Michael Bay confirms new Transformers trilogy

Michael Bay dropped a bomb regarding the new Transformers installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction, stating that is the start of... you guessed it... a new trilogy of films.

Bay stated the fourth installment serves as a start to the next Transformers trilogy. It is unclear how much involvement Bay will have in a fifth and sixth movie, but I would assume he will at least stick on as a producer if nothing else. You can catch Transformers: Age of Extinction, starring Mark Wahlberg, on June 27th.

David Fincher leaves Steve Jobs biopic over disputes with Sony

David Fincher was all set to reunite with The Social Network team for a Steve Jobs biopic, but he has reportedly left the project over disputes with Sony.

The story is that Fincher left over disagreements with the studio and wicked demands regarding salary and control over the project. Apparently Fincher was demanding over $10 million in initial fees along with control over marketing. Sony was reluctant due to the overall failed marketing campaign for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo including allowing his "feel bad movie of Christmas" tagline and the ridiculously expensive, razor blade shaped one sheets that were banned from usage in theaters.
Sources claim that Fincher could re-sign with Sony for the project but that the studio will re-negotiate his ridiculous salary requests along with re-negotiating the marketing control. The matter at hand is being rewarded with quality and popularity, not being awarded with millions of dollars up front. Not to mention Fincher stating he would not make the movie unless Christian Bale signed on to play Steve Jobs.
Sony is trying to be a bit more fiscally responsible after the 2013 blockbuster failures including After Earth and White House Down. Sony has a bit of a reputation for spending more money than other studios and it has cost them in recent years.

The Steve Jobs project would have teamed Fincher back up with Aaron Sorkin and Scott Rudin. That team produced The Social Network back in 2010 and made $225 million worldwide along with Oscar and Golden Globe wins. Fincher's next project, Gone Girl, re-teamed him with musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and is set for release on October 3rd.

Guardians of the Galaxy will tie into The Avengers 3

Curiosity is rising regarding Marvel's next release, Guardians of the Galaxy, in terms of how it will tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Director James Gunn recently spoke on the subject and said it will tie into the third Avengers installment.

Captain America once again served as a prequel to The Avengers with The Winter Soldier going right into The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Speculation about how Guardians of the Galaxy will tie into everything has been elaborated on a bit by director James Gunn.
Gunn made perhaps the biggest statement by confirming that Thanos will be appearing in GOTG via motion capture. Thanos is described to be the "head of the snake." Many assume the villain would appear in the second Avengers film, but he was passed over for Ultron and now it seems that reason was so he could appear in Guardians of the Galaxy.
In addition to this, the Infinity Stones have been teased in the existing Marvel films. In the comics, Thanos collects the stones to power The Infinity Gauntlet which gives him ultimate and unlimited power. So far the "stones" we have seen are the Tesseract and the Aether. From what we have seen from Guardians of the Galaxy so far, the orb sought after by Star-Lord might be serving as another piece of the Gauntlet. I also wouldn't count another piece appearing in Ant-Man.

The one thing we need to remember regarding this movie is it is a precursor and introduction to Marvel Phase Three which is moving away from the main heroes we have been dealing with since Iron Man's debut back in 2008. We are dealing with different villains, different heroes, and different stories. I am sure there will be some things from Phase Two that will carry into Phase Three, but for now this is what we have and it is mighty exciting.

Allegiant to be split into two films

Following the standard for franchises these says, the Divergent trilogy has made the double-finale move and will be splitting Allegiance into two films. As far as Divergent goes, we will see the second installment titled Insurgent on March 20, 2015. The two-part finale will begin on March 18, 2016 and will end on March 24, 2017.

The standard began with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Since then we have seen a double finale for The Twilight Saga with Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2 and will get the first part of The Hunger Games finale, Mockingjay, this November. 
Divergent has had a decent start after making $117 million domestically in its first three weeks while Veronica Roth's original trilogy has sold over 20 million copies. Box sets and ebooks have risen in sales as well. 

First teaser for Girl Meets World

Aww, Cory and Topanga!

X-Men spinoff being considered by producers

We have already had a spin-off for Wolverine and had planned spin-offs for Deadpool and Magneto that pretty much got scrapped in terms of the initial X-Men Origins idea. Now the X-Men producers, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg, are considering a new spin-off featuring Mystique.

It's no secret that Mystique has risen in popularity simply because she is currently played by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence. She is pretty, popular, and is Katniss freakin' Everdeen. She also did a pretty good job as the character in X-Men: First Class. What's not to love?
This isn't really surprising as Lauren Shuler Donner has previously expressed interest in reviving the Origins storylines to feature Gambit and Deadpool. Channing Tatum's name was even thrown out there for the role of Gambit. Regarding Mystique, she thinks that Lawrence's work is being overshadowed by a crowded ensemble and she would love to have a film solely dedicated to her.

