Britt Hayes
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‘Star Wars’ Will Soon Have Its First Openly Gay Character
Much has been made of the diversity in the new era of Star Wars, with J.J. Abrams smartly casting the franchise’s first black and female leading characters in John Boyega’s Finn and Daisy Ridley’s Rey. They weren’t the only diverse part of The Force Awakens, which boasted a noticeably varied assortment of genders and ethnicities in its supporting and extras casting, but many fans are still wondering when — or if — we might see an openly gay character in the newly inclusive franchise. According to J.J. Abrams, it will happen, and soon.
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‘Ghostbusters’ Star Michael K. Williams Confirms Slimer’s Return
There have been rumors since last fall that one particularly slimy character from the original Ghostbusters film would be returning for Paul Feig’s new film, seemingly confirmed by an IMDb credit. But then Feig went and did what J.J. Abrams tried to do with that whole Khan / Star Trek Into Darkness thing — he flat-out denied it, even though this was a pretty viable rumor about a character we all sort of expected would appear. Guess what? The rumor was true, and Ghostbusters star Michael K. Williams has confirmed it himself.
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Oliver Stone’s ‘Snowden’ Release Has Been Pushed Back…Again
Last year Open Road films pushed the release date of Oliver Stone’s Snowden back from Christmas, where it would have had to compete with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and a handful of Oscar contenders, to May 2016. That wasn’t exactly a vote of confidence for the film based on the life of famed NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and it would have forced Stone’s latest to contend with Captain America: Civil War. Snowden will no longer have to worry about Marvel, as the film has once again been pushed back, this time to early fall.
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Stephen King’s ‘It’ Will Still Be Two R-Rated Movies, ‘Hopefully’ Filming Later This Year
While Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Stephen King’s sprawling horror epic It has now joined the list of great films that might have been, New Line hasn’t entirely ditched the plans set out by the former True Detective director. The studio is still planning on adapting the novel into two films, with the first focusing on the characters as children and the second following them as adults. And though we still mourn what Fukunaga’s version could have been, take solace in knowing that New Line is at least targeting an R rating.
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Nicolas Cage Will Try to Kill His Own Kids in ‘Mom and Dad’
Earlier this week, Nicolas Cage signed on to star in Vengeance: A Love Story, a film that — at the time — sounded like the most Cage-appropriate movie ever, and that title’s not even the half of it. Now comes word of another film that could give Vengeance a run for its money, as Cage is reuniting with his Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance director for Mom and Dad, a movie in which he will try to kill his own children.
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‘Bad Boys 3’ Director Joe Carnahan Shares Concept Images
Last summer we learned that Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) was interested in directing Bad Boys 3, which Sony has scheduled for a 2017 release. He was never officially confirmed for the job, but these new pre-visualization images he shared on Twitter are all the confirmation you need that Carnahan is behind the wheel on the long-developing sequel.
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‘Deadpool’ Star Ryan Reynolds Says ‘X-Force’ Is His Priority
Fox has yet to officially green light the X-Force film, but if Deadpool does as well as early tracking suggests (promo screening buzz has been pretty positive from general audiences) and if Ryan Reynolds has his way, it won’t be long before we see the Merc With a Mouth team up with the X-Force for his own superhero team movie. Given Reynolds’ success in getting a proper Deadpool adaptation off the ground, this seems fairly likely.
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SNL Ranked: Larry David Is Prett-ay, Prett-ay, Prett-ay Good
It’s kind of amazing that Larry David has never hosted SNL, and up until recently he had never really appeared on the show, either (save for a couple of tiny appearances back in the ’80s). David only managed to get one sketch on the show in the year he spent writing for SNL back in 1984–85, but now, after Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and a couple of cold open cameos as Bernie Sanders, David finally has his chance to host. How did he do? Read on for our ranking of this week’s sketches from best to worst.
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‘Gremlins 3’ Rejected Pitch Answers a Very Important Question About Mogwais
A new Gremlins film has been in development for several years, with a handful of different writers attached at various points. Last we heard, the new installment in the franchise will take a Jurassic World-style approach, essentially operating as a legacyquel that takes place 30 years later and maintains the canon from the previous films while introducing new characters. While we wait for more updates on Gremlins 3, two of the writers who previously developed ideas for the sequel have shared their rejected pitch, which basically sounds like Mogwais on a Plane.
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‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Cast Can’t Get Their Act Together in Behind-the Scenes Photos
Over the last few days, James Gunn has been sharing some photos from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cast rehearsals, featuring a very grumpy Michael Rooker and a cast of total screw-ups who have to learn a thing or two from Dave Bautista. We still have a while to wait before we see the cast back in costume as the unlikely group of heroes, but these rehearsal photos make that wait a little easier.
