Marvel Studios Meeting With Writers And Directors For DOCTOR STRANGE

We finally have some concrete news concerning Marvel's Doctor Strange. THR reports that the studio is meeting with directors Mark Andrews (Brave, John Carter, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars), Jonathan Levine (50/50, Warm Bodies), Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Dean Israelite (Welcome To Yesterday). The plan is that they will have double-duties, helping with the script as well. These names are mostly writer-directors which confirms my initial report, that the studio was looking for a director who could contribute to the script.

Kung Fu Panda franchise writers Jon Aibel and Glenn Berger are also in the mix to write the script. Marvel is likely tossing out the previous script from Conan The Barbarian's Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. That original draft leaked, and some of it's plot was revealed by LatinoReview. It had was reported that Marvel was possibly doing page-one rewrites, and this confirms that talk. Having both writers and a director close to deals, could mean the film might be ready to be released for 2016 or 2017. Falling inline with Kevin Feige's statements, Strange would be apart of Phase Three.

If I had to choose a front-runner or my favorite of the bunch, it would be Oscar winning director Mark Andrews. He previously co-wrote and co-directed Pixar's Brave (earning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature), film nerds champion anyone involved with the animation studio. He understands supernatural worlds writing for Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack, and co-writing the John Carter script. Andrews also might be the type of director to give us something we won't be expecting and give audiences (including children) a fun ride. Not to mention giving us strong female characters, which is surely needed in this project. If Marvel doesn't land him, I have a feeling Lucasfilm will give him a call.





SOURCE: THR

Legendary Prop Sculptor Brian Muir Will Work On GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

BleedingCool reports that legendary prop sculptor Brian Muir will be working on Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy. Brian Muir has worked on a numerous amount of stellar productions including Star Wars: A New Hope (Vader, Storm Troopers), Alien (Space Jockey), Superman, Excalibur, Dragonslayer, The Dark Crystal, Indiana Jones And The Raiders of The Lost Ark, Krull, Indiana Jones And The Temple of Doom, Return To Oz, Willow, Erik The Viking, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Lost In Space, Planet of The Apes, Harry Potter (The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Order of The Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, The Deathly Hollows), James Bond (Skyfall, Die Another Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, Golden Eye, License To Kill, The Living Daylights, A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me) John Carter, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World and Snow White And The Huntsman. Including creating the iconic helmet for Darth Vader in the first Star Wars film.

Jon Favreau Most Likely To Direct STAR WARS EPISODE VII?

HollywoodLife talked to directors J.J. Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Cowboys And Aliens) on the possibilities of them directing the new Star Wars trilogy. Abrams stating he's too close to the material and seeming pulls himself out of the running. J.J. had been linked a couple times to the project but doesn't sound interested here. He joins a growing group of directors uninterested in the project which includes Steven Spielberg, Zack Synder and Quentin Tarantino (via ThePlaylist). On the other hand Favreau has more of an open mind to the gig.

"I think both J.J. and I come from a generation of people who formed our whole creative persona around what we experienced as kids from watching those films, and I have had the good fortune of working with George [Lucas] and around George, and whether it is doing a voice on Clone Wars, or being at the Skywalker Ranch mixing Iron Man – so I have been very happy and lucky to just experience the culture that Lucas has created, both in my own life growing up as a kid and professional – whether it was interviewing him at film festivals on stage, he is just a really wonderful, talented gifted guy who has changed the business so much, so I am just giddy, first and foremost as a fan, to see what happens with it. I think there is a lot of question marks of how they are going to do it, and who they are going to do it with, and what the story is going to be about; but to say that I am not excited about it is definitely an understatement. We’ll see." 

 He doesn't come out and say it but it's sounding like he has the strongest working relationship with LucasFilm. Iron Man opened the gates leading to the massive Marvel franchise now setup at Disney. Jon helped shepherd the Marvel Cinematic Universe (before Whedon took over) and could do the same within the Star Wars universe. He has connections working with ILM on Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Cowboys And Aliens. Jon has even voiced a character on the Clone Wars cartoon an his icon on Twitter for months has been R2D2. Recently, he was working with Disney on breaking a story for a live-action film based on Magic Kingdom. Originally, Favreau had been tapped to direct John Carter before it landed at Disney who hired Andrew Stanton. In a recent interview with Lucas and LucasFilm's Kathleen Kennedy they mention what they're looking for in a director. My belief after weighing all the options, Jon is currently the strongest candidate to direct the new trilogy.

RUMOR: Taylor Kitsch Also In The Mix For Daredevil?

