Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright: (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
If you’re an assassin by trade, can you really claim that it’s bad luck that people keep dying around you? If you’re Brad Pitt’s character in upcoming action comedy thriller ‘Bullet Train’, you might actually have a point.
The latest trailer for the movie is now online and is full of all the Pitt vs. assassin action you could hope for. It opens with Pitt’s Ladybug – a title given to him by his handle, Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock), in the hopes that it might mean good luck – ticking off the ways that previous gigs have gone badly wrong. And even times when he’s not actively trying to murder someone, the bodies keep piling up. He’s stressed and looking for a less death-laden life.
Dispatched on what would seem to be a routine, relatively harmless mission to pick up an important briefcase on a Bullet Train in Japan, Ladybug hopes for a quieter time of things. Fate, however, may have other plans, as this latest job puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe – all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives – on the world’s fastest train… And he’s got to figure out how to get off.
Cue fists flying, swords swinging and Pitt nailing Aaron Tylor-Johnson with a bottle of fizzy water. Taylor-Johnson plays Tangerine, one half of a deadly duo with Brian Tyree Henry’s Lemon, with the pair after the very same suitcase. And they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard.
With David Leitch, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker who kickstarted his directing career with ‘John Wick’ and has since made movies including ‘Atomic Blonde’ and ‘Deadpool 2’ in charge here, the movie looks stylish and slyly funny, especially that moment in the quiet car (and Pitt punching a mascot who refuses to give up the case).
And, because this is Leitch we’re talking about, you can naturally expect a lot of inventive action within the cramped confines of the train, as his 87 Eleven stunt team goes to work finding new ways to create chaos.
There’s also a hint that Pitt and some of others (those left standing by the time the train reaches its destination) might actually end up joining forces to combat Shannon’s murderous men. It’s certainly more dangerous than the threat of a cancelled train or a blocked toilet stinking up a whole carriage.
‘Bullet Train’ will pull into theaters on August 5th.
(L to R) Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock star in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright: (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright: (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
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(L to R) Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in Netflix’s ‘The Gray Man.’
“Wanna make an omelet? Gotta kill some people,” proclaims Chris Evans’ lethal operative Lloyd Hansen, a man for whom the words “awful mustache” never registers when he looks in the mirror. He’s the enthusiastic psycho who forms one half-of the killer leading combo in the new trailer for Joe and Anthony Russo’s new action movie, ‘The Gray Man’.
Though the sibling directors have shot one movie (the Tom Holland-starring addiction drama ‘Cherry’) and produced a variety of others, this represents their full return to big-scale filmmaking since the gigantic, box office-conquering ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
The setup is a relatively simple one: Ryan Gosling, the other half of that leading duo, is Court Gentry, AKA Sierra Six. Plucked from a federal penitentiary and recruited by his handler, Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton), Gentry was once a highly skilled, CIA-sanctioned merchant of death. He’s Sierra Six, one of the people the Agency calls in when it needs absolute deniability.
But now, after discovering evidence of a dark conspiracy, the tables have turned and Six is the target, hunted across the globe by Lloyd, a former cohort at the CIA, who will stop at nothing to take him out. Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) has his back. He’ll need it.
Adapted from Mark Greaney’s series of spy novels by Joe Russo and the directors’ regular screenwriting compatriots Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, ‘The Gray Man’ is very much in the ‘Bourne’ mold – globe-trotting thrillers where our central hero is hunted down by the people who once trusted him to get the job done. See also: ‘John Wick’.
Gosling’s Gentry is a very capable man, quick with his fists and very creative when it comes to violence. But Evans’ Hansen is pretty much his match, so it’ll be fun to watch these two go up against each other.
Both Gosling and Evans know what they’re doing in this sphere, and Evans in particular looks to be having fun playing against type as the psycho villain. It’s almost as though his Ransom Drysdale from ‘Knives Out’ joined the CIA.
‘The Gray Man’ represents the latest big-budget gamble by Netflix, who stumped up roughly $200 million for the Russo duo to bring their magic touch a new action spectacle, with the hopes that they’ll also deliver on the character side of things. And, of course, that it’ll launch another franchise from the pair’s AGBO company to go along with the likes of the Chris Hemsworth-starring ‘Extraction’, which has a sequel already in the works.
‘The Gray Man’ takes aim at a limited release in theaters from July 15, before arriving on Netflix on July 22nd.
‘The Gray Man’ is in theaters beginning July 15, before arriving on Netflix on July 22nd.
