First Look At Benedict Cumberbatch As Richard III In The Hollow Crown

And Sherlock's Andrew Scott will be King Louis in Henry VI Part 2

Now is the winter of our Benedict content, made glorious summer by this new look at Sir Cumber of Batch playing Richard III as part of the new cycle of the Beeb’s The Hollow Crown. For this second set of Shakespeare adaptations – subtitled The Wars Of The Roses – we’ll see Richard’s tale plus the two parts of Henry VI.

And in addition to Cumberbatch, the cast for this new set of films features a typically rich assortment of talent including Judi Dench, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Keeley Hawes and Tom Sturridge, Michael Gambon, Philip Glenister, Andrew Scott, Jason Watkins, Samuel West, Stanley Townsend, Adrian Dunbar, Geoffrey Streatfield, Ben Daniels, Ben Miles, Sam Troughton, Stuart McQuarrie, Anton Lesser, Kyle Soller, Phoebe Fox, James Fleet and Lucy Robinson. That’s quite a gathering of Equity, right there. And yes, it means that with Scott’s inclusion, Moriarty is also getting in on the Shakespeare action, albeit in Henry VI Part 2.

“After the critical and popular success of the first part of The Hollow Crown – and seven years after we very first suggested the idea to the BBC – I am delighted to announce the start of principal photography on the second half of this magnificent epic story,” says executive producer Sam Mendes in a statement. “Yet again we have assembled an amazing cast - under the direction of the hugely talented Dominic Cooke. I'm very excited indeed to see them all bring the rest of this astonishing story to life.” There’s no announced airdate for the new stories yet, but given that they’ve only just started filming, we’ll have to wait a while.

from Empire News

Miles Teller Talks Fantastic Four

'The tone of this film is completely different from the last one'

Miles Teller has said one or two things lately that have probably caused classic comedy spit-takes from his agent and anyone involved in Divergent - frankly, we hope he never changes – but his latest quotes have been on the more diplomatic variety. The actor has been sharing some pointers on Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot, namely that it will be “different in every way” from the ill-starred 2005 and 2007 versions.

"The tone of this film is completely different,” stresses the new Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic to Vulture when comparing this Fantastic Four to its 2005 version and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer. “I think that [a more grounded approach] is what people are into. You're dealing with these characters, but you're making them real people in how they exist day-to-day. People wanted it to be taken more seriously than the kind of Dick Tracy, kitschy, overly comic-book world.” There will be no “Michael Chiklis in a big Styrofoam thing”, Teller says.

“It's a big summer,” he points out of the superhero superhighway that is summer 2015. “There's a tonne of movies out there, so if people have an appetite for it, they'll see a couple, and if not, maybe they'll just see one.” Fantastic Four will vie with some big tentpoles for that audience; its opening weekend sets it against only Magic Mike 2, a comparative minnow in that pond, albeit a minnow with a six-pack, but Ant-Man, Terminator: Genisys and Jurassic World will all arrive in multiplexes within a month of its release.

For more on Miles Teller, head to Empire’s Stars of the Future gallery. For more on Fantastic Four, check out what Simon Kinberg has to say about his script for a blockbuster that also features Jamie Bell, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Toby Kebbell right here.

from Empire News

There's A Tetris Movie In The Works

We're not kidding

The list of crazy notions we can crack wise about when a new brand-mining film is announced grows shorter with every day. Add to the roster Tetris, which is now kicking off a journey to the big screen via Threshold Entertainment.

Yes, the game first unleashed upon the world in 1984 by Soviet game-designer Alexey Pajitnov and perhaps made most famous by Nintendo’s Game Boy, is looking to become the next potential block-buster. (Sorry).

It sounds a little ridiculous given the seemingly limited narrative opportunities – and the fact it has been spoofed more than once. Yet CEO Larry Kasanoff tells the Wall Street Journal that his company has big plans for the idea, including a story in place that has yet to be revealed. “This isn’t a movie with a bunch of lines running around the page,” he says. “We’re not giving feet to the geometric shapes.”

And his ambitions are bigger than one film. “Brands are the new stars of Hollywood,” he says. “We have a story behind Tetris which makes it a much more imaginative thing. We certainly have the canvas for location-based entertainment based on the epicness.”

Tetris: The Theme Park, anyone? There are no studios, writers or directors attached yet, so we’ll see if this becomes the next Lego Movie or labours in limbo alongside Asteroids. All involved will no doubt be hoping that Adam Sandler's latest, Pixels, gets the nostalgia juices flowing ready for this one.

Oh, and EARWORM.

from Empire News

David Fincher Will Direct The Full First Season Of HBO's Utopia

He'll be busy next year...

Out and about plugging his latest film, Gone Girl, David Fincher has also been talking about his plans – announced earlier this year – to produce a US adaptation of Channel 4’s conspiracy series Utopia. It now emerges that he’ll be even more involved than we thought, because he’s aiming to direct all the episodes of the HBO version’s first season.

