Wanted

‘Wanted’ With Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy Concocts Curving Bullet in Gluttonously Entertaining Blockbuster

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:01:00 -0700

CHICAGO – With curving, clinking and kissing bullets, “Wanted” indeed does Chicago proud. And Angelina Jolie sells it. And Morgan Freeman is ominous. And in his body of work, James McAvoy – the star of this orgasmic summer blockbuster – becomes a man.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Many Chicagoans have been keenly aware of the film’s local filming throughout downtown Chicago and Broadview, Ill.

After also focusing its filming lens throughout the Czech Republic and Hungary, Chicago’s prominence reigns surprisingly dominant and central to the film’s assassin-based plot of one “apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice”.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Wanted” in our reviews section.

View our huge, high-resolution “Wanted” image gallery.

Listen to our episode-two podcast on “Wanted” and more.

Read more news on “Wanted”.

James McAvoy is the man of the hour, and in a short 110 minutes, is handed a Hollywood renovation from an initially fear-laden, listless boy to a surgically precise killer who’d give Matt Damon’s character (Jason Bourne) in “The Bourne Ultimatum” a fight for his life.

“Wanted” features Chicago front and center not only in its aesthetics but also central to its high-adrenaline pacing and action sequences. The Universal Pictures film needed exactly this big-city, fast-action feel to haunt McAvoy with the necessary vibrations in his quest to decide who he really is.

While “Wanted” is chock full of innovation – especially in its fight sequences and “The Matrix”-inspired special effects on ludicrously entertaining Hollywood steroids – the film at times still falls victim to the traditional stereotypes of what you’d expect in an assassin action-thriller with an ever-increasing death count.

“Wanted,” which was pushed back to a June 27, 2008 release date from an initial March 28, 2008 plan, won’t accrue the high marks and huge numbers it deserves because of its story alone. This is an outright action fest of sensory enchantment, carnal killing and orgasmic delight.

“Wanted,” which opened everywhere on June 27, 2008, stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Common and David O’Hara.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Wanted” review.

Fox (Angelina Jolie) shoots from the driver’s side of her Dodge Viper in the action-thriller that tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

James McAvoy as Wesley in the action-thriller that tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Jaap Buitendijk

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Wanted” review.

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 2: ‘WALL-E,’ ‘Wanted,’ ‘The Love Guru,’ ‘Get Smart,’ Top 100 List

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:21:39 -0700

CHICAGO – In episode two of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers discuss the blockbusters “WALL-E” and “Wanted,” which both open on Friday. In this 32-minute podcast, staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman also debate why moviegoers had such an irate reaction to last week’s “The Love Guru” from Mike Myers.

In addition to discussing “WALL-E” (review here), “Wanted” and “The Love Guru” (review here), the critics also discuss the recently released “Get Smart” (review here) film along with the newly published Entertainment Weekly list of the top 100 “new classics”.

Listen to the episode-two podcast immediately in streaming mode.
Download the full HollywoodChicago.com episode-two podcast now.
Subscribe to the free HollywoodChicago.com podcast RSS feed.
Subscribe to the HollywoodChicago.com podcast in iTunes.

Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss “WALL-E,” “Wanted,” “The Love Guru” and the recent Entertainment Weekly list of the top 100 “new classics” in episode two of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 1: Summer Blockbusters

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:37:53 -0700

CHICAGO – In the inaugural HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers debate 2008’s summer blockbuster films. Staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman all chime in and cast their predictions on this 24-minute podcast.

Our discussion covers the full gamut of summer blockbuster films including “The Dark Knight,” “Wanted,” “WALL-E,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Get Smart,” “The Happening,” “Hancock,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man,” “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” “The Rocker,” “Step Brothers,” “Pineapple Express,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Tropic Thunder”.

Listen to the episode-one podcast immediately in streaming mode.
Download the full HollywoodChicago.com episode-one podcast now.
Subscribe to the free HollywoodChicago.com podcast RSS feed.
Subscribe to the HollywoodChicago.com podcast in iTunes.

Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss 2008’s summer blockbuster films in episode one of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Super Bowl Spot For Chicago-Filmed ‘Wanted’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:18:00 -0700

CHICAGO – You don’t have to wait until Sunday, Feb. 3 to watch the official Super Bowl spot for “Wanted,” which was filmed in part in Chicago and stars Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. The spot just appeared online at Yahoo! Movies. For your convenience and viewing pleasure, we’ve uploaded the new spot to YouTube and embedded it below.

We have also created a new Angelina Jolie screenshot from this spot and have it for you below.

