New Marvel's Agent Carter Recurring Cast Member Announced

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Just moments after the news broke online, find out which legendary Marvel character is back for more...
Marvel Entertainment and ABC Studios have just announced a new recurring cast member set to star in multiple instalments of their impending period drama Marvel's Agent Carter. The eight-part series will mark the long-awaited regular return of Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier actor Hayley Atwell as she reprises her role as the courageous Strategic Scientific Reserve agent-in-training Peggy Carter.

Now, in truth, we'd argue that very few fans expected Atwell's character to end up as the only famous Marvel Cinematic Universe player scheduled for a return (albeit on the small-screen, but who's complaining?) next year, yet that quasi-foreknowledge doesn't dampen our enthusiasm in the slightest for the announcement that Dominic Cooper will indeed follow suit and step into the critically lauded shoes of Howard Stark on at least one occasion in Season One. Don't believe us? If that's the case for whatever reason, then feel free to cast your eyes below, dear reader, where the official tweet that alerted the world to this tantalising news-byte awaits:

OFFICIAL: Dominic Cooper set to reprise his role as Howard Stark in #Marvel's #AgentCarter on ABC in 2015! http://t.co/9KunsDJkt1
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) September 30, 2014

Cooper - believe it or not - has only actually starred in one MCU production so far, namely The First Avenger (2011), although it's pretty safe to say that the ways in which the construct he portrayed went on to influence both his son - Tony, aka Iron Man - and the events of Avengers Assemble were plentiful to say the very least. The two studios mentioned above revealed in their plot synopsis for the show's début run that Peggy would spend the majority of her time attempting to tackle both SSR operations and covert missions conceived by none other than Stark, so don't be too surprised if Cooper's role this time around is more akin to Charlie's Angels' titular commander-in-chief rather than the gung-ho pilot we first met three short years ago (we've said it before, we'll say it again - doesn't time fly?).

Marvel's Agent Carter will première on ABC (and Channel 4 in the UK, we'd presume) in Spring 2015.

Magic Mike XXL Lead Stars & Plot Synopsis Revealed

Source: Movie Web

Matthew McConaughey may have left the building, but the newly-formed franchise still seems to be in capable hands!
Warner Bros. Pictures have today released details of the central cast ensemble for their upcoming sequel to the hit 2012 comedy-drama film Magic Mike. Dubbed Magic Mike XXL, the follow-up has been forced to trade in some of its predecessor's lead stars - The Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club's Matthew McConaughey representing the most notable departure by far - in favour of a host of equally accomplished thespians, all of whom should hopefully add a fresh new character dynamic to the otherwise-potentially stagnant secondary storyline.

What's that we hear you ask? You'd like to hear who the performers in question are? Well, we'd be only too happy to oblige. First and foremost amongst the new recruits is Elizabeth Banks, better known to The Hunger Games fans as the hilarious Effie Trinket and to Pitch Perfect followers as the soon-to-be director of next year's sequel to the award-winning 2013 musical comedy, who'll no doubt offer up plenty of memorable one-liners in her still-to-be-revealed role. A bizarrely common trend amongst the casting announcements, in fact, is the lack of information regarding who'll play which character, but we've no doubt that these details will be unravelled by Warner Bros. (if not by inside sources) in due course. For now, though, we'll round up the other actors who've stepped aboard the XXL bandwagon for more gloriously risqué escapades: Amber Heard (Zombieland); Jada Pinkett Smith (Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted; Gotham); Donald Glover (stand-up comedian); Andie MacDowell (Multiplicity) and Michael Strahan (ex-US footballer).

Seemingly eager to add icing to their metaphorical cake, the studio have moreover released the first official plot synopsis for XXL and whilst we can't claim that it sounds completely original at this point, there's at least room for the production team to manoeuvre the narrative into a state whereby it'll possess enough surprises to keep its viewership engaged along the way. Read on to discover the précis in full: "Picking up the story three years after Mike [still played by Channing Tatum] bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, Magic Mike XXL finds the remaining Kings of Tampa [the band of strippers Mike worked alongside in the original] likewise ready to throw in the towel. [...] On the road to their final show, with whistle stops in Jacksonville and Savannah to renew old acquaintances and make new friends, Mike and the guys learn some new moves and shake off the past in surprising ways."

Magic Mike XXL will strut gracefully into UK cinemas nationwide on August 7th, 2015.

