The reboot, remake, sequel and adaptation craze continues with yet another Movie News Cheat Sheet brimming with updates on projects part of highly successful franchises.
There’s been a ton of talk on the “Batman vs. Superman” front with the folks behind the film honing in on a female lead and on an actor for the role of Nightwing. In X-Men territory, news just broke that Twentieth Century Fox is courting James Mangold to return for another Wolverine film while New Line and Warner Bros. are out to expand their “Conjuring” franchise even further by adding a spin-off to the lineup in addition to the previously announced sequel.
Ready for the details on those stories, the list of ladies in the running to play Sarah Connor in the new “Terminator” movie, information on Robert Pattinson’s new project and more? It’s all here in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. “The Conjuring” to Get an Annabelle Spin-Off?: After “The Conjuring” rocked the box office scoring $41.9 million opening weekend and then taking a total of $316.4 million worldwide, it was obvious New Line and Warner Bros. would move forward with a sequel, but via Schmoes Know, the companies are also developing a spin-off movie, too. According to their source, Annabelle, the creepy doll from “The Conjuring’s” opening sequence, is getting her own feature film. John R. Leonetti, the director of photography behind “The Conjuring,” is set to direct and filming is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2014. Schmoes Know also have an update on “The Conjuring 2” and the news is quite surprising since James Wan recently announced, “I’m going to go on record and say I am finished with the horror genre. ‘Conjuring’ and ‘Insidious 2’ are my two last scary movies.” Apparently the production team behind “The Conjuring” sequel hopes to bring Wan back should his schedule permit. However, New Line and WB are eager to capitalize on their success fast, so should Wan’s availability become a problem, they will move on without him.
2. Emilia Clarke vs. Brie Larson vs. Margot Robbie for Sarah Connor: The race to become the next Sarah Connor is on! According to THR, director Alan Taylor is starting to load up the cast of his “Terminator” reboot and he’s honed in on Emilia Clarke, Brie Larson and Margot Robbie for the female lead. Taylor has plans to test both Clarke and Larson for the role and will eventually move on to doing the same for Kyle Reese. Garrett Hedlund is reportedly on the short list for that part. Arnold Schwarzenegger will return as a Terminator robot tasked with protecting Sarah Connor as she grows up. The film’s timeline will progress far enough to include John Connor. THR’s source claims that Tom Hardy is at the top of the list for that role, but also notes that Taylor hasn’t even begun to meet with any candidates just yet. The new “Terminator” is expected to begin filming in June and has snatched up a July 1, 2015 release date.
3. Adam Driver Top Choice for Nightwing?: Goodbye Robin, hello Nightwing. According to The Wrap, Adam Driver is a “serious contender” for the role of Dick Grayson in “Batman vs. Superman.” Grayson was once Robin, but ultimately ditched that identity in exchange for Nightwing and is now estranged from Ben Affleck’s Batman. Apparently there are at least two more actors in the running for the role, but Driver’s work in “This Is Where I Leave You” made him a frontrunner. Warner Bros. is also hard at work trying to lock in a female lead. Olga Kurylenko is currently the top choice for the character that is rumored to be Diana Prince (aka Wonder Woman) and is also being dubbed “Batman’s love interest,” but Gal Gadot and Elodie Yung have tested and are still in contention as well.
4. “World of Warcraft” Update from BlizzCon: As a film based on a Blizzard Entertainment game, “World of Warcraft” indulged the fans of BlizzCon with some new details and concept art from the film. As reported by Kotaku, director Duncan Jones is dedicated to making viewers sympathize with Orc heroes just as much as the Human ones in his film. Visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer also noted that the tone of the film will be similar to that of “Gladiator.” Jones and co. aren’t talking to actors just yet, but when asked if he had a cast picked out, Jones simply said, “Yup!” According to the outlet, the film’s narrative will focus on “the story of Anduin Lothar versus Durotan, Human and Orc heroes from the original real-time strategy games.” Jones also pointed out that their story will include strong female leads, too. Kotaku posted four images of the concept art for locations including Draenor, the home of the Orcs, Ironforge, the city of Dwarves, and more. You can check those out right here.
