The production of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens had kept almost everything under wraps for what seemed like years. There were no official cast announcements (only rumours) until the SW brain trust decided to lift the lid on production and similarly there was no official material from the film until the first trailer. With the recent D23 Expo unveiling a lot more, the latest Empire edition is also previewing some awesome stuff from the film, including this shot of new villain Kylo Ren. The issue is released later this week.
The Force Awakens is directed by JJ Abrams (Super 8) and stars Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Adam Driver (Frances Ha), Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island), John Boyega (Attack the Block) and Domhnall Gleeson (About Time).
If you felt that Comic-Con didn’t lift the lid on Disney’s upcoming works enough than D23 is for you. The expo of all things Disney enlightened us on all of their properties from Star Wars to Pixar to Marvel and all of the studio’s very own animated and live action features. Sadly there’s been no word on the likes of in the works projects such as Wreck-It Ralph 2, Frozen 2 or proposed remakes of Dumbo and Pinocchio. Firstly…
Pixar!
After critical and commercial triumph of Inside Out, the studio is rolling out its slate of six upcoming movies. The Good Dinosaur will tell the story of an alternate reality where humans are the Earth’s secondary species and dinosaurs still rule. It comes from director Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy) and stars Anna Paquin (X-Men), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading). November 25th 2015
Thirteen years after Finding Nemo, Finding Dory will pick up with the characters of the previous instalment when Dory finds herself in a marine study institute. Newly announced cast members include Hayden Rolence (Whom I Fear), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) and Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) and Angus MacLane (Toy Story of Terror) direct the cast of Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), Albert Brooks (Drive), Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Dominic West (The Wire), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man). June 17th 2016
Toy Story 4 is also on the way and a teaser poster graced and it was revealed that it will focus on a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. John Lasseter (Toy Story 1-2) and Josh Cooley (George and AJ) direct while we expect Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Joan Cusack (Say Anything) and Tim Allen (Galaxy Quest) to star. June 16th 2017
Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) has long been developing a film centred on the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead. It has finally been given a release date and a title, Coco. No casting announcements have yet been made. November 22nd 2017
Another sequel on the way is Cars 3. No plot details were offered but we do know that John Lasseter (Cars 1-2) will write and we’d expect Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) and Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector) to reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater respectively. June 15th 2018
The sequel Pixar fans have actually asking for will finally come out, 15 years after they asked for it. Assuming that the studio don’t want two sequels in the same year, The Incredibles 2 will head for a 2019 release. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) will direct while we’d expect Craig T Nelson (Poltergeist), Holly Hunter (The Piano) and Samuel L Jackson (Avengers Assemble) to star.
Next up…
Disney Animation!
Disney’s latest animation Zootopia will portray a metropolis populated by mammals. Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) were already set to star but the latest addition is pop star/actress Shakira. The directors are Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (behind the creative team of Big Hero 6). March 4th 2016
Next, the team behind Aladdin, Hercules and The Princess and the Frog arrived to unveil more from their latest work, Moana. Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) will star in the story of a plucky young woman who is assisted by a demi-god to reach a fabled island. November 23rd 2016
The newest announcement was Gigantic. Tangled‘s Nathan Greno will collaborate with Frozen’s songwriters, Robert and Kristen Lopez to bring the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to Spain in the age of exploration. March 9th 2018
Following that was…
Disney live action (aka Worlds, Galaxies and Universes)
True life disaster thriller The Finest Hours will depict the struggle for survival of a group of sailors in 1952. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs with a cast including Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella) and Eric Bana (Munich). January 29th 2016
The latest adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book was promoted by director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) as well as Oscar winning stars Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and newcomer Neel Sethi. The classic story of an orphan raised by the animals of the jungle also stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers Assemble), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters), Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter). April 15th 2016
Alice Through the Looking Glass will build upon the established world built in the Lewis Carroll books and the Tim Burton’s 2010 billion dollar hit. James Bobin (The Muppets) directs a cast featuring Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Alan Rickman (Die Hard), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Andrew Scott (Pride), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Lindsay Duncan (About Time), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner). May 27th 2016
Next up was the family fantasy adventure Pete’s Dragon, about a young boy who seeks refuge from his family with a dragon. David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) directs while the film stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Wes Bentley (Interstellar), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). August 12th 2016
