Film News From Total Film Magazine

George Clooney’s new thriller The American opened at the top of the box office this weekend, beating both newcomers Machete and Going The Distance.

Clearly Clooney’s still got it, as the silver fox drew audiences to the trill of $12m, while last week's joint numero unos Takers slipped to second, and The Last Exorcism tumbled to fourth with $7.7m.

Machete burst onto the scene in third place with $11.3m, while other new opener Going The Distance topped off the top five with $6.8m.

The Expendables proved they were anything but by retaining a position in the top ten, dropping from third to sixth with $6.5m, The Other Guys bagged seventh place and a further $5.4m, while Eat Pray Love dove from fourth to eight with $4.8m.

After eight weeks in the charts, Inception still proved a draw, landing the ninth place and taking $4.5m, and Nanny McPhee Returns clung to tenth place with $3.7m.

Luc Besson’s new costume drama The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, starring Louise Bourgoin and Mattieu Amalric, is set to open the Cambridge Film Festival on 16 September.

Celebrating its 30th year, the festival selected Besson’s movie for its opening night because, according to Festival Director Tony Jones, “it’s a real return to form” for the French director.

“Luc Besson is a prolific writer, producer and director and a perennial favourite with Cambridge audiences,” says Jones.

“Over the years we’ve screened many of his films – Angel-A, Subway, The Last Battle, Leon, Nikita – so we’re thrilled to kick off our 30th edition with his latest, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, a romping period adventure which marks a real return to form for the maverick French filmmaker.”

Taking place between 16-26 September, the Cambridge Film Festival is held primarily at the Arts Picturehouse, but screenings will also take place at the Jesus Green Lido, as well as by the river Cam.

Films set to make an appearance this year include sci-fi shocker Monsters, Rhys Ifans’ Mr Nice and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. There will also be a screening of the first ever 3D Kung Fu movie with Yuen Woo Ping’s True Legend.

Made In Dagenham, the new film from Nigel Calendar Girls Cole, will close the festivities. For more information on the festival, head on over to its official website here.

Marvel boss Kevin Feige is a busy guy, what with Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man and The Avengers all currently wrestling for room on his plate.

But Total Film managed to get a few minutes with the comic book mogul as shooting continues on Captain America right here in the UK.

Talking up everything from Hugo Weaving’s “frightening villain” Red Skull, the current state of production on The Avengers, and just why England is the best place to shoot Captain America, Feige had plenty to say…
 
Why have you chosen the UK to film Captain America?
Well it’s that two thirds of the film actually takes place in Europe and there are many scenes in and around London. So it just made sense that we film it where the majority of the film takes place. Having been here now for almost two and a half months prepping and twenty-some days into shooting.
 
The history here is pretty impressive. I was at Pinewood yesterday and you walk past pictures of the set of Tim Burton’s original Batman and all the amazing work that Donner did on Superman. Everytime we’re on a new stage in Shepperton somebody tells me this is where the war room was for Dr. Strangelove.
 
Or this is where they shot some of 2001. There’s such an amazing genre film history here and the technicians and the crews and the sets are just some of the best we’ve ever had. It’s been a pleasure.
 
How the Red Skull looking?
Hugo Weaving has been in the Red Skull effect, in costume for a couple of weeks now and it’s a hell of a lot of fun. We gave people a little taste in San Diego about what his character will look like but now that we’ve started to work with the actual skull it’s going to be a lot of fun and a rather frightening villain.
 
What’s happening with The Avengers?
There’s not much I can tell you but Joss [Whedon] is hard at work with the script and we’ve hired most of our crew. They’re looking to design and build and prepare for when we start filming next year.

Sir Ridley Scott has revealed that we should expect his return to the Alien film franchise to pack quite a punch.

He’s already talked previously about the two 3D Alien prequels that are being lined up, and we know that he’ll be delving into the history of the giant ‘space jockey’ creature discovered in the first Alien way back when. We also know that it'll be set in the year 2058, 30 years before Ripley first entered the scene.

But in a new chat with The Independent, Scott said that we shouldn’t expect a watered-down horror from the new Alien flicks. The first film in particular, should be a nasty piece of work.

“The film will be really tough, really nasty,” Scott says. “It’s the dark side of the moon. We are talking about gods and engineers. Engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare? Or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?”

Sounds fittingly grandiose, but will de-mystifying the savage xenomorph make it less terrifying? Arguably, the ET hell beast has already been damaged by the Alien Vs Predators movies, so a new flick that returns its nasty should be just the ticket.
 

