Moviefone Editorial

Tag: gary-ross

‘Ocean’s 8’ Lands Summer 2018 Release Date

After we finally learned a few details about the upcoming all-female “Ocean’s Eleven” spinoff, “Ocean’s 8,” the film has now landed an official release date.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Ocean’s 8” will hit theaters on June 8, 2018. The flick has a majorly starry cast, headlined by Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, and Awkwafina, who will be portraying the titular criminals.

Kaling recently spilled a few details about the flick, including that it’s set in New York, and that the plot has some connection to the fashion industry. According to the actress, filming is set to begin in about two weeks (and according to THR, will be on location in NYC).

“Ocean’s 8” also has some major star power behind the scenes, with Oscar nominee Gary Ross (“Seabiscuit,” “The Hunger Games”) directing the flick. Steven Soderbergh, who helmed the original “Ocean’s” trilogy, has collaborated with Ross several times over the years (including on “Ocean’s”), and will serve as a producer on the spinoff.

Ross previously noted that his film is “a continuation” of the tone and story of the original flicks, but also has its own distinct vision. We’re curious to see what the director and his phenomenal cast create together.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]

Photo credit: Getty Images

October 6, 2016
‘Ocean’s 8’ Adds Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, 2 More

Right now “Ocean’s 8” is at least The Magnificent Seven, with five more actresses ready to join the previously announced Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. will start filming the Gary Ross-directed spinoff in October. Deals are said to be “close” with Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, and rapper/actress Awkwafina (aka Nora Lum).

In order to have the “Eight” of the title, they need one more, plus possibly cameos from the cast of the George Clooney/Brad Pitt/Matt Damon “Ocean’s” trilogy (which also started as a remake of the 1960 Sinatra/Martin/Davis “Ocean’s 11” movie, let’s not forget).

Jennifer Lawrence seems like she’d be a great kicker for this cast, but whoever is fine.

Back in June, director Gary Ross told /FILM this film would have “a pretty similar tone” to Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s” trilogy.

“You know, Steven Soderbergh and I are incredibly close friends, and we would not have done this if we weren’t. I don’t think he would’ve wanted anyone to do it if we weren’t. This is very much an extension and a continuation. He’s a producer on the movie. […] We’re different filmmakers, obviously, so there will be those differences, but one of the things I’m drawn to is the amazing tone Steven was able to create, and we discuss that a lot. We discuss the cinema a lot, the shooting style, the rhythm, the editing style, and the music. We discuss it all. I’m in no way trying to reinvent the tone, and I’m thrilled and honored to be extending it. It’s really fun to work with.”

What do you think of the cast so far? If they start production in October, they don’t have much time left to pick No. 8.

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August 10, 2016
Mahershala Ali: You’ll Be ‘Inspired, Educated’ by ‘Free State of Jones’

In the Civil War drama “Free State of Jones,” Mahershala Ali plays escaped slave Moses, who finds an ally in white farmer Newt Knight (Matthew McConaughey), who also has no love for the Confederacy.

When we first meet Moses, he’s hiding out in the swamps and wearing an impossibly medieval-looking metal-spiked collar that is — sadly — all too true to history. The actor (who you likely know from “House of Cards” and “Crossing Jordan” or “The 4400”) sat down with Moviefone to talk about the emotional and physical challenges of filming and his family’s story.

Moviefone: This was a very tough movie to make, I imagine. Just having to wear that metal collar.

Mahershala Ali: Yeah. That part of it, the metal collar, was part of the costume. But I think it was more difficult for the cast and crew. I found myself very inspired by the opportunity to embody a character who is reflective of so many experiences, of so many African-Americans that lived and died during that time. I found myself excited to embody him in any way possible because I was very aware of the possibility and potential of those elements and those layers of the character, how deeply those things could resonate for an audience. If we didn’t have those things, that would soften it. So I was excited by that.

It was probably a relief to finally take it off, though.

Oh, for sure. It was uncomfortable. I couldn’t imagine living with that. I’m shooting with it a few hours a day, and anytime they could, they’re trying their hardest to unscrew it and take it off of me. I can’t imagine someone having to wear that thing for years. And some of [the escaped slaves] had [collars with] bells and designs that were even more uncomfortable than what Moses had to endure.Did you do a lot of research for the part?

