Archive for the 'News' Category

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Joins Ryan Gosling In ‘The Fall Guy’

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the latest to join Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in the cast of Universal’s The Fall Guy, which has a March 1, 2024 release date. Production for the film is set to begin in Australia this fall.

The feature film from Universal, 87North and Entertainment 360, is inspired by the 1980s series of the same name and will be directed by David Leitch, who is producing with partner Kelly McCormick via their 87North along with Guymon Casady, who will produce through Entertainment 360. Drew Pearce, who worked with Leitch on Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, wrote the script and serves as executive producer.

Gosling will also produce. Geoff Shaevitz and original series creator Glen A. Larson will also executive produce. EVP Production Matt Reilly will oversee the project on behalf of Universal.

Plot details are unknown at this time.

The film marks a reunion for Taylor-Johnson and Leitch who recently worked together on the hit Sony action thriller Bullet Train opposite Brad Pitt. Taylor-Johnson is also set to star as the titular character in Sony and Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter movie. He is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.

The Hollywood Reporter was first to break the Fall Guy casting news.

Taylor-Johnson says Brad Pitt has ‘s–t list’ of actors he won’t work with

Actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson says his costar Brad Pitt has a “good” list and “s–t” list of actors he will and won’t work with.

The pair star together in “Bullet Train” helmed by “John Wick” and “Deadpool 2” director David Leitch.

Promoting his latest onscreen venture at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, the actor dished on what working with Pitt was like.

Referring to Pitt as a “humble and gracious human being,” the actor told Variety, “He is in a new chapter of his life, I think.”

Taylor-Johnson, who has previously starred in action movies like “Kick-Ass” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” continued, “He just wants to bring light and joy into the world and be around people who are there to have a good time.

“You work with many actors and after a while, you start making notes: ‘I am definitely not working with this person ever again.’ Brad has this list too: the ‘good’ list and the ‘s–t’ list.”

A fight scene from the film — which was released in the US on Friday — between the two stars left Taylor-Johnson hospitalized after he sustained major injuries on set.

After implementing a “crazy mad Keto diet” in an effort to get “scrawny and lean” for the film, the actor fainted due to “low blood sugar levels” shortly after sustaining a hand injury.

“We were in a fight sequence and I get drop-kicked across the room. And the one sharp bit of the corner where there wasn’t any padding took a chunk out of my hand. I literally went wham, passed out,” he told Variety of the incident.

“Then I came back and was like ‘Should we go again?’ and they were like ‘No, no, no. You gotta go get stitches at the hospital.’ So then I spent the night in the hospital,” he added.

“When you sign up for a David Leitch movie you know you gotta get a couple battle scars, some war wounds,” he added.

‘Bullet Train’ Moves A Week Later This Summer

The Brad Pitt original action movie, Bullet Train, is moving from July 29 to Aug. 5.

Exhibitors got a look at the David Leitch directed movie’s opening montage at CinemaCon last month.

The movie based on the Kôtarô Isaka novel Maria Beetle follows trained assassin Ladybug (Pitt) who wants to give up his career, but is pulled back in by his handler Maria Beetle in order to collect a briefcase on a bullet train heading from Tokyo to Kyoto. Once onboard, he and other rival assassins learn that their objectives are connected.

Previously, Bullet Train moved into Black Adam‘s old date. However, now it’s facing off against Paramount’s Owen Wilson comedy Secret Headquarters and Universal’s Jo Koy family comedy Easter Sunday.

Why the move? We hear Sony is positioning Bullet Train as the last big event film of the summer in that first August weekend slot.

Leitch’s Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw debuted in that frame to $60M back in August 2019 and legged out to $174M stateside.

Kick Ass 3 Update

Comic book creator Mark Millar gives an update on a Kick-Ass 3 adaptation after a reboot reportedly began development three years ago. Co-created by Millar and illustrator John Romita Jr., the Icon, and later Image Comics, title centers on teenager Dave Lizewski who sets out to become a real-life superhero. When his actions go viral on the Internet, he inspires various other people to become their own superheroes while also getting mixed up with ruthless vigilantes Big Daddy and Mindy “Hit-Girl” McCready in their mission to take down the Genovese crime family.

Kick-Ass would find its way to the screen in 2010 with Matthew Vaughn directing on a script he co-wrote with Jane Goldman and featuring an ensemble cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz , Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The film generated some controversy for the R-rated language and violence involving Moretz’s 11-year-old character, but would ultimately garner critical acclaim for its humor, unique tone and the performances, namely that of Moretz. Kick-Ass‘ financial success would also lead to the production of a sequel, which saw Jeff Wadlow take over as writer/director while Vaughn, who chose his replacement, would produce, though saw a mixed-to-negative response from critics and audiences alike.