Jamie Bell and Anthony Mackie are both in talks to star alongside Sam Worthington in cop drama Man On A Ledge.

Directed by Asger Leth, whose sole previous credit is documentary Ghosts Of Cité Soleil, the plot follows a former NYPD officer (Worthington) who threatens to throw himself off the top of a building.

It’s based on a script by TV movie writer Pablo Fenjves, and Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is backing the production.

No word on which roles Bell and Mackie are in negotiation to play, though we imagine they might be new NYPD recruits.

Mackie has recently finished up work on sci-fis The Adjustment Bureau and Real Steel, while Bell will next be seen in Jane Eyre, and has been working on The Adventures Of Tintin.

Unbreakable 2 may never see the light of day according to M. Night Shyamalan – because he’s “cannibalised” ideas he had for the super sequel and used them in the next instalment of his Night Chronicles movies.

The first movie he’s produced under the banner The Night Chronicles, Devil, opens on 17 September. And while out on the publicity trail, Shyamalan revealed that he’ll be using a villain he originally dreamed up for Unbreakable 2 in one of the Chronicles movies instead.

“I cannibalised the idea for the sequel to Unbreakable for one of the Night Chronicles,” he says. “It was such a cool idea for a villain, and it was actually originally in the script for Unbreakable, and it was too much.

“There were too many villains, so I pulled this villain out and was like, ‘I'll make this the second flick.’”

This villain will apparently be used in the film Twelve Strangers instead, which will be the second movie in the Night Chronicles.

Considering Night’s track record of late (The Last Airbender is the worst-reviewed film of the year thus far), fans of the brilliant first Unbreakable are surely sighing with relief that their favourite movie won’t be dragged down by a sequel.

Check out a video of Shyamalan’s interview below…

The Three Musketeers 3D, the swashbuckling action reboot from director Paul WS Anderson, has been given its first official one sheet poster.

A simple, black-and-silver affair, it’s a sober-looking thing that focuses on the names involved – that’s Anderson, alongside a baffling decent cast that includes Mads Mikkelsen and Christoph Waltz (who they make sure to point out is an Oscar winner).

Still, the logo’s pretty nifty, with a sword crossing over two old musket firearms. Other than that, it doesn’t tell us much – but really, it’s only a poster, so we don’t expect it to.

Check it out below…

 The Three Musketeers 3D opens in cinemas next year.

A-Team remake director Joe Carnahan has replaced the bad-ass action star lead in new movie The Grey with another familiar ass-whooper.

Previously, Carnahan was set to shoot The Grey movie with wise-cracking muscle-man Bradley Cooper. But with Cooper having departed for reasons unknown (we assume his schedule is straining at the seams), Carnahan has called on another A-list team-player in the form of Liam Neeson.

A survival thriller, The Grey follows a group of Alaskan pipeline workers whose plane falls out of the sky on their way home from a job. Adding to their problematic situation, a pack of wolves target them for dinner.

Carnahan, who is best known for his wild action flicks having also directed Smokin’ Aces, has described the flick as “very much a man vs. nature adventure, existentialist kind of drama that I want to do”.

Which sounds like he’s all actioned out after A-Team, and looking to do something more along the lines of 2002’s Narc. Except with explosions and wolves and stuff.

Sounds good to us, and with Neeson playing another potential chip-shouldered meanie, Carnahan could have something quite interesting on his hands – if he can stick to that promise of an existentialist drama and not get gun-happy.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is still shooting over in the glorious surrounds of Hawaii (grumble, grumble), which means a few on-set photos have sprung up online.

Most interesting is our first glimpse of Brit bloke Ian McShane in full pirate regalia as legendary crook Blackbeard.

The actor was on set shooting a scene with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz for the fourquel, and looks mighty impressive from what we can tell.

Check out the image below…

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens in cinemas on 20 May, 2011.
 

Angelina Jolie has officially turned down Alfonso Cuaron’s new sci-flick Gravity, which could see the film’s production spiralling into limbo.

The film, which is about a female astronaut who is literally lost in space when her satellite crashes, has been courting Jolie for its lead role. But after months of deliberation, she has finally passed on the project.

Warner Brothers are wasting no time looking for a replacement, though, and have already tested or approached a massive range of A-list actresses.

The full list reported by Deadline includes: Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, and Blake Lively.

Previous rumours had it that Scarlett Johansson had already “verbally agreed” to star in the film alongside her Iron Man 2 co-star Robert Downey Jr, though a verbal agreement really means Jack in the cast-iron-clad-contract world of Hollywood.

