Taken 3: Kim Gets A New Boyfriend

Jonny Weston has joined the cast of the action sequel Taken 3 says Variety.

Liam Neeson has reportedly closed a near $20 million deal to return as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent who likes to beat up bad guys. Famke Janssen will reprise her role as Lenore Mills Maggie Grace is set to reprise her role as as Kim Mills as well.

Weston will play the part of Kim’s boyfriend.

Forest Whitaker also stars.

"Taken 2" helmer Olivier Megaton will return to direct while Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen are back working on the script.

Beeson will produce the film.

Production aims to begin shortly.

The first "Taken" had good reviews and took in $226 million worldwide from a $25 million budget. Taken 2 despite having poor reviews, still made an impressive $376 million from its $45 million budget.

Trio Join "Tumbledown" As Shooting Starts

Dianna Agron, Griffin Dunne and Richard Masur  have joined the rom-com "Tumbledown" says Deadline.

Rebecca Hall ("Iron Man 3") plays a woman unable to move on after the death of her husband. She eventually meets a brash New York academic who has a different take on her husband's life -- and death.

Hall takes over for Rose Byrne

Jason Sudeikis, Blythe Danner and Joe Manganiello also star.

 Sean Mewshaw's directing from a screenplay by Desiree Van Til

 Kristin Hahn Aaron L. Gilbert and Margot Hand are producing the project.

Production has begun  in Devens, Massachusetts

Norman Reedus Ready For "Triple Nine"

"The Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus has joined the crime drama "Triple Nine" says Deadline.

The term 999 is a police code that refers to an officer who needs immediate assistance.

The story follows a group of thieves (led by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who plan to kill a young LAPD officer (Casey Affleck) to divert the police away from a daring heist they’re perpetrating across town.

Woody Harrelson co-stars as Sergeant Detective Jeffrey Allen, uncle to Affleck's fellow officer.

Michael B. Jordan, Aaron Paul, Gal Gadot, Teresa Palmer Kate Winslet Anthony Mackie and Michael Pena also star

Affleck replaced the previously linked Charlie Hunnam.

Matt Cook wrote the script from which John Hillcoat ("Lawless," "The Road") is set to direct.

Keith Redmon, Bard Dorros and Steve Golin are producing.

 Production begins this summer.

Trio Joining "Terminator: Genesis"

THR says that Byung-hun Lee, Michael Gladis and Sandrine Holt have joined the sequel reboot Terminator 5 aka Terminator: Genesis.

 No details were given about any of these new cast members' roles, but the trade reveals that Lee's role, "promises to be a doozy."

Jai Courtney has won the role of Kyle Reese. The Good Day to Die Hard star beat out Boyd Holbrook his nearest competitor who is to have tested twice--while Sam Reid, Wilson Bethel, and newcomer, Thomas Cocquerel were also contenders for the role of Reese. All 5 actors tested for the role last month. Seemingly, both Nicholas Hoult and Garrett Hedlund were studio favorites but have declined to enter negotiations for the role.

The film will apparently "end the story of Skynet's battle with the resistance".

Australian actor Jason Clarke ("Zero Dark Thirty," "White House Down") is in early talks to play the role of John Connor in the upcoming reboot. Hedlund Tom Hardy and ironically Holbrook ("The Host") were said to be up for John as well. Emilia Clarke is set to play a young Sarah Connor in the film. She beat out Brie Larson for the role. Former "Spider-Man" scene stealer J.K. Simmons will play a weary and alcoholic detective who has followed a bizarre case involving Sarah Connor and robots for more than three decades starting in 1984 and the events depicted in The Terminator. Dayo Okeniyi (The Hunger Games) has signed on to play the part of  Danny Dyson--the son of Miles Dyson, played by Joe Morton in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" who designed the neural-net processor that would lead to the creation of Skynet.

Arnold Schwarzenegger will return while cohorts Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn have been rumored to be involved as well.

No other story details have been offered but we do know that the new pic is the chapter of a stand alone trilogy. Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier wrote the script from which "Thor: The Dark World" director Alan Taylor  is all but set to call action. Clarke has experience working with Taylor on the cable drama "Game of Thrones". She also has a six degrees connection to the franchise: Clarke's Thrones co-star Lena Headey played Sarah Connor in the TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles".

David Ellison's going to produce the film

Production begins at the end of April in New Orleans to meet a July 1st 2015 release.

Scott Caan Gets Shia's "Rock the Kasbah" Role

THR reports that Hawaii Five-0 star Scott Caan is poised to replace Shia Labeouf in the comedy "Rock the Kasbah".

The story follows Bill Murray as a burned out music manager who goes to Afghanistan on the USO tour with his last remaining client. When he finds himself abandoned, penniless and without his passport, he discovers a young girl with an extraordinary voice, who stows away with him back to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, the Afghan Star.

