Warner Bros. revives Akira adaptation

Akira seems to have some life once again. The question is for how long.

Daredevil writer/showrunner Marco J. Ramirez has been tapped by Warner Bros. to write a new script for the live-action adaptation of Akira. Ramirez previously worked on shows such as Sons of Anarchy and Da Vinci's Demons.

Akira has been in development for years. The latest revival of this project was back in 2011 when the cast attached to the film was Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, and Gary Oldman. The project was indefinitely postponed right before filming to polish the script, but it never picked itself back up. With the success of Daredevil it seems that Warner Bros. is trying to turn to what is working to get this project off the ground one way or the other.

James Wan to direct Aquaman

This might be the one movie so far that Warner Bros. has done right regarding the new DC Universe. The studio has brought on horror director James Wan to direct Aquaman starring Jason Momoa.

Wan is coming straight off an overwhelming success of Furious 7 along with the lingering success he had with the 2014 horror hit, The Conjuring. He is also well known and respected among moviegoers for the Saw franchise as he co-wrote and directed the first film and co-produced all seven as well as the Insidious trilogy. Wan is currently in pre-production for The Conjuring 2, but he is up for the challenge of joining the DC Universe.

Personally, I'm a bit disappointed that Warner Bros. snagged him and not Marvel. I think he fits in better with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I won't count him out. I've been a fan of his since the beginning of his career and I definitely know he can do great things. Whatever he does will be better than the bullshit Zack Snyder pumps out.

So far Aquaman is set to make a cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and it's assumed he will appear in the Justice League films. 

First cast photo from Suicide Squad

Well, minus The Joker. But even with that we are getting our first look at a majority of the cast of Suicide Squad.

Director David Ayer also tweeted out a photo of Will Smith as Deadshot with some oddly light colored hands.

 

Personally, I don't like the cast photo. I think the whole trend of Warner Bros. making every single DC movie "dark and gritty" is getting old. The entire Suicide Squad looks like a bunch of Hot Topic shoppers in an ABC Family movie. I'm disappointed with Harley Quinn's look, too. I was hoping they weren't going to go the Arkham video game route.  It will be interesting to see The Joker if they were telling the truth and the whole tattooed look wasn't the final decision. Judging from this I don't have high hopes. 

Sorry Warner Bros., but Marvel is still whooping your ass.

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. 

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.

First glimpse at Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor

Many were skeptical about Jesse Eisenberg being cast as the legendary Superman villain, Lex Luthor, but a first glimpse at the actor as the character shows that he just might be able to pull it off.

Gone are Eisenberg's trademark curly locks and his usual pleasantly clueless facial expression.

Joel Kinnaman in early Suicide Squad negotiations

Rumor has it that Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) is in early negotiations to replace Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg in the upcoming Suicide Squad film. Hardy was scheduled to play the group's leader, but he backed out a couple weeks ago due to scheduling conflicts and apparently he had issues with the script, too.

Kinnaman hit the big scene after starring in AMC's The Killing and he was the male lead in the recent RoboCop reboot. I didn't see either the show or the movie, so I have no opinion on whether he would be a good replacement for Tom Hardy. If he does wind up getting the role he will join the existing cast of Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jai Courtney, and Cara Delevigne.

Rumor: Batman to appear in Suicide Squad

Warner Bros. upcoming super-villain party, Suicide Squad, might be adding another cast member to the mix. Rumor has it that Ben Affleck will appear in the film as Batman and it will act as a setup to his own solo movie.

Forbes reported the rumor stating that Batman will appear "in the flesh" and the scene will most likely be shared with The Joker (Jared Leto). Also hinted is that this acts as a precursor for a future solo Batman movie featuring The Joker, and potentially Harley Quinn, as the villains.
Warner Bros. hasn't given a date or even a major hint about a solo Batman movie, but there are more rumors that the inevitable Batman film will be based off Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Suicide Squad opens in theaters on August 5, 2016.

Tom Hardy exits Suicide Squad

This was bound to happen at least once. It seems like with every major project these days there is a casting issue at some point. We learned today that Tom Hardy has dropped out of the upcoming Suicide Squad film. Hardy was set to play the team's military trained leader, Rick Flagg. His reps are citing scheduling problems and overlaps are to blame as he will soon begin press for Mad Max: Fury Road and filming on The Revenant is running long.

