'FANTASTIC FOUR' Writer-Producer Simon Kinberg Talks Crossover With 'X-MEN'

The talk ever since Fox decided to move forward with their Fantastic Four reboot was that they would eventually crossover the characters with the X-Men franchise in some sort of super film like Avengers. EW was able to speak with the best person to know if this was happening, writer-producer Simon Kinberg responds to the crossover talk.

“The reboot of FanFour really needed to work in and of itself,” he says. “We were doing something pretty radical with the tone of the movie.” Still, the opportunity for a crossover is there. “If we wanted to find a way to connect them to the X-Men, we could,” says the writer. “There’s a lot of precedent from the comics.”

We know that X-Men/Fantastic Four producers like Hugh Jackman, Lauren Shuler Donner and Kinberg are friendly with Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, but the studios themselves seemingly have some bad blood.

While we're talking about Sony and Marvel working something out for sharing Spider-Man is looking more likely than ever before. Fox and Marvel working something out for those universes to become shared is a massive uphill battle, that seems less achievable for Marvel.

A Fox crossover between their own Marvel franchises will eventually happen but at this point both franchises are set in two different time periods which could be a big problem, unless Reed Richards builds a time-machine.

Fantastic Four 2 could setup a tiny opening for a crossover but from these statements from Simon give the impression the first film will be it's own thing.

Over the last two years or so we've been getting conflicting reports about Fox's plans for their Marvel cinematic universe.

Mark Millar was proclaiming himself as the mastermind behind Fox's Marvel cinematic universe and it's main consultant, but then we found out that he hadn't met Bryan Singer (Days of Future Past) or James Mangold (The Wolverine) until after they shot their films. This means that he really didn't even speaking to the filmmakers who were also shaping the script, no he didn't consult on the films.

Sites ate up his original statements and were reporting Millar was indeed the brain-trust for the franchises, which was never really true. If anything can be said about Mark, he loves to get media to print his bullshit. He was the first person to start talking a crossover was in the works, but was never confirmed by other sources.

Millar is out for Millar, and trying to make himself out to be this big industry insider because he's selling his comics as movie pitches to studios. He's way too busy with his own film projects at Fox and other studios, along with creating new comics to really have any sort time to give to these movies.

Simon Kinberg is actually that mastermind that Millar was claiming he was, producing and directly writing the scripts for both X-Men and Fantastic Four movies. Kinberg isn't some piker, he's also writing and producing Star Wars franchises for Lucasfilm including canonical series Rebels.
He's also godfathering Sony sci-fi films with Chappie and Elysium.

If you're looking for Fox's creative hive that would put all these films into one universe, it would be led by Kinberg. At the moment it's looking like Simon is Fox's version of Kevin Feige.








SOURCE: EW 

Rose Byrne Confirmed For 'X-MEN APOCALYPSE'; Will Reprise CIA Agent Moira MacTaggert

Entertainment Weekly has word from writer-producer Simon Kinberg that we'll be seeing a familiar face from X-Men First Class in Bryan Singer's X-Men Apocalypse.

Simon confirms that Aussie actress Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Neighbors) will indeed reprise the role of CIA agent Moria MacTaggert in the sequel. Affirming that Moira is a "a significant character in the movie". Kingberg expands on what else we should expect to see in the film.

“We ended First Class with Charles having wiped portions of her memory of her experience with the X-Men. They are, essentially, strangers to her when she meets them.”

“It’s certainly a rich relationship that we started to dig into in First Class, and would like to mine more in this one,”

“This movie is the completion of the first arcs of Charles, Eric, Raven, and Hank, who are essentially our main characters,” he explains. “They’re such young actors and young characters, so there’s a lot more story to tell. But as a first phase of their lives, there is this feeling of closure by the end of the movie.”

He also talks about the film's setting in the 1980's which has been confirmed ages back and even teases a possible cameo from Dazzler.

“That’s the era that I grew up in,” he says. “The music, the fashion, the videogames: We really want to integrate all of that in the movie, and have it infuse the movie with a different vibe.” Does this mean they’ll finally find some room for disco clubkid Dazzler? “Could happen,” laughs Kinberg. “We’re certainly looking at mutants that would fit into the period.”

Production will begin in Montreal this April with new cast members added to the franchise including Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey and Alexandra Shipp as Storm. Returning in their roles will be Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult.

We haven't had official confirmation that Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will be in the film but he's expected to be apart of it, Channing Tatum's Gambit could show-up as well.


