(Picnic Bear is Yogi Bear’s cousin. He doesn’t steal picnic baskets, he just waits patiently for someone to show up with one)
Anna Faris, Justin Timberlake, and Dan Aykroyd have joined the cast of WB’s CGI/live action Yogi Bear movie, to be directed by Journey to the Center of The Earth director Eric Brevig.
Faris will play a nature documentarian who follows the antics of a bear in fictional Jellystone Park. Aykroyd will voice Yogi, and Timberlake could end up lending his pipes for Yogi’s constant companion, Boo Boo. [THR]
I always sort of liked Yogi Bear. I always sort of liked Anna Faris and Justin Timberlake and Dan Aykroyd too. So why am I not excited for this? Probably because when they CGI old cartoons and mix it with live action, it tends to look like this:
Does that appeal to anyone over the age of 10? No. Which means I’ll probably end up taking a date to this, but I won’t be happy about it.
Justin Timberlake’s new road-trip comedy, The Open Road, besides featuring The Dude mumbling barely intelligible lines like “Yer prettier’n a spotted heifer in a panda (?) patch,” also sports not one, but TWO of the cleverest taglines ever written.
“If life is a journey… these three have a long way to go.”
“Sometimes… the best part a trip… is losing your baggage.”
Your move, Sandra-Bullock-adopts-a-black-dude movie.
[via HollywoodElsewhere]
Answering the prayers of literally hundreds of internet nerds, Ryan Reynolds has been chosen to star in Warner’s Green Lantern movie. Production is expected to start in January with Martin Campbell directing and a budget of around $200 million. On Friday it was reported that Warner had narrowed their potential Green Lanterns to Reynolds, Justin Timberlake, and Brad Cooper. Reynolds already played Deadpool in Wolverine (which Fox still wants to spinoff into its own movie) and for a while was in talks to play The Flash. So probably he seemed like the least creative option, and that’s what committees of businessmen usually go for. Not that there’s anything wrong with Ryan Reynolds. He seems perfectly capable of wearing tights and a power ring, and as far as anyone can tell, he’s nothing like Cam Gigandet. Also, and this is neither here nor there, but I think Justin Limbersnake would be a really good porn name.
[via Variety]
Today the Hollywood Reporter reports that WB has narrowed the list of Green Lanterns down to three possibilities: Ryan Reynolds, Brad Cooper, and Justin Timberlake.
Along with director Martin Campbell and producers Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti, Warners has spent the past five months searching for the actor to play Hal Jordan, the hot-shot Air Force pilot who is chosen by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns.
The clock is ticking on the decision as the holding deal the studio had on the actors expired Monday, meaning the three are now free to accept other offers. The studio ordered up two rounds of screen tests with Cooper, Reynolds and Timberlake. Other actors in the early mix included Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill and Jared Leto. Apparently, [Producer Donald] De Line, [Director Martin] Campbell and the studio each had a different favorite among the three finalists, making it difficult to come to a consensus.
Another issue impacting the casting process is the rising budget. “Lantern” is a full-blown space epic that is expected to cost between $150 million and $200 million, if not more. Warners would like to have the production costs at a reasonable level before proceeding.
I like all three of these guys as comedic actors, but none of them would be my first choice to play a superhero. Chris Pine from Star Trek and Jeremy Renner from The Hurt Locker come to mind. Then again, one of the best comic book movies was Spider-Man 2, and Tobey Maguire probably would’ve been just below Joe Pesci on my list of potential Spider Men. I guess what I’m saying is, I can’t decide which muscular young man I’d most like to see fly around in tights and wear a power ring. The important thing is that they keep Cam Gigandet 500 feet from the set at all times.
Hey look, Justin Timberlake put on a variety show for his stuffed animals and they accidentally filmed it. Is there a way to tape a video to the refrigerator? Because this should totally go on there. You just know at the next Timberlake family reunion his mom will be all like, “Hey Justin, you wanna show your uncles the time we played Saturday Night Live?” and JT will act all shy and sheepish at first, but then she’ll ask him again and he’ll jump over the couch and run to get the tape all super fast.
