Marvel targeting Ejiofor for Doctor Strange and X-Men: Apocalypse makes new castings

Following his BAFTA winning and Oscar nominated turn in 12 Years a Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Serenity) has been the subject of various studios for mainstream roles. The Bond 24, later titled Spectre, rumours fell through but the Brit is reportedly under consideration for one of Marvel’s biggest upcoming projects: Doctor Strange.

Over the other choices of Jared Leto, Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew MacConaughey, Tom Hardy and Ewan MacGregor, Benedict Cumbatch (The Imitation Game, Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) will take the lead on director Scott Derickson’s (Sinister) supernatural thriller while Daniel Bruhl (Rush, Captain America: Civil War) is rumoured to be playing a villain. Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Hot Fuzz), Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight) and Ken Watanabe (Inception, Godzilla) are the favourites for the mentor role of The Ancient One. We’re not sure where Ejiofor would slot in but he’ll be a valuable addition to Kevin Feige’s growing cannon.

Stars of the original X-Men such as Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Shawn Ashmore, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Kelsey Grammer, Famke Janssen and James Marsden were revived for the superhero crossover X-Men: Days of Future Past but are being dropped in favour of the First Class graduates in the next instalment, Apocalypse. Still, some of those characters will have younger incarnations appear in the form of these new castings.

Beating off the competition of Kick-Ass/Hugo’s Chloe Grace Moretz, British Game of Thrones regular Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) will play the unstable telepathic Jean Grey. Getting the role of laser-eyed Cyclops/Scott Summers over Kingsmans’ Taron Egerton is Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life, Mud). Relative newcomer Alexandra Shipp is the tribal goddess Storm.

Bryan Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2, The Usual Suspects) directs the cast of Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, American Hustle), Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, Prometheus), James McAvoy (Filth, Atonement), Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year, Inside Lleweyn Davis), Evan Peters (Kick-Ass, American Horror Story), Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies), Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher, 21 Jump Street) and Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, The Prestige, Prisoners, The Fountain).

X-Men: Apocalypse – May 19th 2016

Doctor Strange – October 28th 2016

Review of the Year – The Eleven Best Action Sequences of 2014

Today we celebrate our favourite chases, fights or all out battles of this year. There’s been plenty to choose from so we’ve tried to whittle the numbers down and include a few more out of the box suggestions. We must warn you of spoilers ranging from minor to major taking place in each film mentioned. Enjoy!

11) Zero kills Willem Dafoe – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Our real hero, Zero (newcomer Tony Revolori), comes to the rescue of Ralph Fiennes’ concierge in this mountain-top chase. With director Wes Anderson, screen legend Willem Dafoe plays Adrien Brody’s horrific henchman (who in fact bumps off Jeff Goldblum earlier) flees from the slopes of a monastic village and almost kills the extravagant M Gustave before Zero arrives with a shamefully gleeful kick off the mountain-side.

10) Attack on Cloud Cuckoo Land – The Lego Movie

The year’s undisputed surprise hit shines best in this glorious destruction of Uni-Kitty’s (Alison Brie) sugary-sweet homeland. When Emmett’s (Chris Pratt) attempt at a rousing and heroic speech gets a mixed response from the Master Builders (Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Cobie Smulders, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum), the forces of Lord Business (Will Ferrell), led by passive-aggresive secret agent Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), launch.

9) The final chase – The Two Faces of January

Hossein Amini’s directorial debut concludes in this gorgeously shot chase sequence through Istanbul. The brewing tensions of the potential criminals (Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac) culminate in a pursuit prompted by the secret service arriving on the scene. It wasn’t too surprising though that only one would survive.

8) Tidal waves – Interstellar

Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi passion project Interstellar isn’t strictly an action film and the it’s more overwhelming sequences are in the tremendous emotional gut punches of the later scenes but this phenomenally crafted landing on the first of three planets the crew of Endurance explore. The mountains of Miller’s world are soon revealed to be waves that makes us winder if we can put our lives in the hands of robots before things really get dark with the first of the astronaut’s lives claimed, Doyle (Wes Bentley). Then the science really comes into play when Cooper (Matthew MacConaughey), Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) and TARS (Bill Irwin) return to the Endurance to the realisation that Miller died just minutes ago and that Romilly (David Gyasi) has waited twenty years for them.

