The reveal that Pom Klementieff arrived earlier this week that she had gotten a key part in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy sequel set into motion speculation of who she’d be playing. With a few choices at hand, and my personal hope for Phyla-Vell, the folks at Deadline have confirmed through their sources that she’ll be playing Mantis. THe character dates back to 1973 when she was introduced in Avengers #112 as created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck.

“Mantis is the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter of the antihero Libra, and a martial arts expert with psychic abilities and ties to the alien Kree race. Since 2007 the character has appeared as an uneasy member of the Guardians as a kind of ship’s counselor and has played a key role in recent storylines involving the team, most notably in the Secret Invasion crossover. The character is also tied closely to Thanos.”

Klementieff isn’t terribly well known to be sure, though she was last seen in a large film with Oldboy. She’s originally from Quebec, Canada and has done mos tof her work since 2009 in European productions in France.

Directed by James Gunn, the film stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot (voice), Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon (voice), Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri and Pom Klementieff.

The film is set for release on May 5th, 2017.

Original Mantis Design

Current Mantis Design

[Source: Deadline ]

The folks at the official Star Wars channel haven’t had a new top ten list in a bit so we’re glad to have a new one arrive.

This one delves into the top ten sidekicks of the Star Wars universe by dealing with the films themselves as well as the Clone Wars and Rebels TV series in order to spread the love out a bit. We’re hoping they eventually start digging into the comics as well because there’s a certain Darth Vader comic series sidekick that we’d want to see make her way into the list.

Exclusing anyone with Force abilities, there’s a fun list here, with a given who takes the top spot.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dCNIeU-W0A?showinfo=0]

10. Kitster
He’s honest. He’s loyal. He’s so wizard. Kicking off our list is Kitster, young Anakin Skywalker’s best friend. Kitster is never far from the Jedi-to-be, serving on Anakin’s Podracing pit crew and supporting the Chosen One no matter what. Let it be known: Kitster is cool.

9. Jar Jar
Yousa want a trusty companion? Look no further than Jar Jar Binks. Whether guiding his Jedi friends through the Naboo planet core or solving a dark-magic mystery, Jar Jar’s big heart and playful nature make this Gungan one underrated, bombad sidekick.

8. Bib Fortuna
If you were a powerful, slug-like crime lord, who would you want at your side? Someone selfish, someone kind of evil, and someone 100% behind your every decision. In other words, you’d want Bib Fortuna. But if a Jedi comes knocking, trust us: get a better doorman.

7. Salacious Crumb
Sometimes, all you need is someone to laugh at your jokes and, maybe, peck out the eyes of a traitorous droid. That’s what you get in Salacious Crumb. Plus, only this monkey-lizard finds rancors and Sarlaccs to be TOTALLY hilarious — a standout trait for a bad-guy buddy.

6. Nien Nunb
As Lando Calrissian’s co-pilot during the Battle of Endor, Nien Nunb is capable, curious, and the first to realize that this surprise attack may not be much of a surprise after all. He’s with the smooth-talking smuggler through every twist, turn, and close call. Who else would chuckle before flying INTO a Death Star?

5. Todo 360
Many droids are programmed for good. Todo 360, bounty hunter Cad Bane’s conniving and devious assistant, isn’t one of them. He helps steal a holocron, takes on Jedi himself, and, after Bane uses him as a bomb, actually returns to his master. Now THAT’S loyalty.

4. Lobot
He may be silent, but his actions speak loudly. Lando Calrissian’s aide on Cloud City, Lobot gets things done quickly, quietly, and efficiently — even against the Empire. As if that’s not enough, no one else makes a cybernetic implant look this cool.

3. Chopper
He complains. He complains again. And he complains some more. Yet despite a more-than-sometimes grumpy attitude, Chopper is as selfless and brave as they come. From undercover missions to recruiting new allies, Chop is the Ghost crew’s secret weapon — though he PROBABLY thinks that already.

