Three sequels have been confirmed for the brilliant cult sci-fi phenomenon Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time at $2.8 billion. We weren’t at all shocked to find Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, Clash of Titans) and Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness, Guardians of the Galaxy) to be reprising their roles of Jake Sully and Neytiri but a big shock came when Stephen Lang (Gettysburg, The Men Who Stare at Goats) was announced to be returning as the villainous Colonel Quaritch. We’re now even more confused now that three time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest) has been confirmed to appear in Avatar 2.
Returning (three time Oscar winner) director James Cameron (Titanic, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, True Lies, The Abyss) explains how but beware that this paragraph does contain spoilers for the first film, for the eight people who haven’t seen it. “Sigourney and I have a long creative history, dating back to 1985 when we made Aliens. We’re good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different and in many ways more challenging character in the upcoming films. We’re both looking forward to this new creative challenge, the latest chapter in our long and continuing collaboration.” There’s no hint who Weaver will be playing but I’d bet on a personification of Mother Eywa, the mother nature of Pandora.
The phenomenal writing\directing duo of Joel and Ethan Coen has brought us numerous cult classics, True Grit, A Serious Man, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Man Who Wasn’t There, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski, Fargo and No Country For Old Men to name just a few of their works. There’s now an understandable amount of hype for their new noir comedy Hail Caesar which seems to be roping in previous Coen starrers. O Brother/Intolerable Cruelty’s George Clooney (also known for Oceans, Gravity, The Descendants, Up in the Air and Syriana) and True Grit/No Country’s Josh Brolin (The Goonies, Milk, W., American Gangster) have been confirmed as part of the cast. All we’d need now is Jeff Briges, Javier Bardem and Frances McDormand and we’d have a full on Coen reunion, unlikely though.
Finally today we’ve got the second character banner for Marvel’s upcoming space adventure Guardians of the Galaxy which today features the silent green assassin Gamora. We’ll bring up the full gallery at the end of the week. James Gunn (Super, Slither) directs the cast of Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, John C Reilly, Glenn Close, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin.
Following up from the highest grossing film of all time is no simple achievement, especially with the seven year gap its leaving. 2009’s Avatar became the first film to gross over $2 billion worldwide and its director James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens, True Lies, The Abyss, The Terminator, Terminator 2) has spoken up about the development of Avatar 2, 3 and 4.
“The second, third and fourth films all go into production simultaneously. They’re essentially all in pre-production now because we are designing creatures, settings and characters that span all three films. And we should be finished with all three scripts within the next, I would say, six weeks.” Remember that Shane Salerno (Armageddon), Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds) and Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have all been appointed to work on the various sequels.
“There’s always pressure, whether it’s a new film or whether it’s a sequel, to entertain and amaze an audience,” he said. “I’ve felt that pressure my entire career, so there’s nothing new there. The biggest pressure I feel right now is cutting out things I love to get the film down to a length that is affordable. There hasn’t been a problem finding new and wonderful things to include in the movie.” The future Avatar films are expected to star Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver.
Three years have passed since the critical hammering but billion dollar takings of Dark of the Moon, Michael Bay (Bad Boys, Pain and Gain, Pearl Harbour) will release his third Transformers film, this one titled Age of Extinction. The revamped human cast of Mark Wahlberg, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci will feature alongside the classic Autobots we know and love in a sequel which looks like it’s in a pleasingly different tone to its predecessors.
This is most likely because Age of Extinction has plans to be the first in a new trilogy of ‘Formers movies, although Bay expressed doubt in directing these future instalments. We can’t argue with that decision – since 2007’s Transformers he hasn’t made a single good movie and a fresh view can solve that, leaving Bay free to make the long-desired Bad Boys 3. It’s been hinted that the central character of the new set of films could be Lockdown so we should look out for some secretive cameos in the next film.
TV phenomenon Breaking Bad’s creator Vince Gilligan and supporting star Bob Odenkirk are both set to create Better Call Saul, a comedic crime drama centred around a character from the most talked about show I can think of. While US cable AMC will broadcast the spin off in America, as it did with Breaking Bad, Netflix has once again bagged the rights so the rest of the world can find the new show online.
You’ll all know that Avatar is the greatest grossing film of all time taking close to three billion dollars worldwide. Its much hyped sequel won’t arrive until 2016, a full seven years since the original, but director James Cameron has talked more on some of the story he’s building in Avatar 2 and its following two instalments.
“At first I thought I was going to take it onto other worlds as well, in the same solar system, but it turned out not to be necessary,” the man behind Terminator, Titanic, True Lies and Aliens told the Associated Press. “I mean, the Pandora that we have imagined will be a fantasyland that is going to occupy people for decades to come, the way I see it.”
