Cannes 2013: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom Poster

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:12:13 GMT

It's a brave man who portrays a real-life figure who has already been played on screen by Morgan Freeman, but Idris Elba has no shortage of guts. After all, he's also the one aiming to cancel the apocalypse. He’s starring as Nelson Mandela in Long Walk To Freedom and after the Weinstein Company's reveal in Cannes the first poster is now online. {Long Walk To Freedom Poster}

We don’t think any massive Kaiju make an appearance in this one, unless there’s something from his history that Nelson Mandela has really done well to hide. Instead the film, which takes its title from the main man’s 1994 autobiography, charts Mandela's childhood in a rural village, though his activist days and many years spent in prison, right up to his inauguration as democratically elected president of South Africa. So it’s definitely taking a different angle to Freeman and Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. A challenging role, sure, but one we suspect Elba will be well capable of handling - although he did call it "a massive performance piece" for him when we spoke to him recently.

In this one, Naomie Harris – most recently seen in Skyfall – plays Winnie Mandela and Justin Chadwick is in the director’s chair, working from Les Miserables writer William Nicholson’s script.

Of course, making a still image work is one thing. It remains to be seen how Elba does when actual footage arrives online, though for an initial reaction report to the trailer we saw in Cannes, click his way. The film itself arrives in the US on November 29, and is still awaiting a UK date.

Zac Efron Turns Narc

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:12:13 GMT

Zac Efron dabbling in cocaine and caught by the cops? No, not the latest celebrity scandal splashed across the pages of the gossip mags. It’s actually the plot of a possible future project Efron’s now attached to, as he may star in Narc.

Lest you think it’s a remake of Joe Carnahan’s excellent, gritty cop thriller, this Narc is actually a true-crime tale that plays more like Donnie Brasco: The College Years.

Assuming he ends up playing the lead (because “attached” doesn’t always mean “actually starring”), Efron would be an all-American college star, beloved by his peers, president of his fraternity and the captain of the lacrosse team. When police bust him with cocaine he was planning to distribute at a party, it looks like his future’s in ruins.

Then the authorities offer him a deal: he won’t be arrested if he goes undercover as an informant. Which is how a college kid ends up wearing wires and helping to put away big drug dealers.

Garrett Meyer wrote the script, based on a real life story unearthed by producer Doug Banker - perhaps something like this one, and similar to the circumstances that also inspired recent Dwayne Johnson-starrer Snitch. The film doesn’t have a director yet, but Fox will want to get this one moving quickly so that Efron stays interested.

Last seen in The Paperboy, Efron has Parkland and Are We Officially Dating under his belt. He’s at work on Nick Stoller’s new Seth Rogen comedy Townies and recently signed on to Eran Creevy’s new thriller Autobahn.

Steven Spielberg Producing Halo TV Series

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:12:13 GMT

In the midst of the pomp and ceremony heralding the launch of the new Xbox One gaming console, Microsoft today dropped one nugget that will be of particular interest to fans of games, TV and Steven Spielberg: the company announced that the director will produce a new series based on the Halo games for Xbox Live.

Few details for the series were announced beyond Spielberg’s presence and the collaboration with games makers 343 Industries. But however it comes to life, it’ll likely focus on the central character Master Chief and his battles against the evil Covenant.

Of course, this is hardly the first time someone has tried to turn the game into another format: there is already the live-action web series Halo: Forward Unto Dawn, which saw cadets from UNSC's Corbulo Academy of Military Science, dealing with various crises (see the first chunk below).

The game also has a tortured history with its proposed film adaptation, starting back in 2005 when Microsoft hired Alex Garland to write a script. That was delivered to various studios, resulting in a deal with Universal and Fox. But it got mired in development and financing issues with Peter Jackson and District 9’s Neill Blomkamp eventually throwing up their hands a couple of years later and admitting defeat on the project.

Could this new wrinkle eventually end up inspiring a feature film? It’ll have to be a success first… Meanwhile, learn more about the new Xbox via Wired. 

