SOURCE CODE Sequel Will Be Helmed By German Director Anna Foerster

Variety reports that a sequel for Duncan Jones' Source Code is in the works. A script has been written by Ben Ripley, who wrote the original film. They've also hired Anna Foerester (Criminal Minds, Army Wives) to direct the film. Anna is known for second unit and other camera/photography work on films such as White House Down, 10,000 BC, Alien: Resurrection, Pitch Black,  Independence Day, 2012, Æon Flux and The Day After Tomorrow. There is no word if Summit/Lionsgate will pickup the film for distribution, or if any of the original cast will be returning.


SOURCE: VARIETY 

Ridley Scott Reckons BLADE RUNNER 2 Will Be Made Before PROMETHEUS 2, Should Fox Wait For Him?

Recently, director Ridley Scott confirmed to EntertainmentWeekly that indeed his next film will based on the sci-fi novel The Martian starring Matt Damon. He had updates on his two science fiction sequels as well, stating both scripts for Blade Runner 2 and Prometheus 2 are finished. However, Scott believes that Blade Runner will happen first. These statements sound a bit confusing to us, considering we've been hearing the studio has already set it's release date for March 4th, 2016. Release dates change all the time, but waiting for Scott to complete two films might be too long for them. Will the studio wait for Ridley Scott, or will they simply move production forward with another director?

Fox has a history of being impatient when it comes to their science fiction franchises. The Alien saga is littered with stories of how the studio couldn't be bothered waiting for Ridley or James Cameron, and hired other directors to replace them on sequels. They even tossed-out Ridley and James collaboration pitch for Alien 5, in favor for the disastrous Alien Vs. Predator. They have been more intent on release dates, than who directors the film. I'm sure fans including myself want Ridley to return, but if Scott came back the first time wouldn't have James Cameron's Aliens.

Who does 20th Century Fox hire if that can't wait for Ridley to finish-up two films? There's only two directors that scream Alien/Prometheus franchise to me at the moment. They are British directors Jonathan Glazer and Duncan Jones, both who have dipped-their-toes into dark science fiction stories.

Duncan Jones' film Moon, an homage of sorts to the work of Ridley Scott and more directly Alien, proves he understood the dark undertones of corporate greed that was apart of the original films. We know that Weyland Industries will have a returning role in the sequel, and we would need someone who can convincing portray this slime-ball group properly. I think Jones knows better than most what makes the franchise work and how to the mix the elements, without retreading old beats. The only issue with Jones is that he's already busy with post-production on Warcraft, which is expect to spawn sequels if successful. There is also a bit of speculation circling, that Jones could be called-up by Lucasfilm for a Star Wars film in the future.

Jonathan Glazer (Under The Skin, Sexy Beast, Birth) could be our creative diamond-in-the-rough. He's got a stunning visual style, that does remind me of a mix of Ridley and David Fincher (who got his Hollywood start directing Alien 3). If the script is as good as Scott is reporting it is, anyone could pick it up and shoot it. If not, Glazer is accomplished screenwriter himself and understands the thriller genre better than most. I don't think having Glazer adding his flare to the script would be a terrible thing.



I won't deny that Glazer has a bit of an oddball aspect to his films, that might turn-off fans and audiences alike, but taking director risks is what the franchise is known for. As long as Ridley stays-on as a producer it should go over well with his original vision for it. Glazer's Under The Skin reminded of the of horror creepy elements that worked best in Prometheus, I think he'd have an excellent take on the look of the Engineers' homeworld and their society.

The other side of the coin, is that Fox pushes the release date to 2017. It's doubtful they'd want such a delay between the two films. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender are still under contract, but it's unknown how locked-on Ridley is if he can delay the production by an entire year. I'm sure Fox will make up their minds soon, if they have a completed script movement might start with or without Ridley.

