Legion - There will be a whole host of films

ShockTillYouDrop.com has learned that both Paul Bettany and Adrianne Palicki are signed for two Legion sequels.

The first film, directed by Scott Stewart, will be released in theaters by Screen Gems on January 22nd. Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Doug Jones, Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Willa Holland co-star.

In the movie, God loses faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind's only hope lies in a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert who are aided by the archangel Michael.

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Legion - Interviews with Paul Bettany and Scott Stewart

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Legion - First look at Paul Bettany as the Archangel Michael

I've mentioned Legion a few times but this is the first proper look we have had at the main character, Michael, played by Paul Bettany. The poster is at this years Comic Con and First Showing found it. The basic premise has a Prophecy kind of vibe to it. An Archangel with a machine gun. You know it is going to be good.

Without warning, on the night of December 23rd, the prisoners inside a Los Angeles jail go berserk, tearing each other apart. Only one is left standing: MIKE (Paul Bettany) . Meanwhile, in the tiny Mojave desert town of Paradise Falls, JEEP HANSEN (Lucas Black going back to his American Gothic roots) awakens from yet another fever dream and begins to draw. His walls are covered with nightmarish visions of fantastic creatures and heroes, including demon lord BELIAL and a mysterious figure... who looks an awful lot like MIKE.

Later that day while Jeep is working on a car the sky darkens. a mysterious black car arrives and the elderly GLADYS emerges. Inside the diner, BOB (Dennis Quaid), pregnant actress CHARLIE (Adrianne Palicki), the LYMANS, cook PERCY (Charles S. Dutton), and suspicious patron KYLE (Tyrese Gibson) watch Gladys eat a rare and bloody steak. Gladys then revels herself to be a hideous creature and attacks Howard and Bob. Kyle kills her with his .45. The diner is surrounded by thousands of flies, the power goes out and the group is trapped inside.

Mike arrives in a police car and distributes weapons to the group. He reveals that they are witnessing the first signs of a war between humans and a horde of the devil's minions. The demon-creatures converge on the diner and attack. The group fights back. While awaiting the next onslaught, Jeep finds a transmission on the radio explaining that all of human kind is under siege by demons. Apparently Las Vegas is the only haven left. Amidst the chaos, Charlie's water suddenly breaks and Audrey helps her deliver a baby boy.

Legion is set to star Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Lucas Black.

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Creation - Trailer for Charles Darwin biopic

Part ghost story, part psychological thriller, part heart-wrenching love story, Creation is the story of Charles Darwin and the single most explosive idea in history.

Paul Bettany stars as naturalist Charles Darwin and Jennifer Connelly as his wife Emma Darwin along with Toby Jones.

Creation is directed by British filmmaker Jon Amiel (Queen of Hearts, Sommersby, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Entrapment, and The Core).

Source: First Showing

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Cam Gigandet in Priest

Cam Gigandet (Twilight) will star opposite Paul Bettany in Priest, a horror Western that Scott Stewart is directing for Screen Gems according to THR.

Adapted by Cory Goodman from a TokyoPop comic book, Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece.

Gigandet plays a young wasteland sheriff who is part vampire. He partners with Bettany to save the girl he loves, the niece. That latter part has yet to be cast.

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Legion - The end of days in the style of a war movie?

Legion is the supernatural thriller starring Paul Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it.

I mentioned it back in March.

Now Quiet Earth have some more news on the style of the film and a detailed synopsis.

The films director Scott Stewart said "I conceived LEGION more as a comic book action movie than a straight horror film. Despite the obvious horror elements, my primary influence when writing it was less DAWN OF THE DEAD or 28 DAYS LATER, and more the original TERMINATOR with its blend of intense action and inventive mythology.

Stylistically, I intend to ground the fantastic nature of the story in a gritty and realistic visual style. I want the audience to feel like they've been dropped right in the middle of the action, so they, like the characters in the film, experience the terror and chaos in a very direct and visceral way. In that regard, the best visual comparison to LEGION are not other horror films but contemporary war films like PLATOON and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN."

That sounds very cool and a great way to go in making this stand out from the supernatural crowd.

Now for the synopsis:

Without warning, on the night of December 23rd, the prisoners inside a Los Angeles jail go berserk, tearing each other apart. Only one is left standing: MIKE (Paul Bettany) . Meanwhile, in the tiny Mojave desert town of Paradise Falls, JEEP HANSEN (Lucas Black going back to his American Gothic roots) awakens from yet another fever dream and begins to draw. His walls are covered with nightmarish visions of fantastic creatures and heroes, including demon lord BELIAL and a mysterious figure... who looks an awful lot like MIKE.

Later that day while Jeep is working on a car the sky darkens. a mysterious black car arrives and the elderly GLADYS emerges. Inside the diner, BOB (Dennis Quaid), pregnant actress CHARLIE (Adrianne Palicki), the LYMANS, cook PERCY (Charles S. Dutton), and suspicious patron KYLE (Tyrese Gibson) watch Gladys eat a rare and bloody steak. Gladys then revels herself to be a hideous creature and attacks Howard and Bob. Kyle kills her with his .45. The diner is surrounded by thousands of flies, the power goes out and the group is trapped inside.