Latest Trailer For The Lone Ranger Rides In

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:12:13 GMT

For a moment at the beginning of this latest trailer, we thought we might actually get a look at the new Johnny Depp / Gore Verbinski / Jerry Bruckheimer collaboration without the trains that have dominated every other teaser and promo for The Lone Ranger. But they rattle along soon enough… Check out the latest footage for the movie over at Apple.

Of course, when Team Ranger has funnelled so much effort into beautiful steam locomotives and designed a series of impressive set pieces around them, it’s natural that they’d want to show them off like a child with a brand new Hornby kit. And a lot of the running around / riding horses on / swinging through speeding carriages is fun.

Armie Hammer stars as John Reid, a freshly graduated lawyer who agrees to tag along with brother Dan (James Badge Dale) as part of a posse. When the rest of the party is gunned down, John is recovered, near death, by Native American warrior Tonto (Depp), and swears to track down the people responsible. Amongst those he targets are William Fichtner’s evil Butch Cavendish and Tom Wilkinson’s scheming business type Latham Cole.

With Ruth Wilson, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter and James Frain also among the cast, The Lone Ranger ambles in on August 9. Check out one of the earlier trailers below.

Seth MacFarlane Won't Host Oscars 2014

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:43 GMT

To say that Seth MacFarlane's stint as Oscars host polarised opinion would be a little like saying that it's a bit nippy in space. As statements of the bleeding obvious go it's right up there with suggesting that Joaquin Phoenix is a leftfield pick to succeed him. Well, guess who MacFarlane is tipping to succeed him?
 
MacFarlane has tweeted that he definitely won't be returning to the Dolby Theater as host next year, slipping in a sly dig at the critics - that's pretty much all of them - who panned his efforts in March.

Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep.However, I highly-->

— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) May 20, 2013

With a packed looking schedule, including Ted 2 and comedy Western A Million Ways To Die In The West, MacFarlane has his plate full for the foreseeable. His pick for 2014 host? Yup, Commodus himself, Joaquin Phoenix. Busy little bees ahoy.

Read Empire's analysis of MacFarlane's efforts here and then let us know your pick for next year below.

[[Poll921]]

Two New Posters For Simon Pegg And Edgar Wright's The World's End

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:42 GMT

The posters for Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's The World's End have gone from showing a list of pub names to a single pub sign to the very same pub sign with a hole blown through it to these: explosion-filled, pint-raising, stool-wielding disasterpieces. This is a good thing.

{The World's End Explosion Quad}

The plot of the final part of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy from Simon Pegg (writes, stars), Nick Frost (stars) and Edgar Wright (writes, directs) finds five childhood friends reuniting after 20 years because one of them – Pegg's 40 year-old Gary King, who refuses to grow up – is trying to drag his less-than-enthusiastic mates (Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan and Martin Freeman) on a recreation of an epic 12-venue pub crawl in their home town, which culminated at a boozer called The World’s End. That's apt, because this time it seems that the world may actually be ending.

With so many great names on board, it's easy to forget who's who in the world of The World's End, so if you'd like to know your Frosts from your Freemen, have a look at our character guide, as explained by Mr. Simon Pegg himself. Once you're done with that, be sure to have a look through our trailer breakdown and connections infographic too. And watch the new trailer below if only to see Martin Freeman's brilliant little head-nod-and-grin as he leaves the pub bathroom.

The World's End will arrive on July 19.

Cannes 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis Premiere Report

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:42 GMT

The stars of Inside Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund and Justin Timberlake) turned up to the film's Cannes premiere. The directors of Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen) turned up to the film's Cannes premiere. Even the musical supervisor of Inside Llewyn Davis (T Bone Burnett) turned up to the film's Cannes premiere. Who was missing? 

Sadly, it was Ulysses, the film's breakout star and, um, cat. But Ulysses is a cat that propels a lot of the movie's story. "The film doesn't really have a plot," Joel Coen quipped at the press conference. "That concerned us at one point; that's why we threw the cat in." Still, feast your eyes on the human guests at the party at the Palais in the photo gallery below, and hope Ulysses somehow gets some justice at the Palm Dog despite being feline.

{Cannes 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis}

Greeted with universal acclaim by critics here in Cannes, Inside Llewyn Davis is out in the US on December 20, but British Coen brothers aficionados will have to wait until January 24 to get their fix. Have a read of our initial reaction review thisaway, and check out the trailer below. 

