It’s been almost a year since we first saw Chris Evans wield The Shield as Captain America, and while small children have spent the interceding months running around with a dis of their own, those of us who have (in theory) grown up have had to make do with a painted bin lid and an active imagination. Fortunately, the nice chaps at eFX collectibles are about to come to our rescue.

Due to arrive in the first quarter of this year, their newly announced range of Marvel collectibles will allow even the biggest of kids to re-enact the comic publisher-cum-studio’s movies.

Full details are yet to be released, but we do know that products available at launch will include Thor’s hammer, Iron Man’s mask, and of course, Captain America’s shield and cowl. Unfortunately with prices between $49 and $1,500, most of these goodies are only going to be available to the richest of fans, but you could always sell your computer/car/flat. I certainly plan to, and I’m sure Steve Rogers would approve.

Source Licensing.biz

Hat tip: The wonderful Vicki Isitt

Becoming an increasingly well-known name both here and across the Atlantic, Tom Hiddleston will soon be returning to the big screen to reprise his role as Loki from Thor in Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers.

Hiddleston has been speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, via ComicBookMovie, and has said that the sequel to last year’s Thor will be going before cameras a little earlier than expected, and will start shooting this spring rather than the summer.

Just after Christmas, we heard that Marvel had finally found its director in Alan Taylor, best known for his work handling directing duties on Game of Thrones, and it looks like they’ll be ready to press on with the film very soon.

“There is a Thor 2. It’s been green-lit, and I think it will start shooting in London in the spring. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman are coming back. I haven’t seen the script. This is where I feel the Marvel snipers are waiting and watching across the street…”

Excellent news. Though the search for the director has been a complicated one, with Patty Jenkins exiting from the job over creative differences late last year, the project is clearly well underway with Taylor now on board, and it sounds like things should be starting up here in the UK very soon. If you’re living in London, keep your eyes peeled for catching Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, or Tom Hiddleston walking down the street. You’ll be able to spot Hemsworth especially on account of the awesome hammer he’ll be wielding.

The project is one of two that have been officially announced as in development, with the other of course being Robert Downey, Jr.’s return in Iron Man 3. The third in the Iron Man arc will be out on 3^rd May next year, with Thor 2 following a few months later on 15^th November.

And before all that, we can of course look forward to seeing the whole Marvel superhero cast together in one epic film in the form of The Avengers in just a few months’ time. In case you’ve missed any of it, you can catch up on all of our coverage for it here. The Avengers will be out here in the UK in 3D on 27^th April, which puts the countdown clock at less than three months. Anybody else just a little bit excited?

In recent years we have seen Hollywood tap a variety of different resources in its ongoing search for new ideas. Stopping just short of sticking its hand down the side of the sofa and rummaging for loose inspiration, Tinseltown has instead chosen to adapt everything from the usual books, video games and television shows, to comic books, websites, theme park rides and – I still can’t quite believe it –  even board games. So, why not an entire year?

If 2011 were a movie, aside from reflecting such recent events as The Royal Wedding, the London riots, the Eurozone crisis and those pandas arriving at Edinburgh zoo, it would also have to reflect the trends and tendencies prevalent in the films it has seen released during its tenure. As such, it would most likely be a remake of a foreign language prequel, a motion-capture throwback and a steamy tale of friends with benefits, with no strings attached.

If 2011 were a movie it would star Michael Fassbender as a man haunted by an unsuppressable Irish accent, Ryan Gosling as someone who can wear clothes really well, and Natalie Portman in the midst of what must amount to the most productive pregnancy ever. Stellan Skarsgård would play a man with a hidden agenda, Felicity Jones’ character would ultimately win your heart and Justin Timberlake would appear as a surprisingly capable actor.

If 2011 were a movie it would be set in Rio de Janeiro, where birds come to mate, the fast are as fun as they are furious, and vampires routinely honeymoon.  At least, that is, until Michael Bay crashes a Transformer into it, forcing our heroes to set sale, on stranger tides, in search of the secrets of a unicorn. On a Zeppelin. It would see McLovin slay some vampires, James Bond team up with Indiana Jones, and Queen Amidala wooed by a bunch of carrots and a period mix.

