Sci-Fi Storm

As Disney/Marvel continue to mine the comic giant’s deep field of characters, next up in the production slate of “Phase 2” (outside the Avengers set) is Doctor Strange, and most recently the lead actor being talked to was Joaquin Phoenix. That died earlier this month, so it was back to the drawing board – and Deadline now reports that their choice for the role is none other than everyone’s pick for every role, Benedict Cumberbatch (who honestly seems like a much better fit to us anyways.) Negotiations are expected to start soon.

The character of Doctor Strange is a former egotistical neurosurgeon who after becoming severely injured in a car crash to the point he could no longer conduct surgery and falls into bankruptcy trying to repair his hands, finds his way tho a hermit known only as the Ancient One – who after a selfless act by Strange teaches him the mystic arts. Strange then becomes the Sorcerer Supreme — the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats.

The good folks at Air New Zealand love to have fun…even when it comes to safety. And their latest safety video features the movies that were filmed in New Zealand – in this case, The Hobbit, featuring The Shire, dwarves, elves, a wizard or two, and special appearances from several of the film series’ stars…check it out below!
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In case you haven’t seen it yet…oh my…but why do I feel depressed?

Warwick Davis, the actor who got his start as the Ewok Wicket in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and returned for several roles in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, will return once more to the franchise and will appear in an unknown role in Star Wars Episode 7.

Let’s let him tell you how it happened…kinda…

Lionsgate today unveiled plans to debut the year’s most anticipated film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, in the UK, Asia and North America. The film, the third in the global blockbuster Hunger Games film franchise, opens in theaters worldwide on November 21, 2014 and will hold its world premiere in London, England on November 10th. Beginning in Beijing, the cast including Academy Award®-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, director Francis Lawrence and producers Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, will embark on a World Press Tour with stops in Seoul, London, New York and Los Angeles.

Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Natalie Dormer, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland will join the delegation in London for the film’s UK world premiere in Leicester Square. Fans in the U.S. who purchase tickets on Fandango October 29th during the first 24 hours of advance sales will be entered for a chance to win a trip to the London Premiere. All purchases on AMCTheaters.com, Cinemark.com, Fandango.com, and MovieTickets.com in the first 24 hours will receive a free download of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on VUDU.

All of the cast will reconvene for the Los Angeles premiere, which will take place on November 17th at the Nokia Live Theater.

The first Hunger Games film generated nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office. The second film in the franchise, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, was the #1 domestic film of 2013 and the 10th highest-grossing North American release of all time, grossing over $860 million around the world and bringing the combined global box office of the first two films to over $1.5 billion.

The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

Warner Bros is very busy the next several years, announcing today it’s release slate. And it features both dipping back in the well that works as well as trying to out-superhero Marvel.

Warner Bros.’ Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara spoke at the Time Warner shareholder’s meeting and laid out a lot of their studio plans for 2016-2020.

First up is the expected Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which is currently being set at three separate films, set to release in 2016, 2018, and 2020.

Next, after the HUGE success of The LEGO Movie, the already-announced sequel has been set for 2018, but it will be preceded by two others: Ninjago (2016), based on the Cartoon Network series, and The LEGO Movie: Batman (2017), a spin-off that follows the rather stuck-up (and not to mention, blocky) take on the character from the first movie.

And then there is the world of DC Comics…we’re already waiting for Batman vs. Superman (2016) and Justice League (2017), but Wonder Woman will indeed get her own standalone movie before Justice League (starring Gal Gadot, who will be introduced in BvS), 2018 will see The Flash (starring Ezra Miller, and apparently not connected at all to the just-started TV series) and Aquaman (with Stargate Atlantis and Game of Thrones Jason Momoa finally confirmed).

2019 will give us Shazam and a second Justice League movie, and in 2020 Warner Bros will try and get Green Lantern off to Oa again with a reboot after the disappointing Ryan Reynolds effort.

Shuffled in are two other titles, Suicide Squad in 2016 and Cyborg in 2020. And apparently this isn’t even ALL of the planned DC movies. Yikes!

It seems that Sony is fed up waiting for a Ghostbusters 3 (not that the death of Harold Ramis earlier this year helped.) Sony is pushing forward with a new director Paul Feig (The Heat), and now has a writer, The Heat‘s Katie Dippold.

The film will now be an entire reboot of the franchise, with reportedly no ties to the original team or movies. And this time, it will be a female buddy comedy, with a whole new team of female leads.

I’m all for it, but it’s going to be hard not to think back to Venkman, Spengler, Zantz and Zeddemore.

WOW!!! Now we know something about the plot…

It may have been expected, but now it is a fact: Bryan Singer will return to the franchise for a fourth time, directing X-Men: Apocalypse.

Singer helped launch the franchise by directing both X-Men and X-Men: X2, and then returned to merge the original movies with the retro X-Men: First Class in the form of X-Men: Days of Future Past this year.

Plot details are still a mystery, but the script is being written by Simon Kinberg, who wrote X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past, from a story by Singer, Kinberg, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. It is expected to be released May 27, 2016.