News Shotgun 8/23
- Ben Affleck is the new Batman: Despite being offered a ridiculous amount of money, Christian Bale would not return as Batman so Warner Bros. announced this week that Ben Affleck will be the new Bruce Wayne/Batman, taking on and then most likely teaming up with Henry Cavill’s Superman in Batman vs Superman. The movie is coming out on July 17th, 2015.
- Tony Jaa joining Fast & Furious 7: After going slightly crazy and directing a two part ancient Thai epic, muay thai bad ass, Tony Jaa, will be joining the cast of Fast & Furious 7 and make his US film debut.
- Marvel developing traveling attraction: From Michael Cohl, one of the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and Hero Ventures, Marvel is developing a traveling attraction called “The Marvel Experience” that will include characters, 3-D movies, a 4-D motion simulator and more under a gigantic dome that will travel to two-dozen cities across the US.
- Pirates of the Caribbean 5 gets a subtitle: The 2015 release will be subtitled “Dead Men Tell No Tales” and feature Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow.
- Elizabeth Olson in talks to play Scarlet Witch: For Avengers: Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon may have his Scarlet Witch with Silent House/Godzilla’s Elizabeth Olsen. X-Men: Days of Future Past is supposed to also feature Scarlet Witch but with a different actress.
- Bradley Cooper offered Rocket Raccoon for Guardians of the Galaxy: The roster of the Guardians of the Galaxy may finally get filled out as Bradley Cooper has apparently been offered the role to voice Rocket Raccoon in the upcoming movie by James Gunn.
- Adrian Brody starring in a Houdini mini-series: History Channel has had massive success with it’s scripted mini series like The Bible and Hatfield & McCoys and are now apparently developing a four hour mini-series following the life of Harry Houdini. Adrian Brody is attached to star as the legendary magician.
- Rambo TV series in development: Stallone is apparently working with Nu Image and Entertainment One on a television series based on the Rambo series. Stallone will have a “creative role” but will not star in the show and there’s no word yet about what the show would be about.
- Terminator Video Game(s) coming soon: Reef Entertainment, who are developing the upcoming Rambo video game, have announced that they have also acquired the rights to Terminator and will be developing a game or games based on the first two movies in the series. If the Rambo game is any indication, the Terminator game will be a first person shooter that will feature you playing through key moments in the films.
- Area 51 from Oren Peli apparently still coming: Producer Jason Blum offered an update on Oren Peli’s found footage movie, Area 51 and said it’s still coming out and that Peli is currently in post-production, working on footage. The movie has been delayed for at least two years.
- RIP Elmore Leonard: Legendary crime author Elmore Leonard passed away earlier this week. Leonard’s work has been turned into various movies and TV shows, including Justified, Karen Sisco, 3:10 to Yuma, Rum Punch, Killshot, Get Shorty and Out of Sight, just to name a few.
- Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover a possibility: Mark Millar, creative consultant for Fox’s Marvel movies, said during a recent interview that Fantastic Four and X-Men would definitely start crossing over in the near future. Chronicle’s Josh Trank is working on a Fantastic Four reboot and X-Men: Days of Future Past is coming next year, with an X-Force movie possibly coming soon as well.
- Full Cast and Plot revealed for Expendables 3: Here’s the plot:
In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
And the officially announced cast:
Sylvester Stallone
Jason Statham
Jet Li
Dolph Lundgren
Randy Couture
Terry Crews
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Wesley Snipes
Antonio Banderas
Mel Gibson
Harrison Ford
Kellan Lutz
Ronda Rousey
Victor Ortiz
Glen Powell
- Gregg Henry joins Guardians of the Galaxy: Along with possibly Bradley Cooper, character actor Gregg Henry has joined the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy in an unknown role.
