‘Louder than Bombs’ a family drama

Byrne hands full with dysfunctional families

LOS ANGELES, March 31, (RTRS): Gabriel Byrne has his hands full with dysfunctional families. The Irish actor can be seen on screens starting April 8 in “Louder Than Bombs,” filmmaker Joachim Trier’s study on a family struggling in the aftermath of the death of the mother, a prominent war photographer. Byrne plays the well-intentioned patriarch, while his sons are played by Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid. And on April 3 he leads an all-star cast including Jessica Lange and Michael Shannon in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece about the tensions within a family all hiding secrets.

There seems to be a lot of dramatic potential in portraying messed up families.

I know this seems like a ludicrous comparison, but one of the shows I used to watch growing up in Ireland was “The Brady Bunch.” It produced a kind of incomprehensible envy in me. Those people had orange juice for breakfast and a father bounding down the stairs to give a kiss to the mother and the kids are all sitting around talking to each other so open and honestly. Then you think of something like “Long Day’s Journey,” which examines the reality of the complexity of family ties and neuroses and resentments and hatred and love. Or “Louder Than Bombs,” which is trying to look at the effect of grief on a family and what does it mean to be a father or a working mother? And how children pull away from their parents to de- velop their own identities. It’s the opposite of that warm fantasy of a family, that family I wanted to be in. O’Neill’s particular genius was this play, which is intensely autobiographical, is paradoxically universal. People will say, I know that situation. In “Louder Than Bombs,” we all know those moments of adolescence. We know about grief.

What appealed to you about the role in “Louder Than Bombs”?

We’re brought up to believe the heroes in our society are movie stars and basketball players when real heroes are people who go on from day to day. That’s heroism. Here’s a man trying to bring up two kids, both of whom are deceptive in their own way. The drama asks questions about not just grief but about life and death. And when you think about it, there’s only two things that matter. Life and death.

You’re deep in rehearsals now for “Long Day’s Journey.” How is it going?

It’s a pretty intense play. We’re kind of in the throes of it, just coming up to previews. It’s the time where you think, “What did I get into?” Yesterday, I lost concentration for three seconds. You have to be there every single second. In a film you can shoot two pages a day, sometimes a page every three or four days. But in this situation you have to go on every night for three hours. And twice on a Saturday.

How do you keep a live audience enthralled for more than three hours?

If the play works as it should, you’re gripped for three and a half hours. Like an-

LOS ANGELES:

Jennifer Lawrence revealed that she’s eager to star in more “X-Men” films.

“I am dying to come back,” the Oscar-winning actress told Empire in an interview. “I love these movies, I love being in them. I love ensemble movies because it’s not on anyone’s shoulders”.

Lawrence’s admission comes ything else that doesn’t work, if it doesn’t, you’re screaming inside your head after 20 minutes. The difference between a movie and a play is with a movie you can make a cup of tea or flick through it. I’ve never left a movie theater during a film -- it’s one of the things I’m kind of proud of. People work really hard to get movies made so it feels like a betrayal to walk out of a film. But you can’t really walk out of a play. Except people do sometimes. Oh, people talk during plays, they answer phones during plays. It’s one of the hazards of going to the theater. Not just for the actors -- you’re in the middle of an emotional screen and you hear the “Batman” theme tune go off on a cell phone. But the audience gets involved, too. That’s another challenge altogether.

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Also:

and have joined Nadia Jordan in the romantic comedy “For the Love of George,” which has started shooting in Los Angeles.

Jordan is producing “For the Love of George,” which she co-wrote with

(“A Sort of Home- coming”) is directing.

The story follows the plight of a jilted British woman who comes to Los Angeles, after discovering her husband is cheating on her, with the fantasy of meeting her ultimate dream man — Through a funny series of adventures and near misses, she comes to learn that her as a surprise, considering that last May she confirmed that the spring 2016 release of “XMen: Apocalypse” would mark her final appearance in the sci-fi franchise. She’s played sexy blue mutant Mystique in “X-Men: First Class” (2011), “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014) and now in “X-Men: Apocalypse”, the latest chapter

in the film series. (RTRS)

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destiny is in her hands, not anyone else’s.

(“A Mighty Wind”) is the cinematographer.

“It is such an honor to produce a film about female empowerment that also recognizes many powerfully talented women in front of and behind the scenes of the entertainment industry,” said Jordan. “I believe that ‘For the Love of George’ is both timeless, in subject matter, and timely and relevant to some of the robust gender discussions that are currently taking place in and about the entertainment business.”

has attached himself to the package “Deeper” from spec. “White God” helmer Kornel Mundruczo is also attached to the project.

Sources say several suitors are looking into the spec, including Paramount, Lionsgate, STX, Black Box and Searchlight, with a deal expected shortly.

The spec was announced last November and involves a former astronaut hired to take a submersible to the lowest point in the ocean. As the submersible gets closer to its destination, supernatural events start to get involved.

Landis will also produce with David Goyer and Addictive Pictures.

Following the huge deal that saw Landis’ spec “Bright” bring in more than $90 million in production promises and around $4 million for the spec alone, Landis’ projects have all begun to gain speed. “Bright” drew Will Smith and Joel Edgerton to star.

Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart are in talks to star in the Weinstein Co’s “The Intouchables”, a remake of the 2011 hit French dramedy written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano.

Sources have exclusively