Don Cheadle joins Avengers 2 and Sony confirms Spider-Man spin offs

In the last two Iron Man films, Jim Rhodes/War Machine and, later on, Iron Patriot has impressed us as Iron Man’s sidekick but his second portrayer (Don Cheadle) wasn’t considered into the plot by director and writer Joss Whedon. Whedon returns for the biggest sequel of 2015, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we thought he’d completed his main cast with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffallo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, James Spader and Anthony Mackie but Don Cheadle has been added to the cast so we might expect other character traditionally starring in the Iron Man films such as J.A.R.V.I.S., (Paul Bettany), Happy Hogun (Jon Favreau) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), none of whom have been confirmed yet.

The next  Marvel news comes from Sony’s expanding The Amazing Spider-Man universe. We reported about a month ago that Sony were to develop a new Spider-Man spin off, possibly more centred around the villains. Later, we told you that The Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad and comic-book legend Stan Lee were working together on a new project, which we presumed to be Venom.

We can now announce that Avi Arad and another team of writers and producers are developing both Venom and The Sinister Six. They’ve got three of JJ Abrams’ team, namely Star Trek’s Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci plus Alias’ Jeff Pinker, on to make Venom with Kurtzman directing as well as writing. Meanwhile, The Sinister Six will be written by The Cabin in the Woods director and World War Z scribe Drew Goddard and Now You See Me’s Ed Solomon but we wouldn’t be surprised if the five were to crossover and work with eachother on both projects. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce with Stan Lee being an integral part of the production.

In terms of casting, Vemon appeared once before in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 where he was played by Topher Grace but that was part of Sam Raimi’s trilogy which was updated by last year’s Amazing Spider-Man. The Sinister Six are likely to be made up of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan or Chris Cooper), Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Doctor Octopus (played by Alfred Molina in 2004’s Spiderman 2, we know Doc Oc will be rebooted with a new star thanks to The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s trailer), Vulture (hasn’t been seen on screen yet but we know he’s going to arrive thanks to the new trailer again) and then either Mysterio or Sandman (previously played  by Thomas Haden Church).

The next Spidey related adventure is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Chris Cooper and Felicity Jones.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Venom – 2016

The Sinister Six – 2017

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, four more join Warcraft and David Magee writing a new Narnia

Sadly, Duncan Jones’ video game adaptation of World of Warcraft has been postponed into 2016. Colin Farrel, Paula Patton, Anton Yelchin, Anson Mount and Paul Dano are the key stars who are at least in negotiation. Others are now being drafted in as possibly new characters or replacements for those above who are no longer in the project and they are some truly major names. Dominic Cooper is best known for Captain America:The First Avenger and The Devil’s Double and he could be joining X-Men: The Last Stand, 3:10 to Yuma and The Mechanic’s Ben Foster as well as Eastenders and then Pacific Rim’s Robert Kazinsky and Rock ‘n’ Rolla’s Toby Kebbell. Vancouver filming starts next month.

A couple of months ago, we reported that a new instalment could be on the way from the CS Lewis created world of Narnia. Producer Mark Gordon is still the man responsible for adapting The Silver Chair but now David Magee, writer of Life of Pi and Finding Neverland, is working on a screenplay. The Silver Chair’s plot sees Voyage of the Dawn Trader’s Eustace assigned by Aslan to find for an elderly Prince Caspian his long lost son but Eustace’s unsuspecting school friend Jill complicates things a little. Will Poulter, Liam Neeson and Ben Barnes have played some of the above roles in the past but it’s unknown if any of them are returning. Neeson’s voice role as Aslan has often defined the series and Will Poulter and Ben Barnes’ careers have/are set to take off over the next couple of years with their roles in We’re the Millers, The Maze Runner and The Seventh Son.

Finally, the very first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has swung into action. Check it out here. It’s quite a spectacle and we only have to wait till April. The only villains we new of so far for this Marvel instalment were Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the Osbornes (Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper replacing James Franco and Willem Dafoe from Sam Raimi’s franchise) with hints at building up the Sinister Six but we didn’t realise it’d happen so quick. It’s safe to say that Harry Osborne will be the Green Goblin and we’ve got surprising cameos, ish, from Vulture and Dr Octopus, one of whom hasn’t been seen since 2004 and the other hasn’t been on our screens once, do correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t care for some of the poor, cheesy and failed adaptations of Spider-Man from the 20th century. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Sally Field also star while Marc Webb directs.

The Amazing Spider-Man – April 18th 2014

Warcraft – March 11th 2016

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair – 2016

Wonder Woman confirmed for Batman/Superman, Amazing Spider-Man 2 publishes new pics and Louis Leterrier and Sacha Baron Cohen for Grimsby

Louis Leterrier’s career has been a little sticky. His directorial debut Unleashed, starring Morgan Freeman, Jet Li and Bob Hoskins, put him forward and he was soon some lovely big budgets but all Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans fell flat. However, this year’s Now You See Me was quite a brilliant magician themed thriller. Read our review here. Sequel talk has been floating around a bit but his project after that is today’s focus.

