Good morning and happy Friday, everyone. It’s time once again for the News Bites. This week, there’s some casting news of both the confirmed and tentative varieties, the usual hubbub about Transformers and Turtles, a little bit about Disney, a little bit of Marvel, and the continued inability of terrorists to kill John McClane.
So if you want to know what’s going on, keep reading!
Michael Bay says the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in his upcoming production are not aliens. In an interview, Bay explains that the origin of the Turtles is the mutagenic ooze, just as in previous installments of the franchise. He claims that the alien thing was simply a misspoken statement and that he never went out to correct himself in the press. Further, the footage shown at CinemaCon had the new movie logo, and the film has been retitled to re-add the “Teenage Mutant” part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Bay also commented a bit on Transformers 4, saying that the robots will be redesigned somewhat for the film. In other TF 4 news, Kelsey Grammer has joined the cast as Harold Attinger, a counterintelligence officer who will serve as a human villain in the film.
Walt Disney Pictures announced via Twitter that Lily James will play the title role in their live-action adaptation of Cinderella. James may be best known for her role as Korrina in Wrath of the Titans.
Despite the lukewarm critical receptions of Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, a sixth Die Hard film is in the works. The screenplay, currently titled Die Hardest, is being written by Ben Trebilcook, who hopes it will be “the Rocky Balboa of the franchise”. The story starts in New York and transitions to Tokyo. Apparently it’s really hard to kill off the Die Hard sequels. Who knew? At least Trebilcook’s comment implies this might be a planned finale.
Jane Got a Gun got tossed into turmoil yet again. Bradley Cooper, who replaced Jude Law after he departed, has left the film himself due to a scheduling conflict. At this point, a film about the making of Jane Got a Gun might be more dramatic than the movie itself.
The long-in-development (since 2006) Marvel Comics film Ant-Man is undergoing yet another bit of pre-production revision. But don’t worry, bug fans: it’s just a partial rewrite to make it fit in with the rest of the “Marvel Cinematic Universe”, which hadn’t yet been developed when the project began. Ant-Man is still planned to be the first solo-character film released after The Avengers 2.
Rumors, Speculation, and Indefinite Developments
Could there be a third Hellboy film? There will be if Ron Perlman has his way. The star says in an interview that he and Guillermo del Toro agreed after the second film that they were done, but that he eventually realized it felt like two thirds of a trilogy, and he’s been pushing for del Toro to finish it for the past few years.
Some Fantastic Four casting rumors, for the new Josh Trank directed film. First, Allison Williams of HBO’s Girls is reportedly being considered for a role, possibly as the Invisible Woman. And then there’s a rumor that Michael B. Jordan, who starred in Trank’s 2012 film Chronicle, may be up for the part of the Human Torch.
Jessica Chastain is reportedly in talks to join Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which already features Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey.
“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.”
— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 1979
Morgan on Media 
Interesting bit on Jude and Cooper leaving Jane project; apparently Jane had a gun ( LOL 😉 ). Die Hard franchise is like energizer bunny – still going even if no one’s watching; ok I guess someone is since last film did draw out the curious.
“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Yeah, I think the Die Hard franchise has been the beneficiary of some weak competition, at least in the latest installment.
Michael Bay smartens up, huh? Good for him. Dumb ass… LOL Speaking of Michael Bay and dumb asses, I have the utmost respect for Kelsey Grammer on screen, but how much do you want to bet Bay makes him look like a tool in the new Transformer movie? He’s already done it to Turturro and McDormand 🙄
I saw Ant Man footage at Comic-con (its probably on the net by now) that made me believe that that could be a kick ass film. Like 1:30, but it made a believer out of me.
Is there any hope Die Hard 6 dies before it hits the screen? Please?
I’d love to see Hellboy 3. The Fantastic Four (sadly) is going to have to win me back over on the big screen though. 😦
Not buying the “I was just misquoted” line? Ha. Neither am I, it sounds like they saw the backlash, changed it, and decided to spin it.
I’m betting Grammer looks like a tool as well. Pretty much guaranteed.
I’m skeptical about F4-Redux as well. It’d be different if it were in Marvel’s hands.
I’d love to see Chastain joining Interstellar. I like her generally but I also like the fact that she hasn’t worked with Nolan & co. before. He often cast the same people who’ve worked with him over and over, it can get quite tiresome.
He does seem to have his favorites, doesn’t he? Of course, he’s not the only director with that quirk, but it does lead to creative ruts, I think.