Zack Snyder

300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA to Star Sullivan Stapleton

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: February 8th, 2012 at 4:12 pm

The 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia has finally cast its first male lead in the form of Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom). Stapleton will star opposite Eva Green (Casino Royale), who was in recent talks to play Artemisia, the “ruthless, gold-covered goddess who persuades Xerxes to amass his army and helps lead them into battle.” There is currently some confusion as to whether Stapleton will be cast as Xerxes (portrayed in the original 300 by Rodrigo Santoro) or if he will be portraying the lead role of Themistocles, the leader of the Greek forces who oppose the Persian army.

Directed by Noam Murro (Smart People) and written/produced by 300 director Zack Snyder, 300: Battle of Artemisia takes place in a similar time as the original but will have a new setting and cast of characters. Hit the jump for more.

Warner Bros. Already Looking for a Screenwriter for MAN OF STEEL Sequel?

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 15th, 2011 at 8:55 pm

File this one under rumor for now, but apparently Warner Bros. is happy with what they’re seeing from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel and is already on the hunt for a screenwriter to tackle a sequel. Think McFly Think (via The Film Stage) reports that WB has put together wishlist of scribes that includes Steve Kloves (all the Harry Potter movies except Order of the Phoenix), Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans), and Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark). While it wouldn’t at all be surprising that WB is getting a move on with a sequel (they’re contractually obligated to keep making Superman movies lest they lose the character rights), the report at this time is unfounded.

We’ve yet to see even a teaser trailer from Man of Steel and they’ve only released one official image thus far, so we’re pretty in the dark on the pic. We know that Christopher Nolan shepherded the film into production with a script by David S. Goyer, and we’ve got Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Supes. I like Michael Shannon as General Zod, and the rest of the cast filled out nicely (Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, etc.) so I’m hoping for the best. Man of Steel opens June 14th, 2013.

Joel Edgerton in Talks to Star in 300 Sequel, 300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 2nd, 2011 at 8:45 am

Joel Edgerton is entering talks with Warner Bros. to star in the 300 sequel, 300: Battle of Artemisia.  According to Vulture, Edgerton “would play Themosticles, the famed archon and general who led the Greeks to victory against the invading Persians in 480 BCE.”  Noam Murro, who previously directed the awful Smart People, is making a big leap from that indie to the tentpole action flick, but Zack Snyder is still on board to co-write the script based on Frank Miller‘s upcoming graphic-novel, Xerxes.

While I’m not exactly sure we need 300: The Same Amount of Greased-Up Ripped Guys Fighting the Brown People, Edgerton is undoubtedly a strong lead.  Unfortunately, American audiences probably don’t know that yet since no one saw Warrior and he’s barely in The Thing.  However, they’ll get more chances to see him in 2012 since he’s leading Kathryn Bigelow’s Kill Bin Laden, and he’s co-starring in the family flick The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

New Set Photos from MAN OF STEEL Reveal Daily Planet Globe

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 13th, 2011 at 2:11 pm

Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is currently shooting on location in Chicago, which means a plethora of set photos should be appearing daily for the forseeable future. Today, we’ve got some snapshots of cars decked out in “Metropolis” gear, as well as our first glimpse at the new Daily Planet globe currently under assembly. Nothing too earth-shattering, but it’s still Superman news. If you missed Steve’s interview with star Michael Shannon the other day, be sure to check it out as he tells the story of how Snyder offered him the role of General Zod.

Hit the jump to check out the spoiler-free set photos. The film stars Shannon, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormand, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel opens June 14th, 2013.

Exclusive: Michael Shannon Talks MAN OF STEEL; Reveals How Director Zack Snyder Offered Him the Role of General Zod

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 10th, 2011 at 4:48 pm

Michael Shannon is a very good actor.  He’s been knocking small supporting character roles out of the park for years, and recently he’s been given the chance to shine in much larger roles.  He is decidedly creepy on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and he’ll soon be gracing the screen in Marc Forster’s true-life drama Machine Gun Preacher.  Steve got the chance to sit down with Shannon this weekend at the Toronto Film Festival to talk about Machine Gun Preacher, but as one would expect the conversation also included a little-known film called Man of Steel.

