Jake Gyllenhaal bound for Puzzle Palace with McG? And all in the line of duty...

Amongst all the twitter sightings of Jake in Toronto, there was one today that stood out by a mile. Hollywood's The Tracking Board tweeted "Jake Gyllenhaal enters Puzzle Palace'. This is the first indication that Jake is about to take on a role in an action adventure described by its likely director McG as having a 'Die Hard tone'.

As McG explained in the Playlist, it's about '"A kid who has to clear his father’s name by breaking into One Police Plaza in New York, which is the most secure building imaginable in a post-9/11 world. It’s a smaller picture, it’s designed for a [Ryan] Gosling [type actor]. It’s not as small and antithetical as ‘Drive,’ but it’s not a big giant over-the-top action picture, it’s meant to be a fun, intelligent action character study.”

We've been saying for quite a while in the comments here that Jake and Ryan may have been going up for similar, if not the same, roles. This is further evidence that there is that Gosling type out there that film makers want and audiences love. This is excellent news. It's also early news, so expect to hear nothing more about it for quite a while. No dates are set. Very little is set.

But does it mean we'll see Jake in a white vest? And will he get a catchphrase? Or not. Clearly, Jake's End of Watch training will stand him in good stead for breaking into a secure police station. Man Vs Wild won't hurt either.

End of Watch

We might not be hearing much yet from Jake himself about End of Watch - that will no doubt come - but his fellow cast members continue to reveal little glimpses. This week actress Cody Horn has been discussing her role in the film to the Hollywood Reporter:

"It's a total guy’s movie. And I got to scratch an itch of playing a tough cop. I was shooting guns, I even got tased!," she says, a little too enthusiastically. She got what? “We had gone to this training facility for a tactical challenge and fitness test where you run, grapple, shoot to become a police officer. To pass the test to become a cop, you have to get tased and get pepper sprayed so you know what it feels like."

Her character, a former Marine turned cop whose dad is the head of the police force, is a real badass. So of course Horn raised her hand first for the tasering. “Then Jake had to do it and then we ended up tasing the entire cast."

Her descripton is pretty chilling. "It feels like it's ripping your bones out of your body and simultaneously hammering your bones with a jackhammer. Cops have to tolerate it for five seconds. They did it to everyone else for one second. But they did me for three seconds because I was screaming so much, I forgot to say 'Stop."

Clearly the cast earned their money on End of Watch. Although there is a tip here - if you get tasered, best to say stop.

Thanks to IHJ for the pictures!

Source Code - new cast and new pictures. Barry Norman on Jake Gyllenhaal's career and more Japanese news on Source Code

We have some more End of Watch news today in the shape of another couple of actors signed on to feature alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena (and America Ferrera and Anna Kendrick). We also have some new photos from the set taken on 1 August. I may be completely mistaken (as it's well known that I am unable to recognise my own face in a photograph), that the woman in uniform on the left of this set photo is one of the new names signer onners, Cody Horn. If it isn't, which it may well not be, then we are told that she will be wearing a police uniform. A lot of uniforms in this film... [Updated to add I've just been told that's Lola Martinez. I am right in one thing - she's wearing a uniform. So I was 90% there...}


She can also be seen in photos taken a couple of days later:


The other new member of the End of Watch squadron is Frank Grillo who, apparently, has a 'key supporting role'. I am not aware that he's in any of the new photos. Talking of which...






Looks like the uniform isn't entirely comfortable.


It's always important to make time for a GyllenHug - one of the first rules of working with Jake.


Many thanks to IHJ for these new photos.

Source Code

With the UK DVD and blu ray release of Source Code imminent (16 August), the subscribers only edition of Radio Times Extra has a page on Jake Gyllenhaal written by arguably Britain's greatest film critic, Barry Norman. In 'Variety's the spice of life' Barry argues that Jake refuses to be typecast - and also mentions his 'vitally important following of female fans'. One should not overlook all the male fans though. Joined together we make quite a bunch! Here's the article and I've left on the Doctor Who special offers...


Following on from the Japanese poster for Mission: 8 Minutes (Source Code) we can also take a look at the Japanese torashi (or mini poster), thanks to Rintaro Watanabe. Rintaro will be reporting on the release for ManMadeMovies so when that happens I'll let you know. Here is also the official Japanese site for Mission: 8 Minutes.


Update

Updated to add a couple of new pictures from Just Jared of Jake leaving The Medical Center yesterday (Friday 5 August). Seems strange to seem him out of uniform. With legs. And feet.