7) Kyln prison break – Guardians of the Galaxy

When Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) foil Gamora’s (Zoe Saldana) attempts to backstab her master Ronan (Lee Pace), Corpsman Dey (John C Reilly) transports them all to the Kyln, a high security prison dominated by the fearsome warrior Drax (Dave Bautista). To save their own skins they recruit Drax to assist them in their breakout. Groot’s unintentionally adorable sabotage of their efforts seemingly sets them back at square one before a mad scavenger hunt for the Orb (one of the six most dangerous objects in the entire universe) and a prosthetic leg.

6) The second beach assault – Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow’s (besides making Emily Blunt as good an action star as co-star Tom Cruise) greatest achievement is sustaining the thrill of seeing the same battle take place over and over again but this Doug Liman helmed sci-fi hit takes flight in the second incarnation of the Private Ryan-style beach assault as we finally get the just of what’s going on in Cage’s blood. Bonus points for Liman’s excellently executed action.

5) A skirmish of multiple forces – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The barrel chase remains the series’ best moment but Peter Jackson turns the stereo to epic in The Defining Chapter’s finale. Thankfully Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf are no passengers when these five forces converge on Erebor: the Dwarves (Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Billy Connolly), Elves (Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace), Men (Luke Evans, Ryan Gage, Stephen Fry), Orcs (Manu Bennett) and Eagles.

4) Quicksilver VS the Pentagon – X-Men: Days of Future Past

You may have been wowed by Nightcrawler’s White House raid in the opening of X-Men 2 but new fan favourite Quicksilver (Evan Peters) blows that out of the water. Escapee mutant Erik (Michael Fassbender) and his rescuers Charles (James McAvoy) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) are seemingly doomed at the hands of Pentagon guards until we get a rare view at how Peter Maximoff perceives our slow world. The music, the brilliantly appropriate Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce, is what defines this sequence from Usual Suspects director Bryan Singer.

3) Koba HIJACKS A TANK

We presumed Apes on horses and Serkis’ note perfect Caesar would be the highlight but here Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves creates truly iconic cinema magic with a masterful swivelling shot as lead villain Koba (Toby Kebbell) hijacks a tank, loses control and veers it into the doors of the human fort.

2) “Let Them Fight” – Godzilla

Like all great horror films, Gareth Edwards’ new incarnation of Japan’s greatest legend, Godzilla, built up the tension with style and suspense before a genuinely breathtaking pay off. Descending into San Francisco in the stunning HALO jump set-piece, Ford (Aaron Taylor Johnson) witnesses Godzilla’s power with a mighty fire breath to finish off the MUTOs.

1) Elevating tensions – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

“Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?”

Our number one is Captain America’s finest hour yet. Idealist Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is unphased by the threats of Robert Redford’s new SHIELD head Alexander Pierce and enters a life, soon to the occupied by Brock Romlow (Frank Grillo) nine of his new agents. Eleven enter the elevator and only one leaves: pure action awesomeness.

Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool reportedly greenlit, Toby Kebbell joins Ben-Hur, new Agents of SHIELD teaser and (another) Interstellar poster

The marketing team for Christopher Nolan’s secrecy soaked sci-fi Interstellar will be having the time of their lives: across this week, a whole series of posters for the film have been revealed one by one. Today is no exception. This one sheet sees a spacecraft downed in either domestic or alien waters. Nolan, British writer/director behind The Dark Knight trilogy, Memento, The Prestige and Inception, directs the cast of Matthew MacConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Anne Hathaway, David Oyelowo, Matt Damon, Ellen Burstyn and John Lithgow.

