Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman And Bill Nighy Wanted For DOCTOR STRANGE's Mentor The Ancient One

LatinoReview has word that Marvel is moving forward with the rest of casting for Doctor Strange. It was confirmed recently that Benedict Cumberbatch is our titular hero. Another major role in the film is Sorcerer Supreme and Strange's mentor The Ancient One. The three actors in the mix according to LR are Ken Watanabe (Godzilla, Inception, Batman Begins, Last Samurai), Morgan Freeman (Dark Knight Trilogy, Wanted, Lucy) and Bill Nighy (Underworld, Shaun of The Dead, Pirates Of The Caribbean).

The Ancient One teaches both Stephen Strange and villain Baron Mordo the ways of mystical arts. A leading role that allows for some diverse casting which makes both Watanabe and Freeman a preference. While Freeman's voice could be amazing for the role, I'd prefer to see Watanabe. It's not shocking that Ken is in the mix, as the training scenes in Batman Begins sort of parallels the origin of Doctor Strange.

Daniel Bruhl's (Inglorious Basterds, Rush) role in Captain America: Civil War is said to crossover to Strange as well. This has us believing he could be playing Karl Mordo, or combination with Captain America villain Baron Zemo.

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

Toby Kebbell In Talks For BEN-HUR Villain Messala

Variety reports that Toby Kebbell is in talks to play villain Messala in Timur Bekmambetov's remake of Ben-Hur. Jack Huston is in the title role with Morgan Freeman in a supporting role as well. Production is about to begin in Europe next year. And it's casting at the moment is beyond impressive. Interesting enough the script was penned by Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years A Slave, Three Kings, Red Tails) and Keith Clarke (The Way Back).  The epic's release date is set for February 26th, 2016.

Toby played ape villain Koba played in the massive summer hit Dawn of The Planet of The Apes. Koba was actually one of my favorite blockbuster villains of the year, and it's mainly due to his motion capture performance. Director Matt Reeves has actually teased his return in the third film, which could mean Kebbell might be apart of that franchise for a while. This must have led to his casting as Dr. Doom in Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot, and we're highly anticipating seeing some footage of Toby as the iconic Marvel baddie. He also recently wrapped production on Duncan Jones's Warcraft for Legendary.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Jack Huston Will Play BEN-HUR In Timur Bekmambetov's Remake

Deadline reports that Boardwalk Empire and American Hustle actor Jack Huston has taken the titular role in the Ben-Hur remake. Previously, it was reported that Morgan Freeman had joined the project in a supporting part. It will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), let's just hope the Russian director can reign-in his exploitation roots and make a coherent film. The film is expected to begin production next year in Europe.


We know that Jack Huston has been itching for a franchise role. Becoming in the mix for the Star-Lord role in Guardians of The Galaxy, and rumored to be in the running for Doctor Strange. It's now very unlikely that Huston is still in the running (or ever was) to play Steven Strange. Only time will tell if this picture will end-up more like Gladiator, a watered-down version of Spartacus or at the end of the spectrum similar to Paul W. Anderson's Pompeii.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Luc Besson's Next Action Flick LUCY Starring Scarlett Johansson Begins Shooting

Luc Besson's (Nikita, Leon The Professional) next film has begun production (via ThePlaylist) and will be a crazy sounding sci-fi action flick titled Lucy which stars Scarlett Johansson. Lucy (Johansson), a drug mule has the goods (super soldier formula?) get into her system making her a badass super assassin (think Bradley Cooper's character in Limitless meets Matt Damon's Jason Bourne). The film co-stars Morgan Freeman and Old Boy's Choi Min-sik. It's also a perfect role for Scarlett Johansson post-Winter Soldier and pre-Age of Ultron to keep the actress in fighting shape.

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.

Two New Posters For OBLIVION

New Poster For OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

Second Trailer For OBLIVION

New International And Domestic Posters For OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

RUMOR: New BATMAN Film To Be Released In 2017?

