New Trailers: The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent!

It's a Shailene Woodley double feature with the trailers of two of her films that were released last month.   These are roles that could launch Woodley into a Jennifer Lawrence-like stratosphere.

First up is the trailer of the YA adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green.  The book is funny, sad and deeply poignant and I'm glad the trailer reflects that tone in it.  Directed by Josh Boone, a relative newcomer, the cast features Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell and Willem Dafoe.  Woodley actually cut her long hair to play the part of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenager stricken with cancer who falls in love for the first time.  And yes, while that does sound depressing, the characters in the book/film are anything but.  This is definitely on my list of films to catch up with this year.  The Fault in Our Stars releases June 2014.

Up next is another YA adaptation, this time a dystopian thriller by author Veronica Roth, the first of the best-selling trilogy in which society is divided up into five factions that showcases the best of your abilities.  But it also means that everyone looks out for themselves and there are no family loyalties.  Beatrice Prior has a difficult path ahead of her when she is shown to be a Divergent and doesn't belong in any one faction.  She must navigate her life and those of her loved ones and protect them from the plans of the leader of the Erudite, Jeanine Matthews.  The films also stars Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd and no, your eyes did not deceive you, that's actually Kate Winslet as Matthews.   Divergent will release big this March and try to steal a bit of The Hunger Games' thunder as that franchise is midway through its series and their's is just beginning.  Are you ready?

New Divergent Poster: Tris and Four

Two new characters posters for Divergent are out putting the leads Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) front and center with a special focus on their tattoos.  In the book, Tris gets her tattoos when she joins Dauntless. Each tattoo represents a member of her family she's leaving behind, her parents and her brother.  Four aka Tobias's tattoos have a little piece of each of the factions with Dauntless right on top.  What do you think of the new Divergent posters?

Divergent Teaser Trailer

Wow, the Divergent trailer brought its A-game by reminding us that Kate Winslet's in it and also by showing the first look of her character Jeanine Matthews, the leader of Erudite.  The dystopian action thriller also shows us the dynamic between Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) and really emphasizes Tris' uniqueness in a world where everyone has to conform.  We've got ourselves a new franchise in hand.  Divergent, directed by Neil Burger, will hit theaters March 2014. 

Around the World in Posters: X-Men, Saving Mr. Banks, How To Train Your Dragon 2 and more!

 I would watch any movie of Rooney Mara's, I find her choice of movie roles fascinating. 

 Here she is in Ain't Them Bodies Saints.

 

How do I get myself one of those T-shirts? 

Keri Russell plays out the ultimate Jane Austen fantasy in Austenland.

 I love this busy comic poster of The To Do List.



Beautiful poster of Saving Mr. Banks with Walt Disney and P.J. Travers
alongside their creations, Mickey Mouse and Mary Poppins.

 More posters of X-Men, Don Jon, Saving Mr. Banks, Diana and more after the cut!

EW's new Divergent stills

 

Entertainment Weekly has some exclusive new stills from the upcoming Divergent based on Veronica Roth's novel showing us actors Shailene Woodley and Theo James as the lead couple, Tris and Four.  We also get first looks at the supporting cast, Maggie Q, Zoe Kravitz, Tony Goldwyn and Jai Courtney.  The costumes and sets seems mostly minimalistic and opposite to that other dystopian thriller series, The Hunger Games.  However, the makers must surely be hoping that Tris becomes as much a household name as Katniss has.  The only major player who's missing from this first look? Kate Winslet's Jeanine Matthews, the Erudite leader who has a hidden agenda.  I suspect the filmmakers might reveal that information in the trailer whenever that debuts.  Divergent will release next March.

Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) prepare to jump off a moving train as part of a Dauntless initiation.

Tori (Maggie Q) is about to administer Tris' aptitude test.

Tris joins Dauntless.

Tris confronts Al (Christian Madsen).

 

Tris bonds with her instructor Four.

 Tris with her Dauntless friends Christina (Zoe Kravitz) and Will (Ben Lloyd-Hughes).

 Director Neil Burger on set with Jai Courtney as Eric and Theo James as Four

Tony Goldwyn plays Tris' father Andrew Prior.

News Update: Cannes Film Festival jury, Divergent and Shaun the Sheep!

(Photo: Oscars)

The jury for the Cannes feature film competition was announced this past Tuesday. The members are directors Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Lynne Ramsay, Naomi Kawase and actors Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Auteuil and Vidya Balan. I’m totally floating my theory again that Spielberg and Lee are actually besties. A couple of months ago, they were both competing for the DGA (which they both lost to Ben Affleck) and the Oscar (which went to Lee) and now they’re on the same jury at the Cannes International Film Festival this May with Spielberg as jury president. Hopefully we might see a collaborative project from the both of them (like with Spielberg and JJ Abrams or Peter Jackson) someday. Hey, I can always hope.

First still of Shailene Woodley as Tris in Divergent as she is initiated into Dauntless.  Based on the Veronica Roth novel and directed by Neil Burger (Limitless, The Illusionist), the film also stars Kate Winslet, Aaron Eckhart, Theo James and Maggie Q and is due for release next March 2014.  Bodes well for the next The Hunger Games!

And finally, one of my favorite animated characters, the mostly silent yet lovable Shaun the Sheep is headed to the big screen. I've followed the little guy ever since he first appeared in Wallace and Gromit's A Close Shave and then graduated to his own TV series. Getting a starring role in his very own film was the obvious choice.  Here's to more adventures on the farm, Shaun looks very ready for his closeup!

Divergent: The Next Hunger Games?

Back in 2001 after Warner Bros. launched the Harry Potter books as a successful movie franchise, everyone wanted a piece of the pie as well.  So the next Harry Potter was Twilight, the next Twilight became The Hunger Games and now new kid on the block Divergent looks to be the next The Hunger Games.

 The debut novel of Veronica Roth, Divergent, was first published in 2011 and is set in a dystopian (surprise, surprise) world where society is divided up into five factions: Abnegation (the Selfless), Erudite (the Intelligent), Candor (the Honest), Amity (the Peaceful) and Dauntless (the Brave).  The female protagonist Beatrice Prior is born into Abnegation but struggles to find her true self. After taking her aptitude test when she is 16, Beatrice finds out that she is Divergent and contains traits of different factions.  At her Choosing Ceremony, she makes a difficult path of finding out who she is and instead chooses the Dauntless over the Abnegation.  Thus begins the journey of Tris. 

The book isn't as strongly written as Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games series which pulls you in from the get go but I do feel it is better suited for the big screen.  Summit Entertainment, who is producing the franchise, has already set a release date for March 2014 and I must say, the cast is shaping up nicely which is accentuated by the fact that Kate Winslet is playing Jeannie Matthews, the leader of Erudite.  Winslet has been showing up ensemble pieces like Contagion and Movie 43 in the last couple of years and her last big leading role was on HBO's Mildred Pearce so this is a big get for Divergent.  Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) who's the new Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be Tris and Theo James is the male lead Four.  (Sidenote: But he will forever be Mr. Parmuk from Downton Abbey for me.)  Aaron Eckhart, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney and Maggie Q round out the rest of the cast as Andrew Prior, Christina, Eric and Tori respectively. The film will be directed by Neil Burger (Limitless).

So if all does go according to plan, we may looking out for the next Divergent in the following years.