It's release date is set for May 27th, 2016 which will be months after the release of Ryan Reynolds' X-Men spin-off Deadpool next February.


SOURCE: EW

Joss Whedon Responds To Directing CAPTAIN MARVEL; Reveals Female BATMAN Movie Idea

BuzzFeed was able to get writer-director Joss Whedon to sort of expand on his comments from his interview with Digital Spy, where he voiced distain for Hollywood's handling of the female superhero genre. Mainly, about Marvel Studios moving forward with Captain Marvel.


Yes, and not expecting it to get any traction, honestly. That’s something that [Marvel Studios chief] Kevin [Feige] has been working on for a while. And I obviously was a cheerleader, but he had to get all the ducks in a row and get all the minds in agreement. I think being a part of Disney maybe makes it easier, because they’re open to it. And Marvel now is in a position to shake up its own paradigm, because it’s got such a success record. 

Honestly, you know, Guardians [of the Galaxy] might have helped it, just because that was outside what was considered to be their box and did so well that— Well, let’s put it this way: If a raccoon can carry a movie, then they believe maybe even a woman can.

They then directly ask him if he'd be willing to make Captain Marvel.

Um, I would never rule anything out, because I like working here. By the same token, the biggest thing for me is that I need to do something that I create myself. It’s been way too long since I created a universe. The last thing I did before The Avengers was [directing an episode of] Glee, and in between I did Much Ado About Nothing. So I haven’t created my own universe for over five years. That feels wrong. You know, my own universe might be a book of haiku. I’m not necessarily saying I’ve got a grand scheme. 

I will say that when I was thinking about, Well, if I wasn’t going to do Avengers 2, what would I want to do? — of course the first thing I thought of was “turn-of-the-century female Batman.” Not Batman actually. But, you know, something cool. One person. Can’t stress that enough. Movie about one person — not a team, not 10, just one. But [I would] do a nice sort of hard action movie that combined all my favorite things. Something that would be the love child of Sam Fuller and Edward Gorey. You know, I’ve had many thoughts since then. Oh, I could do this! Oh, I could do that! But it is my instinct to want to tell those stories. 

Captain Marvel I don’t know as well. There have been a few [versions] of her. I have the first issue of Ms. Marvel, back when she was that, and had the Farrah hair. My only issue with her is that she always felt sort of on top. She was very driven. A winner. I always like to dig into the soil of things to find my heroes, if I can.

This is actually the first time we've heard Joss talk about making a turn-of-the-century female Batman film. We know he tried to get Warner Bros. to make his Wonder Woman adaptation, maybe they'll warm-up to this idea now that they know he's open to developing new superhero projects.

I mean, what studio in their right mind would reject a superhero film project from Joss after The Avengers? Plus, this isn't the first time DC Comics has played with timelines with their heroes.

Imagine Whedon making a steampunk Justice League movie.

SOURCE: BUZZFEED 

Intergalactic Crime Family The Hutts Might Return To Rule The Underworld In 'THE FORCE AWAKENS'

Latino Review has an interesting bit of news concerning what aliens we might be seeing return for The Force Awakens. They've learned that J.J. Abrams had a couple of expensive Hutts created for the film, and there is talk they could end-up being redressed or altered to be included in the spin-offs.

Here's what the site has to say about the Hutts returning.

Well, I can forward that timeline for you today: there are Hutts in The Force Awakens, we know because those Hutts have been practically built. I know there is more than one Hutt, but unsure how many exactly are going to show up. The process of constructing these Hutts began over a year ago, so you can imagine how my ears perked up when it was rumored that the Star Wars spin-off film would be “sharing assets” with The Force Awakens, despite being in different time periods. Last time I speculated this would mostly be ships and interiors, but how hard can it be to re-dress a Hutt? Reaching out to a source, I was told: “I’m sure their existence could have factored in to them being included, or the expenditure was made because it was all coordinated.” In other words: if JJ wanted expensive Hutts, it might have been okay since they could be used down the line.

The site previously reported that to save money on the productions Lucasfilm would be repurposing sets and props across different films. This makes a lot of sense and could allow the studio to turnout more in-camera shots, which according to Oscar Isaac during his interview on The Daily Show is "mostly practical with limited green screen work".

The Hutt Fleet

In the case of the Hutts, they are just as important and influential as the Empire itself along with the Mandalorians. Considering they basically run the criminal underworld which includes bounty hunters, smugglers, pirates and assassins in their employment. Controlling entire systems, planets and commanding fleets of their own attack ships. There inclusion wouldn't be a spoiler in the least, considering they have been heavily involved in the Clone Wars and will likely have a role to play in Rebels as well.

