Bale, Carell, Gosling and Pitt in The Big Short trailer

With a change of release date, Paramount’s The Big Short may now be entering the Oscar race. Adam McKay – writer of Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys and Ant-Man – is stepping up with a high-stakes drama about the men who made millions from the global meltdown.

Starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher, Crazy Stupid Love), Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Ides of March), Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Prisoners), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, The Lincoln Lawyer), Karen Gillan (Oculus, Guardians of the Galaxy), Rafe Spall (Life of Pi, Prometheus) and Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fight Club) – a cast with 14 Oscar nominations.

The Big Short – December 15th

Michael Fassbender in first Steve Jobs trailer

The biopic of technology pioneer Steve Jobs has had a rough ride. Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) picked up the project as a screenwriter with George Clooney (Gravity) as the initial choice. Fight Club/Seven’s David Fincher entered the director’s chair with Leonardo Di Caprio (Inception, The Aviator) and Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle) in consideration. In early 2014, these plans fell apart before director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) rescued it. Names like Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Bourne Identity), Ben Affleck (Gone Girl, Argo) and Bradley Cooper (Limitless, Guardians of the Galaxy) and the female lead was mentioned in connection Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, The Help), Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Thor) and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, The Avengers).

Eventually a cast was brought together and we can see them in action in the first trailer. The film takes place over three poignant moments in Jobs’ life and stars Michael Fassbender (Prometheus, 12 Years a Slave), Seth Rogen (The Interview, 50/50), Jeff Daniels (Looper, The Newsroom), Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Michael Clayton), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Broadwalk Empire) and Kate Winslet (Titanic, The Reader).

Steve Jobs – November 13th

Freida Pinto joins Andy Serkis’ Jungle Book

Following a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Danny Boyle’s Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, Indian actress Freida Pinto has worked with the directors Woody Allen and Terrence Malick as well as starring alongside James Franco (127 Hours), David Oyelowo (Selma), Brian Cox (The Bourne Ultimatum) and of coarse an unforgettable Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, The Prestige, The Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Caesar. Serkis has now recruited Pinto for his fantasy Jungle Book: Origins.

The mo-cap king will direct Pinto in a live action role. The cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game, Star Trek Into Darkness), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle), Naomie Harris (Skyfall, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Eddie Marsan (The World’s End, Sherlock Holmes), Peter Mullan (War Horse, Trainspotting), Tom Hollander (In the Loop), Jack Reynor (What Richard Did, Transformers: Age of Extinction) and Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine, The Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

Jungle Book: Origins – October 6th 2017

Gosling, Pitt and more confirmed for Big Short and first look at Johnny Depp in Black Mass

Writer director Adam McKay is well renowned for his excellent comedy work with Step Brothers, The Other Guys and the cult classic Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy but he’s moving into a different phase of his career with a Marvel film in the works and now the new political drama The Big Short. It has already assembled one of the finest casts of any upcoming film.

The cast of the film will feature Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March, The Notebook, The Place Beyond the Pines, Drive), Brad Pitt (Fight Club, Burn After Reading, Moneyball, Seven), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Office, Despicable Me), Melissa Leo (Frozen River, Prisoners, Oblivion, The Fighter), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, My Cousin Vinny, In the Bedroom, The Lincoln Lawyer), Rafe Spall (Life of Pi, Prometheus, What If, Hot Fuzz) and Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Psycho, American Hustle, The Prestige).

Following a chilling turn as The Wolf in Into the Woods, we can now see the latest transformation of Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Neverland, Public Enemies, Edward Scissorhands) as the gangster Whitey Bulger in the new thriller Black Mass. Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace) directs while Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey), Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises), Corey Stoll (House of Cards), Adam Scott (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad), Julianne Nicholson (August: Osage County), Peter Sarsgaard (An Education) and Kevin Bacon (Apollo 13) also star.

Black Mass – September 25th

The Big Short – 2016

Exodus: Gods and Kings review

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Ben Kingsley, Issac Andrews, Maria Valverde, John Turturro, Ben Mendelsohn, Sigourney Weaver

Off the back of the classics Alien and Blade Runner, Ridley Scott has cemented his place in the twenty first century with the hits Black Hawk Down, American Gangster and Prometheus. However, his 2013 crime thriller The Counsellor flopped dramatically. Exodus: Gods and Kings may be the film to revive the epic.

Born a Jew but raised amongst the kings of Egypt, Moses (Bale) is respected and befriended by the Prince Ramesses (Edgerton). Upon King Seti’s (Turturro) death Ramesses’ tyrannical reign begins and God recruits Moses to free his people and take them to their promised land.

What Scott applies in brilliant abundance an level of epic unachieved in his previous work. The direction is consistently grand, bold, stylish and thrilling. This effect reaches its peak in the brutality of the battles and the horrific element of Egypt’s plagues and has a technical scale to rival or even succeed Interstellar or The Lord of the Rings.

