EXCLUSIVE: Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories Gift Edition Delayed? (UPDATE, 05-11-2014)

Source: Amazon.co.uk

It turns out that the eponymous Time Lord isn't the only one who suffers from timekeeping issues...
Penguin Books' Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories Gift Edition box-set appears to have been delayed, On-Screen can exclusively reveal. Originally scheduled to be released today (October 30th), the special edition package comprises of twelve paperback books - each of which contains a short story written by a famed author of children's literature such as Patrick Ness and Holly Black - and a dozen exclusive postcards designed to highlight the aesthetic attire of the twelve incarnations of the science-fiction drama's eternal protagonist we've met over the course of its 51-year history.

The situation was brought to attention this morning when - in spite of both online retailers listing the Gift Edition's publication date as October 30th - Amazon.co.uk revealed that the box-set's current availability status as "temporarily out of stock" and Waterstones.co.uk only offered the same pre-order option which had been available to their consumers prior to today. That's by no means the end of the story, however - we asked Holly Black, author of the set's Twelfth Doctor tale (entitled "Lights Out"), whether she had learned of any publication setbacks, after which we received the following response from the Spiderwick Chronicles scribe on Twitter:

@tbuxton42 I am so sorry — I am not sure, although it does look like maybe they had to go back to press with it.
— Holly Black (@hollyblack) October 30, 2014

We've yet to receive official confirmation from Penguin or the official Twitter account for Who-themed literary publications. If and when the On-Screen team learns further information regarding the presumably revised release date of this much-anticipated commemorative compilation,  however, we'll endeavour to update this article with the relevant details shortly after they emerge.

UPDATE (05-11-2014, 6.55pm) - Further to the speculation we posted above last week, On-Screen has just received word from Penguin Books that the Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories Gift Edition package has been delayed. However, the publishers also informed us that "[the products] will be with retailers in the next few weeks" before respectfully apologising for the mishap. We've included the message Penguin sent us via Twitter below:

@tbuxton42 Hi Tom, yes there has been a delay from the printers but they will be with retailers in the next few weeks. Sorry for the delay.
— PuffinBooks (@PuffinBooks) November 5, 2014

Doctor Who 2013 Specials Original Television Soundtrack Announced

Source: The Doctor Who Site - Merchandise Guide

Who's ready to experience the tunes which made last year's celebrations a hit? After all, that's how it all started!
Silva Screen Records have today announced the distribution of an album compiling the various pieces of instrumental music used in the two feature-length episodes of Doctor Who which aired in time for the programme's 50th Anniversary last Winter. Titled Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor / The Time of the Doctor - Original Television Soundtrack, the two-disc set will play host to familiar melodies inspired by the hit science-fiction drama's past - "We Are The Doctors" and "This Time There's Three Of Us (The Majestic Tale)" amongst them - as well as a multitude of tracks that made their critically acclaimed premières in its 50th Anniversary mini-movie and 2013 Christmas Special such as "Song for Four / Home", "Rhapsody of War" and, of course, "Hello Twelve".

Given the supreme quality of each and every one of Silva's previous Original Television Soundtrack releases, one might consider it damn near churlish to complain about the recording studio's present release strategy, but indulge us for a moment, as we're going to be so bold as to level the following criticism in The Day of the Doctor / The Time of the Doctor's direction: why's this particular CD only landing nearly a year on from "Day"'s broadcast (in fact, a year and a day will have passed by the time the set lands in music retailers)? Disheartening as the reality may be, to us it's all too obvious that this delay has been enacted purely as a result of cynical marketing (and therefore potential profit) rather than a genuine effort on Murray Gold and company's part to commemorate Who's 51st Anniversary. Birthday presents of this calibre aren't ever going to be turned away by us or any other dedicated members of the series' fandom, naturally, yet we'd sincerely appreciate it in future if Silva relied less on their commercial instincts and instead simply endeavoured to send these albums our way as soon as is possible without the assistance of a Type 40 TARDIS capsule.

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor / The Time of the Doctor - Original Television Soundtrack will light up the airwaves via UK music retailers from November 24th onwards.

Marvel Studios 2016-2019 Superhero Film Slate Announced

Source: Screenrant

Welcome, lords, ladies and Asgardians, to what we here on the planet Earth call the Golden Age of superhero cinema...
"Let's talk about Phase Three." With these momentous (and much-awaited, we might add) words, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige kicked off a ground-breaking one-off event themed around announcing the title of each and every instalment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest sub-franchise of eagerly anticipated superhero films. Taking place in the El Capitan Theatre, Los Angeles, on Tuesday October 28th, the much-discussed gathering in question played host to hundreds upon hundreds of near-starved fans, each of whom were naturally anxious to discover what's coming next.