New Gotham TV Trailer Released

Source: ComicBook.com

Iconic and lesser-known faces from the Dark Knight's past litter this insightful promotional teaser!
Fox have today released a new TV trailer for their ongoing detective drama Gotham. Based in an isolated narrative continuity which - for reasons still unfathomable to the majority of its fandom - will have no synergy whatsoever with the upcoming Warner Bros. cinematic blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice or the plethora of Justice League of America-centric sequels which are purportedly set to follow in its wake, the series chronicles the rise of one James Gordon from the rank of a lowly, oft-overlooked detective to the beloved Commissioner who fans of everyone's favourite brooding superhero regard as one of Bruce Wayne's greatest allies.

By the looks of it, young Bruce - who's still got a way to go before he takes up a career in Caped Crusading if "Pilot" was any indication - will need all the aid he can possibly receive as the show's increasingly critically-analysed freshman season continues. From the Riddler to Victor Zsaz, if nothing else, the future Dark Knight isn't going to be short of adversaries in weeks to come, though quite how much involvement the recently-orphaned heir to the Wayne legacy will have in fending off said adversaries remains to be seen. In the absence of Gotham's guardian angel, though, Ben McKenzie's Gordon should ideally prove to be a fine substitute for now - and who knows? Perhaps a certain Clown Prince's first appearance in Gotham City isn't out of the question either...

Gotham continues its début run with "Selina Kyle" later today - that's September 29th, for those reading this in our race's immediate future (hello, by the way!) - on Fox and will glide into the UK via Channel 5 this October.

The Go-Between TV Adaptation Central Cast Members Announced

Source: BBC

We're finally starting to get a Broad idea of just what this audacious project might entail...
The BBC have today revealed several esteemed actors who will comprise the central cast of their impending television adaptation of L.P. Hartley's 1953 literary text The Go-Between. Consisting of a single 90-minute programme, this hotly anticipated drama is just one of a number of projects commissioned by the corporation in order to celebrate the great works of 20th Century literature such as J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls and Laurie Lee's Cider with Rose.

For the production's leading man and leading lady, however, the Beeb's selection of Hartley's critically acclaimed romantic drama will surely be especially significant; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Iron Lady star Jim Broadbent - who'll portray the elderly version of Leo, a somewhat familiarly reflective protagonist whose retelling of the socially scandalous events which he witnessed during his childhood acts as a more-than-suitable framing device for the overall narrative, in the Pete Travis-directed version in question - coincidentally appeared in the company's initial 1971 adaptation of the text, albeit in a supporting capacity, whilst the father of his co-star Vanessa Redgrave - or as we'll soon come to know her on-screen, Older Marian - starred in that very production as none other than Older Leo himself! Given the inherent rarity of such circumstances as these, we've little doubt that the Beeb will emphasise these respective actorial and familial connections throughout the marketing campaign, yet like any ambitious TV network, ultimately they'll have to maintain faith in the strength of Adrian Hodges' script and Travis' unquestionable abilities as a helmer if they're hoping for viewers to remember the latest incarnation of one of the past century's most prestigious texts fondly.

Aside from those highly regarded headliners, we've also listed the other cast members whose contributions were announced in the official press release earlier today below, along with details of the highlights of their respective filmographies (at the time of writing, specific information on which characters some of these players will portray was not available - stay tuned for more on this front in the coming weeks):

• Jack Hollington (Doctor Who ("The Time of the Doctor")) - Leo
• Ben Batt (Shameless; Captain America: The First Avenger; The Edge of Love) - Role TBC
• Stephen Campbell Moore (Season of the Witch; Johnny English Reborn; Hustle) - Role TBC
• Joanna Vanderham (The Paradise; The Runaway; What Maisie Knew) - Role TBC
• Lesley Manville (Coronation Street; Maleficent; Topsy Turvy) - Role TBC
• Jack Cutmore-Scott (Newcomer) - Role TBC
• Samuel Joslin (The Impossible) - Role TBC

The Go-Between will air as part of BBC One's season of 20th Century literary adaptations in Spring 2015.

Final Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Lost Missions Episodes Unveiled

Source: Mad the DJ

Ahsoka's demise weighs heavy on Anakin Skywalker's mind as he embarks on a new mission with Obi-Wan in Utapau...
Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm have today released a quartet of never-before-seen episodes taken from the unfinished sixth (and thus final, depending on how one views the situation) season of their hit animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Dubbed collectively as The Lost Missions, those instalments of Season Six which were completed before the axe fell on the show were released on the United States' Netflix service - much to the elation of the saga's seemingly limitless fandom - earlier this year.

