Spock has died

From ew, Leonard Nimoy, who became one of the science fiction world’s most beloved icons for his portrayal of Spock in the Star Trek franchise, died Friday at his home in Los Angeles of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife Susan Nimoy confirmed to the New York Times. He was 83.

Though his career was rich—spanning six decades and including varied roles in television and film, as well as directing, poetry, and photography—Nimoy’s turn as the half-Vulcan, half-human First Officer of the starship Enterprise remained an indelible part of his identity to the very end.

From an early age, Nimoy possessed an innate understanding of an alien’s perspective. The son of Ukrainian immigrants—his father, Max, owned a barbershop, and his mother, Dora, was a homemaker—Nimoy was raised in a home in Boston where Yiddish was the dominant language. With his unconventional, vaguely exotic looks, the aspiring star spent much of his early acting career stuck in small parts in TV shows like Dragnet and B-movies like Them!

But when he was cast as Spock in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, he found the ideal vehicle for his distinctive screen presence. With his stoic adherence to reason, Spock proved a perfect foil for William Shatner’s emotionally explosive Capt. Kirk, and many of the Vulcan’s quirks—the splayed hand salute, the benediction “Live long and prosper,” the nerve pinch, the mind-meld—would become enduring touchstones for sci-fi fans.

While the original Trek series was cancelled in 1969 after just three seasons, it spawned a franchise that thrived through numerous TV spinoffs and films. Despite his initial ambivalence about being typecast as the pointy-eared Vulcan, Nimoy eventually came to embrace his screen alter ego, and reprised the role in the 2009 big-screen reboot Star Trek, passing the torch to a new Spock, Zachary Quinto. He reprised the role in his last film, 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.

“I went through a definite identity crisis,” Nimoy reflected in his 1997 memoir, I Am Not Spock. “The question was whether to embrace Mr. Spock or to fight the onslaught of public interest. I realize now that I really had no choice in the matter.” As Spock himself would say, it was only logical.

Blade Runner 2 will star Harrison Ford

From slashfilm, Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies) is in negotiations to direct the Blade Runner sequel for Alcon Entertainment.

Here are the main takeaways: 

Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies) is in negotiations to direct (the production company sent out a press release which probably means this is 99% a done deal)

Blade Runner 2 is scheduled to start principle photography in summer 2016.

Hampton Fancher (who co-wrote the original Blade Runner) penned the sequel with Michael Green (Green Lantern, The River, Heroes) based on an idea by Fancher and Ridely Scott.

Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Rick Deckard.

The story for the sequel will take place “several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original” film Blade Runner. Considering Ford is back as Deckard, you would expect this to take place approximately 30-40 years after the original due to the actor’s age, although who knows as we don’t know if he is a replicant.





DENIS VILLENEUVE IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT “BLADE RUNNER” SEQUEL

HARRISON FORD TO REPRISE ORIGINAL ROLE AS RICK DECKARD

RIDLEY SCOTT TO EXECUTIVE PRODUCE


LOS ANGELES, CA, FEBRUARY 26, 2015 — Harrison Ford will reprise his celebrated role of Rick Deckard in the sequel to Alcon Entertainment’s BLADE RUNNER and Academy Award nominee Denis Villeneuve to (Prisoners, Incendies) is in negotiations to direct, it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.


Film is scheduled to start principle photography in summer of 2016. Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original) and Michael Green have written the original screenplay based on an idea by Fancher and Ridely Scott.


The story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original.

State Johnson and Kosove: “We are honored that Harrison is joining us on this journey with Denis Villeneuve, who is a singular talent, as we experienced personally on Prisoners. Hampton and Michael, with Ridley Scott, have crafted a uniquely potent and faithful sequel to one of the most universally celebrated films of all time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with this amazing, creative team.”

Ford will next be seen in The Age of Adaline for Lionsgate and the highly anticipated upcoming Star Wars for Walt Disney Pictures. Recent releases include the Warner Bros./Legendary box office hit 42.

Villeneuve most recently directed the crime thriller Sicario, staring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benecio Del Toro for Black Label Media and Lionsgate. He also directed Canada’s Oscar nominated French language film Incendies, and Alcon Entertainment’s critically acclaimed Prisoners, staring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal.


