FIRST LOOK: Robert Zemeckis’ Philippe Petit biopic “The Walk”

It’s one of the 2015 movies I’m looking forward to most.

Director Robert Zemeckis’ next feature film will recreate Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Today happens to mark the 40th anniversary of that event. To mark the occasion, Sony Pictures released the first two images of the film, which stars Jospeh Gordon-Levitt in the title role. Zemeckis is said to be incorporating “innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry” into the production, and I don’t know about you but I’m all about the WIZARDRY!

“The Walk” is scheduled for release on October 25, 2015. Check out the images and the full press release below…

Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in TriStar Pictures' THE WALK.
Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in TriStar Pictures’ THE WALK.

 

(L to R) Barry Greenhouse (Steve Valentine), David (Benedict Samuel), Jeff (Cesar Domboy), Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), Jean Pierre (James Badge Dale), Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Jean Louis (Clement Sibony) and Albert (Ben Schwartz) in TriStar Pictures' THE WALK.
(L to R) Barry Greenhouse (Steve Valentine), David (Benedict Samuel), Jeff (Cesar Domboy), Annie (Charlotte Le Bon), Jean Pierre (James Badge Dale), Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Jean Louis (Clement Sibony) and Albert (Ben Schwartz) in TriStar Pictures’ THE WALK.
Principal photography has wrapped on the inaugural film from Tom Rothman’s TriStar Productions, now officially titled The Walk.  Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film is a true story based on Philippe Petit’s book “To Reach the Clouds,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young dreamer who dared the impossible: an illegal wire walk between the World Trade Center towers.  Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Christopher Browne. Producers are Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke.  The film will be released on October 2, 2015.
 
Tomorrow, August 7, is the 40th anniversary of the astounding event, now being brought back to vivid life in the third act climax of the film.
 
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.  Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.  Robert Zemeckis, the director of such marvels as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future, Polar Express,and Flight, again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story.  With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry, The Walk is true big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. The film is a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, but most of all, to the Towers of the World Trade Center.

EAT IT: Pulled Pork Q-Style Sandwich at Q-BBQ

I sort-of accidentally started this Barbecue Breakfast segment on the WGN Morning News. By accidentally, I mean “how can I figure out a way to get barbecue on so early in the morning?” It started with having the ManBQue guys show us some breakfast recipes on the grill. Next week, it’ll have me visiting Q-BBQ in Lakeview, where they say their Q is so good, you can eat it any time of the day. We’ll see.

Above you’ll see the Q-Style sandwich, which consists of their pulled pork, blue cheese and slaw on a toasted bun. We’ll also find out how they smoke their brisket, a process that takes more than 20 HOURS.

Tune into WGN Morning News on Monday for the full story. I’ll post it here after it airs!

Film Critic Punched In Face During Movie Screening

STEPHEN WHITTY TWITTER

There are plenty of distractions to worry about when reviewing a movie. Talkers, people texting, crying babies, that guy eating an eight-course Thanksgiving dinner, the person who sits in the middle of the row and gets up four times during the movie and climbs over you in the dark.

I guess we can add “the person who punches you in the face” to the list.

Stephen Whitty is a film critic with the Newark-based Star-Ledger. He talked about what happened during a screening for the upcoming movie “Are You Here?” in Page Six

“This complete stranger — someone’s guest — sat down next to me,” he said. “Ten or 15 minutes after the movie started, she turned her head and started staring at me. I glanced over — she kept staring.”

The scene, like something from a psychological thriller, continued when “a few minutes later, I realized she was still staring at me,” Whitty added. “She said, a little angrily, something like, ‘What are you even doing here, anyway?’ and punched me in the face.”

A gobsmacked witness at screening room Magno Sound and Video in Midtown told Page Six of the assault, “This girl just started yelling and punched him.”

According to the report, the police arrived but Whitty decided not to press charges. He just wanted cops to talk with the woman to determine if she “was a danger to herself and others.”

Glad he is OK and hopefully this person gets some help. You can follow Stephen Whitty on Twitter @StephenWhitty.

 

Lollapalooza 2014: Lolla In Slow Motion (VIDEO)

LOLLA SLOW MOTION

This is my 10th time covering Lollapalooza in Chicago’s Grant Park. It’s hard to believe it has been here for that long already.

I’m always looking for something new to do each year. This time I thought I would take out the “selfie stick” we featured on WGN this week and use the iPhone’s “slo-mo” feature to shoot some video of, well, anything. I downloaded some music through iTunes and edited everything together with iMovie right on the phone.

Check out what Lollapalooza looks like in sloooooooooow motion!

#LOLLA In Slow Motion: Popcorn Edition!

 

#LOLLA In Slow Motion: “Please Put Me On Camera!” Edition

 

#LOLLA In Slow Motion: “Wait, Am I On Camera?!” Edition

 

#LOLLA In Slow Motion: Get Down! Edition

 

#LOLLA IN SLOW MOTION: Staircase Madness Edition

 

Lollapalooza 2014: In The Middle Of The Outkast Mob

WGN Morning News photographer Carlos Cortes and I decided to get as close to Outkast as we could on Saturday night. Can you believe these guys have been making music for 20 YEARS?! I forgot how many of their songs I knew – it’s been too long. TIME FOR A NEW OUTKAST ALBUM ALREADY.

As for the show? We thought it was fantastic. It looked like the guys were having a great time on stage and it carried over into the movie. The crowd around us was one of the most fun and respectful I had seen all weekend. Overall, my highlight of Lolla so far.

Did you see the Outkast show? What did you think?

 

Lollapalooza 2014: Ratking MC Survives Bloody Set

I was shooting the Desert Noises show when I saw these tweets…

 

 

So I raced over to The Grove stage to catch the last few songs of Ratking’s set. The NYC rap group was still up there on stage despite the nasty wound on Wiki’s forehead Check out the photo I snapped above. Glad they could finish the set, they sounded fantastic.

Check out all of my photos from the Ratking set on WGNTV.com HERE!

TRAILER: A Longer Look At Meta Michael Keaton and “Birdman”

keaton birdman

 

Could this be the weirdest “comeback” movie of all time?

In “Birdman,” Michael Keaton is an actor who can’t shake that one superhero character he once played. But seeing that the movie is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, you know that this won’t be your traditional comeback story.

Can’t wait for this one. Watch the latest international trailer…

 

TRAILER: “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water”

SPONGEBOB TRAILER

 

I must have laughed about 20 times during this trailer. SpongeBob and friends enter the real world, great excuse to make a 3D animated version of the characters without sacrificing the spirit of the show. Check it out…