I did enough research for me. For me, what tends to happen is if I get too academic about it, I feel removed from the spiritual aspects of the character. I can’t think about it. When I think about it, it doesn’t go too well. [Laughs] I make it too heady, and I’m not an academic actor in that way. Some people read everything under the sun when they do a project and they feel really informed, but that gets in my way. I did read Steven Hahn’s “A Nation Under Our Feet“ and W.E.B. Du Bois to get familiar with what was going on in that world.

And I’m really informed by wardrobe. My wardrobe for me is always my first rehearsal. You can’t go to work without having gone to your first wardrobe fitting. Then I know what I’m getting into a few days later. The wardrobe and the beard and the hair, those things are such a departure from who I am and what I experience and how I move around in the world that it did a lot of the work for me.

And being on location in the Louisiana swamps helped, I imagine.

All of that. Just wearing the environment. Because I’m a relatively porous person, just taking in where I am and who I’m with … I think all of that gave me something to put out.Why does this story matter today?

I think it’s an opportunity for people to be not only entertained, but inspired, educated, and informed about a time that I think we have this perception that we know about, but we really don’t. Most people think that, in terms of the black experience, after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, that there was this sense of joy, celebration and freedom, and that we had the opportunity to go pursue the best life that we could.

What the vast majority of Americans — black, white, and in between — don’t get is that there was a process of re-enslaving African-Americans very quickly. These local laws were passed. There were black codes, there was terrorism, and the KKK. Tens of thousands of African-Americans trying to participate in the Democratic process were murdered. Schools were burned down. There were all these things going on in that time that [director] Gary [Ross] touches on in a really fantastic way. It’s an opportunity for people to see and be educated about the things that happened after the Emancipation Proclamation and get a vision of this other tile in the mosaic of our history.

There are still a lot of parallels with today, unfortunately.

You can say that. I don’t know. I know the freedom that I get to move around in the world with is very different. My grandfather was a sharecropper, so essentially an extension of slavery for that time. He didn’t graduate from high school until he was 20 because the boys had to sharecrop and pick cotton. So you go back to his father, my great-grandfather, he was 98 when he passed in the early ’90s, and just getting to be around him and know what he came from … the further you go back, the more you see that they had less breadth of opportunity and less range. But you still see what people were able to achieve. You go back to the 1860s and people were being murdered — literally murdered — for trying to vote. I can take that for granted.

The time is very different. I don’t have to worry about dying or my family dying because I want to go vote for Hillary Clinton or something. I don’t have to worry about that. That, in and of itself, it’s a very different world that we live in. There’s a long way to go and a lot of progress that needs to be made in any group that finds themselves oppressed and not enjoying the same freedoms that this particular man who sits in this office at this desk may enjoy, but we’ve made amazing strides. The fact that I’m sitting down with your right now is a sign of that progress.Sounds like you have a really rich history that’s been handed down through your family.

I know I have to really dig in and get my grandmother to talk. My grandfather was president of the NAACP for several years in the Bay Area and local chapters in Alameda and Hayward. I just knew that he went through certain things and some of [my relatives] were more politically active and some were just more laypeople who were going through difficult times or being laid off from jobs for reasons of discrimination. There is a history there for all African-Americans, but me seeing that journey personally of people having to strive and struggle and traverse a certain set of circumstances that are related to color.

“The Free State of Jones” opens June 24th.

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June 23, 2016
Matthew McConaughey Felt a ‘Responsibility’ to Use the N-word in ‘Free State of Jones’

When you’re drawing up your list of best Matthew McConaughey movies, it’s likely you’ll be adding “Free State of Jones,” a drama based on the real story of a Southerner, Newt Knight, who led escaped slaves and poor white farmers against the Confederacy during the Civil War, a war within a war that hardly anyone has ever heard about before now.

Moviefone talked to McConaughey about meeting Newt’s descendants, the inspiration for his Mississippi accent, and having to use the N-word in a pivotal scene.

Moviefone: Had you ever heard of Newt Knight before this?

McConaughey: No, I never had. And most people I talked to had not either. I was introduced to Newt Knight via the script that Gary Ross spent the last 10 years writing.

How did Gary pitch it to you?