We're not just talking about Jabba, as there are many different Hutts operating all over the galaxy not just on Tatooine. It's possible that we could see Jabba's replacement in The Force Awakens, since it's said we could be returning to desert planet which might be homestead of Daisy Ridley's Rey.

A lot of leaked concept art points to the return to Tatooine include Rey's home which is made out of a destroyed AT-AT imperial walker.

This isn't the first time we've heard the Hutts mentioned for new Star Wars films.

AICN reported that Lucas had been talking-up story ideas Jabba during the meetings for the spin-offs. Then again, they were also citing a Yoda spin-off becoming the first of the standalone films which at this point isn't the case.

Oh - and I've also heard tale of a JABBA story that Lucas has floated to some of his buddies.  

By the sounds of things Gareth Edwards' film could very well be a combo of a lot of these ideas which could include bounty hunters, Han Solo and Boba Fett. We know that all them have a history together which could be explored in the spin-offs.

SOURCE: LATINO REVIEW

Terry Crews Moves Sights From LUKE CAGE To Fox's SILVER SURFER

During an Q&A on Reddit's AMA actor Terry Crews got a chance to answer fan questions about his career and his future. Of course Luke Cage was brought-up as the actor was a huge fan-favorite for the role and even expressed interest in taking the role in the upcoming Netflix series.

Marvel placed Mike Colter in the Cage role which means he'll have to campaign for another hero. Terry might be already setting his sights on another iconic comic book role. That character being The Silver Surfer which happens to still be at 20th Century Fox.

Again... it's hard to pick a favorite super-hero. I always did love Luke Cage, and I'm really, really happy about who they cast in the Netflix version of Luke Cage. So that's something that's already done. But you know who else I'd like to play? The Silver Surfer. I always LOVED - I thought I had the build, the body, I could get on that surfboard, and if they ever do a live-action version of Silver Surfer, I think that would be perfect for me.

We all know that Crews has a huge personality and would be perfect for this genre, hopefully he get's a shot with Surfer. Let's not forget that Terry has a good relationship with Fox working on two of their shows currently with Brooklyn 99 and World's Funniest Fails.


At the moment there aren't immediate plans to have the character used in feature films.

However, with Josh Trank's Fantastic Four sequel being fast-tracked for a 2017 release date, it's possible they could incorporate the character into the sequel.

Another possibility is that Fox could finally move forward with their solo Silver Surfer movie.

The studio had tried for a while to make that project happen. Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City, Gods of Egypt, I Robot) was attached to direct but when speaking to MTV in 2012, he had some choice words for 20th Century Fox being the reason he would never make the film.

“Because it’s a Fox picture..And I’m determined never to work with them ever again because of my experience on ‘I,Robot.’”

“It’s like the origin of Silver Surfer was in that movie, and I’m going, ‘This is such a f--king great story, why throw it away?’” Proyas wondered. “I think they messed it up.”


“You know, there aren’t that many [good comic book characters] left,” [Proyas] sighed. “Silver Surfer would have been something I would have loved to have done. He’s one of the last cool ones left, really.”


At that era at Fox we can't blame Alex for ditching the studio as they were making horrible superhero films at the time. Some of the those titles include Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four 1-2, X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The dumb Fantastic Four films did essentially kill the hope for a spin-off at the time.

Yet, when Marvel had been in talks with Fox to extent the rights for Daredevil so they could reboot the character they wanted Silver Surfer and Galactus back which Fox refused to agree upon. The talk being that Marvel Studios wanted to include those characters in James Gunn's Guardians of The Galaxy.

Fox is currently upping their Marvel slate of films and it's not impossible for the new heads of the studio to consider putting Surfer back into development.

You might be shocked to learn that Fox pretty much has a bulk of Marvel's cosmic universe thanks to the X-Men and Fantastic Four/Silver Surfer rights.

Marvel Studios actually has a limited amount of access to their cosmic characters. Here's a rundown of the crazy amount of Marvel cosmic characters Fox likely has access to for their films, most of which have never made it onto the screen.

