The Hollywood Reporter is confirming that Universal has found a replacement for director Frank Darabont who left The Huntsman over creative differences. A new director has been found and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan has been named.
Cedric was second-unit director on Snow White And The Hunstman and Joe Roth's Maleficent, Joe will be producing The Huntsman. He also worked on the visual effects on films such as The Ring, Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl/Dead Man's Chest and Snow White. The new director was attached to direct Summit's remake of The Highlander.
The film is said to be centred around Chris Hemsworth's Eric The Hunstman and not Snow White, Kristen Stewart isn't expected to return for the sequel.
Eric is tasked on returning the magic mirror when it goes missing. The main antagonist of the film is the Snow Queen, who is out for revenge after the death of her sister Raveena played by Charlize Theron.
As previously reported Emily Blunt is in negotiations with the studio for the role of the villainess Snow Queen.
Theron is said to be reprising the role of Raveena, possibly in flashbacks.
Emily Blunt is returning to the world of fairytales as The Wrap reports she is in negotiations to play the new villain in Unversal's sequel to Snow White And The Huntsman, titled The Huntsman.
Blunt has previously been involved with genre in films such as Gulliver's Travels and Disney's musical Into The Woods. We don't often see the actress portray villains so this could be an interesting character for Emily.
The Wrap also adds that director Frank Darabont (Godzilla, The Mist, The Walking Dead) has exited the project this week citing creative differences. A shame, since we loved what Frank did with both The Walking Dead and The Mist. He also penned the recent draft of the script which had previous worked done by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos
Having both Chris Hemsworth and now possibly Emily Blunt attached as the film's leads it shouldn't be hard to find a new director for the sequel.
The sequel is said to be focusing on Chris Hemsworth's character Eric, and likely won't see the return of Kristen Stewart in any major way while Charlize Theron is expected to reprise her role.
Blunt's character is said to be the evil Snow Queen, sister to Charlize Theron's Ravenna, who was killed in the last film. The Snow Queen is looking to avenge Raveena's death, while Hemworth's Eric The Huntsman is on a mission to find the magic mirror which has been stolen.
The Huntsman's release date has been scheduled for April 22, 2016 which suggests production will begin extremely soon.
This along with last summer's Edge of Tomorrow could help boost Emily's status as an action star seeing her moving into more adventure focused roles in the future.
Carol Danvers is that you?
There's been a huge fan campaign to see Emily Blunt take the role of Carol Danvers in Marvel's Captain Marvel film.
Mainly, due to a rumor back in 2012 from a British paper that purposed the actress was in the mix to play the character Ms Marvel in Avengers 2.
The demand to see her in the role started gathering steam when she took on badass roles in films like Looper and basically playing a character similar to Danvers in Edge of Tomorrow.
You might remember that Emily Bunt was originally cast as Black Widow in Iron Man 2 but had to exit due to Fox pulling her out of the project to take a role in Gulliver's Travels instead. She would go-on to test for the Peggy Carter role in Captain America: The First Avenger but would turn down the role as well.
Since then, it's been somewhat confirmed that a draft of the shooting script for Avengers: Age of Ultron included a cameo from Carol Danvers. Slightly boosting the expectation Carol will indeed make her first appearance in the Avengers sequel.
However, it's unknown if the studio has or will shoot that scene.
We've seen Marvel previously setup future solo films with Chadwick Boseman getting a co-starring role in Captain America: Civil War before his own film Black Panther is released in 2017.
His character's kingdom of Wakanda is said to have an important role to play within Age of Ultron as well.
It's extremely possible that Marvel Studios could cast someone in the role before landing a director for Captain Marvel. Which would help setup her character within the cinematic universe before her solo debut in July 2018.
There are even recent rumors suggesting she'll be apart of the lineup in Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, which is due out months before her solo adventure. Feeding more speculation her origins will likely be told sometime before the events of Infinity War.
I would even go as far to consider Carol Danvers could be apart of Civil War in a minor wayas well, that's if she ends up getting her cameo in Age of Ultron. Also, it not interfering with her involvement with The Huntsman production possibly shooting later-on in the year during reshoots or pick-ups.