2. R2-D2
Fearless. Resourceful. Heroic. R2-D2 is handy on any mission, whether it’s stealing a Separatist encryption module, rescuing a Supreme Chancellor, or destroying a Death Star. As a companion, he’s always loyal and willing to do whatever it takes to help those closest to him. Make no mistake: Artoo is an A-list astromech.

1. Chewbacca
Chewbacca: the ultimate best friend in a galaxy far, far away. The warm-hearted Wookiee supports Han in all the ways a great sidekick should: he fights alongside him, acts as his conscience, and sticks with him in times good and bad. If we needed a co-pilot in the Millennium Falcon,backup in the Mos Eisley cantina, or someone to swing onto an AT-ST, we’d choose Chewie every time. That’s why we rank this walking carpet #1.

It’s not that long until the galaxy far, far away lands on Blu-ray in the US, giving fans the chance to see the features in high definition (well, better than the limited broadcast high definition) video and audio and a new trailer has been pushed out to start the marketing campaign. We’ve had a few things marketed towards the die-hards over the last few months but they’ll be kicking off the TV promotions for it soon since it lands in just over a month in three different forms. We do recommend heading over to Amazon and looking at the full box set listing as they have a very good breakdown in the information section about how this differs from past incarnations when it comes to extras and a/v layout. Check out the individual releases below as well as the new trailer.

Asa Butterfield, riding rather high off the critical acclaim for Hugo, has confirmed that he’s signed onto the deal that will put him in the leading role position for the theatrical adaptation of the very popular novel Ender’s Game. And, owing to his age, he hit Twitter about it by saying, “Oh yes. I’m really doing it. F*** YEAAA!!!” The feature, which is due on March 15, 2013, has a lot of hopes attached to it and just as many concerns due to the original ages of the characters which will be very difficult to pull off, hence going just a bit older. What’s interesting is that Butterfield sounded off about some people he’d like to see join the film, including that they wanted to get Viggo Mortensen to take on the role of Colonel Graff but couldn’t come to a deal. Apparently in his place they’re looking at Harrison Ford, which is hard to get behind after his recent and very lackluster performances in Morning Glory and Cowboys & Aliens.

Novel Concept: In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut–young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is.

[Source: Moviefone ]

Paramount’s pretty good about getting new images out for their features and the latest batch to comes through is for release on June 27th, 2014 of Transformers: Age of Extinction. We’ve had a few TV spots previously and the big trailers as well as some pretty good posters along the way. Now we’ve got a few more action pieces that plays up the Mark Wahlberg aspect, which makes a lot of sense after his MTV lifetime achievement award win this past weekend at the MTV Movie Awards.

Directed by Michael Bay based on a script by Ehren Kruger, the film stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Sophia Milers and Kelsey Grammar.

Plot concept: Four years after the catastrophic events in Chicago, Earth has mostly recovered from the great war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. But when Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a struggling inventor, and his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) discover Optimus Prime, they bring down Decepticons, Autobots and the US government on them. Now with the Decepticons plotting to destroy the Earth once again, and a paranoid government official (Kelsey Grammer) on his tail, Cade must join the Autobots, and Optimus Prime must align with the ancient Dinobots, to save Earth from extinction.

With production likely ready to begin soon, casting is going to hit quickly for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them now that Warner Bros. has formally announced that Eddie Redmayne has boarded the project.

“Redmayne will play J.K. Rowling’s creation Newt Scamander, the Wizarding World’s preeminent magizoologist, who in his travels has encountered and documented a myriad of magical creatures, ultimately leading to his penning the Hogwarts School textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

Redmayne had a good year last year with his role in The Theory of Everything, and he had some fun scenery chewing in Jupiter Ascending. He’s currently finished two films that are in post-production for this year and doesn’t have any firm commitments beyond that at the moment.

“Eddie Redmayne has emerged as one of today’s most extraordinarily talented and acclaimed actors. We are thrilled to welcome him into J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, where we know he will deliver a remarkable performance as Newt Scamander, the central character in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.’”

