Matthew Kadish's Blog: Matthew Kadish's Evil Hive Mind Blog, page 4

#DenzelWashington To Star In #MagnificentSeven Remake?

Cool news for all you old skool Western fans out there.  Looks like The Magnificent Seven is getting a remake.  (Or reboot?  Or reimagining?  It’s hard to keep current with Hollywood’s buzzwords.)  Via Variety:

Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua are in early talks to pair up yet again on MGM’s remake of “The Magnificent Seven.”

Both men have the offers and while Washington is still weighing his options. Sources say it’s possible both will commit.

The original pic starred Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen and revolved around seven gunslingers that protect an oppressed Mexican village from a group of outlaws.

The script was most reworked by John Lee Hancock with “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto writing the previous version.

Washington and Fuqua first teamed up on the hit “Training Day” and their next pic, “The Equalizer” bows this September. Washington is repped by WME and Fuqua is repped by CAA.

If you’re going to remake a Hollywood classic, you can’t choose a more bulletproof property than The Magnificent Seven, which was itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai. There have been so many different variations on this formula over the years (from Battle Beyond The Stars to A Bug’s Life), no one’s going to get up in arms if this story is going to be given another go. So I’m totally cool with Variety’s report – which confirms an earlier rumor floated by Schmoes Know – that Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua are in talks to revisit John Sturges’s 1960 western.

Not only that, but True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was the writer of the original version of the screenplay, which is now being rewritten by John Lee Hancock. There’s no word as to whether this will be a western or a modern take.My guess is it will be modern, unless they want to do a Django Unchained type of western with Washington in the lead.  But knowing Fuqua’s sensibilities, it will be about a group of ex-cops, ex-gang members, ex-military soldiers, etc. who band together to protect some south-central neighborhood from MS-13 or something like that.

In related news, there’s a rumor that Spike Lee’s been talking up a remake of The Dirty Dozen for over a year or so that would also star Washington. My guess is if Washington signs a deal to star in Magnificent Seven, the Dirty Dozen thing is probably a no-go for him.  Which, you know, wouldn’t be a bad thing since Spike Lee hasn’t made a good movie since the early 90s.

What are your predictions concerning the movie?  Do you think it will be a Western or set in modern day?

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#GameOfThrones Author Wants To Kill You

Game of Thrones has become legendary for building up beloved characters, only to kill them off mercilessly, much to the shock and surprise of audiences.  Indeed, it can be rather traumatic to see such characters we’ve all grown to love and care about so viciously slaughtered.  But for TRUE fans, now is your opportunity to join Ned, Rob, Oberyn, and all the rest… for a modest fee, of course.

“Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin is offering just that chance to help raise money for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Fans who visit his page on celebrity fundraising site Prizeo can make a donation and be entered to win a trip for two to New Mexico where they’ll ride a helicopter tour the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary with Martin.

Donation levels range from $10 to $20,000 and the larger to gift the more opportunity there is to receive goodies. For example, $100 gets a donor a campaign T-shirt and a thank you video. $4,500 could yield a script of the first ever episode signed by the cast and crew and $7,500 snags a pair of tickets to the Season 5 premiere of the “Game of Thrones” television series.

But the biggest prize goes to the first fans with deep pockets to ante up.

For $20,000, one male and one female character will be named after the donor in a future novel with the author promising the character will “certainly meet a grisly death.”

If you have read his books or watched the show, you know he means it.

Man, oh man.  If I had $20k to burn, I’d totally do this.  To have a character based on me in my all time favorite book series, AND to have them meet a patented GRRM-style grizzly demise?  *NERDGASM*

I think its great George is doing this for charity, and it’s a fantastic opportunity for fans as well.  What would you want your character to be like?  And how would you want them to die?  Personally, I’d want to be some drunken Hedge Knight killed by one of Melissandra’s shadow babies!  How cool would that be?

How Would You Want To Be Killed Off In Game Of Thrones?

 

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Nightwing To Appear In Season 3 Of CW’s #ARROW?

