Enemy Of The State: TV version of Will Smith film in development

Enemy Of The State, the 1998 Tony Scott film starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman, has been given a pilot commitment for a television version.

To be produced by the film's Jerry Bruckheimer, the proposed show will take place twenty years after the events of the original and focus on an NSA spy accused of providing classified information to enemies of America. An FBI agent and a female attorny team up to stop a potential global conspiracy in its tracks before the deepest of secrets can be revealed. All three characters will reportedly be connected in some way through mysteries of their past.

In the film, Smith played a lawyer who suddenly finds himself in possession of evidence in a political crime and goes on the run from a corrupt senator and the NSA agents working for him.

The script for Enemy Of The State is being written by Morgan Davis Foehl, who also wrote Michael Mann's Blackhat.

Transformers: The Last Knight: first look behind-the-scenes

Love him or, well, don't love him, Michael Bay is constantly looking to up the wow factor in his blockbusters by finding that sweet spot between practical effects and VFX work. When it lands, as with Transformers: Dark Of The Moon’s skydiving sequence, it can be breathtaking. As this video from the set shows, Transformers: The Last Knight will be attempting similar stunts the old-fashioned way. Take a look at the film's Facebook page or below.

The footage shows Bay putting Laura Haddock and Mark Wahlberg through their paces/hell on a giant rig. Reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Inception zero-gravity gimbal, the set-up is referred to as the ‘room roll’. That giant blade looks likely to end up on the end of some kind of nefarious robot.

As for the movie itself, it’s recently wrapped its UK location work – including a surprise Nazification of Winston Churchill’s ancestral home that scored it a few (probably not wholly unwelcome) headlines – and is heading back to the States for the Chicago leg of the shoot.

The time-travelling storyline remains veiled in secrecy. Expect robots. Expect Nazis. Possibly expect Nazi robots. In the meantime, Bay has added Liam Garrigan to its ranks as King Arthur, alongside Haddock and Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager. Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Isabela Moner, Jerrod Carmichael and Anthony Hopkins are also appearing.

Transformers: The Last Knight is set to open on 23 June, 2017.

Listen to the first sample from Michael Giacchino's Doctor Strange score

You'll likely know that we at Empire are big fans of Michael Giacchino and his pun-tasting way around a score. The Oscar-winning composer's latest job is Doctor Strange for Marvel and if you've been wondering what his music might sound like, you can listen to the final track – called The Master Of The Mystic End Credits, because of course it is – below.

And it's clear that this is a different score for Giacchino, who is often inventive and seems to be channelling a host of inspirations. Do we detect a hint of both Doctor Who and the Beeb's TV version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy? Just on the basis of this, we can't wait to hear the rest, full of psychedelic guitars and strings, which sounds like no other Marvel score before it.

With Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong and Mads Mikkelsen in the cast and Scott Derrickson directing, Doctor Strange will be out in the UK on the 25th of this month before transporting itself to the US on November 4. There's more to be found about the movie in the latest Empire, on sale now in all good and mystical newsagents or available for subscription right here.

Deadpool 2: casting shortlist for Domino revealed

Superhero landing! Deadpool 2 is very much happening, and things are moving a little faster than the perpetually-stuck-in-development-hell original film. That arrived earlier this year and surpassed all box-office expectations, so we now have casting news on Domino, a key female role.

According to Collider, there is a shortlist of ten actresses who could be starring opposite Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson. That shortlist features (deep breath): Lizzy Caplan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Sienna Miller, Sofia Boutella, Stephanie Sigman, Sylvia Hoeks, Mackenzie Davis, Ruby Rose, Eve Hewson, and Kelly Rohrbach. All are apparently ‘testing’ for the role.

In the original Marvel comics, Domino is a frequent member of the X-Force team, where she often joins forces with Deadpool and Cable. (Cable is already confirmed for the sequel, as hinted at by that Ferris Bueller-esque post-credits sequence, though he is yet to be cast.)