David Yates stated, “Eddie is a fearless actor, brimming with invention, wit and humanity. I couldn’t be more excited about the prospect of working with him as we start this new adventure in J.K. Rowling’s wonderful world, and I know she feels the same way.”

The film is set for release on November 18th, 2016.

When we saw Evangeline Lilly at SDCC this year to promote Ant-Man, we had the confusion over what her character name is (it’s still currently Hope Van Dyne). She’s been quiet on her Instagram account since then for the most part, but with the start of production on the film, she’s added two new pictures, one with co-star Paul Rudd and another making a nod towards her new hairstyle, which is done for the film. largely, she’s lost a bit of length on it but it certainly gives us an idea of the look they’re going for with the feature.

Directed by Peyton Reed, the film lands on July 17th, 2015. It stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Patrick Wilson, Evangeline Lilly, and Corey Stoll.

Plot concept: Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

The Marvel Studios panel at SDCC brought on some interesting information and a continuation of the smartest thing that I think they’ve done when it comes to marketing their movies in that other than the Iron Man films, they’re giving them actual names rather than just more and more numbers, which becomes far too easy to mock. With new logos provided for Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we also got the new logo for the Avengers sequel, which was presented early on by Joss Whedon as he stepped in to run a few quotes and then pull out to an image of Ultron’s helmet. The 2015 feature will be called Avengers: Age Of Ultron when it hits.

It’s unlikely that it will use a lot of material from the recent comic storyline, but there are elements from it that can be used and you can see how it would launch a Phase 3 film with Ant-Man:

During the Age of Ultron storyline, Ultron has returned and conquers the world while slowly remolding it into his image. His Ultron Sentinels are guarding the streets looking for any fugitives. Hawkeye runs into the Ultron Sentinels as he was rescuing the Superior Spider-Man yet manages to destroy the Ultron Sentinels present. It is later revealed that Ultron is actually in the future and has been using Vision as a conduit to punish humanity. While one strike team travels into the future to fight Ultron, Wolverine and Invisible Woman go back in time to kill Pym before he can create Ultron in the first place.  This results in a world where Tony Stark controls an army of robotic drones and that Morgan le Fay has conquered half of the world. Travelling back in time once more, Wolverine succeeds in stopping himself from killing Pym, and he, Pym and Susan Storm come up with a different plan. This plan results in a different outcome of the prior confrontation between the Avengers and the Intelligencia; a ‘back door’ installed into Ultron at his original creation allows Hank Pym and Iron Man to destroy the robot, instead, averting the events that led to the ‘Age of Ultron’.

At least this removes Thanos as the threat in this film and allows that character to be dealt with elsewhere, if at all, since Kevin Feige has said before he really wants to build out the space side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and keeping him out there with whatever expansion occurs there is probably for the best.

Originally scheduled for July 28th, 2017 before the Spider-Man reboot Marvel is now involved in came about, Thor: Ragnarok is closing in on its director. Set for a November 3rd, 2017 release and serving as the lead-in to the first part of Avengers: Infinity War, this film has a lot riding on it to really put the last pieces into play. And Marvel is closing in on its director with Taika Waititi apparently in final negotiations for the job. Waititi isn’t a household name, but he’s done a lot of directing on TV over the years and a bit of acting here and there as well. He’s mostly known for his work on Flight of the Conchords. It may seem like an unusual choice, but it follows the general pattern Marvel has that has paid off well with director’s like the Russo brothers and what they hope for with Jon Watts with the Spider-Man movie.

“This is a very important movie for us in Phase 3,” said Marvel’s Kevin Feige back in October 2014 when the film was first announced. “We plan on taking Thor to another level. It picks up where we leave Thor in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ and impacts everything that comes after.”

The film will star Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.

