eric bana Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's actually kind of amazing how often the time-travel subgenre marries to romance stories. Longing to return to a simpler past or hoping for a brighter future are staples in any love affair, especially tragic ones. (Not to mention the similarity between a clock's ticking and a human heartbeat.) Just look at Somewhere in Time (1980), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), The Love Letter (1998), Happy Accidents (2000), Kate & Leopold (2001) and The Lake House (2006) for a few interesting examples. What I don't understand is the very soft, goopy tone that most of these movies automatically adopt, with the exception of Brad Anderson's dark, tense Happy Accidents and James Mangold's standard-issue romcom Kate & Leopold.

Consider the new film The Time Traveler's Wife. It comes complete with a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, who won an Oscar for his hugely successful sci-fi romance Ghost (1990) as well as writing very twisty sci-fi stories like Jacob's Ladder. In its favor, Ghost had a very amusing supporting performance by Whoopi Goldberg, and some action and suspense scenes, as well as a show-stopping love scene in front of a pottery wheel, set to the tune of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody." In other words, it pleased most of the male dates who were forced to see it. So Rubin turns in his new screenplay, which was based on Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel. And, who knows? It may have once been funny like Ghost or twisty like Jacob's Ladder. Then comes director Robert Schwentke, a German transplanted to Hollywood whose last film was the generic thriller Flightplan (2005).

Over on the website TNMC (via AICN), they have up a review of the Star Trek shooting script which picks out and describes the scenes that didn't make the final cut -- scenes that were probably shot and cut for a number of different reasons (pacing, running time, etc ..), but will hopefully arrive on the DVD. It's a shame, too, because some of these scenes seem to address my main problem with the movie: the boring villain, Nero (as played by Eric Bana). The scenes in question (which involve an entire Klingon subplot!) appear to give Nero more depth as a character, so hopefully we'll get to see them eventually. Here are a few descriptions from the site:

"The opening sequence, which sees the destruction of the USS Kelvin at the hands of Nero and his mining ship the Narada, has an extra bit we didn't see. While the Narada is trying to recover from being rammed by the Kelvin, bunches of Klingon warbirds decloak and surround it. This leads to a major subplot entirely removed from the final film."

"Next we go the Rura Penthe Klingon Prison Asteroid where Nero and his crew are being held. The Klingons catch someone trying to smuggle Federation maps to him. The Klingons begin to interrogate Nero, during which we learn that he has been there for ten years and hasn't said a word that whole time. The Klingons have a notebook of his that is full of drawings and calculations relating to Spock and his Jellyfish ship. They decide to use that slug thing we saw Nero using on Captain Pike in the finished film."

Read more at SciFi Squad

Not many movie-going summers have had the good sense or fortune to formally kick themselves off with the likes of Hugh Jackman and his razor-sharp jazz hands, but as these are the times in which we live in, it's a clear indication that we're in for about eighteen weeks of spectacular spectaculars worth gulping down popcorn and guzzling down pop* with.

Eugene's already shone the spotlight on a fair amount of smaller titles worth your while, so our staff tried to keep the focus on that which we haven't seen, those spectacles for which we're most excited and least likely to text during. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: sit down and shut up, because these are the seven movies that we're fairly f**kin' pumped for.

(*Okay, I pretty much never call soda that, but you get the idea.)

In my last rambling screed against certain release dates, I noted that I couldn't speak for the latest hiding place for The Time Traveler's Wife, the oft-delayed adaptation of the acclaimed romance novel. From the look of things, though, Warner Bros. has bumped back the equally romantic Final Destination 4 3D back to August 28th in order to give the weekend of the 14th to Wife.

And what a summer this has become for star Eric Bana (he's the time traveler, not the wife). Between this, Star Trek in May and Funny People in July, the main Munich man has a nice marquee streak going for him, and of course, any excuse for a little more Rachel McAdams beyond April's State of Play is nothing to sniff at either (unless this thing turns out to be quite the tearjerker).

The move puts Wife up against the likes of family comedy Bandslam and sci-fi mystery District 9, while Destination now opens opposite Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, which is exactly the type of horror offering that would make me want to see FD4-3D instead.

Here are some stuff and things for your lazy Sunday:

-- News of that planned Arrested Development movie has finally found its way to the trades, with both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter saying that series creator Mitch Hurwitz is real close to signing a deal to write and direct the film. Ron Howard (who narrated the show), as well as the original cast, are all expected to return (we hope).

-- Two more Star Trek character posters have arrived online, with one featuring Eric Bana as the Romulan villain Nero, and the other shows Zoe Saldana as a very sexy Uhura. These end a pretty busy week for Trek, which began with the debut of the film's first full-length trailer and a special presentation of footage by director J.J. Abrams. Check out larger versions of these posters, as well as the other two previously released character posters, in the gallery below.



-- The 5th Annual Big Apple Film Festival came to a close last night, where yours truly moderated six very fun Q&A sessions over the course of the four-day fest and was on hand for the final awards ceremony. Winning Best Feature was The Living Wake, with The Project taking the fest's Cityscape Award (which goes to the film that best exemplifies the city of New York). Thanks to all those Cinematical readers who stopped me to say hello!

