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For their latest movie, action star Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies) and action director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional) are getting serious. Based on the true story of Burmese political leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, The Lady follows the inspiring life of a woman who spent the better part of two decades under house arrest for her non-violent campaign for democracy.
A teaser trailer for the movie was released in August to help promote of the movie's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last month, but Yahoo! has released the theatrical trailer for the movie, which shows more of Suu Kyi's struggle, as well as that of her British husband and advocate, Michael Aris (played by David Thewlis), who was only able to see his wife five times during her arrest before his untimely death in 1999.
watch the trailer >> Posted 10.04.11 by Ryan -
The first teaser poster and trailer for French director Luc Besson's new movie, The Lady, have been released online. Written by Rebecca Frayn, The Lady is based on the inspiring true story of Burmese political leader Aung San Suu Kyi (played by Michelle Yeoh), who spent 15 years under house arrest for her relentless non-violent campaign for democracy.
The Lady was shot quietly, under the fake working title "Dans la Lumière," because Suu Kyi was still under house arrest when it went into production in October of last year and Besson did not want jeopardize her release, which was scheduled for the following month. The teaser poster was designed by celebrated artist Shepard Fairey and is based on his own design for a poster celebrating the real Aung San Suu Kyi, who has become an icon for democracy.
learn more about The Lady & watch the trailer >> Posted 08.24.11 by BrentJS -
The upcoming thriller Colombiana isn't the first time writer/director/producer Luc Besson has taken a female character from unfortunate circumstances and tried to turn them into an assassin. But instead of being a junkie criminal (La Femme Nikita) or a 12-year-old apprentice, Zoe Saldana plays Cataleya, a woman who has become a hitman after witnessing her parents' murder in Bogota, Colombia, when she was nine. While she works for her uncle by day, she continues to search for the mobster responsible for her parents' deaths.
An action-packed teaser trailer debuted earlier this month, which showed Saldana performing her job even if she wasn't wearing very much. A recently released poster again focuses on Saldana, and slightly alters the trailer tagline from "vengeance is beautiful" to "revenge is beautiful."
Another small change is the movie's release date. Set for an early September opening, Colombiana has been moved up a week to August 26, which puts the movie against "found footage" sci-fi thriller Apollo 18, horror movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and the comedy Our Idiot Brother.
Directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3) and produced by co-written by Besson (along with Taken screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen), Colombiana co-stars Michael Vartan and Cliff Curtis.
Posted 05.25.11 by Ryan -
Actress Zoe Saldana has earned her action pedigree after appearing in Star Trek and The Losers, but she'll become a cold-blooded assassin in the upcoming thriller Colombiana.
Directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3) and produced by Luc Besson, Colombiana follows Saldana as a 12-year-old girl who witnesses her family's murder and plans revenge by — wait, no that's Besson's 1994 thriller The Professional. Make that, in Colombiana, Saldana witnesses her parent's murder as a 9-year-old and grows up to be a hired assassin who works for the French government. Nope — that's wrong — that last part was from Besson's La Femme Nikita. Instead, Saldana works for as a hitman for her uncle while she searches for the mobster that killed her parents.
The teaser trailer released by Yahoo! clears up all the confusion, and shows Saldana is all business in the movie, even when she isn't wearing very much.
Watch the trailer >> Posted 05.06.11 by Ryan -
Last June, Liam Neeson admitted he was going to meet with Taken producer Luc Besson to "hash out" plot details for a possible sequel to the 2009 thriller, which became a $226 million worldwide hit. A month ago, Neeson mentioned that Taken 2 was in script stages and could have Neeson himself be the one that is "taken."
So with Neeson seemingly in favor of the sequel, how is it that Neeson almost didn't reprise his role as retired government operative Bryan Mills?
Neeson needs a break >> Posted 03.17.11 by Ryan -
After starring in three big action-packed ensemble movies—Star Trek, Avatar and The Losers—actress Zoe Saldana finally gets the spotlight all to herself as the lead in Colombiana, a new assassin movie from the mind of Luc Besson, the man who helped redefine assassin movies with The Professional in 1994, turning 13-year-old Natalie Portman into a star in the process. In Columbiana, which was co-written and produced by Besson, and directed by Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3), Saldana plays Cataleya Restrepo, a professional killer working for her mobster uncle in Chicago whose sole desire in life is to return to Bogota, Colombia, to exact revenge upon Don Luis, the drug lord who murdered her parents when she was a child. The movie is currently in post-production, aimed at a September 2011 release, but you can get your first look at the tough-as-nails Saldana in a series of "first look" still images, courtesy of LatinoReview.
Posted 11.20.10 by BrentJS -
Director Pierre Morel's Taken was one of the surprise hits of 2009, earning 10 times its production budget in worldwide ticket sales. The movie also reinforced that the star of the movie, Liam Neeson, is one badass dude, even in his later years. In the movie, Neeson plays a former CIA spy who dusts off his old skills to rescue his daughter, who was kidnapped while vacationing in Paris. Considering the movie is entirely driven by this simple premise, there doesn't seem to be much room to expand the story, which is why it was so surprising to hear Neeson tell MTV that he is meeting with producer Luc Besson to "hash out" a plot for a possible Taken 2.
Posted 06.15.10 by BrentJS