Forest Whitaker in Rogue One, Katherine Waterston joins Fantastic Beasts and Rupert Wyatt in line for Gambit

The first of the Star Wars Anthology series, Rogue One, has assembled an impressive team and cast but there’s been a new addition. Oscar winning actor Forest Whitaker (Platoon, Good Morning Vietnam, Panic Room, The Last King of Scotland, The Butler) is in negotiations to join the film. It’s unclear if this is a villainous role or more of a Obi-Wan esque mentor role. Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark) writes, Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) directs and the cast includes Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Four Lions), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, Like Crazy), Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises, Killing Them Softly), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Riot Club) and Diego Luna (Elysium, The Terminal).

After Eddie Redmayne was cast as Newt Scamander, David Yates/JK Rowling’s Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been looking for two female leads. Previously, the older casting was between Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) and Kate Upton (The Other Woman) but the British star of Paul Thomas Anderson stoner comedy Katherine Waterston has instead been cast. The role has been revealed and Porpentina, whose younger sister Quennie will be played by either Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Lili Simmons (Banshee), Alison Sudol (Transparent) or Dakota Fanning (Coraline, Now is Good).

X-Men: Days of Future Past opened up the series to new areas to explore. This includes a sequel to First Class, Bryan Singer’s Apocalypse (2016, and also new spin offs such as Tim Miller’s Deadpool (2016), James Mangold’s Wolverine 3 (2017) and Josh Boone’s The New Mutants (2017). Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, Foxcatcher) has been signed on to play Gambit for a long time but he has now found a director in the form of Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Escapist).

Gambit – October 7th 2016

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – November 18th 2016

Rogue One – December 16th 2016

Ava DuVernay in talks with Marvel, Fox announce new X-Men and Diego Luna joins Rogue One

For those unaware, The Marvel Cinematic Universe so far is split into two phases: Phase 1 featured Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and Avengers Assemble while Phase 2 was comprised of Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man.

Phase 3 is set to be a belter with ten films: Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spider-Man , Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Inhumans and Avengers: Infinity War 1+2. As well as returning favourites Anthony and Joe Russo and James Gunn, Scott Derickson has been added to the directorial role call but the latest addition is Ava DuVernay. The director of Best Picture nominee Selma is reportedly either helming Black Panther (starring Chadwick Boseman and Andy Serkis) or Captain Marvel (written by Guardians’ Nicole Perlman and Inside Out’s Meg LeFauve).

Fifteen years after its debut, the X-Men franchise is moving faster than ever. The upcoming projects are Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds, Gambit starring Channing Tatum, Wolverine 3 starring Hugh Jackman and X-Men: Apocalypse starring Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters and Oscar Isaac. A new film in the canon has been announced with The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone. The New Mutants focusses on a younger team of new superheroes.

Finally, The Terminal and Elysium actor Diego Luna is part of the cast of Rogue One, the first Star Wars Anthology spin off film. The film tells the story of the rebel pilots who steal the plans for the Death Star. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) directs the cast of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, The Invisible Woman), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Four Lions), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games, The Riot Club) and Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly, The Dark Knight Rises).

Rogue One – December 16th 2016

The New Mutants – 2018?

Black Panther – July 6th 2018

Captain Marvel – November 2nd 2018

Weekend box-office – 19th of July to 1st August 2014 – will the Apes conquer the box office?

Tuorhoth Movies is back from it’s long-awaited return and we incredibly thrilled to return in time for Comic-Con (more on that soon) however that leaves us with two weeks worth of box-office to cover. So we’ll get to it with the results we’d usually of posted last week along with the predictions which we wrote at the time (honest).

US:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Director: Matt Reeves – $73 million
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – $16.5 million
3. Tammy – Ben Falcone – $12.9 million
4. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $6.7 million
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $5.9 million

UK:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – £11.8 million
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £7.8 million
3. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett – £1 million
4. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £0.6 million
5. Begin Again – John Carney – £0.5 million

These results scored us 4/10, from last week’s predictions.

US:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
2. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco
3. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
4. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan
5. Tammy – Ben Falcone

UK:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
3. How to Train Your Dragon – Dean DeBlois
4. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett
5. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone

With that out of the way, we can get to the main event of this week’s box (office) fresh results. Dawn of Apes’ mettle will be tested to the limit in its second weekend were it’ll face off with three new releases: action horror sequel The Purge: Anarchy; children’s animation Planes: Fire and Rescue and gross out comedy Sex Tape. Meanwhile in the UK, the Apes will receive their opening weekend just one week after the mammoth takings of both Transformers: Age of Extinction and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Let’s see how they got on.

US:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – $36.3 million
2. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco – $29.8 million
3. Planes: Fire and Rescue – Roberts Gannaway – $17.5 million
4. Sex Tape – Jake Kasdan – $14.6 million
5. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – $9.8 million

UK:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – £8.7 million
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £2 million
3. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – £1.8 million
4. Monty Python Live (Mostly) – Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman – £1.3 million
5. Andre Rieu’s 10th Anniversary Concert Maastricht Concert – £0.8 million

Planet of the Apes has suffered a hefty 50% cut but we can still expect it to reach $500 million internationally while The Purge’s sequel should renew the obsession of micro budget horrors for another few years. Many are trying to diagnose Sex Tape’s financial thrashing but we wouldn’t trace it down to lead stars Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz (who’ve lead plenty of recent hits) but rather the poor marketing and title choice. In the UK two rare live events have graced the charts. It’s delightful to see Monty Python getting this kind of reception and these two are the first in the top 5 that I can remember since last November’s The Day of the Doctor.

US:

1. Hercules – Brett Ratner
2. Lucy – Luc Besson
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
4. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco
5. Step Up All In – Trish Sie

UK:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
2. Hercules – Brett Ratner
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois
4. The Purge: Anarchy – James DeMonaco
5. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay

Toby Kebbell in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, this week’s UK and US number one

Weekend box-office – 12th to 18th of July 2014 – will Tammy rob the box-office from Transformers?

Comedy star Melissa McCarthy went huge and received an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in 2011’s massively successful Bridesmaids. Since, she’s had a great box-office playing both sides of the law with Identity Thief and The Heat but in both of those she was a co-star to another major actor, Jason Bateman and Sandra Bullock. Tammy is the first film where McCarthy will be tested as a lone lead star but she faces a tough challenge in the face of Transformers: Age of Extinction’s, set to be the highest grossing film of the year, second week. Last week, we predicted that it’d make a low entry but let’s see how it got on.

US:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Director: Michael Bay – $36.4 million
2. Tammy – Ben Falcone – $21.2 million
3. Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson – $9.5 million
4. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $9.4 million
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $8.8 million

UK:

1. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett – £2.1 million
2. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £1 million
3. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £0.7 million
4. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – £0.5 million
5. Tammy – Ben Falcone – £0.5 million

McCarthy’s road comedy has covered its costs but it’s a fairly lacklustre debut and we can now proudly hand over the Comedy of the Summer Award to 22 Jump Street which has reached $250 million and counting worldwide as well as great critical acclaim. Eric Bana thriller Deliver Us From Evil made a modest entry and gave fans of Marvel’s Doctor Strange a good reason to get excited. Meanwhile, this week’s UK takings prompted the worldwide gross of Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie and The Fault in Our Stars to shoot up to £9 million and $220 million respectively. This week I scored 4/10.

US:

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
3. Tammy – Ben Falcone
4. Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson
5. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller

UK:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
2. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett
3. Begin Again – John Carney
4. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
5. Boyhood – Richard Linklater

Mark Wahlberg and Jack Reynor in Transformers: Age of Extinction, this week’s US number one

Brendan O’Carroll in Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, this week’s UK number one

Weekend box-office – 5th to 11th of July 2014 – will Transformers face its Extinction?

So far this year, not one film has managed the coveted spot of $100 million in its US box-office opening weekend or gone onto $1 billion worldwide (although only 18 films ever have), Maleficent and 22 Jump Street managed about $60 million on their debuts while X-Men 7, Captain America 2, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla edged towards $90 million. Despite the fact that all but one of them have been terrible, Michael Bay’s fourth robot adventure Transformers: Age of Extinction is set to roar in its opening weekend. Last week, we predicted that the film would go top but, for the sake of cinema, we sincerely hope it doesn’t.

US:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Director: Michael Bay – $100 million
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $15.4 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $13.1 million
4. Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story – $10.4 million
5. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $8.2 million

UK:

1. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett – £4.3 million
2. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £1.7 million
3. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £1.2 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £0.8 million
5. Chef – Jon Favreau – £0.6 million

Well my attempts to boycott Transformers have drastically failed but at least it’s taken less than its franchise predecessors. I’d be greatly surprised if it doesn’t go on to surpass $800 million at least. Animation, fantasy sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 underperformed on its debut but it is recovering with its financial long livety while Maleficent continues its impressive run by storming past the $600 million mark. In the UK, the critically shunned, Irish TV adaptation Mrs Brown’s Boys has topped the box-office, mainly due to its massive success in Ireland while teen weepie, which dropped down to fifth in its second week in the US, has slipped up only one place this time round. This week I’ve scored a disappointing 3/10.

US:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
2. Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson
3. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
4. Tammy – Ben Falcone
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois

UK:

1. Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie – Ben Kellett
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
5. Tammy – Ben Falcone

Peter Cullen in Transformers: Age of Extinction, this week’s US number one.

Brendan O’Carroll in Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, this week’s UK number one

Weekend box-office – 28th of June to 4th of July 2014 – can Jump Street take Dragon and Think Like a Man too?

It’s not usual for a box-office showdown to be contended by three comedy sequels but that exact battle is taking place in the US this weekend. First off is How to Train Your Dragon 2 which was left slightly deflated by its second place entry last week but was hoping for the legs that often tread with films aimed at younger audiences. Next up was 22 Jump Street whose combination of modern wit and knowing with supreme ’80s silliness is proving massively popular for the 15+ male audience. Finally, brushing off its critical thrashing and hoping the US can look past that is Think Like A Man Too which could thrive off the largely empty weekend and Kevin Hart’s popularity. Last week we predicted that Dragon would creep up one place to the top but last find out what really went down.

US:

1. Think Like a Man Too – Director: Tim Story – $29.2 million
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $27.5 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $24.7 million
4. Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood – $13.3 million
5. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $13 million

UK:

1. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – £3.4 million
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £1.5 million
3. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £1 million
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £0.6 million
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – £0.5 million

Think Like a Man has inexplicably defeated a pair of rare critically lauded comedy sequels but any further success will be shunted down by next week’s big release. Lord and Miller meanwhile are on fine form with the two biggest comedy hits of the year (Jump Street and Lego Movie) but we’ll have to wait and see if Dreamworks’ Dragon sequel can make a worldwide impact. Clint Eastwood’s musical flick Jersey Boys made a flat entry but in the UK teen drama Fault in Our Stars has has proved to be a modest success. This week I scored a disappointing 2/10.

US:

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois
3. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
4. Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story
5. Snowpiercer – Joon-ho Bong

UK:

1. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. Chef – Jon Favreau
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer

Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley in The Fault in Our Stars, this week’s UK number one.

Kevin Hart in Think Like a Man Too, this week’s US number one.

Weekened box-office – 21st to 27th of June 2014 – will 22 Jump Street arrest How to Train Your Dragon 2?

Two huge but very different comedy sequels are going head to head in this week’s box-office in the biggest clash of the year so far. We’re experiencing a showdown between the follow up to the modern classic buddy cop infiltration 21 Jump Street and sequel to the massively successful fantasy animation How to Train Your Dragon. Meanwhile in the UK, the lack of major openings could allow Jump Street to extend its run and lo-fi horror Oculus to break the top 5. Last week, we predicted that the Dragons would rule but let’s find us what really went down.

US:

1. 22 Jump Street – Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $60 million
2. How to Train Your Dragon – Dean DeBlois – $50 million
3. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $19 million
4. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – $16.2 million
5. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – $15.7 million

UK:

1. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £2.3 million
2. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £1.6 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £0.9 million
4. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – £0.7 million
5. Oculus – Mike Flanagan – £0.4 million

Much to our surprise, 22 Jump Street is proving hugely popular and has triumphed over How to Train Your Dragon. Lord/Miller/Tatum/Hill are proving to be the greatest comedy quartet of the decade. Dreamworks might be slightly disappointed with Dragon 2’s second place debut but its still taken a huge lump of money. Sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow is holding up better than expected but teen romance The Fault in Our Stars has dropped remarkably far this week, putting serious doubt on its financial legs. Meanwhile in the UK, Oculus has fully capitalised on the empty weekend but it’ll be glad to come away with something. This week’s shocks have score me a dismal 2/10, taking my running total to 165/330.