There’s no official word yet on whether the original film’s female lead, Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa, will be back second time around, or whether they will stay true to the comics by sending her into superhero territory as her Copycat alter ego.

Still, we do definitely know that Reynolds will be slipping back into the red spandex, that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will be writing the screenplay again, and that filming is due to start early next year, looking at a probable 2018 release date.

Peter Sarsgaard joins Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz in Escobar

Already boasting Javier Bardem (also co-producing) as Pablo and Penélope Cruz as journalist Virginia Vallejo, Escobar has now gained Peter Sarsgaard as DEA agent, Neymar. Written and directed by Fernando León de Aranoa (best known for A Perfect Day, starring former Pablo, Del Toro), the latest take on the Colombian cartel leader will focus on Escobar’s romantic liaisons with Cruz’s journo, while being hunted down by Sarsgaard and co.

Sarsgaard will soon be seen as Robert Kennedy opposite Natalie Portman in Pablo Larraín’s big awards contender, Jackie. Bardem has the new Pirates Of The Caribbean on his plate, alongside new projects from Darren Aronofsky and Asghar Farhadi, with wife Cruz joining him in the latter.

Escobar goes into production next month.

First trailer lands for Gore Verbinski's A Cure For Wellness

Gore Verbinski’s new movie A Cure For Wellness, hitherto a big ol’ mystery only a few have been privy to, has a first trailer to share with the world. It’s still a mysterious beast, even after two minutes of footage, but some flavour of what the filmmaker has in store can be gleaned from this moody tease. Take a closer look below.

The first thing to note is that it’s a major change of pace from the director's recent blockbuster output – a psychological piece more in keeping with his take on The Ring. The trailer has gothic overtones and sinister goings-on galore. Dane DeHaan is an ambitious young Wall Street type checked into a remote health retreat – or “wellness centre” – where he finds himself diagnosed with a mystery illness and prescribed a cure that seems to involve quite a lot of eels.

There’s not too much sign of Jason Isaacs’ facility director here, but plenty of the otherworldly Mia Goth as the longtime patient DeHaan’s newbie soon encounters.

What else can be deduced from all these murky mountainous shenanigans? The train journey to the schloss-like spa in the Swiss Alps calls to mind Jonathan Harker’s journey to Dracula’s castle, while DeHaan’s descent into its belly has echoes of Jack Torrance in The Shining. But, the story seems to be asking, who’s really sick in this scenario: the spa’s inhabitants or everyone else.

Check back later for more from Verbinski. With a screenplay by The Lone Ranger co-writer Justin Haythe, A Cure For Wellness arrives in our cinemas next year.

New teaser for Legion hints at Dan Stevens' powers

We've seen a couple of glimpses of new mutant series Legion, which stars Dan Stevens as the troubled David Haller. Here's the latest quick teaser for the show, which puts Haller's powers front and centre.

Fargo's Noah Hawley is overseeing the show, which despite sharing comic book DNA with the 20th Century Fox mutant movies, has no plans to offer crossover with them, taking place in a parallel universe. Legion, adapted from the character first introduced in Marvel's New Mutants in 1985, focuses on Haller's struggles. Long dealing with mental illness, he’s been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years until a strange encounter with another patient leads him to think that maybe the voices and strange visions he experiences might be more real than he or anyone else thought.

The likes of Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Katie Aselton, Jemaine Clement and Rachel Keller are also in the cast for the show, which will premiere Stateside on the FX network this coming February before heading to the UK's Fox channel.

Exclusive clip from Korean zombie smash Train To Busan

A box-office smash in its native land, South Korean zombie flick Train To Busan is heading this way, gurning furiously and looking to chew through at least one of your limbs. It’s a cult horror in the making, so we’re happy to share a taste of what it has in store, as well as a look at its new poster. Watch it below.

As you can tell, these zombies are fast. Lightening fast. Imagine Usain Bolt with an unquenchable craving for human flesh and really poor circulation. That fast.