Still however stunning the filmmaking is, the film is never especially thoughtful: character development is at a standstill; the female roles are far under-attended. Even the spiritual elements are fairly broadly handled. The ever amazing Christian Bale’s performance tends to disappointingly devolve into generic Heston-esque bellows and grunts. The likes of Edgerton (Warrior), Paul (Breaking Bad), Kingsley (Gandhi) and Weaver (Alien) elevate this from the procedural action even if they never get the chance to actually flex their dramatic muscles.

Exodus is best when it is at its biggest and most brash but is a letdown in the smaller, more personal scenes. Still, Scott’s uncanny ability for the visually sublime and the large, if underused, ensemble combine for a spectacular and truly modern epic. As the monumental event it promised to be, it underachieves.

7/10

“Remember this. I am prepared to fight. For eternity.”

Weekend box-office – 20th to 26th of December 2014 – will Exodus evict Hunger Games?

Following the classics Blade Runner, Alien and Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s more recent financial success has varied. Both action epic Robin Hood’s mediocre takings of $320 million and crime thriller The Counselor’s measly $70 million but Prometheus ($400 million) proves the seventy seven year old Brit’s staying power in cinema. His new star studded biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings has clocked a budget of $140 million so it’ll be a major feat to reflect success in that. Its week of release sees it battling few other competitors but that may not guarantee its own success. We predicted its triumph last week but let’s discover what really happened.

US:

1. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Director: Ridley Scott – $24.1 million
2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $12.7 million
3. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – $7.2 million
4. Top Five – Chris Rock – $6.9 million
5. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – $6.1 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £9.8 million
2. Paddington – Paul King – £2.9 million
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – £1.1 million
4. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – £1.1 million
5. The Imitation Game – Morten Tyldum – £0.5 million

Exodus’ debut is by no means a flop but this certainly is sub-par; hopes of crossing the $300 million threshold aren’t promising. Comedy Top Five, directed by and starring Chris Rock, is the only new entry of the week. In the UK, The Hobbit’s final instalment The Battle of the Five Armies makes its debut and has marginally surpassed The Desolation of Smaug’s takings. This is a greatly pleasing sign ahead of its US release. Paddington, Hunger Games 4 and The Imitation Game all slip places. This week I’ve scored an impressive 7/10.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy
3. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott
4. Annie – Will Gluck
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy
3. Dumb and Dumber To – Bob and Peter Farrelly
4. Paddington – Paul King
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence

Christian Bale in Exodus: Gods and Kings, this week’s US number one.

Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, this week’s UK number one.

Michael Fassbender may join Seth Rogen on Jobs

One of the most difficult projects to produce is the supposedly upcoming biopic of iconic tech pioneer and founder of Apple Steve Jobs. The first point of difficulty is that one already exists, a quick fix 2013 release starring Ashton Kutcher is the titular role. This ideally more polished version began with David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Gone Girl, The Curious of Benjamin Button) directing and The Social Network’s Aaron Sorkin writing. Both Fincher and potential star Leonardo Di Caprio (Inception, Titanic, The Departed) dropped out before Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Trainspotting) boarded. Since then Ben Affleck (Argo), Matt Damon (Saving Private Ryan) and Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy) got a mention but it was Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle) who signed on but then dropped out.

Michael Fassbender is now set to join. Oscar nominated star of X-Men: First Class and 12 Years a Slave is negotiating with Sony to play Jobs while Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) is an inspired casting as co-founder Steve Wozniak. Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty) is also in the running for an unspecified role.

Jobs – 2017?

Serkis’ Jungle Book cast revealed and first official Ant-Man still

Two films with identical subject matter going head to head isn’t news. It’s happened before with Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror in 2012, Infamous and Capote in 2005, Deep Impact and Armageddon in 1998 and Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down in 2013. It always seems to end with a defined winner and loser. Rudyard Kipling’s classic fantasy novel The Jungle Book was previously best known for its 1967 animated adaptation but both Disney and Warner Bros have simultaneously decided it’s about time for another iteration. Disney had bounced into the lead in development quickly hiring Iron Man’s Jon Favreau as director and swiftly assembled an exciting cast of Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken; Warners moved on from esteemed director Ron Howard (Rush) to allow The Lord of the Rings/Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis (second unit director on The Hobbit films) to cast a darker web on the story titled Jungle Book: Origins. Favreau is well liked but Origins was the far favoured of the two. It held back till 2016 and has now unveiled its incredible principal cast.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Naomi Harris, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Rohand Chand, Tom Hollander, Eddie Marsan and Peter Mullan are all confirmed for various roles while Serkis himself will hop in front of the camera. Cumberbatch, famed as lead star of TV’s Sherlock as well as supporting roles in War Horse and Star Trek Into Darkness, will play the villainous tiger Shere Khan – (Into Darkness spoiler in next sentence) not the first Khan he’s played. Oscar winning Brit Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle, American Psycho The Fighter, The Machinist) is the reluctant hero, and panther, Bagheera, teaming with Serkis for a second time after The Prestige. Double Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, Elizabeth, The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) will portray the hypnotic python Kaa as well as reuniting with The Lord of the Rings co-star Andy Serkis (anyone sensing a theme?).

