Disney’s D23 announcements – The Force Awakens, Toy Story 4, Doctor Strange, Finding Dory and more!

If you felt that Comic-Con didn’t lift the lid on Disney’s upcoming works enough than D23 is for you. The expo of all things Disney enlightened us on all of their properties from Star Wars to Pixar to Marvel and all of the studio’s very own animated and live action features. Sadly there’s been no word on the likes of in the works projects such as Wreck-It Ralph 2, Frozen 2 or proposed remakes of Dumbo and Pinocchio. Firstly…

Pixar!

After critical and commercial triumph of Inside Out, the studio is rolling out its slate of six upcoming movies. The Good Dinosaur will tell the story of an alternate reality where humans are the Earth’s secondary species and dinosaurs still rule. It comes from director Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy) and stars Anna Paquin (X-Men), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading). November 25th 2015

Thirteen years after Finding Nemo, Finding Dory will pick up with the characters of the previous instalment when Dory finds herself in a marine study institute. Newly announced cast members include Hayden Rolence (Whom I Fear), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) and Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) and Angus MacLane (Toy Story of Terror) direct the cast of Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), Albert Brooks (Drive), Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Dominic West (The Wire), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man). June 17th 2016

Toy Story 4 is also on the way and a teaser poster graced and it was revealed that it will focus on a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. John Lasseter (Toy Story 1-2) and Josh Cooley (George and AJ) direct while we expect Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Joan Cusack (Say Anything) and Tim Allen (Galaxy Quest) to star. June 16th 2017

Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) has long been developing a film centred on the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead. It has finally been given a release date and a title, Coco. No casting announcements have yet been made. November 22nd 2017

Another sequel on the way is Cars 3. No plot details were offered but we do know that John Lasseter (Cars 1-2) will write and we’d expect Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) and Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector) to reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater respectively. June 15th 2018

The sequel Pixar fans have actually asking for will finally come out, 15 years after they asked for it. Assuming that the studio don’t want two sequels in the same year, The Incredibles 2 will head for a 2019 release. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) will direct while we’d expect Craig T Nelson (Poltergeist), Holly Hunter (The Piano) and Samuel L Jackson (Avengers Assemble) to star.

Next up…

Disney Animation!

Disney’s latest animation Zootopia will portray a metropolis populated by mammals. Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) were already set to star but the latest addition is pop star/actress Shakira. The directors are Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (behind the creative team of Big Hero 6). March 4th 2016

Next, the team behind Aladdin, Hercules and The Princess and the Frog arrived to unveil more from their latest work, Moana. Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) will star in the story of a plucky young woman who is assisted by a demi-god to reach a fabled island. November 23rd 2016

The newest announcement was Gigantic. Tangled‘s Nathan Greno will collaborate with Frozen’s songwriters, Robert and Kristen Lopez to bring the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to Spain in the age of exploration. March 9th 2018

Following that was…

Disney live action (aka Worlds, Galaxies and Universes)

True life disaster thriller The Finest Hours will depict the struggle for survival of a group of sailors in 1952. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs with a cast including Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella) and Eric Bana (Munich). January 29th 2016

The latest adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book was promoted by director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) as well as Oscar winning stars Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and newcomer Neel Sethi. The classic story of an orphan raised by the animals of the jungle also stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers Assemble), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters), Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter). April 15th 2016

Alice Through the Looking Glass will build upon the established world built in the Lewis Carroll books and the Tim Burton’s 2010 billion dollar hit. James Bobin (The Muppets) directs a cast featuring Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Alan Rickman (Die Hard), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Andrew Scott (Pride), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Lindsay Duncan (About Time), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner). May 27th 2016

Next up was the family fantasy adventure Pete’s Dragon, about a young boy who seeks refuge from his family with a dragon. David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) directs while the film stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Wes Bentley (Interstellar), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). August 12th 2016

Two films delivered no material as such but were teased or mentioned. Firstly, Queen of Katwe – a drama about a girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and David Oyelowo (Selma) will star with director Mira Nair (The Namesake). 2016

Also, Disney’s new iteration of Beauty and the Beast was present. The reboot (telling the story of a relationship between a monstrous prince and a young woman) is directed by Bill Condon (Mr Holmes) and stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Josh Gad (Frozen), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wonda), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks) and Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings). March 17th 2017