In itself, the premise of Yeon Sang-ho’s Cannes-acclaimed horror won't revolutionise the genre but it does have a satirical edge and real storytelling flair. A businessman (Gong Yoo) is waiting to depart Seoul station for Busan by KTX train with his estranger daughter (Kim Soo-Ahn) when a girl, infected with the zombie virus, clambers aboard.

Cue a desperate struggle to survive in the face of the great undead and some peppery, George Romero-esque commentary about inequality in modern-day Korea.

Look out for Train To Busan in UK cinemas on 28 October.

Tom Hiddleston joins Nick Park's Early Man

Hiddleston himself made the announcement on Instagram, posting a picture of himself working on the film with Park directing via a video link. Though it does look more like they were having fun than getting down to serious work.

Early Man focuses on Dug (Redmayne), the titular caveman, in an adventure that pairs him up with a sidekick called Hognob. The unlikely double act team up to united Dug’s tribe and do battle with the fearsome Bronze Age. Hiddleston is playing the pompous Lord Nooth, governor of the Bronze Age town – a money-loving tyrant and rival to Dug.

“I’ve been a fan of Nick Park and Aardman for as long as I can remember, and am incredibly honoured to be working with Nick and the team on this adventure," says Hiddleston. "I’m thrilled to be able to breathe some semblance of life into this hysterical villain and to work with Eddie for the first time. Early Man made me laugh out loud when I read it. Lord Nooth is larger than life in every respect. I can’t wait for audiences to meet him”.

Park also seems happy with the choice: “Tom is a wonderful actor and it’s so thrilling to see him bring our comic villain to life with his amazing talent, energy and enthusiasm. It is a great privilege to work with Tom and I’m so excited to see his character Lord Nooth emerge on screen!”

Early Man will be out on 26 January, 2018, so we're in for a wait. But genius takes time...

Logan: See the first image of Hugh Jackman's aging hero

UPDATE: We're finally being treated to a look at how Hugh Jackman will look as the aging Logan in the movie, courtesy once again of James Mangold's camera skills. It's a dark, scary thought to see the man who is Wolverine actually suffering the ravages of age. Oh, and thanks to Jackman's Twitter feed, we know the first trailer is almost upon us. Skip to the bottom of the page for that.

If the current flood of black & white photographs for James Mangold's new Wolverine movie Logan keeps up, we might actually be able to construct the entire movie from still shots as a sort of flip book. The latest image from the film (posted to its official Instagram page) confirms that the assassins known as the Reavers (no, not Yondu's Guardians crew) will be part of the story.

Of course, what the image can't truly tell us is whether Mangold's movie channels their comic book form and will present the baddies as cyborgs – this could, after all, just be a tough guy with a gun. But we do know at least that Donald Pierce – played in the film by Boyd Holbrook – will be involved.

With Hugh Jackman back as the be-clawed mutant in a story set years in the future, we're promised a story of him dealing with brand new problems and meeting old friends, including Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier.

Logan will be out in the UK on 3 March next year. If you'll excuse us, we're going to dry up the office printer ink supply and get started on that flip book...

[embed: https://twitter.com/RealHughJackman/status/788829682787577856]

Eiza Gonzalez is the latest recruit for Alita: Battle Angel

With Rodriguez directing and James Cameron producing, the film adapts Yukito Kishiro's original manga. Battle Angel Alita, as it was called in print and anime form, is the story of an amnesiac female cyborg in the 26th century who becomes a bounty hunter, after being rescued from the rubbish dump and rebuilt by a professor of cybernetics. Rosa Salazar is on board to play Alita, while Christoph Waltz will be the professor.

We don't yet know what Gonzalez will be playing, but Alita could certainly use some help, as she'll be facing the villainy of Jackie Earle Haley and Ed Skrein and, (assuming he signs on), Luke Cage's Mahershala Ali. Alita: Battle Angel will be out on 20 July 2018.

