Filmonic » Samuel L. Jackson

Nick Fury is still just a talker in Iron Man 2

Liam — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:52:06 +0000

Samuel L. Jackson had a brief scene after the credits as Nick Fury in Iron Man, and he will be meeting up with Tony Stark once again in Iron Man 2, however Jackson revealed to SplashPage that Fury won’t be doing anything bad-ass just yet.

“Not this time, not yet,” Jackson told MTV News of the likelihood we’ll see his character become the action hero fans know in “Iron Man 2.” “We still haven’t moved Nick Fury into the bad-ass zone. He’s still just kind of a talker.”
Asked whether fans will have to wait until the superhero team-up in “The Avengers” to see Fury get ready to rumble, Jackson simply said, “Looking forward to that, yeah.”

Jackson signed a 9 movie deal with Marvel back in February so there is plenty of time for us to see Nick Fury do this thing. He will probably just be a talker in Thor and Captain America as well to connect the worlds. The Avengers will be where it all goes down.

Jessica Biel In Talks To Join Thor?

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:29:51 +0000

Jessica Biel is a Boulder, Colorado native, and that’s where I grew up so part of me will always be rooting for her. The film-enthusiast part of me only recognizes two things she’s done: date Justin Timberlake and languish in the underrated Rules of Attraction.

As you probably know, voracious readers, Kenneth Branagh is helming Marvel’s Thor adaptation, one of the pre-requisite movies leading into The Avengers universe-uniting super-movie. What we know thus far is that the film will take place in fictional Asgard with the god played by Chris Hemsworth. Loki will be his nemesis, as always, and the gigantic multi-picture deal Sam Jackson signed with Marvel to portray Nick Fury suggests that he might pop up as a black dude in a fantastical land populated by Norse gods.

Now, Nuke The Fridge has a report on the first goddess circling the film:

Reportedly if cast, Biel will play the love interest of “Thor.” The most probable love interest for “Thor” would more than likely be “Jane Foster,” a nurse and girlfriend of “Thor” alter ego Donald Blake. But the problem is that our source was not sure of the character’s name, but seemed to believe it was the same female character from the animated “Hulk vs Thor.” If that is the case, since “Jane Foster” was not in the animated movie, Biel is more than likely playing either “Amora, The Enchantress” or “Sif.” Those characters did appear in “Hulk vs Thor.” “The Enchantress” is a powerful sorceress who seeks to make Thor fall in love with her. When Thor rejects her for “Sif,” an Asgardian warrior whom Thor falls in love with, “The Enchantress” helps Loki in his plot against Thor.

Having not read the majority of the Asgard-based Thor comics, it looks like a chunk of our collective internet-research time will be spent finding out what we can about The Enchantress and Sif.

Or, we can hope someone with a better track record steps up to dethrone Biel’s talks.

Kevin Feige talks Thor, Captain America and The Avengers

Liam — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:17:12 +0000

UGO recently got the chance to interview Marvel Films President Kevin Feige (click here to read the full interview, highly recommended) and he revealed a lot of interesting info regarding the future Marvel movies (Thor, Captain America, The Avengers). Here are some of the best bits:

Update: UGO were not supposed to post it yet! I’ll post again when it’s allowed to go up.

Iron Man 2 starts filming Monday

Liam — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:54:11 +0000

Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau updated his Twitter profile with the following:

Start shooting Monday. Last of cast has arrived in LA

By ‘cast’ he means Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. I’ve only just noticed how cool the bunch of actors Favreau has assembled are.

Iron Man 2 is scheduled for a release next May, which means there’s only 1 year and 1 month to wait!

Samuel L. Jackson talks about that 9 movie Marvel deal

Liam — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:44:46 +0000

When is was announced that Samuel L. Jackson had signed up to play Nick Fury in nine Marvel movies, including Iron Man 2, Thor and The Avengers, everyone was surprised…including the man himself!

From the L.A Times:

“No one was more surprised than me that it turned around,” he said. “It’s great that it did.”
“It’s always a joy to lose an eye, gain a patch and a really big facial scar in the name of character. Plus, I get to run the largest world-peace task force in the world, S.H.I.E.L.D. I’m glad that in the end we were able to reach across the aisle and put our differences aside and do what’s best for the franchise and the fans … & ME TOO!”

The deal not only pleased fans, it also showed that Marvel are planning long term. These superhero movies aren’t going anywhere any time soon!

