These are the top movie stories that got the Flickchart staff talking this week. We rank ’em, you read ’em.
1. Prometheus 2 will have Michael Fassbender and delve into the origins of the Engineers
While doing press for The Martian, Ridley Scott has been casually dropping hints about Prometheus 2. Sounds like Michael Fassbender will definitely be back, and that Scott will be following directly on Elizabeth’s purpose at the end of the first film – namely finding out the origins of the Engineers. I know not everyone loved Prometheus or its philosophical underpinnings, but I loved this questioning aspect of the film, and I’m stoked to hear Scott’s going this direction on the sequel. (via AV Club)
How exactly they’re going to include Fassbender after [SPOILERS], we don’t know
2. New Mary Poppins movie on the way from Disney and Rob Marshall
Looks like Disney’s mining its past once again, returning to Mary Poppins, but this time the film will a sequel rather than a remake, set 20 years after the original film. I’m curious which story they’ll pick up for this – the film version has far overshadowed the books, but there are eight books in P.L. Travers’ series, so there are lots of options if they choose to use them (rumor is they do intend to use the books as a basis). It will still be a musical, with new songs from the team behind Smash and Hairspray, and will, of course, be directed by Rob Marshall. Because no one else in Hollywood can do musicals. *eyeroll* (via Hollywood Reporter)
If there’s no dancing animated penguins, I’m boycotting
3. Martin McDonagh‘s next film will star Frances McDormand
Any new Martin McDonagh movie (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) is exciting, and any new Frances McDormand movie is exciting. Both together? Be still my heart. In the upcoming Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (a disconcerting mouthful of a title), McDormand will play a mother who goes up against the police after her daughter is murdered and they seem more interested in torturing black people than getting justice. Sounds very topical, but apparently the script has been in development for several years. (via /Film)
McDonagh + McDormand = McDonmand? McDormagh?
4. Charlie Kaufman stop-motion Anomalisa gets 2015 release date (barely)
Charlie Kaufman has been unfortunately off our screens since 2008’s Synecdoche, New York, but he’s about to be back with a stop-motion feature co-directed by Duke Johnson, who worked on that awesome stop-motion episode of Community. Their film Anomalisa definitely isn’t for kids (it’s R-rated, in fact), and it’s been getting heavily positive buzz following its recent premiere at TIFF. It’ll be out in limited release on December 30th, with a wider release to follow. (via /Film)
About “a man crippled by the mundanity of his life” – barrel of laughs, this Kaufman guy
5. Pacific Rim 2 delayed indefinitely, but Del Toro isn’t worried
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Pacific Rim 2 was being delayed indefinitely due to troubles at Legendary Pictures, but it seems like Guillermo Del Toro is still optimistic about its future. He acknowledges it might be moved down in the pile a bit, but he’s still working on the script and budget plans, so stack it along with Hellboy 3 and In the Mountains of Madness, which all of us hope ALSO eventually get made. (via The AV Club)
Will we get Jaegers vs. Kaiju: The Return before 2020?
6. Bryan Singer’s next film will be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has been a popular source for film since 1916, and now looks like Bryan Singer‘s the latest one to plan a new version. He’s got a script snippet posted on Instagram, so hopefully this one will come to fruition (a few other recently rumored ones, including one from David Fincher, have not). He says he’ll be working on it after he finished X-Men: Apocalypse. (via The AV Club)
Got a whale of a tale to tell ya, lads… oh, this is not that version? Okay.
7. Justin Timberlake joins Anna Kendrick in DreamWorks Animation’s musical Trolls
DreamWorks Animation is planning a film based on those shock-haired troll toys that were hugely popular in the ’90s (and previously in the ’60s) – I guess it is about time for those to cycle up again. Anyway, Anna Kendrick is already slated to voice Princess Poppy in the film (let me guess exactly how traditional a princess SHE’S going to be), and now Justin Timberlake has taken the male lead alongside her. It’s a new rule that Kendrick is in every Hollywood musical, she might as well take over animated musicals too, and who better to join her than JT? (via Hollywood Reporter)
Honestly, DreamWorks itself is kind of the weak link here.
8. Christina Hendricks to play witch doctor in upcoming WWI drama
I love movies about World War I, and there aren’t enough of them. This sounds like an interesting piece of the war that’s not usually discussed either – the women left behind to tend the farms while their men went off to war, and the trouble that ensues when they use Germans from a nearby internment camp to help. I also love Christina Hendricks and don’t see enough of her, and here she’s not just playing one of the women, she’s a witch doctor. Huh? Yes, this might be a must-see. (via The AV Club)
WHY IS THERE A WITCH DOCTOR IN RURAL WWI ENGLAND? I NEED TO KNOW!
9. John Malkovich puts out concept album of him reading Plato’s Allegory of a Cave
What’s next in the wonderful and bizarre world of John Malkovich, you ask? Oh, not much – he’s just putting out a concept album that reportedly consists of him reading Plato’s Allegory of a Cave over music composed by Eric Alexandrakis, with guest performances from Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Dolores O’Riordan, Ric Ocasek, and Dweezil Zappa. Vinyl will be out November 27th, a downloadable version will follow in December, and you can hear one track RIGHT NOW on Soundcloud. (via The AV Club)
I listened to some of it. You should too. It will improve your life.
10. Brad Bird hopes to make another hand-drawn animated movie
This doesn’t really even count as a rumor, since it’s just a comment Brad Bird made during an interview stating that he hopes to make another hand-drawn animated movie in the future, but we’re big fans of The Iron Giant around here and just the possibility of him returning to the format is pretty exciting. The interview also contains a lot of interesting thoughts on animation, in general, and how its relegation to “kids stuff” has really reduced its possibilities – Bird thinks a hand-drawn horror film would be awesome, and I don’t disagree.
Iron Giant 2: The Horroring? I’d watch it.
Top Trailers of the Week
The footage from Disney’s live-action Jungle Book was one of the biggest hits of ComicCon and now there’s a full trailer of it, and damned if it doesn’t look good.
Aaron Sorkin seems like he’s on a mission to write biopics of all our major tech personalities, and it sounds like his take on Steve Jobs with Danny Boyle in the director’s chair and Michael Fassbender as the man himself may have paid off as handsomely as The Social Network. TIFF buzz is sky-high, and here’s a final trailer for what looks like a powerhouse of a film.
Spielberg. Hanks. Cold War. Spy Thriller. Bridge of Spies basically sells itself, but if you need more, here’s another trailer for it.
In the Heart of the Sea is based on the same non-fiction whaling account that inspired Moby Dick (a fact the trailer doesn’t ignore); can Ron Howard‘s whaling disaster film capture the mythic quality of Melville’s novel?
Back in Time – it’s a documentary with all the right people about the making of Back to the Future. ‘Nuff said.