Hacked By Ahmed 01 Nerd News & Needs
The state of Louisiana will be rolling out the welcome mat in the next several months when filming starts for three of 2015’s summer blockbusters. Director, writer, and casting rumors news updates have been spilling out for months now. Just like you, we’re treading through all of it and trying to get all the stories straight. So what’s in store for the next dino movie, a couple of reboots? I’m glad you asked.
Jurassic World
Release Date: June 12, 2015
The fourth film in the dino franchise, Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World, will start shooting June 2nd. The exact location hasn’t been narrowed down but we’ve heard Baton Rouge or New Orleans (or both) could be the destination. J4 will have Steven Spielberg acting as executive producer with Colin Trevorrow serving as director. Rise of the Planet of the Apes husband and wife duo, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, are behind the script as well as Trevorrow. Recent reports say that Trevorrow has done a bit of an overhaul to the story since coming on board as director. Casting has been confirmed for Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, and Jake Johnson for major roles though no names have been assigned yet. Unfortunately, Sam Neil won’t be making an appearance in J4. The Examiner had a phone interview earlier this month with the Jurassic alumni and here’s what he had to say about being in the film:
I think there’s a whole new cast and a whole new look at things, and I think that’s great. As I said, I’d never say no, but I wish them… well, I’m sure it’s going to be great, but they don’t need me. – Examiner.com
No “official” plot details have been given at this time, however, The Film Stage has reported the following as potential plot points from one of their sources (caution: spoilers may be ahead) –
JURASSIC PARK 4, set in present day Isla Nublar, is now an actual theme park, as originally intended by John Hammond in the first film. It garners 10 million visitors per year and is completely safe – until it’s not. The park itself is described as very Sea World-esque and includes an area called the Isla Nublar Lagoon. That means underwater dino’s for the first time. No indication of what kind, but there’s concept art showing one of the aquatic dino’s, as part of a show, jumping out of the lagoon and eating a strung up great white shark like it was a fish for a dolphin at sea world. – Screen Rant.com
The Fantastic Four (reboot)
Release Date: June 19, 2015
Let’s switch gears and move into the superhero realm for a bit and talk about Marvel comic’s “royal first family” – The Fantastic Four. The FF will be starting to film in Baton Rouge on March 31st. 20th Century Fox has been making good (albeit slow) waves with the progress of the flim. There’s fans out there that still have a bad taste in their mouths from the first two movies but for me, I actually really enjoyed FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 
So how do you make sure your reboot is fantastic? For starters, you get Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) to do the script AND produce. Then you follow him up with Chronicle director Josh Trank and let them both run wild. Casting news has finally been making the rounds here lately and some very interesting names have come up. According to Variety, the role of Reed Richards is being looked at by Miles Teller (Project X), Kit Harington and Richard Madden – both from HBO’s Game of Thrones. Kate Mara (House of Cards) and Saoirse Ronan (The Host, Hanna) will both be testing as well for the role of Sue Storm. The site also says that Chronicle’s Michael B. Jordan is “attached to the film but is still going to test.” Interesting side note – The Fantastic Four’s IMDb still has “rumored” next to the actor’s name as Johnny Storm.
Plot details were no where to be found until the following surfaced on the Acting-Auditions website:
“The Fantastic Four’ will tell the story of two very young friends, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. After an event transforms the boys, they find themselves empowered with bizarre new abilities. Reed becomes a scientific genius who can stretch, twist and re-shape his body to inhuman proportions. Ben becomes a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, rock-like skin and super strength. However, the two end up being owned by the government and used as weapons. But after they mature, two others with powers come into the picture – Sue Storm “The Invisible Girl” and Johnny Storm “The Human Torch.”
This little story didn’t sit too well with Trank, who squashed it with the following tweet:
Of course he could be trying to throw everyone off the trail. You just never know. If that sounds different to the FF origin story you’re used to, that’s probably because it’s borrowing (somewhat) from the Ultimate Fantastic Four storyline.
Terminator: Genesis (reboot)
Release Date: July 1, 2015
To round out our Louisiana trio, Terminator: Genesis – a reboot and first in a supposed new trilogy, is scheduled to start filming in New Orleans on April 21st. This latest Terminator was going to have three groups backing it: Annapurna, Skydance, and Paramount. Several days ago, Variety reported ‘Annapurna No Longer a Financier on ‘Terminator: Genesis.’ No official word on why. This recent development hasn’t stopped any production though. Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor is sitting in the director’s chair which is one big reason most fans are not completely approaching the film with lit torches and pitchforks. The screenplay (for now) is in the hands of Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry). Not a lot has been said about the plot and are scarce……..for now. Casting is a different story. Sarah Connor (yup) will be officially played by Game of Thrones favorite Emilia Clarke and Arnold Schwarzenegger will take on his iconic role again. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) is billed as being John Connor but that could change. For me, the only real thorn in the benchmark sci-fi franchise is T3. I didn’t even mind Bale and Worthington’s Salvation. But to redo THIS franchise is a tad risky no matter who’s directing, writing, or starring in it. But hey, why not reboot The Terminator? You only live once right? Unless you have a hyperalloy combat chassis, microprocessor-controlled, fully armored endoskeleton inside of you. Then that’s a different story.
