South African director Ralph Ziman (Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema) has taken over the live-action Kite film project after the passing of director David R. Ellis. Samuel L. Jackson is starring in the film with lead actress India Eisley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Underworld: Awakening, Maleficent) and Callan McAuliffe (I Am Number Four, New Director). The film was in pre-production in Johannesburg when Ellis passed away.

According to Deadline, the Kite remake will be ”a character-driven action film that charts the story of Sawa (Eisley), a young woman living in a failed state after the financial collapse, where a corrupt security force profits on the trafficking of young women. When Sawa’s policeman father is killed, she vows to track the murderer down with the help of his ex-partner, Karl Aker (Jackson).”

Jackson said, “The zest and enthusiasm David Ellis had for this project led to my commitment to do it. That same commitment to David leads me to fulfill my obligation to see his dedication fulfilled.”

The film is being produced by Anant Singh and Distant Horizon’s Brian Cox with Detalle Films’ Moises Cosio and Alberto Muffelmann.
 
Source: Anime News Network

India Eisley poses for a sexy shoot at the historic Hollywood Tower for a spread in Flaunt Magazine‘s latest issue.

Here is what the 18-year-old Underworld: Awakening actress had to share with the mag:

On getting the part of Kate Beckinsale‘s daughter: India happened to be at Starbucks at the same time as Kate and her husband (and Underworld producer) Len Wiseman. “Kate had said to Len, ‘Oh, you should go up to that girl and ask her if she wants to be in a movie; she’s like a mini-me.’ And he said, ‘Oh my god. I just saw that girl’s audition tape.’ So, it was just a strange thing.”

On her shy personality: “I kind of prefer it [in Europe], because normally I’m quite shy, and here, when you’re shy, they immediately think, ‘Oh, she’s rude or snobby,’ so unless you’re like, ‘Hey!’ and you’re big, you’re unfriendly. They don’t realize that maybe it’s just ’cause you’re quiet. They’re more accepting in other places; they don’t just write you off as being just a snob.”

On her celebrity crush: “Gary Oldman. I just think he’s handsome. He’s talented. He’s all-around fantastic. I tend to like older.”

Source: Just Jared

Here we are, set in an empty quarter of the Hollywood Tower, where stories of hauntings have been ingrained, and continuously advertised, eventuating Disneyland to come up with “The Tower of Terror” ride, and causing many a tenant sleepless nights. Luckily, the ghosts stay on their side this afternoon, as India Eisley, perched on her throne, gets her long marron hair coiffed and her radiant face—“like a baby’s ass,” interjects her publicist—made up beyond her 18 years.

Down in the lobby, the shoot commences. She is instructed onto a velvet couch. Eisley pops up her legs, slightly bends the right one, and points out her toes, forming a 90-degree angle with her upper half. She is double-jointed. And she looks quite sexy for a girl who plays a 14-year-old in the latest contribution to the sci-fi vampire franchise, Underworld: Awakening.

Hours later at the 101 Coffee Shop across the street (where, truth be told, someone ought to 101 them on quiet café civilities, for “Sweet Dreams” on blast during a recorded interview simply won’t do), Eisley shares a funny story, as to how she may or may not have obtained the role as Kate Beckinsale’s vampire/werewolf hybrid child in the movie. About a month after her audition, having heard nothing back, she casually strolled into Starbucks, ordered her coffee, and then joined her mother at a table. “You’ll never believe who stood behind you in the line,” mother said to daughter.

“Kate Beckinsale!” Beckinsale was accompanied by her daughter Lily, and her husband, Len Wiseman, the producer of Underworld. Looks were quietly exchanged. Before she knew it, Wiseman was making his way to Eisley, declaring that he remembered watching her audition tape. Later on, Eisley would find out what really transpired: “Kate had said to Len, ‘Oh, you should go up to that girl and ask her if she wants to be in a movie; she’s like a mini-me.’ And he said, ‘Oh my god. I just saw that girl’s audition tape.’ So, it was just a strange thing.” • Read full story…

India Eisley has revealed Kate Beckinsale helped warm her up on the set of Underworld: Awakening.

The 18-year-old actress revealed that Kate, who she described as “wonderful”, made sure she didn’t get too cold on-set.

Speaking at the film’s Los Angeles premiere, she said: “I had a very, very – skimpy’s the wrong word, but a very cold outfit in the rain, so I was helpful whenever she’d drag me in front of the heaters because I didn’t want to say I was cold.”

Kate, who has a 12-year-old daughter Lily with her former partner Michael Sheen, reprises her role as vampire Selene in Underworld: Awakening.

India said: “I always loved her work before I’d even seen Underworld, and she’s really just a wonderful person and she doesn’t even realise how wonderful she is.

“She’s just a sweet human being, and a great actress.”

India also lavished praise on her ‘sweet’ former co-star Shailene Woodley.

The actresses appeared as sisters on American TV show The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, and Shailene received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The Descendants.

“I think it’s incredible, what’s been happening for her,” India said.

Source: The Press Association