Two films delivered no material as such but were teased or mentioned. Firstly, Queen of Katwe – a drama about a girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and David Oyelowo (Selma) will star with director Mira Nair (The Namesake). 2016
Also, Disney’s new iteration of Beauty and the Beast was present. The reboot (telling the story of a relationship between a monstrous prince and a young woman) is directed by Bill Condon (Mr Holmes) and stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Josh Gad (Frozen), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wonda), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks) and Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings). March 17th 2017
Finally, there was news from the fifth instalment of a legendary franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. This one will see Captain Jack in search of the trident of Poseidon. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) was announced to be returning as Will Turner for the first time since 2007. The duo of Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) direct an ensemble including Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Brendon Thwaites (Maleficent), David Wenham (300), Stephen Graham (This is England) and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men). July 17th 2017
Marvel
We won’t include Marvel’s full extensive line up but two of their instalments next year. Because of the studio’s infamous secrecy, none of the material shown has made it to the public. Captain America: Civil War showed off its trailer to the D23 audience. Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier) direct with a cast including Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Tom Holland (The Impossible), William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). April 29th 2016
Doctor Strange is another of Marvel’s latest. Scott Derickson (Sinister) directs the supernatural thriller of which the recent concept art many likened to Inception. Marvel head Kevin Feige (Iron Man trilogy) could neither confirm or deny the rumours of Rachel McAdams joining the film but we do know that Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). November 4th 2016
Star Wars
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was heralded by this stunning poster from Drew Struzan – the legendary poster designer who craft iconic works for Back to the Future and Blade Runner. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) directs a cast including Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Frances Ha) and Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island). December 18th 2015
The first spin-off has had a full title announcement, cast reveals and first still. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has added to its ranks Alan Tudyk (Serenity), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Wen Jiang (Devils on the Doorstep) and Mads Mikkelson (Casino Royale). Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will direct with the cast of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly), Diego Luna (Elysium), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). December 16th 2017
There wasn’t any news on Star Wars: Episode VIII – directed by Looper’s Rian Johnson and coming out May 26th 2017 – or the Han Solo spin off – directed by 21 Jump Street’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and coming out May 25th 2018.
It was revealed that the third and final instalment of the new sequel trilogy (Star Wars: Episode IX) will be directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) but the returning cast members are yet to be announced!
There were various fanciful rumours about who’d be taking part in Star Wars: The Force Awakens including directors Sam Mendes (Skyfall), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and David Fincher (Seven) before JJ Abrams got the gig while there were casting rumours about Daniel Craig (Casino Royale), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game). We were initially sceptic about the rumours that Benicio Del Toro was rumoured to be the villain of Force Awakens’ follow up Episode VIII but he’s now seemingly confirmed the talks.
“I can’t tell you much about it but I think that it might happen,” says the Oscar winning actor, “It looks like it’s gonna happen so I’m very excited. I can’t talk too much about it. The script is hard to get. They told me they’d cut my finger if I talk about it.” The star of Traffic, Sin City, Che, Inherent Vice and Guardians of the Galaxy will be paired with director Rian Johnson (Looper) and may also star the returning cast of Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Girls), Max Von Sydow (Minority Report) and Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is pumping up its promotion by headlining the latest Entertainment Weekly issue. The sci-fi reboot is directed by JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8) and stars Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year), John Boyega (Attack the Block, Imperial Dreams), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London, Mr Selfridge), Adam Driver (Tracks, Girls), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time, Ex Machina), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Non Stop), Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner), Carrie Fisher (The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally), Mark Hamill (The Big Red One, Kingsman The Secret Service), Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Max Von Sydow (Minority Report, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close).
The Mission Impossible series has a tradition of hiring a new director and style for each instalment from Brian De Palma’s high stakes Hitchcockian espionage to John Woo’s blend of romantic thriller and martial arts, the lensflare and shaky cam of JJ Abrams to the wonder and gadgetry of Brad Bird. With the fifth film (Rogue Nation) hitting cinemas, its director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher, The Way of the Gun) isn’t therefore able to comment on the future of the franchise but we seem likely to be getting it sooner rather than later.
