Latest news with #ConAir
AsiaOne
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
John Malkovich's scenes cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Entertainment News
John Malkovich has been cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The 71-year-old actor was set to appear in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) blockbuster as villain Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost but director Matt Shakman has revealed that his scenes didn't make the final cut as they didn't fit in with the story — which features Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as the heroic ensemble. In an interview with Variety, the filmmaker said: "There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor. "When we were building a '60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child — there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version." Shakman had previously worked with Malkovich on his feature directorial debut Cut Bank in 2014 and said that it made the decision to omit the Con Air actor even more agonising. He said: "It was heartbreaking not to include him in the final version of the movie because he's one of my very favourite humans and one of my biggest inspirations. "As a person who walks the line between theatre and film and television, there's no one who is more inspiring than the founder of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. "What he's done on stage as an actor and what he's done as a director in theatre as well as in film, and as just a film actor of incredible ability — I was honoured he came to play." Malkovich revealed earlier this year that he has turned down several Marvel movies in the past because he didn't like the terms in the contracts that were on offer. He told GQ magazine: "The reason I didn't do them had nothing to do with any artistic considerations whatsoever. "I didn't like the deals they made at all. These films are quite gruelling to make… If you're going to hang from a crane in front of a green screen for six months, pay me. "You don't want to pay me, it's cool, but then I don't want to do it, because I'd rather be onstage, or be directing a play, or doing something else." The Burn After Reading star explained that he was shocked by the similarities between a Marvel production and being on stage when he decided to accept the part. Malkovich said: "It's not that dissimilar to doing theatre. You imagine a bunch of stuff that isn't there and do your little play." The actor even suggested that one of the most demanding roles of his career came when he voiced the character of Dr. Octavius Brine in the 2014 animated flick Penguins of Madagascar. He said: "One of the hardest things I've ever done was a film called Penguins of Madagascar, a children's film where I played an octopus. "And I must have recorded the entire thing, every line; at least a thousand variations of every line. "I never understood why it never occurred to them to maybe have a different line. And I did mention that more than occasionally." [[nid:720352]]
Perth Now
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
John Malkovich's Red Ghost scenes cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps
John Malkovich has been cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The 71-year-old actor was set to appear in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) blockbuster as villain Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost but director Matt Shakman has revealed that his scenes didn't make the final cut as they didn't fit in with the story – which features Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn as the heroic ensemble. In an interview with Variety, the filmmaker said: "There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor. "When we were building a '60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child – there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version." Shakman had previously worked with Malkovich on his feature directorial debut Cut Bank in 2014 and said that it made the decision to omit the Con Air actor even more agonising. He said: "It was heartbreaking not to include him in the final version of the movie because he's one of my very favourite humans and one of my biggest inspirations. "As a person who walks the line between theatre and film and television, there's no one who is more inspiring than the founder of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. "What he's done on stage as an actor and what he's done as a director in theatre as well as in film, and as just a film actor of incredible ability – I was honoured he came to play." Malkovich revealed earlier this year that he has turned down several Marvel movies in the past because he didn't like the terms in the contracts that were on offer. He told GQ magazine: "The reason I didn't do them had nothing to do with any artistic considerations whatsoever. "I didn't like the deals they made, at all. These films are quite gruelling to make… If you're going to hang from a crane in front of a green screen for six months, pay me. "You don't want to pay me, it's cool, but then I don't want to do it, because I'd rather be onstage, or be directing a play, or doing something else." The Burn After Reading star explained that he was shocked by the similarities between a Marvel production and being on stage when he decided to accept the part. Malkovich said: "It's not that dissimilar to doing theatre. You imagine a bunch of stuff that isn't there and do your little play." The actor even suggested that one of the most demanding roles of his career came when he voiced the character of Dr. Octavius Brine in the 2014 animated flick Penguins of Madagascar. He said: "One of the hardest things I've ever done was a film called Penguins of Madagascar, a children's film where I played an octopus. "And I must have recorded the entire thing, every line; at least a thousand variations of every line. "I never understood why it never occurred to them to maybe have a different line. And I did mention that more than occasionally."
