Fantastic Cast for Cloud Atlas

Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, and Natalie Portman have been offered roles in Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas.  The book spans thousands of years, several genres, and has six leading characters.  In their article, The Playlist notes that the material appears to be un-filmable.  But that hasn’t stopped Tykwer before.  He managed to tackle Perfume: The Story of a Murderer when author Patrick Süskind thought that only Stanley Kubrick or Milos Forman would have the skill to do it.  Production Weekly notes that production is gearing up for a spring 2011 start, so the cast has plenty of lead time to put this in their schedule should they decide to sign on.

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Newest Poster For Angels and Demons Poster Hits

This newest one features Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon standing in a crowded Vatican Square surrounded by Cardinals all wearing red. I really love the very minimal use color in this, with the focus on red, as it actually brings out Hanks a lot more. As great as all this looks, I just hope it leads to a successful opening.

Angels & Demons is directed by prolific filmmaker Ron Howard, of everything from Willow to Backdraft to Apollo 13 to A Beautiful Mind to the previous The Da Vinci Code. The script was written by veteran screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, of Lost in Space, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and I Am Legend most recently. This film is based on Dan Brown's popular bestselling novel of the same name. Sony Pictures will be debuting Angels & Demons in theaters everywhere on May 15th this summer.

Vatican bans 'Angels & Demons'

ROME — “Angels & Demons” has been prevented by the Vatican from shooting in Rome churches, a Vatican official confirmed on Monday, saying the “The Da Vinci Code” sequel is incompatible with religious sentiment.

Sony’s Ron Howard-directed thriller toplining Tom Hanks, which started rolling in Rome June 5, had last year requested permits from Rome authorities to shoot in the monumental church of Santa Maria del Popolo and the smaller Santa Maria della Vittoria, where key scenes in the eponymous Dan Brown bestseller are set.

Under Italy’s treaty with the Vatican both the Italian government and the Vatican needed to grant the permits, and the Vatican balked.

“We often provide our churches to productions whose purposes are compatible with religious sentiment,” said Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the Rome diocese.

“But not when the film pursues a type of fantasy that damages common religious sentiment, as in the case of ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ ” he added.

The Roma and Lazio Film Commission, however, bent over backward for “Angels,” which in past weeks did shoot the exteriors of the two churches, and also of St. Peter’s and of Rome’s Pantheon.

“Angels & Demons” production this week moves from Rome to the former Royal Palace at Caserta, near Naples, which will double for the Vatican’s interiors.