New Only Lovers Left Alive Pics Online

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:42 GMT

One of Empire's Cannes picks, Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a fatalistic vampire flick that could be in the Palme d'Or shake-up. Judging by these gothic scripted pics he's just released, if there was a Palme for producing cool promotion for a movie, he'd be in the running for that too.

Indiewire has come by a new selection of stills from the film, showing leads Tilda Swinton and Jarmusch newbie Tom Hiddleston as the wannest things this side of The Cure's make-up drawer. Click on the pics for a closer look.
{Only Lovers Left Alive Pics}
Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?

Appearing alongside Hiddleston and Swinton are Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin in a storyline that Jarmusch sums up thusly:

Only Lovers Left Alive is an unconventional love story between a man and a woman, Adam and Eve. (My script was partially inspired by the last book published by Mark Twain: The Diaries of Adam and Eve - though no direct reference to the book is made other than the character’s names.) These two lovers are archetypal outsiders, classic bohemians, extremely intelligent and sophisticated - yet still in full possession of their animal instincts. They have traveled the world and experienced many remarkable things, always inhabiting the shadowed margins of society. And, like their own love story, their particular perspective on human history spans centuries - because they happen to be vampires.

But this is not your usual vampire story. Set in the very distinct cities of Detroit and Tangier, and taking place almost entirely at night, Adam and Eve must have human blood to survive. But they now live in the world of the 21st century where biting the neck of a stranger would be reckless and regressive - for survival, they must be certain the blood that sustains them is pure and free of disease or contamination. And, almost like shadows, they have learned long ago to deftly avoid the attention of any authorities. For our film, the vampire is a resonant metaphor - a way to frame the deeper intentions of the story. This is a love story, but also the story of two exceptional outsiders who, given their unusual circumstances, have a vast overview of human and natural history, including stunning achievements and tragic and brutal failures. Adam and Eve are themselves metaphors for the present state of human life - they are fragile and endangered, susceptible to natural forces, and to the shortsighted behavior of those in power.

The Cannes faithful have a serious soft spot for the American auteur and will be eagerly anticipating this one. As in Neil Jordan's latest, Byzantium, strict vampire mythos looks like taking a back seat to a more existential treatment of lost souls adrift. No word on a UK release yet but check back for Empire's thoughts from Cannes soon.

Cannes 2013: Three New Films In The Transporter Franchise Announced

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:56:41 GMT

It's a long five years since Jason Statham last fastened his seatbelt for a Transporter movie. In the meantime, Stath has gone on to bigger things in the Expendables and others, and The Transporter has continued quietly without him, as a TV series with Chris Vance. More movies are finally on the way though, with Luc Besson's EuropaCorp just striking a deal at Cannes for another three instalments.

Before you get too excited, there's no mention at all yet that Statham will be returning to his signature role of Frank Martin, the driver who never changes the deal and never opens the package. Statham played the role in three films (four if you include his cameo in Collateral) and sad as it feels to say it, we'd kind of be surprised to see him return: it would feel like a step backwards for a man recently confirmed to be frying some serious fish in the near future (nospoilersarrrgggh!). So we'd stay The Stath is an outside bet, and we're more likely looking either at some big screen adventures for Vance, or someone entirely new in the driving seat. Here's hoping though!

The deal as just thrashed out is between EuropaCorp and its new Chinese partner Fundamental Films. It's a co-financing, production and distribution arrangement, with Transporters 4-6 each budgeted at a not-too-modest $30m-$40m. Not, say, as a random example, Fast & Furious levels of mayhem then, but not bargain basement straight-to-DVD action either. At least one of the three films will be shot in China.

More car-flipping! More oily shirt-off man fighting! More Francois Berleand! More news as we get it, obviously. We'll next see Statham in Redemption on June 28.

Action-Packed New Man Of Steel Trailer

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:41:10 GMT

After several moody, tonally Terrence Malick-style teases for Man Of Steel, and then that impressive, grandiose more recent effort, things kick up a notch even further on the action stakes with this combat-laden new trailer. There’s a greater chance for big moments (fights, not plot) to be spoiled, so take care, but otherwise… enjoy. 

