Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and More to Provide Voices for Aardman’s THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH SCIENTISTS
by Matt Goldberg Posted: May 5th, 2011
Aardman Animation has assembled an impressive voice cast for their upcoming stop-motion 3D animated film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. Variety reports that Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Salma Hayek, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Blessed, and Ashley Jensen will all lend their voices to the film. The movie will be the first voice acting role for Grant and he’ll play the lead role of a “bearded Pirate Captain who travels far and wide in a quest to win the much coveted Pirate of the Year Award.” I’m already smiling at the thought of someone with Grant’s signature foppish, befuddled delivery playing a pirate. Chicken Run co-director Peter Lord will direct alongside Jeff Newitt.
While Pixar is usually dubbed the “Animation Studio with the Perfect Track Record” I’ve always been incredibly charmed by Aardman’s films. They’ve only done three feature films to date (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Flushed Away) and I’ve enjoyed all of them. Their latest film, Arthur Christmas, opens in 3D on November 23rd.
Bradley Cooper Offered Role Opposite Ryan Gosling in Derek Cianfrance’s THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
by Matt Goldberg Posted: May 5th, 2011
Director Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine was one of the most celebrated films of last year. This past February, we learned that he was planning to reunite with star Ryan Gosling for the crime flick The Place Beyond the Pines. Cianfrance says people have told him that the film, which follows a motorcycle stunt rider (Gosling) who becomes a bank robber to support his newborn son, feels like a cross between The Deer Hunter and The Godfather. Variety reports that Sidney Kimmel Entertainment has come on board to finance and produce multi-generational crime drama and that Bradley Cooper has been offered a starring role. If Cooper were to sign on, he would play a rookie police officer who crosses paths Gosling’s character. Principal photography is set to begin this summer.
Hit the jump for a brief refresher on the multitude of other projects Cooper has at his disposal.
RETREAT Trailer Starring Cillian Murphy and Jamie Bell
by Jason Barr Posted: May 5th, 2011
A trailer for first time director Carl Tibbetts’ thriller Retreat is now available online. Starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell, and Thandie Newton, the film tells the story of a couple (Murphy and Newton) who retreat to an island in an attempt to patch up their relationship following a family tragedy. While shades of Lars von Trier’s Antichrist come to mind at first glance, the trailer establishes Retreat’s main threat as coming in the form of an injured Jamie Bell who washes onto the island warning of a fatal airborne disease. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but it should also be noted that there aren’t any talking foxes in the two-minute cut.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself. Sony Pictures will distribute Retreat in North America although a release date is still withstanding.
