Development hell
Your monthly glimpse into Hollywood’s hoped- for future
America the brave!
CAPTAIN AMERICA 3
Chris Evans insists he’s not about to retire from the red, white and blue. “Who’s handing off the shield?” he asks MTV, countering rumours that fellow cast- members Anthony Mackie or Sebastian Stan will step up to superpatriot duty in the third Captain America movie. “Don’t take my job from me prematurely, dude. I’m sure it’ll happen at some point. All good things have to come to an end. But I’m really happy playing the character.” Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely recently delivered a draft to Marvel and the filmmakers say there’s a momentous, franchise- quaking idea at the heart of it. “The big thing we knew we had to deal with in Captain America 2 was the fall of Hydra,” co- director Joe Russo tells Crave Online. “Similarly there is a very, very big idea at the centre of Captain America 3…”
Busting out!
GHOSTBUSTERS 3
It’s all Marvel’s fault. Sequels? History. Spin- offs? Passe. Franchises? Outdated thinking. Now every studio needs an interlocking cinematic universe to call its own. “I’m thinking now ‘ What does the whole brand mean to Sony?’” founding Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd tells the Belfast Telegraph. “What’s Pixar and Star Wars mean to Disney?” Yes, Aykroyd and Co are thinking big. Megalomaniacally big. “What do we build this thing into in the next ten years? Not just another movie or another TV show, but what’s the totality of it? What’s the whole mythology from the beginning of their lives to the end of their lives? Ghostbusters at nine years old, Ghostbusters in high school…” Bill Murray, meanwhile, is down with the rumour of an all- female Ghostbusters 3: “It sounds as good an idea as any other. There are a lot of women that could scare off any kind of vapour…”
They are Legion! LEGION OF SUPERHEROES
Andy Warhol told us that in the future everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. The future put an unexpected wrinkle on that prophecy: you’ll actually have your very own movie, so long as you’re a superhero. And there’ll be an awful lot of superheroes jostling for close- ups in this DC Comics adaptation. First seen in the pages
of Adventure Comics in 1958, the Legion are a collective of superpowered 30th century teens, numbering among their lycra- clad ranks Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and, yes, Triplicate Girl ( she defeats evil by being bloody brilliant with forms). Warner Bros are said to be hunting writers for a big screen version, doubtlessly hoping the Legion’s signature mix of shiny SF and superheroics will steal a little Guardians Of
The Galaxy action.
Aliens alienated!
PROMETHEUS 2
Ridley Scott is still promising a sequel to Prometheus – rather heroically, given the original sunk into an industrial- sized vat of “Meh”. He has a clear vision for the follow- up, though – and it’s one that loosens the connection to the
Alien franchise by banning xenomorphs from the party. “The beast is done,” Scott declares to Yahoo UK. “Cooked. I got lucky meeting HR Giger all those years ago. It’s very hard to repeat that… after four, I think it wears out a little bit. There’s only so much snarling you can do. I think you’ve got to come back with something more interesting. And I think we’ve found the next step. I thought the Engineers were quite a good start.” Scott reveals the sequel is still at the word- wrangling stage – “I’ve had 15 drafts evolving” – and will focus on the fate of the first film’s survivors, including Michael Fassbender’s Bowie- droid. “Find out how he gets his head back on,” teases Scott.
None more Bla ck!
SHAZAM
Now we know exactly what the Rock was cooking with all those internet- baiting hints of his. You’ll remember the state of quantum uncertainty over just who he was playing in this one – noble Captain Marvel or perfidious Black Adam. Well, the dark side has officially claimed Dwayne Johnson’s soul and he’s signed to play the bad guy. We imagine he has the juicier lines… It’s New Line Cinema who are handling this DC Comics adaptation, so don’t expect it to slot into Warners’ scowly, joke- shy Batman and Superman universe. “It feels to me like Shazam will have a tone unto itself,” New Line president Toby Emmerich tells
Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a DC comic but it’s not a Justice League character… The tone and the feeling of the movie will be different from the other range of comic book movies. [ It] will have a sense of fun and a sense of humour, but the stakes have to be real.”
Beaming up Bill?
STAR TREK 3
Ah, the noble James T Kirk. The captain who wrestled with alligator men, induced existential trauma in computers and powered starships with pure libido. We all know he didn’t deserve to die twatted by scaffolding on Planet Underwhelming. Now comes word that William Shatner may revive his career- defining role alongside fellow Starfleet veteran Leonard
Nimoy in the 50th anniversary Trek movie. Is it a cameo? A crucial part of the plot? Or a rumour that’s simply so much sub- space static? Director Roberto Orci pleads the Fifth: “Not in my interest to confirm or deny anything because it limits my options while maintaining my integrity as a truth teller.” Fair enough, Bob. The mighty Shat, meanwhile, bullishly reveals JJ Abrams has already called him, sounding him out on a potential resurrection. “I said ‘ Oh, yeah. If it is meaningful… I would be delighted.’”