Fantastic Four & Daredevil Reboot News
20th Century Fox has announced that Chronicle Director Josh Trank will be the man responsible for reviving the Fantastic Four franchise on the big screen. The studio already has The Wolverine and an X-Men: First Class follow up on the immediate horizon, but they’re clearly keen to capitalize on the unprecedented success of The Avengers as much as possible.
Fox has also announced they’re currently searching for someone to replace recently departed director David Slade (Twilight Eclipse) to make their Daredevil reboot a reality. A script remains in place, courtesy of a most recent re-write by first time feature screenwriter David James Kelly.
With Marvel having recently reclaimed creative control of many of their popular superhero franchises, Fox will be hoping that they can quickly erase memories of disappointing past efforts and build on the recent success of First Class. Fantastic Four in particular offers them a potentially lucrative superhero team to play with. No news of casting yet or hint at what direction these new versions of the costume clad adventures might take.
It is already clear though that 20Th Century Fox won’t be turning to stars of past films like Chris Evans, Jessica Alba or Ben Affleck as they search for a fresh batch of stars to suit up. Let us know your suggestions…
Forth Hunger Games Film Confirmed
Lionsgate has officially confirmed that it will follow the example of the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter by splitting Mockingjay the final book in The Hunger Games Series into two parts, stretching their successful film franchise into four films.
The first Hunger Games film has already taken £436 million pounds worldwide in cinemas alone. Only Marvel’s record breaking superhero blockbuster Avengers has kept it from being the highest grossing film of the year.
The inevitable news that Lionsgate will stretch out the Hunger Games as much as possible is hardly surprising. Especially given that the studio is already widely reported to be eagerly considering ways to further extend or even instantly reboot the vastly profitable Twilight Saga they recently acquired by buying Summit Entertainment.
As Lionsgate hastily rushes into production this September on second instalment Catching Fire, some fans may harbour slight concerns about the studios motives and whether it will affect the quality of the finished films. Water For Elephants Director Francis Lawrence has already replaced Gary Ross, who left amid apparent concerns over the rapid shooting schedule.
The recent addition of respected Oscar Winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman to the cast alongside returning stars Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland and Jennifer Lawrence should give fans some reassurance. Hoffman is set to play new Games Master Plutarch Heavensbee.
The Wolverine Adds Asian Cast
The Wolverine, Hugh Jackman’s next adventure as the gravel voiced ademantium clawed mutant hero has officially started adding cast members. Director James Mangold has assembled the distinctly Asian talents of Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi and Rila Fukushima. Elektra star Will Yun Lee will also add another superhero spin off to his resume, playing Kenuichio Harada aka Silver Samurai.
Model Tao Okamoto takes on the role of inevitable love interest as Mariko, the daughter of a powerful crime family. While Grimm star Brian Tee plays her fiancé, a corrupt government official who’s not such a fan of Hugh Jackman’s rugged charms.
Most people will be fairly unsurprised by this casting with most of the film’s action set in Japan, though the more cynically minded may suggest that perhaps these were the only people they could find who hadn’t seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Fassbender Set For Assassin’s Creed Movie
Michael Fassbender is reportedly attached to produce and star in the movie adaptation of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed. The increasingly acclaimed and popular star of X-Men First Class, Shame & Prometheus will take on the lead role as Desmond Miles, a modern day bartender who uses a magical device called the Animus to relive the past adventures of his Assassin ancestors in a quest to find mystical artefacts that control the fate of mankind.
Sony had previously been in talks to develop the project, but Ubisoft now looks set to handle things independently. Ubisoft are perhaps understandably wary about handing over their bestselling-series to outside studios after Disney’s expensive Prince of Persia adaptation proved a commercial and critical disappointment.
Ubisoft will certainly hope that Fassbender’s rising star power and audience appetites for stealthy historical killers prove more lucrative than a buff British Jake Gyllenhaal did.
Oz The Great And Powerful New Poster
Here’s the first teaser poster for the Wizard of Oz prequel directed by Spider-Man and Evil Dead trilogy director Sam Rami. Oz: The Great and Powerful is set long before Dorothy arrived in the magical land for her familiar ruby slipper clad adventures. James Franco plays the young so-called wizard, embarking on his own adventures thanks to a rather dramatic ballooning mishap.
Including the iconic yellow brick road, twisters and dazzling Emerald City in this single image is obviously designed to reassure audiences that all the whimsical charms of the much beloved Judy Garland classic will still be a big part of this re-imagining. Indeed it’s even been leaked that Rami’s new vision will mimic the 1939 classic in making a transition from early black and white to colour.
We’ll have to wait till next year to see just how far the new version departs from the familiar characters and technicolor visuals.
Full Sized High Quality Poster below for more careful analysis.