With five films over 19 years, the time between movies has ranged from four to six years but MI6 seems to be bucking the trend. Reports suggest that filming will be commencing in summer 2016 meaning that we might be expecting the sequel for June or July 2017. It seems that Paramount will need to recruit McQuarrie’s replacement fast: how about The Raid’s Gareth Evans or potentially Nightcrawler’s Dan Gilroy! Maybe Cruise himself!
MI6 is likely to star the likes of Tom Cruise (Edge of Tomorrow, Jerry Maguire), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek Into Darkness), Rebecca Ferguson (The White Queen, Hercules), Ving Rhames (Only in America, Dawn of the Dead) and Jeremy Renner (American Hustle, Avengers Assemble).
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – December 18th
The San Diego Comic-Con of 2015 has arrived in style with some of the biggest announcements of the year. We’ll roundup some of the biggest events of film’s biggest weekend.
Film:The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Panelists:Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss, Silver Linings Playbook), Liam Hemsworth (Gale, The Expendables 2), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta, Escobar: Paradise Lost), Willow Shields (Primrose, Beyond the Blackboard), Francis Lawrence (director, I am Legend), Nina Jacobson (producer, One Day), Conan O’Brien (superfan) Release: November 2015
Show:Doctor Who season 9 Panelists: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor, In the Loop), Jenna Coleman (Clara, Death Comes to Pemberly), Michelle Gomez (Missy, Green Wing), Steven Moffatt (writer, Sherlock) Release: September 2015
Show:Sherlock season 3.5 Panelists:Rupert Graves (Lestrade, The White Queen), Steven Moffatt (writer, Doctor Who), Sue Vertue (producer, Coupling) Release: December 2015
Film:Rock the Kasbah Panelists:Bill Murray (Ghost Busters), Bruce Willis (Die Hard), Zooey Deschanel (Elf), Danny McBride (This is the End), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Scott Caan (Ocean’s Eleven), Mitch Glazer (producer, Magic City) Release: October 2015
Shows:Agents of SHIELD season 3, Agent Carter season 2 Panelists:Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter, Testament of Youth), James D’Arcy (Edwin Jarvis, Cloud Atlas), Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson, Much Ado About Nothing), Chloe Bennett (Daisy Johnson, Nashville), Brett Dalton (Grant Ward, Beyond Still Water), Ming-Na Wen (Melinda May, Mulan), Iain De Caestecker (Leo Fitz, In Fear), Elizabeth Henstridge (Gemma Simmons, Delicacy), Nick Blood (Lance Hunter, Babylon), Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi Morse, John Wick), Henry Simmons (Alpohnso McKenzie, No Good Deed), Luke Mitchell (Lincoln Campbell, The Tomorrow People), Jeph Loeb (producer, Heroes) Release: September 2015 and January 2016 respectively.
Film:Star Wars: The Force Awakens Panelists:John Boyega (Finn, Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Rey, Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron, A Most Violent Year), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren, Girls), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux, Ex Machina), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma, Game of Thrones), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Arkham City), Carrie Fisher (Leia Solo, When Harry Met Sally), Harrison Ford (Han Solo, Blade Runner), Kathleen Kennedy (producer, Jurassic Park), Lawrence Kasdan (writer, Raiders of the Lost Ark), JJ Abrams (writer/director, Star Trek Into Darkness) Release: December 2015
Film:Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Panelists:Lily James (Elizabeth Bennett, Cinderella), Bella Heathcote (Jane Bennett, Dark Shadows), Sam Riley (Mr Darcy, One the Road), Douglas Booth (Mr Bingley, Noah), Jack Huston (Mr Whickham, American Hustle), Matt Smith (Mr Collins, Doctor Who), Ben Sturr (writer/director, 17 Again), Seth Grahame Smith (author, Dark Shadows) Release: February 2016
Film:Crimson Peak Panelists:Mia Wasikowska (Edith Cushing, Stoker), Tom Hiddleston (Thomas Sharpe, Avengers Assemble), Jessica Chastain (Lucille Sharpe, Interstellar), Guillermo Del Toro (writer/director, Pacific Rim) Release: October 2015
