Moviefone Editorial

Tag: gary-oldman

  • Everything We Know About the ‘Fifth Element’ Sequel That Never Was

    This year marks the 20th anniversary of “The Fifth Element,” French visionary Luc Besson‘s whirligig sci-fi epic about a cab driver (Bruce Willis) who befriends and falls in love with a space deity (Milla Jovovich) and ends up saving the galaxy and defeating a truly over-the-top baddie (Gary Oldman, naturally). It was a movie that seemingly came out of nowhere but was instantly embraced, if not widely than by a certain type of filmgoer that responded to its unusual and enchanting blend of comic book aesthetics, broad humor, thrilling action set pieces, and colorful characters. Two decades in, it’s hard not to think of it as a lovably goofy, ahead-of-its-time masterpiece.

    But the question remains: Why hasn’t there ever been a proper sequel to the film?

    The legend goes that Luc Besson started working on what would end up being “The Fifth Element” back when he was 15. By the time he had finished making “Atlantis,” his gorgeous and elliptical documentary about oceans, his script had ballooned to 400 pages. While Besson developed the visual look of the film, production halted in 1992. Besson went on to make “Leon: The Professional” in the interim and following the release of that film, he worked to streamline the ungainly sci-fi project to something more manageable (and attractive for big movie stars). Obviously, he pared down the script and even scored Willis, who Besson had courted during the first iteration of the movie, to star. But what became of all that additional material?When Besson made the press rounds for “The Fifth Element,” he casually mentioned a sequel or follow-up. The movie that the filmmaker had just completed was the first half of that massive script; the sequel would be the second half. Somewhere along the way it even got a name: “Mr. Shadow” (named after the malevolent force that threatened all mankind in “The Fifth Element”).

    In 1998, during the nascent days of the Internet rumor mill, it was reported that Bruce Willis had signed on for the follow-up and Mira Sorvino was also interested in a role. (Sorvino wound up in his 2001 martial arts thriller “Kiss of the Dragon,” which Besson co-wrote and produced.) For his part, Besson was hard at work on his follow up (with “Fifth Element” co-star and then-wife Milla Jovovich). In a 2011 interview with Moviefone, Besson said he had no interest in doing a sequel and in a Reddit AMA in 2013 he said that any talk of a sequel was just a “rumor.”

    I talked to him that same year about a potential “Fifth Element” follow-up and he told me: “‘The Fifth Element’ … I was a little bit frustrated because I made the film right before all the new effects arrived. So when I did the film it was all blue screen, six hours, dots on the wall, takes forever to do one shot. Now, basically, you put the camera on your shoulder and then you run and then you add a couple of dinosaurs and spaceships. And I was so frustrated because it was not so easy at the time. So I always think to myself that I would avenge one day and use all the new tools to do a sci-fi film for sure.”

    When I pressed him as to whether this sci-fi film would have any direct connection to “The Fifth Element,” he demurred: “I don’t know if it would be directly connected but it would be the same area and the same genre. So for me it would be connected even if the stories had nothing to do with each other.” (Also worth noting: Besson and the movie’s star, Milla Jovovich, divorced in 1999.)

    Which brings us to Besson’s approach to sequels, which can be a little tricky to understand. The only true sequels the filmmaker has directed himself involved a trilogy of animated features he made in France that were nominally distributed stateside. Otherwise, he has only written sequels (to mid-sized hits, like “Taken” and “The Transporter“). For years, he worked on a proper follow-up to “Leon: The Professional” and he said that none of the scripts were good enough. But when “Columbiana” (an assassin thriller he made with Zoe Saldana) was coming out, Besson spoke openly about it being a slightly modified version of the “Leon” sequel he had been working on, which at one point was titled “Mathilda.” So it might seem like we never got the sequel to “Leon: The Professional,” we did … kind of … you just have to look through the lens of Luc.M-4VDF-16373afrpsd Final (Left to right.) Dane DeHaan, and Cara Delevingne star in EuropaCorp's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.Photo credit: Vikram Gounassegarin� 2016 VALERIAN SAS � TF1 FILMS PRODUCTIONWhich brings us to “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” Besson’s next grandiose sci-fi extravaganza, scheduled to open later this summer. If you watch the trailer for the film, you’ll notice key touchstones, like the exaggerated color palette, wacky alien species, and off-kilter comedic elements. The fact that there isn’t a flying taxi in the trailer is a miracle. (Also, there probably is one, you just have to look hard enough.)

