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Friday, November 11, 2016

Latest Movie News From Moviefone

Latest Movie News From Moviefone

'Younger' Chewbacca Will Still Be Around 190 in Han Solo Movie

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STAR WARS, (aka STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE), Chewbacca, Harrison Ford, 1977He looks great for his age! Yes, a "younger" Chewbacca will indeed bro out with Han Solo in the upcoming standalone movie, although "young" with Chewie is relative.

Alden Ehrenreich is playing Han Solo in the 2018 Star Wars movie, and he talked to Variety about Chewbacca, when revealing the very few things he was authorized to say at this point:

"I'm allowed to say that I'm really excited about Donald Glover's casting [as young Lando Calrissian]. I think he's going to be great in the role because he's such a talented and interesting guy. And I can say that Chewbacca's in the film, although I know that's not a huge spoiler."

Variety asked if Chewie would be younger, like Han and Lando, and possibly show that by being shorter or whatnot. "He's as much younger as I am in the film," the actor joked. "So, I think he's like 190 — or something — years old. I don't think there's a huge growth spurt for him from 190 to 210, so he's probably about the same height."

(He didn't seem to age much from "Return of the Jedi" to "The Force Awakens," unlike Han, so there's probably no need for changes in the Han Solo movie.)Chewbacca's Star Wars bio shows that he was born 180 years before the Clone Wars -- which were fought by Jedi Generals Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker. Our boy is seasoned. And we can't wait to see his meet-cute origin story with Han.

Variety said it's not clear yet if Chewbacca will again be played by Peter Mayhew, but it stands to reason the same guy who's played him the whole time should return.

The Han Solo standalone movie does not have an official title yet, but it does have a current release date of May 25th, 2018.

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7 Alien Encounters That Gave Us All The Feels

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First contact with an extra-terrestrial can be out-of-this world emotional. Here are seven alien encounters that made us feel a galaxy of feelings.

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David Yates Plans to Direct All Five 'Fantastic Beasts' Movies

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Britain Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them Global Fan EventThe same director plans to direct all of the "Fantastic Beasts" movies, so there shouldn't be any striking differences -- unlike going from Chris Columbus's child-like first two "Harry Potter" movies to the dark, artsy maturity of Alfonso Cuaron's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Then again, if you don't like the direction of the first "Fantastic Beasts" movie you can't hope that someone else will hop on board with a fresh take.

David Yates joined the Potter family as the director of the fifth film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," and got Warner Bros.'s vote of confidence to stay on for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and both "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2."

Yates returned to direct "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which is a prequel of sorts to Harry Potter, set in the same universe but decades earlier. J.K. Rowling wrote the script, and revealed that she's planning for five movies, as opposed to the initial expectation of three. Yates told The Hollywood Reporter that he is on board for all of the "Beasts" ahead:

"I love making films, and I've got a great team, all of whom are like family. I only look at it movie to movie."

It does sound like there's a detailed plan for what's ahead, and the second film won't be a retread of the first. Yates told THR the sequel "feels so different from this. Much more haunting, like a dream." He said Rowling is currently putting the finishing touches on that second script, and he's working with the crew in pre-production, building sets of Paris, France and Watford, England.

The first "Fantastic Beasts" movie opens November 18. The second film is scheduled for November 16, 2018, co-starring Johnny Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald and a yet-to-be-revealed actor as the young Albus Dumbledore.

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Negan's 'Big Day' in Alexandria Starts Early in Tense 'The Walking Dead' Clip

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Is there anything more annoying than an early visitor? AMC's extended "The Walking Dead" Season 7, Episode 4 shows Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) arriving in Alexandria for the first time. He does not arrive alone -- he brings his crew of Saviors, which now includes Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) still wearing that grubby "A" suit.

The clip below -- from Sunday's episode, called "Service" -- seems to pick up from the promo scene of Negan singing "Little pig, little pig, let me in" at the Alexandria gate.Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is clearly not happy to see Negan, to which Negan stops smiling and warns, "Do not make me have to ask." A reluctant Rick ultimately opens the gate, but reminds Negan that he had said he'd be coming to collect supplies in a week. "You're early." Negan, the only cheerful person in the clip, responds, "I missed ya."