Alcon Entertainment acquired the film, television and ancillary franchise rights to BLADE RUNNER in 2011 from producer Bud Yorkin to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic science-fiction thriller. Yorkin will serve as a producer on the sequel along with Kosove and Johnson. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will co-produce.

Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.

Among its many distinctions, BLADE RUNNER has been singled out as one of the greatest movies of all time by innumerable polls and media outlets, and overwhelmingly as the greatest science-fiction film of all time by a majority of genre publications.

Released by Warner Bros., BLADE RUNNER was adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples from Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and was directed by Ridley Scott following his landmark Alien.” The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction).

BLADE RUNNER was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.

ABOUT ALCON ENTERTAINMENT


Co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson founded Alcon Entertainment in 1997 with partner Frederick W. Smith, the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx. Warner Bros. distributes Alcon’s motion pictures via the companies’ long-term output distribution agreement.

Alcon has financed and produced, and/or co-financed/produced 29 films to date, including “My Dog Skip,” the Academy Award nominated Best Picture “The Blind Side,” which earned Sandra Bullock a Best Actress Oscar; “The Book of Eli,” starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman; “Insomnia,” starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank and directed by Chris Nolan; “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants;” “P.S. I Love You,” starring Hilary Swank; the critically acclaimed “Prisoners,” a dramatic thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Terrance Howard and Paul Dano, and the family hit “Dolphin Tale 2,” a sequel to its original starring Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Kris Kristofferson. Alcon is currently in production on “Point Break,” a reimagining of the classic action movie filming on four continents starring Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, and Ray Winstone. The Company is also developing a sequel to “Blade Runner” with Ridley Scott.

Alcon Television Group is currently producing a four-hour mini-series documentary for HBO about the life and times of Frank Sinatra, directed Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney; and “The Expanse,” a space thriller for Syfy Network.

Jon Stewart mocks Fox News outrage over American Sniper 'snub'

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Pee-wee Herman Returns for 'Big Holiday' on Netflix

From rollingstone, Pee-wee Herman's next feature-length adventure will be coming to a screen near you courtesy of Netflix, with the streaming service securing the rights to Paul Reubens and Judd Apatow's upcoming movie, Pee-wee's Big Holiday.

According to a press release, the new film centers around a fateful encounter that inspires Pee-wee to embark on his first holiday vacation. The movie will be directed by John Lee, a go-to director for shows like Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer who'll make his feature film debut with Big Holiday. Production is scheduled to begin in March.

Rumors about a new Pee-wee movie have been floating around since Apatow and Reubens began formulating the project several years ago. Both are set to serve as producers, while Reubens also wrote the script with comedian Paul Rust, whose credits include Comedy Bang! Bang! and Arrested Development.

"Judd and I dreamt up this movie four years ago," Reubens said in a statement. "The world was much different back then — Netflix was waiting by the mailbox for red envelopes to arrive. I've changed all that. The future is here. Get used to it. Bowtie is the new black."

Reubens began developing the Pee-wee Herman persona while studying improv comedy in Los Angeles in the 1970s. He adapted the eccentric character for the stage with The Pee-wee Herman Show, which garnered national attention after being filmed and released by HBO as a 1981 special. Following the success of the Tim Burton-directed movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Reubens launched the cult-classic TV series, Pee-wee's Playhouse. However, the characters next feature film, Big Top Pee-wee, missed the mark both critically and commercially.

In 1991, Reubens was arrested for masturbating in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida and went on to retire the character. Reubens brought back the character in 2007 for Spike TV's Guy's Choice Awards; in 2010, he jumpstarted Pee-wee's big revival by mounting The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway. Last year, all five seasons of Pee-wee's Playhouse were remastered and released on Blu-ray via Shout! Factory.

"I felt like it was a mission and this was what I was supposed to do; I considered it important work," Reubens told Rolling Stone last year upon the release of a new Pee-wee's Playhouse box set. "I always sort of thought that this would have a positive effect on kids. And they picked up on that, I think. [Pause] I've spent a lot of time rewatching these episodes during the restoration process for this set, and I'm still really proud of what we all did."

Neill Blomkamp’s ‘Alien’ Will Disregard Half the Franchise to Finish Ripley’s Story

Fox is making Neill Blomkamp‘s new Alien movie, and Sigourney Weaver is definitely on board to reprise her Ellen Ripley role. And while we still don’t know the story, despite the teasing glimpses provided in concept art such as the pieces above, we do know something new: Blomkamp’s Alien will basically disregard Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection as the director says he’s designing the film to sit in sequence after Aliens.

