UPDATED: Jai Courtney Wanted For Deadshot Role In SUICIDE SQAUD

Wow, talk about terrible casting. Variety reports that Warner Bros. is eyeing Aussie Jai Courtney (Die Hard 5, Jack Reacher) for the main role of Deadshot in David Ayer's Suicide Squad. I say terrible because Jai is known for some pretty lousy acting. His addition to the new Terminator film actually made me mad. I won't say that this could ruin the film, but having better actors surrounding him it will be glaring how out of place he'll be in that cast. He's not the leading man type, and this is just really weird lead casting.

Variety is also states that Margot Robbie is indeed looking to play Harley Quinn. They also mention that Tom Hardy is looking to be placed in the Rick Flag role. Not Harkness, which I assume he was since the actor is known for stellar accents. Instead Will Smith is apparently wanted for Harkness. This is sort of bizarre to me since Captain Boomerang is established as an Aussie villain. Smith isn't known for his accents, and hiring Aussie actor Jai Courtney for that role seems like a better move on the part of DC. I'm kind of hoping Variety got these male roles mixed-up, because this sounds ridiculous to me. Placing Will Smith and Tom Hardy in supporting roles seems fishy to me, those two are stronger leads than Courtney.

Jesse Eisenberg is said to be in talks to reprise the role of Lex Luthor in the film. Jared Leto could be our next Joker, and might be an excellent way to introduce the manic villain to this new DCU. David Ayer is directing with a release date set for August 2016, months after Batman v Superman drops. Production is expected to begin sooner than expected.

UPDATE: Deadline is now reporting that Courtney might be cast in another DC movie, which isn't Suicide Squad. There are plenty of films in the works including Wonder Woman, Shazam!, Aquaman, Justice League and The Flash coming-up next.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Christopher McQuarrie Confirms He's Directing MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 5?

Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) has confirmed via Twitter that he'll be directing Mission: Impossible 5. While the statement could be considered vague Paramount has invested in him and the Jack Reacher franchise. To have him direct an installment of a well known franchise could help boost the chances of a Reacher sequel. J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot will still be involved in the production. McQuarrie is also a screenwriter which could help give the script a little bit of facelift. His credits include Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, The Wolverine and Jack The Giant Slayer.

Deciding to accept. “@leeroy_nitro: @chrismcquarrie G'day mateJust wondering if your confirmed to direct Mission Impossible 5 yet?”

— ChristopherMcQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) February 5, 2013

J.J. Abrams Still Producing STAR TREK 3 And MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5

According to Variety Paramount has confirmed that Bad Robot and J.J. Abrams will be involved with both Star Trek 3 and Mission: Impossible 5. While his role as director for Star Trek 3 is unlikely it hasn't been mentioned that a search for a new director has begun. Christopher McQuarrie is being looked for MI5 while Star Trek 3 is only in development phase without a completed script.

THR adds that Abrams can move Disney's purposed Summer 2015 release date for Episode VII. Which means depending on the project's development it could be released earlier or later. I have to assume that a new Star Wars film would need at least a year for artists to put together set designs, action sequences and alien concepts. We should be expecting a little more than just a green-screen production this time around.

In theory, he could choose to hold off the release of the next Star Wars until 2016. Perhaps, giving him all the time needed to be involved with pre-production on Episode VII along with a small window to make Star Trek 3. At the very least helping Paramount find a new director and continue creative choices as producer. It wouldn't be shocking to see a director like Jon Favreau (Iron Man) or Drew Goddard (Cabin In The Woods) coming in to pickup the baton.

Could Christopher McQuarrie Help Develop Fox's Marvel Universe?

Christopher McQuarrie is best known for his screenwriting work on The Usual Suspects which earned him an Oscar. However, he's moving into the directing field with Jack Reacher and is being linked to direct Mission: Impossible 5. McQuarrie is uncredited but did help develop the X-Men franchise with Bryan Singer. Chris helped add some elements to the first two films and recently wrote the script for The Wolverine. In an interview with ScreenRant he mentions a meeting with Fox to help them flush out an expansive film universe for the X-Men. Similar to Marvel's cohesive cinematic universe that lead to Avengers' massive success.  


"You know, Bryan and I have talked about it a bunch of times – and in fact, right after I got back from shooting [Jack Reacher] I had a meeting with Tom Rothman – just a general meeting – and I said to Tom, ‘You know what I’d really love to do, is I’d really love to flesh out the X-Men Universe for you. You have this great wealth of these Marvel characters, and the X-Men franchise has only focused on a small handful of them – there’s many more.'" 

"And I thought that it’d be really cool to create a ‘bible’ – you know, a series of outlines of interlocking movies where you could do kind of what they did with ‘The Avengers,’ where you’re creating multiple movies that could come together as one movie here and there. And… you know… I never heard back [laughs]. But that would kinda be fun – to do something like that – where you could kind of become the curator for something like that." 


The only problem is that Fox hasn't really followed up on Christopher's offer and he could move on to write/direct other projects. Fox confirmed plans for their own Marvel film universe which would begin with The Wolverine leading into X-Men Days of Future Past and Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner even stating we could be seeing the X-Men joining future installments of the Avengers if Marvel Studios was open to it. While Feige confirmed that Marvel and Fox co-owned mutants Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver who are established members of the Avengers and X-Men. Wolverine would be their big get as he's been one of the biggest faces of the Avengers team since the 90's.

Mark Millar had been hired to oversee the creative-side of this direction but a visionary hasn't been tapped to put it all together. Millar isn't a screenwriter and likely will be around to explain characters/storylines. Fox doesn't have a Joss Whedon so it sounds like they'll have to split the tasks to a group of people. Having McQuarrie involved could only improve chances for success, not to mention a director who could help make these spin-off films. Deadpool is still in limbo with Tim Miller signing on to a bunch of other directing projects. Also, if The Wolverine is successful enough they'll pursue a third film. X-Men 4, New Mutants/X-Force and Cable films have also been mentioned for possible next Marvel projects for the studio.

Christopher McQuarrie In Talks To Direct MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 5

Deadline reports that writer/director Christopher McQuarrie is in talks with Paramount to helm Mission: Impossible 5. McQuarrie is best known as an Oscar winning screenwriting for films such as Usual Suspects, Way of The Gun, Valkyrie, The Wolverine, Jack The Giant Slayer and All You Need Is Kill. He recently did double duty with the Tom Cruise actioner Jack Reacher and seems to have impressed the studio brass. Not to mention they would end up with a solid screenwriter.

New Trailer For JACK REACHER

TRAILER: 'JACK REACHER' Starring Tom Cruise