It's Official: Apocalypse will finally be coming to the big screen in 2016 for X-Men: Apocalypse

This has been an exciting week for superhero/comic book films. From the news of a third solo Wolverine film being in development, to the announcement that Fast and the Furious actress Gal Gadot was officially cast as Wonder Woman in the Man of Steel sequel (as well as in the planned Justice League film), it seemed that news could not get any better. Well, this week just got a whole lot better as X-Men director Bryan Singer officially announced that he would finally be bringing the X-Men villain Apocalypse to the big screen in his followup to X-Men: Days of Future Past. The film will be titled X-Men: Apocalypse.

For those that are not sure who Apocalypse is, he is an ancient Egyptian who is believed to be the first mutant. He gained control of advanced alien technology which granted him vast powers, including the ability to heal from mortal wounds, the ability to withstand virtually any disease, as well as immortality. Apocalypse is most notably known to be featured in storylines that include time travel. Due to that little tidbit of information, the possibility of the time-travelling mutant Cable being teased or most likely fully introduced in Days of Future Past just increased.

On top of the news Apocalypse would be the villain for X-Men: Apocalypse, Singer gave assurances that the X-Men timeline's continuity problems would be fixed and most, if not all, questions would be answered in X-Men: Days of Future Past. He also expressed interest to expand on the X-Men universe by bringing in more mutants and stories to tell.

I, for one, am excited about this news. I have been an X-Men fan from the beginning (minus X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and I would love to see more characters finally have their big screen debut in an X-Men feature film. To be honest though, I'm still waiting on a Deadpool film. There have been rumors that Deadpool is still in the works, but I have not heard if that project has finally received the green light or not. It will also be interesting to see if Fox begins to do the same thing as Marvel by releasing two X-Men films per year. Regardless, we still have to wait until Days of Future Past makes it into theaters before we know for sure what the direction of the X-Men franchise will be.

X-Men: Days of Future Past will make its way into theaters May 23, 2014.

Source: Screen Rant

David Magee has been tapped to write the script for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair

A few months ago, back in October, it was officially announced that the Chronicles of Narnia series would continue with the development of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair. Since that time, fans have been anxiously awaiting news of who would direct the project, as well as who would be cast. While we still do not know who the director will be, we now know that screenwriter David Magee will help develop the script. This is exciting news for the fourth installment, as David Magee is previously the writer for the critically acclaimed Life of Pi.

Based off the popular book of the same name, The Silver Chair features the return of Eustace Scrubb (who we last saw in Voyage of the Dawn Treader) in an epic adventure telling of his descent into a place called Underland. According to the official C.S. Lewis website, the book is described as: "Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, a noble band of friends is sent to rescue a prince held captive. But their mission to Underland brings them face-to-face with an evil more beautiful and more deadly than they ever expected."

This news that David Magee is writing the script personally makes me very excited. I absolutely loved Life of Pi, so I am confident David Magee can bring the same level of writing to the Narnia franchise and help breathe new life into it. If Will Poulter (who originally played Eustace Scrubb in Voyage of the Dawn Treader) returns to play Eustace again I will be even more excited. I felt he did a fantastic job of bringing the character onto the big screen. I also hope that the film adaptation stays close to the book and does not try to change anything major in regards to the story itself or ultimately the spirit of the book. So far the last three adaptations have done well, so if The Silver Chair is the same way I will be happy.

As of right now there is not a release date announced for the next installment, but since they now have a writer I wonder if that will come soon, as well as the announcement of a director attached.



Source: Coming Soon

Hugh Jackman is up for the role of Blackbeard in Pan

Despite Captain Hook being Peter Pan's eternal enemy in just about every variation of the classic story, director Joe Wright decided to change things up a bit by introducing the pirate Blackbeard as the main antagonist in the upcoming film Pan.

Wright originally approached Javier Bardem to portray the character based on the real life pirate, but negotiations fell apart. Since then, Wright has turned to Hugh Jackman to fill the role of Blackbeard. Apparently Captain Hook is still going to be a part of Pan, he will just start out as a good guy before switching over to the dark si...uh, I mean before becoming a villain. There have been rumors floating around that Ryan Gosling is being considered the role of Captain Hook. I can definitely see Gosling as a good-guy-turned-bad.

In this updated version of the tale of the boy who does not want to grow up, we will see Peter as a young orphan make his way to Neverland and saves the Natives from the evil clutches of Blackbeard and his men. It sounds like the same classic story, only with Blackbeard instead of Captain Hook. The thing that has me interested is the casting choice of Hugh Jackman to play Blackbeard. To my knowledge, he has not had a villainous role yet. It would be interesting to see him branch out by doing such a role, let alone play a pirate. Jackman has done well with almost every role in which he has been casted, especially his latest as a concerned father looking for answers surrounding his daughter's disappearance in Prisoners. I have no doubt he can pull off being a pirate. If Jackman decides not to sign on for Blackbeard, I am honestly hoping for someone like Michael Fassbender to fill the role. Fassbender has proven several times he can easily pull off the dastardly villianous roles well.

