Hobbit, Hellboy 3 and Frankenstein news from the mouth of Guillermo del Toro

Lots and lots of Hobbit goodness and it looks like Ron Perlman won't be Hellboy anymore. BBC radio's Simon Mayo had Guillermo del Toro on the show.

They were chatting about del Toro’s vampire novel The Strain, but they also discussed many of the films he's working on. /Film picked up on this first.

The Hobbit - We know it is going to be split into two films and del Toro mentioned that they will be expanding on some of the things mentioned in passing.

There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with, people that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis… with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron.

He was then asked if Andy Serkis would be returning which led to some cool news.

Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy.

That's Gollum, Gandalf and Elrond. No news on who'll be playing Bilbo. He also mentioned that they have got the basics down for Smaug but it will take a good few months before they get it finished. Will Perlman or Doug Jones have a role in the film?

Hellboy 3 - Ron Perlman has said he no longer wants to wear the prosthetics, so Guillermo “guesses” it will never happen. I hope this gets changed though as I would love to see another Hellboy film.

Frankenstein - Doug Jones (Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien) has been cast as the monster. Guillermo will be directing it and they are starting make-up tests very soon. I can't wait to see what the Monster looks like.

The show is on BBC’s iPlayer for the next two days and the interview starts at the 1 hour 47 minute mark.

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Last Ride - New trailer for Hugo Weavings new film

I do like the look of this and Hugo Weaving is a terrific actor.

A desperate father takes his ten year old son, Chook, on the run after committing a violent crime. As the two journey into the desert and an unknown future, their troubled relationship and the need to survive sees them battling the elements and each other. Chook eventually takes control and the choice he is forced to make has a devastating effect on both their lives.

Last Ride trailer

Source: Quiet Earth

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Soundwave may have his voice

Michael Bay did the right thing getting Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime in the first Transformers film. Cullen did the voice of Prime in the original cartoon.

Megatron was voice by Frank Welker in the cartoon, but by Hugo Weaving in the film. However, Welker also did the voice of Soundwave - the Decepticon who could change into a cassette player and who deployed Ravage and the other tape shaped Decepticons.

Well now Michael Bay knows what the fans want and he is seeing if he can get Welker to voice Soundwave in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. On his own official forum, Michael Bay wrote that, "I think I'm going to pursue Frank on Soundwave." This is great news as Soundwave always had that cool monotone voice thing going on.

How do you feel about the news? Was Soundwave your favourite or did you think he had the crappest disguise?

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The Wolfman - Review from a Test Screening

Check out the LFF review of the final cut of the film.

AICN had a few reviews of The Wolfman starring Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Anthony Hopkins. I'm looking forward to this film as I love all the old black and white creature features. Here is one of the reviews (lots of spoilers so if you don't want to know, don't read it)

A WOLFMAN preview screening review...

I was able to get into a screening of THE WOLFMAN tonight in Albequerque. Going in, I expected this to be another in the ‘reimagining’ of famous monster movies into more action-y popcorn fare like DRACULA, THE MUMMY or SLEEPY HOLLOW and indeed it is but I felt like this one was a cut above because the movie had a real sense of respect for it’s story: no camp, no clever one liners. Just good old fashioned suspense and sense of dread as to what’s around that foggy corner. And P.S…scary as hell!!!

So yes, I was a fan of this. To start, its cast is great – Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. All serious actors here who actually ‘act’ and not simply ‘react’ to effects (ah, Dracula anyone?)

After a fun, gory (this is a deliciously hard ‘R’ for gore) hunting scene where a man gets his in a gloomy forest via wolf, we are introduced to Del Toro’s Lawrence Tuthill – an actor in the midst of playing HAMLET ( a role he doesn’t realize he is to play throughout the movie ). He is on his way home for his brother’s funeral (the man who was murdered in the opening). The amount of gravitas and detail that Del Toro and the other actors bring to their role is definitely worth mentioning. This is a thinking man’s monster movie. Really, truly one for the diehards and I really appreciated the way this standard was maintained throughout the entire piece. Will 16 yard olds who dig Mark Wahlberg movies like it? Who knows but its suspenseful as hell and had this unnerving sense of dread that reminded me of the miniseries based on King’s SALEM’S LOT back in the ‘80’s.

