Final candidates in Spider-Man castings and Josh Trank exits Star Wars spin off

We picked up a report recently that Marvel’s candidates for the role of Spider-Man were considerably younger than previous stars Toby Maguire (The Great Gatsby) and Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as well as earlier rumours about Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) and Logan Lerman (Fury). The latest news on the subject is that The Fault in Our Stars’ Nat Wolff, The Way Way Back’s Liam James and Interstellar’s Timothee Chalamet are out of the running and two contenders remain. There are young Brits Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game) and Tom Holland (The Impossible, Wolf Hall). The information comes from well informed Hollywood insider Devin Faraci. The MCU Spider-Man debuts in next year’s Captain America: Civil War before his spin off in 2017, directed by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods).

Josh Trank’s career seemed to be on a great track after the found footage superhero hit Chronicle. Fox snapped him up for the upcoming reboot Fantastic Four while Disney employed him for the second Star Wars Anthology spin off. However, Fantastic Four has been plagued by reshoots and rumoured behavioural issues and that may have worried the Star Wars brain trust (Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, JJ Abrams). The latest announcement is that Trank is no longer attached to the film despite a year’s work on it. We might be hearing about a replacement very soon.

By comparison, spin off Rogue One is running smoothly with director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) and stars Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Dark Knight Rises). Meanwhile, The Force Awakens is directed by JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) and stars Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Oscar Isaac (Drive), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Tracks), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Mr Selfridge), Max Von Sydow (Minority Report) and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings).

Rogue One – December 16th 2016

Star Wars spin-off – May 2018

Spider-Man – July 28th 2017

Sam Rockwell in Poltergeist images, Cranston and Paul rumoured for new roles and new Daredevil trailer

“Theeere heeeere!”

Firstly today we have the very first look at the new remake of horror classic Poltergeist, courtesy of producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead) and British director Gil Kenan (City of Ember). It’ll depict a family moving into a new home, occupied by evil spirits and will star Sam Rockwell (Moon, Seven Psychopaths, Iron Man 2, The Assassination of Jesse James), Rosemarie DeWitt (The Company Men, Kill the Messenger, Mad Men) and Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Mad Men, Lincoln, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

In 2014, Breaking Bad duo Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul went almost head to head with Godzilla and Need for Speed respectively getting released, the former Japanese beast being the obvious winner. They may be butting heads again as they are both connected with two different roles. Cranston (star of the Best Picture winning Argo) is rumoured for Star Trek 3.

The sequel (after both JJ Abrams and Roberto Orci quit) is on its third director with Justin Lin (Fast and Furious series) now set at the helm and will star Chris Pine (Into the Woods, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), Zachary Quinto (Heroes), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy), Karl Urban (The Lord of the Rings, Dredd), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Mission: Impossible 3), Anton Yelchin (Like Crazy, Fright Night) and John Cho (American Beauty).

Aaron Paul, last seen in biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, may be in the running for the male lead in the first Star Wars spin off. Paul was involved in Star Wars before, playing Luke in Kevin Smith’s New Hope live script read. The subject of the film hasn’t been established but it’ll be directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards and the female lead is in contention between Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, Like Crazy), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Rooney Mara (The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Her).

Finally today we have the first full trailer for Netflix and Marvel’s very first collaboration: Daredevil. This teaser is both surprisingly brilliant and brutal. Showrunner Steven S DeKnight (Spartacus) commands the cast of Charlie Cox (The Theory of Everything, Stardust), Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Trance), Elden Henson (The Hunger Game: Mockingjay), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Ayelet Zurer (Man of Steel, Munich) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Men in Black, The Judge).

Daredevil – April on Netflix

Star Trek 3 – July 8th 2016

Star Wars spin-off – December 16th

Poltergeist – July 31st