That StarWars.com only saw fit to début the aforementioned four-part Utapau story arc on YouTube today might seem disconcerting to say the very least on this basis, yet all's certainly not lost. It's true that the programme's final outings - titled "A Death on Utapau", "In Search of the Crystal", "Crystal Crisis" and "The Big Bang" - aren't quite up to the usual visually-staggering standard of their immediate predecessors (or indeed the generally acclaimed original five seasons), instead sporting somewhat underwhelming partially-rendered CG visuals as a result of their unique production status (hence why they're being branded as "Story Reels" rather than full-blown chapters of The Clone Wars), but all the same, the endearingly accomplished performances of leads Matt Lanter (Anakin) and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan) shine through effortlessly, as does the inert structural intelligence which became a defining asset of the show's increasingly audacious narratives as the years progressed. Take a look below to watch each of the four instalments in their entirety and, as ever, be sure to let us know your thoughts at the usual social networking domains!

Star Wars: Rebels, the spiritual successor to Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the first fully canon entry in the franchise's newly-rebooted Expanded Universe, will première on Disney XD with its feature-length series opener, "Spark of Rebellion", this October 3rd.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Story Reel: A Death on Utapau on Star Wars Video


Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Story Reel: In Search of the Crystal on Star Wars Video


Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Story Reel: Crystal Crisis on Star Wars Video


Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Story Reel: The Big Bang on Star Wars Video

New FarCry 4 Gameplay Trailer Released

Source: Gamer's Honest Truth

Does the latest instalment in the open-world FPS saga look set to suffer from a delay? Far from it...
Ubisoft Montreal have today released a new gameplay trailer for their impending first-person-shooter video game FarCry 4. Intended as a spiritual successor to 2012's FarCry 3 rather than as a direct continuation of its predecessor's critically acclaimed central narrative - an attribute which shouldn't surprise series veterans in the slightest given Ubi's tendency to ret-con the franchise's previous storylines with each new instalment - this multi-generation free-roamer will allow players to exploring the fictitious, mountain-laden region of Kyrat, encountering dangerous wildlife and warlords (no sign of the brilliantly unhinged Vaas, though, sadly - we'll have to settle for Pagan Min, the crazed tyrant who gives the trail in question its name) aplenty along the way.

Now, to be perfectly honest, dear reader, we were assuredly expecting either Ubisoft or their Montreal development studio to announce a delay in the title's release schedule before too long. Unless they're both playing their cards unnecessarily close to their chests, however, it appears that mid-November will not only see the launches of Assassin's Creed Unity, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and the like, but also the fourth full instalment in a series which, incidentally, is celebrating its tenth birthday this year. Shall we all join together in wishing FarCry many happy returns and performing a heart-warming rendition of "For He's A Jolly Good Franchise"? Well, it was worth a shot.

FarCry 4 stampedes onto Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 (in fact, the game'll be bundled with PS4s for those who pick the hardware up after its release), PlayStation 3 and PC via all good UK video game retailers this November 18th.

Into the Woods UK Release Delayed

Source: Front Row Reviews

Could Meryl Streep possibly look any more chilling in her fantastical state? We sincerely doubt it.
Walt Disney Pictures have this week confirmed a delay in the UK release schedule of their impending fantasy movie Into the Woods. As anyone who's kept atop of the film's marketing campaign so far will surely know, its narrative is based loosely on the Broadway musical of the same name, centring on a range of well-known fairytale constructs whose paths become mysteriously intertwined as they strive to realize and enable their desired idyllic endings.

Those members of our readership who haven't come across this project already, however, mightn't have realized until now that there's something of a catch involved. Like Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street before it, Into the Woods will rely solely on show-tunes (albeit far less emotionally rigorous numbers than those two genre pieces, if the curiously lyric-free teaser trailer was any indication) in order to convey its various disbelief-testing story arcs to mainstream and cult audiences alike. Whilst it transpires that said arcs won't play out on our screens until early next year rather than this Christmas, if the extra production team enables Disney's intrepid team of writers, editors and the like to craft a more finely-tuned motion picture, then who are we to object to the studio's sustained dedication to producing quality cinema?

Into the Woods will impart its first bedtime story to UK cinemas nationwide in January 2015.