Bruce Willis Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, and Kate Hudson also star.

Caan will play one part of a military duo opposite McBride

LaBeouf's departure was said to be amicable. Shia has no other acting jobs lined up.

Barry Levinson will call action using a script from Mitch Glazer, who also wrote Murray's 1988 underrated holiday comedy Scrooged and the 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations.

Bill Block, Steve Bing and Jacob Pechenik will produce the film. Brian Grazer and Tom Freston serve as executive producers.

Production  begins this June.

Darren Aronofsky Talks Almost Directing "Man of Steel"

"Noah" filmmaker Darren Aronofsky came close to directing a superhero movie twice. First it was an ambitious hard-R adaptation of Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" an idea abandoned once Warner Bros. opted to go for Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy instead.

DA was also set to helm the more recent "The Wolverine," a job that he left allowing for filmmaker James Mangold to take over.

But he was potentially going to do another one - Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel".

Speaking with MTV, Aronofsky revealed that he had "a few conversations" with both producer Nolan and WB about the film but was very happy with Snyder's selection and approach:

"I thought Zack was a great choice, and I loved his Watchmen movie. I thought it was great. I thought that as a fan of the comic, you couldn't hope for a better interpretation. I liked the orthodoxy of it. It was interesting to add the pathos that they put into the character. It's a hard one to do. You look at what Christopher Reeve did, and it was perfect, because it captured that 'good old boy' thing. But to try and redo that again and bring that for a modern audience is tough in a post-'Batman' and 'Wolverine' world. It's hard to do that."

Aronofsky added that he would have "absolutely" taken the job under the right circumstances.

Renny Harlin Picks Up A "Fallen Cross"

THR reports that Renny Harlin is set to direct the action-thriller "Fallen Cross".

The story follows Timothy Cole, a reformed ex-mafia enforcer struggling to protect his family from the Chicago Cross crime syndicate he once served. Confined to prison, he's forced to return to his ruthless killer ways to dismantle the Cross before they can get to his children.

David Christopher O'Neill wrote the screenplay

Adrian Politowski and Karl Richards will produce.

Production would begin next winter.

Andy Serkis Talks Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Again

Andy Serkis talked with Collider about the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and confirmed a third film in the series is in the works:

"The idea would be that this [Dawn] will segue into a third movie, which will lead us back to the origins, which leads us back to the very, very first movie."

"Dawn" will continue the action from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The film is set a decade after Rise's post-credits sequence where the global human population has been substantially reduced due to the Simian Flu. Meanwhile, Caesar and his fellow ape sanctuary escapees have spent the past decade expanding to a community of about 2,000 apes on the outskirts of San Francisco. The enhanced find themselves threatened by a band of human survivors. A fragile peace proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war.

 The tone is also "completely different" from the first film, as is the central message:

"The ape community, where Caesar has, you know, set up and galvanized all the apes, the chimpanzees and the orangs, and the chimps into one family, one tribe that he's the ruler of. But he’s an egalitarian leader, and so you really think you're watching a tribe at the beginning, and I'm really excited about people seeing that, and then suddenly having the rug pulled from out under their feet when the humans turn on them. I think it's really powerful, and I think important film about identity, about tribalism, about fighting for what you believe is right and being able to empathize. As it always was with these 'Apes' films, they are always about something else, the metaphor is very clear, and it's – this particular time around it’s about these two families fighting for survival, but yet knowing that if you just fight for your own family it's not necessarily the way to peace and not necessarily the way to survival."

Serkis also confirms that with advancements in Mo-Cap technology, around 90% of the film is shot on location. 'Rise' boasted a lot of 'on-set' pieces and a smattering of locations, this time it's the other way around.

"Rise" helmer Rupert Wyatt chose not to return reportedly due to the fact that the director wasn't comfortable with making the May 23rd 2014 release date the studio had originally announced. "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves takes over.

Rise star James Franco does not return instead--Zero Dark Thirty actor Jason Clarke Keri Russell Serkis, Gary Oldman Judy Greer and Kodi Smit-McPhee star.

Mark Bomback ("Live Free or Die Hard," "Unstoppable") is set to rework Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa's script. Bombeck is expected to turn in something more suited to the new director's style. This is Deja Vu On 'Rise' Silver & Jaffa wrote the initial script and then Bomback did an uncredited script rewrite.

"Contagion" scribe Scott Z. Burns took a crack at the "Dawn" script as well

Peter Chernin Dylan Clark Silver and Jaffa will produce.

The film is now targeting a July 11th 2014 release.

