The new film doesn’t yet have an announced title, but Deadline has learned some information about it; written by the director, it’ll reportedly will revolve around two extraction specialists who must plan an escape path for a high-level female negotiator. And while the subject sounds serious, Ritchie has apparently laced the story with humor.
We also know the main cast: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza González are all on board to star in the movie, which is set to kick off shooting in Spain this summer.
Here’s what Ritchie had to say about his choices:
“There’s something special that happens when you collaborate with the same partners regularly: you build a shorthand and a trust that lets everybody do their best work. Jake, Henry and Eiza are all astonishingly talented, committed, and engaging actors. This is going to be an action-packed movie that is both intellectually stimulating and physically exhilarating.”
And this is just the latest project that represents Ritchie drawing from the pool of people he’s worked with before. Gyllenhaal, of course, was the lead in war drama ‘The Covenant’, which was in theaters just last month. Cavill and González, meanwhile, are part of the sprawling cast for ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’, which also features Alan Ritchson, Cary Elwes, Alex Pettyfer, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Freddie Fox.
That movie’s screenplay, by Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson (who wrote the original script and pitched it to producer Jerry Bruckheimer back in 2015), Ritchie and Arash Amel, is based on war correspondent and military historian Damien Lewis’ popular book of the same name.
(L to R) Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer in film ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,’ directed by Guy Ritchie.
The movie, inspired by real events, will chart British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s and James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s secret World War II combat organization. The clandestine squad’s unconventional and entirely ‘ungentlemanly’ fighting techniques against the Nazis helped change the course of the war and in part gave birth to the modern Black Ops unit.
Cavill, of course, has a connection with the director that goes even further, since he co-starred in 2015’s ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’.
Also on Ritchie’s schedule? Overseeing post-production on ‘The Gentlemen’ the spin-off TV series from his eponymous 2019 crime caper.
With the new movie at a very early stage, there’s no release date set yet, but the distribution rights are on sale now at the Cannes Film Market (should anyone have a spare few million dollars lying around). ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’, meanwhile, should be out next year.
Now available on digital and VOD is the new Watergate scandal comedy ’18 ½,’ which was directed by Dan Mirvish (‘Between Us’).
Set in 1974, the new movie stars Willa Fitzgerald as Connie, a White House transcriber who discovers the missing 18 ½ minutes from President Nixon’s infamous tapes. Scared for her life, and unsure of what to do, Connie turns to Paul (‘The Big Short‘s John Magaro), a local newspaper reporter trying to expose the President.
Actress Willa Fitzgerald has appeared in such films as ‘Freak Show,’ ‘Blood Money,’ and ‘ The Goldfinch,’ as well as TV shows like ‘Gotham,’ ‘Scream,’ and ‘Billions.’
But she is probably best known for role as Roscoe Conklin on the first season of Prime Video’s hit series ‘Reacher,’ which stars Alan Ritchson.
Moviefone recently had the chance to speak with Willa Fitzgerald about making ‘18 ½,’ her knowledge of the Watergate Scandal, and working with John Magaro, as well as her experience on ‘Reacher’ and if she will return to the series in the future.
(L to R) Willa Fitzgerald in ’18 1/2.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Willa Fitzgerald and John Magaro about ’18 ½.’
Moviefone: To begin with, how did you get involved with this project and what was your first reaction to this Watergate comedy?
Willa Fitzgerald: I got sent the script quite a long time before I even got the job. I had a meeting with Dan Mirvish a year before we shot it. I feel like as an actor, I’m always drawn to scripts that are contained in the way that ‘18 ½’ is. It’s very few characters, very few locations, and it reads on the page almost like a play.
I also really loved how it took the constraints of a low budget indie and made them into really interesting choices on the page for how to deal with an extended fight scene, or just a lack of a lot of supporting characters. I always find that to be a really fun challenge.
MF: How much did you know about the Watergate scandal before you did research for this movie, and in your opinion, what is it about that event that has kept Americans fascinated with it for 50 years now?
WF: I knew about Watergate, insofar as I knew about the things that I had been taught in school and the little bit extra beyond that. I think there’s just been a renewed cultural interest in Watergate. I think that’s because of the political instability in our country again. I think there’s always an inclination to look to the past to understand the present, and Watergate kind of pales in comparison to a lot of the stuff that we’re hearing about at the January 6th hearing right now. But I think that long before January 6th even happened, we were thinking about Watergate because we were thinking about what it means to have the highest office in the country suddenly under intense scrutiny.
I think what this movie does really well is that it leaves it up to the audience, what they take away from what the movie’s saying, what we’re saying as artists, and it gives the viewer this almost ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sort of romp through the imagined version of this 18 ½ minute gap. I think that’s a cool way of engaging with something that we’ve seen so much about. I mean, there’s been so many Watergate projects just in the past several years.
(L to R) John Magaro and Willa Fitzgerald in ’18 1/2.’
MF: Can you describe Connie, your approach to playing her, and what is she looking to get out of this whole situation?
