Morgan Freeman Page 4

Like vampires, zombies have enjoyed a renaissance over the past decade or so. The Walking Dead established dominance over the genre on TV after the preceding graphic novel did the same for comic books, while movies like Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later and World War Z all helped mould the genre with different takes on the ‘infected’ and ways to approach them in cinema. Video games, too, have embraced zombies; Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising and DayZ proved popular – The Last of Us took things to the next level.

What is he up to...

In Transcendence, Johnny Depp plays a forward thinking scientist on the verge of uploading the human consciousness onto a server, creating a sort of computer intelligence never seen before – it has the potential to be more powerful – intellectually – than the entire history of the human race. His character is shot in the stomach, giving him just weeks to live, prompting his wife to upload his brainwaves. It’s not long before his presence in cyberspace becomes a threat to mankind. So the question is this: is Depp’s new thriller set to add another dimension to the zombie genre? 

Continue reading: Is 'Transcendence' Yet Another Take On The Zombie Apocalypse Thriller?

The full-length trailer has been released for the upcoming Johnny Depp sci-fi thriller, Transcendence. Directed by Wally Pfister ('Inception,' 'The Dark Knight'), the film pushes the boundaries of human innovation to bring us a chilling look at the potentially destructive power of technology. Depp stars as a scientist whose brain is uploaded to a supercomputer upon his death.

In His First Sci-Fi Role, Johnny Depp Plays A Genius Scientist On The Verge Of Breakthrough.

Will Caster (Depp) is a computer scientist at the forefront of artificial intelligence research before he is taken out by an anti-technology activist. Determined not to die, the scientist and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) rush to find a way to upload his consciousness so that he can communicate even beyond the grave. However, not everybody is certain of what will happen if they succeed, especially as Carter's mind begins to evolve and become more powerful than he could have ever dreamed.

Continue reading: 'Transcendence': Johnny Depp Sci-Fi Thriller Is A Technological Cautionary Tale [Trailer + Pictures]

The Lego Movie has emerged as the weekend's most popular film, having opened last Friday in the USA to a promising $17.1 million and surpassing expectations with a total weekend box office gross of $69.1 millon (via Box Office Mojo).

'The Lego Movie' Dominated The Weekend Box Office.

The animated comedy, which is based on the well-loved Lego toys, will see its premiere across the world this month but if the US excitement is anything to judge by, it's only going to get huger. With plenty of in-jokes for Lego lovers, a genuinely inspired storyline with lots of twists and turns, and a stellar cast, The Lego Movie has received a massive thumbs-up from even the snootiest of critics.

Continue reading: 'The Lego Movie' Top Of Box Office Stack, 'The Monuments Men' Bricks It [Trailer + Pictures]

The Lego Movie is on a strong trajectory to claim the title of the weekend's hottest movie after an astonishing cinema turn-out from audiences in the USA, where the new animated comedy premiered on Friday (7th Feb.).

After Receiving Critical Praise, 'The Lego Movie' Looks Set To Dominate The Weekend Box Office.

The film, which is based on the tropes, lore and games of the well-loved Danish Lego toys, pulled in an impressive $17.1 million Friday (via Box Office Mojo), exceeding studio expectations by far. With such strong opening takings, the movie would be expected to emerge as the box office frontrunner, grossing at least $56 - $60 million over the weekend.

Continue reading: 'The Lego Movie' Building To Weekend Box Office Success [Trailer + Pictures]

Danish company The Lego Group have partnered up with Warner Brothers for the first feature length Lego film, The Lego Movie, set to hit the big screen in 2014. 

A child's imagination is what made Lego blocks what they were. They could make a spaceship, a Wild West shootout or even a pirate ship come to life; well, maybe for a few hours until the few remaining pieces left out were embedded in a parent's foot.  Now it has reached a safer place for adults as the loveable figures make their way from the toy box onto the big-screen in 3D animation comes Warner Brothers production:  'The Lego Movie'. With a highly admirable voiceover cast of Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Channing Tatum and Elizabeth Banks, the film looks ready to be a 2014 BLOCK-buster sensation. 