However, rumor has it that Warner Bros. has approached Oscar-nominee Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Hardy as Flagg. There is no confirmation on any replacement just yet, and it seems that Viola Davis still isn't 100% attached either, so I would expect things might continue to change with this film. Suicide Squad is currently set to open August 5, 2016 and also stars (as of right now) Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevinge, and Will Smith.

It's a bummer, but I always thought Hardy was an odd choice seeing that he's already played a DC villain and is very well recognized as such. I was a bit surprised he was chosen in the first place.

Viola Davis joins Suicide Squad

Warner Bros. and DC have officially cast Oscar-nominee Viola Davis in the upcoming adaptation of Suicide Squad. Davis will portray Amanda Waller, the government official in place to oversee the group's operations. She is essentially the Nick Fury of the Suicide Squad.

Davis was among the shortlist of sought after actresses for the role which also included Octavia Spencer and Oprah Winfrey. There are still some kinks to work out with her schedule as she is currently on the television series, How to Get Away with Murder, but I am sure they can work it out. There are also rumors that Davis might get a Summer job filming some small easter eggs for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Viola Davis gained a lot of popularity after the 2011 film, The Help, which earned her nominations for an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA. She's also been seen in Ender's Game, Get on Up, Prisoners, and Eat Pray Love. 

Full Suicide Squad cast revealed

It seems that there was a lot of truth behind the rumors behind Suicide Squad as we now have the main cast out in the open. In addition to a prior announcement of Margot Robbie playing Harley Quinn, the rest of the cast includes:

Jared Leto as The Joker
Will Smith as Deadshot
Tom Hardy as Rick Flag
Jai Courtney as Boomerang
Cara Delevinge as Enchantress


This will mark Jared Leto's return to the screen after his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club He will also have a lot of eyes on him because he is the first actor to tackle The Joker since Heath Ledger's performance in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight back in 2008. Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the DC villain.
Will Smith was previously rumored for Boomerang but that role has gone to Jai Courtney. DC Universe veteran Tom Hardy will be filling the shoes of the Suicide Squad's military leader, Rick Flag. Hardy previously played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.

The film isn't completely cast because Warner Bros. is still looking for an actress to play Amanda Waller. The role was previously played by Angela Basset in 2011's Green Lantern but the studio is evidently wanting to further distance themselves from that trainwreck. Actresses on the shortlist, according to sources, are Octavia Spencer, Oprah Winfrey, and Viola Davis. Out of those choices I think I would go with Viola Davis, but there is no telling what direction they will go.
There is also no mention on whether any characters from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will have cameos or not, but the main one to expect would be Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. If anything he might have a small cameo or at least some mention.

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

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.

The Conjuring 2 delayed until 2016

New Line has moved the sequel to James Wan's The Conjuring from October 23, 2015 to 2016 and have replaced the slot with an untitled horror film. Warner Bros. and New Line had announced the sequel for 2015 and said that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were expected to return as Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The Conjuring was a surprise smash at the box office as it brought in a total of $320 million and only carried a $20 million budget. Set in 1971, the film followed the acclaimed paranormal investigators as they were called to investigate a home in Rhode Island where a family of seven experienced hauntings and paranormal entities.
Annabelle, the film's spin-off, made somewhat of a dent at the box office with $166 million on just a $6 million budget.

Warner Bros. announces DC release dates

Warner Bros. made some very big announcements today regarding the new DC Universe. Within the announcement includes release dates and exactly which characters are getting solo films.

After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits in 2016, the next DC film will be Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad is set to be directed by Fury director, David Ayer, and it also received a 2016 release date.
Next up on the schedule for 2017 is Wonder Woman and Justice League - Part One while The Flash and Aquaman received 2018 releases. Jason Momoa was confirmed to be starring as Aquaman and the studio confirmed Ezra Miller will star in The Flash.
2019 will bring us Justice League - Part Two and Shazam, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
2020 has a Cyborg movie scheduled along with a reboot of Green Lantern.