-- Looks like Universal plans to turn those Jason Bourne films into the next James Bond franchise, as Variety tells us the studio has cut a deal with author Robert Ludlum's estate which gives Universal exclusive rights to not only the Jason Bourne character, but also a first look at other Ludlum novels. As far as a fourth Bourne film goes, Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have already signed on, and George Nolfi is currently writing the script.

This isn't the first official poster for Funny People, but it is our first official look at the marketing campaign for Judd Apatow's third directorial effort. Along with this image, Universal has announced a partnership with MySpace where you can win a walk-on role in the film. What you do is head on over to the flick's official MySpace page, become their friend, and then in 100 words or less leave a comment explaining why you should win the role (maybe you're, like, totally the biggest Apatow junkie on the planet!). Additionally, Judd prepared a special message on YouTube announcing the contest, which you can view after the jump.

Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman, Funny People focuses on the stand-up comedy circuit and one comedian's near-death experience. It arrives in theaters on July 31, 2009.

Last week, the upcoming thriller Law Abiding Citizen was embroiled in a bit of drama when its director, Frank Darabont, unexpectedly dropped out seemingly just after it had managed to cast Jamie Foxx. Rumors still abound that the split wasn't a friendly one -- and given that there's been a storyline switch-a-roo, we're not even sure what we'll see onscreen.

Well, happily for Citizen, they landed themselves a new director. Variety reports that F. Gary Gray has signed for the enviable job of directing Foxx and Gerard Butler (who is also producing). And while the story still focuses on a vigilante hounding a city and its assistant D.A., the roles have now switched. Foxx is now playing the assistant D.A., and Butler the vigilante, with the film set to shoot in December.

And for a movie about a vigilante, it's leaving an appropriate amount of bodies in its wake. Thanks to the shift in directors, now Eric Bana has been left job less. Gray was all set to direct Armored, the heist thriller that had chased Bana around Star Trek before finally landing him. Oddly, Armored doesn't even get the luxury of a replacement director -- Millenium Films is reporting that Gray's departure has left it dead in the water, a mere week after it had appeared in the trades.

I have an idea! Cast Bana in Law Abiding Citizen as the serial killer who controls the city and Butler's vigilante, combining both script ideas into one film of crazy, blood-splattered fun questioning the nature of justice ... or at least just ending violently in an abandoned warehouse. (By the way, if they need someone to die violently at the hands of justice-dealing Butler, I'm available. Call me!)

So you might be wondering what a picture of Eric Bana swigging a beer in a Hulk t-shirt has to do with the remake of a French thriller. Well, the answer I'm afraid is nothing, its just one of my favorite pictures of the Aussie actor -- but back to the business at hand. Variety reports that Millennium Films is currently in talks with Bana to star in their remake of the French thriller, Le Convoyeur (now titled, Armored).

The original film was written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, but Millennium have their eye on F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) to take over the remake. The script was also given a re-working by David Ayer (Training Day) and Andrew Kevin Walker. The story centers on a man (presumably to be played by Bana) working for an armored car company who manages to ingratiate himself into a heist planned by his co-workers. But as it turns out, our protagonist has his own motives for weaseling his way into this band of lowlifes.

Bana had originally been set to star in the flick before dropping the project to play Nero in J.J. Abram's Star Trek reboot. So what could have changed his mind? According to Variety, Bana "has a deal negotiated down to what sources described as a $7.5 million paycheck." Not bad for a guy who has yet to really break out as a leading man.

Bana's schedule would appear to be packed for the foreseeable future, including promoting Trek and the romantic weepy, *The Astronaut's Wife. Not to mention he will be making his directing debut with the documentary, Love the Beast, later this year. Armored is scheduled to start production on April 1st, so Millennium is going to have to work fast if they want to convince Bana to sign on -- I personally can think of 7.5 million reasons to sign on the dotted line.

*Correction: Bana will star opposite Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler's Wife.

All the movie studios are just hellbent on messing with my fall season. Australia is the latest movie to get the old switch-a-roo, as Variety reports that Fox is moving its release date from November 14 down to November 26. I know, it's only a matter of weeks, but it's just the principle of the thing. And it's now pitted against The Road, forcing me to chose which one to see opening day. I don't need that kind of stress, particularly on Thanksgiving which isn't exactly the most relaxing of holidays.

The delay is apparently the result of director Baz Luhrmann needing some extra time to polish the film. He brought everyone back for some pick-up shots, which explains the paparazzi shots I've seen of Hugh Jackman riding around Oz in full drover gear. I thought he just did that sort of thing all the time.

The fact that Australia's delay means it now neatly dodges the release of Quantum of Solace is, I'm sure, mere coincidence. I suspect we'll see more November rearranging -- Variety is reporting that The Time Traveler's Wife is also coming out on the 26th, though IMDB is still showing a Christmas release. If Variety is right (and why wouldn't it be?), I wouldn't be surprised if it ran to the 14th to steer clear of competing with another romance. Plus, I just don't think America could handle Viggo Mortensen, Hugh Jackman, and Eric Bana all having a movie out on the same day -- not when us girls are supposed to be home making pumpkin pies and turkey.