If 2011 were a movie it would be called 2011: The Movie – Part II Of The Rise Of The Planet of The Apes Of The Moon 3D. It would have more punctuation than characters, more dimensions than punctuation, and in all likelihood be prefixed with Green. It would be a kid’s film by Martin Scorsese, a superhero movie by Michael Gondry, a live action movie by Brad Bird and an animated movie by Steven Spielberg.

If 2011 were a movie it wouldn’t be as good as the book, the original or the trailer for Sucker Punch made it out to be. It would miscast Liam Neeson, boast too much Nicolas Cage, and at some point feature a fat character shaving his head and shitting into her dress. Worst of all, however, New Year’s Eve would kill the finale. And it would be inexplicably steampunk.

More importantly, however, if 2011 were a movie I would pay to see it. I would marvel at its melancholy, gasp at its production values and laugh unabashedly at its failure to kill Bono. It would be surprisingly heartfelt for a summer blockbuster, unexpectedly jaw-dropping for a low budget Norwegian flick, as funny as the TV show, and a fitting conclusion to a much loved franchise.

If 2011 were a movie, 2012 would have a lot to live up to.

The first of our superhero films from Marvel this year, Thor was an impressive box office and critical success when it came out in April this year, taking just shy of $450m. from its $150m. budget.

Pretty much ever since it found such success in cinemas, there’s been talk of a sequel, and it officially came out in the summer that the original’s director, Kenneth Branagh, was opting out of returning for the sequel, in what seemed to be a completely friendly parting.

Since then, there was first talk of Brian Kirk, best known for his work on Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, coming on board the project, but then in October, Patty Jenkins officially signed on for the director’s job instead.

Earlier this month, though, word came that Jenkins and Marvel had parted ways based on creative differences, and the search has been back on since then to fill the empty chair. It looks like Marvel have now done just that, with Deadline reporting that Emmy-winning Alan Taylor will be the director for the superhero sequel.

Taylor’s name may not be a household name, but from what I’ve seen of his work, he’s a brilliant director, and after the awesome first film in which Branagh was unexpectedly cast, I can’t wait to see whatTaylorbrings to the table for the second film.

The director is largely best known for his TV credits, which include episodes on The West Wing, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. So essentially, though you may not know his name well, you can trust that he’s an experienced director who knows exactly what he’s doing.

Thor was of course led by Chris Hemsworth, which did a great job of boosting the actor’s rising star, with support coming from the brilliant Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, and of course, Clark Cregg reprising his role as Agent Coulson.

Marvel president Kevin Feige gave a few details of what we can expect from the sequel back in September:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

We can look forward to seeing a lot more of Hemsworth next year, kicking off first with the Joss Whedon-scripted The Cabin in the Woods in April, followed two weeks later by the Whedon-directed and highly anticipated The Avengers (in which he will of course reprise his role as Thor), followed by Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart in June, and then the Red Dawn remake towards the end of the year.

With all of them having been completed or in post-production, Hemsworth is set to next turn his attentions to Ron Howard’s Rush, which sounds like it’s going to be amazing. WithTaylornow on board, Thor 2 should be moving forward nicely with Hemsworth back in the lead, and should still be able to meet its target of a November, 2013 release date. More news as we get it.

Here’s some lovely lovely new banners from The Avengers courtesy of those lovely (did I mention lovely) people from Marvel.

The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon​ and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth​, Scarlett Johansson​, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner​, Mark Ruffalo​, Tom Hiddleston​, Jenny Agutter​, Gwyneth Paltrow​, Paul Bettany​ and Robert Downey Jr.​ with all of them getting a brand new poster for their trouble.

Man I love these! Click to enlarge!

Source: Yahoo! Movies , Moviefone

Green Lantern is an unknown quantity to most of us, without years of pop-culture osmosis and numerous previous big screen versions to get us familiar with the Guardians of the Universe or the Planet Oa and the Green Lantern Corps.

Ryan Reynolds is the most recognisable element of DC’s latest blockbuster and the question you need to ask yourselves as the Blu-ray sits on the shelf opposite you is ‘What sets this superhero movie apart from the countless others?’.

Reynolds is Hal Jordan, a seemingly reckless test pilot who is recruited by an intergalactic protection force just as their most dangerous enemy has escaped. Jordan accepts the Green Lantern Corps ring and is flung through space to the planet of Oa, the home of the Corps to train and become one of the universe’s peace keepers. As he begins to understand his responsibility and powers he is overawed and, facing doubts from other members of the Corps, returns to Earth to face another, far more familiar, enemy.

