At this week’s second UK premiere* for A Dangerous Method, we spoke to Viggo Mortenson about the attraction of working with David Cronenberg.He explained,
“He makes what can sometimes be a very trying or difficult job, or emotionally demanding, he makes easy and fun. He never loses sight of the fact that, after all it’s play, it’s make believe. It should be fun, there’s no reason for it not to be, and he helps you feel that way too. There’s a lot of directors – I would say, more often than not, directors forget that. They feel the pressure, or they take themselves or what they’re doing too seriously.”

When asked whether he was referring to directors he has worked with he continued,

“I don’t think there’s many directors like him, who are so secure as people. That have such technical knowledge, and actually like actors – a lot of directors don’t. Don’t understand them, don’t want to understand them, feel threatened by them and the suggestions that they have. He’s not.”

Now file this under speculation, but I’m guessing Peter Jackson doesn’t count as one of the ‘secure’ people, at least not in Mortensen’s eyes. The actor hasn’t been brought back for a cameo in the Hobbit, in spite of seeming quite keen to do so. Perhaps this could be why.

During the evening we also caught up with Kiera Knightly, who explained that the film was very nearly much more tame,

“I was in doubt about doing it because of two specific scenes in the film that are of a sadomasochistic nature, and I actually phoned up David and I said, ‘look, I love you, I love your work, I love the script but I don’t know if I want to do this. It’s the age of the internet, we know what the British press are like’, and he said, ‘OK, we’ll take them out’.”

Fortunately she managed to talk Cronenberg round,

“I actually thought, the reason I’d phoned him up to turn it down is because I thought it was really important that they were in there. I didn’t think it was gratuitous to have them in there. I thought it was incredibly important, if you were going to make a film about Freud and Yung, and about this woman who was torn apart by her sexual desires, in that medium you can’t not see what you’re talking about. So anyway, we talked about it and talked about it and kind of got into what it was in her that meant that she needed to do that, and exactly how he was going to shoot it. And the fact that he didn’t want to make it sexy or voyeuristic, but kind of brutal and strangely clinical, I went, ‘OK, let’s do it’.”

*You read that right. It originally premiered at the London Film Festival in October, but apparently that doesn’t count, so we got another one.

To celebrate the release of ‘A Dangerous Method’ on 10th February we have 5 copies of John Kerr’s novel to give away.  A Dangerous Method is directed by David Cronenberg and stars Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A DANGEROUS METHOD explores the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the beautiful but disturbed young woman who comes between them.

Sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

Click below to see the question and the entry form.

Yes, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was ten years ago but when a company brings out a poster as cool as this, it has to go up! Have you ever wondered what Aragorn might look like if he were a Lego man, no, neither have I for that matter but for anyone that has, here’s the answer! The world famous and quite frankly awesome Danish toy company has the contract to make the official Lord of the Rings sets and also sets for the upcoming movies The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which hits in December 2012, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again which we’ll get December 2013.

The new Lego set(s) are scheduled for release in the summer and thanks to Collider and Lego, we get to see a promo pack image for the set and this new poster which shows Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen in the Peter Jackson movie) equipped with his standard sword. In the packshot, we also get to see Frodo (played by Elijah Wood in the movie) with his Lego ring.

You can see all our coverage of The Hobbit here including images and the amazing trailer.

Below the posters is the press release from Lego. I now want this sets please!!

BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 — Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™.  The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.

“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”

The LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In late 2012, LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com.

About The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again
From Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit.  The second film will be The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar^®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012.  The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins.  Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.  The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries,Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplays for both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are by Fran Walsh,Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.  Jackson is also producing the films, together with Fran Walsh andCarolynne Cunningham.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Ken Kamins, Toby Emmerich and Zane Weiner, with Boyens serving as co-producer.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. with New Line managing production.

Warner Bros Pictures will be handling theatrical distribution for most of the world and MGM will handle all international television licensing and theatrical distribution for certain international territories for the films.

All courtesy of Collider

We got a brilliant new poster and a fantastic set of images for David Cronenberg’s upcoming A Dangerous Method at the end of last month, giving us a great look at the style and intensity we can expect from the BAFTA-nominated director’s next effort.

Yahoo Movies have now got an excellent new clip from the film, entitled A Stupid Mistake, in which Michael Fassbender, playing Carl Jung, professes the guilt of his behaviour and tries to end things with Keira Knightley’s Sabina Spielrein.

