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

Official Images From 'FANTASTIC FOUR' Set; Josh Trank Influenced By THE FLY And SCANNERS

Collider had an exclusive in-depth interview with both writer-producer Simon Kinberg and director Josh Trank about what to expect with Fantastic Four.

Adding our first look at Michael B. Jordan in costume as The Human Torch on the set alongside Kinberg.

In the interview the two confirmed that they did consciously prevent promotional materials from leaking early and wanted to control how audiences are first introduced to these new characters. I assume taking cues from how Lucasfilm treats the Star Wars franchise when they have a new film.

The rest of the cast includes Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Toby Kebbell and Jamie Bell.

We won't have to wait too much longer to get a glimpse of the rest of the cast and more importantly seeing them in motion. The talk being that the trailer will be officially released by 20th Century Fox later today.

Simon and Josh are re-teaming for both Fantastic Four 2 set for 2017 release and a Star Wars spin-off which is likely aiming for a December 2018 release date.

Josh Trank would site films such as David Cronenberg's The Fly and Scanners as big influences on the film along with a mixture of comics from the 60's and Ultimates.

You can read the entire interview at Collider.





SOURCE: COLLIDER 

Gareth Edwards' STAR WARS Spin-Off Film Adds Kate Mara As Candidate For Lead

The other day we learned from The Hollywood Reporter that actresses Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Rooney Mara (Pan, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Social Network) and Felicity Jones (Like Crazy, The Theory of Everything) were in the mix to test for the female lead of Gareth Edwards' untitled Star Wars spin-off film.

Variety has added Kate Mara (Shooter, Iron Man 2) as a new candidate for an unnamed role. Mara will be making the jump to blockbuster lead with Fox's Fantastic Four reboot in August. Like her sister Rooney, Kate's career upswing was thanks to David Fincher, casting her in the Netflix series House of Cards.

Twitter scoop following @Borys_Kit STAR WARS testing story from yesterday, hearing the fourth girl who tested is Rooney's sister, Kate Mara
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) January 21, 2015

I'd be fine if all these ladies end up being in the film.

The film is set to begin production sometime soon to make it's December 2016 release date. It's script is written by Gary Whitta and producer Simon Kinberg handling rewrites. Simon is also the writer and producer of Fantastic Four which stars Kate.

Kinberg is co-writing Josh Trank's (Chronicle, Fantastic Four) Star Wars spin-off as well, there are a bunch of connections between Fantastic Four and these spin-offs.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Chiwetel Ejiofor And Sean Bean Join Ridley Scott's THE MARTAIN

Deadline is reporting that actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave, Children of Men) has landed a a part in Ridley Scott's The Martian. British badass Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, Patriot Games, Goldeneye, Lord of The Rings, Ronin) will also have a role in the sci-fi flick. The rest of the cast includes Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels and Donald Glover. I'm actually more excited for this project than the upcoming release of Exodus: Gods and Kings. 20th Century Fox has set the release date for November 25th, 2015.


SOURCE: DEADLINE

Donald Glover Joins Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi Flick THE MARTIAN

TheWrap is reporting that Community's Donald Glover and Headhunters' Aksel Hennie have joined the growing cast of Ridley Scott's The Martian. The science fiction film has Matt Damon starring in the lead role. Joining Matt Damon is an impressive supporting cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Mackenzie Davis and Jeff Daniels. Jeff also reveals who is playing who, take a look below for details.

Chastain will play the leader of the rescue mission, while Pena, Mara and Henne will play astronauts. Daniels will play the director of NASA ,while Wiig will play its director of media relations. Glover and Davis will play bright young NASA employees.

SOURCE: THEWRAP

Kate Mara Could Join Growing Cast Of Ridley Scott's THE MARTIAN

Deadline says an offer has gone out to Kate Mara (House of Cards, Iron Man 2, Fantastic Four) for an unnamed role in Ridley Scott's The Martian. The sci-fi thriller setup at 20th Century Fox, has a script by Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Cabin In The Woods) and is based on the novel by Andy Weir. I'm sure we'll be hearing a bunch of casting news concerning the project in the coming weeks.

