Catch the details on all of those stories as well as some must-see trailers and the box office standings in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet<\/B>.<\/p>\n
1. \u201cFast & Furious 7\u201d to Retire Paul Walker\u2019s Character:<\/FONT><\/B> The final decision is in. As reported by THR<\/a>, \u201cFast & Furious 7\u201d will retire Paul Walker\u2019s character, Brian O\u2019Conner. Since Walker\u2019s passing, there\u2019s been talk about killing Brian off in the seventh installment, but director James Wan, writer Chris Morgan and Universal have decided to \u201ctweak the script,\u201d which would allow them to use the material already shot, including Walker\u2019s scenes, but while writing the character out so that the franchise can continue on without him. The changes will require the team to write and shoot additional scenes, but since the film was pushed back to April 10, 2015, time shouldn\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n 2. Writers Guild & Producers Guild Nominations:<\/FONT><\/B> Academy Award nominations are less than two weeks away and the Writers<\/a> and Producers Guild nominations have come to head them off, giving us a sense of what we can expect come announcement day on January 16th. \u201cAmerican Hustle,\u201d \u201cBlue Jasmine,\u201d \u201cDallas Buyers Club,\u201d \u201cHer,\u201d and \u201cNebraska\u201d all scored nods for Best Original Screenplay while \u201cAugust: Osage County,\u201d \u201cBefore Midnight,\u201d \u201cCaptain Phillips,\u201d \u201cLone Survivor,\u201d and \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street\u201d filled in the Best Adapted Screenplay slots. Over at the PGA<\/a>, the following features are up for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures \u2013 \u201cAmerican Hustle,\u201d \u201cBlue Jasmine,\u201d \u201cCaptain Phillips,\u201d \u201cDallas Buyers Club,\u201d \u201cGravity,\u201d \u201cHer,\u201d \u201cNebraska,\u201d \u201cSaving Mr. Banks,\u201d \u201c12 Years a Slave,\u201d and \u201cWolf of Wall Street.\u201d In the animated department, the nominations went to \u201cThe Croods,\u201d \u201cDespicable Me 2,\u201d \u201cEpic,\u201d \u201cFrozen,\u201d and \u201cMonsters University.\u201d The PGA will announce its winners on January 19th and the WGA will dole out its awards on February 1st.<\/p>\n 3. First \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d Image:<\/FONT><\/B> Say hello to the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel unveiled the very first look at the gang including Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). On top of that, the studio also shared the official synopsis for the James Gunn-directed film: \u201c\u2026 brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits \u2026 But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand–with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.\u201d \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d is on its way to an August 1, 2014 release, so we should get our first look at the gang in action soon enough. (via Marvel<\/a>)<\/p>\n 4. Dwayne Johnson Confirms DC Project:<\/FONT><\/B> Dwayne Johnson is as close to a real-life superhero as you get; isn\u2019t it fitting that he\u2019d play one on the big screen? There\u2019s been talk of Johnson joining the DC line-up for quite some time, but The Rock\u2019s latest tweet<\/a> is monumentally more definitive than anything he\u2019s mentioned before: \u201cWe just had a big meeting w\/ Warner Bros CEO re: @DCComics 2014 we will partner up and create the cool bad assery. #RockTalk @ActionTilson.\u201d Clearly something is happening, but now the question is, what? There\u2019s been talk of Johnson joining the \u201cBatman vs. Superman\u201d roster tied to the rumor that Doomsday could pop up in that film, but then Peter Georgiou<\/a> of ThinkMcFlyThink said he heard it\u2019s for the role of Green Lantern, John Stewart. But of course, nothing is the real deal until it\u2019s confirmed and at the moment, the only thing that is confirmed is that Johnson is collaborating with DC so for now, all we can do is revel in the potential.<\/p>\n 5. The Shia LaBeouf Plagiarism Saga Continues:<\/FONT><\/B> After getting caught plagiarizing, you\u2019d think Shia LaBeouf would want the whole scandal to just go away – but no. Even after publically apologizing for copying and pasting plot points and lines of dialogue from Daniel Clowes\u2019 novella, \u201cJustin M. Damiano,\u201d into his own short film, \u201cHowardCantour.com,\u201d LaBeouf chose to turn it into an even bigger deal by apologizing in the most ostentatious way imaginable. Stealing someone\u2019s work and passing it off as your own is the ultimate no-no, but in LaBeouf\u2019s case in particular, it\u2019s just downright baffling that he, A, didn\u2019t think to credit Clowes for the material and, B, thought he wouldn\u2019t get caught. Of course he was and in an effort to make amends, LaBeouf took to Twitter to apologize, but when folks didn\u2019t buy his sincerity in that medium, he opted to go bigger, bolder and exponentially more ridiculous. LaBeouf tried to make amends via skywriting. Yes, skywriting. Don\u2019t believe me? Check out the image LaBeouf posted on his Twitter feed right here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n 6. The Most Pirated Movies of 2013:<\/FONT><\/B> The title of top grossing movie at the box office is far more desirable, but \u201cThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey\u201d should be pleased it had enough staying power to make it the most pirated film of 2013. According to Torrent Freak<\/a>, \u201cAn Unexpected Journey\u201d topped the chart with 8.4 million downloads, followed by \u201cDjango Unchained\u201d with 8.1 million and then \u201cFast and Furious 6\u201d with 7.9 million. One thing most of the movies that made the top ten have in common? They made a killing at the box office \u2013 minus \u201cGangster Squad.\u201d Even though that one took just $46 million at the domestic box office and $105.2 million worldwide, it still managed to come in at #7 here with 7.2 million downloads on BitTorrent.