Michael Keaton Confirmed To Join Tom Hiddleston And J.K. Simmons In KONG: SKULL ISLAND

TheWrap has confirmed that Michael Keaton has indeed taken a role in Legendary's Kong: Skull Island. He'll be joining Tom Hiddleston and J.K. Simmons who were previously cast in the prequel. It's crazy that they've been able to get both leads from Whiplash and Birdman which are highly buzzed awards-level films of 2014.

Michael Keaton has closed his deal to join SKULL ISLAND. #ItsOfficial
— Linda Ge (@lindazge) January 8, 2015

SOURCE: THEWRAP

GAME OF THRONES Composer Ramin Djawadi Confirmed To Score Duncan Jones' WARCRAFT

Director Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon) has confirmed via Twitter that Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man, Pacific Rim, Safe House, Clash of The Titans) to score Warcraft. The fantasy film is based on the hugely successful RPG game.

Warcraft will be starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Toby Kebbell, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky, Clancy Brown, Ruth Negga, Daniel Cudmore and Daniel Wu. It will be released on March 11th, 2016.

SOURCE: TWITTER

Guillermo Del Toro's CRIMSON PEAK Images Reveal His Gothic Vision For The Haunted House Flick

A bunch of images from Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak in the newest issue of TotalFilm has made it's way online. The film was shot on location in Toronto, Hamilton and Kingston, Canada. An interesting aspect the exterior buildings for both the England scenes and the haunted house were shot in the neighborhood where I grew-up, so I'm going to have a major attachment to the film.

It of course stars Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and Charlie Hunnam which will be released just before Halloween in October. Guillermo is said to be shooting the sequel to Pacific Rim next.

SOURCE: TOTALFILM

J.K. Simmons Has Joined Tom Hiddleston In KONG: SKULL ISLAND

Deadline reports that J.K. Simmons (Juno, Thank You For Smoking, Spider-Man Trilogy, Oz) hot off his widely praised performance in Whiplash has joined the cast of Legendary Picture's Kong: Skull Island. The prequel to the original events of King Kong would explore the origins of the map that was used to find the island. Tom "Loki" Hiddleston will star as the lead of the film, which we hope branches him out to more lead roles in the future.

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of Summer, Metal Gear Solid) the film will be released on March 10th, 2017.


SOURCE: DEADLINE

SKULL ISLAND Starring Tom Hiddleston Retitled To KONG: SKULL ISLAND Pushed To 2017

King Kong prequel Skull Island which would explain the origin of The Skull Island map. Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures have retitled the film to Kong: Skull Island. Along with moving the release date from November 4th, 2016 to March 10th, 2017. The film's lead is Tom Hiddleston, I'm curious if the move has something to do with his commitments to Marvel films. Marvel's Doctor Strange is also set for November 4th, 2016, that could be another reason.

SOURCE: UNIVERSAL 

SPECULATION: Could AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS Be Apart Of The Universal Monsters Franchise?

Writer and director Guillermo del Toro hasn't really been mentioned often when Universal Monsters franchise is being reported. We know he's been attached for ages with Universal to reboot Frankenstein for them, along with a feature that focus on Val Helsing. The two characters are indeed apart of this new cinematic universe, and considering Legendary-Universal's relationship with del Toro he will likely have a role with those projects. However, he might let those movies go to get another monster passion project made at the studio.

Guillermo del Toro has been trying for years to get Universal to pick-up his adaptation of the classic H.P. Lovecraft horror story In The Mountains of Madness. The project had Tom Cruise attached for the lead role and del Toro even agreed to scaling-down the violence to a PG-13 rating. A budget couldn't be locked-down and combining this with the rating back-and-forth so Guillermo exited talks and made Pacific Rim instead. Ridley Scott's Prometheus having similar sets/themes also contributed to Universal giving it the axe.

