New Daredevil Lead Star Announced

Source: Wallpapers Desktop

Matt Murdock is simply the Man Without Fear, not the Man Without Desires...
Marvel Studios and Netflix have this week announced a new lead star for their impending TV superhero drama Daredevil. Based within the critically beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series stars Charlie Cox as its titular blind-but-deadly protagonist, Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk (aka Daredevil's arch-nemesis, the Kingpin) and Rosario Dawson in an as-of-yet unknown capacity.

The A-list goodness doesn't stop there, either, as Deborah Ann Woll has just signed up to play none other than Karen Page in the show's much-vaunted opening season. Woll is best known for her work on the hit US drama True Blood, and as Page, she'll surely slowly but noticeably become a potential love interest for Cox's Devil just as was the case with her doomed comic-book counterpart. In a similar vein to House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and other globally acclaimed Netflix projects, Season One will be uploaded in its entirety to Netflix, meaning that anyone wanting to binge-watch Woll's latest performances can easily do so when Daredevil's still-unscheduled launch date comes around!

Daredevil will début on Netflix in Spring 2015 ahead of other Marvel Cinematic Universe TV productions including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and ultimately a team-up programme dubbed The Defenders.

The Jungle Book Lead Star Announced

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Lo and behold, we have our new Mowgli (just don't ask why we ever needed one)!
Walt Disney Pictures have this week announced the young lead star of their upcoming live-action remake of the classic 1967 animated film The Jungle Book. Already confirmed to star Ben Kingsley, Scarlet Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o and Idris Elba (in vocal form, anyway), this somewhat controversial reboot will be directed by Iron Man and Chef helmer Jon Favreau (better known to the Iron fandom as Happy Hogan himself).

Joining those renowned Brit and American thespians on the metaphorical cinematic battlefield will be Neel Sethi, a 10-year old American actor whose performing experience is limited but whose passion for the role of Mowgli is apparently exemplary. The true challenge of this young up-and-comer's abilities will come in the form of him being one of the only on-screen human stars of the piece (with the vast majority of the animal characters such as Bageera set to be brought to life by CGI), but if nothing else, we should really have faith in Favreau's leadership of the project, even if our residual doubts regarding the necessity of the production's existence (why tamper with a classic, eh?) have yet to be dispelled.

The Jungle Book will swing into cinemas worldwide on October 9th, 2015.

Power Rangers Reboot Screenwriters Announced

Source: Nick

It's time for Marvel and Saban to collide - but not as you'd necessarily expect!
The Hollywood Reporter have this week revealed two screenplay writers who are attached to pen the script for Lionsgate and Saban Brands' upcoming live-action cinematic reboot of the Power Rangers TV and film franchise. First established way back in 1993, the series has grown exponentially ever since its inception, as has its increasingly dense and convoluted mythology, all of which will reportedly be tossed aside in favour of a fresh take on the narrative universe in its latest incarnation.

If the names Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz don't immediately ring a bell, then we'd advise that readers consult the pair's filmography, where they'll discover that these two talented scribes were behind the screenplay for none other than 2011's X-Men: First Class. That's right, Miller and Stentz brought us the oh-so-accomplished semi-reboot narrative which preceded Days of Future Past, making them ideal selections to revive and reconfigure the Power Rangers license in a dynamic and dramatically stimulating manner. In addition, The Amazing Spider-Man 2's co-screenwriter Roberto Orci is on producing duties, so make of that what you will (we're sure the hordes of 'fans' who threw insults at that particular sequel from every direction will have one or two things to say, certainly).

Keep it On-Screen in the coming months for more details on the live-action Power Rangers big-screen revival's central cast members, plot specifics and still-to-be-determined release schedule.

The Hateful Eight Revised Production Schedule Confirmed

Source: Cinematheia

Tarantino's homage to the Western is still going ahead, apparently!
Star Kurt Russell has this week confirmed details of a (seemingly) amended production schedule for Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Western blockbuster The Hateful Eight. Questions arose regarding the future of the acclaimed director's latest project after its screenplay was leaked for the population of the Earth to see in its entirety earlier this year, but thankfully, those queries can be laid to rest as of today (at least if Russell is to be believed).

Since Tarantino and company have justifiably provided little but radio silence in the aftermath of the aforementioned leak, it can't hurt to recap Hateful Eight's premise: a homage (and parody, of sorts) to the Western genre, its title riffs on that of the classic 1960 movie The Magnificent Seven, yet such is the nature of the former helmer's approach to cinema that we'd imagine the tone will resemble Django Unchained and Pulp Fiction more than it will Jon Sturges' beloved genre-definer. The evidence seems fairly sound on this occasion; here are Russell's exact words on the matter of the motion picture's presumably-revived production: "I've a Tarantino project called The Hateful Eight that looks like it may go [to cameras] somewhere around the beginning of the year." Regardless of the lead star's positive forecast, however, the question still remains - will the finished film pack an entirely renewed screenplay, or will Tarantino rest on his laurels and stick to the leaked edition? Only time will tell, but we'd wager that the former eventuality is far more likely based on the director's illusive past...