    Unlike “The Fifth Element,” which was merely inspired by French comic books, “Valerian” is actually based off of one. This is that follow-up that Besson was hinting about in those Reddit AMAs and the film he was talking about with me. What I mean to say is that maybe the “Fifth Element” sequel is actually happening right now and being released as “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” Even if it doesn’t have a direct connection, it’s sort of that spiritual successor Besson mentioned. There’s certain strands of the same DNA there.

    So, even if we never really-for-real got “Mr. Shadow” (or whatever it might have been called), at least we get this. And, judging by the trailers, it’s going to be awesome.

  • Shia LaBeouf’s ‘Man Down’ May End U.K. Run Making $26 From 3 Tickets Sold

    Ouch. “Man Down,” starring Shia LaBeouf as a U.S. Marine with PTSD returning home from Afghanistan, made headlines this week when it opened in the United Kingdom with just one ticket sold. It was only playing in one theater, though, and the manager of that theater told The Hollywood Reporter the film has now sold three tickets, but will likely end its weeklong run this Thursday without more sales.

    (Unless some fans in the town of Burnley, England, rush over now to see what the lack of fuss is about.)

    “Man Down” co-stars Gary Oldman, Jai Courtney, and Kate Mara, so there was certainly enough combined starpower to draw in a crowd of more than three. But THR pointed out that the movie only played in that one Reel Cinema in Burnley, and only once a day, and with no real promotion. Still, that makes it one of the lowest openings ever for a movie with such a famous cast, and the theater manager told THR she hadn’t “experienced anything like it before.”

    If “Man Down” does end its U.K. run with three tickets sold, that’s a total of £21 ($26.20). The movie premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2015, and went on to the Toronto Film Festival the same year. It made $454,490 in its limited theatrical run this past December in the U.S.

    “Man Down” was released on Digital HD on February 21, and Blu-ray/DVD/On Demand March 7, so you could argue that anyone who wanted to see the movie just watched it from the comforts of home.

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  • ‘The Space Between Us’ Star Britt Robertson Goes From Sci-fi to Sitcom in ‘Girlboss’

    Premiere Of STX Entertainment's 'The Space Between Us' - ArrivalsEven though she’s starring in the young adult, sci-fi-flavored romance “The Space Between Us,” Britt Robertson admits she’s more of a girlboss than an astronaut.

    The more down-to-earth ambition suits her role: in the film, Robertson plays Tulsa, a high school student who makes online contact with Gardner (Asa Butterfield), a teenage boy who, through a twist of fate, was born and raised on a space exploration outpost on Mars, and their emotional connection is tested when Gardner finally makes his way to Earth and the two embark on a journey for him to see as many of the planet’s wonders as possible.

    The actress also gets a little more earthbound in her next project, “Girlboss,” the Netflix sitcom based on young, self-made entrepreneur Sophie Amoruso’s bestselling autobiography, written by “Pitch Perfect” screenwriter Kay Cannon and produced by Charlize Theron, debuting in April. Robertson tells Moviefone about taking charge of her own career — and knowing when to let the stuntwoman come in.

    Moviefone: Were you ever, or are you currently, a space exploration nerd? Were you fascinated with any of that world at any point?

    Britt Robertson: No — never. A lot of people talk to me about space and sci-fi, just because of some of the films that I’ve been in, and I’m always like, “What’s happening? I don’t even know.” I’ve retained a lot of the information, but much like my early childhood years, I’ve dropped all of it out and don’t remember a thing.