Two days on, and it seems a reasonably safe assertion to proclaim that the studio delivered tenfold on their prolonged teasing of major changes aplenty for their prized multi-medium universe. Whether it was in the form of female-led or non-Caucasian-led big-screen outings (Black Panther and Captain Marvel fulfil those respective roles, for those wondering), a two-part Avengers crossover event to match DC's recently-announced duo of intertwined Justice League motion pictures - the latter of which will in fact go head-to-head with the tantalisingly-named Infinity War - Part 2 come 2019 - or a pair of voyages to the unknown with both Doctor Strange and Inhumans, Feige and company left nothing up to chance here, confirming the extent to which they've mapped out their multi-faceted saga of high-octane heroism and colossally intricate story arcs in such style that they might as well have rolled the various never-before-seen title cards down a full-scale catwalk. Enough of our justifiable expression of utter admiration for Marvel's sustained ambition (not to mention their continued dedication to interacting on an unparalleled level with their ever-loyal fandom), though - let's get down to business and reveal the slate in full (feel free to weep tears of unrestrained joy afterwards if necessary):

• CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (May 6th, 2016) - As previously rumoured by Variety, here we'll see the titular American Avenger face off against Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man (and Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther, potentially - more on him later!) in a confrontation for the ages whilst simultaneously dealing with the aftermath of The Winter Soldier's politically charged storyline and the emergence of the infamous - due in no small part to the comic-book arc which gives this third Captain America outing its sub-title (credit to Feige for pulling the wool over our eyes by calling it Serpent Society at first) - Superhero Registration Act to boot.
• DOCTOR STRANGE (November 4th, 2016) - Remember that rumour which did the rounds last week surrounding Benedict Cumberbatch's supposed ascension into the role of the Sorcerer Supreme? Well, as it happens, said leak mightn't have been as unlikely as it originally seemed at the time of its emergence, although a few i's need to be dotted and t's crossed before anything's official on that front. All the same, though, to know for certain that Scott Derrickson is hard at work on bringing Jon Spaihts' screenplay to life (with the help of a little magic, of course) is more than enough to go on for now.
• GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (May 5th, 2017) - Like Civil War, we knew this one was on the way sometime in the foreseeable future thanks to James Gunn's revelation of the development of a sequel to this year's best loved sci-fi comedy at Comic-Con 2014, but what we didn't know until this week is that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (or whatever the follow-up ends up being called come release day) will hit two months earlier than planned, leaving a certain Asgardian epic to take its original place...
• THOR: RAGNAROK (July 28th, 2017) - Talk about foreshadowing, eh? In case readers haven't heard the term "ragnarok" before, it refers to the mythical End of Days, namely an apocalyptic event which has befallen Asgard on multiple occasions in the realms of Marvel's comic-book universe. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are both confirmed to reprise their roles as Thor and Loki respectively here, but don't be surprised in the slightest if only one of them (if that!) makes it out of their latest fraught quest alive!
• BLACK PANTHER (November 3rd, 2017) - Feige hasn't exactly been shy about voicing his infinite enthusiasm for the aforementioned King of T'challa, making his fully-fledged début in a standalone MCU outing - which will follow hot on the heels of his arch-nemesis' purported first appearance in Age of Ultron and his own brief appearances in Civil War - more of a pleasant confirmation of the influence which Marvel Studios' commander-in-chief holds over their ongoing release strategy.
• CAPTAIN MARVEL (July 6th, 2018) - Can anyone hear that sound? No? We're not surprised - it's the sound of silence. To be a little more specific, it's the intangible noise one hears when a thousand voices cease their cries of discontent at superhero film helmers' seemingly phallo-centric approach to bringing comic-book characters to the big-screen, and it has all come about thanks to DC and Marvel's unveiling of their respective Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel adaptations. Jesting aside, we fail to see how this development could possibly be viewed in a cynical light, not least since Carol Danvers - the character who'll inherit the other Cap's mantle in the MCU - is amongst the latter publisher's most coveted constructs and if that's not justification enough, then Scarlet Johannson's sublime work as Black Widow should be all the evidence we need to warrant a production of this ilk.
• INHUMANS (November 2nd, 2018) - Spider-Man and the X-Men may well be staying put at Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox for the time being, yet as ever, that's not stopping Feige from venturing as close to the quasi-fantastical realms of the latter team of mutants (a word which in itself is a major taboo for Marvel given Fox's ownership of the word in relation to their remarkably popular X-series) as possible. Whereas the vast majority of MCU motion pictures centre on a single death-defying defender of the weak, Inhumans will introduce literally dozens of new constructs into the mix, with each of them no doubt set to play a vital role in the final pair of blockbusters featured on this list...
• AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - PART 1 & PART 2 (May 4th, 2018 & May 3rd, 2019) - Ultron, believe it or not, is essentially small fry as a threat to the Earth's Mightiest Heroes when juxtaposed with the Master of Death, Thanos himself. First glimpsed back in 2012's Avengers Assemble, this near-omnipotent adversary made a long-awaited return in Guardians of the Galaxy earlier this year before revealing himself to possess all six Infinity Gems within his iconic gauntlet during a sensational teaser trailer shown only to event-goers on Tuesday. Word has it that Infinity War will act as a "culmination" to - by then - over a decade's worth of high-flying adventures, bringing together each and every major character featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far in order to rally against an enemy who'll bring the Nine Realms to their knees in an instant should he be left unopposed. Enjoy trying to cope with three tiresome years of waiting, folks...