5. Jon Favreau to Direct “The Jungle Book:” Disney is pushing forward with its new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” and the studio is looking at Jon Favreau to make it happen. According to Deadline, Favreau is currently in negotiations to direct the project, which is expected to go into production sometime next year. When asked about the contents of Justin Marks’ script, Favreau noted, “I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take that could be very cool, and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic elements.” He also added, “It is my first real family film since ‘Elf,’ and there are action elements and visual effects that I feel like my experience on the ‘Iron Man’ films are going to be useful.”
6. Robert Pattinson Joins “The Lost City of Z:” As reported by Screen Daily (via The Playlist), director James Gray has locked another big name for his adaptation of David Grann’s “The Lost City of Z.” Robert Pattinson is officially set to join Benedict Cumberbatch in the film about a soldier named Percy Harrison Fawcett who becomes an explorer and heads into the Amazon, determined to track down an ancient civilization. When he runs out of funding, Fawcett opts to empty his own pockets and give the search one last go with his son by his side. There’s been no confirmation on who’ll take which role, but The Playlist suggests that Cumberbatch will portray Fawcett and Pattinson could play his son. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the film with Panorama Media handling financing and selling rights.
7. Wolverine Due for Another Solo Movie: You know what $413.6 million gets you? James Mangold, Hugh Jackman and a third Wolverine movie. According to Deadline, after snagging $132.4 million at the domestic box office and $281.2 overseas, Twentieth Century Fox has committed to giving Wolverine a third movie and has commenced negotiations with Mangold to return to direct Jackman in the new installment. Should the deal go through, Mangold will pen a treatment and then we’ll see how/if the project moves forward from there.
8. Two “Catching Fire” Clips Have Arrived: “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is due in theaters in just ten days and even though anticipation is already sky high, Lionsgate continues to build hype by releasing two clips from the film. This first snippet popped up on the “Hunger Games” YouTube channel and features a heated discussion between Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) after an incident in District 11 while on the Victory Tour. The second clip arrived during Liam Hemsworth’s appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and shows Katniss trying to convince Gale that their time is up and if they don’t leave District 12 now, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) will kill them.
9. Trailers: “RoboCop,” “The Raid 2,” “Winter’s Tale:” A brand new “RoboCop” trailer has arrived and even though the material doesn’t suggest the new iteration has anything particularly new to offer, the piece packs enough momentum and action to imply the full feature could be an exhilarating watch. “The Raid 2: Berandal,” on the other hand, is as wow-worthy as they come. Not only does this promo pack all the brutal and visceral hand-to-hand combat you’d expected from the “Redemption” sequel, but even at a mere one minute and 19-second running time, the piece also offers an impressive amount of context. However, the first trailer for Akiva Goldsman’s adaptation of “Winter’s Tale” drowns in too much context. Rather than conjure emotion and intrigue via Peter Lake’s fascinating ability, the piece just slaps together schmaltzy representations of two portions at his life.
10. Box Office: Sure enough, “Thor: The Dark World” is a domestic hit. After scoring over $109 million overseas its first weekend out, “Thor” blew away the stateside competition with a strong $86 million start. “Bad Grandpa” held on relatively well, claiming the #2 position with a 43.5% dip and $11.3 million weekend three total. “Free Birds” benefited from the lack of kid-friendly fair, retaining more than 70% of its opening weekend profits and taking another $11.2 million to the bank. “Last Vegas” kept a substantial amount of its opening haul as well. After taking a 32% dip, it locked in another $11.1 million, good enough for #4. Even though “Ender’s Game” took the top spot its opening weekend out, a $27 million start followed by a 62.1% weekend one to two decline doesn’t bode well for a sequel. Sadly, “Ender’s Game’s” $10.3 million weekend two total is only good enough for the fifth position at the box office. (via Box Office Mojo)
