Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton is in final negotiations to lead in Noam Murro’s 300 prequel, it has been announced this week.

The apparently untitled prequel (Or 300: Battle of Artemisia as most are naming it), will tell the story of Greek General Themistocles, who leads Athens against Persian invaders in a battle played out simultaneously with the battle depicted in Zack Snyder’s 2006 gore-filled predecessor.

The star of Animal Kingdom is set to play the Persian King, Xerxes, whom the film will be centered around. It was reported in December that Eva Green, who recently appeared in Perfect Sense alongside Ewan McGregor, will also be joining the cast as the leading lady.

Murro signed for director when Snyder went on to direct the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel instead, but he is still set to produce the film and also co-wrote the script with Kurt Johnstad.

No word on when the film will begin filming as of yet, but it is set to be released sometime in 2013.

(Source: IndieWire)

Here’s a new image of Johnny Depp and co-star and former Bond Girl, Eva Green from their new movie Dark Shadows with Eva sporting a lovely blonde barnet. Dark Shadows is the latest from Tim Burton which probably goes without saying when you look at the styling of the image below and those we’ve seen so far from the movie. I’m about to wriote the rest of the cast down. Can you guess who it might be?! OK, let me put you out of your misery.

Te movie also stars…. Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, Gulliver McGrath and someone called Helena Bonham Carter who you may know from every other Tim Burton movie ever!

The image comes from Luces Carmara Blog with a nod to the dudes at ComingSoon. We can expect Dark Shadows on the 11th May.

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard. A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, to help with her family troubles.

Another image of Johnny Depp in Tim Burton‘s retelling of the 1966-1971 classic gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, has been released this week. No trailer yet, but Depp looks better and better each image we see, so for most that’s already enough to look forward to on its own.

Dark Shadows follows Barnabas Collins (Depp), a wealthy playboy who is transformed into a vampire and buried by a jilted lover, Angelique (Eva Green). After being dug up 200 years later, Collins attempts to reintegrate with his descendants, led by Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), whilst he also crosses the path with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts, all of whom have secrets.

Burton recently talked about his project, calling it “a weird soap opera.” The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Chloë Grace Moretz, and is set to be released 11th May.

Here’s the new image, as well as one of the whole cast. As usual, click to enlarge:

(Source: Collider)

Warner Bros. has shared a new photograph of Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer this week, showing the undead couple in Tim Burton’s retelling of the 1966-1971 classic gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows.

The film follows Barnabas Collins (Depp), a wealthy playboy who is transformed into a vampire and buried by a jilted lover, Angelique (Eva Green). After being dug up in 1752, Collins attempts to reintegrate with his descendants, led by Elizabeth (Pfeiffer) and Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), whilst he also crosses the path with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts, all of whom have secrets.

Dark Shadows also stars Helena Bonham Carter, and Chloë Grace Moretz, and is set to be released 11th May.

(Source: Bloody Disgusting)

Though the prequel/sequel to 2006’s 300 hasn’t yet found its male lead, with Joel Edgerton ultimately passing on the role after talk of his involvement, it looks like 300: Battle of Artemisia, previously titled Xerxes, is getting close to casting its female lead, with Eva Green entering negotiations for the role of Artemisia.

With the original film’s director Zack Snyder concentrating his attentions on the upcoming Superman film Man of Steel, we’ll instead see Smart People’s Noam Murro taking the helm for the prequel, and I’m interested to see his take on the stylistic action genre.

The battle at the core of Battle of Artemisia historically took place at the same time as that of the one in 300, so whether this is technically a sequel/prequel, or if a new word needs to be invented, I’m not sure. Either way, Eva Green is a terrific actress who seems to be deservedly rising at the moment, and having her closing in on the leading female role is brilliant news in my books.

She’s best known for her role opposite Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, and was seen this year in Perfect Sense opposite Ewan McGregor, and provided negotiations go well, she’ll be diversifying her credits a little with the role planned for her:

“Green would play a ruthless, gold-covered goddess who persuades Xerxes to amass his army and helps lead them into battle.”

Pretty awesome. We’ll next get to see Green starrin gin Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows alongside Johnny Depp, due out on 11th May next year. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are hoping to put this into production in first few months of 2012, so with a bit of luck, we’ll be getting more casting news in the near future, including the equally important male lead. The original film went a long way to boosting Gerard Butler’s career, and Battle of Artemisia could well be a further launching pad for both Green and her future male co-lead in the years to come.