Gonzalez previously worked on From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series on Rodriguez's El Rey Network. She'll be on the big screen next in Edgar Wright's Baby Driver, due on 17 March next year.

Suicide Squad scores an extended edition release

Suicide Squad received some seriously mixed responses upon release, but has done decent business at the box office. So while it might not have been expected, an extended version will hit Digital Download, Blu-ray and DVD releases.

Don't go expecting a huge, different cut in the mould of the Batman V Superman extended release, or indeed an upgrade in rating. The extended edition features 13 minutes' more material, and from the looks of the brief teaser above, appears to partly focus on the earlier days of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's Joker.

We'd doubt there will be much in the way of changes to how the movie itself is put together, though talk of different versions have abounded. The new release, which will hit Digital Download in the UK on 28 November followed by 4K, 3D Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray and DVD on 5 December.

Read Empire's feature about the making of the movie.

Listen to the Empire Spoiler Special on the movie, including our Pod-chat with director David Ayer below.

Conflict has begun in the first motion poster from War For The Planet Of The Apes

As director Matt Reeves brings his next Apes outing, War For The Planet Of The Apes to the New York Comic-Con, we can expect to see more from the movie in the days ahead. First up? A digital billboard that hit Times Square to announce the movie's arrival.

The intriguing new image coalesces to form Andy Serkis' ape leader Caesar, warning that "war has begun."

And how: a quick glance at the official synopsis for the movie adds to the story... "Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet."

Woody Harrelson is on as that Colonel, with Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Karin Konoval and Terry Notary also in the cast. War For The Planet Of The Apes heads to UK shores on 14 July next year.

The Punisher series adds Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Amber Rose Revah

Barnes is aboard to play Billy Russo, Frank’s Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) best friend from his days in the Special Forces. He runs a successful private military corporation called Anvil. And there may well be more to him as (potential spoiler alert) Russo in the comics is also the villain Jigsaw.

Moss-Bachrach is set as Micro, a former NSA Analyst, who carries secrets that will be of great value to Frank and some very dangerous people. He's also from the comics. Revah, meanwhile, is Dinah Madani, a Homeland Security Agent who wants to track down Frank.

"I’m really excited about the cast we're assembling alongside Bernthal as Frank Castle," says showrunner Steve Lightfoot in a statement. "I look forward to watching Ben, Ebon and Amber embody these characters and breathe vivid life into the story we are crafting for this season of Marvel's The Punisher."

"We couldn’t be more thrilled about the remarkable talent joining Jon Bernthal," says Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb. "Ebon, Ben and Amber are incredibly talented actors and we can’t wait to see them bring these characters to life."

With Daredevil's Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) already spotted on the set, The Punisher is shooting now and should be on Netflix next year.

Matthew McConaughey stars in a new trailer for Gold

Like Fred Dobbs’ sweaty, balding younger brother, Matthew McConaughey’s prospector is in the grip of gold fever in new drama Gold. The film’s teaser trailer has just landed offering a closer look at what looks like being a modern-day riff on The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre. Watch it below.

Stephen Gaghan's latest film, which has a script from Patrick Massett and John Zinman, is based loosely on the 1993 Bre-X Corporation mining scandal. The plot follows a rough-around-the-edges prospector Kenny Wells (McConaughey) as he and his geologist companion (Edgar Ramírez) stumble upon one of the largest gold mines in the world in the Indonesian jungle.

But if the movies have taught us anything it’s that if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. Sure enough, Wells’ haul soon attracts attention, and things spiral into a mess involving Wall Street, the FBI and the Indonesian military.

Gold also features Bryce Dallas Howard, Toby Kebbell and Corey Stoll. It'll hit US cinemas on Christmas Day, but we’re still waiting for a UK release date.