Other than Peter Pan, Blackbeard, and Captain Hook, Tiger Lily is the only other character who has been confirmed to be apart of Pan. So far there has not been an official announcement of who would take the titular role, or that of Tiger Lily. The studio is rumored to be looking for a woman in her early 20's for Tiger Lily and will most likely do an open cast call for Peter Pan.

Pan is set to fly into theaters June 26, 2015.

Source: Screen Rant

Homeland star Rupert Friend could replace Paul Walker as Agent 47

Back in 2007, 20th Century Fox made an attempt to bring the popular video game Hitman to the bigscreen, with Timothy Olyphant in the title role. Unfortunately, that attempt failed due to mixed (but mostly negative) reactions from critics and fans alike. Now it seems Fox wants another stab at it by rebooting the franchise. When the project, titled Agent 47, was first announced, Fast and Furious star Paul Walker was set to star as the titular antihero. Interestingly enough Skip Woods (who wrote the script for the original Hitman film, as well as last year's A Good Day to Die Hard) has been tapped to write the script for the Hitman reboot, along with Machete Kills Kyle Ward and Predators screenwriter Mike Finch. Director Aleksander Bach, who so far has only worked on commercials for TV, will make his feature film directorial debut. Since Paul Walker's death there has been a search to find a suitable replacement for the role of Agent 47. Apparently that search might be coming to a close soon, as Rupert Friend from Showtime's television drama Homeland is in discussions to replace Walker.

I personally am not holding my breath for a good reboot of the Hitman franchise, despite my desire for one. I saw the original adaptation when it came out on DVD, and was seriously underwhelmed by the effort. Timothy Olyphant did a decent job in the title role, but the overall film was...well, to put it bluntly, it sucked. I am not quite sure what the reasoning is behind bringing back Skip Woods since his last Hitman adaptation was a misfire, not to mention that he is the one who helped write this year's laughably bad A Good Day to Die Hard. Of course, as always I will reserve judgement until I actually walk into the theater and see it (especially since I am not familiar with Aleksander Bach's work), but like I previously stated I currently don't have very high hopes for the reboot. I do think it would have been interesting to see Paul Walker as Agent 47.



For now, there is not a release date for Agent 47.

Source: Screen Rant

Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana officially sign up for three more Avatar sequels

Director James Cameron has confirmed that Avatar lead actors Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana have officially signed on for all three Avatar sequels. Each of the sequels will begin production back-to-back, beginning later this year. The first sequel will make its way into theaters December of 2016, with each of the other two sequels following in 2017 and 2018.

In an interview, James Cameron gave praise to both Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana for their work on the original Avatar: "Jake Sully is a rare combination of passion, strength, street smarts and soul, which requires a lot from an actor. Sam brought to the role a combination of sensitivity, vulnerability, and strength. Zoe captured every aspect of the character I envisioned, bringing to Neytiri a mix of delicacy, fierceness, and incredible physicality. I am beyond pleased they'll be returning with us to Pandora."

Along with the re-signing of Sam and Zoe comes the news that Cameron has brought on Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Shane Salerno (Savages, Salinger) to help flesh out the scripts for each of the sequels. James Cameron and Jon Landau will help 20th Century Fox produce the three sequels through Lightstorm Entertainment.

Back in 2009, the original Avatar broke records by becoming the highest grossing film of all time, bringing in about $2.8 billion worldwide. It also became the highest grossing Blu-ray disc of all time. Avatar also won the Golden Globe award for Best Picture; as well as several Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. It ultimately won the Oscars for Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Cinematography. It accomplished all of this despite being blasted by some audiences as being boring and unoriginal.

I'm going to most likely be in the minority here, but I greatly enjoyed the first Avatar. Sure, it was not exactly the best in regards to originality. However, what it lacked in that department it certainly made up in great performances, most notably by Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, Sigourney Weaver as the scientist Grace, and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. As someone who lives with a disability and is confined to a wheelchair, I thought Sam did one of the best onscreen portrayals of a physically disabled individual I have ever seen. He actually made me almost believe he really was disabled. I am looking forward to returning to Pandora and seeing the next adventures involving Jake Sully and Neytiri. These next three sequels are actually some of the few sequels I'm looking forward to. Since James Cameron is bringing on the screenwriters from War of the Worlds, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Savages, and Salinger, I have hope that the three Avatar sequels will be just as good, if not better, as the original.

Avatar 2 will begin production later this year and is scheduled to be released December 2016. Avatar 3 will be released December 2017. Avatar 4 will be released December 2018.


Source: Coming Soon

2014 Oscar Predictions

Earlier this week the official list of nominees for the 2014 Oscars was announced on their website. For the most part, this list has few surprises. The ones that are not surprises include American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gravity, and Captain Phillips. Some of the surprises, however, include Iron Man 3 for Visual Effects (Seriously? How did that get nominated and Man of Steel did not?), Jack*** Presents: Bad Grandpa for Makeup and Hairstyling, as well as Despicable Me 2 for Animated Feature Film (What, no love for Monster's University?). Anyways, despite these surprises the overall list of nominees should make for an interesting night on March 2, 2014.

