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Riz Ahmed & Sam Claflin Circling Star Wars Rogue One – They may join the movie

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Star Wars Rogue One is set to shoot this year but it still needs to complete its cast. Felicity Jones is already aboard and Ben Mendelsohn was recently rumoured to be joining her.

It appears a couple more are in contention as BadAss Digest reports Riz Ahmed is in talks for an unknown part in the movie, while TheWrap adds that Sam Claflin ‘is the frontrunner for one of the ensemble roles’.

The movie will be the first of the Star Wars Anthology movies, which Disney/Lucasfilm plan to release on alternate years and will focus on characters and situations beyond the main spine of the Star Wars story. Here’s the recently released brief synopsis: ‘A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a daring mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring new hope to the galaxy in the Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One.’

The only other think we know is that it won’t focus on the Jedi, with the main characters lacking the powers of the Force. Gareth Edwards is directing, with a December 16th, 2016 release date set.

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First Look At Point Break Remake – Luke Bracey and Edgar Ramirez get extreme

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After a whole host of high profile actors passed on the Point Break remake, the producers settled on Luke Bracey and Edgar Ramirez and be their new Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. They may not be big names, but they’re good actors, so hopefully that will count.

That said, reaction to the trailer shown at CinemaCon was mixed, with the only thing people agreeing being that a scene involving wingsuits was cool. While we don’t have the trailer yet, we don’t have the first two pics.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘In the fast-paced, high-adrenaline “Point Break,” a young FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey), infiltrates a cunning team of thrill-seeking elite athletes – led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). The athletes are suspected of carrying out a spate of crimes in extremely unusual ways. Deep undercover, and with his life in imminent danger, Utah strives to prove they are the architects of this string of inconceivable crimes. The film is replete with the most daring athleticism ever seen in a motion picture. These action adventure feats are performed by elite athletes representing the world’s best in class in big-wave surfing, wingsuit flying, sheer-face snowboarding, free rock climbing, and high-speed motorcycling.’

The film is due out at Christmas. 

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Domhnall Gleeson Up For Doug Liman’s Mena – He joins Tom Cruise in the movie

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Tom Cruise and Doug Liman had a great time working together on Edge Of Tomorrow, so much so that in January they announced that they were reuniting for the crime thriller Mena.

Now Liman has started to flesh out the cast, as Variety reports that Domhnall Gleeson and Sarah Wright will star in the movie.

Universal bought Barry Spinelli’s script last year for over a million dollars, with is about Barry Seal, a fired TWA pilot who became a major drug smuggler for the Medellin Cartel. He was later recruited by the DEA and CIA to provide intelligence, with his work tying to the Iran Contra scandal. He was assassinated by Colombians in 1986.

It’s not clear who Gleeson or Wright will play, but it adds to a big year for Domhnall, who’s set to appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Revenant, both of which will be out at the end of the year.

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Phil Lord & Chris Miller Plan Animated Spider-Man Movie – The Lego Movie directors are at it again

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Phil Lord & Chris Miller are kings of taking on ideas that many people thought could never work and turning them into massively successful film, whether it’s Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street or The Lego Movie. Now they’re hoping to do it again, as Sony has revealed they’re working on an animated Spider-man film.

It means the studio is hoping to have two Spidey franchises running at once, with a live-action Peter Parker joining up with Marvel heroes for Captain America 3 before getting his own stand-alone film, as well as Lord & Miller’s animated take.

There’s no news on exactly how the film will work, but it’s due out July 20th, 2018, with Miller and Lord writing the treatment and producing (it’s not clear whether they’ll also direct), with the press release saying that ‘The film will exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe, all of which are continuing’.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see if it works.

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Win Zulu On DVD! – Win the Orlando Bloom Cannes selection

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To celebrate the release of the gripping, violent and action-packed thriller Zulu starring award-winning actors Forest Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland) and Orlando Bloom – on DVD & Blu-ray April 27th – we are giving away a copy on DVD.

This Official Cannes Selection balances exciting action with emotional drama, inspiring Orlando Bloom into a career-best turn – his conflicted cop with a past is worthy of several spin-offs.

