Charmed Reboot On The Way?

File this one under "Did Not See That Coming": A reboot series for slutty-witches-have-angst-athon Charmed is in the development stage.

According to The Wrap, CBS is currently working on a "re-imagining" of the series, which originally starred Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Shannon Doherty and Holly Marie Combs.

Currently, the reboot project consists of a script deal. However, no pilot or broadcast commitment has yet been made.

Chris Keyser and Sydney Sidner have been listed as writers as well as executive producers for the project.

This is an odd move, to be honest. While Charmed had reasonably respectable ratings, there has never been a single viewer who ever thought it was good. All it really was was eight seasons of sexy witches parading about being turned into sexy genies, sexy vampires, sexy gods, sexy superheroes, sexy evil witches, sexy mermai-
Oh. Now I get it...

Lange To Depart American Horror Story?

Screen icon Jessica Lange has revealed to BuzzFeed that she plans on departing American Horror Story after the show's fourth season.

She's still got it...

The actress has had a major role in all three seasons of the anthology series - which entirely changes its setting, plot and characters (and much of the cast) every year, making it essentially a collecton of unconnected mini-series, and has already signed on to star in the fourth. Her performances have bagged her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

But in the interview, Lange said: "I'll do one more season... That'll be it."

Despite Lange's comments, showrunner Ryan Murphy seems confident that she will continue on the show for the forseeable future.

Laughing off the speculation, he told The Hollywood Reporter "Every year, she says, 'OK, that's my last one'. But she's already committed to the fourth series. I can see American Horror Story going 10 years, 12 years, 15 years.

"I think it's limitless because it re-energises every year, and I would love for Jessica Lange to be part of it every year."

Joss Whedon Not Yet On Board For Avengers 3

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed to Screenrant that Joss Whedon has yet to be hired for The Avengers 3.

"It's still being determined," said Feige.

"All of his efforts right now are in what he's doing for us primarily, obviously, writing and prepping Age of Ultron but also in reading the drafts of the films in Phase Two, watching early cuts and... to inform him where the characters are going to end up in the beginning of Age of Ultron and also to get his input and his wisdom into all of these.

"But right now it's all about leading up to Age of Ultron."

Obviously this news is not particularly problematic on its own: Phase Two is barely underway, so thinking about the finale to Phase Three is massively premature at this point.

But production on Phase Three is gearing up, with Edgar Wright already steaming through the pre-production of Ant-Man.

As Feige notes, Whedon  has been heavily involved in all of the Phase Two movies (as well as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) in order to make Age Of Ultron feel as connected to the rest of the Marvelverse as possible, so if they want him to repeat this for Phase Three they need to sign him up, pronto.

The guy is practically the "showrunner" for the entire 'verse at the moment, so losing him for Phase Three could be disasterous.

Stan Lee Media Loses Conan Battle

Stan Lee Media have lost their legal battle with Paradox Entertainment over the ownership of the Conan The Barbarian franchise.

Things are about to get all legalspeak, so for your continued entertainment pleasure, I suggest that you read what comes next in Denny Crane's voice.

ALWAYS good advice...

The company first tried to sue Paradox after the ill-conceived, ill-received, and downright ill-advised Jason Momoa reboot a few years back where, sensing a chance for some money, they claimed that they had been misled into relinquishing the rights against their will during their 2002 bankruptcy crisis. 

The District Court ruled in favour of Paradox, and now the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals has upheld the District Court's ruling.

"The ruling confirms what we have said all along," said Frederik Malmberg, CEO of Paradox, which controls the rights.

"This was a meritless and frivolous lawsuit to cash in on others' hard work. I'm glad that two courts agree. Denny Crane!*"

 

This is not the first time that Stan Lee Media has been humiliated in court: the company has previously tried to sue Disney - the parent company for the Marvel Cinematic Universe - for the rights to Stan Lee's comic creations. It's worth noting that Stan Lee himself endorses the movies and the use of his characters, and that he actually has nothing to do with Stan Lee Media, and hasn't for over a decade.  The legal term for SLM's actions in attempting this is "dickbaggery". I think. . .

 

This paves the way for the third (non-reboot) Conan movie to go ahead unimpeded, continuing Arnie's surprising return to the throne of Ultimate Screen Action Star.

