News Round-Up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Cast as ‘Sandman’; ‘Allegiant’ Release Date; ‘Spider-Man’ Spin-off Announced; and More
Although movies are in all the headlines right now for various end-of-the-year reasons, there hasn’t been a whole lot of huge, over-the-top movie news this week. Still, I have casting news about Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Sandman, Ed Helms in The Naked Gun reboot, Ricky Gervais’ return to Night at the Museum 3, and the announced voice cast for the English-dubbing of The Wind Rises. For release dates, Allegiant and Pan each nabbed future dates. Lastly, I’ll have the announcement of a Venom spin-off and Sinister Six movie in the Spider-Man universe.
Check this all out below (and check out this week’s trailers, posters, and photos).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Sandman deal hasn’t quite been finalized, but it looks like a pretty sure thing at this point. The writer-director-actor has been on a hot streak lately, and Sandman looks like just the next thing in a long line of projects. David Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises) will help in the project, too, with Gordon-Levitt likely directing. No more information is known about the comic book-inspired story. (Source: Deadline)
Ed Helms (The Hangover) will star in The Naked Gun reboot because…of course we need a Naked Gun reboot! He’ll take over the role of Frank Drebin, but we’re still not sure an exact title (or fraction), co-stars, director, and release date. Stay tuned! (Source: TIME)
Ricky Gervais will reprise his role as Dr. McPhee in the next Night at the Museum flick. Of course, Ben Stiller is also reprising his role, and Night at the Museum 3 will again be directed by Steve Levy. As of now, it’s set for a December 25, 2014 release. (Source: Deadline)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s name also came up in the voice cast announcement for the dubbed-over The Wind Rises. For audiences that want it in English, the film will star JGL, Emily Blunt (Looper), and Mandy Patinkin’s (Showtime’s Homeland) voices. The English version will come out in limited U.S. theaters on February 21, 2014 with a wider release on February 28, 2014.
One of the bigger pieces out of this week was the announcement of an Allegiant movie. For those that don’t know, ‘Allegiant’ is the third book in Veronica Roth’s book series that starts with next year’s Divergent. The second book, titled Insurgent, will release on March 20, 2015 with Allegiant now set for March 18, 2016. Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) is the most noteworthy name in the franchise. However, expect this to be the next big thing come next March. We still don’t know anything director-wise. (Source: Collider)
Joe Wright’s (Anna Karenina) Peter Pan adaptation, Pan, will release on June 26, 2015. Jason Fuchs (Ice Age: Continental Drift) wrote the script with Javier Bardem being a rumored star. As you can tell, Wright’s name and the release date are the most definite things at this point. (Source: Deadline)
The other big news from this week involves the confirmation of a Venom spin-off and a Sinister Six adaptation in the Spider-Man film universe. Not to be outdone by the Marvel properties, Alex Kurtzman (co-writer of The Amazing Spider-Man 2) will direct the Venom-centered spin-off with Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) likely to take on The Sinister Six. We’ll know more later on. (Source: IGN)
As always, come back tomorrow for more!
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