1.) Director Matt Reeves is reteaming with his Let Me In star Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) as he will join the cast of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Smit-McPhee will co-star alongside Jason Clarke, though their characters have yet to be revealed. The story will focus on a group of human scientists struggling to survive alone in San Francisco, while Caesar (Andy Serkis) attempts to maintain dominance over the newly formed ape kingdom. The film is currently targeting a spring shoot for its May 23, 2014 release. [Deadline]
2.) Matthew Vaughn, director of X-Men: First Class, will apparently produce the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, helmed by Josh Trank (Chronicle). The news came as Mark Miller, who was brought in by Fox to oversee its Marvel properties, tweeted, “Just off the phone with Fox and some excellent news — Matthew Vaughn is producing Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot!”
3.) Keeping on the superhero front, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was discussing the upcoming sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Variety, responding to the current trend in superhero movies, “If it is a fad, it’s one that lasts 30 to 40 years, as the Western did, because each one is so different. There’s an opportunity to graft almost sub-genres onto them… Our first Captain America film was a World War II picture, and the next is a political thriller. They all have their own textures and patinas, and that’s what is exciting about it.” If comic book movies are a fad, it sure is a lengthy and increasingly popular one.
4.) There has always been talk of a potential sequel to the Tom Cruise starrer Jack Reacher, but after it didn’t exactly blow the doors off stateside, those talks cooled. However, on a $60 million budget and pulling in $80 million domestically and another $125 million internationally, you damn well better reconsider revisiting the character. Word is that’s exactly what they are doing and with 19 Reacher novels to choose from, written by Lee Child, there are plenty of directions the character could go. Now find a screenwriter for hire. [Deadline]
5.) Hot off winning an Oscar for her role in Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway is ready for more singing. She joins the cast of Song One for writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland, who reportedly wrote the role specifically for Hathaway who will play an archaeologist who falls for a rock star (British singer-actor Johnny Flynn), whom she meets upon returning to the US from a dig in Morocco, when her brother is injured. It will shoot on locations in the US in the autumn. [The Daily Mail]
