Weekly Film News Round-Up: Gosling, Munn, Star Wars, Wonder Woman

First up this week, big news for fans of Blade Runner and Mr. Ryan Gosling.  It seems that the star of Drive and Crazy, Stupid Love is in talks to take the lead role in the Blade Runner sequel.  The film is being directed by Prisoners’ Denis Villeneuve with a script by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green.  Original Blade Runner star Harrison Ford is returning while director Ridley Scott will over-see the project as a producer.  There’s no word on plot yet but seeing as speculating is always fun we’re going to hazard that Gosling is in line to play a Blade Runner, who is potentially a Replicant, who is sent to track down the still some-how living Replicant that is Ford’s Decker.  Before that Gosling will be seen opposite Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s The Nice Guys.  Source – Variety 

It’s all change for the Wonder Woman film with slated director Michelle MacLaren, a veteran of Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones, leaving due to creative differences with the producers.  Patty Jenkins, who at one point was slated to direct Marvel’s Thor 2, is replacing her.  The film will see Gal Gadot as the titular Wonder Woman who travels to our realm from her mysterious Paradise Island with her lasso of truth and her invisible jet.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate with Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, Jurassic World, The Magnificent Seven remake, and potentially starring in an Indiana Jones reboot, Chris Pratt is now being linked with The Real McCoy.  Bill Dubuque, who wrote The Judge, has put together a script based on the real life adventures of bootlegger Bill McCoy how inspired the term “It’s the real McCoy” when referring to his pure booze.  No director is yet attached.  Source – The Hollywood Reporter

X-Men: Apocalypse has added yet another all star cast member in the form of The News Room and Magic Mike’s Olivia Munn.  She’ll play Psylocke, a mutant with telekinetic skills who also happens to be a lethal Ninja.  She joins the returning James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult which will see the First Class team in the 1980s going up the world’s oldest and first mutant Apocalypse, played by Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac.  Bryan Singer is once again calling the shots.  Source – Bryan Singer 

While we’re on the subject of female superheroes there’s another two in the pipeline.  First up is Scarlet Johansson, who is currently doing the rounds promoting Avengers: Age Of Ultron, suggesting that she and Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige have discussed the possibility of a stand-alone Black Widow film.  She’s long been a scene stealer in the Marvel universe to date but could that partly be because she is so mysterious?  If a stand-alone film were to happen we hope it wouldn’t feel the need to fill in her back story but rather give her an adventure all to herself and allow us a more emotional investment in her as hinted at various points throughout her appearances thus far.  Source – Collider 

Next up in the female super hero stakes is Captain Marvel. Earlier this week Guardians of the Galaxy’s Nicole Perlman and Inside Out’s Meg LeFauve were hired to bring the project to life and there are strong suggestions that Marvel have an eye on Angelina Jolie to direct the film.  Certainly there seems to be a theme that a strong female character needs a strong female director and they don’t come much tougher than Jolie.  Captain Marvel has taken many forms over the years but this incarnation is likely to be Carol Danvers who, as an Air Force pilot, has an accident which infuses her DNA with that of an alien giving her all kinds of superpowers.  Source – Collider 

And finally, in case you missed it, this week saw the second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit the internet.  It gives little away about the plot but it does show us all manner of exciting imagery, such things as a crashed Star Destroyer (main picture), our first proper look at villain Kylo Ren who many are speculating is being played by Girls’ Adam Driver. But the most exciting bit about it all is the appearance of franchise favourites Han Solo and Chewie as played by Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew… “Chewie…. we’re home” Indeed you are sir, indeed you are.