Brosnan Tipped To Join "The Expendables" At Some Point

Pierce Brosnan told The Independent that he has been offered a role in a future installment of the action film series "The Expendables":

"Oh, the offer has come in for the next Expendables. I just worked over in Bulgaria with [producer Avi Lerner] who makes them. He said, 'Would you like to be in The Expendables? I'd love to have you', and I said, 'Why not?' So we'll see. I have no idea which one it would be. I just said yes. It could be [Expendables 7]!"

 The film in Bulgaria he's referring to is James McTeigue's thriller "Survivor" in which Milla Jovovich plays an U.S. Department of State employee working in London who becomes caught in a conspiracy and turns her into a fugitive. She sets out to clear her name and stop a terrorist attack on New York's Times Square before New Year's Eve. 

Cash Grab "Fantastic Beasts" Becomes A Trilogy

Warner Bros is expanding its plans for the film version of author  J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Hogwarts textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" .

When the adaptation was first announced in last September, WB Chief Executive Officer Kevin Tsujihara. said the studio had hoped it would serve as a potential franchise launcher.

In a profile on Tsujihara that was published over the weekend, The New York Times revealed that the plan now is to make a trilogy.

And you thought turning the 310-page long "The Hobbit" into a film trilogy seemed like a stretch. The idea of Rowling's 54-page Hogwarts textbook being turned into "three megamovies" seems far worse.

Set some seven decades before the start of the Potter books, the films will follow magizoologist Newt Scamander.

The same article also says "a film series will be announced in the near future" based on DC Comics properties, and "it is expected to include a Justice League movie".

Bruckheimer Hasn't Given Up On "Top Gun 2"

Despite reports to the contrary "Top Gun 2" is still gonna happen...

Appearing on HuffPost Live last Friday to discuss the book When Lightning Strikes - Four Decades of Filmmaking, producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Ricky Camilleri that it's gearing up again.

"We've been trying to get that movie made for 30 years, and I think we're getting closer and closer. Don [Simpson] and I tried to develop something, we didn't succeed. [Star Tom] Cruise took over, and he tried to develop something, and he didn't succeed. Now we're back at it."

Tony Scott, Top Gun's original director, came up with the story before his tragic suicide in 2012. Jerry says the follow up is quite relevant to today's world:

"The concept is, basically, are the pilots obsolete because of drones. Cruise is going to show them that they're not obsolete. They're here to stay. It's just getting to the starting place. Fortunately for Tom, he's very busy, so you have to find a slot he can fit into and get a budget that Paramount feels they can make the picture."

The studio hired Peter Craig (The Town) to pen the script at last report but no director is set to take over for Scott.

Avengers 2: Video Of Captain America In Seoul

Last week we got to see photos and video from the Italy set of Joss Whedon's superhero team up sequel "The Avengers: Age of Ultron"--Now just ahead of Friday's release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier--A three-and-a-half minute set video is online of filming taking place in Seoul, South Korea for the "Phase 2" topper.

 Captain America (Chris Evans) is on hand for these scenes on the famed Banpo Bridge offering us a glimpse at Cap's slightly different costume for the movie. The threads include new shoulder pads and appears to be a slightly darker blue.



The sequel DOES NOT follow the Age of Ultron comics storyline--in which the big bad Ultron was created by Hank Pym who becomes Ant-Man. James Spader will both voice Ultron, and he'll have to do some kind of motion-capture as well--This news puts to rest the most popular theory suggesting that Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr,) robot butler J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Bettany) operating system from the Iron Man Films would turn into the villain.

Marvel vets RDJ, Evans Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Samuel L. Jackson Jeremy Renner Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders are all expected back Two time Iron Man co-star Don Cheadle is involved this time out according to USA Today. Bettany will appear on screen as The Vision an android created by Ultron as a weapon to be used against the Avengers. Vision can fire beams of radiation and turn invisible--the character ultimately turned the tables on Ultron and became an Avengers member himself.

Thomas Kretschmann has landed the role of 2nd bad guy Baron von Strucker. In the comics, the seemingly immortal Strucker is one of the leaders of Hydra, and an enemy of both S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers He seemingly beat out rumored candidates Marton Csokas and Dougray Scott who were being considered for the BvS role. The character will have Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and her twin brother Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) apparently working for him in the sequel (American Horror Story favorite Evan Peters plays a different incarnation of the speedy superhero in Bryan Singer's "X-Men: Days of Future Past"--now in post-production--that film hits screens May 23rd 2014.). Korean actress  Soo-hyun Kim will play a bad gal role.

Radar Online has an unidentified source that claims that RDJ is campaigning to get his pals Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster a role in the movie.

Some non principal filming is taking place in South Africa Production on the 'Avengers' sequel is slated to begin in earnest next month to meet a release date of May 1, 2015.

