Hemsworth joins Ghostbusters, Ejiofor in talks for Doctor Strange and trailer for The Program

Chris Hemsworth has taken on horror in The Cabin in the Woods, fantasy in Snow White and the Huntsman, drama in Rush and superheroes in the Thor and Avengers films. He’s now set to move into comedy. Whilst he’ll star with Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann and Chevy Chase in the Vacation reboot, he’s now signing onto a supporting role in the Ghostbusters sequel. The film is directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and stars Kristen Wiig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Skeleton Twins), Melissa McCarthy (Spy, The Heat) and Saturday Night Live alumni Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

The supernatural thriller Doctor Strange is one of Marvel’s most anticipated Phase 3 releases (competing with Captain America: Civil War, Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy 2). Scott Derickson (Sinister) is directing with Benedict Cumberbatch (Stark Trek Into Darkness, The Imitation Game) as former surgeon Stephen Strange who delves into mastering mystic arts while Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, We Need to Talk About Kevin) plays the mentor figure of The Ancient One.

Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Serenity) was previously mentioned in connection to the film but there’s been some developments. The Brit is now in negotiations for the film. It’s also been announced that he’s in line for the villainous role of Baron Mordo but we’re not ruling out another casting. Al Pacino (The Godfather, Danny Collins) was previously rumoured for the role.

Finally the first trailer for Oscar candidate The Program has been released. Stephen Frears (Philomena) directs a cast including Ben Foster (Lone Survivor, 3:10 to Yuma), Chris O’Dowd (The IT Crowd, Calvary), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad, The Homesman) and Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Rain Man).

The Program – September 23rd

Ghostbusters – July 22nd 2016

Doctor Strange – October 28th 2016

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies review

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Aidan Turner, Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Cate Blanchett, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Billy Connolly, Ryan Gage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Adam Brown, Sylvester McCoy, Mikael Persbrandt

It’s no secret that Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy hasn’t received quite the adulation as his Lord of the Rings films which this succeeds. An Unexpected Journey in particular has a mass of critics who may well have just been baying for blood. The stage was set for a grand action packed finale to redeem the perhaps slow-building preludes of the previous films. Is this the glory of Return of the King once more?

With Smaug’s (Cumberbatch’s) awakening destroying Lake-Town, Bilbo (Freeman) is caught in the crossfire of men, led by Bard (Evans), and Elves, led by Thranduil (Pace), seeking to claim some of the dwarves’ regained wealth. However, the new king beneath the mountain, Thorin (Armitage), is less willing to dispense of his riches while Gandalf (McKellen) learns of a legion of Orcs similarly converging on Erebor.

This unexpected third instalment was only confirmed mid-2012 and it’s sadly evident that this entire trilogy has been scrapped to a finish. The “trilogy-effect” takes its toll the most here; the scattershot narrative is elongated and overstuffed with some utterly pointless plot threads. Resident cheat Alfrid gets a ridiculous amount of screentime without ever contributing anything of significance. Bard remains one of the few grounded and plausible heroes of the bunch but the human characters are by far the least interesting around.

Thankfully the most human of all the characters keep up their brilliant dynamic. Freeman’s Bilbo and McKellen’s Gandalf only have rare moments together but their own performances are pitch perfect. The surprise hit this time round is Richard Armitage’s Thorin. The king beneath the mountain’s reign becomes plagued by dragon sickness in a borderline terrifying transformation for our once hero.

Although lacking the comic spark of his duo with John Rhys Davis, Orlando Bloom is still fairly entertaining as action-Elf Legolas but there ought to have been more of a set up for the character that we meet sixty years later. Even Bilbo hasn’t become the madcap adventurer that we come to know him as. Five Armies sets up for the world of LOTR but not the people.

Even with the shortest runtime yet, this has by far the most filler space of all the series but at least some of Jackson’s invention in the narrative works successfully. In DoS the Kili-Tauriel-Legolas love triangle felt forced but here it fuels a personal level to the later action scenes. The White Council’s misadventures in Dol Goldur greatly help to develop the LOTR links and the overall shared universe feel.

That latter sequence ends disappointingly early with Sauron’s bizarre acid rock light display replacing potential scenes depicting Saruman’s corruption. That may well have been set aside to focus on the main battle’s development. Each faction’s motives, characters and power are quickly established but swept aside at the arrival of the orcs.