Sky Movies talked to the pair while they were promoting Chappie.

There’s reason to be interested here. Blomkamp is clearly a guy with a vision (see: District 9) even if that vision doesn’t always work out (see: Elysium). And Weaver isn’t quick to sign on to sequels like this, so clearly she sees some reason to give the go-ahead nod.

But I’m also slightly irritated with this development, specifically the idea of disregarding the third and fourth films. Alien 3and Resurrection don’t need me to defend them, as they can stand or fall on their own. But the implication here is that those two films blew it with respect to Ripley’s story, and now this is a chance to pretend they didn’t happen so as to give her, as Weaver says, “a proper finish.”

But Weaver is a big part of the reason Ripley didn’t get a proper finish in the past. Her ideas, and the “no guns” mandate, were very influential in the development of Alien 3. (Which is, I would argue, a pretty great end for Ripley’s story.) Weaver’s ideas and restrictions were also part of the DNA of Alien: Resurrection. This isn’t the time where she’s going to get candid about the past films and say “hey, I shoulder some of that responsibility.” But it would be nice to hear eventually, and also respectful to the people who worked hard on those movies.

Meanwhile, speaking to EW, Blomkamp says,

Over the years, I came up with a story for a film in that universe that I wanted to make. And then when I talked to her about her experience making those films and what she thought about Ripley and everything else, it informed and changed the film I wanted to make into something different. It just sort of stuck with me. A year later, when post-production was winding down on ‘Chappie,’ I started fleshing out the idea for a film that would contain Sigourney. Fox never knew. I just worked on it when I could. Before I knew it, I had this really awesome film with a lot of artwork and a lot of backstory. And then I didn’t know whether I was going to make it or not. So I just kind of sat on it for a while.

There’s no release date for Blomkamp’s Alien film at this point.

(What I do find amusing here is that it is possible that Blomkamp came up with this idea when he was developing Halo at Fox, where he had big run-ins with Tom Rothman, then the head of that studio. Blomkamp said he’d never work for Fox again, thanks in large part to Rothman. Now Rothman is out of Fox and installed at Sony, which released Elysium and will release Chappie — just in time for Blomkamp to go back to Fox for Alien.)

[via slashfilm]

Re: AC's post

RE: AC's post - I'm pretty sure no one else out there has a personalized autograph from the "Time to Make the Donuts" guy. I met him at his retirement party and he is every bit as charismatic as his 80's-80's commercials implied.

Movie Theaters May Bounce Back In A Really Big Way In 2015

From cinemablend, Despite dwindling movie ticket sales last year in light of more eclectic streaming options and illegal downloads, it looks like theaters will be able to bounce back from this. Jack Black can throw all the shade he wants at the Oscars about "the screens in our jeans," but 2015 is projected to be a major year for movie theaters. In fact, if predictions deliver truth, then it could be as big of a year as 2013 when the likes ofFrozen and Catching Fire hit the big screen.

According to The Washington Post, analysts are expecting box-office revenue to break the record set in 2013, which was $10.9 billion. Why? If you think about it, 2015 is packed with blockbusters.

Star Wars: Episode 7 is all but guaranteed to make some major dough for theaters. It’s the first installment of the brand new trilogy, is directed by Star Trek movie vet J.J. Abrams, and features a bevy of new and returning faces of the Star Warsuniverse. 2015 also a major year for superhero movies. Though we have to wait until 2016 for Batman v Superman, we’ll get to see the highly anticipated Avengerssequel, Paul Rudd suited up as Ant-Man in his standalone movie, and the Josh Trank-directed Fantastic Four reboot, the trailer for which is already pretty badass. In addition, we also have the return of the Terminator and Mad Max franchises, thefinale to the Hunger Games series, new installments of Mission: Impossible and Fast and Furious, and the return of Jurassic Park.

Teenage JPX ready to rip your ticket!

Before any of this even happens, the box office is already performing above average. In January and February alone, Oscar-nominated American Sniper and the BDSM love story Fifty Shades of Grey broke major records. These beginner months are considered graveyards that are littered with the bones of failed films, but these titles emerged from the muck to make gold. Both were highly controversial films. The former, about the gunned down Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, caused some controversy. And the latter caused quite the stir as well, both domestically and internationally, for its graphic sexual content and spotlight on the secretive world of dominant-submissive relationships. As The Post notes, Sniper and Fifty Shades fed off of this chatter, which was bolstered by social media, to drive even more interest.