A planned spin off for Ryan Reynolds’ (Safe House, Buried) crazed superhero Deadpool, who made his only, mediocre appearance in the vastly disappointing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, has been in development hell for the past six years. Most of that time the project has only been kept alive by the comic book character’s ongoing popularity. It has now been reported that Fox have greenlit the film for an early 2016 release. Tim Miller, who for an excruciatingly long time has been attached to the film, is now confirmed as director. My key hope for the film is that it can settle for a 15 rating: any lower and it wouldn’t have the same tone as the often adult comics but higher and the gore would unfairly become the focus.

I was one of many distraught by Toby Kebbell’s casting in the prestigious role of Doctor Doom in next year’s Fantastic Four but the star proved himself greatly going up against Andy Serkis’ Ceasar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He’s now setting himself up for another villainous role as Messala in the new remake of Ben-Hur. The historical epic already has Morgan Freeman (Batman Begins, The Shawkshank Redemption, Seven) signed on to play mentor Ildarin while Jack Huston (American Hustle, Broadwalk Empire) is negotiating to play the titular hero. 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley writes while Wanted’s Timur Bekmambetov directs.

Finally today we’ve got an awesome new poster for season 2 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. The expansion of the multi billion superhero universe got off to a fairly rough start but pulled itself together with an excellent second half to the series. Deduce what you like from the teaser. Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennett, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, BJ Britt, Adrianne Palicki, Patton Oswalt, Nick Blood, Reed Diamond, Adrian Pasdar, Kyle MacLachlan and Lucy Lawless will all feature in some way in the new season.

Agents of SHIELD season 2 – this autumn on ABC and Channel 4

Deadpool – February 12th 2016

Interstellar – November 7th

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Jack Huston confirmed for Ben-Hur, James D’Arcy joins Agent Carter as the new Jarvis and new Interstellar poster

Brit Jack Huston is shaping up to be a potentially great rising star following his recurring gig on Broadwalk Empire and supporting role in as a mobster in American Hustle. He’s now set to be making one great step into stardom with the lead in Ben-Hur. The iconic role, once played by Charlton Heston, will be seen once more in a new remake, courtesy of Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov. Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight, Seven, Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption) is already signed on to play chariot racing mentor Ildarin while you may remember that Tom Hiddleston (War Horse, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Avengers) was previously rumoured to have been attached to the role although it appears as if he’s opted out in favour of Skull Island.

The role of Jarvis in Marvel comics greatly differs to the portrayal seen across numerous film adaptations. Originally, Edwin Jarvis is butler to both Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and, later, The Avengers but on film, where he has been portrayed by Paul Bettany on four occasions, is an AI assistant to Stark’s technological enterprises, named JARVIS, who we only here the voice of. In next year’s Age of Ultron, JARVIS will be animated in the form of the robotic Vision. We thought that’d be all from the non-superpowered character but his original version is working his way onto our screen.

He’ll in fact be portrayed on the small screen by Cloud Atlas’ James D’Arcy in the upcoming Agent Carter, a spin off of the MCU set in SHIELD’s early days after WW2 starring Hayley Atwell. An eight-part first season to the show arrives this winter. Confused? We were too. We’ve now assumed that D’Arcy’s Jarvis will in fact be butler to Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), father of Tony, and will then provide inspiration for Tony’s automated companion later on. Given the significance of this role, we’d expect Cooper to either be a regular on the show or at least looming presence of SHIELD’s activities. It’s possible that younger versions of future SHIELD veterans such as Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce or Hank Pym (played by Samuel L Jackson, Robert Redford and Michael Douglas, respectively, on film) will be seen while, seeing as D’Arcy convinced in the elderly make up in Cloud Atlas, I hope that an older version of this Jarvis may crop up in the films.

Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige, Inception) writes and directs Interstellar, which may be the defining sci-fi of out generation – not to overhype. After yesterday’s unveiling, another poster has been revealed and it showcases our hero Cooper gazing at the stars, as oppose to traversing them. Matthew MacConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Michael Caine (Alfie), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James), David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment), Ellen Burstyn (The Excorcist) and Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity) all star in a cast of five Oscar wins and an additional fifteen nominations. I leave you both of the posters (note: they are almost identical in layout except for the tagline).