Taika Waititi

[Source: The Wrap ]

With the big picture slowly but surely coming into focus with Lucasfilm under the Disney banner now, the company has announced a new slate of books for Star Wars under the Disney Publishing Worldwide group that will be coming in the future. The new books takes us back to the original trilogy with a pretty good selection of bestselling children’s authors such as Tom Angleberger, Tony DiTerlizzi, Adam Gidwitz, and R.J. Palacio. “Each of these celebrated authors will bring their contemporary, unique voice to the galaxy far, far away, bridging the multi-arc storyline in anticipation of the release of Star Wars Episode VII in December 2015.”

Having grown up myself on the original various runs of Star Wars novels and comics back in the early 1980′s, these are pretty great to see since it will bring to life the original films in a new way for younger fans that have been into the features and overall world through other avenues. Check out the release slate below:

“We continue to explore ways to introduce new fans to Star Wars,” said Carol Roeder, Director of Lucasfilm Franchise Publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “By publishing dynamic interpretations of classic Saga stories written by authors who speak directly to this generation, we will give young readers a great entry point into this universe.”

“Disney Publishing couldn’t be more thrilled to have the opportunity to publish these books globally and to work with such an array of celebrated talent,” noted Jeanne Mosure, Senior Vice President and Group Publisher of Disney Publishing Worldwide. “There’s a genuine sense of enthusiasm and affinity that these authors have for this classic material, which makes this collaboration feel fresh, instantly synergistic and effortless.”

The Star Wars Saga program will hit stores beginning in October of 2014, with THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE SKYWALKER, JEDI KNIGHT a picture book written by New York Times bestselling author Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles), illustrated with concept art created by Ralph McQuarrie, for the original Star Wars films. This winning collaboration, combining the entire storyline of the original trilogy, is bound to delight dedicated Star Wars fans and enthrall readers new to the series.

Additional titles to follow include new retellings of STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE by R.J. Palacio (Wonder), STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK by Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm) and STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI by Tom Angleberger (Origami Yoda series), which will be illustrated by award-winning Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig. The new series will be published in the United States under Disney-Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of the Disney Book Group.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47lf_GSPSY8?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

It’s been a rough ride for the latest attempt by Fox to get Fantastic Four onto the big screen as it’s the fourth installment, though just the third to actually make it into theaters. With the previews last night and it going full today, I myself am just about half an hour away from seeing it since I’m the type that likes to make my own impressions and opinions on something. That said, director Josh Trank isn’t making it easy as he started to distance himself from the film with a tweet that was deleted just a few minutes later.

Countdown til Fox demands Josh Trank remove this Fantastic Four tweet. pic.twitter.com/MoYl2x3vYg

— Andrew Todd (@mistertodd) August 7, 2015

With a 10% fresh score from critics and 33% from audiences so far on Rotten Tomatoes, the film isn’t doing well in that realm and projects are for a $40 million weekend, which is going to be a difficult number to run when it comes to truly moving forward with sequels. It’s also going to struggle because Fox nixed a 3D conversion previously and while those may not do huge numbers in the US anymore, it’s still a critical component overseas. So that came across as a sign of lack of faith on Fox’s part with the project.

Having grown up on Fantastic Four comics, being a part of the John Byrne era of the series, the inability of someone to get this property off the ground in a compelling way is incredibly frustrating, especially since it definitely falls in with what’s called the “Marvel Style” for how their films look. There’s a light touch to be done while playing up the serious, but this film looked like it was ripped from the Ultimates line, but not doing it in a compelling way.

That it makes me wistful for the two previous films just based on the trailers is not a good thing.

Directed by Josh Trank, the film stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell along with Toby Kebbell. It’s set for release on August 7th, 2015.

Plot concept: The Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.

One of the fastest ways to build a viral video commercial of any sort is to use actors that fans obviously like and want to see having fun playing up the roles that they’ve had over the years. Audi, promoting its latest with the all-new Audi S7, has brought together the two Spock’s in Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto as they “race” to get to the golf course in their very different cars. There’s plenty of Star Trek references to be had in here and with Nimoy having largely retired outside of a few fun things like this after his stint on Fringe, it’s great to once again see him just smiling and enjoying this.