Angelina Jolie in “Wanted” from the 2008 Super Bowl spot.
Screenshot created by Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

See our Dec. 6, 2007 “Wanted” coverage where we report on why the film’s release date was pushed back.

Click here for our huge “Wanted” image gallery!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Universal Pictures Pushes Back ‘Wanted’ Release Date From Spring to Summer 2008

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:06:07 -0700

Universal Pictures announced on Wednesday it is pushing back the release date of the hotly anticipated film “Wanted,” which has filmed in Chicago, from the spring to the summer of 2008.

Angelina Jolie in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
The decision was made due to mounting competition on the weekend of its original selection. Initially slated to release on March 28, 2008, the film is now scheduled to open on June 27, 2008 to rival Pixar’s “Wall-E,” “What Happens in Vegas…” and Tom Cruise’s “Valkyrie”.

“After an early look at ‘Wanted,’ we are certain it fulfills its promise as a stunning, committed, thrilling and eye-popping vision that introduces a bold new narrative,” said Universal Pictures president of distribution Nikki Rocco in the Wednesday statement.

She added: “We believe it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the event titles of the summer and will give audiences a chance to discover a fresh [and] new alternative.”

David O’Hara in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
While Superhero Hype! calls the announcement a “surprise,” it’s certainly obvious to me that Universal feels it can better dominate that June weekend.

But will it? While the Superhero Hype! report says the March 28 weekend is “starting to get rather crowed,” that begs the question: crowded with what other films? The March weekend also features the likes of:

“21” (with Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne)
“My Brother is an Only Child” (an Italian film)
“Run, Fat Boy, Run” (directed by David Schwimmer)
“Stop-Loss” (with Ryan Phillippe)
“Superhero!” (with Leslie Nielsen, Sara Paxton and Brent Spiner from “Star Trek”)

James McAvoy in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
It’s fair to say even in the more “crowded” weekend that “Wanted” currently has the most brand recognition among those titles and also features among the most star-studded cast (with James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and Common).

While its June weekend has less rivalry by number of films, those films are more widely known and serve as greater box-office threats. The March weekend offers more film competition by number of films but with less visibility. I question the merit of this switch.

“Wanted,” which is the first English-language film helmed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, is based upon Mark Millar’s explosive graphic novel series.

Scoop: Four-Story Building to Be Imploded in ‘The Dark Knight’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:49:23 -0700

At 4:36 p.m. on Tuesday, I received a report with loads of juicy information about upcoming “The Dark Knight” filming. This exclusive information comes from a person with the alias “Secret Scoop”.

Warning: The following can be considered spoiler information.

Hi, Adam. “Secret Scoop” here with more “The Dark Knight” filming information.

They are currently filming in the IBM building downtown, which is the HQ of Wayne Enterprises. They will be there for a week.

Production is running a little behind (so my source says) and they might be filming here a bit longer than planned.

A CTA bus crash on Wacker Drive might be re-staged.

Here is the biggest information of all. Mark Aug. 29, 2007 down on your calendars. They will implode a four-story building on the former Brach Candy factory site.

I have been told this will be a day shoot. A typical building implosion does not have any flames. This will be different.

They will load the building with large amounts of gasoline and other flammable material for a huge explosion and ultimate implosion of the building.

This explosion/implosion will then be added to a CGI building for the film.

Also, the Angelina Jolie movie (“Wanted”) will be shooting on Lower Wacker for the next several days (at least). There will be a high-speed chase scene.

As for the veracity of this information, “Secret Scoop” is the same person who I published on July 24, 2007. The scooper correctly predicted the semi truck flip.

9:29 a.m. update on 8/15/07: A reader wrote it after having done some more research. First, here is an image of the Brach Candy site as captured by Microsoft Virtual Earth:

Also, the reader found a story by ABC 7 Chicago published on Oct. 19, 2005 about the Chicago Fire Department investigating an extra-alarm fire at the plant on Chicago’s west side.

“The building was abandoned since 2001 when the Brach Co. closed after 76 years of business,” the story said.

4:06 p.m. update on 8/15/07: Jason in Chicago has submitted to me another angle of the Brach site.

4:35 p.m. update on 8/15/07: I am in conversations with FOX Chicago about this report. They plan to pool resources together to shoot professional footage when this goes down. Stay tuned.

8:56 a.m. update on 8/16/07: On Thursday, Chicago Sun-Times entertainment columnist Bill Zwecker cited this site and report. On Thursday, this also appeared on CBS 2 Chicago.