A trio of greatly underated British thesps have been cast: Peter Mullan (Trainspotting, Tyrannosaur) will play the leader of the Wolfpack (not that one) Akela, Eddie Marsan (The Illusionist, Sherlock Holmes) is fellow wolf Vihaan and Tom Hollander (About Time, In the Loop, Pirates of the Caribbean) will play Shere Khan’s jackal mercenary Tabaqui. Naomi Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Skyfall) will play Vihaan’s mate Nisha. The only newcomer is American-born and Asian-descended Rohand Chand as Mowgli. Chand has previously made small appearances in Lone Survivor and The Hundred-Foot Journey but may be best known for playing Adam Sandler’s adopted son in critical disaster Jack and Jill. In my books, the two projects were neck and neck until this point. Origins is not only more promising but may well be an Oscar contender.

Finally today we’re greatly pleased to reveal the very first official still from Marvel’s sci-fi thriller Ant-Man. The has survived a great amount of controversy following the departure of director Edgar Wright, composer Steven Price and three lead stars to at last make it to production in San Francisco. Peyton Reed (Yes Man) directs while Paul Rudd (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), Corey Stoll (House of Cards), Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Michael Pena (End of Watch), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Michael Douglas (Wall Street, The Game) star.

Ant-Man – July 17th 2015

Jungle Book: Origins – October 21st 2016

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

Channig Tatum in new poster for Foxcatcher, first stills from Exodus and Sherlock likely for Christmas return

Around four years ago, Doctor Who’s Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss set about realising their dream of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Victorian detective in the modern day. And thus born was the brilliant Sherlock, the sharpest, slickest and frankly best British drama around. The 2012 follow up to the more experimental first series was the Empire Strikes Back of second series, darker, grander but just as ingeniously complex as the original. Then earlier this year came season three, a tragically terrible bulking disappointment, chock full of poorly constructed twists and stripped of the smarts that once made the show great. Moffat divided attention between Sherlock and Doctor Who has derailed both of them.

It’ll be a long while until the series does return. Its co-lead Martin Freeman (The Hobbit trilogy, The World’s End, Fargo) has spoken out about when it will. “It looks pretty likely,” Freeman explains, breaking the silence of the tight-lipped BBC. “I’m speaking off-message here – if this was New Labour I’d get fired but a Christmas special is what I understand.” I’d expect this seasonal special to land in 2015 before another three part series taking shape for Summer 2016. Sadly, the third run of the show was a ratings smash as so there’ll be no rush to revoke the brainless format. The series will star Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington, Mark Gatiss, Louise Brealey, Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs and Andrew Scott.

Around this time of the year, those who don’t find blockbusters their thing may be lost for a film choice during this summer and may well turn their eye to the Oscar frontrunners arriving later in the year. Gone Girl, The Judge, Boyhood, Fury and Interstellar are proving popular choices but the one film everyone’s going crazy about is Foxcatcher, a wrestling drama building up to horrifying but secretive conclusion. Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball) won Best Director and was nominated for Palme D’Or when the film caused a stir at Cannes this year and directs the stellar cast of Channing Tatum (The Vow, White House Down, 21 Jump Street), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac, The Avengers, Now You See Me, Shutter Island), Sienna Miller (Stardust, American Sniper), Vanessa Redgrave (Julia, Mary Queen of Scots, Mission: Impossible) and Steve Carell (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Despicable Me, The Office). The brand new poster (above) has just been released.

Another film generating masses of hype is the new biblical epic from legendary British director Ridley Scott (Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Prometheus, Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator). Exodus: Gods and Kings (which’ll go head to head with Foxcatcher at the box office) promises some of the biggest live action sets and battles in film history, paying debt to the lavish classics of grand scale of the ’60s such as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra and of coarse The Ten Commandments. Some awesome new stills have arrived, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, of the cast, including, Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle), Joel Edgerton (Warrior, The Great Gatsby), Aaron Paul (Need for Speed, Breaking Bad), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, Aliens) and Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Gandhi).

Exodus: Gods and Kings – December 26th

Foxcatcher – December 25th

Sherlock Christmas special – December 25th 2015?