Source: THR.

A very different end of the world is imagined in David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense, one far removed from the meteor storms and solar burps.

Instead it is a slow burning apocalypse for us this time with the gradual diminishing of sensory perception on the cards and in the film, which was out here in the UK in early October after a successful festival run, we have the human plight captured perfectly with Ewan McGregor and Eva Green falling in love at precisely the wrong moment.

Jamie saw the film for us at the Edinburgh Film Festival earlier in the year and it’s well worth checking out the review, as this one may not have the CG budget equivalent to the GDP of a small country but it has far more to engage and effect.

Coming Soon ripped this from the walls of the internet and we’ve pasted it up on our little corner.

We got our first photos from the set of Tim Burton’s next film, Dark Shadows, last month and they gave us a brief glimpse at Johnny Depp’s return to the gothic world of Burton’s mind as Barnabas Collins, an eighteenth century man-turned-vampire dug up in 1972.

The first official photos from the film have now surfaced over at Empire, and they give us an interesting look not just at Depp’s character, who in fact looks rather different from the set photos, but also show us the rest of the cast looking fantastic in their costumes too.

The film, based on the 1960s TV series of the same name, revolves around Depp’s character, Barnabas:

“In 1752, the Collins family sails from Liverpool, England to North America. The son, Barnabas, grows up to be a wealthy playboy in Collinsport, Maine and is the master of Collinwood Manor. He breaks the heart of a witch, Angelique Bouchard, who turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. In 1972, Barnabas is freed and returns to find his manor in ruin. It is occupied by dysfunctional descendants and other residents, all of whom have secrets.”

The script for Dark Shadows is written by Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, both of which are being adapted for the big screen. Grahame-Smith has said of the film’s setting in 1972,

“Tim and Johnny took a long time explaining exactly why it had to be 1972. 1969 was too early and 1973 was too late. 1972 is right at the time when the hippie movement and all its peace and love is dying out and being replaced by this  me-me-me generation in the ’70s who are all about showing their wealth and having everything.”

Definitely interesting stuff. Along with Depp, the terrific cast includes Eva Green, Christopher Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Johnny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, a cameo from Alice Cooper, and of course, frequent collaborator of Burton and Depp’s, and Burton’s partner in real life, Helena Bonham Carter.

These fantastic new photos give us a look at the majority of this cast, and show Depp in the first photo looking a little different to how we first saw him in the set photos. His hair is looking particularly excellent in this, and with Depp having a way of bringing such different characters to life, I’m always eager to see what his next performance is going to be like. Dark Shadows is due to come out on 11^th May next year in the States, and we can hopefully look forward to a similar release date here in the UK. Without further ado, here are the new official photos to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

Dark Shadows will see Johnny Depp joining up with director Tim Burton for the 784th time in their careers, collaborating once again for a project with dark, gothic tones.

Dark Shadows was a cult TV show that ran in the latter half of the 1960′s, containing such genre staples as vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves and ghosts. It is of course massively unsurprising to find Burton and Depp interested in this sort of thing.

Depp will play Barnabas Collins and shooting is underway as the snaps below amply testify. Dark Shadows will be released into the gloomy twilight in May next year, finding itself up against pretty much every superhero on the planet in the process. It will be interesting to see if it can hold its own. Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath are all on board as well.

Source: Coming Soon.

Director David Mackenzie (Young Adam, Spread) has two very different love story films coming out in the next month, the festival-set You Instead and the pandemic-apocalyptic Perfect Sense.

A brilliant new trailer for the latter has now arrived, courtesy of Empire, and it gives us a lovely look at the budding romance between Ewan McGregor’s Michael, a chef, and Eva Green’s Susan, a scientist.

“The story of two people who begin to fall in love as the world begins to fall apart.

Susan is a scientist. Michael is a chef. He takes a break from the kitchen heat in the alleyway below her apartment; she smokes a cigarette at the window above. He calls up for a light – the first spark in their passionate affair.

But the world is about to change dramatically. As love turns Susan and Michael’s lives upside down, people across the globe begin to experience
strange symptoms, which first affect the emotions then the senses, one by one.

Everything changes. But people laugh, they cry, they eat and drink, they go about their daily business. They adapt, they change, they cope, they live and they love – because life must go on. And so it does.”

