Woody Harrelson

Sequel CATCHING FIRE Officially Titled THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 24th, 2012 at 12:18 pm

In a somewhat unsurprising move, Summit Entertainment announced today that the Hunger Games follow-up has now officially been titled The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The pic is based on author Suzanne Collins’ second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire.  Brand recognition is everything when it comes to tentpoles, and audiences are consistently treated as though they’re unable to put two-and-two together when the exact same cast returns in a new movie with a different title.  Nevertheless, Summit added The Twilight Saga moniker to all the Twilight films, so the move was almost inevitable.  Hit the jump for more.

HBO Orders 8 Episodes of TRUE DETECTIVE Starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: April 30th, 2012 at 7:34 pm

When we first heard about True Detective, an anthology cop drama whose first season will star Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, Anonymous Content was still shopping it around.  Adam wrote, “I’m selfishly hoping it lands on HBO.“  I have great news for you Adam, and readers—it did!  It did land on HBO!  THR reports the premium cable network ordered eight episodes for the first season, scripted by Nic Pizzolatto (The Killing).  McConaughey and Harrelson play two detectives who are drawn into the search for a serial killer in Louisana: “The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012, when the case has been reopened.” Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) will direct all eight episodes of the first season.  If True Detective is successful, the plan is to clean the slate in future seasons with a similar structure, but tell a new story with a different cast.  I am rooting for this and the American Horror Story season two reboot to work.  It opens up an exciting new model for American television—something more involved than a standalone miniseries, but still longform storytelling with a schedule suited for the likes of McConaughey, Harrelson, and Fukunaga.

Casting Call: Willem Dafoe Joins OUT OF THE FURNACE, Rooney Mara Moves to BROOKLYN

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: April 26th, 2012 at 6:40 pm

Some big name casting news for you today.  Here are the headlines:

• Willem Dafoe will join Christian Bale and Casey Affleck in the dramatic thriller, Out of the Furnace, written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart).
• Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will star in the 1950s period piece, Brooklyn, adapted from Colm Toibin’s best-selling novel about a woman torn between her family in Ireland and her new found love for an American.

Hit the jump for more on both projects.

THE HUNGER GAMES Heads Back to IMAX Theaters; New Poster Released

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 20th, 2012 at 7:53 am

Lionsgate may have finally settled on a director for the sequel Catching Fire, but The Hunger Games is still busy doing gangbusters at the box office.  It was the number one film for the fourth weekend in a row (the first movie to do that since Avatar and The Dark Knight), and now fans will get another opportunity to see Gary Ross’ adaptation on the big, big screen.  Starting April 27th, the film will open again for a one-week limited run in select IMAX theaters.  Only about 100 IMAX theaters are participating in the engagement, but if your town is one of the lucky ones and you missed the film in the large-screen format the first time around, now’s your chance to catch it before the pic out of theaters.  Moreover, Lionsgate has released a new poster specifically designed to mark the occasion.  Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group Co-Chair Rob Friedman had this to say about the re-release:

“It’s wonderful that so many fans have expressed interest in seeing The Hunger Games in the immersive IMAX format, and many of these are repeat viewers. We’re delighted that IMAX has been able to accommodate them through this special one week re-engagement.”

Hopefully those checking out the IMAX version of The Hunger Games are going to actual IMAX theaters instead of reformatted regular theaters (it really does make a difference).  Hit the jump to check out the poster.

Woody Harrelson and Forest Whitaker Officially Join OUT OF THE FURNACE

by Matt Currie    Posted: April 13th, 2012 at 1:46 pm

The cast of Scott Cooper’s revenge drama Out of the Furnace was already promising, with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, and Zoe Saldana occupying major roles and a number of intriguing actors circling the villain roles. Today, we can upgrade it to “can’t miss” status with news that Woody Harrelson and Forest Whitaker have officially signed on to round things out. The film, which will be shot primarily in a handful of economically-depressed Pennsylvania mill towns, follows two brothers desperate to leave their Rust Belt roots behind. However, when one of them (Affleck) is murdered after getting involved with a vicious crime ring, the other (Bale) is inclined to dole out some payback. Hit the jump for more on Out of the Furnace, including a full press release.