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Given that he’s already played a stuntman twice before on screen – in 2011’s ‘Drive’ and 2012’s ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ – you might figure that Ryan Gosling would want to skip future movies about those who fling themselves into cinematic danger.
Yet he’s ready to do it again, with Variety reporting that he’s set to lead an adaptation of the 1980s TV classic ‘The Fall Guy,’ featuring a character played by Lee Majors using his film set skills to fight crime.
And David Leitch, a man who has spun a career as a successful stuntman into an even more impressive run of directing action movies, will be behind the camera for the new movie. He’ll bring his own experience to the idea, having spent years doubling the likes of Brad Pitt and Jean-Claude Van Damme before making movies such as ‘John Wick’, ‘Atomic Blonde’, ‘Deadpool 2’ and more.
The original show, which was created by prolific TV producer Glen A. Larson (who also brought the world series such as ‘Buck Rogers’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Knight Rider’), ran between 1981 and 1986, and starred Majors as Colt Seavers.
When his movie work starts to dry up Seavers pivots to become a bounty hunter, using all the know-how he’s acquired to craft film action to track down and defeat swindlers, thieves, bikers, conmen, fugitives, and corrupt officials. It’s essentially Larson taking his basic show concept and giving it another new twist.
Majors starred alongside Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas as Colt’s colleagues Howie Munson and Jody Banks, who helped him out on his missions. Though the show was often a giant slab of ‘80s cheese TV, the concept clearly has legs.
(L to R) Heather Thomas and Lee Majors in ‘The Fall Guy.’ Photo courtesy of IMDB.
Word about Gosling and Leitch teaming up first broke back in 2020, though the movie was then simply listed as ‘untitled stuntman action drama’.
We still don’t know all that much about how the new movie will channel the show. When Leitch and Gosling were first attached to the film, there was mention of Leitch’s ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ writer Drew Pearce (who also worked on ‘Iron Man 3’ and directed ‘Hotel Artemis’) tackling the screenplay, but Variety’s story doesn’t mention him.
‘The Fall Guy’ is all coming together partly because the Australian government is offering $45 million in incentives to have the movie shoot in Sydney.
Leitch has ‘Bullet Train’ pulling into theaters on August 5th, while Gosling will next be seen in ‘The Gray Man’, the new action movie from directors Joe and Anthony Russo, which will be on limited release in theaters on July 15th, before landing on Netflix on July 22nd.
He’s also been busy filming ‘Barbie’, which stars Margot Robbie and will be out on March 21st next year.
(L to R) Scot Williams and Liam Neeson in director Martin Campbell’s ‘Memory,’ an Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment release. Photo: Rico Torres | Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment.
The movie stars Liam Neeson (‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’) as Alex Lewis, an expert assassin who refuses to complete a job for a dangerous criminal organization and becomes a target for their revenge. With his expert skills, Alex is able to stay one step ahead, except he is struggling with severe memory loss, which is affecting his every move.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Liam Neeson about his work on ‘Memory.’
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You can read our full interview with Liam Neeson about ‘Memory’ below or watch our interviews with Neeson and Monica Bellucci by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, while this character is similar to roles you’ve played in the past, he’s also dealing with memory loss. Is that why you wanted to play the part, because its different than your other roles yet in the same wheelhouse?
Liam Neeson: Yeah, I’ve done quite a few action films, as you may know. This one was special because it deals with very sensitive and horrendous crimes, especially those of child prostitution. I’m a Goodwill UNICEF Ambassador and have been for a number of years, and I do get access to material if a tragedy happens in some country. UNICEF are usually always one of the first groups of people there in order to protect children from sex traffickers, so I’m acutely aware of it.
I thought, it’s the basis of our story. My character, who is an assassin and has been for 40 years, knows he’s dying and wants to redeem himself in some way by finding the culprits in this ring of child prostitution. It was very interesting to do research, especially on the Alzheimer’s dementia aspect. It was a character that I just find very rich to delve into and enjoyed it immensely.
MF: Can you talk about how you prepared to play a character with Alzheimer’s?
LN: Gosh, it’s hard to describe. Obviously, there’s various documentaries I’ve watched on it, several books I’ve read on it, and I guess just my own actor’s experience. I’m not blowing smoke up my ass, but I’ve made a hundred films as of last Christmas, so I have a certain amount of experience.
I tried to work very closely with Martin Campbell, the director, to find little moments where I could introduce aspects of this Alzheimer’s or dementia, without getting in the way of the thrust of the story in the film. It is an action thriller, but it has these layers of moral ambiguity. Let’s put it that way. Every day, going to work was interesting. I’m getting a chance to work with Guy Pearce and Monica Bellucci. I was like a kid in a candy store, I’ll be very honest with you.