War For The Planet Of The Apes: director Matt Reeves reveals details

War For The Planet Of The Apes was the subject of a special preview at New York Comic-Con that highlighted seven minutes of incomplete footage and the comments of director Matt Reeves, producer Dylan Clark and star Andy Serkis. What became apparent is that this third chapter in the rebooted sci-fi franchise (following 2011’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and 2014’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes) is going to feature some pretty epic action — certainly unlike anything the series, that began in 1968 with the original Planet Of The Apes and encompasses a total of eight films so far, has seen before. The plot, as suggested by the end of Dawn, has Caesar and his fellow apes battling against a military colonel (played by Woody Harrelson), intent on wiping out the simian population.

“We started talking about it while we were still finishing Dawn,” reveals Reeves. “The amount of time we took off between the films was about four weeks, and we were already talking about the next film. The thing that we always knew from the beginning was that Dawn was about a moment in time where peace was possible. Of course, we know it doesn't become Planet Of The Humans And Apes; it becomes Planet Of The Apes. The question is: How do we get there?"

Things are left at the end of that story on the precipice of war, and they knew at that point they would take Caesar into a place where he would have to confront a war he didn't want.

"Those conversations," Reeves notes, "began right from the beginning. One of the things that he is haunted about is that Dawn was very much about how Caesar ended up having to kill his brother, in Koba, who is played amazingly by Toby Kebbell. As we begin this story, we are thrust two years, after the end of Dawn, into the war. Caesar is fighting a war that he didn't want. He's in the woods. They've all retreated because apes know the woods better than humans. It has been a brutal fight, there have been huge losses on both sides, and Caesar's haunted by Koba, what he had to do, and this feeling that somehow if he could have seen what it was, the fact that Koba had this experience with humans that was so dark that he could never coexist with them, that if Andy as Caesar had been able to ... I think Andy and Caesar are the same ... If they had been able to anticipate that, this war could have been avoided. The journey of the story, the mythic journey, is that Caesar comes to understand exactly why Koba felt the way he did, because he gets pushed, through the extremes of war, to a place that's similar to where Koba was. The question is, will he be able to transcend that?”

The answer to that question will be revealed next July when War For The Planet Of The Apes reaches cinemas.

Amma Asante’s A United Kingdom opens the 60th BFI London Film Festival

Telling the true life tale of Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana (David Oyelowo) and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), the white woman he controversially married in the 1940s, Asante’s romantic drama is already hotly-tipped for awards recognition. The director and her cast – which includes Jack Davenport, Laura Carmichael, Jessica Oyelowo, and Asante’s lucky charm, Tom Felton – were in attendance at last night's European Premiere, kicking off a festival which boasts films from over 70 countries.

The BFI London Film Festival runs from 5-16 October, with La La Land, Manchester By The Sea, Moonlight, Arrival, Lion, Toni Erdmann, Paterson, and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey just a taste of the 240+ films on offer. Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire will close the festival.

Empire Podcast: Daniel Radcliffe interview special

For a very special edition of the Empire Podcast, we invited a man inextricably linked to Empire. Born the same year as our fair magazine, and a frequent face on the Empire cover, the boy wizard himself, Daniel Radcliffe.

Daniel Radcliffe spoke to Empire’s Chris Hewitt for half an hour, in a conversation recorded shortly before his Empire Live gala double-bill screening of Swiss Army Man and Imperium. He discusses playing an undercover white supremacist, a farting corpse, and – of course – Harry Potter.

You can listen to the Empire Podcast via our iTunes page, our SoundCloud page, this RSS feed (please note – we've switched to a new feed) or by pressing play below.

Gears Of War movie back in the works

Revealed during a livestream to hype the launch of the latest title in the series, Gears Of War 4, no details were revealed about what storyline the movie might utilise, and in fact it seems as though it may not directly follow soldier Marcus Fenix and his battles against the Locust.

“I think you have to let the movies be the movies," Coalition boss Rod Fergusson said during the livestream. "They’re two different mediums, and two different audiences in some cases, and I think some video game movies in the past have failed because they tried to make a movie for gamers. If you have this great IP with a deep backstory and lots of lore that you can make interesting stories out of it’s great, but if you just go after the gaming audience then it isn’t going to be a successful movie."