I wouldn't be entirely shocked that film factors into this world as well, since it could be the kind of threat could bring them all together. Meaning, that it could have it's own period film but the Lovecraft monsters could end-up becoming a threat in the modern world. The monster heavy project is seemingly ready to go, and just needs to be greenlit by the studio. Considering a majority of the monster films were adapted from existing novels (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula), this could be a way to help del Toro get his passion project made. Lovecraft's work seems like it could fit into this world, if given more of a modern touch. Perhaps, making it one of the first new monster films added to their lineup.

Here is Guillermo talking his love of the Lovecraft monsters to the NYTimes back in 2010, the film had a bulk of it's development/design work all ready to go. I'm curious to see what unique monster designs he had come-up for the film. I love to think he brings those drawings to his meetings with Legendary and keeps pitching the film.

"We've been designing for the last 3-weeks. It's being produced by James Cameron, who's been a friend for 20-years," del Toro said, "we have avoided working together until the time came for the right project. Obviously, the difference between the novella and the movie is that Lovecraft had a gift for making everything specifically ambiguous. He would say 'the leering face loaded with madness,’ or 'the evil perverse entity of unnamable'… everything was unnamable, indescribable. When you're reading you go,'Whoa!' your brain fills those spaces. For every creature, everyone has a secret mental image of what those creatures look like. It's going to be impossible to please everyone."

 "I've been thinking of those monsters for twenty years. Fortunately for me no one has done monsters like the ones I'm doing. In all the movies ever made there's never been monsters like the ones we're doing. About two weeks ago we were visited by Dennis Muren. He looked at the designs, and he turned to us and said, 'No one has seen monsters like this ever.' I was like, [boyish grin] 'Yeah!' I was happy and vindicated and all that."

Guillermo also spoke to TheWallStreetJournal over the summer and was asked if Legendary are interested in making Mountains with him. He confirms he's already talked about it with the production company, which sounds like it could happen if they can find middle-ground on the rating. Del Toro sounds a bit more open to the idea of PG-13, since the ratings are bit more relaxed recently on fantasy violence.

"That’s exactly what I discussed with them. I said to them, that’s the movie that I would really love to do one day, and it’s still expensive, it’s still … I think that now, with the way I’ve seen PG-13 become more and more flexible, I think I could do it PG-13 now, so I’m going to explore it with [Legendary], to be as horrifying as I can, but to not be quite as graphic. There’s basically one or two scenes in the book that people don’t remember that are pretty graphic. Namely, for example, the human autopsy that the aliens do, which is a very shocking moment. But I think I can find ways of doing it. We’ll see. It’s certainly a possibility in the future. Legendary was very close to doing it at one point, so I know they love the screenplay. So, we’ll see. Hopefully it’ll happen. It’s certainly one of the movies I would love to do."

"I think there’s a really strong possibility we can do it (“At the Mountains of Madness”) at Legendary because now they are at Universal, and Universal, you may remember, almost greenlit the movie. The fact that we now have two studios together that love the material, and if they support each other, they are risking a lot less. It would be great to do it, but I’ve understood that you don’t plan your career, it just happens."

We know that Guillermo has Pacific Rim 2 up next, but he hasn't been vocal on what he wants to do beyond that. Considering all the development work that's already been done on Mountains and that fact he's been more positive about it landing at Legendary Pictures. We know that a script for his Justice League Dark adaptation has been sent to Warner Bros., but it's unknown if Guillermo will even direct that film if it get's the greenlight. I'm sure if it came down to the two options, he might go with Mountains over Justice League Dark, since he was so invested in getting that made it almost went into production.

The addition of Jay Basu (Monsters Dark Continent) might be Universal trying to get some of that that Gareth Edwards magic. Before directing Godzilla and the first Star Wars spin-off Edwards wrote and directed the first Monsters film. I'm finding it hard to imagine what Jay could be writing but if they indeed want to incorporate Mountains of Madness into this cinematic universe, he could be a solid writer to do that.

