Dr No! From Russia With Love! Goldfinger! Thunderball! You Only Live Twice! On Her Majesty’s Secret Service! Diamonds Are Forever! Live and Let Die! The Man With the Golden Gun! The Spy Who Loved Me! Moonraker! For Your Eyes Only! Octopussy! A View to a Kill! The Living Daylights! Licence to Kill! GoldenEye! Tomorrow Never Dies! The World is Not Enough! Die Another Day! Casno Royale! Quantum of Solace! Skyfall! In the prestigious fifty year franchise twenty three titles have been thrown into the mix and the twenty fourth has now been confirmed.
Spectre confirms the return of the organisation that plagued Bond and the MI6 from the very beginning and through his early adventures. A similar iteration to it, named Quantum, was emerging in the early Craig films but Skyfall dropped that plot thread but this appears to be a fully fledged revival.
Also the cast has been made public officially for the first time. Returning stars of Skyfall include Daniel Craig (Munich, Layer Cake, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as James Bond, Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, 28 Days Later) as Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas, Paddington) as Q, Rory Kinnear (The Imitation Game, Southcliffe) as Tanner and Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler’s List) as M with director Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, American Beauty).
The new additions include two time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious, Big Eyes, Django Unchained) as the villain Oberhauser who we’re praying won’t be a new incarnation of Blofeld, a far too cliched character to ever master on screen. Also it’ll undoubtedly be a case (seen with Naomie Harris in Skyfall, Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises and with Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek Into Darkness) where the character’s actual identity is leaked and then has to be denied by the stars until the film is released, and by that point the twist surprises no one. Dave Bautista, better known as Guardians of the Galaxy’s dim witted hero Drax, will play Oberhauser’s henchman Mr Hinx.
Other Spectre agents include Italian star Monica Bellucci (The Matrix, Irreversible) as Lucia Sciarra and Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as Madeleine Swann. One role we are yet to discover much about is Denbigh, played by Andrew Scott. The Irish actor had a very minor role in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, appears in this year’s acclaimed British films Pride and Locke but he’ll be best recognised as Sherlock’s villainous genius Jim Moriarty. You can admire the full gallery from the announcement below.
Today’s other major release was the trailer for Terminator: Genisys, a reboot that’ll revolve around an alternate timeline. Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) directs the cast of Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Jai Courtney (Divergent), JK Simmons (Spider-Man, Whiplash) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, Total Recall). Some of the footage in the trailer is impressive but a lot of it seems to aesthetically resemble a standard, generic sci-fi blockbuster. It’s certainly shaky ground on which to start a new franchise.
A star studded cast is being lined up for Terminator: Genisys, a sci-fi thriller sequel which’ll completely rework James Cameron’s franchise. Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Zero Dark Thirty), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Jai Courtney (Jack Reacher) feature on a pair of covers for Entertainment Weekly. Although their exciting their making a bad move not marketing the Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator, Total Recall, True Lies) reprising his iconic role as T-800. The film is directed by Thor: The Dark World’s Alan Taylor.
Finally today you can see three Hollywood heavyweights made unrecognisable in the stunning makeup work of Foxcatcher. This new dark sports drama won Bennett Miller (Moneyball, Capote) the Best Director award at Cannes earlier this year and is generating major Oscar buzz. Foxcatcher stars Steve Carell (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, The Office), Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, White House Down), Sienna Miller (Layer Cake, Stardust) and Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Zodiac, Shutter Island).
James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic, Aliens) was the man who magnificently made sci-fi thriller The Terminator and its sequel, the immortal classic Judgement Day, but his lack of involvement with the rest of the series caused a franchise that sped out of control. The fifth instalment will see Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) attempting a new resurrection with the cast including original Terminator Arnold Schwarzengger (Predator), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Jai Courtney (Divergent), Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and JK Simmons (Spider-Man).
