Warner Bros. Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for the Suicide Squad film adaptation. The video embedded above offers glimpses of Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang.
Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “Suicide Squad centers around a group of villains and ne’er-do-wells — headed up by Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn — forced to work for the government under the supervision of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). With such morally dubious characters as the “good” guys, it falls to one of DC’s most infamous villains — the Joker, as played by Jared Leto — to take up the position of bad guy in the movie.”
Variety reports that the release date for this movie, helmed by David Ayer, has been set for Aug. 5. Follow this link to watch a first look video. (via Comic Book Resources)
There’s snow on the ground here in Atlanta, and I can’t wait for Spring to finally arrive. Seriously.
Here are the big updates for this morning:
– This is not a big surprise, given that probably every actor that signs up for a superhero film these days has a multi-picture contract, but Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie has confirmed that she has one too. Get used to seeing lots of Harley Quinn in future DC movies, provide all goes well for the studio.
– Making the rounds yesterday was James Gunn‘s Facebook post regarding the awards-season/Birdman-birthed narrative that superhero movies are the death-knell of creativity in Hollywood, it’s pretty wonderful:
Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films.
I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do no find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film.
If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we’re dumb. But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a “serious” filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.
At this point, I have a hard time imagining that a comic-book based superhero film will ever win a live-action Best Picture Oscar (if The Dark Knight couldn’t even be nominated), but does it actually matter? Not really. Let’s just continue to hope for more Avengers, Dark Knights, Winter Soldiers and films with a nice personal stamp on them and less of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 variety.
– Telltale Games has, over the the past few years, sparked a revival of the adventure game genre with comics-based titles like The Walking Dead and Fables (along with Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands). Today, Lionsgate Films and Telltale announced the former’s investment into the burgeoning game developer. What does it mean for Telltales’ output? We may see some television and video game co-development soon, particularly in terms of an original property. At the very least more Lionsgate properties will surely be headed into the development cycle.
– Former Bat-Mite voice actor Paul Reubens is bringing his famous Pee-Wee Herman character back to television, as Netflix has announced that the feature, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, will be coming to the streaming service. The new film is co-written by Reubens and Paul Rust (Comedy Bang Bang), with John Lee (Inside Amy Schumer) directing. Judd Apatow will produce under his Apatow Productions banner.
It’s almost the end of the week, so let’s gather up a few more of today’s entertainment headlines:
– While on the press circuit promoting their new film, Focus, Will Smith and Margot Robbie discussed with USA Today the casting situation with the now-vacant Rick Flagg role in David Ayer‘s Suicide Squad:
Robbie: This happens all the time. People act like, ‘Oh my god, the movie must be ending!’ It’s just the deal with movies.” Not to mention “a lot of the characters haven’t been portrayed before so it’s a pretty big undertaking. And it’s a big undertaking for the people who are going to play the characters who have been played, like the Joker (to be played by Jared Leto). It’s big shoes to fill.
Smith: Ayer “turned the screenplay in before Christmas. What happens is Hollywood shuts down. But he was still working and he wanted to (start shooting) April 13th. So it takes a couple weeks to gear back up at the top of the year and people have taken (other) movies. He’s moving really quickly.
A few days ago, Umberto Gonzalez over at Latino-Review stated on Twitter that the Rick Flagg casting may be announced this week. We still have a day to go, so it’s possible that we may see some resolution there. I’m going to throw my money on Joel Edgerton, but it’s probably just because I just saw Zero Dark Thirty again on FX last night.
– Ryan Reynolds took to twitter today and celebrated being one year out from the release of 2016’s Deadpool, teasing fans with the mask that will be used in the upcoming film:
The fact that they’re even using a mask is cause for some celebration.
– It’s been some time since Sam Hamm had last been on the scene. The Tim Burton Batman, Monkeybone, and one-time Watchmen screenwriter’s most recent on-screen credit was for an episode of Masters of Horror about ten years ago. That all changes today, as Viz Entertainment has announced that Hamm will be adapting Sayuri Ueda‘s short story The Street of Fruiting Bodies, which originated in the Phantasm Japan anthology, into a feature-length film. That anthology, it’s worth noting, comes from the same imprint (Viz Media’s Haikasoru) as All You Need Is Kill, which was eventually adapted into last year’s Edge of Tomorrow.
Viz describes the story in detail:
The Street of Fruiting Bodies depicts the sudden spread of a mysterious and lethal species of hallucinogenic mushroom. The infestation is deadly, but it also offers visions of deceased loved ones to the infected, hinting at the reality of an afterlife, or at least a new kind of existence that is beyond human comprehension.
Hamm elaborates on the project:
Ueda creates a world in which the most profound human emotions – love, grief, longing, and hope – can lead to one’s salvation or one’s undoing, and the true horror is that it may be impossible to tell the difference. ‘The Street of Fruiting Bodies’ is not only disturbing, it is moving.
– Lastly, do you have $375 bucks to spare? Then you can be the owner of this pretty stunning looking Ultron Figure from Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles, expected to ship in early 2016.
Warner Bros. has announced that six actors have joined the cast of the Suicide Squad film adaptation.
The original story (published by DC Comics) stars a group of supervillains who band together as anti-heroes in service of the United States government. Jared Leto (pictured, via) will play the Joker, Will Smith will play Deadshot, Tom Hardy will play Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie will play Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney will play Boomerang, and Cara Delevingne will play Enchantress.
Deadline reports that Jesse Eisenberg may reprise his role as Lex Luthor (from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) for this movie. Filmmaker David Ayer has been brought on to serve as both the director and screenwriter. A release date has been scheduled for August 05, 2016. (via BuzzFeed)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
When talking about superhero movies getting snubbed, I think the same can be said for comedies. If the academy really put a value on performances, then Jim Carrey should have one an Oscar for Ace Ventura. Can you imagine any other human being on the planet being able to play that role? Oscars are for movies that make you feel bad when you’re done watching them.
I dunno Brian, I felt pretty alright after watching Argo. But you are right; few comedies, beyond those of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen, get much play with the Academy.
While just about any film can qualify for Best Picture, there are many genres and types which rarely make it, even with the enlarged category.
Documentaries have never qualified.
Genre? LotR:TRotK is the only winner for fantasy.
Foreign films and animated features most likely will never win Best Picture, as many voters will split their vote, letting those movies win BAF or BFF instead of Best Picture.
So, no, I don’t expect a superhero movie to win Best Picture. A graphic novel adaptation? Certainly.
Of the top 20 highest grossing movies of 2014, which was the best? (Ignore American Sniper… most of that box office came from 2015, post-nom.) Interstellar? The Lego Movie?
For me, it’d be Interstellar…while a decent enough argument could be made for Gone Girl or The Lego Movie as well.
It should be pointed out that while it wasn’t a live action movie, BIG HERO 6 did win an Oscar for best animated movie. So this makes BH6 the first comic book superhero movie to win a best picture Oscar.