On the subject of the rumours of a deep-sea set plot, Cameron also said “There’s a fair bit of underwater stuff. It’s been inaccurately said that the second film takes place underwater. That’s not true. There are underwater scenes and surface-water scenes having to do with indigenous ocean cultures that are distributed across the three films.”
“It’s really the story of Jake Sully’s family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like The Godfather.” That’s certainly a bold statement but I don’t think it’ll take much time for the press to announce that Cameron is calling Avatar the new Godfather.
Today’s post isn’t too detailed but come by our site tomorrow for full, detailed analysis on the new trailer for Matt Reeves’ (Cloverfield) epic prequel to the classic Planet of the Apes and sequel to the brilliant Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Avatar 2 – December 2016
Better Call Saul – late 2014 on AMC (only in US) and Netflix (rest of the world)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer coverage – December 18th on Tuorhoth Movies
Avatar was the sci-fi hit of 2009, and is the highest grossing film of all time at $2.782 billion. Director James Cameron’s (Aliens, Titanic, The Terminator) greenlighted sequels (Avatar 2, 3 and 4) will begin in 2016 and will recur annually. Colonel Miles Quaritch was the real villain of Avatar and he, and his portrayer, Men Who Stare at Goats’ Stephen Lang, will return for Avatar 2. Those who haven’t seen Avatar and have plans to watch it without knowing major plot details may want to skip over the next paragraph.
If you remember, at the end of the film’s epic final battle, Quaritch is killed by Na’vi princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) when the colonel tries to kill her human boyfriend Jake Sully (Sam Worthington). “Stephen was so memorable in the first film, we’re privileged to have him back,” Cameron said. “I’m not going to say exactly how we’re bringing him back, but it’s a science fiction story, after all. His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor, who’s also become a good friend.” Worthington, Saldana and Sigourney Weaver are still only rumoured to star, odd to cast in the villain before the hero.
We move onto Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Marvel’s expected sequel to the 2011 box office success of The First Avenger is fast approaching but it’s been weeks since we got a proper bit of news about it. Today, director Joe and Anthony Russo have brought us up to speed with a few new stills (click next to cycle through) and an awesome poster (on which note the multiple SHIELD helicarriers and the Washington Monument backdrop). Then came this!
There’s only about 10 seconds worth of footage within that clip, featuring Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) joining Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), but the full trailer, which will likely be about 2 to 2 and half minutes long, premiers tomorrow on I-Tunes. Expect full coverage from us, Tuorhoth Movies. Captain America: The Winter Soldier also stars Robert Redford, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones and Jenny Agutter.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was a great financial (taking just $75 million off a $60 million budget – it didn’t loose money but, to be called a success, a film has to gross double it’s budget so that investors get more profit than they put into the film) and critical (see our verdict in August’s review here) disappointment. The immanent plans for a sequel were postponed but a recent report suggests that Lily Collins, Robert Sheehan, Jamie Campbell Bower, Lena Headey, Jared Harris, Aidan Turner and Jonathan Rhys Meyers will return for the sequel with new addition Sigourney weaver, The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes.
“The fan response, from the blogosphere and the thousands of mails we have received, has encouraged us to keep going.” Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s been overwhelmingly positive, in contrast to some other titles. We are analysing what we did wrong with the first film, particularly with the positioning and marketing, and what changes we have to make. We are working with a great group of people to reposition the franchise.”
I think by positioning and marketing Moszkowicz is referring to the fact that in this year City of Bones was going against three other teen fantasy book adaptations (flops like The Host and Beautiful Creatures, the more grown up How I Live Now and the already successful The Hunger Games, with it’s sequel Catching Fire). Filming is once again likely to start next year with a 2015 release date. By then, everyone’s realised that Twilight and The Hunger Games had a magic formula for young adult films (2014 only has The Maze Runner and Divergent – both of which are way too similar to The Hunger Games) and that attempting these kind of films are bad idea without a experienced team. I don’t think that City of Bones’ director Harald Zwart is likely to return for Ashes as he’s the man who brought you The Karate Kid remake which featured no Karate and the Agent Cody Banks films.
Peter Jackson is easily the greatest director of New Zealand, and perhaps the greatest in the fantasy genre as a whole. He brought us the immortally classic The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the underrated prequel The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey plus The Lovely Bones, Heavenly Creatures and King Kong. His 2013 and 2014 productions are continuing his Middle-Earth saga with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Dec 13th 2013) and the ultimate There and Back Again (Dec 19th 2014). But this is about Jackson’s future, post Hobbit.
“We have got a few bits and pieces that we are working on, Fran (Walsh) and I.” Jackson tells us. “The things that we are most excited about are some New Zealand stories. We just want to step off the Hollywood blockbuster thing for a while and we’ve had a few New Zealand stories in line for a while that we think would make great films. TheHeavenly Creatures mode really. But one thing has led to another and we have never had time. We’ve made a conscious decision that in the limited years we have left to make movies to tell some New Zealand stories.”