Grimsby is the unambitious title of the new spy comedy that Leterrier’s now attached to direct. The premise, written by Borat’s Baron Cohen and Wreck It-Ralph’s Phil Johnston, is of a couple of comedic spec ops brothers on a secret mission. I think it’s going for less of the James Bond/Jason Bourne parody road that’s been well covered by Johnny English and various other attempts so I think it’ll try and go for a satirical take on say Call of Duty. Variety says that Leterrier won the job of calling the shots over I am Number Four’s DJ Caruso.

Previous Spider-Man films have suffered from a key problem. As soon as Peter Parker gets costumed and swings around he turns into a often disappointing 3-D model. It looks as if Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 it’s trying to capture a more physical Spidey (Andrew Garfield) and these new pics unveil that a bit of that as well as Jamie Foxx as the menacing Electro. Press next to cycle through. Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan, Martin Sheen and Chris Cooper.

Finally we’ve come the big news of the day which is a bit of news about Wonder Woman. Joss Whedon performed an Amazonian dance around the project for a while before he became Marvel’s main man and names such as Cobie Smulders, Megan Fox and Jaimie Alexander thrown into the mix. However, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will be the one to bring Wonder Woman to the screen but I think we guessed that. The surprise is that we’ll get to see her in 2015’s superhero clash Batman vs. Superman, as it’s titled for now.

In addition, Fast and Furious’ Gisele, or her actual name Gal Gadot, is now set to play her. Batman vs. Superman isn’t the only time we’ll be able to see Bat, Supe and Wonder Woman share the screen. Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s The LEGO Movie comes before and features the aforementioned trio as well as Green Lantern for good measure. The Danish figures will be voiced by Will Arnett, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders and Jonah Hill as well as Elizabeth Banks, Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie and Charlie Day meanwhile Batman vs. Superman has Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman as well as Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Amy Adams.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

The LEGO Movie – February 14th 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Grimsby – 2015?

New posters for The Double, Foxx and Stone to make Martin Luther King and Michael Bay plans Telemark thriller

You may have read any of my previous blogs about The Double and so know a bit about this film. Richard Ayoade (the brilliantly comedic star of The IT Crowd and director of the 2011 hit Submarine) directs this film which has some major faces of Hollywood in it; Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me, The Social Network, 30 Minutes or Less), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Stoker, The Kids Are All Right), Chris O’Dowd (Friends With Kids, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Bridesmaids), Wallace Shawn (Toy Story, The Princess Bride), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum, Cinderella Man), Noah Taylor (Vanilla Sky, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Yasmin Paige (Ballet Shoes) and Craig Roberts (Submarine, Jane Eyre) are all set to star!

The story sees Eisenberg’s character Simon as he looses his grasp on his life when his doppleganger (Eisenberg again) turns up and starts stealing everything and everyone he loves. Both Eisenberg and Wasikowska feature in these new character posters from Empire which you can enjoy be clicking next to cycle through.

Jamie Foxx (Oscar winner for Ray as well as being loved for Collateral, Django Unchained and Law Abiding Citizen) recently starred as the President in the recent action thriller White House Down. After that, he’s got a voice credit in the upcoming comedy animation Rio 2 (April 4th 2014) before he’s off to terrify Marvel fans as Electro in The Amazing Spiderman 2 (April 18th 2014) and then give us something to smile about in comedy Annie (December 19th 2014). His next potential role is in a Martin Luther King biopic though.

Oliver Stone (3 time Oscar winner of Platoon, JFK, Any Given Sunday and Wall Street fame) is set to direct the production which Paul Greengrass and Lee Daniels were linked to before. Dreamworks, who got the rights back in 2009, are going to produce the project. Screenwriter Kario Salem will be rewriting a draft script originally written by Ronald Harwood (known for smash hits like The Pianist and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the successful Quartet and Australia).

We move on to Michael Bay, director of the Transformers trilogy, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour and many others, and his possible next project called Sabotage: A Genius Scientist, His Band of Young Commandos and the Mission to Kill Hitler’s Super Bomb. It’s nothing to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams and Terrence Howard’s crime thriller of name Sabotage but it tells a story similar to Anthony Mann’s 1965 thriller The Heroes of Telemark (however based upon the yet unreleased novel by Neal Bascomb) and sees a team of heroes going into 1940s Germany and destroying Hitler’s secret weapon.

The Double – October 12th at the London Film Festival

Martin Luther King – 2016?

Sabotage: A Genius Scientist, His Band of Young Commandos and the Mission to Kill Hitler’s Super Bomb – 2016 or 2017?