It’s a basic plot, and each character fits nicely into their assigned point in the narrative. Reynolds has a lot of fun with the role as does Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond as Jordan’s friend who lets his jealous (and an alien force) go to his head. For a superhero story that is virtually limitless in its scope this is a decidedly earthbound tale, necessitated perhaps by the anchoring nature of an origin story but director Martin Campbell moves us quickly through the narrative without every letting us enjoy the world we’re in. There is nothing in the way of surprises here, and while it’s a fairly competent and good-looking blockbuster it’s a shallow first look at a world which promised a lot more.

The Blu-ray boasts an extended edition which appears to consist of the entire opening scene involving the young Hal Jordan witnessing his father’s plane crash pasted on to the beginning of the film. It’s a slow start to the film, and looks very odd when the flashbacks to the scene are bizarrely kept in the extended edition and appear twice in relatively quick succession.

There is a rich universe to explore here, one that is not given its due in this film as it becomes a collection of narrative short cuts and superhero clichés stitched together with some CGI. The heart of the problem is a lazy script (a choice example is Kilowog who has never seen a human but refers to an introductory training session as ‘Ring-Slinging 101′), but it doesn’t weigh the story down, just add an air of disregard which is a shame. Mark Strong is, naturally, excellent as Sinestro and it’s hopeful that if a sequel rears its head then he’ll play a larger role.

I have no problem with an unoriginal premise – this is an origin story and they must all take on the elements of responsibility and maturation to varying degrees, where Green Lantern falls short is be teasing us with a thin surface of a far richer world and lurching from plot point to plot point in a mad rush to introduce the world before the sequel (already being developed despite the generally unfavourable reception of this film) tells the more interesting story.

There’s some great CGI with the Parallax attack on the city and the attacks generated with the all important ring being highlights,  though Oa suffers from the same lack of majesty that Asgard suffered from, and Reynolds is a fun Hal Jordan and it never takes itself to seriously. There’s a certain chemistry between Reynolds, Lively and Sarsgaard it’s hard to care when everything is played out with a strangely uneven tone and a lack of spark and wit which brought Thor and Iron Man to the big screen with such success.

**~~~ (2/5)

Special Features:

There’s a solid line-up of extras on the disc, with some excellent behind the scenes, pre-CG, footage as well as the (necesary for most) accompanying material which sets out the vast background and history to the character and this world. In truth watching all of this material throws the finished film into sharp relief and I came away feeling that more could have been done to make this an exceptional comic book movie, something which the sequel will hopefully fulfill should it be made. It’s well put together and as a package the Green Lantern experience feels more complete with these extras and your appreciation for the world may increase, as may your frustration that Martin Campbell’s film aimed high but unfortunately missed its target.

• MMM: Green Lantern’s Light (Focus Pods and PiP)
- Focus Pods:
The Art of Green Lantern
Weapons Hot: The U.C.A.V. Dog Fight
Reinventing the Superhero Costume
Ring Slinging 101
We Are the Corps
Acting Under 10 Pounds of Silicone
Guardians Revealed
When Parallax Attacks
• The Universe According to Green Lantern
• Ryan Reynolds Becomes The Green Lantern
• Deleted Scenes
• Justice League #1 Digital Comic
• Preview of Green Lantern: The Animated Series

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Green Lantern is out on Blu-ray and DVD today.

The Avengers is the next Marvel movie that we’re all very much looking forward to after Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jenny Agutter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Robert Downey Jr.

If you’ve missed all our coverage from The Avengers, you can keep track of it all here.

Earlier today, we had a trailer for the trailer but now, the full version is here in all it’s glory! Without further ado, he’s the trailer for the movie for your viewing pleasure!

After the individual success of the Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Hulk films, Marvel’s Avengers are currently assembling under director Joss Whedon’s watchful eye for the eagerly anticipated superhero team-up movie to end all superhero team-up movies – and we’ve got a couple of new photos from the set to share with you.

The first image shows Whedon deep in conversation with Scarlett Johansson, who is reprising her role as Black Widow from last year’s Iron Man 2. The second, meanwhile, is a far more dynamic shot featuring the stars of this year’s two Marvel blockbusters – Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger – with both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans returning to their roles as the God of Thunder and super-soldier Steve Rogers respectively. Most noticeably in this photo, we get a good look at Evans’ new Captain America costume, which updates the design from the 1940s version seen in the First Avenger to something a little more 21st century.

