Sean Harris Could Be The Villain Of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5!

The production for Mission: Impossible 5 is already somewhat underway, but it hasn't cast an actor to play it's villain. Deadline reports that British character actor Sean Harris (Red Riding Trilogy, Prometheus, Harry Brown) is in early talks to take that role. Harris is an extremely talented actor, and this project would likely help launch him into bigger Hollywood roles.

The rest of the cast includes newcomers Alec Baldwin and Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson. Returning for the sequel are franchise players Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paul Patton, and finally back on the team is Ving Rhames. It's being directed by Christopher McQuarrie with a script written by Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Sherlock Holmes 3) . A release date is set for Christmas Day, 2015.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

New WOLVERINE Theatrical Poster

Three New Images From THE WOLVERINE From Total Film

Director James Mangold Tweets Behind The Scenes Images From THE WOLVERINE

New Image From THE WOLVERINE

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.

New Still From THE WOLVERINE Shows Off Japanese Set

Logan Is A Lost Ronin In THE WOLVERINE, No Longer An X-Men And Is Set After X3

Director James Mangold has gone into more detail about The Wolverine. While speaking with EW he reaffirms the film takes place after the events of X3 and Logan is no longer an X-Men member. Basically, attributing him to a lost ronin which is a masterless samurai. A fitting theme considering Mangold has stated the film is a Japanese-noir which has it's origins in the samurai genre. Giving the impression there was a bit of freedom to the fact this wasn't a prequel or apart of the other X-Men films. Adhering to previous talk the film is a stand-alone adventure for Logan. Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie had mentioned recently his draft had only one mutant which was Wolverine, it will be interesting to see if that stayed the same.

"It’s set after X-Men 3, but I wouldn’t call it a sequel to X-Men 3. You have a choice the second you enter a world like this with a huge amount of comic books, backstories, three movies, a Wolverine origins movie … You have decide where you’re going to exist in relation to all these other things, particularly if you’re working with an actor who actually played the character in other films. I felt it was really important to find Logan at a moment where he was stripped clean of his duties to the X-Men, his other allegiances, and even stripped clean of his own sense of purpose. I was fascinated with the idea of portraying Logan as a ronin – the definition of which is a samurai without a master, without a purpose. Kind of a soldier who is cut loose. War is over. What does he do? What does he face? What does he believe anymore? Who are his friends? What is his reason for being here anymore? I think those questions are especially interesting when you’re dealing with a character who is essentially immortal. "

"It was only to my advantage to set it after the X-Men films because the X-Men had effectively ended at that point. A lot of the key characters had died. There was a sense if I’m locating this film not five minutes after the other movie, but a period of time after that last X-Men movie, I can find a Logan who is living separate from the world. He is no longer a member of some superhero team."

Christopher McQuarrie And Mark Millar Talk THE WOLVERINE

ScreenRant was also able to get a bit of information about Christopher McQuarrie's script for The Wolverine. While there have been rewrites since Darren Aronofsky exited the film. Christopher's original script only had one mutant in the film which was Wolverine. He names legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood) as a big influence on his writing of the script.

The truth of the matter is that ‘Wolverine’ I consider to be one of my favorite scripts that I’ve ever written. I really held it near and dear to my heart, and I was sorry that circumstances worked out that I couldn’t be there and be involved in that movie. I’m almost afraid to see what it’s evolved into, because that’s the nature of the process.

"Well you know, it was an X-Men movie – it was a Marvel movie – but it existed very much in a real world. And more than anything, I love it for the very fact that – at least in the script I wrote – he was the only mutant in the movie… It was what you’d imagine the Wolverine universe to be under the control of somebody who wrote ‘The Usual Suspects’ and ‘The Way of the Gun’ and is a fan of Sergio Leone. It was Kurosawa’s Wolverine. There was a real romance to it, there was real humor to it, and a very straightforward sort of plain-faced brutality to it. I’m hoping they preserve that. 

Hugh was really great, I liked working with Hugh a lot – he was very understanding, very open and supportive of me – so I’ll be very interested to see how that film turns out." 

Fox's new Marvel creative consultant Mark Millar recently revealed he watched the first ten minutes of the film. Millar said it's a superhero film legendary director David Lean would have made. Lean is best known for iconic films such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge On The River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago. It's high praise but Mark could be giving lip-service to a studio currently making films based on his comic books.