Guillermo del Toro Confirms The Return Of Charlie Day And Burn Gorman For PACIFIC RIM 2

While speaking to Collider writer-director-producer Guillermo del Toro revealed some casting and story plans for Pacific Rim 2. Confirming that both Charlie Day and Burn Gorman would be reprising their roles in the sequel. I assume alongside Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi, there is also a chance we could see the return of Ron Perlman's Hannibal Chau. Here's what Guillermo had to say about the film's story as well.

“It’s a few years after the first one. It’s not an immediate follow-up. It is the world having been freed of Kaiju, what happens to the world after – what happens to the Jaeger technology once the Kaiju are not a threat. It’s quite a jump.” 

“Yes. It’s quite a different movie from the first one in that, but I think that two of our main characters like in the first one are Burn and Charlie. They are really, really – I mean, honestly, they are probably the guys I have the most fun writing along with Hannibal Chau so just from a purely selfish drive, I like writing them. I love writing for Charlie and Burn. I mean, [Burn's] in Crimson Peak for that reason, because I love working with him. You’re gonna get a lot of that, but the Kaijus are very different and you’re gonna see a very different type of the robots I think. It’s gonna be quite a different adventure.” 

SOURCE: COLLIDER 

Guillermo Says PACIFIC RIM 2 Shoots Later Next Year And Teases PACIFIC RIM 3

I think most will have to admit that even if Pacific Rim wasn't a perfect film it had a lot of heart and it's homage to monster films/anime was a good fit for it's director. The film might draw influence from other popular franchises, but at the end of the day it was an original movie. While the box office wasn't bonkers, the movie ended-up earning $411 million worldwide. Enough for Legendary Pictures to greenlight a sequel which is coming-out on April 7th, 2017.

While speaking with Collider, Guillermo del Toro gave some updates on the sequel. He confirms a draft is completed and the next couple of months will be dedicated to fine-tuning it before preproduction. Confirming production will begin in late 2015. I assume this means the production will be returning back to Pinewood Studios Toronto. The studio space where del Toro made the first film along with his recent horror flick Crimson Peak.

“We got the first draft of the movie now, and we are going to spend another 4-5 months on the screenplay before we start pre-production. We start pre-production next year in August-September and start shooting November-December next year.”

“some of your favorite characters come back, some others don’t because we have decided that we’re going to shoot ambitiously and say ‘Let’s hope we have three movies,’ so some characters come in at the end of the second, hoping that it will ramp up on the third one.”

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Bryan Cranston Being Eyed For Role In Legendary's China-Set Epic GREAT WALL

Legendary's Great Wall is attracting some interesting talent. We last heard from Deadline that Matt Damon was trying to figure out his busy work load, to fit the project as he's keen to work with director Zhang Yimou. The pair almost teamed-up for the WWII drama The Flowers of War. A new development has risen as the site now reports Bryan Cranston is wanted for a leading role as well. Cranston previously worked on Legendary's Godzilla, and helped gain a lot of attention for it. Let's just hope this role allows Bryan to be feature in more than just the first act.

Another interesting bit of news concerning the project, is that the most recent draft of the script has been penned by Bourne franchise screenwriter Tony Gilroy. He also recently directed Jeremy Renner in the Bourne spin-off The Bourne Legacy. I assume this means we'll be getting some really exciting action sequences.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Matt Damon Might Lead Legendary's China-Set THE GREAT WALL

We recently heard that Universal was finally putting together deals that would see Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass make another Bourne film. Another bit of possible news coming Deadline, is that Damon is being eyed for the lead in Legendary Pictures (now with Universal) supernatural China-set The Great Wall. The film has legendary (fitting I know) Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Curse of The Golden Flowers, Flowers of War) and has been looking for a lead for some time now.

They also mention that Damon is very interested in working with Yimou, since he was in talks to take the lead in Flowers of War. That role would go to Christian Bale instead. The only problem is that shooting Ridley Scott's The Martian, and this upcoming Bourne installment, could conflict with Great Wall's production.