He said, “I have this true story that has not been shared or passed down through history. It’s an amazing story about this man who fought to defend his own freedom and his neighbors’ freedom during the Civil War. He fought alongside poor white farmers and runaway African-American slaves. And then, in the third act of his life, after the Civil War ended, he continued to fight for African-Americans’ rights in the South until he was buried in the ground next to his black wife (Rachel, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) when he was 94 years old.”

Quite a life. What resonated the most for you about this role?

Well, one, that it was a great true story that had not been shared. I, like many other people, asked, “Why have I not heard about this? Why did I never read about this?” It wasn’t even passed down through populist folklore. He was a man with a very simple creed and a very simple constitution. He was a man who, if he saw a wrong, he did not know how to ignore that wrong. He had a very clear sense of right and wrong, like that. [Snaps fingers] He didn’t measure the consequence of his actions, but he just took action. This is a guy on whose ideals alone, he was ready to wage a war. And he did. He led the rebellion during the Civil War and then his sense of family broadened after the war. It was about the Family of Men and he became about a cause for the last 45, 50 years of his life

Did you get to meet any of his descendants?

I did. I went to Ellisville, MS, where he’s from. Met quite a few of his descendants, quite a few are partially through the film and I met a lot of them. And then I had a lot of extras that came in from Mississippi and a couple of 100 of them said they would have done this film for free because Newt Knight was a hero to them. And I also heard a bunch of them say, “Those are good people in Ellisville,” which is were a lot of his descendants live.

Had you done a Mississippi accent before this?

No, I hadn’t. I listened to the wonderful maple-syrup voice of Shelby Foote, if you’ve ever seen Ken Burns’s documentary on the Civil War, he’s the sage that wrote a great book on the war. To hear him talk is just beautiful. It’s a whole different type of music than I have. But after a couple of months of work on it and finding a whole bunch of bootleg tapes of interviews he had done, that’s where I started. I started with him and then turned it into Newt.Gugu told me that you and she did have a kiss, but it didn’t make the final film. Does it matter to you if it’s in there or not?

No. A lot of times you do scenes and when you watch the film [after it’s been cut], you think, “Do I miss it?” And if it stands out and you missed it in the storytelling, then it’s kind of important. But if the story’s well told … you’re gonna lose a lot of scenes that are great scenes, but if you watch the movie as a whole — not just as a scene in particular, but as an overall way to tell the story — then the story’s not calling for it. So I didn’t miss it in the story of the telling; it’s insinuated. Rachel and Newt live together. They have a child, so obviously they were intimate. And I think the way Gary handled that scene [where they first spend the night together], I think was more powerful in that it goes out on her seeing this feather bed that’s for her for the first time.

During one of Newt’s speeches, you use the N-word. Did you find that hard?

It was a responsibility is the way I looked at it, especially in the context of the scene. It was a scene where Newt was using it to expose the word and really put it out there and shine a bright light on it in all capital letters, so to speak. We have a tendency, all of us in some ways, to sweep things like that under the carpet, to put it in the closet. Don’t say that, don’t do that, let’s act like that doesn’t exist. In this context, Newt was doing it in a very responsible and almost incentivizing way to expose that word, that nasty word. Personally, I think you put it out there in front of a light and and let’s examine that, let’s examine what its historical meaning is, what its present meaning is. And understand how it hurts. It was a hard but beautiful scene that we did.

Another key scene is when the Confederate Flag is taken down. Was that an emotional moment on set?

Yes, somewhat. A lot of people on the set that day were from Mississippi, and Gary’s got a great story about the man who actually took it down in the scene. It’s a very important symbol and it makes me want to talk about the value of symbolism and the difference between symbolism and action. After that flag came down in the Civil War, when Reconstruction was over in 1876, there were other varying implementations of enslavement that were reinforced in the South. The Klan rose up. The North had Civil War fatigue and pulled out and went home and a lot of things went back to how they were before. So the symbol is one thing, but the work to do and the action to change is another. I think the example there is that no matter what the symbol is, we’ve all got work to do.

“Free State of Jones” opens in theaters nationwide June 24th.

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June 21, 2016
Matthew McConaughey Brought ‘Everything’ to ‘Free State of Jones’

Director Gary Ross tackles real-life tyranny and oppression in “Free State of Jones”: the Civil War drama is the result of a decade of his research into a little-known historical figure, Newt Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a Southerner who fought against the Confederacy on behalf of the poor farmers whom the soldiers were continually stealing from and victimizing.

