The past seven days

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Rumor: Asa Butterfield tops the list for Spider-Man

Rumor has it that Marvel has its frontrunner for the upcoming (new) adaptation of Spider-Man. After Kevin Feige announced they were indeed taking Peter Parker back to high school and they wanted to cast a real teenager, many actors were added to shortlists throughout the internet. Apparently the actor on the top of the list at the moment is 18-year old British actor, Asa Butterfield.

Latino Review, who is notoriously correct, reported that Butterfield is the frontrunner on Marvel's list of potentials; the list also contains Nat Wolff, Tom Holland, Liam James, and Timothee Chalamet. Some insiders told LR that Butterfield had already been cast as Peter Parker, but Marvel is waiting to announce it. Butterfield is no stranger to the screen despite just being 18-years old. His big breaks included being cast in starring roles in both the film adaptation of Ender's Game and Martin Scorsese's, Hugo.

Either way this casting announcement should come soon as the plan is to include Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War and then have another reboot film for the character by 2017. I have liked Asa Butterfield in what I've seen him in so far and I think he would make a great Spider-Man. We shall wait and see, though. If the internet has gotten the jump on Marvel they might make an announcement sooner rather than later.


Monday, April 27, 2015

Daniel Bruhl to play Baron Zemo in Captain America: Civil War

We learned that Inglorious Basterds actor, Daniel Bruhl, had been cast in Captain America: Civil War months ago but we never got confirmation for which character he'd been cast to play. Bruhl said in a recent interview with The Independent UK that he has been cast as the villainous Baron Helmut Zemo.

If you're not familiar with Zemo, he is the son of one of the top scientists in Hitler's Nazi regime and he directly blames Captain America for the death of his father. Zemo's father, Heinrich, created numerous weapons of mass destruction for the Nazi regime including a large-scale death ray cannon.
He first appeared in The Avengers comics in 1964, so he's definitely a seasoned Marvel character and has been listed on many top Marvel villain lists around the internet. Zemo's abilities include a superior intellect, excellent marksmanship, and extensive training in hand-to-hand combat. Later on in the comic arcs, he was granted superpower abilities of energy, gravitational, and light manipulation. 



Captain America: Civil War is set to begin production this week in Atlanta. It stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen, Daniel Bruhl, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Frank Grillo, and Anthony Mackie.

First look at Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler

Pretty much what everyone expected it to be.



X-Men: Apocalypse is set to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Jared Leto's version of The Joker revealed

I am so confused right now.


Now... Jared Leto has been teasing his Joker look for weeks. It started with a haircut and then moved into blonde hair and then green hair and then no eyebrows and then an apparent leaked photo of The Joker in a straight-jacket.
However, I don't think anyone was quite expecting this. For the first time we are seeing the iconic villain without the makeup and stripped down without his recognizable and trademark clothing. It shows Leto as a tattooed and scarred maniac complete with pale skin, green hair, and what looks like silver teeth.

I'm just going to say it. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I expected something different because that's kind of a given, especially after the legacy that Heath Ledger left behind. I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting, nor do I want, what we have gotten. If Harley Quinn looks like this too, I quit. I can't even imagine what the other characters are going to look like.
I want to be clear that I'm not doubting Jared Leto's ability to portray this character. I am a big fan of Leto and I think he has great potential to do something great and memorable, but this look is horrible. Here's to hoping this is just how they find him in Arkham and he becomes more traditional later on. 


Thursday, April 23, 2015

Fifty Shades sequel release dates confirmed

We finally have confirmed release dates for the next two installments of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. As it currently stands, to keep with the Valentine's Day tradition, we won't be getting Fifty Shades Darker until February 10, 2017 while the third installment (presumably titled Fifty Shades Freed) will hit theaters on February 9, 2018.

Universal seems to be taking a huge gamble with these release dates. I say that because you would assume these films would be fast-tracked to keep the attention of the public. Having the sequel two years from the first one is a bit crazy. I assumed they'd at least try and film by the end of this year for 2016 and 2017 releases.
This comes a day after Universal announced that Fifty Shades author EL James' husband, Niall Leonard, has been hired to pen the screenplay for Fifty Shades Darker. This compromise came after James caused the departure of director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Kelly Marcel. Now that it has become blatantly obvious that EL James has taken full control of this franchise there is no telling what is going to happen. For all we know the director for Fifty Shades Darker will be James.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey but I credit that to Sam Taylor-Johnson. The direction was solid and the cinematography was amazing. With her departure I think it's pretty safe to say that the cinematographer, Seamus McGarvey, won't be returning either. We now have a new writer and will have a new director and most likely a new cinematographer. We still have multiple characters that need to be cast (the big one being "Mrs. Robinson") and the remaining actors from the first film are demanding ridiculously high salaries.

This franchise quickly is turning into even more of a joke than it originally was.

 

Common joins the cast of Suicide Squad

The cast of Suicide Squad just got a new addition. Actor and Oscar-winning musician Common has just been confirmed in an unspecified role. He joins the existing cast of Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevigne, and more.

Suicide Squad is set to open in August 2016.

Elizabeth Olsen confirmed for Captain America: Civil War

Looks like Marvel isn't finished with Scarlet Witch just yet. Elizabeth Olsen, who debuts the character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, confirmed that she will reprise the role of Scarlet Witch in the third installment of Captain America, Civil War, next year. She will evidently begin filming her scenes in Atlanta in a couple weeks.

Marvel has yet to confirm Olsen's involvement, but I'm sure a list of character confirmations are coming. Given the involvement required for this Civil War arc, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of Marvel actors make cameos in this film. My fingers are crossed for another Erik Selvig appearance or Jane Foster.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

EL James' husband to pen Fifty Shades Darker

This just keeps getting better and better.

In a last attempt to meet with Fifty Shades author EL James' ridiculous demands over creative control, Universal has hired her husband to pen the screenplay for Fifty Shades Darker. Originally, James (aka, Erika Leonard) was demanding to pen the screenplay for the sequel despite having absolutely no experience.
Niall Leonard, in all fairness, does have some experience including work on some British television shows. He also, apparently, did some uncredited work on the original Fifty Shades of Grey script that was written by Kelly Marcel and his wife, EL James.

This is all absolutely ridiculous. When I first read the article I started laughing thinking, this has to be a joke! But it's no joke and it's all on Universal and Focus Features for giving this bitch so much input on the movies. I don't know if another studio would have negotiated something better when it comes to this woman, but the way Universal has set this up pretty much means they're doing this to themselves.
As it currently stands, Fifty Shades Darker is basically at a stand still. In addition to the screenplay fiasco, Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are currently in contract negotiations because they both are demanding a significantly larger sum of money for the sequels; sums that actually exceed the entire budget the first film had.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - First Teaser

After an unexpected leak of the trailer last night, WB and Zack Snyder decided to just go ahead and release the first teaser for Batman v Superman today despite an IMAX event still scheduled for next week.

All I really have to say is that it looks like it could potentially be good, but I'm still not 100% on board. I think this version of Batman looks buff as hell and is definitely intimidating, but I don't really like the pegging Superman as a villain. I also hate that Batman voice. It sounds like he's speaking via a voice modulator... unless they are doing that on purpose to hide Affleck's real Batman voice.


Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Second Teaser

Ooh, I am getting pretty excited about this one. I didn't think I was going to be, but I definitely am.