It’s no secret that Arrow is one dang awesome show, and it has done an amazing job of taking elements of the larger DC Universe and incorporating them into its mythology.  Last season, we had prominent mentions of Bludhaven, which is the city Nightwing is based out of.  Surely Arrow fans remember Roy driving off there after his break-up with Thea only to be captured by Deathstroke so he could use his Mikarkuru-infected blood to create his army of super soliders?  Well, despite being just a tip of the hat to the larger DC Universe which takes place in Bludhaven, rumors are swirling that Season 3 may incorporate Nightwing himself into the mythos…

For the past few months, ever since rumors first surfaced of Nightwing making an appearance on CW’s Arrow series, Steven R McQueen of CW’s The Vampire Diaries has been giving subtle hints at already being cast in the role. Although it could be more wishful thinking from the actor’s perspective than anything concrete. In the past month however he has increased the ‘easter eggs’ on his Twitter account by retweeting Scott Snyder’s Batman quotes and images, and by uploading images of DC Comic book titles. The latest image that caught fans attention was when on June 5th, 2014 he uploaded an image of himself with Arrow’s lead actor Stephen Amell, at a LA Kings game with the subtitle “#arrow #nightwing #golakings”.

Again, this could be more wishful thinking by the young actor, as his schedule with The Vampire Diaries in New Orleans is quite overbooked as of yet. However, taking into consideration what had transpired in the season finale of Arrow, the concept of Nightwing coming to Starling City to face The League of Assassins and the return of Malcom Merilyn with Thea Queen has become a probable journey the writers could choose to take Oliver Queen in.

I would absolutely LOVE for this to be true, and there are a lot of elements to support it.  First of all, Batfleck in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is an “older Batman” more in the vein of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight.  If the TV and Movie universes are linked, then it stands to reason Dick Greyson would have existed and gone off to become Nightwing on his own by this point.  So the continuity fits for that type of cross-over.

Not only that, but the show teased the existence of another major Batverse character in Season 2, with that of Harley Quinn being in the “Suicide Squad” cells in ARGUS.  Though we never really saw her nor was there any reference made to her specifically, we did hear her distinctive voice.  When you factor that in with the existence of R’as al Ghul, you have two extremely prominent Batverse characters who exist in the Arrow universe.  Not only that, but Huntress is a big character in the Arrowverse as well.  So the Bat-family definitely has a presence on the TV side of the DC Comics universe.  So incorporating Nightwing into the mix wouldn’t be so far fetched.

Another advantage working in Nightwing’s favor is that the larger public may not be as familiar with him as they are with Robin, so that gives the show leeway to change his origins if necessary to separate him from Batman (or at least keep his association a secret) in the case that Warner Brothers decides not to link the TV and Movie aspects of their universe.  So Nightwing could conceivably exist in the Arrowverse without Batman.  I don’t know how well that would sit with fans, but considering the liberties Arrow has already taken with some of DC’s characters, fans would probably get used to it pretty quick.

What do you think?  Is there any substance to this rumor?  Do you think Nightwing will make an appearnace in S3?  If he does, my guess is he may tie in more with the Thea/Merlyn/Black Canary/League Of Assassins story that will be occurring more than he would dealing directly with Oliver and his gang.  Let me know what your theories are in the comments section!

Could Stephen R McQueen Be The New Nightwing On Arrow?

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Is AMC’s Better Call Saul In Trouble?

Breaking Bad was one of the best shows ever put on television.  So what’s the story with its spin-off, Better Call Saul?  Well, if The Hollywood Reporter is to be believed, it’s not going as smoothly as Vince Gilligan would like.

Last week, Vince Gilligan also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the show, and I’m sure that it was just production jitters and the fear of uncertainty, but he was not his usual optimistic self. Basically, he said that production is a week behind and that by the end of the week, it’d probably be two weeks behind, and that he didn’t know if Better Call Saul would end up being a success like the Cheers spin-off Frasier was, or if it’d bomb like After M*A*S*H.  (Or Friends spin-off Joey.  Just throwin’ that in there.)

“Honestly, I don’t know yet,” he said. “If it’s After M*A*SH rather than Frasier, it won’t be for lack of hard work and wishful thinking and a lot of smart people doing their best, but you just don’t know until the world takes it.” He also noted with honesty that “I am worried that … it may turn out that this was a mistake,” but, he said, there’s not enough time to fixate on that.

I gotta admit, I was kind-of wary when I heard the initial plans for the spin-off.  I love Bob Odenkirk (in a heterosexual life-mate type of way), and he was brilliant as the smarmy lawyer Saul in Breaking Bad, but I still haven’t been able to completely wrap my head around this series.  At first, it was going to be a half-hour dark comedy.  Then it turned into an hour-long dramedy.  But honestly, I’d like to see it be more of a drama, much like Breaking Bad was.  I think Gilligan is nervous about expectations for the show following the brilliance of Breaking Bad, and those jitters are probably justified, as this show has a big legacy to live up to.  Hopefully the show can find its stride and differentiate itself from what came before it.  I’m holding out hope that the creative team behind the show knows what they’re doing and will deliver a fantastic hour of television every week, despite the production delays they’re currently facing.