While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for Netflix’s anime adaptation of Super Crooks, Millar opened up about the Kick-Ass 3 rumors that began circulating a few years ago. Millar definitively shut down any plans being in the works for the comic book threequel, noting his frequent conversations with friend and filmmaker Matthew Vaughn and their lack of discussion on the matter. See what Millar shared below:

“You know, it’s funny, occasionally something pops up about a third Kick-Ass, but it’s never true. What happens is, I think, one of the original actors is being interviewed about another movie and they’ll be asked, ‘Is there another Kick-Ass’ and they’ll say, ‘Well, I don’t know maybe’ and then it becomes a headline, ‘Maybe Another Kick-Ass Is Coming.’ But in reality, we’ve literally never had a conversation about it. 

I talk to Matthew Vaughn three times a week, Matthew is one of my best friends, and we’ve no plans because I’m over at Netflix and he has deals over with Apple and Kick-Ass is Universal. So there’s definitely no plans, maybe at some point in the future, we do have one last story to tell, which is the big finale storyline. I kind of like the idea of that as well, because practically we can come back a little later to all the characters in different places, so there’s a potential story there at some point. But I pray that nobody reads this and mistakes that for us saying Kick-Ass 3 is in the works, because there’s 100 percent no plans to do it at the moment.”

Following the poor reception to Kick-Ass 2, most of the cast have expressed a general disinterest in reprising their roles for a third film, namely Moretz for her poor experience on the sequel. Discussions first began swirling in 2018 that a Kick-Ass reboot was in development with Vaughn revealing his plans to use his production banner Marv Studios to produce the project. Word later began swirling that a third mainline film was in the works with Taylor-Johnson, Mintz-Plasse and Lyndsy Fonseca reprising their roles for one final time before the reboot, though nothing has since come out regarding the project.

While Millar and his Millarworld banner may be set up at Netflix, his co-ownership of the Kick-Ass comics would necessitate his involvement on a potential Kick-Ass 3. Additionally, as Vaughn continues building out the world of Millar’s Kingsman franchise for the screen, namely in the forthcoming prequel The King’s Man, it seems likely that the Kick-Ass brand will remain dormant a little longer while a proper angle and timing can be determined for a new project. With any luck, Millar’s desire to have a series centered on character Patience Lee with Tessa Thompson leading will come to fruition.

Marvel Considered Bringing Back Aaron Taylor-Johnson for WandaVision

While Evan Peters’ casting as Quicksilver in WandaVision was an early decision according to President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, there was some initial discussion on whether to cast his Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson in that role.

According to Decider, Feige recently did a 25-minute Q&A with critics following an early preview of episodes for Marvel’s next Disney+ show The Falcon and the Winter Solder. Among those questions was one on whether there was any debate about using Peters or Taylor-Johnson as Pietro, to which Feige noted, “There are discussions on everything” and explained how Marvel Studios “blue sky” all of its projects. “But I believe we ended up going with what you saw relatively early on in the development process,” he finished.

Both Evan Peters and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who coincidentally starred together in 2010’s Kick-Ass, played alternate variations of Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver in the 20th Century Fox X-Men and MCU timelines due to legal issues over Pietro and his sister Wanda being both mutants and occasional Avengers. Peters’ version, named “Peter” Maximoff, debuted in 2014’s critically acclaimed X-Men: Days of Future Past and later reprised his role in the new prequel X-Men timeline for X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix.

Taylor-Johnson also appeared that year as “Pietro” in Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s mid-credit scene alongside Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda, with Avengers: Age of Ultron revealing them to be Sokovian natives experimented on by Hydra before initially teaming up with Ultron (James Spader) to defeat the Avengers. Unlike his Fox counterpart, however, Pietro died in Age of Ultron after sacrificing himself to protect Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), leaving Wanda to take revenge on Ultron and later join the Avengers.

The end of WandaVision’s fifth episode, however, mysteriously revived Pietro in Wanda’s Westview sitcom world using Evan Peters’ form. Most recently, it was revealed at the end of the episode “Breaking the Fourth Wall” that his inclusion was the manipulations of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness, who had orchestrated a number of events behind the scenes for unknown but likely malevolent purposes. Having been absent for most of episode, Pietro reappeared to confront Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) in the show’s first mid-credit scene just as she was about to enter Agatha’s lair.

Written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, WandaVision stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Randall Park as Agent Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes. New episodes air Fridays on Disney+.