Box Office Update: Noah Is Redeemed; Arnie Not So Much

Darren Aronofsky's controversial Biblical epic "Noah" won over both the faithful and mainstream move-goers to post a better than anticipated debut at #1

Having 2 stars of the Terminator franchise join forces was not enough to save the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sam Worthington team up Sabotage It failed to crack the top 10....Yikes!! 

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Darren Aronofsky's controversial biblical epic Noah has delivered salvation, opening to a stellar $44 million in North America from 3,562 theaters after winning over faith-based and mainstream moviegoers alike, despite the director's darker take on the story of Noah and his Ark.
 
Internationally, Noah absolutely dazzled as it landed in Russia, grossing $17 million and nabbing the best opening ever for a non-sequel. It is also the fourth-biggest opening of all time. Noah earned $33.6 million from 21 markets for the weekend, pushing the film's early international cume to $51 million and worldwide total to $95.1 million.

Overall, the biggest player overseas this weekend was Disney and Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which opened in 32 markets a week ahead of its March 28 domestic debut, grossing a mighty $75.2 million.

In North America, Noah played to Aronofsky's fans and upscale moviegoers on the one hand, and on the other, to Christian audiences, particularly in southern states. Noah is also doing sizeable business among Catholic Hispanics, and African-Americans. In general, the movie drew an equal number of females and males, while skewing older (54 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 25).

The big question now for Noah is how well it holds, both domestically and overseas, in the face of The Winter Soldier.

Noah, starring Russell Crowe, cost $125 million-plus to make, and received generally strong reviews. The film, however, only drew a C CinemaScore, indicating it did polarize some audiences.

"The movie is very unusual and very unique, so the reactions were very passionate," said Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore, who noted that only 15 percent gave Noah a D or an F, dragging down the overall grade. Conversely, 65 percent gave it an A or a B.

In the U.S., Paramount went to great lengths to appease concerns among religious leaders and church organizations about the tone of the film. The studio agreed to tweak its marketing campaign in recent weeks to say that Noah -- which has a strong environmental component -- is inspired by the story of Noah and the Ark, versus being a literal retelling of the wrath-of-god story.

Noah also stars Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth.

Noah isn't taking the steam totally out of another Christian film in the marketplace, God's Not Dead, which debuted last weekend to $9.2 million. God's Not Dead grossed $9.1 million from 1,178 theaters this weekend to come in No. 5. Its domestic cume through Sunday is $22 million.

Elsewhere, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's hopes of resurrecting his acting career suffered another major blow with Sabotage. The film, from Open Road and QED International, took in $5.3 million from 2,486 theaters, Schwarzenegger's worst opening in nearly three decades and the worst ever for a title opening in more than 2,000 theaters.

The Terminator debuted to $4 million from 1,112 theaters in 1984 on its way to launching a blockbuster franchise, while Red Sonja opened to $2.3 million from 1,091 locations in 1985. A year later, Raw Deal opened to $5.4 million from 1,733 locations.

Last year, Schwarzenegger's Escape Plan opened to $9.9 million before topping out at $25.1 million domestically. The Last Stand, also released in 2013, debuted to $6.3 million, and only earned $12.1 million.

Pantelion Films and Participant Media's biopic Cesar Chavez placed No. 12 as it opened in only 664 theaters, grossing $3 million. Diego Luna directed the movie, which stars Michael Pena as the famed civil-rights leader and labor organizer Cesar Chavez.

Among holdovers, Summit Entertainment's YA film adaptation Divergent enjoyed a respectable hold in its second weekend, falling 51 percent to $26.5 million and coming in No. 2. The movie crossed the $90 million mark to finish Sunday with a cume of $95.3 million.

Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel continued to shine as it expanded nationwide, grossing $8.8 million from 977 theaters and pushing its total cume to $24.5 million for Fox Searchlight.

And Warner Bros. and Legendary's sequel 300: Rise of an Empire jumped the $100 million mark domestically in its fourth weekend, finishing Sunday with grosses of $101.1 million.

At the specialty box office, Gareth Evans' Indonesian action film The Raid 2 commanded all the action, opening to $177,000 from seven theaters for a location average of $25,286 -- the best of the weekend. The movie looks to be a win for Sony Pictures Classics.

Here are the top 10 estimates for the weekend of March 28-30 at the domestic box office:

1. Noah, 1/3,567, Paramount/New Regency, $44 million.

2. Divergent, 2/3,936, Lionsgate/Summit, $26.5 million, -51.5%, $95.3 million.

3. Muppets Most Wanted, 1/3,194, Disney, $16.5 million, -33.1%, $33.2 million.

4. Mr. Peabody & Sherman, 4/3,299, Fox/DreamWorks Animation, $9.5 million, -19.7%, $94.9 million.

5. God's Not Dead, 1/1,178, Freestyle/Pure Flix $9.1 million, -1.5%, $22 million.

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel, 4/977, Fox Searchlight, $8.8 million, +30%, $24.5 million.

