Charlie Day In Talks For Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim
Benedict Cumberbatch Will Play Smaug In The Hobbit
Deadline has yet another casting announcement for the Hobbit films. Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse, Sherlock Holmes) who had been linked for a role has officially joined the cast playing Smaug the Dragon , doing motion capture and voice work.
Luke Evans To Play Bard In The Hobbit
Simon West Will Direct Expendables 2
Deadline reports that Simon West will direct Expendables 2. There isn't word if they have a script finished but at least we now have confirmation Stallone won't be directing this time around. There has also been confirmation of sorts that Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme will play villains in the film. Simon's previous films Mechanic, Con Air and The General's Daughter are decent action efforts so he seems like the right director for the job. It will be interesting to see what happens with Red Sonja as West was attached to direct that film as well. Considering Red Sonja is likely to go next before Conan 2 goes into production.
James Mangold Will Direct The Wolverine
20th Century Fox has finally chosen a director to replace Darren Aronofsky. Deadline reports that James Mangold (Walk The Line) has nabbed the director's chair and will start production on The Wolverine in the fall. Hopefully this means that the studio still plans on shooting on location in Japan.Mangold wasn't my favorite choice out of the recent group of candidates but he isn't a bad one either. He's no stranger to action films with his previous work on 3:10 To Yuma and Knight & Day. He does have a visual edge to his movies so with a solid script from Christopher McQuarrie (Usual Suspects) I have no doubt he can improve on the last Wolverine film. It's expected that The Wolverine will be it's own film ignoring the events of X-Men: Wolverine Origins. More than anything focusing on the raw source material that Frank Miller wrote.
Russell Crowe & Connie Nielsen In Talks To Play Superman's Kryptonian Parents
Matthew Fox & Ed Harris Could Join World War Z
Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained Set For Christmas 2012
An R-rated film isn't uncommon for the holiday season as David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is marketing itself as "the feel bad film of Christmas". Not to mention Quentin's Jackie Brown also dropped during the holidays with the tagline "Santa's got a brand new bag". This also seems to conflict with previous thoughts that Django could end up with a speedy post-production like with Basterds for a Cannes 2012 premiere. It sounds more reasonable that it could have it's premiere during the Venice Film Festival.
Ellie Kemper Joins 21 Jump Street
Jamie Foxx Frontrunner For Django Unchained?
Christian Bale In Talks For Darren Aronofsky's Noah's Ark
Josh Stewart Joins The Dark Knight Rises
Avengers Promo Poster Features Hawkeye & Modern Cap Costume
Someone was able to nab this cellphone pic of an Avengers promotional poster at the Licencing Expo. It's likely artwork for the Hasbro toyline as it's similar to the Thor and Captain America art that leaked last year. It does however give us a first look at Hawkeye in his Avengers costume. Along with updated looks for both Captain America and Iron Man. I'm unclear if the Iron Man armor seen in the image will actually be on screen. It's interesting to see the group together even if it's only toy promotional artwork.
The Comic-Con presence for Marvel Studios is said to be muted this year. As there will not be a promotion for Avengers. I would like to think the studio could put together a second teaser trailer just in time for Captain America.
Jon Favreau Wants Happy Hogan To Become The Freak In Iron Man 3
During the HeroComplex (via ComicBookMovie) film festival over the weekend there was a Q&A with Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. Robert was jokingly vocal about the biggest sticking point for Iron Man 3 being Jon Faverau's date rate to reprise Happy Hogan. Jon didn't sound opposed to the idea and wanted to see Happy exlpore his own impact on both Tony Stark and Iron Man. Hogan eventually marries Pepper and for a time becomes a villain known as The Freak.n
RDJ: Here’s the first thing I want to say. The most difficult part of making Iron Man 3 is going to be negotiating Jon Favreau’s acting deal.
Favreau: If The Freak isn’t in it, I’m not doing it. If Happy Hogan doesn’t turn into The Freak, I’m not doing it. Here’s what happens to Happy Hogan, he marries Pepper Potts…
RDJ: Wait a minute, you want both?
