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Who Should Play the "Forgotten" Hero?
If Aquaman is the one member of the Justice League that late night talk show hosts and sketch comics like to pick on for having "useless" powers like breathing underwater and communicating with marine life, Martian Manhunter is the one that nobody picks on...or even mentions...ever. The "forgotten" member of the Justice League, Martian Manhunter has been a member of the super-team since they first gathered together in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #28 (Feb./Mar. 1960) and is actually the most powerful of them all, possessing all of Superman's abilities, plus telepathy, invisibility, phasing and shape-shifting.
Martian Manhunter has received wider recognition in recent years thanks to appearances in various animated series, video games, and in the Smallville: Absolute Justice TV movie (played by Phil Morris), but he is still the only member of the Justice League that does not have a live-action movie in development at Warner Bros. If Martian Manhunter does appear on the big screen, chances are it will be as part of the ensemble Justice League movie, which will definitely need an actor of color — when not battling global threats, Martian Manhunter frequently operates in disguise as an African-American police detective named John Jones — to lend some diversity to its roster of superheroes. Join us in our hunt to find the right man to play the Martian Manhunter.
Select the Top 10 Actors Who Could Play Martian Manhunter >>
Posted 10.12.12 by BrentJS -
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino has been slowly putting together a solid cast for his upcoming "Southern" Django Unchained, which follows Jamie Foxx as a freed slave determined to rescue his wife from a sadistic slave owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). Tarantino recently added his Deathproof actor Kurt Russell to the cast as evil slave trainer Ace Woody, replacing Kevin Costner who recently dropped out, as well as Kill Bill, Vol. 2's Laura Cayouette as DiCaprio's widowed sister.
Deadline reports that the latest addition to the cast is Don Johnson, who will play a wealthy plantation owner named Spencer Bennett. Casting a veteran actor who hasn't been in many recent high-profile projects is typical of Tarantino, who rejuvenated the careers of actors like John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) and Robert Forster (Jackie Brown). Johnson recently appeared as the villainous Von Stillman in last year's Machete, directed by Tarantino's friend and frequent collaborator Robert Rodriguez.
Johnson joins a cast filled with Tarantino alumni, including Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. Django is set to start shooting in November, and has been given a release date of December 25, 2012.
Fassbender reunites with Shame Director; Carrey and Carrel Make Magic together >> Posted 10.12.11 by Ryan -
Cold War-style action, intrigue, and adventure lead off the first trailer for Salt. At the center of it all is Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), a CIA officer accused of being a Russian sleeper agent on a mission to assassinate the president. Now on the run from her former colleagues, she is forced to put to the test all the Jason Bourne-like skills she acquired during her years as a covert operative.
The lead role was originally designed for Tom Cruise, but when he bailed, it was re-written as a star vehicle for the eminently bankable Jolie. Directed by action-movie veteran Phillip Noyce, the movie also stars Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Posted 11.04.09 by reelz -
It appears the producers can't quite commit to what they have done with 2012. All the major public promotions and sneak peeks have featured a cascade of overlapping and over-the-top disasters bordering on apocalypse porn. A wild ride for sure, but not too heavy on the characters and the plot.
Nonetheless, it's not just about the CGI, insists 2012 co-writer/co-producer/composer Harald Kloser, in an interview with Film Journal:
The disaster is primarily the background for strong emotional stories of regular people. You know, we have John Cusack, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover — actors with higher standards than "Run! Go! Watch out! Duck." All those brilliant actors have accepted to be in our movie because the characters in the story were appealing to them. At least, that's what they told me!
...People see explosions and buildings collapsing and earthquakes, but that's only the stage, the canvas for very intimate and very private stories and very deep characters, which is what [director Roland Emmerich] and I — I can speak for him here — are most proud of.
Hmm. Maybe so, but not much evidence of that appears in the footage released so far. Strip away the doom-laden canvas — as someone did in an unofficial "actor's version" of an extended clip from the movie — and the humanistic aspects of the movie start looking more than a little thin.
In any case, there is no hesitation in the three TV spots for the movie that have just started making the rounds. It all disaster, all the time, remixed for your viewing pleasure. And for those of you who prefer your apocalypse set to music, Sony has released a video of a pop song by Adam Lambert that is featured in the movie. Buildings collapse, meteors strike, but he bravely sings on.
Posted 10.27.09 by reelz -
Director John Singleton hasn't even started production on his latest project, Tulia, and fanboys everywhere are already asking, "What's next?" Little wonder -- Singleton is attached to direct adaptations of two popular Marvel Comics titles: Luke Cage and The Black Panther. Though he won't say which one he'll do first, Singleton is more than happy to discuss other details, including which actors he'd like to see suit up in the lead roles.
While Tyrese Gibson remains the clear favorite to play Luke Cage (thanks largely to his profile-elevating turn in the blockbuster Transformers), the ideal choice for The Black Panther remains unclear. Up until now, much of the speculation regarding who might play the Panther has centered on multiple Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou -- an obvious choice, given that the character is African and that the Benin-bred Hounsou is the most prominent African actor working in Hollywood today.
In a recent exclusive interview with Reelz.com, Singleton added another name to the list. "Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it," Singleton volunteered, referring to the acclaimed star of Talk to Me and Children of Men. Born in Great Britain to Nigerian parents, Ejiofor has the pedigree as well as the acting chops to handle the Panther role. And anyone who's seen Serenity (all seven of you) knows he can handle action. Just ask the browncoats.
Posted 08.10.07 by reelz