Star Wars adds two cast members, Singer confirms X-Men director’s cut, first look at McKellen’s Holmes and first trailer for Exodus

Earlier this year, Days of Future Past, the fantastic seventh instalment in the X-Men franchise, became a phenomenal success critically and commercially; it’s easily the best of the series so far and the highest grossing of the year so far but those yet to see it may want to avoid the next SPOILER HEAVY paragraph.

You may well remember that Anna Paquin’s Rogue was initially set to return in the sequel/prequel/crossover as part of the 2023 team but she was completely cut bar the lineless cameo alongside James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Kelsey Grammer in the alternate future. Since then we’ve learned that the original plan was for Rogue to have been captured by the Sentinels prompting an attempted rescue by Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) whilst Wolverine is being sent back, a scene briefly glimpsed in the trailer. We’d love to see this scene in an extended cut of the film as it’d provide more screentime to the criminally underused McKellen.

Taking to Twitter for a Q&A, director Bryan Singer (X-Men 2, Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects) responded to a fan’s plea for a director’s cut with the above scene with “Yes! Coming later this year.” Hopefully out for Christmas, the director’s cut will star Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Halle Berry and Ian McKellen.

Last year, the production of Star Wars: Episode VII took to the road across the UK holding numerous auditions with thousands turning up for the chance of a part. When the main cast was unveiled only young Brit Daisy Ridley seemed to have come from the auditions but now a pair of unknowns are confirmed as part of the new ensemble. The UK’s Pip Andersen and America’s Crystal Clarke have been selected for roles yet to be revealed by the new Star Wars brain trust, the writing/directing combination of Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back), Josh Trank (Chronicle), Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla), Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Lost, Super 8) and Rian Johnson (Breaking Bad, Brick, Looper).

Episode VII will star Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Lord of the Rings), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Mark Hamill (Arkham City), Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers), Adam Driver (Tracks), John Boyega (Imperial Dreams, Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Peter Mayhew (Killer Ink), Kenny Baker (Amadeus, Labyrinth), Anthony Daniels (The Lego Movie), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, The Two Faces of January), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist, Minority Report, Shutter Island).

There have been countless on screen incarnations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes but three are running simultaneously right now. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law star in the blockbuster big screen adaptation, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman take the leads in BBC’s modern reinvention and Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu in the indirect US remake Elementary. Our perception of the character could well be rewritten with the new portrayal coming from two time Oscar nominee Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, X-Men, Apt Pupil).

Mr Holmes, previously titled A Slight Trick of the Mind, sees an elderly version of the detective retiring to a beekeeping home in the mid-twentieth century and recalling his one unsolvable case. Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, The Fifth Estate) also directs Laura Linney (Kinsey, The Truman Show, Mystic River. A first look at the film (above) was revealed earlier today.

The upcoming biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is finally beginning to take shape. Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, American Gangster, Gladiator) directs the Oscar hopeful which may well be the grandest scale seen on film yet. If it’s as good as it promises there should be masses of box office interest. Get a very first glimpse at the film here and find the first poster below. Exodus will star Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul and Sigourney Weaver.

Exodus – December 26th

Mr Holmes – 2015

X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Director’s Cut – late 2014

Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

Richard Gere for Marigold Hotel 2, McKellen talks Slight Trick of the Mind, Murray and more for B.O.O. plus Addams Family return

We’re sorry that we didn’t bring you any movie news yesterday but it was Halloween and we were busy with the festivities.

 

Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton played a group of OAP’s trying to recapture something on a holiday to India and a hotel ran by Dev Patel in Shakespeare in Love director John Madden’s 2011 hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The film’s excellent $136 million grossing has prompted sequel talk. Deadline’s report also stated that Richard Gere (Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, An Officer and A Gentleman, Chicago) is in talks. We don’t know much more but we’ll be reporting more as soon as we hear it.

 

There’s multiple productions based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes. The Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jr/Jude Law film franchise is quite excellent but my favourite is BBC’s modern day retelling Sherlock with stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and writers Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss. There’s also the US remake of Moffat’s Sherlock, Elementary, but a fourth is entering the mix and it’s very different to all the others.

 

It’s Slight Trick of the Mind, a novel by Mitch Cullin, not Conan Doyle, written in 2005 and set in the 1940s. It sees Holmes as an old man remembering his one unsolved case. Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Twilight, The Fifth Estate) will direct but the only confirmed star is Sir Ian McKellen (X-Men, The Lord of the Rings, Richard III, The Hobbit) who talks about his role.

 

“I’ve never had ambitions to play Sherlock Holmes, but this is Sherlock in a very particular place… he’s nearly 100 years old, and in retirement, and it’s more about being a beekeeper than it is being a detective.” He tells this to the brilliant Empire Magazine. On the subject of there being a young actor for the roles set in the classic Victorian Holmes setting, he said sometimes they call in Michael Fassbender to be me as a young man, and sometimes they put Patrick Stewart and me through the mangle of film technology and out we come looking 20 years younger, so who knows what will happen (See X-Men)? Then again, it’s not an expensive movie, so there probably won’t be too much CG.”

 

The long running comedy franchise The Addams Family started off with a 1960s TV series telling the story of a ghoulish family and their misadventures. It was cancelled after two brief series but they returned in the 1990s with the ’91 and ’93 film adaptations directed by Barry Sonnedfield and starring Christopher Lloyd, Raul Julia, Angelica Houston, Christina Ricci and Joan Cusack.

 

Another version is in the works and it’s not a Tim Burton project, as you might of heard. Burton and Illumination gave up on The Addams Family earlier this year leaving the space for a remake open. MGM have swooped in with plans for an animated film (CG, stop motion or hand drawn, the most unlikely option, is still unknown) are coming together but they’ll need to bring in some big names in order for there to be a chance of a greenlight.

 

Another upcoming animation project is B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. Dreamworks are bringing us this sci-fi comedy. Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) and Matt Bomer (In Time) were already signed on to voice the film but there’s been a few more castings. Bill Murray (Ghostbuster, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation), Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station, The Help, Being John Malkovich) and Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie, Legally Blonde) have joined under director Anthony Leondis (Igor).

Just so you know, this weekend is unlikely to have any film news. On Saturday, we hope to bring you our review of the new Marvel adventure Thor: The Dark World and on Sunday we have a new feature called Blockbuster Sunday which features the UK and US box office top 5 as well as my predictions for the next week.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – 2015

Slight Trick of the Mind – late 2014

The Addams Family – 2016?

B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations – June 5th 2015