Paramount appear confident enough with the film to set preliminary dates for two more sequels. Terminator 6 will arrive May 2017 while Terminator 7 will follow up in June 2018. This isn’t the first attempt at getting the franchise to run consistently. 2003’s Rise of the Machines’ critical failure prevented the rebooting while you may remember that Christian Bale was signed on for a trilogy before various controversies plagued 2009’s Salvation. Hopefully Genisys can return the series to its former glory.
Marvel spent three years and five films establishing its main heroes, with mixed success. When the franchise’s ensemble combined in 2012’s The Avengers the series became something else entirely. Not only did it gross $1.5 billion worldwide but gained an irreplaceable spot in fan’s hearts. Marvel’s third phase saw spin off sequels Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier were great successes while Guardians of the Galaxy has proved that Marvel will be able to conquer with new properties. However next year they return to The Avengers once more for Age of Ultron.
The new banner for the film has been published online and it offers the very first full look at the android Vision, played by A Knight’s Tale and A Beautiful Mind’s Paul Bettany. Joss Whedon (Serenity, Firefly, Toy Story, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will write and direct the film that’ll also star Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, James Spader, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Hayley Atwell, Thomas Kretschmann, Stellan Skarsgard, Samuel L Jackson and Andy Serkis.
Starring: Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Karin Konoval, Nick Thurston, Judy Greer
It’s been almost fifty years since the first release of Planet of the Apes and, mainly due to its horrifying twist, has remained an iconic classic to this day but, while they may have the rare supporter, the quartet of ensuing sequels are no where near as rememberable while enough has been said on the disastrous Burton remake. In 2011, the franchise got a second chance with the unexpected delight of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The next chapter of Caesar’s story follows the ape into apocalyptic territory in hopes of becoming the sequel we’ve dreamed of.
Ten years after the global pandemic of Simian Flu, a small community of surviving humans shelter in the remains of San Francisco. Their leader, Dreyfus (Oldman), is quickly losing control of his power-deprived people and so dispatches a group lead by family man Malcolm (Clarke) to recover a nearby electric dam. However the dam is on the territory of the protective super-smart ape Caesar (Serkis) who guides a developing civilisation of his kind. When a chance at a coalition arises, conspiring members of both sides threaten to ruin the promise of cohabitation.
Inevitably the key talking point is Weta’s work on the special effects and they are stunning. It may not have the scope of Avatar but this is truly groundbreaking in its use of hoards of motion capture apes in real world locations for the first half of the film. Maybe the odd the background ape isn’t up to scratch but the detail and intricacy put into the wet fur in the opening sequence is a milestone achievement.
Effects focused films are generally quick to please on their initial views but a decade down the line it’ll becoming a gimicky mess without charm and story – that’s what divides Superman and Star Wars for met. It’d be easy to let the special effects become the USP here but thankfully DOTPOTA has the substance required.
The narrative, crafted by future Avatar scribes Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, is excellently done. Not dissimilar to a Shakespearean tragedy, it depicts friendship, mistrust and betrayal as well as the franchise’s defining themes of power play and race, even if they’re spelt out letter for letter this time around. It fantastically portrays the sense of mutual fear on both sides growing into aggression. The dialogue is good, not quite great, although ape actors can fully carry the story with their fantastic expression – the sign language subtitles may not have been necessary.
Despite the effects and writing, the real most valuable player is Andy Serkis in what could be his greatest performance. We may have seen the body language and genuinely ape-like presence before but the addition over Rise this time is the fantastic raw power of Serkis’ malleable voice. A second Academy overlook in his career (after The Two Towers) is inevitable but it won’t be any less frustrating; there’s no real excuse for mainstream prejudice now. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens), Johnny Depp (Pirates) and Alec Guinness (Star Wars) have become wildcard nods in the past and Serkis deserves it more than any.
The other standout performance is of Toby Kebbell, finally giving us a reason to get excited about the new Doctor Doom. He brilliantly plays Koba, an ape who despises Caesar’s sympathy for the humans who once tortured him. I’d deem him the best villain of the year so far and by far the most menacing. When these two acting powerhouses collide the result is the most tense action sequences since Captain Phillips.
