Movies: Rebecca Feguson Comes In From The Cold In “The Snowman”

Following a breakout performance in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, European actress Rebecca Ferguson now stars opposite Michael Fassbender in Universal Pictures' new suspense thriller The Snowman.

Based on Jo Nesbo's global bestseller, The Snowman will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Trinoma, Glorietta 4, Market! Market! and Fairview Terraces) starting November 22.

In the film, when an elite crime squad’s lead detective, Harry Hole (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit, Katrine (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

Movies: Fassbender Plays Flawed Detective Harry Hole In “The Snowman”

Selecting the actor to portray protagonist Detective Harry Hole for Universal Pictures' suspense thriller The Snowman was always going to be complex process. When news first got out that the character would be adapted for screen, the rumor machine went into overdrive—with speculation rife as to who was going to manifest this literary sensation.

Based on Jo Nesbo's global bestseller, The Snowman will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Trinoma, Glorietta 4, Market! Market! and Fairview Terraces) starting November 22.

For Michael Fassbender, there was never any question about wanting to portray Harry. The role presented the actor with his first detective. “At the time of the script arriving at my door I didn’t know anything about him,” admits Fassbender. “It was a totally new world for me. Then I started to expose myself to the books and the world that Harry occupies, and I’ve become very fond of the character.”

Movies: “The Snowman” Thrills Exclusively At Ayala Malls Cinemas Nov 22

Based on Jo Nesbo's global bestseller, Universal Pictures’ terrifying thriller The Snowman, starring Michael Fassbender and Rebecca Ferguson, will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Trinoma, Glorietta 4, Market! Market! and Fairview Terraces) starting November 22.

Also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chloe Sevigny, Val Kilmer and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons, The Snowman is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

In the film, a sociopath who calls himself “The Snowman Killer” has targeted the one person for whom he wants to show off his methodical, unthinkable skills: the lead investigator of an elite crime squad. With cunningly simplistic baits such as “Mr. Policeman, I gave you all the clues…” he begs to have a worthy opponent to play his sick game.

Movies: Chilling Thriller “The Snowman” Launches Teaser Poster

The minimalist but creepy teaser poster for Universal Pictures' new suspense thriller The Snowman (in Philippine cinemas Nov. 01, 2017) has just been unveiled online and may be seen below.

Michael Fassbender (X-Men series), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Resurgence), Val Kilmer (Heat) and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) star in The Snowman, a terrifying thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), based on Jo Nesbø’s global bestseller.
In the film, when an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

The Snowman is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Movies: Elusive Serial Killer Strikes Again In “The Snowman” Official Trailer

Universal Pictures has just released the first trailer for its upcoming suspense thriller The Snowman, opening in Philippine cinemas on October 18, 2017. Watch the trailer in the links below.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uipmoviesph/videos/1628436783897382/
Youtube: https://youtu.be/9J2I0ouKe6E

Michael Fassbender (X-Men series), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Resurgence), Val Kilmer (Heat) and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) star in The Snowman, a terrifying thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), based on Jo Nesbø’s global bestseller.
When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall.

The Snowman is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Movies: Michael Fassbender Aboard Perilous Journey In “Alien: Covenant”

Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” remains a standard bearer for the horror genre that morphed into a blockbuster iconic franchise among horror and sci-fi fans.   In Scott’s latest “Alien: Covenant” to hit Philippine cinemas this May 10, the Oscar®-nominated filmmaker sought to recapture the same foreboding atmosphere of constant danger and dread while also offering new insights that would add richness and depth to the larger Alien mythology.

The film opens with a peaceful mission designed to take humanity beyond the confines of Earth into a settlement among the stars. On the manifest of the spaceship Covenant are couples who will populate the planet Origae-6, along with dozens of embryos to help establish the new colony. Charged with their protection is the ship’s crew: Captain Jacob (James Franco) and his wife, Daniels, head of terraforming operations (Katherine Waterston); second-in-command Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) and his biologist wife Karine (Carmen Ejogo); boisterous pilots Tennessee (Danny McBride) and Faris (Amy Seimetz); head of security Sergeant Lope (Demián Bichir) and his second-in-command and husband Sergeant Hallett (Nathaniel Dean). With them is one non-human, Walter (Michael Fassbender), the Covenant’s loyal synthetic, keeping watch as the passengers remain locked away in cryosleep until they reach their destination.
 