Favreau: I want a love scene with Pepper Potts with my shirt on and I want to transform into The Freak.
Favreau also revealed his thoughts on writer/director Shane Black continuing the franchise. Shane actually gave advise a few times in past to both Robert and Jon.
RDJ: - The negotiations have begun and so far I’m in agreement on every point. Well Shane, interestingly enough, there was a point when Jon and I were stuck on an idea [with a previous film]. We were just in an exploratory phase. So I said, ‘We should talk to Shane.’ And I was like, ‘Shane, we can’t really pay.’ And he was like, ‘Bring me some salmon and some blueberries.’ And we went to Yoda’s house in Miracle Mile and it wound up coming in handy, particularly for a couple scenes. So what I can say about this kind of circle of life thing is Shane, as he’s getting into the process [to direct Iron Man 3] and getting his sea legs and stuff, he goes, ‘When can we talk to Jon?’ So there’s going to be this kind of conglomerate of efforts.
Favreau: And I love the franchise and I’m a big fan of Shane’s as well so hopefully I can be helpful because I want to see this thing grow and transform. And actually, when it finally landed on Shane, it was like, ‘All right, that’s gonna be something interesting.’ Especially because it’s gonna be so difficult for whoever does that one because although it’s Iron Man 3, the whole Avengers thing…I guess in comics you can say that it’s an individual storyline and you can break it off into a group. But in movies, it’s hard not to take into consideration what just happened. What are you gonna say? ‘They all just lost their cell phones and you can’t get help?’ So it’s going to take a lot of ingenuity to make it make sense to a mainstream film audience as well as a comic book audience.
Anthony Mackie & Michael Peña Join Gangster Squad, Plus Actresses Audition
Rian Johnson's Looper Gets Release Date
Directors Out Of The Running For The Wolverine?
Recently it was reported that the studio had a list of hopeful directors that included Duncan Jones (rumored), Jose Padilha (Elite Squad 1-2, Robocop), Doug Liman (Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, All You Need Is Kill), Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Brooklyn's Finest), Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo, Never Let Me Go), Justin Lin (Fast Five, Highlander, Terminator 5), Gavin O’Connor (Warrior), James Mangold (Cop Land, Knight & Day, 3:10 To Yuma, Walk The Line) and Gary Shore.
Mark Romanek, Doug Liman and Antonie Fuqua have seemingly taken themselves out of the running. Romanek states "That's just one of those stories that floated around. I was on their list, I received the script months ago. It didn't seem like my kind of thing...That script was a terrific version of that kind of thing, but not something I felt really passionate about." While Liman (Luna) and Fuqua (South Paw) are pursing other projects.
Jones had been the most promising name linked and confirmed meeting with the studio out of politeness. Jones has been trying to get money together for Mute and his Blade Runner homage. So it's likely he's been talking with major studios like Fox to get the films financed. Justin Lin is also linked for the film but has a three projects currently in development which includes Terminator 5, Fast Six and Highlander.So it looks like the only current directors in the running are Jose Padilha, Gavin O'Connor, James Mangold and Gary Shore.
James Badge Dale Circling Role In World War Z
Elodie Yung To Play Jinx In G.I. Joe: Cobra Strikes
Elodie would join Dwayne Johnson (Roadblock), Channing Tatum (Duke) and Ray Park (Snake Eyes). It's also expected that Byung Hun Lee will return as Storm Shadow since he's gaining a lot of praise for his work in the Korean thriller I Saw The Devil. I have to admit I'm starting to become impressed with the new additions to the cast. They seem to be actually setting up a viable action film franchise here.
Bryan Singer Talks Possible Details Of X-Men First Class Sequel
The Vietnam inclusion might give hope to fans who were disappointed by X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It's possible that a young William Styker Jr. could make a solid appearance along with a bone-clawed James Howlett (Logan). Cain Marko is another service man who could also appear in the conflict. Marko's origin involves him as a solider discovering his powers during the Korean War and becoming the Juggernaut. The only issue is that they took the aspect of Cain being Charles' stepbrother and used it for Raven (Mystique). Cable, a very popular character that producers have been vocal about including in future X-Men films is a strong possibility. Stephen Lang (Avatar), who fans wanted cast in the role revealed he'd be up for it. He could fit nicely in here as a gruff new X-Men team leader along with the father of both Alex (Havoc) and Scott Summers (Cyclops).