<\/p>\n 7. Boba Fett Origin Film in the Works?:<\/FONT><\/B> Even though all eyes are on J.J. Abrams as he creeps closer to the \u201cStar Wars: Episode VII\u201d start date, the plan is to release a new \u201cStar Wars\u201d film each year starting in 2015, so that means plans for the \u201cEpisode VII\u201d follow-up will have to come together soon, too. After \u201cEpisode VII\u201d while we wait for \u201cEpisode VIII,\u201d we\u2019ll get a spin-off movie and then after \u201cEpisode VIII\u201d while we wait for \u201cEpisode IX,\u201d we\u2019ll get another. There\u2019s been loads of talk about the likelihood of those movies belonging to a young Han Solo and Boba Fett, but until the folks at Disney and Lucasfilm confirm that information, it absolutely isn\u2019t a sure thing. However, the Boba Fett rumor did just take a baby step closer to becoming the real deal because producer-director-editor Jon Schnepp is claiming that that spin-off is a lock. He told AMC Movie Talk<\/a>, \u201cOne of them is Boba Fett. It is. I know. I know for a fact. I will never reveal my source, but it is the one written by Lawrence Kasdan.\u201d Schnepp doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the \u201cStar Wars\u201d movies directly – as far as we know – but it also seems highly unlikely that\u2019d he go as far to say \u201cI know for a fact\u201d if he didn\u2019t, in fact, know for a fact. Either way, considering spin-off film #1 is due in 2016, the official word on its content will likely come soon.<\/p>\n 8. Leonardo DiCaprio Defends \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street:\u201d<\/FONT><\/B> Even though \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street\u201d snagged over $60 million at the domestic box office thus far, has a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and a number of awards season nods, it\u2019s still taking some serious flak from those claiming the feature glorifies Jordan Belfort\u2019s behavior. While talking to HitFix<\/a>, Leonardo DiCaprio had this to say about that reaction: \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be a part of a film, in a way, that is kind of bold and is taking a chance like that, and I think that anyone that thinks this is a celebration of Wall Street and this sort of hedonism \u2014 yes, the unique thing about Marty [Scorsese] is that he doesn\u2019t judge his characters. And that was something that you don\u2019t quite understand while you\u2019re making the movie, but he allows the freedom of this almost hypnotic, drug-infused, wild ride that these characters go on. And he allows you, as an audience \u2014 guilty or not \u2014 to enjoy in that ride without judging who these people are.\u201d He continued, \u201cIn fact we\u2019re saying that this is something that is in our very culture and it needs to be looked at and it needs to be talked about. Because, to me, this attitude of what these characters represent in this film are ultimately everything that\u2019s wrong with the world we live in.\u201d Whether you\u2019re on board with that assessment or not, DiCaprio could still be on his way to his fourth Academy Award nomination for his work in the film.<\/p>\n 9. Trailers: \u201cVeronica Mars,\u201d \u201cDead Snow: Red vs. Dead,\u201d \u201cDraft Day:\u201d<\/FONT><\/B> As a non-Marshmallow the first trailer for the \u201cVeronica Mars<\/a>\u201d movie doesn\u2019t quite do it for me, but fans of the TV series dig it \u2013 or so I hear. Considering the film was funded by fans, it\u2019s understandable that promo #1 would be out to prove the film\u2019s worth to them, but hopefully the marketing campaign will offer up a point of access for us newcomers prior to the film\u2019s March 14th release, otherwise I\u2019ve got a lot of TV-watching to do. The Sundance teaser trailer for \u201cDead Snow: Red vs. Dead<\/a>,\u201d on the other hand, rocks big time appeal for fans of the original and newcomers alike. In fact, not only will the throwback portions of this piece get returnees pumped, but it could also entice \u201cDead Snow\u201d newbies to seek out the original in anticipation for round two. The first trailer for the Kevin Costner-starrer \u201cDraft Day<\/a>\u201d has a \u201cJerry Maguire\u201d-esque appeal, just without the heart. Clearly Costner\u2019s Sonny is the underdog making risky moves, but it isn\u2019t quite clear why the pressure is on now more so than ever and why we should care. Hopefully that\u2019ll change prior to the film\u2019s April 11th debut because this could be a fun, fresh perspective on the sport.<\/p>\n 10. Box Office:<\/FONT><\/B> Even though \u201cParanormal Activity: The Marked Ones\u201d was supposed to enjoy a competition-free debut, \u201cFrozen\u201d snuck in there to steal the top spot \u2013 in its seventh weekend out nonetheless! \u201cFrozen\u201d actually managed to hold on to over 70% of its holiday profits for a whopping $20.7 million total this far into its run, bringing its domestic grand total ever so close to the $300 million mark. \u201cThe Marked Ones\u201d took second place with $18.2 million, the lowest opening total in the horror franchise\u2019s history. The #3 spot went to \u201cThe Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug,\u201d which held on relatively well considering there\u2019s normally a hefty drop-off for box office veterans during the first weekend of the New Year. It dipped 44% for a $16.3 million weekend four total. Both \u201cThe Wolf of Wall Street\u201d and \u201cAmerican Hustle\u201d held exceptionally well, too. In fact, they held far stronger than \u201cThe Hobbit,\u201d closing the gap significantly and suggesting that they both could surpass it next weekend. \u201cWolf\u201d dropped 27% and took another $13.4 million to the bank while \u201cAmerican Hustle\u201d took a 29.5% hit and came in at #5 with $13.2 million for its third weekend as a wide release. (via Box Office Mojo<\/a>) <\/p>\n
![\"Guardians](\"http:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guardians_of_the_Galaxy.jpg\" "\\"Guardians_of_the_Galaxy\\"")
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