All is quiet aboard the spaceship Covenant. The crew and the rest of the 2,000 souls aboard the pioneering vessel are deep in hyper-sleep, leaving the synthetic Walter to walk the corridors alone. The ship is en route to the remote planet Origae-6, where, on the far side of the galaxy, the settlers hope to establish a new outpost for humanity. The tranquility is shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenant’s energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off course.

Movies: Ridley Scott Explores Darkest Corners In “Alien: Covenant”

The father of the iconic franchise “Alien” returns in the latest pulse-pounding instalment “Alien: Covenant” where he will take the audience in the darkest corners of the crew’s psyche in a new planet that stars an impressive cast - Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Guy Pearce and Danny McBride.

If anyone knows how to terrify audiences with smart, sophisticated storytelling, it’s Scott. His original Alien remains a standard bearer for the horror genre, a psychologically taut, uncomfortably claustrophobic film, as lean and effective as the sleek, vicious beast that first stalked Ellen Ripley and the crew of the starship Nostromo back in 1979. “In a funny kind of way, I always thought of Alien as a B-movie, really well done,” Scott says. “The subtext was pretty basic—it was seven people locked in the old dark house and who’s going to die first and who’s going to survive.”

“Alien: Covenant” finds Walter (Fassbender) tending to the ship Covenant where all of its crew are in deep sleep.  The crew and the rest of the 2,000 souls aboard the pioneering vessel are deep in hyper-sleep, leaving the synthetic Walter to walk the corridors alone. The ship is en route to the remote planet Origae-6, where, on the far side of the galaxy, the settlers hope to establish a new outpost for humanity. The tranquility is shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenant’s energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off course.

Movies: The Year’s Most Terrifying Cinematic Event Happens In “Alien: Covenant” On May 10

Director Ridley Scott brings another yet unforgettable cinematic event in “Alien: Covenant” starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Guy Pearce, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo and James Franco.

“Alien: Covenant” takes place ten years after the events of Prometheus and follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant, which has discovered a promising new planet.  Also on board the colony ship Covenant is humanoid Walter (Fassbender) who is in charge of managing the ship’s safe journey until it’s time for the mission crew to wake from years of cryo-slumber.   Once awake, the team finds a planet just like earth and soon comes in contact with David (Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.   The uncharted world that looks like paradise at first soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

A visual spectacle, “Alien: Covenant” will bring the audience to an immersive world where humans have nowhere to run and hide from the monstrous creatures who wreak of nothing but carnage.

Movies: Latest Colonization Mission Lands In Hostile Terrain In Ridley Scott's “Alien: Covenant”

The largest colonization mission takes off in Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi horror-thriller “Alien: Covenant” starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Jussie Smollett, Amy Seimetz, Carmen Ejogo,  Callie Hernandez and Danny McBride.

Ridley Scott returns to the universe he created in “Alien” with “Alien: Covenant”, the second chapter in a prequel trilogy that began with “Prometheus” and connects directly to Scott’s 1979 seminal work of science fiction. Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world -- whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

In recent interviews, Ridley Scott revealed that in “Alien: Covenant”, he explored into the origins of the xenomorphs, and that the movie touches on mortality, immortality and the higher power who created humans and the universe. “We did Prometheus – that heaved it off the ground, and Covenant is a follow-through to Prometheus. We now know who created this, and why, and the next one’s a joining up of the storyline,” says Scott.

Movie News: MICHAEL FASSBENDERS’S “ASSASSIN’S CREED” ROLLS IN CINEMAS STARTING JANUARY 4

The action-packed and breathtaking game-to-movie adaptation “Assassin’s Creed” starring Michael Fassbender follows dual characters Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nehra in the modern day and 15th Century Spain respectively. In the 15th Century, Aguilar is joined by Maria, a more experienced Assassin than him, who is his most trusted ally. In the modern day, Cal finds himself at the Abstergo facility with a rag-tag bunch of fellow inmates who are all suffering from the effects of prolonged exposure to the Animus, and have their own ancestral Assassin legacies.

