Orphan Black star in Star Wars rumour and Vincent Cassel joins Bourne

The Bourne series already has a fantastic extended cast including Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn and Albert Finney. Another addition has been made to the franchise’s ensemble with Vincent Cassel. The French star of La Haine, Irreversible, Ocean’s Twelve, Eastern Promises, Trance and Black Swan will play a new villain in the fifth Bourne instalment.

Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, United 93) directs while the cast includes Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Departed), Julia Stiles (10 Things I Hate About You, Silver Linings Playbook), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Man From UNCLE) and Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, No Country For Old Men).

The upcoming Star Wars instalments – sequel The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams – Harrison Ford, Andy Serkis) and spin-off Rogue One (Gareth Edwards – Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker) –  have made major casting announcements but the so far untitled Episode VIII hasn’t been deterred from secrecy. However, we now know that there are three candidates for the new female lead.

Firstly, the Golden Globe winning star of TV’s Jane the Virgin: Gina Rodriguez.

Then, Olivia Cooke – the star of indie smash hit Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Finally, Tatiana Maslany – the lead of TV’s smash hit Orphan Black.

All three are reportedly taking reads with the Force Awakens star John Boyega (Attack the Block, Imperial Dreams), confirming that his character (Finn) will return for Episode VIII. Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick), will direct the sequel which’ll also star Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Ex Machina, A Most Violent Year) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sicario).

We might also expect Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Max Von Sydow (Minority Report), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Mark Hamill (Kingsman), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Adam Driver (Girls) and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings) to star.

Bourne 5 – June 29th 2016

Star Wars: Episode VIII – May 26th 2017

Eisenberg’s Luthor revealed, Russos set for Infinity War, new Child 44 posters and Idris Elba in talks for Star Trek 3

We were worried that The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as the supervillain Lex Luthor (yet another billionaire tech entrepreneur) would be a case of the typecasting that halted Dane DeHaan in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and why great performances such as Heath Ledger’s or Tom Hardy’s come out of the blue and excel. This first look at him in the role is something to get us hopeful however.

Batman V Superman is directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel) and stars Ben Affleck (Argo, Gone Girl), Henry Cavill (The Man From UNCLE), Amy Adams (American Hustle, Big Eyes), Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious), Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, Hannibal), Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Holly Hunter (The Piano, The Incredibles), Diane Lane (Hollywoodland, The Perfect Storm) and Jeremy Irons (The Lion King, Reversal of Fortune).

As Avengers Assemble and Age of Ultron’s Joss Whedon ruled himself out from Infinity War. Now the two parted concluder to Phase 3 will be helmed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the sibling team who behind the Captain America instalments The Winter Soldier and Civil War. We still don’t know ant of the characters that’ll be surviving until the third and fourth Avengers films but we can expect the likes of Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game).

Eric Bana and Benedict Cumberbatch will be a tough act to follow but the newest Star Trek instalment is looking to cast Idris Elba. The star of Prometheus, Pacific Rim and Luther is in talks for the lead villain role for director Justin Lin (Fast Five). The cast includes Chris Pine (Jack Ryan, Into the Woods), Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar), Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Margin Call), Karl Urban (Dredd, The Lord of the Rings), Anton Yelchin (Fright NIght, Like Crazy), John Cho (American Beauty, Harold and Kumar) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Mission: Impossible).

Finally today we’ve got our hands on the brand new posters for the thriller Child 44. The film depicts a detective in Soviet Russia who investigates a series of grim child murders. Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) directs the amazing ensemble of Tom Hardy (Inception, Locke), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Public Enemies), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum, Pride), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing, RoboCop), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Trance), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, The Imitation Game) and Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

Child 44 – Apirl 17th

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25th 2016

Star Trek 3 – July 8th 2016

The Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1 – April 27th 2018

The Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2 – Apirl 16th 2019

New Million Ways to Die in the West pic, Mike Newell linked to Triffids and Espinosa linked to Assassin’s Creed

Family Guy’s creator/Ted’s writer, director and star Seth MacFarlane once again directs, stars and writes for his new production, a comedy Western titled A Million Ways to Die in the West. With perhaps the exception of Blazing Saddles, the comedy Western genre has long been cliched and poorly received but MacFarlane’s talent, and all star cast, should make this a success. The film stars MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron, Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi and one of the very first stills of the film was released today.

The Triffids, and their Day, will have a place in the heart of many horror fans. The menacing, and carnivorous, plants have seen a few TV reworkings, some more acclaimed than others, since the 1962 original. Sam Raimi (director of Evil Dead, Spider-Man and Oz: The Great and Powerful) is one of the producers of a new Triffids who’ve now set their sights on an acclaimed, BAFTA winning director.

Mike Newell may not instantly ring a bell but he’s reached near cult status with Donnie Brasco and Four Weddings and a Funeral but proved he could deliver excellent box-office goods with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($896 million worldwide) and Prince of Persia Sands of Time ($335 million).

Another huge directing appointment is also afoot. For a while, video game adaptation Assassin’s Creed has cemented its place in summer 2015 despite having no star, although Michael Fassbender has been rumoured for the lead of Desmond Miles for ages, and no director. However, the latter is set to change.

The man the studios are after is Daniel Espinosa, who directed action thrillers Safe House and Easy Money. Later this year, the Swedish Epsinosa opens his new spy drama Child 44, which star Joel Kinnaman, Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Jason Clarke, Vincent Cassel, Gary Oldman, Dev Patel and Paddy Considine.

I’m not sure if the time consuming post production stage  on his current project will defer him from accepting the job on Assassin’s Creed but, if Espinosa successfully launches the first film, he could be onto a multi-movie deal. There’s six games’ worth of material to adapt, with more instalments each year, so sequels are likely.

A Million Ways to Die in the West – June 6th

The Day of the Triffids/ The Triffids/ Triffids – 2017

Assassin’s Creed – August 6th 2015

Child 44 – late 2014