Parts of the synopsis admittedly read a little like Steven Soderbergh’s next film, Contagion, and some of the scenes in this new trailer even feel quite like it. But when you have two films that have a globally-spreading virus at their centre, at least some of the scenes are bound to look similar, and we shouldn’t hold that against either of them. Both are set to be excellent projects, and both should be very much worth watching.

Perfect Sense unites McGregor and Mackenzie after working together on Young Adam back in 2003, and McGregor is also united with fellow Trainspotting co-star Ewen Bremner, seen alongside him in the kitchen in the trailer.

This new look at the film makes it seem like a very interesting project, and I’m really looking forward to its 7^th October release date. Contagion comes out two weeks later, on 21^st October, so we should be in for two great pandemic-apocalyptic movies in one month this year. Both should be very different though, so I can’t wait for either. Jamie got to see the film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier in the year, and his review of it was glowing with praise, and the trailer really shows that this is a film to get excited about. Without further ado, here it is. Enjoy.

Arrow Films have released the official U.K. quad for Perfect Sense.

Directed by David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe), Perfect Sense stars Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Eva Green (Casino Royale), Connie Nielsen (One Hour Photo), Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down), Stephen Dillane (The Hours) and Denis Lawson (Local Hero).

A chef (McGregor) and a scientist (Green) fall in love as the world begins to fall apart.

Perfect Sense will open nationwide on October 7. Read our review from the 65th Edinburgh International Film Festival here, where we called it “a beautifully intricate and personal piece of cinema”.

Poster removed at the request of the studio. We’ll replace when it comes out officially.

Essentially, Perfect Sense is a romantic love story set against an apocalyptic backdrop. It tells of how a chef, Michael (Ewan McGregor), and a scientist, Susan (Eva Green), fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.

Kim Fupz Aakeson’s cunningly written screenplay imagines a world in which the inhabitants slowly lose their senses, one by one. The apocalypse is refreshingly personal and, to an extent, psychological. Whilst we are made aware – through cleverly placed and constructed newsreel-style footage – that the epidemic is happening globally, Perfect Sense chooses to focus on a handful of characters rather than the world at large. The most important of these are Michael and Susan, who are drawn together as their lives descend into chaos.

The storytelling style, though an enthralling rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows, is deliberately restrained, with Mackenzie cleverly approaching the material in a subdued, intimate and character-centric way – immediately setting Perfect Sense apart from other films of its nature. For the dark subject matter it’s also surprisingly optimistic: after each sensory loss, those affected look to find a way of coping by returning to some form of normality.

The film is also stunningly shot by Director of Photography Gilles Nuttgens, under the watchful eye of experienced filmmaker David Mackenzie. What’s truly breathtaking, though, is the way in which the editing superbly complements the separate stages of sensory loss – for the post-hearing scenes, for example, the sound is softened (if not muted entirely) to give viewers a real sense of what it would be like if this were to happen to them. It’s wonderfully achieved, and helps to include viewers in the characters’ struggle for survival.

Max Richter’s score adds to the mournful mood, building up tension and emotion when needed. The same, however, can’t be said for the narration which, after a while jars, and often detracts from the involvement in Michael and Susan’s story.

The cast works brilliantly together. McGregor and Green, in particular, play off each other’s emotions in a way that makes Michael and Susan’s unlikely relationship seem so believable and authentic. Their individual personalities, as well as their relationship with one another, evolve throughout the course of the film, almost as if they need one another’s love in order to cope with the death and destruction surrounding them. Connie Nielson, Ewen Bremner and Stephen Dillane make up the noteworthy supporting cast, delivering respectable performances in their subsequently diminished roles.

Perfect Sense – while not without faults – is a beautifully intricate and personal piece of cinema, bolstered by phenomenal direction, terrific performances and truly affecting, surprisingly original screenplay.

****~ (4/5)

The official programme for the 65th Edinburgh International Film Festival was announced earlier today, featuring a wide variety of exciting films from around the world.

The programme not only represents how the Edinburgh International Film Festival will continue to be a cutting-edge platform for UK film, but also how it plans to adapt itself in light of recent budget cuts.

John Michael McDonagh’s comedy-thriller The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, has been chosen as the Festival’s Opening Gala. The film follows an unorthodox Irish policeman (Gleeson) whose teamed up with an uptight FBI agent (Cheadle) to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.

