universal pictures

Review: THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS Runs High On Big-Scale Action, Stalls Its Way To The Finish

I’ve spent my fair share of time fawning over Universal Pictures’s Fast franchise. However, in the wake of having seen its newest installation, F. Gary Gray’s The Fate Of The Furious, I think I’ve grown past the fandom a bit. That’s not to suggest that I’m exhausted from the franchise – I’m excited to see how it proceeded after Furious Seven, and I can’t wait to see what lies for the final two titles. I do feel left a little short on a the film’s ending on top of other things. I know it sounds nitpicky, but I did stay for the entirety of the end credits and sadly, there’s nothing after all of the explosive action and thrills and compelling plot twists. That said, the rest of the movie doesn’t disappoint in terms of said explosive action, thrills and twists and especially if you’ve been following the franchise since […]

Universal, Will Packer Set Historic African Period Epic, WARRIOR QUEEN, In Development

Lee B. Golden III

Moviegoers pining for more diversity in film will be pleased to see Universal Pictures stepping in with their latest acquisition, Warrior Queen. As Deadline reports, Will Packer will produce the film through his Will Packer Productions banner with James Lopez producing and Universal Pictures VP Sara Scott overseeing. Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Planet Of The Apes (2001) scribe Mark Rosenthal’s script takes its cues from the noted historic tale of Amanirenas, the legendary Meroitic era Nubian queen of the Kingdom of Kush who successfully led her army against the Roman empire and forced them to withdraw and negotiate peace. The film will mark the latets pairing for Packer and Rosenthal following their work on the Roots remake for the History Channel. Packer’s credits further include thrillers such as No Good Deed and upcoming titles such as Malcolm D. Lee’s Girls Trip and a remake of Jacob’s Ladder […]

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Spy Thriller NEED TO KNOW Casts Charlize Theron

Lee B. Golden III

Universal Word is that F. Gary Gray’s April 14 release of The Fate Of The Furious from Universal Pictures is being given a 160-minute run time. I’d say that’s pretty sizable and appropriate for a saga that has lasted seven epic action movie installments and there’s no doubt that actress Charlize Theron’s role will be pivotal in the film given the approach being hinted in the trailers so far. We await that one in addition to the forthcoming summer release of David Leitch’s The Coldest City from Focus Features while it is now being reported via Deadline that the prospective Mad Max: Fury Road star has been lined up for Universal’s latest spy novel acquisition, Need To Know. The novel is pending release, written by former CIA analyst-turned-author Karen Cleveland and tells of CIA analyst, wife and mother who makes a shocking discovery that threatens her job after digitally sifting […]

Universal’s SCARFACE Lands A Release Date, MacKenzie And Berg Being Circled To Helm

Lee B. Golden III

With Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-star Diego Luna officially starring in Universal Pictures’s upcoming Scarface reboot, it’s been a day of brewing developments. The film had been in search for a director since Antoine Fuqua left the film in late January to focus his attention on The Equalizer sequel and now there has been movement on multiple fronts. According to THR, No Country For Old Men directing duo Joel and Ethan Coen have polished the script for a reboot inspired by the 1983 Brian De Palma classic, now focusing on a modern tale of the rise and fall of an ambitious Latino gangster in Los Angeles. Moreover, Hell Or High Water director David MacKenzie and Battleship and Deepwater Horizon helmer Peter Berg are both circling the director’s chair for the film’s newly set date for August 10, 2018. The word is that it was MacKenzie who was initially […]

Universal, David Hayter To Help Form VOLTRON For The Big Screen!

Lee B. Golden III

Growing up in the 1980s as a child with a love for many things action or sci-fi and fantasy, you can best bet giant robot franchises were a part of your upbringing. Animated classic Voltron in its televised evolution since 1984 through today’s Netflix offering has surely left its own impression on young minds and in the years since, and for all its worth, a live-action film was probably the next big step. Such as it has been for well over a decade now with all sorts of rumors and long-outdated facts pertaining to the film whilst leaving the faithfuls high and dry of any hope. Well, the wait is somewhat over now with news from Deadline that reports Universal, in a package deal with Dreamworks Animation, is taking up the slack following efforts by Jeffrey Katzenberg prior to his departure from DWA as its CEO earlier this year. X-Men […]

JASON BOURNE Brings It All Home On DVD, Blu-Ray, Digital HD And 4K This Winter!