We’ll have the full interview with Shannon up soon, but we wanted to share what he said about Zack Snyder’s Superman flick today.  While he’s barred from getting too specific, Shannon spoke about the how he nabbed the role of villain Genreal Zod, what it was like to screen test with Henry Cavill, and he also commented on all those set photos that seem to be leaking daily.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Michael Shannon Confirms Motion-Capture Suit for General Zod in MAN OF STEEL, Talks About His Approach to the Character

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 7th, 2011 at 1:11 pm

Last month, some set photos surfaced from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel revealing what looked to be Michael Shannon in character as villain General Zod wearing a motion-capture suit. The images weren’t the best of quality, so no one was 100% certain that it was actually Shannon in the suit. Well, now the actor has confirmed that Snyder’s interpretation of the infamous Superman villain will be brought to life using motion-capture technology.

Shannon says that when he initially met with Snyder, the director told him he wouldn’t be put into one of those “silly suits,” but when time came for the cameras to start rolling Snyder had a bit of a surprise for the actor. Hit the jump to see what Shannon had to say about wearing the motion-capture garb and how he approached the character.

New MAN OF STEEL Photos Show More of Superman’s Costume

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 31st, 2011 at 7:39 am

The first official image from Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel gave us a pretty good look at the new costume.  There was a bigger emblem, gigantic cape, textured suit, and as we later learned, no external underwear.  New set photos have leaked online and they reveal a few new details about the redesigned outfit.  There’s a better look at the wristbands, piping on the legs, and a quasi-belt.  I’m sure plenty of folks will have opinions on these changes and all I’ll say is that remember we haven’t seen how this has been photographed or how it works in motion.  Also, it doesn’t look like this so let’s be thankful for small favors.

Hit the jump to check out the set photos (there’s nothing that spoils the film; it’s just shots of Henry Cavill in costume).  The film also stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormand, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.

New Set Photos from MAN OF STEEL Show Faora and Underpants-less Superman

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 24th, 2011 at 6:35 am

Photos continue to leak out from the set of Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel.  The latest photos confirm the groundbreaking and terrifying rumors that began to fly when we saw the first official image of Henry Cavill as Superman.  “Surely,” we asked, “they wouldn’t deprive Superman of his external underwear?”  But as you can see from these new set photos, deprived him they have.  I guess now Superman will be cool.  The set photos also show villainess Faora (Antje Traue) rocking a badass cape, more shots of a guy in a mo-cap suit, and in the background there’s a newspaper truck for “The Smallville Sentinel”.  Seriously, how much of this freaking movie takes place in Smallville?  Smallville was on the air for 23 years.  We don’t need to go back.

Hit the jump to check out the set photos.  The film also stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormand, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.

Is This Michael Shannon Wearing a Motion-Capture Suit on the Set of MAN OF STEEL?

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 22nd, 2011 at 8:49 am

You could spot Michael Shannon’s distinctive mug from forty paces, but when his back is turned it’s a little more difficult.  The folks over at Worst Previews claim that they have a picture of the Oscar-nominated actor wearing a motion-capture suit for his performance as the villainous General Zod in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.  Yes, that is definitely someone wearing a mo-cap suit, but let’s not run away with speculation.  Warner Bros. spent boatloads of cash giving Ryan Reynolds an all-CGI suit for Green Lantern but at least an argument could be made that a will-generated costume would need that kind of look.  What does General Zod look like?  Does his costume always require mo-cap effects?  Is this even General Zod? It’s a guy on the set of Man of Steel wearing a mo-cap suit with his back turned to a camera.  Don’t get carried away.

Hit the jump to check out the full image.  The film also stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormand, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.

First Official Image of Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s MAN OF STEEL

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 4th, 2011 at 7:27 am

Warner Bros. has released the first official image of Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.  As you can see, he looks pretty much like Superman.  There’s no insane Tim Burton redesign going on here.  The emblem is a little bigger, the cape seems a little a longer, and the suit has kind of a scaly quality to it.  I’m more interested in the composition of the image.  You may recall the first image released for Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns.  There were certainly complaints about turning the bright red to maroon, but Brandon Routh is doing a Superman pose: noble, back straight, hands on his hips, looking to the sky.  Contrast that with this image where Superman is apparently less than pleased he forgot the key to his safety deposit box.

Hit the jump to check out the full image.  The film also stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Laurence Fishburne, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormand, Antje Traue, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe.  Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.

Zack Snyder to Direct THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH?

