Zoe Saldana Talks ‘Star Trek’ Sequel and ‘Avatar’

Zoe Saldana

by Elisabeth Rappe – Cinematical.com

The lovely Zoe Saldana is quickly becoming a name to contend with after managing to land plum parts in not one, but two of the biggest sci-fi films of the decade: Star Trek and Avatar. One is a bonafide hit, the other remains shrouded in a lot of mystery, but it’s a mark of Saldana’s star power that she’s making a name outside of their huge hype. Plus, she’s becoming an action heroine in her own right, and just might be our generation’s Sigourney Weaver or Linda Hamilton.

We had the chance to catch up with Saldana this week, and she was game to talk about both projects. Of course with the Star Trek sequel still in a misty writing stage, she didn’t have any big secrets to spill, but she shared the opinion of a lot of female Trek fans in hoping Uhura gets to do a little butt-kicking later on. “In Star Trek, I had so much fun, but the boys got all the action! J.J. [Abrams] promised me that I’m going to — [that] in the sequel, she will have at least one little fight. I mean, just [let me] kick a guy in the groin or something!” Laughing, she revealed that there was an enormous ongoing e-mail list among the cast, Abrams, and the Trek producers where they regularly chat and joke back and forth. From the sound of it, that’s also where the groin-kicking requests are made.

 Saldana was full of enthusiasm and emotion for her Avatar experience and was as full of praise for James Cameron as her costar Sam Worthington. “Avatar definitely had a purpose and will always have a very special place in my heart because it was the one film that I got to shoot for two years. Usually, we only shoot for three months and you have this amazing time with the cast, and the director, and the crew. And then the film lives forever for you guys, but our experiences of shooting that will only live for three months, and sometimes we feel cheated. Working with an amazing director like James Cameron, and working with Sam Worthington who I just — he’s one of the most selfless actors I’ve ever met. We’re literally like brother and sister now. But not incestual! [laughs] Don’t [confuse] that with Avatar, because they are in love! Sh*t! But it was amazing.”

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Saldana didn’t comment on the Internet hype or criticism of the Avatar trailer, or say anything about the finished product, but she makes sure Cameron hears the good stuff fans are throwing his way. “I’ve only seen the first one, I’ve seen the first 16 or 25 minutes that we also showed in Amsterdam over the summer. But I’ve seen the movie! And I always e-mail Jim, like everytime I hear someone say ‘Oh, I can’t wait for Mr. Cameron’s movie!’ I go “Oh, People love ya!’”

James Cameron’s 16-Minute ‘Avatar’ Trailer Premieres in Theaters on August 21

by Brian Haughey   – AssociatedContent.com

The 16-minute trailer for James Cameron’s much-anticipated movie Avatar will debut in participating IMAX theaters on Friday, August 21st. Cameron’s first movie since 1997′s Titanic, Avatar is touted as a revolutionary special effects-laden tale of aliens and humans in a futuristic world on the planet Pandora.

Actual footage of the years-long project has been kept top-secret. Cameron allowed certain scenes to be shown to a rapt audience of nerds at this year’s Comic-Con, with first impressions described by movie websites likeCinematical, and some stills and artwork have been leaked out in the past few weeks. However, Cameron intends the movie to be shown in 3-D in IMAX, so Friday’s sneak preview will be a more authentic experience.

The tickets to the IMAX preview will be doled out on a first come, first served basis on Monday, August 17, on Avatar’s official website. The extended trailer will only be available in IMAX Theatres, but don’t worry… the regular trailer will be available online on Friday, August 21, as well as the trailer for the Ubisoft Avatar video game.

What is Avatar about anyway? According to a press release on the official Avatar website, “Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love, as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, Avatar delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.”

The movie premieres on December 18th. It stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation), Sigourney Weaver (Alien), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious), and Giovanni Ribisi (Boiler Room). However, the actors might be taking a back seat to the film’s special effects, which are rumored to involve seamless CGI. Allegedly, the audience won’t be able to tell where the CGI begins and ends.

