Not content with captaining the Starship Enterprise as Captain Kirk in the rebooted Star Trek franchise Chris Pine is now in talks to take on the equally daunting task of being Wonder Woman‘s love interest. Pine is apparently the front-runner to play Steve Trevor, an intelligence officer who crash lands on Paradise Island, the home of princess Diana aka Wonder Woman, where he is nursed back to health before he and the lady with the lasso of truth return to more familiar surroundings, with romance blossoming of course. While Wonder Woman, who will be played by Fast & Furious’ Gal Gadot, will appear in Batman Vs. Superman she’ll make her solo debut in 2017. Monster director Patty Jenkins is calling the shots after the departure of Michelle MacLaren. Before all that Pine has the small matter of returning where no man has gone before for Star Trek 3, which is rumoured to be called Beyond, before heading over to Z For Zachariah opposite Margot Robbie. Source – Variety
It was bound to happen eventually thanks to the popularity of the original comic and how awful the first film was but The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman is once again looking likely to return to the big screen. The 2003 film turned out to be Sean Connery‘s last appearance on screen and director Stephen Norrington‘s last feature film directing gig did less than blockbusting business at the box office despite the solid concept. based on Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s graphic novel The League Of Extraordinary Gentle sees a host of literary heroes, including Alan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde among others, assemble to defend the Great Britain. Despite the original film’s failing studio Fox clearly believe there is life in the old dog yet and are looking to bring it back to life in order to cash in on the current graphic novel / superhero zeitgeist. Source – Deadline
Alicia Vikander is clearly in hot demand right now, having already delivered stellar performances in this year’s Testament Of Youth and the stunning Ex_Machina she’s now being lined up to star in two potential franchise movies. The first is the latest in the Jason Bourne series which would see Vikander team with Matt Damon, returning to the role having said he never would, with director Paul Greengrass, also returning after he said he never would, calling the shots. The other project on Vikander’s horizon is the potential to star opposite Michael Fassbender in the video game adaptation of Assassin’s Creed. Vikander and Fassbender have recently finished work together on The Light Between Oceans and her talks for Creed would imply the pair enjoyed working together. Fassbender, who is also producing the film, is re-teaming with his Macbeth director Justin Kurzel for the project about a man whose consciousness is sent back in time to one of his ancestors who is part of a group of assassins in Venice. All these projects make it look as though Vikander is having to drop out of another slated film in the shape of The Circle which is set to star Tom Hanks. That project is already looking to Emma Watson as a potential replacement. Before all this Vikander will next be seen in Guy Ritchie‘s reboot of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Source – Deadline
Joe Wright, the director behind such brilliance as Atonement and Anna Karenina, is in talks to direct Anne Hathaway starring and produced project The Lifeboat. Based on Charlotte Rogan’s historical novel the story tells of Hathaway as Grace Winter a woman who, with her husband and host of others, found themselves drifting on a lifeboat after their transatlantic ship The Empress sunk. The problem was there were too many people on the lifeboat and so Winter finds herself, now safe on dry land, standing trial to ascertain if she was part of a plot to dispatch some of her fellow survivors. Wright is currently in post-production on his prequel to Peter Pan, simply titled Pan, which stars Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara. Source – Deadline
And finally…. having become the fourth highest grossing film of all time Fast & Furious 7 is naturally turning it’s nitro-injected attention to Fast & Furious 8. Vin Diesel, the franchise’s long-standing star and producer teased New York as a setting earlier this week with a mock poster. There’s no word on who will direct or what the plot will be but Diesel has in the past stated that the introduction of Kurt Russell‘s character in Fast 7 would return in a more pivotal role in future films. Keep your engines revved for more. Source – Vin Diesel via Instagram