I’m sure AMC hopes this too, as they seem to be struggling as of late.

So what do we currently know about the Saul series?  Well, first off, we do know that Jonathan Banks will be a series regular, along with Michael McKean. Somewhat familiar actors Patrick Fabian (The Last Exorcism) and Rhea Seehorn (Franklin & Bash) will play attorneys, and Michael Mando have also has joined the cast as a career criminal. Twin skateboarders, Zak and Luke, have yet to be cast. Aaron Paul has visited the writer’s room, and it’s likely that both he and Bryan Cranston will show up with background cameos at some point during the first season (while Dean Norris definitely will not).

But beyond that, details of the series’ plot is pretty think.  I’m guessing it has to do with Saul getting involved with criminal hijinks, and hilarity ensues?  One can hope, yeah?

What do you think?  Are you looking forward to Better Call Saul?  Will it be able to live up to Breaking Bad?

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The New Hercules Trailer Is Great (In The Worst Way Possible)

So, I’m going to forget the Renny Harlan version of Hercules starring Kellan Lutz just never happened.  (Really, its not that hard to do.)  Well, the second offering of the demigod is coming, and this version looks much better, though I’m still not terribly optimistic about it.

I’ve been a fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson since his early WWE days (back when it was still called WWF!  Old skool represent!!!).  I remember his rivalry as Stone Cold Steve Austin’s nemesis.  No one played a better heel than The Rock, and his transformation from bad guy to good guy was hugely entertaining.  Unfortunately, his movie career hasn’t been as consistent as his wrestling career.  He’s been in some great movies, but he’s also been in some stinkers.  However, the one consistent thing you can say is that he, personally, is good in pretty much everything he does.

Especially when he does comedy.

So how will this mixed-race actor fare as the greatest Greek hero in all of mythology?  Well, he’s certainly got the body for the part.  And to his credit, he doesn’t look ridiculous wearing a lion head as a hood.  However, Brett Ratner is directing this film, and well… he’s about one step up from Uwe Boll in my book of terrible filmmakers.  I’m guessing the movie will be decent, but I can’t see it breaking any box office records.

In my opinion, The Rock should be as big as Schwartzeneggar was in the 80′s by now, but his star has yet to rise that high, mostly from his choice of movie roles.  This guy needs his “Die Hard” to really bust out and become a force to recon with.  I kinda doubt this Hercules movie will be the thing that does it.

What do you think?  Are you looking forward to Hercules?  Or does it look like someone should unleash a huge steaming pile of Kraken on it?

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How Will The Flash Crossover With CW’s Arrow?

IGN has a really great interview with Grant Gustin, the current fastest man alive, that really gives some great details about the upcoming The Flash series on the CW.  Not that this is surprising, but according to Gustin, we can expect some crossover between Arrow season 3 and The Flash TV series.

Grant Gustin expects that we’ll see the worlds of The Flash TV series and Arrow collide at some point during the 2014-2015 TV season. Whether this is just in the form of characters making guest appearances (the most likely scenario), or an actual multi-part story that could span both shows (most likely during mid-season and the season finales), remains to be seen.

“I don’t know which characters,” Gustin told IGN, “but there are going to be crossovers for sure between the two shows. I don’t know who it’s going to be, but yes, that’s gonna happen.”

We’ve already seen that Oliver Queen makes an appearance in his superheroic identity in footage from The Flash pilot from the awesome extended trailer, but clearly that won’t be the end of it. For starters, I think it’s fairly likely that we’ll see Felicity Smoak appear at some point on The Flash, given her romantic feelings for Barry Allen (and let’s face it, Oliver is being kinda lax pursuing that sweet little honey pot of smexy)(smexy=smart and sexy, for those of you not hip to my jive).  But if my theories on Arrow Season 3 are at all accurate, then I get the feeling that there will be a great deal of synergy and cross-over between the two shows, especially considering they are being produced by the same people, which should make overseeing the storyline easier.  My best guess is that HIVE will be a big-bad in both series, which will tie the stories together.

If you haven’t already checked out Grant Gustin talking about The Flash TV series over at IGN, be sure to do so.  It’s worth watching, especially for fans of the character.