Launched via another message from Michael “I WILL FIND HIM!” Shannon’s General Zod as he demands that us Earthlings tell him where Kal-El is hiding, it then segues into a blistering barrage of action scenes as Superman (Henry Cavill) faces off against Zod and, in particular on this one, Antje Traue’s Faora, who delivers a chilling threat to our hero: “For every human you save, we will kill a million more…” So if you were wondering whether Zod and Faora would be presented as peaceful, there’s your answer. Those two (and the Kryptonians they brought with them) are not messing around.

Man Of Steel will also find Kal-El trying to find his place in the world, living on a planet of people who are nowhere near as powerful as he. From the looks of this, he’ll end up having to protect us from some very angry, highly destructive Kryptonians.

Laurence Fishburne, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Ayelet Zurer and Christopher Meloni all feature in this one, which arrives on June 14. We have to admit we’re excited to see some of those set piece moments on the biggest screen we can find. For more on the movie, check out the latest Empire, which features Supes or Zod as cover choices and plenty of coverage within. You can also read our interview with David Goyer on the film and our chat with score maestro Hans Zimmer. 

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom Poster Online

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:31 GMT

It's a brave man who takes on portraying a real life person who has already been played on screen by Morgan Freeman, but Idris Elba has no shortage of guts. After all, isn’t he the one aiming to cancel the apocalypse? He’s also starring as Nelson Mandela in Long Walk To Freedom and the first poster is now online. {Long Walk To Freedom Poster}

We don’t predict there will be many apocalypses cancelled in the film, nor will massive Kaiju make an appearance, unless there’s something from his history that Nelson Mandela has really done well to hide. No, the film, which takes its title from the main man’s 1994 autobiography, charts his childhood in a rural village, though his activist days and many years spent in prison, right up to his inauguration as democratically elected president of South Africa. So it’s definitely taking a different angle to Freeman and Clint Eastwood’s Invictus.

In this one, Naomie Harris – most recently seen in Skyfall – plays Winnie Mandela and Justin Chadwick is in the director’s chair, working from Les Miserables writer William Nicholson’s script.

Of course, making a still image work is one thing. It remains to be seen how Elba does when actual footage arrives. We’d expect a trailer to happen along soon. The film itself arrives in the US on November 29, and is still awaiting a UK date.

Leonardo DiCaprio Hires Dennis Lehane For Travis McGee

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:31 GMT

Figuring that an injection of new writing talent might help the project work itself free of development hell, 20th Century Fox has turned to Dennis Lehane, someone with just a little bit of crime writing experience for Travis McGee, which Leonardo DiCaprio is interested in.

The planned film, which would be based on John D. McDonald’s book Deep Blue Good-By, features the McGee character, a Floridian sleuth who moonlights as a treasure hunter. He’s featured in 21 novels, and Fox rightly figures that they could be franchise material if the first – simply being called Travis McGee at this point – works.

Trouble is, it’s been lingering on the slow burn development stove for years now, with Robert Schwentke, Oliver Stone and Paul Greengrass considering directing and Mark Boal and David James Kelly among those having taken a whack at the script.

So now Lehane – whose novels have formed the source for movies such as Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island is on board. This would mark his second script, after original work Animal Rescue, which is now being turned into a drama featuring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace.

DiCaprio has been flirting with this one for almost as long as it’s been around, but hasn’t seemed to want to commit to star. Fox will no doubt be keeping its corporate fingers crossed that the lure of Lehane snags Leo’s services.

New Pacific Rim Featurette Washes Up

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:30 GMT

You might have thought that Pacific Rim’s publicity barrage would have ended with the big, main, supposedly final trailer that arrived recently. Oh, such innocence. Instead, now we’re being brought behind the scenes for a featurette that explains who the giant robots stomping through the movie are controlled. Take a gander… 

Turns out the nifty neural connection between the two pilots – two because the mental load of controlling one of the behemoth ‘bots proved too much for a single brain in early tests – is called Drift Space, where the two controllers’ minds and memories blend and weave.