Mike arrives in a police car and distributes weapons to the group. He reveals that they are witnessing the first signs of a war between humans and a horde of the devil's minions. The demon-creatures converge on the diner and attack. The group fights back. While awaiting the next onslaught, Jeep finds a transmission on the radio explaining that all of human kind is under siege by demons. Apparently Las Vegas is the only haven left. Amidst the chaos, Charlie's water suddenly breaks and Audrey helps her deliver a baby boy.

Legion is set to star Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand and Lucas Black.

I really like the sound of this. The story and, more importantly, the style tick all the right boxes for me. Paul Bettany as an archangel will be good and it puts me in mind of a bigger budgeted Prophecy - now it would be good if Christopher Walken had a cameo in this one.

Do you like the sound of this film? What do you want to see in it?

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The Da Vinci Code, 2006 - Movie Review

Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellan, Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany, Jürgen Prochnow
Score: 7 / 10

This excellent review is by guest blogger, James Jacob of Basket Case.

With Angels and Demons being released next week, I wanted to re-watch and review the prequel / follow up - The Da Vinci Code. If you weren't already aware, the Da Vinci Code book is actually a sequel to Angels and Demons (they even reference it in the opening chapter!) but for the movie versions, this is reversed.

If you haven't seen the countless news stories already, The Da Vinci Code is based upon the cult phenomenon book by author Dan Brown about Harvard professor of religious symbology Robert Langdon (Hanks), who is called in by French detective Bezu Fache (Reno) to provide some insight into the death of a notable museum curator.

However, he soon discovers he was not there to help, but instead to become the prime suspect into the murder. With the help of the curator's granddaughter, Sophie Neveu (Tautou), they join forces to find out who killed her grandfather and why.

Meanwhile, we follow Bishop Aringarosa (Molina) and his own quest with the aid of albino monk Silas (Bettany) to find the key to... well, I won't ruin it for the one or two of you who don't know or haven't read the book.

The main thing that bothered me with The Da Vinci Code was the pacing. There are certain sections that flowed well, only to be undone with so much talking, explanation and lecture, I felt like I was back at University as my lecturers were giving a presentation. The pace was very much either on or off, no middle ground to move the plot along, it seemed if they weren't explaining the decisions made by Emperor Constantine then the main cast was on the run in a car.

Also disappointing to me beyond pacing, is the acting from such a talented cast. Firstly, Tom Hanks. As the leading man, and the one audience members follow, Hanks presents a character without much behind him. Most of the time, I can watch Tom Hanks get lost in his characters but here, I was looking at Tom Hanks, with a mullet, pretending to be a man named Robert.

And the same can be said for most of the supporting characters including Audrey Tautou, who is sorely miscast in a important role to play opposite an even diluted Tom Hanks performance, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina and even Paul Bettany (though I must admit, he was indeed pretty damn scary and certainly creepy).

For instance, and this is spoiler material here, Alfred Molina basically is a father figure to a psychologically disturbed Bettany, but I didn't feel the emotion between the two. Sure, Aringarosa was using Silas for the needs of the Opus Dei, but their outcomes had no resonance and therefore, the film as little impact in that area.

However, it's our very own Gandolf, I mean veteran actor Ian McKellan that delivers the best performance out of the bunch. It's not to say it's anything magical, but he was the only one I even remotely was interested in and probably saved this film from becoming a complete dog. His character is eccentric, full of energy and seemed to be the only one involved with the story with any sort of grandeur or amazement.

The Da Vinci Code is not a bad film but instead more... disappointing. Taking a good 20-minutes off the standard version would've made the pacing better, though then Howard would alienate the book's core base. This is why adapting a novel is difficult as books hold so much information that it is nearly impossible to include everything needed, so one wonders if this was the case here. I consider Code to be disappointing, not the major stinker that some around have trashed it.

You really have to remember that this is just a film however and not spend hours surfing the net looking for refernces to Opus Dei, The Priory of Sion and the Holly Grail. Here in the UK, a very much unliked ex-Education Minister is also an Opus Dei member - so take everything with a pinch of salt!

Lastly - to get you properly in the mood, below if the trailer for Angels and Demons.

Thanks for the review James.

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Paul Bettany has been an Archangel in Legion and may now become a Priest

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Bettany is in negotiations to star in Priest a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck also will produce.

The move would reunite Bettany with director Scott Stewart, for whom he just finished starring in "Legion," an upcoming Screen Gems supernatural thriller.

An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, "Priest" is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman ("The Brood") wrote the screenplay.

"I knew the moment I saw Stewart's first cut of 'Legion' that Bettany was Priest and so I mentioned it to him immediately," Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper said.

Legion, which is set to open next January, is a thriller that stars Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it. It is director Scott Stewart's first feature film, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Schink. It also stars Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh and Tyrese Gibson.

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The Young Victoria - Trailer

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (wasn't he Azrael?) and starring Emily Blunt, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, Princess Beatrice, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Friend and Jim Broadbent.

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