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes producer Dylan Clark and Central Intelligence's Scott Stuber (who has been aboard since the game was optioned) will work on this for the studio, in charge of finding a writer and director to (possibly) bring it to life at last.

Gears Of War 4 is set to arrive on 11 October.

See where Gears Of War landed on Empire's list of the 100 Greatest Games.

Miles Teller discusses his exit from La La Land

Miles Teller is in town to promote his new boxing movie, Bleed For This, which is earning a gala screening (sponsored by Empire, no less) at the London Film Festival. But he could have easily been in town to promote La La Land, the new musical from his Whiplash director Damien Chazelle, which the actor was previously attached to.

Speaking to the Empire Podcast, Teller said that he had no regrets about dropping out of the project. “I think both La La Land and Bleed For This are having nice moments right now,” he told us. “I don't have any regrets about it.”

Many rumours surfaced about why he left the role that eventually went to Ryan Gosling, and Teller was reticent to go into too much detail on the reasons behind his exit. “I don't like to talk about it too much because there's a lot of things that happen before a movie gets made...and I just feel like those are personal kind of things.” But he was keen to clarify a story from The Hollywood Reporter, which claimed that Teller was holding out for more money and “balked” at a $4 million payday.

“The whole 'me turning down the movie after I was offered $4 million dollars' is complete bullshit,” Teller said. “These publications print things so people read their article and then they say an 'unnamed source said this'. All that's bullshit.”

In a 2015 interview with Esquire, Teller described how one day he got a call from his agent saying, “Hey, I just got a call from Lionsgate. Damien [Chazelle] told them that he no longer thinks you're creatively right for the project. He's moving on without you.” Teller reportedly sent his director a text: “What the fuck, bro?”

But today, Teller suggested there was no bad blood between Chazelle and himself. “I'm happy for them,” he insisted. “You just want to be part of quality movies and we have that with Bleed For This and they have that with La La Land.

Bleed For This bows at the LFF on Sunday 9 October, before a wide release on December 2. Be sure to subscribe to the Empire Podcast to listen to the full interview with Miles Teller in a future episode.

Logan: first image of Patrick Stewart from the new Wolverine

After a long, largely silent front while it was shooting, we're finally now getting some imagery and details about the third solo Wolverine film, known simply as Logan. Following the poster and script page reveal, director James Mangold has hit Twitter with a look at how Patrick Stewart's Professor Charles Xavier will look when he appears alongside Hugh Jackman's gruff hero in the movie.

It's also a chance for Mangold to show off his photography skills, as that's a pretty stunning portrait of an aged Professor X.

Most of the story details remain under wraps on this one (Jackman's last time with the claws, apparently), though its believed to take elements from the Old Man Logan comic storyline – Stewart's appearance would certainly bear that out. We do know that the film also features the likes of Richard E. Grant, Stephen Merchant, Boyd Holbrook and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

Logan will be with us on 2 March next year. Expect more on the movie from Empire soon.

Emily Mortimer will be Mary Poppins Returns' Jane Banks

David Magee has written the script, which draws on material from author P.L. Travers' other Poppins novels that followed the original. Set nearly 25 years after the 1964 film, the story this time finds the magical nanny returning to the Banks family in Depression-era London to find that her charges Jane (Mortimer) and Michael (Ben Whishaw) Banks have now grown up. Michael has three children of his own, and they all need a little help re-discovering the joy in life.

Poppins will need the help of street lamplighter Jack (to be played by Hamilton musical god Lin-Manuel Miranda) and cousin Topsy (Meryl Streep, about whom we've also heard good things).

With Rob Marshall making the magic happen in the director's chair and Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman on song/score duties, Mary Poppins Returns will kick off shooting next year and is eyeing a 25 December 2018 release across the pond. So that's a jolly holiday launch for the States, but no word whether it'll arrive over here at the same time.