The past seven days

Friday, November 28, 2014

Jurassic World - First Trailer




I don't really know what I was expecting, but this isn't it. The CGI is just painful to look at.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - First Teaser

I don't know about you, but I am intrigued.





One thing I am a bit curious about is John Boyega. If he is a Stormtrooper does that mean the clones were eliminated? Or have civilians gained the chance to join alongside the clones?
Another thing I am curious about is this Sith creature. Is it human? Is it some form of life? Either way, that lightsaber looks pretty creative. 

#TheForceAwakens #StarWars #EpisodeVII


Friday, November 14, 2014

Daniel Bruhl joins Captain America: Civil War

German actor Daniel Bruhl has officially joined the cast of Captain America: Civil War. Bruhl will be playing an undisclosed villain and is also rumored to be the main villain in Doctor Strange as well.

Marvel made the official announcement before anyone else managed to leak it, but they neglected to mention exactly which role he will be playing. If the Doctor Strange bit is true it will reunite him with Benedict Cumberbatch as the two shared the screen in The Fifth Estate.
So far it seems that Civil War is going to be a key point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it is apparently going to unite a ton of characters together and set the course for the rest of the films. I say that because along with the announcement of Marvel's film schedule they announced that Chadwick Boseman was set to play Black Panther and that he would make his first appearance in Civil War. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see a Guardians of the Galaxy cameo or an introduction to Captain Marvel, either.

Either way, it should be interesting to see what character Bruhl has been brought on to play. You might recognize him as the Nazi poster child in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds back in 2009. He also previously shared the screen with Marvel alum Chris Hemsworth in Rush.




Thursday, November 13, 2014

Christoph Waltz rumored for Bond 24

Rumor has it that Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz has signed on to play the villain in Bond 24. Filming is set to begin next month so it is a bit surprising that more casting announcements haven't hit yet. If this is true I think it would be a great casting choice. Bond 24 is set for release on November 6, 2015.

Waltz will be seen next in Horrible Bosses 2 and has come pretty accustomed to playing the villain. He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a brutal Nazi officer in Inglorious Basterds and has also played the bad guy in Water for Elephants, The Green Hornet, and had been rumored to be in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.


Fifty Shades of Grey - New Trailer

We have the second, and probably final, trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey. The trailer shows a lot more footage than the first one did and it also gives some insight to the sexual nature of the film. Fifty Shades of Grey is set for release Valentine's Day 2015 and stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.


Monday, November 10, 2014

Margot Robbie to play Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad

After learning that Jared Leto was being courted to play The Joker, many started speculating on who would be cast to play Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. We now have our answer and it is Australian actress, Margot Robbie.

Robbie was most recently seen alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street and was also a season regular on the short-lived television show, Pan Am. The is fairly young at the age of 24, so it might be a hard sell for people to believe that she is a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. That is, unless they write that aspect of the story out of the movie.
If you are somehow unfamiliar with Harley Quinn, she began as psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel inside Arkham Asylum where she was assigned to The Joker. She quickly was manipulated by him and became obsessed with him. To comic fans, she is known as his psychotic sidekick girlfriend. She comes equipped with a black and red jester suit and white face paint. This will be the first time the character is portrayed on the big screen, but she was originally introduced in the Batman animated series. She has also appeared in Rocksteady's Arkham games for Playstation, Xbox, and Wii. She was a bit different in the games (aka, more of a sexy version of Harley), so there are a couple ways Warner Bros. could go with this character.

This does make the rumors surrounding The Joker have a bit more substance as you can't really have Harley Quinn without The Joker. If they are serious about including him, and about Jared Leto, I think they are teasing everyone even more with this casting announcement. Suicide Squad is set to open in theaters on August 5, 2016.




Image via Crave Online

Friday, November 7, 2014

Jared Leto rumored to play The Joker

With Warner Bros and DC quickly putting their own universe together there are rumors circulating about which actors will play upcoming film characters. A big rumor we got today is regarding Suicide Squad which is set for release on August 5, 2016. Apparently, Oscar-winner Jared Leto is in the mix to play a new version of the popular DC villain, The Joker.

So far Suicide Squad has Will Smith, Tom Hardy, and Margot Robbie in various stages of negotiations. Leto was previously in contention for the role of Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the role ultimately went to Joaquin Phoenix (Benedict Cumberbatch is now Doctor Strange).