Superman meets Abe Lincoln in 'The Lego Movie'

Continue reading: The Lego Movie Set For Release Later This Week

The wide release of The Lego Movie is now only days away and as reviews filter through, reasons to watch this brand new, animated adventure stack up like the iconic, colourful building blocks. It seems that something in the movie's playful attitude and inventiveness has worked to bring out the inner child of even the most cynical critics and it's practically unanimous: The Lego Movie is a winner.

Critics Are Falling Head-Over-Heels For 'The Lego Movie.'

The movie stars Chris Pratt as Emmet, an average little Lego guy with a sunny outlook on life who is mistaken for the amazing Master Builder by the bearded sage Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and is enlisted on a mission to save the Lego world from being destroyed by Lord Business, the evil tyrant voiced by Will Ferrell. Emmet's unpreparedness yet nervous willingness to take on the heavy mantle of hero makes for some hilariously hapless scenes that will coax giggles out of those who thought their childhood was long gone.

Continue reading: 'The Lego Movie' Blows Critics Away With Hilarious, Far From Plastic, 3D Adventure [Trailer + Pictures]

The big news this week is the further escalation of awards-season fever. Steve McQueen's drama 12 Years a Slave continues to lead the field as the British Academy Film Awards announced its Bafta nominations this week - just as the movie opens in the UK. Chiwetel Ejiofor is now the odds-on favourite for both Bafta and Oscar best actor awards. Read our 12 Years a Slave Movie Review here or find out more about the film's star Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Meanwhile, Johnny Depp's new film Mortdecai finished shooting in London and moved to Los Angeles, where he was snapped on set surrounded by actresses in bikinis. The action comedy follows Depp's title character on a quest for stolen art and Nazi gold. Costars Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Paul Bettany, have been joined in California by Aubrey Plaza, Oliver Platt and Jeff Goldblum. Take a look at our 'behind the scenes' photos of Johnny Depp filming Mortdecai.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: 12 Years A Slave Leads The Pack, Depp Is On Set In L.A., Plus Peeks At Godzilla, Romances, Comedies And Lemurs

Madagascar has long fascinated intrepid scientists and lucky tourists with its otherworldly native creatures and enthralling landscape and now Island of Lemurs: Madagascar invites you on a journey into the heart of the jungle for an adventure into the unknown like never seen before.

Take A Step Into The Leafy World Of Madagascar's Fascinating Lemur Population.

Of course, thanks to fun-filled family animation Madagascar, we're all fairly acquainted with the mysterious island's most famous native species, the lemur, and Island of Lemurs: Madagascar wants to lead us deeper into the leafy utopia to give us an unrivalled closer look at the lives of these stripy-tailed primates and our oldest ancestors.

Continue reading: Island Of Lemurs: Madagascar - Set Your Course For This Breath-Taking Natural Adventure [Trailer + Pictures]

Johnny Depp is to undergo a cinematic transformation once again for new sci-fi thriller Transcendence. Directed by Wally Pfister, whose credits include Inception and The Prestige, the movie will star Depp as a scientist whose brain is uploaded to a supercomputer after his death.

Johnny Depp's New Film Sees The Actor Transformed Into An Automative Computer.

Will Caster (Depp) is a computer scientist at the forefront of artificial intelligence research, he is taken out by an anti-technology activist who stands against Caster's pioneering work into computer emotion. Determined not to die, the scientist and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) rush to find a way to upload his consciousness so that he can communicate even beyond the grave. However, not everybody is so sure of what will happen if they succeed, especially as Carter's mind begins to evolve.

Continue reading: Johnny Depp's New Sci-Fi Thriller 'Transcendence' Trailer Drops [Trailer]

Is Johnny Depp back on top form with Trancscendence? So far all we have to go on is the trailer, but at least he’s back in the type of strange and unexpected role he’d built a career on before his recent bout of below-average flicks.

There may be hope for Depp's career yet.

The trailers (Warner Bros. released a set of two short teasers yesterday) have a slight 90s feel to them, in that “artificial intelligence is out to rule the human race, now here are some lines of binary flowing across the screen,” but who doesn’t love a bit of 90s nostalgia anyway. We also got a better idea of the story with the full trailer, released yesterday.

