Meanwhile, Paul Giamatti loses his pants in the latest Amazing Spider-Man 2 set videos. Bad Robot producer Bryan Burk discusses shout-outs to Star Trek past in Into Darkness. Samuel L. Jackson isn't totally sure he will be in Avengers 2, even though he obviously will be. It's spoiler time!
Top image from World War Z.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Producer Bryan Burk explains why it was crucial this film didn't feel like a sequel:
Well consciously what we were doing when making the film was, we really wanted to make sure it was a film about – in our mind it was never really a sequel, it was its own movie going forward and it’s why the movie doesn’t have a number by it. It was a film that you should be able to jump in, if you’ve never seen it before you’d be able to jump right in, and obviously if you have seen it then you’ll be bringing your own emotion to it. We wanted to appeal to both. It was really important to try to reach a whole new audience so we had a lot of people in who not only had not seen the last film but were not Star Trek fans, or thought of themselves as not being Star Trek fans, or they had seen bits and pieces of Star Trek in the past and it was just not for them. So that was an important part of the process and strangely, early on, we started to realize, in that respect, we were successful in what we were trying to do, which is make a film that everybody would be able come out and not be scratching their head at all. And more importantly what we found with those people is that a lot of them said, “Hey it’s not what I thought it was going to be.” Which is a great reaction, particularly if they liked it.
He also discusses possible reference to Star Trek lore in the film:
We definitely had conversations about it early on and, you know, you can’t put everything in. The “red shirt” moment is obviously the moment when Chekov gets his red shirt, which isn’t as big as the “red shirt” moment from the last film. As you talk about it – and I’m the worst one to be talking about it because I do not know Star Trek [canon] as well as I know other [canon], but I’ll hear my fellow producers, who do know that world much more, talk about a whole bunch of things. When we start talking about these films there’s a whole bunch of things on the table that, time permitting, they would be all over the film. it’s just you can’t do everything in [every] film. Even in the last film we introduced Klingons, but you never saw it because in the final cut it didn’t work for us to bring them in. Fortunately they made it in this film. But there’s just a lot of possibilities, particularly in a world that’s been around for 45 years, of things you can put in. If they’ll continue to let us make these films well continue to keep populating it with things that impress.
I’m curious if there are any Easter eggs that are in the background that fans should be looking out for on their second viewing?
That’s a very good question…I’m trying to think right now off the top of my head and I think there is, but I can’t remember because we had conversations early on. There’s one I can’t really address comfortably yet, I don’t want to say yes and have people looking for things that ended up not being in it, but there might be.
There's plenty more at the link, including discussion of some other J.J. Abrams-affiliated projects. Speaking of which... [Collider]
Star Wars: Episode VII
Bryan Burk also offers another general update on the status of Bad Robot's other big project:
We’re progressing on a schedule to hopefully begin next year, or the beginning of next year, and the location is still kind of floating around in the air all depending on script and a whole bunch of other issues. As I just said, everything is kind of a free-flowing thing, and when we feel like the story level on this script and everything is really coming together and schedules are all working and pieces line up, we prowl ahead, and Star Wars will be no different.
Are you a little bit surprised, even for you, about the level of interest or did you sort of know there would be a level of interest you’ve never had before on anything?
I mean, it’s Star Wars. It’s something that obviously has successfully been handed down from generation to generation in the last 40 years. If I weren’t working on the project, I’d have the same interest as everyone else because it’s something that I, too, am looking forward to seeing where the franchise goes next.
[Collider]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Anthony Mackie were spotted on set in Washington, D.C. Here are some set videos and a news report from the filming, which took place near the National Mall.
You can check out some more footage and photos here.
The Avengers 2
Samuel L. Jackson says he doesn't actually know whether he will be back as Nick Fury in The Avengers 2, though this sounds more like he just hasn't asked Marvel yet as opposed to not being sure he wants to return:
I don't know. They don't tell me that kind of stuff. All I know is that I am doing Captain America 2. It's been cool. The Marvel universe continues to grow and get better. I think I have four or five pictures left on my nine-picture deal, so I will just keep showing up.
[Metro]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Here are two set videos showing a fight scene between Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man and Paul Giamatti's Rhino. Spoiler alert: Paul Giamatti's pants do not survive this clip, at least not in their initial position.
There are also additional set photos here
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino, who worked on the music for director Matt Reeves's previous films Let Me In and Cloverfield, has announced via Twitter that he will provide the score for the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel. [@m_giacchino]
Divergent
EW has posted this set photo of Descendants star Shailene Woodley from the filming of the adaptation of Veronica Roth's YA dystopian novel. Director Neil Burger explains the scene:
"In this photo she's already jumped off the train and onto a seven story building as part of the initiation rite for the Dauntless. The next thing they have to do is jump from the building and down through a courtyard that has a deep, black hole. It's terrifying. We'd been nervously planning it because it is dangerous and there's a lot of people on that roof. We had to pull it off safely and also pull it off cinematically, so you have this knot in your stomach as you watch this young woman decide to do this crazy thing. We had great weather that day and I think this scene really is emblematic of the movie: It shows the energy and the rawness of the way we're telling the story."