MF: Finally, your character is a self-described “bad guy,” but he also has a moral compass. Can you talk about that?
LN: It comes out in the story. I don’t know if you remember but when the police are sharing information, they know that he and his brother were abused as kids by their father. That is discussed. He comes from a battered family, an abused family, he and his elder brother, and so that has helped form a moral code for him, that absolutely no child should be touched or harmed in any way.
‘Memory’ opens in theaters on April 29th.
Liam Neeson promoting ‘Memory,’ an Open Road Films/Briarcliff Entertainment release.
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The result is an epic and ultra-realistic Viking movie that pulls influence from ‘Braveheart,’ ‘Spartacus,’ ‘Conan the Barbarian,’ and even William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ and features a career-defining performance from Alexander Skarsgård.
The movie begins in 895 A.D. on the imaginary island of Hrafnsey where King Aurvandill (Hawke) is brutally murdered by his brother Fjölnir (Bang), while his son, a young Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) watches in horror. Amleth barely escapes and is eventually discovered and raised by a band of Vikings, but vows to one day avenge his father’s murder and rescue his mother, Queen Gudrún (Kidman).
Years later, an adult Amleth (Skarsgård) is told by a Seeress (Björk) that he will soon have his revenge on his uncle. He then learns that Fjölnir was overthrown from his kingdom, and now lives in exile in Iceland. Amleth disguises himself as a slave on a ship being taken to Fjölnir and soon meets Olga (Taylor-Joy), a sorceress who wants to help Amleth on his quest.
Once arriving in Iceland, Amleth learns that his mother has married Fjölnir and had their own son, Gunnar (Elliot Rose). Now, in order to avenge his father’s death, Amleth will have to search for the magic sword Draugr, if he wants to defeat Fjölnir and save his mother, Olga and the other slaves.
Coming off of his acclaimed films ‘The Witch’ and ‘The Lighthouse,’ ‘The Northman’ solidifies director Robert Egger’s place as one of the most exciting and gifted filmmakers working today. The movie is large and epic in scope, but Eggers keeps it moving at a furious rate. The movie is dark, both physically and emotionally, extremely realistic and very bloody.
Eggers choice to shoot on location, and use practical effects when possible, adds to the realism and attitude of the piece. The film also has a magical aspect that is relayed quite well and seems very realistic, given the source material and its role in the overall story.
The supporting cast is strong, with quick but fun performance from Willem Dafoe and musician Björk. Ethan Hawke is excellent as King Aurvandill, even if his role is somewhat limited as well. Hawke really sets the tone and pace for the movie, and his performance is what puts Amleth’s journey in motion.
Danish actor Claes Bang gives a standout performance as the movie’s villain, Fjölnir. It’s a captivating and multi-layered role that the actor plays well, creating an antagonist worthy of the film’s hero.
Oscar winner Nicole Kidman is also at her best in this movie as Queen Gudrún. In contrast to her role as the hero’s mom in ‘Aquaman,’ playing Amleth’s mother is a much meatier role and is reflective of an actress of her caliber. With several twists and turns, Kidman is always regal in the part, and her performance really packs a punch when her character’s true intentions are eventually revealed.
Anya Taylor-Joy, who starred in Eggers first movie ‘The Witch,’ gives a mysterious yet vulnerable performance as Olga, despite her limited screen time, and has great chemistry with Skarsgård. Make no mistake, ‘The Northman’ is Amleth’s story, but the screenplay serves Olga well, making her an important key to Amleth’s success and his bloodline’s future. At times, her performance is overshadowed by the action of the story, but her character’s importance to Amleth and the plot is never forgotten.
But like any good movie, ‘The Northman’ truly works as a whole only because of Alexander Skarsgård’s incredible, captivating, and thoroughly entertaining performance. I truly believe that this is the movie that will finally make the actor a household name, after roles in disappointing projects like ‘Battleship,’ ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ (which is actually a really good movie), and ‘Godzilla vs. Kong.’
As Amleth, Skarsgård is shockingly strong, both physically and in his performance, and commands the screen with urgency and excitement. He makes the movie work on every level and gives the best performance of his career.
In the end, fans of ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and other “sword and horse” projects will be happy with ‘The Northman,’ and even surprised at the dramatic levels the film reaches. Director Robert Eggers has established himself with this movie as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, and Alexander Skarsgård’s performance is not only a personal best for the actor, but the best male performance of the year so far!
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Alexander Skarsgård about his work on ‘The Northman.’