Here is the complete list of nominees, along with my picks for the winners in each category:

Best Picture

American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Actor in a Leading Role

Christian Bale - American Hustle
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Actress in a Leading Role

Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave 
Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Actress in a Supporting Role

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska

Animated Feature Film

The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises

Cinematography

The Grandmaster
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners

Costume Design

American Hustle
The Grandmaster
The Great Gatsby
The Invisible Woman
12 Years a Slave

Directing

David O. Russell - American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Alexander Payne - Nebraska
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

Documentary Feature

The Act of Killing - Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
Cutie and the Boxer - Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
Dirty Wars - Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
The Square - Jehame Noujaim and Karim Namer
20 Feet from Stardom

Documentary Short Subject

CaveDigger - Jeffrey Karoff
Facing Fear - Jason Cohen
Karama Has No Walls - Sara Ishaq
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life - Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall - Edgar Barens

Film Editing

American Hustle - Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, and Alan Baumgarten
Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
Dallas Buyers Club - John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker

Foreign Language Film

The Broken Circle Breakdown - Belgium
The Great Beauty - Italy
The Hunt - Denmark
The Missing Picture - Cambodia
Omar - Palestine

Makeup and Hairstyling

Dallas Buyers Club - Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
Jack*** Presents: Bad Grandpa - Stephen Prouty
The Lone Ranger - Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Music (Original Score)

The Book Thief - John Williams
Gravity - Steven Price
Her - William Butler and Owen Pallett
Philomena - Alexandre Desplat
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

Music (Original Song)

"Happy" from Despicable Me 2 - Music and Lyrics by Pharrell Williams
"Let it Go" from Frozen - Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
"The Moon Song" from Her - Music by Karen O, Lyrics by Karen O and Spike Jonze
"Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen; Lyrics by Paul Hewson

Production Design

American Hustle - Judy Becker (Production Design), Heather Loeffler (Set Decoration)
Gravity - Andy Nicholson (Production Design), Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard (Set Decoration)
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin (Production Design), Beverly Dunn (Set Decoration)
Her - K.K. Barrett (Production Design), Gene Serdena (Set Decoration)
12 Years a Slave - Adam Stockhausen (Production Design), Alice Baker (Set Decoration)

Short Film (Animated)

Feral - Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
Get a Horse! - Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
Mr. Hublot - Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
Possessions - Shuhei Morita
Room on the Broom - Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

Short Film (Live Action)

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me) - Esteban Crespo
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) - Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
Helium - Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) - Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
The Voorman Problem - Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

Sound Editing

All is Lost - Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
Captain Phillips - Oliver Tarney
Gravity - Glenn Freemantle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Brent Burge and Chris Ward
Lone Survivor - Wylie Stateman

Sound Mixing

Captain Phillips - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestonwood Smith and Chris Munro
Gravity - Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanek and Tony Johnson
Inside Llewyn Davis - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Lone Survivor - Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

Visual Effects

Gravity - Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
Iron Man 3 - Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
The Lone Ranger - Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
Star Trek Into Darkness - Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossman and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips - Billy Ray
Philomena - Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter

Writing (Original Screenplay)

American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club - Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
Her - Spike Jonze
Nebraska - Bob Nelson

As I mentioned above, for the most part I am not really surprised at who was nominated in each of these categories. I do wish The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had been nominated for either Costume Design or Makeup and Hairstyling - Effie Trinket's hair alone deserves a nomination. No nominations for Man of Steel is a bit surprising as well.

Choosing my favorites to win in each category proved to be pretty difficult considering I have not had the chance to see a lot of these nominated films. Hopefully before the Oscars airs on March 2 I will be able to see a few more of them. Who knows, maybe after seeing a few more nominated films my Oscar predictions might change.

UPDATE: After seeing all the winners and comparing them to my predictions, I ended up with 14 out of 24 correct predictions. Not too bad considering I did not have the chance to see all the nominees beforehand.

The Official Domestic Trailer for The Raid: Berendal Has Arrived

Earlier today the domestic trailer for The Raid: Berendal, the long-awaited sequel to the smash martial arts hit The Raid: Redemption, was released - and I have to say, I am excited for its release. I think it is safe to say Gareth Evans (the director of both The Raid: Redemption and Berendal) kept his promise of making the sequel even bigger and better than the original.

Picking up where The Raid: Redemption left off, Rama has come back after defeating the small army of criminals in the apartment building only to find himself a target of the criminal underworld. To keep his wife and his infant son safe, he must go undercover and work his way through the ranks of the underworld to weed out the corrupt officials at the head of the organization.

Throughout the 90 second trailer you can feel the tension rising as the main character Rama goes undercover to bring down the entire criminal underworld. It also boasts some pretty impressive fight scenes. Time will tell if the sequel can ultimately live up to the potential of the original, but if the trailer is only a fraction of what we will get in the film as a whole then I have no doubt it can and will be just as good. The only downside is the release of the sequel is still two more months away.

The Raid: Berendal is set to be released on March 28, 2014.

Source: Coming Soon