The Playlist

'X-Men: First Class' & 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Sequels Set For Summer 2014; 'Independence Day 3D' Hits July 3, 2013

By Edward Davis
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May 31, 2012 3:57 PM
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10 Comments

News

Ironically, some of us were just having this conversation this morning. Would 20th Century Fox rush its "X-Men: First Class" sequel into production like they did in 2010 for its 2011 release (there was about an eight-month window to shoot and edit the picture and the film suffered because of it, but miraculously wasn't a total disaster)? The answer, thankfully, is no. Fox has set July 18, 2014 as the release date for their untitled sequel to "X-Men: First Class." Original director Matthew Vaughn will be on board once again with all of the original cast, including Micheal Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and many more (they all signed multi-picture deals after all). That should give them plenty of time to write a proper screenplay and not a mediocre one that the cast has to elevate (which was the case with the original).

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'Contagion' Writer Scott Z. Burns To Pen 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Sequel

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 15, 2012 5:02 PM
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2 Comments

News

We don't need to rehash the story of how "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" became the unexpected box office hit of last summer. We'll let the $480 million-plus worldwide haul for the movie speak for itself. The sequel has been brewing for a while now, with Fox locking up Andy Serkis for multiple films last year, Rupert Wyatt committed to direct and a potential 2014 release date on the horizon. And by the looks of things, Fox is ready to class up this mega sequel.

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'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Sequel Aiming For A 2014 Release Date & More From The Floor At CinemaCon

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 30, 2012 11:18 AM
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2 Comments

News

This past week saw Hollywood types descend on Las Vegas -- not for a "Hangover" reboot, but for the annual CinemaCon trade show, which sees all the studios showing off their upcoming wares for exhibitors and members of the press. And this year was a big one, with footage from "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Hobbit," "Les Miserables," "Prometheus," "The Great Gatsby" and many, many more among the headliners.

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Caesar Is Home But Will Apes Speak In 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Sequel?

By Drew Taylor
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December 20, 2011 5:35 PM
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5 Comments

News

One of the big questions when entering this summer's surprisingly entertaining "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was whether or not the apes, led by fuzzy rebel commander Caesar (played by Andy Serkis), would end up speaking in the movie. Most of the apes remained mute. But that could change, according to the film's screenwriters (who are hard at work on the sequel).

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Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri Talks Creating Caesar In 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' & Andy Serkis' Oscar Chances

By Drew Taylor
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December 16, 2011 12:05 PM
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0 Comments

News

Although he isn't talked about in the usual dialogue about top ten lists or awards consideration, Joe Letteri is one of the hardest working and most influential people in movies in 2011. As a visual effects supervisor at Peter Jackson's WETA Digital, he had a hand in two of this year's most discussed movies, creating the sublimely expressive Caesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," and supervising Steven Spielberg's motion capture wonder "The Adventures of Tintin."

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From Bloody Murders To Bridesmaid Speeches: The 25 Best Movie Moments Of 2011

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 13, 2011 1:59 PM
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49 Comments

Features

The great Howard Hawks once famously said that what makes a good film is "three great scenes, and no bad ones." While we'd argue that that's not an absolute hard-and-fast rule, he wasn't far off. With 2011 providing a number of above-average films, there've been plenty of memorable moments to go around, even if we couldn't attest to them all following Hawks Law.

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The Alternate 2011: Who Nearly Directed Or Starred In The Most Notable Movies Of The Year?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 12, 2011 2:05 PM
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12 Comments

Features

2011 hasn't been too shabby for the movies. But even in a year such as this, there's that niggling feeling of what could have been. With the process of picking a director and casting a film seemingly more public than ever, thanks to rumors leaking and trades running short-list stories, it's possible to imagine any number of alternate outcomes for many of the biggest, and best, films of the year.

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Andy Serkis Takes Big Payday For Multiple Sequels To 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 3, 2011 5:50 AM
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1 Comment

Director Rupert Wyatt Locked In To Return, Fox Launching Oscars Campaign For SerkisFrom sneered-at needless sequel to a dead franchise to the lone summer blockbuster that managed to pick up both good reviews and a storming box office (it's closing in on $500 million worldwide), "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was probably the most pleasant surprise of the year. And what was perhaps most interesting about how 20th Century Fox turned it around; human stars James Franco and Frieda Pinto took a backseat on the press circuit to a man whose face wasn't seen once on screen in the film -- mo-cap maestro Andy Serkis, who played lead ape Caesar.

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Last-Minute Reshoots Saved James Franco's Character From Death In 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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October 3, 2011 1:19 AM
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2 Comments

We're not sure that there was a bigger surprise this year than "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes." A tired franchise, from a creative-interference-happy studio, with a green director and a plot straight from "Deep Blue Sea?" Even without the initially unpromising trailers, it looked like a late-summer flop. But happily, it was nothing of the kind: the film became easily the warmest-received blockbusters of the summer, launched director Rupert Wyatt onto the A-list, and has taken an impressive $400 million haul; not bad for a film that allegedly cost less than many of its tentpole competitors. A franchise was (re)born.

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Weekend Box Office: 'The Help' Defeats Tepid Newcomers And Hurricane Season For Another Week At #1

By Gabe Toro
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August 28, 2011 4:37 AM
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10 Comments

Usually, studios will look for any possible reason to blame the weather for a film’s poor box office showing. Heat waves only mean audiences will seek the air conditioning of a theater, at least when something exciting is playing. And people will withstand non-apocalyptic snowstorms simply to get away from the cold while enjoying the blockbuster of their choice. But there aren’t a whole lot of options when almost half of a movie’s proposed locations are under siege by a vicious hurricane. Many large chains didn’t even bother to stay open during Irene’s reign, meaning that these quiet end-of-August releases could find no traction heading into the typically-comatose Labor Day weekend.

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