Before Zhang signed-on, actors such as Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, The Man From UNCLE, Batman v Superman) and Benjamin Walker (Vampire Hunter) were attached for it. Ed Zwick (Last Samurai, Defiance, Blood Diamond, The Siege) was previously set as it's director, but will instead take a producer's credit.

The plot has been sort of kept a secret, but it would reveal the "true" reasons behind the wall's construction. I assume it could be monsters or demons, since China has a rich history of folklore. Let's just hope this turns out a bit better than Universal's disastrous re-imagining of The 47 Ronin. We know that the market in China for films is going to dwarf North America, so studios having their blockbusters set there is just smart. Chinese films have come along way in the last two decades, and usually are superior to what Hollywood has been grinding-out. I'm excited to see what a visionary like Yimou can do with Legendary handling it's production.



SOURCE: DEADLINE

Max Borenstein Returns To Write GODZILLA Sequel For Legendary Pictures

Deadline reports that Legendary Pictures has made a deal for screenwriter Max Borenstein (Seventh Son) to pen the Godzilla sequel. Borenstein was one of many writers on the original film, and recently wrote the studio's King Kong origin film Skull Island. Max will have plenty of time to put the script together, since director Gareth Edwards will go-off to make an untitled Star Wars film first. The release date for the sequel will be June 8th, 2018.

We've heard teases that better known kaiju could be showing-up in the next film. This was confirmed at Comic-Con, where Legendary Pictures showed concept footage that teased Rodan, Mothra and Ghidorah.

A set of female twins were teased in film and in promo footage/trailer. Monarch's name might have direct connections to him as well.  Perhaps, the fellow good-guy kaiju might have inspired the organization. Wouldn't hurt to see Godzilla team-up for some good 'old city rumbles.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Tom Hiddleston Starring In Legendary's KING KONG Origin Film SKULL ISLAND

Variety reports that Tom "Loki' Hiddleston will star in Legendary Picture's King Kong origin film titled Skull Island. Godzilla and Seventh Son writer Max penned the first draft of the script. Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) and Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones, Centurion) had been pursued for the director's chair, but Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of Summer) has taken the gig instead. Jordan was actually in the mix to direct Marvel's Doctor Strange and is rumored to be considered for Sony's Metal Gear Solid adaptation.

Details aren't known about the film, but events would take place before the original film. The island is home to some exotic things including dinosaurs, giant bugs, ancient tribes and other dangerous creatures. Basically, everyone and everything is trying to end your life on Skull Island. Hiddleston's character is also a bit of a mystery.

What we do know is that the film is being headed-up by the same production studio that gave us Godzilla and Pacific Rim, so we're expecting this to be a bit more cohesive than Peter Jackson's take. Hiddleston's involvement isn't too much of a shock. Considering he recently finished shooting Guillermo del Toro's haunted house picture Crimson Peak, another project setup at Legendary. Skull Island is set for release on November 4th, 2016.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Guillermo Del Toro's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS Getting Picked-Up By Legendary In The Future?

It's starting to look like the recent Legendary Pictures/Universal Pictures deal is just a giant collaboration between the studios and writer-director Guillermo del Toro. The two companies are already partnering on del Toro's Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim 2. The director confirms to WallStreetJournal that Legendary is still interested in making his adaptation of At The Mountains of Madness.

"That’s exactly what I discussed with them. I said to them, that’s the movie that I would really love to do one day, and it’s still expensive, it’s still … I think that now, with the way I’ve seen PG-13 become more and more flexible, I think I could do it PG-13 now, so I’m going to explore it with [Legendary], to be as horrifying as I can, but to not be quite as graphic. There’s basically one or two scenes in the book that people don’t remember that are pretty graphic. Namely, for example, the human autopsy that the aliens do, which is a very shocking moment. But I think I can find ways of doing it. We’ll see. It’s certainly a possibility in the future. Legendary was very close to doing it at one point, so I know they love the screenplay. So, we’ll see. Hopefully it’ll happen. It’s certainly one of the movies I would love to do."

