John Candy Left Us 25 Years Ago

“I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. ‘Cause I’m the real article. What you see is what you get.”
~Del Griffith

Possibility of R-rated X-Force Movie

While it was obvious to both fans, and Ryan Reynolds himself that Deadpool needed to be R-rated. It was a risk that paid off for the studio. Making an R-rated superhero movie is difficult because it eliminates a large portion of the expected audience. Of course, there will be that annoying mom who takes her 8-year-old to see  Deadpool and then complain online about how it was too sexual or violent or whatever, but that’s a rant for later.

Aside from the annoying mother, Deadpool was a huge success in its opening weekend, which is great and paves the way for more rated R superhero movies. Of course the R-rating should be used delicately. Not all superhero movies need to be rated R, but now that we’ve had one, it’s definitely worth considering. Simon Kinberg, the producer of Deadpool explains that pretty well when he spoke with Collider;

Deadpool REVIEW: What’s Not to Love?

Alright guys, I don’t know if you could tell how excited I was about Deadpool, but it was a lot. Normally, I like to keep my expectations at a neutral 5 just in case a movie doesn’t cut it. At least then I don’t leave the theater too incredibly bummed out. However for Deadpool, I had a much harder time maintaining my expectation composure, and my neutrality went through the window back when the test footage leaked.  I set myself up for disappointment. There was no way the movie was going to be everything I wanted it to be…

EXCEPT IT WAS. – Spoilers ahead.. maybe? Kinda.

Merry Bleeping Christmas from Deadpool: New Red Band Trailer

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas day! If you’ve been watching the NBA then you know that the second the Deadpool TV spot went up, the Red Band trailer went up online.

AND HERE IT BLEEPING IS!!

Deadpool Images: Sexuality, Pictures, and Ryan Reynolds’ Take on the Character

There has been a frequent stream of news for the upcoming Deadpool movie, which is set for February 12, 2016. It seems that heavy fan enthusiasm really lets you get away with everything. Since the test footage was leaked online and everyone lost their minds, Fox had to push production of this movie. And it seems that they’ve mostly kept their hands off and let director Tim Miller run with it. Deadpool is really starting to sound like a fanboy/girl’s wet dream.

Deadpool Teases New Trailer Coming Tomorrow

Teasers for trailers are admittedly a ridiculous thing, but sometimes they’re presented in a way that justifies their existence. Today’s example of this is a surprise from 20th Century Fox, informing us that the first trailer for Deadpool is slated to drop tomorrow.

The Deadpool Movie: Featuring Gina Carano, T.J. Miller and Colossus?

With one quick tease from Ryan Reynolds, the news machine has started rolling on the upcoming Deadpool film, which is still over a year away. Reynolds shared a picture from the Deadpool camp showing us a little tease of the mask he will be wearing in Fox’s long-awaited solo film for the merc-with-a-mouth, a character Ryan Reynolds has been waiting to properly bring to the big screen for years.

Y: The Last Man Movie Is Back From The Dead!

They’ve been trying to make a Y: The Last Man movie for a while now. I remember hearing movie plans back when the comic was still being published, and wondered myself who would be playing who, and of course, asked the ultimate question of movie vs TV series. The story starts out fairly simple; All males on Earth die, except Yorick Brown, and one male Capuchin Monkey. The new world, entirely run by women, starts to slowly realize that the human race will die out unless something is done, and Yorick, being the only man around, runs into some trouble just by having that lucky ol’ Y chromosome. That’s putting it lightly, anyway. The direction of how to handle such a beloved, intricate story, and how to bring it to the screen, small or big, is one that seems to have eluded major studios for a while now, despite the project coming very nearly close to being made in 2007.

via [Geek]

Back in 2007, Vaughn and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth began work on adapting Y: The Last Man to film. Suburbia director DJ Caruso was brought on to helm the project in 2010; however, he eventually left due to a disagreement with the studio on how to handle it (he wanted a trilogy; they wanted one film). We’ve not heard much on the project since his departure.

We all know by now that didn’t end up happening, and for good reason. That argument over just how much, and how long the adaptation should be, ended up being pretty crucial.

via [screenrant]

The premise itself is easy to see as a feature film, but the sheer scope of the comic’s run has been a divisive issue.

Known for his expansive and self-contained storylines, Vaughan’s account of Yorick’s travels spanned 60 issues – a story that Caruso remained unconvinced would be best told in a single feature film, which was New Line’s wish. During Caruso’s time on the project four different screenplays were drafted, but ultimately the lack of agreement led to the director and studio parting ways.

Rather than remaining bitter, Caruso moved on to other projects, and explained that his disagreements with New Line went much farther than simple script issues. Unsurprisingly, Caruso wasn’t even sure that Y: The Last Man could be properly adapted into a two-hour film:

I didn’t think that you could take Yorick’s story and put it in to a two-hour movie and do it justice. That was sort of the difference. I think that New Line, working with Warner Bros. in their new relationship, just felt reluctant thinking that we can’t leave this thing open. If you are familiar with the comic book, you know it’s just mind-boggling. If you look at what my buddy Frank Darabont did with ‘The Walking Dead,’ you think […] “is that the best thing for it? Because there is just so much great stuff, so no, I’m not involved with that anymore.”