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You can read our full interview with Alexander Skarsgård about ‘The Northman’ below or watch our interviews with Skarsgård and director Robert Eggers by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay when you read it? What were your initial thoughts?
Alexander Skarsgård: I was very excited. I’d been part of the project from the very beginning, so it wasn’t like on most other movies, where you’re sent something and then you start reading it and you’re like, “Oh, this is the story. Okay.” I had met Rob five years ago when we started talking about teaming up and working on a Viking project together.
That was a real privilege to be part of the whole journey. Even before the first draft was done, to be able to have those creative conversations with Rob and with Sjón, his writing partner on the movie, I learned a lot from that. Again, it was a treat that you don’t always have, or very rarely get as an actor.
MF: Your director Robert Eggers mentioned to us that you were a Viking historian even before you signed on to this project. How did that knowledge help you prepare to play this role?
AS: Enthusiasm is very helpful in a creative process because it makes you go deeper and absorb it in a deeper way than if you’re not genuinely excited and thrilled about it. Again, a couple of years before meeting Rob, I had an idea of trying to make a Viking movie. The fact that it came together in this way with such an incredible filmmaker like Rob, I was really over the moon. I couldn’t wait to actually sink my teeth into the material and start working on it, and on the character, and start reading the old Icelandic sagas and books on Norse mythology by different historians and Viking scholars.
I had Neil Price‘s book, “Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings,” which was my go to source for any inspiration or knowledge about the life of a Viking, the world someone like Amleth would’ve existed in, and how he perceived the spiritual world around him, and the relationship he had to the gods. All that stuff was tremendously helpful again, in shaping the character.
MF: Finally, can you talk about working with Robert Eggers and watching him execute his unique vision for this movie?
AS: It’s imperative, and it is 100% historically accurate to Robert. Authenticity is crucial. He does a tremendous amount of research, and basically became a Viking scholar himself in doing research for the movie. He also had four or five Viking historians and archeologists working with him on the screenplay, and on building the sets in order for them to be 100% authentic.
It made my job quite easy as an actor. When you step onto a set that is 100% a Viking village, everything you’re surrounded by is authentic. The clothes you’re wearing are not even remotely anachronistic. Everything is authentic to the time and the place, and that was very helpful.
We wanted it to be a very visceral and an immersive experience for the audience. By throwing ourselves into the mud, literally, and being out there and not shooting it on a comfortable sound stage, but actually be out there in the elements, hopefully you can sense that or feel that when you watch the movie. That was at least the goal.
If you thought the ‘Thor’ movies or the small screen ‘Vikings’ series were the only place to see Norse stories brought to life, ‘The Witch’ and ‘The Lighthouse’ director Robert Eggers’ latest would like to have a word. Or, more likely, scream in your face while dressed in animal skins before threatening you with an axe.
‘The Northman’ is the new movie from Eggers, and it stars Alexander Skarsgård as Amleth, who at young age (played early on by Oscar Novak) sees his father murdered by his uncle, who carries his mother off and nearly succeeds in killing Amleth himself.
Yet the young warrior manages to escape and ends up living with a group of brutal Vikings. When he learns that he’ll have an opportunity to wreak vengeance on his uncle, he goes all-in on the mission.
Eggers has rounded up quite the cast for this one, with Ethan Hawke playing Amleth’s father, King Aurvandil War-Raven, who suffers a Boromir-like fate when his brother, Fjölnir the Brotherless, played by Denmark’s Claes Bang, decides to take a stab (and a slice) at the throne.
And with the throne also comes Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrún, played by Nicole Kidman. And let’s not forget Eggers’ ‘Lighthouse’ star, Willem Dafoe, who here shows up as court jester/soothsayer Heimir the Fool, who helps guide Amleth on his path in more ways than one.
Dafoe isn’t the only Eggers veteran reuniting with the director – there’s also ‘The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Olga of the Birch Forest, who becomes important to Amleth. And finally, there’s Icelandic music legend Björk, here playing a Seeress who dresses in weird clothing. Or, for her, a typical Wednesday.
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If the idea of a prince whose father is murdered and mother married by his uncle sounds familiar, that might be because Eggers and Icelandic author Sjón draw from the same Danish legends that inspired Shakespeare to write ‘Hamlet’. Yet even Shakespearian scholars would agree that the tale of the troubled Dane can’t match ‘The Northman’ for sheer brutality and gore.
From the looks of this trailer, Eggers has truly unleashed himself, upping the scale and scope of the story from his previous movies while never losing the careful curation of characters and allowing performances to breathe.