“Early in his career, psychiatrist Carl Jung takes on the challenge of a seemingly impossible case, a deeply disturbed, beautiful young woman named Sabina Spielrein. Jung employs his mentor Sigmund Freud’s experimental “talking cure” in treating Sabina and the treatment proves to be successful. This results in Freud and Jung becoming colleagues rather than master and student, but before long, both men are involved with their patient, complicating their relationship.”

Alongside Fassbender playing Jung will be Viggo Mortensen starring as the renowned Sigmund Freud, with the brilliant Vincent Cassel rounding out the supporting cast.

Written by Christopher Hampton, based on his own play The Talking Cure, A Dangerous Method has been screening at a number of festivals in the past few months and been getting a strong reception. It’s getting an Oscar-qualifying run in the States at the moment, opening in both Los Angeles and New York yesterday, but we’ll sadly have to wait a little longer to see it here, with its UK release scheduled for 10th February.

If it does get nominated at the end of January, however, we’ll at least have had time to see the film before the actual Academy Awards ceremony at the end of February, so we’ll be able to judge for ourselves how well it does there, if it were to be nominated. Time will tell. Until then, here’s the great new clip to enjoy.

Making a recent appearance at the London Film Festival David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method isn’t out in the UK until the 12th of February next year so consider these new images and poster a welcome tease if you’re looking forward to the on-screen collision of Mortensen and Fassbender.

Keira Knightley and Vincent Cassel round off the main cast for Cronenberg’s adaptation of Christopher Hampton’s play and it’s a handsome looking affair which sees a patient (Knightley) trouble the relationship between Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen).

Top darts for the casting, let’s hope the film lives up to the high expectations.

Here are your images, get clicking.

The three stars of David Cronenberg’s latest line up for a much better attempt at selling you the tale of Jung and Freud and their work with a troubled patient.

Viggo Mortensen reunites with his Eastern Promises and A History of Violence director and is joined by Michael Fassbender, Keria Knightley and Vincent Cassell for this adaptation of Christopher Hampton’s 2002 play The Talking Cure.

The chance to see Fassbender and Mortensen on screen under Cronenberg’s hand is enticing indeed and the recent trailer set things up nicely. This new poster is an improvement on the last one we saw, proving that Photoshop can be used for good once in a while.

Lionsgate are releasing this isn the UK and we saw a little of the film at Big Screen recently. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Here’s the poster, clicken it to enlargify.

IMPA did it.

Making the most of its combined star power this international poster for David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method appears to be suffering from an unhealthy case of badly placed actor face syndrome, or King’s Speech disease.

Looking a lot like Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen are popping their heads around from behind the DVD cover of The Duchess there at least cannot be any mistaking how this one is being sold. Shame that Vincent Cassell didn’t get a look in.

The film, adapted from Christopher Hampton’s play, is playing at Venice next month and has a synopsis which looks something like this,

For his third consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, David Cronenberg adapts Christopher Hampton’s 2002 stage play concerning the turbulent relationship between Carl Jung​ (Michael Fassbender) and his mentor Sigmund Freud​ (Mortensen) as they struggle to treat a troubled patient (Kiera Knightley​).

Here’s your facey poster,

Big thanks and hurrah to IMPA.

We’ve had a trailer and one official image previously but here’s a few more images from the David Cronenberg directed movie, A Dangerous Method which stars Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Sarah Gadon and Vincent Cassel.

The film is an intereptation of the Christopher Hampton’s 2002 stage play and as well as Toronto, it’s playing at the Venice Film Festival next month.

For his third consecutive collaboration with Viggo Mortensen, David Cronenberg adapts Christopher Hampton’s 2002 stage play concerning the turbulent relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) as they struggle to treat a troubled patient (Kiera Knightley).

We’ve seen the Knightley image before but I believe the others are new. Click them to enlarge.

TIFF

HanWay Films / Lionsgate have jus tsent us the first official international trailer for A Dangerous Method.

Directed by David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises), A Dangerous Method is based on the acclaimed play by Christopher Hampton and stars Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel and Sarah Gadon.

A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) gives birth to psychoanalysis.

A Dangerous Method is currently in post-production and, if everything goes to plan, is expected to be unveiled at the 68th Venice Film Festival, which commences in August.

Check out the trailer below this new image of Keira Knightley which you can click to enlarge.

Producer, Palak Patel has revealed via his Twitter page (and with a nod to MTV for the heads up), that Twilight star Kristen Stewart will be appearing in new movie, Snow White and the Huntsman. Tweets also followed give us the news that Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth will be also be appearing in the movie opposite Stewart which was also confirmed by a story run by Deadline on Friday.

