Moviefone Editorial

Tag: riz-ahmed

  • Riz Ahmed’s ‘Venom’ Villain Revealed, Spider-Man Team-Up Teased

    Riz Ahmed’s ‘Venom’ Villain Revealed, Spider-Man Team-Up Teased

    Sony Pictures/Marvel

    While Friday was a relatively quiet day for big screen news coming out of San Diego Comic Con, during the Sony panel there were a couple of details revealed about their highly anticipated “Venom” solo movie (with Tom Hardy in the title role).

    Perhaps the biggest news was the reveal that Riz Ahmed, who plays Dr. Carlton Drake, a scientist and philanthropist whose Life Foundation is experimenting with extraterrestrial entities, will also portray Riot, a symbiote like Venom who can hop from person to person. Riot first appeared in the comic book “Venom, Lethal Protector” issue #4 way back in 1993. (Drake was attempting to create a super-powered police force using the alien symbiote. Or something.) So yes, there are more symbiotes in “Venom” than just, you know, Venom!

    After screening some blood-splattered footage (in one sequence Venom eats a guy’s head), the cast and crew also teased a possible team-up with Tom Holland, the newly minted Spider-Man. While this seemingly seems impossible, seeing as how Marvel Studios jointly controls the character now, Holland was spotted on the “Venom” set earlier this year and it’s unclear if the “Venom” team was keeping coy or being purposefully opaque. “At some point down the road, they will hopefully cross paths,” director Ruben Fleischer said during the panel. While Hardy chipped in, “Go toe-to-toe with Tom Holland? I’ll have a go!”

    So what do you think? Will Spidey show up in “Venom?” And how excited are you to see the ultimate villain appear in his very own film?

  • Tom Hardy’s ‘Venom’ Now Has a Teaser Trailer and a Poster … But No Venom

    Also no Spider-Man, but that was more expected.

    Sony’s first “Venom” teaser trailer goes heavy on the tease. We hear Tom Hardy‘s voice-over as images show us the character waking up in the hospital and then battling his powers in the world:

    “Everyone’s got their thing. Maybe it’s a breakup. A death. An accident. Whatever it is, you used to be one thing. Now, you’re something else.

    We all have our own problems. Our own issues. Our own … demons.”

    They show costar Michelle Williams after the word “breakup.” Riz Ahmed and Reid Scott are also shown. They don’t show Hardy as Venom yet, but since this is just an “official teaser trailer,” that will probably come later. Or maybe it won’t. Maybe they’ll just let the movie arrive in October with no shots of Venom. Up to them.

    Here’s the trailer:

    Venom is a Marvel Comics character, but this is not a Marvel movie. It’s not meant to be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Venom does have a connection to Spider-Man. Here’s how Collider explained it:

    “For those who don’t know, in the comics, Spider-Man comes into contact with an alien symbiote. That symbiote gives him special powers like increased strength and unlimited web-fluid. However, it also causes increased aggression. When Spider-Man gets rid of the symbiote, it finds his rival Eddie Brock, latches onto him, and Brock becomes Venom, which is why Venom has Spider-Man’s powers and resembles a grotesque version of the webslinger.”

    Here’s the poster, which is pretty cool on its own:

    The Sony synopsis does not share much about the plot or anything else, beyond the release date:

    “Watch the #Venom teaser trailer now. 10.5.18.

    One of Marvel’s most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.”

    As promised, “Venom” should arrive in theaters October 5. Stay tuned for an official trailer.

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  • Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Filming Delayed as Disney Struggles to Cast Leads: Report

    So don’t make it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and director Guy Ritchie are running down the clock to find the right two leads for a live-action version of “Aladdin.” Stars from Riz Ahmed to Dev Patel were reportedly considered (and dismissed) after a global casting call was launched in March, and around 2,000 stars read for the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine.

    The original casting call said shooting was planned “from July 2017 to January 2018, in the U.K., with rehearsals beginning in April.” But it’s now July and the search is still ongoing, with filming now meant to start in August.

    THR said the male lead will likely be a newcomer, because “finding a male lead in his 20s who can act and sing has proven difficult — especially since the studio wants someone of Middle-Eastern or Indian descent (the animated film is set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah).” It’s not so easy to find a diamond in the rough!

