Back in the year 2000 if you wanted to make a compelling Hollywood blockbuster with a clever “twist” you hired M. Night Shyamalan. Known for toying with expectations his film, Unbreakable, released that same year and cemented his position as the guy everyone wanted. Several years and several misfires later, Shyamalan is back and possibly looking to make a sequel to one of his first major successes.

His latest effort with the father/son duo of Will and Jaden Smith in After Earth all wrapped up the director recently brought up the notion of Unbreakable 2. Every couple of years the long awaited sequel has resurfaced, but it’s never been more than a rumor. Now, in an interview with MTV, Shyamalan said Unbreakable 2 is in ”his agenda”, adding,

 As long as it can be  connected to something that I’m feeling right now, then I’ll work for me.

As someone who actually enjoys his earlier work this is a project M. Night can and should develop in the next few years. Even with the almost fourteen year gap the announcement of casting Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, should it ever happen, to a sequel would procure my ticket. The original Unbreakable itself even left open the option for a sequel, maybe it’s time for David Dunn and arch-villain Elijah Price to make their respective return? What do you think?

Source: MTV via CBM

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In the upcoming sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the cast is packed with many familiar faces from previous Marvel movies: Scarlett Johannson (Black Widow), Colbie Smulders (Maria Hill) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) being three. But who else might show up?

How about the Congressional scourge of Tony Stark’s life, Senator Stern? After giving Stark and Rhodey honors at the end of Iron Man 2, we haven’t heard much of Stern, who’s played by Garry Shandling, but it looks like he’s up for a reprise in The Winter Solider. Here’s a set pic from a Tumblr user called Gundamdick, who snapped this image from the Washington D.C. set of The Winter Soldier:

And who’s that Stern is hugging warmly? None other than S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jasper Sitwell (Thor, The Avengers, Item 47) played by Maximiliano Hernández. But why are Stern and Sitwell so chummy, and what does any of this have to do with The Winter Soldier‘s plot? Stay tuned for more information as it leaks.

Source: Screen Rant

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Well that didn’t take long. It seems that Robert Redford may have let slip a bit of serious spoilage in regards to his role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Poor guy. It’s worth noting that Redford doesn’t have a lot of experience on these big studio tentpoles in the age of internet journalism, so he didn’t know what he was in for. I mean, everyone knows that Butch and Sundance died in a shootout with the Bolivian military, right? RIGHT?!

We’ll get to Redford in a minute. In other Winter Soldier news, new cast member Anthony Mackie, AKA: Sam Wilson, AKA: The Falcon, talked about the size of role his character will play in the sequel. While talking to The Times-Picayune, Mackie said that he’s in about 60 per cent of the movie by his reckoning, but more than that, this thing is going to be so loaded with so many superheroes and super-stars, it’s going to feel like a sequel to another Marvel movie.

“Sam’s very involved. I’m in about 60 percent of the movie,” Mackie said. “Captain America, the Black Widow and The Falcon take down the Winter Solider together, and they solve the crime at hand and take down the Winter Soldier. So this movie, if you look at the cast, with everybody in (the fictional crime-fighting group) S.H.I.E.L.D. and (co-stars Robert) Redford and Sam Jackson and everybody who’s in the movie, it’s kind of turning into ‘The Avengers Part 2‘ because the cast is so big.”

Well, he just set the bar sky high.

As for Redford, he got caught spoiling by The Straits Time (then repeated by Here Be Geeks) with a potentially major reveal regarding his character Alexander Pierce, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. “I like the idea of playing a villain,” he said. “I did that just because it’s a different thing for me to do.”

Fair enough, but was Redford speaking generally, or will Pierce turn out to be a double agent, perhaps even playing key Winter Soldier antagonist Soviet  General Aleksander Lukin, who, unless I’m mistaken, hasn’t been cast (or had his casting announced) yet.

More news as it develops.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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The announcement that legendary actor/director Robert Redford will take up a role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was met with intrigue. Who might the Sundance Kid be playing in a Captain America movie? Well, Comic Book Movie’s SPINOFF blog was able to go to the source and ask Redford himself during a press roundtable for his new thriller The Company You Keep.

So what happened? Well, SPINOFF asked Redford to confirm if he was playing a high-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D. as previously reported. “Well, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Redford replied. “The head of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

So why would the man that starred in Three Days of the Condor, The Sting, The Candidate and The Natural want to boss around Captain America, Nick Fury et al? “The Captain America thing is just a very simple thing,” he said. “I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do something just to be different. Something bold, different. And that felt like a good thing to do. That was it, nothing more to it than that. Well, it’s bold in terms of expectations, I guess.”