Film:Warcraft Panelists:Ben Foster (Medivh, Lone Survivor), Paula Patton (Garona, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Dominic Cooper (Llane Wrynn, Captain America: The First Avenger), Travis Fimmel (Anduin Lothar, Vikings), Daniel Wu (Gul’dan, The Man With the Iron Fists), Clancy Brown (Blackhand, The Shawshank Redemption), Ben Schnetzer (Khadgar, Pride), Toby Kebbell (Durotan, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Duncan Jones (director, Source Code) Release: June 2016
Film:Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Panelists:Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne, Argo), Henry Cavill (Clark Kent, The Man From UNCLE), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince, Fast & Furious), Amy Adams (Lois Lane, American Hustle), Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor, The Social Network), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth, The Lion King), Holly Hunter (Senator Finch, Cast Away), Zack Snyder (director, 300) Summary: The superhero smackdown showed off a trailer and Q&A. Release: March 2016
Film:The Hateful Eight Panelists:Kurt Russell (John Ruth, The Thing), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Daisy Domergue, Road to Perdition), Walton Goggins (Chris Mannix, The Shield), Michael Madsen (Joe Gage, Donnie Brasco), Tim Roth (Oswaldo Mobray, Selma), Bruce Dern (Sandy Smithers, Nebraska), Quentin Tarantino (writer/director, Pulp Fiction) Release: January 2016
Film:Fantastic Four Panelists:Miles Teller (Reed Richards, Whiplash), Michael B Jordan (Johnny Storm, Fruitvale Station), Kate Mara (Susan Storm, House of Cards), Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm, The Adventures of Tintin), Toby Kebbell (Victor Domashev, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Simon Kinberg (writer, Sherlock Holmes), Josh Trank (director, Chronicle) Release: August 2015
Film:Deadpool Panelists:Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson, Safe House), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa Carlyle, Serenity), Gina Carano (Angel Dust, Haywire), TJ Miller (Weasel, Cloverfield), Ed Skrein (Ajax, Ill Manors), Brianna Hildebrand (Ellie Phimister, Prism), Tim Miller (director, Gopher Broke) Release: February 2016
Film:X-Men: Apocalypse Panelists:James McAvoy (Charles Xavier, Trance), Michael Fassbender (Erik Lensherr, Prometheus), Jennifer Lawrence (Raven Darkholme, The Hunger Games), Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy, Warm Bodies), Oscar Isaac (En Sabah Nur, A Most Violent Year), Evan Peters (Peter Maximoff, American Horror Story), Lucas Till (Alex Summers, Walk the Line), Tye Sheridan (Scott Summers, The Tree of Life), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey, Game of Thrones), Alexandra Shipp (Ororo Munroe, Ray Donovan), Kodi Smit McPhee (Kurt Wagner, The Road), Ben Hardy (Warren Worthington, Eastenders), Lana Condor (Jubilation Lee), Olivia Munn (Betsy Braddock, The Newsroom), Channing Tatum (Remy LaBeau, 21 Jump Street), Hugh Jackman (Logan, The Prestige), Stan Lee (writer, The Fantastic Four), Simon Kinberg (writer, Sherlock Holmes), Bryan Singer (director, The Usual Suspects) Release: May 2016
Film Suicide Squad Panelists:Will Smith (Floyd Lawton, Independence Day), Margot Robbie (Harleen Quinzel, The Wolf of Wall Street), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg, RoboCop), Jai Courtney (George Harkness, Terminator Genisys), Cara Delevinge (Enchantress, Paper Towns), Adam Beach (Christopher Weiss, Flags of our Fathers), Jay Hernandez (Chato Santana, Hostel), Karen Fukuhara (Tatsu Yamashiro), Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje (Waylon Jones, Thor: The Dark World), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller, The Help), David Ayer (director/writer, Fury) Release: August 2016
Disney’s ownership of Star Wars as taken the franchise in a new direction with five upcoming releases. With amazing filmmakers including JJ Abrams (Super 8), Rian Johnson (Looper) and Gareth Edwards (Godzilla), they’ve been poaching talent in – most recently Sony wonder-boys Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Jump Street). The latest rumour is that Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World) has been tempted from Universal’s Jurassic Park series to Star Wars for Episode IX. Here’s the franchise’s schedule so far.