Granted, it should also be noted the film was always envisioned as a two-part epic, even when it was originally titled Alien: Origins. Having Scott complete it makes a lot of sense. When the film was first readying production, Ridley passed-on the torch to one of his Scott Free proteges Carl Rinsch. The studio actually demanded Carl taken-off the film and Ridley direct instead. I can't even imagine what the film would have looked-like with another director. Rinsch would eventually land at Universal making their ambitious trainwreck samurai flick 47 Ronin.

Should Fox wait for Ridley Scott to complete his other two productions first, and push the release date to 2017? Or should Fox move forward with the completed script and find a new director?

VIKINGS Actor Travis Fimmel And Others Also In The Mix For Lead Roles In Duncan Jones' WARCRAFT

Deadline has updated their original Warcraft casting story to include more named that are now in the mix. They include Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Paul Dano (Prisoners, Looper), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek 1-2, Like Crazy) and Anson Mount (Hell On Wheels). The most interesting name in the group is Fimmel who is the main draw to the History Channel series Vikings, which is somewhat in the same ballpark as Legendary's Warcraft. It sounds like the roles are other than one offered to Colin Farrell.

Colin Farrell And Paula Patton In Talks For Duncan Jones' WARCRAFT

Deadline reports that Legendary Pictures is casting for their live-action film Warcraft based on the best-selling video game. The film which has Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon) set direct is looking at Colin Farrell to take the lead role as an offer has gone out to him. Actress Paula Patton is also in the mix and is in talks for the female lead.

Niels Arden Oplev Attached To Direct FLATLINERS Remake

BloodyDisgusting is reporting that Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (Dead Man Down, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) is attached to direct the Flatliners remake for Columbia/Sony. It will be written by Ben Ripley best known for Duncan Jones' Source Code. The original film was a stellar thriller and is considered one of the better Joel Schumacher films like The Lost Boys. Flatliners focuses on a group of young med students looking to experience being revived from death with supernatural consequences.

Duncan Jones Hired By Legendary Pictures To Direct WARCRAFT

HeatVision reports British director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) has been hired to helm the live-action film adaptation of the wildly popular fantasy video game series Warcraft. Previously, Sam Raimi had been hired to direct but left to make Oz, The Great And Powerful for Disney instead. It sounds like the studio is gearing up for some exciting genre-based projects including Guillermo del Toro's robots versus kaiju flick Pacific Rim and Gareth Edwards' Godzilla reboot. Legendary is looking to start production in the Fall and eying a 2015 release date.

Duncan Jones Will Make Action Bio-Pic Of Bond Author 'IAN FLEMING'

We had been patiently waiting what director Duncan Jones would choose next after making such wonderful films with Moon and Source Code. Duncan had been trying to get his Blade Runner homage Mute into production but had a difficult time getting someone to fiance it. He also was entertaining studios with meetings to direct films like Man of Steel, The Wolverine, Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I'm sure with the recent Blade Runner sequel buzz that barrier will likely be lifted eventually.

ThePlaylist picked up on a press release that reveals Duncan's next film which will be a film based on the life of James Bond author Ian Fleming. People might not understand that Fleming was an intelligence officer during WWII, a hero of sorts himself before writing the novels. He took a lot of his knowledge of the intelligence business along with his own experiences and used it as inspiration for the Bond novels. The film won't be your average bio-pic as it will be action oretiened thriller. It will be based on the biography “Ian Fleming, The Man Behind James Bond” by Andrew Lycett. Jones gave his own impression on the project.


“Fleming lived through one of the most perilous periods in world history, in a position that allowed him a unique vantage point of all the players, all the stakes. He witnesses true heroism first-hand. And he saw the evil men could do. Then, when the war ended, he went off to write fiction. The essential question for me is; where did Ian Fleming end and Bond begin?”

