New Looks At ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ & More Debut At Super Bowl
There are two times a year we get lots of new trailers – the lead up to a new Star Wars movie, and the Super Bowl. In the lead up to and during last night’s game, studios dropped brand new looks for the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, The Fate of the Furious (a.k.a. Fast & Furious 8), Transformers: The Last Knight and more. And TV didn’t miss out on the action either – as Netflix dropped the first teaser for the highly anticipated second season of Stranger Things. [The Guardian]
DC: Ben Affleck Won’t Direct ‘The Batman’, Nicole Kidman & More In ‘Aquaman’
Maybe it’s just the pressure – following a whirlwind press tour for Live By Night which had Affleck fielding questions left and right regarding this project, Warner Bros. have announced that he will be stepping down as director on the in-development Batman solo film that’s part of the current DC Films roster. Affleck will still star, produce and write the film alongside DC’s Geoff Johns and frequent collaborator Chris Terrio – with the new director shortlist topped by Matt Reeves (of Cloverfield and the recent Planet of the Apes films fame). However, better news came hours later as James Wan’s Aquaman starring Jason Momoa as the titular character landed a number of great stars – including Nicole Kidman and The Get Down‘s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. [Variety/Collider]
James Cameron Completes ‘Avatar’ Sequel Scripts – Filming Begins August
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, the famed filmmaker confirmed that he has completed work on the screenplays for Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5! He’s planning to begin shooting the sequels this summer, with Avatar 2 penciled in for release on December 20, 2018 – almost definitely going up against a Star Wars movie of some sort.
Peter Capaldi To Depart ‘Doctor Who’
The new season of Doctor Who drops this April, but this will be the last season for Peter Capaldi, who played the role from 2014 onwards. Departing the series following the 2017 Christmas Special, speculation is abound as to who will replace him. He isn’t the only major force of the show leaving though – with current showrunner Steven Moffat also departing alongside Capaldi. [i09]
‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Box Office Tracking Well Behind First Film
And closing off with what may be some good schadenfreude – it doesn’t appear that Fifty Shades Darker (released in the UK and US this Friday) will do well at the box office at all this time round. Prerelease box office tracking suggests that Darker is set to open to $35-40 million range in North America this weekend – over 50% lower than the surprising breakout performance of the first film ($85 million opening weekend, $571 million globally overall). Coupled with the massive creative changes between the films including series author E.L. James getting final cut – and the merciless ribbing from John Wick: Chapter 2 which opens the same day stateside – this will be interesting to watch… [THR]
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