Set Photo Roundup: Rooney Mara in BITTER PILL, Paul Rudd in LUCKY DOG, and Woody Harrelson in NOW YOU SEE ME

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 11th, 2012 at 11:11 am

We’ve got a few set photos to share with you today.  Briefly:

• Bitter Pill – Rooney Mara sports a vastly different look for Stephen Soderbergh’s psychopharmacology thriller Bitter Pill.  Mara stars as a troubled young woman who develops a dangerous love triangle between her doctor and her recently paroled husband.  Jude Law and Channing Tatum also star.
• Lucky Dog – Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Hawkins are seen filming scenes as two con men who hatch a get-rich-quick scheme to sell Christmas trees in NY.
• Now You See Me – Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Isla Fisher were spotted on the set of Louis Letterier’s (Clash of the Titans) magician-centered heist thriller.  The film opens on January 18th, 2013.

Hit the jump to check out all the images.

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey to Star in Serial Killer Crime Series TRUE DETECTIVE

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 10th, 2012 at 6:11 pm

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are teaming up for what could be one of the most exciting drama series in recent memory.  The two are set to star in the eight-episode first season of True Detective, with Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre director Cary Fukunaga onboard to helm all eight episodes.  The show is described as an “elevated serial narrative” that uses multiple perspectives and time frames.  Harrelson and McConaughey will star as two detectives “whose lives collide and entwine during a seventeen-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012, when the case has been reopened.”  Hit the jump for more on the project, including how long Harrelson and McConaughey plan on sticking around.

Woody Harrelson in Talks to Play the Villain Opposite Christian Bale in OUT OF THE FURNACE

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 9th, 2012 at 6:23 pm

The cast for Out of the Furnace just keeps getting better and better.  Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard and Zoe Saldana are all set to star in Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper’s crime drama, and now Variety reports that Woody Harrelson is in talks for the villain role.  The film centers on Russell Baze (Bale), who is released after serving four years in prison only to find that his younger brother, Rodney Baze Jr. (Affleck) has been brutally murdered. He sets out to avenge the death and track down the killer.

Billy Bob Thornton had previously been circling the villain role, but I’m beyond thrilled to see Harrelson play the baddie.  He earned raves for his morally blurred turn in last year’s Rampart, and it should be fun to see him go toe-to-toe with Bale.  Production on the film begins later this month in Pennsylvania.  Harrelson recently wrapped the heist pic Now You See Me and will be seen later this year alongside Colin Farrell in Seven Psychopaths.

Watch a Montage of Famous Actors in Their Feature Film Debuts

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 5th, 2012 at 2:35 pm

It’s always a fun treat when a now-famous actor pops up in a small role in an older movie you haven’t re-watched in a while.  We previously posted a “Before They Were Famous” supercut, but now someone has edited together a montage of actors in their very first feature film roles. While you’re most likely aware of the majority of these appearances, I’m willing to bet you’ll find at least a few surprises in this video.  I had no idea Jon Hamm was in Clint Eastwood’s “old guys can be astronauts too” movie Space Cowboys, but I now feel compelled to move the pic to the top of my Netflix queue.

Watch Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Emma Thompson, Zach Braff and many more make their feature debut after the jump.

THE HUNGER GAMES Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 22nd, 2012 at 12:02 pm

Suzanne Collins‘ young adult novel The Hunger Games isn’t particularly well-written, but it’s undeniably cinematic.  Collins’ paints a strange, brutal world with a hint of social commentary wrapped in a melodramatic love story and intense action.  For the film adaptation, director Gary Ross has created an effective and memorable experience that’s deadly serious and seriously entertaining.  Rather than playing into the blockbuster elements of the novel, he takes a subdued approach where less is more and “more” is darkly and comically grotesque.  The movie remains tied to the weaker aspects of the book, especially the anti-climactic finish and lightweight social commentary, but terrific performances from the cast and Ross’ superb direction paint a potent and compelling picture.