Originally, del Toro was fighting with Universal to get a hard-R rating for the horror film based on iconic story by H.P Lovecraft. He even had Tom Cruise attached for the lead role, and Ron Perlman set for a supporting role. Guillermo sounds a bit less concerned about caving-in and making it PG-13, since the ratings standards are seemingly relaxed when it comes to sci-fi/fantasy movies.

I'm sure the studio also paused production because Ridley Scott's Prometheus took a lot of influence from the story. So, having some space between the releases should help the film actually getting made. We know that Pacific Rim 2 is up next for Guillermo, but it's uncertain when he could get-back to making Mountains.

The First Trailer For Legendary's DRACULA UNTOLD Is Batty!

Guillermo Del Toro Officially Directing PACIFIC RIM 2 And It's Coming April 2017!

There was a giant-wave of anticipation last summer, concerning what to expect from Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. An original cinematic universe influenced by the the world of anime, manga and kaiju films. It made a rather large splash internationally, earning $411 million worldwide. A decent amount of box office considering the genre and the fact it's not an existing franchise or IP. There had been talk from everyone invovled that a sequel could happen. Although, many people believed it still needed to earn more for that to happen. Critics mostly embraced the silliness of it and took it for what the film was (giant robots versus giant monsters).

The film also had a comic book and toys in stores at the time of it's release. Pacific Rim does have major merchandising potential, not unlike the Marvel/Star Wars universes. This seemingly has been picked up by the people over at Legendary Pictures, who produced the film and own the rights to it.

Guillermo has announced (via Legendary Picture's Youtube channel) that Legendary is moving forward with the sequel and he will be returning as it's director. Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim) and Zak Penn (Incredible Hulk, Avengers) will be working with del Toro to create the script. The release date has been set for April 7th, 2017, which is very similar to the Marvel's The Winter Soldier's date. It's a better placement for the release, as it will have less summer competition next time. Also, Universal will be partnering with Legendary on the project. The two companies recently developed a deal, which would see Universal distribute their films.

Production on Pacific Rim 2 would likely return to Pinewood Studios in Toronto. Where del Toro shot the original and is currently finishing-up production on his next film Crimson Peak. Actors such as Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman are expected to return for the sequel.

Legendary Pictures is highly invested in the kaiju genre, and is already moving forward with a Godzilla sequel. Gareth Edwards is attached to direct, but is also involved with an unnamed Star Wars spin-off coming in 2016. Oddly enough, Godzilla has currently earned even more than Pacific Rim. Taking in about $478 million worldwide, let's just remember Godzilla is known property that has been stomping cities since 1954. While Pacific Rim is just getting put together.

Wait A Minute, Does Marvel Studios Have The Film Rights To Namor?

Kevin Feige seemingly made it clear nine months ago that Universal was indeed the holder of the movie rights to Namor The Sub-Mariner. Yet, that answer seems to be dwindling as time goes-on. A more recent quote from Feige to IGN, makes things seemingly less clear. We've been noticing Marvel Studios has been teasing Namor for years and there actually might be a reason for this. Is Namor a similar situation to the shared rights of Kingpin, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch?

"No, Namor I think is a little complicated, the way some of them are."

A rumor from LatinoReview suggests that Legendary Pictures' unnamed event film for November 2016, could be a Namor movie. THR went even further than that, and believe that Marvel Studios has more of the rights than Universal currently has. It's very possible this could be another Incredible Hulk situation, as Universal might only have distribution rights. A similar deal was made with Paramount Pictures for majority of the Phase One movies. Disney would eventually buy-out that contract, and paid a hefty price-tag for it.

@EricIGN @StaxIGN Hmm. My digging on both sides of the aisle revealed Namor at Marvel. I'll have to burrow deeper.
— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) May 22, 2014

It's possible that Marvel is able to include Namor in their movies (like Hulk), but if they decided to make a feature film with him, they'd have to allow Universal to distribute. That's unless Disney is working on getting those rights back. This could mean we might see Namor become an important antagonist or hero in future movies.

