Sacha Baron Cohen Explains Django Exit
Sacha Baron Cohen was one of a number of high profile stars who dropped out of being involved in Quentin Tarantino’s new Western Django Unchained. At the time speculation was rife that some stars may have been jumping ship due to concerns over potential controversy caused by applying Tarantino’s trademark bloody violence to the sensitive historical subject matter of slavery.
But speaking recently Sacha Baron Cohen has explained that his decision to give up his cameo in the tale of freed slave revenge was simply due to his increasing hectic schedule.
“I was editing The Dictator and we were very close to release and Paramount wouldn’t push the date and then I knew I’d have to jump straight from there into Les Mis and it basically became a choice of either pulling out of Les Mis or pulling out of Django. I’m sure Django is an incredible movie, but it was essentially one scene.”
The scene in question which isn’t in the final film would have dealt with how Broomhilda (Django’s wife) falls into the clutches of the evil plantation owner Calvin Candie(played by Leonardo DiCaprio. As Sacha Baron Cohen explains.
“It was a character by the name of Scotty, whom Leonardo DiCaprio’s character plays a poker game with, the stakes become Scotty’s slave girl, Broomhilda.”
Django Unchained premiere’s in the UK on 10th January and arrives in cinemas nationwide on 18th January. Check back soon for red carpet coverage and a full review.
New Godzilla Film Gets Another Rewrite
Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont is providing Legendary Pictures with a final rewrite of the script for their new Godzilla film. Darabont has previously written screenplays for classic monster films like The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and Frankenstein.
The long delayed project already has a script produced by the various efforts of Max Borenstein, Dave Callaham, David S. Goyer and Drew Pearce. Monsters Director Gareth Edwards remains attached to the project despite the studios constant script tinkering.
The long and uncertain pre-production has had many fans questioning the studio’s commitment to the project. With many suggesting that perhaps a potentially demanding budget and the unwelcome memory of Roland Emmerich’s 1998 blockbuster version was causing the studio to lose faith in the project.
Officially the release date remains set for 16 May 2014, with production set to finally begin in March to meet that schedule.
Fan Gets Dying Wish To Watch Star Trek Film
J.J. Abrams is well known for being ultra-secretive about his work, preferring obscure teaser trailers and cryptic viral marketing campaigns to actual preview screenings. But in a delightful gesture of goodwill the popular director has made a special exception.
Having received pleas from the family of a terminally ill Trek fan to give him the chance to see the new Star Trek sequel before its long awaited cinematic release, J.J. Abrams responded by arranged a very special screening of the nearly completed film.
Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch. The finished film will arrive in UK cinemas on 17th May and the first review from special fan Dan is that the film is great and he ‘loved it’. Sadly Dan has since passed away. So Warp Speed Dan, Warp Speed with love.
Jay Z Doing Great Gatsby Soundtrack
The first trailer for Director Baz Luhrmann’s opulent adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic The Great Gatsby featured a Jay-Z song “No Church In The Wild”, not it seems the hip hop superstar may be collaborating on the musical score for the entire film.
Artist The Bullitts has tweeted news that he and Jay-Z are “working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby!” with the promise that the new soundtrack is “too DOPE for words!”.
Despite the obvious enthusiasm from the Jay-Z camp, some people will already question whether or not their musical efforts will prove a comfortable match for Fitzergald’s tale of tragic love set in the roaring 1920s. But if it does prove a success it could provide interesting new territory for Jay-Z, who is already well established as a global rap superstar.
Cars Spinoff Planes Flying Into Cinemas
Following the box office success of Cars and inventively titled sequel Cars 2, Disney Animation has been working on a spin-off movie that takes the familiar approach of giving vehicles eyes and celebrity voices, then imagining the kind of adventures they might have. Only this time they’re using planes not cars, hence the equally obvious choice of title, ‘Planes’.
Despite mixed and lackluster critical reactions to the Cars franchise, it proved a moderate success at the box office and made Pixar/Disney even more on toys and tie-in merchandise. No doubt the studio will be hoping for the same lucrative results when Planes arrives in cinemas August 9th.