An actor hasn't been named but James McAvoy had been rumored for the role. James D'Arcy previously played Fleming in the British action flick Age of Heroes which had some connection to one of his WWII missions. It also focused on his special forces team the 30 Commando unit. Michael Fassbender could end in the mix as well since Fassy had been rumored to be inline as a future James Bond. McAvoy and Fassbener have a bit of time to kill before X-Men First Class 2 ramps up production in January 2013 so anything could happen.

Who Should Direct Thor 2?

Now that we know that Patty Jenkins, Brian Kirk and Kenneth Branagh aren't options to direct Thor 2, who could? Previously we've seen some names that seem like odd matches before but have turned out great for Marvel Studios like Jon Favreau and Branagh. I think with the production date looming the studio might want to consider a few names. They very well won't workout because of scheduling issues but I feel these directors could bring something to the table.

RUPERT SANDERS: He's new to the movie industry but is cutting his teeth with a rather large project currently Snow White And The Huntsman which stars Chris Hemsworth. Rupert already has a working relationship with Hemsworth and seems to be able to handle a project of this size along with it's budget restrictions. Huntsman features a lot of fantasy aspects that could be interesting seen in a Thor sequel. The humor might be an issue for Sanders since Huntsman looks like it could be a lot more serious than Thor. However, the last film was able to balance between many different emotions and could go darker if need be. While Huntsman will get a June release date between now and then Sanders is likely going to be busy as can be with post-production on the film.

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Nicolas is film geek gold winning over many with his conceptual eye-popping thriller Drive this year. He's been itching to make a comic book film being on many people's list to step in for future Batman films. Not to mention Refn's own intentions on making a serious Wonder Woman film for Warner Bros. but has yet to be taken up on the offer. Refn has stated his favorite of his own films was Valhalla Rising which featured a one eyed mute Viking slave who was a prize fighter. If Marvel really wanted to go the auteur route Nicolas would be that route. He's currently shooting another smaller film title Only God Forgives which could easily be edited on the fly. I could see him being able to handle the genre and it's humor my only concern would be it's pacing. The only issue could be his in development remake of Logan's Run could end up being his next project if WB wants it to be.

DUNCAN JONES: He's been linked as a contender for Man of Steel, The Wolverine and Iron Man 3, the latter more rumor if anything else. Jones is a solid science fiction director his films Moon and Source Code run the gauntlet of emotions which doesn't often happen in the genre. Thor is equally set in fantasy as it is science fiction which could be explored greatly with Jones behind the camera. He currently doesn't have a set film on his slate while the others on the list do. Duncan has yet to fully jump into franchise territory and is unlikely to do so without a serious reason to. One of his passion projects Mute has been lacking in financing which could change if he knocked out something like Thor 2. I liken Duncan to Matthew Vaughn early in his career, so I dying to see what he can do with a Marvel property.

Starship Troopers Is Being Remade

Producer Neal H. Moritz is known for taking on rather large projects and reboots. He currently has Total Recall and Bryan Singer's Jack The Giant Killer to be released this summer. Along with a slew of other projects that include 21 Jump Street, R.I.P.D. (Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges), RED 2, Highlander and Escape From New York. Neal is about to develop a remake of yet another film from director Paul Verhoeven this time according to Vulture it will be Starship Troopers. The 90's cult classic was a massive misstep for Sony when the $100 million film didn't make a splash at the box office when it first came out but then later made a killing in the home video market. It spawned two direct-to-DVD sequels which neither had the scale or action of the first film. However, it might be in good hands as Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz will tackle the remake's script. The pair are credited for writing both Thor and X-Men First Class which were some of the biggest success stories of the year.



As a big fan of the original I'm unsure which angle they'll be going for here. I was shocked how much they would exclude in Total Recall from the original film going as far as getting rid of the violence for a PG-13 rating along with Mars. To see a PG-13 Starship Troopers film would be an odd thing considering this a science fiction war film. Films like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon showed the realistic side to war but had to be R for this to happen. Even in science fiction the rules still apply just look at Aliens (which channeled Vietnam) for example if we didn't see the marines taken out so harshly I don't think the film would have had the same impact. Avatar for all it's stunning special effects didn't have the same urgency Aliens had because the realism was lost in it's fantasy world of CGI.