The Hateful Eight will most likely launch in cinemas worldwide somewhere around Winter 2015 or Spring 2016. Keep it On-Screen for all of the latest info on its screenplay, narrative and production schedule.

Xbox Entertainment Studios Closure Announced

Source: Xbox.com

Apparently the Xbox One doesn't need contrived original TV programmes to succeed as a video games console - who knew?
Microsoft's Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has today announced the impending closure of the publisher's Xbox Entertainment Studios division. First announced to the world at the Xbox One reveal event in the Summer of 2012, the sub-corporation was created with the intention of spearheading a variety of original TV shows to be broadcast via Xbox Live and other partners' US networks, with the Steven Spielberg-produced Halo live-action TV series and the Ridley Scott-assisted digital production Halo: Nightfall amongst its much-anticipated headline acts.

Thankfully, neither of the aforementioned Halo licensed tie-ins will bite the proverbial dust as a result of this disheartening turn of events, since Nancy Tellem and other members of Xbox Entertainment Studios will remain with Microsoft to complete production on already-commissioned titles such as those. Here's what Spencer had to say in his official message to the press today: "As part of the planned reduction to our overall workforce announced today [over 18,000 Microsoft employees are to be made redundant later this year] and in light of our organization's mission, we plan to streamline a handful of engineering development efforts across Xbox. One such plan is that, in the coming months, we expect to close Xbox Entertainment Studios." More details on the concerning situation will doubtless emerge in the coming weeks, but for now, our thoughts are with the countless Xbox employees whose thoughts are surely ones of concern at potentially having to seek out gainful employment elsewhere come the fiscal year's conclusion.

The next major first-party video game release coming exclusively to Xbox One and Windows 8 is Project Spark, the retail version of which will launch in stores worldwide this October 10th. Halo: Nightfall will come packaged with Halo: The Master Chief Collection (also only available on the One) on November 14th.

Planet of the Apes Franchise Future Teased

Source: SciFiNow

Caesar's latest cinematic quest launched in cinemas today, but where will the hyper-intelligent ape head next?
Director Matt Reeves has this week hinted at the future of 20th Century Fox's revived Planet of the Apes film franchise. With Dawn of the Planet of the Apes having just released in UK cinemas, one would initially suppose that the minds of Fox's marketing team would be wholly focused on promoting the sequel to 2011's Rise; however, seasoned followers of On-Screen will no doubt recall that back in January, the studio confirmed the development of a follow-up to one of this Summer's most talked-about blockbusters.

When quizzed on the matter of Apes' future prospects by CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell, Reeves (Dawn's helmer, for those who hadn't heard) had some intriguing (if elusive) comments to make: "I think some people assume that we're going to get back to the '68 film [Planet of the Apes], like, next. And actually...no. [...Dawn's] world is nothing like that world. How do we get from here to there? [...] And if this is Caesar's story, and the story of the mythic character that he becomes, then as we know in the Apes timeline, Caesars begat other Caesars, and it's a generational story. This is an epic journey toward the trajectory of that story! It could be many movies. I think there are a lot of interesting stories that come, not only from Caesar, but from what comes after Caesar, his children, and his children's children." We couldn't agree more with Reeves when it comes to assessing the room for the Apes series to grow and broaden into new philosophically-stimulating areas, quite frankly, and you'll want to stay tuned to On-Screen in the coming days for our definitive verdict on Dawn (which'll naturally include an analysis of the franchise's potential to develop in years to come as well)...

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is out now in cinemas worldwide.

Assassin's Creed Memories Announced

Source: UbiBlog

Travel through time via the Animus and...play cards. Because why not?
Ubisoft have today announced the development of Assassin's Creed Memories for release on mobile devices later this Summer. Headed by developers GREE and PlayNext, Memories' narrative will take place in multiple historical eras, yet is still fairly unlikely to be directly connected to this year's annual next-gen outing Assassin's Creed Unity due to the latter product's launch falling within the video gaming industry's Autumn release schedule.

Confirmed settings for the main campaign's various levels include Renaissance Italy (better known to most as the backdrop for Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood) and Colonial America (where players spent most of their time battling the British in Assassin's Creed III), but before fans begin to anticipate a game-play experience akin to Memories' console counterparts, we'd strongly advise that they level (no industry pun intended!) their expectations, as it'll take the form of a free-to-play card battle (apparently a "hugely popular" genre) and strategy video game title complete with Assassin creation and customization options (not to mention an extensive multiplayer component) instead. Keep it On-Screen in the run-up to Comic-Con 2014 as more details are revealed on Unity, Memories and other in-development Assassin's Creed products.

Assassin's Creed Memories will be released on iOS devices (primarily the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad in their various iterations) this Summer.