The new promo also shows off the staggering visuals of the movie, which switches between dark and moody and vibrant, fiery scenes without ever feeling like they clash. Violence is at the heart of the story here, but so too is mythology, Eggers seemingly unafraid to dive deep into religious battles and mystical imagery.
With luck, this will be something quite different from many of Skarsgård’s previous roles, and from what we can see here, he’s thrown himself into the part with gusto.
‘The Northman’ promises to be unlike most movies you’ll see this year, but it won’t be for the faint of heart.
If you want more from the director and others who worked on the film, you’ll also be glad to hear there’s an official podcast about it, which you can find here.
‘The Northman’ will open in theaters on April 22nd.
The result is Michael Bay’s version of a mash-up between ‘Heat’ and ‘Speed,’ which is mostly entertaining and features impressive performances from Gyllenhaal and Gonzalez, but ultimately falls flat before it reaches the finish line.
The movie begins by introducing us to Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateen II), a war veteran with a small child who is desperate to find money for his wife’s upcoming surgery. With insurance companies reusing to help, he turns to his adopted brother Danny (Gyllenhaal), who is a life-long criminal. Danny agrees to give Will the money, if he helps him with a bank heist that is about to go down with a possible take home over $32 million. Will reluctantly agrees, but the heist goes terribly wrong.
The Special Investigation Section of the LAPD led by Captain Monroe (Garret Dillahunt) are on to Danny and waiting for him and his crew when they leave the bank. After a street shootout with the cops, which leaves their entire crew dead, Danny and Will make their escape by hijacking an ambulance with EMT Cam Thompson (Gonzalez) and a wounded policeman (Jackson White) on board.
Now, with the entire LAPD chasing them through downtown Los Angeles, Danny starts to become unhinged, and Will contemplates how he can get himself out of this situation, while Thompson tries to keep her patient alive. Danny then enacts a dangerous plan to escape, and Will must decide between helping his brother or doing the right thing and ending this horrible ordeal.
(L to R) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal in director Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance.’ Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Whether you like his movies or not, you must respect Michael Bay as a master director. Bay makes movies on the biggest scale possible, and I’d put him in the same category with filmmakers like James Cameron and Zack Snyder. In some ways, ‘Ambulance’ is the most entertaining and fun movie that Bay has delivered in years and has all of the big action sequences you would expect from the director.
But it also contains a lot of the “Bay-isms” that have plagued his films over the years, like an unbelievably ridiculous plot, characters that only make smart decisions when the script calls for it and putting action above character development.
The filmmaker also makes more than a few meta references to his own films, which seemed strange and takes you right out of the movie. For example, two police officers’ bond over a scene from Bay’s ‘The Rock,’ and later compare themselves to the characters in ‘Bad Boys.’ The references were probably added as fun Easter eggs, but I found them to be unnecessary and a distraction from the rest of the movie.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an amazingly talented actor and I’ve really enjoyed him in films like ‘Aquaman,’ ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7,’ as well as the HBO mini-series ‘Watchmen.’ But unfortunately, his performance in ‘Ambulance’ does not work for me.
He is introduced as our hero but immediately agrees to rob a bank with his brother, and even though we know that he is doing it to save his wife, he still makes some terrible decisions and causes several crimes. The film wants to wash away his involvement in the bank robbery by the end, so that the character of Will can be the true hero of the movie, but at that point it was too late for me to be able to root for him.
Eiza González in ‘Ambulance,’ directed by Michael Bay. Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Who you do root for in this movie is Eliza Gonzalez’s Cam, who is the true hero of the story and frankly, I would have loved to see a film about just her working as an EMT. She is definitely the breakout star of the movie and is great opposite Gyllenhaal and his frantic energy. The actress does her best to ground the film in some sort of reality, which is no small task considering the outlandishness of the plot.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives a fantastic performance as Danny Sharp, channeling all the crazy energy of Nicolas Cage in ‘Face/Off.’ Gyllenhaal is completely over-the-top, but it works within the parameters of what Bay has created. Again, the problem for me is that I didn’t know who to root for. Danny is clearly the bad guy, but Gyllenhaal is so charismatic compared to Abdul-Mateen II that it’s hard not root for him instead.
Several supporting actors give strong performances, the best coming from Garret Dillahunt who plays police Captain Monroe. Dillahunt is a “that guy” actor and has appeared in countless TV and film projects, so you will recognize him instantly. In a ‘Heat’ analogy, he plays the Al Pacino to Gyllenhaal’s Robert De Niro. Dillahunt has an interesting approach to playing his role that works really well, but unfortunately the character is not given enough screen time.