MTV: Based on the legendary fairy tale, “Snow White and the Hunstman” follows the titular princess after the evil queen Ravenna calls for her death, centering on the huntsman who disobeys orders and allows the fair maiden to live. The updated story will break from convention by having the huntsman mentor and train Snow White to fight off Ravenna herself.

They go on to tell us that Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron are currently in talks to play the roles of the huntsman and the evil queen, respectively.

More as we get it.

MK2 have released a promo poster for On the Road, the feature film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s acclaimed novel of the same name.

Directed by Walter Salles, On the Road stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Steve Buscemi and Elisabeth Moss.

Dean (Hedlund) and Sal (Riley) are the portrait of the Beat Generation living in the here and now during the Fifties. Their search for “It” results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S.

MK2, American Zoetrope and Film4 are currently selling On the Road to multiple territories at the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival. The adventure-drama is expected to be released in the Autumn.

Check out the promo poster below:

Source: The Playlist

Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem (Biutiful) is close to securing a deal to co-star in Universal Pictures’ feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s mammoth 7-novel series The Dark Tower.

Bardem is in line to topline the film as Roland Deschain.

Gunslinger Roland Deschain roams an Old West-like landscape in search of a dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.

Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) is attached to direct from a script by Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind).

Production is scheduled to commence in September.

Source: Deadline

With the other Snow White movie getting Lily Collins in its leading role recently there’s a rumour going around tonight that Hugh Jackman is being sought to play the male lead in Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman.

Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron are already signed up to the project with Viggo Mortensen a potential Huntsman before talks broke down and if this report from Deadline has any truth to it then Universal are clearly going for a huge name to step in.

Jackman was set to return to the role that made him famous for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wolverine, however given the director’s recent departure (and the tragic events in Japan – rumoured as the key location for the film) have placed this project in jeopardy.

In the report the names of Duncan Jones and David Slade are both mentioned as possible replacements for Aronofsky on The Wolverine, but with Jones focused on promoting his excellent film Source Code and David Slade prepping the new Daredevil movie there’s no obvious next step for the project and no news as to its fate now it is without its key creative talent behind the camera.

Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy) and Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) have been added to the cast of Cosmopolis.

Binoche and Amalric will star opposite Robert Pattinson (Remember Me) and Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version) in the adaptation of Don DeLillo‘s crime novel.

David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises) is attached to direct, with production expected to commence in Toronto on May 24.

24 hours in the life of newly married billionaire Eric Packer (Pattinson) as he cheats on his wife, is pursued by a stalker (Giamatti), gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune.

A Dangerous Method, Cronenberg’s latest directorial feature – starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender – is expected to premiere at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Source: The Playlist

Icon Film have released a new batch of images from the upcoming adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s acclaimed novel On the Road.

Directed by Walter Salles, from a script penned by Jose Rivera, On the Road stars Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Tom Sturridge, Elisabeth Moss, Steve Buscemi and Alice Braga.

A young man sets out to travel the roads and railways of America.

On the Road will be released in the Autumn.

Check out the images – which feature Dean Moriarty (Hedlund), Sal Paradise (Riley) and Mary-Lou (Stewart) – below:

Source: Comme au Cinema

Kristen Stewart (Welcome To The Rileys, The Twilight Saga) is in advanced talks to star in Snow White and the Huntsman, Universal’s take on the much-loved fairytale.

Stewart is on the road to topline the film as Snow White herself, beating other actresses, including Riley Keough (The Runaways), Felicity Jones (Cemetery Junction) and Alicia Vikander (Beloved), for the coveted role.

Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron, who starred together in The Road, will star as the huntsman and the evil queen, respectively.

A huntsman (Mortensen) is ordered to take Snow White (Stewart) into the woods and kill her but instead he chooses to let her go and the two are evidently chained together for part of the movie as they make their escape.

Rupert Sanders is attached to direct from a script penned by Evan Daugherty.

Production will commence in the Summer.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

In a piece of rather inspired casting news, it appears Universal – who won the rights last year amidst much publicity – have set their sights on Viggo Mortensen for the male lead in Snow White and the Huntsman.

With Charlize Theron in talks for the role of the evil queen, this original retelling of the famed Grimm fairytale differs from both its source material – and the Disney version – by having the Huntsman become Snow White’s protector and mentor as they avoid the queen and her pesky death warrant.