    It’s cool, I’m interested. If people want to talk to me about it, I love to get more knowledge. But I’m not so intrigued that I’m, like, going out and trying to get everybody on a SpaceX jet and travel up to Mars.

    What was the thing about this that did catch your eye as an actress?

    I think it’s a really well-written script. I was a big fan of the story, and I love the characters of Gardner and Tulsa, and their relationship, and where that goes, and what it brings out of both of the characters.

    Then I also love the idea of the whole Gardner story and trying to find his father, and then finding family within the love that he has around him. Just the journeys that we all take on this Earth, and what they bring to us, and what they bring out of us. That is what fascinates me about these types of stories.

    Did you try to convince them to let you fly the biplane?

    No. I tried to convince them not to let me ride a motorcycle. Other than that, there was no convincing.

    How do those stunts hit you? Is it like, “Oh, I think I can try to do that?” Or are you like, “Is there someone else ready to step in here?”

    You always think it’s going to be much simpler than it is. When they were like, we want you to actually drive the motorcycle, I was like, what? Why? Then I was like, OK fine. People do it all the time. I see motorcyclists everywhere. I could do this. Then you get there and you’re like, this thing is heavier than I am, it’s like three times my size. My feet don’t even touch the ground. It’s almost impossible for me to drive that thing. You’ve just got to do it over and over and over again. You figure it out.

    What was fun about creating the right chemistry with Asa?

    What was fun? What’s most fun about it is that he’s a nice guy, and he’s one of the most peaceful people I’ve ever been around in my life. He’s so calm. I enjoyed being around him. I remember being on set every day and was just like … Asa is such a dream. He really is. He’s a dream.

    That inspired me. It inspired me to be better at being an actor, and also work harder, and to make the chemistry come alive that much more. I wanted to do it for him, I wanted to do it for the movie, and ultimately myself. You get comfortable with someone and then you act.

    Your characters’ energies are very different, and it seems like, as actors, you kind of come at things in a different way, too. Did you find that?

    Yes! Asa and I are truly opposites. We’ve done interviews before, like the “would you rather?” interviews, and almost every time we have the opposite answers, to everything. But there’s something really awesome about that, like complimenting each other in that way. Yeah, it’s cool to see the opposite sides of things.

    Are you still absorbing stuff from the more mature actors, like somebody as legendary as Gary Oldman? Are you still watching them with one eye and asking, “What can I learn from this guy?”

    I love Gary Oldman. I love watching him. He’s just the most delightful. Down to just the science of being an actor and taking control over a set. He would never take control over the set, but if he needed something and he realized that things were falling apart, or we were losing time — you get to these points where it can be really challenging; you’ve got like 150 people all trying to do the same thing — the way he would go about being the leader was really impressive, and so sweet.

    He’s a really compassionate guy. He cares about everybody. He would never hurt anyone or break them down. He’s always building people up. So I think he’s just a really good guy, and he also happens to be a phenomenal actor. So I’ll take tips from him any day.

    Tell me about “Girlboss,” because that sounds like a pretty exciting project.

    It’s so exciting! It’s really fun. I’m so excited about it. It was the coolest shoot ever. We did 13 episodes, half-hour comedy, about this disaster of a chick who’s, like, jumping into garbage dumpsters so she can get food and bagels, and she can’t pay her rent, and she doesn’t want to commit to anything, she doesn’t want a nine-to-five job, but she feels really entitled to have all of these things in life.

    Then she stumbles on this idea to resell this badass jacket that she found, and she becomes very successful to the point where she builds her own website, and then it becomes an online empire, and she ends up making billions of dollars. But it’s just a really cool journey to go on.

    And, also, I had the coolest boss ever: Kay Cannon’s so funny, and she writes the best stuff, and it was just so much fun to play. I had such a ball on that set. It’s hard. It was really hard, but it’s so fun.

    Tell me about going from this level of production, or something like this film or “Tomorrowland,” where it’s often you, a lot of special effects, and a lot of technical things to you playing a character were the effects are funny lines?