Interstellar – November 7th

Ben-Hur – February 19th 2016

Agent Carter – ABC and Channel 4 this winter

Weekend box-office – 30th of August to 5th of September 2014 – will Jessica Alba redeem Sin City?

Released in 2005, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City not only became a cult hit, praised for its unique comic book styling, but raked in box office goods with $160 million from a $40 million budget. Nine years on, Miller and Rodriguez are back with Sin City’s sequel A Dame to Kill For with the first film’s ensemble of Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Powers Boothe and Bruce Willis as well as the huge additions of Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green, Ray Liotta and Josh Brolin. The production cost has been upped to $70 million this time around so big things are expected for this film to lift the spirits of a relatively deadbeat summer. It ought to succeed seeing as the only heavyweights have been kicking around for nearly a month. Last week we predicted that it’d enter the chart in second but let’s find out where it did finish. 

US:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – $17.2 million
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – $16.7 million
3. If I Stay – RJ Cutler – $15.7 million
4. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield – $10.8 million
5. When the Game Stands Tall – Thomas Carter – $8.4 million

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson – £3.1 million
2. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – £2.4 million
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – £1.3 million
4. Into the Storm – Steven Quale – £1.2 million
5. Deliver Us From Evil – Scott Derickson – £0.6 million

That’s right, Sin City 2 didn’t scratch the top 5 and in fact landed in eighth and will have to go down as perhaps the year’s biggest mainstream flop. It was beaten into submission by teen weepie If I Stay and sports drama When the Game Stands Tall. It’s R/18 rating may have been its undoing. Marvel’s space opera Guardians of the Galaxy is back on top of the box office in its fourth week of release, a new property overtaking behemoth sequel Transformers: Age of Extinction to become the biggest domestic hit of the summer. Sci-fi thriller Lucy has made a solid entry in a packed week in the UK. Disaster thriller Into the Storm and horror Deliver Us From Evil both made mediocre debuts while Daniel Radcliffe rom com What If failed to chart. This week’s shocks meant I scored a dismal 3/10.

US:

1. The November Man – Roger Donaldson
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
3. As Above So Below – John Erick Dowdle
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonthan Liebesman
5. If I Stay – RJ Cutler

UK:

1. Lucy – Luc Besson
2. The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris
3. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For – Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
4. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn
5. Let’s Be Cops – Luke Greenfield

Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy, this week’s US number one.

Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, this week’s UK number one.

The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

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:

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. 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
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 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
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. 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
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. 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
4. 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
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. 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
10. 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:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. 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
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. 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
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. 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
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Simon Kinberg talks X-Men: Apocalypse and new poster for Scarlett Johansson thriller Lucy

You’re lucky enough to be getting not one but two review from Tuorhoth this week. Firstly, we’ve got Hossein Amini’s thriller The Two Faces January before we assess our most anticipated film of the year (just ahead of Interstellar, Godzilla, Battle of the Five Armies and Guardians), Bryan Singer’s superhero historical epic X-Men: Days of Future Past. We know of coarse that Singer (Valkyrie, X-Men, X-Men 2, The Usual Suspects) will follow this up with his fourth film in the franchise (the series’ eighth instalment) X-Men: Apocalypse but we’ve refrained from making too many assumptions until we know where DOFP has left us.

Long term X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg has given word on the scale of the upcoming film, developing from Future Past’s historical/time-travel feel. “The kind of scope and scale we’re talking about is like disaster movie, extinction level event,” he informs IGN. “Sort of Roland Emmerich-style moviemaking, which you’ve never seen in an X-Men movie, or any superhero movie, which I think is exciting.” This is no reason for the many suffering fatigue of a formulaic, urban, destructive finale to worry. “We’ve also been talking about how to give him a real emotional and philosophical underpinning.