What The Hobbit lost in successful narrative structure it more than gained in visual brilliance. Peter Jackson is at his most David-Lean like in this instalment and all the performances are exactly on point. It may be more of a fizzle out than the big bang we wanted to end the series but is still a worthy entry to both fantasy perfection and cinematic history.

8/10

“I am glad to have shared in your perils. Each and every one of them. It is far more than any Baggins deserves!”

First Jurassic World trailer, Now You See Me sequel gets an official title and new images from Hobbit 3

Heist thriller was the surprise hit of 2013, with a decent critical reception well above expectation at $350 million made from a $75 million budget. Its sequel sees John M Chu succeeding directing duties from Louis Leterrier and his new title has been revealed. Now You See Me: The Second Act seems an appropriate title for the magic themed franchise but the potential third film would need to be titled The Third Act (establishing a Godfather Part II/III aura as oppose to the pitfalls of a gimicky Shrek the Third subtitle.

Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Zodiac, The Avengers), Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, The Social Network), Woody Harrelson (No Country For Old Men, The Hunger Games), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street, Bad Neighbours) and Michael Caine (The Dark Knight, Zulu) return with the new cast members of Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Masters of Sex) and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, Horns).

Empire Magazine’s 12-Part Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Special, featuring the Directors Cut (Spielberg, Boyle and more), the twenty five varieties X-Men special and the 301st Greatest Films of All Time (3: The Dark Knight; 2: The Godfather; 1: Empire Strikes Back), concludes in this next issue, a farewell to Middle-Earth guest-edited by Peter Jackson himself. The main feature is the preview of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and the covers are dedicated one to each army.

The film stars Martin Freeman (Sherlock, Fargo), Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters, X-Men: Days of Future Past), Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger), Evangeline Lilly (Lost, Ant-Man), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean, Kingdom of Heaven), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, 12 Years a Slave), Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire, Guardians of the Galaxy), Luke Evans (The Great Train Robbery, Dracula Untold), James Nesbitt (The Missing, Bloody Sunday), Manu Bennett (Spartacus, Arrow), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Christopher Lee (Dracula, Hugo) and Hugo Weaving (V For Vendetta, The Matrix, Cloud Atlas) as Elrond.

A short teaser was unveiled earlier in the week but the trailer for sci-fi adventure sequel Jurassic World has been released. This fourth instalment in the classic Spielberg series (slightly soured by the step back of respectable The Lost World and the dreadful third part) is directed by Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and stars Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help, 50/50), Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie), Nick Robinson (The Kings of Summer), Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3, Insidious), Omar Sy (Untouchable, X-Men: Days of Future Past), Jake Johnson (New Girl, Drinking Buddies), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Carrie) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Men in Black). Check out the first trailer below. While being no Age of Ultron, this is pretty promising stuff – so long as they correctly mix the grander scale with the stripped back chilling thrills. Gotta love the touch with the flare (1:58).

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Jurassic World – June 12th 2015

Now You See Me: The Second Act – June 10th 2016

New image from Empire’s Middle-Earth special

Trashy sequel Transformers: Age of Extinction, having surpassed the billion dollar mark worldwide, is still 2014’s highest grossing films and only two major candidates remain to knock it off the top spot: one is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The latter is the conclusion to the six part masterpiece known as the Middle-Earth Saga, comprising of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. LOTR itself won 17 Oscars, and while it’s not as successful, The Hobbit is still a fantasy phenomenon. You’ll be able to delve deep into the production of The Battle of the Five Armies, as well as the past of the franchise, in the new edition of Empire magazine. This issue, with Special Guest Editor Peter Jackson himself, just unveiled its exclusive Subscribers cover.

The Battle of the Five Armies stars Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock), Richard Armitage (Strike Back, Captain America: The First Avenger), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Imitation Game), Ian McKellen (X-Men, Gods and Monsters), Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man, Lost), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean, Troy), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold, The Great Train Robbery), Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Hugo Weaving (V For Vendetta, The Matrix), Manu Bennett (Spartacus, Arrow), James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday, The Missing), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, Halt and Catch Fire) and Christopher Lee (Dracula, Hugo).

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Guardians’ Drax Dave Bautista joins Bond 24 and Lee Pace’s Hobbit poster

One of the many great pieces of genius in Marvel’s smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy is that it revels in its five equally loveable leads. Rocket, Groot and Quill were bound to be fan favourites but Drax, portrayed by former wrestler Dave Bautista, has proved to be a massive surprise. That role appears to the be taking him places with the actor now reportedly signed on for a supporting role in Bond 24. The sequel to Skyfall comes courtesy of Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, Revolutionary Road, American Beauty) and stars Daniel Craig (Munich), Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Rory Kinnear (Penny Dreadful), Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave).

