Mark Wahlberg has always been something of a metronome when it comes to his acting choices, bouncing back and forth between serious and comedic roles over the course of a pretty impressive career. Lately, the former Funky Bunch leader has been in some high-profile comedies: The Other Guys, Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, a small part in Date Night, and some might even consider the M. Night Shyamalan film The Happening to be a comedy. In any case, Wahlberg is looking to keep audiences laughing with another comedy; this one’s called Avon Man and, if Deadline’s summary is correct, it sounds pretty ridiculous.

Here’s the plot synopsis:

A group of guys are laid off from an auto dealership, and one reluctantly becomes an Avon salesman. He survives the emasculation, relies on his charm and becomes a top seller. He then tries to save his town and help his struggling family by pulling in his macho unemployed pals to hawk beauty products so they can win a regional contest.

Wahlberg selling makeup door to door? I never thought I’d see the day. But that unexpected feeling from audiences is exactly what the filmmakers are going for, and there’s certainly the potential for a lot of embarrassing comedy in there somewhere. Originally this role was set for Hugh Jackman and director Kevin Lima, but both have moved on and now the movie is being rewritten by Michael McCullers (Austin Powers) and doesn’t have a director in place yet. Any suggestions from the crowd?

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The Wolverine was initially scheduled to begin shooting last year but Hugh Jackman’s commitment to Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, along with location issues, caused a delay. However in February 20th Century Fox set a July 2013 release date, and now reports suggest filming will take place later this year in Australia.

From AU News:

In a deal estimated to be worth $80 million to the New South Wales economy, the blockbuster is the latest big budget movie to be made in the state following recent hits such as The Great Gatsby, Lego, Walking With Dinosaurs and Happy Feet 2.

Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, who helped secure the deal with 20th Century Fox when he flew to Los Angeles in January, said winning the film would generate more than 2000 jobs for Sydney.

“The Wolverine is expected to generate more than $80 million in production expenditure in NSW and create more than 720 jobs for NSW-based cast and crew, along with opportunities for 1200 extras,” he said.

“It is a testament to our screen industry that Hugh Jackman and his team have chosen to come back to Australia after such a positive experience making the X-Men Origins.”

The script, written by The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie, takes Wolverine to Japan where he falls for a woman named Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord. Early in production there was talk of shooting in Japan, and some shooting may still take place there, but it looks like Australia is once again the shooting base for Wolverine.

James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) is directing, and we can expect to hear casting news soon.

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Dreamworks has released the first trailer for their latest CG-animated epic Rise of the Guardians, based on the upcoming books by William Joyce, who also happens to be a writer from the latest Oscar-winning animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

The film looks to be another top notched animated action adventure in vain of Dreamworks’ recent How To Train Your Dragon, this time teaming up Santa Claus (named North), the Easter Bunny (named Bunnymund), The Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Tooth Fairy (named Tooth) to fight evil, coming off as a family version of The Expendables. Rise of the Guardians features the voices of Chris Pine, Jude Law, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman.

Check it out below:

When an evil spirit hatches a plot to take over the world, the immortal Guardians join forces to protect the hopes, beliefs, and imagination of children all over the world.

Rise of the Guardians hits theatres on November 21, 2012.

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DreamWorks started working on a sequel to Real Steel way before the film was actually released in October. John Gatins, who wrote the screenplay for the first film, was re-hired, but the sequel wouldn’t move forward unless Real Steel was a success.

In a new interview director Shawn Levy said he’s talking will DreamWorks about making the next film, and he expects the script to be delivered soon.

From Collider:

“I speak to [DreamWorks Co-Chariman/CEO] Stacey Snider every week and we’re getting our script within the next two weeks. I’ll just say that—I mean look, $300 million worldwide, that’s a good number for a movie that cost just north of $100 million. The DVD seems to be articulating, the sales of the DVD seems to be speaking to a fanbase that now exists, whether it’s from having seen the feature or being curious and seeking it out on Blu-ray. I’ll just say that those numbers with the box office, with the toy sales, they’ve all got us thinking and they do have us talking. So it’s a maybe with a capital ‘M’ (laughs). I just made up that incredibly pretentious expression.”

‘What are the things about that movie that people are responding to?’ Yes it’s the fights, but it was really that father-son heart of the movie, and the wish fulfillment of like ‘What if you could be that kid?’ and the good movies, whether it’s The Goonies or whatever, it’s going to tap into the kid version of us. I think that’s what Night at the Museum did and I think that’s what Real Steel did and so we’re certainly kind of tweaking the sequel script based on an awareness now that that is what happened with Real Steel.”