Matt Damon is set for the lead role, with Jessica Chastain reportedly cast in a role and Kristen Wiig also circling the project. I haven't read Weir's novel, but there seems to be a lot of ladies involved currently. TheWrap recently reported that Canadian newcomer Mackenzie Davis (Halt And Catch Fire) was posed to take a supporting role. We have to assume that there are a bunch of roles that are being cast, since most of Ridley's casts are rather large.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Four Actors That Could Take The Doctor Doom Role In THE FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot

It looks like the TheWrap has another casting development concerning Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot. The trade previously confirmed that Miles Teller (Dr. Reed Richards), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm), Kate Mara (Sue Storm) and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm) , would take the lead roles in the film. Now they claim that the short-list for villain Doctor Doom is down to four actors. The site is also debunking previous rumblings that Doom would see a gender-swap in the film.

They include Domhall Gleeson (Frank, Dredd, Never Let Me Go, Harry Potter Films, True Grit, Anna Karenina), Sam Riley (Control, On The Road, Byzantium), Toby Kebbell (RockNRolla, Dead Man Shoes, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, Warcraft, Prince of Persia, Wrath of The Titans, War Horse, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Match Point, Alexander) and Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables, Jupiter Ascending, Pillars of The Earth). Boardwalk Empire's Jack Huston was also in the mix at one point but it's unknown if he's still being considered. Eddie and Jack had been linked for roles in Guardians of The Galaxy, which may have been for Ronan The Accuser.

Irish actor Domhall Gleeson is the most interesting of the bunch, as he's co-starred with a few Marvel actors previously. Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man) in the film Never Let Me Go , the indie comedy Frank alongside Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Aaron Johnson (Quicksilver) in Anna Karenina which also starred rumored Ms. Marvel contender Ruth Wilson. He also was apart of the Harry Potter franchise, which means he is better known internationally than the rest of the candidates.

SOURCE: THEWRAP

Miles Teller, Michael B Jordan, Kate Mara And Jamie Bell Our FANTASTIC FOUR Cast?

It's starting to look like 20th Century Fox might actually shoot their Fantastic Four reboot afterall. There had been some speculation, since it had already undergone production delays, budget reconfiguring and many script rewrites, it could have been going the way of Daredevil. Back to Marvel Studios and Disney. That doesn't seem to be the case, as TheWrap reports that Fox has seemingly nailed down the young cast for their reboot.

The studio is nearing deals with Miles Teller as Dr. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Kate Mara as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing. No word on who will play the villain/villains of the reboot. There had been talk/rumblings that Fantastic Four characters would occupy the same world as Bryan Singer's X-Men universe.


SOURCE: THEWRAP

Emmy Rossum And Christian Cooke Testing For FANTASTIC FOUR Leads

THR is reporting new names and debunking a few for the screen tests for Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot. They say, that Kate Mara (Transcendence, House of Cards) and Emmy Rossum (Shameless) are up for the role of Sue Storm. Seemingly confirming Miles Teller is a front-runner for Richard Reed and Michael B. Jordan a lock for The Human Torch.

While British actor Christian Cooke is up for the role of Ben Grimm/The Thing, not sure what this means for the Josh Gad/Grimm rumor. Cooke is pretty much unknown to American audiences (besides his role in Magic City), and is best known for a lead role in the Ricky Gervais' directed Cemetery Junction. The film co-starred Felicity Jones, who has a role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is rumored to be possibly Black Cat (not confirmed).

They go-on to say that Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) won't be testing for roles after-all. Adding, that the role of Doctor Doom might even have it's gender-swapped. However, that could be dependent on casting, since Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) isn't even mentioned in the report. It's possible Madden might be up for Doom rather than Reed.

