While they had Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man, Marvel has generally shied away from getting a-list stars to lead its other franchises, not least because they’re keen on keeping the costs down. However, Latino Review reports that Johnny Depp has taken a meeting to discuss the actor taking on the role of Doctor Strange.
Depp is known to be a comic book fan and is apparently very interested in jumping into the Marvel Universe. If he does sign on it would keep him in the Disney family following the likes of Lone Ranger and Pirates of The Caribbean. He is attached to another Pirates movie, but that’s currently trapped in development.
The biggest sticking point at the moment is Depp’s schedule. He’s a busy man with a lot on his plate and a Marvel contract would likely want to tie him into more than one film so he can become a full part of the interconnected superhero universe. It would also require a script rewrite, as it’s apparently been written with someone around 30 in mind, while Depp is 50.
Doctor Strange is a former neurosurgeon, a practicing sorcerer, and serves as the Sorcerer Supreme, the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats. Joseph Gordon Levitt was previously attached to the role, but he’s currently concentrating on a different kind on comic book movie, based on Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
Sony Pictures has spent the last couple of years developing a biopic of Harry Houdini. However it’s still not ready to go in front of the cameras, as Max Landis has come aboard to rewrite the script for the movie.
Well this explains a few things. When Paul Rudd was announced for Ant-Man, the assumption was that he would be playing Hank Pym, the original incarnation of the character, but Marvel didn’t actually confirm that. Then a couple of weeks ago director Edgar Wright hinted at multiple Ant-Men.
Kristen Wiig has seemed slightly ambivalent to the potential success Bridesmaids brought her, as while he’s appeared in supporting roles in the likes of Walter Mitty and Anchorman 2, most of her other post Bridesmaids movies have been quirky movies that may have been interesting but were never going to become massive box office hits.
A couple of months ago it was revealed that Quentin Tarantino was planning to stay in the western genre for his next movie, and now we know what it’s probably going to be called. 
A few months ago there was talk of Oscars for Lone Survivor. While that talk has died down, the film can take plenty of solace from an exceedingly good US opening, where it took $38.5 million over the weekend (it had been playing on a couple of screens before that, but only so it could qualify for the Oscars, which demand a movie opened on at least one screen in LA or New York before December 31st).
A few people have noted that while Saving Mr. Banks is all about Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author PL Travers, the movie doesn’t really talk about the latter’s possible bisexuality, or her close and possibly intimate relationship with friend Madge Burnand.