[EW]
World War Z
This movie is apparently still happening, and here's the first video in a tie-in viral campaign to prove it. [First Showing]
I, Frankenstein
The Dark Knight star Aaron Eckhart discusses his post-apocalyptic, demon-fighting taken on the Frankenstein story, which, again, is exactly the story Mary Shelley would have written if she had known what she was doing:
The film is about the figure of the monster Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is in it, so it's loosely, loosely based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. But then it's brought into contemporary times in this fantastical world. So it's a movie about good and evil, about gargoyles and demons, and it's about a monster trying to find his soul; his place in this world. And he happens to be an expert at the Filipino art of Kali stick fighting at the same time. Which [for those who are unfamiliar] is done with two and a half foot ratan sticks, or any stick you pick up off the street, and it's being able to dispatch souless people with these sticks.
So he's a limber monster.
Yep, no bolts in the head. Sans bolts.
What about any scarring, things like that?
Yeah, there's scarring on the face and the body and there's an old and new look because some of it does take place in old times and some of it's in contemporary times so you get that flavor.
The basic sentence "[Frankenstein's monster] happens to be an expert at the Filipino art of Kali stick fighting" is maybe my favorite thing ever uttered in the English language, if only because the "happens" suggests he's just sort of randomly an expert at it, because Frankenstein's monster has to be an expert in some East Asian martial art. Anyway, lest you think this is all about the monster's coincidental Kali stick fighting prowess, Eckhart also promises there's a real arc to the character:
It's a guy who's sort of cursed. Because the monster Frankenstein, when he was born his father called him an abortion, an aberration. He's got no love in his life, he's unworthy, children run and scream at the sight of him. So what worse punishment than to roam the earth for eternity with this sort of sickness, and not finding love ,and not finding your soul? And that's what the movie's about.
Well, that actually sounds more or less valid, but I'm still pretty sure this is going to be the most gloriously silly movie of 2014. [IGN]
This Is The End
Here's a behind-the-scenes featurette for Seth Rogen and James Franco's upcoming film, in which they and a whole bunch of their celebrity friends portray versions of themselves facing the apocalypse. [Moviefone]
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
ABC president Paul Lee offers some strong praise for the Avengers spin-off series, which will air Tuesdays at 8 P.M. this fall:
"We don't normally talk about testing, but [Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.] tested so well in all four quadrants. Joss Whedon knows how to create great television with great relationships at the heart of it. It has relationships and humor but also the promise of the Marvel franchise… We think it's driven by character and will bring a wider audience to us... Every single hour on the schedule is up against competition. We think it's going to recruit a whole new audience coming in [and] we think it has a built-in audience… We don't think it has the same audience as NCIS and we have high hopes for it on Tuesdays at 8 p.m."
The Walking Dead
Filming on season four began last week, and AMC has released this first official photo from the set. [Wet Paint]
Intelligence
Meghan Ory, who plays Ruby on Once Upon a Time, explains how she became a series regular on CBS's new sci-fi drama, in which Lost star Josh Holloway plays a man with a microchip in his head:
My agents spoke with the [Once] producers, who said, 'If she wants to go look for something, that's fine.' My team told me about this pilot that was shooting in Vancouver, but I was at my grandmother's funeral so I couldn't go test for it. I couldn't leave my family, so I said no. They ended up testing me at the cast table read with Josh [Holloway] and everyone. Afterwards, I waited outside and they said, 'So you want to do the show?' We started shooting three days later. I ended up calling Eddy [Kitsis] and Adam [Horowitz] to tell them how thankful I was for the huge opportunity they gave me, and they were thrilled for me. Eddy said, 'You've gone from protecting Snow White to protecting Josh.'
Describe your new Intelligence character.
Her name is Riley Neal. She's super smart and was a Secret Service Agent, the youngest to ever be on the President's detail. Marg Helgenberger's character recruits her to come work with her unit and protect Josh's character, who is the most expensive weapon ever made [an agent implanted with a microchip]. Josh's character and I like each other, but butt heads. His character is married, but there could be some sexual tension. And sort of like it was on Once, there are no damsels in distress. The damsels rescue themselves! It's going to be very fun to go back and forth between these two different shows.
[TV Guide]
The Vampire Diaries
Here's another sneak peek at tomorrow's season finale, "Graduation."
Teen Wolf
Here's a teaser for season three.
Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.