The same could be said for Keir O’Donnell who gives a very interesting performance as an FBI agent who is also a former friend of Danny Sharp. There is a bit of back and forth between the two characters, but with such an interesting backstory and relationship, again, I wish more time had been invested with this character.
The bank shootout at the beginning of the film is really well choreographed and looks great on screen, but it doesn’t add anything that we didn’t see in Michael Mann’s classic ‘Heat.’ The same can be said for the ambulance chase sequences, which have Bay’s fingerprints all over it, but again, do not add anything that we couldn’t see from watching ‘Speed.’
And if I were to make a ‘Speed’ analogy with this film, I would say that Eliza Gonzalez is really playing the Keanu Reeves role, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Sandra Bullock’s character and Jake Gyllenhaal in the Dennis Hopper part.
In the end, ‘Ambulance’ is a fun and entertaining movie that just leaves you a little empty by its conclusion.
‘Ambulance’ receives 3 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Producer Brad Fischer, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Director/Producer Michael Bay, Eiza González and Jake Gyllenhaal attend Universal Pictures ‘Ambulance’ Premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, CA on Monday, April 4, 2022. Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages.
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Even though there had been talk of follow-up movies in the past, we’re not sure we would have predicted today as the date that a sequel to 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller ‘I am Legend’ would be announced.
‘I am Legend’, in case it has slipped into the cloudy recesses of your memory, saw writers Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich adapting Richard Matheson’s much-praised 1954 novel, which posited a world where a devastating virus (far-fetched, we know) had wiped out almost all of humanity and turned the rest into vampire-like mutants who roam the world looking for victims.
Robert Neville, the focus of the story, goes on a mission to find the scientific basis for the pandemic that caused all this, and chronicles his increasingly stressed encounters with his fellow former humans.
The book was adapted several times into movies, including 1964’s ‘The Last Man on Earth’, 1971’s ‘The Omega Man’ and then the 2007 movie.
In that adaptation, directed by ‘Constantine’s Francis Lawrence, Smith plays Neville, who is an army virologist surviving in a ruined New York and looking to find a cure for the virus that caused all the trouble – which was originally a mutated measles strain intended to cure cancer. His wife and daughter died in a helicopter crash as they attempted to flee a quarantine of Manhattan and Neville has company in the shape of his German Shepherd dog Sam.
Will Smith in 2007’s ‘I Am Legend.’
And so as to avoid spoilers for the film (even if it is 14 years old now), we’ll just say that things don’t go so well for Neville.
Which poses something of a quandary that the new movie would have to address – how does Smith fit into the storyline here? While the movie suggests that Neville’s heroic actions have given new meaning to the title, there’s a chance we’ll see him in flashback to fill in other details of his life before the pandemic and before he confronts his foes.
As for who Jordan might play? He’s not the right fit to be a younger Smith, so perhaps the story will be told from the perspective of a later survivor as the world struggles to get back to normal? What if he was a mutant who was ultimately cured, but must wrangle with what he did in the past?
However it works out, that’s an issue for Goldsman to solve, as he’s back to write the sequel. No director is attached yet.
And Smith posted a teasing image about the project to his Instagram page…
Smith is currently enjoying plenty of Oscar buzz and award wins for his role in ‘King Richard’ and will next be seen in Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Emancipation’. Jordan, meanwhile, is making his directorial debut while also staying in the lead role for ‘Creed III’.
Given that the ‘I Am Legend’ sequel is still at a relatively early stage, there’s no sign of when it might hit theaters.
Directed by Wes Miller (‘Hell on the Border’), the movie centers on disgraced parole officer Connor (Dillon), who is indebted to a local gang leader (Leon Robinson) and forced to pull off a series of dangerous drug heists with his former partner, Mason (Grillo). They have twelve hours to steal the $2 million dollars he owes, rescue his kidnapped pregnant wife (Brooke Butler), and settle a score with the city’s corrupt police chief (Willis), who is working with the gang leader and double-crossed him years ago.
But to most audiences, he is probably best known for two roles, playing Sergeant Leo Barnes in ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ and ‘The Purge: Election Year,’ and portraying Brock “Crossbones” Rumlow in the MCU movies ‘Captain America: The Winter Solider,’ ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
Grillo is the real deal when it comes to action, as he holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and is a former boxer. He is also no stranger to co-staring in a film with Bruce Willis, as ‘A Day to Die’ marks the fourth movie they have made together after ‘Lay the Favorite,’ ‘Cosmic Sin,’ and ‘Reprisal.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking exclusively with Frank Grillo about his work on ‘A Day to Die.’ The actor spoke candidly about the new movie, reuniting with Bruce Willis, their characters, working with Kevin Dillon for the first time, how seriously he takes action-sequences, the importance of safety on the set, the trajectory of his own career, and the possibility of returning to the MCU.
