By Jeff Rosz | May 17th, 2013  You know a studio is coming into their own when they start to think sequel months before a film’s release. Summit (a member of the rapidly growing Lionsgate group) is doing just that in regards to the Bruce Willis-led Red franchise which has him pairing with other retired CIA types. The first film has proven to show that the action-comic blend really works quite well, making this an episodic series people would undoubtedly like to revisit. As for why this is in our crosshairs today, the studio has apparently rehired Jon and Erich Hoeber to draft the script for round three.
Expect a release as early as February 2015 as production is being set up for winter. No director or cast members have signed on just yet. Red 2 hits theaters on July 19 although that could change as it shares a date with another action-comedy, R.I.P.D. which was coincidentally directed by the same guy who helmed the first Red movie.
By Jeff Rosz | May 13th, 2013 Summit is still out establishing buzz for the mid-July release of Red 2. The studio believes the pic will do just fine even when faced with competition from action comedy rival RIPD, but even so we are a bit shocked that neither took the early August slot that 300: Rise of An Empire vacated earlier in the month. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | May 7th, 2013  Lionsgate/Summit literally just started filming the Divergent movie with Shailene Woodley, and they already know that they will be making a sequel. This was a bit obvious given the stock has exploded over the past few months as analysts grew bullish at the prospects of the YA novel hitting the big screen. The reason this is in the news today is that Deadline is reporting that Jane Got a Gun writer Brian Duffield has been tapped to script Insurgent which is the next installment. That particular film may be familiar to a whole lot of people who follow the trades. It is a Western being produced by Natalie Portman that has been marred several casting changes since production first got off the ground. In other words, Duffield knows how to write for female characters.
No release has been set just yet for Insurgent, but assuming a Twilight/Hunger Games-like schedule, one could imagine March 2015–one year after Divergent first hits theaters.
By Jeff Rosz | May 7th, 2013  It is going to be a very busy month of November with sequels to both Thor and The Hunger Games, but look out because there might be a dark horse kicking it all off. Summit released the very first full-length trailer for Ender’s Game today, a sci-fi film based on the Orson Wells novel that stars Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld, and Ben Kingsley. In other words, this is a pretty big picture that will almost assuredly make some noise. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | May 1st, 2013  We are about a week away from seeing the first trailer for Ender’s Game from director Gavin Hood as Summit would more than likely want to ramp up the marketing campaign for the feature. Lucky for them, the studio bagged Ben Kingsley’s Iron Man 3 follow-up as he has a major role in the film–that of Mazer Rackham. We previously saw images of Hailee Steinfeld’s Petra, Asa Butterfield’s Ender, and Harrison Ford’s Colonel Graff, so here is Kingsley to help tide fans over until the official footage hits the web.
Ender’s Game lands in theaters on November 1.
By Jeff Rosz | April 29th, 2013  The first official television commercial for Now You See Me has hit the net. This movie has a pretty excellent cast with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco, but the film has a tough release date. Parked at the end of next month, the film follows rollouts for Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Fast & Furious 6, and The Hangover Part III all to get to a day where it goes against a Will Smith sci-fi movie called After Earth. In other words, this Summit film can succeed modestly, but if it does it will in fact be on the down-low. One might suggest breaking out the phrase ‘sleeper hit’ for this one should audiences be able to support another nationwide release. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | April 24th, 2013 Yesterday, we got a good look at two character posters for Red 2 coming out on July 19, and today brings two more. The stars this time around are Helen Mirren’s Victoria and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Miranda Wood.
By Jeff Rosz | April 23rd, 2013 Red 2 has the daunting task of opening side-by-side with Universal’s R.I.P.D. in three months’ time (something I still do not think will happen as one might delay themselves out of contention,) so the marketing machine is hard at work. There is a pair of character posters with Bruce Willis and John Malkovich to look at today, thus the mention. The film hits July 19 and the trailer link is here for those who missed it.
By Jeff Rosz | April 22nd, 2013  Summit now possesses the screen rights to another best-seller. The studio is set to convert William P. Young’s religious-themed novel The Shack into a full-length feature film. Since publication in 2007, it has sold 18 million copies worldwide across 39 different languages, making this an easy decision for the Lionsgate-owned studio to make. Life of Pi producer Gil Netter has the daunting task of producing the book-to-film effort which is based on the metaphor “the house you build out of your own pain.”
Mackenzie Allen Phillips’s youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.
By Jeff Rosz | April 21st, 2013  As one might have imagined, the break-out star of what looks to be one of the most popular baseball films of all-time is landing a host of new gigs. The man who played Jackie Robinson in 42 was Chadwick Boseman who is not exactly a recognizable name (or face) to the masses just yet. Ivan Reitman seems to be betting on talent before draw though as he has booked Boseman for his new film Draft Day opposite the talents of Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner.
The actor will be playing a linebacker from Louisiana whose future is riding on the outcome of Draft Day. This is an NFL-branded movie coming from Summit that follows Costner’s character as he GM’s the Cleveland Browns on an important day for choices, both professional and personal. Other supporting roles recently went to Denis Leary and Frost/Nixon’s Frank Langella.
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By Jeff Rosz | March 25th, 2013  More poster art today, this one from Yahoo! Movies for the hotly-anticipated Summit release Ender’s Game. We are yet to see a trailer for the film just yet, but judging from the heightened state of these types of material, it could drop shortly. Release is not until November, so a wait would be acceptable although they most likely would want to have a presence at the MTV Movie Awards next month (April 14) in some capacity which could trigger such an early reveal. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | May 6th, 2012  One of the hottest directors in Hollywood right now has to be Gary Ross as he is coming off of helming Lionsgate’s crazy successful adaptation of The Hunger Games. The film has already racked up over $600 million at the global box office, yet the Seabiscuit director will not be working on its successor. That job instead is going to I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence who has no concerns about rushing production in order to accommodate Fox’s claim on franchise star Jennifer Lawrence.
With that being said, the director’s proverbial dance card is now free, and Summit reportedly has targeted him to make a film called Houdini. While this has not yet been made official, this would put the director right at the beginning of yet another prospective franchise for essentially the same company.
Make no mistake about it; this feature is not some Harry Houdini, low-budget bio-pic. Sure, it may be based on a biography from William Kalush and Larry Sloman, but Summit apparently has their hearts set on making this into an action-thriller that is best described as a cross between Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes.
It is in this lens that we are beginning to see the continued evolution of Lionsgate as a company hell bent on creating blockbuster tentpoles to complement their contingent of horror and Tyler Perry movies. With the imminent finale of The Twilight Saga, the clock may be running out on the studio’s ability to make this happen which is why many should be glad with Summit’s selection of just who is behind the camera for their next attempt at a book-spawned franchise.
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By Jeff Rosz | January 13th, 2012
By Jeff Rosz | November 29th, 2011  The best way for Hollywood studios to ride out the feast or famine of hits and misses is to grow their release slates, and that is why the news this week is that Summit and Lionsgate are back in talks to discuss the prospects of a merger. Continue Reading
By Jeff Rosz | May 31st, 2011  Source Code will release on July 8, 2011 via video-on-demand and EST (electronic sell through), two weeks prior to blu-ray/DVD release. The reason this is news is because this simply does not happen in the industry as video-on-demand and physical discs currently release on the same day. Continue Reading
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