News of the Week (15/08/12) – Snow White, Daredevil & Kick-Ass 2

Rumours are flooding the internet today surrounding the topic of the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel and whether Kristen Stewart or director Rupert Sanders will return for a second film. With the recent news coming out that Stewart and Sanders were having an affair it is clear this would cause more problems than its worth if these two worked again together, therefore it seems as though the sequel will not be happening with Kristen Stewart playing Snow White because Sanders looks set to return to direct. The attention instead will shift towards Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman and create a sort of spin off from the first Snow White fantasy film. This was always the plan to do so in the third film but have two films about Snow White precede this. They could always hire Lily Collins to replace Stewart in the lead role, she made a fantastic Snow White in Mirror, Mirror and really looks the part, but if they’ve decided to tell a story based around the Huntsman then so be it; but it better be of a much higher quality than X-Men spin off, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

There seems to not be a week go by at the minute when Marvel and its film properties aren’t in the news: be it Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy or this week Daredevil. Work had apparently been moving forward on a reboot to the Daredevil film franchise at FOX and a director was even pretty much set to go for it; Joe Carnahan (director of The A-Team and The Grey) was tweeting about his excitement to adapt Daredevil in the world created by Frank Miller’s successful run on the comic books back in the late seventies/early eighties which had a darker film noir feel about them. Now it seems as though those ideas have gone up in smoke as FOX are clearly in no rush to get the project off the ground and are apparently willing to let the rights go back to Marvel come October. As soon as Marvel gets the rights back (even before probably) work will be done to get a film reboot going and it would be my guess that he would be set in the same universe as Marvel’s Avengers series probably. I hope that Ben Affleck comes in to direct the reboot, he loves the character and even though his starring role as Matt Murdock wasn’t very good he should be considered to direct, I think his Daredevil would be great and have a similar feel and tone to Gone Baby Gone.

And now here’s the latest casting news that has caught my eye this week: first of all, Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame has landed himself a lead role in Nick Hornby adaptation ‘Long Way Down‘ which follows four people who plan to commit suicide by jumping off a building on New Year’s Eve, but become friends with each other before the jump. Keira Knightley has gone and landed herself a part in her first franchise since Pirates of the Caribbean in Kenneth Branagh’s new Jack Ryan film in which Branagh also plays the villain to Chris Pine’s hero. It will be great to see Knightley swap her corsets and what not for a more modern attire in this film. And finally Scrubs‘ Donald Faison or ‘Turk’ has signed on to appear in comic book sequel Kick-Ass 2:Balls to the Wall as Dr. Gravity, a hero who is inspired by Kick-Ass and becomes an ally of his in his new team ‘Justice Forever’. This looks like a fun piece of casting and it is fantastic to finally see some real signs that the sequel is moving ahead!

The Transformation of Ben Affleck

Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt is a name that you may not be familiar with, although when shortened to Ben Affleck it is very difficult to avoid. Ben Affleck is arguably one of the biggest celebrities in the world and has been for some years, both for his work in the film industry and his relationships with a string of big name Hollywood ladies including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez and his current wife Jennifer Garner. But what I know him for is his acting, writing, producing and directing of some brilliant and some not-so-brilliant, slightly below average films.

One of the most famous friendships in Hollywood: Affleck and Damon.

After appearing in small extra roles in a number of films including Field of Dreams and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Affleck really became known for his turns in Kevin Smith films Mallrats and Chasing Amy, however it was Good Will Hunting in 1997 that made him a household name. Good Will Hunting was nominated for nine Oscars including a Best Original Screenplay win for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who shared the writing credit and both starred in the film too. This success then allowed Affleck to move into bigger roles and he pretty much became a huge success with all of his films becoming massive hits at the box office; Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and The Sum of All Fears. Affleck was acting among some big names and becoming one of them too whilst still doing smaller films including Shakespeare In Love, Dogma and Boiler Room.

A year after The Sum of All Fearswas released something bad happened to Ben Affleck’s acting career that he has never really recovered from. Ben Affleck states that his favourite comic book when he was growing up was Daredevil so when the chance arose to play the Marvel hero naturally Affleck jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, despite being praised for his casting and his role in the film it is not a very good film at all to be honest (although the director’s cut is actually meant to be a huge increase in quality) and since appearing in Daredevil Affleck has not really tastes any of the huge success he once had as an actor. Instead, he has appeared in a number of critical and commercial flops including Gigli, Surviving Christmas and Smokin’ Aces. He has however had smaller success with Hollywoodland in which Affleck received huge praise for his role as George Reeves in the biographical docudrama.

In order to get his career back on track Affleck decided to get behind the camera and begin directing films. His first feature was an adaptation of the Dennis LeHane novel Gone Baby Gone in which he cast his brother Casey Affleck  (a better actor than himself) in the lead role. The end product worked out brilliantly, the film was praised and Affleck directed it very very well; it is one of my favourite films. Whilst he does still act it is in the directors chair where Affleck is getting a lot of praise, more praise than he ever got as an actor. In 2010, Affleck directed The Town and starred in the lead role as well (ego?) but nonetheless the direction received huge praise again and Jeremy Renner got a surprise nod for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance under Affleck’s direction.

