Charles Bramesco
‘The Grey’ Director Joe Carnahan Tapped to Script ‘X-Force’ Project
As the X-Universe continues to expand outward, characters deeper in the roster have gotten a chance to shine. Sure, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Professor X were pretty much a given from the start, but who’d have thought we’d see a cinematic appearance from Negasonic Teenage Warhead in our lifetime? A Gambit solo movie has been milling around development hell for months, the New Mutant film has been gradually amassing cast members, and today brings a major update to the progress on yet another tangential X-project, the rough-and-tumble X-Force. Today, the project gained a writer, and of course it’s a fanboy-familiar name.
‘Hellboy 3’ Absolutely, Definitely, 100 Percent Isn’t Happening
It is usually to humankind‘s advantage that the flame of hope is not easily extinguished. When the pursuit of a lofty ideal grows difficult, the unshakable bedrock of hope has provided the righteous with strength and fortitude. But hope can also be a heartbreaker, constantly teasing us with the faint chance of achieving an impossible dream. Up until today, fans were able to cling to the possibility of a third installment of Guillermo Del Toro‘s Hellboy franchise, however remote. But the director took to Twitter earlier today to deliver the sad news that we may now finally abandon hope — it ain’t happening.
‘Straight Outta Compton’ Writer Andrea Berloff Adapting Comic ‘The Kitchen’ for Directorial Debut
Noted screenwriter Andrea Berloff has something of a scattered resume at present. Back in 2005, she drafted the script for Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, remembered primarily today as the 9/11 movie that isn’t United 93. She‘d later earn an Oscar nomination for serving as a co-writer on the Straight Outta Compton script along with Jonathan Herman, before pivoting to pulpy genre work this past year with the Mel Gibson-fronted revenge tale Blood Father and the Jamie Foxx potboiler Sleepless earlier this year. Her next move keeps the in-demand writer right in her wheelhouse of crime fiction, but presents her with a new challenge — directing.
At 10 Years Old, ‘Ghost Rider’ Is a Portal to a Stranger Sort of Marvel Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe had its Big Bang in 2008, with Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr.’s debut as the incorrigible Tony Stark. In casting a charismatic leading man, feeding him some genuinely fresh one-liners, and stitching them together with a few impressive action setpieces, producer and MCU mastermind Kevin Feige had struck gold. He then went to work methodically stripping the mine clean, roping Chrises Evans and Hemsworth into multi-film contracts and watching as the billions rolled in. He devised a winning formula of easy screen-idol mass appeal and an eminently palatable house visual style to go along with it, a method still yielding massive success to this day. (Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Thor 3, and Spider-Man Who Even Knows What Number, coming to theaters in 2017!) And it all began with R.D.J. as an irresistible new breed of defender, the sort of guy you either want to be or be with. One year earlier, Marvel’s idea of a blockbuster superhero was Nicolas Cage as a flaming CGI skeleton clad in S&M biker gear.
Rumor: Ben Affleck May Want Out of ‘The Batman’ Completely
Like any job, writing about the latest news in the world of entertainment can wear on you after long enough, so you gotta appreciate the little pearls of amusement where you can get them. Personally, watching the latest solo Batman project fall apart in slow motion has been a perverse thrill over the past couple of months: star Ben Affleck was gonna direct (maybe) the film titled The Batman, then he was definitely gonna direct it, then he backpedaled a little bit, then he requested that people stop asking him about it, then he face-planted onto the sidewalk with the costly flop Live By Night, and then look at that, he wasn’t taking the director’s chair after all. The indignities kept coming, as Warner Bros. ordered sweeping rewrites to this floundering project before landing Planet of the Apes remake maestro Matt Reeves to fill the directorial vacuum.
The Thunder God’s Roommate Darryl Returns in New ‘Team Thor’ Short
It doesn’t matter if you’re some regular schmo or the Asgardian God of Thunder, living by yourself can get a little lonely. Thank Odin for Darryl, then, the milquetoast desk-jockey roommate of the Avengers’ resident hammer-thrower Thor. We first met the mild-mannered pencil-pusher in a short called “Team Thor,” directed by upcoming Ragnarok helmer Taika Waititi and bundled as an extra with the Captain America: Civil War home media release. That amusing glimpse into the tensions between the two cohabitants was a fan favorite, not to mention a brief preview of the comic sensibility that What We Do in the Shadows (another film about roommates sniping at one another) director Waititi would bring to the Marvel universe.
Director Josh Boone Hints Maisie Williams Has Joined ‘New Mutants’
Rumors have swirled around the gestating production of New Mutants like so many Terrigen Mists since it was first announced around a year ago. We‘ve pinned down The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone as the hand on the steering wheel, he’s confirmed that The Witch starlet Anya Taylor-Joy will take one of the leading roles as Magik, and she’s confirmed that James McAvoy will reprise his role of the young Professor Charles Xavier. But even as the production’s projected spring start date rapidly approaches, little else is known for sure about this lower-profile superhero picture.
Scarlett Johansson Won’t Be Controlled in Latest ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Trailer
The government is not to be trusted, not at present and certainly not in the trippy future Japan of Ghost in the Shell. Major Motoko Kusanagi (Scarlett Johansson) has been led to believe that she endured some manner of terrible accident in life, and the police department salvaged her body by augmenting it with cybernetic implants. In exchange for a second chance at consciousness, all she has to do is devote herself to fearlessly cleaning the street of crime and to surrender what’s left of her free will; naturally, she has some doubts about this. And when she meets an enigmatic stranger warning her that all is not what it seems, her whole understanding of who the bad guys are starts to shift.
‘Star Wars’ Theme Park Coming to a Galaxy Far Away (Orlando) in 2019
Just as the nation’s mushroom-takers have begun to hit up their connections in preparation for this May’s opening of the lush, psychedelic new amusement park Pandora — The World of AVATAR, yet another attraction has appeared on the horizon. At present, Star Wars superfans can immerse themselves in the fantasy universe with the series of films, novels, spin-off films, animated television programs, various board games, and Disneyland’s popular Star Tours ride. But some diehards demand more, a fuller and more transportive experience. And Disney CEO Bob Iger has some great news for them. (And less-great news for everyone else.)
Wolverine Cracks a Gun in Half in ‘Logan’ Super Bowl TV Spot
Less than a month now separates us from the premiere of Logan, and the nationwide nerd conniptions that it’s sure to induce. Those of us down for a quick trip to Berlin could theoretically get an earlier look, but the rest of us will have to make do with the virtues of patience. At least 20th Century Fox has made it a little easier on the rest of us commoners by running a minutelong clip from the film during the Super Bowl last night, and teasing some typically smartmouthed repartee from the lovable mutant.