How do you think The Flash will cross over with Arrow?  And what would you like to see happen?

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Is HBO’s Game of Thrones Ruining The Books?

You know, I have no respect for all these “Johnny Come Latelies” who became Game of Thrones fans because of the HBO show.  I’ve been a die-hard fan of this series since 2000, before it was it was a pop culture juggernaut.  I know what it truly means to be a REAL fan of A Song of Ice & Fire:  Suffering.  Seeing beloved characters die in horrific ways.  Waiting years, and years, and YEARS to find out what happens next.  Patiently reading Martin’s blog, wading through post after post about football and the Jean Cocteau Theater and other such nonsense, hoping beyond hope the guy is actually getting stuff done so I can find out what is going to happen with my favorite characters.

Being a writer myself, I can totally sympathize with the guy.  I know how hard it can be to write a book, especially one that is as epic as what George R.R. Martin has created.  After all, it took me 4 years to write Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet, and that was after spending about 6 years mulling it over off-and-on.  Of course, I wasn’t a professional author who made a living off his books either, I was just doing it in my spare time.  Martin churned out a Song of Ice & Fire book every 2 years until Storm of Swords, when he hit a rough patch.  A Feast For Crows took him 5 long years to write, and then A Dance With Dragons took ANOTHER five years.  Martin said the story just got too big and he had trouble figuring out how to get all his characters to where they needed to be (a.k.a. the dreaded “Meeraneese Knot.”).  When Dance With Dragons was finally released, there was hope that the 6th book, The Winds of Winter, would come out quicker than its predecessors, especially since Martin proudly announced he’d figured out most of what had been vexing him in terms of his plot.

However, we’re going on year 3, and still no word on when Winter is Coming.  (See what I did thar?  Damn, I’m smart!)  This wouldn’t be a big deal, at least not for book fans, if it wasn’t for this dang HBO show.  Already, the show has caught up with the books on many fronts in its fourth season, which means that season 5 will likely start getting AHEAD of the books and spoiling revelations for book readers.  And in some cases, its even gone outside of the books and spoiled some things we hadn’t previously known.  Check out this tidbit from MTV about that:

There are millions of dollars invested in the series. There are thousands of jobs on the line. There are countless fans who have been dazzled and wowed by the world of Westeros as rendered by HBO. These things can’t be at the mercy of Martin’s deliberate pace. They have to be at the mercy of Benioff and Weiss, the creatives at the helm of the HBO series.

“Game of Thrones” is its own beast now. Even if it’s always tied to “Ice and Fire,” even if they always share DNA, they are two separate properties. There are already significant differences between the two stories: Characters who die or exist on “Thrones” that don’t die or exist in “Ice and Fire,” and story lines that are accelerated or wiped off the board entirely.

The White Walker ending of “Oathkeeper” is the best example. This is a scene that does not even exist in “Ice and Fire.” It’s little more than a sneak peek at the threat beyond the Wall, but it’s much more than we’ve glimpsed in “Ice and Fire.” It’s more than Martin is ready to give us.

And that’s not to say that Martin can’t or shouldn’t tell his story at his own pace. He has to move at the speed that works for his creative process, and fans of his novels have to accept that. But “Thrones” can’t wait for him anymore.

As a fan of the series, this is getting disconcerting, because for at least 4 seasons, I got to watch the show with knowledge that nothing was going to be spoiled for me as a book fan.  However, the tables are now turning, and the show is outpacing the books, and there is nothing Martin is doing to stop it.  Even if Winter comes out next year (which, in all likelihood, it won’t), there’s no way he could get the final book out before season 6 of the show.  And now, rumor has it that book 7 might not be the final installment…

“I remember when he called me, years and years back, to confess that his little trilogy was…well…no longer a trilogy. He predicted four books. I said Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Then he said five books. I said Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Then he went to six. I said… Well, you get it. Finally, we were on the same page. Seven Books for Seven Kingdoms. Good. Only, as I recently learned while editing The World of Ice and Fire (another awesome thing you must buy when it comes out!), there are really technically eight kingdoms, all having to do with who has annexed what when Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros. So, maybe eight books for Seven Kingdoms would be okay.”

