Today's Double News: apes and agents

Old news by now (I was busy these last few days I'll have you know), but since I wrote it I post it here today regardless:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152961/_rupert_friend_vervangt_paul_walker_als_agent_47

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152922/reeves_terug_voor_planet_of_the_apes_3

The signs of the impact of Paul Walker's demise continue to reveal themselves as recuperation is in order for a second project that he signed on for but obviously is unable to complete. In this case little actual work had been done on the film in question so the damage his death hath wrought is not nearly as severe as on Fast and Furious 7. And since it was a reboot with no ties to the previous incarnation of the cinematic Hitman legacy (in terms of casting at least), recasting was the most simple and cost-effective of solutions. One actor known for his expertise when it comes to action sequences replaces another as Rupert Friend has filled Walker's boots. No biggie, really? The general public probably won't realize or care about this switch when the movie 'hits' theatres (see what I did there?). Was another Hitman movie necessary or something the public was clamoring for? Not really, otherwise the studio would have made a sequel to the 2007 movie sooner. Since that movie wasn't received all that well and video game adaptations are still a much maligned phenomenon, I doubt this reboot will fare that much better at the boxoffice, but that doesn't stop the studio from trying its luck. Odd thing here is the fact the guy who wrote the previous film is also scripting the new one. He must have done something right if the studio doesn't bother with finding a different writer.

Speaking of people who are doing things right in terms of making movies (look at me, applying effective segues all of a sudden!), it seems Matt Reeves is one of them. Fox apparently liked what he made of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes so much they signed him on as director for a third film, six months prior to the release of his current project. So other than studio bosses, nobody has had the chance to deduce whether the current cut of Dawn is indeed any good, we'll just have to take it on good faith. Happens a lot in Hollywood these days, movies being geared up while their predecessors haven't even been finished yet, because the studio is convinced the movie is awesome, and so the finanical results will be. If Dawn proves a dud at the boxoffice (I personally doubt that, but the possibility is always lurking around the corner), you'll see the third movie will be swiftly scrapped despite ample dollars having been spent on it already. Also an increasingly common occurrence. Hollywood nowadays just doesn't dare risk losing the audience's attention if they got a good franchise going. Wait too long and the public might lose interest after all. Mindless consumers have no memory, they might as well say. It seems they instead opt for rushing sequels into production, in hopes that tactic pays off. Rise of the Planet of the Apes did better than expected, so the same could very well be true for Dawn (I sincerely hope so, since I too liked Rise). Reeves in my mind is a very capable director, so if the studio says he's making a good film out of Dawn, I'm inclined to believe it, even if it proves to be just a marketing tactic. You've got intelligent apes in a post-apocalyptic world fighting humans, so what are the odds of a screw-up here anyway? Okay, so the original concept wasn't explored so satisfactorily in the Seventies with Battle for the Planet of the Apes (I blame the mutant element of that film), but let's have a little faith here. So far every project featuring Andy Serkis donning a goofy mo-cap outfit has turned into a major success.

On a sidenote, something that doesn't seem to have been such a success (there I go again!) this week turned out to be a fabulous little show called Boardwalk Empire, which I thoroughly enjoyed as it happened. We'll get one more season to round things up and that's that. They better give the show a decent send-off, or I might go al(l) Capone on HBO (the witticisms continue). Fortunately we'll always have Game of Thrones. New teaser for the trailer was released this week, the actual piece will follow tommorrow. Hear me cheer!

Today's News: Walker may be dead but F&F lives on

Some more news from everybody's favorite Dutch movie news site, posted by myself:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152815/lot_paul_walker_in_fast_and_furious_7_bekend_gemaakt

