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FANTASTIC FOUR Reboot Casts Four Rising Stars

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Castings for the upcoming 2015 FOX-produced reboot Fantastic Four were released Friday last week and look very promising. Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller are teaming up again after their recent collaboration in Tom Gormican‘s misogynistic mess That Awkward Moment. Fortunately for Fantastic Four fans and moviegoers alike, Teller and Jordan were just hyper-talented victims of Gormican’s hyper-awful script. 
 
Joining them are Kate Mara (127 Hours) and British actor Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Jane Eyre). This reboot also represents a reunion for Jordan, Mara and director Josh Trank, who worked together on 2010 UK success Chronicle. 
 
Jordan, who has been burning his way into the public eye as of late, will play “The Human Torch” while Teller will have to flex his acting muscles as the elastic “Mr. Fantastic.” Bell will do a lot of CGI work as “The Thing,” and it remains to be seen how his plié and coup-de-pied work  in Billy Elliot will carry over in his portrayal of the orange rock-man. Mara, the oldest main casting at 30 years old, will try not to be too invisible as “Sue Storm.”
 
This latest announcement comes on the heels of Marvel’s first trailer release for Guardians of the Galaxy last week, as Marvel is loading their plate for the upcoming year. The Fantastic Four‘s cast of young actors represents a much different direction and tone for the series than the original Jessica Alba and Chris Evans-led F4 series. The cast is notably younger than the 2005 cast, continuing Marvel’s recent trend in shifting to a youthful, less serious, more dynamic culture, as seen in recent reboots like The Amazing Spiderman and X-Men: First Class or in more unconventional billings like the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy.
 
Things are looking good for the comic world and 2015 looks to be action-packed with Age of Ultron, Ant-Man and now The Fantastic Four all billed for release.

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Paul Rudd Is ANT-MAN

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One of the lesser known Marvel heroes is shaping up to have the most exciting movie, with Edgar Wright directing and Joe Cornish writing Ant-Man. These two’s already incredible chemistry will now be enhanced by Paul Rudd, who has reportedly taken up the title role. The distinction between good and bad superhero movies tends to be what happens when action is not on the screen. This is why Iron Man was so successful. Everyone involved in Ant-Man are people that understand this, so some optimism for this project is definitely warranted.

 

Marvel is aiming for a July 31, 2015 release, pitting it against Marvel’s own The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman. Since they are not aiming to rush it out, so Ant-Man can appear in the new Avengers, we will probably have to wait a few more years to see Rudd appear alongside Robert Downy Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, and friends, in an inevitable third Avengers installment. Either way, the summer of 2015 is looking to be pretty stacked, when it comes to superhero blockbusters, but Ant-Man certainly has all the ingredients (besides a more popular superhero) to lead the pack.

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Emilia Clarke Joins TERMINATOR Reboot

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Emilia Clarke of HBO’s Game of Thrones has been tapped to join the cast of the new Terminator reboot as franchise mainstay Sarah Conner. Helming the project will be GoT alum and Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor. Other casting rumors include Zero Dark Thirty’s Jason Clarke as John Connor and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who seems to do just about anything these days. Will she will play the naïve Sarah Conner of the original or carry some of the tough-as-nails insanity of Linda Hamilton in the sequel? Either way, versatility will be the key to a solid performance by Clarke.

But the concept of a reboot that has the original star (Schwarzenegger) is a little unnerving. It shows that the higher ups on this project are unwilling to take a big enough risk in order to distance this from the original franchise. Terminator has quite frankly been beaten to death, especially with the sequels at the box office, but still: the originals hold up incredibly well. This reboot will have to rely on the curiosity of an audience that still isn’t quite over the novelty of Schwarzenegger’s return to acting.

When the story tries to explain why they chose to use such an old, clearly past his prime, man as a blueprint for their mega death robot, eyes may roll. 

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson Confirmed for THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

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The longtime rumors of Kick-Ass lead Aaron Johnson’s playing Quicksilver in The Avengers: Age of Ultron have been confirmed. For those of you who aren’t completely well versed in your Marvel heroes, Quicksilver is Magneto’s son and sports some super speed, akin to DC’s The Flash (please don’t murder me for comparing them, nerds). Elizabeth Olsen was confirmed to play his sister Scarlet Witch by Samuel Jackson, a while back.

