Movies

It’s brusque, but the title is to the point and pretty much says it all. Following the death of Carrie Fisher, speculation has been rife about how, or what, Lucasfilm would do with Princess/General Leia Organa in Star Wars: Episode IX. One such option was to do a Rogue One, and recreate Leia as a wholly digital character with CGI. Much like they did with Grand Moff Tarkin, and to a lesser extent a younger Princess Leia. However, Lucasfilm has put such thoughts to rest with an official statement via the Star Wars website: We don’t normally respond to fan or press speculation, but there is a rumour circulating that we would like to address. We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa. Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the ...

The first Star Wars anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, set for a 16 December 2016 cinema release is a bit different from other Star Wars movies. And it’s not just that it won’t feature the space opera’s signature crawling introduction text at the start of the film. The movie is a one and done. There will be no sequel to it. No matter how well it performs at the box office. Of sorts, that is. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Empire Magazine that the studio has no plans to follow-up Rogue One with another movie featuring the adventures of Jyn Erso. Technically, according to the director Gareth Edwards, the sequel to Rogue One has already been made and directed by George Lucas. It’s the original Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) film. Although for some that may worryingly place Rogue One into prequel territory, George Lucas has ...

Said to be Hugh Jackman’s last stint as Wolverine before he hangs up the adamantium claws and mutton chops for good, details about the final solo film are emerging. Mainly from director James Mangold, who previously directed The Wolverine (2013). It’s known that the third solo Wolverine film will simply be called Logan. It’s also likely the film will be darker and feature more mature content, offering its fair share of violence and profanity as it goes for an R rating. What combination this is Fox playing to the so-called Deadpool effect, along with being truer to Wolverine’s character remains to be seen. Hopefully it comes complete with some of Wolverine’s berserker rages (the film could also draw inspiration from the historical berserker Norse warriors). Page two of our screenplay. pic.twitter.com/5X93NtWuVS — Mangold (@mang0ld) October 5, 2016 Logan will also feature the return of Professor X as portrayed by Patrick ...

The Empire now has its own version of R2-D2. The droid, called C2-B5, will be seen in the new Star Wars anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which set for a mid-December 2016 release. Officially unveiled by Lucasfilm, C2-B5 (aka “the evil R2-D2”) naturally has a paintjob worthy of the Dark Side. As revealed on The Star Wars Show, Imperial astromech droid C2-B5 from Rogue One. pic.twitter.com/XCywIn2fAK — Star Wars AUNZ (@StarWarsAUNZ) August 31, 2016 More official news of all things Rogue One and beyond is covered in The Star Wars Show: Since things are going rogue amidst an anthology of interest, whether Dark or Light Side one Star Wars droid sidekick deserves another:

Actor Mark Hamill has apparently finished filming his Luke Skywalker part for Star Wars: Episode VII. Meaning it’s time to part with his Jedi beard. He tweeted as much, but may have also triggered the spoiler alert for his potential involvement in Episode IX. Haven’t seen my chin since May ’15, so #FarewellFacialFur & #ByeByeBeard (at least til #EpisodeIX) @popculturequest pic.twitter.com/gaScz1okk6 — Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 30, 2016 Accident, out of balance gag, Jedi mind trick, or genuine spoiler? Realistically Hamill’s remarks may not be that big of a leak for Episode IX. Being Star Wars, if true, Luke Skywalker could appear as anything from alive, in flashbacks, or as a Force ghost. And since his beard was cut off, maybe Skywalker will get a new robotic prosthetic beard that’s kept as a hidden secret artefact for future Jedi to discover. No, that idea is probably about as welcome as ...

Censorship works a little bit different in China. Make that a lot different at times. To the point that new Ghostbusters (2016) movie is unlikely to be released in China at all because of Chinese censorship laws. For a potential Chinese cinema release, Sony Pictures have reportedly already renamed the rebooted Ghostbusters to 超能敢死队 which is rather literally, wait for it: Super Power Dare Die Team Surely the ghost escaped from that title because the body didn’t want it, and something got lost in that slimed translation. Or someone really did cross the streams. Regardless of the double good fun awesome winning name change, it’s still unlikely to be enough to appease Chinese censorship standards. Sources speaking to Variety have indicated: “Though Ghostbusters hasn’t officially been screened for Chinese officials, its subject matter will likely run afoul of the country’s censors. The state-controlled film board does not approve of films ...

Actor Mark Ruffalo has shown off a pair of Hulk fists from the set of Marvel’s Thor: Ragnorak, currently filming in Australia. Mark Ruffalo also offered a sentiment shared with Kermit the Frog, that it’s not easy being green. Though the actor seems to be enjoying it much more than the Muppet. Hello from the set of #Thor3! As you can see, I’ve got my hands full. It ain’t easy being green….@thorofficialhttps://t.co/PnYTnX8n96 — Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) July 12, 2016 The Thor: Ragnorak (2017) movie plot is rumoured to be a mix of the Ragnorak and Planet Hulk storylines. Apart from the titular Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), this also allows Marvel to bring the Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo) into this Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film and avoid the distribution issues related to Universal holding such rights for standalone Hulk films. Hulk may smash such inconveniences, but the more Bruce ...

The third movie in the rebooted Star Trek franchise has had another reveal. Star Trek Beyond has the character Hikaru Sulu in a same-sex relationship, and the couple have a daughter together. This makes Sulu the first openly LGBT (or LGBTQIA) character in the series. It was done as a nod, or an homage, to George Takei, who played Sulu in the original Star Trek television series which debuted on NBC in September 1966 in the USA. George Takei come out publicly as openly gay in 2005, and was aware that the character Sulu would be depicted as gay in Star Trek Beyond in 2016. From there, it gets a little more complicated. Actor John Cho, who plays Sulu in the rebooted movies, has indicated the direction of the character in the new film is not a major plot point. Speaking to the Herald Sun, Cho said: “I liked the ...

Bryan Cranston is the voice of Zordon in the upcoming Power Rangers (2017) movie. And with sufficient motion capture and CGI, he’ll also be the face of Zordon, floating on the screen in the command centre and giving orders to the Power Rangers. It may seem strange that actor Bryan Cranston, who’s most widely known for his critically acclaimed performance as Walter White on Breaking Bad, is now apparently doing an adults’ nostalgia movie for children. As though after the incredible success of Breaking Bad it was only going to be downhill, so he may as well play the role of Zordon for laughs and a few dollars in the bank. However, what may not be known, is that the nostalgia factor runs a little deeper for Cranston. Before making it bigger, Cranston was a voice actor for some rather forgettable villains on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television ...

“Holy kill count Batman!” It turns out Ben Affleck’s stint as Batman (aka “Batfleck”) in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) killed the most people of any movie Batman yet. Even though the deaths may have been more the by-products of indirect collateral damage, the movie made for one dark depiction of the superheroes Superman and Batman. In the movie, understandably excluding the bad dream sequence, the death toll from Batman tallied up at 21. Beating out Batman’s previous movie maximum kill count of 17 in the Tim Burton film Batman (1989) when Michael Keaton wore the cowl. Thanks to the work of Mr Sunday Movies, proof of the carnage caused by Batman in the BvS movie has been spliced together as a kill count supercut (because a montage sounded too campy). Of course the BvS movie was largely based on Frank Miller’s miniseries The Dark Knight Returns. Where ...