Ben Mendelsohn set for Rogue One and and Spielberg hired for Ready Player One

We reckoned Warner Bros had set their hopes unrealistically high when they announced their director’s shortlist for the adaptation of Ernest Cline’s sci-fi novel Ready Player One. Names such as Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong), Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight), Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim VS The World) and Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class) where previously mentioned in connection.

We now know that it’ll be Steven Spielberg, the Oscar winning legend behind Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can and Lincoln. Scripted by Zak Penn (The Avengers), it’ll join Spielberg’s list of upcoming projects including Tom Hanks thriller Bridge of Spies, Mark Rylance fantasy The BFG and Jennifer Lawrence drama It’s What I Do.

He’s one of the best supporting actors around but Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn is now set for the big time by joining the first Star Wars spin off, Rogue One. The star, who is yet to have officially joined the film, is best known for playing Daggett in The Dark Knight Rises, the crooked Wayne Enterprises head who meets a grizzly end at the hands of Bane in the infamous scene above. He was also in the thrillers Killing Me Softly and The Place Beyond the Pines as well as the newly acclaimed Netflix show Bloodline. His new role has not yet been revealed but we’d assume he’ll be a member of the titular pilot squad. Rogue One is directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Monsters) and will star Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything).

Rogue One – December 16th 2016

Ready Player One – 2018?

Awards special – Boyhood leads in LA and Boston while Pride scores at British Independant, new directors shortlist for Ready Player One

Films such as Gone Girl, Birdman, Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel have received great acclaim but Boyhood is evidently the Oscar frontrunner. It had beaten off competition at the New York Critics’ Circle but its real test for gaining awards season traction will be at the upcoming accolade distributors. The results are in from both the LA and Boston Critics Awards and Boyhood has triumphed. Here’s the winners in full. Firstly, Los Angeles:

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Tom Hardy – Locke

Best Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Agata Kulesza – Ida

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Foreign Language Film:

Ida

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best New Filmmaker:

Ava DuVernay – Selma

And in Boston:

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard – Two Days One Night

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Ensemble Cast:

Boyhood

Best Screenplay (tie):

Birdman/Boyhood

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film:

Two Days One Night

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best New Filmmaker:

Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

If the snubbing of British acts here frustrates you then you might prefer these victors at the British Independent Film Awards. The pack was lead by mining/gay rights drama Pride, followed quickly by army thriller ’71 and Nick Cave’s semi-biopic 20,000 Days on Earth.

Best British Independent Film:

Pride

Best Director:

Yann Demange – ’71

Best Actress:

Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle

Best Actor:

Brendan Gleeson – Calvary

Best Supporting Actress:

Imelda Staunton – Pride

Best Supporting Actor:

Andrew Scott – Pride

Best Screenplay:

Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan – Frank

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director):

Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard – 20,000 Days on Earth

Best Documentary:

Next Goal Wins

Best International Independent Film:

Boyhood

The Raindance Award:

Luna

The Richard Harris Award:

Emma Thompson

The Variety Award:

Benedict Cumberbatch

Warner Bros set their hopes high when they revealed that Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar) was in consideration for the sci-fi project Ready Player One. Their vision seems no less ambitious when the rest of their directing shortlist. Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, Heavenly Creatures), Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim VS The World, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Shaun of the Dead), Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake, Stardust) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Cast Away, Back to the Future). Jackson, Nolan and Wright are more innovative filmmakers and would rather advance their own projects but the material seems appropriate for either Vaughn or Zemeckis.

Ready Player One – 2017?

Roberto Orci departs Star Trek 3 and rumours about new Nolan movie

JJ Abrams (Super 8) left a great gap when he parted ways with Star Trek after two brilliant films and traded it for Star Wars. His replacement as director for the third film was the writer Roberto Orci while the production was set for a release in 2016. Deadline have now reported that Orci is no longer attached but the reason is yet to have give an official reason. It still isn’t clear if he’s quit of his own accord or if Paramount gave him the boot. Either way it’s surprising, particularly as The Amazing Spider-Man franchise fell apart with his departure.

The search for his replacement has thrown up the far fetched suggestion of Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim VS The World, Hot Fuzz) while there’s a strong campaign for The Next Generation star/director Jonathan Frakes (Riker). Star Trek 3 will likely star Chris Pine (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, People Like Us), Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar), Zachary Quinto (Margin Call, American Horror Story), Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Dredd), Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy, Fright Night), John Cho (American Beauty, Sleepy Hollow), Alice Eve (Men in Black 3) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Paul).

Christopher Nolan, director of Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, new epic picture Interstellar got a fairly polarized reaction; some acclaimed it a masterpiece but it has gained its fair share of loathers. Warner Bros are now seeking him for sci-fi project Ready Player One, based upon Ernest Cline’s novel.

Part of that Interstellar’s success was based around the fact that Nolan succeeded in shrouding it in mystery completely until its announcement in early 2013. Even then we knew nothing and the film’s true motives were a secret before its release. Nolan may well be reluctant to take up a project whose exact details are already published. Should he sign on, I’d expect a 2017 release but I still suspect that he has his own 2016 project up his sleeve.

Star Trek 3 – 2016

Ready Player One – 2017?