During interviews for Into The Woods Blunt finally commented (via Screen Crush) on the campaign to see her take the Captain Marvel role. She went on to suggest it's all rumors and no offer had been made. However, seemed interested in the role if the character was a right fit for her.
"I think, it’s always for me, it’s always about—and now, more so—what am I putting out there? What would be interesting for me and what would be interesting for people to see. So, if it’s an awesome part, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Marvel movie or a tiny movie, I’d be up for it."
"That’s huge. How awesome. I love this. No one has actually called me about it, so, we’ll hold our breath. [Laughs] I don’t know if I’ll get the call ever if I pitch it should be a musical."
Emily blunt has some serious connections to Marvel Studios alumni.
Blunt, Hemswoth and Evans laughing it up!
She recently worked three Marvel actors in the Mexican cartel thriller Sicario. That cast includes Josh Brolin (Thanos), Benicio Del Toro (The Collector) and Maximiliano Hernández (Agent Sitwell).
Another huge Marvel connection comes from her role in director Joe Johnston's (Captain America: The First Avenger) The Wolfman starring opposite Del Toro again but also Anthony Hopkins (Odin) and Hugo Weaving (The Red Skull).
In The Young Victoria, she worked with Paul Bettany (Jarvis and Vision) and Thomas Kretschmann (Baron Wolfgang Strucker).
Emily has also worked with Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) in the Five-Year Engagement and Anthony Mackie (Falcon) in The Adjustment Bureau.
Including Chris Hemsworth (Thor) in The Huntsman, she will have worked with around ten Marvel Studios actors.
Also, check out this image of Emily being extremely chummy with Chris Hemsworth and Captain America'sChris Evans at the Critic's Choice Awards.
Come on, you can't tell me she wouldn't fit-in right alongside that group of actors.
Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox has landed the rights to remake John Carpenter's cult-classic Escape From New York. This new rights deal would mean the previous reboot project which had been in development for ages will be completely scrapped. Fox will be starting from scratch and likely ditching all previous scripts or outlines hiring their own writers.
The previous incarnation was looking for directors with little experience and was said to be a prequel of sorts as we would learn the origins of the franchise hero Snake Plissken, going from a national military hero to serial criminal and professional escape artist.
In the original film Snake is put on a forced suicide mission to retrieve the President who get's lost in Manhattan which is now city-sized prison colony which is led by murderous gang leader named The Duke. The less said about it's horrible sequel Escape From LA the better.
There have been plenty of actors linked for the recasting of Snake Plissken including Gerard Butler. More recently names like Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam, Thor's Chris Hemsworth and The Guest's Dan Stevens had been rumored but seemingly were only rumors.
Here's hoping Fox actively pursues Dan Stevens for the role of Snake.
Considering how Fox has handled rebooting the Planet of The Apes franchise I'm beyond excited by the news. It also opens the door for someone like Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman, X-Men First Class, Layer Cake) or Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, Let Me In) to direct or write the reboot.
The Marvel sequels were also announced by Marvel and they've slated a summer release for Thor: Ragnarok. It's title hinting to the end of days in Norse mythology, and there are already rumors (via BadassDigest) that Thor might not survive this epic battle. It's expected that Surtur the fire demon, will be our main villain and will threaten the existence of all nine realms. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are the only two actors confirmed for the film at the moment. Kevin said a few words about the film. It's release date is set for July 28th, 2017.
"This is a very important movie for us in Phase 3," said Marvel's Kevin Feige. "We plan on taking Thor to another level. It picks up where we leave Thor in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' and impacts everything that comes after."
Surtur isn't the only new character rumored for the film, we've been hearing for ages that Amora The Enchantress will be involved. Granted, we've been hearing that bit since the first film. However, with Loki now taking the throne of Asgard and Odin likely in some cell in the dungeon. Having Amora take the place of Frigga, as the Queen of Asgard would sort of make sense. Given, the sorceress would have just as ambitious motives as Loki. Below is what Surtur looked like in the Thor movie tie-in video game (via concept artwork).