Marvel have been on something of a roll with their movies over the last few years and have done a good job of laying some solid groundwork that will lead into The Avengers. With around seven months to go before the film reaches cinemas, let’s hope the wait is worthwhile.

Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Marvel’s Thor was released on DVD and Blu-ray last week and it’s a surprisingly fun film which did very well at the box office despite the God O’Thunder not being a hugely well known character.

The DVD has a ton of these little featurettes which, when combined, form a decent behind the scenes documentary and I thought it would be a nice diversion this fine morning to take a wander through Asgard to see how it was all done.

Initially considered an unusual choice, Branagh looks like he’s had the time of his life with his cast and there’s a little time spent with the designers of the film.

Take a look,

The Design of the Bridge

On the Wardrobe

On the Amazing Set

On Directing the Cast

On the Makeup of Laufey

It’s very hard to ignore the upcoming Avengers movie. There is so much excitement surrounding its release next year and there has even been some exclusive footage released on the Captain America Blu-ray/DVD.

But we mustn’t forget some of the other epic comic films coming up including Thor 2, due for release in 2013. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman were both great in Thor but both the chemistry and story of the characters felt slightly lacking. That could be because the characters didn’t get much screen time together. That’s apparently all going to change in the sequel.

Marvel president Kevin Feige has said:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

Thor 2 sounds like it will have more depth than the first one and with rumours surfacing that Monster director Patty Jenkins will take over the reins, we should be in for a treat.

Source: Collider.

Back in July, we got the news that Kenneth Branagh wouldn’t be returning to helm Thor 2 after his fantastic direction on the first film. There wasn’t any suggestion of animosity there, simply that he would be moving on to other projects.

I think he did a great job with Thor this year, and probably exceeded a lot of people’s expectations, but given he was entirely unexpected to helm the original in the first place, it wasn’t a massive shock that he wouldn’t be doing the sequel, in spite of the fact that he did a great job first time around.

Then came the news in August that Brian Kirk, most known for his direction on TV’s Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, was in talks to take over the job. But now it looks as though another name has been thrown into the ring in his place.

Patty Jenkins, probably best known for writing and directing Monster back in 2003, which won Charlize Theron her Oscar for Best Actress, is now in early talks to take the director’s chair for the second Thor film, Variety report. Since making Monster, Jenkins has been fairly quiet, taking a few directing jobs on TV’s Entourage and Arrested Development (that great episode where they build a mini to-scale model house outside their windows for the Japanese investors), and has just been back in the spotlight for her Emmy-nominated direction of the pilot episode of The Killing, which was itself nominated for six Primetime Emmys this year.

Jenkins’ name is somewhat unexpected, given that she doesn’t seem to have much experience in the special effects department. But then Branagh was just as unexpected, and he made a fantastic film, so I’m sure Marvel know what they’re doing. The talks are still in the early stages, so nothing concrete yet, but if the job does go to Jenkins, it could certainly put her name back on the map. The film has already been scheduled for a 26^th July, 2013 release date, which should give us a great summer blockbuster to look forward to in two years’ time, with Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Anthony Hopkins all set to reprise their roles from the first film. More news as we get it.

According to Deadline, up-and-coming Australian actor Liam (brother of Thor’s Chris) Hemsworth is joining the starry cast of action dinosaurs in The Expendables 2.

Hemsworth will team up with the original’s director/star (Con Air’s Simon West is welding the megaphone this time around) Sylvester Stallone, alongside Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and newcomers Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

This piece of casting is certainly a shrewd move by the makers. Hemsworth is on the cusp of major stardom owing to one of the starring roles in the upcoming, hugely anticipated adaptation of the hit young-adult science fiction novel, The Hunger Games, which is due for release in the UK next March.

No word yet if his role in The Expendables sequel will be that of Stallone’s grandson, which the 21-year-old could feasibly play.

The legendary Anthony Hopkins is of course no stranger whatsoever to the serial killer genre, making a name for himself the world over for his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon, the first of which won him a Best Actor Oscar.

He’s now in final negotiations to take a turn on the other side of the law, Collider report, in the upcoming serial killer drama, Solace.