Negan also says "easy peezy lemon squeezy" after killing a walker -- apparently Abraham had to go so we could make room for someone else's wacky one-liners -- and announces a "big day" is ahead, as the camera pans over his motley crew, ready to take over the town.

Watch the clip:

"Service" is scheduled to be 85 minutes, up from the usual 60. It starts Sunday, November 13 at 9 p.m. on AMC.

[via: Entertainment Weekly]

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'Gilmore Girls' Fans, Here's How Much It Would Cost to Live in Stars Hollow

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Who wouldn't want to live in the Stars Hollow of "Gilmore Girls"? Lorelai and Rory Gilmore's fictional Connecticut town is the quintessential New England postcard. But could you afford to live there?

In honor of "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" arriving Friday, November 25 on Netflix, Trulia decided to look at four of the homes from the show to see what they'd cost in today's real estate market. To determine these costs, Trulia looked at the median value of similarly sized homes in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Here's what they found:THE GILMORE HOME: Trulia estimates that Lorelai and Rory's home -- renovated by Luke -- is worth an estimated $445,000.

LUKE'S APARTMENT: Luke's studio would sell for around $171,000, Trulia decided.

LANE'S PAD: Trulia estimates the 1 bedroom, 1 bath pad would cost around $165,000.SOOKIE'S HOUSE: The priciest home of the lot would be Sookie and Jackson's house, which Trulia set around $685,000 in today's market.

Read Truvia's full post for more little details, and get ready to revisit Stars Hollow when the Netflix series debuts the day after Thanksgiving.

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'Star Wars: Episode 9' Will Be Shot Using 65mm Film

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Star Wars"Star Wars" is getting bigger than ever.

The final movie in the new "Star Wars" trilogy, "Episode IX," will be shot on 65mm film. The news was revealed by Kodak, which announced that their film processing facility in the U.K. can now handle the large-format film and that "Episode IX" is one of the projects that will take advantage of that.

This marks a departure from the other two movies in the new trilogy. J.J. Abrams chose 35mm film for "The Force Awakens" (with some use of 65mm), and Rian Johnson is continuing with that choice for "Episode VIII." Johnson apparently wanted to use 65mm entirely, but couldn't due to "logistical reasons" (likely, no facility for processing dailies). But now, Colin Trevorrow can do what Johnson couldn't.

Using 65mm film means Trevorrow can capture a larger frame at higher quality. The format is similar to IMAX's 70mm film.

You know what that means -- lightsaber battles in super high resolution!

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Robert Redford Plans to Retire From Acting After Next Two Movies

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MONACO-AWARDS-PHOTOCALL
Film icon Robert Redford plans to retire from acting after completing his new two movie projects.

The 80-year-old actor laid out his intentions in an interview with his grandson, Dylan Redford, for the Walker Art Center. Dylan wondered if his grandfather thought about returning to painting and sketching at some point, to which Redford answered, "Yeah, a lot — and a lot lately because I'm getting tired of acting."

Redford continued, "At this point in my life, age 80, it'd give me more satisfaction because I'm not dependent on anybody. It's just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching -- that's sort of where my head is right now. So, I'm thinking of moving in that direction and not acting so much."

He mentioned wanting to complete two film projects -- the love story "Our Souls at Night" with Jane Fonda and "Old Man With a Gun" with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek.

"Once they're done then I'm going to say, 'Okay, that's goodbye to all that,' and then just focus on directing," Redford said.

(Redford's IMDb profile also lists upcoming movies "The Discovery" and "Come Sunday.")

Redford most recently starred in this summer's "Pete's Dragon" and last year's "A Walk in the Woods." His last directorial project was 2012's "The Company You Keep."

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'Man From U.N.C.L.E' Star Robert Vaughn Dead at 83

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Robert VaughnRobert Vaughn, who played the suave spy Napoleon Solo on the spy TV drama "Man From U.N.C.L.E.," died today after battling acute leukemia. He was 83.

His manager confirmed the news to Deadline. "Mr. Vaughn passed away with his family around him," Matthew Sullivan said.

Vaughn was born in 1932 in New York City to showbiz parents. After earning degrees in theater and communications, and serving in the Army, he embarked on an acting career with dozens of credits in television and movies. In 1959, he starred in "The Young Philadelphians" and earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. He also appeared in 1960's "The Magnificent Seven," and was the last surviving member of the seven.