US:

1. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean Deblois
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
5. Think Like a Man Too – Tim Story

UK:

1. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. Jersey Boys – Clint Eastwood
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in 22 Jump Street, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 14th to 20th of June 2014 – will Edge of Tomorrow find the fault in Our Stars?

A few years ago, if we pitched you this weekend’s box office battle there’d be a clear winner. Donning the gloves are sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow starring the biggest movie of the past 25 years (Tom Cruise) and soppy teen-romance novel adaptation The Fault in Our Stars. However the times they are a changing and now young adult romances such as Twilight are big money, even without critical approval. In today’s box-office, both would be considered equals but let’s find out who was victorious in the US while we discover what impact comedy sequel 22 Jump Street will be making in the UK ahead of its big debut in America next week. Find last week’s predictions here.

US:

1. The Fault in Our Stars – Director: Josh Boone – $48.2 million
2. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $33.5 million
3. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – $29.1 million
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – $14.7 million
5. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane – $7.2 million

UK:

1. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £4.9 million
2. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £2.6 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £1.8 million
4. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – £1.2 million
5. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane – £0.5 million

The Fault in Our Stars has definitely surpassed financial expectation but it may be following the trait of masses of fan viewings on the opening weekend before dropping off quickly but these kinds of films can thrive on repeat viewings. Cruise’s actioner Edge of Tomorrow’s takings have been a little underwhelming but it might have box-office legs to come; it’s proving popular internationally and could well reach around its target of $350 million. X-Men 7 and Maleficent are continuing to display impressive numbers while MacFarlane’s Ted follow up A Million Ways to Die in the West in yet another Western comedy disaster. This week’s score of 7/10 has taken my running total to 163/320.

US:

1. How to Train Your Dragon – Dean DeBlois
2. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
4. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman
5. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg

UK:

1. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
2. Oculus – Mike Flanagan
3. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman

Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley in The Fault in Our Stars, this week’s US number one.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 22 Jump Street, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 7th to 13th of June 2014 – can Maleficent curse the X-Men or A Million Ways die in the West?

Many former indisputable Hollywood megastars have recently found themselves far behind the critical and commercial success of their earlier work, IE Tom Cruise, Eddy Murphy, Johnny Depp etc. After The Tourist and Salt failed to hit with critics, Angelina Jolie will be determined to make her new huge budget spectacle fantasy Maleficent elevated from the aforementioned group. However, Jolie faces major competition from A Million Ways to Die in the West, a star studded western and follow up to the 2012 smash hit comedy Ted. Last week, we predicted that Maleficent would take the top spot but let’s see how it got on.

US:

1. Maleficent – Director: Robert Stromberg – $69.4 million
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – $32.6 million
3. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane – $16.8 million
4. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – $12 million
5. Blended – Frank Coraci – $8.1 million

UK:

1. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – £6.6 million
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – £3.5 million
3. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – $1.9 million
4. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane – £1.2 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – £1 million

An iffy critical response hasn’t put audiences off Maleficent; the promise of a sinister Jolie and another Disney revival has brought fans in their millions to catch the film. It’ll likely surpass other recent Disney reboots such as Snow White and the Huntsman but Alice in Wonderland is likely out of reach. X-Men 7 is still managing to hold its own, now taking its tally past $500 million – the first in the series to do so. A Million Ways however is yet another comedy western flop, following the likes of Wild Wild West and The Lone Ranger, love for the genre has clearly faded since Blazing Saddles forty years ago. Tom Cruise’s new sci-fi action Edge of Tomorrow has still made some fair money under the competition but it’ll likely recoup with its US release. This week I’ve score 7/10 which takes my running total to 156/310.

US:

1. The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone
2. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman
3. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
5. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane

UK:

1. 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
2. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer
4. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman
5. Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler

Angelina Jolie in Maleficent, this week’s US and UK number one.