Disney Release ‘Beauty & The Beast’ Teaser Trailer

Disney have officially released the trailer for their live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast – and it’s magical.

The trailer features the classical opening music that fans of the Disney animated movie (1991) and beautiful shots of the infamous Beast’s castle. We’re also treated to a few lovely moments that are so wonderfully pulled from the animated classic – Beast shredding a portrait of himself, Belle staring into the bell jar, and of course, “Look, look it’s a girl!” “I know it’s a girl.” We also get to hear the Beast’s growl – a low, scary sound that sounds not unlike a huge lion.

The trailer honestly looks so beautiful and wonderful. It’s enchanting and mysterious – it shows enough to get you interested and have your heart swelling, but not so much that it gives away their plans for the story.

Plot wise, I imagine it will very closely follow the animated version – however, I do hope it has it’s own story or elements to it to make it fascinating and fresh, for old audiences and new alike. Coupled with the fact that Alan Menken, who scored the animated version, will return to score the music for the live-action adaptation, this is looking to be absolutely enchanting. Prepare your singing voices – Be Our Guest is coming back.

Beauty and the Beast will star Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston. Other talents include Ewan McGregor (Lumiere), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts) and many many more.

Beauty and the Beast is set for a release date of 17th March 2017.

 

Michael Keaton Back In Talks To Star In ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

After initial talks didn’t get past the offer stage, Michael Keaton is now in final negotiations to take on a villain role in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Whilst the role hasn’t been confirmed, and Sony and Marvel are keeping their usual tight lid on these things, there’s a lot of speculation that he’ll be staring as the Vulture, one of Spider-Man’s most popular and recurring villains.

Spiderman: Homecoming is a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise – however, this time Sony will be partnering with Marvel to produce it. Amy Pascal and Marvel’s Kevin Feige will be producing, and Jon Watts will be sitting in the directors chair.

Tom Holland will be starring at Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He made his debut in the role during Captain America: Civil War, which has had an amazingly positive reception, and has just passed $1m at the global box office.

Other cast members include Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, and Zendaya has been cast as the main female lead. Tony Revolori and Laura Harrier are also on board.

Robert Downey Jr. is also confirmed for an appearance as Iron Man/Tony Stark.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is currently scheduled for release on July 7th, 2017.

 

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Casting Confirmed By Marvel Studios

Marvel Studio’s have confirmed their incredible cast for Thor: Ragnarok, and it looks incredible.

Cate Blanchett, two time Oscar Winner, will be joining the movie as the new villain Hela, along with Jeff Goldblum who has been cast as accentric Grandmaster.

Also joining in on the third Thor movie is Tessa Thompson, who has been cast as the hero Valkyrie, and Karl Urban who will be adding his talents as Skurge.

Returning cast for the new members to play alongside will be Chris Hemsworth, reprising his role as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as the trickster demi-God brother Loki, and Idris Elba as Heimdall, the Asgardian sentry.

And, in incredibly exciting news for returning Marvel cast members, Mark Ruffalo will be reprising his role of Bruce Banner/the Hulk – that’s excellent news, especially after his sudden departure at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Overall, the cast for Thor: Ragnarok looks incredibly solid, and it’ll be fascinating to see what the realm of Asgard holds for viewers this time.

Thor: Ragnarok is currently scheduled for release on July 28th 2017.

 

‘Preacher’ TV Series Starts This Sunday

And you thought Game of Thrones was the only thing you had to look forward to on Sundays…

Preacher, an adaptation of the comic book series of the same name, is the story of Jesse Custer, a preacher from a small town of Texas. He has taken over as preacher for his deceased father’s church – however, he’s torn between his desire to be a good man and to commit to his faith, and between his dark and violent past.

Playing the main role of Jesse Custer will be Dominic Cooper, also known for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a young Howard Stark. Other cast members include Ruth Negga as Tulip O’Hare, Joe Gilgun as Cassidy, an Irish Vampire and Custer’s best friend and Ian Colletti as Eugene Root, the sheriff’s deformed son – also know as Arseface.

