Film News: Tom Hardy on the making of Locke; Future Shorts Edinburgh programme unveiled

TOM HARDY & STEVEN KNIGHT TALK LOCKE
Tom Hardy and director Steven Knight have spoken out about the making of intense, claustrophobic thriller Locke, in an interview with Indiewire. Set entirely in the interior of a moving car, and with only Hardy appearing on screen, Locke was shot in the space of just one week, with the voice actors (including Olivia Coleman) phoning in to Hardy's car in real time. The tight shooting schedule was down to Hardy's other commitments, leaving him just a fortnight to shoot with Knight - one week to rehearse, and one to shoot.

"It was quite an elaborate leap," comments Hardy. "It began as a 30-page script that turned to 90-pages. That wasn't the concern. [The concern] was, can we shoot it to a level at which we could all be happy, to a high standard which makes it a worthy endeavor?" Despite his concerns, Hardy signed up, allowing Knight to lay out his vision for Locke. 

"Everybody said, 'No you can't make that - it's too simple," Knight tells Indiewire. "But because we had time constraints, it was easily arguable to just shoot it. So we put three cameras in the car, and just set off and did it, almost naively, chronologically from beginning to end every night, almost as if it was a theater piece... In terms of budget, in terms of everything it worked. It was a burst of excitement and energy, and I think that translates onto the screen."

FUTURE SHORTS EDINBURGH: SPRING SEASON UNVEILED
Future Shorts, which describes itself as "the world's biggest pop-up film festival," has announced its Spring 2014 programme for Edinburgh, launching on 10 May. This year's screening venue will be The Bongo Club, situated Cowgate in Edinburgh's city centre. The season, which focuses on short films from around the world, will feature films from the UK, Australia, Sweden, Yemen and Ireland, with a highlight being the screening of a new work by Scottish video artist Rachel Maclean.

Maclean's new film, A Whole New World, "portrays the fantastical ruins of a fallen empire," exploring the legacy of British Imperial history and national identity. As usual, Maclean plays all the characters in the film, utilising costumes, prosthetic make-up, and a selection of familiar tourist items to characterise different themes and subjects. As well as Maclean's new film, the season will feature "un-romantic comedy" Tooty's Wedding (Fred Casella, UK, 2011); revenge thriller SVAMP (Charlotta Miller, Sweden, 2011); and revolutionary fable The Big House (Musa Syeed, Yemen, 2013). For full details of the programme, and to book tickets, check here. You can watch short films from previous seasons here. 

THE RUMOUR MILL: RICHARD ARMITAGE ON THE HOBBIT, ZACK SNYDER FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE, BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN CASTS CYBORG, SPIELBERG'S LIVE ACTION VERSION OF THE BFG, GOONIES 2 LATEST, FRIDAY 13TH: THE TV SHOW, LOU FERRIGNO TO VOICE THE HULK, ROBERTO ORCI FOR STAR TREK 3?
Actor Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit movies, has spoken out about the recently re-titled third and final film in the trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies. "There's a couple of big surprises," Armitage tells Screen Rant. "I think it will probably be quite a cinematic event." He continues: "It’s going to be 15 years of seeing Middle Earth on the big screen, the culmination of Peter Jackson’s life’s work... The Battle of the Five Armies is something that I cannot wait to see."

Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel and the forthcoming Batman vs. Superman, has been confirmed as the director who will helm the long-mooted Justice League movie, it was confirmed by Warner Bros. late last week. The rumour comes from The Wall Street Journal, who quote Warner Bros. producer Greg Silverman. He confirms that Snyder will direct Justice League, and that it will be it will be "a further expansion of this universe…  Batman vs. Superman will lead into Justice League." 

The films will shoot back-to-back, with the studio also hoping that Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman will prove popular enough for her own spin-off movie. "With the right script, that could be viable," says Sue Kroll, Warner's president of worldwide marketing. "The world is ready for her." 

Sticking with Batman  vs. Superman, the latest casting rumour to emerge from the Snyder camp has newcomer Ray Fisher set to play Cyborg, a half-human, half-robot hero, according to Variety. With new characters being added to Bats vs. Supes at a rate of knots, we're just hoping that Snyder and his colleagues haven't over-loaded this particular tights 'n' fights outing...

Steven Spielberg's name has been linked with a new, live-action adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic, The B.F.G. The book, which tells the story of a mysterious giant who befriends a young girl, has already been seen in an animated version. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg is eyeing a live action adaptation, with a script from none other than E.T. scribe Melissa Mathison.

Spielberg's name has also been dropped recently by Richard Donner, who claims that the director has lined up a script for a potential sequel to The Goonies. The director told TMZ: "Steven came up with the idea of doing a sequel after 30 years… you don’t do it without him." The film, which Donner will helm, has no confirmed start date as yet. Asked whether some of the original film's cast–- which included a young Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman and Sean Astin – would return, Donner replied: "God knows... It’s up to them. If they have any sense, they will, and if they don’t they won’t."

Last week, we told you that director Michael Bay was planning a big-screen reboot of the Friday the 13th franchise. Now it seems there is another – completely unconnected – re-boot of the series happening, but on the small screen. The Total Film site, who reported on the story, claim that the script "will focus upon the various residents of Crystal Lake who are forced to confront the return of the hockey-masked killer." The show has not been picked up yet, but may well appear on next year's schedules.

A quick slice of news about Avengers: Age of Ultron – the voice of the Hulk (at least in his green, super-angry form) will be provided by the legendary actor who made the role his own in the 1970s, Lou Ferrigno, according to ComicBookMovie.com. Ferrigno provided roars, shouts and growls for the character previously in Avengers Assemble, and in The Incredible Hulk, which starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. 

And finally, Roberto Orci, the screenwriter who co-wrote the Star Trek re-boots for J.J. Abrams, as well as Cowboys & Aliens and Mission Impossible 3, is lobbying to be the filmmaker chosen to direct Star Trek 3, when J.J. Abrams steps down, according to Variety. With numerous production and screenwriting credits to his name, Orci is nonetheless a first-time director, so it remains to be seen if Paramount will trust him with the reigns to a lucrative franchise.

TRAILERS: BOYHOOD, REC 4: APOCALYPSE, FOR NO GOOD REASON
Boyhood is the acclaimed new film from Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, A Scanner Darkly, Dazed and Confused). The film was 12 years in the making, with its young star Ellar Coltrane shooting scenes over the course of that period, allowing him to be seen growing up on camera. The film opened to rapturous audiences at Sundance this year.  

Spanish 'found footage' zombie horror series REC reaches its fourth gore-splattered outing with REC 4: Apocalypse later this year. The film opens on an oil tanker in the middle of the ocean, and show's the original film's heroine, Angela Vidal (Manuela Valesco), waking up only to face more nightmarish creatures. The trailer's in Spanish, but gives you a good idea of the claustrophobic atmosphere.

We finish up with For No Good Reason, a new documentary from director Charlie Paul, focusing on an encounter between actor Johnny Depp and illustrator Ralph Steadman. Best known for his pioneering, grotesque, often angry illustrations for Hunter S. Thompson, memorably portrayed by Depp in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, this looks like an intimate and in-depth look at the career of one of Britain's most important illustrators, and includes new animation from Steadman himself.