Less admirable however are the occasionally clunky human counterparts. At the centre of this is The Great Gatsby star Jason Clarke who puts great effort into a fairly nondescript good-guy role. He’s a cut above James Franco’s scientist Will from Rise but inferior to Heston’s iconic mix of sickened and terrified as Taylor in the original.
Young star Kodi Smit-McPhee is fairly good as Malcom’s teen son Alexander although it is a hugely undeveloped role. A more laudable performance would be screen legend Gary Oldman, in far better form than in RoboCop earlier this year. He portrays Dreyfus, the surviving humans’ panicked leader, and perfectly conveys the sense of control slipping away bit by bit.
The film’s principal female characters, Keri Russell’s Ellie and Judy Greer’s Cornelia, are frustratingly relegated to dull mothering roles and barely get to influence the plot. The film draws up human/ape counterparts with Caesar/Malcolm, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurstan as Caesar’s rebellious son)/Alexander and Koba/Dreyfus but no such parallels are provided between these two. Of coarse this is never as exploitative as earlier action cinema but it’s disappointing to see this when plenty of others are getting it right.
Of coarse this naturally flows into an action packed finale and it begins stunningly. Trying as hard as I can to not give anything away in the slightest, a truly terrifying raid sequence kicks things off and it’ll be easy to spot Zulu as an obvious inspiration. The brutality of the combat, the fantastic use of slo-mo and (less dramatically) the fur all combine for a brilliantly earth-shaking scene and Reeves’ spiralling work on, what (for spoilery reasons) we shall now refer to as, “the tank shot” is simply incredible.
What ensues is a one-on-one duel between two characters audiences will come to love dearly and it defiantly ramps up the tension. While it’s leaps and bounds over its puny competition, the fight seems greatly overshadowed by the astonishing set piece it follows and perhaps a little generic for an esteemed franchise such as this.
Of coarse the work of Reeves, Jaffa, Silver, Serkis, Kebbell and co is excellent but musical maestro Michael Giacchino steals the show at every turn. Not only has he crafted some excellent monkey puns on the tracklist (The Apes of Wrath, Gorilla Warfare, Aped Crusaders, How Bonobo Can You Go, Close Encounters of the Furred Kinds…) but boldly gone into the rare territory of bombastically unnerving scores to accompany his traditional sweeping strings. It might not compare to his work on Star Trek, Up or Super 8 but beautifully homages composing of a very different era.
Faultless it is not, conforming female roles a plenty, but I’d strongly support the case that Dawn is the best Planet of the Apes yet. It’ll be nightmare picking a standout star: Gary Oldman is superb; Toby Kebbell will undoubtedly become a huge star; Matt Reeves, Weta and Giacchino have produced sterling work but Andy Serkis, a paragon to all hoping to spark a revolution in performance, is the man who’ll take his delayed position at the throne of Hollywood.
9/10
“Apes do not want war but will fight if we must! Ape…home. Human…home. Do not come back!”
The fifth instalment of James Cameron’s ailing Terminator franchise is finally kicking into top gear with production now complete but we’re mildly disturbed by the film’s indecision on an official title, a telltale sign of a messy production and lacklustre release. The simple Terminator was the working title but that swiftly morphed into Terminator: Genesis. Recently a new rumour emerged that the title had reverted back to the original Terminator. We’ve now learned of a more worrying title change; on on set teaser image promises the title Terminator: Genisys, a purposeful mispelling of the previous subtitle. The bizarre choice I think would only be explained by perhaps an unrevealed character, or more likely corporation, of that name that’d feature in the film. Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) directs the cast of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Predator), Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Jai Courtney (Jack Reacher) and JK Simmons (Spider-Man).
