Marvel are looking to capitalise on the current boom in superhero pictures with an upcoming slate that's starting to mirror their print publication schedule. Samuel L. Jackson recently signed up to reprise his role as super-spy Nick Fury in a nine-picture deal (including Iron Man II, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers), while they also have a hand in the fourth instalment of the Spider-Man series, which has been given a release date of May 6th, 2011.
This week Marvel announced delays to a number of their in-house properties, pushing Thor back to June 2011, The First Avenger: Captain America to July 2011, and superhero ensemble The Avengers to May 2012.
A spy report from AICN revealed some interesting titbits about Marvel’s upcoming projects. Apparently, Alexander Skargard and Josh Hartnett are favourites to appear as Thor and his villainous brother Loki in Kenneth Branagh’s hammer-wielding Norse god epic, while director Jon Favreau is hotly tipped to helm The Avengers. Favreau is about to start photography on Iron Man II - with Mickey Rourke finally confirmed as Russian baddie Whiplash, alongside Robert Downey Jr. who reprises his role as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark - and he has often spoke of his desire to direct the big-screen team-up.
AICN’s report also claims that reboots to Daredevil and Fantastic Four are currently under consideration. Fox needs to keep making installments in these franchises to avoid the rights reverting back to Marvel, and while I could see the potential in a Daredevil reboot I think that, in the case of Fantastic Four, a new director could take the series forward without having to ignore the established continuity (okay, minus Galactus).
Looking at Marvel's upcoming slate it’s likely that Iron Man II, Captain America, The Avengers and Spider-Man 4 will all be sure-fire box-office hits, although I can’t imagine Thor breaking too many records. In any rate, given their substantial investment Marvel will be hoping that the comic-book-to-screen bubble doesn’t burst any time soon.
Meanwhile, Sam Raimi (director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogies) has debuted the new trailer for his return to the horror genre, Drag Me To Hell. It'll be interesting to see how this stands out in the current remake-centred horror marketplace, and the trailer certainly looks promising. Raimi himself is currently attached as producer on the mooted remake of his own classic The Evil Dead, after fulfilling similar duties on the American version of The Grudge.
Check out the Drag Me To Hell trailer:
Sylvester Stallone’s next film, the testosterone-fuelled, balls-to-the-wall actioner The Expendables, continues to gather a solid ensemble cast that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of action stars. In addition to Stallone (who also serves as writer and director), the film will also feature Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Forest Whitaker, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo and UFC legend Randy Couture, along with a cameo appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This week Variety confirmed that former WWE star ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin has been added to the cast, along with Charisma Carpenter who will – presumably - need rescuing on more than one occasion.
Finally, some interesting images have cropped up online this week. Tim Burton fans will be excited to see the first image of the title character from Alice in Wonderland (along with some nice concept art) courtesy of The Tim Burton Collective...
...while Topless Robot provided the first look at the masked version of Destro from G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.
Ouch. Let’s hope they’re still working on that.
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