Here’s where the normal person would suggest it should be a tv miniseries. In a perfect world, of course it should. In a perfect world, I’d love it to be a full fledged show, with each issue adapted into an episode. But in this world, where brilliant comics like The Walking Dead are taken and turned into melodramatic shitfests like its AMC counterpart, I’d rather Y stay off my teevee, and let someone competent, with a single vision, give us his adaptation of the story. That way, if it’s shitty, it’s only 2 hours of my life wasted.

I’m not a fan of Shia LaBeouf, but I’m not a hater either. I have no strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I do think he was miscast as Yorick, and I’m glad that he won’t be playing him.  When I think about that old project, LaBeouf, and factor in that disagreement over length, I can see why the project fell apart. The good news is, it’s been picked back up, and the new script is rumored to actually be good. It’s being written by former Jericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia, who you may recognize as the writers for Syfy Channel’s current series Warehouse 13.  This bodes well, because it shows they know how to handle science fiction concepts, as well as an apocalyptic atmosphere, as any fan of Jericho will tell you.

So it seems like the script is good, which is good to hear. As much as I loved Y, not every single little subplot and side character is needed. I can see the entire story being trimmed to just Yorick, Ampersand, Yorick’s girlfriend, 355, Dr. Allison Mann, (Jesus I just got that pun of a last name, what’s wrong with me?), and have Alter as the villain of the film. You could tighten the whole story up, and make it a very simple, 2-3 hour, “Man on the Road” story. You just gotta narrow the vision down to one solid concept, and to me, that concept is the development of the unique relationship between 355 and Yorick. Make that part work, and all the rest will fall into place.

The one deciding factor would also be the ending, which I’m not adverse at all to being changed. Actually, let me clarify, not the ending ending, (because that was beautiful and perfect), just the explanation for what killed all the males. As it was, it took me to about the absolute far end of my suspension of disbelief and tolerance for pseudo-scientific, quasi-new age, bullshit theory. I won’t ruin it for you, but I will warn you that it’s disappointing. Then again, how could it not be? It was certainly unique, and better than “Ohhh crrraaazy virus!”, or what have you. However, when it comes to a film adaptation, a simpler, more easy to digest theory, and ending revelation, such as virus, or a combination of virus and the book’s ending, would suffice.

All in all, this is a script I’d love to get my hands on, and a project I’d love to see actually come to fruition, if only to see how it’s handled. I don’t expect it to be perfect, I just want it to be good on its own terms. Basically what I’m saying is folks, go in expecting a kick in the balls, and if the movie slaps you in the face, you’ve won!

Also, If I had to cast Yorick now? Ryan Reynolds. That’s right. I can feel your hate. IT MAKES ME STRONGER.

Highlander Remake Casts Its Lead: Ryan Reynolds!

You heard me, Ryan Reynolds has been cast as Connor Macleod in the Highlander remake. For many, apparently this is a bad thing, but I’ve always had a history of loving Ryan Reynolds, and I always look forward to seeing his abs him in anything I watch. I think he’s a perfectly fine actor, and has comedic chops, which I’d argue are the same set of skills you need to act well in drama.

While other details about the film have yet to surface, like who will be playing Juan Villalobos-Ramirez, the immortal Spanish-Egyptian-Scotsman, or The Kurgan, I’m positive those details will come soon, and at the very least, will be interesting. I’m happy the movie is being remade, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle the concepts of The Prize, The Gathering, and brutal decapitations being a main plot point. The only way they could screw this up, would be by trying to somehow have covers of Queen as the soundtrack. Either license the original soundtrack entirely, or get a totally new composer to write a new score. Queen or bust.

As many of you probably know, Highlander is the quintessential cult movie favorite. An argument could be made that in a way, it was the reverse Firefly of its time. It started out as a fantasy film that was clearly only meant to be one movie, but showcased a world and mythology so evocative and thought-provoking, people just had to go and make a sequel and screw it up by making them aliens. That then led to further sequels that retconned that detail, and a directors cut that tried to redeem that inane writing decision, and ultimately led to the franchise getting its own series, that built its own intricate mythology that contradicted the movies canon, and led to yet another movie sequel, that confusingly attempted to bridge the two sets of continuity in a way that left everyone feeling awkward. Being a Highlander fan has always been difficult because of this, and the thoughts of any more sequels generally brings a headache as we all try to retrofit everything into the tangled web of sub-continuity and pseudo-explanations for concepts such as The Watchers, or just what the hell The Prize is in the first place.

Thankfully, someone in Hollywood saw the franchise, realized another sequel was a lousy idea, and took it to its obvious and necessary conclusion: REMAKE TIME BABY! Remakes are trendy now sure, but there is a place for them. Some movies get so clustered with badness that a remake/reboot is the only way to give a franchise some new lifeblood (Batman), and others are genuinely good retellings of a story that takes it in a new and exciting direction (1982’s The Thing), while others are more akin to re-adaptations of the source material it came from (2012’s Total Recall). So it stands to reason that Highlander lies somewhere in between the reboot/new exciting direction remake clause, and while many of my colleagues here at Grizzlybomb have lamented the decision to cast him, I’m Pro-Ryan Reynolds in this remake.

Also can you imagine Ryan Reynolds trying on a scottish accent? AMAZING.

Hero Express: Ryan Reynolds Fired, Venom Ties in with The Amazing Spider-Man & Animation Station!

Welcome back to the Hero Express, your one-stop totally SPOILER filled shop through the top five stories in comic based Film & TV news!