MovieHole has briefly mentioned that Taylor Kitsch has been added to the candidates for the Daredevil reboot. 20th Century Fox has set David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) to direct and write which will be based on the gritty Frank Miller (300, Sin City) runs of the comics. Kitsch is going to have a make or break year with massive blockbusters John Carter and Battleship heading to theaters. If successful there is already a John Carter sequel expected to go into production with the working title Gods of Mars. Disney hasn't greenlit the sequel so it could leave an opening for Taylor to make Daredevil sometime this year. Considering there doesn't seem to be a source listed I would take this as just a rumor.

Some might be skeptical about this rumor because he once played Gambit in Fox's Wolverine. However, it looks like Fox has scrapped previous incarnations of the X-Men characters with Matthew Vaughn's First Class reboot. This leads me to believe that we'll see all new actors portraying our favorite mutants (minus Wolverine of course) in future First Class sequels. The raging Cajun seems like he could be great addition to Vaughn's swinging 60's era X-Men universe. There were rumblings that Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass, Savages) could be playing either a new Gambit or Cyclops. Even the Wolverine sequel will be a one-off and likely won't have any connection to the first film. Not leaving room for Gambit to return for the sequel. I expect that we could see a completely re-shot origin for Wolvie to further separate the two films.

There is a new trend of actors playing multiple comic book roles like Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Captain America), Ryan Renyolds (Blade 3, Green Lantern, Deadpool, R.I.P.D.), Ray Stevenson (Thor, Punisher, G.I. Joe) and Idris Elba (Thor, Losers, Ghost Rider). I wouldn't be too concerned that Kitsch played a supporting character in a terrible comic book film. It doesn't exclude him from playing other heroes or villains in the future. That being said a few other actors have been previously linked to the project which includes Xavier Samuel, Garret Hedlund (Troy, Tron Legacy) and Bradley Cooper (Hangover, Limitless). Warner Bros. recently put an axe to both Akira and Paradise Lost which could give Hedlund and Cooper an opening to make the film as well.

John Carter Sequel Gets A Title

It looks like the John Carter sequel talk is back in full swing from Disney and director Andrew Stanton. Now that film has screened to press members and bloggers they feel confident in bringing up the sequel again. Producer Jim Morris reveals to ComingSoon that the working title of the second film is John Carter: The Gods of Mars. Taking it's cue from the second book in the Barsoom series from writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. Morris goes on to confirm that Stanton is currently working with writer Michael Chabon on the sequel. It was reported back in during John Carter's production that a script was already being written during the shooting of the first film. Giving the impression it could be ready to go into production sometime soon.

ThePlaylist was able to get a few words from Stanton who mentioned that he is likely returning for the sequel but has another secret project to go if things don't work out. From what I've heard, people have had an overall positive experience which is great news. However, it looks like no matter how good the film ends up it's box office return is going to be the deciding factor for a sequel to be made.

John Carter Sequel Already Written?

On March 9th we're going to see one of the biggest experiments in blockbuster film-making. Disney's John Carter formerly John Carter of Mars could end up being one of the most expensive movies ever made. It's production budget is rumored to have skyrocketed past $300 million dollars that doesn't even include the money used to promote and market the film to audiences. The price tag could be around $50-100 million added to the production budget. Making the estimated cost of making this film between $350-400+ million.

The reason for the shock and awe about these numbers is that John Carter fans are mainly made up of readers of the novels. Since the books have been kicking around for 100 years it seems that everyone 35 and up will be familiar with the character. Disney's problem is that the John Carter brand isn't largely recognizable to the majority of their target audience which is 10-15 year old range. It's going to be a massive gamble for the studio when it's trying to land Star Wars sized returns without a ravenous fanbase to rely on. The project will likely have to aim for a worldwide box office return of $700 million just to be considered a success. Luckily, Andrew Stanton of Pixar is directing the film and isn't a stranger to massive box office successes.

Back when Disney was boasting John Carter as the first in a trilogy there was talk of actual progress on sequels. Director Andrew Stanton confirmed to SlashFilm on set of Carter that the second film was being written during the production. An outline for the trilogy seems to have been hatched by Stanton and the studio. When reports of the inflated budget and rumored problems in the editing room surfaced all talk of sequels stopped. There has been rumblings of successful screenings for the film recently which is a good news for Disney. In my opinion the only way we'll ever see a John Carter trilogy is if it's a monster in the international markets. If this turns out to a big hit the sequel could move into production quicker than expected.

"We outlined three altogether. But the nice thing about not doing anything in tandem is that we can learn from the first and go, “oooH! I like that guy. I like that situation. Let’s see if we can tweak that into the second and third.” We’re constantly growing and constantly adapting. We’re trying to stay ahead of it. We’re writing the second right now while we’re working on the first…"