In addition to all of this, Warner Bros. did also announce there will be at lease one more solo Superman movie along with a solo Batman movie. With Green Lantern not coming until 2020 I think it's safe to say that if the character has any involvement in the Justice League movies it will be very minimal. I also think it's a bit interesting that Aquaman isn't coming until 2018 seeing that Jason Momoa is already confirmed to be part of Batman v Superman and Justice League - Part One.

Ezra Miller to lead The Flash in 2018

In a large amount of announcements by Warner Bros. and DC Comics we received more information about a new solo movie centered around The Flash. In the announcement the studios highlighted that the solo film will be released after Justice League - Part One in 2018 and that the actor portraying the hero is 22-year old Ezra Miller.

You might recognize Miller from the film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the television series, Royal Pains. He also gave an extremely unnerving and chilling performance alongside Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin back in 2011. He was praised for his performances thus far and has proven to give believable performances that cross drama and comedy. He is also extremely charismatic on screen. As a 22-year old he is a lot younger than any other actor in the current DC Universe, so that will prove to either be a good or a bad thing.
There is no real confirmation on whether Miller will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice or the first Justice League movie, but it is pretty much guaranteed that he will at least appear in Justice League - Part Two which will be released after The Flash. If he is going to have an appearance in BvS they have done a fantastic job keeping his involvement a secret. I don't think he's even been spotted on set.

I think he is a good casting choice for a comic universe, but I don't know if I would have chosen him for The Flash. If at some point they revisit The Joker, honestly my first choice was Ezra Miller. I'm a bit bummed about this. I won't lie about that. 

Matthew McConaughey sought after for The Stand

Warner Bros. is moving forward on a theatrical adaptation of the Stephen King novel, The Stand, and they apparently have their Randall Flagg picked out. The studio is perusing Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey for the main villain of the story.

The Stand was made into a four part, television mini-series back in 1994 and starred Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Shawnee Smith, Laura San Giacomo, and Jamey Sheridan. The role of Randall Flagg was portrayed by Jamey Sheridan.
The kicker with the potential casting of McConaughey is that director Josh Boone is evidently pushing for him to be cast in the role of Stu Redman, previously played by Gary Sinise. If McConaughey is interested and it fits into his schedule it looks like he will have a pretty tough choice to make.

This film adaptation of The Stand is sure to be on a fairly grand scale. Boone has already said he is planning on the film being 3 hours long and being R-rated. He also wants to put together an "A-list" cast, so it seems like Warner Bros. also has some decisions to make. Usually studios don't blow major money for R-rated horror films, but I think The Stand would be a good one to spend money on. It's a great story and it has a lot of potential to be a great film, although I do think this would be a great one to split into two films. I'm usually not a fan of the two-part movies, but this story is so complex that it really needs it. 

If you're unfamiliar with The Stand, it follows a group of survivors after a plague wipes out 99% of the population. An Antichrist-like figure, Randall Flagg, rises to power among the survivors as he attempts to lure them to Las Vegas so he can create his own version of a perfect civilization. The survivors are faced with the choice of following Flagg's path of darkness or the path of light led by a 108-year old woman named Mother Abigail. 

Warner Bros/DC confirm Aquaman film

A while back we received rumors that Jason Momoa was in negotiations to play Aquaman in the upcoming Warner Bros/DC Comic movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and a separate Aquaman film. There are now reports that Warner Bros. has commissioned not only one, but two Aquaman screenplays and that Momoa's casting is basically confirmed.

Last week we got a schedule of release dates from Warner Bros. through the year 2020 and speculation immediately began on exactly what all of those release dates might be. The plan is obviously to compete with Marvel's Cinematic Universe and create a similar one for the new DC Universe that was kicked off by Man of Steel last year.
So far we have Gal Gadot portraying Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman and it's being assumed that one of the many untitled projects is a solo Wonder Woman film. The focus now has shifted to Aquaman where Warner Bros. is "aggressively" developing the project as they have commissioned two screenplays in hopes that they could use one or combine the two for a quick development process. Script #1 is being written by Gangster Squad writer, Will Beall, while the second script was given to 300: Rise of an Empire writer, Kurt Johnstad.
As far as Jason Momoa goes, there hasn't been any official release by Warner Bros. regarding his casting, but it's pretty much a given that if he is playing Aquaman in Batman v Superman that he will also helm the solo movie and be part of Justice League. Recently a Detroit radio station was caught red-handed teasing the project and Momoa's involvement, but director Zack Snyder made a surprise call into the show and claimed that Aquaman could, "cut the flesh of Superman if they came in contact." If that's the portrayal they're going for then I guess they picked the right actor.