Lee B. Golden III

Actor Matt Damon will soon be hitting the big screen in Zhang Yimou’s period adventure, The Great Wall. However, if contemporary action and espionage grounded in close-quarters thrills and high-speed pursuits are more your speed, you needn’t look further than November and December when Universal Pictures Home Entertainment brings home one of their biggest franchise to date, refurbished even more in 4K Ultra HD for pristine home viewing in Paul Greengrass’s Jason Bourne. Details also remain pending for the releases of the other films within the Bourne saga but you can check out the announcement below along with a cavalcade of artwork home viewers will see between now and later this year. Peep it! UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Matt Damon (Bourne Franchise, The Martian) is back and this time it’s personal in JASON BOURNE, the action-packed fifth installment of the blockbuster franchise, coming to Digital HD November 15, […]

GEARS OF WAR Is Heading To The Big Screen From Universal

Lee B. Golden III

I have a pretty short list of video games that I would love to see transition into live-action feature film territory. It’s a short list, but a list no less and one that I would love to live long enough to see through, and I will expand on those thoughts at the right time. One other game property not in my list is the 2006 Microsoft publication, Gears Of War, from Epic Games, the first of a four-game series focused on a team of soldiers taking on the Locust Hord and other enemies. I’ve never played the games so I can’t relate, save for the fact that heavily armed protagonists who can kick ass and fight subterranean being will undoubtedly serve the masses well enough to garner support for a feature film. Thus, it has now become the goal of producers Scott Stuber (Ted, The Kingdom) and Dylan Clark (Rise […]

HOT WHEELS Officially Lands Justin Lin In The Driver's Seat To Direct For Legendary And Universal

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been nearly 50 years since Mattel’s popular die-cast toy line property, Hot Wheels launched and became the epicenter of car models for many a collector and manfacturer. In turn, it’s been thirteen years since a film adaptation had been in the works at Colombia Pictures and then Warner Bros before gaining progress at Legendary Pictures five years ago. That decision was influenced in large part by the success of director Justin Lin’s Fast Five at the time, and no less to the tune of $621 million dollars. Thus, it’s reasonable that after sifting through names of possible suitors to helm the film that the studio would ultimately go with Lin, and so it is, according to a new report at Variety. Lin will develop and produce the film through his Perfect Storm Banner for release through Universal Pictures, and with the option to co-finance the picture. A writer is […]

Universal's SCARFACE Seeks Antoine Fuqua To Direct

Lee B. Golden III

Director Antoine Fuqua is getting a terrific start to his Fall this year. His newest remade Western spectacle, The Magnificent Seven, set to open this year’s Toronto International Film Festival on September 8 before opening wide just a few weeks later, and in the wake of already earning his approval among the remake crowd for his take on the 2014 revenge/redemption actioner, The Equalizer. That said, we now bring our attention to Brian DePalma’s own remade hit gangster opus for Universal Pictures, Scarface, which became an instant classic since its release in 1983 with respect to the 1932 original from Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson. Here with actresses Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and actor Stephen Bauer, it was Al Pacino who stole the show with his visceral and iconic portrayal of Tony Montana, a Cuban political refugee whose ruthless race to achieve the American dream within Florida’s criminal […]

Emmerich Lines Up Sci-Fi Epic, MOONFALL With Universal

Lee B. Golden III

Director Roland Emmerich, best known for churning out uber-destructive summer blockbusters tried something a bit different with the LGBTQ drama, Stonewall. It didn’t exactly pan out as much as he’d hoped, but needless to say, fans of his usual work won’t be bored this weekend, or seemingly not much thereafter. Thus, on the eve of the weekend U.S. release of his new sci-fi action sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, a new report at Deadline is surfacing with news of his latest directorial gig freshly landing at Universal Pictures. Moonfall is the name, based on a speculative script co-written by Harald Kloser and Spencer Cohen which reportedly cost seven figures for the studio to acquire. The film tells of a group of misfits who band together to save mankind when the moon falls out of orbit and heads on a collision course for Earth. The film will mark the seventh pairing for […]

Is Universal Casting Charlize Theron In A FAST 8 Villain Role?

