Friday Five / Movies

Friday Five: Scarlett Johansson Offered ‘Ghost in the Shell,’ New Bond & ‘Pirates’ Villains

Another Friday is here and it’s time to take a look at the biggest news coming out of the entertainment industry this week. You can read up on the DC Comics/WB and Marvel/Captain America posts by clicking on those rinks. The J.K. Rowling/Fantastic Beasts post is here.

Ok, enough back-linking. Let’s get into the other big news from this week.

Guillermo del Toro Says ‘Pacific Rim 2’ Will Lead to Third Movie

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Fans have been wondering if and when a sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 rock ’em, sock ’em Evangelion rip-off movie, Pacific Rim would arrive on the big screen and what it might be about. This week, de Toro revealed that the sequel will lead into a third movie. Congrats, another franchise has been born. Del Toro tells Collider that “the direction we’re going in is very different from the first. Some of your favorite characters come back, some others don’t because we have decided that we’re going to shoot ambitiously and say, ‘Let’s hope we have three movies.'”

Scarlett Johansson Offered Role in ‘Ghost in the Shell’

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Although Wolf of Wall Street star Margot Robbie was reportedly up for the role earlier this year, Deadline says that Scarlett Johansson has been offered the leading role in a live-action adaptation of the popular manga Ghost in the Shell. Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders will direct the film. I personally think it’s unlikely that Johansson takes on the role given her busy schedule in 2015 which includes the Avengers sequel and The Jungle Book remake, not to mention her duties as mom to her newborn.

Javier Bardem Up For ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Villain Role

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Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow may have found his new foe. The Wrap reported earlier this week that Javier Bardem is in talks to play Captain Brand, the main antagonist in Pirates of the Caribbean 5. The film, which is set to begin filming in Queensland, Australia next year for a July 7, 2017 release  would not be Bardem’s first villainous role. He went toe-to-toe with James Bond in Skyfall and took home an Oscar for this portrayal in No Country for Old Men.

Dave Bautista To Play Villain in ‘James Bond 24’

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Fresh off his star-making performance as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, word broke out this week that Dave Bautista has been cast as the lead villain in James Bond 24.  The role is reportedly planned to be “an iconic henchman” in the vein of Oddjob and Jaws. The 24th Bond movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 6, 2015.

New ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’ Trailer Arrives

It is going to be one of the biggest movies of the year (if not the biggest) and we’ve got a new trailer this week for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 to help pass the time before Katniss and company return to theaters. The latest trailer is set to Lorde’s Yellow Flicker Beat.

New movies in theaters this week include Brad Pitt in Fury, the poorly marketed The Book of Life and the critically panned The Best of Me. Also in theaters in limited release is the excellent Birdman starring Michael Keaton. New DVDs/BluRays out this Tuesday include The Purge: Anarchy, Earth to Echo, Sex Tape, Snowpiercer and The Fluffy Movie.

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