Next today we can reveal what is probably the one of the final posters in a series of promotions for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The epic fantasy sequel is directed by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, Heavenly Creatures, King Kong) and stars Martin Freeman (Sherlock, Fargo), Ian McKellen (X-Men), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean), Evangeline Lilly (Lost), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Richard Armitage (Into the Storm), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Manu Bennett (Spartacus) with Hugo Weaving (V For Vendetta), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Christopher Lee (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, Elizabeth) as the White Council.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Bond 24 – October 23rd 2015

First look at Charlie Cox in Marvel’s Daredevil and new posters for Hobbit 3

An additional two posters have now been revealed for Peter “Lord of the Rings” Jackson’s final Middle-Earth adventure, The Battle of the Five Armies. This time, Elf warrior Tauriel and Dwarf prince Thorin take centre stage. The film stars Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Pace, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen.

Finally today, we’ve at last got our hands on the first official stills from Marvel’s Netfilx-based adaptation of Daredevil. The cast includes Charlie Cox (Stardust, Broadwalk Empire) as blinded hero Matthew Murdock, Rosario Dawson (Trance, Sin City) as secretive nurse Claire Temple, Elden Henson (Cast Away) as lawyer Foggy Nelson and Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, The Judge) as crime Kingpin Wilson Fisk.

Daredevil – 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Orlando Bloom in new Hobbit 3 poster and Lea Seydoux joins the new Bond instalment

Skyfall is the reason Bond is awesome again. With Daniel Craig’s action star quality and the class of Sam Mendes’ directing it proved to be one of the most fun and exciting thrillers of recent years. Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go) is teaming up with Craig (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Defiance, Munich) again in the twenty fourth Bond film while the prestigious role of the Bond girl may have found its recipient. Lea Seydoux is reportedly set to sign on.

Following supporting roles in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Seydoux made headlines in the controversial but acclaimed Blue Is the Warmest Colour. Bond 24 will also star Naomi Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas), Rory Kinnear (Southcliffe) and Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Schindler’s List, The English Patient) while Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Serenity) is rumoured to play the new villain.

Throughout this week, numerous one sheets from The Hobbit’s final instalment have been released, Bilbo, Gandalf and Galadriel have all starred. Now Laketown’s Bard the Bowman and elven warrior Legolas have their own posters. The sequel, directed by The Lord of the Rings/King Kong’s Peter Jackson, stars Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Manu Bennett, Aidan Turner and Hugo Weaving.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Bond 24 – October 23rd 2015

New posters for Hobbit 3, Downey Jr talks Iron Man 4 and Dad’s Army line up revealed

Dad’s Army is one of the most popular British serial comedies of all time. A huge announcement was made when Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Hunger Games) was cast as Captain Mainwaring and Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead) as Sergeant Wilson. The rest of the ensemble has now been revealed. Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago) is Corporal Jones, Daniel Mays (The Adventures of Tintin) as Private Walker, Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners) as Private Pike, Bill Paterson (The Killing Fields) as Frazer and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) as Private Godfrey. Sarah Lancashire (Lark Rise to Candleford), Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) and Catherine Zeta Jones (Chicago, The Terminal) have been cast in unspecified roles.

Its no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe are planning all the way to 2018 by building from the original Avengers characters. Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Doctor Strange will eventually succeed as the lead stars of the franchise. Still, the most lucrative character is Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes, Chaplin, The Judge), but his own trilogy came to an end last year with the billion dollar success of Iron Man 3. His involvement will continue with The Avengers: Age of Ultron next year but he’s now opened up the possibility of Iron Man 4. Having previously denied it, Downey Jr has revealed to Ellen DeGeneres that early development is taking place. Should this project go through then I’d suspect that Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) will be directing.

Next today, a second character poster of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the last in the trilogy. This time it shows Gandalf in a spot of bother and Galadriel in full-on “all shall love me and despair” mode. The Battle of the Five Armies is directed by Peter Jackson (King Kong, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings) stars Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Richard Armitage (Thorin), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Luke Evans (Bard), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Aidan Turner (Kili), Lee Pace (Thranduil), Manu Bennett (Azog), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), James Nesbitt (Bofur), Ken Stott (Balin), Ian Holm (Old Bilbo), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug.