WF: I love Connie. I feel like I’ve gotten the opportunity to play a lot of intelligent women, and Connie is certainly an intelligent woman. I was really interested when I was reading the script and thinking about the ways in which, as a woman in the seventies, she was confined to a certain level. She couldn’t ever quite get beyond the level of the transcriber that she was, it was kind of the top of the ladder for her as a woman at the time.
I think that there’s a lot of interesting stuff in her backstory as someone who once supported the administration, who believed in the administration, who then has this crisis of faith in the administration, reaches her own personal tipping point and then makes a radical decision. All of that backstory was really interesting to me in the actual playing of her as a character.
MF: Can you talk about Connie and Paul’s relationship and working with John Magaro?
WF: John Magaro is great. I really had a fantastic time working with John. I think that there’s this interesting constant suspicion, reevaluation, questioning of the other’s intentions in a lot of ways, and it’s just like the beginning of any romantic relationship. But then with the additional stakes of the world that those characters are occupying, it made it really fun to explore those tropes with the heightened background of the character’s worlds.
I think that one of my favorite scenes is that first scene at the diner, they’re kind of really figuring each other out and getting to know each other. I think it’s such a fun introduction to both of those characters and the ways that their minds work, which are so different.
(L to R) John Magaro and Willa Fitzgerald in ’18 1/2.’
MF: There is a fantastic fight scene at the end of the film that is presented as one continuous shot. Can you talk about how you shot that scene?
WF: I mean, we did do a lot of it in chunks. It’s a very long scene. There are tricks to a continuous shot, and you just find things that you pass over (with the camera) and then you’re suddenly in a different take, but you don’t know it. That’s the trick of stitching that together. We had limited time, we’re a small movie, so it all did move quite quickly.
I kind of love that scene because it’s so weird and I’ve never seen anything like that in a movie before. I think it’s such an interesting way of having a fight scene, which largely takes place off camera, while you’re listening to this huge delivery of information and climactic moment of what these characters have been trying to find out the whole time.
MF: What was your experience like working with director Dan Mirvish?
WF: Dan is a veteran, he has certainly been so deeply enmeshed in the indie film scene. It’s no surprise to me that he is inventive in those ways, because necessity is the mother of invention. When you have a small film that you’re making, it’s just one constraint after the next, whether it’s what days you have availability to shoot or when you can be at a location. There’re just a million things that can go wrong and they often do, and you have to work with all of those constraints.
MF: Finally, what was the ‘Reacher’ experience like for you, and were you surprised by how many people binged the show during the pandemic?
WF: It’s a great show. I think it was really what audiences were looking for. I think it’s actually funny. I remember earlier in the pandemic, everyone was like, “No one’s going to make a pandemic show. No one is going to make something really dark.” I feel like of late, actually a lot of the shows that are on television right now are quite dark and apocalyptic. There’s a lot of resonance to our current situation in a lot of the television that’s being put out there, and a lot of the good television that’s being put out there.
I think ‘Reacher’ was kind of a real break in that stylistic genre choice that was being made. I think that’s probably why people kind of responded to it so positively, it was just like this total departure from what else was available. I mean, it was a great show to be a part of, it’s such a genre piece. At the same time, it spans so many different genres. It was just fun. I loved doing something in the action world. It was great and Alan’s wonderful.
MF: Will you be returning for season 2 of ‘Reacher?’
WF: I will not be in the next season. I can tell you that. But you never know what’s going to happen.
(L-R): Willa Fitzgerald (Roscoe Conklin), and Alan Ritchson (Jack Reacher) in Prime Video’s ‘Reacher.’ Photo: Shane Mahood. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
HmvC86EHG6qCsvFD22PHt2
Rita Moreno in the documentary ‘Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.’
In keeping with how most people find out about anything ‘Fast & Furious’, the most recent – and potentially most exciting – piece of casting news comes courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram.
The enthusiastic actor/producer hit social media with a video announcing that none other than Oscar winner and acting legend Rita Moreno is aboard ‘Fast X’, joining the ever-growing ensemble as Dominic Toretto’s (Diesel) grandmother.
“It’s been my dream forever to work with Rita Moreno, and the fact that she’s here playing my grandmother makes my soul smile,” Diesel says in the video.
“I think my old age was waiting for you to ask me, isn’t that nice, and I’m here, the answer is yes, I’ll do it, and not only I’ll do it, I am tickled,” Moreno responds.
It’s a lovefest! Which is in stark contrast to some of the other videos shot on set of the movie, with uncomfortable-looking co-stars (and former director Justin Lin) appearing to resent having to show up on camera with Diesel.
Casting Moreno represents just the latest addition to the ‘Fast’ team for this new movie, which has already seen the likes of Brie Larson, Jason Momoa, Daniela Melchior and ‘Reacher’s Alan Ritchson making their debut in the franchise.
In addition to the regulars, ‘The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood (as the government agent codenamed Little Nobody) plus ‘F9’s Michael Rooker (as mechanic/Toretto family friend Buddy) and Cardi B (as paramilitary leader Leysa) are also all back in the fold.