Film: Star Wars Director: George Lucas Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness Release: May 1977 Oscar nominations: 11 Box-office: $775 million
Film: The Empire Strikes Back Director: Irvin Kershner Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones Release: May 1980 Oscar nominations: 4 Box-office: $538 million
Film: Return of the Jedi
Director: Richard Marquand Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Ian McDiarmid, James Earl Jones Release: June 1983 Oscar nominations: 5 Box-office: $572 million
Film: The Phantom Menace
Director: George Lucas Starring: Liam Neeson, Ewan MacGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Terence Stamp Release: July 1999 Oscar nominations: 3 Box-office: $1 billion
Film: Attack of the Clones Director: George Lucas Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Natalie Portman, Samuel L Jackson Release: May 2002 Oscar nominations: 1 Box-office: $649 million
Film: Revenge of the Sith Director: George Lucas Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Natalie Portman, Samuel L Jackson Release: May 2005 Oscar nominations: 1 Box-office: $848 million
Film: The Force Awakens Director: JJ Abrams Starring: Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford Release: December 2015
Film: Rogue One Director: Gareth Edwards Starring: Felicity Jones, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Claflin, Forest Whitaker Release: December 2016
Film: Episode VIII Director: Rian Johnson Starring: Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis Release: May 2017
Film: Han Solo Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Starring: ? Release: May 2018
Film: Episode IX Director: Colin Trevorrow? Starring: Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow Release: 2019
“There has been an awakening in the Force. Have you felt it?”
This opening line from the now iconic Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer belonged to the disembodied voice of Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, King Kong) but we had no idea who the character was. It’s now revealed that the master of mo-cap is playing Supreme Leader Snoke, who we’re now presuming is evil.
As well as returning favourites Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and ost of the new roles have been revealed: Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year) plays pilot Poe Dameron, Adam Driver (Girls) plays First Order enforcer Kylo Ren, Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) plays villainous commander Captain Phasma, John Boyega (Attack the Block) is ex-Stormtrooper Finn, Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) plays pirate Max Kanata and newcomer Daisy Ridley is scavenger Rey. However, Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina) and Max Von Sydow’s (Minority Report) roles haven’t been revealed.
While Marvel’s sci-fi smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy was undeniably brilliant it could have done with a more iconic villain than Ronin (Lee Pace) and let Thanos (Josh Brolin), Korath (Djimon Hounsou) and The Collector (Benicio Del Toro). After a recent suggestion that the sequel’s villain be Kang the Conqueror or the Shi’ar Empire but director James Gunn (Slither, Super) shot the rumours down. “Shi’ar and Kang are both owned by Fox. All decisions about who is in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 were made a long time ago.” This isn’t entirely promising for the film but it does mean that maybe Fantastic Four are facing Kang in a future instalment. Or the X-Men might use him to set up the Apocalypse Twins storyline to lead on from next years X-Men: Apocalypse.
GotG2 will likely star Chris Pratt (Jurassic World, The Lego Movie) as Star Lord, Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Stark Trek) as Gamora, Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper) as Rocket, Vin Diesel (Fast Five, Pitch Black) as Groot, Karen Gillan (Oculus, Doctor Who) as Nebula, Dave Bautista (Riddick, Spectre) as Drax, John C Reilly (Chicago, Wreck-It Ralph) as Denarian Dey, Glenn Close (Fatal Attractions, Dangerous Liaisons) as Nova Prime, Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, Sicario) as The Collector and Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men, American Gangster) as Thanos.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – December 18th
As it stands this is the Star Wars franchise’s directing lineup. The Force Awakens (2015) is directed by Star Trek Into Darkness’ JJ Abrams; Rogue One (2016) is directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards; Episode 8 (2017) is directed by Looper’s Rian Johnson and JJ returns for 2019’s Episode 9. There’s now a vacancy to be filled as Josh Trank (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) has (for one reason or another) quit the second spin off film. Pixar protogee Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Tomorrowland) has been mentioned with Star Wars before and he’s now discussed reentering negotiations for the series as well as some of his other future projects.