3 Clips and Over 6 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Footage from THE HUNGER GAMES [Updated]

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 11th, 2012 at 9:36 pm

With director Gary Ross‘ The Hunger Games opening March 23, Lionsgate has just released the EPK (electronic press kit) and it includes two clips and over six minutes of behind-the-scenes footage.  While you’ve probably already seen the clips, the on set footage is definitely new and it includes Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and a lot more of the cast either rehearsing or filming their scenes.  If you wish you could have been on set watching Suzanne Collins’ characters come to life, this is the next best thing.  Hit the jump to watch.   You can also click here for over thirty images from the film. [Update: We've added an excellent, just-released clip featuring Peeta's (Josh Hutcherson) crucial interview with Caesar Flickman (Stanley Tucci)].

Over 35 New Images from THE HUNGER GAMES [Updated with 3 More Images]

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 29th, 2012 at 11:05 am

A slew of new images from the highly anticipated adaptation of The Hunger Games have gone online. I’ve been extremely pleased with all the trailers thus far, and I can’t wait to see how director Gary Ross takes on the material. I think he’s assembled a terrific cast and the book should make for quite an entertaining moviegoing experience. For the uninitiated, The Hunger Games takes place in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem. As a means of reminding Panem’s 12 districts that the country’s government holds all the power, one teenage boy and one teenage girl are randomly selected from each district to participate in a televised fight to the death called “The Hunger Games.” If you’re wary of spoilers, these new images only seem to be from the first half of the movie. Most of them are from the scenes that take place in the Capitol (complete with the kooky-lookin’ futuristic costumes and Josh Hutcherson‘s Peeta practicing his camouflage), with a few looks at Katniss’s life in District 12.

Hit the jump to check out the images. The film also stars Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland. The Hunger Games opens on March 23rd. [Update: We've added three more images after the jump.]

Woody Harrelson Talks RAMPART, SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS, HUNGER GAMES, and Whether or Not He Can Still Dunk a Basketball

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 9th, 2012 at 7:50 pm

Opening tomorrow, in limited release, is director Oren Moverman‘s (The Messenger) fantastic new movie, Rampart.  Led by a brillaint Woody Harrelson, Rampart is about a corrupt cop whose past is finally catching up with him in the wake of a department-wide corruption scandal.  The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Nixon, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, and Ned Beatty.

Recently, I got to speak with Harrelson. We talked about how he got involved in the project, what is was like to try and stick to the script while also finding the truth in the moment, what did he think of the film when he first saw it, filming on location in Los Angeles during the day, karaoke (he sings some Queen), and whether or not he can still dunk a basketball.  In addition, Harrelson talked about The Hunger Games and Martin McDonagh‘s Seven Psychopaths.  Hit the jump to watch.

First Images from Martin McDonagh’s SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 9th, 2012 at 7:49 am

The first images from Seven Psychopaths, Martin McDonagh‘s highly-anticipated follow up to In Bruges, have gone online. The film stars Woody Harrelson as a gangster who goes on a rampage after his beloved shih tzu is kidnapped by an unemployed actor (Sam Rockwell) whose only source of income is helping a professional dognapper (Christopher Walken) who steals dogs and returns them for the reward money (That’s right: McDonagh has basically borrowed the M.O. of Jon Lovitz character from City Slickers 2).  Colin Farrell co-stars as Martin, a struggling screenwriter who tries to help Rockwell’s character, but only gets caught up in the mess, although it gives him great material for his next script, which is called “Seven Psychopaths”.

Hit the jump to check out the images and more info on the flick, which also stars Tom Waits, Gabourey Sidibe, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko.  Seven Psychopaths is due out in theaters this fall.

Director Oren Moverman Talks RAMPART, His David O. Selznick Biopic at HBO, QUEER with Steve Buscemi, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 10:37 am

With his new film Rampart (which ranked #4 on my Top 10 of 2011 list), writer-director Oren Moverman took the corrupt-cop genre and twisted it just like he did with The Messenger‘s soldier-PTSD story.  He’s one of the more exciting filmmakers working today because of his ability to play against expectations and come out with a more powerful, realistic story as a result.

I got the chance to interview Moverman about the film and we talked about where the real Rampart scandal came into the story, re-teaming with Woody Harrelson, shooting the movie as if it were two different films, and more.  Moverman also spoke about his collaboration with Ben Stiller for a David O. Selznic biopic for HBO, and we discussed his script for Steve Buscemi‘s upcoming film, Queer.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.  Rampart opens in select cities this Friday.  Click here to read my full review.

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design