Momentum Shows Off Lawless and More at Kapow!

Indie distributor Momentum shared a wealth of clips from upcoming films at Kapow! today.

Rick McCallum, George Lucas' long-time collaborator, took to the stage with actor David Oyelowo and director Gareth Evans to highlight what moviegoers have to look forward to.

The showcase kicked off with Red Tails, which MacCullum produced and Oyelowo starred in alongside big names including Cuba Gooding Junior, Elijah Kelley and Ne-Yo.  The film, due out June 6th in Europe and already on release in America, follows the first African American fighter squadron in the Second World War, and is packed with tense dogfights.

MacCullum said of the pilots, “they were the rockstars of their time.  It was incredible stuff that these kids had to go through – and they were kids, only 18 and 19.”

Western crime film Lawless was shown next, which stars Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce. Set during the prohibition in Virginia, three brothers get on the wrong side of the wrong guys and there’s action that invokes Al Capone style mobs, with Guy Pearce in particular set to make a terrifying impression.

For horror aficionados, The House at the End of the Street is out at the end of September and looks distressingly gritty.  Jennifer Lawrence is in the film, alongside a terrifying little girl who wouldn’t look out of place in The Ring, judging by the footage.  In a similar vein, Red Lights sees Robert de Niro play a very dangerous psychic using his powers on victims Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver.

We weren’t shown any footage for the last two films, but the information we got was exciting nevertheless.  First we heard about Seven Psychopaths, the new film from the creators of In Bruges.  Due out in September, Colin Farrell will be appearing as the long suffering best mate of a man who steals the dog belonging to a crime lord, with capers ensuing.

Momentum then told us about Ender’s Game, the highly awaited film adaptation of the novel of the same name.  Due out in October 2013, it’s a dark sci-fi film starring Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley and Hailee Steinfeld where humans are locked in battle with alien insectoids for the Earth.

To wrap up, we were shown a climactic fight scene from The Raid which released yesterday, while director Gareth Evans answered questions.  If you want to know more about that, check out our coverage from earlier in the day.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/19/momentum-shows-off-lawless-and-more-at-kapow

Gareth Evans Talks The Raid Remake

The Raid director Gareth Evans discussed the future of the franchise at Kapow In London today. During the Momentum Showcase at the Comic Convention, the Welsh director explained his involvement in the American remake, as well as the upcoming sequel.

 

He said the remake would incorporate some changes as the original was, “a movie in a foreign language with a star nobody knew and a director nobody knew.”  It won’t be anything too drastic though, as Evans is on board as executive producer and the Indonesian star of the first film, Iko Uwais, will be choreographing the action.

 

While fans may be sad not to see him at the helm for the remake, he said he felt it was important that he stood back.  He explained, “I’m not remaking it myself.  My approach is to be hands off; in order for them to do the job properly they need to be given freedom.”

 

The good news is that this leaves Evans free to focus on getting the Indonesian sequel underway.  When The Raid was still in script form, Evans was primarily focused on another project called Berandal.  After seeing how well people responded to The Raid, he decided that with a small rewrite (“about 15 per cent”) Berandal could serve as a sequel.

 

He’s now planning a full trilogy and shared today that *SPOILER* Mad Dog will be reappearing in the next film, though we’re not sure in what capacity.  With filming due to start January 2013, he said he felt hopeful about releasing by “the tail end of next year.”

 

Finally, with the American remake underway, Evans was asked how he’s coping with the influx of Hollywood offers.  He said that he hasn’t received any, putting this down to the level of violence in his films.  He teased, “I make violent movies, so I don’t quite fit the Hollywood mould… yet.  But at the moment I can make smaller films that allow me to do what I want.”

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/19/gareth-evans-talks-the-raid-remake