1.) The first images from Ron Howard‘s Formula One biopic Rush were released on the movie’s official website. The film stars Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) as legendary driver Niki Lauda returned to compete against rival James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) in the 1976 F1 World Championship, just weeks after a near-fatal crash. The film has set a September 20, 2013 release date. You can check out all four new pictures right here.
2.) Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning are trying to make some front page drive-in news, entering talks to join writer/director Kelly Reichardt‘s Night Moves. The indie thriller’s plot, which centers on three eco-terrorists who plan to blow up a dam, leads me to believe it actually isn’t based on the classic Bob Seger song. I know, that disappointed me at first too, but Reichardt’s previous two films (Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff) each made a bit of a splash so this is probably one to keep on your radar anyway. Eisenberg would replace the previously-attached Paul Dano as the group’s leader, while Rooney Mara was also once in the running for Fanning’s role. Peter Skarsgaard has been attached all along to play the mastermind behind the bomb. [Variety]
3.) Mary Steenburgen has joined the cast of Last Vegas, the tale of old pals (Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline and Morgan Freeman) who throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the group’s last remaining bachelor (Michael Douglas). Steenburgen will play a lounge singer who becomes the center of a love triangle between Douglas and DeNiro’s characters. Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe) and Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) wrote the comedy for director Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure). [Deadline]
4.) Start your Christmas lists early because A Christmas Story 2 hits DVD and Blu-ray on October 30! The sequel from acclaimed director Brian Levant (Jingle All the Way, Problem Child 2) features similar familiar cover art, no one from the original cast. The story picks up with Ralphie as a teenager who desperately wants a 1938 Hupmobile Skyline Convertible for Christmas. It pains me to say it, but I have to admit: If it came down to watching this or another minute of TBS’s annual 24-hour Christmas Story marathon, I’d choose the former. [Movies.com]
5.) Drew McWeeny at HitFix got ahold of the script for the RoboCop remake and took to twitter with his (hugely negative) thoughts. Some of the, um, highlights include Robocop 3.0 being tested on an Al Queda training camp, and a focus group of criminals responding that RoboCop 1.0 “looks like a toy from the ’80s!” While I don’t necessarily understand the outrage, since this is precisely what I expected from a mainstream RoboCop in the year 2013, McWeeny went as far as saying “when this thing hits theaters, people are going to call up Len Wiseman’s Total Recall on the phone and apologize for being so mean.”