In an ironic twist of fate, Johnson’s Kick-Ass co-star Evan Peters will be playing Quicksilver in the other giant super hero party X-Men: Days of Future Past. Supposedly the conflicting reports on Johnson’s involvement had to do with potential scheduling conflicts with the new Godzilla film. It is exciting to see Marvel take on some of the more fringe superheroes, as Thor, The Hulk, and even Iron Man are starting to wear thing after so many years. See if Kick-Ass kicks ass as a real superhero, when The Avengers: Age of Ultron is released May 1st, 2015.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, James Spader, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olson, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Mackie, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It hits theaters on May 1st, 2015.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt Denies ANT-MAN Rumors, Paul Rudd Now Uncontested

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Despite many internet rumors that the contenders for the titular role in Edgar Wright’s Marvel picture Ant-Man were Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, JGL has decried the news as “internet rumors” and although not directly denying the possibility, interviews at NY Comic-Con and for his recent movie Don Jon have him effectively denying his involvement in any way. This goes against Variety’s reporting that both actors had met with Marvel execs about the role, and although his de facto withdrawal seems to indicate that Rudd will take the role, the casting hasn’t yet occurred and some sources say other actors are in consideration for the role.

One of the least popularly followed Marvel superheroes, Ant-Man follows biochemist Dr. Hank Pym as he discovers a size-altering formula and the subsequent troubles and action when testing the formula on himself goes awry. Wright, who previously directed the Shaun of the Dead trilogy of films along with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is working with former collaborator Joe Cornish to adapt the comics originally penned by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber into a Marvel origin story in typical super-hero movie fashion.

Given Wright’s predilection for comedy in filmmaking, it will be interesting to see if this super hero film incorporates that sensibility without loosing the comic book tradition and aesthetic that most super hero films depend on. Kevin Feige of Iron Man, X-Men, and The Avengers, will also produce, which bodes well for the film’s look and feel.

Although many online pundits and comic book aficionados openly preferred Rudd from the start for the role, others put enough weight behind JGL for this dropout to be somewhat of a disappointment. The release date is set to be July 31st, 2015, so very few details are available on what to expect from the film and its casting in general. It lands among a list of dozens of superhero films and TV projects planned for the next couple years for Marvel and DC both, meaning that comic book fans will get to see most if not all their favorite comic book heroes turned into movies before Marvel and DC have to start either making more original comics or start making remakes.

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Harrison Ford Talks Potential Role in BLADE RUNNER Sequel

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In an interview with IGN, Harrison Ford has confirmed that he and Ridley Scott have been in preliminary talks around an as-of-yet unnamed sequel to Blade Runner, a much anticipated follow up to the 80’s cult-classic. Ford, who has been a household name since George Lucas’s wildly popular Star Wars films, originally played the lead in Blade Runner as Rick Deckard, jaded hunter of an fugitive androids known as replicants in the gritty and high-tech future of the movie.

Given that the book the original film was based off of, Phillip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?“, has several sequels with the second happening only months after the first, it is unclear whether or not this sequel will have Ford reprising his role. Further, the official silence and thus rumor surrounding the sequel make it difficult to conclude what this interview could mean.

Ford revealed that he had Ridley had been “chatting about it” when asked whether or not he would reprise his role, but when pressed about his sometimes acrimonious relationship to the first Blade Runner, he responded, “Everybody has an ambition when they come into a film and that everyone’s ambition may not be so focused on the same thing. I truly admire Ridley as a man and as a director and I would be very happy to engage again with him [in] the further telling of this story.” 

A script for the project is currently being written by Michael Green, who wrote the screenplay for 2011’s Green Lantern along with scripts for TV series like Heroes, Everwood, and Smallville, along withHampton Fancher, the writer of the screenplay for the original Blade Runner. Previous details to emerge are that this sequel will probably take place years after the original and feature a female protagonist, although nothing will be certain until the screenplay is finished.

Scott, who will follow upcoming film The Counselor debuts will religious drama Exodus and potentially a Prometheus sequel on his plate before he starts work on the Blade Runner sequel, has confirmed none-the-less that the sequel will be coming up in the future: “It is happening.” About his talks with Ford, he remarked, “With Harrison Ford? I don’t know yet. Is he too old? Well, he was a ‘Nexus-6’ so we don’t know how long he can live.”  Given Scott and Ford’s production schedules and the dearth of much more information regarding Ford’s likelihood of being cast, or any of the other potential casting decisions for that matter, the rumor mill will no doubt keep turning for a while to come before more tangible information about this production is released.

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Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson Confirmed for THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

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Elizabeth Olsen (Martha May Marlene) and Aaron Taylor Johnson (Kick-Ass) are slated to play twin superheroes, Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver, in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Samuel L. Jackson announced Elizabeth Olson’s involvement, while promoting Spike Lee’s upcoming adaptation of Oldboy, saying “I know we’re shooting in London, that James Spader is Ultron and going to be the bad guy, and that we added Ms. Olsen, but I don’t know what she’s doing, if she’s on the inside or the outside. I haven’t seen a script.” Deadline’s source confirmed.

The news lends credibility to the long-time rumors of Aaron Taylor Johnson’s involvement in the film, as he seems to be making his career on comic book movies.

Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Kick-Ass co-star, Evan Peters, is also playing Quicksilver in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, due to Fox and Marvel sharing the characters rights, so expect the incessantly obnoxious comparisons to begin, when The Avengers: Age of Ultron opens on May 1, 2015.

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