That was from Anne Groell, Martin’s editor.  Of course, that suggestion of an eighth book is pretty vague there and Groell went on to confirm that Martin is only under contract to write seven books. Then again, would his publishing company really say no if he decided he wanted to extend the series to eight? Yeah, I didn’t think so.  But that little bit of non-confirmation is just one piece of the “will he or won’t he” puzzle. Jane Johnson, Martin’s publisher in the UK was recently quoted as saying:

“I know there’s been some speculation that A Song of Ice and Fire may run to more than the seven books we currently have under contract, but in all honesty only George knows how many books there will be in the series and he’s not saying: indeed at this stage of the writing, with the many branching pathways of the characters’ stories still to intersect, he may not know. As an editor I can say that it feels as if there’s a lot to tie up in just two more novels – albeit very long novels – but if George continues to kill off characters in his usual ruthless fashion it could easily be over in the planned seven books!”

I personally didn’t see how Martin was going to wrap everything up in just 2 more books when I finished Dance With Dragons.  I’d always feared he might need 8 books to fully tell his story, which, if recent writing trends from the man continues, means 15 more years of waiting to finish the saga.  And let’s face it, Martin ain’t getting any younger (or thinner).  He is, though, getting richer, so you’d think he’d want to crank these puppies out so he can focus on his other interests without the ire of fans hounding him constantly.  I know writing is a creative process, and it can take time to do (and even more time to do well), but Martin’s pace always seems to be interrupted by him traveling or working on other projects.  I don’t think its unreasonable to ask him to focus on A Song of Ice & Fire until he’s able to complete the series.  That’s not trying to make him anyone’s b**ch, that’s just common courtesy for fans.  If J.K. Rowling had done this type of thing with Harry Potter, we’d never hear the end of it.

I’m getting to the point now where I may have to stop watching the HBO show because I don’t want the books to be spoiled for me.  Bennioff and Weiss have done a fairly good job of sticking to the books so far, but they’ve also made some extremely questionable alterations.  However, they know what Martin has planned, so they are most likely going to roughly stick to his outline as the show progresses, and the books may even be influenced by the show going forward.  This is really disconcerting to me, because as enjoyable as the show is, it can’t really compare to the awesomeness of the books.  And if Martin should need to extend the books to 8, and everyone already knows how the series ends because the TV show outpaced it, will people even bother reading the remaining volumes?

It a sad, disconcerting situation, my friends.  In some way I envy the TV-fans who’ve never read the books.  Because for us die-hard lovers of the books, winter is coming, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

What do you think?  What will you do if the show outpaces the books?  Maybe we could all get together and hug each other as we weep, with Martin laughing maniacally at our collective tears.

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Time Lapse Trailer: A Camera That Photographs The Future

So this movie has a pretty interesting premise.  3 friends find a camera that can capture a picture 24 hours into the future, giving one insights into what lies in store for them tomorrow.  What would you do with such a device?  Well, the characters in this movie appear to use it to get rich making bets, and then get into a lot of trouble because of it.  It almost seems like a cross between Primer and Limitless.

The film just appeared at the Seattle International Film Festival, where it got pretty upbeat reviews. What do you guys think?  Does it look any good?  I kinda want to see it.

 

 

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How Gotham City Was Created

 

You know, there are some things us Batman fans take for granted.  Little details that some people spend a ton of time and energy on to help build the fantasy worlds we escape to.  With the success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and the upcoming Gotham TV show which is based on the city Batman has sworn to protect, I think its interesting to look back and see how this city was actually created.  And oddly enough, The Smithsonian has an entire article devoted to the cartographical creation of Gotham City which is, quite frankly, fascinating.

Did you know that though the city itself existed in comic book lore since 1940,Gotham City’s limits were not actually defined until 1998 in preparation for the “No Man’s Land Story” story arc, during which the city was cut off from the United States after nearly being destroyed by a cataclysmic earthquake? It was the comic book version of Escape from New York. Essentially, Gotham becomes a disaster zone where Blackgate prisoners run rampant and the city is quarantined by the government, leaving it to fend for itself (Dark Knight Rises fans might be familiar with this scenario).  Essentially, Batman become the only force for law and order as criminals unite into rival gangs and fight for territory.  It was a broad story arc that covered all of Batman’s titles and had long-lasting effects for the DC Universe at large – not the least of which was Lex Luthor coming in to save the day, ironically.

However, before DC Comics could destroy Gotham City, there had to be a Gotham City to destroy.  This led to the creation of the first actual map of Gotham:

In the early days of comics, cities weren’t much more than rooftop set pieces and vaguely defined skylines, and Batman was ostensibly fighting crime in a generic city with a vague resemblance to New York, but, as Finger has said, “We didn’t call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it.” However, since its inception Gotham has gained an identity as complex and unique as any real American metropolis and is now more closely associated with a single character than any other city in comics. Capital-M Metropolis comes close perhaps, but Superman’s city is nowhere near as interesting as Gotham, in part because Gotham has something that makes it more fully realized and more consistent in its representation than any other fictional city in comics or film: a map.