The show is scheduled for a 10 episode order, and has received mostly positive reviews from critics. It’s certainly an incredibly interest premise, especially when you look into the original comics stories and lore.

Preacher – Episode 1 airs May 22nd, 2016.

 

Daniel Craig ‘Done’ Playing 007

Despite being offered a two-film deal of £68 million, Daniel Craig has confirmed he will not be returning to play James Bond.

This news follows on just a few days shy of bookmakers calling off bets for British actor Tom Hiddleston to be next in line on the throne that is the James Bond franchise.

Daniel Craig has been playing the iconic role since 2006 when he featured in Casino Royale, and has pulled in over £2billion in box office revenues during his time.

Inside sources said Craig had intended for some time that Spectre (2015) would be his last time stepping into the spy’s shoes, and that MGM hoped a large sum on a contract would help persuade him. However, an LA film source said; “Daniel is done – pure and simple – he told top brass at MGM after Spectre.”

Overall, this shouldn’t come as a surprise – Daniel Craig has always held criticism’s for the franchise, including a public interview in which he said he would rather “slash my [his] wrists” than take on the Bond role again.

Now, after nine years in the role, film makers need to once again search for an actor to fill those very big and most likely gadget riddled shoes. Whilst Tom Hiddleston has been the name thrown around the most, Idris Elba is a name that’s been thrown around for some time. He would also be the first non-white actor to play the role.

EDITORS NOTE:- Sorry guys and gals but I can’t be more excited about Daniel Craig leaving, I for one will welcome Hiddles if/when he gets the role 😉

‘Iron Man 3’ Reveals Main Villain Was Re-Written as a Man – For Toy Sales.

Yep. Yep, yeah, you read that correctly.

Iron Man 3, the first movie in Marvel’s Phase 2, and the third Iron Man movie, was supposed to star a female villain, namely, Maya Hansen. And this would have made a lot of sense – she created Extremis alongside Aldrich Killian. He then stole it and sold it on, resulting in his suicide.

Shane Black was excited about this too – having the whole world focus on the formidable “Mandarin” – and then it’s a small brunette woman who’s been running the show the whole time.

Being a character who was so important to the original plot, and who also you know, was a key factor in Extremis existing, you think that would earn her the spot as the Big Bad, right?

Well, according to Shane Black, Marvel execs didn’t think so, and figured toy sale success was much more important, and that a female villain toy would not sell. Thus, Shane Black was made to re-write the script.

Yeah. Because of toy sales. Because I sure remember the shelves being stocked with Killian toys, and kids begging their parents for the Aldrich Action Figure for Christmas.

Shane Black said in a statement;

“All I’ll say is this, on the record: There was an early draft of Iron Man 3 where we had an inkling of a problem. Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.”

He continued, “So, we had to change the entire script because of toy making.”

Now, given that there weren’t really any Killian Toys outside of the mini-mates double pack (pictured above), most are a little unsure about the logic behind this statement beyond the mere “that is a ridiculous and outdated point of view .” Black did, however, go on to say that the powers-that-be that made this decision are no longer at the head of those decisions.

These statements came shortly after backlash towards toy companies for not including Rey in the initial release of toys for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You know, Rey – the main character.

But hey, I suppose now the ending isn’t the only awkward thing about that movie now.*

Hopefully, Marvel and other large franchises will continue to take fans comments on board, to help improve, impress and expand their fanbases.

(*Just a note – I like Iron Man 3 – I’ve watched it multiple times. However, the ending made no sense to me because of the whole “Yay I just got my arc reactor removed!” – did no one remember Iron Man 2? When it was literally killing him from the inside out? Surely that whole movie would have been solved if he could just cut it out? Or the Avengers, when he called it his Terrible Privilege and used it to bond with Bruce Banner? Because I do. And I am still so deeply confused.)

 

‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ Starts Filming In The UK – As Elton John Confirms Role!

Kingsman: The Golden Circle began filming in the UK this week, with locations such as London and Birmingham on the map. Leaked set pictures show Channing Tatum looking incredibly dashing as he walks by a classic London black cab.