FANTASTIC FOUR/SILVER SURFER 

-Silver Surfer
-Galactus
-Nova/Frankie Raye
-Uatu The Watcher
-Bastaar
-Kang The Conqueror (possibly shared with Marvel)
-Annihilus
-Terrax
-Super-Skrull

X-MEN


-The Starjammers 
-The Phalanx
-The Shi'ar Empire
-The Imperial Guard
-The Brood
-Warlock
-Gladiator
-Lilandra Neramani
-The Phoenix Force


SOURCE: REDDIT 

Abbey Lee Joining Elle Fanning In Nicolas Winding Refn's Horror Flick 'THE NEON DEMON'

Deadline is reporting that Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Pusher Trilogy) has found his second leading lady for his female-led horror flick The Neon Demon. Actress Abbey Lee will take role opposite Elle Fanning in the film which is said to take place within the world of young models and is set in Los Angeles.

The Australian model turned actress has already lined-up roles in large epics like George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road and Alex Poryas' Gods of Egypt.


Refn recently confirmed in November that Cliff Martinez (Solaris, Traffic, Contagion) and Philippe Le Sourd (The Grand Master) would be teaming-up to score the film. Cliff previously worked with the director on both Drive and Only God Forgives.


I assume it'll be a mix of Tony Scott's The Hunger meets Only God Forgives.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Rian Johnson's 'STAR WARS' Films Get Dates; Tatiana Maslany Rumored Frontrunner For Spin-Off

Schmoes Know, who I've recently mended relations with found a decent Star Wars rumor concerning Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spin-off.

They heard via Total Geeks that Orphan Black actress Tatiana Maslany is now the frontrunner for the unnamed female lead role in the film. Being a rumor it's pending better confirmation but it's something to strongly consider.

In the article they also point-out an EW report that Tatiana recently dropped out of a play and was replaced by actress Amanda Seyfried, this could mean that she's indeed getting ready to prep for the role.

Other actresses reportedly in the running include Rooney Mara, Kate Mara and Felicity Jones. It's expected that a role like this could crossover to other spin-off installments so there's an big commitment needed from the lead.

I have to believe that she wants this role badly after letting the Sarah Connor role in the new Terminator film go to Emilia Clarke.

Another bit of Star Wars news comes from Disney which announced dates for Rian Johnson's (Looper, Brothers Bloom, Brick) Episode VIII and Episode IX. Johnson is expected to write both films but is only confirmed to direct Episode VIII.

I have to imagine that they'll eventually announce him for the second sequel but are waiting on a completed script.

Bob Iger confirmed (via The Wrap) the dates are set for 2017 and 2019. Something we knew was coming but hadn't been made official by the studio.

“As one of the few people allowed to visit the set during filming… and one of the fewer who’s seen most of the footage… I can assure the millions of ‘Star Wars’ fans who have spent the last decade hoping for a new movie this one will be worth the wait. And it’s only the beginning of a new era of exceptional ‘Star Wars’ storytelling; next year we’ll release our first standalone movie based on these characters, followed by ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ in 2017, and we’ll finish this trilogy with ‘Episode IX’ in 2019,”

Rian is expected to continue the ground-work created by J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan for The Force Awakens in the next two films. It's assumed the two sequels will indeed follow the new characters rather than Luke, Leia and Han being the focus of it.

I'm totally in love with the fact Rian is going to be working within the Star Wars universe, if you get the chance check-out Looper which is currently on Netflix instant.



The spin-offs had previously been made official with Gareth Edwards' film coming December 16th, 2016 and Josh Trank's film coming December 2018, basically this does confirm previous reports that starting this year we'll be getting a new Star Wars film every year.

SOURCE: SCHMOES KNOW & THE WRAP 

Universal Eyeing JOHN WICK Directors For COWBOY NINJA VIKING Starring Chris Pratt

Variety reports that John Wick co-directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski in talks with Universal to helm their adaptation of the comic book Cowboy Ninja Viking.

The comic book film already has Chris Pratt (Guardians of The Galaxy, Jurassic World) attached to star with a script from Zombieland and Deadpool screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. Apparently, they've met with Pratt and he gave the studio the go-ahead to start talks with them.

A man who suffers from multiple personality disorder and is put into a government program to be turned into a super-soldier with the attributes of a cowboy, a ninja and a viking.

It's been said that Pratt would play the character outside the persona, with other action leads taking the roles of the three personalities.

I'm a bit upset we're not getting a Wick sequel quickly put together but the directing duo founding the stunt company 87Eleven means the action will be top notch.



SOURCE: VARIETY

Joss Whedon Criticizes Lack Of Female Superhero Films; Could He Make CAPTAIN MARVEL?

Feminist filmmaker Joss Whedon has been a pioneer for female genre material ever since creating the breakout character Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Spending most of his career opening doors for actresses/female characters to be taken serious as leads of genre television series and feature films.

