Today’s Week in Review takes us to the highly probable rumor mill and some potentially sensational casting.
First up, The Daily Mail is reporting that Christoph Waltz is on board to be the villain in the still untitled, Sam Mendes-helmed Bond 24. The Daily Mail was also the source behind other potential Bond news regarding Lea Seydoux, potentially the next Bond girl or “femme fatale.” And although it would seem obvious that Waltz would be playing the villain, even that seems ambiguous. “It’s not immediately evident whether the part’s friend, or foe, or a bit of both,” said one of the Mail’s anonymous sources. Still though, if you’re going to cast Anton Chigurh in your previous Bond movie, the next logical step is to cast Hans Landa, right?
The next concerns the potential full cast of Suicide Squad, the DC movie full of a team of super villains. The casting here could be a big indicator for other movies still to come in DC’s own cinematic universe. But regardless, the David Ayer led project is attracting some high profile candidates, even if Warner Bros. isn’t ready to show their hand. Here’s the rumored full cast:
- Will Smith as Digger Harkness aka Captain Boomerang (really? Someone called “Captain Boomerang?” Sounds terrifying)
- Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg (wait, wasn’t he already Bane? How can they do that? Oh well.)
- Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (Leo’s often naked wife in The Wolf of Wall Street)
- Jared Leto as The Joker (this, I like)
- Jai Courtney as Deadshot (as if Courtney doesn’t have enough mid-level franchises to deal with, from Divergent to Die Hard to Jack Reacher to Terminator)
Variety is reporting that all of the above are in various stages of negotiation, but Deadline is refuting that slightly by suggesting that Courtney may really be up for a future DC project up through 2020. The Dissolve also points out that Jesse Eisenberg is likely to show up as Lex Luthor following his role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Lastly, DC is also courting their director for Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot, Emmy-winning director of Breaking Bad Michelle MacLaren. Though Variety has no direct comment on the matter, that didn’t stop them from reporting it. MacLaren would be the first woman to direct a superhero movie since Lexi Alexander (Punisher: War Zone), however Alexander has made clear she wants no part of the Wonder Woman movie.
Benedict Cumberbatch is currently making the rounds for The Imitation Game, and someone at MTV asked him the obvious question that no one has yet thought of: Let’s play our own Imitation Game and make the Internet’s favorite person do impressions! Being who he is, he nails it, rattling off 11 in the course of a minute. Most impressive has got to be his Tom Hiddleston, right? Although, I don’t know if he can hold a candle to Kevin Spacey.
Chris Pratt has reportedly passed on the role of Nathan Drake in Sony’s Uncharted movie, an adaptation of the popular video game series for the PS3. Pratt and his charming action hero personality would’ve been a shoo-in, but he’s likely a bit too busy at the moment with two franchises under his belt already. Though Uncharted has Indiana Jones remake written all over it, it is still a video game adaptation, and it’s no wonder the project has been troubled. David O. Russell and Neil Burger were each at on point attached to direct, with the equally plausible names of Bradley Cooper and Mark Wahlberg being thrown around as potential stars. What’s more, the script has also changed hands numerous times, with the latest being the peculiar addition of The Hurt Locker‘s Mark Boal. Now Uncharted has finally settled into Seth Gordon’s hands (The King of Kong, Identity Thief), and the film is still shooting for a June 2016 release date. In other news, Nathan Fillion has still not been cast as Nathan Drake.
