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WIRE Buzz: Andy Serkis teases Alfred in The Batman; Weasleys magically reunite via Zoom
While production on Matt Reeves' The Batman is on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, the film's Alfred Pennyworth is already serving up a little teaser for fans. Speaking with LADbible, Andy Serkis discussed his character's relationship with Robert Pattinson's young Bruce Wayne.
"It's very much about the emotional connection between Alfred and Bruce. That's really at the center of it. And it is a really exquisite script that Matt has written," he said.
Alfred Pennyworth has been played by a number of celebrated actors over the years like Michael Gough, Michael Caine, and Jeremy Irons. In particular, Serkis acknowledged Caine's contribution to the Batman mythos in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight, but added that he wouldn't ever want to recreate what past performers have already done with the role.
"[Caine] was fantastic. His Alfred was legendary, I couldn't even begin to go there, really," he said. "You find it for yourself. It's like playing these iconic roles in Shakespeare, you go back, you revisit them and you have to make it your own, and see what it is about he character that connects with you and your personal Venn diagram."
The actor revealed that he was halfway through shooting his scenes as Alfred when filming in the United Kingdom shut down back in March. Last month, Reeves said that he saw the postponement as a chance to really get some of bigger set pieces (which have yet to be shot) just right.
"It is, it's going to be a beautiful film," Serkis finished.
Originally scheduled to hit theaters next June, The Batman was delayed until Oct. 1, 2021.
Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman), Paul Dano (Riddler), Jeffrey Wright (Commissioner Gordon), John Turturro (Carmine Falcone), Peter Sarsgaard (Gotham DA Gil Colson), Jayme Lawson (Gotham mayoral hopeful Bella Reál), and Colin Farrell (Penguin) co-star.
Serkis recently directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which arrives in theaters on The Batman's original premiere date of June 25, 2021.
Travel by Floo powder and Apparition is temporarily suspended by the global health crisis, but three members of the Weasley family were still able to reunite thanks to the fabulous Muggle invention known as "Zoom." Unfortunately, Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, and Ron are still getting used to the strange concept that is the internet, and weren't able to attend.
Yes, we're aware that Fred is canonically dead and that Ron is married to a Muggle, but just go with us on the bit here, folks.
In reality, Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films) made a guest appearance on the Double Trouble podcast hosted by James and Oliver Phelps. The identical twins are known for playing Fred and George Weasley in the aforementioned movies. During their hour-long chat, the trio of actors brought up some reminiscences about their time spent on the magical franchise.
Check it out below. The Potter content begins around the 44-minute mark.
Hardcore Potterheads will be interested to know that Wright filmed a bunch of Ginny scenes that were ultimately cut. As the actress explains in the video, she actually shot a sequence of her strangling the Hogwarts roosters (whose cries were a mortal weakness of the Basilisk) for Chamber of Secrets. Obviously, it makes sense why such a brutal scene was excised from a PG-rated film.
For Goblet of Fire, she allegedly had an extended "tango" scene with Matthew Lewis (who played Neville Longbottom) at the Yule Ball. This scene was supposed to help set up Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) crush on her in later movies, but was removed from an already overstuffed installment adapted from one of the longest books in the series.
The Russo Brothers are following up Avengers: Endgame with a weekly Instagram Live series that highlights our collective love of movies and pizza. Is there a better combo out there?
Beginning Friday, May 15, Russo Bros Pizza Film School will find the sibling filmmakers picking "a movie for the class every week" as they "tune in with guests to talk about how different flicks have transformed their relationship to cinema, while enjoying pizza from a local pizzeria," reads the release.
The first installment is set to focus on Mathieu Kassovitz' La Haine (1995), which stars Westworld's Vincent Cassel. Deadline's Pete Hammond is appearing as a guest.
Each episode (starting at 8 p.m. EST every Friday) will be hosted on the brothers' Instagram page.
It was recently confirmed that Joe and Anthony Russo are producing a live-action remake of Hercules for Disney.
"I think you always have to bring something new to the table because from our perspective as storytellers, it’s not compelling for us to do a literal translation," Anthony told Collider when asked if the project would be a musical like the 1997 original. "We’ve already done that with our Marvel films. We don’t do literal translations of the comics because we feel like if you want that story you can go read that story. We’re going to give you a different story. I think we’ll do something that’s in the vein of the original and inspired by it, but we also bring some new elements to the table."