Even playing in the sandbox of my female-led franchise with his script for Alien Resurrection writing for the iconic genre character Ellen Ripley.

In an interview with Digital Spy he calls out Hollywood's "stupid people" blocking female-led comic book films. Also, pointing to fact Fox has access to the best female Marvel characters which isn't leaving Marvel Studios with much to work with. He would know since he wrote for the X-Men comics.

"It's a phenomenon in the industry that we call 'stupid people'," Whedon said. "There is genuine, recalcitrant, intractable sexism, and old-fashioned quiet misogyny that goes on. 

"You hear 'Oh, [female superheroes] don't work because of these two bad ones that were made eight years ago', there's always an excuse." 

"Hunger Games is a different structure and aesthetic to a certain extent, but these narratives where people are bigger than life and they're in these terrible, heightened circumstances, it's all part of the same genre," he said. 

"Marvel is in a position of making a statement simply by making [a female-led] movie, which I think would be a good thing to do. "But it has to be a good movie, it has to be a good character, and most of the best characters in Marvel are owned by Fox, let's face it!" 

Fox has yet to announce development a female driven superhero film since Elektra bombed.

Although, there has been talk from X-Men producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg being interested in making Kitty Pryde and Mystique films but it's all been talk so far.

Whedon knows only too well what studio suits think of female superhero projects, Warner Bros. took an axe to his Wonder Woman film which had Cobie Smulders attached to star.

The studio is finally moving forward with a new adaptation with Breaking Bad's Michelle MacLaren and Gal Gadot in the titular role.

Joss would later gravitate towards Marvel and give us The Avengers, the big daddy of the comic book film genre.

Developing Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow into a total badass which was expanded upon in Captain America: Civil War. Not to mention giving Cobie a second-shot at the genre playing S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill which has led to both becoming big supporting players in the cinematic universe.

When he was set on making it's sequel Age of Ultron he did all he could to add more female characters into the already cast heavy film. Giving us Godzilla's Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlett Witch and Marco Polo's Claudia Kim as a scientist friend of Tony Stark.

He's all about talking about Hollywood making these female comic book films but will he end-up making one of his own?

These new statements sound like there is a bit of a fire in Whedon to possibly tackle the genre, we'd all love to see him prove his point.

Joss was in attendance at the big Marvel event in October which he seemed really only there to help support Ultron. However, since he's already talking about leaving the Avengers franchise he could have been there for other motives.

This was the first official reveal that Marvel was making Captain Marvel and even was bold enough to set the release date for July 2017. If you've seen footage from the event people went apeshit when the film's title card was revealed.

Kevin Feige would go on stating the film had been in-development almost as long as Guardians and Doctor Strange, adding that news of a writer and director was coming soon.

Some speculate we'll hear the announcement around the time of the release of Age of Ultron, as production would likely have to begin sometime in 2016.

The Whedon link to Carol Danvers goes back a while when he first stated he hated the character, and then in an interview with HeyUGuys over the summer did a 180 on that previous statement.

Rumors of Danvers casting started back in 2012 around the time Whedon was developing the untitled sequel's early outline. The talk at the time was that the role would appear in the second film.

Since then we've been hearing that she might be in the film after all with a possible cameo at the end of the film, we'll know for sure if Carol is in the film come May.

Talk of the development on the solo film hit the trades about a year ago it was suggested the script was being written in-house at Marvel Studios.

Meaning that an outsider hadn't been hired to write it, giving us the impression it was either someone like Guardian's Nicole Perlman (who was apart of their screenwriting program) or an existing writer at the studio, which points towards a female centric writer like Joss Whedon.

Whedon is more than capable to handle this kind of material and it would allow him to move into a different aspect of the Marvel universe as Kevin has stated her adventures are indeed set in the comic universe.

I'm sure the big question during Age of Ultron's press tour will be, is Joss Whedon going to write or direct Captain Marvel?




SOURCE: DIGITAL SPY

Does Marvel Studios Have Big Plans For Paul Bettany's VISION?

We haven't see Paul Bettany's Vision show-up in recent Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers but the actor seemingly already has an idea when we'll be seeing his character next.

Paul Bettany spoke to an Australian news outlet (via ComicBookMovie) giving the impression the studio has given him a better idea of what his future projects could be.

“That’s the really great thing about the Marvel gig for me. I have never known if I have had a job six months out ever in my life. And now I know that they have plans and I can be even more judicious about the stuff that I do outside of that work. I can wait for the right thing and feel really attached to it.”

