We’ve got more movie news than we know what to do with on today’s edition of Movie Morsels. From exciting Idris Elba in space news to a Hannibal writer tackling a horror legend, there’s a little something for everyone. So pour yourself a cup of coffee and wake up with a hearty helping of movie news.
Star Trek 3
The apocalypse may have been cancelled, but the man once known as Stacker Pentecost may be heading for a conflict with the Starship Enterprise. Idris Elba is reportedly in talks to play the villain in the Justin Lin-directed Star Trek 3, which is rumored to involve the Klingons, who we encountered briefly in Star Trek Into Darkness. Idris Elba as a badass, militaristic warlord? That sounds highly logical.
Star Trek 3 opens on July 8, 2016.
Friday the 13th
Good news, horrorhounds–the long-simmering Friday the 13th sequel from director David Bruckner (The Signal) and producer Brad Fuller (Hannibal) has landed a writer: Hannibal writer Nick Antosca. The film is said to answer the burning question of why the masked, machete-wielding killer Jason Voorhees can’t die. There have been conflicting reports over whether or not the film will be found footage, but I’m hoping for all our sakes that it isn’t.
X-Men: Apocalypse
Sorry, Scarlet Witch–it looks like Bryan Singer has never heard of M-Day because the director keeps adding more mutants to his X-Men sequel. The latest to join X-Men: Apocalypse is none other than Lana Condor as Jubilation Lee, a.k.a. Jubilee. The yellow-coated fireworks machine has appeared in past films, portrayed by Katrina Florece and Kea Wong, but here’s hoping she’ll play a bigger role. (Actually, here’s hoping we’ll get the Dracula-tastic version from the comics.)
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Star Wars: Rogue One
The latest casting news from Gareth Edwards’ Star Wars: Rogue One made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs to let us know that Ben Mendelsohn is being targeted to star alongside Felicity Jones.
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The Smurfs
Can’t get enough Gargamel in your life? You have a lot in common with our social media manager then. Neither can Sony, apparently, as they are gearing up to launch an animated Smurfs film in 2017. Directed by Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2), and produced by Jordan Kerner (Charlotte’s Web) and Mary Ellen Bauder (Hotel Transylvania), the film is set to drop on March 31, 2017.
On the film’s official production blog, Asbury released a statement:
“I want nothing more than for this ALL-NEW ANIMATED SMURF MOVIE REBOOT to be the very best ever depiction of the Smurfs since the original Peyo comic books. Since this new film has no connection to the previous live action hybrids, we have a whole new world to create and it is critical to me and my crew that we deliver a movie that will enchant families and fans worldwide for years to come.
So when my partners and I here at Sony Pictures Animation realized that rushing towards a summer 2016 release date meant having to launch production on a story that was not fully in the place we wanted it to be yet, we have decided to give ourselves a little more time to not compromise quality and deliver the truly smurftastic movie we all want to see on the big screen.
Our new release date, March 31, 2017, is a perfect opportunity to be sprung with the Smurfs in Spring! The Easter date is a perfect match for this particular movie for fans around the world.
Get ready to experience an all-new adventure unrelated to the first two Smurfs films. Now with more time to work with, we’re delivering the best movie possible without compromising – I could not be more happy!”
Ready Player One
Get ready, gunters, because the Ready Player One movie is moving forward faster than Wade can rattle off pop culture references thanks to its new director — drumroll, please — Steven Spielberg. Be sure to stay tuned for Nerdist News later today to find out exactly what you might be able to expect.
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The Billion Brick Race
Jason Segel is hitting the bricks. Well, technically he’s co-writing and co-directing the upcoming The LEGO Movie spin-off film, The Billion Brick Race. Little is known about the project at the moment, save for the fact that the film is one of three more LEGO films on the way after next year’s Ninjago.
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What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know!
Do y’all mean Bryan Fuller of Hannibal? Brad Fuller is an actual horror movie producer so that’s not out of the realm of possibility but he wasn’t involved with the Hannibal movie nor series.
Okay IMDB confirmed it is Brad Fuller but that was just confusing because they are definitely still two different people haha.
I’d peg Elba as a reimagined Klingon Commander Kor, especially since they now have a reason to come after the Federation, since the Khan stuff.