We’ve previously reported to you that Marvel is planning on bringing the African superhero Black Panther into the Marvel Cinematic Universe; elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’ve noted that even Jeremy Renner thought his role in The Avengers sucked.  What do these two things have to do with one another?  Well, they form the crux of the latest from the Marvel rumor mill.

/Film notes that Anant Singh, the chairman of South Africa’s Cape Town Film Studios, has stated that Marvel has contacted him about filming portions of The Avengers 2 there.  And, seeing as how the Black Panther character comes from a (fictional) African country, many are connecting dots and assuming that Black Panther will be getting everything from a post-credits tease for Marvel Phase 3 to a full inclusion as an Avenger team member in The Avengers 2 or 3.

And how is that there will be room for a new Avengers?  Well, therein comes the second rumor.  As Jeremy Renner has stated his obvious disappointment with his role in The Avengers, rumor has it that Marvel is looking to recast him (a la War Machine or the Hulk), or ditch the character altogether.  /Film also notes that Hawkeye is the only Avenger thus far not scheduled to appear in any of the post-Avengers individual superhero films.

What do you think—any legitimacy to the Marvel rumors?

Just a little caveat before we start—don’t expect Christopher Nolan to direct Bond 24.  With Interstellar on the horizon, it just can’t happen.  OK, continue.

Director Christopher Nolan has previously stated that he’d like to direct a James Bond.  The entire internet seems to want Christopher Nolan to direct a James Bond film.  Christopher Nolan fans seems to want it; James Bond fans seem to want it.  And now, it seems that Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson want it, too.

The Daily Mail (via Cinema Blend) is reporting that the producers have begun “informal talks” with Nolan concerning the next 007, the as-yet untitled Bond 24.

Now, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that Nolan will direct Bond 24—the 007 producers want a new Bond film within the next three years, and Nolan is going to spend the next year and a half working on Interstellar.  Thus, he’d have to jump immediately from one gigantic project and rush headlong into another (having such a cramped schedule is why Skyfall director Sam Mendes did not return for Bond 24).

That said, the sheer fact that 007 producers have begun an informal relationship with Nolan is at least somewhat indicative of their desire to have Nolan involved in the franchise; perhaps it’s not too much to hope he may be at the helm for Bond 25.

What do you think of the Bond news?

The long-gestating plans to turn Stephen King’s gargantuan and multi-novel The Dark Tower series into a franchise of three films and a concurrent television series have hit more than a few snags over the years—the film lost leading man Javier Bardem (who was to be replaced by Russell Crowe), and then Universal bailed on the pricey project, and then Warner Bros. rejected the project, leaving it on the bottom rung of development hell in which, as /Film notes, it would be one film financed by Media Rights Capital, with maybe some sequels if the first film is a success.

That all may be changing now, as project spearheads Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, and Brian Glazer may have found alternate financial backing for the series of films and TV programs that would feature a mutli-layered storyline of multiple universes crumbling in on themselves while housed within a rose in New York City.   Deadline notes that Grazer has stated a “Silicon Valley investor” has offered to finance the multiple films and TV seasons.

What does this mean for the project?  Well, no one knows at this point—as /Film notes, it may be likely that Media Rights Capital and the investor collaborate together on funding the project.

What do you think of the potential Dark Tower news?

Brad Bird has firmly established himself as an inventive, exhilarating director with a flair for wild, intricate, and kinetic visuals that play like pure eye-candy with heart—from his animated works (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant, and Ratatouille) to his surprisingly awesome live-action debut with Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol.  So it’s no surprise that the director would be at the top of the shortlist to direct the newest Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode VII  But what is interesting is why he turned the gig down… and what may be in store for fans of The Incredibles.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter (via /Film), Bird confirms that he was approached to direct the newest film in the Star Wars franchise.  So why’d he turn down the cushy gig (aside from the impossible expectations that would be placed upon him, and that every Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi has been awful)?  Because he was to committed to his Tomorrowland film project:

I’ve known Kathy [Kennedy] for a while and I know George [Lucas]. And they did come to me. But the problem was, the schedule they had in mind made it impossible to do…unless I dropped Tomorrowland. And I was just really deeply into this film at that point. It’s easy to say, “Just put it on hold.” But you’re moving now; you don’t know if you’re going to be able to move later. Maybe it’s true of filmmakers like Cameron or Spielberg, but I have to act on momentum. We had reached a critical mass where it would’ve thrown the furniture around from the train stopping. I really want to see this movie. I love the Star Wars films, and I can’t wait to see what J.J. does, but it meant I’d have to shut down one dream to participate in another. I feel like [with Tomorrowland] we’re making something that’s really special and unique.