“So he’s (Apocalypse) not just somebody who’s out there destroying the world because he can. What he’s doing is – in his mind – justified and validated by a real compelling, coherent philosophy.” The film will star James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland), Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, 300), Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, American Hustle), Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, Warm Bodies), Channing Tatum (White House Down, 21 Jump Street) and Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, The Prestige) while we hope for the return of Evan Peters (American Horror Story, Kick-Ass), Lucas Till (Walk the Line, Stoker) and Rose Byrne (Insidious, Bad Neighbours).

Also today, we’ve got our hands on the brand new poster for Luc Besson’s (The Big Blue, Nikita, Leon) superhero thriller Lucy. It pitches an assassin’s brain elevated to full capacity and the actions and repercussions that follow. It stars four time Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers, Lost in Translation, The Prestige, Girl With a Pearl Earing) and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (Seven, Million Dollar Baby, Driving Mrs Daisy, Invictus, The Lego Movie, The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Shawshank Redemption).

Lucy – August 22nd

X-Men: Apocalypse – May 19th 2016

New rumours for Hulk sequel and Now You See Me’s Dave Franco talks sequel and announces filming

There wasn’t great expectation for Louis Letterier’s (Wrath of the Titans,  2013 thriller Now You See Me, the story of a group of conning magicians, and it received an early critical beating but quickly became a fan favourite, taking $350 million and becoming the year’s most refreshing original story. A sequel had been announced but seemed to go quiet when it became apparent that, in a 2015 release, it’d get swallowed up by the likes of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Star Wars: Episode VII, Fast and Furious 7, Terminator: Genesis, Jurassic World, Tomorrowland, American Sniper, Ted 2, The Man from UNCLE, Cinderella, San Andreas, Mission: Impossible 5, Pan, Assassin’s Creed, Kung Fu Panda 3, Resident Evil 6, The Conjuring 2, Igor, Mad Max: Fury Road, Crimson Peak, The Minions, Bond 24 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

This hiatus led to Leterrier to focus on Sacha Baron Cohen comedy Grimsby but Now You See Me hasn’t been forgotten. Its star Dave Franco has finally spoken out. Last I heard, we were still going at the end of this year. I’ve heard a pitch of the story. It’s actually going to be really exciting. I was slightly weary, just because you never know when it comes to a sequel. But I think the first one opened up enough avenues. There are many directions left to explore. There are many places that it can go, and they really – they held true to the spirit of the first one, but it’s going to be enough of a departure that it doesn’t just feel like a complete copy of the first one.”

This comes alongside the announcement that filming begins later this year, likely meaning an early 2016 release. Now You See Me 2 will likely star Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, The Kids Are All Right), Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, The Social Network), Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Rango), Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men, The Hunger Games, True Detective), Melanie Laurent (Inglorious, Beginners), Dave Franco (Warm Bodies, 21 Jump Street), Michael Caine (The Italian Job, Alfie, The Dark Knight, Children of Men) and Morgan Freeman (The Dark Knight, Million Dollar Baby, Seven, The Shawshank Redemption).

I believe there’s yet to be a half decent Hulk movie. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk has gained minor praise from some critics, not us however, while 2003’s Hulk is just universally agreed to be a disastrous misfire, hastily attempting to latch onto the efforts of X-Men and Spider-Man. The only successful portrayals would be the ’70s Lou Ferrigno TV series and Mark Ruffalo’s supporting role in The Avengers.

Marvel have spent $300 million trying to make a solo Hulk movie work but have failed, despite making the cocky billionaire Iron Man vulnerable, the arrogant prince Thor wise and the blatantly dull Captain America exciting in their recent instalments. Hulk’s voice actor Lou Ferrigno recently expressed his belief that the next Hulk begin work after Age of Ultron in 2015 but the likelihood is that he’s been bumped up the waiting list. The only greenlit Marvel projects we can definitely say are coming are Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America 3, Thor 3, Doctor Strange and The Avengers 3 while Black Widow, Iron Man 4, Nick Fury, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Black Panther have all been considered.

The Hulk 2 – 2017?