Credit: WENN.com

Not much is known about Tatum’s role in this movie, but it is highly likely he’ll be a spy.

Elton John has also confirmed a role for the movie – again, we know nothing, but we do know he posted this pretty sweet Instagram photo;

This is not only exciting because it’s Elton John, but also because John hasn’t starred in a main role of a movie since 1975 – it’s an absolutely huge deal.

Birmingham residents were treated to viewing (and hearing, loudly) the filming of stunt scenes involving a high speed chase with a black cab and gunshot fire, which startled many and had them taking to Twitter.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the sequel to the surprise box office hit Kingsman: The Secret Service. The first movie, staring Taron Egerton as the leading role of Eggsy,  Colin Firth as his mentor Harry Hart, and Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella staring as villains Valentine and Gazelle respectively, drew in $412, 368, 455 world-wide, as a hilariously goofy and over-the-top action/spy movie.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle will follow on from the first movie with Egerton reprising his role as Eggsy, and Mark Strong to return as Merlin, as the team have to turn to an American secret service agency for help. More on the plot details can be found here.

So far, the sequel looks to be as insane, over-the-top and wonderful as the original. Fingers crossed for an awesome follow up!

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is currently scheduled for release on June 16th 2017 in the UK.

A New Trailer for ‘The BFG’ Has Been Released

A new trailer for The BFG has been released, and it’s glorious.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl, Steven Spielberg is currently in charge of adapting this beloved children’s story to big screen. The trailer shows a lot more of the world, including iconic moments such as the BFG chopping snozzcumbers, the BFG holding onto dreams, and the terrifying moment that one of the other giants storms into the BFG’s home after smelling a child.

The BFG will star Mark Rylance in the title role, and young rising star Ruby Barnhill will play opposite him as the orphan girl Sophie.

Overall, the trailer does look magical. It looks like it’s going to follow in the recent The Jungle Book adaptation released this year – it’s going to have enough of the original animated movie that most people know and love to touch peoples hearts, whilst also having it’s own direction. It was received very positively at Canne’s Film Festival the weekend just passed, so it’s looking to have a very bright future when it releases to the public.

The BFG will open in U.S. cinemas on July 1st, and then the UK on July 22nd.

‘Transformers 5’ Logo and Title Revealed

 

The official title and logo of Michael Bay’s final movie in his “Transformers” run has finally been revealed.

Transformers: The Last Knight was officially unveiled to the world yesterday by Paramount Pictures, alongside a fancy new Instagram with a call to action for all Autobots.

This installment of the franchise will see the return of Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, and will star Isabela Moner as the film’s female lead, Izabella. Jerrod Carmichael is also set to play an unspecified leading role.

Combined, the Transformers movies have pulled in $3.7 Billion at the global box office, and the 2014 movie Age of Extinction was the second-highest grossing of the four.

Production is set to begin in June this year, and the current release date is June 23th 2017.

 

Harley Quinn Movie Reportedly in Works

Suicide Squad hasn’t even made it’s theatre debut yet, but rumours have arisen of a Harley Quinn-centric movie in the works at Warner Bros., with Margot Robbie to reprise the role, as revealed by The Hollywood Reporter.

Margot Robbie, who currently holds the role in Suicide Squad, is reported to not only star as the character again, but produce as well. The movie also won’t just be a solo act – it’s rumoured to feature other female DC Comics stars, including Batgirl and Birds of Prey. Warner Bros. certainly isn’t commenting on this. The Hollywood Reporter also let on that a script is being written – it’s not confirmed who, but the writer is reportedly a woman.

With DC’s huge line up of popular and incredible heroines and villainesses, it would be one hell of a movie to present – and with it’s already large female fanbase, coupled with DC’s amazing “DC Superhero Girls” (a project involving a line of comics and products deliberately targeted to a young female fanbase, also rumoured to be partly Margot Robbie’s work) it’s an absolute no-brainer that this movie would be a massive success with Warner Bros., and fans should keep their eyes open for further news. Hopefully this isn’t an instance of too good to be true.