By Jeff Sneider LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Just before "Star Trek Into Darkness" takes off at the multiplex, star Bruce Greenwood has joined the cast of Universal Pictures' remake of "Endless Love," TheWrap has learned. Shana Feste ("Country Strong") is directing the romantic drama, which stars Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde as teenage lovers from opposite backgrounds. Greenwood will play Wilde's father, who doesn't approve of her relationship with a blue-collar boy. Robert Patrick co-stars as Pettyfer's father, who runs an auto body shop where his son works. ...
By Jeff Sneider LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Parks and Recreation" star Adam Scott is about to put on his swimsuit, as he's in early negotiations to dive into MGM's "Hot Tub Time Machine 2,"TheWrap has learned. Director Steve Pink and original cast members Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry and Clark Duke are nearing deals to return for the sequel to the hit 2010 comedy, though John Cusack won't be time traveling with them this time. Should a deal make, Scott would play an entirely new leading man, according to an individual familiar with the project. ...
By Jeff Sneider LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - John Travolta is set to star in director Philip Martin's heist movie "The Forger," which will be produced and co-financed by Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group. Written by Richard D'Ovidio ("The Call"), the story follows Ray Cutter (Travolta), a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief who arranges to buy his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son, only to be forced to change his plans and commit one last big job for the syndicate who financed his early release. ...
By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Zero Dark Thirty" screenwriter Mark Boal acquiesced to CIA requests to change material in the film that would have reflected poorly on the agency, according to a newly declassified memo. The drama's depiction of the role torture played in the hunt for Osama bin Laden set off fierce debate when it theaters last year, although much of the furor surrounding the film died down after it lost the Oscar for Best Picture to "Argo. ...
By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline are set to untangle the vagaries of Paris real estate law in the upcoming dramatic comedy "My Old Lady." The film marks the directorial debut of prolific playwright and screenwriter Israel Horovitz ("Author! Author!"), who wrote the play that inspired the film. Jane Birkin ("A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries") and Dominique Pinon ("Delicatessen") will co-star in the movie. In the film, Kline plays a down-and-out New Yorker, who travels to Paris to liquidate a valuable apartment he inherited from his estranged father. ...
By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Stark Trek Into Darkness" has moved up its official opening by a day, Paramount Pictures said Tuesday. Trekkies will now be able to take in the latest adventures of Capt. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise crew next Thursday, May 16, instead of having to wait until Friday, when the film was slated to hit theaters. Although, presumably Paramount would have offered late night showings of the sequel on Thursday, as is the custom with major tentpole releases. ...
By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Tom Cruise has signed on to star in and produce the fifth installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Pictures announced on Tuesday. The last sequel, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," grossed nearly $700 million around the world in 2011, and was Cruise's biggest box office hit to date. ...
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Influential visual effects maker and animator Ray Harryhausen, who brought monsters, skeletons and mythological beasts to life for movies like "Jason and the Argonauts" long before computers took over the job, died Tuesday at age 92, his family said. Harryhausen, who was born in Los Angeles and worked for more than 40 years in the movie industry, died in London, his family said in a statement. "The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, visual effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. ...
By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Director J.J. Abrams is hoping to persuade mainstream film audiences to boldly go where they have never gone before and embrace the next installment of "Star Trek", a franchise usually reserved for sci-fi geeks. The man behind the cult TV series "Alias" and "Lost" told Reuters he initially hesitated when Viacom's Paramount Pictures asked him to take on the film series, whose installments in 1998 and 2002 failed to draw crowds. ...