Continue reading: Newly Released "Transcendence" Makes Us Excited To See Johnny Depp On Screen For The First Time In Ages

We've been spoiled by great films all year and this first week of November is no different with a cornucopia of cinematic excitement headed towards US shores.

'Last Vegas' - Out 1st Nov.

Arguably the most entertaining release of the week will be Jon Turteltaub's new comedy, Last Vegas. The movie has assembled a sterling cast of older actors, including Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline. To call the movie the grandpa's version of The Hangover would not be giving the film credit for its compelling premise which makes for a hugely watchable film with a driving force of solid acting talent.

Continue reading: The Movies Beckon This Weekend: 'Last Vegas', 'Enders Game,' 'Dallas Buyers Club' [Trailers]

The stars of Thor: The Dark World descended on London for the world premiere in Leicester Square this week. Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Natalie Portman posed for the paparazzi and greeted screaming fans before the screening. The film has had terrific word of mouth in advance of its opening in the UK next week and in America the week after. Browse through our photos from the 'Thor: The Dark World' world premiere held at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. Or click here to watch the trailer.

The big news this week is the casting of another UK actor, Jamie Dornan, as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey, the kinky romance costarring Dakota Johnson. Best known for TV series like Once Upon a Time and The Fall, Dornan replaced Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) in the role. If you're asking yourself 'Who Is Jamie Dornan?' Check out our cheat sheet for 'Fifty Shades of Grey's' Christian.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Thor 2 Premieres In London, Casting Choices Surprise Fans, Veteran Stars Talk About Their New Films

Red 2 is released in US cinemas today (Friday 19th July). Critics have not received the Red sequel favourably, describing it as "passable" and simply "adequate".

Bruce Willis at the premiere of Red 2, L.A.

According to USA Today, before you head off to the cinema, it is worthwhile seeing the first film. Red 2 appears to be a difficult film to follow without having prior knowledge of the characters. 

Continue reading: Red 2's US Release: Critics Are Unimpressed By "Tired" Sequel

You'd be forgiven for assuming Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger was still weeks away from its cinematic release, with animations Despicable Me 2 and Monster's University dominating the movie talk ahead of the weekend's box-office. Hell, people are still talking about World War Z and The Heat more than Johnny Depp's new movie.

Johnny Depp [L] and Armie Hammer [R] Star In 'The Lone Ranger'

The Hollywood actor plays the Native American spirit warrior Tonto in Verbinski's re-telling of the classic story, with The Social Network's Armie Hammer the underwhelming choice as John Reid, aka, the Ranger. It's difficult to figure out why Disney's big-budget new movie has flown under the radar, though a flurry of tragic reviews and grumblings over the representation of Native Americans has severely dented public anticipation.

Continue reading: The Lone Ranger: When Was The Last Time Johnny Depp Got So Little Attention?

Just the idea of a LEGO movie is enough to make minds explode with excitement, so if your brain is still currently on the inside of your skull then it's time for some serious movie-stalking because The LEGO Movie is more real that you can even begin to comprehend.

Lego The Movie - Temple Gathering

The film will leave no stone unturned in the Lego Universe and will feature a host of special guests from Batman to the Little Mermaid and from ninjas to those random LEGO spacemen that every collection seems to have. What did we say about head-explodingly-good?

Continue reading: The New 'LEGO Movie' Trailer Could Be The Funniest Animation Ever Built [Trailer & Pictures]

Seth Rogen's comedy This Is The End did not use its intended ending. The script was changed in order to accommodate a cameo from 90's pop stars Backstreet Boys leading a sing-along dance to 'Everybody', their 1997 single. 

Director and co-writer Evan Goldberg said the idea had come from an off-the-cuff suggestion from his wife on how to make the ending more interesting. Seth Rogen, who stars in the comedy, was determined to make the idea a reality. 

The Backstreet Boys cameo was not exactly what the writers had planned as the original ending was meant to feature Morgan Freeman, reviving his role as God as in Bruce Almighty. Unfortunately the actor had no interest in participating in the project. Rogen was then adamant the Backstreet Boys should play a part especially, as he said in an interview with The Vulture, he is "the appropriate age" to remember when "Backstreet Boys were kings".