According to several fan polls floating around the internet, people just want a Deadpool movie. No one wants any other X-Men Origins films after seeing what an overall disappointment X-Men Origins: Wolverine was. The downside is the studio and producers don't want an R-rated superhero movie which is what a Deadpool movie would have to be. As far as Mystique goes, it would need a really good plot to pull me in. I like Mystique and Jennifer Lawrence, but she isn't really a solo character. I think it would be hard to carry the weight there.

Drew Goddard to direct The Sinister Six

It was spotted almost immediately after the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hit, but we now have some official confirmation that The Sinister Six will indeed be moving forward and it will be directed by Drew Goddard.

Goddard got his start writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias, as well as Lost and Angel, and made his directorial debut with The Cabin in the Woods back in 2012. Before that he wrote Cloverfield for Matt Reeves. He had already been hired to write Sinister Six, along with Marvel's Daredevil series to hit Netflix, so it is somewhat surprising to see him also picked to direct. But, at the same time it isn't that surprising.
The Sinister Six focuses on Spider-Man's villainous enemies. The comics focused on Electro, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture, and Kraven the Hunter. It does appear that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is acting as more of a precursor to The Sinister Six rather than being a direct sequel to the first Amazing Spider-Man. Set to appear in the TASM2 are Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino but there is no telling who else will be hinted at or show up. Also bear in mind that The Lizard was not killed in the first one, but was merely locked up.

There is no set timetable for The Sinister Six just yet, but Sony did announce plans to release a Spider-Man movie every year. Slots already taken are The Amazing Spider-Man 3 for 2016 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 for 2018. It is possible we could see The Sinister Six for 2017 unless Venom takes that slot and they push Sinister Six for 2019 or double up 2018 with two releases.

Chewbacca will be in Episode VII; Peter Mayhew cast

Casting is slowly leeching out for Star Wars Episode VII. We got word today that Peter Mayhew will be reprising the role of Chewbacca, Han Solo's wookiee pal, in Episode VII. There are no other details on what importance he will play but we do know that he will be in it.

Chewbacca was in the original trilogy and made a cameo appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith when Yoda visited his home planet of Kashyyyk. Rumors that original trilogy cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill will return are still running rampant. It is possible that they could appear in cameo roles along with Chewbacca. I'm personally not banking on him having a major role in this new movie. Unless Wookiees don't ever age or something.

Many are predicting a full casting announcement will be coming on May 4th due to the fact that it is Star Wars Day (aka, May the Fourth be with You), so we shall wait and see.

Wreck-It Ralph sequel in the works

Smack dab in the middle of Frozen madness, word has escaped that Disney is currently developing a sequel to their 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph.

Composer Henry Jackman let it slip during an interview for Captain America: The Winter Soldier by stating Disney is indeed working on it, but was quick to zip his lips after that.

“I can’t tell you more, not because I’m being coy, but I believe that it is officially on the cards. I don’t know any more other than a story is indeed being written. I’d be very surprised not to. I’m not blowing my own trumpet. Forget about the music. Just the movie itself I thought was a fantastically imaginative and creative piece of work.”

John C. Reilly brought this great character to life as he stormed through the video game world inside an arcade in an attempt to "game jump" and switch from being a bad guy to becoming a hero. The film grossed $281 million at the worldwide box office and was an overall success for Disney. It also featured the voices of Jack McBrayer, Sarah Silverman, and Jane Lynch.
Even though this has slipped out, Disney has a pretty full schedule ahead of them. Walt Disney Animation currently has an expected Frozen sequel in development as well as Big Hero 6 coming this November and Zootopia coming in 2016. It is possible we could see a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, but I wouldn't bank on it happening anytime before 2017 or 2018. Not unless they go the Planes route and do short films that could play before the full-length theatrical releases.

Despite how long it may take, I will be the first in line to see a sequel. I loved Wreck-It Ralph and I think it's definitely more deserving of a sequel than Frozen is. I'm still a bit lost on the whole Frozen madness thing. It wasn't even that good. Wreck-It Ralph was a lot better.

Star Wars Episode VII has begun filming

Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn dropped a small bomb the other day by revealing that Star Wars Episode VII has already begun shooting. He also noted casting is nearly complete and stated that was the most difficult part so far.

Check out the video below.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Review

Still attempting to adapt to the new world, Capt. Steve Rogers is confronted with the challenges of freedom, safety, and trust regarding his employers, peers, and a Soviet engineered assassin in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.