Hemsworth actually liked the suggestion of Charlize Theron in the role, when brought-up by a reporter. I also wouldn't mind seeing actresses such as Ruth Wilson (linked for Captain Marvel role) and Eva Green (Casino Royale, Sin City A Dame To Kill For, Kingdom of Heaven, 300 Rise of An Empire) considered for Amora as well. Ruth (Luther, Lone Ranger, The Prisoner) has actually worked alongside Tom before, so the chemistry would already be there. Either way, Marvel needs to find someone that keep-up with the devilish Hiddleston. Wilson plays a manipulative character named Alice on Idris Elba's series Luther making her a perfect candidate.
There has been talk that actors such as Idris Elba and Jaimie Alexander aren't fond of their Marvel contracts (has hindered roles in other superhero films), so I'm unsure if Marvel will want to have unhappy actors on set. Yet, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins were begrudgingly brought back for The Dark World. I have to assume that production would begin sometime in Spring/Summer 2016.
There's no word on a director, and it's unlikely Alan Taylor will be returning. Due to his commitments to the Terminator trilogy, and will be shooting back-to-back sequels. I would be extremely curious if they would ask Patty Jenkins (Monster, The Killing) back. Patty was originally set to make The Dark World but exited over "creative differences". Considering the film is expected to be a lot darker it just might suit Jenkins better than the last installment. Who knows, they could even ask another Game of Thrones alumni to help them out. Director Michelle MacLaren (Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, X-Files, Game of Thrones) was on a shortlist for Warner Bros. Wonder Woman, but might be a better fit for Marvel. Marvel has picked television directors before, and have gotten excellent results.
A script is in place by writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. It could be arguably the most important Marvel film. We could see either Thor give-up on helping Midgard to rule Asgard or die trying to save the realms. There's talk Thor won't be involved with Avengers: Infinity War.
Marvel has finally made it official! They are moving forward with Thor 3 announcing that screenwriters Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle will co-write the script. I had heard over the summer Marvel was tossing around ideas for an outline for a third film, and it seems the studio liked what developed. Christopher previously co-wrote The Dark World and Craig has been a producer on the two Thor films.
A director hasn't been named, but Alan Taylor is about to begin production on Terminator: Genesis, which could rule him out to return. It's possible that a 2015 production date could be eyed, with Thor 3 taking one of the two 2016 release dates, since Captain America 3 is further back in the development phase.
Craig Kyle also helped Marvel with their animated features most notably writing Planet Hulk (teased in Dark World) , Hulk Vs and Doctor Strange. He previously teased Ragnarök for the third film, which has also been stated by Chris Hemsworth and Kevin Feige. Giving more validity to Surtur being the big baddie of the movie, which has been teased since the first film. A excellent way to end a trilogy, if you ask me.
We've also been hearing from insiders and Tom Hiddleston, that Amora The Enchantress will finally make her way into the MCU for the feature. There has been an Amora/Surtur connection previously, where she is enslaved by Surtur to help bring about Ragnarök. Having Loki's love-interest turned against him and a servant of Surtur for Ragnarök, could be a reason we see Loki and Thor join forces again.
"When I was first reading the comics, the relationship with the Enchantress was one of the really fun things I thought would be good to explore and may have even pitched it to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige at some point. Because she is as sneaky and as untrustworthy as he was. ... They basically had a really fantastic and twisted relationship until they both say, ‘You know what? I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. It’s over.’ Because they keep betraying each other, in a way. So it could be good."
Chris Hemsworth even liked MTV's suggestion of Charlize Theron (Monster, Prometheus, Mad Max Fury Road) playing Amora. Having Patty Jenkins (Monster, The Killing) return to direct the third installment might be a good way to attract Theron to the role.