In today’s other major news, we finally have the results of the greatest game of chicken Marvel and DC have ever played. Earlier this year, both comic book companies adventurously set their flags at the weekend of May 6th 2016 for Captain America 3 and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. At first, most backed the Man of Steel sequel claiming the lack of fan interest but the critical and commercial success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was drastically underrated, significantly outgrossing MoS.
We’ve now gained the great surprise that DC have cracked and shifted the unpromising Dawn of Justice into a timid March 2016. Zack Snyder directs Ben Affleck (Argo), Hanry Cavill (Immortals), Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Diane Lane (Unfaithful), Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) and Jeremy Irons (The Lion King) while we’d expect Cap 3 to feature Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Scarlett Johansson (Her), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Hurt Locker), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) and Samuel L Jackson (Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction) under directors Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier).
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25th 2016
Many would argue that this Summer movie season began back in late April but, for me, releases such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, Maleficent and Edge of Tomorrow fall into the pre-summer category; the real holiday battle begins in June and runs through August. Transformers: Age of Extinction was set to kick off the season in style but has flopped with critics. Eyes are turning to Guardians of the Galaxy, Hercules and (sigh) The Expendables 3 but, with an immensely positive initial response and boasting the best special effects of this year so far, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes seems the likely candidate to carry the summer.
Its two most valuable players are star Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, The Prestige, The Adventures of Tintin, Godzilla, King Kong) and director Matt Reeves (Let Me In, Cloverfield, Felicity), a former protogee of JJ Abrams, the man who will revive Star Wars. Reeves has now revealed how the brilliant Serkis went about getting cast in Episode VII. “I showed him a bit of the movie,” he announces.
“I wanted to get some feedback. And I know that he had known and really loved Andy Serkis. But it’s the same experience I had coming in and asking to see all the footage of Andy from Rise with him in his helmet cam, so that I could understand exactly what the process was. And the thing that struck me, and actually got me so excited, was the mystery behind how great he is, is that he’s great. That he’s an amazing actor. And the scenes that I showed Abrams were of Andy just in mo-cap. And he was like, “Oh my God, he’s an incredible actor.” He was so blown away.”
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will star Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit McPhee, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer and Gary Oldman while Star Wars features Domnhall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Carrie Fisher, Max Von Sydow, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.
Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.
The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.
In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.
Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:
International Box-office Top 10:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director:Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring:Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office:$710.8 million
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million
Tuorhoth’s Top 10:
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper
Top 10 Anticipated:
Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga
We apologise for not publishing an update yesterday. We were close to finishing our report on Tim Blake Nelson’s casting as Mole Man in The Fantastic Four and a potential collaboration of Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann and Saving Mr Banks writer Kelly Marcel on an Elvis biopic. We return today though with a couple of stories that would be the biggest of the week were it not for the obvious.
We’ve still got some pretty major scoops on our hands though. You may remember that when Disney made the multi-billion purchase of Lucasfilm in late 2012, they delighted fans by confirming JJ Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode VII (which finally announced its cast of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Domhnall Gleeson, Adam Driver, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis and Max Von Sydow) as well as crushing some with the cancellation of the highly regarded animated TV series The Clone Wars, after a six season run. Later though they did announce their plans for Star Wars: Rebels, which just revealed a short teaser for the upcoming debut trailer.
Rebels fills the gap between 2005’s Revenge of the Sith and 1977’s A New Hope, so it doesn’t take place during any instalment. This brief preview offers glimpses at new characters but we can expect the full trailer, dated for this Sunday (Star Wars Day), to unveil the return of Lando Calrissian, voiced by The Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi’s Billy Dee Williams. David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Tiya Sicar (The Internship) and Freddie Prinze Jr (I Know What You Did Last Summer) also star but the most exciting aspect is the authentic design; the spaceships, the menacing villain and the Imperial propaganda posters all ooze of Star Wars style.
