Viggo Mortensen Nude

A History of Violence Film Debuts at Cannes Film Festival: "'A History of Violence,' the highly anticipated new thriller from acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg, will make its world premiere in competition on Monday, May 16th at 10:30pm as part of the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced today by Rolf Mittweg, President and COO of Worldwide Distribution & Marketing.

'It is pure cinema ecstasy for me to be in competition at Cannes for the third time,' says Cronenberg. 'I can't think of a better way to introduce my new film to the world.'

Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, 'A History of Violence' stars Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall, a pillar of a small town community who runs a diner and lives a happy and quiet life with his wife (Maria Bello) and two children. But their lives are forever changed when Stall thwarts an attempted robbery and is lauded as a hero by the media, attracting the attention of some mobsters (William Hurt and Ed Harris) who believe he is someone else. The film co-stars Ashton Holmes, Heidi Hayes, Stephen McHattie, Greg Byrk and Peter MacNeill."

'Rings' star Viggo takes to the high seas: "Johnny Depp isn't the only swashbuckling adventurer coming our way this year as Lord Of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen has left Middle Earth in favour of a life on the high seas. And King Aragorn had no trouble finding his sea legs when he got to work on the historical epic Alatriste in which he plays a heroic Spanish soldier.

With a long moustache and a bandana wrapped around his head, the handsome actor bore more than a passing resemblance to Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Caribbean. But Viggo's latest character is unlikely to share his fellow sailor's wise-cracking wit, as the new movie is an altogether more serious affair.

Captain Alatriste became a hero in 16th-century Spain after proving his bravery in the country's Imperial Wars. The soldier turned mercenary got into more than his fair share of scrapes as he and his men did battle with the English Navy.

The Spanish-language flick will add weight to Viggo's reputation as a Renaissance Man. The 46-year-old actor is a successful poet, photographer, artist and musician, not to mention being fluent in several languages. The movie will also act as a showcase for some of Spain's hottest acting talents, such as Eduardo Noriega and Victoria Abril."

"Dead Alive" Sequel Reeking Havoc in Aussie Land - The Clock - A ampersand E: "The cast was a familiar one, with most LOTR members helping out their favorite director. Viggo Mortensen was thrilled to play the head zombie named Sickle Head, as was Sean Bean, those his screen time as a skateboarder was cut short when Jackson decided to disembowel his young star. Timothy Balme, the hero from the first film was once again in charge of ridding his town of zombies, though his efforts in this film were much more arduous and extreme. Most notable was a scene that involved Balme pretending to be a zombie and forcing himself to shovel a handful of guts in his mouth, then at the request of the zombies, eat the decaying privates of a zombie mortician. The NC-17 rating was not questioned.
When the film hits American theaters next month, film-goers will be warned before they enter the film and given complimentary vomit bags. The viewings of the film in Australia and New Zealand were met with tremendous praise, but also with unsurpassed queasiness. Numerous men and women were escorted from the theater for unrestrained 'heaving,' and three were transported to local hospitals for seizures. All three had no epileptic history.
Whether the film flies in the U.S. or not remains to be seen, but with fifteen Aussie Academy Award nominations, and a gross of already 100 million dollars, 'DA2' is to become an instant cult classic the world will remember forever. "

"Alatriste", Chan, SW3 Updates (February 28th, 2005) - Dark Horizons: "A couple of assorted updates too big to squeeze into the News Bites section today, mostly to do with casting or media material:

Viggo Mortensen is in Madrid and he will begin the filming of his next movie, 'Alatriste' next week. He has been promoting the filming with director Agustin Diaz Yanes, the writer of the original book saga, Arturo Perez Reverte, and the rest of the cast. The movie itself is about the adventures of Alatriste Captain, a spanish soldier during the decadence of the spanish empire on the XVII century. Pics & vid from recent press events are up at lashorasperdidas

A film adaptation of 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' by Brit comedian is on the way. The romantic comedy follows a stand up comedian who jacks everything in and takes up a bet to hitch-hike around Ireland towing a refrigerator. Oddly enough, Brendan Fraser is rumoured to be in negotiations to play the lead. Shooting is aiming to begin this year sometime."

CJAD 800 : News: "GLORY ROAD: The real-life story of college basketball's first all-black starting lineup in its 1966 NCAA tournament quest. With Josh Lucas and Derek Luke.

THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED: A young amateur (Shia LaBeouf) transfixes the golf world in a match against the British champ in 1913. Bill Paxton directs.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: An unassuming family man (Viggo Mortensen) is hurled into the public spotlight by a violent incident. David Cronenberg directs.

LAST HOLIDAY: Convinced she's dying, a wallflower (Queen Latifah) lives it up on a European spree. LL Cool J co-stars in the update of an Alec Guinness tale."

Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence: "We have added high resolution stills to A History of Violence.
Director David Cronenberg's new thriller A History of Violence stars Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo) as a pillar of a small town community who runs a diner and lives a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife, Maria Bello (ER, The Cooler) and their two children.
Their lives become endangered when Mortensen thwarts an attempted robbery and is lauded as a hero by the media, attracting the attention of some threatening characters - William Hurt (The Village, Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman), a crime boss, and Ed Harris (The Human Stain, Pollack), his underling -- in a case of mistaken identity"

A History of Violence Listing at Box Office Prophets: "Theatrical adaptations of graphic novels are all the rage these days, with this project being the latest one. A-list actors line up to play parts in the films, and A History of Violence is no exception. The returning king himself, Viggo Mortensen, is cast in the lead role. The director helming the project is not the sort of name you would expect to hear running a comic book adaptation, though.

Creepy Canadian director David Cronenberg is in charge of this production. Why would the man responsible for such uncomfortably odd films as Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch and Crash want to handle a graphic novel-based movie? The answer is that this is not your run-on-the-mill spandex-clad superhero comic.

As written by creators John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is a character-driven tale of redemption. The story involves the owner of a diner, a well-liked, law-abiding family man. When he becomes embroiled in a robbery, the man foils the felons but in the process kills one of their rank. "