Man of Steel screenwriter David Goyer explains why writing Superman is harder than writing Batman. Star Jane Levy takes us inside the Evil Dead reboot. Michael Bay reveals a Transformers 4 casting choice. Plus several Warm Bodies videos and some Arrow hints!
It's all spoilers from here on out!
Top image from Man of Steel.
Star Trek into Darkness
Producer Bryan Burk discusses how this sequel moves the story forward, and what the significance of the titular "darkness" really is:
I think it's a continuation. It's not a sequel just for the sake of doing a sequel. We really decided that if we are going to do it, how do we make it different and really step up our game. It's part of the evolution of the title. The film is not a dark film per se. It's not post-apocalyptic dark – it's still within the realm of what Roddenberry had wanted, which is this positive view of the future. However the stakes are significantly greater, and personal. The characters – particularly Kirk – are going to a much darker place emotionally. I feel like the experience the audience has going through it will be a much deeper emotional experience. And on top of that the spectacle will be significantly bigger than the last film.
You say it's not a dark film, but you've got Darkness in the title, and I thought there was a Hollywood law whereby the second episode in a franchise has to be darker than the first.
I didn't say it wasn't dark in content. Visually it's not dark. Everyone keeps talking about darkness, but in my mind that's something that's visually dark or post-apocalyptic. That's not what this is. But emotionally it is. It goes to a place where it's a heavier film, a bit like all of our favorite sequels. Be it The Empire Strikes Back, which is a darker film emotionally than Star Wars. And Godfather 2 is significantly darker. I'm referencing the best movies ever made here, but the idea of making it weightier and heavier – that's the stuff we love. Our intention going forward was not to make a fluffy sequel. It was to take a real step deeper with these characters.
[IGN]
Man of Steel
Screenwriter David Goyer, who previously worked on Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, discusses the process writing Zack Snyder's new Superman movie:
"I never thought I'd be doing a Superman film. The only possible way to top myself or ourselves on Batman is to tackle Superman who's the sort of granddaddy of all the superheroes. He's trickier. It's easier doing a dark character who doesn't have any superpowers, but I'm really proud of what we've done and I can't wait for people to see it. I think the movie is going to be the right movie for the times. I'm happy the movie is going to be coming out this summer because I think it's the kind of movie that the world needs right now."
[IGN]
The Wolverine
Director James Mangold confirms this story takes place after all previous X-Men entries — although he says it's not so much a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand as it is based around Logan picking up the pieces after the devastation wrought in that film:
I felt it was really important to find Logan at a moment where he was stripped clean of his duties to the X-Men, his other allegiances, and even stripped clean of his own sense of purpose. I was fascinated with the idea of portraying Logan as a ronin – the definition of which is a samurai without a master, without a purpose. Kind of a soldier who is cut loose. War is over. What does he do? What does he face? What does he believe anymore? Who are his friends? What is his reason for being here anymore? I think those questions are especially interesting when you're dealing with a character who is essentially immortal.
He also discusses the story, mostly in broad thematic terms, although he does confirm just why Wolverine comes to Japan in the first place:
An old friendship. What brings him there is an old ally in Japan. We find Logan in a moment of tremendous disillusionment. We find him estranged. One of the models I used working on the film was The Outlaw Josey Wales. You find Logan and his love is gone, his mentors are gone, many of his friends are gone, his own sense of purpose – what am I doing, why do I bother – and his exhaustion is high. He has lived a long time, and he's tired. He's tired of the pain.
Sounds like you're leaning hard on the despair of this character.
What I wrote on the back of the script when I first read it was "Everyone I love will die." The story I've been telling, he enters it believing that. Therefore he's living in a kind of isolation. He gets drawn to Japan by an old friendship and then finds himself in a labyrinth of deceit, caught up in the agendas of mobsters, of wealth, and other powers we come to understand.
There's still plenty more at the link. [EW]
Transformers 4
Director Michael Bay confirms the casting of one of the two non-Mark Wahlberg leads in typical Michael Bay fashion, as well as commenting on just how this movie connects with its three predecessors:
I just hired a great new actor for Transformers 4 to star against Mark Wahlberg. Jack Reynor, he is an Irish kid that came to America with 30 bucks in his pocket. Pretty ballsy. Seriously who does that? Anyway I spotted him in a great little Irish movie WHAT RICHARD DID. This kid is the real deal.