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 2nd, 2011 at 12:40 pm

The Last Photograph sounds far outside Zack Snyder’s wheelhouse.  The story centers on a journalist (Christian Bale) and an ex-special ops soldier (Sean Penn) who travel to war-torn Afghanistan to help a missing family member who’s been kidnapped.  However, he came up with the idea for the story, 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad wrote the script, Snyder was producing, and now it looks like he’ll direct.  Twitch reports that Snyder has stepped in to replace Niels Arden Oplev (the Swedish adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and that Snyder will make The Last Photograph his follow-up to Man of Steel.

It’s a major change of pace for Snyder since a drama that sends two men into present-day Afghanistan doesn’t lend itself to lingering shots on sexy bodies or constant speed-ramping.  I would never criticize a filmmaker for stretching beyond their current expectations and with Snyder at the helm, The Last Photograph could garner newfound respect for the director or be an absolute disaster that consigns him to genre flicks.

MAN OF STEEL Set Photos Prove that Smallville School Buses and the Kent Farmhouse Do Exist

by Jason Barr    Posted: August 1st, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Not to be outdone by the plethora of The Dark Knight Rises set imagery that we’ve brought you the past couple of days, director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is now showing off some set skin from its Illinois shooting locations. Like I’ve stated in the past, I’m not a huge fan of set photos that contain little context beyond “this is a picture of a box of props from the set of a movie you want to see.” Conversely, I’m even less fond of set photos that spoil what tiny element of surprise that may still exist in today’s film landscape. So, with my incredibly hard to please tastes in mind, I’ll say that I think these images are worth checking out because they fall somewhere in between being pointless and spoiltastic.

Hit the jump to check out the images of some Smallville school buses and the Kent family farmhouse. Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russel Crowe, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, and Michael Shannon, Man of Steel hits theaters on June 14, 2013.

Is the MAN OF STEEL Script Under Construction by 300 Co-Writer Kurt Johnstad?

by Bill Graham    Posted: July 18th, 2011 at 11:51 am

Time is not on Superman’s side. At leaset, that is the case with Warner Bros.’ upcoming Man of Steel, which is up against the gun of rights ownership to get cracking on bringing the classic character to the silver screen by next year. As you probably already know, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) is teaming-up with producer Christopher Nolan to helm the superhero flick based on a script by David S. Goyer (Batman Begins). However, perhaps as a result of said time constraints, rewrites are apparently needed on Goyer’s script. If you’re Warner Bros., with a solid cast that includes Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Kal-El, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Chris Meloni, Michael Shannon, and Harry Lennix already in place, you want to make as many tweaks as necessary. Hit the jump for more details on the rewrite including which scribe gave the script a once over as well.

Harry Lennix Joins MAN OF STEEL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: July 8th, 2011 at 2:17 pm

The casting of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel continues, as character actor Harry Lennix (The Matrix sequels) is the latest addition to the cast. Showblitz reports that Lennix will play a high-ranking military officer named General Swanwick. Henry Cavill is set to star as Superman himself, with Amy Adams signed on to play Lois Lane. The rest of the impressive cast includes Michael Shannon as General Zod, Antje Traue as villain Faora, and a quartet of stars portraying Supes’ parents: Russell Crowe and Julia Ormond play Kryptonian parental units Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, while Kevin Costner and Diane Lane are set as Clark Kent’s adoptive Earth parents. Christopher Meloni also recently entered talks to play an as-yet unspecified major role.

Snyder is directing from a script by David S. Goyer, with Christopher Nolan producing. Man of Steel begins production this month in Vancouver, with a December 2012 release date being eyed.

SUCKER PUNCH Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: July 4th, 2011 at 5:15 pm

Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch hit theaters in March earlier this year, but it’s road to theaters felt like watching a train hit the emergency break. The year before it came out, the film wowed comic-con audiences, and Warner Brothers had set visits – Snyder was still seen as a wonder boy, even if Watchmen didn’t take it home. But by the week of release, Warners couldn’t hold it in the bag: Sucker Punch is a weird movie that doesn’t totally work for a number of reasons.

It’s one of the great “I made a big hit movie, I’m going to go make my art” films that fails in interesting ways. And now there’s a director’s cut, which hopes to solve some of those problems. Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a girl with a traumatic past who’s put in an insane asylum with a bunch of other girls, and leads a fantasy life that transposes her inmates and doctors into dancers and pimps. My review of the Blu-ray and director’s cut of Sucker Punch follow after the jump.

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