The excellent Matt Smith handed over the batten, after a three year run, for the lead role In British sci-fi phenomenon Doctor Who to The Thick of It’s Peter Capaldi last Christmas and is now in the process of establishing himself as a Hollywood star, a shot Smith’s Who predecessor David Tennant lost in horror misfire Fright Night. Smith’s attempts involved a supporting role in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River but he’s just landed a far bigger role.
He’s joined the cast of sci-fi sequel Terminator: Genesis, in a role Deadline describe only as major. This is likely because they hope Smith to return for the planned sequels. Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) directs Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Dom Hemingway) as Sarah Connor, Jason Clarke (The Great Gatsby, Zero Dark Thirty) as John Connor, Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard, Divergent) as Kyle Reese, Dayo Okeniyi (The Spectacular Now, The Hunger Games) as Danny Dyson, JK Simmons (Spider-Man, Juno) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (True Lies, Total Recall, The Expendables, Predator) as The Terminator.
We don’t often adventure to the world of television but when we do you now we’re talking about something big. Now that now that the previous series-turned-international-phenomenon Breaking Bad has come to its finale (or Felina), Game of Thrones is probably America’s biggest drama, although True Detective and Mad Men may have something to say about that. The recent season four premier was as big a success as ever with record breaking viewing numbers. It’s not too surprising then to hear that HBO have called for series 5 and 6.
This means one thing: George R R Martin – get writing! We can expect these future series to feature Peter Dinklage, Maisie Williams, Kit Harrington, Lena Headey, Jack Gleeson, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster Waldau and Charles Dance.
We’re pretty excited to reveal a new set of stills from simian sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. These pics confirm the tribal-like style of the apes who are still developing their civilisation. We also get a peak at how the ape/human confrontations could play out as well as some fantastic CGI, a feature which made the first film so impressive. Dawn is directed by Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves and stars Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Judy Greer (Three Kings), Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans), Keri Russell (Felicity), Kodi Smit McPhee (The Road) and Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty). Find all of the photos here (click next to cycle through).
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 17th
Game of Thrones season 4 – continues Sundays on HBO and Sky Atlantic
We start with an apology for yesterday’s absence. We’d scheduled it to be the day of my review of Marvel’s thriller Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Our review will arrive on Sunday but today we’re making up for that with some incredibly exciting film news for three of this year’s biggest movies.
In my mind, Christopher Nolan is the single greatest British writer/director of this century. He began his career with the first class thrillers Insomnia and The Following but found his big break with the psychological mystery Memento. That soon lead to him landing the director’s chair on Batman Begins. From there, he confirmed legendary status with The Dark Knight, The Prestige, The Dark Knight Rises and Inception and his technologically stunning and brilliantly written film’s has received a total of 21 Oscar nominations.
So, you won’t be surprised to hear that it is with great excitement and trepidation that we report anything to do with his new film. Still, the ever secretive Nolan has told us very little about it: it’s titled Interstellar, has a greatly impressive cast list and must have something to do with space. He’s finally given a hint at what it’s like to be working with the man who’s currently the biggest actor on the planet: the Oscar winning Matthew MacConaughey. “I needed someone who is very much an everyman, someone the audience could experience the story with,” he says of the Wolf of Wall Street, True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club star. “He’s just a phenomenal, charismatic presence in the movie. His performance is shaping up to be extraordinary.”
Nolan also added a little to do with the styling of the film. “We have spatial interiors. We built closed sets and shot it like a documentary, like they were really there.” Interstellar also stars Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Wes Bentley, Mackenzie Foy, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, David Gyasi and Matt Damon.
Today’s next snippet comes from Empire’s set-pics from the simian sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves directs the film which has released some awesome shots of the terrifying apes before their post-production motion capture transformation. The film stars Gary Oldman, Judy Greer, Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee and Andy Serkis.
Today’s final report concerns the release of the very first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Michael Bay (director of Transformers) produces this reboot of the cult animation while Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans, Battle Los Angeles) directs. The cast list includes of the action adventure includes Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn and Whoopi Goldberg.
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