Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is some movie news with some of my thoughts and opinions (which will be in BOLD print). So without further ado...
(NOTE: All of these stories come from comingsoon.net)
One of the two big 20th Century Fox releases for 2016 wrapped filming this weekend. X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer posted on his Instagram account that main unit filming has wrapped. Second unit shooting will continue for a few weeks. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult lead the cast of X-Men: Apocalypse as Magneto, Professor X, Mystique, and Beast. The film will also see the return of Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, Lucas Till as Havok and newcomers Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Ben Hardy as Angel, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Olivia Munn as Psylocke and Lana Condor as Jubilee. Oscar Isaac is starring as the film’s title antagonist. Said to be the conclusion of a trilogy started with X-Men: First Class and continued with X-Men: Days of Future Past, the Bryan Singer-directed X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 27, 2016.
This is great news to hear. As I said with Captain America: Civil War, it's nice to know the film is done filming that way we know it is officially happening eventhough I had no doubts. This film was being looked forward to by a lot of people (and it still is by me), but with recent photos that have been released (mainly of Oscar Issac as Apocalypse) a lot of people are worried that the character won't be done right and the film might not be as good. I honestly have to see some footage before I can begin to judge and when the film comes out, this worry could all be for nothing. I'm a fan of the X-Men and after seeing Days of Future Past, I honestly don't know how they will be able to top it.
Following in the foot steps of Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse, production has wrapped on Warner Bros.’ upcoming Suicide Squad movie. CTV News put together a story about co-stars Margot Robbie and Jai Courtney visiting a local girl’s lemonade stand, perhaps the nicest thing that members of Task Force X have ever done. The station revealed the pair were on their way to the wrap party for the film afterwards. Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness, Focus) as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop, Easy Money) as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney (Divergent, The Water Diviner) as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina, upcoming Pan) as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez as El DIablo, Adam Beach as Slipknot, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Jared Leto as the Joker. There’s also mystery roles for Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Raymond Olubowale, Alex Meraz, Jim Parrack, and Common. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru back in 1959, the Suicide Squad team has included countless DC villains among its ranks, including Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Bane, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy, Count Vertigo, Deathstroke, and Harley Quinn. The CW’s “Arrow” introduced their own version of the team in the most recent season of the series and the recent animated film, Batman: Assault on Arkham, offered another version of the team. Suicide Squad will debut in theaters on August 5, 2016.
This is actually surprising news to hear. I say that because we still have a whole year before the film is released and that kind of scares me. It scares me because I'm afraid they may have rushed the film together and it that would hurt the film. My worry level isn't that high simply because it gives them a whole year to make some changes and do reshoots or add new footage to help the film. I've been excited for this film for a long time and I cannot wait to see the film.
The actress already said to be on the short list for the X-Men spinoff earlier this month, Deadline is reporting that Blue is the Warmest Color star Lea Seydoux has been offered the Gambit female lead. As was previously reported, the character Seydoux would play is that of Bella Donna Boudreaux (see an image from her first appearance below). Created by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell and made her first appearance in 1992’s “X-Men” Vol. 2 #8. The daughter of the leader of the New Orleans Assassins’ Guild, Bella was Remy LeBeau’s first love. LeBeau, a member of the Thieves’ Guild, wound up marrying Bella as part of an arranged ceremony to unite the guilds. Things went bad fast, however, and Gambit was forced to flee New Orleans. Soon thereafter, Bella developed her own mutant ability not entirely dissimilar to Gambit’s. She can create plasma bursts at will. To be directed by Rise of the Planet of the Apes helmer Rupert Wyatt, Gambit features a script by Josh Zemuter, based on a treatment by Chris Claremont. Tatum, Reid Carolin, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg are producing. Audiences will get to know Seydoux a bit better this fall when Sam Mendes’ new James Bond film, SPECTRE, hits the big screen November 6. In the meantime, however, you can check out a recent video blog from that film’s production wherein Lea Seydoux teases her new character, Madeleine Swann. Gambit is planned to go before cameras in October for an October 7, 2016 release. The movie will follow X-Men spinoff Deadpool on February 15, 2016 and X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27, 2016.
