Lots of news out of Hollywood right now. If the current crop of release dates, casting announcements and such are any indication, you’re going to spend a lot of the next year at the cinema. Here are a few highlights.
Film-loving ingénues the world over can rejoice: Though The Twilight Saga: Eclipse isn’t even out yet, there’s already a release date set for the third film in the series. Breaking Dawn will bring more pouty, tousled-girl-on-undead-dreamboat action to screens starting the 18th of November, 2011. [courtesy of the Twilight Twitter page]
Marvel has officially announced that Hugo Weaving, best known for playing an Elven patriarch and a basass Matrix denizen, is about to add to his already impressive geek street cred. The Nigerian-born Aussie actor will play the Red Skull in the upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger. [iesb.net]
Speaking of Captain America: The First Avenger, Jon Favreau has confirmed that Howard Stark, father of Tony (aka “Iron Man”) will appear Joe Johnston’s doofily-named film. [Dark Horizons]
UK director Matthew Vaughn has signed of to direct X-Men: First Class, which is slated for a June, 2011 release. The film delves deep into prequel territory to tell the tale of how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr discovered their mutie talents, way before the friends became enemies and the X-Men franchise went from totally cool to utter crap. Here’s hoping that Vaughn can work a miracle. [The Film Stage]
It looks like Dwayne Johnson might appear in Universal’s upcoming action flick, The Fast & The Furious 5. We’re not sure which is more impressive: The fact that Johnson might actually have time to do another action film on top of the roles he’s on-board for in Faster and Protection, or that there are enough cars left in Hollywood after the first four Fast & Furious movies. [iesb.net]
After a whole lot of speculation, it’s quasi-official: Tom Cruise has essentially confirmed that Brad Bird will be moving into live-action directing to helm Mission: Impossible 4, which should drop in time for Christmas 2011. [iesb.net]
Disney has released some impressive new images (and an online game) from this December’s Tron Legacy. The artwork includes a selection of design sketches and CGI renderings of the film’s vehicles. Expect more images and viral marketing between now and December. [Hey U Guys!]
Here’s one from the “Hollywood Dream Team” file: The trailer for Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams’s Super 8 is out, and it’s incomprehensible. But who cares? Spielberg + Abrams = our butts in the cinema next summer. There’s also a website up, but there’s nothing happening there as of yet. [MTV Moves Blog]
Get our your agendas: Ethan Hunt kicks more evil ass in Mission: Impossible 4, starting 16 December 2011; Ice Age: Continental Drift sees Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguiziano‘s lovable prehistoric heroes return to cinemas 13 July 2012; and, since prequels are the new black, get ready for a Planet of the Apes origin story. The film is sorta, maybe titled Rise of the Apes, takes place in the present day and outlines how the evils of genetic science uplift the apes that will ultimately take over the world. The Apes will rise on 24 June 2011. [Rope of Silicon]
