Ben Whishaw Page 2

We know what you're thinking: Sacha Baron Cohen, the master of disguises and impressions, would have been the perfect actor to play Freddie Mercury. But, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Brian May, the guitarist of Queen, has confirmed Cohen is not involved in any film project relating to the life of Mercury.

Sacha Baron Cohen is not involved in the Freddie Mercury biopic.

Read More: Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury Duet To Appear On New Queen Album.

Continue reading: Brian May: Sacha Baron Cohen Not Involved In Freddie Mercury Biopic, Contrary To Rumours

Well it was a good idea while it lasted, but it appears Sacha Baron Cohen will not be playing Freddie Mercury in the upcoming Queen biopic after all, guitarist Brian May has confirmed. Queen’s long time manager Jim Beach was said to have announced Cohen’s involvement in the film on Thursday, while accepting an award at the Artist & Management Awards at London's Troxy venue.

Sadly we will not get to see Sacha Baron Cohen sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

According to the Daily Mail, Beach had told the audience “You have probably followed the saga of the famous Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic which has been developing in Hollywood for the last seven years. An important breakthrough is that we have now managed to persuade Sacha Baron Cohen to write, produce and direct this movie, and he has also agreed to star.”

Continue reading: Brian May Says Sacha Baron Cohen Won't Be Playing Freddie Mercury In Queen Biopic

A teaser trailer for the upcoming James Bond film Spectre has been released and the film promises to deal more with Bond's past. From what we can glean from the teaser trailer, Spectre is set in the weeks following Bond's fight with cyber terrorist Raoul Silva at Skyfall and M's subsequent death. MI6 headquarters are still in ruins following Silva's attack and an investigation into what happened at Bond's family home of Skyfall is underway. Bond is seemingly drawn into a web of lies and deceit which centre on a secret intelligence agency, known as Spectre.  

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Spectre.

Read More: Is Mexico Paying Spectre To Show The Country In A More Positive Light?

Continue reading: 'Spectre' Teaser Trailer Promises More "Secrets" From James Bond's Past Will Be Revealed

Having taken British cinemas by storm over Christmas, the excellent family comedy Paddington is finally set to hit US theaters this weekend. If you’re unfamiliar with the adventures of the Peruvian bear, let us try to persuade you of his charms before you go to see it. No plot spoilers though!

A sneak peek of the loveable bear, who makes his US cinema debut this weekend (16 Jan)

The character was created by Michael Bond in 1958, a polite bear who loves marmalade sandwiches that is found at London’s Paddington Station and taken in by the Brown family. In the film, he adjusts happily to his new life in London until he gets into a scrape when he meets an evil taxidermist. We’ll let you find out how our hero deals with that for yourselves!

Continue reading: 'Paddington' Set To Hit American Cinemas This Weekend

"We've spent two years getting this together," said Daniel Craig while discussing the announcement of 'Spectre' "and there's been so much hard work and effort". For his fourth outing in the iconic role of James Bond, Craig will reunite with director Sam Mendes and the cast of 'Skyfall', as well as bringing an old foe back from the Sean Connery days.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in 'Skyfall'

When asked about the return of Mendes as the film's director, Craig responded by saying "He's the only guy for the job. He did such a wonderful job with 'Skyfall' and came down to do the next one and it just seemed to be the obvious choice." Following on from 'Skyfall' is not going to be an easy task, however, as the third film in the Bond reboot series made over 1 billion USD worldwide and took home two Academy Awards. Furthermore, the recent Sony hacks have revealed that 'Spectre' was supposedly coming in far over budget, and with a script that needed drastic work.

Continue reading: Daniel Craig Raves About The Cast Of 'Spectre'

There was unexpected variety and diversity in cinemas this year, including some genre films that broke through the barriers...

10) Nightcrawler - Jake Gyllenhaal goes very dark in this creepy black comedy about a man who has very few limits in what he'll do to become famous. It's so timely that it almost hurts to watch it.Watch the trailer for Nightcrawler here.

Continue reading: Contactmusic.com's 10 Best Films Of 2014

The movie adaptation of Michael Bond's marmalade-loving Paddington bear stories fended off box office competition for a second weekend in the UK, triumphing over two significant challengers for the family holiday movie crown. 'Paddington''s chief new competitors were the animated spin-off 'Penguins of Madagascar' and the starry, warmly reviewed 'Get Santa', plus seasonal rereleases of 'Frozen' and 'The Polar Express'. But 'Paddington' only lost 25 percent of its box office take, reaching £10.3 million over just 10 days.

Ben Whishaw provides the voice for Paddington Bear

Film industry analysts have been surprised by 'Paddington''s robust performance, noting its potential franchise-launching possibilities. And since it's not a specifically Christmas-themed movie, it has a chance of carrying on in cinemas into the New Year. This is unlikely with 'Get Santa' or the third British holiday hit 'Nativity 3: Dude Where's My Donkey?!'

Continue reading: 'Paddington' Wins The Box Office For Marmalade

Film company StudioCanal took a big risk in adapting Michael Bond's beloved Paddington bear storybooks for the big screen. Not only did they dare to add a villain (the slinky Nicole Kidman) and some real menace to the story, but the process of creating a live-action/animation hybrid movie is painstaking and expensive.