We haven't really seen or heard from The Joker since Heath Ledger's acclaimed, and Oscar-winning, performance in The Dark Knight back in 2008. Many people felt that after Ledger's unbelievable performance that the character should be left alone. There isn't any confirmation that The Joker will be part of Suicide Squad or that Leto will be playing that character, but he is apparently circling around a major role in the film that "could prove to be The Joker."
Now... this is somewhat interesting as some people, including myself, thought that Jena Malone's casting in the DC Universe could possibly be Harley Quinn. Even if Malone is not connected to the role, it has been rumored that the famous sidekick will be part of Suicide Squad. Leto's role was previously attached to Ryan Gosling, but he was reluctant to sign a multi-film contract with press obligations.

Suicide Squad follows a team of villains who begin executing dangerous missions for the US Government to avoid major prison sentences. As a result, they have the ability to roam free among the DC heroes undetected until they commit a major crime or offense.



Thursday, November 6, 2014

Toy Story 4 confirmed for 2017

Disney CEO, Bob Iger, confirmed today via an investor call today that Disney and Pixar will release a fourth Toy Story film in 2017. John Lasseter will return to direct as will Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. And, naturally, the film will be released in 3D.

This isn't necessarily unexpected as Toy Story 3 was dynamite and kickstarted the franchise a bit. We have had Toy Story short films since Toy Story 3 and a fourth film has been rumored for a year or two already.
I personally find this somewhat disappointing because I think Pixar is turning into sequel territory and it's unfortunate. We have Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur coming up, but we also have Finding Dory and announced sequels for The Incredibles as well as a third Cars film. I don't like it. Pixar is best with original stories.


Star Wars Episode VII full title revealed

We finally have the official title for Star Wars Episode VII. This news hits a little over one year from the December release date.

Make way for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.



The photo was shared via Twitter on the official Star Wars page and it will be the first Star Wars film in 10 years. It is also the first out of a new trilogy and at least two spin-off films to be released by Disney.

Devil's Carnival: Alleluia - First Trailer

The first trailer for the second chapter in Darren Lynn Bousman's, The Devil's Carnival, has hit the internet. This time around they take us up from the carnival in hell and we visit Heaven. The film stars Paul Sorvino, Terrance Zdunich, Barry Bostwick, Briana Evigan, and more.



Monday, November 3, 2014

Summary of last week's Marvel announcements

I was on vacation last week so I am playing a bit of catch-up with everything that I missed. By far the biggest event that I missed out on was Kevin Feige's Marvel event which announced the full size of phase three and gave a lot of casting news and also hinted at Marvel's direction with certain existing characters.

Starting off, let's look at this massive schedule they gave us...

Captain America: Civil War (May 6, 2016)
Doctor Strange (November 4, 2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (May 5, 2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (July 28, 2017)
Black Panther (November 3, 2017)
Avengers: Infinity War - Part I (May 4, 2018)
Captain Marvel (July 6, 2018)
Inhumans (November 2, 2018)
Avengers: Infinity War - Part II (May 3, 2019)

In addition to this schedule there was confirmation that all films will be released in 3D. The title of Captain America also confirms the Civil War rumor that was floating around, so we will see Robert Downey Jr. in that film. It is also possible that he could appear in Thor: Ragnarok seeing that there is no Iron Man 4 on the list.



Speaking of casting, there were announcements regarding Black Panther along with Doctor Strange. The surprise introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe was definitely Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther. You might recognize Boseman from the James Brown biopic, Get On Up, and the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42. He has reportedly signed a five film contract with Marvel and will appear as early as Captain America: Civil War before appearing in his solo film in 2017. Black Panther, otherwise known as T'Challa, is the leader of the panther tribe in the African nation of Wakanda. He later joins The Avengers.
Regarding Doctor Strange, we did finally receive word of an actor who has entered final negotiations to star in the lead role. So much for people wishing it would be Jared Leto because Benedict Cumberbatch has secured the role. Cumberbatch has seen a big surge in work in the past couple of years and I personally am worried that he is becoming a little overused, especially for a big franchise like this, but I don't think he will do badly. His voice alone is a great fit for the character. Prior to his involvement, Joaquin Phoenix had secured the role but negotiations fell through and he walked away from the project. The inside rumors were that Phoenix was not comfortable with the amount of backlash that came with the role such as press tours, talk shows, multi-film commitments, etc..