If and when we see a Real Steel 2 will probably depend on the schedules of both Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy. Jackman is always in demand, and Levy is attached to direct James Cameron’s Fantastic Voyage, as well as Pinocchio prequel The Three Misfortunes of Geppetto. He will also direct a new Frankenstein movie written by Max Landis (Chronicle) for 20th Century Fox.

Do you want to see a Real Steel 2?

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20th Century Fox has set a July 26, 2013 release date for The Wolverine. Filming was initially scheduled to begin last year but Hugh Jackman’s commitment to Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, along with location issues, caused a delay. Now it looks like filming will begin sometime over the upcoming months.

The script, written by The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie, takes Wolverine to Japan where he falls for a woman named Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord. It will contain many elements from Frank Miller’s Wolverine storyline from the 1980s.

At the moment the July 2013 release gives The Wolverine little competition, other than Lionsgate’s Dirty Dancing remake and Disney’s animated Phineas and Ferb film.

James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) is directing, and we can expect to hear casting and production news soon.

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Walt Disney Studios has announced that Real Steel will be released on DVD and Blu-ray January 24, 2012. The movie starred Hugh Jackman as an out-of-work fighter who bonds with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) when they go to work rescuing a junkyard find named Atom, and groom it as a potential champion in the World Robot Boxing league.

Real Steel was released back in October and has made $250m worldwide so far. It’s a good number, but with a budget of around $110m (excluding marketing) it’s still unknown whether DreamWorks will move forward with the sequel they’ve been planning. Maybe after the DVD and Blu-ray sales they’ll have an idea.

DVD special features include:

- Making of Metal Valley
- Building the Bots
- Bloopers

2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (1 Blu-ray Disc + 1 DVD) features nclude:

All DVD Bonus Features PLUS
Real Steel Second Screen
Countdown to the Fight — The Charlie Kenton Story
Sugar Ray Leonard: Cornerman’s Champ
Deleted and Extended Scenes with introductions by Shawn Levy: Extended “Meet Ambush,” Deleted “Butterfly” Storyline

Real Steel is now available to pre-order from Amazon on: DVD | Blu-ray

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X-Men: First Class will finally be hitting DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on October 31, and in preparation The Sun has released a new behind the scenes clip showing how Hugh Jackman’s hilarious cameo was filmed.

Watch using the player below (via CBM):

Initially I was against Wolverine having anything to do with X-Men: First Class as he’s already dominated the trilogy (at the expense of other characters) and he’s got his spin-offs, but the brief cameo was great. I don’t want Wolverine to have sort of presence in any future First Class sequels as they should focus on Xavier, Magneto, and the team, but I wouldn’t be against another cameo.

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According to Deadline Anne Hathaway has closed a deal to join Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe in Les Miserables, the movie adaptation of the classic novel and Broadway musical set in 19th-century France which has Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) directing.

Hathaway will play Fantine, a factory worker who faces increasingly dire circumstances as she tries to provide for her young daughter Cosette. Crowe will play Javert, the uncompassionate police inspector who will stop at nothing to recapture Jean Valjean (Jackman), the man who steals bread to feed his sister and spends the ensuing years in prison (or trying to escape it) while also becoming the guardian of Cosette. Helena Bonham Carter, who worked with Hooper on The King’s Speech, will play Thenardier’s greedy wife.

William Nicholson (Gladiator) has adapted the screenplay based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel. Working Title (Atonement) are producing, as is Sir Cameron MacKintosh who produced the stage version of the musical. Filming will begin later this year for a December 7, 2012 release date.

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While Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has been slashing people on-screen for the past 10 years, 20th Century Fox and the directors have kept the blood and gore to a minimum so as to ensure an audience-friendly rating. It makes sense given the budgets and popularity past X-Men films have had, but seeing Wolverine truly ‘unleashed’ would give fans something to look forward to.

While promoting Real Steel Hugh Jackman was asked about The Wolverine, and he said there is talk about shooting both PG-13 and R-rated versions of the film.