So, as actors Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and other cast members explain (along with writer/director Guillermo del Toro), the link is an intimate, powerful one where no secret is left undiscovered and no corner of the brain unexposed. Which means that piloting teams have to be on very good terms and trust each other implicitly. We get the feeling that might not be so easy for washed out Jaeger jock Raleigh Becket (Hunnam) and rookie cockpit filler Mako Mori (Kikuchi).

The robots vs monsters mash-up also features Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day and Max Martini and stomps on to our screens on July 12. We’d expect more sneak peeks before that date arrives…

New A Field In England Trailer Online

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:07:38 GMT

Boy, are we looking forward to A Field In England. Judging by its new trailer, Ben Wheatley's Civil War enigma looks trippier than a bag of space cayotes. Its loose camera work and those long bits where a befopped Michael Smiley gazes eerily into the camera makes it an early contender for Presuming Ed's period piece of the year. Empire's too, as you can probably tell from that four-star endorsement.



If that's all too disorientating for your Tuesday afternoon, stabilise your mind with a look at its new poster, also fresh in from Team Wheatley. But what is the significance of that giant red orb, also a feature of the trailer? Does it signify some kind of coming apocalypse, like Melancholia, or is it all a hallucination? Answers on a parchment and buried in a field, please.
{A Field In England Quad}
A Field In England features Richard Glover, Peter Ferdinando and Reece Shearsmith as survivors of a Civil War battle captured by Michael Smiley's alchemist and his sidekick Ryan Pope, and put to work helping him dig up a mysterious treasure trove. From there, another trove - this time of magic mushrooms - takes things in a seriously bendy direction.

It'll be released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD, on free TV and on VoD, a first for a UK release. It's all happening on July 5.

New Quad Poster For Simon Pegg And Edgar Wright's The World's End

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:34:11 GMT

The posters for Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's The World's End have gone from showing a list of pub names to a single pub sign to the very same pub sign with a hole blown through it to this: an explosion-filled, pint-raising, stool-wielding disasterpiece. This is a good thing.

{The World's End Explosion Quad}

The plot of the final part of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy from Simon Pegg (writes, stars), Nick Frost (stars) and Edgar Wright (writes, directs) finds five childhood friends reuniting after 20 years because one of them – Pegg's 40 year-old Gary King, who refuses to grow up – is trying to drag his less-than-enthusiastic mates (Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan and Martin Freeman) on a recreation of an epic 12-venue pub crawl in their home town, which culminated at a boozer called The World’s End. That's apt, because this time it seems that the world may actually be ending.

With so many great names on board, it's easy to forget who's who in the world of The World's End, so if you'd like to know your Frosts from your Freemen, have a look at our character guide, as explained by Mr. Simon Pegg himself. Once you're done with that, be sure to have a look through our trailer breakdown and connections infographic too. And watch the new trailer below if only to see Martin Freeman's brilliant little head-nod-and-grin as he leaves the pub bathroom.

The World's End will arrive on July 19.

Exclusive: New-Look Dial M For Murder Re-Release Poster

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:35 GMT

If you're wondering what inspired Baz Luhrmann's use of 3D in his theatrical and tricksy Great Gatsby, look no further. Luhrmann saw Dial M For Murder "many years ago" and noted Hitchcock's use of 3D to crank up the human drama of "actors standing in a room doing an eight-page scene". The original 3D game-changer is back on the big screen in July and has a new stereoscopic poster to let everyone know. Note how the tagline isn't "Hitchcock phones it in!" here.
{Dial M For Murder 3D Poster}
It may not be quite as exalted as Vertigo and Psycho, but with its nasty brand of double-dealing and Hitch's sure sense of the macabre, Dial M endures as one of the best of his straight-up thrillers. Like Rope, with its one-room set-up, it's adapted from a stage play - also by its screenwriter Frederick Knott - and it afforded the Master the opportunity to experiment with a new filmmaking format.

Its protagonists, Tony and Margot Wendice (Grace Kelly and Ray Milland) and American crime-writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), share a tightly-plotted tale of betrayal, adultery, murder and suspicious telephone calls. If you haven't seen how it all pans out, you can catch Dial M For Murder in UK cinemas, restored and re-released in modern 3D, from July 26.

