Moviefone Editorial

Tag: margot-robbie

  • Jared Leto Sent Creepy Gifts to His ‘Suicide Squad’ Co-Stars

    Jared Leto is treating his role as The Joker as no laughing matter, as one of his “Suicide Squad” costars revealed that the Oscar winner has taken a very method — and frankly, very creepy — approach to the character.

    Adam Beach, who plays Slipknot in “Squad,” chatted with E! News about some of Leto’s odd behavior while filming the flick, and said that when Leto initially couldn’t be with the rest of the cast when production commenced, the actor made his presence known.

    “He sent [Margot Robbie] a nice love letter with a black box with a rat in it—a live rat,” Beach told E!. ” … Then he sent bullets to Will [Smith] with a letter.”

    In addition to those odd tokens, according to Beach, Leto also sent his castmates a dead hog (?!?), as well as an in-character video message wishing them well.

    “It blew our minds away,” Beach said of Leto-as-The Joker. “Then we realized that day, this is real.”

    Beach added that Leto kept up the ruse in person, too, and said that the actor seemed like a perfect — if unsettling — fit for the part.

    “He encompasses this beautiful man and he shows it in, ‘Hello, how are you?,’ but in an instant, he goes to psychotic behavior where you’re in fear,” Beach told E!. “But you love him because he has both of those genuine sides.”

    Sounds spooky — and just what this character calls for. We can’t wait to see Leto’s performance for ourselves.

    “Suicide Squad” is due in theaters on August 5, 2016.

    [via: E! News]

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  • ‘Suicide Squad’ Director Says ‘Surprises Are Intact’ After Set Leaks

    “Suicide Squad” director David Ayer did not turn a blind eye to those leaks on his set, he’s just not that concerned about them. He may even have seen them as a welcome early PR boost for the 2016 Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto film, especially since (he says) the big stuff is still under wraps.

    Back on May 26, Ayer tweeted about heading to the streets to film some stunt scenes:

    Toronto thanked him back by visiting the “Suicide Squad” set, taking tons of photos and videos, and floating them online. You may recall seeing the Joker, Harley Quinn photo, or the Batmobile chasing the Jokermobile around Toronto, or Batman crouching on the roof of the Joker’s car. Ayer never posted anything while they leaks came out, but on May 31 he updated with this tweet:


    So he hopes you liked that little peek behind the curtain because there will be no more — unless he shares official updates, which he may do again. He was the one to share the first cast photo and look at the Joker, and he’ll probably do more stuff like that in the interim before the movie comes out on August 5, 2016.

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  • See Joker, Harley Quinn Photo Leaked From ‘Suicide Squad’ Set

    Why so serious, Joker and Harley?

    “Suicide Squad” is now in production, with a scheduled August 5, 2016 release. Director David Ayer previously posted photos of Jared Leto’s much-mocked Joker and the main cast in character, but Ayer did not share the new visuals floating around the Internet. The fan-shot set image below shows Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn looking like a normal hot blonde , pointing a gun at Leto’s Joker, who is sporting Joker’s classic fluorescent green hair.

    Here are two versions of the same shot, with captions sharing details on the scene and opinions on its relative awesomeness:


    Ayer’s previous cast photo — which was posted on May 3, the last day he officially shared anything — showed Margot Robbie’s Harley in full makeup, and TheWrap noted that this may be a flashback scene to when Harley was still Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

    How is this looking to you so far? You excited to see more or disappointed by what you’ve seen so far?

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  • New ‘Suicide Squad’ Photos Showcase Deadshot and Harley Quinn, Skip Joker

    suicide squad“Suicide Squad” director David Ayer spent his Sunday treating fans to two new photos of the team. One was marked “Task Force X assembled and ready. #SuicideSquad,” and the other showed a full-length shot of Will Smith’s Deadshot in full badass mode:


    That’s quite a look. You’d never know that was Will Smith in there. Missing, once again: Jared Leto’s Joker, who got his own character reveal last week, separate from the rest of the group. When Ayer shared the first cast photo just of the actors, Leto was also not included. Is he not part of the task force? Perhaps his storyline is separate from the core group.