There is a bit of chatter of where The Vision could be seen next, mainly he could be appearing in both Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It hasn't been confirmed but sources are clearly hearing that Marvel wants more of the character.

During the early days of Marvel Studios they did commission a Vision feature film script when they first put together the Marvel screenwriters program, that program also gave Marvel drafts for Guardians of The Galaxy, Black Widow, Inhumans and possibly Captain Marvel.

Back in 2009, Variety reported on Marvel hiring a group of writers to develop film scripts for characters such as Nighthawk, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and of course Vision. It's possible since Vision is getting an introduction in Age of Ultron that he could be a viable candidate for a spin-off.

In the future we could see Vision getting his own film or at the very least branching-out towards a bigger role which the latter is already expected via rumors. We really don't have a clue what Marvel wants to do in Phase Four, a lot of things could happen.

I'm sure Marvel wants to test the waters with how audiences react to him in Age of Ultron before moving forward with bigger plans.


SOURCE: CBM

Sony Announces GHOSTBUSTERS Release Date; Bill Murray And Peter Dinklage Wanted?

Sony has announced that the release date for Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot will be July 22nd, 2016.

ICYMI: The next Ghostbusters hits theaters July 2016. Get ready! pic.twitter.com/xUuLJ678mv
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) January 28, 2015

Production is expected to begin this summer in New York City with Feige confirming the cast will include Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarty, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.

Hit Fix is reporting that Sony is looking to give both Bill Murray and Peter Dinklage roles in the film. Dinklage is said to be possibly wanted for the mechanical genius villain of the film. We know Sony is desperate to get Murray's blessing on the project and really want his involvement.

I think Murray might be bit more open to not reprising his original role which is said to be the case, let's just not end-up seeing him play a ghost which he originally wanted to do.

Bill famously shredded a draft of the Ghostbusters 3 script and sent it back to the studio.


SOURCE: HIT FIX

Alain Moussi From 'KICKBOXER' Remake Wants A Crack At Playing Marvel's 'IRON FIST'?

Martial artist Alain Moussi (Wolves, Pacific Rim) is currently filming the remake to the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Kickboxer and took to Facebook teasing a desire to play Marvel's Iron Fist.

Alain would later clarify on Twitter he'd love the role but isn't in the running, just getting into the comics.

Would love to play Iron Fist but not in the running. Just reading up on the story. Apologies for misleading FB post.
— Alain Moussi (@AlainMoussi) January 28, 2015

He's no stranger to Marvel productions as he did stunt work on X-Men Days of Future Past. The French speaking Canadian stuntman turned actor was born in Central Africa in Libreville, Gabon and could give the MCU a bit of an international kick it's been lacking.

I don't think too many people would mind if Rand become a French character, he could even end-up having ties to Batroc connecting him to the Captain America franchise.

The Kickboxer remake includes fellow Marvel alumni such as Guardians of The Galaxy's Dave Bautista and Captain America: The Winter Soldier's George St. Pierre. I'm sure the film is on the studio's radar.

It's not bizarre to think Marvel would consider someone with an actual martial arts background, when an Iron Fist film was originally being developed X-Men's Ray Park (G.I. Joe 1-2, Phantom Menace) was attached for the role.

I could see Marvel still strongly considering someone with an actual fighting/stunt background to play Iron Fist to make the character a bit more convincing on screen without a huge amount of work from a stunt double.

Let's also not forget that Netflix is involved here which is the home to some seriously badass martial arts films. Netflix has partnered with The Weinstein Company to make a feature sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with Blade 2's Donnie Yen starring opposite Michelle Yoeh in The Green Legend.

You can even see the classic genre's influence on their series Marco Polo which they just renewed for a second season.

I'm personally hoping the series is bit of modern version of David Carrdine's Kung Fu mixed with The Shaw Brothers flicks and with a bit of the fun energy we've come to expect from a Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan film.







This is coming from someone who grew-up on this stuff and is rooting for Marvel to resurrect this dying genre which inspired the character in the first place.


SOURCE: ALAIN MOUSSI

'IMITATION GAME' Director In Talks For 'PASSENGERS'; Script From 'PROMETHEUS' Writer

Variety reports that Sony is currently in negotiations with Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum to helm their sci-fi flick Passengers. He's best known for the Oscar nominated film which earned him a Best Director nomination, studios will likely be knocking his door with many projects.

