1.) Skyfall hits theaters in the UK and other parts of Europe today and as it does so, news that John Logan will return to pen the 24th installment in the James Bond franchise has arrived following a flurry of rumors that Bond producers had been speaking to Idris Elba about taking over the lead role in future Bond films. Of course, Daniel Craig has signed a contract for two more Bond films beyond Skyfall, so those rumors are a bit premature.
As for the Logan news, he will be tackling this one solo as Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who had a part in writing the last five Bond films with Logan rewriting their script for Skyfall. I expect the 24th Bond film will eye a release some time in 2014. [Daily Mail]
2.) Wally Pfister will be making his directorial debut with Transcendence and he’s already lining up Johnny Depp as one of the film’s three leads. No, a new report says he’s after the man he lensed for three straight Batman films, Christian Bale, to join the cast. The film will begin shooting in early 2013 in Los Angeles for what is expected to be a 2014 release through Warner Bros. [Los Angeles Times]
3.) Matthew Vaughn will not return to direct the sequel to X-Men: First Class for 20th Century Fox, opting to do another film for the studio rumored to be the drama Secret Service, an adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book series that Vaughn has been working on with the author.
As for the X-Men feature, titled X-Men: Days of Future Past, word is Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United) may direct while Vaughn would remain on as producer. Singer has been involved writing the treatment for the sequel with a screenplay from Simon Kinberg so it doesn’t sound too far fetched. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence are expected to return for the film, which has long been thought it would begin filming early 2013 for a planned July 18, 2014 release. [Deadline]
4.) Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut) is set to direct Mercy, a fantasy-horror movie based on Stephen King’s short story “Gramma,” published as part of his 1985 collection “Skeleton Crew,” for Universal Picturew from a script by Matt Greenberg (1408). The story follows two young boys who go with their single mother (Frances O’Connor) to take care of their elderly, senile grandmother named Mercy, only to discover that she’s a witch who made a pact with a dark force many years before. Jason Blum’s red-hot Blumhouse Prods. is involved and considering the recent success of films such as Paranormal Activity 4, Sinister and Blum’s involvement in Insidious, I’d say that’s a good sign. [Variety]
5.) Adam Sandler‘s next film will likely be the comedic Western Ridiculous 6, which has just moved from Sony Pictures to Paramount Pictures as Sony is operating under financial constraints for months to come and the studio has been forced to redo deals with its major producers. There are no official plot details as of yet, but based on the title I assume we can expect a farcical take on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, which then led to The Magnificent Seven. The project is aiming for a spring 2013 start for an early 2014 release. [THR]