    Oh God, is it refreshing. But I never even thought I could do it necessarily. I’ve done television, like that sort of style of production, which is the “Girlboss” format, but I’d never done really a comedy in film or TV. I’ve done some, but never to this extent. So I didn’t think that I was capable of it, until I read the script and I was like, “Oh God — this is so funny. I could do this really funny take on this. I know this girl. I can play this girl.”

    I went into the audition. I kind of thought it was good, but then, when they called me and told me that I got the role, I was just like, “What?! No way!” I didn’t even think they wanted to see me for this thing. It’s gratifying to know that you can bounce around and do it all if you want, if you try hard.

    The book was huge. I’m sure you read it.

    I did.

    Aside from the little character notes that you took for yourself, what was the interesting thing that you got out of the book? Was there some element of it that really appealed to you?

    Yeah, I think the whole idea of just taking ownership of your life, and being your own boss, like in the world. Not just as an employee, but to really own what you have to offer this world, and offer it to people, and make something out of it. She’s really big into capitalizing on the success that makes you happy and thrive. So I thought that was an important takeaway.

    How much of your own girlboss do you want to be? Are you going to be that actor who segues into producing, and directing, and writing, and developing? Or are you primarily the actor that shows up and says, “Give me a part and I’m going to nail it?”

    I don’t know. I’m into, “Give me a part and I will try to nail it.” I’m into that. But also, I think it would be cool to direct, but I don’t think that I deserve it. I think there’s a lot of people who would be better, and deserve it more, and have worked harder. Maybe producing I could dabble in a little bit. For the most part, I just like to be good at what I know, and those are the things I don’t know very well.

  • ‘Criminal’ Kevin Costner Tied Up Gal Gadot the Day He Met Her

    It’s not a typical meet-cute story to say you met a superstar when he taped you up as you cried on the bed, but at least it’s memorable.

    In “Criminal” — out on DVD, Blu-ray, and On Demand July 26 — plays the widow of a recently deceased CIA Agent played by ; is the dangerous death-row inmate who has the agent’s memories and skills implanted in his own mind in the hope that he can complete the agent’s mission. plays the doctor behind the memory-transfer treatment, with as the CIA supervisor. So, yeah, that’s Robin Hood, Wonder Woman, Deadpool, Kay, and Commissioner Gordon all in the same action movie. Pretty cool.
    CRM_2756.NEFThe “Criminal” home release includes two featurettes with the cast and crew. Check out the exclusive behind-the-scenes clip below, with Gary Oldman and company discussing “the new Kevin Costner” introduced in the movie, and Costner explaining the interesting circumstance in which he met the future Wonder Woman.

    “I came to the shoot without any prep, so to speak, except my own. I was working by myself. So when I came to London, the movie was already shooting, and my first day I’m in a scene where I confront Gal in her house, you know, and basically tape her up. That was how I met her.”

    Nice to meet you. Now, get on the bed and start crying while I wrap your mouth and arms with tape. But let’s get lunch later!

    Here’s the exclusive clip, showing a piece of the tape-up scene in question:

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  • You Have to See Gary Oldman in This Soap Opera Based on Justin Bieber Lyrics

    Gary Oldman may never get the Oscar he so richly deserves — and it is too late now to say sorry that Leo got one first! — but Oldman should at least get an Emmy nomination for joining this fake Justin Bieber soap opera.

    “The Late Late Show with James Corden” just returned to the world of the deeply absurd, giving fans a five-minute soap opera scene starring Salma Hayek Pinault, Ray Romano, James Corden, and Gary Oldman, with the entire script coming from Justin Bieber songs. (Except for when Romano says some One Direction lyrics.)

    It’s glorious. Salma Hayek is the real star, with her character in a dramatic love square with Romano (also excellent), Corden, and Oldman. Oldman’s role is too small, but it’s just great to see such a serious thespian really emoting to Justin Bieber lyrics, and dismissing Hayek with the cruel JB cut, “My momma don’t like you — and she likes EVERYONE.”