And once Tomorrowland is over, what could we expect from Bird?  Possibly, a sequel to his successful The Incredibles:

I have been thinking about it. People think that I have not been, but I have. Because I love those characters and love that world. I am stroking my chin and scratching my head. I have many, many elements that I think would work really well in another [Incredibles] film, and if I can get ‘em to click all together, I would probably wanna do that. I like the idea of moving a little more quickly in films. I’m looking for ways to accelerate the pace a little bit and figure out a way to keep creative control over these movies to a level where I’m comfortable with the end result but also speed them up a bit and make more of them. I have many different films I wanna make. It’s like a big airplane hangar and I have different projects on the floor; half-assembled in my brain. I’m interested in all of them. You kind of have to move on the ones people are willing to pay for and the ones you’re most excited about.

So—are you cool with a Bird-less Star Wars: Episode VII in exchange for Tomorrowland (which he seems far more excited by)?

The first full-length trailer for the upcoming Riddick (the sequel to Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury) plays like fan-candy to anyone who enjoys the franchise’s focus on Vin Diesel being monosyllabic, seeing things in the dark, and fighting lots of people and aliens against green-screen fantasias.  If that’s not your thing, you may wish to keep moving.

The full trailer gives a basic rundown of the film’s plot—Riddick has been left for dead on a seemingly barren and scorched desert planet, where he must face off against a series of dangerous alien predators.  Desperate, he activates a homing signal, bringing two ships full of bounty hunters ready to kill the anti-hero.  The first ship carries “a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent,” while the second ship is led “by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal.”  On top of this, a mega-storm is coming that will kill them all, a bunch of aliens are ready to murder both Riddick and the mercs, and Vin Diesel has to struggle to make facial expressions.  Pretty wild stuff:

Excited?  Riddick, which also stars Karl Urban and Katee Sackhoff, is set for a September 6 release date.

What do you think of the trailer and poster?

Source: /Film

Earlier this month, we reported to you that three things were happening—Mission: Impossible 5 was indeed happening, that Tom Cruise would definitely return to star as Ethan Hunt, and that his Jack Reacher director Christopher McQuarrie is the person most likely to helm the film (his name keeps popping up as the most likely candidate).  Now, we have one more name to add to the roster: Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce will write the Mission: Impossible 5 script.

Why has Drew Pearce been selected?  Well, it could be that his Iron Man 3 script (co-written and directed by Shane Black, who has also written such perfect screenplays as Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) went on to become the film with the second highest opening weekend ever—something, as Total Film points out, that can give a writer just a bit of cache in Hollywood.

McQuarrie has yet to be confirmed as the director, but it only seems to be a matter of time at this point.

Production of the fifth Mission: Impossible film is set to begin in the fall of 2013, once filming is completed on Cruise’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

What do you think of the MI news?

Source: Total Film

Earlier this week, we saw the first teaser trailer for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the ABC TV series that will expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the realm of the small screen, and feature Agent Coulson teaming up with a ragtag band of misfits who will eventually become a family while battling evil, because that’s what happens in almost every Joss Whedon-led project.  The teaser was OK, but didn’t offer much.  That changes now, as we have the full-length trailer for the new series.

And it pretty much confirms what we wrote above—a bunch of attractive people get banded together by Coulson to “protect the ordinary” from the extraordinary.

While the series does have an interesting premise—a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what goes on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Tony Stark isn’t busy quipping and Hulk isn’t going around smashing—but that is also something of a problem, as those moments that we’re not seeing tend to be the most enjoyable of Marvel’s films.  But hey, Whedon wrote and directed the pilot, and will be overseeing the series, so there’s hope.  There are also lots of jokes about the series’ silly name, so at least it’s self aware.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will air on Tuesdays this fall on ABC, and stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, and Chloe Bennet.

What  do you think of the trailer?

Source: /Film

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire promo engine keeps on revving its way towards the film’s November 22, 2013 release date—today, we get a new poster for the film.  And if you like your posters for Young Adult novel film adaptations to be so cheesy they represent gaudy romance paperback covers, well, we have got a poster for you.

The poster, which comes from the film’s Instagram account, @TheHungerGames (via Coming Soon), is a doozy.  In it, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) stands atop the peak of a mountain, while the clouds behind her form angelic wings, just in case you didn’t realize you were settling in for a Mary Sue fanfiction version of Battle Royale.  So, just to be clear: KATNISS IS TOTES LIKE AN ANGEL IN THIS POSTER YOU GUYZ, OMG!!!!!

In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Seriously, We’re Gonna Do The Twilight Thing And Just Keep Stretching These Titles Out, Katniss and Peeta are being celebrated for winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games by being paraded out on a Victor’s Tour of all the districts.  While this is happening, an unruly rebellion is simmering beneath the surface of society, and President Snow plans on being a total jerk with the 75 Annual Hunger Games to both quell the rebellion and Katniss’ increasing popularity.

What do you think of the new poster?