It certainly is bold. Who would have guess that an actor as classy as Robert Redford would get involved in a superhero movie. I guess it just goes to prove how far the genre’s come, huh?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will start filming later this year for an April 2014 release. The film will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, and star Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Toby Jone, Cobie Smulders, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Frank Grillo, Max Hernandez, and Samuel L. Jackson.

More news as it develops.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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There’s big news hitting the Internet about Marvel Studios upcoming sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Robert Redford is in talks to join the cast. Sources are saying that Redford would play an older member of the super secret government spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D..

If you recall Ed Brubaker‘s Winter Soldier story line than you know that Bucky Barnes, Cap’s sidekick, was not killed in World War II, but recovered and brain washed by the Soviets, who then turned Bucky into the Winter Soldier; a super-secret-soviet-spy-assassin.

Perhaps Redford’s character will be the agent who has been trying to track down the Winter Soldier all those years or he could be playing a character much like the Gareth Mallory Skyfall role played by Ralph Fiennes.   Mallory was a government liaison to the spy department, that later became M’s replacement in the James Bond movie.

Joe and Anthony Russo are directing the movie, which stars Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Emily VanCamp, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Frank Grillo, Cobie Smulders, and Samuel L. Jackson.

What do you think about this news? We got Tommy Lee Jones in the first Captain America movie, if nothing else it does give younger fans a talking point to convince their mom to take them to the movie.

Via: THR

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Haven’t heard much lately about the Tarzan re-imagining by David Yates (Harry Potters 5, 6, 7.1 and 7.2) other than True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard was the first choice for the loincloth-clad lead, and that Avengers task master Samuel L. Jackson was at the front of the line to play a mercenary named George Washington Williams. But what about Jane?

Well the New York Post might have shed some light on that this morning by hinting on Page Six that Academy Award nominated actress Jessica Chastain was the filmmakers’ first choice to play English rose Jane Porter, the civilized woman that helps tame the King of the Apes. Nothing’s confirmed, but the Post lists no other names in the running for the part other than Chastain, whose most recent role was as the CIA analyst hunting for Osama bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty.

Here’s the plot description for Yates’ Tarzan:

John Clayton III [is] known around the world as the famous “ape man” Tarzan. Years after he’s re-assimilated into society, he’s asked by Queen Victoria to investigate the goings-on in the Congo. Tarzan teams with an ex-mercenary named George Washington Williams to save the Congo from a fierce warlord who controls a massive diamond mine.

More news as it develops.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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The pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D. has wrapped shooting and there’s not been a lot of information about the series coming from the usually prodigious Marvel Marketing Machine. Luckily we’ve got some from the man himself, Joss Whedon, who talked with TV Line at the 2013 Streamy Awards (He was nominated for best guest appearance in Husbands, but didn’t win.) about his latest venture into prime time television, S.H.I.E.L.D.

What can we expect about the show?

“I’m excited about the show because it’s a very hopeful show, it’s not about murder, and it’s not about crime, and it’s not people looking into their own belly buttons. It’s about people who are trying to help each other, and that’s one of the things I loved about comic books. They had costumes and the villains were cool [but] they stood for something, and I like doing a show that does that.”

“We’re trying very hard to be true to [Marvel's] ethos and also to the structure of their universe, so it is definitely a Marvel show.”

Will the show capitalize on The Avengers movie success?  This next bit might make a couple of fans wonder if the show could develop ratings issues due to the lack of fan favorites from the movies making guest appearances in the series. Whedon says:

“Right now, I want to involve people in the characters that we’ve created for the show, and then we’ll worry about [the other stuff].”

The “other stuff” being appearances by Marvel movie characters like Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Nick Fury ( Samuel L. Jackson), and other heroes from the Marvel Universe. Although I can sympathize with Whedon’s desire to promote the main characters of the series, everybody knows that it’s going to be the interactions between those characters and the “Big Guns” of the Marvel Universe that will make the series special.

Even characters that are a ratings no brain-ers for the series have issues beyond the series story lines. Cobie Smulders already has a full schedule with How I met Your Mother and other projects. Whedon cautioned that Smulders schedule would:

“permit very little involvement, but if we can get a hold of her anytime, we will.”

Most likely Whedon will have plenty of time to develop this series and it’s characters, certainly more time then his other much loved and lamented series Firefly. Not many superhero television shows make it past the first season, but when they do those series are cash cows for the franchise owners, creating publicity, larger fan bases, and toys, don’t forget the toys.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. cast includes: Ming-Na  Wen as former soldier Melinda May, Clark Gregg, Agent Phil “AIN’T HE DEAD” Coulson, Chloe Bennet  as superhero obsessed Agent Skye, Elizabeth Henstridge as the scientific expert Gemma Simmons), Iain De Caestecker plays the series technical wizard, think Bond’s ‘Q’, Leo Fitz, and Brett Dalton rounds out the cast as the golden boy Agent Grant.