Which isn’t to diminish Forest Whitaker’s compelling turn – his Chief is the heart of the film, and Whitaker is as mesmerising as ever.

Zulu is available to pre-order today: http://amzn.to/13969zq

To be in with a chance of winning one of the copy of Zulu on DVD that we’ve got to give away, sign in to the site below (or click here to register) and answer the multiple choice question (see below for more details on how to enter). The competition closes on May 6th, 2015, so get answering and good luck!

 

HOW TO ENTER: This competition is open to all registered Movie Muser members who live in the UK. It’s free to register and obligation free, and once you’ve signed up to the site, you’ll be able to enter any other competitions we run, plus post comments, join in on the forum or even have your own film blog. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. If you’re already a member, sign in below and answer the multiple choice question in the grey box, click enter, and you’re done!

This competition closes at 11.59pm on May 6th, 2015. Competition open to UK residents aged 15 or over. (For general competition terms and conditions, privacy policy and site T&Cs, CLICK HERE)

The Prize Finder – UK Competitions

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Avengers: Age Of Ultron – The superheroes are back in action

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Marvel must have been licking their lips when some genius came up with the idea of throwing all of their superheroes into one film to fight against evil. However The Avengers was a gargantuan success, becoming the third highest grossing movie ever. Now comes the sequel, Age Of Ultron, which has a lot to live up to. The result is a series of brilliantly executed set pieces, but inevitably the characters get lost in the mayhem and some of the actors look like they’d rather be elsewhere.

The plot is a cut and paste job about the evil Ultron, who is fed up with humans ruining their planet, and reasons it’s best to wipe them out – after all they’ve had a fair go. It’s actually a pretty good argument, but we’re supposed to be on the side of the Avengers, who must protect Earth from the evil robot and his army of automatons.

If huge set pieces are your thing there is plenty to enjoy here. The opening sequence is reminiscent of Alien, with Iron Man dreaming of a world taken over by huge spiny beasts before he discovers the reason, a new pair of enemies called the twins – one of whom can put a spell on people to dredge up their worst memories. She, Scarlet Witch, is played by Elizabeth Olsen and is just terrific. She’s also about 10 times sexier than Scarlett Johansson, whose main role in the film is to calm down Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who cannot contain his fury when he turns green. Ruffalo is probably the best performance here, he takes his role very seriously and exudes a sadness entirely in keeping with his character. Downey Jr also fits into his role as snugly as his tin suit.

The real surprise here is Jeremy Renner, usually a fine actor but he seems unsure how to play his Hawkeye character. Firing arrows from a bow looks a little daft when he is surrounded by muscular superheroes, and when the Avengers hide out in the country and decide to stay at his farm it all seems a bit lame. His drippy wife and too-cute kids don’t help either. Chris Hemsworth is faintly ridiculous as Thor with a daft accent, Andy Serkis struggles with his role as a dodgy arms dealer, Paul Bettany ditto as The Vision, who starts off bad but sees the light, and only Julie Delpy makes the most of her cameo as Johansson’s sadistic teacher. There is also, of course, a brief appearance by the great Stan Lee, who foolishly tries a drop of superhero whiskey and pays the price. Bless him.

The overlong story builds up to a set piece in which Ultron literally lifts a city into the air, and threatens to drop it, obliterating half the planet. It’s visually striking and the sound department deserve an award for some serious chair-shaking bass – see it in a proper cinema with a decent sound system. It’s superbly choreographed, with the Avengers trying to get the city’s populace into rescue ships while an army of robots attack, and there’s even a last-minute rescue of a child and, yes, a dog.

Director Whedon has never been a master of understatement and here he lets rip with some serious hardware, shootouts, rescues and buildings being ripped apart, all impressive but at the expense of any real depth or character. To pick one random example there’s a sequence involving a subway train which ploughs through the buffers and along a packed high street. It’s superbly staged but at no point is there any semblance of empathy with anyone aboard that train. A bit like the film itself, which is sure to be a runaway train at the box office.

Overall verdict: As popcorn entertainment this superhero festival does its job well enough, and there is plenty to enjoy along the way. A little more polish in the script, a little more character development – and fewer characters – wouldn’t have gone amiss, but overall this is summer fun.

Reviewer: Mike Martin

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