The Green Hornet Begins Filming!

Given the trouble this production has had finding it’s director, Kato and struggling to reach pre-production, film fans will be thrilled to hear that production has now commenced on The Green Hornet! Check out the press release below, and check back for further updates!

CULVER CITY, Calif., September 2, 2009 – A classic character of film, television, radio and comic books returns to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’ feature film The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up) as the vigilante crime-fighter. Production is underway on the Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) helmed film, which is produced by Neal H. Moritz (I Am Legend, The Fast and the Furious) and executive produced by Michael Grillo (The Accidental Tourist), Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), Ori Marmur (Evan Almighty) and George W. Trendle, Jr. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based upon “The Green Hornet” radio series created by George W. Trendle and shoots entirely in Los Angeles. The film is set for release December 17, 2010.

In addition to Rogen, the film also stars Taiwanese actor-pop star Jay Chou as Kato, Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels, What Happens in Vegas), Edward James Olmos (”Battlestar Galactica”), David Harbour (Revolutionary Road) and Tom Wilkinson (Valkyrie). Nicolas Cage is also in negotiations to appear in the film.

Academy Award-nominee John Schwartzman (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) is the director of photography. Production designer is Owen Paterson (The Matrix Revolutions), Kym Barrett (Speed Racer) serves as costume designer and Michael Tronick (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is editing.

John C. Reilly Cast In We Need To Talk About Kevin

John C. Reilly has appeared in a lot of comedies of late, so it’s nice to see him going back to more serious fare. The word being spread by Movieline is he’s signed on for Lynne Ramsey’s adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin. The novel, written in epistolery form, follows a mother’s shock and horror when her son initiates a high school killing spree. The letters, to her estranged husband, detail the machinations and potential reasons for her son’s actions. It may be a touchy subject given the prevalence of such real life incidents, but this could be a powerful portrayal of damaged lives.

The film stars Tilda Swinton as the mother Eve Khatchadourian and Reilly will play the father, Franklin. The film is directed by Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay. It is the director’s first film in eight years. Her previous works, The Ratcatcher and Movern Callar, received rave reviews and awards upon their release. For much of the last decade she spent time trying to bring Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones to the screen. After this was abandoned, Peter Jackson purchased the rights from Film Four and the rest is history.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is to commence filming in April.

Black Swan Teaser Posters Up For Grabs On Facebook

Black Swan is an incredible film. And incredible films get incredible posters. Last Friday FilmShaft attended the gala screening of Darren Aronofsky’s latest masterpiece at the London Film Festival. If you haven’t seen the German Expressionist style posters for this movie, check them out below.

But wait! There’s more. Black Swan’s UK Facebook page is offering some lucky people to win them all for themselves. If you do win these beautiful posters you must frame them – they’re that good! http://www.facebook.com/blackswan.

We really can’t stress enough how amazing Aronofsky’s psycho-thriller (qu’est ce que c’est?) is. Read our BFI London Film Festival review right Black Swan Review if you don’t believe us. After the screening, Aronofsky, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel chatted to the audience for a while and the director told us he saw parallels between this elegant yet bonkers ballerina breakdown flick and The Wrestler. Interesting stuff.

Synopsis:

A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, BLACK SWAN stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company (Mila Kunis). A Fox Searchlight Pictures release by visionary director Darren Aronofsky (THE WRESTLER), BLACK SWAN takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.

US Release: 1st December
UK Release: Feb 2011
Australia Release: tbc