Author: dpugh007

Move over, Halle Berry. You too, Famke Janssen and James Marsden. There’s a new trio of mutants in town.

X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer has just announced that Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), Tye Sheridan (Tree of Life), and Alexandra Shipp (Drumline: A New Beat) have joined the comic book prequel as the younger versions of Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm, respectively. More on the X Men Apocalypse casting after the jump. 

Singer shared the good news on Twitter.

Meet our new and brilliant young mutants: @Alexshipppp as #Storm @SophieT as #JeanGrey and @TyeSheridan as #Cyclops.
#XmenApocalypse

— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) January 23, 2015

Turner’s response:

OMG

— Sophie Turner (@SophieT) January 23, 2015

All three stars were named earlier this month as testing for X-Men: Apocalypse. According to that report, Sheridan was up against Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Jamie Blackley (If I Stay); Turner was competing with Saoirse Ronan; and Shipp was in contention along with Zendaya Coleman (Disney Channel’s Shake It Up).

X-Men: Apocalypse will be set in the 1980s. Turner, Sheridan, and Shipp are playing the younger versions of the superheroes played by Janssen, Marsden, and Berry in the original X-Men trilogy. They join fellow franchise newcomer Oscar Isaac, who’s playing the titular villain Apocalypse. In addition, Channing Tatum is rumored, but not yet confirmed, to make his debut as Gambit.

The film also brings back the core cast from X-Men: First Class: James McAvoy as Professor X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast. Hugh Jackman is in talks to return as Wolverine.

X-Men: Apocalypse promises to close out the First Class trilogy with ”mass destruction.” The character of Apocalypse is an “ancient” mutant born thousands of years ago. The storyline will also prominently feature Mystique and her relationships with Beast and Magneto. Simon Kinberg wrote the script based on a story by himself, Singer, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris.

X-Men: Apocalypse will start shooting this spring in Canada. It opens May 27, 2016.

The post ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Adds Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, and Alexandra Shipp appeared first on /Film.

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Marvel Studios could be setting up a 12 Years a Slave reunion. Chiwetel Ejiofor is reportedly circling Doctor Strange, which will star Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character. Scott Derrickson is directing. More on the possible Chiwetel Ejiofor Doctor Strange casting after the jump.

TheWrap reports Ejiofor is nearing a deal for the comic book movie, and in fact has already begun turning down roles to make room for the Doctor Strange shoot this fall. Marvel hasn’t yet confirmed the casting, let alone revealed which character Ejiofor will be playing. Plot details are also being kept under wraps for now.

According to their trade’s source, Ejiofor will not be portraying the villain, believed to be Baron Mordo. (Daniel Brühl has been rumored for that one.) Instead, they believe Ejiofor will be playing the Ancient One. He serves as mentor to both Stephen Strange and Baron Mordo, and precedes Strange as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.

An earlier rumor had pegged Morgan Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Ken Watanabe as three possibilities for the Ancient One. Ejiofor seems a bit young for the role in comparison, but maybe Marvel has decided to go in a different direction for the character.

THR additionally suggests that Ejiofor may be playing Wong, Doctor Strange’s monk servant/sidekick. Although the character is Chinese in the comics, Marvel has previously demonstrated that isn’t entirely adverse to mixing up the ethnicities of supporting characters, as they did for Heimdall in the Thor movies.

Ejiofor is currently shooting The Martian for Ridley Scott and will next move on to Billy Ray’s remake of The Secret in Their Eyes. Later this year, he’ll be seen in Craig Zobel’s post-apocalyptic drama Z for Zachariah and John Hillcoat’s crime drama Triple Nine. He was recently eyed for the villain role in Spectre, but a deal was never struck.

Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016.

The post Chiwetel Ejiofor Circling ‘Doctor Strange’ appeared first on /Film.

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The light is green for Martin Scorsese and Silence, the adaptation of Shusaku Endo‘s novel which the director has wanted to make for many years. We’ve talked about Scorsese directing Silence for years. Now financing is locked for the movie, Paramount is on board to distribute, and Silence will finally begin shooting later this month, in Taiwan.

Deadline reports that extra financiers, Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films, have come on board the project to complete the funding for the movie. So, yeah, even a director like Scorsese has to scrape up funding for a movie that isn’t likely to be a big box-office performer. That’s what the business is today.

Silence will star Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Tadanobu Asano. in the story of 17th-century Jesuit priests who attempt missionary work in Japan. The film will begin shooting on January 30. Jay Cocks (Gangs of New York) scripted, and Paramount will distribute domestically. That won’t be until 2016, however.

Scorsese said in a statement,

I’ve wanted to make Silence for almost two decades, and it is finally a reality. It is heartening to have adventurous partners like Fabrica and SharpSword to work with on this picture.

Here’s the description of Silence:

Young Portuguese Jesuit Sebastião Rodrigues is sent to Japan to succor the local Church and investigate reports that his mentor, Fr. Cristóvão Ferreira, has committed apostasy. (Ferreira is a historical figure, who apostatized after torture and later married a Japanese woman and wrote a treatise against Christianity.)

Fr. Rodrigues and his companion Fr. Francisco Garrpe arrive in Japan in 1638. There they find the local Christian population driven underground. Security officials force suspected Christians to trample on fumie, which are crudely carved images of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed. The novel relates the trials of the Christians and increasing hardship suffered by Rodrigues, as more is learnt about the circumstances of Ferreira’s apostasy.

The post Martin Scorsese Gets Full Funding for ‘Silence,’ Production Begins This Month appeared first on /Film.

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