With Gravity’s proposed 2012 release date drawing ever closer, the WB and Alfonso Cuaron will have to think fast about how they’re going to get the flick onto the production line. And considering its ambitious scale and relatively modest $80m budget, they’ve got a heck of a challenge ahead of them.

Jolie, meanwhile, is currently writing her own Bosnian war story, and is attached to a Salt sequel, Tim Burton’s Sleeping Beauty update Maleficent and a Cleopatra biopic.
 

Kick-Ass 2 could be wending its way to the screen quicker than expected, if new comments by comic scribbler Mark Millar are anything to go by.

While talking to BBC Radio Five Live, Millar announced that the film had officially been given the greenlight thanks to healthy DVD sales of Kick-Ass.

“The estimate is [Kick-Ass] will do 100 to 150 million on DVD based on the American sales,” he said. “So it’ll end up making a quarter of a billion on a 28 million investment.

“So It should be okay. So the sequel’s greenlit, we can go ahead and do the follow up now, you know. The first made so much compared to what it cost it would be crazy not to.”

If Millar’s calculations are correct, we’re over the moon. Of course, we’d like to reserve our celebrations until either a studio or Matthew Vaughn back up his comments – we’ve been burned too many times by Millar’s comments regarding the status of Wanted 2.

Still, even if the film's a way off, the first issue of Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall will be hitting shelves as part of new mag CLiNT tomorrow. Check out an exclusive sneak peek over at MTV here.

For more on Kick-Ass 2, check out our recent interview with Millar and artist John Romita Jr here.

James Cameron may be raising hackles over at the Piranha 3D camp thanks to his criticisms of that movie’s use of 3D, but evidently he’s still a huge fan of Guillermo Del Toro.

During an interview with Wired, Cameron talked about Del Toro’s adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness – for which the Avatar director is serving as a 3D advisor – and likened it to Aliens in terms of scale.

“[It’s] going to be an epically scaled horror film and we haven’t seen anything like that in a really long time - I guess since Aliens,” he said.

The director also had nothing but praise for Del Toro, adding:

"The thing about Lovecraft is that he left a lot to the imagination… He never told you what they looked like. He managed to create a sense of creeping horror without specifics…

“Guillermo brings an eye for design that is so original and so quirky and so steeped in the lore of movie design and horror design, but always fresh and unexpected.

“Frankly, I just want to see what he comes up with and I want to enable the nuts and bolts of the production so he doesn’t have to worry about that. I want to help him how to work in 3-D.”

Any friend of Del Toro is a friend of ours… sort of.

David Tennant’s re-interpretation of vamp-slaying showman Peter Vincent in the upcoming Fright Night remake has been revealed via a brand new banner for the film.

Gothed up to the nines, he almost looks like a new character from the latest Harry Potter flick – that bolt of mystical energy between his hands only adding to that feeling.

Clearly, the production has attempted a complete renovation of the '80s flick for this Vegas-set update, something screamingly obvious in the new-look Vincent. It's certainly a departure from Roddy McDowall's portrayal.

Is new better? The original still has a place in our hearts, but we’re intrigued to see what director Craig Gillespie and writer Marti Noxon will do with the property – especially considering that stunning cast, which includes Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette and Colin Farrell.

The images below were snapped at the Hard Rock Cafe, where Fright Night is currently shooting, and are perhaps part of the film's set dressing…

Fright Night opens in cinemas next year.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is still shooting over in the glorious surrounds of Hawaii (grumble, grumble), which means a few on-set photos have sprung up online.

Most interesting is our first glimpse of Brit bloke Ian McShane in full pirate regalia as legendary crook Blackbeard.

The actor was on set shooting a scene with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz for the fourquel, and looks mighty impressive from what we can tell.

Check out the image below…

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens in cinemas on 20 May, 2011.
 

Precious actress Paula Patton has signed on to play the lead female role in the new Mission: Impossible movie.

Having gone up against Lauren German and Kristin Kreuk for the part, Patton landed the role of a fresh operative who blasts firearms alongside Tom Cruise’s returning Ethan Hunt.

Other than that, details on the fourth impossible Mission are being kept in a vault guarded by giant lizard-skinned mutant panthers (or something), so all we’ve got so far are scraps.

What we do know is that the new film is being considered a “reboot” (are you really surprised?), and won’t have the number four attached to it anywhere.

It’ll be the live-action directing debut for Brad The Incredibles Bird, while J.J. Abrams is producing. In the cast department, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg will both reprise their former roles, and Jeremy Renner has joined as a potential future replacement for Tom Cruise.