My faith in the project will also come down to casting and the director. I feel like Sony could be working the Hunger Games/Ender's Game angle here and looking to hire very young actors for the leads. Not unlike the original which had a fresh faced group of young actors put into combat. I would hope that the studio went for talent rather flavors of the month. Since I believe this reboot is likely a new franchise in the making. I don't have a lot of directors coming to mind who could do this justice but newcomer Rupert Sanders is among them. Sanders who I hope will make a name for himself with Snow White And The Huntsman also did a great job on the some of the Halo live-action commercials.

Duncan Jones Dropped Out Of Superman & Judge Dredd Reboot

ComingSoon was able to speak with writer/director Duncan Jones (Moon) while doing some press for Source Code. He went on to say he dropped out of the running to direct Superman: Man of Steel because of the scale of the production. It makes sense considering his inexperience at that time. Along with his use of limited amount of actors and sets in both Source Code and Moon. Jones also while interested with Judge Dredd turned down directing the reboot Dredd. Let's hope we eventually see Duncan take on some comic book properties in the future. There had been a bit of an online campaign to see him direct Iron Man 3.


“I was thrilled to be on that short list. For me, that was enough. I don’t know if I would be ready for that leap yet. I did have a meeting with Chris and he’s a fantastic guy and seemed to have really enjoyed ‘Moon,’ so there was some legitimate interest in me. I think, maybe, I’m not quite ready for that scale of project and that scale of expectation from an audience that is already existing and is waiting to see the next generation of ‘Superman’ film. I don’t know. It’s a hard one. I’m a huge Superman fan and Bizarro Superman fan. And also a big ‘Judge Dredd’ fan, which was another one that came my way. Those are two very different scales of projects. Superman was so big that I think I was a little intimidated by it and sort of backed out. ‘Judge Dredd’ I really thought about and it ended up not being right for me because I had such strong feelings and opinions on what I wanted that film to be. Although I really like what they’re going to do with it, it’s not the film that I was going to make. So that one wasn’t going to work out.”
 

What's interesting is that Duncan could have revealed that Bizzaro Superman is involved with Snyder's film. Bizzaro along with Brainaic are excellent possible additions to the new Superman film universe. Of course he could just be referring to the character with affection









Would You Like To See Duncan Jones Take On The Superhero Genre? What About Iron Man 3? Leave Your Comments!

Duncan Jones's Blade Runner Homage "Future City Film" Is Next, Mute Is Dead?

Writer/director Duncan Jones is becoming the next big name in science fiction films. His first film Moon is one of the best from the genre in the last 10 years and his upcoming Source Code looks to be just as interesting.

There had been talk from Jones his next film would be Mute. A film noir set in a futuristic Berlin with a lead character that is unable to speak. Mute is apparently having issues with finding fiances and could be stuck in limbo. In a new interview with WeGotThisCovered , Duncan says that his next film will be Future City Film (working title) and talks on Mute's issues. Another homage to the work of Ridley Scott taking inspiration from Blade Runner. Mute was also to take some elements from the classic android film. His first film Moon takes a lot of it's tone and imagery from Ridley's Alien.

While I'm upset that Mute is being put on hold as long as Jones is sticking with science fiction I'm happy. Plus any film that is influenced by Blade Runner is going to interest me. I'll be curious to see if the noir elements which were going to be used in Mute will also be involved with the new project.

Clint Mansell To Score Source Code

Composer Clint Mansell (Requiem for A Dream) will score Duncan Jones' Source Code. Clint previously worked with Jones on the haunting score for Moon.

First Look: Jake Gyllenhaal In Source Code

WetDark&Wild/FilmSourceCode were able to get a hold of this scan from Empire Magazine which is the first image from Duncan Jones' (Moon) Source Code.