The best though is having him sing along in his car to the not heard enough Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPkByAkAdZs?rel=0]

And if you’ve never seen the video for the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, correct that right now;

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU?rel=0]

One of the more disappointing things for fans as the DC Comics slate of films got announced is the confirmation once again at the movie and TV characters are completely separate and that we’ll see different actors for it. There’s obviously some lost opportunity there and problems that can come when fans get really attached to one actor over another, but DC Chief Creative Office Geoff Johns has said that they prefer to let each creator work with the properties they’re involved with while not feeling like they have to connect with everything.

But, enter the twist.

Johns also talked recently about the connected aspect and things may be a bit of a wink and a nod to fans that won’t be capitalized on, but it fits within the way DC Comics has worked its books over the years.

“We look at it as the multiverse. We have our TV universe and our film universe, but they all co-exist.”

So, could we see a crossover of some sort between the two in a big film or potentially swooping in for an arc on The Flash with Ezra Miller appearing?

“There’s been discussions over the years for both, obviously. You never say never. Maybe one day we’ll link a show to a film if it makes sense, but the creative process we’re going through right now is to let the stuff live and breathe and be its own thing and own it.”

[Source: Buzzfeed ]

While things wrap up in Cleveland as it doubles for New York City for The Avengers, there are some fun bits still making their way out. We get a pair of shots in this morning that shows the man himself, Tom Hiddleston, in his full Loki garb as he works through a set that’s doubling as a location in Germany while in Cleveland. Talk about versatile. Hiddleston pretty much stole the show in the Thor movie as Loki and has a significant role here alongside the Skrulls and the use of the Cosmic Cube to tie it all together. Check out the couple of shots below and an on set video that someone grabbed from the shoot as well.

[Source: Latino Review ]

While Rupert Wyatt got a lot of deserved credit for the modern reboot with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, he wasn’t too keen on a rushed schedule for a sequel as Fox announced a planned May 23rd, 2014 release for the feature earlier this year. Similar to how Gary Ross stepped away from Catching Fire, Wyatt did the same. And that’s opened up a list of potential directors to take over for the film and to see if they can help continue the modern reboot.

Deadline has learned that 20th Century Fox has a good shortlist of people they’re interested in to take it over. The list incldes:

• Matt Reeves (Cloverfield)
• J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed)
• Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later)
• Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
• Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim)
• Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible)
• Rian Johnson (Looper)

It’s certainly an engaging list of directors that all have something unique to bring to the table, though Deadline goes on to say that Johnson’s people deny that he’s on the list and it’s unlikely that del Toro would join up as after he wraps on Pacific Rim, he’s off to work on the script for the TV series The Strain that he’s been trying to get off the ground for awhile and now has set for a pilot script over at FX. Deadline indicates that a decision should come quickly and that Fox is looking for an emerging director to take the spot with a lot of creative leeway to bring something with vision to the screen.

[Source: Deadline ]

Welcome to this week’s edition of Star Wars Thursday, a celebration of all things fun, wild, and wacky in the Star Wars universe!

Real or April Fool’s?

Ahhh… April Fool’s Day. The day when everyone attempts to see just how far they can push the craziness before someone yells, “stop!”. With all the insane Star Wars items out there, it can be hard to tell what is real. Would someone really buy a Jabba the Hutt teapot? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m always suspicious of any bit of news that hits the first of April. Here’s a roundup of some of the fun items – real and imaginary – that have hit the Star Wars universe on this fateful day.

This original Boba Fett helmet was offered for sale at Think Geek in 2002. As a one of a kind item, the $32,999.99 price is completely reasonable. Oh yes, this one was a total fake. So sad, though, how amazing would it be to actually have a com link to Slave 1?

Click to read more!