The earliest we could see any of these stories are in 2016 as 2015 is already scheduled for another sequel, The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun). He and Steven Spielberg are signed on to bring us the return to Herge’s mo-cap world of adventure. Whatever this New Zealand project is, it’s likely to star Jackson regular Andy Serkis.
Avatar 2 – Christmas 2016
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – May 2nd 2014
The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun – late 2015
Untitled Peter Jackson/Fran Walsh New Zealand project – 2016?
As Peter Capaldi roles into the role of The Twelfth Doctor for the 8th season of Doctor Who and the 50th Anniversary Special draws closer (indeed we only have to wait until November 23rd), next years thirteen episodes are coming together with one up and coming British director signed up to direct two episodes. The director/writer behind civil war drama A Field in England and horror hits like Sightseers and Kill List.
“I am very excited and honoured to be asked to direct the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who. I’ve been a fan since childhood – Tom Baker is my Doctor if you are asking,” Wheatley told Screendaily. “I’ve been watching the current run of Doctor who with my son and have discovered it all over again. The work that has been done is amazing. I’m really looking forward to working with Peter Capaldi and finding out where Steven Moffat is planning to take the new Doctor.” His often murderous filming style could be bringing back some of the excellent darkness of the series opening of season 6.
Charlie Hunnam’s casting was possibly the most controversial of the year (in a 12 months that included Ben Affleck as Batman). The Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy star was signed up to play young billionaire Christian Grey in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s novel adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey but that deal has crumbled. They’re saying that’s because the production clashed with Hunnam’s extensive TV work but I’m hoping he’s signing on for Guillermo Del Toro’s potential sequel Pacific Rim 2. Tell us in the comments who you think should join Dakota Johnson and Jennifer Ehle in the cast of Fifty Shades and fill Hunnam’s previous role of Grey
Star Wars Rebels is Disney’s attempt at returning George Lucas’ series (which they recently acquired) into animated television after Star Wars: The Clone Wars was axed at it’s prime. David Oyelowo and Tim Curry are set to lend their voices to the project and they’ve given us a first look at their new villain: the sinister Sith Lord The Inquisitor.
Disney have also given us some concept shots of their new Avatar themed area in the Animal Kingdom Park in Disneyworld, Florida. Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time at it’s 2009 release (and still is). The film’s director James Cameron has been brought in to oversee the reconstruction of Pandora (the mystical world which plays host to the plot and their heroes). Avatar’s sequels are planned for Christmas releases in 2016, 2017 and 2018 which’ll match the 2017 opening of the Pandora area.
Doctor Who season 8 – August 2014
Fifty Shades of Grey – August 1st 2014
Star Wars Rebels – 2014
The Pandora Area of the Animal Kingdom Park at Disneyworld Florida – 2017
White House Down has just been released. It stars Channing Tatum, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx and it’s director, Roland Emmerich (2012, 10,000 BC, The Day After Tomorrow, Anonymous, Godzilla) has now taken some time to tell us more about his next sequels: Independence Day 2 and 3.
We originally thought that ID 3 would soon follow 2015’s second instalment with both productions being shot back to back but know it’s apparent that no plans for ID 3 are official. “You have to set a release date otherwise another film moves into it,” Emmerich explains. “But Independence Day is my next movie, ifI get the right script. I should get the script pretty soon, then I’ll try to get it into good shape for one or two months, and if that happens, we’ll announce it and start production.”
Although he does plan to have a cliffhanger that’ll divide the two films, he says “We’ll only do the first part because we want to have the audience decide if they want to see the second, otherwise it feels arrogant. But I’m pretty confident, with the right script.” In terms of the plot, he says “It’s a parallel history. Humans rebuild whatever they have – bigger, newer, shinier – and then they forget. Maybe, 20 years later, the aliens are never coming back?” It’s unlikely this time around that our heroes will be defeating them with a computer virus. “They won’t fall for that again.”
On to another upcoming huge science fiction sequel. Avatar 2 will most likely star Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver but another new name has been thrown into the mix of potential stars: The Terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger!
There’s of coarse a gap in the film for the new villain after Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) was killed at the end of Avatar. Latino Review, who are generally reliable, reported that Arnie will be reuniting with Terminator and Terminator: Judgement Day director James Cameron for Avatar. Arnie could do with a surefire hit after the recent flop The Last Stand, although he’ll be pinning his hopes on next month’s action extravaganza Escape Plan with Sylvester Stallone.
If this rumour is true, what kind of villain will Arnie play? Will he be a leader of a rival Navi clan or a vengeful human? Also, will Disney’s Star Wars: Episode VIII or Fox’s Avatar 3 pull out of the Christmas 2017 slot? Both have set that as their production target but someone’s going to have to pull back to Summer 2017 before they begin a head-on collision.
Independence Day 2 or ID Forever Part 1 is out July 3rd 2015
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