Brand New Wolverine Trailer Arrives Online

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:02:53 GMT

James Mangold's take on the critically-acclaimed run of Marvel comics known as The Wolverine has been blessed with another trailer. This one's got lots more Jean Grey, a gag involving super sharp katanas, a lady with a snake tongue where her human one should be and a smidge more footage of that Silver Samurai who people keep talking about.

Much of what's shown has already seen in the first full-length teaser - for a trailer breakdown, head this way - and the more recent Cinema Con video, but you get to see longer sections of certain scenes here, which allows for a better taste of what to expect from the whole film.

Accompanying this new trailer is a new poster, which shows Svetlana Khodchenkova's Viper in the Japanese ink-style that The Wolverine's marketing team have been experimenting with throughout. Have a look at all four watercolour wonders below and remember that you can get the best of the four - come on, you know Logan wins - as a freebie with the current issue of Empire. It's the one with Superman / Zod on the cover; you can't miss it.

{Wolverine Ink Posters}

The Wolverine hits UK cinemas on July 25. Snikt!

New Poster For Baltasar Kormákur's The Deep

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:02:52 GMT

You know what's terribly en vogue at the moment? Man-lost-at-sea movies. We'd put it all down to Life Of Pi, except that none so far have copied Ang Lee and added a tiger. But one of those lined up is The Deep, the new film from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur that's based on a hellish true story. And here's the UK poster.{The Deep Exclusive UK Poster}

Cast your mind back, if you're old enough, to a cold March night in 1984. A small fishing boat went down in the Icelandic seas with its crew of six, but one of them miraculously survived, clinging to a piece of debris. Six hours later he washed ashore, so there's a hapy ending! Wait, not quite. It says here that he washed ashore on a deadly lava field.

So it's out of the freezing cold Arctic ocean and into the fire. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson plays the lone protagonist pitted against the very worst that nature can throw at him, and the film already landed loads of wins at Iceland's film awards, the Eddas. Kormákur, of course, is the man best known to English-speaking audiences as the director of Contraband (and its Icelandic predecessor, Reykjavik-Rotterdam) and also has 2 Guns, starring Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington, arriving in the UK on August 16 this year.

The Deep - not to be confused with Deep Blue Sea, The Deep Blue Sea, Deep Impact or 1977 film The Deep - hits UK cinemas on July 12.

Jim Jarmusch pale-faced vamps take the stage

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:40:13 GMT

One of Empire's Cannes picks, Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a fatalistic vampire flick that could be in the Palme d'Or shake-up. And, judging by these gothic scripted pics he's just released, if there was a Palme for producing cool promotion for a movie, he'd be in the running for that too.

Indiewire has come by a new selection of stills from the film, showing leads Tilda Swinton and Jarmusch newbie Tom Hiddlestone as the wannest things this side of The Cure's make-up drawer. Click on the pics for a closer look.
{Only Lovers Left Alive Pics}
Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?

Appearing alongside Hiddleston and Swinton are Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin in a storyline that Jarmusch sums up thusly:

Only Lovers Left Alive is an unconventional love story between a man and a woman, Adam and Eve. (My script was partially inspired by the last book published by Mark Twain: The Diaries of Adam and Eve - though no direct reference to the book is made other than the character’s names.) These two lovers are archetypal outsiders, classic bohemians, extremely intelligent and sophisticated - yet still in full possession of their animal instincts. They have traveled the world and experienced many remarkable things, always inhabiting the shadowed margins of society. And, like their own love story, their particular perspective on human history spans centuries - because they happen to be vampires.

But this is not your usual vampire story. Set in the very distinct cities of Detroit and Tangier, and taking place almost entirely at night, Adam and Eve must have human blood to survive. But they now live in the world of the 21st century where biting the neck of a stranger would be reckless and regressive - for survival, they must be certain the blood that sustains them is pure and free of disease or contamination. And, almost like shadows, they have learned long ago to deftly avoid the attention of any authorities. For our film, the vampire is a resonant metaphor - a way to frame the deeper intentions of the story. This is a love story, but also the story of two exceptional outsiders who, given their unusual circumstances, have a vast overview of human and natural history, including stunning achievements and tragic and brutal failures. Adam and Eve are themselves metaphors for the present state of human life - they are fragile and endangered, susceptible to natural forces, and to the shortsighted behavior of those in power.