"The script is amazing and Mangold is such a brilliant director," writes Millar. "Seen the first 10 mins and it looks like David Lean doing a superhero movie. This the one that's going to surprise people. This and First Class were Year Zero for the Fox Marvel movies as far as I'm concerned." 

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.

FIRST LOOK: Tom Cruise Wearing His Mech-Suit In ALL YOU NEED IS KILL

James Mangold Says THE WOLVERINE Is A Japanese Noir Film

Director James Mangold has revealed a little more to Empire (via CBM) about the tone of The Wolverine. Not mention talking about it's themes which seem darker than previous X-Men films. James also gives a bit of knock to the Avengers giving the impression Wolverine won't be the fun romp that film was. Could this be the movie Wolverine fans have been asking for a decade? I guess we'll find out for sure this summer.

"It's rooted in drama. Effectively almost every superhero film, in a sense, revolves around some large group of humanity that's either killed or held hostage while superheroes battle it out with supervilains. The essential driving forces of this movie are interpersonal and dramatic, about love, bitterness, loss, vengeance, redemption, depression, suicide, conquering inner demons - it's going to make it a very different film than people have seen." 

"The cultural qualities that Japan and its people bring - honour, a sense of duty, of conflict - really fit beautifully around Logan. Our film find Logan at a point where he's very much a ronin - a samurai without a master. Anyone he ever had a connection to is either dead or gone." 

"When I say realistic, what I mean is that it's not built on 70-foot lizards from outer space. Our goal is to try to be a little less super-CG and wires, and a little more hardcore. I want the film to feel analogue. You always have large-scale action and adventure - it wouldn't be a movie about gods if you didn't have epic physicality. But we all feel we're making a Japanese noir picture with tentpole action in it." 

FIRST LOOK: Hugh Jackman In THE WOLVERINE

Logan Heading Back To WWII In 'THE WOLVERINE'

An image from the Australian set found by SuperHeroHype (via SlashFilm) has confirmed that The Wolverine will feature WWII scenes involving a Japanese prisoner camp, planes and the atomic bombs used during the war. The image below has a board littered with concept art for the film. It has real war/fallout photos mixed with the film's artwork. It will be interesting to see if Logan (now plagued amnesia) made powerful enemies during that time. Not to mention that sequence with Wolverine holding the sword against the planes looks pretty impressive. How much of the film will be set in this period is unknown considering Origins ended sometime in the late 70's/early 80's. Some other set images also confirm this with the practical pieces begin put together.

TRAILER: 'JACK REACHER' Starring Tom Cruise

'THE WOLVERINE' Will Shoot On Location In Japan With Japanese Cast

Recently it was announced that production on The Wolverine will be heading to Sydney, Australia. It seemed like the Australia would be doubling the land of the rising run. The new film is based on the famous Japanese-saga where Logan discovers the samurai warrior code along with his signature fighting skills. Fox's Tom Rothman confirms to MTV that's not the case. As the expensive stage work will be done in Australia while location scenes will be filmed in Japan. Not to mention confirming the cast will include many Japanese actors. Not much is known about the character lineup but it's been confirmed that Silver Samurai and Viper will appear.

"It’s set in Japan. A great number of Japanese actors will be in it and it’s based on the very famous run of the comics… I can just tell you on behalf of [Jackman], his goal is to make the ultimate, bad ass, berserker rage Wolverine."

This makes sense considering how close the two countries are and seemly makes more sense than have stages in Canada or the states. Japan is a notoriously expensive country to shoot a movie so to have the entire production done there I'm sure isn't in the budget. Australia offers tax breaks and incentives to productions filmed in the country while Japan doesn't offer the same incentives to foreign projects.

Possible Teaser Poster For The Wolverine

Fox Unleashes The Wolverine For July 2013

It's official HeatVision reports 20th Century Fox has set July 13th 2013 as the release date for The Wolverine. The stand alone film that features our favorite Canadian mutant is expected to go into production this spring/summer. James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma) directs the film with a script by Christopher McQuarrie (Usual Suspects) and Mark Romanek (Total Recall). The film is a priority at Fox which makes sense considering how well First Class and the indie Chronicle have performed. The film's villains are expected to be Silver Samurai, The Yakuza, Viper and the ninja clan The Hand.