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Ant-Man Starts Shooting; Adds New Cast Members

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS)

Ok, I’m over the Edgar Wright thing. While I’m not as excited about Ant-Man as I used to be, I am still looking forward to the film even though it’ll never be as good as Wright-directing-it-in-my-head. Then again, it’s possible the film Wright would have given us could never be as good as Wright-directing-it-in-my-head.

I guess I’m on the final stage of the five stages of loss and grief: acceptance. Comes in at a good time, too, since Ant-Man under the direction of Peyton Reed has started shooting in San Francisco. Here’s the press release from Marvel:

Marvel Studios began principal photography today in San Francisco, California, on its newest Super Hero franchise Marvel's "Ant-Man." The film brings one of Marvel comics' original founding members of The Avengers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The production also shoots on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves as the base for the film's production.

"Set for release in the United States on July 17, 2015, the film is directed by Peyton Reed ("Bring it On," "The Break-Up") and stars Paul Rudd ("I Love You Man," "Role Models") as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas ("Behind The Candelabra," "Wall Street") as his mentor Dr. Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly ("The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," "Lost") as Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym.

There’s more information in that the press release, but I do want to touch on the fact that right off the bat, Marvel has already tied Ant-Man to the Avengers as “one of Marvel comics' original founding members of The Avengers.” I’m still convinced it’ll be revealed that Hank Pym was the one who came up with the idea of the Avengers Initiative. Let’s grab a bit more from the press release:

The film also includes outstanding additional cast including Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale (Danny Collins, Annie, “HBO’s The Long Play), Michael Pena, Abby Ryder Fortson (“Togetherness”), Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris (Remember the Titans, “The Wire”), John Slattery, and comedian Neil Hamburger (aka Gregg Turkington) and multi-hyphenate T.I. (American Gangster, Takers).

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Those are some pretty good additions to the cast, but I find the addition of John Slattery to be way more fascinating. You might remember few days ago we reported a rumored scene from an earlier draft of the screenplay between a young Hank Pym, Peggy Carter, Armin Zola, a young Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford in Captain America: The Winter Solider), and Howard Stark. It seems that a version of that scene remains but will be taking place later in the timeline, probably around the the early- to mid-70′s which makes a lot more sense.

My issue with placing a prologue scene in the past closer to WWII is that it would make Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym around 90 years old or more. By placing it in the 70′s instead, it lines up better with Douglas’ actual age. Whether any of the other characters reported in that scene will show up remains to be seen.

Ant-Man premieres July 17, 2015 and here’s the full press release.

Marvel Studios began principal photography today in San Francisco, California, on its newest Super Hero franchise Marvel’s Ant-Man. The film brings one of Marvel comics’ original founding members of The Avengers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The production also shoots on location in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves as the base for the film’s production.

Set for release in the United States on July 17, 2015, the film is directed by Peyton Reed (Bring It On; The Weird Al Show) and stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas as his mentor Dr. Hank Pym and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym.

The film also includes outstanding additional cast including Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale (Danny Collins, Annie, “HBO’s The Long Play), Michael Pena, Abby Ryder Fortson (“Togetherness”), Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris (Remember the Titans, “The Wire”), John Slattery, and comedian Neil Hamburger (aka Gregg Turkington) and multi-hyphenate T.I. (American Gangster, Takers).

Based on the Marvel comic character first published in 1962, Marvel’s Ant-Man continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in Marvel’s Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Marvel’s Ant-Man is produced by Marvel Studios’ president, Kevin Feige, with Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee serving as executive producers.

Director Peyton Reed’s creative team also includes Oscar? winning cinematographer Russell Carpenter (“Titanic,” “21″), production designer Sheppard Frankel (“Identity Thief,” “Horrible Bosses”) costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ (“X-Men: First Class,” “Kick Ass”), visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison (Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” “The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers”), stunt coordinator Jeff Habberstad (Marvel’s “Iron Man 3,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) and six-time Oscar? nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudik (“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”). The editors include Dan Lebental, ACE (Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” Marvel’s “Iron Man”) and Colby Parker Jr. (“Lone Survivor,” “Hancock”).

Marvel Studios’ upcoming release schedule includes Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Marvel’s Captain America 3 on May 6, 2016, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on July 28, 2017.

Marvel Studios continued its unprecedented success in 2014 with more record-breaking films including the #1 releases of Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which recorded the largest April opening of all time at $95 million and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which recorded the largest August opening of all time with $94.1 million. Both films were the #1 film in the world when they were released on April 4, 2014 and August 1, 2014, respectively.

In 2013 Marvel Studios delivered #1 openings for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, which grossed over $640 million worldwide and Marvel’s Iron Man 3, which grossed over $1.2 billon worldwide and was the highest grossing film of the calendar year.

In 2012 the studio produced the critically acclaimed Marvel’s The Avengers, which set the all-time, domestic 3-day weekend box office record at $207.4 million. The film, which shattered both domestic and international box office records, is Disney’s highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time and marked the studio’s fifth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.

In the summer of 2011, Marvel successfully launched two new franchises with Marvel’s Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth, and Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger starring Chris Evans. Both films opened #1 at the box office and have grossed over $800 million worldwide combined. In 2010 Marvel’s Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury took the #1 spot in its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million.

In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies Marvel’s Iron Man and Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk. Marvel’s Iron Man, in which Robert Downey Jr. originally donned the Super Hero’s powerful armor and starred alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008, and was an immediate box office success.

Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million in its opening weekend. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, marking its second number one opener of that summer.

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