7. Sabotage, 1/2,486, Open Road/QED International, $5.3 million.

8. Need for Speed, 3/2,705, Disney/DreamWorks, $4.33 million, -45.4%, $37.8 million.

9. 300: Rise of an Empire, 4/2,601, Warner Bros./Legendary, $4.3 million, -49.4%, $101.1 million.

10. Non-Stop, 5/2,515, Universal, $4.1 million, -36.5%, $85.2 million.

Next Up: The Blockbuster movie season starts a full month earlier this year with the return of Chris Evans as the star spangled superhero Captain America in Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reboot: Writer Nemec Talks Tone

Andre Nemec, one of the writers behind this Summer's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot, talked to Coming Soon about the tone of new film--saying that it is certainly darker and more serious than the previous entries of the film series, and yet still light enough kids won't get too scared:

"Tone was a very interesting question on this movie as far as how dark we really wanted to go. It's really all in the conflict between the characters. That was the driving principle. The color palettes that were chosen were not designed to be 'Dark Knight-ish in that regard. We weren't looking to make that movie. I'm a huge fan of that movie, but I didn't eat gobs of popcorn while I was watching that movie. We certainly didn't want kids to be running for the exits. 'Mommy! Why did he do that?!' We weren't looking for that. We really wanted to entertain and have fun with it. I think we skate — we live — on a very fun line in this movie, whether it's the action feeling real and exciting, but also fun and adventurous. It really never feels dark in a way that would startle you out of your chair or make you fearful."

Nemec also mentioned the level of involvement that producer Michael Bay had with the movie:

"Michael has been an influence on the movie and he's certainly been giving his notes and paying attention to the movie as we go through. There are Michael Bay aesthetics. He has a very good sense of action. He has a very good sense of entertainment. I think that, on those influences, you'll feel Michael Bay's hand."

He also addressed an old rumor about the turtles having alien origins, something that the new trailer finally clears up--the ooze is a creation of both Shredder and April O'Neill's father:

"Looking through the different iterations of Turtles to date, many of them have different origin stories. T.C.R.I. was a collection container that was used for a company that came from alien ooze at one point. There was another version of the ooze where it was created in a laboratory. There's the 'Daredevil' component that mixes in with the Turtle canon. There's the sewers. There's the laboratories. For us, it was important to find our own version of how these particular Turtles came to be so that they can stand alone as their own characters. There's also the version where, if you touch something after you touch the ooze, that's what you become. There have been a million versions. In this version we just thought it was important to create our own origin that lives within the balance of it. We didn't do anything overtly kooky."

Nemec says other non-turtle characters could appear in this first film and/or any potential sequels.

Pete Ploszek will play Leonardo, Jeremy Howard will play Donatello Noel Fisher will play Michelangelo and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire co-star Alan Ritchson plays Raphael These 4 young men will provide the motion capture essence and vocals for the heroes in the half shell. Danny Woodburn will play the mo-cap role of wise rat Master Splinter--the father figure to the shelled heroes

Will Arnett is tapped to play Casey Jones opposite fellow live action actor Megan Fox as April O'Neil William Fichtner plays TMNT nemesis Shredder

The film was set to be live-action but then it was decided that the turtles would be brought to life using motion capture/CGI like 2011's "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes".

Jonathan Liebesman is directing from a script by Kevin Eastman, Josh Appelbaum and Nemec.

Brad Fuller Andrew Form, Galen Walker and Scott Mednick would co-produce with Bay.

Originally due for release on June 6th 2014, the movie is now slated to arrive in theaters on August 8th.

Mel Gibson Is A "Blood Father"

Mel Gibson is in talks to star in the "Taken"-esque action-thriller "Blood Father" says Deadline.

The film follows an ex-con (Gibson) who tries to protect his estranged and troubled 16-year-old daughter from drug dealers trying to kill her.

The daughter role has not been filled yet.

Peter Craig ("The Town") wrote the screenplay, from which  Jean-François Richet's calling action.

Chris Briggs is producing the pic.

Production is due to begin this May in New Mexico.

 No studio is attached at this time

Avengers 2: Pics & Video From Italy Shoot; Jackson On Fury

Production continues in Italy on Joss Whedon's superhero team up sequel "The Avengers: Age of Ultron".

A new seven-minute behind-the-scenes video has posted that includes Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and her twin brother Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) as well as Hawkeye Jeremy Renner), and what's thought to be a pre-CG enhanced look at the pic's Big Bad.