Moviefone sat down with the director to talk about filming on location in the swamps of Louisiana, how he took inspiration from the life of “12 Years a Slave‘s” Solomon Northrup, and what the Civil War was really about … and why it still matters today.

Moviefone: How did you first find out about Newt Knight?

Gary Ross: I found out from a movie studio. There was a treatment from a guy named Leonard Hartman, who’s credited on the movie. It was just the bare facts of Newt’s life and what he did. I just never heard of this before, I didn’t know who he was. It led me to an exploration, a two- or three-year research process where I found out not just about him, but Southern Unionism in general and how much more prevalent that was than I’d ever thought. This was not the only example of Unionist resistance against the Confederacy from inside the Confederacy. I studied with some of the best historians. I studied formally at Harvard with John Stauffer, who’s head of the American Civilization department. I learned a lot from him. There was a lot of preparation that went into making the world of Newt Knight make sense to me, because I had to make sense of who he was.

Did you have anyone else in mind to play Newt?

Yeah, because I’d done it 10 years earlier, there were people who danced through my mind. But movies don’t happen for a reason the same way they do happen for a reason. For a long time, it didn’t happen, because the right guy hadn’t stepped into Newt Knight’s boots. And when it did, and it was Matthew [McConaughey], it felt so organic and right that it was very clear.

What did Matthew bring to the part?

Everything. Matthew was everything. I can study all the books I want, but until you embody the spirit, the fierce moral commitment, and the clarity of Newt Knight and his sense of truth, until you get all those things, none of it means anything. And Matthew brings all of that with him. And he’s a Southerner. That doesn’t hurt. And he looks just like Newt Knight, and that doesn’t hurt either. [Laughs]

How difficult was it filming on location in the swamps, where Newt and several escaped slaves hide out?

I don’t think there’s a way to recreate the minute detail. I was really moved by a passage written by Solomon Northrup that was not actually included in “12 Years a Slave,” but he was marooned in the swamps for a year. And he wrote probably the best, most vivid account of that. I knew I had to capture that correctly. We scoured the state of Louisiana for it and we finally found one in Chicot Sate Park. It really was an incredibly preserved swamp. Hard to film in. We had to go to the location in boats every morning.Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays a former slave who ends up marrying Newt, said there was a kiss between her and Matthew, but we don’t see one in the final film. Why is that?

It’s so funny. There’s this onus … it’s not really the through-line of the movie and the story. They have a family together, they get married. It’s almost like people think there’s an obligation to show intimate moments between people. I’m happy to do it. I’ve shown them before. But in this particular case, it almost felt like a diversion from the through-line of the narrative of what the movie wanted to be about. And I don’t think there’s a rule that you have to show the first kiss between a man and a woman who end up in a relationship. You see the relationship organically formed, beautifully formed. It was a very beautiful relationship. Newt Knight deeded Rachel 100 acres of land, making her one of the few African-Americans women to own land in the South. I almost didn’t get that in the film. It’s hard to get in everything.

It’s depressing that so many of the same things are still happening today, like voter suppression and debates about flying the Confederate flag.

Yes, absolutely — but also, don’t forget, I started this 10 years ago and sadly these are themes that are relevant in almost any decade. And they were certainly relevant 10 years after the war, when African-Americans had to fight for their voting rights and the 15^th Amendment had just been passed. And they stay relevant in every era. Freedom is, sadly, a constant struggle and something for which one has to constantly fight. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. Is there relevance to today? Yeah, absolutely.

In terms of the Confederate flag, which has caused so much attention this year. Newt Knight fought against that flag. But no sooner did that flag come down, then people were being re-enslaved immediately in Reconstruction. So the symbol means a lot and it means a lot today. But the vigilance to change the DNA of the culture sadly is an ongoing struggle.

How important do you think movies are in the debate of national values and what we do as a society?

Well, I think that more and more, it’s where we do learn our history. I don’t know that that’s good, necessarily, because I’ve learned a lot of my history academically. But I realize there’s a responsibility in that. That’s one of the reasons I footnoted the movie and I have a website where you can go see what this is based on. But I think film plays an incredibly important part — and I guess it always did — in the popular interpretation of history. It’s the story that we tell about ourselves at any particular moment and the way that story morphs and changes reflects on that particular moment that you’re at politically and culturally. We’re in a period right now where people are shining more and more light on this era and what it was really about.