There are so many untitled dates on the Warner Bros/DC schedule so it's difficult to wrap your head around it all, but realistically speaking we could see Aquaman as early as 2016. There is a spot on August 5, 2016 as well as two unfilled dates in 2017 (June 23rd and November 17th). There is no real timetable on Justice League anymore, but many expect it by 2017. Realistically at this point we could have solo films for Wonder Woman and Aquaman in 2016 and early 2017 and have Justice League on November 17th.
However, Zack Snyder is currently shooting Justice League back-to-back with Batman v Superman, so they might turn tradition upside down and release Justice League in 2016 before any other solo films. There really is no telling, but I don't know why they would let a project sit on the shelf for two years after filming wraps.

List of every superhero movie through 2020

With the newest announcements from Warner Bros. regarding the DC Universe, we now have a more clear view of what movie theaters will be showing for the next five years and it's a bit overwhelming. This includes superhero movies as well as the planned Star Wars flicks.

Let's take a look at what we have on tap:


May 1, 2015

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel)

June 19, 2015

Fantastic Four (Fox)

July 17, 2015

Ant-Man (Marvel)

December 18, 2015

Star Wars: Episode VII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

March 25, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Warner Bros./DC)

May 6, 2016

Captain America 3 (Marvel)

May 27, 2016

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (Fox)

Summer 2016

Star Wars Spin-off #1 (Disney/Lucasfilm)

July 8, 2016

Doctor Strange (Marvel)

August 5, 2016

Untitled DC Project

November 11, 2016

Sinister Six (Sony)

March 3, 2017

Untitled Wolverine Project (Fox)

May 5, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2017

Star Wars: Episode VIII (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 23, 2017

Untitled DC Project

July 24, 2017

Fantastic Four 2 (Fox)

July 28, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (Marvel)

November 3, 2017

Untitled Marvel Project

November 17, 2017

Untitled DC Project

2017 (unknown)

Venom and/or female Spider-Man spin-off (Sony)

 March 23, 2018

Untitled DC Project

May 4, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2018

Star Wars Spin-off #2 (Disney/Lucasfilm)
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (Sony)

July 6, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

July 13, 2018

Untitled Fox Project

July 27, 2018

Untitled DC Project

November 2, 2018

Untitled Marvel Project

April 5, 2019

Untitled DC Project

May 3, 2019

Untitled Marvel Project

Summer 2019

Star Wars: Episode IX (Disney/Lucasfilm)

June 14, 2019

Untitled DC Project

April 3, 2020

Untitled DC Project

June 19, 2020

Untitled DC Project



It is worth noting that a lot of the 2016 and 2017 releases are no doubt close to official announcements (cough, Justice League, cough) but for now we just have the dates reserved with the studios. Looking at this full schedule you can really begin to see how ridiculous this is getting. I love superhero movies and all, but damn.

Batman v Superman release changes again

It appears that Marvel has officially won the battle of the release date. Warner Bros. announced that the release date for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has now changed for the third time to March 25, 2016.

BvS previously shared the release date of May 6, 2016 with Captain America 3. The studios have been battling for months over this release date and Marvel refused to budge. Warner Bros. obviously thought their best plan of attack would be to move the date again and grab audiences 6 weeks prior to the release of Captain America.
In addition to this release shift, Warner Bros. has also announced untitled dates for 9 films and 2 "event films" that haven't received titles yet.

The current WB/DC Comics schedule is now:

August 5, 2016
June 23, 2016
November 17, 2017
March 23, 2018
July 27, 2018
November 16, 2018 (event film)
April 5, 2019
June 14, 2019
April 3, 2020
June 19, 2020
November 20, 2020 (event film)


One plus side for WB is that, as of right now, none of these dates are shared with a Marvel project. That will avoid more problems like BvS has experienced. Either way this is a very ambitious schedule and I highly doubt any of these dates will stick if people don't like Batman v Superman and/or Justice League. There is no way.