Affleck’s latest feature film as director is Argo and is due out later this year and there is a lot of expectation of the film as it is based on real life events and incorporates a lot of different themes so it will be interesting to see how Affleck brings them all together and whether he is successful or not. Also, and this is just a rumour for now, everyone knows that DC comics and Warner Bros. are trying to put out a Justice League movie after the success of Marvel’s team up in The Avengers but it is being reported that Ben Affleck is being lined up to direct. This would be a master stroke.

There is no doubt that Ben Affleck is a film star, but he should definitely star behind the camera from now on and continue his success in the director’s chair.

The Worst Comic Book Movie Castings?

When casting someone in a comic book movie it is vital that you choose the right person or you face the wrath of the fanboys whom, when they get together, are a force to be reckoned with. If the casting is wrong in a comic book movie it puts fans off, the money doesn’t come in and usually (but not always) when the casting is wrong, the film ends up being total and utter rubbish. The following were all criticised by fanboys and are my chosen 8 worst comic book movie castings.

8. Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane

In 2006 Warner Bros. tried to give new life into the Superman franchise as they have done with Batman. Brandon Routh (miscast himself) played Superman whilst Kate Bosworth took the role of Lois Lane. The problem here is that Bosworth was not believable as Lois Lane; she was too nicey nice and didn’t put across the image of the feisty news reporter that worked her way up to the top of the chain that comic book fans admired her for. She had lost her character.

 

 

7. Jessica Alba as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman

Everyone knows that the Fantastic Four films are not good, but this casting was on of the worst decisions of the film makers. It seemed like Alba was there because she has sex appeal; the scene on the bridge where she stripped down to her underwear in the first film was only written after Alba had taken the part. This must show that when casting for Sue Storm she was there for her looks, not because she suited the role, and fans made sure people knew about that.

 

 

6. Chris O’Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin

Widely considered by many to be the worst comic book movie of all time, this little piece of casting was one (of thousands) of the things that contributed to the awfulness of Batman & Robin. It was never going to work and whoever thought that casting O’Donnell in the role would be a good idea needs their head checking and how he managed to last two films as Robin is beyond me!

 

 

 

 

5. Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom

Eddie Brock, when he becomes Venom, is Spider-Man’s most famous enemy, his arch nemesis. Before that, when he is just Eddie Brock he is already a physical powerhouse that could beat up pretty much any normal person he wanted. So why on earth was Topher Grace cast in this role? He was nothing like his comic book counterpart in physique and fan reaction showed that this was a very unpopular decision indeed!

 

4. Ioan Gruffud as Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic

The male representative of Marvel’s most miscast couple on screen is Ioan Gruffud as Mr Fantastic. Even if you get past the fact that someone like Gruffud manages to pull Jessica Alba, there is still the problem with the character. Gruffud manages to drain all life out of one of the cleverest minds on the planet and makes for a very dull performance in an already under-par film. Not good Ioan.

 

 

 

 

3. Halle Berry as Catwoman

For some reason, unbeknownst to everyone, the film Catwoman was made. And for an even more obscure reason that even fewer people know the answer to Halle Berry was cast in the lead role. Berry won a Razzie for this film for the worst performance by a leading actress. The writers and film makers didn’t do her any favours to be honest but at the end of the day she was totally miscast and gave us a horrible portrayal of Catwoman.

 

2. George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman

Arguably one of the best actors of his generation with an Oscar to his name, but unfortunately the most handsome Batman is also the worst Batman to grace the screen. Clooney has one of his rare blips with this film but it is not all his fault. The film itself is terrible anyway, but casting George Clooney as Bruce Wayne was never going to work, I don’t know what it is but Clooney lacks a certain spark, a quality that Bruce Wayne needed. Luckily though, this film did nothing to hamper Clooney’s career.

 

 

 

And the award for most totally miscast person in a comic book movie goes to…

1. Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider

This was awful. The film. The acting. The characters. The casting. There was nothing good about Ghost Rider and when they decided to ‘reboot’ the franchise with a sequel, they stuck with Nicolas Cage as the main character. Bad decision. Nicolas Cage is a horrible choice for Johnny Blaze, he just does not embody the character at all! If you have to CGI your stars body then you clearly haven’t made the right casting choice. Just because he is a fan of the character does not mean he would play them well; somebody younger required. And please, please, please… STOP with the Ghost Rider films!

 

(Dis)Honourable mentions

Halle Berry – Storm

Ben Affleck – Daredevil

Jennifer Garner – Elektra

Ryan Reynolds – Green Lantern

Vinnie Jones – Juggernaut