Right at the 5:26 mark when the stuntman in the Ultron suit lifts up the mask and shows off the face for us to see. There's a good close up photo also posted on Facebook.



Set photos from the Italy shoot also showcase a new look for Hawkeye in a black and purple-trimmed overcoat that recalls his look in the comics.

Finally, Samuel L. Jackson says his character Nick Fury will have a diminished role in the film. He tells Yahoo: "I'm just kind of passing by there, you know. I'm not doing so much. It's another one of those 'people who have powers fighting people who have powers.' That's why I didn't get to New York in "The Avengers". There's not a lot I could do except shoot a gun."
 
The sequel DOES NOT follow the Age of Ultron comics storyline--in which the big bad Ultron was created by Hank Pym who becomes Ant-Man. James Spader will both voice Ultron, and he'll have to do some kind of motion-capture as well--This news puts to rest the most popular theory suggesting that Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr,) robot butler J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Bettany) operating system from the Iron Man Films would turn into the villain.

Marvel vets RDJ, Chris Evans Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson  Mark Ruffalo, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders are all expected back Two time Iron Man co-star Don Cheadle is involved this time out according to USA Today. Bettany will appear on screen as The Vision an android created by Ultron as a weapon to be used against the Avengers. Vision can fire beams of radiation and turn invisible--the character ultimately turned the tables on Ultron and became an Avengers member himself.

Thomas Kretschmann has landed the role of 2nd bad guy Baron von Strucker. In the comics, the seemingly immortal Strucker is one of the leaders of Hydra, and an enemy of both S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers He seemingly beat out rumored candidates Marton Csokas and Dougray Scott who were being considered for the BvS role. The character will have  the twins apparently working for him in the sequel (American Horror Story favorite Evan Peters plays a different incarnation of Quicksilver in Bryan Singer's "X-Men: Days of Future Past"--now in post-production--that film hits screens May 23rd 2014.). Korean actress  Soo-hyun Kim will play a bad gal role.

Radar Online has an unidentified source that claims that RDJ is campaigning to get his pals Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster a role in the movie.

Some non principal filming is also taking place in South Africa Production on the 'Avengers' sequel is slated to begin in earnest next month to meet a release date of May 1, 2015.

Magic Mike 2 Goes XXL And Gets A Director

Within a day of learning  that the sequel "Magic Mike 2" is moving forward faster than expected, The Playlist reports that the film has an official title and a director.

Steven Soderbergh's longtime assistant director Gregory Jacobs ("Criminal," "Wind Chill") is taking over the helm of the film which will go by the name of "Magic Mike Xxl". Jacobs served as both assistant director and producer on the first "Magic Mike," while Soderbergh will stay on as an executive producer of the sequel.

Channing Tatum is writing the script.

While no deals have been signed yet most of the original's key cast members are expected back including Tatum, Matthew McConaughey Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Alex Pettyfer.

 Production hopes to begin in the Fall

Samuel L. Jackson Likely Back For " Incredibles 2"

Samuel L. Jackson tells Digital Spy says that he'll likely reprise his voice role of the hero Frozone (aka. Lucius Best) in the announced "The Incredibles 2".

"Every time I run into Brad, he always tells me Frozone is part of what's going on, so I have to believe that. I guess they could be the Incredibles without Frozone, but I think Frozone would be a wonderful addition to what's already there."

Writer-director Brad Bird is expected to return for the follow-up

The Incredibles remains my 2nd favorite Disney/Pixar Animation Studios film of all time--just behind the original Toy Story .

The first film is set in a world in which superheroes exist but have been banned from crime fighting. Mr Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) has been living incognito as plain old Bob Parr when a mysterious offer gives him the chance to return to action. Soon he and his wife Helen AKA Elastigirl, (voiced by Holly Hunter) along with their three children (who are developing superpowers of their own), are caught up in a not entirely welcome new adventure.

Susan Cooper Now Called "Spy"; Gets 2 More

Bobby Cannavale and Nia Long are in talks to join Paul Feig's new action comedy "Spy" (formerly known as "Susan Cooper") says THR .

Feig and his "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat" star Melissa McCarthy are re-teaming for a third time with this film in which McCarthy stars as an unlikely secret agent who heads into the field to find whoever is responsible for the death of her lover and colleague (Jude Law).

Cannavale plays a villainous Italian playboy, Long a CIA chief.

Jason Statham, Rose Byrne and Miranda Hart also star.

Feig, Jesse Henderson Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping will produce.

Tom Wilkinson Hovers Over "Selma" As LBJ

Tom Wilkinson is eyed to play President Lyndon B. Johnson in the historical drama "Selma" says  The Wrap.