    One agent whose client tested said “the test process was a mess,” with several rounds of tests in London, and actors coming in for up to two weeks at a time. Sources said the newcomers still being considered for Aladdin include Dutch actor Achraf Koutet, Canadian actor Mena Massoud, and American George Kosturos. In terms of Jasmine, sources told THR that “Power Rangers” actress Naomi Scott and Indian actress Tara Sutaria are in the running, but they can’t lock in the lady lead until the male lead has been cast, since that chemistry is so vital.

    One role that has already been locked in is the Genie, who’ll be played by Will Smith. (Robin Williams famously voiced the genie in the 1992 animated movie.) THR’s sources said Disney is also after “known names” to fill the role of Jafar.

    THR found a positive note on the lengthy search, saying it’s a sign that they’re determined to get the casting right, as they did in the past when extended searches led to Lily James for Cinderella and Daisy Ridley for Rey.

    Twitter is now trying to help Disney by suggesting actors for the roles.

    “Aladdin” filming is now planned to start in August.

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  • Riz Ahmed and James Corden Trade Insults in ‘Drop the Mic’ Rap Battle

    Drop the Mic,” with no holds barred.

    Ahmed got zinged for his role in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” with Corden saying the actor was worse than Jar Jar Binks.

    “I know ruining a ‘Star Wars’ is seen as unlawful/But here’s a ‘Rogue One’ spoiler — in it he’s awful,” Corden rapped. “Honestly it’s mean to say in ‘Star Wars’ he stinks/He made me miss the days of Jar Jar Binks/Your sex scene in ‘Girls’ might need an acting class/You didn’t need to get naked to show us you’re an ass/’The Night Of’ it’s a murder mystery right?/Well there’s no mystery here because I’m killing you tonight.”

    Ahmed’s response? The “Late Late Show” host couldn’t get a role in the franchise, because they weren’t casting “Jabba the Hutt’s dad.” Ouch!

    Corden then compared the actor (who raps with Swet Shop Boys), to “the world’s worst version of Will Smith.” That prompted Ahmed to diss the TV host: “You look like Matt Damon if he only ate butter” and dismiss him as a “singing Uber driver.”

    Among those name-dropped: Sean Spicer, Kendall Jenner, and United Airlines.

    Watch the whole rap battle in the video below:

  • ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’: 8 Things We Know About the Characters

    One of the many, many reasons why people fall in love with “Star Wars” is the franchise’s deft delivery of complex, nuanced, and — for lack of a better word — completely badass characters. What would we have without Luke, Leia, Han, Rey, Chewbacca, Finn, and everyone else?

    After hearing all about the new faces in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” we’re all but guaranteed a new ragtag bunch to completely obsess over.

    Here’s everything we learned about the characters in “Rogue One” from this year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe panel.

    1. Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is different from every other “Star Wars” hero, according to Jones herself. “We know where she’s come from, and that fact is what propels the story,” she revealed.
    2. Cassian (Diego Luna) works for the Rebellion and the only friend he has is an ex-Imperial droid he reprogrammed, named K-2SO.

    3. K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) is a brutally honest droid and is definitely different from (mostly) compliant droids we’re used to. “Cassian reprogrammed him, and did, like, a data wipe. When he reprogrammed him, he’s not quite all there. He speaks his mind and says things, I don’t know, that can be unsettling. He’s very honest. If you know any old people, he’s like that. He just says whatever he thinks,” Tudyk said.

    4. Bodhi (Riz Ahmed) is a pilot who starts out working for the Empire to earn a living, but doesn’t agree with everything they do. “People work at big organizations. They don’t agree with everything they do,” Ahmed joked after the big reveal.
    5. Chirrut (Donnie Yen) is a blind warrior from the planet Jedha. He believes in the Force and is probably the closest thing to a Jedi in the movie.

    6. Baze (Jiang Wen) has a really big gun. Like, really really big, according to Wen. He doesn’t believe in the Force at first, but after something devastating happens to him, he starts to believe.

    7. Saw Gerrera (Clone Wars.”

    8. Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) is Jyn’s father. That’s all you need to know about that (for now).

    “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” hits theaters December 16, 2016.