Geek goddess Olivia Munn (“The Newsroom”) will join Eric Bana (Star Trek) an Edgar Ramirez (Wrath of the Titans) in Beware the Night, an exorcism drama from Jerry Bruckheimer Films, co-written and directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose).
Beware the Night follows an Irish Catholic cop (Bana) working with a rogue priest (Ramirez) on a case that may be demonic in nature. Munn plays the cop’s insanely hot wife, who is also linked to the case. Shooting will begin in the Bronx on May 20. Screen Gems is looking at the project as a potential franchise.
Bruckheimer tells Deadline:
Beware The Night is a project we’ve been developing for many years, confident that a story which combines the paranormal with a gritty New York City police story is both original and strongly appealing to audiences.
We’re also thrilled to have Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, and Olivia Munn, three really fine actors whose strongly defined roles in Beware The Night will allow them to give full range to their skills.
British actress Kaya Scodelario (“Skins”) has scored the female lead in director Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult novel “The Maze Runner.” Set in a dystopian future, the story follows a group of teenage boys stuck in the Glade, a mysterious space where they must survive a shifting maze.
Scodelario will play Teresa, the first girl to ever arrive at the Glade. Unfortunately for the boys who believe their wet dreams have been answered, Teresa reveals that she is the last to be sent to the Glade and quickly falls into a coma.
Earlier this week, Scodelario tweeted that she was excited to be a part of the film and assured Maze Runner fans that Ball is “seriously a don/dude/legend/hero/good-bloke… your movie is in very safe hands.”
Scodelariois best known for her portrayal of socially awkward high school student Effy Stonem on the British teen series “Skins.” Her genre creds include roles in Duncan Jones’ critic’s darling Moon and the Legendary Pictures’ blockbuster Clash of the Titans.
Posted above is the first image from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ 300: Rise of an Empire, a companion film to the Zack Snyder-directed blockbuster 300. The shot provides a peek at an at-sea battle sequence, one of six fight scenes featured in the fantasy-actioner directed by Noam Murro (Smart People).
[Rise of an Empire] happens over time in many different locations. The opportunities for the six distinct battles are even greater with different locations and tactics.
The few against the many is still here. It’s hundreds vs. hundreds of thousands. It’s about taking on the mightiest power of all with wisdom and tactics.
Rise of an Empire follows Athenian general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he battles Persian king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his vengeful navy commander Artemesia (Eva Green). The events occur at the same time that King Leonidas is leading his 300 Spartans into the Battle of Thermopylae.
Murro adds:
Themistokles is battle-scarred and a warrior, but at the same time he’s a politician. He’s not the king. He has to rule in a democracy. It’s a different complexity of character.
These people don’t want to fight, they even say that they are not Spartans. They are common people who have to do this to not be in under the rule of a dictator.
This is not a duplicate movie or a cookie-cutter. It’s a very different story to tell in keeping with the original flavor of 300.
Rise of an Empire is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel and is adapted for the screen by Kurt Johnstad (300, Act of Valor) and Snyder, who also serves as producer. It arrives in theaters on Aug. 2.
Universal Pictures is set to release Jurassic Park IVon June 13, 2014. Paleontologist Jack Horner, the inspiration behind the trilogy’s Dr. Alan Grant character (Sam Neil), returns to the franchise as technical adviser.
While promoting the 3D re-release of Jurassic Park, Horner told USA Today that a new and never-seen-before dinosaur will be at the center of the sequel’s story.
He tells the site:
I can’t actually tell you who that will be. But you’ll want to keep the lights on after you see this movie.
Safety Not Guaranteed director Colin Trevorrow will helm the Steven Spielberg-produced 3D sequel, the first entry in the series since 2001’s Jurassic Park 3. The franchise has earned more than $2 billion worldwide.
Illuminati Films and Eros International have released a trailer for India’s first zombie comedy Go Goa Gone. Written and directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, the Hindi-language “zom-com” stars Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das and Miss India Universe 2007 Puja Gupta (pictured).