Samuel L Jackson signs for Iron Man 2 (Plus 9 other sequels and spinoffs!)

Liam — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:26:58 +0000

The casting process for Iron Man 2 has been a bumpy ride, and one of these bumps involved the possibility that Samuel L Jackson would not be reprising his Nick Fury role due to Marvel giving him a low offer (as they did with Mickey Rourke). Well now everything seems to have been ironed out, as Jackson has signed up for Iron Man 2, along with The Avengers and other sequels and spin-offs.

From Variety:

Samuel L. Jackson has buried the hatchet with Marvel Entertainment, making a deal to play the role of Nick Fury in “Iron Man 2,” and potentially many other films.
Jackson’s deal is a long-term commitment to play Fury, the leader of the espionage unit the Shield. His deal contains an option to play the character in nine future Marvel superhero films, efforts that are expected to include “Captain America,” “Thor,” “The Avengers” and “The Shield” as well as potential sequels.
Jackson introduced Fury in the closing moments of “Iron Man,” when the character asked Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark to join his group. Fury is a natural to show up in multiple Marvel franchises, as he crosses paths with many Marvel superheroes in the comic books.

So Jackson has gone from probably not being involved, to wearing the eye patch for the next decade and dotting around the Marvel movie universe. Cool!

Marvel trying to get Mickey Rourke with a mere $250,000

Liam — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:45:45 +0000

In the real world $250,000 is a huge amount of money, however in the Hollywood world it is mere change and is not worth pretending to be Russian for. According to Variety, Marvel’s opening offer to Mickey Rourke for Iron Man 2 was $250,000.

Then there is comeback kid Mickey Rourke, who is poised to follow his Golden Globe-winning performance in “The Wrestler” with an offer to play the main villain in “Iron Man 2″ — but at a lowball opening offer of $250,000 from Marvel; Marvel’s tactics have already prompted Samuel L. Jackson to swear off playing Nick Fury because of a similarly low offer.

I don’t know why Marvel are being so damn cheap (if you can call 250k cheap). Iron Man made $580 million worldwide last year with a budget of $140 million. Iron Man 2 will likely top that so there is no need to be losing actors such as Samuel L Jackson over money.

But then again I don’t do the figures at Marvel so I don’t know sh*t.

Samuel Jackson not returning as Nick Fury?

Liam — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:04:35 +0000

We’ve already had the Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle recasting saga, and now we could be getting another switcheroo in Iron Man 2 (lol) after hearing the latest from Samuel L. Jackson. He told the Los Angeles Times:

“I saw ['Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2' director] Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, ‘I hope things are working out for you because we’re writing stuff for you.’ Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren’t really working that well.”
“There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don’t know. Maybe I won’t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], ‘We’re not making that deal.’”
I called Marvel Comics and they gave me a statement that suggested that they still want to see Jackson wearing the eyepatch. “Marvel does not comment on active negotiations,” was the boilerplate response, but there was that emphasis on the word “active” in the voice of the spokesman who phoned me back.

Marvel seems to have a habit of not wanting to pay people. There was talk before director Jon Favreau signed up for the sequel that there was an issue regarding money, and Terrence Howard getting the chop seems to be money related also. Could it be that Marvel don’t want to pay millions just for another small appearence by Jackson? Whatever Marvel are doing if they want a successful Avengers movie they need to keep the cast the same. Recasting every time an actor wants a pay rise will not work on screen.

The Spirit Christmas Trailer

Liam — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:53:28 +0000

A Christmas related trailer for The Spirit is now online, complete with bells and snow. It only lasts 31 seconds but it’s worth a watch. I’m still trying to figure out whether this will be any good or not. I’ll guess I’ll have to wait and see what the reviews are like and what kind of buzz surrounds it when it’s released.

The Spirit will be released on Christmas Day in the US, and January 2nd in the UK.

Samuel L. Jackson Plans To Destroy London

Liam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:56:53 +0000

Jim Caviezel, the guy who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, will attempt to stop Samuel L. Jackson, the guy who is in 70% of films made today, from destroying London in the espionage thriller Blown, according to THR.

Martha Fiennes’ film centers on Will Matlock (Caviezel), a top MI5 operative whose routine investigation of a global corporation leads him to discover an imminent terrorist attack. Jackson will play Julian Lezard, the businessman who engages him in a high-stakes game of wits and deception.

Watching Samuel L. Jackson blow stuff up is always a treat. The fact that this time it is my capital ciy doesn’t change that.