 

"Suck it, Momoa..."

 

*Okay, he didn't say that last part...

Hiddleston On Thor/Loki Relationship

Tom Hiddleston has been talking to Digital Spy about the relationship between Loki and his adoptive brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) ahead of the release of Thor: The Dark World.

"There was a deep hidden love between brothers that was then polluted and distorted by the events of the first film," Hiddleston stated. "It's something that Thor continues to appeal to, even though the rest of the Avengers dismiss Loki as a psychopath."

"In this situation [in Thor: The Dark World], Thor has let go of that affection, and that puts Loki in a very different position."

The relationship between the two characters has proven to be the most interesting in the whole of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, and with the two forced to team up to battle Chistopher Eccleston's Malekith The Accursed in the sequel, we're in for even more of their unique form of brotherly love.

See the full interview here.

Also Starring Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Jamie Alexander, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Tadanobu Asano, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo, Thor: The Dark World releases in the UK on October 30th, with a US release following on November 8th.

Nicholas Winding Refn Turns To Horror

Drive director Nicholas Winding Refn is to turn his hand to the horror genre with the all-female scarefest I Walk With The Dead, where he is rumoured to be reuniting with Carey Mulligan.

The Standard have spoken with playwrite Polly Stenham who says of the project: “He’s got a lot of stick for doing films some people think are violently misogynistic.  So he approached me with the idea of doing something different.”



 Drive is one of the very best films of recent years, managing to combine extreme violence with an almost arthouse sense of directing and cinematography, a great soundtrack, and the coolest jacket since The Fonz taught forty-something teens how to live. So the thought of what Refn can do in the horror genre is truly exciting.

No production schedule is known as yet.

McGann: I'm "Gutted" Not To Be In The Day Of The Doctor

Paul McGann has spoken out about his disappointment at not appearing for the Doctor Who fiftieth anniversary episode.

Speaking to Flicks and the City, the Eighth Doctor said:

"I was a bit dismayed, a bit gutted, but [the other Classic Who Doctors] are not in it.

"There's all kinds of rumours doing the rounds. One gets tired of trying to refute things on Twitter and the like, but take it from me - I'm not in it.

"The thing about Doctor Who is... if not now, then maybe some other time. That's the beauty of it - we can always come back."

 McGann has long been speculated to cameo in the episode, even though there was never anything other than denial from all involved. So expect this latest comment to do nothing but start gossip that McGann will be in Seres 8, or in the rumoured iPlayer prequel to The Day Of The Doctor instead.

Looking toward the future of the series, McGann has become the latest former star to heap praise on the casting of Peter Capaldi:

"Peter Capaldi's going to take over - a proper fan, a brilliant actor [and] a lovely man," he said.

"I think he'll bring the old-fashioned, scary gravitas that my favourite William Hartnell had. He'll bring a fierce intelligence."

Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper, Jemma Redgrave and John Hurt, The Day Of The Doctor airs worldwide on the 23rd of November.

Stephen Lang Returns For Avatar Sequels

Avatar baddie Stephen Lang - aka Space-Bastard Colonel Quaritch - is to return in the next three Avatar movies.

Despite the fact that the character, y'know, died in the first movie (spoilers), director James Cameron has big plans for the villain.

Leave the spacesmurfs alone, you dickbiscuit!

"Steven was so memorable in the first film, we're privileged to have him back," Cameron said to Deadline. "I'm not going to say exactly HOW we're bringing him back, but it's a science fiction story, after all.

"His character will evolve into really unexpected places across the arc of our new three-film saga. I really look forward to working with such a gifted actor, who's also become a good friend."

The three films will shoot back-to-back next year.

The Winter Soldier Poster Unveiled

 

Marvel have debuted the poster for upcoming Captain America sequel The Winter Soldier.

The film sees Chris Evans' Steve Rogers adjusting to life in modern-day America, and teaming up with Avengers Assemble's Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and new hero The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to battle a familiar face and unravel a global conspiracy.

Also starring Sebastian Stan, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell and Robert Redford, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out on the 4th of April 2014 in the US, with a UK release following on the 2nd of May.