All of this apparently wasn't more than enough to keep us going until Avengers: Age of Ultron, though, since Feige then went on to partake in a Q&A with the press regarding Phase Three and the wider future of his Cinematic Universe (trust us, the franchise isn't going anywhere post-2019 at this rate). Given that we're charitable folks here at On-Screen, we've done our dear readership the profound courtesy of compiling each and every one of the man with a plan's potentially crucial comments into one comprehensive guide. No thanks necessary, of course, but flowers and chocolates won't be refused...

• ON BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH'S ALLEGED ACQUISITION OF THE ROLE OF DOCTOR STRANGE - "If that had been confirmed, we would've announced him today."
• ON BLACK PANTHER'S ROLE IN CIVIL WAR - "He is definitely a big part in Civil War. We will meet him for the first time in Civil War, in costume."
• ON GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2'S NARRATIVE - "Is Groot going to be small? Is Groot going to be big? Is Cosmo going to come back, will he speak? What's that duck doing after he took that swig? Where is the Collector? All of those questions we like having fun with, when [director] James Gunn returns from Tokyo, [...] we'll start to go through with him."
• ON HULK'S PRESENCE IN PHASE THREE - "I'd say Hulk is going to appear in many of those movies, particularly all the Avengers movies leading up to [...] Infinity War. [...] What happens with a standalone Hulk film? [...] We'll see."
• ON THE RUMOURS OF SPIDER-MAN'S INDUCTION INTO THE MCU - "No. Anything that wasn't specifically and obviously announced today is either not true at all or still rumoured until it's worked out."

Before all of these explosive motion pictures arrive in cinemas, however, there are still vital chapters of Phase Two for us to bear witness to: Avengers: Age of Ultron, which - by our reckoning, at least - will land in UK cinemas on April 24th, 2015, and Ant-Man, the latter of which will crawl into our auditoriums on July 17th, 2015.

Assassin's Creed Unity "Time Anomaly" Gameplay Trailer Released

Source: Ubisoft

Let's do the time warp again - Arno is going to war in a way we could never have predicted.
Ubisoft Montreal have this week released a new trailer (below) for their impending open-world action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed Unity. The first instalment of the long-running franchise scheduled to be released exclusively on next-generation hardware, Unity depicts the life of Arno Dorian, an up-and-coming vagabond-turned-freedom fighter who must battle to stay alive and bring down the Templar forces conspiring to utilize the ongoing French Revolution to their sinister advantage.

Contrary to popular belief, however, Arno's escapades won't be limited to the event which inspired Les Miserables amongst countless other works of literature - far from it, in fact. In a twist which is sure to take even the most hardened Creed fanatics off guard, it transpires that the Animus players will step into this time around has a tendency to glitch from a temporal perspective, making it liable to 'glitch' and transport our courageous protagonist from the days of the Revolution into other historical conflicts such as - but by no means limited to - the Second World War. Before too long, it seems, we'll scale the Eiffel Tower amidst an explosive air raid taking place somewhere (or should that be some-when?) between 1939 and 1945 as one of the most devastating global confrontations in the history of our species rages on. As bold ventures go, this is up there with the bravest of them and as such, we can only hope that Ubi's Montreal branch know exactly what they're doing as they transcend their franchise's traditional singular era limitations and in doing so journey to a locale of which we who follow in the footsteps of World War Two's participants can only dream.