(L to R) Frank Grillo, Kevin Dillon and Leon Robinson in ‘A Day to Die’
Here is what Frank Grillo had to say about ‘A Day to Die.’
Moviefone: To begin with, how did you get involved with this project?
Frank Grillo: Well, my buddy Wes Miller, called me up and said, “I’m sending you the script.” It was in my wheelhouse, and I really love Wes, and always want to support him and do whatever I can to help him make movies. Then he brought in Bruce, who’s a dear friend. And who knows how many more movies Bruce has in him? So, I thought, let me go and have some fun with him.
MF: This is the forth movie that you have made with Bruce Willis. What has your experience been like working with him over the course of these four films?
FG: There’s a few guys in Hollywood that are in the stratosphere as far as movie stars are concerned, and Bruce Willis is one of those guys. But, I think at 64 he’s going to be phasing out of this stuff. But it’s Bruce Willis, you know what I mean? I got to work with guys like Bruce, Liam Neeson, Sylvester Stallone, John Malkovich, and they’re in another league.. It’s just fun to work with them, hang out with them, and listen to the stories. I’m glad he’s a pal. He’s a dear friend. Like I said, I think he’s phasing out of doing these movies at this point.
A lot of these guys are not at the height of their career, obviously, but they are such a big draw. There’s a nostalgic draw to these guys because they remind us of a time when movies were big, and you showed up for the movie star. I think we really show up for the event now with movies, especially that Marvel’s taken over the world. It’s fun to be around them. I just like absorbing their energy, and I’m at the age too where I’m old school, so I can relate to them and they can relate to me. As opposed to the younger generation, which it’s a whole different ball of wax.
MF: Can you talk about your character Mason’s relationship to Alston, the character that Bruce Willis plays. It seems like Mason both admires and resents him at the same time, is that correct?
FG: Yeah. I think as I recall, that’s exactly where it was. I mean, they were two guys who were peers more than anything. There was a mutual respect, as there is with anyone, even with adversaries, especially sometimes. I always use the film ‘Heat’ as a template with a lot of these movies. You look at the relationships, and De Niro and Pacino were on opposite ends of the spectrum, but when they sat down, you understood that they respected each other.
Bruce Willis in ‘A Day to DIe.’
MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing Mason?
FG: He is a guy who, look, nobody ever wants to be the bad guy. You don’t start out in life trying to end up being the bad guy. So, you approach it with, it’s a set of circumstances that now dictate this guy’s behavior, and why he has to do what he has to do. I know a lot of this harkens back to guys who are in the military who have come out, and just have not been treated very well, and have to do what they have to do to get by.
I have a lot of friends that served overseas, special forces, that were really important at one point in their life in what they were doing. Then, they come back here and they have to do jobs, and they’re not respected here the way they were. Or they’re not really using their intelligence and their abilities, what they trained their whole life to do. So, they find different ways to make a living, and make up for what they think they’re not getting.
MF: That was an interesting aspect to the film. Is that a theme that spoke to you, because as you said, you have friends who have been through that?
FG: Yeah. It’s that whole thing of what this country does with our veterans. We tend to push them to the side. Many times it’s degrading and it’s embarrassing for these guys to come back here, and just not be treated the way they should be treated and taken care of.
MF: Can you talk about why Mason is so willing to help Connor in this situation? Is it because they have a deep bond from their time serving in the military together?
FG: Yeah. That’s what it is. It’s one for all, and all for one. When a brother is down and needs help, you don’t worry about your own self-preservation, that’s not what these guys do. They’d all be dead if that was the case. If one is down, you go in, and you need to take care of whatever you need to take care of to save that person. That’s what this was about, it’s like, we’re here to die for you.
MF: Tell us about working with Kevin Dillon. Had you ever met or worked with him before making this movie?
FG: I haven’t. I’ve always been a fan of Kevin from ‘Entourage,’ and some other things. When they first mentioned his name, I was like, “Wow, I don’t see that. I don’t see Kevin as that guy.” I almost said, “Is this going to work?” Then Wes said, “Why don’t just go hang out with him, and talk to him for a while.” I went and sat down with him, and I thought, it’s cool to go against type here, and not have the basic, video game, tough guy, paramilitary dude, because Kevin’s not that guy. It worked really well, I think. I believed him.