Transformers 4, is not a reboot. That word has been floating around on the net.
This movie takes place exactly 4 years after the war in Chicago. The story makes a very natural transition, and reason as to why we have a whole new cast. This Transformers will feel very different then the last three. We are embarking on a new trilogy.
At a recent press event, Mark Wahlberg was supposedly overheard saying he was looking for a rental house in Chicago for the filming of Transformers 4. This is a seriously secondhand, unsourced kind of report, but Bay has said he had a positive experience filming parts of the third entry Dark of the Moon in Chicago, so a return visit certainly seems plausible enough. [TFW 2005]
Warm Bodies
Here's some behind-the-scenes B-roll footage. [Shock Till You Drop]
Evil Dead
Suburgatory star Jane Levy discusses just how physically demanding her lead role in the Evil Dead reboot really is:
But this is also like, an extremely physical job, and just like what [director] Fede [Alvarez] was saying, we're doing everything that you see. I don't know how much I'm allowed to give away, but at one point I vomit all over somebody. A lot of vomit. Like, a shit-ton of fluid. I had a tube practically down my throat, and I'm on top of this girl and vomiting all over her. When you actually do something like that – I don't think I can actually describe the sensation – but I actually went to the corner and cried. I'm really sensitive. But I felt like I was really drowning my friend Jessica, it felt so bad. I was shaking... I could name ten of the most horrible things that could ever happen to you in your whole life, and all of those ten things happen to this character. It's horror of all horror films. It is extreme, and that's a lot of the reason I took this project on. I thought like why not do the most extreme movie possible? And the farthest from what I've been doing for the past year.
She also explains her character's status as a recovering drug addict is more a setup to get the gang to the cabin than a major driver of the plot:
But I think that part of the story is actually kind of small. Like that gets you there, that gets you into this environment, and I think from the very beginning Mia has made the decision that she's gonna be healthy. So she's not using drugs at all in this movie. It's like, withdrawal starts the minute the movie starts, and then she has to live.
Finally, she discusses how she wanted to take a unique approach to being possessed by evil:
Well, it's something I spent a lot of time thinking about. It's something I still think about and stress over. Because we've seen possessed people a lot of times in movies, and as an actor you're always interested in trying something new. And I didn't want to mimic anything, and I really wanted to be f**king scary... But I actually chose to humanize my Deadite a little bit, and I hope that turns out to be scary. I tried not to do much of like spider crawling up wall, like psycho body contortion…just because I wanted, I guess I wanted to try something new, and I also thought, and Fede thinks, that the idea of there being a human quality is almost scarier because it's scarier to think of your father being possessed than just like… do you know what I mean? Like, finding something that you can relate to about this person who's also doing horrible things, I thought would be terrifying. I have yet to see it, so I hope it works.
There's more at the link. [Shock Till You Drop]
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
And showrunner Joel Wyman offers this promise for the big two-hour finale the following Friday:
"I didn't want to come up with more universes or pull any dramatic tricks. A lot of times a showrunner is in the position to do what they like, because at the end of a series, nobody can tell you what to do. But I owe so much to the fans, I wanted to make sure it was for them."
[TV Guide]
Person of Interest
Erstwhile Fairly Legal star Sarah Shahi has been cast in the recurring role as Shaw, described by series creator Jonathan Nolan as follows:
"[She's a] fearless, sexy operative in a secret paramilitary organization that tracks and eliminates terrorists before they can act. She brings to her work a yen for mayhem and a sharp, dark wit - in whatever language the locals are speaking. If James Bond and Sarah Connor had a kid, Shaw would kick its ass."
[EW]
Once Upon a Time
Lost Girl
Here's the synopsis for the fourth episode, "Fae-de to Black":
Bo and Dyson take on a case in the world of new age psychology and Bo suffers the consequences of denying her ravenous hunger; Kenzi feels the weight of trying to find a place in her friends' new lives.
Teen Wolf
Costar Stephen Lunsford confirmed on his Tumblr that Erica Rayes actress Gage Golightly won't be back for the third season. [Seven Pillars of Stephen]
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.