Another one of his films is a slick thriller Headhunters which is totally worth watching if you get the chance.

Passengers is based on a spec-script from screenwriter Jon Spahits that Sony bought on the spot.

Set on a spacecraft in the future with thousands of passengers making an interstellar voyage to a distant new planet. One passenger awakens from cryogenic sleep 90 years before anyone else and decides to wake up a female passenger, sparking the beginning of a love story.

Jon is best known for having his original Prometheus script rewritten by Damon Lindelof, I urge you to seek out his original draft and compare it to the film it's actually pretty damn good.

This new project is seeming taking cues from David's creepy spying on Shaw during her hyper-sleep.

He's also landed high profile screenwriting gigs with Marvel Studios penning Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange along with writing a draft of Universal's Mummy reboot.

Casting hasn't begun but a couple of names have been attached to the project in the past and they include Reese Witherspoon (Wild, Inherent Vice), Keanu Reeves (John Wick, Speed, Point Break) and Rachel McAdams (True Detective, Notebook). The actors have since moved on from the film but could be lured to return with Morten Tyldum's involvement.

The genre is hot again thanks to films like Gravity and Guardians of The Galaxy making huge box office.

I'm sure he'll be getting a bunch of offers but Sony has managed to allow some creative freedom to their sci-fi directors in the past with Neill Blomkamp being able to make wildly different movies like Elysium and the upcoming Chappie.

Other big sci-fi projects with sprawling casts coming soon include Ridley Scott's The Martian and Ben Wheatley's High-Rise.





SOURCE: VARIETY

GHOSTBUSTERS Cast Revealed; Includes Kristen Wiig And Melissa McCarthy

Ghostbusters director Paul Feige has revealed his cast for the reboot via Twitter.

The all female cast includes Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy who were hopefuls since the announcement of the project. The pair previously worked on Feige's wildly successful Bridesmaids.

Leslie Jones

Oddly enough, the other two cast members are lesser known actresses best know from their work on Saturday Night Live. They include Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, it's great to finally see some diversity in the end.

Kate McKinnon

Originally, we had heard like ten names in the mix for roles including Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence, none of the actresses in the mix were of color which was shocking to say the least.
Production on the film is expected to begin this summer in York

pic.twitter.com/LBtv2YXfv6
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 27, 2015

SOURCE: PAUL FEIG

Liam Hemsworth Eyed For Lead Role In 'INDEPENDENCE DAY' Sequel

The Wrap reports that Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth has been offered the lead in Roland Emmerich's sequel to Independence Day.

Will Smith was in talks to return but ultimately decide to pass on sequel while Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are expected to reprise their roles.

Fantastic Four's Michael B. Jordan is said to be rumored for another lead role in the film.



SOURCE: THE WRAP

Disney Rebooting INDIANA JONES With Chris Pratt?; Actor Could Replace Harrison Ford

Our good friends over at Latino Review have been proven right yet again.

Deadline is confirming their previous report that Lucasfilm and Disney were planning on rebooting the Indiana Jones franchise with a new actor. They are reporting the studio is in early talks with rising star Chris Pratt to replace Harrison Ford as the titular hero.

While this might be great news for Pratt fans he's a busy bee these days, as he's about to shoot a remake of The Magnificent Seven alongside Denzel Washington. He also is expected to shoot a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy in early 2016 and possibly a sequel to Jurassic World something soon if it does well this summer.


Bradley Cooper seemed like a mighty fine option at the time but looks to be too high-profile at this point. His huge box office for American Sniper and his three Oscar nominations might make him too expensive at this point.

We already know that his Guardians co-star can fit the role as Star-Lord's character was greatly influenced by Jones. It's possible that Chris might not be able to juggle three franchise roles like this, but let's try to be optimistic.

This could also explain why he turned down Sony's offer to play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted film.


UPDATES: 

Latino Review is adding that Disney is looking to release the film in 2018-2019 while Variety puts Chris Hemsworth into the mix as well.







SOURCE: DEADLINE

Gareth Edwards' 'STAR WARS' Film Lands New Screenwriter; Boba Fett And Han Solo Featured?

A couple of weeks ago it was confirmed by Gary Whitta (Walking Dead, Book of Eli) that he would be moving on from penning the script for Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spin-off to focus on Fox's adaptation of Mark Millar's Starlight.