Lee B. Golden III

Courtesy Of Paramount Pictures It’s been nearly thirteen years since director F. Gary Gray led Paramount Pictures’s The Italian Job to a bolstering box office hit, with the same duration standing for Gray’s partnering with actor Vin Diesel for crime pic, A Man Apart. For the latter, the circle has come full with both now readying Fast 8, the first of Universal Pictures’s final trilogy for the Fast And Furious franchise, and with just enough spectacle and scope to help leave a lasting impression another new beginning of the franchise. That said, with the previous installment, Furious Seven, already incapacitating its villain, played by Jason Statham, sources over at Deadline are now affirming that the reunion between Diesel and Gray won’t stop there. The report suggests that the studio is now looking to add a female villain in the form of actress Charlize Theron. Gray previously directed Theron on the […]

Universal Pictures Is Remaking DEATH RACE Again With Manu Bennett Starring

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been eight years since director Paul W.S. Anderson led the effort to reboot the 1975 thriller, Death Race. Actor David Carradine starred in Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000, an adaptation of Ib Melchior’s classic short story, “The Racer”, before Anderson stepped up with prime action star Jason Statham for Death Race in 2008 with 2 recast direct-to-DVD sequels thereafter. As of this week, Crackle feature, Extraction helmer Tony Giglio has written the script for a fourth in line with Half Past Dead helmer Don Michael Paul directing. In the meantime, and in confirmation of an entirely serperate production, actor Manu Bennett (Arrow, Spartacus, The Marine) has announced that he will star in a remake to be produced by Roger Corman who produced Bartel’s film. Excited to be travelling to Lima, Peru, today to start filming the remake of the 1970’s cult classic “Death Race”. I am especially excited to have […]

Rousey, Fey To Headline DO NOTHING BITCHES For Universal

Lee B. Golden III

Last summer was a hell of a summer to be Ronda Rousey. She was reigning UFC bantamweight champion and buzzing around the media with quite an impression with a label that harkens back to something she stated once learning from her mother never to be. That label has certainly stricken a chord for her fans even as she looks to raze herself from defeat after losing her UFC title to Holly Holm back in November. Moreover, it’s a reflection of upward thinking that’s been adapted by fans far and wide who continue to pay attention to Rousey’s career, both in the professional fight world as well as the world of film where she’s earned some notable major film credits as a result, including The Expendables 3 and Furious Seven. Nowadays you’ll find her preparing for her rematch with Holm much later this year, but you can also catch her preparing […]

Tom Cruise To Rediscover THE MUMMY For Universal

Lee B. Golden III

Universal Pictures has been keen on reamping its Monsterverse for a while now, with particular respect to last year’s origin thriller, Dracula Untold with Luke Evans. Since then the studio had already begun developing a reboot of The Mummy apart from its preceding trilogy which starred Brendan Fraser, with Chris Morgan joining fellow producer Alex Kurtzman who will also direct the reboot. Alas, what better way to reinvigorate a franchise properly other than to cast a big name actor to set things straight? As of this week and according to sources informing Variety, that would be actor Tom Cruise, currently knee-deep into filming Jack Reacher 2: Never Go Back and already planning things for the August 2016 production of the sixth Mission: Impossible film. Jon Sphaits is providing the script which will set The Mummy in present day and will coincide with other Monsterverse characters in later films centered on […]

The FAST AND FURIOUS Franchise Is Getting Prequels And Spin-Offs

Lee B. Golden III

With more than a billion dollars adding to the $3.78 billion milestone Universal Pictures left off with this summer, clearly the studio isn’t running dry any time soon. As such, the studio is well underway in developing a slate of prequels and spin-offs following this year’s stellar Spring success of Furious Seven. In an exclusive report from Variety, actor and franchise producer Vin Diesel confirmed that more films are in the works for the franchise in a fashion similar to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what Walt Disney Pictures is doing for Star Wars. “We’ve written out story lines for various characters,” said Diesel, who starred in the first film in 2001 prior to starring in and producing the last four. “We’ve been playing with it for a long time. It’s a very rich property and we’re committed to treating it.” The report comes more than a year […]

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Legendary Moves KONG: SKULL ISLAND To Warner Bros. Ahead Of Epic Monster Clash With GODZILLA!

