“Man of Steel” sequel in 2014 followed by “Justice League”?

This seems a bit quick, but “Fast and Furious 6” directed by Justin Lin is seeing its sequel, “Fast and Furious 7” from James Wan being released next year. Reports are that Warner Brothers wants a “Man of Steel” sequel, which has earned $125.1 million already, to come out in 2014 with a “Justice League” film to follow in 2015. It makes a little bit of sense because WB has slated a 2015 release for a JLA film for a while now. But that’s not much time for Zack Snyder and writer David Goyer to prep a script and get everything done in time.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas2gmail.com.

“Terminator 5” filming next year?

Paramount Pictures has reportedly acquired the rights to distribute “Terminator 5” (T5) and that production may begin next year. The script had numerous rewrites, the latest coming from Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is attached to star. At one point Justin Lin was attached to direct, but he dropped out to helm “Fast and Furious 6”. Maybe he can come back? It would make sense as to why he didn’t want to do FF 7. “Terminator Salvation” the last Terminator film to be released, starred Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

 

“Fast and Furious 6” sets Universal records

“Fast and Furious 6” is on its way to becoming the highest grossing film domestically and internationally in the hit franchise. The film set an opening weekend record for Universal when it opened to $97 million. The film has now crossed $500 million, the fastest to reach that mark in Universal history. The film stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Luke Evans and more. Justin Lin directed.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Fast and Furious 6” featurette explores final action scene

“Fast and Furious 6” is probably my favorite film of the summer so far. From director Justin Lin and starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Gal Gadot and a lot more, the film is a total blast. SPOILERS: the most entertaining scene? The third act where they take down a plane. Here’s a featurette that shows how Lin and the crew tried to shoot as much of that as possible.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: 5/31/13

It’s a magic heist vs. a new film from M. Night Shyamalan as they try to dethrone Justin Lin’s “Fast and Furious 6”.

A decade ago, Will Smith and Shyamalan would have equaled a major blockbuster. But thanks to Shyamalan’s films like “The Village”, “Lady in the Water”, “The Happening” and “The Last Airbender”, his name hasn’t appeared in any of the marketing. Will and Jaden Smith are both stars in their own right but reviews have been terrible and nearly everyone laughs when they find out Shyamalan is involved at all, let alone directing. On the heels of film after film in May being aimed at young males, this is going to be the first film not to earn a ton of money its opening weekend and will struggle to break $40 million.

Opening weekend: $35-40 million

Part of the reason why the above movie will struggle is because “Now You See Me”, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Common, Melanie Laurent and Dave Franco is vying for the same audience. Its premise has gotten a lot of people intrigued, looking like its mixing “Ocean’s 11” and “The Prestige”. Reviews have been lukewarm, which doesn’t speak well for its potential long term legs. Plus, facing big sequels second weekends and a movie starring Will Smith means this film is likely to get lost in the shuffle.

Opening weekend: $25-30 million

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Fast and Furious 6” review!

They’re back. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson and company are back for “Fast and Furious 6”, this time facing off against Luke Evans. Does this film compare to “Fast Five” or is Justin Lin’s latest running out of gas?

The Good 

This movie, like “Fast Five” is so much fun. The action is crazy and raised to a new level. The flip car driven by Evans is kick-ass in action. And yes, the set pieces do get ridiculous. But scenes with a tank driving down a highway and the plane sequence might discard any form of realism, but they’re hugely entertaining. Evans is clearly having fun as the villain and the fight scenes, most notably Rodriguez vs. Gina Carano are very well staged. There are some funny wise cracks and, stay tuned during the credits for a tease to “Fast and Furious 7”, because it should get action movie fans very, very excited.

The Bad

Diesel at times seems to be phoning in his performance. Not that I’m expecting Oscar worthy performances, but at times he seemed a little bored and just going through the motions. Also, the humor doesn’t always work in the film. And let’s face it, if you’re not a fan of “Fast Five”, you’re not going to be a fan of this film as the action gets more ridiculous.

The Final Word 

An Oscar winner this ain’t. But “Fast and Furious 6” is a fantastically enjoyable action film. The action is relentless, fun and entertaining and it seems the franchise is taking off. For those looking for an exciting summer action film, look no further than this one.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

FF 7 producer talks the Rock, James Wan

“Fast Five” starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and more was one of 2011’s surprise hits. “Fast and Furious 6” promises to push the envelope even further. Justin Lin, however, stepped down as director for “Fast and Furious 7”. Now producer Neal Moritz talked about new director James Wan, who fans will know as the helmer of “Saw” and “Insidious”.

“(He’s) a terrific, terrific director at the top, top of his genre.  He’s done everything you could do in the genre he’s been working in, and as he said to me the other day, everything he has trained himself within that genre has been so he could take the next step up into something like Fast & Furious… I’ve always been a fan of his, he’s one of the people that we initially had on our list as a possible replacement, but I can just tell you when he came in and told us what his vision was, when he left the room we all looked at each other and said ‘That’s our director,” Moitz said.

Moritz also confirmed that Johnson will be in the seventh film. No word on whether that Jason Statham rumor is true, though.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Fast and Furious 7 release date announced

Dwayne Johnson hinted that if the next Fast and Furious film shot this summer he would have to drop out because of his schedule. But just because director Justin Lin is out and James Wan is in doesn’t mean Universal won’t move…fast and furiously to get “Fast and Furious 7” out. At CinemaCon, the release date for the seventh film was set for July 11, 2014. That’s fast considering “Fast and Furious 6” comes out this Memorial Day weekend. The sixth film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and more. The seventh film is rumored to have Jason Statham as the villain.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Fast and Furious 7” close to signing director?

I think everyone was a bit surprised when Justin Lin, the director of “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”, “Fast and Furious”, “Fast Five” and the upcoming “Fast and Furious 6” announced he would not return for “Fast and Furious 7”. Since then a couple names have been thrown around. Reports are surfacing that Universal is close to signing a director that may surprise you.

James Wan is reportedly close to becoming the director for the seventh film. Wan directed “Saw”, “Death Sentence” and “Insidious” but this would be the largest film he’s ever worked on.

Meanwhile, “Fast and Furious 6” hits theaters next month and stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano, Dwayne Johnson, Luke Gross and more.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Fast and Furious 7” eyes three directors

Justin Lin made the surprise announcement that he was leaving the franchise after “Fast and Furious 6”. That film is set to be one of the big blockbusters this summer and stars Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Gina Carano, Michelle Rodriguez and a supposed cameo by Jason Statham. Now reports are that Universal is looking at three directors to replace him. First up is Jeff Wadlow, the director of “Never Back Down” and “Kick-Ass 2”. His only other feature film was “Cry_Wolf” so…I guess Universal must have a lot of confidence in how good “Kick-Ass 2” will turn out because this seems like a really inexperienced choice for such a big franchise. Next up is Brad Furman, director of “The Lincoln Lawyer” and the upcoming film “Runner Runner”. His only other feature length film was “The Take”, which I’ve never seen, but this also seems like an awfully inexperienced guy to hand the reins to. Harold Zwart is reportedly the final candidate. He’s helming the upcoming “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” adaptation and directed the latest “The Karate Kid” film. But he also directed “Agent Cody Banks” and “The Pink Panther 2”. All these choices seem…terrible to me. But perhaps I’ll be proven wrong.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.