Sequel Bits: ‘300: Rise Of An Empire’, ‘Fast And The Furious 6’, ‘Taken 3’, ‘Scary Movie 5’, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Before Midnight’
Some of today’s tidbits involve actors claiming they probablywon’tdo a sequel. Imagine that. After the jump:
Directed byNoam Murroand starringRodrigo Santoro,Sullivan Stapleton,Jack O’Connell,Jamie Blackley, andEva Green,300: Rise of an Empireis slated for anAugust 2, 2013release. [viaDaily Blam]
Last week’sFast & Furious 6videoseemed to tease some kind of road heist involving a tank; this one suggests the same scene involves at least one big, fiery explosion. Because it just isn’t aFast and the Furiousmovie without some gloriously insane action. Watch the new video from the movie’s Tenerife set.
Justin Linreturns for the new movie, which features returning starsPaul Walker,Vin Diesel, andDwayne Johnsonand series newcomersGina CaranoandLuke Evans.Fast & Furious 6will hit theatersMay 24, 2013. [viaComing Soon]
It’s not unusual these days for a successful franchise to churn out six or seven or eight installments, butTakenstarLiam Neesonsays he doesn’t see the thriller series going past this weekend’sTaken 2. Asked about the possibility of aTaken 3, Neeson responded:
I don’t see it. I don’t think it’s going to happen. I really don’t. I can’t see a possible scenario where audiences wouldn’t go, ‘Oh, come on…! She’s taken again?’
Neeson’s probably right that the kidnapping plotline has run its course. But ifTaken 2does well enough at the box office, you can bet the studios will start trying their darndest to continue that story one way or another. TheOlivier Megaton-directedTaken 2opens this weekend with Neeson,Famke Janssen, andMaggie Gracestarring. [viaScreen Crush]
The cast ofScary Movie 5just keeps getting more random, with new additionsMike Tyson,Audrina Partridge(The Hills), andKendra Wilkinson(The Girls Next Door). The trio join an extensive roster that already includesAshley Tisdale,Erica Ash,Lindsay Lohan,Charlie Sheen,Simon Rex,Molly Shannon,Terry Crews,Marisa Saks,Heather Locklear,Jasmine Guy,Angie Stone,Kate Walsh,Angela “Big Ang” Raiola, andSherée Whitfield. The next installment of the depressingly lucrative horror-comedy franchise opensApril 19, 2013. [Black FilmviaComing Soon]
Benedict Cumberbatchis ditching Sherlock’s signature overcoat and scarf for a mo-cap suit to play Smaug the dragon inPeter Jackson’sThe Hobbittrilogy, and the actor says he’s never felt freer:
Which all sounds very well and good, but as previously reported, we won’t actually get to see Cumberbatch’s performance until next fall. The Brit star has previously said that we’ll see little more than his eye in the first chapter,The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which hitsDecember 14. But the title of the next entry —The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug— suggests we’ll see much more of his character when that opensDecember 13, 2013.
The trilogy will then concludeThe Hobbit: There and Back AgainonJuly 18, 2014, unless WB figures out a way to wring yet another installment out of Tolkien’s 300-page volume between now and then. [SuperHeroHype]
Savor the reunion of Celine and Jesse whenBefore Midnighthits (likely next year), becauseEthan Hawkesays it could be the last one. In a recent interview, the actor acknowledged, “You never know, but it feels like the story’s reaching its resolution.”
[Before Midnight’s] really a continuation. For me, we just filmed it a couple days ago and I’m still kind of high from the experience. The hardest thing will certainly be… that the first two have a real following. People care about these characters and we really feel an obligation not to let people down about it. But at the same time, there’s no way we’re going to make everybody happy so we just had to attempt to go about with the same approach and same attitude. I love this movie. And I feel like in a strange way we may have come to the end of the story.
Could that be a clue about the wayBefore Midnightends? If, unlikeBefore SunriseandBefore Susnet,Before Midnightbrings Celine and Jesse’s romance to a definitive conclusion, that could be cause to end the series. Or are Hawke,Julie Delpy, andRichard Linklatersimply ready to leave the international lovers behind? [Collider]