From the onset, director Justin Kurzel was adamant about filming as much of "Assassin's Creed" as possible without relying on green screens and computer-generated imagery.

As one of the video gaming industry’s most popular and beloved franchises, “Assassin’s Creed” is famous for its heart-pounding action sequences. The series was among the first to prominently feature Parkour as a major gameplay element, with Assassins breathlessly vaulting over the rooftops of cities including Jerusalem, Florence, Paris and London.

 "We're shooting a lot with real people, in real locations, on top of real churches with real light," Kurzel said. "We're building a lot of the sets to make something that is real and cinematic."

 "There’s very little green screen in this, which is highly unusual in these films," adds Fassbender. "We have stunt guys jumping across buildings in [Maltese capital] Valletta. We’ve got (stunt man Damian Walters) doing a 120-foot leap of faith, without any rope, into a bag, so it’s pretty incredible to see."

                For his big-screen adaptation, Kurzel sought to amplify that dizzying style with thundering carriage chases, elaborate sword fights, and close hand-to-hand combat. The director also realized the film had to prominently feature the Leap of Faith, a signature Assassin’s Creed move in which Assassins leap from the edge of buildings and plummet gracefully to the ground below, landing on their backs in water or bales of hay. “What happens if you do a real Leap of Faith?” Kurzel asked. “What would happen if you actually saw Assassins jump from building to building? The great thing about cinema is that you can bring that human element into it, where the audience responds and reacts to the idea that they are watching real human beings actually put the effort and danger in doing those things.”

                Kurzel and his team tapped some of the top Parkour talents to determine how to stage the action of Assassin’s Creed without relying on extensive CG trickery. The production then travelled to some of the most visually stunning corners of the globe in the hopes of capturing one-of-a-kind sequences that would offer viewers an immersive—and realistic—experience.

                “I never wanted the film to feel like superheroes,” Kurzel says. “I wanted you to look at it and think, Wow, there are human beings doing that and they are doing it like Olympians, as opposed to filming on a parking lot with green screen. You can feel that artifice. That is probably why we went toward a more old-school approach, to make the whole film feel more human and more intimate.”

 

                “Assassin’s Creed” opens January 4 in cinemas nationwide from 20^thCentury Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. 

Movies: INTO THE DEATH-DEFYING WORLD OF “ASSASSIN’S CREED” THROUGH ABSTERGO

The highly anticipated death-defying and non-stop action adventure “Assassin’s Creed” starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson will bring the audience to an unforgettable ride in two time periods in history. 

In “Assassin’s Creed,” Michael Fassbender plays dual characters as Callum Lynch and Aguilar De Nehra.  When Lynch is brought into the Abstergo facility, having been rescued from the lethal injection on death row, he doesn’t know what to make of it. A foreboding, concrete structure with plenty of natural light, but no windows, it’s kind of a cross between a high-tech day spa and a prison. His fellow inmates are a ragtag bunch of souls who seem to struggle with their own mental faculties. And at the facility’s center, within the circular structure of an old church, lies the Animus, a device which will send Cal back in time to 15th Century Spain.

In Justin Kurzel’s big screen adaptation of the hit video game series “Assassin’s Creed,” Abstergo plays an enormous character. “It’s really the basis of the story,” notes producer Frank Marshall. “It’s where the main characters exist and work, and it houses the Animus. It’s the world we create in contemporary times.”

 

For production designer Andy Nicholson (“Gravity”), getting the design of the Abstergo facility right was the biggest challenge he faced on the production. “In real time, more than half the script happens at Abstergo,” he explains.

The key Abstergo set was constructed on the enormous 007 Stage at London’s Pinewood Studios, one of the biggest interior facilities in the world dedicated to film production. The entire complex is an uncomfortable clash between the present and the past, which reflects the strains Cal suffers when he is subjected to the regressions of his genetic memory.

With production wrapped on the 007 Stage, much of the shoot focused on the Animus chamber set, built separately at a facility in Langley, Buckinghamshire. The Animus chamber itself is the epicenter, not just of the Abstergo site, but of the clash between two worlds. With red brick walls and a mosaic tile floor, the set also houses the highly-technical Animus machine itself, while a glass-fronted observation room pokes through the upper wall with little grace or elegance.

