SCARJO DEFENDS GHOST IN THE SHELL
One of the big talking points coming out of the casting of Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell was the reported “whitewashing” of the role. Many have come out to defend the casting, and now Johansson herself has spoken out about it. “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person,” she said in an interview. “Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive. Also, having a franchise with a female protagonist driving it is such a rare opportunity. Certainly, I feel the enormous pressure of that—the weight of such a big property on my shoulders.” Read more about that here.
Yep, it’s time to dust off the Michael Myers mask and knife as the original film’s creator John Carpenter announced via Facebook that Halloween was coming back to screens in 2018. The film is set to be written by Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down) and directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express). I will continue in my executive producer role to consult and offer my advice and feedback as needed,” Carpenter wrote, adding “David and Danny both came to my office recently with Jason Blum and shared their vision for the new movie and…WOW. They get it. I think you’re gonna dig it. They blew me away. I might even do the music. Maybe. It could be kind of cool.” Read more about that here.
SHAILENE WOODLEY DONE WITH DIVERGENT
In news that should surprise no one, Shailene Woodley has confirmed that she has left The Divergent Series now the series has moved to the small screen. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actor simply said, “No. I’m not going to be on the television show.” Read more about that here.
In an odd bit of news, it was revealed in an interview that rapper Coolio was at one point going to play Scarecrow in Joel Schumacher’s sequel to Batman & Robin. Huh. “The only reason I did that part was because they promised me the villain part in the following Batman,” Coolio said. “Which they didn’t do because Joel Schumacher – they fired him. Me and him didn’t get along that great anyway… [In] the next Batman the villain was supposed to be the Scarecrow.” Read more about that here.
Although it was teased by the Chinese branch of Legendary Pictures last year, Warcraft director Duncan Jones has revealed that the studio has not called him about a potential sequel. The film had a pretty disastrous run at the domestic box office, but it did remarkably well overseas and earned over $500 million worldwide – making it the most successful video game movie of all-time. Read more about that here.
GO GO!
Ahead of its release in March, we got a UK poster for Power Rangers. Check it out here.
Tom Jolliffe wrote up this piece on Fifty Shades of Grey vs. The Mid 90s Erotic TV Movie. So if you’re looking for some smut, you’re in luck! Read the article here. And you may also want to check out Anghus Houvouras’ piece on the news about Jay and Silent Bob Rebooted. He’s not keen on the idea. Read that here.
Originally published February 11, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