In contrast, this one went up on Think Geek in 2009. The public outpouring of love for the Tauntaun sleeping bag resulted in the product actually being produced for sale. In fact, I own one of my very own. You can read about the journey from joke to reality in this article from the New York Times .

This year, Think Geek treated us to the Ackbar Singing Bass. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping this one shows up on the walls of my local Cantina.

Star Wars: The Old Republic declared that you can now play Ship Droid™, a brand new mini-game coming to The Old Republic! You can clean windows, repad chairs, and earn etiquette points through proper droidy behavior. Yes, it was all a gag, but so well done! This page has videos and special instructions to guide you through the activities in the mini game. Definitely check it out !

So, those were bona fide April Fool’s gags, even though some of them entered our reality due to popular demand. The next two videos hit my twitter stream on April 1st, and several friends and I spent a chunk of time debating if they were actually real. Would there really be a “dance party” aspect to the new Star Wars Kinect game, or were they just pulling our legs? Confirmation was obtained – they ARE real. I was prepared to be appalled, but I’m actually amused. I mean, let’s not take ourselves too seriously, right? We are the same fandom who insisted that we HAD to have a tauntaun sleeping bag. We are the same fandom who dresses up in costumes to go to conventions. The fandom who devours anything fun, magnificent, or just downright silly that includes any term or quote from Star Wars. Okay, we did draw the line at Jar Jar… but hear me out. Watch the videos and chuckle along with me as Han, Stormtroopers, and others do moves like “It’s a Snap”, the “Trash Compactor”, and “Falcon in Flight”. Well, you can watch without me. I’m heading out to the store to pick up the game.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBPeAv_DCVs&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OnDizZ7UT0&w=560&h=315]

Give me your best “Solo Pose”! Until next time – may the Force be with you!

One of the things you don’t see too often are creative types in the Hollywood sphere doing things just because they enjoy them and want to poke and prod at particular projects. Neill Blomkamp of District 9 and Chappie fame posted some really intriguing images last month about what he’d want to do if he got his hands on the Alien franchise for a film and it set off quite the firestorm of interest. With him out there promoting Chappie, the folks at Collider asked him about the concept artwork and it may be one of those situations where, similar to Deadpool, putting an idea out there can get the ball rolling:

“There was a reason. I wanted to make that film. I still may make that film. [Laughs] It may happen. But I did it on my own time. Like when Chappie was winding down in post and I had available time, I started to work on it. It was also from talking to Sigourney [Weaver] during the making of this. I mean, I asked her about Alien all the time. Alien and Aliens are my favorite films. So I genuinely wanted to make that film, I came up with the story, I came up with way more art than I put out and I never officially spoke to Fox about it, but Fox wanted to make it. So, I kind of touched on it and I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know if I was just gonna go leave directing for a whole bunch of time and then I was like, ‘I might as well put some art out.’ But I may make it. I don’t know. That’s where it stands.”

Check out the previously showcased concept materials below:

And Doug Williams – maybe I'll go back to it ….love the world

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 2, 2015 at 9:44am PST

Awesome Art by Geoffroy Thoorens #hicks

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 2, 2015 at 9:43am PST

And finally, my home desk #xenomorph

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 8:54pm PST

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 8:49pm PST

Oh shit

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 6:06pm PST

#weyland corp

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 5:56pm PST

Woulda rocked. Was a mental stroll into the world Ridley Scott created.

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 5:40pm PST

#ripley #hicks

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 5:49pm PST

Wtf?

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 5:32pm PST

Was working on this. Don't think I am anymore. Love it though. #alien #xenomorph

A photo posted by Brownsnout (@neillblomkamp) on Jan 1, 2015 at 5:30pm PST

It’s generally been felt that the recent attempts by Bryan Singer and John Orloff to bring about a new adaptation of the 1970′s TV series Battlestar Galactica to the big screen was being forgotten as the last that was heard was back in 2011. And Singer has gone on to get heavily involved in the X-Men universe again after Jack the Giant Slayer. But Universal isn’t going to let their big space property sit idle for too long as they’ve now brought in a new writer to try and revive the project as Jack Paglen has signed on for a treatment. Paglen’s getting a decent bit of work these days with Transcendenceabout to hit and he’s signed on for Prometheus‘ sequel as well as doing work on the Blade Runner sequel.