Some sites were reporting that franchise writer-producer Simon Kinberg could be coming in to replace Whitta, but that doesn't seem to the be case.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Lucasfilm has hired About A Boy, A Better Life and Cinderella writer Chris Weitz to handle rewrites. It's unknown if the script will be getting page-one rewrites or just touch-ups since production is expected to be soon as casting is already underway. Weitz is an Oscar nominated writer thanks to About A Boy which should help fans feel better about his connections to Twilight.

Latino Review is also giving a bit more insight into the film's plot which had said to revolve around a group of bounty hunters hired to secure the Death Star plans for the Rebel Alliance.

They are also stating that the spin-off will be shooting on location in Mexico with the country possibly doubling for Geonosis, last seen in Attack of The Clones and where Jango Fett was killed by Mace Windu.

This connection to the Fetts might explain why they are hearing that both Han Solo and Boba Fett are going to be in this film.

We've been hearing for ages that these spin-offs would be focusing on one or the other, but having both as major characters would give more freedom to the other spin-offs. Along with exploring their history with each other which was teased in the two original sequels.

How they fit into the film is currently a mystery but it's possible they could have lead roles in this film. At the very least could be setting up their own movies in the future like Josh Trank's untitled sequel. since we know Solo has a criminal past as a smuggler

Concerning the film's casting lineup it's looking like the lead might be a female character. The studio is already reportedly looking at actresses such as Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Tatiana Maslany and Felicity Jones.

It's possible this character could be already established in the universe, in my opinion it might end-up being linked to Boba Fett or the Rebel Alliance. Latino Review seemed to be taking guesses at what the role could be including characters from Clone Wars, but a couple obvious choices are being left-out and I'm not entirely sure about Lucasfilm setting a film around characters that obscure.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if we saw Star Wars Rebels' Sabine turnout to be this female character the actresses are testing for. We've been hearing that Rebels which is now confirmed to be set in official canon is likely set during the time period when this spin-off is taking place. Allowing for the characters to interact with people like a young Han Solo or Boba Fett.

Sabine fits the timeline of this spin-off and is the right age for casting.

There has even been hints that characters from the show could be showing-up in this spin-offs or will end-up getting their own movies. Another rumor is that new characters setup in the spin-offs would start appearing in the main films. In the case of Gareth's film would likely be played by older actors if they crossover into Rian Johnson's Episode VIII.

Sabine could be sent into a group of bounty hunters posing as one of them but officially working for the Rebels who are likely bankrolling this daring heist. She could be placed into the group to make sure they don't hand over the plans over to criminals like the Hutts for even more cash or sellout to the Empire by sabotaging the mission.

There's been some talk that Boba's wife or daughter (likely changed to Jango's daughter to fit timeline) could be the character as well. Sabine is Mandorlian and it wouldn't be hard to imagine her actually being related to Jango, maybe being his legitimate daughter and revealed to be the sister of Boba. We know that family plays a big role with the original trilogy and it could become a theme here as well.

Having a film that explores the Mandorlian culture would be something we've never had with the films. Considering they are just as important as the jedi, sith and criminal underworld in the expanded universe.

It's possible we could see the Mandorlian Wars folded into the new films at some point. Since filmmakers are now allowed to pick bits from the games and books for the new films.

However, there is other information that speculates that if a spin-offs did include Fett it would sort of reboot the character slightly. Making a new mystery person behind the mask after killing the Jango clone then becoming the Boba Fett persona.

Prequel fans I'm sure would go nuts but honestly severing ties to the prequels is a good thing. Lucasfilm has already established Stormtroopers aren't clones anymore, so it's possible they could boot the clone Boba as well. Re-establishing a bit of mystery with the character which did make his character cooler not really knowing his origin.


SOURCE: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

First Teaser Trailer For 'FANTASTIC FOUR'; Along With Poster And Screenshots

20th Century Fox has released a teaser trailer this morning for their reboot of Fantastic Four.



I have to say that for a teaser trailer it's solid and looks like it could easily be apart of the rebooted X-Men universe, if indeed Fox moves forward with a crossover film down the road.

I'm curious what most naysayers think now that this trailer seemingly refutes all the fruitless online gossip that the film was going to be a total mess. At least this teaser gives the impression it'll be a lot more cinematic than the original two garbage films.

Let's just remember Josh Trank is being asked to quickly put together a sequel before Lucasfilm scoops him up for a Star Wars movie.

People were losing their mind that no promotional materials were being released although nothing but images were released for Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which comes out the same month. Even Ant-Man, that comes out a month earlier only recently dropped a teaser trailer.

Here are a couple of screenshots from the trailer along with the first poster.

SOURCE: 20TH CENTURY FOX