In 1964, Vaughn took on the role that would make him famous even in the then-U.S.S.R. — the smart, dashing spy Napoleon Solo in "Man From U.N.C.L.E." The show lasted four years, but spawned a spinoff and a sequel.

In the '70s and '80s, Vaughn won an Emmy for "Washington: Behind Closed Doors," appeared in "The A-Team," starred as the villain in "Superman III," and various TV series and B movies. In the 2000s, Vaughn had roles on "Law & Order," "Law & Orders: SVU," and "Hustle."

The actor is survived by wife Linda, son Cassidy and daughter Caitlin.

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Mobster Ben Affleck Refuses to Be Muscled in New 'Live By Night' Trailer

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Live By Night
"I got one guaranteed life. I was going to live it," Ben Affleck's Prohibition-era mobster declares in the new trailer for "Live By Night." Yeah, he does — he's got the drinks, the women, the guns, the cars, the boats, the dapper hats, and of course, the money. But as the trailer ominously warns, "Witness the price of the American dream."

"Live By Night" is based on Dennis Lehane's novel and centers on Joe Coughlin (Affleck), the son of a Boston police boss who decides he enjoys the life of an outlaw in Florida. But his sense of justice and open heart leave him vulnerable, both in business and in love.
This is Affleck's first directorial effort since the Oscar-winning "Argo." So, there's a lot of anticipation (and awards buzz) surrounding it. The cinematography is stunning, and the sense of time and place is palpable. The performances, including Affleck's, look top-notch. Should be an Oscar contender!

"Live By Night" opens in limited release Christmas Day and nationwide January 13.

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'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Star Vincent Rodriguez III on Josh Chan's 'Big Spiral'

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Entertainment Weekly & People Upfronts Party 2016 - ArrivalsJust how close is Rebecca Bunch's long-pursued, on-again/off-again, increasingly anxiety-riddled paramour Josh Chan to a meltdown big enough to mark him as a crazy ex-boyfriend?

Multitalented performer Vincent Rodriguez III admits that his "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" character has been in a downward spiral since Josh and Rebecca entered into -- and then out of -- their full-on romantic relationship, with each on entirely different pages as far as commitment goals.

Now that the couple's dynamic has shifted dramatically yet again, Rodriguez joined Moviefone for a deep-dive into Josh's tailspin, as well as being an Asian leading man on TV and the multiple joys and occasional pains of putting together an hour of musical-comedy each week for one of TV's funniest and most ambitiously genre-bending series.

Moviefone: The season has gotten off to a really interesting start. For you, what got you excited about where they were starting Josh and Rebecca, and where it's starting to go?

Vincent Rodriguez III: I'm really actually glad you asked me that question, because when we first read Episode 1 of the new season, I was taken aback just because this is a different direction in mindset for Josh. Josh has been kind of oblivious to Rebecca and her truths, I guess you could say -- he kind of had an inkling. So now it's totally out. So to see what Josh does with that was kind of startling to me, though not surprising, based on how we had set him up.

But it was just kind of like a big spiral, I started to notice. So that's exactly what Josh does, is he spirals. I didn't really know what that was going to actually look like, or what that would mean, in terms of like his actions and what would happen. After reading the next few episodes of Season 2, I still kind of can't wrap my head around it, because it's a lot, very, very fast.

But it also is a testament to, when something this major happens to your main character, Rebecca Bunch, it affects all of us. So I definitely see how it's affected me, but we start to see how it really affects others. It's very surprising how that can be beneficial to us in the long-term, but also like just big old hot sh*tty mess at the same time.

Does he start to wake up? He's really been sleepwalking his way into this new phase of his life. He's not really thinking things through too much.

I think Josh is blinded by something. Unfortunately, Josh is not as evolved as I think we'd like him to be. Especially at this point where Rebecca has kind of spilled all her beans. To see how Josh takes advantage of that, and really doesn't fully learn from it. He doesn't piece it all together. It's like, does he think he's invincible? Does he not realize what this combination of events means?

Yeah, that's a really great way of putting it: In a way, he's kind of sleepwalking. He doesn't get it. But he knows he's asleep, and he knows this stuff is crazy, and is a little off, and isn't quite right, but he kind of coasts through it anyway. I also think that's a very important aspect of Josh and Rebecca. All of our characters are all flawed, but particularly Josh and Rebecca, they're enablers of each other.