From SHH:

“There’s such great temptation to make an R-rated ‘Wolverine’,” he says, “I’ve always felt that. I know a lot of fans would like that. I totally get it. If there was ever a superhero that was going to be R-rated, it’s Wolverine. However, in the last ten years, I’ve also met many, many 12, 13, dare I say 10, 14, 15 year-olds who, for them, Wolverine is not just cool, you see it in their eyes. He’s everything to them. So my thing is — which James Mangold and I talked about — is let’s not put it off the table. There’s even a talk of us doing two versions, as in finding a way for us to do both as you shoot it, which could be really cool. But you need to have a really good reason to exclude those fans.”

I can’t see 20th Century Fox releasing a blood and gore version on the big screen as the rating would be eliminating a big chunk of the potential audience, but a separate DVD/Blu-ray release should definitely be considered.

The Wolverine is expected to start shooting next year under the direction of James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) after Jackman wraps Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables for Universal. The script, written by The Usual Suspects writer Christopher McQuarrie, takes Wolverine to Japan where he falls for a woman named Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord. It will contain many elements from Frank Miller’s Wolverine storyline from the 1980s.

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It will be impossible for Real Steel to avoid comparison to Michael Bay’s Transformers films, since they’re all ostensibly about giant anthropomorphized fighting robots. But despite the surface comparisons, the films don’t actually share very many qualities. The Transformers series is brash and loud, while Real Steel is a classic heartfelt underdog story with the DNA of Rocky, Over the Top, and many more sports movies pumping through its robotic veins. It’s manipulative in all the right ways – similar to this year’s other “against all odds in the ring” movie, Warrior – and even though it’s about robot boxing (I know, I thought it sounded stupid, too!), it’s actually a surprisingly effective story with relationships at its core.

In the near future, human boxing has become too boring for audiences thirsty for destruction. Flesh isn’t capable of sustaining the big hits that crowds demand, so boxers are replaced by robots. Ex-contender Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is down on his luck, touring the country doing robot boxing exhibitions he controls remotely from the sidelines. When his ex-wife dies, Charlie becomes responsible for the well-being of his estranged 11-year-old son, Max (Dakota Goyo). Stuck with the kid for the summer, Charlie soon realizes that Max is a video game nut who knows a thing or two about robots. With Charlie’s prizefighting experience and Max’s busted up old robot Atom (equipped with “shadow” function), the two set out to make it to the top and end up repairing their damaged relationship in the process.

For me, the biggest surprise of Real Steel wasn’t how much I enjoyed it, but that it came from director Shawn Levy. This is the same man who directed The Pink Panther remake, my disdain for which has been well-documented on this site. (I literally didn’t smile the entire time I watched that movie.) He has also directed less offensive fare, including the Night at the Museum movies and Date Night. But this is his first foray into any genre that isn’t comedy, and Real Steel proves the man deserves a chance to direct any genre he wants, since he convincingly pulled off a science fiction/sports/action/drama.

This is a pure underdog tale, and though the setting and broad concept may be original, it’s pretty standard as far as the story goes. But it’s a well-told story with some outstanding visual effects. Levy and his screenwriters make every beat work, and add some real zest to the fight sequences by using real life boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard as the motion capture actor for Atom, Max’s robot on the rise. The blending of CGI and practical effects is outstanding, combining computer created characters with real eight-foot-tall robots.

Hugh Jackman is believable as an ex-boxer, and his character is the kind of reckless rogue you love to hate. Evangeline Lilly plays Bailey, Charlie’s ex-lover, gym owner, and mechanic who helps the father and son team forge their relationship. Thankfully, Lilly separates herself from her “LOST” character Kate Austen; this isn’t a brilliant performance from the actress, but it’s enough to see she’s got potential and good to see she didn’t get pigeonholed into playing the same exact character in everything. And though it’s a well-documented fact that I’m not crazy about kids in movies – they are almost always written as either an annoying hindrance to the protagonist or a sage giver of advice – Dakota Goyo didn’t bother me because his character had perhaps the most common sense of anyone in the film. For the most part, he made good choices and smart suggestions, which is a relief to see on screen every once in a while. There are also some tiny moments for guys like Kevin Durand (in a “LOST” reunion with Lilly) and the inexcusably underutilized Anthony Mackie (Lilly’s co-star in The Hurt Locker…huh), but not enough from either to get excited about.

This movie was one of the biggest surprises of the fall for me, considering I laughed aloud when I saw its trailer for the first time. Despite the ludicrous concept, the story (based on Richard Matheson’s short story) is surprisingly effective and the movie earns all of its moments. To sum it all up in a quote for the poster: Real Steel is the real deal. Until next time…

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