According to the report, these early projections for the year’s box-office results have prompted shareholders to invest in the country’s major theater chains, including AMC Entertainment (it’s stock is up 24%), Carmike Cinemas (up 18%), Cinemark (up 17%) and Regal Entertainment Group (up 11%). Though these are still early projections, there’s a lot to look forward to this year, so start saving your money.

Kirk Cameron sweeps the Razzies for 'Saving Christmas'

(CNN)Kirk Cameron swept the 2015 Razzie Awards on Saturday, picking up the dubious honors of worst picture and actor for "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas."

The "family film" about putting "Christ back in Christmas" edged out "Transformers 4," the frontrunner going into the annual pre-Oscar event. The fourth installment of Michael Bay's explosion-fest led the pack in Golden Raspberry Award nominations, which go out to the worst films and performances of the year. The franchise also has a legacy to uphold with a previous win for the worst film of 2009.

Bay beat out the directors of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas," "The Legend of Hercules" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West" for the distinction of worst director.

Is this the worst movie of all time?02:00
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Otherwise, "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas" hit the bottom of the cinematic barrel with four wins in the categories of worst picture, screenplay, actor and screen combo, which went to Cameron "and his ego."

Other best of the worst honorees included Megan Fox for her role in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

In a two-for-one worst actress award, Cameron Diaz was recognized for her roles in "Sex Tape" and "The Other Women."

Actor Kelsey Grammer also received the worst actor award for multiple roles: "Expendables 3," "Legends of Oz," "Think Like a Man Too" and "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction."

The Razzies are chosen by 757 members of the Golden Raspberry Awards Foundation. However, the Razzie Redeemer Award was open to public voting through RottenTomatoes.com. That award went to Ben Affleck for going from Razzie winner for "Gigli" to Oscar darling for "Argo" and "Gone Girl," proving there's nowhere to go but up from the Razzies.

Box Office

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Fifty Shades of Grey" didn't relinquish control of the box office.

Universal's erotic drama earned $22.2 million at No. 1 in its second weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The spy film "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and the family friendly "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" similarly maintained the No. 2 and No. 3 spots at the box office in their second weekend.

Fox's "Kingsman" nabbed $17.5 million, while Paramount's "SpongeBob" soaked up another $15.5 million.

A trio of newcomers failed to crack the top three.

Disney's "McFarland, USA" opened at No. 4 with $11.3 million. Lionsgate's "The DUFF" debuted at No. 5 with $11 million. Paramount's "Hot Tube Time Machine 2" flopped at No. 7 with $5.8 million.

Celebrity Sightings Contest

Yeah, we never heard of this AC beyotch.

No one is more star-struck than me, so imagine my delight when I found out yesterday that one of my friends has partied with Jason Sudeikis and Kenan Thompson. The windy, 10-degree day melted away as my friend’s tale of celebrity escapades cast a generous, warming glow over his enthralled listeners.

I grabbed her boob, heh heh.

So what better way could there be to survive the remainder of February than by amassing further accounts of celebrity sightings and interactions?  And better yet, get a little friendly competition going.  Best story (quality of celeb x directness of interaction x amusingness of interaction) wins.   Even if we’ve heard it before, tell it again; provide as much or as little detail as you wish.  Usual Horrorthon prize: the satisfaction of entertaining your blogmates, aka nada.

Just once, I wish I could have had a decent meal in peace.

For all my star-struckness I have woefully few contributions myself. I met Jacques Pepin at a book signing; boorishly yelled at Matt Damon while he was filming The Departed; had my boob grabbed by Tommy Wiseau at a midnight screening of The Room; got cut in line by Allen Dershowitz at the agricultural fair on Martha’s Vineyard; saw Parker Posey in the gift shop at Kripalu; and was (to my own mortification) with a group that sent a glass of 7-up to Geoffrey Holder at Pastis in Manhattan.  Clearly, the only way I win is if no one else enters the contest, making me the perfect, unbiased judge.  Submit your celeb stories in the comments section by Saturday the 28^th and I’ll announce the winner on Sunday March 1^st.

I'm a nice guy, but I'll get a restraining order if I have to.

Jesus is my Friend