So Josh needs to grow up. Josh needs to find himself, and his wants, his needs, his goals, his future on his own, and he can't do that. He's very overly reliant on his crew, this classic crew, to define him, and this relationship with Rebecca, or with Valencia, which has kind of been this very present entity in his life – he's always been with Valencia. He's always been with her, since as long as he can remember. Except for that summer where he met Rebecca, so he had two girlfriends at that point. And then now as an adult, he can't be alone.

So it's unfortunate, but this is also something that's so common, and now we're just watching it manifest itself in a guy like Josh, who isn't very bright, doesn't have a whole lot of ambition, but means well, and is very easy going. It's to a point where it's just kind of ruining him.

What's been the fun for you to play him in this sort of tailspin?

It's been very up and down. [In the episode where Rebecca thinks she and Josh are pregnant] in one scene, I don't know how many pages it was, two or three pages, we shot it all day. All day. By the end of the day, I didn't know what daylight was. It was like Groundhog Day, which is typical for filming, but for this particular scene, it was more obvious because we went through this roller coaster of emotion, in a very short period of time, all because Rebecca was trying to protect herself and was being very self-serving. And in this particular case, Josh was just being bat around like a dog, being thrown across the room emotionally, and it doesn't end well for them.

It's a perfect example of what Josh's future with Rebecca would be like on the path that they're on. So in that one scene, it's kind of a very condensed example of what is happening to Josh in this season. So we get to see Josh go through that, as opposed to seeing Rebecca go through that. She keeps putting herself through that, but now we're seeing how Josh is just holding on to dear life trying not to fall off this very fun, crazy ride.

How is this show testing your stamina? Here you guys are, cranking out a musical comedy with dramatic elements every week. Is it a challenge to keep up to speed with everything you need to know and be able to do to get an episode done?

It's been challenging, yes. What people don't know about our show, a lot of people who have just heard about our show barely know it's a musical. Yes, it is a musical. It is also an hour-long comedy, which I found out when I got to L.A. It's my very first TV show. An hour-long comedy films typically 10 filming days, 10 business days. So we get Saturdays and Sundays off. We film Monday through Friday. However, we do it in seven.

But we are also a musical comedy, so we have to learn music. First, they've got to write the songs, two or three songs an episode, which is a whole lot for us. They write it, they rewrite it, we learn it, we record it, they mix it, then we have to memorize it when we sing along with ourselves on set, and then there's various locations that have to do with that, then there's choreography rehearsal, memorizing the choreography, playing it to different cameras. It's a lot. So the fact that we do an hour long musical comedy on television in seven days is a very big feat.

I think the only reason we can do that is because our cast has a very strong, grounded theater background, live. Rachel Bloom has done a lot of stand-up, she's done a lot of improv. A lot of our writers have done a lot of improv, are actually in improv groups. Like, Rachel's husband Dan Gregor is in an improv group called JV, along with Father Brah -- the role of Father Brah is played by Rene Gube. So I've seen a Friday night show, and they create stories on the spot. So we got those guys as writers, and we actually did see them on the show. So everyone, there's just this nice combination of thinking on your feet, going with the flow.

And in specifically the musical theater aspect of it, a majority of the series regulars have that experience. More so in singing and acting. A few of us have very strong dance backgrounds, and our writers know that, and they write to that. So on our show, what you're seeing is what you're getting. Everything you're seeing could be done live, because we're really doing it. We're really singing. That's really us, obviously, acting, and the dancing on the show, that's really us. We learned it, we filmed it, and there actually have been live performances where we recreated.

It's interesting because online some people are like, "Was that really you singing?" I'm like, 'Yeah, it's me singing! Why wouldn't it be me singing?" [Laughs] In this day and age, with shows like "The Sing-Off," and movies like "Pitch Perfect," movie musicals are becoming more popular, it's becoming kind of a staple now. A lot of these actors are showing off their singing skills all of a sudden, because it's becoming very topical. Especially with like "Hamilton" being the rage on Broadway. Our show has all that background, so we take advantage of that.

What did it mean to you to find a project like this that allowed you to tap into all your different creative talents, and you get to be a non-white romantic lead on a network television series?