Via: TVLine

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The Avengers may have been the biggest movie of 2012 at the box office, but when it came to Oscar love it got a total of one nomination for Best Visual Effects. Now giving The Avengers recognition in this category is a bit like saying apple pie is the best tasting apple-flavored dessert, but for a consolation prize, the Oscars are giving what fans really want: a reunion of the Avengers themselves.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this morning that several, though sadly not all, of the main Avengers cast will take part in an awards presentation at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony on February 24. Sadly, it seems as though Black Widow and Thor – or at least their portrayers Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth – are unavailable, but this is honestly the closest thing we’ll get to a sequel till 2015.

The Avengers men. In formal wear. Handing out awards. To other people. I can picture it now.

Here’s the press release from the AMPAS:

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – “Marvel’s The Avengers” cast mates Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo will present together on the Oscar stage, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today.

“We are happy to re-unite the ‘Avengers’ cast to present on our show,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Audiences who enjoyed the year’s biggest box office hit will be excited to see these terrific actors back together again.”

Downey has twice been nominated for an Oscar, for his leading role in “Chaplin” (1992) and for his supporting role in “Tropic Thunder” (2008).

Evans, who will be making his first Oscar show appearance, will be seen in the upcoming “The Iceman.”

Jackson was nominated in 1994 for his supporting role in “Pulp Fiction.” He can also be seen in this year’s Best Picture nominee “Django Unchained.”

Renner was nominated for his leading role in 2009 Best Picture winner “The Hurt Locker” and for his supporting role in “The Town” (2010). Renner had roles in this year’s “The Bourne Legacy” and “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011).

Ruffalo received his first nomination for his supporting role in 2010 Best Picture nominee “The Kids Are All Right.”

Oscars® for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Source: Coming Soon

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Now that the news about Toby Jones returning to the Marvel Universe as Arnim Zola in Captain America: The Winter Soldier has hit the Internet we can start speculating about the possibility that he will return in his robotic body from the comics.

There was a scene in the first Captain America movie that showed the plans for the iconic image that Captain America fans recognize.

Zola survived the war and ended up in the custody of the group that would eventually become S.H.I.E.L.D., much like the German Rocket Scientists were brought to the United States after the war. One can easily imagine Zola, under guard, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. to develop new spy tools and weapons. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to believe that Zola might secretly build and transfer his mind  into that easily recognizable robot body.

The film stars Chris Evans, reprising his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America, and franchise newcomers Anthony Mackie as the Falcon and Frank Grillo as Crossbones. Also returning are Samuel L. Jackson as Fury, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill along with Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes.

Set to be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier will hit 2D and 3D theaters on April 4, 2014.

Via: Comingsoon

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The Mighty-Marvel-Movie-Machine keeps clanking on, churning out movies that warm the hearts of comic book fan boys and girls everywhere. The Captain America sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier will not only bring back the star spangled avenger, but also introduce us to one of the good captain’s most beloved sidekicks, the high flying Falcon.

Anthony Mackie landed the Falcon role and has until now been pretty tight lipped about the whole production. The reason behind that reluctance to talk is summed up by Mackie:

“This is what I learned about franchises. They can always cast somebody else and say, ‘Well that last person died,’ or just not address it. You see the second movie, and the guy is a different guy than the first, and they’re like, ‘Yep, same dude to me.’

Don’t get me wrong, Mackie isn’t handing out script copies or anything, but at least he is talking now about the character.

“I will have wings. I will be able to fly. I will be a superhero and fight people, namely The Winter Soldier.”

Mackie isn’t just relying on the script for his character preparation, he’s gone back to the original source material for the part.

“It was funny; a lot of the research I found was online. My older brother was a huge comic book buff. So when the news came out online, he called me and just gave me the whole rundown. Luckily, I have a lot of friends who weren’t cool growing up, but who are really cool now, so they read a lot of comic books. So I would just call and ask them, and they would send me all of this stuff online, and I got to read a bunch of the old comic books. It’s fortunate, because it’s a take off the comic book, it’s not the exactly storyline of the comic book.”

There are still a lot of questions hanging out there, will there be a Redwing (The Falcon’s feathered sidekick), will the red suit make an appearance or will the Ulitimate Falcon outfit prevail as most are speculating. Mackie is happy to confirm that filming for Captain America: The Winter Soldier begins on April 1. We’ll keep our eyes and ears out for any new information and bring it to you here.

Chris Evans returns as Steve Rogers/Captain America with newcomer Frank Grillo taking on the role of Crossbones. Fan favorites, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Cobie Smulders will also be appearing, not to mention Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theater screens April 4th, 2014.

Via: Comingsoon

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