One of the many films opening this weekend on January 20, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will probably require the most Kleenex. It’s an adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel about a ten year-old who is an amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist who searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Focusing on the sensitive, intelligent Oskar (Thomas Horn), a boy brimming with anxieties, phobias, an extravagant vocabulary and possibly Asperger’s syndrome (which is in the autism spectrum), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close deals with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. When his father (Tom Hanks) is killed, he becomes obsessed with figuring out what a key belonging to his dad opens, as his search brings him into contact with people around the city. Sandra Bullock plays Oskar’s mother and Stephen Daldry (The Hours, Billy Elliot) directs from a script by Eric Roth. The film also stars Jeffrey Wright, Viola Davis, Max Von Sydow and John Goodman.

It opens January 20 in the US and Canada and 17^th February in the UK

Here’s the first image from Cloud Atlas, the long-awaited adaptation of David Mitchell's acclaimed novel  that has taken not one, but three directors, namely The Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Run Lola Run), to pull off.   Looks more like a Christmas card or an ad for an antique store than a still from the film.

The book spans thousands of years, from the 18th century  Pacific expedition to a savage post-apocalyptic  world,  with a 1930’s love story,  a thriller in the 70s, and a present day comedy.  The cast includes Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving (The Wachowskis’ The Matrix), Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw (Tykwer’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer , Keith David and James D'Arcy, who will all play multiple roles, genders and even races.

Filming has just been completed so, thanks to Empire we have the first official image in which the directors (as well as the book’s author David Mitchell) and producers are celebrating the holidays on the prop filled set.  The props in the picture alone should give you an idea of how much time and territory the film covers (or at least the book covered).

If you know the book, you’ll also recognise props from the six interlinking tales. We’ve spotted the VW Beetle of crusading journo Luisa Rey (Berry), the ’70s thriller that should inject serious voltage into the film’s middle act (if you really know the book, you’ll spot that it’s drab green not rust orange).

Also on display are a pair of Chatham Island totems, a piano belonging to the composer of the ‘Letters from Zedelghem’ chapters, some dystopian gadgetry from near-future Korea, and a cart that we’re guessing gets used to carry post-apocalyptic veggies around Hawaii.

I would have thought Mitchell’s book unfilm-able, but then again, Darren Aronofsky managed to get The Fountain made. Cloud Atlas opens in theaters October 26, 2012.

The Ziegfeld Theater was once again the site of a movie premiere last night as Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close held its red carpet gala in New York, the city at the heart of the film. Cast members Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Max von Sydow and young Thomas Horn all made an appearance.

Sorry Sandy, but you’re lookin’ a little like Morticia Addams with that all black ensemble and your stick straight hair. And why are you standing like that, with your butt sticking out. You look like you need to make a dash inside the theater for a pit stop.  Tom’s wife, the lovely Rita Wilson, also in all black, doesn’t look nearly as ‘funereal’.  (If this couple ever goes south, I’ll lose all faith in humanity.) That’s Rita with one of their sons (I think it’s Truman.)

Viola Davis looks beautiful in pink. (Love her Grecian inspired dress with the leather collar and her hair is fabulous.) She was just nominated for  SAG and Golden Globe Awards for her role in The Help. It was only a few years ago when Meryl Streep, accepting her SAG award for Doubt (for which Davis was also nominated), said of this New York based stage actress, “Someone give this woman a job”.  (Even though she did have a string of film credits to her name already) she’s worked steadily ever since. She mopped the floor with Jamie Foxx in Law Abiding Citizen (her first film appearance after Meryl’s request) and she generally gets some sort of nomination for everything she does.

There’s something creepy, I’m sorry to say, about the kid in this movie. Thomas Horn, who can’t be more than 12 or 13, talks like he’s already had way too many acting classes. He’s not normal. (Maybe I’m suspicious because not only was he on Teen Jeopardy but he actually won – because he bet it all on Final Jeopardy – unlike some people *coughyourstrulycough* who are wimps and listen to advice from the wrong people. But I digress…)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is about a nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist who searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Get out your handkerchiefs, the film starts its awards qualifying run on December 25 and then opens wide on January 20.

Enjoy the pics!

SOURCE

Just like the first one, this second trailer for Stephen Daldry's (The Hours, Billy Elliott) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  looks like it's just gonna rip me to shreds! It's the story of a boy whose father (Tom Hanks) is killed on 9/11. Their relationship is shown in flashbacks as the boy (newcomer Thomas Horn) and his mother (Sandra Bullock) are still trying, two years later,  to cope with the loss. There's also a mystery involving a key.

The official synopsis: A nine-year-old amateur inventor, jewelry designer, astrophysicist, tambourine player and pacifist, searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks.

This new trailer puts the focus more on the boy, (whom I find, to be honest, kind of grating. He over enunciates as if he's had dramatic training since birth) and his search for what that key unlocks. Horn does appear to be capable of handling the emotional elements, despite what I think about his speech patterns. He's probably a "find".
 

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has a screenplay by Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Forrest Gump, The Insider, Ali, Munich) and also stars Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright and John Goodman. It opens in limited (read awards season) release on Christmas Day and then wide on January 20 in the US and 3 February in the UK.

Wow, does this look like it's just gonna rip me to shreds! Maybe it's the U2 song playing underneath it,  but the trailer for Stephen Daldry's (The Hours, Billy Elliott) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close got in and twisted from the opening frames. It's the story of a ten year old boy whose father (Tom Hanks) is killed on 9/11. Their relationship is shown in flashbacks as the boy (newcomer Thomas Horn)  and his mother (Sandra Bullock) try to cope with the loss. There's also a mystery involving a key.

The official synopsis: A nine-year-old amateur inventor, jewelry designer, astrophysicist, tambourine player and pacifist, searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks. 

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has a screenplay by Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Forrest Gump, The Insider, Ali, Munich) and also stars James Gandolfini, Viola Davis, Max von Sydow, Jeffrey Wright and John Goodman. It opens in limited (read awards season) release on Christmas Day and then wide on January 20 in the US and 3 February in the UK.

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Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks’ first directorial effort since 1996′s That Thing You Do, zooms into theaters in the US, Canada and the UK tomorrow, July 1, 2011.

Hanks also wrote, produced and of course, stars in the film, alongside his long-time friend and Charlie Wilson’s War co-star, Julia Roberts.  He co-wrote Larry Crowne with another good friend, Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  These people are doing nothing to dispel the idea that everyone in Hollywood knows one another.

Larry Crowne is about a middle-aged man who loses his job and decides to go back to college to reinvent himself. Roberts plays one of his professors and, of course, his love interest. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything since the commercials have been running on television nearly non-stop for weeks. (I hope this isn’t a case of the best bits ending up in the trailer, but how can you not like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts together. They’re like the King and Queen of the Prom.)

Hanks told David Letterman that the title of the film combines his brother’s name (Larry) with something that sounded “strong”.

The film also stars Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, Rami Malek, George Takei, Grace Gummer, Rita Wilson and Jon Seda.

If you want to be cool like Larry, Fandango is sponsoring a “Win a Larry Crowne/St. Tropez Scooter” contest.