It was a dream come true. It was also a complete gamble. What I mean when I say that is, I've been training for this my whole career. I didn't just learn how to sing for the show. I didn't just learn how to do hip-hop, or jazz, or musical theater for the show. I've been doing this for a very long time. I've been performing on stages across the country, including countries like Japan. I've been auditioning for shows and hearing a lot of noes, and trying to be on Broadway, and hearing a lot of noes, and teaching a lot of classes back where I'm from in San Francisco, and even teaching on the road when I'm on tours of Broadway shows.

I've been kind of hoping and dreaming of something like this for a while now. It wasn't until about two or three years ago, I started to dream this up, this idea that what if all this time I've been trying to be on Broadway and be just a working actor and be happy doing the things I like to do, theater and acting, and dancing, and singing, and what if there's something bigger out there for me, and I need to prepare for it?

So when I wrapped my head around that, all of a sudden I focused on the things I knew weren't my strengths. Like TV and film, and more specifically my acting. And I did. Then through more TV and film auditions, and a lot more noes, and being in New York, and just kind of working my survival job, taking my classes, trying to figure out how to do this, how to maneuver this, how to sustain, it was a stroke of luck. It was purely timing.

The fact that Aline [Brosh McKenna, the series' co-creator] was procrastinating one night and found Rachel Bloom's video on YouTube, then loved her and binge-watched all of her videos. Then they took a meeting and decided they were going to do a musical comedy on television. Then they had auditions, and then I auditioned, and it just so happened they wanted the lead to be Asian. I auditioned and they said I was great for the role, I was perfect for the role.

Then at that point, it's, "Well, here are all my skills I've been working so hard to have. Can I do this, too? Would that help? Would that compliment what you're doing?" That's what happened. So the writers' room has a list of special skills from all the actors, and I've been very blessed that they've been giving me a lot of opportunity to exercise those skills. It's a dream come true, it really is.

If you told me that I was going to be doing this when I first started this business, I don't know if I would have believed you. I wasn't seeing me on stage playing the roles I wanted to play. I wanted to be a lead, but I thought I was a character actor, because I was Asian, and I was tall. I wasn't built like a leading man. I didn't have like chiseled features. I didn't feel handsome. I felt very much not what they wanted. And I tried so hard to make myself into that. It got to a point where I didn't need to be that anymore. I just needed to train for it. So I did.

Now, given the opportunity, I had the skills I needed because I was trying to be more than what the industry was allowing me to be. Now I'm really lucky I get to be here, and I'm very hopeful that things are changing right now for the better. I'm seeing way more Asians on television, Filipinos specifically, more diversity in shows, and content, and actors, and casting.

I am so honored to be a part of that, because I feel like this is something we've been waiting for for a very long time. I feel strongly that "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" is one of those shows that has helped push that envelope. I think we're going to keep going and we're going to see more shows like it.

Have you headed out to West Covina since the show started? I'm sure you would be treated like a king.

Last year we got the key to the city. So I was greeted with a pretzel, and they let me hold the key to the city. I was on the news, and it was really cool. The key to West Covina resides in the writers' room here at "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." And then, recently, West Covina declared October 21st -- the season premiere of Season 2 of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" -- as "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Day. So our show aired that night, and West Covina was like, "You have a day now, in our town. It is 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' Day."

So it's very surreal. I don't really know what else to say. I don't think I've ever experienced or been a part of something like that before where people are offering me keys to things and naming days after shows I've done.

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" airs Fridays on The CW.

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Feast on Two More International 'Rogue One' Trailers

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Rogue One"Rogue One" is ready for liftoff.

One new, very interesting international trailer for the "Star Wars" standalone movie debuted yesterday, and now two more have been released. They don't show much new footage, but there are a few snippets we haven't seen before, like a funny moment between friends Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). The new trailers also emphasize the action in the movie, and we can see a little more of a big space battle involving some kind of Empire station and the fight on the ground against stormtroopers.

Though the two trailers don't give away much more than we've already seen, the tone of both feel more like teasers for a war movie vs. the action-adventure tone of the Skywalker-focused "Star Wars" trilogies.

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" also stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, and Riz Ahmed and opens December 16.

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Olenna Is Spoiling for a Fight in 'Game of Thrones' Deleted Scene

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Game of ThronesMess with the Queen of Thorns, and you're going to get cut.