 The drama follows  Martin Luther King Jr‘s (David Oyelowo) historic voting rights campaign that occurred at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

 Johnson gave an eloquent speech about voting rights one week after deadly racial violence erupted in Alabama.

 "Middle of Nowhere" helmer  Ava DuVernay will direct the film using a script that she tweaked   with screenwriter Paul Webb.

Oprah Winfrey Brad Pitt Dede Gardner Jeremy Kleiner, Christian Coulson and Cameron McCracken. are producing the project.

At one time Lee Daniels was attached to direct the project a few years ago with Oyelowo, Hugh Jackman, Liam Neeson, Ray Winstone, Robert De Niro and Cedric the Entertainer poised to star.  Funding was never fully secured and that version of movie just fell apart. 

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Impress @ CinemaCon

Fresh footage from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes wowed audiences at this year's CinemaCon.

The film will continue the action from Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The film is set a decade after Rise's post-credits sequence where the global human population has been substantially reduced due to the Simian Flu. Meanwhile, Caesar and his fellow ape sanctuary escapees have spent the past decade expanding to a community of about 2,000 apes on the outskirts of San Francisco. The enhanced find themselves threatened by a band of human survivors. A fragile peace proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war.

The sequel is said to be "more of a human story" with the conflict shown primarily from the humans' POV.

"Rise" helmer Rupert Wyatt chose not to return reportedly due to the fact that the director wasn't comfortable with making the May 23rd 2014 release date the studio had originally announced. "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves takes over.

Rise star James Franco does not return instead--Zero Dark Thirty actor Jason Clarke Keri Russell Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman Judy Greer and Kodi Smit-McPhee star

 Ceasar himself Serkis tells Empire:

"For the first eight years [after the spread of the virus], the apes were looking down from Muir Woods to San Francisco and could see lights and fires, but now it's gone very quiet. Until this day in our film when this small band of humans comes up. That's suddenly a huge, dividing moment in the lives of these apes. There are some particularly strong reactions to the humans and that’s the course of the story."

The CinemaCon footage included Caesar speaking to his fellow apes with words such as 'family,' 'future' and 'apes together strong'. Oldman's character is a human leader and anti-ape hardliner.  Clarke and Russell's characters are sympathetic to the apes and the idea of peaceful co-existence.

There's a key scene that seems comical between an ape, two men and a bottle of booze--it turns deadly when the ape grabs a gun and shoots one of them.

Mark Bomback ("Live Free or Die Hard," "Unstoppable") is set to rework Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa's script. Bombeck is expected to turn in something more suited to the new director's style. This is Deja Vu On 'Rise' Silver & Jaffa wrote the initial script and then Bomback did an uncredited script rewrite.

"Contagion" scribe Scott Z. Burns took a crack at the "Dawn" script as well

Peter Chernin Dylan Clark Silver and Jaffa will produce.

The film is now targeting a July 11th 2014 release.

Costner Wants To Return To The Old West In A Big Way

It has been over a decade since Kevin Costner last called action on a movie set, 2003's well-liked Western "Open Range," now the 59 year old actor/director told Collider that he has ambitious plans to return to the genre with a trilogy or tetralogy of films to be released within one year:

"I've got this Western that I think I could make. I actually have this idea to make them all at once and release one on Memorial Day, one on Thanksgiving, and then one on the Fourth of July, all within a 12 month span, because it's all the same story but it truly is a journey, with a fourth movie coming right after. Will I be able to do that? I don't know. But that's what I think about, that's what I try to do. And people go, 'Oh that's really interesting, Kevin. We don't think we can do that.' And I'm thinking 'Man, that's a really good idea.' I thought that was a true ongoing series, or sequel if you will, that actually was an honest one. A second one wasn't invented because the first one made a little money."

Indiana Jones Movies: Double The Denials

Earlier this week there were a rumors that "The Hangover" star Bradley Cooper was being eyed as a potential replacement for Harrison Ford if the "Indiana Jones" franchise were to be rebooted--rather than moving ahead with plans for a proposed Indiana Jones 5.

Addressing the Cooper casting noise Indy film series producer Frank Marshall tweeted: "Due to the ridiculous rumors that keep popping up, like agents pipe dreams, I will stop commenting on our projects until I have real news."

 The same report indicated that writer/director Frank Darabont had pitched an idea for the next installment.

Darabont has denied any such idea of those rumors, telling AICN: "This is an internet rumor with not a shred of truth in it. I have not pitched an idea for a proposed Indiana Jones movie, nor has anybody approached me with such an idea. The inaccurate report on Latino Review was the first I'd heard of it."

Terminator: Genesis: Okeniyi Beats Boyega

A couple of days ago it was reported that Attack the Block star John Boyega was in contention for the  role of Danny Dyson in Terminator 5 aka Terminator: Genesis--the son of Miles Dyson, played by Joe Morton in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" who designed the neural-net processor that would lead to the creation of Skynet.