Look, the Civil War was about slavery. It was fought on the part of the Confederacy to perpetuate slavery. That’s what they say. So there’s no doubt about that. But for many, many years, you had people, even in schools, teaching “it’s not about slavery, it’s about other things. It’s about state’s rights…” It’s about slavery. If you read Alexander Stephens’s Cornerstone Speech — he was the Vice President of the Confederacy — he’s really clear what the Civil War’s about. We live in a time when, I think, the lights are being turned on and people are beginning to look more at the truth of that era. And I hope this is a small contribution to that.

“Free State of Jones” opens in theaters June 24th.

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June 20, 2016
‘Ocean’s Eight’ Director Teases Starry Female Cast, Talks Tone

As “Ocean’s Eleven” spinoff flick “Ocean’s Eight” (formerly known as “Ocean’s Ocho”) comes into focus, director Gary Ross is teasing that the cast is so starry, its announcement would “blow up the internet.”

That’s what Ross told SlashFilm in a new interview, in which the director neither confirmed nor denied previous reports and rumors that the flick would be anchored by Sandra Bullock (in the George Clooney ringleader role) and also feature Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Banks, Helena Bonham Carter, and Mindy Kaling. While fans will have to wait to hear confirmed details about that explosive group of women, Ross did reveal a few key bits of intel about how the project came together, and how it will try to mimic the tone of director Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s” trilogy.

As Ross explained to SlashFilm, he and Soderbergh have been friends for 20 years, and have been collaborating on each other’s films for much of that time (Ross helped out on the “Ocean’s” films, for instance, while Soderbergh was a second unit director for “The Hunger Games”). Ross said that their existing working relationship was the inspiration for him to tackle the “Ocean’s” universe himself, and that he’s doing so entirely with Soderbergh’s blessing and support (the latter filmmaker will serve as a producer on “Eight”).

“I think it’s a pretty similar tone,” Ross told the site of comparing “Eight” with the “Eleven” films, noting that his flick is “an extension and a continuation” of Soderbergh’s series. ” … We’re different filmmakers, obviously, so there will be those differences, but one of the things I’m drawn to is the amazing tone Steven was able to create, and we discuss that a lot. … I’m in no way trying to reinvent the tone, and I’m thrilled and honored to be extending it. It’s really fun to work with.”

It sounds like Ross has an incredibly specific vision for his version of “Ocean’s,” and we’re excited that “Eight” will also wink to its charming and fun inspirations at the same time. For more from Ross on the “Ocean’s Eight” creative process, check out his entire interview with SlashFilm here.

Photo credit: Getty Images for The People’s Choice Awards

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June 15, 2016
Sandra Bullock to Lead an All-Female ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Flick: Report

While we generally feel a bit of malaise any time Hollywood announces a new reboot, we have to say that this one sounds pretty awesome: Sandra Bullock is reportedly set to play the lead in a new, all-female “Ocean’s Eleven” flick.

The Playlist reports that this film is inspired by the George Clooney-starring trilogy from the early 2000s (a reboot itself of the original 1960 Rat Pack version), and Bullock will step into Clooney’s ringleader role, this time heading up a team of women. No concrete plot has been revealed just yet, though according to The Playlist, a draft from screenwriter Olivia Milch (“Queen & Country,” “Little Women”) has already been delivered.

“It’s unclear how directly connected (or not) this remake/reboot/sequel/spinoff will be to the [Steven] Soderbergh pictures,” The Playlist reports, “but everyone is keen on this new ‘Ocean’s’ project, and sources tell us Clooney may even cameo as Danny Ocean.”

The project — which has apparently been in the works since fall 2014, per The Playlist — came about in part thanks to Bullock’s recent collaboration with Clooney on “Our Brand Is Crisis,” which was originally to have starred the actor (he serves as a producer on the flick). Instead, Bullock — who’s remained close with Clooney since they worked together in “Gravity” — took his place, gender-swapping the role, and that seems to be (partially) the inspiration for this new film.

Director Gary Ross (“The Hunger Games,” “Seabiscuit,” “Pleasantville”) is also reportedly attached to the movie. Sounds like a pretty winning creative team. Our fingers are crossed that this one pans out. Stay tuned.

[via: The Playlist]

Photo credit: Getty Images

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October 30, 2015