The Cannes faithful have a serious soft spot for the American auteur and will be eagerly anticipating this one. As in Neil Jordan's latest, Byzantium, strict vampire mythos looks like taking a back seat to a more existential treatment of lost souls adrift. No word on a UK release yet but check back for Empire's thoughts from Cannes soon.

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance Gets Remake

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:45:15 GMT

With Park Chan-wook successfully trying his hand at English-language filmmaking in Stoker, Hollywood continues to make doe-eyes at his South Korean back catalogue. Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, part one of his Vengeance trilogy, is next to be prepped for a US remake.

Deadline reports that Hollywood heavyweights Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are steering an English-language remake to the big screen. Broken City scribe Brian Tucker will be translating the story into an American setting.

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, 2003's precursor to Oldboy and Sympathy For Lady Vengeance, was a bloody and brutal opening salvo for a hammer-wielding trilogy that would end up terrifying octopuses everywhere. Its deaf-mute protagonist - we'd be loath to use the word 'hero' - resorts to abduction, black-marketeering and violence to secure an organ transplant for his ailing sister.

While there are no common plot threads between the three films, it will still be interesting to see if this new Mr. Vengeance and Spike Lee's long-awaited Oldboy cohere stylistically, and whether, indeed, Lady Vengeance joins them in getting the Hollywood redo. In the meantime, post your choice of director for this one below.

Cannes 2013: Videblogisode #2 - Emma Watson, Paul Haggis

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:45:15 GMT

For our second Cannes 2013 videblogisode, we were surrounded on all sides by the one thing you don't expect at the Croisette: rain. Undeterred by all this precipitation, the team valiantly interviewed The Bling Ring's Emma Watson and writer / producer / director Paul Haggis. Below is the resulting videblogisode, but be warned: it contains extreme levels of prancing and - shudder - the evil Cannesdarin...

If you want to keep up to date with everything that's going on here on the Croisette, be sure to regularly check up on further updates over on our Cannes 2013 microsite.

Want more Emma Watson? Well, OK then... here's a gallery of The Bling Ring photocall.{Cannes Film Festival 2013: The Bling Ring Photocall}

Cannes 2013: Blood Ties Initial Reaction

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:29:48 GMT

Once upon a time, two brothers called Bruno and Michel Papet wrote a book called Les Liens Du Sang. In 2008, this was adapted into a movie by Jacques Maillot called Les Liens Du Sang, and now, in 2013, actor-turned-director Guillaume Canet (of Tell No One and Little White Lies fame) has taken the French tale and transported it to 1970s New York for his English language debut, Blood Ties, casting Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, James Caan, Zoe Saldana and Marion Cotillard (his missus) in the process.

Owen plays Chris, an ex-con who's just come out of prison to be greeted by his grumpy cop brother Frank (Crudup) and his happy-but-not-long-for-this-world father (Caan). Chris' ex-wife, Monica (Cotillard), is a prositute and a drug user, somehow keeping their two kids in cereal and underwear despite her shaky situation.

Instead of making up with Monica, Chris begins a relationship with Natalie (Kunis), the cashier at the garage where Frank has managed to wangle Chris a job. Meanwhile Frank, as well as being a cop with a criminal brother living in his flat, also has personal problems, because the girl he's in love with, Vanessa (Saldana), has had a kid with another ex-con who he's just put away for six months.{Blood Ties}

It's only with all these pieces in play that Canet's opera can really begin, and with such a large cast and so many plot beats to chug through, it can feel a little like hard work watching Owen's Chris - prehaps unsurprisingly - revert to bad habits. Considering the movie clocks in at 144 minutes, Canet obviously enjoys taking his time over the many plot strands, concentrating primarily on the film-stealing fiery relationship between the brothers but allowing Zaldana some great scenes and Caan a few moments too. It's all enjoyable in its cops-and-robbers way, but there's little you won't have seen before, despite certain impressive flashes.

