The first trailer for the James Mangold-directed “Ford v. Ferrari” is here and it’s got all the speed, machismo and explosions you might hope for. For an Oscar-caliber-type movie, that is.
Matt Damon plays visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby, who is approached by Ford exec Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) to build a car that can beat Italian racing legend Enzo Ferrrari’s cars at Le Mans in France in 1966.
Christian Bale is hotheaded British driver Ken Miles, who isn’t exactly on board the project at first. If you ever wanted to see a movie where Bale punches Damon in the face, here you go.
Borrowing a page from Martin Scorsese, the trailer is scored to The Rolling Stones classic “Gimme Shelter” (which, by the way, is from 1969).
Great lines include Tracy Letts (as Henry Ford II) telling Damon “Go to war,” and Damon announcing, “We’re gonna make history.”
20th Century Fox also announced that the first trailer for the movie will debut Sunday night during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
The story is set during the 1966’s “24 Hours of Le Mans” race in France: Damon stars as American car designer Carroll Shelby who is tasked by Henry Ford himself to build a revolutionary car that could defeat Ferrari in the famous race. Bale plays fearless British racer Ken Miles, who’s behind the wheel of the newly designed car.
A film about Shelby and Miles has been in the works for years, with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt at one point attached to star. (Sorry, Cruise fans, you’ll just have to go rewatch “Days of Thunder.”)
“Ford v Ferrari” was initially set for a summer release, but Fox (which is now owned by Disney) pushed the film to a more awards-friendly November 15.
We imagine the race will also be between which actor gets more screen time, and who is positioned for Lead vs. Supporting Actor.
When it first hit theaters, “Terminator Salvation” provided a grim view of humanity’s future. Now that the movie has been out for ten years, it instead showcases a past that never came to be. That’s the funny thing about this time travel-obsessed franchise. Celebrate the tenth anniversary of this reboot with some interesting facts you might not know about the making of “Terminator Salvation.”
1. While he wasn’t directly involved with the reboot, James Cameron consulted with director McG about “Salvation,” recommending both actor Sam Worthington and art director Martin Laing.
2. The plot was much different in earlier drafts of the screenplay, with John Connor himself not appearing until late in the film. Christian Bale was initially approached to play Marcus Wright, but after he expressed more interest in the John Connor role, the story was altered to focus more heavily on him.
3. “Salvation” proved to be the final film legendary special effects artist Stan Winston worked on before his death in 2008.
4. According to Bale, “The Dark Knight” co-writer Jonathan Nolan was called in to significantly rework the script. Unfortunately, because of the 2007 WGA strike, most of Nolan’s ideas never made it into the final version.
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5. This is the only “Terminator” movie not to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger as the iconic T-800. Schwarzengger’s likeness was digitally recreated for the T-800’s debut scene, but Schwarzenegger himself (then serving as governor of California) declined to participate in the film.
6. Salvation is also the first “Terminator” movie to not use time travel as a plot device and the first to feature John Connor and his father Kyle Reese in the same scene together.
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7. There’s a reason Michael Ironside’s character General Ashdown never sits down in the movie. Ironside broke several vertebrae in an accident shortly before filming and was in intense pain.
8. While the audio recordings of Sarah Connor feature the same dialogue from the original “The Terminator,” the recordings themselves were done specifically for “Salvation.” Linda Hamilton re-recorded the lines in an uncredited cameo role.
9. “Salvation” was intended to serve as the start of a new trilogy of “Terminator” movies. However, those plans were cut short after The Halcyon Company filed for bankruptcy and the franchise rights were sold to Pacificor.
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10. At the time of release, “Salvation” was the most expensive independently financed film ever released, with a budget of nearly $200 million.
11. A leaked early draft of the screenplay featured a very different ending. Rather than Marcus sacrificing his life and giving John his cybernetic heart, that version ended with John dying and the Resistance transplanting his skin onto Marcus’ body, allowing Marcus to trick the world into believing the leader of the Resistance is still alive.
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12. In response to that leak, McG revealed an even darker alternate ending that very nearly wound up in the final version. This version of the movie ended with John’s body being taken over by Skynet after his heart transplant, forcing him to murder his fellow Resistance members.
13. Though “Salvation” never got any film sequels, its story was expanded upon in several comic books, novels and even an animated web series. Most notably, the comic book series “Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle” serves as a direct sequel to the movie.
“Vice” has a bangin’ new poster and official trailer touting Dick Cheney as “The Man.”
Christian Bale did one of his trademark transformations to play Cheney, vice president to POTUS George W. Bush, played here by Sam Rockwell.
Amy Adams — in her third movie with Bale — plays Dick Cheney’s wife Lynne. Steve Carell plays Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Here’s the synopsis for the dark comedy:
“VICE explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.”
Christian Bale has undergone yet another complete physical makeover, this time to play former vice president Dick Cheney in the upcoming biopic “Vice.” And while we’ve seen some paparazzi shots of the actor’s stunning transformation, we now have our first official photos of Bale in character as Cheney — and they’re nothing short of incredible.
