At one point it seemed like audiences were happy to see anything with Tom Cruise in it, but in recent years the only surefire hits he’s had are with the Mission: Impossible franchise. A couple of films ago, he was supposedly leaving the series behind, but then decided to stick around when several of his others films bombed, but people still couldn’t get enough of him as Ethan Hunt.
Now they’re busy putting together the sixth Mission: Impossible, which has just added Vanessa Kirby, best known for playing Princess Margaret in The Crown, to the cast. It’s not known exactly who she will play, but Variety suggests it’s a big role, in the same scale as Rebecca Ferguson’s part in Rogue Nation.
Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote and directed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, is returning to do the same duties on the latest film. It’s due to start shooting next month, for release July 2018.
With Marvel, Pixar, its animated films and its live-action versions of classic animations, Disney has had huge amounts of success in the past few years. It’s also had some bombs, where films were hyped to the hilt and then underperformed at the box office. That includes John Carter, The Lone Ranger and Tron: Legacy.
I’m still not sure why the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie is called Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US, but in the UK it’s Salazar’s Revenge. Now a new trailer has arrived, which tells us more about the plot than anything we’ve seen before, and exactly why Javier Bardem’s Salazar is after revenge – which involves a very youthful Jack Sparrow.
CHIPS may be fondly remembered in the US, but it never had the same impact over here in the UK. However, Warner Bros. must feel there’s enough life in the franchise, as they’ve decided to take the 1970s Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox TV show, and turn it into a movie.
The new Alien: Covenant trailer is certainly intriguing. After the mixed reaction to Prometheus, it’s certainly keen to show this will be a more typical Alien movie, while also suggesting it won’t be exactly the same as the earlier movies.
Although we’ve had a couple of promos for the excellent looking Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, one thing we haven’t seen is Kurt Russell as Star Lord’s father, Ego the Living Planet. That’s now been remedied with a new trailer – although you have to wait until the very end to see him. Oddly, he does look like he really could be Chris Pratt’s dad.
Today Netflix was in Berlin, trying to woo the European market and showing off some of its upcoming wares. After releasing a trailer for Bright, starring Will Smith a couple of days ago, they decided today was a good time for the first teaser for another film they’ve got up their sleeve featuring a-list talent – War Machine, starring Brad Pitt.
At one point, The Dinner was going to be Cate Blanchett’s feature directorial debut, with Oren Moverman on scripting duties. However, she moved on and the adaptation of Herman Koch’s novel saw Moverman shift into the director’s chair. He’s an interesting choice, having written movies such as I’m Not There and directed The Messenger and Rampart.
After a much longer delay in getting the sequel to Godzilla ready than originally planned, they’re now fast pulling the cast together. A couple of weeks ago, Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown was the first announced to be starring in the film, followed by Kyle Chandler as he father a few days later.
Kong: Skull Island will be one of Hollywood’s first big tests of the year. Warner has hopes for a franchise and is already planning to put Kong up against Godzilla, but it’s far from certain whether Skull Island will be the massive hit they’re hoping for. It certainly looks like it could be pretty fun though.