SOURCE: THR

FANTASTIC FOUR Script Finally Completed And Casting Is Underway

Variety has a couple updates concerning Fox's Fantastic Four reboot, stating that Simon Kinberg has completed the script rewrites (expected to tie-in with the new X-Men universe). There had been some concern that production was in trouble when casting news halted, for script reworking from Kingberg. Josh Trank (Chronicle) is still directing as production is expected to begin in Vancouver soon, First Class director Matthew Vaughn is producing the film. The studio is expected to start testing a younger cast to fill roles, by the end of the month.

Miles Teller, Kit Harington and Richard Madden (Klondike, Cinderella, Game of Thrones) expected to test for the role of team leader and uber scientist Dr. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), but I wouldn't be shocked if one of these gentleman is also being looked at for villain Doctor Doom. Michael B Jordan (Fruitvale Station, Chronicle) is reportedly attached to play Johnny Storm (Human Torch), which could mean that Teller is the front-runner, as the pair recently worked together on the film That Awkward Moment.

The ladies in the mix for Sue Storm (Invisible Woman) include Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Lovely Bones, Atonement) and Kate Mara (Transcendence, House of Cards, Iron Man 2), Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall Street) had previously been in the mix too but will likely choose Tarzan instead.


SOURCE: VARIETY

New FANTASTIC FOUR Casting Shortlist Includes Kit Harington, Saoirse Ronan And Others

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox is zeroing-in on it's young cast for The Fantastic Four reboot. It looks like Alison Williams (Girls) is now out of the running for Sue Storm. As actresses Saoirse Ronan, Kate Mara (House of Cards, Transendence, Iron Man 3) and Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall Street) are now in the mix. They also include that actors Kit Harington (Seventh Son, Game of Thrones), Miles Teller and Jack O'Connell (300: Rise of An Empire) are now being looked at for Reed Richards. Michael B. Jordon (Chronicle) is still be mentioned as front-runner for the role of The Human Torch. There is talk that studio has yet to see a completed script and because of this haven't greenlit the project.  Even though a release date of March 16th, 2015 has been set. Producer and newly added screenwriter Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) has been brought on to rewrite the existing script. Josh Trank is still set to direct with X-Men First Class' Matthew Vaughn attached to produce/shepherd the reboot.

Cillian Murphy Also Joins The Growing Cast Of TRANSCENDENCE

LatinoReview report that Christopher Nolan's good luck charm Welsh actor Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Inception, Dark Knight Rises, Dark Knight, Sunshine, 28 Days Later) has taken a role in Wally Pfister's sci-fi thriller Transcendence. The film stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany and Kate Mara. Nolan is producing but it's still odd that Chris didn't grab Murphy for Interstellar first.

Morgan Freeman Joins Sci-Fi Thriller TRANSCENDENCE Starring Johnny Depp

ComingSoon reports that Morgan Freeman is in final talks to a role in Wally Pfister's Transcendence. The rest of the cast includes Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany and Kate Mara.

Kate Mara Joins Wally Pfister's TRANSCENDENCE Starring Johnny Depp And Rebecca Hall

Another Iron Man actor has joined the cast of Transcendence as Deadline reports Kate Mara (Iron Man 2, House of Cards) has landed a role in the sci-fi epic. The cast is led by Johnny Depp along with Rebecca Hall (Iron Man 3, The Town, The Prestige) and Paul Bettany (Iron Man 1-3, Avengers). The former two along with Mara have had roles in the Iron Man franchise.

Kate Mara, Jessica Biel & Charlotte Riley Testing For Dark Knight Rises

It looks like that Dark Knight Rises casting information from Collider isn't as solid as first thought. HeatVision has a new shortlist of actresses who are testing for the two lead female roles. The list includes previously reported names like Keria Knighley and Anne Hathaway but now lists Kate Mara (127 Hours, Iron Man 2), Jessica Biel and newcomer Charlotte Riley who is engaged to Tom Hardy. While this report doesn't include Eva Green or Naomi Watts they however confirm previous reports of Talia al Ghul as being one of the roles.

Gemma Arterton was also a hopeful but could be out of the running with her signing on to star alongside Jeremy Renner in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.