"I don't know much at all but it sounds interesting," Chris Hemsworth told MTV when asked for his thoughts on the recent Enchantress rumours. "I'm not playing the usual, sidestepping that we normally have to do, I haven't read a script. They have a bunch of different ideas, but that sounds interesting." After being told that his Snow White and the Huntsman co-star Charlize Theron is a fan favourite for the role, he said: "Oh right. Well she certainly plays a pretty intimidating villain, I think she'd be awesome but I think she's tied up in 20 other films. I think she's going on to 'Mad Max' next. [But] you never know. Fingers crossed!" SOURCE: MARVEL
Thor: The Dark World is about to be released in the next couple of weeks and we already have hints to where the third film could go. Actor Tom Hiddleston talked to TotalFilm revealing he's pitched Amora The Enchantress to Marvel for future films. Amora has been rumored since the first film as a villain and was linked for Dark World during it's early development. Enchantress just happens to be a villain of both Thor and The Avengers (alongside The Masters of Evil). The Asgardian sorceress is a conflicted character, playing friend and foe to both Thor/Loki.
"When I was first reading the comics, the relationship with the Enchantress was one of the really fun things I thought would be good to explore and may have even pitched it to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige at some point. Because she is as sneaky and as untrustworthy as he was. ... They basically had a really fantastic and twisted relationship until they both say, ‘You know what? I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. It’s over.’ Because they keep betraying each other, in a way. So it could be good."
Plans for a third Thor movie haven't been made public and will likely be determined by the box office numbers for The Dark World. However, since Loki won't be making an appearance in Age of Ultron and wants to see the Loki/Amora dynamic explored, it will likely be saved for Thor solo adventures. Chris Hemsworth mentioned to MTV he would love to see Charlize Theron in the role of Amora, if the actress was able to find the time to do it.
"I don't know much at all but it sounds interesting," Chris Hemsworth told MTV when asked for his thoughts on the recent Enchantress rumours. "I'm not playing the usual, sidestepping that we normally have to do, I haven't read a script. They have a bunch of different ideas, but that sounds interesting." After being told that his Snow White and the Huntsman co-star Charlize Theron is a fan favourite for the role, he said: "Oh right. Well she certainly plays a pretty intimidating villain, I think she'd be awesome but I think she's tied up in 20 other films. I think she's going on to 'Mad Max' next. [But] you never know. Fingers crossed!"
BleedingCool recently reported on rumblings that Marvel was keen on having Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) take on the role of Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron. THR is supporting the story that early talks with Olsen are indeed true. She recently wrapped production on Godzilla which co-stars Aaron Johnson, who is currently the front-runner for the Quicksilver role. Olsen and Johnson are basically the same age which would be needed since the siblings are twins. There is also word that the pair will be using British accents instead of having a rumored Eastern European background (ala Black Widow).
While Marvel is looking to wrangle Robert Downey Jr. into a new contract. The same can't be said about the other actors. New behind the scenes information via Deadline gives the impression that both Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth were almost replaced before their respective sequels went into production. Not to mention the studio has threatened to replace actors. Scarlett Johansson is also sounding off stating she's not willing to take a pay cut either. This isn't a hard request to fill since the last film soared to make $1.5 billion in box office. I wouldn't be shocked if post-Avengers 2 we end up seeing new actors playing Thor, Cap and Widow or even before then.
RDJ is the iconic leader of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it's possible he could be trying to help his fellow cast members get more money or at least fair compensation. I don't see Marvel getting new actors unless they have to but I get the impression that Evans and Hemsworth might end up walking if they can't win them back with their demand rising along with their quotes. It's a sad story since Marvel has been trying develop their own stars but when they find success elsewhere and can't pay them their worth they will loose them.
No word if Jeremy Renner will be back since his name hasn't been mentioned. However, with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver being linked for the sequel it's possible Widow and Hawkeye might be edged out of the sequel. Giving the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents the bench for superpowered heroes to join the ranks.
MTV has word from Jason Clarke (Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, Zero Dark Thirty) that he's joined Stephen Gaghan's (Syriana) thriller Candy Store which already has Chris Hemsworth (Avengers, Rush) attached to star. A bunch of high profile actors had been originally linked to the project but it seems they are currently looking at rising talent for the film instead.