Assassin's Creed Unity sprints through No Man's Land and onto Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC consoles - along with Rogue on PS3 and 360, lest we forget - this November 14th. Be there or be guillotined.

First Captain America: The Winter Soldier Sequel Guest Star & Plot Details Revealed

Source: Comic Vine

One thing's for sure - with two Avengers on hand, there's no way that Steve Rogers will leave the Iron on!
Variety have this week supposedly revealed the identity of a thespian who'll reprise an iconic role in Marvel Studios' impending follow-up to their hit superhero blockbuster Captain America: The Winter Soldier along with a sizeable handful of details regarding its overarching narrative. The as-of-yet-untitled sequel to perhaps the finest Marvel Cinematic Universe outing to date will once again be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo - who, if readers hadn't already heard, will additionally helm at least one episode of ABC's Marvel's Agent Carter in time for its broadcast next January - and will primarily explore the fallout of both its immediate predecessor and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

If the source in question is to be believed, then a paramount element of this exploration of what it means to be a superhero in the aftermath of the human-led creation of a deadly robotic armada will be Tony Stark, set to be played for the seventh time by none other than Robert Downey Jr. Word has it that Downey Jr. and Marvel Studios' execs battled near-endlessly over the extent of his supporting capacity within (what we'll for now call) Captain America 3's plot, only for resident MCU expert and helmer Kevin Feige to intervene and defend the need for Stark and his iron-clad alter-ego to make a fully-fledged return - and trust us, the reason behind the Armoured Avenger's presence here is the most tantalising detail we've come across since Thanos was confirmed to cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy this Summer.

The plan from here on out appears to be for the MCU to move in the direction of a loose yet dramatically heightened adaptation of the controversial comic-book crossover event known only as "Civil War", with Captain America 3 serving as the first metaphorical building block in this respect. Quite whether Stark and the titular defender of American liberties will come to blows over the infamous Superhero Registration Act - a troublesome piece of legislation which, as its name suggests, forces super-powered individuals to sign up with the government and therefore could well come into effect on-screen if Age of Ultron's narrative leaves New York and/or the rest of the world in ruins for a second consecutive time - here isn't clear just yet, but Variety reckon that at the very least, the "Civil War" arc will span the entirety of Phase Three, meaning that Thanos will be placed on the back-burner for a while, potentially appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 as a major player whilst he bides his time in the hope of obtaining those all-important Infinity Gems.

As unashamed and wholly vocal fans of Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios' astounding accomplished multi-medium franchise, we're quietly in favour of their choice to adapt one of the more divisive pieces of source material, even the move could entail a split amongst their fandom in terms of their anticipation for and engagement with what's to come. Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and Thor 3 - better known as the other MCU entries set to comprise Phase Three - don't exactly seem to lend themselves to seamlessly contributing to the aforementioned arc due to the otherworldly nature of the majority of their protagonists, yet at this point, it's starting to seem damn near churlish to lament or question the dynamic duo's creative decisions given the levels of critical and commercial success alike that they've achieved without fail of late. Roll on the future, then!

Captain America 3 ricochets into cinemas worldwide on May 6th, 2016.

New DC Entertainment Superhero Films & Release Dates Announced

Source: Pop Goes Manila

As expected, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is just the beginning of a bold new frontier for all things Detective Comics.

Warner Bros. Pictures have today announced a host of release dates for their upcoming superhero film projects as well as the development of a number of previously unrevealed comic-book adaptations for release between 2016 and 2020. The studio's so-called DC Cinematic Universe - which is currently being developed, as one would anticipate, in collaboration with DC Entertainment - got off to an assured-yet-divisive start in 2013 with the launch of Man of Steel, but it'll be with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that the metaphorical ball starts to gain momentum as it moves towards a two-part adaptation of the beloved ongoing Justice League saga amongst other standalone blockbusters aplenty.