Finally, there was news from the fifth instalment of a legendary franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. This one will see Captain Jack in search of the trident of Poseidon. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) was announced to be returning as Will Turner for the first time since 2007. The duo of Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) direct an ensemble including Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Brendon Thwaites (Maleficent), David Wenham (300), Stephen Graham (This is England) and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men). July 17th 2017

Marvel

We won’t include Marvel’s full extensive line up but two of their instalments next year. Because of the studio’s infamous secrecy, none of the material shown has made it to the public. Captain America: Civil War showed off its trailer to the D23 audience. Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier) direct with a cast including Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Tom Holland (The Impossible), William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). April 29th 2016

Doctor Strange is another of Marvel’s latest. Scott Derickson (Sinister) directs the supernatural thriller of which the recent concept art many likened to Inception. Marvel head Kevin Feige (Iron Man trilogy) could neither confirm or deny the rumours of Rachel McAdams joining the film but we do know that Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). November 4th 2016

Star Wars

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was heralded by this stunning poster from Drew Struzan – the legendary poster designer who craft iconic works for Back to the Future and Blade Runner. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) directs a cast including Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Frances Ha) and Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island). December 18th 2015

The first spin-off has had a full title announcement, cast reveals and first still. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has added to its ranks Alan Tudyk (Serenity), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Wen Jiang (Devils on the Doorstep) and Mads Mikkelson (Casino Royale). Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will direct with the cast of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly), Diego Luna (Elysium), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). December 16th 2017

There wasn’t any news on Star Wars: Episode VIII – directed by Looper’s Rian Johnson and coming out May 26th 2017 – or the Han Solo spin off – directed by 21 Jump Street’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and coming out May 25th 2018.

It was revealed that the third and final instalment of the new sequel trilogy (Star Wars: Episode IX) will be directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) but the returning cast members are yet to be announced!

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!”

Weekend box-office – 27th of December 2014 to 9th of January 2015 – will the Five Armies battle off competition?

We weren’t here last week so we’ll be covering the past two weeks of box-office results. So far, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films have been a financial phenomena, reaching the combined takings of nearly $5 billion but there’s was an evident slip up between An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug. The Battle of the Five Armies is billed as the defining chapter of the series but it might not be destined for the same commercial glory as it’s heading up the competition of musical remake Annie and fantasy sequel Night at the Museum 3. Last week, we predicted it’d top the chart but let’s see what went down in the past two weeks.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Director: Peter Jackson – $54.7 million
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – $17.1 million
3. Annie – Will Gluck – $15.9 million
4. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – $8.1 million
5. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $7.9 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £5.4 million
2. Paddington – Paul King – £2.5 million
3. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – £1.9 million
4. Dumb and Dumber To – Bob and Peter Farrelly – £1.8 million
5. Penguins of Madagascar – Eric Darnell, Simon J Smith – £0.7 million

And here’s the results for the second week.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – $40.9 million
2. Into the Woods – Rob Marshall – $31.1 million
3. Unbroken – Angelina Jolie – $30.6 million
4. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – $20.2 million
5. Annie – Will Gluck – $16.5 million

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – £4.2 million
2. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – £2.6 million
3. Paddington – Paul King – £2.6 million
4. Annie – Will Gluck – £2.3 million
5. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – Shawn Levy – £1.6 million

While these figures do appear disappointing (and they are a major step down from previous instalments), the Hobbit films this succeeds both had pre-Christmas releases. During the holidays, there’s no rush to see new releases at the weekend so this conclusion to the series will still be raking in cash mid-week. Unbroken and Into the Woods’ $30 million+ entries are promising. Night at the Museum and Annie had seemingly crushing openings but they’ve somehow increased takings in Week Two. Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings too had similar concerns but it has stills reached global grossings of $150 million and out to regain double its budget, eventually.

Here are our predictions for next week.

US:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. The Woman in Black: Angel of Death – Tom Harper
3. Into the Woods – Rob Marshall
4. Unbroken – Angelina Jolie
5. The Gambler – Rupert Wyatt

UK:

1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson
2. The Woman In Black: Angel of Death – Tom Harper
3. Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
4. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott
5. Paddington – Paul King

Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, this week’s US and UK number one.

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.

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?