What Has Been Long Rumored Is Now Official: Rachel McAdams Is Your ‘Doctor Strange Female Lead
She confirmed the casting in a conversation with The Wrap, after months of rumors that she would be joining star Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Scott Derrickson is directing the comic book movie, which is slated to start shooting in November. Disney will release the film on Nov. 4, 2016. (TW)
Scratch Oliver Stone’s ‘Snowden’ From Your 2015 Oscar Pools, as the Film Moves To 2016
Once scheduled for Christmas Day, the film, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage, Timothy Olyphant, Zachary Quinto and Keith Stanfield, is now moving to an unspecified berth sometime next year because it’s the film isn’t finished yet. Movie chronicles the experiences of Snowden (Gordon-Levitt), the whistleblowing National Security Agency contractor who started leaking classified documents in 2013. (EMP)
‘In Bruges’ Helmer Martin McDonagh Nabs an Oscar Winner To Star In His Next Film
Frances McDorman is set to star in the film, tentatively titled Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. According to the director, whose last film was Seven Psychopaths, the movie is “about a 50-year-old woman whose daughter is murdered and she goes to war with the police in her home town, because she thinks they are more interested in torturing black people than getting justice.” He is on track to shoot the film in 2016. (COL)
Netflix Might Not Like the Idea of Offline Viewing, but It Appears Epix Is Keen On the Idea
The premium cable network later this month will let subscribers watch movies on mobile devices when they’re not connected to the Internet — a feature subscription VOD leader Netflix has said it will never offer. The move by Epix, a joint venture of Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM, comes as its licensing pact with Netflix is set to expire at the end of the month. Epix reached a deal with Hulu that commences Oct. 1, and renewed its pact with Amazon Prime earlier this year. (VAR)
Today In Remake News: Disney Hires Rob Marshall To Direct the Re-Do Of ‘Mary Poppins’
Studio is developing a new story featuring the magical nanny created by P.L. Travers, with Chicago and Into The Woods helmer Rob Marshall set to direct, and his producers on the latter project, John DeLuca and Marc Platt, backing him. Life Of Pi writer David Magee will pen the script, and Hairspray’s Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will write songs for the project, which would be set in London in the 1930s, and pick up further adventures with the Banks family. (TP)
Fox’s Rob Lowe Series ‘The Grinder’ Finally Gets Itself a New Showrunner
Following a prolonged deal-making process, The Comedians boss Ben Wexler has been tapped to take over the upcoming freshman comedy. The move is part of a larger overall deal with producers 20th Century Fox Television that will also see comedy veteran Wexler develop new projects for the studio. He replaces Greg Malins, who exited the series in August following creative differences. (TLF)
H.G. Wells and Jack the Ripper Story ‘Time After Time’ Will Now Be an ABC Series
Based on the 1979 novel by Karl Alexander, story follows science fiction author Wells inventing a time machine, which throws him into the far future of 1979 in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. The material was first adapted as a 1979 film directed by Nicholas Meyer, with Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen in the cast. The two efforts are inspiring a series from writer Kevin Williamson, and ABC has bought the project. (SF)
No Donald Trump? No Problem For ‘Celebrity Apprentice’, Which Corrals Arnold Schwarzenegger, Instead
The former California governor and international movie star will take over the reality franchise, NBC announced yesterday. Show will return for the 2016–17 television season with Schwarzenegger as “CEO.” NBC severed its business ties with Trump back in June in the wake of announcing his presidential run and, more problematically, making controversial comments about Mexican immigrants. (EW)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Creed’
MGM and Warner Bros. have released the second trailer for the upcoming Rocky spinoff, starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, and written and directed by Ryan Coogler. The movie hits theaters on November 25th. (YT)
Online Film School: Six Filmmaking Tips From Satyajit Ray
The man behind the famed Apu trilogy is known for the graceful beauty and deeply felt humanism of his work. The environment in which his characters reside is intrinsic to Ray’s work, constituting its characters and realizing its themes through a subtle but often profound observance through the camera. (FSR)