Property concept: The last major Colonial fighter carrier leads a makeshift fleet of human refugees on a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth.

While a lot of focus is going to be on Star Wars: The Force Awakens going into its roll out this summer and fall for the December 2015 debut, fans are also getting more and more interested in what’s going on with Rogue One. A little bit of news has slid out regarding it as it’s been revealed that Forest Whitaker is currently in talks to join the film. Obviously, no details about what his involvement will be or the scale of it, but Whitaker’s certainly not a bad presence to add in general with his varied filmography and range of roles that could be fun to see here. It would be his first big budget science fiction film since 2000′s Battlefield Earth.

The film is set to go into production this summer in the UK with more locations being scouted. It’s expected that it’ll work similar to The Force Awakens in doing more practical effects than the prequels, as both Edwards and Abrams come from the “same generation” of fans. More casting is expected in the coming months as well.

Set to debut on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One is directed by Gareth Edwards based on a screenplay by Chris Weitz. The film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed and Ben Mendelsohn.

Plot concept: A band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans.

Forest Whitaker

With a lot of the talk going into the weekend about whether Jurassic World would be above or below $130 million, we essentially learned that tracking was way off on this film. The film took in $204 million domestically and just over $300 million as part of its worldwide launch, giving it the biggest three day total for a film ever. And it did better overseas than Universal’s last film on launch, Furious 7, by about $55 million. The film will be interesting to watch to see if it has legs or not and if the good word of mouth will draw out enough people that might otherwise pass on films and wait for home video or cable. But what it shows is that folks have been waiting for what feels like a good Jurassic Park film for awhile now, and combined with some decent star power with Chris Pratt after his Guardians of the Galaxy stint, has come together in a good way.

Not surprising is that the film suck a lot of the oxygen out of the room as the second and third place films were both in the low numbers, but about as expected at this point. Everything after that is below $10 million, though the overall take on some are definitely solid, such as Pitch Perfect 2 expected to get closer to $200 million and Avengers: Age of Ultron hoping to eke out a $450 million domestic take as it begins to exit more screens.

Next week sees two films going wide with the comedy/drama Dope, which has gotten little real coverage, and Inside Out, the latest from Pixar.

Domestic Box Office (Estimates) Weekend of Jun 12-14

RANK	TITLE	DISTRIBUTOR NAME	WEEKEND REVENUE	CUME REVENUE
REVENUE	# OF LOCATIONS*	LOC AVG
1	Jurassic World	Universal	$204,596,380	4,274	47,870	$204,596,380
2	Spy	20th Century Fox	$16,000,000	3,715	4,306	$56,937,244
3	San Andreas	Warner Bros.	$11,010,000	3,535	3,114	$119,320,914
4	Insidious Chapter 3	Focus Features	$7,300,000	3,014	2,422	$37,370,581
5	Pitch Perfect 2	Universal	$5,969,710	2,677	2,230	$170,685,395
6	Entourage	Warner Bros.	$4,340,000	3,108	1,396	$25,870,472
7	Mad Max: Fury Road	Warner Bros.	$4,130,000	2,234	1,848	$138,607,827
8	Avengers: Age Of Ultron	Disney	$3,641,000	2,156	1,688	$444,743,000
9	Tomorrowland	Disney	$3,417,000	2,540	1,345	$83,608,000
10	Love & Mercy	Roadside Attractions	$1,765,720	573	3,081	$4,774,331
11	Aloha	Sony	$960,000	1,423	674	$18,960,123
12	I’ll See You In My Dreams	Bleecker Street	$799,737	246	3,250	$2,952,299