    Nine characters did make the cut for the group photo, with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn front and center. That doesn’t seem like an accident. This is an “all eyes on Harley Quinn” moment, and since a lot of fans grew up watching Harley in those animated Batman cartoons in the ’90s, many eyes will remain on Harley in the movie. Fans are already judging each character compared to what they’ve seen before or expected to see, especially Harley Quinn.

    In addition to Robbie and Smith (who also co-starred in “Focus”), the “Squad” is meant to include Adam Beach as Slipknot, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana (kneeling), Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, and Jay Hernandez as El Diablo.

    That’s not the full cast, but fans will have to stay tuned to see everyone’s roles. And maybe if we all play nice, Ayer will share more full character profiles like he did for Deadshot.
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  • ​Box Office: Will Smith’s Lost ‘Focus’ and the Oscars Effect

    Will Smith and Margot Robbie in FocusThe narrative going into this weekend was that “Focus” would mark a comeback of sorts for Will Smith. His first lead role since the career stumbling block two years ago that was “After Earth,” “Focus” was supposed to be an easy lay-up for Smith, a sleek, star-powered caper comedy that would face little competition in the doldrums of February. Pundits predicted a debut in the low $20 millions.

    Nonetheless, when the snow flurries cleared on Sunday, “Focus” hadn’t even crossed $20 million; estimates had the film’s weekend premiere scoring just $19.1 million. That’s the first time, since Smith’s Oscar-baiting prestige drama “Seven Pounds” in 2008, that he’s failed to crack $20 million on an opening weekend. (Even “After Earth” pulled off a $27.5 million debut.)

    With two relative flops in a row (three if you count his rare supporting role in last year’s “Winter’s Tale”), it’s officially time for pundits to start wondering if Smith has lost his box office magic and has started to turn into Johnny Depp. But such hand-wringing seems premature; there are plenty of reasons why “Focus” may have failed. Among them:

    The R rating. Smith’s movies do well at PG-13, hitting the blockbuster-demographic sweet spot. But with an R rating, he loses a lot of the youth audience he’s come to rely upon. According to studio polling a full 88 percent of “Focus” filmgoers were over 25.

    The genre. Smith’s a versatile actor who’s proved he can handle romantic comedy and straight drama as well as his usual science fiction spectacles and action comedies. He’s even played a convincing con man before, in the 1993 drama “Six Degrees of Separation.” But a romantic-drama/caper-comedy like “Focus” is very hard to pull off, since it’s an exercise more in style than plot or character. It’s not clear that Smith and co-star Margot Robbie, for all their good looks and charm, were able to do that.

    The reviews. An R-rated movie, in a genre that depends on sophistication, depends on an older audience, so it needs strong reviews, since older viewers still read those. But the ones for “Focus” have been decidedly mixed, earning mediocre grades of 56 out of 100 at both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. And worse than that…

    The word-of-mouth. The film got a middling B grade at CinemaScore, indicating that moviegoers aren’t recommending it enthusiastically to others.

    The casting. Sorry to say, but in the supposedly post-racial America of 2015, there are still some viewers out there — some black, some white, some neither — who may bristle at watching an interracial romance unfold between Smith and Robbie.

    The IMAX bookings. It makes sense for a Smith sci-fi opus to play on the giant screen, but there’s little about “Focus” that suggests the viewing experience will be enhanced by seeing it in a more expensive IMAX venue. As a result, the film’s IMAX bookings accounted for a meager 11 percent of its gross.

    The weather. Even if everything else for “Focus” had gone right, the heavy snowfall in many parts of the country may have kept viewers away from the multiplex.