    Here it is:

    If you want more, check out Julianne Moore and John Stamos in this Taylor Swift soap opera.

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  • J.K. Rowling Reveals ‘Harry Potter’ Character Birthday After Rugby Win

    J.K. Rowling isn’t afraid to play a little dirty, getting fans to tweet support for her Scottish rugby team in exchange for some “Harry Potter” intel. Love your style, Jo, don’t ever change!

    She was at St. James Park for the Rugby World Cup and told her followers, if they shared support for her Scottish team, she’d reward them by revealing the birthday of Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman).


    Fans responded in force, with one rationalizing that, since Hogwarts is meant to be in Scotland, it makes sense for Harry Potter fans to share support for the Scottish team. Since fans did their part, and her team did its part, Rowling shared Sirius’ birthday:

    November 3! It’s almost his birthday. Then again, he’s dead so … it’s a Deathday Party! Except the Harry Potter Wikia says he died on June 18, 1996 at age 36, so that would’ve been the Deathday anniversary. He was born in 1959, so he would’ve been 56 next month. We’ll have to tip our hats to his mischief managed in just a few weeks.


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  • Check Out This Stunning, Soviet-Style ‘Child 44’ Poster (EXCLUSIVE)

    child 44 posterWhen we first saw the trailer for “Child 44,” we commented on Tom Hardy‘s amazing Russian accent and the fact that a Soviet-era thriller, especially in today’s turbulent political climate, could be really, really cool. Well, we are here to debut the brand new poster for the film (opening on April 17th), which reinforces the movie’s fertile setting while paying homage to stylized Soviet propaganda. It’s a really great poster.

    “Child 44,” which costars Vincent Cassel, Noomi Rapace, and Gary Oldman, is based on Tom Rob Smith’s best-selling historical novel of the same name and was, in turn, based on a series of real-life child murders committed by a man dubbed the Red Ripper (he claimed to have killed over 50 women and children). What makes the story even more compelling, of course, is that it was committed during Stalin’s reign in Russia, a supposedly perfect Communist state free of messy complications like serial murders.

    This poster really captures the feeling of Soviet-era Russia, with its stark design and giant star, evoking the propaganda posters from the same period, a stylization that has been evoked many times ever since, from other movie posters like “V for Vendetta” to things like Franz Ferdinand album covers. The poster goes a long way in establishing the mood and tone of “Child 44” and the time period when it’s set, complete with an eerie tagline: “Those who seek truth will be silenced.” Now that is moody.
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  • Watch the Trailer for Tom Hardy’s Cold War Thriller ‘Child 44’ (VIDEO)

    Tom Hardy has never met a funny accent that he hasn’t fallen wildly in love with. His latest is a gruff Russian number for “Child 44,” a new film based on Tom Rob Smith’s best-selling historical thriller that follows a former secret policeman (Hardy) who is investigating a series of grisly child murders in Soviet Russia. And you can hear that accent and see Hardy in action in the gripping new trailer.

    “Child 44” is based, in part, on a real life serial killer dubbed the Red Ripper who murdered more than 50 women and children in Stalin’s supposedly perfect Russia. Hardy plays a man who is clued into the killer after a friend’s child is murdered. This looks really intense. The all-star supporting cast includes Gary Oldman (Batman reunion!), Joel Kinnaman, Vincent Cassel (glimpsed briefly in the trailer), Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, Noomi Rapace (re-teaming with Hardy after “The Drop”) and Dev Patel. It was directed by Chilean-Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa (“Safe House”) and adapted by the great Richard Price, a stellar novelist in his own right. Soviet Russia is a fascinating place to set any kind of movie, but a hardboiled thriller like this seems downright perfect.

    Should the movie prove successful, it could be a rare franchise for adults, since the Hardy character took center stage in two more books written by Smith (“The Secret Speech” and “Agent 6”). We’ll all find out when “Child 44” opens on April 17th.

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