Let's face it: if one of your lead actors dies in real life, you can't just kill his character off too in the movie he plays in because that might feel a tad disrespectful of and ungrateful to all his contributions. Paul Walker starred in all but one of the Fast & Furious flicks, the same amount as the other franchise protagonist Vin Diesel, so he surely deserves better, especially in the eyes of the fanbase. Cutting him out was never an option either; the footage he had already shot needed to be used to ensure the project didn't lose face. It seems the writers/producers/director thus optioned for the only way open to them that would honour both Walker's memory, please the fans and keep the story going without losing credibility. And so Walker's character will retire from his current life of fast cars, gorgeous dames and high speed robberies. He deserves it after surviving no less than five of these films, wouldn't you agree? The question now is whether the material of Walker shot so far will accomodate this change in scripting, as both his character and the plot of the film itself are taken in a new direction nobody would have foreseen (or do you think they have a list of back-up plans in case of emergencies like these?). I wouldn't be surprised if relatively little of Walker's scenes get through the cutting room unscathed and I don't think his character as a result will feature that much screen time at all to be honest. Unless they create a digital version of Walker to bridge the gaps. Why not after all: if they did it with Oliver Reed in Gladiator 15 years ago, they should be able to pull the same thing off now.

Walker's death makes you sit and think how much depends on the good health of the main cast and the difficulties presented by the departure - especially from life - of one of them to everybody else involved in the making of a movie. Studios lose a lot of time and money over such tragedy, as everything done for the film so far comes to a full stop, while much of what was shot ends up being either a bitch to craft into a new smooth and intelligible whole, or worse, just totally worthless. In the case of an original movie recasting would be in order, but not so where a hugely successful franchise is concerned, since the audience knows and loves these characters and will take umbrage when one of them is brisquely set aside without a decent explanation or respectable final aria. So naturally Universal is walking a thin line here, as people still couldn't get enough of F&F even after six films (to each his own, though I myself was also pleasantly surprised by the energetic vigour of the fifth film), and Walker is partially responsible for said box office triumphs. Thankfully for those fans, Fast and Furious 7 is swiftly regrouping, and future installments in this cycle of fast paced action flicks are still a work in progress. After all, that other leading man Vin Diesel is far from dead yet. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Universal execs hid his sports car and encouraged him to take trains to work for the next few years.


Speaking of life and death, I survived yet another Christmas break at work. Just so you know.

Today's News: Fast 7 is a go

This just in from MovieScene:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/146359/fast_and_furious_7_krijgt_releasedatum

This is a trend Hollywood seems to appropriate more and more: they spread the word about a sequel just mere weeks before its predecessor hits theatres to boost awareness of that film in question. That way, they suggest they have real faith in the upcoming film - even if it turns out to be a total dud and the studio knew it all along - so everyone should go and see it to make sure the promised sequel will indeed happen (even if we do not yet know whether we want it to happen ourselves). Sometimes this backfires on the studios, as in the case of John Carter where such a tactic didn't pan out: the film flopped (sadly, since I happened to like it) and the sequel we were told in advance was sure to happen got canned after all. However, in this particular case Universal risks less, since Fast and Furious has already been established as a proven concept that continues to draw audiences because it delivers the simple goods spectators expect to see: fast cars, tough guys, pretty girls and mesmerizing highway stunts. Considering Fast Five did surprisingly well at the box office, Fast Six was a logical next step: interest is still very much alive and awreness is fairly fresh, so the studio took a minor gamble on announcing Fast Seven just before Fast Six arrives in theatres. Releasing such news via the lips of the main actor (Diesel) at a movie convention, instead of using a regular press release, shows the audience is rewarded directly for its loyalty by making the star promise his return directly to them to wow them once more. 'Do ut des', as the Romans once said with relation to their gods: I give if you give. As long as we go and pay to see the film, we'll get what we want, with the promise of a continuing fruitful relationship in the form of more of these fun action flicks down the road. Until one of these sequels turns out truly horrendous of course, and the deal is broken.

Do I want to see Fast Seven? I dunno, haven't seen Fast Six yet... However, I liked Fast Five more than I thought I would. Though, I got the feeling the story was about to be concluded for good in the upcoming installment of this franchise, all loose ends neatly tied up: hence the tagline 'all roads lead to this'. Apparently there's some more roads nobody knew about that lead to part seven. But hey, I should have known better, since Hollywood doesn't really care about loose ends: it just creates it own ends if needs be, and money is certainly such a need.