"Game of Thrones" features a lot of badass women, including one sharp-tongued, sharp-witted Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg). As far as politicking, backstabbing, and scheming go, the matriarch has been there, done that. But family always comes first, and when her grandchildren are imprisoned by the religious Sparrows — well, they've messed with the wrong lady.

Entertainment Weekly unveiled this deleted scene from season 6 -- included in Nov. 15 Blue-ray/DVD release — in which Olenna tells her son, Mace (Roger Ashton-Griffiths), what's what upon his return to King's Landing. "Cersei Lannister sent you to Braavos to get you out of her way," she explains to her dim-witted son.

But now, the Tyrells need to assert themselves since Mace's son Loras (Finn Jones) and daughter Margaery (Natalie Dormer) have been locked up. Olenna has been invited to King Tommen's Small Council meeting. Does this mean she's taken over Mace's job as Master of Coin?

"It means I am the Mistress of getting my grandchildren out of bloody prison," she declares.

Well, we know how that ends up. But you can't fault Olenna's determination.

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The CW's Four-Way Superhero Crossover Promises to Be 'Best Team-up Ever'

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Supergirl Flash"Best. Team-up. Ever!" Felicity Smoak is super-stoked about the four-way superhero crossover on The CW.

The network released a promo for the event, which ties together its four DC Comics superhero shows: "Arrow," "The Flash," "Legends of Tomorrow," and "Supergirl." The promo doesn't show much beyond The Flash (Grant Gustin) introducing Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) — whom he teamed up with in a crossover last season — to his other super friends, Oliver/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), Firestorm (Victor Garber), Atom (Brandon Routh), and more.

The superheroes will be teaming up to battle the Dominators, an alien race seeking to take out Earth's meta-humans. The crossover begins Nov. 28 at the very end of a "Supergirl" episode. Then, as that show's executive producer Marc Guggenheim explained, "The story that's being told has a beginning, middle and end: It's a beginning in 'Flash,' a middle in 'Arrow,' and an end in 'Legends.' But Supergirl is very much a part of the whole thing."

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'Arrival' Screenwriter Eric Heisserer Reveals a Version of the Movie You May Never See

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After seeing "Arrival," the best compliment one could give the film is that they wish they wrote it.

The man who did write the film, Eric Heisserer, endured an uphill battle since 2010 to see his adaptation of Ted Chiang's resonate short story "Story of Your Life" on the big screen. With director Denis Villeneuve at his side, it was a trek occasionally fraught with vision-less development execs that finally ends Friday with the film's release. The types of notes the writer received about his grounded, sci-fi tale -- which centers on Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguist forced to communicate with first-contact aliens that use non-linear language -- are the types of notes that could have undone all that critics seem to love.

"We did have a note that would come back on a regular basis to get rid of all the flashbacks," Heisserer said, "which -- if you've seen the movie -- is problematic." Other notes the writer received: "Does she have to be a linguistics expert?" and "you should have made the lead a male."
The writer was thankful that, despite these suggestions, his intents for the story mostly made it to the big screen intact, thanks to "making the film largely outside that process" as "Arrival" was packaged at Cannes with unique terms built into the acquisition.

"One of the terms was -- we don't have to take these notes. We'll listen to them, we'll certainly do our best to find a good common ground, but we want to preserve the whole reason why we made the film."

Some filmed scenes were unable to survive that preservation, including two centered on fleshing out key supporting characters: Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), who oversees the U.S. operation at the alien landing site in Montana, and Banks' closest colleague, mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner).
"To show you the kind of military leader Weber is, there was a moment where we saw him at the encampment, near the edge of the zone at the Montana site, where we saw it get more and more populated by average citizens coming to get a view of the ship," Heisserer revealed.

"And then, there was a panic -- and a mob mentality, which started to get unruly and scary and intense. Because you have thousands of people on the edge of this military blockade. And Weber, he visited the frontline and spoke to a sergeant there, the latter said: 'Look at this situation here. Look at how easily it could escalate. What I need here are 200 more men -- armed.' And Weber goes: 'If I do that, what message does that send? To them, and to our [alien] visitors?'

This scene would have added more pressure to Banks and Donnelly's efforts, which were already time-sensitive as China threatens military attack against the ship hovering near their country.
To alleviate some of that pressure -- just because the movie tackles serious subject matter, doesn't mean it lacks moments of levity -- there was a scene (ironically) cut that provided a laugh or two with math wiz Donnelly.