When it comes to the newly formed Brotherhood of Mutants we could see Magneto finally make the transition to mutant terrorist. Organizing the group to better serve mutant kind throughout their actions. Along with the relationship between Mystique and Azazel which will eventually lead to the birth of Nightcrawler. I'm not sure if Emma Frost and Magneto will develop one as well but there has been talk of love interest for Erik in future films. It would be nice to explore the origins of the Russian mutant Azazel.
I would think after the events of the first film the allied governments might try to work together to develop a non-mutant tactic to combat the Brotherhood and other dangerous mutant threats. Perhaps leading to the development of the Sentinel program which has been teased in previous films. Having the large robots identifying/rounding up threatening mutants and taking them to the isolated African island of Genosha. Where the mutants would have their powers repressed with technology and imprisoned. It would be an interesting way to raise the bar from First Class.
Diego Luna In Talks To Join Neill Blomkamp's Elysium
ShowBlitz reports that Diego Luna (The Terminal, Contraband) is in talks for a role in Neill Blomkamp's follow up to District 9. Elysium, pits humans and aliens against each other in a class war set off-world. The casting is decent as is with Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Wagner Moura and William Fichtner. The science fiction thriller is set to open on March 1st 2013.
Damon Lindelof Tapped To Write Sci-Fi Project For Disney
Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus, Star Trek) is becoming a go to writer for science fiction films. Deadline now reports he's been hired buy Disney write an unknown science fiction film for the studio. The project with the working title 1952 has zero details but I have a few ideas. While it very well could be an original concept there are two big sci-fi projects currently in development at Disney. First there has been a Tomorrowland film being planned since 2008 based on the park attraction. 1952 could be referring to the year that Walt Disney Imagineering was created, the group that created many of the attractions at the theme parks. SlashFilm had word that Dwayne Johnson was attached to the film with Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (Hangover) handling the script. This seems unlikely as Disney is shelling out seven figures to land Lindelof, a little expensive for just a rewrite.
Another science fiction project that has been developing at Disney is Alien Legion. The comic book series was nabbed by the studio not too long ago. Lindelof isn't a stranger to adapting comic books since contributed to the script for Jon Faverau's Cowboys & Aliens. The premise is similar to Green Lantern meets the dreggs of Star Wars. Yet that project also has writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt (Wanted, A-Team) attached.
Matthew Goode Could Replace Colin Firth In Stoker
Will Yun Lee Joins Total Recall
Writers Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz Want A Crack At Fantastic Four
Screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz (via ComicBookMovie) think they have a way to reinvent the characters while keeping the fantastical aspect of the comics intact. Miller and Stentz are best known for their work on Thor as well as writing credits for X-Men First Class.They believe the Fantastic Four reboot should be playing up the cosmic aspect of the comics.
"We would absolutely love to reboot the Fantastic Four. There is a franchise that's crying out for it. The Fantastic Four are adventurers, not superheroes, and we have not seen that so far.
"It should all be about venturing into the unknown, space, the Negative Zone, the Microverse. They are explorers. It should be Star Wars meets superheroes."
I have to agree with them as Thor and Green Lantern seem to be proving that science fiction can be included in the superhero genre. Considering they get their powers in space and a majority of their villains are aliens this makes a lot of sense. With Fox's massive success with Avatar they should understand the power of a space adventure spectacle. It would be interesting to see a Fantastic Four film on the edge of Star Trek and Star Wars. The studio doesn't seem to be revamping their recent comic properties without thinking things through. First Class brought the X-Men series back to it's roots while The Wolverine, Daredevil and Deadpool are expected to be on the nose faithful reinventions. Hopefully they will go the same route with Fantastic Four and putting the time into giving fans a solid film.