Moving onto the announcement of Thor: Ragnarok, this does tie into Robert Downey Jr.'s extended involvement with this film franchise aside from solo Iron Man films. The story of Ragnarok apparently takes place right after Avengers: Age of Ultron where Tony Stark creates a cyborg clone of Thor to aid his pro-Superhero Registration Act team in the Civil War. This also could tie into the characters to be introduced in Ant-Man as Stark works with Hank Pym in order to properly clone Thor. There was also confirmation by Kevin Feige that the lineup of The Avengers will change after Age of Ultron, so it's possible that Chris Hemsworth's Thor will go missing or will be killed in the 2015 Avengers sequel causing Ragnarok to be created.
However, there is another possibility with Thor: Ragnarok. According to some sources, there are guesses that the Ragnarok subtitle could be referencing the "Norse End of Days" where Asgard is destroyed and submerged into water. It is also worth mentioning that insiders are saying Thor will not appear in Avengers: Infinity War - Part I or Part II, so the possibility of Marvel retiring Thor from the MCU is plausible.
In addition to all of this Thor news, we did not receive any information on if the actors exclusive to those films will be returning. I am of course referring to Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Jaimie Alexander, and so on. I would assume Natalie Portman's contract wasn't just for two films but you never know. I would personally like to see Jane Foster in a bigger role as the universe expands but that could just be wishful thinking at this point.




Continuing on with what we aren't seeing, or potentially aren't seeing, Marvel has also said that they have no immediate plans for solo films for Black Widow and Hulk. All of us who were hoping for the Planet Hulk arc or another solo Hulk can sit down and keep wishing. Kevin Feige stated that there was a possibility for a solo Black Widow film but that he was never fully on board with it and that the Hulk might happen but nothing is in the works as of right now. He feels the character was successfully rebooted in The Avengers with Mark Ruffalo and that it can be left at that. He wants to focus on bringing us new characters and begin expanding the universe. 
Many thought Black Widow was Marvel's chance to showcase a female driven superhero film, but they are doing that with Captain Marvel in 2018. It's still up in the air on whether she will appear in either of the Infinity War films, or have a cameo in Civil War, but we will be receiving the film either way. The Captain Marvel we are getting is Carol Danvers, a NASA director who is turned into a Kree-Human hybrid after encountering Mar-Vell (a Kree warrior). Her powers include super strength, super speed, invulnerability, and the ability to fire energy blasts from her hands. (A sidenote to remember was the introduction we had to the Kree in Guardians of the Galaxy) There is no casting announced for Captain Marvel, but I am sure it will be a coveted and much sought after role, especially with the direct competition with Warner Bros/DC's Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot.




In addition to these announcements, we did once again receive confirmation on the release of Inhumans and Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Guardians will see James Gunn return to write and direct once more as Inhumans currently has no director attached and no cast.





Saved the best for last... let's talk about The Infinity War. Marvel has decided to compete with the division of Justice League into two parts by dividing the third Avengers film into two parts with two films in between. We got our first tease of Thanos in the mid-credits scene of The Avengers film and finally got our first full look at him in Guardians of the Galaxy. We might see more glimpses of him as more infinity stones are revealed, but the major reveal of Thanos will indeed come with these two Infinity War films. We already have Josh Brolin cast as the villain.
The Infinity Gauntlet is the culmination of all of these little trinkets we have seen introduced bit by bit; the Tesseract, the Aether, and the Orb. There are six infinity stones total so we still have three to go, but with five films coming before Part I and another two in between, there is plenty of time for Thanos to obtain all six stones. In his quest to obtain them he does murder a lot of Marvel heroes, so the idea of Thor disappearing might just become a reality. We also must keep in mind the rumor surrounding the Winter Soldier arc where Bucky takes over for Captain Rogers.
Personally, I hope these two films act as a massive team up with all of these characters. Seeing Guardians of the Galaxy fighting alongside The Avengers would probably make me giggle in my seat. I think all of this being set up is very exciting.


Idris Elba spoils Age of Ultron cameos

It was recently revealed, and more like spoiled, by actor Idris Elba regarding cameos that will be in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Elba confirmed that he will be appearing in the sequel as Heimdall, the gatekeeper of Asgard. He has already appeared in both Thor and Thor: The Dark World and it seems that his presence is needed once more.

In addition to his cameo, he also revealed that he will also be sharing a scene with... wait for it... Tom Hiddleston. Yes, that means we will once again see Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Given how The Dark World ended and with the announcement of a third film, Thor: Ragnarok, it does kind of make sense to include Loki once more.