Praise the Force! We have still more Star Wars: The Force Awakens info and interviews in today’s Movie Morsels. Plus, casting news on writer-director Alex Garland’s sci-fi follow-up to Ex Machina, an update on Ant-Man and the Wasp, the new The Night Before red-band trailer, and more!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Worried that Han Solo will be a tad too domesticated in The Force Awakens? Harrison Ford puts our minds at ease in a new Entertainment Weekly interview, saying, “There’s not an abandoning of the character. He does not aspire to the position of Obi-‘Ben’ Kenobi, nor do I aspire to be some New Age Alec Guinness. His development is consistent with the character, and there are emotional elements which have occasioned his growth… We spend a lot more time [in the movie] on his failure to master basic skills, like accounting, and accounting for his own behavior. There’s a lot of the rogue still left in Solo. Some things don’t change.”
As for what advice he’d give the actor cast as a young Han Solo in the upcoming spin-off film, Ford remarks, “I would say, ‘Talk to your director. Watch the movies. And welcome aboard. Make it your own.'”
Regarding his interest in returning as Indiana Jones, Ford adds, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’d love to do another Indiana Jones. A character that has a history and a potential, kind of a rollicking good movie ride for the audience, Steven Spielberg as a director — what’s not to like?”
The current issue of EW also has an interview with Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams, and with Carrie Fisher on returning as Princess Leia, who now prefers to be addressed as “General”…
“She’s referred to as General,” says Abrams. “But … there’s a moment in the movie where a character sort of slips and calls her ‘Princess.’…The stakes are pretty high in the story for her, so there’s not much goofing around where Leia’s concerned, but it felt historic to have her, especially with Harrison, back in scenes together. I can only imagine the baggage that they bring to it, I’m just a fan who loves this stuff, but they’ve been living with it — and living in it — since ’77.”
Fisher remarks that Leia is now… “Solitary. Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed.”
The issue also boasts four Force Awakens covers…
Annihilation
Jane the Virgin breakout star Gina Rodriguez has entered talks to join Alex Garland’s follow-up to Ex Machina, Annihilation. If cast, Rodriguez will co-star with Natalie Portman in a sci-fi thriller that “follows a biologist who signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition where the laws of nature don’t apply.”
[Variety]
Triple 9
We have the trailer for the star-studded action thriller Triple 9, featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Gal Gadot, Anthony Mackie, and Norman Reedus. And it’s packed full of all the revenge, betrayal, and heist-gone-wrong excitement one could hope for:
Directed by John Hillcoat, Triple 9 lands on February 19, 2016.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Director Peyton Reed told MTV that big things await Hope van Dyne in the Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp:
It’s such a no-brainer that there needs to be female heroes. It’s about keeping the stories interesting and having fresh stories to tell. I always like that about Ant-Man and Wasp because it dealt with gender politics as well as superhero stuff. In the comics, particularly in the ’60s comics, the Janet Van Dyne Wasp was clearly written by all men and was pretty one-dimensional. She’s gotten much more dimensionalized since then. That’s one of those things that I think is going to be really exciting and fresh about this movie. You do feel a certain amount of responsibility. At the end of the day it’s organic to that character and the movie.
Ant-Man and the Wasp opens on July 5, 2018.
[MTV]
The Night Before
Finally, we have the new red-band trailer for The Night Before. Directed by Jonathan Levine, the holiday comedy opens on November 20th, and stars Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt:
[Sony]
What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!
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Image Credits: Entertainment Weekly, Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros.