Anyway, once Del Toro gets home he meets his dead brother’s fiancée EMILY BLUNT who (big surprise) becomes attracted to him and his estranged father ANTHONY HOPKINS. From here the movie becomes a bit of a whodunit as to who killed his brother.

Unfortunately, Del Toro goes to the nearby gypsy colony himself to uncover the murder and gets involved in an attack by the Wolfman himself. This sequence by the way is fantastic – a bloody cat and mouse around the camp that results in Del Toro himself being attacked (but not fatally) by the monster. Well, once bitten and you know the rest…or do you? The plot actually starts to delve into this GASLIGHT kind of uncertainty where Del Toro can’t be sure if he’s a wolfman or dreaming it. And Johnson actually does a credible job of arguing that whether or not you actually become a werewolf on a full moon, if you THINK you will you are just as dangerous.

No surprise that the 3rd act becomes this fast paced wolf hunt with torches but I really loved this Beauty and the Beast sequence where the wolfman enters a costume ball (with several animal masks ) and makes it all the way to the stage where a blind soprano sings to him face to face without realizing he’s a monster (another fun aspect: visual references aplenty)

Obviously, I quite liked this film. Perhaps they could tighten it here and there (I think it ran like 1 hour 50 mins) but I was surprised at its ‘brain over braun’ approach and really hope that it finds its deserved audience this coming Summer.

I regard great old films as just important pieces of art as great novels or paintings so it is with great pleasure that I send this review of what I thought was a high minded, tremendous and incredibly SCARY work to you tonight. (seriously, people were shrieking during the last scene!)

Regards,

WOLFIE

There are a couple more reviews over at AICN if your want to check them out, but all in all it is sounding rather good. Are you looking forward to seeing it?

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UPDATED: Hugo Weaving is back in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen...Agent Smith...I mean, Megatron can't be far behind

Hugo Weaving has proven that one more piece of the news that Michael Bay has "confirmed" about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is false - namely that Megatron wouldn't be appearing in the film. Weaving, who was promoting his film Last Ride, told the Australian site AdelaideNow that he would, indeed, be in the sequel film.

"I've already done it," Weaving says, adding Bay had told him to keep the news hush-hush. "He's over in LA and we were working on the video split sort of thing and I had this strange conversation where he seemed to imply it was all a big secret. So there you go. I've given you the secret scoop."

Weaving was not, however, willing to reveal the secret as to how the Decepticon leader would be resurrected, but he did give a hint. "I think in the last one, doesn't Optimus Prime pick up a little bit of, a little shard of the cube, or the thing that's left, and he takes it with him. Maybe there's something there... but I don't know," the actor laughed.

In Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots return for the live action follow up to Michael Bay's 2007 blockbuster Transformers, nationwide on June 24. Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Isabel Lucas, Rainn Wilson star.

UPDATE: (3/5/08 1:45 PM PST) Director Michael Bay has also confirmed the return of Megatron on his official website. Take a look at the brief post from the director, posted earlier today, below.

Okay cat is out of the bag. Megatron is back ---- but you will only get to see him from the long lost past. We go way back in time as this movie explains the mythology of the Primes. He is not a tank like everyone suggests, but an alien vehicle. But sadly he does not has much screen time.

UPDATE 06/03/09: However, looks like Bay may be being economical with the truth again. /film found the description on the packaging for Megatron’s Leader Class action figure contains the following description:

Rebuilt with parts cannibalized from other Decepticons, Megatron rises once again to lead his army. Though the AllSpark destroyed him once, he can now feel its power coursing through his circuitry. It calls him to seize his rightful place as ruler over the puny planet on which he was imprisoned and destroyed, and from which he will launch his conquest of the universe. Optimus Prime is all that stands between him and victory, and the Autobot leader has done a poor job of hiding himself. At long last, Megatron knows exactly where his enemy is, and he has power enough to destroy him.

Hmmm!

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Last Ride - Great looking Australian Thriller.

A desperate father (Hugo Weaving) takes his ten year old son, Chook (Tom Russell), on the run after committing a violent crime. As the two journey into the desert and an unknown future, their troubled relationship and the need to survive sees them battling the elements and each other. Chook eventually takes control and the choice he is forced to make has a devastating effect on both their lives.

Directed by Glendyn Ivin and starring Hugo Weaving and Tom Russell. Check out the Last Ride site.

Last Ride teaser 2

Source: Quiet Earth

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