If all things go well, Hopkins would play a former doctor with psychic abilities who works with the FBI in order to hunt down a serial killer. It’s still early days, so plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being, but the basic premise does sound interesting. And you know that the character would have to be incredibly smart, and there are few actors that play as smart a man as Hopkins seems to pull off so naturally.

There’s no director attached to the project yet, but with Hopkins entering final negotiations, it’s not unlikely that we’ll have a director signing on in the near future. Sean Bailey (producer on Matchstick Men, Gone Baby Gone, and Tron: Legacy) and Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven, Matchstick Men) wrote the original script, and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man) and Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) have both since done some re-drafting work, so I can imagine the script is pretty awesome.

Hopkins was most recently seen playing Chris Hemsworth’s father, Odin, in this year’s Marvel blockbuster Thor, and will next be starring alongside Rachel Weisz and Jude Law in Fernando Meirelles’ 360, also scripted by Peter Morgan, which is opening this year’s BFI London Film Festival next month. Hopefully he will be officially signing on to the project soon, and then the rest of the casting and the search for the director can get underway. It sounds like an interesting project, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted as and when more news surfaces.

With Marvel Studios’ Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger still fresh in the minds of cinema-goers, actors Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans are back in costume on the set of superhero team-up movie The Avengers, which is currently shooting in Cleveland under the direction of Joss Whedon ahead of its release next May.

And just as videos of shooting on Warner’s The Dark Knight Rises have been appearing at an alarming rate, its now the turn of The Avengers to fall foul of the camera-toting general public with videos such as these two latest clips. Both are shot from several stories above street level, with the first showing Hollywood’s two favourite Chrises as they battle back-to-back against a bunch of disposable thugs, while the second shows Hemsworth’s Thor knocking seven shades out of a poor unsuspecting car with some quality hammer action.

With rumours persisting that the main villains of the film will be the shape-shifting Skrulls, it’s entirely possible that the bad guys seen going up against Thor and Cap here are simply stunt performers in motion-capture suits who’ll be replaced by computer-generated extra-terrestrials in post-production. Either way, who isn’t looking forward to The Avengers assembling next year?

(Via Ain’t It Cool)

Animation, Art, and Technology.

Vancouver, BC – Hey U Guys had a chance to attend SIGGRAPH 2011 (Aug 7 – 11), a computer graphics conference that encompassed a wide array of topics relating to the entertainment, and graphic design industry. A celebration of technology and the digital art community, everything from advances in software, to videogames development, animated film screenings, and more.

Having been previously held in cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and Boston, this is the first time the conference has been hosted north of the border in Vancouver,Canada.

Divided into workshops, production sessions, an exhibition hall and the world renowned Computer Animation Festival, the five-day conference is one of the biggest in the world. One part educational, another part entertaining. Representatives from major studios Disney, Dreamworks, ILM, Digital Domain, Weta, gave panels, and talks to discuss their technology.

 Vancouver Convention Centre

Siggraph networking reception

Cory Doctorow co-editor of Boing Boing, and author, kicked off the conference with a fitting keynote about copyright in the digital age, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The entire keynote is available online below.

Pixar’s ‘La Luna’ directed by Enrico Casarosa, was one of the highly anticipated short films screened at Siggraph. The story of a boy on a boating trip with his father, and grandfather unfolds into something humorous and inspiring, with childlike wonder akin to a Miyazaki film. This was also accompanied by a production session in which Casarosa discussed in detail the long production,  which took place over the course of two years.

‘Skinny Steve’ the underfed version of the brawny Steve Rogers, in Captain America: The First Avenger, required special attention, and a variety of effects in post-production to achieve the skinny look in the film. One such method of transformation included filming a skinny actor to match the motions of Chris Evans which would be combined, to achieve a seamless look. Chris Evans’ face would then be manipulated and sculpted into something that would match the Skinny Steve body.

One of the the last panels at Siggraph was a panel on Killzone 3, from the folks at Amsterdam based Guerrilla Games. The art director, and crew talked about the evolution of the game franchise over the past ten years, on the Sony console platform. One of the impressive aspects of the talk, involved the use of Autodesk Maya working directly in the software, and in the game engine at the same time. For artists working in the game industry, this is a big deal offering a streamlined approach to development.

The computer animation festival in its 38^th year, highlights the best in student, indie and industry animation. From music videos, commercials, shorts and feature films, the festival took place daily with a large turnout of viewers in the theater.