Moreno, of course, needs little introduction. An actor with decades of experience, she’s also known for her singing and dancing skills. She won an Oscar for her performance as Anita in 1961’s ‘West Side Story’, and notched acclaim for appearing in Steven Spielberg’s version of the same movie last year, albeit playing a different role. She’s also an “EGOT” – having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. And now she could be up for the MTV Movie Awards as Coolest Granny On Film.
She’s someone Diesel has been trying to get on board for a while now. Interviewed by Variety last year, the actor and Lin discussed the idea of Dom’s mother showing up but pivoted to talk of his grandmother. “Before we get to Mother Toretto, we will get to Abuela,” Diesel says. “And the person that I’m so excited to talk about that role is Rita Moreno.’”
For her part, Moreno seemed up for it at the time. “I’m waiting for his call,” she laughed. “I think it’s a fabulous idea. I hope he puts me in black leather…” Let’s see if that last part comes true!
‘Fast X’ has had to weather some recent drama, with Lin stepping away from the movie, to be replaced by Louis Leterrier. The switch has caused a brief shutdown in production, but the movie is back up and shooting now.
With luck, ‘Fast X’ will still be speeding into theaters on May 19th next year.
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
PeUoT2JG3jB1iiHmbfYgB2
(L to R) Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood in 2015’s ‘The Longest Ride.’
Having seemingly sped around (or, given this franchise, though) its director departure roadblock, the Fast & Furious’ franchise is well and truly back in high gear. The latest installment, ‘Fast X’ is recruiting from among its deep bench of previous cast members, as Scott Eastwood will return for the new movie.
Eastwood appeared in ‘Fate of the Furious’, the eighth installment, directed by F. Gary Gray and released in 2017. His character was a rule-following government agent who is frequently seen with his boss, Mr. Nobody, a shady manipulator played by Kurt Russell.
Does this mean that Russell – whose character was briefly a plot point in last year’s ‘F9: The Fast Saga’ – will also return? No one is saying yet. But you wouldn’t be wrong if you started speculating that the slick Nobody could once again feature.
Speculation is pretty much all we have at this point when it comes to the plot of ‘Fast X’. With Louis Leterrier now on board to direct, the story will likely see Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto and the rest of the ‘Fast’ family tackling another big threat from the likes of Charlize Theron’s calculating Cipher.
Alongside Diesel, the returning cast also includes such core names as Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Sung Kang. Michael Rooker as mechanic and Toretto family friend Buddy) and Cardi B (as paramilitary leader Leysa) are reportedly back from ‘F9’. Given Buddy’s presence, that could point to redeemed villain John Cena’s Jakob Toretto also popping up, but the ‘Fast’ team have revealed nothing about his possible appearance.
(L to R) Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Jason Statham in ‘The Fate of the Furious.’
While Justin Lin left the director’s job a couple of weeks into shooting over creative and script differences, he’s still attached as a producer and wrote the screenplay with Dan Mazeau (though we’re fairly certain it has since gone through some changes).
Eastwood, who followed his famous father into the film business, is best known for movies including ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘The Longest Ride’. He was most recently seen in Prime Video’s romantic comedy ‘I Want You Back’. Along with ‘Fast X’, he’s also filming LA riots drama ‘April 29, 1992’, in which a shopkeeper must save his son from an angry mob in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.
Despite the delays, it seems that ‘Fast X’ is still on track to make it into theaters on May 19th next year. It’ll be followed by a second movie, which will wrap up both the story of these last two entries and, according to Diesel, bring the franchise as a whole to a close. At least until the various spin-offs start their engines…
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
As with all the other casting announcements, we don’t yet know what Ritchson will be doing in the movie – whether he’ll be riding alongside Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his team, or joining the side of the villains, which in this case are represented by a returning Charlize Theron as Cipher, joined by Jason Momoa’s mysterious character.
Most of the news about the new movie has been mixed – director Justin Lin left after roughly two weeks’ worth of filming, citing the industry-standard “creative differences” which have reportedly included clashes with Diesel (who is a controlling producer on the movies and sees himself as their guardian as well as their star) and the studio on scripts.
Alan Ritchson in Prime Video’s ‘Jack Reacher.’
The differences are all the more surprising since Lin is A) a veteran shepherd of the movies, having directed several of them and B) one of the credited writers on the current film’s script alongside Dan Mazeau. He’s still involved as a producer.
Ritchson feels like he could fit into the movie without much hassle – he’s used to getting into fights on screen and there’s always some muscular rumbling to be found amidst the speedy action. Yet will he make his mark and stick around, or be reduced to a one-and-done (so far) like Scott Eastwood?
Aside from ‘Reacher’, Ritchson was previously known for playing Gloss in ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ and for donning performance capture gear to bring Raphael to life in the two recent live action/CGI ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ movies.
He’s also stepped behind the camera to write and direct last year’s ‘Dark Web: Cicada 3301’.
Ritchson has been at work on new, based-on-truth drama ‘Ordinary Angels’, in which he’ll appear opposite Hilary Swank. That movie doesn’t yet have a release date listed.
‘Fast X’, meanwhile, assuming the director swap hasn’t impacted its schedule too much, will be driving in theaters on May 19th next year.
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
PeUoT2JG3jB1iiHmbfYgB2