Ben Whishaw took over the voice of Paddington in mid 2014 after Colin FIrth left the project

Now that the film has been in UK cinemas for a week, it appears that the investment has paid off. Buoyed by praise-filled reviews from critics (the film has a staggering 97% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes), 'Paddington' had the second biggest opening this year for a family film (after 'The Lego Movie'). It may be StudioCanal's most expensive UK production, but it also gave them their best-ever opening weekend. It's already their biggest box office hit ever, and it's only getting started.

Continue reading: 'Paddington' Storms The UK Box Office

The long awaited Paddington Bear movie, which opens in UK theatres next weekend (November 28th) has been given a parental guidance reference by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The PG rating was given after the classifications board found the film contained "dangerous behaviour, mild threat, innuendo and mild bad language.”

Paddington's PG rating will be a surprise to fans of the classic cartoon

The loveable Bear's dangerous behaviour includes a scene in which he is “hiding from a villain inside a refrigerator” and another where he rides “on a skateboard while holding on to a bus,” according to the BBFC.

Continue reading: A Very Naughty Bear? Paddington Movie Gets PG Rating From BBFC Thanks To 'Innuendo' And 'Dangerous Behaviour'

All the signs suggested Paddington would be rubbish. The script wasn't exactly on Hollywood's black list and Colin Firth voluntarily dropped out of the film after principal photography because the studio decided his voice wasn't suitable for the famous bear. 

Ben Whishaw voices Paddington in the movie, replacing Colin Firth

Firth was replaced by the Skyfall actor Ben Whishaw and the voice parts were re-done. At $50 million, Paddington represents the most expensive movie ever produced by StudioCanal. Oh, and the British Board of Film Classification announced that the movie had been rated PG for "dangerous behaviour, mild threat, mild sex references and mild bad language". Oh dear, what have they done to the loveable, innocent, bear?

Continue reading: 'Paddington': Like A Movie Styled By Wes Anderson, Written By Peter Cook

Lea Seydoux has reportedly been cast in the next James Bond movie. Filming for the currently untitled 24th Bond movie is set to begin in six weeks and Bond 24, as it is known, will be in cinemas next year.

Lea Seydoux at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Read More: Blue Is the Warmest Colour To Sue "Arrogant" Lead Actress Lea Seydoux?

Continue reading: Lea Seydoux Reportedly Cast In Upcoming 'Bond 24' Movie

Ben Whishaw, the British actor who played Q in Skyfall and who portray the late Freddie Mercury in a forthcoming biopic, has been last in the lead role of forthcoming BBC thriller London Spy. Whishaw will play Danny in Tom Rob Smith's first television drama.

Ben Whishaw has landed the lead in 'London Spy'

Rob Smith is the author of the acclaimed Stalin-era novel Child 44, which is currently being adapted for the big-screen with Tom Hardy, Joel Kinnaman and Noomi Rapace.

Continue reading: Ben Whishaw Lands Starring Role In BBC Thriller 'London Spy'

Ben Whishaw, who starred in James Bond's 'Skyfall,' has been cast as the new voice of 'Paddington.'

The 33 year-old actor replaced fellow Brit Colin Firth, who dropped out of the project just last month.

Confirmation came on Friday when StudioCanal, the film's producer, sent out a tweet that read, "Delighted to announce that Ben Whishaw will be the voice of Paddington."

Continue reading: Ben Whishaw Named As Colin Firth's Replacement As Voice Of 'Paddington'

There’s no better way of proving that you are a true artiste than taking on a challenging Shakespearean role. Not content with raking in millions of dollars from their blockbuster movies, these famous actors and actresses decided that they needed some to shake up their careers with a bit of William Shakespeare.

Tom Hiddleston’s talents aren’t restricted to playing Marvel Comics’ super villian, Loki. The Thor star has a soft spot for Shakespeare, starring in the Hollow Crown series as Henry V as well as taking on Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse. Sounds like an easy role to kill a bit of time in between filming. Well, maybe not, but there’s certainly a lot of killing of some kind.

Tom Hiddleston isn't just the bad guy from Thor

Continue reading: Is This A Celebrity Which I See Before Me? Hollywood Actors Who Have Tackled Shakespeare Roles

Will the Freddie Mercury biopic ever sail into smooth waters and make it onto the big screen? At the moment, it just seems to be one obstacle after another when the project, originally intended for release in 2015, is concerned. The first major disappointment for the project came when funny man actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who is most famous for his alter egos, Ali G and Bruno, dropped out after he had originally been cast as Mercury. Although the project will obviously not be a comedy, Baron Cohen had initially seemed like the perfect candidate to play the role of the legendary Queen frontman.

Ben Whishaw has replaced Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury

Baron Cohen and Mercury certainly share an aesthetic resemblance, although the worry seemed to be whether or not the comedic actor would be able summon the gravitas necessary for the role. Roger Taylor, the drummer for Queen, had expressed doubts in the past that Baron Cohen was “too funny”, adding “We felt Sacha probably wasn’t right. We didn’t want it to be a joke. We want people to be moved.” In contrast, Baron Cohen seemed to have wanted the movie to be darker than the other Queen members, who want it to attract a wide audience, had intended.  The creative differences seemed to prove too much to all parties involved, and Baron Cohen parted ways from the others involved with the project. English actor Ben Whishaw has replaced Baron Cohen to play the role of Freddie Mercury in the 2015 biopic.

Continue reading: Will The Freddie Mercury Biopic Ever Make It To The Big Screen?