    It’s worth noting that even Smith’s supposed failures have been overstated, thanks largely to overseas audiences, which continue to flock to see Smith, even in movies considered flops at home. “After Earth” earned just $61 million domestically, but it earned three times as much in foreign markets. “Seven Pounds” was an unusually heavy drama, yet it made $70 million in North America (on a reported budget of $55 million) and another $98 million abroad. There’s no reason to expect that “Focus” won’t enjoy similar international success. So Smith has a long way to go before his career appears to be in Johnny Depp-like freefall.

    The one truly troubling thing about “Focus” is that Smith used to have unerring taste. He used to be able to pick exactly the right project to showcase his gifts, no matter the genre. Even entries in untried areas like romantic comedy (“Hitch”) or weepy melodrama (“The Pursuit of Happyness”) seemed tailor-made for him, and he was able to bring his audience along to such unlikely films. That sense of what his public will buy (at least, his American public) seems to have deserted him in his last three films. If even Smith’s nose for hits is no longer dependable, whose is?

    In other, Oscar-related news…

    By the way, remember the Oscars? Sure, they were just a week ago, but their impact already seems to have dissipated, at least at the box office. “Birdman” may have won Best Picture and other top prizes, but it got only a minor bounce from its Academy Award victories. In the wake of its wins, it tripled its theater count (to 1,213) and earned a weekend take that was 125 percent bigger than last week’s, but that amounted to just an estimated $2.0 million, for a total of $40.3 million after five weeks in theaters. Other big Oscar winners, including “Whiplash,” “Selma,” and “Big Hero 6,” added less than $700,000 each to their totals this weekend, according to estimates. “Boyhood” added just $21,000. The movie that benefitted the most from the Oscars, “Still Alice” (starring Best Actress winner Julianne Moore), rose a modest 24 percent over last week, with an estimated $2.7 million (for a seven-week total of $12.0 million), breaking into the top 10 at No. 9.

    Oh, and don’t shed any tears for “American Sniper,” which was nominated for Best Picture, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay but went home only with Best Sound Mixing. It’s earned $331.1 million in 10 weeks, more than the other seven Best Picture nominees combined. This week, it placed seventh and earned an additional $7.7 million. Had it won every prize it was up for, “Sniper” still wouldn’t have needed an Oscar bounce and probably wouldn’t have gotten one.

    Why was the vaunted Oscar bounce so meager for most of these movies? Because, with the exception of “Alice,” they’ve all been in theaters for at least two months. Their theatrical lives are almost over, and any money they earned as a result of the Oscars is gravy. It’s the Oscar nomination, more than the win, that’s worth the big bucks, since it comes five weeks earlier in the film’s run. So yeah, it really is an honor just to be nominated.
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  • Best of Late Night TV: Margot Robbie’s Game of Flip Cup and Richard Madden’s ‘Cinderella’ Genitalia (VIDEO)


    If you’re like us and value your sleep, you probably nodded off into your Ambien dreamland before the party started on post-prime time TV. Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. Here’s the best of what happened last night on late night.

    Time for a game of Flip Cup with Margot Robbie on “The Tonight Show!” First to chug their beer and flip their cups wins, and obviously Margot killed it. Her prize? Some toilet paper. Only the best from Jimmy Fallon!

    Richard Madden showed up on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to talk about being Prince Charming in “Cinderella,” and apparently with great power comes great responsibility. And tight leggings. And zero genitalia because this is Disney, which means that Richard had to spend hours trying on jock straps. Ken dolls feel your pain, buddy.

    Viola Davis video-chatted with Jimmy Kimmel to discuss the “How To Get Away with Murder” finale, and he even whipped up a handy plot chart –– which is actually pretty helpful for those of you who are confused about how everyone’s getting away with murder on that show.

    Of course the best part of “Kimmel” was when Jimmy weighed in on the vaccine debate. All of his musings are worth-watching, but some highlights include “parents here are more scared of gluten then they are of small pox” and “Jenny McCarthy popped up and she had clothes on so they listened to what she had to say.”

