Jessica Biel Offered Wolverine Role
Jessica Biel has reportedly been offered the role of Viper in The Wolverine, Hugh Jackman’s Japan set adventure as the gravel voiced ademantium clawed mutant hero.
Director James Mangold has already assembled a cast including Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee , Model Tao Okamoto and Grimm star Brian Tee.
It remains to be seen whether Biel will accept the role but she’ll next be on our screens catfighting with Kate Beckinsdale in the rebooted Total Recall. She’s also starring in Alfred Hitchcock biopic Hitchcock as Psycho silver screen siren Vera Miles.
Fantastic Four Reboot Gets Writer
20th Century Fox just announced they’d picked Chronicle Director Josh Trank for the task of rebooting Fantastic Four and now it seems they have a screenwriter as well. Newcomer Jeremy Slater has landed the chance to provide a script for the re-launched superhero team’s new adventures.
Slater recently provided Lionsgate with a script about H.P.Lovecraft and Universal with a teen spy comedy MY SPY, so he’s certainly in demand. Combined with Josh Trank’s welcomed appointment it seems Fox is pretty determined to take a fresh approach to their costume clad blockbusters, having seen Matthew Vaughan work such wonders with X-Men First Class.
Thor 2 Loses Villain Mads Mikkelsen
Marvel superhero sequel Thor 2 has lost its main villain with Mads Mikkelsen dropping out due to a scheduling conflict with his new NBC TV series Hannibal.
Hannibal is a prequel to Silence of the Lambs, exploring the relationship between sociopathic cannibal Dr Hannibal Lecter and FBI agent Will Graham. Ironically another American TV network is also currently developing a new series based around the backstory of Clarice Starling.
Here’s what Dannish star Mads Mikkelsen had to say about missing out on Thor 2:
“Yeah, that’s not happening unfortunately. I had a meeting with them, but they were a little too late. And then Hannibal came in, and everything just came in the same period, so now it’s not happening.”
Ironically 20th Century Fox also recently lost director David Slade (30 Days of Night, Twilight Eclipse) to Hannibal, after he abandoned their Daredevil reboot to direct the pilot of the new show.
No doubt both studios will be eager to find quick replacements as they rush to capitalise on the astonishing success of The Avengers with a growing list of films based on Marvel’s most popular franchises.
It remains to be seen who Marvel will now turn to for villainous duties in Thor 2… but don’t panic… we still have Loki.
Oz the Great and Powerful Full HD Trailer
Check out the first full length HD Trailer for Oz The Great and Powerful, Sam Rami’s curious Wizard Of Oz prequel.
Official synopsis from Disney below as well:
Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot–fame and fortune are his for the taking–that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity–and even a bit of wizardry–Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.
Q Returns In New Bond Film Skyfall
Iconic gadget maker Q will finally return to the spy franchise in Daniel Craig’s third James Bond outing Skyfall, directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes.
Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli confirmed the news today in the following statement:
“It’s a real thrill to confirm the return of Q in ‘Skyfall’ played by the enormously talented, Ben Whishaw. We are delighted to have this beloved character back in the series.”
Ben Wishaw is a young British actor best known for turns in Perfume and Bright Star. He’s also worked with Daniel Craig before in gritty Gangster film Layer Cake, ironically the film widely credited with landing Craig his role as 007.
Skyfall will explore the backstory of Bond’s MI6 boss M, played by national treasure Dame Judi Dench. Director Sam Mendes admits that working with her and this aspect of the story was a big part of his decision to take on the latest instalment of Ian Fleming’s immortal spy franchise.
“I didn’t just say yes to doing a Bond movie, I said yes to doing a Bond movie with Daniel Craig. This Bond movie and Judi Dench. Judi, to me, is one of the great actors of the English-speaking world and so it’s a question of, well, a little bit like, what can we give her that will take her to another level we’ve never seen her before? What can we do with her that will surprise or challenge even her?”