Would you support a Namor movie if it was made by Marvel Studios?

SOURCE: THR

GODZILLA Sequel In The Works On The Heels Of Franchise's Biggest Domestic Opening Ever

It's a huge weekend of successes for Legendary's Godzilla reboot. The film has the 2nd largest opening weekend of 2014 at $93 million (estimated), edging out The Amazing Spider-Man 2. A giant win for the project considering, it was an uphill battle since the terrible impression the 1998 American left on audiences. The studio has been vindicated and along with that is of course talk of seuqels.

Deadline reports that Legendary and it's old partner Warner Bros. will be working together on the next installment of the Godzilla franchise. The two companies recently parted-ways, with Legendary making a new distribution deal with Universal. Let's hope they come up with a better title than Godzilla 2, maybe something like Godzilla Vs (place iconic/new kaiju monster here). I would assume that director Gareth Edwards will be asked to return, considering how the look of the film seems to have won over a lot of people. On the other hand, there were so many screenwriters on the first installment. Max Borenstein and Dave Callaham were the main writers, along with David Goyer and Frank Darabont contributing to it as well. I kinda hope they stick to one or two writers next time, but that's going to be unlikely.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

First Real Look At Christopher Nolan's Wormhole Adventure Film INTERSTELLAR With New Trailer!

The first real trailer for Christopher Nolan's original sci-fi epic Interstellar has made it's way online. It's more than I was expecting, showing a lot of the problems facing Earth. Before the eventual mission to find something to save the planet's popular, teasing the wormhole aspect ever so slightly. I have to admit I was getting a few 2001 moments from the shuttle scenes. It will be release in November, and I'm shocked the studio didn't try to find a place for it in their summer lineup.

RUMOR: Is NAMOR Legendary's Secret 2016 Event Film?

It was reported that Legendary Pictures/Universal would be releasing a secret even film on November 4th, 2016, The studio failed to reveal it's title or what the project was, something Marvel Studios has made a habit of lately. We had assumed it could be The Great Wall, another monster movie that had been in development for ages, with Henry Cavill in the lead role.

However, LatinoReview has another theory, they believe it could be a comic book movie. Specifically, Namor The Submariner, which has been in-development limbo for ages at Universal. They are treating it as a rumor, but it was confirmed by Kevin Feige over the summer that Namor is indeed still at Universal. We've notice more than a few references to our underwater prince in Marvel Studios' films, so it will be interesting to see if the film is apart of the greater MCU. Since, Universal did play-nice with Marvel when working together on Phase One's The Incredible Hulk. We'll have to wait and see if this is the real-deal.

Legendary was asked about the news, but said "no comment". Which isn't a denial, that we'd expect from something like this, since it's only being treated as a rumor. A Namor movie has been in works for a while now. Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3) once tried putting together a script with the intention to direct, and Jason Statham (former Olympic diver) was even interested one point for the role. It's not hard to imagine Legendary going-back to making comic book films, after giving us The Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steel. The studio has also put-out comic book tie-ins for Pacific Rim and Godzilla.

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

FIRST LOOK: Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Chastain And Mia Wasikowsa On The Set Of CRIMSON PEAK

Guillermo del Toro's Victorian era horror film Crimson Peak has been shooting in and around the Toronto area for months now. We now have some first looks at Charlie Hannam, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowsa on the set of the film, along with previously spotted Tom Hiddleston. The shots were taken by local paper TheHamiltonSpecator, as scenes were being filmed at Dundurn Castle. Other scenes had been also been shot at equally historical building The Scottish Rite, near Hess Village in Hamilton (both buildings pictured below as well). If I had to guess it's possible the Scottish Rite, could be the exterior for the haunted house, as the red brick does standout. These sets are in my old neighborhood and I've been in around those two buildings most of my life. They are stunning from the outside and inside, and will likely be major set pieces of the film. The primary stage location is at Pinewood Studios, Toronto. Which is the same place where del Toro shot Pacific Rim.

SOURCE: HAMILTONSPEC