Today, Deadline reports that Dayo Okeniyi (The Hunger Games) has signed on to play the part instead. Boyega is wanted for J.J. Abrams' upcoming "Star Wars: Episode VII"--so he still wins.

In "Genesis" the son is Steve Jobs-like genius who figures very much into the conclusion of the film.

Jai Courtney has won the role of Kyle Reese. The Good Day to Die Hard star beat out Boyd Holbrook his nearest competitor who is to have tested twice--while Sam Reid, Wilson Bethel, and newcomer, Thomas Cocquerel were also contenders for the role of Reese. All 5 actors tested for the role last month. Seemingly, both Nicholas Hoult and Garrett Hedlund were studio favorites but have declined to enter negotiations for the role.

The film will apparently "end the story of Skynet's battle with the resistance".

Australian actor Jason Clarke ("Zero Dark Thirty," "White House Down") is in early talks to play the role of John Connor in the upcoming reboot. Hedlund Tom Hardy and ironically Holbrook ("The Host") were said to be up for John as well. Emilia Clarke is set to play a young Sarah Connor in the film. She beat out Brie Larson for the role. Former "Spider-Man" scene stealer J.K. Simmons will play a weary and alcoholic detective who has followed a bizarre case involving Sarah Connor and robots for more than three decades starting in 1984 and the events depicted in The Terminator

Arnold Schwarzenegger will return while cohorts Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn have been rumored to be involved as well.

No other story details have been offered but we do know that the new pic is the chapter of a stand alone trilogy. Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier wrote the script from which "Thor: The Dark World" director Alan Taylor  is all but set to call action. Clarke has experience working with Taylor on the cable drama "Game of Thrones". She also has a six degrees connection to the franchise: Clarke's Thrones co-star Lena Headey played Sarah Connor in the TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles".

David Ellison's going to produce the film

Production begins at the end of April in New Orleans to meet a July 1st 2015 release.

Peter Dinklage Will Play With "Pixels"

Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones," "X-Men Days of Future Past") is in final negotiations to join the feature length adaptation of French filmmaker Patrick Jean's 2010 short film "Pixels" says The Wrap.

The original short, features 1980s video game characters like Donkey Kong, Tetris, Space Invaders, Frogger and Pac-Man attacking New York City and turning everything they hit into pixels - with the entire planet being pixeled.

The goal is to make film into a Ghostbusters-style action comedy in which characters come out of a video game to wreak havoc in the real world.

Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Josh Gad  also star in the big-budget comedy.

Tim Herlihy (Bedtime Stories) worked on the script that was rewritten by Timothy Dowling (Role Models, This Means War) from which Chris Columbus will direct.

Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Benjamin Darras, Johnny Alves and Matias Boucard are producing.

Shia Labeouf Will Not "Rock The Kasbah" After All

Troubled actor Shia Labeouf has vacated his role in the comedy "Rock the Kasbah" says THR,

The story follows Bill Murray as a burned out music manager who goes to Afghanistan on the USO tour with his last remaining client. When he finds himself abandoned, penniless and without his passport, he discovers a young girl with an extraordinary voice, who stows away with him back to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, the Afghan Star.

Bruce Willis Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, and Kate Hudson also star.

LaBeouf was to have played one part of a military duo opposite McBride. No reason for his departure has been given, though the split is said to be amicable. Shia has no other acting jobs lined up.

Barry Levinson will call action using a script from Mitch Glazer, who also wrote Murray's 1988 underrated holiday comedy Scrooged and the 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations.

Bill Block, Steve Bing and Jacob Pechenik will produce the film. Brian Grazer and Tom Freston serve as executive producers.

Production  begins this June.

Purge 2 Trailer: "It Will Soon Be A War Out There"

The full theatrical trailer for the horror sequel The Purge: Anarchy has gone live...and it's pretty intense...

The original Purge was released last year and starred Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey. Produced for just $3 million, the thriller went on to earn more than $87 million worldwide.

Specific plot details are under wraps, except to say that it will be set in the same world as the first pic--where all crime is legalized for a 12-hour period.   This film changes the action from an upper class suburban home invasion to a young couple trying to escape mob violence on the streets of Los Angeles.

Frank Grillo stars as a vigilante played by who is seeking revenge for the death of a family member. Boardwalk Empire's Michael K. Williams Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights"--the TV series), Carmen Ejogo Zoe Soul and Kiele Sanchez also star.

James DeMonaco is back writing and directing the sequel.

Jason Blum Michael Bay and Sebastien Lemercier are also returning to produce the movie.

 The sequel is set for release Friday, June 20, 2014.