Lionsgate's POWER RANGERS Movie Lands THOR And X-MEN FIRST CLASS Writers

When it was first announced that a new Power Rangers movie was in the works, it sounded like a big joke. However, it sounds like Lionsgate isn't messing around and are hiring names known for delivering big noisy films. Roberto Orci will produce the film, and will work with writers to develop it's story. This on the heels of Orci exiting the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, and gearing-up to direct Star Trek 3 for Paramount. Lionsgate must want a franchise and not just a one-off to boost the ratings of the series and toy sales.

Orci seems like a decent choice since he's helped turn Transformers into a multi-billion dollar franchise. That piece of history cannot be ignored or left-out, in that arena he is successful. I'm not too sure he's the right voice for the project, but that's speaking as a fan of the original material growing-up.

The writers in question, are the screenwriting duo of Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz. The pair are known for writing credits on Marvel's Thor and Fox's X-Men First Class. They don't enstill too much hope for a great film, since most of their work get's rewritten. But, they ca

Power Rangers creator Haim Saban and Lionsgate's Allison Shearmur will also produce the film. Shearmur helped spearhead the direction of the studio's Hunger Games franchise, and is the most interesting name attached to the project. She could help push this into a more serious direction, than seen previously.

What kind of tone should we be expecting from this reboot? I have no clue, but if the studio puts-in the effort they did with Hunger Games, they could have a massive hit on their hands. Since the awareness for Power Rangers is huge worldwide, and with kaiju fever at it's modern peak (thanks to Godzilla and Pacific Rim). This is a perfect time to dust-off the zords. Not to mention the martial arts angle to likely get a shot-in-the-arm if Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is successful in August.

SOURCE: VARIETY 

Zoe Saldana In Talks To Play Gamora In Marvel's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

THR reports that actress Zoe Saldana is in talks to take the female lead in Guardians of The Galaxy. She would take the role of Gamora the deadliest woman in the universe and adopted daughter of Thanos. Gamora eventually sets her sights on taking down Thanos and joins the Guardians. She already has two massive sci-fi franchises under her belt with Avatar and Avatar 2-3 expected to shoot in the near future along with playing Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek franchise. Zoe would be the third cast member added to the cosmic project which previously cast Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Starlord and Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer.

Michael Giacchino To Score JUPITER ASCENDING

ThePlaylist has picked up that Oscar winning composer Michael Giacchino (Up) has been hired to score The Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending. The sci-fi epic stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Tuppence Middleton and Douglas Booth. Michael previously worked with the directing siblings on Speed Racer. His other credits include Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, John Carter, Super 8 and Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. There is speculation that he might end up replacing John Williams as the composer for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Episode VII.

PORTAL And HALF-LIFE Movies Being Co-Produced By J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot

J.J. Abrams' production company Bad Robot is gearing up for a stake in the video game film genre. As Valve and Bad Robot announced (via Wired) a partnership that will lead to live-action Portal and Half-Life films. No word on when this will happen but it sounds like the material is in good hands. Bad Robot is currently producing franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Mission Impossible. I wouldn't be shocked to see Paramount biding for distribution.

Kirk Is Up Against A Superior Foe In STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Super Bowl Spot

J.J. Abrams Is Directing STAR WARS EPISODE VII

Lesson learned today, never trust an official denial from anyone. TheWrap has reported on the hottest story of 2013 as they reveal J.J. Abrams has been chosen to direct Star Wars Episode VII. Apparently, Ben Affleck was also a candidate and has been linked for Justice League for months now. It's not a shocking move considering how wonderful Abrams was able to resurrect the tired Star Trek franchise with his reboot. Abrams is a self-professed Star Wars geek while not really being into Trek when he landed that franchise. During the speculation of the project's director J.J.'s name kept coming up. He would eventually publicly denied wanting to make it which was a misdirection by the director. It will be interesting to see how this effects the Episode VII pre-production which is rumored to start this Spring. Considering Star Trek Into Darkness is releasing in May then in many other markets afterwards. It's release date is expected for Summer 2015 alongside Avengers 2 and Justice League.

It's possible this news could give Paramount the idea to move on with the Star Trek franchise without Abrams. However, nothing says this would effect current development on Star Trek 3. The third installment is only in a story-phase while the screenwriters are focusing on other projects. Nothing says Abrams won't be able to finish his Trek trilogy then hand it off to another director.

Has Zoe Saldana Joined 'MACHETE KILLS'?

MovieHole has word from Machete himself Danny Trejo that Machete Kills has yet another lady joining the cast. He states that Zoe Saldana has joined the cast and he's going to have a bit of love scene with her. It's not hard to imagine Zoe joining the action junkie flick with roles in Colombiana, The Losers, Avatar and Star Trek 1-2.

“The sequel to Machete, Machete Kills is going to be a lot more over-the-top than Machete. We’ve got Sofia Vergara, who is a star in her own right, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, and Zoe Saldana – and guess what? I get to kiss all of ‘em.”

Benedict Cumberbatch Front And Center In First Star Trek 2 Set Images

Benicio Del Toro Might Play The Villain In Star Trek 2

Variety reports that Benicio Del Toro has met with director J.J. Abrams about taking the villainous role in Star Trek 2. Filming is expected to start in early 2012 with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Salanda, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg returning. The villain is unknown but there have been rumblings that the Klingons could be the group of villains the U.S.S. Enterprise have to go up against. Nero (Bana) and his crew were prisoners of Klingons in the first movie but their escape was latter cut from the film. In that Trek timeline Klingons are still enemies of the Federation.

Benicio Del Toro isn't new to big films landing one of his first roles in License To Kill in which he played a Bond villain. Along with solid performances in movies like The Usual Suspects, Snatch, Traffic, 21 Grams, Sin City, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Che and the upcoming Oliver Stone film Savages where he also plays a villain.