Gotham City limits were defined in 1998 in preparation for the “No Man’s Land Story” story arc, during which the city was cut off from the United States after nearly being destroyed by a cataclysmic earthquake. It was the comic book version of Escape from New York. However, before DC Comics could destroy Gotham City, there had to be a Gotham City to destroy. Enter artist and illustrator Eliot R. Brown, the cartographer of Gotham.

Brown has no formal training in cartography, but he did study architecture and had previously worked as a technical artist for Marvel Comics, where, as he told me, he was the closest thing they had to an “in-house architect and architectural renderer (and weapons designer and aerospace engineer).” He dreamt up and drew tech specs for Punisher’s weapons, Captain America’s experimental jet, and Iron Man’s armor, and the occasional superhero headquarters. But in 1998 when Brown was contacted by Denny O’Neil, a legendary comics writer and long-time Batman editor, he was faced with an even bigger request: design one of the most iconic cities in comics history. O’Neil wanted a map of Gotham as part of an in-house “bible” to help coordinate the various comics that would be affected by the earthquake. The first step for Brown was to meet with the writers and artists who shared their wish-lists for Gotham locales. As he recalls:

“The DC Comics editors made it clear that Gotham City was an idealized version of Manhattan. Like most comic book constructs, it had to do a lot of things. It needed sophistication and a seamy side. A business district and fine residences. Entertainment, meat packing, garment district, docks and their dockside business. In short all of Manhattan and Brooklyn stuffed into a … well, a nice page layout.”

It really is a fascinating article, especially if you’re a hard-core Batman fan.  Christopher Nolan actually used this map to help design his Batman movies.  I’d encourage you to check out the whole thing.  I found the article quite enlightening.

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Doctor Strange Gets A Director & Possible Star?

Nerds of the world, rejoice!  For Marvel has announced the man who will be helming the new Dr. Strange movie!

Variety is reporting tonight that Scott Derrickson, director of the film Sinister, is close to signing a deal to direct a film based on a character they hope will be their next, big franchise player, Doctor Strange. In the comics Strange is an accomplished surgeon who’s hands are ruined in an accident. Desperate to get back on top of his game, he seeks out unconventional options, like magic, to regain his prowess. Instead he gets a new job, learning from the Ancient One he becomes Master of the Mystic Arts, the Sorcerer Supreme, protector of our reality from all forms of supernatural threat.

As for Derrickson’s resume, he enjoyed success co-writing and directing the horror hit Sinister as well as directing The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. His next film is the highly anticipated true-horror flick Deliver Us From Evil starring Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez, two guys who, if you can believe it, are now being associated with the title role in Doctor Strange. Might be a little awkward for Bana considering he was Bruce Banner in Ang Lee’s Hulk, but if Ray Stevenson can trade in Punisher for Volstagg, I guess anything is possible.  Anyway, according to Derrickson’s twitter account, it seems like a done deal:

My next movie will be STRANGE: pic.twitter.com/5pdbO6Op6j

— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) June 3, 2014

Marvel has been trying to get a Dr. Strange movie together for a while now, and it looks like he’ll be playing an important role in phase three of their cinematic universe.  I also think the hiring of a “horror director” says quite a bit about what direction they want to take the film in.  I’m guessing it will be very much like DC’s Constantine, with spooky otherworldly powers the good Doctor will have to fight against.

There’s not word yet on a screenplay, although several screenwriters have been toiling on one, or of a release date, although Marvel’s got some prime real estate on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 calendars staked out, but if they sign Derrickson in the short term look for developments to start moving very, very quickly.

But that’s not all.  Bleeding Cool is reporting that Jared Leto may be the front-runner to play Doctor Strange.  However, they also mention that the shortlist contains Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen, Johnny Depp, and Joseph-Gordon Levitt.  Though I love Mads, I think his accent would be tough for people to take.  The best option, at least to me, would be Johnny Depp.  Could you see him in a crossover with Robert Downy Jr.’s Tony Stark?  The level of geek-out there would be insane.

What do you think?  Are you excited to see a Doctor Strange movie?  Who would you cast to play him?  My vote:  Liam Neeson!

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