Go Goa Gone follows a group of vacationing friends as they attempt to survive an undead outbreak with the help of a mysterious zombie slayer. The film premieres in India on May 10. The trailer’s popularity on YouTube (just under 2.5 million views in 2 weeks) should help secure its distribution worldwide.
A very set-oriented, classical but at the same time modern take on the ghost story. It will allow me to play with the conventions of the genre I know and love, and at the same time subvert the old rules.
Crimson Peak is co-written by Del Toro and Matthew Robbins (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Mimic) and produced by Legendary Pictures. Cameras are slated to roll in January 2014. Warner Bros. is expected to distribute.
Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. will also release Del Toro’s mecha-inspired robot movie Pacific Rim (starring Hunnam) on July 12.
Anchor Bay has set a May 10 release date for WWE Studios and Pathe UK’s No One Lives, an abduction thriller directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (Midnight Meat Train) and starring Adelaide Clemens (Silent Hill: Revelations), Lindsay Shaw (”Pretty Little Liars”), Laura Ramsey (The Ruins) and America Olivo (pictured).
The story follows a young couple as they’re abducted by a criminal gang and taken to an abandoned and secluded house where one of them is murdered, sparking the other to hunt down the captors and brutally slaughter them.
No One Lives also stars vagina-less actors Luke Evans (The Raven), Lee Tergesen (The Collection), Beau Knapp (Super 8), Derek Magyar (Train) and WWE wrestler Brodus Clay. Anchor Bay picked up rights to the thriller at last year’s American Film Market.
No One Lives will play selected theaters in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, Detroit, Houston and Baltimore.
Vineyard Haven’s Lucky Bastard is now playing a week-long engagement at Los Feliz 3 Cinemas in Los Angeles. The NC-17 rated film is a found-footage thriller set in the world of internet porn, and marks the directorial debut of veteran TV writer Robert Nathan (“Law & Order”).
Betsy Rue toplines as single mom turned adult star Ashley Saint, a performer caught at the center of a porn mope’s revenge plot after he is humiliated for ejaculating prematurely on the Lucky Bastard website, a pro-am site that pairs fans with their favorite starlets.
Rue is best known, of course, for her heart-stopping turn in 2009’s My Bloody Valentine remake, in which she attempts to escape a crazed killer while nude and in heels. She’ll next be seen opposite Taryn Manning in the psycho-bitch thriller Groupie.
MGM and Sony Screen Gems have released the first full-length trailer for Boys Don’t Cry director Kimberly Peirce’sadaptation of Carrie, Stephen King’s 1974 novel first brought to the big screen by Brian De Palma in 1976.
Chloe Grace Moretz (Let Me In) stars as Carrie, a telekinetic teen tormented by high school bullies and her crazy Christian mother (Julianne Moore). The trailer provides a peek at Carrie as she goes from mousey geek to mutant avenger.
Co-stars include Judy Greer (”Californication”) as gym teacher Miss Desjardin, Portia Doubleday (Youth in Revolt) as Chris Hargenson, Gabriella Wilde (Three Musketeers) as Sue Snell and Alex Russell (Chronicle) as Billy Nolan.
Fifty women made to fight without pillows, mud or Jell-O? As unnatural as that may seem, so goes the premise behind Josh C. Waller’s directorial debut Raze: Fight or Die. Stunner Rachel Nichols and Zoe Bell topline the thriller, making its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.
Described by producers as a cross between Fight Club and Hostel, the film’s story finds 50 abducted women fighting against each other to the death for the amusement of rich and sadistic people.
Costars include hotties Rebecca Marshall (Saw 3-D), Nicole Steinwedell (”The Unit”), Adrienne Wilkinson (”Xena: Warrior Princess”), Tara Macken (”Sons of Anarchy”), Amy Johnston, Victoria Cruz (Reach), Brianna Gage (”Bri What”), Bailey Borders (The Change-Up) and Allene Quincy.
