Movie News and Stuff, from April 28th!

Happy Monday, fellow people! April 28 it is today, and I bring you movie news which you may or may not already know! Hey I'm just trying to cover all the bases here. Getting right into it, regarding the picture above, it has come to light that following the upcoming Batman/Superman movie, to be directed by Zack Snyder, the next instalment after will in fact be a full blown Justice League movie! This is excellent news! Finally, after multiple casting news with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and recently Ray Fisher as Cyborg, it's looking like a plan is quickly being formed. Snyder is believed to direct it, while Henry Cavill is expected to return as Superman, as well as (while hundreds of fanboys cried for no good reason) Ben Affleck as Batman, following his premiere in the Batman/Superman movie to be released in May of 2016. Personally, I've been leery of any developments since Man of Steel, but it's hard for me not to get at least a little excited at the thought that Warner Bros. is finally getting a Justice League movie together, not that it wasn't unexpected. Besides, it's still a good ways away, so for now it looks like the closest we'll come to see how it might shape up is in the (still tentatively tilted) Batman/Superman team-up.

Related to that, I'd just like to quickly say that there is a Flash TV series in production as well, following the success of CW's Arrow which focuses on Green Arrow. It would be cool to see some interconnection between the shows and the upcoming movies, also considering how the Flash actually looks like the Flash from the promotional pictures.

On a decidedly less joyful topic, Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films, as well as the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past (to be released on May 23), has been accused of sexual abuse, along with several others in the business, for instances dating back to the late 90's. Michael Egan, the aspiring actor who filed the case, alleges that Singer and others lured him into an expansive sex ring with the promise of auditions or roles in upcoming films, and forced him to participate in grotesque acts and subjected him to drugs and alcohol with threats. Singer has denied these claims, which as of now, are still being investigated.

Right, moving on, it seems that, and I can't believe this, there is going to be a Friday The 13th televisions series. Yes. Really. I don't know what to say about this, since I'm more baffled than informed right now. It's...well it's Jason, coming to a television near you on a weekly basis! How many times will he die? How many sequels will the TV series get? Only time will tell. Honestly this is just bizarre, but hey, it's bizarre enough that I'm vaguely interested to see just what the hell they're going to do. The site I linked to mentioned "multiple time periods" which could mean one of two things if you ask me. Likely scenario? It's over a couple decades or so, showing Jason as a kid, or the camp counsellors themselves. What would be REALLY strange but cool? "Multiple time periods" meaning different centuries. It's not unheard of, I mean come on, there's Jason X, which was in freaking space. Like think about that for a second, through some supernatural will, Jason is sent to different centuries to be all hacky-and-slashy to the local denizens. The Old West Jason with a cowboy hat and his mask? Or what about Victorian London...Or you know what? What if HE was the actual Jack the Ripper? Vat a twist! Time Travel Jason, man! Frightening, and ridiculously crazy!

So from machete-wielding psychopath, we come to beloved children's book. Yes, if you recognize the picture above, chances are you read Roald Dahl's The BFG. I don't remember it so well, so BFG to me means a completely different thing. ANYWAYS on topic, Steven Spielberg is set to direct a live-action adaptation of the favoured book, courtesy of DreamWorks! No casting has as of yet been announced, but the film is aiming for a 2016 release. I apologize to anybody who loves the book that I don't really have much to say about it. Like I said, it's not a book that I remember well, but for those of you who do, you have this to look forward to!

And in closing, probably a big pill to swallow for those of you who are into the Star Wars Expanded Universe. It was recently announced that Lucasfilm has decreed the entire Expanded Universe non-canon. What that means is essentially all previously written books, graphic novels, various video games, and other associate material, but not counting The Clone Wars and upcoming Rebels (pictured above) animated TV shows, is no longer considered part of the true Star Wars narrative. The new and upcoming Star Wars movies will instead feature a new story with new characters that have never been seen or mentioned in any other material, save for perhaps, the upcoming official Star Wars novels, as part of the New Expanded Universe. These four announced novels include Star Wars: A New Dawn, which serves as a prequel to the events of the TV series Star Wars: Rebels, as well as Lords of the Sith, detailing events with Vader and Palpatine, Heir to the Jedi dealing with Luke Skywalker after Episode VI, and a really interesting-looking one, Tarkin, which will tell the story of the Grand Moff himself before his time in Episode IV. I'm not sure how much this should affect people who have read the books and such thoroughly, but I can understand a bit of frustration. Granted, the canon nature of the Expanded Universe has always been up for debate, so I'm not completely surprised Lucasfilm decided the way it did. However, the non-canon books will not go away. Because of demand and nature, previously written and future books will be published under the banner of Star Wars: Legends, so they're still going to be around, and still going to be made. And to clarify, elements of the previous Expanded Universe can (and will) still be used in some ways. Writers and developers for both canon and non-canon have the entire Expanded Universe to draw from, and already some elements from the EU will be seen in Star Wars: Rebels. Speaking of which, looking ahead, I'm personally really looking forward to Rebels, which is airing later this year in the Fall on Disney XD. Star Wars: Episode VII is due for a 2015 release. An official statement about the Expanded Universe can also be found here.