"We'd discover more about how much science he knew -- there was almost a flirtatious competition between Louise and him -- You'd see the progress she made with her language versus what he was making with his math. Listening to Jeremy Renner, in the barracks, at a cafe table, using a salt shaker to describing Bayes Theorem as it applied to global population was just a delight."

But the writer acknowledges that this scene "took away from the main journey" of the film's female lead, a journey we never would have had the privilege to watch if executives got their way.

"Arrival" opens in theaters Friday.

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17 Things You Never Knew About Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'

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Released 25 years ago this week (on November 13, 1991), Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" was an instant landmark.

It was the first animated feature nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, the first to earn more than $100 million during its initial run, and the first Disney cartoon to spawn a Broadway musical. And in March, it'll be the first film from Disney's 1990s animation renaissance to join the studio's growing list of live-action movie versions of its vintage cartoons, with Emma Watson playing Belle in "Beauty and the Beast."

Naturally, a film so celebrated is rich in behind-the-scenes lore. So rich that, five years after our last unearthing of "Beauty and the Beast" trivia, we've discovered 15 more things you didn't know about the beloved toon.
1. There are only five minutes in the film with no music.

2. Another first: "Beauty" was the first Disney cartoon feature scripted by a woman, Linda Woolverton.

3. Coming on the heels of Disney smash "The Little Mermaid," the production almost hired that film's Ariel, Jodi Benson, for princess duty again to play Belle. Instead, they went with Broadway vet Paige O'Hara.
4. Woolverton modeled the fiercely independent, book-smart Belle after Katharine Hepburn, especially her performance as Jo in "Little Women." Accordingly, her bickering, bantering relationship with Beast was modeled after Hepburn's screen romances with with Spencer Tracy.

5. For Beast, the filmmakers initially considered several performers who could do gruff and angry voices, including Tim Curry, Laurence Fishburne, Val Kilmer, Mandy Patinkin, and even Regis Philbin.

6. But Robby Benson, known for his sensitive-guy parts, won the role by summoning up a deep, growling bellow that suggested inner torment without all the roaring bluster.
7. Animator Glen Keane designed the Beast's hybrid features after several visits to London's Regents Park Zoo. He gave Beast a lion's mane, a buffalo's head and beard, a gorilla's brow, a wild boar's tusks, a bear's body, a wolf's legs and tail, and a man's eyes.
8. Rupert Everett auditioned for Gaston, but the filmmakers didn't think him arrogant enough. He took that lesson to heart a decade later, when he read for -- and won -- the similar role of Prince Charming in "Shrek 2." The part in "Beast" went instead to Richard White.
9. Julie Andrews was considered for the role of Mrs. Potts before the filmmakers cast Angela Lansbury as the singing kettle.

10. "M*A*S*H" alum David Ogden Stiers was neither the first nor the second choice to play talking clock Cogsworth. The producers offered John Cleese the role, but he turned them down. (Like Everett and Andrews, he'd end up in "Shrek 2.")

11. Patrick Stewart was to take on the role, but he couldn't resolve a scheduling conflict with "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
12. Stiers improvised the punchline in Cogsworth's romantic advice to Beast. Along with "flowers, chocolates," the actor added, "promises you don't intend to keep."

13. The Oscar-winning title song was originally composed as a light rock number. Lansbury didn't feel comfortable with that arrangement, so she offered to sing it as a more traditional ballad. On the way to the recording session in New York, her plane was delayed by a bomb threat. Though she arrived hours late, she wasn't rattled and insisted on going straight to the studio. She nailed the song in one take. A quarter-century later, O'Hara recalled that there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

14. The smoke that appears when Beast turns back into a man wasn't animated. It was footage of real smoke, recycled from Disney's "The Black Cauldron."
15. If you freeze the frame on Gaston's face (above) during his fatal plunge, you'll see tiny skulls in his pupils.

16. Disney was inspired to release the 2002 extended cut -- featuring "Human Again," a number cut from the original release but used in the stage musical -- by the example of all the "Star Wars" special editions released to home video.
17. Keane grumbled that his creation should never have been turned back into a man. He suggested that Belle could at least ask her newly-human love if he would ever consider growing a beard. Oh, well, maybe that line will make it into the Emma Watson version.

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