Dorothy Gale To Appear In Supernatural

Jared Padelecki has been talking to reporters about upcoming plots for the ninth season of Supernatural, and he has revealed details for what seems like one of the show's weirdest episodes yet.

"We find out that Dorothy [of The Wizard Of Oz Fame]'s kind of been trapped in the Men of Letters bunker for a long, long, long time and accidentally she is set free, but so is the witch.

"So we have them running around our bunker and we have to employ the help of kind of the coolest computer nerd we know to help us try and figure out what happened and how we can figure out more details on it," Jared continued of the "Slumber Party" episode, referring to Charlie, a character played by the returning Felicia Day.

On the one hand... What the fuck?!

But on the other hand, if there's one show that can pull off this sort of weirdness, it's Supernatural. This is, after all, the show that has featured cameos from its own lead cast as themselves, an evil version of Paris Hilton (again playing herself), featured a man who may well have been God writing novelisations of the episodes on-screen, and seen the Winchester Boys attend a Supernatural fan convention (and that's just the tip of a very baffling iceberg), and had all those plots make absolute sense in context.

So what's a Wizard Of Oz crossover compared to that?

Also starring Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins, Supernatural Season Nine continues on The CW in the US. Sky Living will air the ninth season in the UK.

Keanu On Bill & Ted 3

Keanu Reevs has been updating the world on the progress of Bill & Ted 3.

The actor had previously gievn the most heinous news that "dark forces" were preventing the movie from going ahead, but now in an AMA session on Reddit the star has confirmed that the film is still going ahead.

"We are working on trying to get Bill & Ted 3," the actor wrote. "There's a script and we are trying to put it together."

The third entry in the story of the time-travelling, dimension-hopping, history-project-passing, world-uniting rockers is apparently expected to see the duo travel to the future to meet the men they will become.

While Rufus will sadly not be back for obvious reasons, Reeves' co-star Alex Winters is on-board.

More Bill & Ted 3 news as we get it, but until then, dust off those Wyld Stallyns t-shirts, put on some KISS, be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes...

Amanda Abbington Confirms Sherlock Role

Amanda Abbington has confirmed that her character in the upcoming third season of the BBC's superb Sherlock is Mary Morstan, the love interest and eventual wife of Martin Freeman's Doctor John Watson.

The Mr Selfridge actress is Freeman's long-term partner in real life, and has previously worked with The Moff on Coupling.

Though she'll always be Marilyn Off Of Dream Team to me...

Speaking to The Scotsman, Abbington says that her character will come between John and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) as a "kind of third wheel".

"I remember doing a scene very early on with Martin and Ben, and I was standing in between them and I thought, 'I really have to up my game, this is proper'," she said.

"They really bounce off each other. When I was at the read-through, I remember watching them, and the chemistry between them is just amazing. They do have this beautiful relationship, so getting in between that - which is what Mary does, she becomes this kind of third wheel - was scary.

"Also, the fans love these two together, so I'm sure Mary won't be particularly liked by them, but I hope that on the whole people really like her, because she's a great character and she has some fantastic secrets."

 

Abbington went on to reveal that she was always the only actress ever in consideration for the role.

She recalls: "We were at Mark Gatiss's house when 'The Hounds of Baskerville' first came on the telly. Afterwards they went into the kitchen and were sitting talking about the next series. I went in and sat with them.

"It had been mooted that I would be in it, might have a little part in it. They were talking about who might play Mary and I was like, 'So, who are you thinking of?' and they said 'You'.

"I got very emotional because it just seemed so amazing, just such a gift."

Co-created by Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock Season Three is coming to BBC One and BBC OneHD soon. If you've not seen the first two seasons yet, then do yourself a massive favour and watch them now.

Then count yourself lucky that you've not had to wait two years to see how THAT cliffhanger gets resolved, unlike the rest of us...

Rashida Jones For The Wasp?

Ant-Man has yet to be cast, but rumours are already spreading as to who will play his wife Janet Van Dyne - aka superhero The Wasp - in the upcoming Edgar Wright flick.

Superhero Movie News has hinted that Rashida Jones is being considered for the role.

"Janet will be a love interest and a major supporting character," a source tells the site. "We would see multiple references to her future as The Wasp throughout the film."