The Animus has always played a key part in the “Assassin’s Creed” games, but it has never before been visualised like this. In the series, it is typically a chair or a bed on which subjects lie while they experience their regressions. In the film, with so much of the action cutting back to the modern period while Cal regresses into his 15th Century ancestor, Aguilar, the opportunity to imagine something grander presented itself.

Cal is attached to this robotic arm by his spine, which doesn’t just place him inside the regression, but moves his body physically in the way Aguilar moves within the simulation. Observers at Abstergo can then watch Cal move, and see what he sees with the help of holographic projections of Aguilar’s world.  “The arm is a dancing partner for Cal, and it is reading his genetic memories. It interprets them to play the movement back so it can be experienced more strongly,” explains Nicholson. “The way we’re shooting it, if he’s fighting someone you’ll see the impact from that fight in the room for real. The chance to do that is really unusual. It simply hasn’t been done before.”

 “Assassin’s Creed” opens January 8 in cinemas nationwide from 20^thCentury Fox.  Follow 20^th Century Fox (Philippines) Facebook page, 20thcenturyfoxph on YouTube and Instagram and @20centuryfoxph on Twitter.

Movies: GAME-CHANGING CINEMATIC EVENT “ASSASSIN’S CREED” OPENS IN PHIL. CINEMAS JANUARY 8

Prepare for an exhilarating ride at the movies when the game-to-movie “Assassin’s Creed” opens in Phil. cinemas on January 8 starring Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.   

A game-changing cinematic event, “Assassin’s Creed” is directed by visionary filmmaker Justin Kurzel from Ubisoft’s worldwide hit franchise of the same title. Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain.  Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

Since development began on the first “Assassin’s Creed” game, inspired by the life of Hassan-i Sabbah, a missionary who lived in 11th Century Persia, and whose followers became known as “Hashshashin”, or Assassins - the franchise has always been at the top of Ubisoft’s priority list, and since its release in 2007, there have been more than 20 games within the “Assassin’s Creed” canon, as well as comics, novels, and books.

Now, on January 8, 2017, Philippine audiences will finally get the chance to see “Assassin’s Creed” (from 20^th Century Fox) brought to life in a new film that features plenty of moments and nods that fans of the games will pick up on.

For director Justin Kurzel, transforming the world of the hit video game series “Assassin’s Creed” into a live action feature film meant putting as much effort into realizing the action of the games in real life as possible. “I could have shot it all in a parking lot and made it very CGI-heavy,” he admits, “but I thought what was really interesting was to see how we could make the audience feel as though it were possible; that these Assassins in real life could jump between buildings.”

Early on in the project he took a meeting with the stunt coordinator, Ben Cooke, to determine how much could be realized. It was Cooke who suggested bringing on Damien Walters, one of the world’s leading freerunners, to choreograph these sequences with the principal actors and the stunt team.   When they started talking about the Leap of Faith – an iconic “Assassin’s Creed” stunt series staple, in which an Assassin flings himself off a ledge, turns in mid-air and lands on his back in water or on a bale of hay – Walters revealed that he’d been planning to attempt his own, just for fun. 20ft was the height mooted by the production to attempt the leap. Walters suggested going for 120ft.

"What’s so amazing about this stuff is that you can do it,” says Kurzel. “You’re looking at an Assassin jumping off a building and going, ‘Is that possible?’ Well, we did it. I think that’s very important, especially if the film’s going to have some sense of its own identity. We’ve paid our dues to figure out how you jump from building to building, and leap and climb. What is a Leap of Faith that feels real and tangible and visceral?”

Cook notes that it was worth the effort. “It’s such an iconic part of the game that I don’t think it should be ruined with visual effects. We actually went back to the old school of stunts and doing that kind of thing for real. If you get these stunts wrong, you’re going down, but for a stunt performer, if you’re not getting scared, it’s meaningless.”

Agrees Michael Fassbender, who plays the dual roles of Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nehra in the movie: “We did it old-school, on location, on camera. Damien doing that jump – it was so frightening. He was nervous, but I think it was very special that he did his biggest jump on our movie. I got nervous just watching him; I felt a little sick every time he was up there. I just wanted him down safe.”