with his double in order to prevent an apocalypse predicted by the ancient Mayans." Emmerich co-wrote the script with fellow 10,000 B.C. scribe, Harald Kloser -- which is probably not a great selling point for most audiences. Columbia has projected a budget of $200 million for the end-of-the-world flick -- I guess all that destruction doesn't come cheap. But, Columbia has also stated that they're hoping to bring the thriller in under budget. Emmerich has promised to start production by July, barring any hiccups from a possible SAG strike.

2012 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 10, 2009.

Well it looks like Roland Emmerich has opted to go back to a few more familiar faces for his next monster, effects-laced epic. Variety tells us John Cusack has signed to star in 2012 for Columbia Pictures, with Redbelt's Chiwetel Ejiofor in negotiations to co-star. Emmerich and Harold Kloser wrote the screenplay for this apocalyptic tale which follows an academic researcher (Cusack) who "opens a portal into a parallel universe and makes contact with his double in order to prevent an apocalypse predicted by the ancient Mayans." WTF? Really? Sounds to me like a pretty ridiculous premise, but it's a Roland Emmerich film -- so as long as he blows up New York City halfway through, we're all good.

I am interested to see how they're going to make this whole "contacting yourself in an alternate universe" thing work. Do you look exactly the same? Like, in an alternate universe, would I look like myself or actually be skinny and good looking? I need to know these rules now before 2012 heads into production this July (barring a SAG strike, of course). And how do you find yourself in an alternate universe? Instead of Google, would there be Boogle? My mind is blown! [Holds fist in air] Emmerich!

When David Mamet's Redbelt was announced, the initial simple summary seemed bizarrely incongruous: A noted playwright and dramatist making a film about martial arts? But while Redbelt involves the worlds of Jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts, it's really just another way for playwright, screenwriter and director Mamet to look at the world. As martial arts instructor Mike Terry (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is taken from his noble (but underfunded) studio and plunged into the greed and glitz of Hollywood and commercial fighting.

As Mike tries to hang on to the things that matter to him in a world that dismisses honor as unprofitable, Mamet's script and direction create a film that somehow puts a philosophical twist on traditional fight films while also embodying everything we love about them. Cinematical spoke with Mamet and Ejiofor in Los Angeles.

For many, Chiwetel Ejiofor is the guy from Love Actually or Serenity, but for me, he's Okwe from Dirty Pretty Things. He completely charmed and impressed me, and every time I see his involvement in something, the news becomes a little more interesting. On the heels of the upcoming films Tonight at Noon, Redbelt, Toussaint, and Three Way Split, Coming Soon reports that the actor has signed on to star in Pete Travis' Endgame -- a feature-length thriller about the end of Apartheid in South Africa -- a gig which will also have him starring with William Hurt.

The site had found out about the film back in February, through a discussion with the director. Travis said that it "is a true story set in South Africa about the secret talks that brought down the Apartheid regime, and it's a political thriller dealing with the politics of South Africa at that time, but it's equally a story about hope and about two men who hate each other at the beginning of the movie, because they're enemies, who basically have to learn to trust each other or otherwise, the future of their country is in jeopardy." Ejiofor will play President Thabo Mbeki, but there's no word on Hurt's role. I have a feeling he'll hit this gig out of the park.

Here it is. Just as it was gratifying to see all the hallmarks of the X-Files franchise in the X-Files 2 trailer we linked to yesterday (it's since been pulled, but will no doubt reappear in studio-sanctioned form soon), it's great to see all the David Mamet staples pop up here. Hey, there's Ricky Jay, and Joe Mantegna, and Rebecca Pidgeon! Magic tricks! Macho posturing! Hints of cons, and cons within cons! Best of all, we get to hear a little bit of that unmistakable clipped Mamet-speak:

"Excuse me. Uh, who's the...?"
"It's alright. Come in."
"I believe I..."
"Hey Joe, take the lady's coat!"

Music to my ears. And far from straying from his usual milieu with the mixed martial arts angle, Mamet seems to have used it to create another of his shady underworlds where nothing is as it seems. For fans of the man's work, watching this trailer is like settling into a comfy old recliner.

You know, if this movie had been made by anybody else but David Mamet then I would have fully expected to catch this flick late at night on the USA network and for it to star Michael Dudikoff. One look at the trailer above, though, and you know you are not dealing with the usual action cheese.

Redbelt stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as master of Ju-Jitsu who has dropped out of the unscrupulous world of professional fighting. After he helps out a mouthy movie star in a bar one night (as played by Tim Allen) he is eventually forced back into the ring of UFC fighting to defend his honor. There is also a hint of a freaky fighter selection process involving marbles and tying your hands behind your back, but that explanation is best left to the trailer.

Appearing alongside Ejiofor are Emily Mortimer (aka, the woman with 'Avian Bone Syndrome' on TV's 30 Rock), Alice Braga (I am Legend), Ricky Jay (who you might recognize as the cameraman from Boogie Nights and a few million other films), and Joe Mantegna. Mamet, who is a big fan of Ju-Jitsu and UFC fighting, wrote the script himself, and besides a few photo releases this trailer is our first chance to see what the film is actually about. Like many, I was having a hard time reconciling a master like Mamet with this kind of subject matter, but luckily it looks like it is all going to turn out for the best. Redbelt will hit theaters in a limited release on April 25th of this year.

