Rounding up the weekend’s big news stories…
THE DARK TOWER MARKETING BEGINS
It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like the marketing campaign for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy epic The Dark Tower is about to begin, with the first teaser poster arriving online on Sunday. Now, how about that trailer…
With Beauty and the Beast pulling in a massive $350 million global opening at the box office this past weekend, it’s been reported that Jon Favreau’s The Lion King is scheduled to begin production in May, while Disney has also provided an update on Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin and Niki Caro’s Mulan. Check out Disney’s comments here.
RIDLEY SCOTT PULLS A JAMES CAMERON
A few weeks ago Ridley Scott suggested that he’d be keen on directing six more movies in the Alien franchise after the upcoming Alien: Covenant. As expected, Scott was exaggerating a little… it turns out he’s only got plans for another four, and he’s seemingly revealed the title of the next one. Read his comments here.
THE NEW MATRIX IS ACTUALLY A MORPHEUS PREQUEL?
After last week’s confirmation from screenwriter Zak Penn that the new Matrix movie won’t be a reboot, a rumour has surfaced this weekend claiming that Warner Bros. is actually planning a Morpheus prequel, with Michael B. Jordan stepping into the role played by Laurence Fishburne in the original trilogy. Strong chance of guesswork on this one, but you never know. Read our report here.
It may not take too long for Beauty and the Beast to catch it, but 20th Century Fox’s Logan has become the first film to pass half a billion dollars at the global box office in 2017, with Hugh Jackman’s X-Men swansong pushing its worldwide take to $524 million this weekend. Read our report on Logan’s box office performance and how it stands against the rest of the X-Men franchise here.
It may have been mauled by critics ahead of its arrival this past Friday, but Netflix’s latest Marvel series Iron Fist seems to be going down pretty well with viewers, and Flickering Myth’s Samuel Brace has written a defence of the series with his feature ‘Marvel’s Iron Fist: A Reasonable Response to a Very Reasonable Show’. Read his article here.
Originally published March 20, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