Lee B. Golden III

Cinematic universes have become more and more prominent in recent history with all the Marvel and DC fanfare and the currently-brewing monsterverse at Universal with Dracula Untold being a few of the latest. When director Gareth Edwards released Godzilla last year to box office acclaim, of course many might not have predicted the film would go beyond what was already being perpetuated for a sequel. Keep this in mind now with word from THR that Legendary Pictures is now well on the way with moving their latest monster thriller, Kong: Skull Island, over to Warner Bros from Universal Pictures in an attempt to culminate an epic monsterverse that would ultimately pit the king of the monsters against the one and only King Kong! The last time this mash-up happened was in 1962. That said, considering the nostalgic nature of most of today’s film climate along with all sorts of whimsical […]

FURIOUS 8 Gets A Release Date. You Read That Correctly.

Lee B. Golden III

With events at this year’s CinemaCon underway, it’s been announced that Universal Pictures has officially planted a flag for Furious 8 on April 14, 2017. The recent seventh installment, Furious Seven, became a billion-dollar box office smash hit with domestic and global acclaim, continuing the fifteen-year long saga built on speed, in addition to a diverse cast and a sprawling narrative built on cars, thrilling action, and the biggest most thematically prevalent element within the film series, family. The eighth installment will no doubt continue its story without one of its leads, late actor Paul Walker whose primary character, Brian O’Connor, was given a final send-off in Furious Seven under director James Wan, completed with real footage with Walker and footage rendered with his image through digital hybrid performances with the help of doubles, including brothers Caleb and Cody Walker. Previous reports have speculated as to whether or not Justin […]

FURIOUS SEVEN: Watch The New Music Video For SEE YOU AGAIN By Charlie Puth And Wiz Khalifa

Lee B. Golden III

It’s Monday and I have had quite an epic weekend with much more to talk about after this. That said, hopefully you caught my video with my good friend, film enthusiast Jon Cross after watching Furious Seven as it roared through the box office. Reviews are mixed but the film is still generally loved by the majority of the fans of the franchise who have stuck around since its conception nearly fifteen years ago. Furious Seven, as it is titled on the screen in the U.S., was the third and last film to release posthumously after lead actor Paul Walker lost his life on November 30, 2013 while on holiday break from filming the movie. Thanks in large part to WETA digital, Walker’s brothers Caleb and Cody, and actor and co-star John Brotherton reportedly stood in for the late actor as filming re-commenced in Abu Dhabi in Spring of 2014 […]

The Road To Fast And Furious 7 Starts Today!

Lee B. Golden III

Sunday’s news has probably been the biggest news in film in a long time – even bigger if you’re a fan of Universal Pictures’ The Fast And The Furious frachise. Director James Wan is in the chair for the seventh upcoming release of the film now officially titled, Furious 7, set for April 3, 2015. The film is one of the more hotly anticipated installments of the franchise in the years since it kicked off in 2001 with helmer Rob Cohen’s The Fast And The Furious with lead actors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, set in the world of Los Angeles’s illegal street racing scene. And with a seventh installation on the way, the film has turned from gritty urban crime story to an epic saga full of action and adventure of massive proportions. The series has also been one of the more heartfelt properties, generating millions of fans who […]

DRACULA UNTOLD Will Take The First Bite Out Of Universal's Monster Movie Slate!

Lee B. Golden III

It was about a year ago that then-writing partners Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci announced plans to develop a cinematic universe for Universal Pictures circling iconic movie monsters of the past century. Those efforts have since advanced following Kurtzman and Orci parting ways earlier this year, leaving Kurtzman now sharing the workload with Chris Morgan for the forthcoming slate of monster movies which would also include The Mummy, Van Helsing, Dracula, Frankenstein and others. Well, a year later, it just so happens that Universal is working overtime to promote its newest action horror epic adventure, Dracula Untold which is already in the process of screenings and further star-studded publicity, and a handful of reviews are already published online. The question still remains if whether or not the film will fare commercially enough to maintain confidence for a second outing should one already be planned. Ironically however, it appears to be […]