The images, debuted by Vanity Fair, reveal Cheney at two distinct points in his life, which bookend the film. Though not many details about the flick have been released so far, it’s said to have a comedic tone, and center on Cheney’s role as the man who shaped George W. Bush’s presidency.
It’s pretty hard to deny Bale’s resemblance to the former VP (thanks to both the actor’s physical work, as well as that of many talented hairstylists and makeup artists — who really do deserve their moment in the spotlight come Oscars time, by the way). And if the Oscar winner’s past performances are any indication, he’s likely to nail Cheney’s voice and mannerisms, too.
We’re set to get a full trailer tomorrow, but director Adam McKay shared a short tease to whet audiences’ appetites. It features brief glimpses of other actors as famous real-life figures, including Sam Rockwell (playing a very convincing W) and Amy Adams (as Cheney’s wife, Lynne).
Hey, remember those photos of Christian Bale‘s latest physical transformation — the ones that became dad bod memes? That’s for his role as former Vice President Dick Cheney in the upcoming Adam McKay film.
That film — formerly “Untitled Dick Cheney Project” — is now officially called “Vice.”
The movie will open in theaters on Christmas Day this year. If you’re thinking Oscars, you’re probably right.
The first trailer is coming this Wednesday, October 3, giving us the first official look at the star-studded cast in action.
That cast includes Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, marking a reunion with Bale after “The Fighter” and “American Hustle.” The film also marks a reunion for Bale and his “The Big Short” director McKay.
“VICE explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.”
As a sidenote, this story has nothing to do with Batman other than Christian Bale. But 1) we needed a photo, and 2) we miss Bale as Batman. Considering the reports about Ben Affleck leaving, it’s not too late to make that $100 million rumor true…
The Dark Knight is the comic book hero we need and deserve right now.
Its been ten years since “The Dark Knight” changed the way we watch and make movies, and while Batman has had some very public post-Nolan ups and downs (wave to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“), the Caped Crusader is still someone fans can’t wait to see on the big screen. Unless, you know, it’s “BvS.” Or “Justice League.”
As Matt Reeves gears up for yet another iteration of Batman on the big screen, here’s proof that we will never get tired of this hero.
What the Joker said to Batman in regards to the vigilante normalizing “pancaking cars” on the nightly news for Gotham City also applies to the movie he said it in. “The Dark Knight” is one of two big culprits from 2008 that we can blame for our current multiplex landscape being flooded with one comic book movie after another.
For the last decade, superhero films have become big business, turning the dreams of Comic-Con Hall H attendees into cash-minting realities. Some blockbusters have been must-see (2012’s “The Avengers“), some have been wish-we-never-saw (2017’s “Justice League.”) All, however, point to Hollywood’s decade-old feeding frenzy on any IP that can chase “The Dark Knight’s” tail and, hopefully, recreate its critical and box office (mostly box office) success. But Christopher Nolan‘s seminal film wasn’t alone in lighting the fuse on this explosion of bringing comics to the big screen. The other culprit we mentioned? Marvel’s “Iron Man.”
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Opening May 2008 — two months before “TDK” — “Iron Man” turned a B-lister on Marvel’s hero roster into, well, IRON MAN. You can’t think of the Avenger without also thinking of the actor who played him, Robert Downey, Jr. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a character and performance that fully formed so early on, right out of the gate.
“Iron Man” was a hit that paved the way for the great experiment that was/is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU is a household name — many of its films are staring at me from my DVD shelf as I write this on my couch. The adventures of Captain America, Thor, a sentient tree with a limited vocabulary, and, yes, even a gun-toting, talking space raccoon have further evolved the landscape, forcing Hollywood to bend to both its will and ways of franchising by way of shared universe.
“The Dark Knight,” on its tenth anniversary, stands out in sharp contrast to Marvel’s way of doing things. It is, by design, a standalone entry that functions within a larger tapestry beholden to the whims of one man: Nolan.
As much as Warner Bros. tried to steer their slate of DC films toward a more Marvel-way of doing things in the early days — starting with a Wayne Enterprises logo appearing on a satellite in “Man of Steel” — they had to first contend with Nolan wrapping up his Batman arc the way he intended. That meant that the more fantastical DC heroes like Superman and Aquaman — heroes DC and WB have been trying to make happen with varying degrees of success — had no place in Nolan’s gritty and grounded take on the DCU. Nolan’s vision for DC’s most popular hero was impenetrable; a luxury the filmmaker could afford in a pre-“Avengers” world. (And one he would now, at the very least, receive some push back on.)
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Efforts to bring Nolan on to help “godfather” the next chapter of DC’s movie efforts — the DC Extended Universe (yawn) — resulted in some behind-the-scenes oversight in the making of 2013’s “Man of Steel.” Outside bringing in his brother, “Dark Knight” cowriter and “Westworld” co-creator Jonathan Nolan, Christopher basically served as an “in-name only” executive producer. (Much to the chagrin of DC fans.)