Notable films include: Paths of Hate, Le Royaume, Mr. Choco in Love The Experience of Fliehkraft, Flamingo Pride, Sweater Dog.

Tele-present wind by artist David Bowen, University of Minnesota

The Garden of Error and Decay by Michael Bielicky, HFG/ZKM Karlsruhe and Kamila B. Richter, HFG/ZKM Karlsruhe

Recompose: Direct and Gestural Interaction With an Actuated Surface

Overall, Siggraph was a pretty busy and informative conference, with lots of technical learning opportunities and films to see.

http://www.siggraph.org/s2011/
http://www.dneg.com/
http://www.d2.com/
http://www.wetafx.co.nz/
http://www.whiskytree.com/
http://www.ilm.com/
http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/
http://www.guerrilla-games.com/

Actor/director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet) is in early talks to direct an adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for Fox 2000.

Adapted by screenwriter Don Ross (Marley & Me), the 2008 novel centers on a thirtysomething author swarmed by letters from inhabitants of her once-German-occupied British island in the aftermath of World War II.

Fox 2000 are hoping to start production on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society early next year.

Branagh’s last directorial effort, Thor, earned rave reviews upon its release in May and has so far grossed an estimated $448M worldwide.

Source: THR

Brian Kirk is in talks to direct Thor 2 for Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Kirk, best known for directing episodes of Game of Thrones Dexter, Luther and Boardwalk Empire, will take over from Kenneth Branagh, who declined the chance to return to the directors chair for the sequel.

Thor 2 is set for release on July 26, 2013, so will presumably enter production early next year.

Thor, which was released to approbation earlier this year, has so far grossed an estimated $448M at the worldwide box office.

Source: Variety

Legendary Pictures have released the first look logo from Guillermo del Toro’s new movie, Pacific Rim which is due out 2013. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and Rinko Kikuch.

Plot: When an alien attack threatens the Earth’s existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.

According to IMDb, it should be with us Summer 2013 so only two years to wait people!

Click it to make it get bigger if you so desire!

Source: Legendary Pictures

Although its performance at the box office has been solid rather than stellar ($177m so far in the US, $435m so far worldwide), Marvel are happy enough with Thor to have booked in the release date for the sequel.

Obviously Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddlestone are both busy for now filming The Avengers ready for release next year, but just as with Iron Man 3 being planned for 2013, so Thor 2 is being lined up for then as well. It looks as though Marvel hope and plan to dominate the summer marketplace for a good while to come.

July 26th, 2013 is the planned release date and apparently Hemsworth is confirmed as being on board. Iron Man 3 will hit screens in May 2013 and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see another Captain America or X-Men franchise entry slotting in there somewhere as well.

Kenneth Branagh is not going to be on board as director for the sequel, but there doesn’t seem to be any acrimony at work there, simply that he is moving on to other things. I think that’s a shame, as he brought a really keen eye to some difficult material which could have been really clunky but ended up balancing the mythological, action and comic elements to great effect. There is a update on who will be writing the script for Thor 2 as Don Payne is the man said to be returning from the first film. Previous form includes My Super Ex-Girlfriend and the second Fantastic Four film, but let’s remember that the script for Thor was an improvement and there’s no telling who else Marvel will rope in to help out with the writing.

Needless to say that leaves a vacancy in the director’s chair for someone, so we’ll see how quickly a decision is reached on that. Choose carefully Marvel. There are plenty of very capable directors out there who are just unable to turn their hands to comic book adaptations. Please refer to Green Lantern for this summer’s most glaring example of this.

Given how much I enjoyed Thor, I am more than happy to hear of more of his adventures being in the offing. As always, sequels are only annoying and derivative if they are rubbish. If they are handled well, we can all benefit.

Thank you Deadline. Love you, love your work.

Idris Elba is a man on the up and up. Having bagged himself the role of Stringer Bell in HBO’s peerless TV drama The Wire, he went on to cement a solid stateside reputation with work in 28 Weeks Later, The Losers, American Gangster and Thor.

He is currently on UK TV screens again in Luther, but it looks as though he has further high-profile theatrical work ahead of him with Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”.

Elba is said to have signed for the lead role of Sensi in the sci-fi actioner, which Del Toro is due to start shooting in November. Apparently it will involve giant robots piloted by humans, fighting off an alien invasion. Sounds wonderful.

As always, we’ll bring you more as we get it.

Source: Deadline.