I have been excited for this one for quite sometime and without beating around the bush, it didn't disappoint. It avoided the drag that The First Avenger ran into and engaged the audience thoroughly. Move over Avengers because Captain America now has the best Marvel movie to date.
What I loved most about this movie is the intensity was brought to another level and it was a pretty thrilling movie in terms of the plot. It was political and challenged the viewer in terms of not really knowing who the enemy was. All the way up to the end you have a lot of questions and you don't really know who's side is right and I loved that a lot.
The casting was spot on and the continuing characters, minus Scarlett Johansson, were even better in this movie. I exclude her because truth be told, Black Widow was a lot easier to watch in previous Marvel flicks. She felt forced and boring to me in this one. Robert Redford was a powerhouse, Sebastian Stan was great, and Anthony Mackie was a very pleasant surprise. Falcon was well executed as was The Winter Soldier.
As far as the plot goes, I think this was the most well executed aspect of the film. Like I said, it was interesting and engaging and it really kept your attention. Captain America is faced with the question of whether S.H.I.E.L.D. was really in the best interest of freedom, and himself, or not. To see your main character question his place in the world is one thing, but to see him question his trust in his own country and its leaders was a whole other emotion.
I also liked how we got to see Steve's full, super soldier potential in this one. He was jumping, running, and punching his way through just about everything. His abilities were definitely more inclusive and apparent in this movie over The First Avenger and The Avengers. 

Now, there is one thing that legitimately surprised me. This serves as a disclaimer to those reading this who haven't seen it yet or are planning to take their children... there is a higher level of violence. A much higher level of violence.
Marvel movies are no stranger to fights, explosions, and car crashes but this movie seriously takes the cake. In addition to all of that we have people getting shot by fully automatic weapons, blind kills, hundreds being killed on the street at random, bombs, knife fights, brutal human on human beatings, and point blank executions. There were some little kids in my theater and I noticed parents walking them out during a couple of the major fight scenes and bringing them back after things calmed down. It definitely earned the PG-13 and I bet if there would have been blood included in all of it the film would have received an R-rating based on violence alone.
I'm not one of those people who advocates for less violence in film because I know it's pretend, but I think it could have been toned down a bit due to the nature of what these Marvel films are. People are taking their kids to see these movies because they are comic book superhero movies. When you have random people being thrown off rooftops and getting thrown into a burning jet turbine you are pushing the line a little bit. I've read a couple spoiler reviews since seeing it and I'm not the only one who walked away with a comment on the amount of violence this movie contained, so just a heads up if you're planning on taking any small kids to see this movie. It is a violent one and it's not the same as Thor throwing his hammer at a bunch of CGI creatures or Iron Man blasting some with his beams. It is continuous person on person violence often resulting in death. Don't bring your kids and say you weren't warned.

I don't want to spoil the rest of anything, so I will stop here. If you want to read on you can click the jump below the image. There I will discuss the plot in more detail along with the mid-credit and post-credit scenes. 
Overall I would now list Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the best Marvel movie to date. Sorry, but it was better than The Avengers.

Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub to voice Ninja Turtles

Despite using different actors for the motion capture filming, Paramount has made a somewhat surprising move and has cast voice actors for two of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles roles. Johnny Knoxville (Jackass) has been given the task to bring Leonardo to life while Tony Shalhoub (Monk) will voice Splinter.

We heard Michelangelo speak in the trailer, but there is no telling on if that voice will stay the same or if the other characters will also receive voice actors. Knoxville is an odd choice as Leonardo tends to be the leader of the group, but what can you do. He's popular and recognizable.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also stars Megan Fox and Will Arnett. It opens on August 8th.

Casting news hits for Batman vs Superman

The release date changed, but WB is still moving forward with the untitled Batman vs Superman project. We got casting news today that the production has added Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, and Tao Okamoto. Prior to this, the last announcement we received was the addition of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

There are no details about which characters these three will be playing, but there is word that they are new characters. Director Zack Snyder previously mentioned that casting is going off the script which is material fans don't know about, so having these three new spots goes along with that.
You might recognize the Oscar-winning Holly Hunter from films like The Incredibles, The Piano, Thirteen, and O Brother Where Art Thou and the television series Saving Grace. Callan Mulvey has most recently been seen in 300: Rise of an Empire and Tao Okamoto was opposite Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine.

Already cast in this project are Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, and Laurence Fishburne. The film is set to hit theaters on May 6, 2016. As it stands it is set to compete against a third Captain America film, so I won't be surprised if the release date changes at least once more.

Toby Kebbell joins Fantastic Four

We know who the superhero team is. Now we know who will be their nemesis.

British actor Toby Kebbell has been cast to play the iconic Marvel villain, Doctor Doom, in the upcoming reboot of Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom (aka, Victor von Doom) was previously portrayed by Julian McMahon in the 2005 version. He joins Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Kate Mara.

Kebbell is recognizable to me as I recently saw him in The East. He can be seen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this July and in Warcraft set for March 2016.

Lionsgate announces 8th Saw film for October 2015

Lionsgate has announced their intent to finally release an 8th installment of the Saw franchise in October 2015. Leigh Whannell will not be writing or directing as has been rumored, or hoped for, by some. Saw V director David Hackl has received the privilege to ruin yet another Saw movie and it is expected that Tobin Bell will return as the voice of Jigsaw. No word on any other returning cast or if Cary Elwes will return, but that's about all we have. It's happening. I just can't.

  

 

No telling if Saw 8 will go up against yet another Paranormal Activity flick, but it is assumed it will. With the semi-success of The Marked Ones and a fifth PA movie out this fall, I won't be surprised if another one is slated for 2015.