Other films of interest include The Divide, starring Lauren German and Milo Ventimiglia; Perfect Sense, starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green; Meet Monica Velour, starring Kim Cattrall and Dustin Ingram; and The Borrower Arriety, the latest film from Japanese animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli.

In addition to the comprehensive range of films on offer, there will be the Nokia Shorts Weekend, classic films, retrospectives and interviews – including a very special BAFTA Scotland Interview with Bill Nighy, who stars in festival pick Page Eight.

The 65th Edinburgh Film Festival will run fromJune 15th – June 26th, and you can browse the full programme here.

The 65th Edinburgh International Film Festival has revealed the first titles from this year’s British section of the programme, including several world premieres.

Nine British and Irish films were announced in the press release ahead of the full programme launch later this month, and represent how the Edinburgh International Film Festival will continue to be a cutting-edge platform for UK film.

James Mullighan, director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, said of the films selected:

“The Edinburgh International Film Festival has long been regarded as the ideal launch pad for important new British cinema and the place at which UK emerging talent is nurtured. The films announced today confirm that those twin traditions continue into 2011. Of the nearly 3000 films submitted to EIFF, 58 were British feature fiction films and we’re delighted to be in a position to showcase some of them to Edinburgh audiences in June.”

The titles receiving world premieres include David Hare’s Page Eight, starring Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon and Rachel Weisz; Karl Golden’s Weekender, starring Jack O’Connell and Emily Barclay; Niall MacCormick’s Albatross, starring Felicity Jones, Peter Vaughn and Jessica Brown-Findlay; Matthew Parkhill’s The Caller, starring Stephen Moyer, Rachel Lefevre and Luis Guzmán.

Other films to be included are David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense, starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green; Gaby Dellal’s Angel’s Crest, starring Jeremy Piven and Elizabeth McGovern; and Dan Turner’s Stormhouse, starring Katherine Flynn and Martin Delaney.

In addition, two films from first-time Scottish filmmakers will also be shown. Fast Romance is a romantic-comedy directed by Carter Ferguson, and Charlie Casanova is a crime thriller from writer/director Terry McMahon.

The 65th Edinburgh Film Festival will run from June 15th – June 26th, and mix groundbreaking global film with cutting-edge documentaries and shorts. The full programme will be launched at an event on May 17th.

Chloë Moretz, by far one of my favourite child actresses of all time, has been  in talks to join Tim Burton’s upcoming remake of the 1960s TV soap opera, Dark Shadows.

Moretz’s dramatic rise to fame came, of course, with last year’s Kick-Ass, in which she superbly played Hit Girl / Mindy Macready, daughter of Nicolas Cage’s Big Daddy / Damon Macready. Her role in the remake of the Swedish horror film Let The Right One In (retitled Let Me In for the American film) demonstrated a different side to her than was evident in Kick-Ass. For me, her roles in both truly prove her fame and recognition to be  well deserved.

The film will be a gothic horror, focusing on the life of Barnabas Collins, a 200-year-old vampire, and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves, and ghosts. Moretz will play the daughter of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), the reclusive matriarchal figure of the Collins family. Moretz will be joining an already great cast, as is to be expected of any Tim Burton-directed film, with Johnny Depp talking the lead role of Barnabas, Eva Green (Casino Royale) taking the lead female opposite him, and Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns) and Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen) starring alongside too. It is also expected that Helena Bonham Carter, Burton’s wife, will be attached to the film too, now a reasonably safe prediction for both her and Depp.

The script was originally to be written by John August (Corpse Bride, upcoming Frankenweenie), who has collaborated with Burton on many films now, but it is instead going to be written now by Seth Grahame-Smith, writer of the novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, both of which are being turned into films at the moment.

Given Moretz’s extremely impressive performance in Let Me In, a film in which she plays a young vampire child, I think there is every reason to expect another excellent role from her in Burton’s latest project. A supporting role in a Burton film can only help her already blossoming career, so I really hope that she gets it. Before then, she will be seen Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret, which is due out at the end of November this year. For a fourteen-year-old girl to be able to say she’s starred in both a Martin Scorsese and a Tim Burton movie really is something.

Update: And now it’s just been confirmed! The Wrap have it that it’s no longer just talks, Moretz has officially joined Dark Shadow’s cast, which is brilliant. I truly can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.

