If you’re anything like me, you’ve been keeping a sharp eye on the hot Aussie Chris Hemsworth all summer long. For me, the obsession started in April when I watched him play the alpha male in the awesome horror movie The Cabin in the Woods. Then of course, he brought the hammer to The Avengers as Thor, which is hands down my favorite movie of the summer (sorry The Dark Knight Rises – you don’t have a Hulk). And while Snow White and the Huntsman was not as good as it should have been (if only they had re-cast the dark void of suckage known as Kristen Stewart like I warned them to), Hemsworth was at least good as an ass-kicking Huntsman. He’s certainly earned the title of Choice Summer Movie Star (which he won at the Teen Choice Awards).
But before he was the bankable actor that we all love he starred in a re-make of the 80s movie, Red Dawn. Production on that movie was completed three years ago, before he’d even shot a single frame in Thor. Due to MGM’s financial problems the film has been delayed until this year, and we’re just now seeing some screen shots from the movie (released by USA Today). We’ve had previous images showing the cast in costume and some of the sets, but this is the first time we’re seeing them in action. There will certainly be a lot of action in a movie about a bunch of teenagers who battle to save their entire town from foreign powers who have conquered the United States. The original movie featured Patrick Swayze as Jed Eckert, the leader of a teenage guerrilla warfare gang called the Wolverines. Hemsworth will step into his shoes to fight the North Koreans who invade his Washington state home.
Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, and Chris Hemsworth
You may recognize some of Chris Hemsworth’s co-stars, especially if you’ve been watching that other Hemsworth brother. Josh Hutcherson, who starred with Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games, plays one of the Wolverines who fights with Jed. The other guy in the picture is Josh Peck from Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, who plays Matt Eckert (Jed’s younger brother). The other members of the gang include Adrianne Palicki (from Friday Night Lights), Isabel Lucas (Athena from Immortals), and Connor Cruise (adopted son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman). Perhaps the delay in filming is a good thing for the movie, now that the stars are such big names it’s sure to attract a bigger audience. Considering the first Red Dawn film featured Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray just before they went on to make the hit Dirty Dancing, I suppose it’s appropriate that the same sort of thing could happen in reverse. Here’s hoping that the film can live up to it’s star power.
In Red Dawn he might be wielding a gun, but it’s the hammer of Thor that I’m really excited about. The sequel to the 2011 movie is titled Thor: The Dark World and it’s set for a 2013 release date. Most of the original cast has signed on for the next flick – which includes Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Idris Elba (Heimdall), and Stellan Skarsgård (Erik Selvig). We’ve also added on Zachary Levi, who will replace Josh Dallas as Fandral. But so far we haven’t heard about what kind of villain all of these people will be facing (or in Loki’s case – hoping for to make friends with). Mads Mikkelson was signed on, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, Christpher Eccleston is now joining the cast as the bad guy. What’s more is that the villain finally has a name – Malekith the Accursed. Apparently Malekith is the leader of the dark elves, a race of beings that possess superior speed and strength along with the ability to use magic.
You may recognize Christopher Eccleston from his stint as the Doctor on the BBC series Doctor Who. Or maybe you know him from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, where he played McCullen/Destro. He’s also been in The Others (playing Nicole Kidman’s husband), 28 Days Later… (as Major Henry West), and the television show Heroes as the invisible Claude. With a resume like that, I think he’s well suited to play a crazy dark elf who battles the mighty Thor. I don’t know much about Malekith (it’s times like these that I regret not being a full on comic book nerd), but anyone who is called “the Accursed” sounds like he can put up a good fight. I certainly can’t wait to see the epic battle between these two in The Dark World, which is scheduled to hit theaters on November 8, 2013.
What do you guys think about the Red Dawn photos? How do you feel about Christopher Eccleston as the villain in Thor: The Dark World? Is anyone else as in love with Chris Hemsworth this summer as I am?
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