San Francisco Chronicle
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Yippee ki‐yay, Rebel Wilson is a one-woman killing machine in ‘Bride Hard'
In a directing career going back almost 30 years, Simon West has never even tried to make a good movie. His filmography is a catalog of intentional mediocrity — 'Con Air,' ' The General's Daughter,' ' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,' ' The Mechanic.' Yet it takes a certain discipline to stick to what you're sort of good at and never make an audience suffer through your deepest feelings about life and existence. Like his latest effort, 'Bride Hard,' West's movies are never exactly good, but they're almost never boring — and boring is the only unforgivable sin. His latest movie's title, 'Bride Hard,' says it all. It has become a cliche of the Hollywood pitch meeting for would-be filmmakers to describe their proposed projects in terms of two previous box office hits: 'It's like 'Dracula' meets 'The Avengers'!' 'Bride Hard' doesn't try to hide the fact that it's a mashup of ' Bridesmaids ' and ' Die Hard.' So, even though it's a cynical effort, with no aspiration behind it, there's something playful about it too. Everybody's in on the fact that they're doing something silly. Like 'Bridesmaids,' 'Bride Hard' focuses mainly on the maid of honor, Sam (Rebel Wilson), who finds herself in a competition for the approval of her best friend (Anna Camp), who is getting married. Sam keeps falling down on her maid-of-honor duties, and one of the bridesmaids, the wealthy Virginia (Anna Chlumsky), keeps showing her up. But what Sam's friends don't know is that Sam isn't being negligent. She's trying to balance the imperatives of a social life with a career as a world-class secret agent, a one-woman killing machine. The first 20 minutes, which almost amount to a 'Bridesmaids' parody, are a little slow. The bridal party is in Paris, and Sam keeps having to ditch her friends every few minutes to do spy work. But the movie picks up when it moves to an estate in Georgia, where the wedding is to take place. At that point, the 'Die Hard' aspect of the story kicks in. In place of the late Alan Rickman, who played the villain Hans Gruber in the 1988 action flick, we get Stephen Dorff and a team of mercenaries bursting into a wedding ceremony with machine guns. They take everyone hostage, except for — guess who? — Sam, who just happens to be apart from the wedding party at that particular moment. So you have a situation in which a really bad guy is looking for money and probably intends to kill all the hostages. And you have one talented but unarmed person, Sam, who has to figure out how to rescue them. Sometimes even a humble, not-so-good movie can teach us lessons about filmmaking, and this is the lesson of 'Bride Hard.' You know that whole 'Die Hard' formula, in which it's one person, facing long odds, trying to rescue everybody? That formula is indestructible. In the case of 'Bride Hard,' we barely believe in the characters or their relationships. Wilson — the hilarious Fat Amy of the 'Pitch Perfect' franchise — isn't convincing as an action star, and the movie's light tone all but guarantees that nothing truly bad will happen. And yet, when Sam goes on the attack, we're right there with her. Somehow, we end up caring. Wilson is fun, as always, and she's nicely supported by Chlumsky as the passive-aggressive Virginia, and Camp who, as the bride, walks a nice line between sincerity and comic absurdity.
SowetanLIVE
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SowetanLIVE
Rebel Wilson rebels against being a bridesmaid, Pixar introduces eccentric aliens, and John Wick is back on the big screen
Spotlight this week looks at Rebel Wilson's latest action comedy, a new Pixar release at cinemas and coverage of the local premiere of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. In the action comedy Bride Hard, world-class secret agent Sam (Wilson) is terrible at her maid of honour duties because she is too busy with her undercover international spy mission demands. Finding herself demoted to bridesmaid status, she gets a chance at redemption when armed mercenaries crash the ceremony, leaving it up to her to come to the rescue. Directed by Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables 2) and co-starring Anna Camp, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Anna Chlumsky, the film is at cinemas. The Pixar animation Elio centres on space fanatic Elio's life-changing interplanetary adventure, forming new bonds with eccentric aliens while discovering who he is truly meant to be in the world. The hilarious coming of age adventure is directed by a trio of animation gurus — Adrian Molina (Coco, The Good Dinosaur), Madeline Sharafian (Turning Red) and Domee Shi (Inside Out) — and features voice cast Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña and more. On at cinemas and 3D. Don't miss coverage of the local premiere of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, a sneak peek at the next chapter of the much-anticipated popular franchise Now You See Me: Now You Don't in November, and a dystopian Stephen King-penned horror The Long Walk at cinemas in September.
TimesLIVE
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Rebel Wilson rebels against being a bridesmaid, Pixar introduces eccentric aliens, and John Wick is back on the big screen
Spotlight is our bite-sized entertainment snapshot featuring new releases in South Africa, exclusive film trailers and more. New episodes come out every Thursday on Sunday Times Lifestyle, Sowetan Entertainment and YouTube, plus you can follow Spotlight on Facebook. Spotlight this week looks at Rebel Wilson's latest action comedy, a new Pixar release at cinemas and coverage of the local premiere of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. In the action comedy Bride Hard, world-class secret agent Sam (Wilson) is terrible at her maid of honour duties because she is too busy with her undercover international spy mission demands. Finding herself demoted to bridesmaid status, she gets a chance at redemption when armed mercenaries crash the ceremony, leaving it up to her to come to the rescue. Directed by Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables 2) and co-starring Anna Camp, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Anna Chlumsky, the film is at cinemas. The Pixar animation Elio centres on space fanatic Elio's life-changing interplanetary adventure, forming new bonds with eccentric aliens while discovering who he is truly meant to be in the world. The hilarious coming of age adventure is directed by a trio of animation gurus — Adrian Molina (Coco, The Good Dinosaur), Madeline Sharafian (Turning Red) and Domee Shi (Inside Out) — and features voice cast Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña and more. On at cinemas and 3D. Don't miss coverage of the local premiere of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, a sneak peek at the next chapter of the much-anticipated popular franchise Now You See Me: Now You Don't in November, and a dystopian Stephen King-penned horror The Long Walk at cinemas in September. Competition and giveaways Win a Bride Hard movie merchandise hamper by answering a question. For full competition details and the questions, go to the Spotlight SA Facebook page and DM your answers and contact details by June 25. Terms and conditions apply. Winners will be drawn randomly and notified by SMS after the competition has closed. Entrants' personal details will not be retained for marketing purposes. Winners have to provide proof of age (ID/driving licence) and cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. By entering, participants agree to have their names published on TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and Spotlight SA on Facebook. Employees of Arena Holdings and their family members are not eligible to enter.