Sundance breakout star Brit Marling (Political Disasters) has been cast in Arbitrage, Movieline has revealed.

Marling, who replaces Eva Green (Casino Royale), will star opposite Susan Sarandon (The Lovely Bones) and Richard Gere (Pretty Woman) in the financial drama.

A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.

Writer/director Nicholas Jarecki (The Informers) is at the helm, with production expected to commence in April.

Marling can be seen in Another Earth and Sound of My Voice, both of which are due for release later this year.

Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Chéri) are in talks to join the cast of Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows.

Carter and Pfeiffer, both of whom have worked with Burton before, are in line to play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and Dr. Julia Hoffman respectively.

Based on the esteemed TV series, Dark Shadows is a gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts.

Johnny Depp (Alice In Wonderland), Eva Green (Cracks), Jackie Earle Haley (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Bella Heathcoate (Now) round out the casting.

Production is expected to begin in April.

Source: Deadline

Eva Green (Casino Royale) has landed the lead female role of Angelique in Dark Shadows, Warner Bros. Pictures’ adaptation of the 1960′s supernatural TV show.

Green will star opposite Johnny Depp (Rango), who was cast as Barnabas Collins last year. Jackie Earle Haley (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Bella Heathcoate (Now) are also in talks to appear.

Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) will direct from a script by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Dark Shadows is fantastical horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts.

Green will next be seen in the romantic thriller Perfect Sense, alongside Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting).

Source: Deadline

Moments after we posted the full synopsis and a brand new image for David MacKenzie’s forthcoming film, Perfect Sense, we are contacted by the excellent Sweet on Sigma Films who have just bagged the first look at the poster for the film.

Ewan McGregor and Eva Green lead the film, which is playing on the 24th of January at Sundance and will hopefully make its way to UK cinemas soon after. It’s an interesting premise and putting Green and McGregor together on screen should make MacKenzie’s film one to look out for in 2011.

Here’s the link the full synopsis and the images we posted earlier and the poster is below, and Sweet on Sigma Films have an impressive collection of articles on the film, tracking its progress through production when it was previously known as The Last Word, it’s well worth a look.

Premiering at Sundance on the 24th of January David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense has flown a little under our radar here, but the release of a new image and complete synopsis has changed all that.

Reuniting Trainspotting alum Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner, Perfect Sense also stars Eva Green, Stephen Dillane, Denis Lawson and Connie Nielsen, and until now only a few details had emerged about the film’s narrative.

A newly released synopsis gives us a greater indication of what to expect and it reminded me a little of what we know of Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia – that of a world suddenly changed without any power to change its new, presumably disastrous, fate.

Here’s the full synopsis,

The story of two people who begin to fall in love as the world begins to fall apart.

Susan is a scientist. Michael is a chef. He takes a break from the kitchen heat in the alleyway below her apartment; she smokes a cigarette at the window above. He calls up for a light – the first spark in their passionate affair.

But the world is about to change dramatically. As love turns Susan and Michael’s lives upside down, people across the globe begin to experience
strange symptoms, which first affect the emotions then the senses, one by one.

Everything changes. But people laugh, they cry, they eat and drink, they go about their daily business. They adapt, they change, they cope, they live and they love – because life must go on. And so it does.

Here’s the new image, then a couple of previously published ones to complete the picture.

The Synopsis and new image came from BBC Films and the three other images came from Sweet on Sigma Films

The United States have a TV channel called Starz, who bought them Party Down, the TV series version of Crash and are the ones bringing the new series of Torchwood to the small screen.

They also have a forthcoming show based on Arthurian legend which has a pretty impressive cast including Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes, and there’s a trailer and some images for you all to chew on.

Though the song in the trailer which kicks in around the minute mark is totally incongruous with the images on screen it looks suitably epic with some amazing location work (or it could be CG, which would be disappointing), though it’s very hard to hear Joesph Fiennes and co ride towards the castle, stop and utter in admiration, ‘Camelot…’ without the ghost of Monty Python whispering ‘It’s only a model’ in response.

With the BBC/HBO’s Rome and the recent, blood soaked Starz TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand there is clearly a huge market for historical drama and with the calibre of actors jumping from movies to TV as well as the high quality of the productions this is one to watch.

Here’s the trailer,

Picture time – some promo shots and a few stills from the production,

You’ve got Collider to thank for these.