While Ms. Jones would actually be a very acceptable casting choice, the lack of a named source in the SMN article makes me think that this is most probably just speculation based on the fact that Paul Rudd, with whom Jones has had some excellent on-screen chemistry in the past, is one of the two front-runners for the lead role at the moment.

I wouldn't get too excited just yet - at least until we see who has the Hank Pym role - but it is an interesting rumour.

Ant-Man is out in July 2015.

Ben Kingsley In "Secret Marvel Project"

Sir Ben Kingsley has revealed to The Belfast Telegraph that he has another Marvel project in the works.

Says the actor "It's a secret Marvel project. I'm not allowed to say any more, you're going to have to wait and see."

He went on to heap praise on Marvel Studios, stating that "I think they have enormous taste as creative artists. There's nothing lazy or gratuitous about their work. They are at the top of their game, and they're great company to keep."

Kingsley appeared in this Summer's Iron Man 3, playing The Mandarin (although - SPOILER ALERT - his character was revealed to be a front for the real Mandarin: Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian). It would seem unlikely that he would be plaing the same character, given how his role played out, but you never know. The twist was very devisive, to say the least, so maybe Marvel are undoing it.

He also doesn't state the nature of the project, so it's entirely possible that he may just be in a Blu-Ray short (possibly cameoing in a S.H.E.I.L.D. detainment facility or something).

The Marvelverse next hits cinema screens on the 30th of October with Thor: The Dark World.

Is Wonder Woman Joining Batman And Superman?

Warner Bros. have reportedly been considering featuring Wonder Woman in the upcoming Superman vs. Batman movie.

Speaking to Variety, President of creative development Greg Silverman has said that the studio is taking the character's movie future "very seriously" when asked about the possibility of a cameo appearance in the upcoming team-up.

"We have been doing a lot of thinking for years about how to best use all those characters and we love them.
"Wonder Woman is an amazing character. I think it's a great opportunity both for box office success, but also to have an amazingly powerful female superhero.

"We are taking it all very seriously and are trying to do a plan that's respectful to those characters and maximises the stories as best they can. So everything that has been speculated are things that we've thought about."

Given that preliminary shooting for the movie has already taken place, with footage of a football match between Gotham and Metropolis having been filmed last week, it would seem likely that any decision about the inclusion of Diana would have already been made, so presumably Wonder Woman won't be in the 2015 movie (else Silverman would presumably have been more concrete about the plans).

But given Warner CEO Kevin Tsujihara's recent stated desire to bring Wonder Woman to the screen as a priority, I wouldn't rule out the third movie in the series being a Supes/Batman/Wonder Woman team-up.

Superman vs. Batman stars Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck, and is out in 2015.

50th:- Trailers, Pics And Posters

With just over a month to go until airing, the BBC finally dropped a trailer for The Day Of The Doctor this weekend. Sort of.

The trailer is full of lovely references to the past, and familiar faces, but there's no new footage in there. A great way to build up hype and excitement (and certainly better than the #SaveTheDay trailers), but if I were to be a bit petty, I'd point out that there are already dozens of fan-made trailers that do the same sort of thing all over YouTube.

There is a glimpse of something new in this pic, though, which has hit the net lately:

This image is reportedly from The Day Of The Doctor - and remember, when asked for a hint about the upcoming special, Matt Smith simply said "Paintings". What does it mean, though?

Straying away from The Day Of The Doctor itself, a new poster has been unveiled for An Adventure In Space And Time. This is a truly lovely little piece of artwork, the sort of thing that you'd see on the old Who annuals of the Sixties (fittingly enough).

Loving the old BBC logo...

And finally, looking beyond the birthday celebrations and into next year, Karen Gillan has thrown her support behind the casting of Peter Capaldi. Speaking to PA the former companion said:

"It's weird that [Matt]'s leaving, because to me he is the Doctor and he always will be. But I'm biased, I guess!

 I think Peter Capaldi is an amazing choice and a really cool direction to take the character - he's older, he's different to Matt and he's Scottish!

A lot of people associate him with Malcolm Tucker who's very grumpy, but that could work for the Doctor."



The Day Of The Doctor stars Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper, Jemma Redgrave and John Hurt, and airs worldwide on November 23rd.