Kevin Dillon in ‘A Day to Die.’
MF: It’s interesting you say that, because if they had cast you as Connor, it would have been a totally different movie.
FG: They wanted to, they asked me to do it. I only worked on the movie for a couple days because I was doing another film, and I really wanted to be able to help Wes out. So, I wanted to go in there and do as good as I could in the short amount of time that I had. But they asked me to play that role, and for me, that’s like falling off a log. It’s so easy to do that, and you expect that from me. It’s better that Kevin did it, because it’s a different way to cast the movie.
MF: You have a background in boxing and martial arts, and I know you have a lot of experience with weapons training as well. With a project like this, where you have so many action sequences, how involved do you get with the stunt coordinators? Do you help choreograph your own action scenes?
FG: Well, I just finished a film, and I’m about to go do a film, which is like a ‘Bourne Identity,’ and yeah, I’m very involved. So, in anything that I do that I’m on screen, I choreograph with the stunt coordinator, and who’s ever on the fight team. So, it’s my dance, and I’m very specific about how I want to look in the film. I never want to look cinematic, I like to be very authentic with all that stuff, with the action and with the fighting specifically, because it’s a whole language unto itself.
I watch movies where there’s these crazy fights, but I don’t believe any of the fights. It’s just like when I watch bad acting, and I don’t believe the acting. So, to come back around for the answer, I’m very involved in all of it, including the weapons that I hold.
MF: I would imagine safety is a priority to you as well on the set, is that right?
FG: Oh my God. Yes! Before any of this happened, the unfortunate events with Alec Baldwin. I mean, if you knew the people that I’ve worked with, you could ask them. I am a maniac about it. I mean, safety to me is paramount. Not only for myself and watching out that I don’t get hurt, because my livelihood is on the line, but for other people. I won’t allow it.
I’ll take the brunt of the producer’s anger. I say to them all time, blame me, let them come to my trailer. I’ll have the conversation. Usually they acquiesce, because as we’ve seen, a lot of these movies are low budget, and there’s less time than you actually need to do it, that’s when people get hurt. The other side of that is, I’ve done four Marvel movies where you have all the time in the world, and all the prep. I act as if every movie is a Marvel movie, because they do it right.
Kevin Dillon in ‘A Day to DIe.’
MF: Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is introducing the idea of the multiverse and different variants of different characters, as seen in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and the upcoming ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ what are the chances of you returning to the MCU is a different version of Brock “Crossbones” Rumlow?
FG: Oh, listen, I would go. I have three sons, one of them is 14, who is a fanatic about Marvel, and in comic book movies in general. But I always say this, I would jump at the chance to go and play with those guys and do anything. For me, anything I can do that my kid digs, is something I want to do. Listen, it’s helped my career immensely, globally, and I’m so appreciative of it. Anytime they call, I’ll pick up the phone and go.
MF: As an actor, you must have learned so much just from being a part of the “Marvel Machine.” Are you impressed with what Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have been able to accomplish with this series over the years?
FG: I mean, I started out in ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier,’ when Marvel was just getting going. Kevin Feige was just another guy who was a comic book geek and was running the studio. They hired these goofy guys called the RussoBrothers, and lo and behold, that was Marvel. So, when I went and did that little piece on Avengers: Endgame, I was there for a couple weeks. I was like, wow, look at this. Kevin Feige has emerged as one of, if not the smartest brain in Hollywood, I think. His track record is unparalleled. He’s the Tom Brady of the movie business.
MF: Finally, what projects do you have coming up that your fans can look forward to?
I’ve got a few movies coming out, and I probably have six movies that I’m going to go do. People laugh at me all the time, and I know sometimes even online, they make fun of me. It’s like, I like to work! I’m not curating my career. I’m not Brad Pitt. I’m not getting the best of the best of the best, where I can pick one, make $20 million and wait till next year.
It’s like, I make a good living, but I’ve got to work. I’ve got to hustle. So that’s why my name is in the trades every third week. People think my God, don’t you ever stop? I’m like, I do stop. But I also do love to work. I mean, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to do this, that people are going to be hiring me. So, I love to work. I really enjoy it. It’s the most satisfying thing that I do aside from raising my children. I’ll do it as much as I want.
I’m always curious how other people are judging me and asking me why I work so much. I’m like, what a silly question. A, I need to make a living. B, I love it, and I don’t consider it work. So, actors wait their whole life to get into a position where there’s a number of jobs in front of them. Again, I don’t know when it’s going to stop, but it’s going to stop. Then I can go, I remember when I used to work all the time, that was fun.