Lastly, we’ve got our hands on the very first pictures from Tomorrowland, a new sci-fi adventure set in a world described as the Hogwarts of science. Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) directs, Damon Lindelof (Prometheus, World War Z) writes while the film stars George Clooney (Gravity, The Descendants, Up in the Air, Ocean’s Eleven), Britt Robertson (Under the Dome), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Hugh Laurie (House).

Tomorrowland – May 22nd 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Dad’s Army – 2015

Iron Man 4 – 2018?

Deadpool confirmed as part of X-Men universe, new Hobbit poster and Michael Gambon joins Paddington

Deadpool made a mediocre introduction in the vastly disappointing prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Five years on, the persistence of star Ryan Reynolds (Safe House) has finally got the project greenlit for a 2016 release, just before studio tentpole X-Men: Apocalypse. When asked about whether Deadpool will still be part of the main series, producer/writer Simon Kinberg explained that “There’s definitely a sort of overall plan that we’ve all been talking about for the X-Men universe now, and Deadpool obviously fits into that.

“I guess I would say it’s part of certainly an overall timeline and the thought process that goes into these films, some of which is inspired by the comics and some of which is inspired by seeing what Marvel’s done with telling a larger tapestry and linking all those movies together, even as they stand independently, as well. The same kind of thought is going to go into these X-Men movies at Fox.” Tim Miller directs.

Harry Potter producer David Heyman is behind the new adaptation of Michael Bond’s Paddington. He’s now added to his stellar cast with two HP stars. Michael Gambon (Gosford Park), who played Professor Dumbledore, and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), who played Professor Umbridge, have been cast as the voices of Paddington’s Uncle Pastuzo and Aunt Lucy. They join the the ensemble of Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas), Nicole Kidman (The Hours), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It), Julie Walters (Billy Elliot) and Jim Broadbent (Iris, Topsy Turvy, Hot Fuzz).

This Christmas Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, Heavenly Creatures, The Lovely Bones, King Kong) concludes his Hobbit trilogy with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. A new poster has been released today. The film stars Martin Freeman (Fargo), Ian McKellen (X-Men), Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Richard Armitage (Into the Storm), Luke Evans (Fast and Furious 6), Evangeline Lilly (Lost), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), James Nesbitt (Millions), Ken Stott (Shallow Grave), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy), Ian Holm (Time Bandits) and Christopher Lee (Dracula).

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Paddington – November 28th

Deadpool – February 12th 2016

David Fincher talks Girl With the Dragon Tattoo sequel, new mega-banner for The Hobbit 3 and new Hunger Games 4 trailer

David Fincher’s glittering career began with the not so exciting Alien 3, his feature debut. He then surprised us all by following it up with Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network. He bravely ventured back into a potential franchise with 2011’s greatly successful The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, an adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s books and the Swedish trilogy of films. Talks for a sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, seemed to have died down until Fincher began promoting his latest Oscar hopeful Gone Girl.

“I think because Sony already has spent millions of dollars on the rights and the script so it will result in something. The script that we now have a huge potential, I can reveal as much as it is extremely different from the book.” Should the project be realised, it’d star Daniel Craig (Skyfall, Casino Royale, Munich, Layer Cake, Road to Perdition) and Rooney Mara (Her, The Social Network, Side Effects).

Today a massively awesome banner for fantasy epic The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released. Sadly, it’s slightly big to fit into our blog but you can find a link for it here, courtesy of Coming Soon. Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, Heavenly Creatures, King Kong) directs the cast of Martin Freeman (Sherlock, Fargo), Ian McKellen (X-Men), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Richard Armitage (Into the Storm), Evangeline Lilly (Lost), Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy), Manu Bennett (Spartacus), Aidan Turner (Being Human), Dean O’Gorman (The Almighty Johnsons), James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday), Ken Stott (Shallow Grave), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Ian Holm (Alien), Christopher Lee (Dracula), Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) and Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine).

Finally, the second trailer for sci-fi sequel The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, the third in the series, has been released. The film, directed by I am Legend’s Francis Lawrence, will star Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Julianne Moore (The Big Lebowski), Donald Sutherland (MASH), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Woody Harrelson (The Master), Liam Hemsworth (Knowing), Jena Malone (Into the Wild), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right), Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones), Sam Clafin (The Quiet Ones), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Willow Shields (The Wonder), Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Elizabeth Banks (Man on a Ledge) and Stanley Tucci (The Terminal).

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – November 21st

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

The Girl Who Played With Fire – 2017?