Jesse Eisenberg, Jake Gyllenhaal & Melanie Laurent In Now You See Me?
Darren Aronofsky's Next Film Could Be Noah's Ark
Darren Aronofsky is a rare type of director as he's able to make his passion projects. It took him a long time to make The Fountain and was even passionate enough about The Fighter to let David O'Russell take it over so it would get made. His last film Black Swan earned him awards/nominations along with a box office take of $300 million. Giving him a lot of cache in Hollywood following projects he wants to do rather than what a studio develops. Recently he dropped out of directing The Wolverine likely to pursue his original projects. One of the them seems to be moving forward with co-finacing offers going out to studios. Deadline reports that Noah's Ark is currently looking for a studio to come in and co-fiance the $130 million dark biblical epic. There is confirmation that John Logan is doing rewrites on Aronofsky's original script. Logan is no stranger to large films as he wrote Gladiator, The Last Samurai and Bond 23. Darren and artist Nico Henrichon had put together a graphic novel for the film to help their pitch. Some of the artwork made it's way online and it is very impressive. He also previously gave same tidbits about the project.
"Noah was the first person to plant vineyards and drink wine and get drunk. It’s there in the Bible – it was one of the first things he did when he reached land. There was some real survivor’s guilt going on there. He’s a dark, complicated character.
It’s a great script and it’s huge. And we’re starting to feel out talent. And then we’ll probably try and set it up… It’s the end of the world and it’s the second most famous ship after the Titanic. So I’m not sure why any studio won’t want to make it…
I think it’s really timely because it’s about environmental apocalypse which is the biggest theme, for me, right now for what’s going on on this planet. So I think it’s got these big, big themes that connect with us. Noah was the first environmentalist. He’s a really interesting character. Hopefully they’ll let me make it."
An Overview Of The New Django Candidates
While it seems three of the major roles could be filled by Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. The lead role of freed slave Django might be the second meatiest part in the film. Django is on a mission to save his wife from Calvin Candie (DiCaprio) and his horrific Candyland. The Missouri club pits male slaves in death matches while the women are used as sexual playthings. A German dentist turned bounty hunter agrees to help Django get his wife back and enact revenge on Candie, if he assists him on a few missions first. It's been reported that Will Smith, Idris Elba, Jamie Foxx and Chris Tucker are in the running for the role.
Will Smith was originally linked for the role and had been willing to take a paycut. Those talks seem to have broken down as others are now being mentioned. Smith is an odd actor taking little risks with his film roles and it's not suprising as he's a major money maker. If anything I would compare casting Smith in the role as casting Brad Pitt in the role of Aldo in Basterds. I think Smith has a other projects to be concerned about as Men In Black 3 is in production and is likely to need reshoots. Along with possible roles in The Wachowskis' Hood and Bad Boys 3.
Jamie Foxx has a lot of acting pedigree like Smith as he earned an Oscar for Ray and has had solid career of dramatic, action and comedic roles. Foxx could be the one the studio wants as he might not be asking as much as Smith and could be an easy road to awards consideration. As Jamie is the most well known actor of the new candidates.
Chris Tucker is also very well known internationally but hasn't made a film since Rush Hour 3 (2007). The upside is that Tucker has worked with Quentin previously on Jackie Brown. This very well could be a resurrection of sorts for Tucker as he's been out of the spotlight. A couple of years ago I wouldn't say Chris could fit this role but he's drastically changed psychically. Going from the tall/lanky Tucker from Rush Hour and Friday to a rather bulky guy. If he doesn't land the lead I hope he ends up in another role in the film.
Idris Elba is about to blowup as he's been praised for his television work on The Wire and Luther. Along with excellent supporting roles in films like RockNRolla, Thor, 28 Weeks Later and American Gangster. He reminds me of where Michael Fassbender was in his career when he was cast in Inglourious Basterds. Idris has been a favorite of many people for the role so I'm sure that's been taken into consideration. Hopefully Elba starts the transition to leading man sooner than later. The only problem is that he is also in talks for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim which will likely conflict with the shooting schedule of Django.
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