BatmanOnFilm has a rumor that Warner Bros. could be looking to release the next Batman film in 2017. The biggest problem I have with this rumor is that Warner Bros. isn't likely to wait 4-5 years to release the next Batman film. It's one of their biggest money-makers and the wheels should be rolling a lot sooner than 2017. There has been speculation that John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who was handed the keys of the batcave at the end of Rises would become the new Batman. As both Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have exited the franchise if the studio wants to keep using the Nolan-verse they won't be able to use Bruce Wayne. I wouldn't be shocked if they went towards a Batman Beyond angle. Where a new crime fighter dons a new high-tech Batman suit replacing an aging Bruce Wayne. This could leave the door open for Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth to assist Blake.

It's been mentioned for a while now that Warner Bros. is looking to move forward with Batman films post-Christopher Nolan. Even before the release of The Dark Knight Rises talk of a reboot two years down the road had been circling. Rumblings of Joseph Gordon-Levitt being considered for the Batman role in Justice League has also been spreading like wildfire. While the actor himself has kept mum about taking the Dark Knight mantle stating his involvement would come down to it's script and director. Neither at this point have been announced to even exist. Justice League is expected to begin production sometime this year with a 2015 release date slated. We should know for sure in the coming months.

Trailer For Antoine Fuqua's OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN Starring Gerard Butler

Images From OBLIVION Teaser

NOW YOU SEE ME Get's A Trailer

RUMOR: Could Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman And Kevin Costner Join Tom Cruise In 'THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN' ?

I'm not one for using British tabloids as sources but this rumor from The Sun is too interesting to pass on. They "report" that Matt Damon is eyeing a role in the Magnificent Seven originally played by Steve McQueen. Tom Cruise has already been confirmed by the trades for the lead role which could help attract other high-profiled talent The paper also sites more likely candidates such as Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner also looking to join the film. The original 1960 western was an American take on the classic Akira Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai. We should expect an explosive amount of westerns put into production if Quentin Tarantino's western/southern mash-up Django Unchained ends up making a giant slash at the box office.


SOURCE: The Sun

Final 'DARK KNIGHT RISES' Trailer

New Images From 'THE DARK KNIGHT RISES'

Chemical Brothers To Score Now You See Me

ThePlaylist is reporting that the British electronic duo The Chemical Brothers will be creating the score for Louis Leterrier's (Incredible Hulk, Clash of The Titans) Now You See Me. The film focuses on a group of illusionists who are playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the FBI as they pull heists during their magic shows. It stars Mark Ruffalo (Avengers), Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network), Morgan Freeman (RED, Dark Knight Rises), Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds, Beginners), Woody Harrelson (Zombieland), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street) and Common (American Gangster, Wanted).

Most recently the group provided the song Don't Think for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan which was used in the club scene. This lead to them getting hired by Joe Wright to create the entire score for Hanna which was a highlight soundtrack of 2011. It will be interesting to see if they're able to recreate the intense ambience they were able to with Hanna.

RED 2 Has A Director

Variety reports that the sequel to the action comedy hit RED could finally have it's director. Dean Parisot is in final talks to helm RED 2 with the production expected to start up after Willis wraps Die Hard 5. Currently a script is in place written by Erich and Jon Hoeber who originally adapted the comic book for the first movie. Willis is a given but it's unknown if Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Karl Urban and Morgan Freeman will be signing on to reprise their roles.

The inclusion of Parisot gives me the impression we could end up seeing a Die Hard reunion of sorts. The Galaxy Quest director has previously worked with Alan Rickman who played villain Hans Gruber in the original Die Hard. I wouldn't be shocked to see Rickman take a role in the sequel as previous supporting roles have been filled by seasoned dramatic actors. Alan might be known for serious characters but has a history of amazing dry comedic performances which would suit the sequel. Of course this is only my opinion.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Joins Oblivion

Deadline reports yet another addition to Joseph Kosinski's (Tron Legacy) Oblivion. Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Headhunters) has joined the science fiction actioner that is setup at Universal Pictures. Nikolaj will play Sykes, a battle-hardened, physically imposing, intelligent and extremely athletic military technology and weapons expert. The rest of the cast lead by Tom Cruise includes Morgan Freeman (RED, Wanted, Dark Knight), Olga Kurylenko (Centurion, Quantum of Solace, Seven Psychopaths) and Andrea Riseborough (W.E., Never Let Me Go, Brighton Rock).