The type of success (or lack thereof) that experiment yielded was a very public and pricey “cutting off their nose to spite their face” mess for both DC and Warner Bros. It’s horse-before-the-cart blockbuster filmmaking; WB announced a slate of several films between 2013 and 2020 that, now, are huge maybes or afterthoughts at best. They wanted Marvel’s success, but were unable or unwilling to follow the steps to get there — or risk being accused of copying if they did.
As a result, Marvel’s continued success sent WB shareholders into a tizzy, resulting in too many executives helicopter mom-ing over “BvS,” which lead to the movie being the misfire that it became. (But at least we got a “Wonder Woman” out of it.) Fans have suffered through Warner and DC’s very public attempts to get their sh** together and their house in order — which, so far, seems to have resulted in less streamlining, more mess: How many Joker movies are in development? Is Ben Affleck out as Batman? Does anyone care about any DC movie other than “Wonder Woman 1984?”
In the ten years since “TDK” changed how movies are made, it’s held up pretty well in the face of Marvel’s takeover of the genre. If anything, the MCU has impacted post-“Dark Knight” and “Dark Knight Rises” plans heavily, especially without a filmmaker powerhouse like Chris Nolan to provide the stories under scrutiny the air cover only an 800 lb. gorilla like that can.
As a movie, as a pure cinematic experience, “The Dark Knight” is second-to-none compared to Marvel’s run of films. It has what even Marvel’s best movies seem to lack or not really care to have — weighty, thematic storylines to thread around and through all the action-y tentpoles and set pieces. And that’s more than okay, Marvel! You do you.
What “Dark Knight” did is prove to Hollywood what most of us already took to be self-evident: comic book movies can be about something. “Dark Knight” is a crime drama about heroes and villains and the increasingly blurred lines separating the two — and the cost of being the person who takes it upon himself to sort all that out. It just happens to star Batman and the Joker.
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Equal parts Michael Mann’s “Heat” and borderline Greek tragedy, “Dark Knight” feels relatively small-scale in terms of trailer-moment-friendly action scenes. The film’s biggest action-y set piece, outside of Bat-pod vs. semi truck, comes in the overlong third act, where Batman dangles some of GCPD’s finest — and Joker — from an under-construction building while using the bat sonar from “Batman Forever.” That’s all intercut in part with the ferry sequence, where one boat literally holds the fate of the other in the palm of their hand via bomb detonator. And that all leads to the mostly-verbal showdown between Batman, Two-Face, and Jim Gordon, which results in one of the most satisfying, fist-pumping, “eff yeah!” movie endings/last shots in the history of filmmaking.
So no sky portals spewing alien armies. No Infinity Stones. Just two or three people in a room, talking.
In Nolan’s movie, ideas are weapons. Words artillery. And the ensuing thematic barrage results in emotional tragedy that forever resonates for the human beings wearing capes or hiding behind war paint and scars. No Marvel movie, not even the ambitious and, from an early-MCU-days storytelling perspective, very evolved “Infinity War” has come halfway close to pulling off the complex and thematically-charged storytelling we witnessed here for the first time ten years ago.
In a pop-culture where Marvel’s movie Phases and shared universes are king, “The Dark Knight” is an anomaly. A rebel. It is, to paraphrase Joker, “the immovable object” standing against “the unstoppable force.” Ironically, this movie now arguably represents the very chaos its titular character combats.
“TDK’s” plot has some loose threads one may not want to pull on (Joker spent how many months setting up citywide “Saw”-like traps and ALL of them went according to plan? A plan made by an “agent of chaos” who rallies against having one? ). Despite logic issues like that, the movie still works. It’s a scary-good delivery system for serious-minded escapist fare.
Marvel movies are a lot of fun, and can get you right in the feels (RIP, Phil Coulson, Loki, and Peggy). “The Dark Knight, ” though, it sticks with you. It changes you. Forever.
In honor of Christopher Nolan‘s groundbreaking comic book movie celebrating its 10th anniversary on July 18, Warner Bros. announced that the blockbuster film will have a limited one-week engagement in select 70mm IMAX theaters starting Aug. 24.
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 20 and fans can see the iconic movie at the following locations: AMC Universal Citywalk IMAX, Universal City, AMC Lincoln Square IMAX, New York City, AMC Metreon IMAX, San Francisco, and Ontario Place Cinesphere IMAX, Toronto.
“The Dark Knight” hit theaters ten years ago today, with a then-record opening weekend of $158.4 million. It would go on to earn $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Heath Ledger‘s iconic performance as the Joker earned Oscar-buzz early on, leading to a posthumous Best Supporting Actor win. The film took home two Oscars, the other was for Best Sound Mixing, while scoring eight nominations in total. The face-palm that was “Dark Knight” failing to score a must-deserved Best Picture nomination lead to the Academy broadening the number of films that could be nominated in that category.
Nolan shot select scenes in the IMAX format, pioneering the trend for other Hollywood blockbusters to follow. (Most recently, “Avengers: Infinity War” — and its sequel — were shot entirely with IMAX cameras.)
The Dark Knight is the comic book hero we need and deserve right now.
