Movie News Wrap Up: ‘Godzilla’, ‘Kickboxer’ & More

[RoadWarrior]

Gina Carano joins the Kickboxer reboot; Edgar Ramirez signs on for Joy; Martin Campbell is set to direct Sebastian X; Japanese film studio Toho plans its own Godzilla film; and A League of Their Own director Penny Marshall is making a new baseball movie.

Furious 6 actress Gina Carano is set to join Jean Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer reboot.

Carano’s casting seems like a no-brainer given her past experiences as an MMA fighter. However, even if she has experience in this type of arena, she has put those years behind her and tried to start an acting career with parts in films like Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire.

For this Kickboxer remake, Carano is set to play a fight promoter, most likely for our protagonist Kurt. Kurt, as original Kickboxer fans know, is a kickboxer-in-training who tries to rise through the ranks and avenge his brother’s murder. Of course, this modern remake flips the formula on its head, casting Jean Claude Van Damme as the kickboxing mentor instead of Kurt and wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista as the villain.

Edgar Ramirez is in talks to join David O. Russell’s Joy.

If he signs on, Ramirez will play Tony Mangano, ex-husband to the film’s titular character, Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence). In our mind it would take a significant conflict for Ramirez not to sign on, as this project is growing in popularity. Ramirez has also been rising through the ranks as of late, and just recently wrapped production on the Point Break reboot.

Russell has sold Joy as an unconventional look at a prototypical success story. For those who might not know, Joy Mangano was a single mother who went on to invent several successful products including the Miracle Mop.

Martin Campbell is set to direct the comic book movie Sebastian X.

Sebastian X is a lesser known graphic novel about an elite cop who is implanted with a notorious villain’s memories following a near-fatal accident. There’s no word on who might play the cop yet.

Martin Campbell has been directing action flicks (e.g. Casino Royale, GoldenEye) for several decades, so he seems like a good fit for Sebastian X. In addition to Campbell, the project has also signed on Deja Vu screenwriter Bill Sarsilii.

Japanese film studio Toho has announced plans to produce its own Godzilla movie for release in 2016.

Although the domestic rights to Godzilla are still in Legendary Pictures’ hands, Toho claims it can still release a new Godzilla film in Japan. Their plan is to make the movie closer in spirit the old Godzilla pictures, albeit with some boosts to the effects work.

Clearly the studio was influenced by the strong reception to this year’s Godzilla reboot and hope to repeat its success. Unfortunately, anyone outside of Japan might have a hard time watching the film given how complicated the rights ownership is.

Penny Marshall has signed a deal two direct two new movies, including one about baseball manager Effa Manley.

Manley’s story is no doubt an inspirational one and is deserving of the feature film treatment. She started out managing a team in the National Negro League in the ’30s and ’40s and was eventually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The project is intriguing not just for the story, though, but also because it’s familiar territory for Marshall, who directed the 1992 baseball flick A League of Their Own. Marshall hopes to begin shooting some time next year in Georgia.