    Finally, Ellie Kemper hit up “Late Night” to chat about how she was Jon Hamm’s theater student in high school (some people have all the luck), and revealed that everyone in St. Louis basically spends their time Hamm fan-girling all over the place.

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  • ‘Focus’ Movie Review: A Pretty-as-a-Picture Crime Caper

    Will Smith and Margot Robbie in “Wait, what is ‘Focus‘ again?” This is a question that is usually fired back at me, over the past few weeks, when people ask me what I’ve seen recently and really liked.

    Lately, when I run down the movies I’ve seen recently, “Focus” is always one of those movies I mention, because I really, really liked it. But then, without fail, the person I am talking to asks what “Focus” is. And then I have to explain it to them. This probably has to do with the film’s nebulous title and equally nebulous ad campaign, which isn’t exactly explanatory (or particularly evocative or moody). So let me tell you just what “Focus” is, exactly. And when I explain what it is, you’ll probably be shocked you haven’t heard more about it.

    So “Focus” is a romantic crime caper starring Will Smith, who until very recently was largely considered one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and Margot Robbie, who, with primo roles in upcoming movies like “Tarzan” and the DC Comics adaptation “Suicide Squad” (where she’ll play the villainous Harley Quinn), is poised to become one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Smith is the wary architect of large scale heists, Robbie is his fiery apprentice. Together, sparks fly.

    If you think that, based on the aforementioned premise, it sounds like a movie that would have probably gotten a green light in the ’90s, you’re probably right. It would sit comfortably in a double feature alongside John McTiernan’s brilliant “Thomas Crown Affair” remake or Steven Soderbergh’s equally brilliant Elmore Leonard adaptation “Out of Sight.” It shares the same jazzy DNA as those movies (not to mention a half-dozen David Mamet movies), as well as their restrictive R-rating (yes there’s cursing and sex and it’s a delight). There are double-crosses and twists galore and you’ll find yourself smiling wildly while clutching your armrests because of all the suspense.

    It’s great to see Smith having fun again, although his exacting performance sometimes borders on brittle. Robbie, on the other hand, is in superstar mode. She’s so charming and loose and luminous that you almost have to put on sunglasses while you watch her. As the novice criminal, she’s eager and as hilarious as she was in Scorsese’s “Wolf of Wall Street.” She is the real deal. And she always does a great job to lighten up the material when Smith threatens to bog it down. (It’s weird writing about Smith in this way, considering he used to be emblematic of unflappably buoyant cool.) The movie is sexy and fun and a lot of that rests on Robbie’s shoulders and she handles it gamely.

    The movie, too, is pretty incredible for a couple of stylistic tics. The first is that, instead of a typical three-act structure, it’s built around two acts (and two giant heists that take place three years apart). The only other movie that has successfully been structured like this (to my understanding) was Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” and, quite surprisingly, it works wonderfully here. Even if you aren’t familiar with the three-act structure, the movie feels decidedly different. And it looks decidedly different, too. This is the other really cool flourish of the movie — it was shot with spherical anamorphic lenses but instead of the typical 2.35:1 aspect ratio (the one that looks like a thinner band), it’s been opened up to a boxier 1.77:1. So it’s literally a round image in a square frame. And it looks absolutely stunning. Even on these technical and narrative levels, “Focus” is something of a must-see.

    “Focus” was written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who wrote “Bad Santa” and directed “Crazy Stupid Love” (one of the better romantic comedies in recent memory), and these guys know how to make a big, slick movie that actually moves. “Focus” never gets bogged down in the mechanics of crime or feels like it lets expositional dialogue get in the way of character development or the chemistry between the two characters. It’s snappy and vivid and gorgeously shot, a pretty-as-a-picture crime caper comedy that feels very much like a throwback but never dusty or out of sync with contemporary styles or concerns. It’s very sexy and occasionally quite rude and violent and like something you’d probably watch again, to catch all the things you missed the first time. The ad materials weren’t very clear, but really this is what “Focus” is. Any more questions?
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