Now You See Me 2 – 2016

Chris McKay hired for Lego Movie 2 and Domnhall Gleeson, Toby Kebbell and more rumoured as Doctor Doom

You can find our review of the excellent Lego Movie just here but the saga continues with the new sequel which has now given directing precedence to Chris McKay. Don’t get disappointed that the first film’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller aren’t in charge; McKay was both the original’s editor and animation director. Also, he shares a vague similarity with the pair in that he’s transferred from more adult material (Robot Chicken in this case) to the kids’ animations genre, like Lord and Miller did with 21 Jump Street. Nothing is known about the plot but we can’t wait to see the next adventure of Emmet and the Masterbuilders. We can hop for it to star Chris Pratt, Elizbaeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie and Will Ferrell.

Months of rumours ended in the recent confirmation that Michael B Jordan (Fruitvale Station), Kate Mara (127 Hours), Miles Teller (The Spectacular Now) and BAFTA winning Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, The Eagle, The Adventures of Tintin, King Kong, Jumper) will portray Fox’s new rebooting of The Fantastic Four, brought to us by Chronicle’s writer/director Josh Trank. However, the FF have always come with a certain Latverian dictator. The first official casting net for Doctor Doom has been released and one of the names is hugely exciting.

First up, there’s Toby Kebbell. The English star is well liked for Prince of Persia, RocknRolla and Dead Man Shoes and has Warcraft and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes coming up. Next, we’ve got BAFTA nominee Eddie Redmayne who impressed with Les Miserables, were he played Marius, and My Week With Marilyn and raises his star profile with Jupiter Ascending and The Theory of Everything soon. He’s followed by the BAFTA nominated indie actor Sam Riley, acclaimed for the likes of Control, On the Road and Brighton Rock but my personal pick of the quartet is Domhnall (son of Brendan) Gleeson, an excellent Irish star from the likes of Harry Potter, About Time, Dredd and True Grit. You may have recognised a common theme: young tall actors from the British Isles. Fox seems to be building a much younger cast which could be both a curse or a path to success.

The Lego Movie 2 – May 16th 2017

The Fantastic Four – June 18th 2015

Weekend box-office – 6th to 13th of March 2014 – will Non-Stop take flight?

It’s a good time to be Liam Neeson! As if starring in Star Wars, Taken, Schindler’s List and Batman Begins wasn’t enough, he’s following the huge box office success of Taken 2 with the brilliant Lego Movie, were he plays the face-switching lawman Good Cop/Bad Cop, and new box office candidate Non-Stop. The plane-set thriller seems to be lauded by some and loathed by others but the true success of a blockbuster lies in the money but it faced, in the UK, the debut of America’s three-week number-one smash hit Ride Along and, in the US, biblical epic Son of God, which was tipped to follow in the footsteps of The Passion of the Christ to become a surprise box-office sweep. Let’s see how they did.

US:

1. Non-Stop – Director: Juanne Collet Serra – $28.9 million
2. Son of God – Christopher Spencer – $25.6 million
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – $20.8 million
4. 3 Days to Kill – McG – $5 million
5. The Monuments Men – George Clooney – $4.9 million

UK:

1. The Lego Movie – Chris Miller, Phil Lord – £3.2 million
2. Non-Stop – Juanne Collet Serra – £2.7 million
3. Ride Along – Tim Story – £1.4 million
4. The Book Thief – Brian Percival – £1.3 million
5. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff – £0.8 million

Non-Stop has cracked the box office this week but the Lego Movie held firm at the top against three major new entries in the UK. Non-Stop made nearly three times less than Taken 2. Compared to its US run, Ride Along made a poor UK opening while WW2 drama The Book Thief made a modest fourth place debut. This week I scored 5/10 taking my running total to 85/180.

US:

1. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro
2. Non-Stop – Juanne Collet Serra
3. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff
4. Son of God – Christopher Spencer
5. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller

UK:

1. 300: Rise of and Empire – Noam Murro
2. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson
4. Non-Stop – Juanne Collet Serra
5. Ride Along – Tim Story

Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore in Non-Stop, this week’s US number one.

Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt and Morgan Freeman (left to right from Batman) in The Lego Movie, this week’s UK number one.