James Cameron has always been behind new developments in motion picture special effects. Films like The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day introduced the world to the seamless “liquid metal” special effect. He certainly knows how to wow a crowd of people in a darkened movie theater, even if it is just a taste of things to come.

Comic-Con: Hollywood’s Wagging Tongues Begin Debating ‘Avatar’

Dir. James Cameron and ‘Avatar’ star Sam Worthington

By Michael Cieply – New York Times

The debate begins. At a private dinner for about 10 industry insiders in San Diego on Thursday night, the talk inevitably turned to “Avatar.”

Several of the gathered executives and filmmakers suggested that James Cameron’s super-ambitious 3-D film, of which about 25 minutes screened at the Comic-Con fan convention here, was somehow less than it needed to be. One executive said that, for him, the movie was still a “cartoon” — Mr. Cameron’s elaborate blending of live action and computer-generated elements notwithstanding.

Someone else said that Fox, which is releasing the film, had erred on Thursday by showing scenes that portrayed the relationship between a female alien and the principal human, played by Sam Worthington. They should have just shown that blow-out action scene in which Mr. Worthington tames a pterodactyl-like creature, wild-horse style, and let it go at that.

Two minutes later, another filmmaker who joined the crowd said he thought Fox should have shown more of the relationship between the female alien and Mr. Worthington’s character. This becomes reminiscent of the Hollywood debate that preceded “Titanic,” wherein it was widely opined that Mr. Cameron had overplayed his hand. What you can tell from this, for sure, is that by December 18, when “Avatar” is actually released in theaters, everybody who cares about movies will be talking about it.

Clash of the Titans: Set Photo of Giant Scorpion

Photo from the set of new 'Clash of the Titans'

ScreenRant.com

Today we have a new photo from the set of the upcoming Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, Transporter 2) remake/update of Clash of the Titans. The image depicts a giant scorpion that was constructed for the movie (reportedly) on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

If you’ve seen the original Clash of the Titans, you’ll remember the giant scorpions that Perseus (originally played by Harry Hamlin) has to do battle with after he defeats (and collects the head of) Medusa. No telling if this remake will follow the original to the absolute letter, although I think we can speculate that scenes like battling the giant scorpions will raise the spectacle level, an inevitability when the studio has today’s amazing CGI technology to work with (although the original, I imagine, at the time would’ve been quite a sight to behold).

The giant scorpion snapped on the new movie’s set looks pretty bad-ass, and I imagine even more so when it’s been implemented into the final movie and in full action mode. Below is the new set photo (apologies for the small-ish size) plus a still from the original 1981 movie to compare

Scorpion from original 'Clash of the Titans'

The original Titans scorpion obviously looks a bit more impressive since it’s fully within the movie, in action with its pincers at the ready. The scorpion from the new movie doesn’t look as lively, but I’m sure that will change once it’s been brought to cinematic life!

With an impressive cast and some great images (one in particular of Sam Worthington in action), the remake of Clash of the Titans is shaping up very well, indeed. Leterrier is a choice of director I didn’t see coming for this project, simply because he’s only ever directed modern (action) movies. However, he has shown he really knows how to do action with the likes of The Incredible Hulk and the second Transporter movie, so I’ll be interested to see how he does his usual thing in a period setting.

   Clash of the Titans stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Avatar) as Perseus, Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades, Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) as Io and Danny Huston as Poseidon. It is currently shooting and is set for a March 26, 2010 release.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Ready for Release

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Release: Aug 7, 2009

 

Taglines

-Evil Never Looked So Good

-When All Else Fails, They Don’t

 

Plot outline
An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.

 

Trivia

Sam Worthington was considered for the role of Duke, but turned it down due scheduling conflicts with Avatar.

David Murray was cast as Destro, but dropped it when he had problems with his visa. He was replaced by Christopher Eccleston; however, the character was named James McCullen XXIV, thus enabling Murray to film a flashback scene as the first Destro, James McCullen I.