Kunis plays a mostly thankless role, Owen's Brooklyn accent wobbles slightly, and Canet chooses songs that seem a little blunt considering the situation - Money, Money, Money hits the speakers when there's, um, money involved - but there's plenty to dig into here for anyone who enjoys period police dramas, and it's worth the long run-time for a very satisfactory ending.

Simpsons And The Office Writer Jon Vitti Will Write The Angry Birds Movie

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:29:48 GMT

Squawking dispiriting phrases like "brand awareness" and "built-in audience", Sony last week flew away from a fraught auction with the Angry Birds film rights clutched in its quivering talons. And the man tasked with giving the ubiquitous phone app a coherent narrative? Veteran American comedy writer Jon Vitti.

The Emmy Award-winning Vitti looks like a pretty canny choice. The hugely respected writer cut his teeth on Saturday Night Live, before stints on The Simpsons, The Critic, The Larry Sanders Show, King Of The Hill, and The (US) Office. But if sketch comedy and sit-com have been his domain on TV (albeit sometimes in cartoon form), on the big screen he's been exclusively about animation, consulting on the Ice Age films, Robots and Horton Hears A Who, and contributing a writing credit to The Simpsons Movie. He also co-wrote Alvin & The Chipmunks and its Squeakquel, if you were worried that he didn't appear kid-friendly enough already.

Who better then, to bring comedic order to the destructive chaos of those furious kamikaze avians and their pathological hatred of the porcine? Why do they hate the pigs so much? What are their interpersonal relationships? What drives and motivates them? Can birds and pigs ever just get along? These, and more, are the burning issues that Vitti will be wrestling with for the next few days, weeks and months.

The Angry Birds movie will, of course, be a 3D animation. There's no director attached so far, but with admirable confidence that Angry Birds will still be a thing in three years time, Sony already has a release date booked of July 1, 2016.

New Man Of Steel Character Posters Online

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:29:48 GMT

Though there have been several one-sheets online already, we’ve clearly reached the point in the Man Of Steel promotional campaign where the character posters come striding out. Welcome, then, Supes himself, General Zod and super-dad Jor-El. {Man Of Steel Character Posters}

Even though Jor-El’s presence in the film is traditionally limited – he might be one of the sources of advice to son Kal-El (Henry Cavill), but he perishes along with the rest of planet Krypton early in the story – Crowe’s star power is being used to help boost the film. Which, along with the character’s iconic status, explains why he gets his own image here along with the others.

Man Of Steel finds young Kal-El growing up on Earth, raised by the kindly Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane). Unsure about his place in society thanks to his incredible powers, he chooses at first to hide away, hunted by reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) who has heard the tales of his feats.

But he’s forced to reveal his presence to the world when General Zod (Michael “I WILL FIND HIM!” Shannon) arrives on the planet and demands that Kal-El swears fealty to him, lest Zod get medieval on the Earth and its inhabitants. In related Crowe news, he's apparently seen the movie and thinks highly of it, sure that it's set to change Henry Cavill's life.

With Zach Snyder directing a script by David S. Goyer, Man Of Steel touches down in UK cinemas on June 14. There’s plenty more about it in the current issue of Empire, in shops and on the iPad now. Plus, we talked to Steel composer Hans Zimmer about taking on a character so closely associated with John Williams’ theme. 

Team Hobbit Is Back At Work

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:29:48 GMT

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Hobbit helmer Peter Jackson, which would make sense because he’s been busy getting second film The Desolation Of Smaug ready for its December bow and digging into the piles of footage for final trilogy piece There And Back Again. But he’s briefly surfaced on Facebook to report that he’s returned to the set for pick-ups on the second and third films.

Posting a brief message along with a picture of himself with Ian McKellen in full Gandalf get-up, Jackson says that it’ll be the crew’s last ever Tolkien shooting (cue lots of comments asking about Silmarillion and other possible stories) and that all involved are in for an intense few weeks.

For those of you who have been missing the behind the scenes blogs, a new one is set to hit soon, according to Jackson - who should know.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug finds our heroes finally tackling the scaly, gold-craving reptile with the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. The likes of McKellen, Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, Sylvester McCoy, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’Gorman and Empire Award winner Martin Freeman are all back for the film, which marches into our cinemas on December 13.