This is terrific casting. Lea Seydoux is one of the best actresses that nobody has ever heard of. If you haven't seen Blue is the Warmest Color then you need to check it out because it is a fantastic film and she is great in the film as well. I think she is perfect for this film simply because she already has the french accent down because she is a native of France. This film is coming out in October 2016 and they won't start filming until this October so it will be somewhat of a rushed production and hopefully it will all come together.
Following the announcement earlier today that 20th Century Fox has wrapped principal photography on both X-Men Apocalypse and Independence Day Resurgence, Deadline brings word that the studio is also moving forward with casting on their 2017 franchise feature, Matt Reeves’ War of the Planet of the Apes. According to the outlet, the sci-fi sequel has hired “East Los High” star Gabriel Chavarria. He’ll be playing one of two key human roles. “I know that part of the desire for Matt [Reeves] to do this next movie is about continuing the enjoyment of seeing these apes evolve. So I don’t think we’re going to see a situation where we’re jumping [ahead in time],” series star Andy Serkis said of the film last year. “…It might be three films, It could be four. It could be five. Who knows? But the journey will continue. It might not necessarily be summarized or completely fulfilled in this next one. The point being, eventually we know that we’re going to end up back at ‘The Planet of the Apes,’ but whether it’s this film or not, I don’t know.” Reeves, who directed last year’s Dawn, will return for the sequel, the script for which he is co-writing with Mark Bomback. “The notion of what we’re after with the third is to sort of continue that trajectory and see how he becomes a seminal figure in ape history,” Reeves previously told us. “He almost becomes sort of like an ape Moses. A mythic status… We’re trying to play out those themes and continue to sort of explore it in this universe. Exploring human nature under the guise of apes.” Gabriel Chavarria, who also recently appeared on NBC’s ‘Aquarius,” can be seen coming up in Ricardo de Montreuil’s Lowriders, starring opposite Melissa Benoist, Demian Bichir and Eva Longoria. War of the Planet of the Apes is set for release on July 14, 2017.
This is pretty interesting casting. He is a bit of an unknown actor so this will be his first big time role. One of the key things that has been great about the new Planet of the Apes film is that while the human characters have played somewhat of a big role in the films, they haven't overshadowed the main characters of film which are the apes themselves. I like that Matt Reeves is giving this guy a shot and I think he'll probably play a similar role to what Kodi Smit-McPhee played in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I loved the first two films in this rebooted franchise and I have no doubt this film will be just as good.
If Vin Diesel is one thing, he is a man of his word. The superstar used his Hollywood clout from the Fast & Furious franchise to push through passion projects like Riddick and The Last Witch Hunter, and now according to his Instagram, it looks like he’s finally bringing us the long-promised XXX 3. Over a year ago, Diesel teased Katy Perry as a potential new “X girl” for him to co-star with, although the project has had numerous ups and downs from losing director Rob Cohen to potentially seeing Samuel L. Jackson’s NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons returning to the fold. Terminator Salvation scribes Michael Ferris and John Brancato provided the most recent draft of the script, with Furious series mastermind Neal H. Moritz on deck to produce. No director is publicly attached yet, despite supposed pending principal photography three months from now in December. Diesel starred as leading man Xander Cage in 2002’s XXX. Although a sequel, XXX: State of the Union, hit theaters in 2005 and starred Ice Cube, playing another XXX agent, Darius Stone, it failed to recapture the box office clout of the original. Tentatively titled XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, the third big screen actioner has been planned for years, but now it looks like it may finally be set to become a reality.
This is pretty interesting news. Both films in the franchise have been pretty bad critically and the second film was just absolutely terrible both critically and financially. One thing that Vin Diesel has succeeded at is going back to franchises that helped build his career after having a long string of absolutely terrible films. He did that for the Fast & Furious franchise and the Riddick franchise and this should be no different.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, which of these stories peaked your interest or was there another story that interested you? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