Skip Woods wrote an early draft of the film, which featured Alex Mann (aka Britain’s Action Man) and the antagonist as the Naja/Ryan, a corrupt CIA agent. Scarlett is married to Action Man but still has feelings for Duke, and is killed by the Baroness. Snake-Eyes speaks, but his vocal cords are slashed during the story, rendering him mute.

 

Makeup Dept

Leo Corey Castellano … makeup department head: second unit
Leo Corey Castellano … prosthetic design and application
Patricia Dehaney-Le May … hair stylist: second unit
Linda Dvorakova … hair stylist: second unit
Roxane Griffin … key hair stylist
Barbara Kichi … hair stylist
Toby Lamm … additional makeup artist
Bart Mixon … special makeup effects ast to Kazuhiro Tsuji
Michael Mosher … special makeup effects artist
Jessica Nelson … contact lens technician
Gabriela Polakova … makeup artist
Richard Redlefsen … special makeup effects artist
Bobo Sobatka… makeup artist
  Kimberley Spiteri … department head hair stylist: second unit
  Peter Tothpal … hair department head
  Kazuhiro Tsuji … special makeup effects artist
  Cindy J. Williams … makeup department head
  Hiroshi Yada … special makeup effects crew: KTsfx
  Kentaro Yano … makeup artist

 

Special Effects Department

Ozzy Alvarez … special makeup effects technician:   Quantum Creation FX
Ryan Banfield … mold maker
Gary D. Bierend … second unit special effects crew
David Boucher … special effects technician
John P. Cazin … special effects crew
Jerry Constantine … specialty costumer
Sophia Coronado … specialty costumes: Film Illusions
  Matt Corrigan … special effects technician
  Jeff Crocker … mold maker
  Sam Dean … special effects technician
  Robert Kato DeStefan … specialty costume crew
  Brandon Engstrom … special effects technician
  Damian Fisher … mold maker
  Damian Fisher … special effects technician
  Megan Flagg … specialty costumer
  Terry Glass … special effects foreman: UK
  Joe Gomez … mold shop supervisor
  Roy Goode … pyrotechnician
  Allan B. Holt … special effects technician
  Jeff Jingle … special effects props
  Pete Kelley … special effects technician
  Brenna Kelly … special effects assistant
  Yong Lee … specialty costume crew
  Shane Mahan … accelerator suit effects: Stan Winston Studio
  Jacqueline Makkee … special effects technician: Quantum Creation FX
  Al Marangoni … special effects technician
  Keith Marbory … special effects makeup
  David Merritt … accelerator suit model department key coordinator: stan winston studio
  David Mesloh … special effects technician
  Hans Metz … special effects technician
  Sara R. Morris … special effects purchaser
  Jesse Noel … special effects technician
  Justin Raleigh … specialty prop / specialty costume coordinator: Quantum Creation FX
  William ‘Barcode’ Rosa … lab technician
  Scott Schutzki … model maker: props
  Ray Shaffer … specialty costume crew
  Charles Sowles … costume props
  Christopher A. Suarez … special effects technician
  Daniel Sudick … special effects coordinator
  Sally Wilson … texture artist
  Chris Zega … lab technician: Stan Winston Studios

 

 

 

 

Clash of the Titans Remake

   Look for a March 2010 release for this remake of the 1981 film. The story is of the myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to save the Princess Andromeda.

   Warner Bros Pictures have released the first hi-res images of Sam Worthington as Perseus from Clash Of The Titans.

   The reboot of the classic 1981 fantasy also stars Liam Neeson, Mads Mikkelsen, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston and Izabella Miko. The film is directed by Louis Leterrier.

   Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

The Crew:

Conor O’Sullivan is the prosthetic supervisor

Jenny Shircore is the makeup designer

Neil Corbould is the special effects supervisor

Corina Rosca is the special effects manager

Cliff Wallace is the animatronic workshop supervisor

Dave Bonneywell is the special effects lead sculptor

..more about Special Effects at GoreMaster.com