A word of warning before we progress any further in this article, however: there's a more than substantial chance that readers will incur a devastating heart attack as a result of the sheer exhilaration which will inevitably be provoked by the information that we must dutifully impart on this depressingly damp (albeit thrillingly dense) Wednesday evening. Even given all of the scepticism surrounding the rapid nature of DC Entertainment's attempts to match the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's undeniably fascinating to discover the extent to which the studio are planning ahead for the next half-decade, rolling out the first female-led superhero film since 2005's Elektra (and frankly, the less said about that one, the better in our view) in the form of Wonder Woman (starring Fast & Furious' Gal Gadot as the titular mythological Amazonian), not one but three crossover instalments in the form of Dawn of Justice, Justice League - Part 1 and Justice League - Part 2 and to top it all off, they're even being so bold as to revive the Green Lantern franchise, albeit a full nine years after it took for a turn for the worst (to put it generously).

Now that we've ideally gained a firm grasp on your attention, let's cease with the dillying and the dallying and instead commence business for the evening. Without further ado, here's the full line-up of DC Comics-inspired superhero films as was announced during Time Warner's latest investor call earlier this afternoon along with all of the key production details we know so far:

• BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (Directed by Zack Snyder; Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams & Jessie Eisenberg; Out March 25th, 2016)
• SUICIDE SQUAD (Directed by David Ayer; Out August 5th, 2016)
• WONDER WOMAN (Starring Gal Gadot; June 23rd, 2017)
• JUSTICE LEAGUE - PART 1 (Directed by Zack Snyder; Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill et al; Out November 17th, 2017)
• THE FLASH (Starring Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin; The Perks of Being a Wallflower); Out March 23rd, 2018)
• AQUAMAN (Starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones); Out July 27th, 2018)
• SHAZAM (Starring Dwayne Johnson; Out April 5th, 2019)
• JUSTICE LEAGUE - PART 2 (Directed by Zack Synder; Starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill et al; Out June 14th, 2019)
• CYBORG (Starring Ray Fisher; Out April 3rd, 2020)
• GREEN LANTERN (Out June 19th, 2020)
• In addition, at least one standalone film revolving around Batman and one standalone sequel to Man of Steel will apparently launch somewhere in-between 2016 and 2020 too. Quite how DC will manage to film more than a dozen motion pictures in the next five years is almost beyond us, but - at least at this point - we're certainly not going to be found moping about the prospect any-time soon.

Stay tuned to On-Screen in the coming days - if not the coming hours - for all the latest news on the superhero film industry's future, including - but on no account limited to - the inevitable response from Marvel Studios - more on them later tonight - to this rather monumental development!

New The LEGO Movie Spin-Off Film Announced

Source: Deviant Art

No, this isn't a joke (despite what the Crown Prince might have us believe) - the Caped Crusader is returning to cinemas in brick form!
Producer Christopher Miller has today confirmed via Twitter - in a now-deleted but inevitably noticed tweet - that a spin-off from Warner Bros. Pictures' brick-tastic animated blockbuster The LEGO Movie is currently in development. Purportedly set to be directed by Chris McKay - who acted as the animation supervisor for the aforementioned original masterpiece - the latest instalment in the sure-to-be-one-day-dubbed LEGO Cinematic Universe will serve as the franchise's second fully-fledged spin-off outing, the first being the increasingly potent LEGO Ninjago, a bombastic foray into a fictitious realm of gung-ho warriors and mystical creatures that's scheduled to land on the big-screen on September 23rd, 2016.

The prospect of experiencing Ninjago in all of its technicoloured glory in two years' time, however, will for the majority of Detective Comics - that's DC to you and me - fanatics pale in comparison to what's been officially confirmed as the series' next secondary instalment. If the cover image above didn't give it away already, the motion picture in question will centre on none other than the instantly-beloved LEGO incarnation of everyone's favourite Caped Crusader, Batman. Will Arnett's hilariously smug rendition of the Dark Knight had us - and the rest of the world, from what we've heard - in stitches back in March, hence why we're uncontrollably ecstatic to confirm that the Arrested Development thespian will reprise his role once more, a development that's bound to please anyone who couldn't get enough of the manipulative, downright complacent Defender of Gotham when he first graced our screens and débuted his unforgettable dubstep-esque single, "Untitled Self-Portrait" (which we've included at the bottom of this very article for no other reason than to ensure that our loyal readership can't remove it from their heads for the remainder of the weekend). More details on LEGO Batman, LEGO Ninjago and The LEGO Movie 2 - the latter of which is supposedly arriving in 2018, although don't take our word as gospel just yet - are all but guaranteed to arrive in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to On-Screen for all of the latest key info.

LEGO Batman will apparently glide broodingly into cinemas worldwide on May 26th, 2017.