The Backstreet Boys are not the only celebrities to feature in this 'apocalyptic' comedy. In fact the whole film is one cameo appearance after the other. None of the actors are playing characters, merely portraying the public's perception of them. 

Continue reading: Seth Rogen Reveals: 'This Is The End' Does Not Use Original Ending

We've all had that moment; looking at photos of our favourite celebs and then jumping out of our seats screaming, 'He's HOW old?!' Well, we've been doing a lot of that here at ContactMusic. Some stars seem to have crept up the age ladder pretty sneakily, the odd wrinkle and grey hair barely registering on our radar, while others don't seem to have aged at all! English football player David Beckham was in his twenties when he rose to global popularity and, looking at his recent H&M underwear advert, it seems that his iconic hairstyles and tattoos are our only way of working out the old from the newer pictures of him. However, he is only 37 and has plenty of time to catch up yet. It's the over-50s that have really had our mouths agape in recent times as we've been scouring the net for the most youthful looking middle to old aged stars. 

(Anthony Kiedis, Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey)

Continue reading: Good Genes Or Good Ops: Which Male Celebrities Don't Show Their Age?

In the wake of a tragedy, people look to authority figures for guidance.

The same happened with the Sandy Hook massacre recently. Earlier today, a statement, attributed to Morgan Freeman was being spread around various social media outlets, mainly Facebook. The text of the statement blamed the media and the sensationalist approach to tragedy for instances of wanton violence. While it sounds interesting and perhaps offers a new perspective on the events, the entire text, copied and pasted numerous times in Twitter and Facebook statuses, is a hoax. The quote does not belong to Morgan Freeman and the actor never actually issued a statement on the events.

The entire thing originated when the status started circulating with the quote being attributed to an anonymous source. Reddit users traced the text back to a long post by “Mark” of Facebook, on which the user had commented “If I know the internet, someone will attribute the quote to Morgan Freeman or Betty White and it'll go viral.” Apparently he was right and the text was making the rounds soon enough, as per the running joke on the internet that everything sounds intelligent if you hear it in a Morgan Freeman voice. While the hoax has been debunked, the status is still making the rounds.

The 2012 CMT Country Music Awards took place on Monday (December 3, 2012) in Nashville but this year, the winners will be kept top secret until Saturday December 8, when the star-studded show will be broadcast at 10pm on CMT. The 90 minute special will be hosted by Rascal Flatts and Hayden Panettiere and will feature performances from some of country music’s biggest stars, as well as appearances from a number of A-list sports and entertainment stars.

Amongst those treading the boards for the illustrious awards show were Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney and Sheryl Crow and also making an appearance on the night were the Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Sammy Hagar, Metallica’s James Hetfield, the shock-rocker Kid Rock and Miranda Lambert. From the world of sport, the Atlanta Braves’ Chipper Jones put in an appearance, as did the Nashville Predators’ Mike Fisher.

This is the first year that CMT have kept the lid on the list of honorees. As a result, country music fans will have to wait until the weekend if they want a slice of the action, when the 90-minute special is aired. According to CMT’s press release, the show will be “the most exclusive gathering of country music superstars of the year and celebrates the class of 2012 with an incredible evening of wall-to-wall performances and special appearances from others in entertainment.”

Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg have closed deals to write instalments of the new Star Wars trilogy, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The pair will pen either Episode VIII or Episode IX though the exact division of their responsibilities is yet to be determined.

As was previously reported, Oscar winner Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) is writing the script for Episode VII, the first movie in the new trilogy. Kasdan is a Lucasfilm and Star Wars veteran having co-wrote 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and the 1983 movie Return of the Jedi. He recently co-wrote the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark, considered the finest movie from Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies. However, his latest feature film writing credit is the poorly received Stephen King adaptation Dreamcatcher, starring Morgan Freeman. Kinberg on the other hand has more contemporary material on his CV, co-writing the new X-Men movie Days of the Future Past and producing X-Men: First Class. He is also on the team for the forthcoming Cinderella film for Disney.

With the writers now locked down for the new movies, we should hear something about directors pretty soon. Matthew Vaughn is rumored to be in talks for the first movie in the new triology.

Continue reading: 'Empire Strikes Back' Scribe Signs On To Write New Star Wars Movies