Utopia, in case you didn’t see the Channel 4 original, set things in motion with the discovery of a manuscript for a legendary graphic novel known as The Utopia Experiments, long shrouded in mystery. When a small group of previously unconnected people unite in their shared interest, things take a much darker turn.

It turns out that they are by no means the only ones interested in the manuscript. Targeted swiftly and relentlessly by a murderous organisation known as The Network, the terrified group are left with only one option if they want to survive: run.

“I like the characters – I love Dennis Kelly’s honesty and affinity for the nerds,” Fincher tells The Guardian. “I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a junior conspiracy theorist ‘cos I don’t have time to connect them all! But it’s nice to see that somebody has.”

Unlike House Of Cards, where he shot the first two episodes, established the series’ look and then handed off the job to other directors, he’s going to replicate Cary Fukunaga’s True Detective trick and shoot all of Utopia’s initial run across 2015, working from a script by Gone Girl novelist (and screenwriter) Gillian Flynn. Gone Girl itself lands on Friday.

from Empire News

Big Headed For TV

Rush Hour will also become a show

Well-known movie titles spawning TV series have clearly become a big thing across the pond. On the heels of Fargo’s success comes news that not one but two films will be reborn on the small screen. First up: word of a show based on the 1988 Tom Hanks comedy Big .

The original finds Hanks as Josh, a lad who just wishes he could grow up faster. He makes a wish at a Zoltar sideshow machine and he’s soon dealing with being a boy in a grown man’s body. Cue giant piano floors and funny feelings about ladies.

Quite how the film will be converted for TV remains to be seen, though according to Deadline, “the series will be loosely based on the movie and will explore what it means to be an adult, what it means to be a kid, and how in today’s world those two things are more confused than ever.” And it’s in the hands of people who know how to create entertaining blends of comedy and emotion, since the show will come from Kevin Biegel and Mike Royce, who last brought the late, lamented sitcom Enlisted to screens across the pond.

In related TV news – partly related because it’ll be co-created by Bill Lawrence, Biegel’s old Scrubs/Cougar Town boss – Warner Bros. TV is looking to turn Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour films into a series.

Lawrence will work with Blake McCormick (another Cougar Town veteran) to write a series that takes the basic concept from the films – a by-the-book Hong Kong police officer is assigned to follow a case in Los Angeles, where he reluctantly joins forces with a cocky, talkative black LAPD officer. Can the concept work on a weekly basis? We may find out next year…

from Empire News

Tetris Movie In The Works

We're not kidding

The list of seemingly silly titles we can crack wise about when a new brand-mining film is announced grows shorter with every day. Add to the roster Tetris, which is now kicking off a journey to the big screen via Threshold Entertainment.

Yes, the game first unleashed upon the world in 1984 by Soviet game-designer Alexey Pajitnov and perhaps made most famous by Nintendo’s Game Boy, is looking to become the next potential block-buster. (Sorry).

It sounds a little ridiculous given the seemingly limited narrative opportunities – and the fact it has been spoofed more than once. Yet CEO Larry Kasanoff tells the Wall Street Journal that his company has big plans for the idea, including a story in place that has yet to be revealed. “This isn’t a movie with a bunch of lines running around the page,” he says. “We’re not giving feet to the geometric shapes.”

And his ambitions are bigger than one film. “Brands are the new stars of Hollywood,” he says. “We have a story behind Tetris which makes it a much more imaginative thing. We certainly have the canvas for location-based entertainment based on the epicness.” Tetris: The Theme Park, anyone? There are no studios, writers or directors attached yet, so we’ll see if this becomes the next Lego Movie or labours in limbo alongside Asteroids. All involved will no doubt be hoping that Adam Sandler's latest, Pixels, gets the nostalgia juices flowing ready for this one.

Oh, and EARWORM.

from Empire News

Alec Baldwin And Kevin Spacey Set For Boss Baby

From DreamWorks Animation

DreamWorks Animation has been suffering a little of late, with more misses than hits. It’ll no doubt be hoping for better things from one of its more reliable talents, Madagascar co-director Tom McGrath with Boss Baby, which now boasts the vocal chops of Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey.

With Austin Powers co-writer Michael McCullers loosely adapting Maria Frazzee’s picture book, Boss Baby finds a seven-year-old boy becoming jealous of the attention lavished upon his smart-talking, briefcase-sporting baby brother (Baldwin).

Looking to win back his parents’ affection, the older discovers a secret plot by the CEO of Puppy Co. (Spacey) that threatens to destroy the balance of love in the world. It turns out that the brash baby executive that has finagled his way into the family like a cuckoo is the focus of the plan – and the brothers will have to work together to stop the scheme and prove love is an infinite force.

McGrath is directing alone this time, aiming at a March 18, 2016 release in the States.

from Empire News