Scheduled for release on Dec 21, 2012, the film has been fast-tracked to avoid competition with several other Snow White retellings – most notably Relativity’s Tarsem Singh directed project.

With the role of Snow White still yet to be cast, director Rupert Sanders is looking to audition unknown actresses for the part. The film, the rights for which reportedly cost Universal a seven figure sum, will go before cameras in Summer.

Variety had this one first.

After strong whisperings of both Viggo Mortensen and Christian Bale being cast in the adaptation of Stephen King’s epic series The Dark Tower, news comes through that Javier Bardem has landed the lead part.

Deadline are reporting that the Spanish actor will play gunslinger Roland Deschain for director Ron Howard in the first of a projected trilogy of films. Scripted by Howard regular Akiva Goldsman, the story follows Deschain and his companions as they journeys across a post-apocalyptic, barren landscape in pursuit of a nemesis (The Man in Black) and on a quest to stop The Dark Tower from crumbling in order to save the universe.

This announcement has come a fortuitous time for Bardem who has only this week, became a father for the first time and received a Best Actor nomination for his performance in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biutiful (which is out in UK cinemas this Friday).

The Dark Tower is finally being developed for the screen with Universal leading the multi-platform release of Stephen King’s incredible Seven novel fantasy adventure series. Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman are already onboard to create the first film and the following first season, with Howard Directing and Akiva Goldsman writing, this will be part of a planned Trilogy of films and a TV series that link the films together. Now that the production has well and truly started, the inevitable casting rumours have begun.

Indiewire.com has brought us the news of some suitable and some very unsuitable casting rumours, and they are incredibly creative rumours at this point, for the lead character of the Dark Tower series called Roland Deschain; the last Gunslinger on a life long journey to reach the mysterious Dark Tower and to save the world.

Those that don’t know about the character of Roland, ideally he needs to be an weathered man of about 40-50 with striking blue eyes and able to look bloody cool with two big irons on his hip, Stephen King compared Roland to ‘the man with no name’ as played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s films. Now having said that, Ron Howard recently spoke freely with the LA Times about who could play Roland and the names mentioned were Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Jon Hamm and Dark Tower fansite Roland of choice, Viggo Mortensen. Although Ron Howard didn’t confirm if they had actually started casting he did say that he doubted the named stars would commit to such a project due to other commitments. A fair point, the Dark Tower would end up being at least 7 years of someone’s career unless they condense the books and choose to ignore parts of the plot, and if it fails to make a financial gain at the boxoffice, the cost of tying one of these A-List actors down for the duration of the franchise would be a financial risk straight away.

This could mean that a lesser known actor could be chosen to fill the gunslingers boots which is slightly worrying as the film will need a big name to get the box office draw it needs to launch the Dark Tower to more than the fans of the books, however Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman would be terrible choices for the role and could never offer enough character to suit Roland’s personality, Viggo would be absolutely perfect but I agree he would unlikely commit to such a large franchise and Jon Hamm is likely to be committed to Madmen for a few more years, but of course these are just rumours but as rumours for castings go, The Dark Tower characters are the ones that interest more than any other film on the horizon.

I’ve just finished reading the Dark Tower series over a three year spell and it is one of the most engaging and incredible stories I’ve ever experienced and I, like many fans, expect the source material to be followed as closely as possible which would mean an adult rating has to be maintained to get the most out of Roland and his Ka-Tet’s adventures through parallel worlds and time travel. The look of the production and casting has to be completely right or instantly the fans will react negatively which is what the adaptation does not need.

Love to hear your thoughts on who you think should be cast, use the comments below.

This is for all you beatniks out there. The Playlist has posted some rather artful-looking images from the adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s highly influential classic novel On the Road.

A film version of this seminal book from Kerouac – a well-known figure from the Beat Generation (a group of American writers and poets who came to prominence in the 1950’s), had been in the works for a while before director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) came onboard. The $25 million picture has been produced by Francis Ford Coppola (who was actually down to direct a version at one point).

Starring Garrett Hedlund (who will be seen next in Tron: Legacy) and Sam Riley as protagonists Dean Moriarty and Kerouac’s alter ego Sal Paradise, On the Road is a largely autobiographical work that was based on a road trip involving Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America, taking in and commenting on the cultural landscape they encountered on the way.

Salles has done his best to make the road trip a memorable one. An all-star cast made up of Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga and Elisabeth Moss will be joining the duo on their journey.

The film is still in production at the moment, so expect to probably see it in cinemas sometime late next year, Daddy-o.