"An elite, deep-cover operative who loses everything, ultimately disappearing into Brooklyn, where he must start again. He winds up as a beat up cop, only to discover the global organization he was dedicated to fighting is operating in his new backyard."
Variety reports that Michael Mann (Heat, Manhunter, Collateral) is developing yet another possible project that is looking to be shot this Summer. This one has Chris Hemsworth (Avengers, Rush) attached to star with a June start date and has Mann co-writing the script with Morgan Davis Foehl (Mass Effect). Not much is known about the film setup at Legendary Pictures but it will be a thriller set in the world of cyber threats and attacks. Hemsworth was looking to shooting Robopocalypse for Steven Spielberg this Summer but that film's production has been delayed.
I must have missed this news but apparently Marvel Studios hired a few more writers to tackle rewrites on the script for Thor: The Dark World. Originally, it had been reported that Don Payne's (Thor, Simpsons) outline for the sequel was being reworked by Oscar nominated screewnwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot). There is word that Marvel has hired some of their own in-house talent to work on the film. It's possible that Robert Rodat's work might have been excluded from the film entirely.
Christopher Yost who is best known for writing Marvel animated shows including Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Wolverine And The X-Men was brought on to work on the script. Not to mention the studio also hired Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus (Captain America: The First Avenger, Pain And Gain) to add some magic. It's unknown who did what but it sounds like the scale of the film could have been increased since McFeely and Markus seem to write big action set-pieces. A key element that was missing in the first Thor film. The screenwriting pair also recently completed the Captain America sequel Winter Soldier which is about to begin production in March.
Actress Jaimie Alexander who plays Sif in the Thor franchise is currently on a press tour for her upcoming film The Last Stand which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. In an interview with IAmRouge she revealed a bit info on The Dark World, giving the impression the film is bigger (more realms being explored) and her character will be given more development (possible love triangle?). Jaimie also briefly comments on director Alan Taylor, new writers and the addition of Zachary Levi as Fandral. [IAmRogue]
“I just finished shooting about a week and a half ago. There's going to be a bit of a darker feel and obviously a lot more action. We get to explore different realms a lot more and you see a lot more Asgard; and you get to know the people of Asgard. There is more [character development] with Sif. We sort of explore the Thor-Sif relationship a little bit; kind of [in a romantic way]. It's more like getting a feel of who these people are, how the way they are with each other. It was really fun for me and Chris. Him and I are almost like brother and sister too, so I was like maybe that translates into 'ohh they love each other on camera.' We had a good time making that movie.” “That was hard at first [returning with a new director] because I didn't know what to expect. I love Kenneth Branagh very much He was a huge staple in my life because he launched my career. I gotta say, however, it is always great working with new people. Alan Taylor has brought a whole new vision to Thor. We've remained our own characters obviously, so there's still that similarity between the first and second one. But there's a darker feel to this one; a little more Gladiator-ish, a bit more viking-ish. So I'm really excited to see how it turns out.” “The script did [feel more rooted in the comic book stuff]. I could read certain scenes and actually see how someone would do the drawings on the page. With that sense, Marvel was great; they said 'make it your own.' We just have a great team. I have been very lucky in my career. It was slightly different [with Zachary Levi coming in], because he's not Josh Dallas, but he's fantastic. And I've know Zach for years. He was actually one of the first choices for Fandral, so it's great to have him on board. He's definitely Fandral, and he's such a lovely guy, team player and really sweet. Everybody welcomed him with open arms and he's definitely a part of the family.”
RadarOnline (via FilmSchoolRejects) has word that Universal is pushing to bring back Kristen Stewart for the sequel to Snow White And The Huntsman. It had been reported previously the studio was looking to make the sequel centered around The Huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth. David Koepp was hired to develop a script while this new report says David is now gone but a script is ready to go. However, the big news is that Rupert Sanders won't be back to direct but the project is still being aimed to start shooting at the end of 2013. It's unknown how concrete this new information is so take it as a rumor for now.