So to start with, I can't say I'm all that jazzed about watching a movie about Ju-Jitsu, but this is one directed by the master of snappy dialog David Mamet -- and so that definitely helped raised my enthusiasm level. ComingSoon.net now has two new exclusive photos from Mamet's sports-drama, Redbelt. News of the film hit last April, when Monika gave us the heads up that Chiwetel Ejiofor had been signed for the lead. Not long after that, Patrick gave us the word that Tim Allen -- that's right, Mr. Toolman Taylor himself, was set to play the spoiled movie star Chet Frank. Rounding out the cast is martial arts master Randy Couture, Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, and Emily Mortimer. The first image was released in August and these latest hi-res photos give us the chance to see Mamet at work on set.

Mamet wrote and directed the story, which centers on Mike Terry (played by Ejiofor); the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Having shunned the spotlight of competition fighting, everything changes when, "At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star, Chet Frank, (Tim Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight. An American samurai film set in the world of mixed martial arts, Redbelt is a story about the limits of a single man's integrity." Sounds like a perfect theme for a 'macho' director like Mamet. Redbelt opens in theaters on April 25.

There has already been plenty of talk surrounding the casting of John Singleton's big- screen version of Luke Cage. But so far, there hasn't been much attention paid to Singleton's other superhero project, The Black Panther. But now, ReelzChannel has interviewed Singleton and the topic of Panther came up. In talking about actors who could tackle the role, Singelton told ReelzChannel "Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it". Eljiofor is a British actor of Nigerian descent, who has been landing some relatively high-profile roles recently. With American Gangster and David Mamet's Redbelt on the way, Ejiofor has already signed to star in the historical epic based on the life of Toussaint Louverture.

Panther was published by Marvel comics and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The hero first appeared in an issue of Fantastic Four back in 1966. The story centered on T'Challa, a superhero with a birthright to guard his homeland. As well as being a member of the super group The Avengers, he is the leader of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Battling your usual assortment of comic book villains, the story also slipped in some occasional political commentary -- even pitting the Panther against the Klu Klux Klan. The social undertones of the comic seem like a perfect fit for the politically outspoken director.

But, Panther could still be a long way off. Christopher had already given us the news that Singleton was going to direct the Halle Berry drama Tulia first, and then he is on to his other comic book adaptation Luke Cage. But Singleton has not entirely forgotten about Panther, since he at least seems to be thinking about casting. According to Reelz, gossips had already put forward Djimon Hounso as the lead contender for the role, and long before Wesley Snipes became Blade, he had also been interested in playing the hero. But since Singleton doesn't appear to have made up his mind yet, fans should probably speak up now -- don't you think?

Radio has to be one of the most un-cinematic things on the planet; it's a guy sitting in a booth for four hours talking into a microphone, or maybe playing some music. And yet radio has a kind of special magic about it. A person's voice comes sailing through the airwaves and landing in our homes, and it has the power to captivate, to soothe and to make sense of the world. Radio has appeared in a surprising number of good movies: Wolfman Jack and Stephen Wright, respectively, provided atmosphere in American Graffiti (1973) and Reservoir Dogs (1992), Robin Williams brought humor to the troops in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Christian Slater brought hope to high school students in Pump Up the Volume (1990).

It's probably a great deal more difficult to make a movie about podcasting, and so with her new film Talk to Me, director Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine) returns to the past for the story of Ralph "Petey" Greene (Don Cheadle), an ex-con who became one of Washington DC's most recognizable personalities in the 1960s and all the way up to his death in 1984. Lemmons starts her movie with a bang, with Petey's signature line: "Wake up, Goddammit!" as Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) rolls out of bed, puts on his suit and makes an excursion to prison to visit his brother (Mike Epps). Lemmons intercuts Dewey's progress while Petey "raps" about imprisonment. Dewey may be free, but he's trapped, too.

He may not be a fan of the United States government, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is apparently a fan of American movie stars. The radical leader, along with the Venezuelan congress and the new government-funded studio Villa del Cine, brought in Lethal Weapon star Danny Glover to direct his biopic on Toussaint Louverture, the Latin American icon who led the 1791 Haitian slave revolt, which kicked off the former French colony's revolution and subsequent independence. Glover actually announced the project at Cannes last year, but at that time he was planning to shoot in South Africa. Now that Chávez has become involved, Glover is receiving a budget of about $18 million, co-financed by Venezuela and Argentina, and the production has moved to Caracas. The film should be a monumental boost for Venezuelan cinema, which has finally been growing in notice thanks to 2005's Secuestro Express.

Glover was already a supporter of Chávez before this new arrangement and he seems excited about the opportunity. The actor and political activist feels the story of Toussaint, which is what his film will be titled, deserves to be seen by Americans. The Haitian revolution is a part of history the U.S. has been ignorant of for 200 years, mainly because at the time the Caribbean nation's independence frightened American politicians worried about similar action occurring with slaves in the States. Plenty of American viewers should be intrigued by the film, which boasts one of the most impressive casts of black actors I've ever seen: Don Cheadle, who will play the title character; Angela Bassett, who will play his wife; Chiwetel Ejiofor; Mos Def; Isaac De Bankolé; and according to the original report, though not listed on IMDb, Wesley Snipes.