Categories
Rumours

Oh behalf of everyone…absolutely everyone…can I just say Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

‘The Matrix’ remake in the works: Report

A reboot of iconic ’90s sci-fi movie The Matrix is in its early stages.

According to editors at The Hollywood Reporter, film company Warner Bros. has tapped screenwriter Zak Penn, who has worked on X-Men 2 and The Avengers, to pen a new take on the 1999 movie classic.

The Matrix franchise was directed by the Wachowski siblings, and starred Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss. It depicted a dystopian future in which the reality perceived by most humans was actually a simulated one created by machines to subdue the human population. Reeves played computer programmer Neo, aka The One, who is told the truth about his world and is chosen to lead a rebellion against the machines, alongside a group of people freed from the “dream world”.

The film, the fourth-highest grossing film of the year worldwide in 1999, became known for its groundbreaking special effects including its heavily imitated slow-motion “bullet time” effect, which also contributed to it winning four Academy Awards.

It was followed by two less successful sequels – The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, in 2003.

There are few details on what shape the project will take, but sources have told the publication that Warner Bros. are keen to expand The Matrix universe in a similar way to Disney and Lucasfilm which are mining the Star Wars franchise to produce spin-offs such as the upcoming Han Solo movie.

Despite expressing an interest in returning to the franchise, John Wick star Reeves, now 52, is unlikely to be attached to the project, with producers said to be keen on landing Creed star Michael B. Jordan for a lead role.

While promoting the follow up to his hit assassin movie John Wick: Chapter 2, Reeves said he would return for another Matrix movie – but only if the Wachowskis were involved.

“They would have to write it and direct it. And then we’d see what the story is, but yeah, I dunno, that’d be weird, but why not?” he told Yahoo Movies.

The siblings are currently working on a second season of their Netflix show Sense8, and Warner Bros. has made no comment on whether the original helmers have given their blessing to the project.

Categories
Television

This will be an amazing entry to the series. Can’t wait to watch it!!

New Heath Ledger documentary to air on Spike in May

Heath Ledger will be the subject of a new Spike TV documentary, I Am: Heath Ledger, to air in May 2017.

It’s been a little over nine years since the actor’s tragic death at age 28 from an accidental mixture of prescription drugs.

Ledger, the Australian-born star of 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain, and The Dark Knight, among others, was beloved for his rugged handsomeness, as well his low-key demeanor. He was often seen skateboarding down streets of his Brooklyn neighborhood and strolling with Matilda, the young daughter he had with actress Michelle Williams.

Considered one of the most compelling actors of his generation, he brought a deep soulfulness to his roles, especially in Brokeback Mountain, opposite Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal, for which he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.

Now his story will be told in Spike’s original documentary series, I Am, which is an inside look at the lives of unique individuals as told by those in their inner circle.

Previous subjects have included JFK Jr., Chris Farley, and Bruce Lee.

Categories
Van Halen

I miss Van Halen AND Van Hagar!!!

How Sammy Hagar’s ‘Unboxed’ LP Led to Van Halen’s Split

On March 15, 1994, then-Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar released Unboxed, a greatest-hits collection focusing on his ’80s solo career.

Though he says his bandmates understood and agreed with his reasons for adding two new songs to this contractually-obligated album at the time, in the coming years Unboxed would be the cause of much dispute for this lineup of the famous group. In fact, looking back, Hagar believes the project is where “all the bad blood started” that ultimately led to his 1996 departure from Van Halen.

In order for Hagar to leave his platinum-plus solo career behind to join Van Halen in 1985, he had to promise to deliver one more full-length solo album to his record label, Geffen. With new bandmate Eddie Van Halen on bass duty, Hagar dutifully released I Never Said Goodbye in 1987, hot on the heels of his Van Halen debut, 5150.

However, the contract also allowed Geffen to release a best-of album from Hagar’s time with the label. He wasn’t obligated to contribute any new music for this collection, but he was offered enough extra money to do so to neatly resolve a messy personal financial situation. “By including two new songs for the Unboxed project, I got Geffen to pay me exactly the amount of money I owed my wife for our divorce settlement.” Hagar explained to Guitar World magazine in 1997. “I paid her off with all the money I received for that album and didn’t make a dime off it.”

Hagar says he got approval from all of his bandmates for this plan. But a couple of years later, when Hagar objected to Van Halen’s plan to release their own hits compilation — declaring it a move only bands who are at the end of a stage in their career, not riding a hot streak of four straight No. 1 albums, should do — he says the Van Halen brothers accused him of being a hypocrite. The disagreements escalated as the pair allegedly pressured Hagar into recording a new song for that collection, as well as the song “Human Beings” for the Twister soundtrack, during what had been planned to be time off for the group.

Ultimately, in an angry phone call on Father’s Day 1996, Hagar quit or was fired from Van Halen, depending on which side you believe. Which meant Unboxed wasn’t the solo career-capping statement he had intended it to be. “I’m telling you this as an honest man,” Hagar states. “If I would have ever dreamed that I wouldn’t be in Van Halen anymore and was going to have resume my solo career again, I would have never contributed anything towards my own greatest hits package, even for the money.” Hagar vented much of his frustration from this situation quite clearly on his first post-Van Halen solo album, 1997’s Marching to Mars.

So was Unboxed worth all this trouble? Well, that’s not really fair to ask, since it was coming out whether or not Hagar had contributed the two new songs (“High Hopes” and “Buying My Way Into Heaven,” both catchy but hardly legacy-enhancing). But apart from the intentional and somewhat perverse exclusion of Hagar’s highest-charting hit to date, 1982’s “Your Love is Driving Me Crazy,” it’s a great collection of highlights from his time with Geffen, full of strong, hooky anthems like “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” “I Can’t Drive 55″ and “Heavy Metal.”

Categories
Music

She’s right, it wouldn’t sell. That’s the world we live in now.

Stevie Nicks Says There Will Never Be Another Fleetwood Mac Album

Stevie Nicks said there will probably never be another Fleetwood Mac album.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the singer and songwriter said, “I don’t think there’s any reason to spend a year and an amazing amount of money on a record that, even if it has great things, isn’t going to sell.”

“I don’t think we’ll do another record. If the music business were different, I might feel different,” she added. “What we do is go on the road, do a ton of shows and make lots of money. We have a lot of fun. Making a record isn’t all that much fun.”

Nicks also explained what happened with the planned Fleetwood Mac album that turned into a record by the band’s other two singer-songwriters, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, with help from the remaining members of Fleetwood Mac, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.

Last year, Fleetwood said recording of the group’s album was delayed by Nicks, who went on a solo tour. “I’ve been on the road since last September, so I don’t understand their premise,” Nicks said. “Christine was gone [from Fleetwood Mac] for 16 years and came back, did a massive tour, and then it’s like, “Now I’m just gonna go back to London and sit in my castle for two years”? She wanted to keep working.

“I will be back with them at the end of the year for, I think, another tour,” Nicks said. “I just needed my two years off. Until then, I wish them the best in whatever they do.”

For now, it appears Nicks is happy to play the solo artist, especially when it comes to a band like Fleetwood Mac, which has had its share of drama over the years.

“When you’re in a band, you have to be part of the team,” she told Rolling Stone. “There’s something comforting about that. But in my solo career, I get to be the boss. Having both, for a Gemini like myself, is perfect. And I knew that in 1981: that me having a solo career would only make Fleetwood Mac better.”