“Well, Kathy (Kennedy) and I have discussed the possibility of – I mean she’s basically saying this is a very large sandbox and other people can play in it. I was particularly attracted to the idea of picking up and – J.J. got very excited about the notion of shaping the next trilogy, and that idea was interesting to me too. But I kind of – I’m writing a sequel to The Incredibles and I can’t think too much farther beyond that. I have other things I want to do as well.”
Personally, we’d want to see someone with a solid filmography like Guillermo Del Toro (Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth) or Joss Whedon (Serenity, Avengers Assemble)
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – December 18th
Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One – December 16th 2016
Marvel (makers of The Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy), DC (makers of The Dark Knight, Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice) and Star Wars (makers of Empire Strikes Back, The Force Awakens and Rogue One) are all competing for press attention today with a load of material released from all three.
The latest issue of Vanity Fair has debuted with a plethora of reveals for the seventh Star Wars film: The Force Awakens. The shots show off returning characters Harrison Ford (Blade Runner, Raiders of the Lost Ark) as Han Solo and Peter Mayhew and Chewbacca but more interestingly we get to see Adam Driver (Girls, This is Where I Leave You) as Kylo Ren – the broadsword wielding villain we got to see in the trailers who is now unmasked. He’s accompanied by the new style of snowtrooper. The snow backdrop may be Hoth but we’ve been wrong footed before when what we thought was Tatooine was in fact Jakku.
Additionally we get to have closer looks at Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones’ Brienne of Tarth) as conflicted antagonist Captain Phasma, Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina) as Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and Oscar winner Lupita Nygon’o (12 Years a Slave) is revealed to be providing motion capture for the alien pirate Maz Kanata. There’s also on set footage of awesome practical effects aliens and fan hero JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8) directing newcomer Daisy Ridley as speeder-biker Rey.
The Force Awakens will also star Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Max Von Sydow (Minority Report).
DC are set to shift their focus towards their villains with the instalment Suicide Squad. Director David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) has tweeted the latest look at the team. From left to right there’s: Adam Beach (Flags of Our Fathers) as Slipknot, Jai Courtney (Divergent) as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevigne (Anna Karenina) as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Will Smith (Men in Black) as Deadshot, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) as Killer Croc and Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino) as El Diablo. The cast also includes Jared Leto (Panic Room) and Viola Davis (The Help).
Finally, we have some leaked concept art for the superhero sequel Captain America: Civil War and shows the titular hero battling it out with Iron Man. The Winter Soldier directors Anthony and Joe Russo return to helm the cast of Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Robert Downey Jr (The Judge), Scarlett Johansson (Her), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Chadwick Boseman (Get on Up), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy) and Daniel Bruhl (Rush).
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – December 18th
We picked up a report recently that Marvel’s candidates for the role of Spider-Man were considerably younger than previous stars Toby Maguire (The Great Gatsby) and Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as well as earlier rumours about Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) and Logan Lerman (Fury). The latest news on the subject is that The Fault in Our Stars’ Nat Wolff, The Way Way Back’s Liam James and Interstellar’s Timothee Chalamet are out of the running and two contenders remain. There are young Brits Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) and Tom Holland (The Impossible, Wolf Hall). The information comes from well informed Hollywood insider Devin Faraci. The MCU Spider-Man debuts in next year’s Captain America: Civil War before his spin off in 2017, directed by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods).
Josh Trank’s career seemed to be on a great track after the found footage superhero hit Chronicle. Fox snapped him up for the upcoming reboot Fantastic Four while Disney employed him for the second Star Wars Anthology spin off. However, Fantastic Four has been plagued by reshoots and rumoured behavioural issues and that may have worried the Star Wars brain trust (Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, JJ Abrams). The latest announcement is that Trank is no longer attached to the film despite a year’s work on it. We might be hearing about a replacement very soon.
By comparison, spin off Rogue One is running smoothly with director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) and stars Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises). Meanwhile, The Force Awakens is directed by JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) and stars Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Oscar Isaac (Drive), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Tracks), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Mr Selfridge), Max Von Sydow (Minority Report) and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings).
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