Mission: Impossible (yeah, we're confused already) will start filming this Autumn, and opens in cinemas on 16 December, 2011.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson. In the same film together. A zombie comedy produced by Diablo Cody. We think we’re hyperventilating with excitement…

Okay, we’ve calmed down now. Yes, Gordon-Levitt and Johansson could be about to sign on to a new film produced by cool-cat-of-the-moment Cody entitled Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament.

It’s based on the novel of the same name by S.G. Browne, a romantic comedy about dead guy Andy who is resurrected as a zombie. He then has to adapt to life as an Undead man in a society that hates him.

So, True Blood for zombies? Sounds like it. Don’t get too excited just yet, though, Pajiba report that the duo are currently just “loosely attached” to the project – which means they think it sounds as awesome as we do, but nothing’s been signed yet.

Still, this is a great set-up for both to sink their teeth into and, frankly, Gordon-Levitt is such a TF favourite that we’d watch his latest film even if it was just him in a room on his own with a ball of string.

George Clooney is reportedly eyeing a screen adaptation of play Farragut North for his next directing gig.

And with the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Chris Pine already signed on to star, you can see why the silver fox is so interested in the project.

A political gambit that came out of Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign to become the next US President, Farragut North was originally scribed by playwright Beau Williamson and followed political backstabbing in an Iowa town.

Chris Pine will apparently play political genius Stephen Meyers – a role that he has already treaded the boards with during the play’s LA production.

Meanwhile, Philip Seymour Hoffman has nabbed the role of Paul Zara from Brad Pitt. Zara is a hardened campaign trail boss.

Will this be Clooney’s next? He’s already got two handfuls’ worth of other projects tugging at his apron strings (among them Escape From Tehran and The Innocent Man), but how can he possibly pass up a cast like that?

Fantastic Four is going the Spidey route with a slate-wiping reboot, this much we already know. But aside from a few casting whispers and the revelation that Thing will be CGI, nobody’s been talking very much about the project.

Until today. CBM report that 20th Century Fox have got three directors lined up as favourites for the comic book re-do: David Yates, Joe Carnahan and James McTeigue.

Yup, all three have headed up some massive box office brawls, with Yates having directed the final four Harry Potter flicks, Carnahan re-assembling the A-Team, and McTeigue the guy behind the camera for V For Vendetta.

Each, though, are as different as night and day. Yates has shown a penchant for drama, while Carnahan favours all-out, teeth-gritting action. Whoever Fox choose, they’ll be shooting in 3D.

Another rumour to file under ‘We Hope This Happens But We Won’t Hold Our Breath’ is that Bruce Willis will be taking on the role of Thing this time around.

Fox reportedly want the action godfather to voice the character’s CGI embodiment, while also appearing in early scenes before his character is transformed into the craggy hero we all know and love. World? Meet perfect casting...

Fantastic Four Reborn is due out during the summer of 2012.
 

Ryan Reynolds, aka the busiest man currently working in Hollywood, has lined up a role opposite Bradley Cooper, aka the beefiest man currently working in Hollywood.

Considering Reynolds’ already packed-as-a-pub-on-a-bank-holiday-Sunday schedule, what could have possibly enticed him into signing on?

Well, aside from working with hot ticket Cooper, the script for the untitled action chuckler has been written by Up In The Air’s Sheldon Turner. Ah, that oughta do it.

Risky Business report that the film will follow the duo as San Francisco cop buddies, whose fathers were also once partners on the force.

When a particularly tricky case rears its head, the old cops are dragged out of retirement to help their sons – with “typically antagonistic results”.

Which leaves us with just one tantalising question - who will be playing the papa cops? With Reynolds and Cooper both big stuff right now, expect some big names to be attracted to the project.

Next up, Reynolds will be appearing in Green Lantern, while Cooper has Hangover 2 and Neil Burger's The Dark Fields on the horizon.

Bruce Willis made a sly, blink-and-you’ll-miss-him cameo in Sylvester Stallone’s meaty The Expendables. But if Sly gets his way, Willis will have a much jucier role in the action flick’s sequel.

Reported via – where else? – Stallone’s own Twitter account, news comes that Stallone is already planning a sequel to The Expendables after his action star team-up went to number one at the US box office.

He Tweeted:

Had dinner with Bruce Willis last night. I want him in EXPENDABLES II as a super villain. What do you think?

A joke on Stallone’s part, or serious potential for a kick-ass follow-up? We’re not sure Sly would be so mean as to make something like this up, so here’s hoping he can wrestle Willis into his sequel.

Of course, if he were able to court a certain Governator into an all-out big screen comeback (that doesn't last just two minutes), that would be the real coup…