Sometimes…sometimes there simply are not enough words to capture how goofy, inane, and misguided a film or television project can be, but perhaps today we’ve found a new term to capture when a Hollywood project crosses over into simple, stupid self-parody: we’ll call it Sleepy Hollow.  Why?  Because that’s the name of a new TV series set to launch this fall on Fox.  It’s premise?  Ichabod Crane, after 250 years of death, awakens in present day to battle the Headless Horseman in modern day America, only to learn that said Headless Horseman is one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.  Oh, he also teams up with a female police partner in order to solve mysteries along the way, in order to rip of The X-Files and the National Treasure movies.

Created by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who seem to bound and determined to destroy television as well as film, the Sleepy Hollow storyline, as /Film notes, seems to cobble story elements from literally every sci-fi property it can think of.  It’s an almost staggeringly insulting trailer, and one can’t image the full series being much better.  Check it out:

So, thoughts?  Are we being unfair, or is this one of the worst trailers you’ve seen for anything in recent memory?

What do you think of the trailer?

Source: /Film

James Franco seems to have no qualms about attacking a project, no matter what the content—whether it’s making a high-concept meta-study of the gay footage excised from William Friedkin’s Cruising (Interior.Leather Bar), playing a spring rapper/gangster (Spring Breakers), or totally bombing at the Oscars.  So it makes sense that he’d be willing to write, direct, and star in As I Lay Dying, the film adaptation of one of the 20th Century’s greatest novels, written by one of the greatest writers, well, ever: William Faulkner.

The film (and the novel) tells the story of the Bundren family, who struggle to transport the casket containing their mother over 40 miles to her desired resting place, encountering all manner of disaster and hardship on the increasingly brutal and existential trek.  Think of it as a 1930s-era Wages of Fear or Sorcerer, if you will.

And Franco has really gone full throttle here—not only is he starring in the film, he wrote the script and directed the film, which costars Tim Blake Nelson, Kim Parrack, and Danny McBride.

No official U.S. release date has yet been set, but the film is set to premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

What do you think of the trailer?

OK, we’re going to do this one more time, damn it, and then that is it– Kiefer Sutherland said filming on a 24 movie would begin in 2011.  But, 20th Century Fox then shot down the script, yet Sutherland promised the film was still coming.  Then the actor promised the film would happen in 2012, and then the film became delayed before a 24 trilogy was promised.  Then, director Antoine Fuqua, who was set to direct the film, came out and said the project was finally dead due to Sutherland’s busy schedule.  And then, the series was rumored to get a mini-series spin-off rather than a film last week.

Well, it turns out the rumors were true, as the goofily-titled 24: Live Another Day is finally happening (and apparently Fox thinks have a name that reminds audiences of Die Another Day or one of those ridiculously-named Die Hard sequels is a good thing).  That’s right—Kiefer Sutherland has officially been hired to once again play super agent Jack Bauer, this time as in 12-hour TV mini-series, rather than a two-hour film or another 24-episode season that plays in 24-hour real time.

TV Line notes that Kevin Reilly, chairman of Fox, announced the news, and explained the 12-hour mini-series format vs. the 24-hour real-time format of the original series (you, know, the thing that kinda sorta defined the show and made it original):

“It’s 24 compressed over 12 weeks…It will go chronologically over the day, but it will skip hours. It will be dictated by the plot.”

He further noted that a two hour film cannot capture 24, but somehow 12 hours can capture 24, stating that 12 hours is the perfect format to display 24 hours because “the spine of the original 24 episodes was about 12 hours.  Those were when the big events occurred, and then there were little events and connective tissue in between. So we’re taking the best 12 of the 24.”

So, you can take from that statement that either half the original series was a waste of time, or Fox really doesn’t want to shell out for a full season of 24.  Either way, be happy Jack Bauer fans–24: Live Another Day will being airing in May 2014.

What do you think of the 24 news?

Source: TV Line

Ever since it was announced that Mark Webb had selected Paul Giamatti to portray goofy Spider-Man villain The Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, we’ve had our doubts.  Giamatti is an excellent actor, but… the Rhino?  Especially after the underwhelming version of the Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, the Rhino just seemed like a misstep.

While I’m not saying we were wrong at all, the newest image from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 set—that of Giamatti as the Rhino (or, rather, his alter-ego)—isn’t as disappointing as it could have been (like Electro, for instance).  Rather, he looks just as some fans assumed he would after the leaked set video last month.

Webb released the image via Twitter last week with the following message: Привет Америка. Познакомьтесь с Алексеем Сицевичем!  Roughly translated, that comes out to “Hello America. Meet Aleksei Sytsevich!”

Aleksei Sytsevich is, of course, the name of the Russian goon who eventually becomes the Rhino in the Spider-Man comics.

Giamatti looks appropriately menacing and pissy as Sytsevich, but we’re still holding out on forming an opinion until we see him in the full Rhino suit which just can’t look good.  I mean, it just can’t.

What do you think—does Giamatti have the Rhino look?