Mads Mikkelsen On For Survival Thriller Arctic

Mads Mikkelsen On The Empire Podcast Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Mads Mikkelsen Reveals His Character

Joe Penna is directing the film from the script he wrote with Ryan Morrison, and Arctic will find Mikkelsen's character stranded, as the title suggests, in the Arctic. He's encouraged to see that rescue is on the way, but then tragedy strikes.

His choice is then whether to stay in the relative safety of his camp or head out into treacherous terrain and potentially deadly freezing conditions in the hope of salvation.

Penna is rolling the cameras now, and should be on screens either later this year or next, with rights for sale at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival market.

007 In The News: The Battle For Bond 25 Has Begun

Although Sony has been distributing the films since 2006's Casino Royale, their license to distribute has expired. As a result, they now have to get in line with all the other interested parties to impress EON (Everything Or Nothing) Productions' Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and convince them, along with co-owners MGM, that they're the right people for Her Majesty's Secret Service.

According to an article in The New York Times, besides Sony, the other studios vying for the rights are Warner Bros, Universal, 20th Century Fox and, surprisingly, Annapurna, the company behind such films as Her and American Hustle. The theory regarding the latter is that having Bond could be a game-changer for them.

Of course while all of this is going on, Broccoli and Wilson are, at best, hopeful that Daniel Craig will return for one more outing, which would be his fifth following Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Virtually nothing is known about the plot of Bond 25, although it is being written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have co-written every Bond film from 1999’s The World Is Not Enough through 2012's Skyfall, while also contributing to Spectre.

Not long ago Purvis spoke to The Telegraph and offered up some of the potential challenges facing the new film creatively. “I’m just not sure how you would go about writing a James Bond film now,” he said. “Each time, you’ve got to say something about Bond’s place in the world, which is Britain’s place in the world. But things are moving so quickly now that that becomes tricky. With people like Trump, the Bond villain has become a reality.”

More recently, actor Jeffrey Wright, coming off of HBO's Westworld, offered up a tweet that suggested he could be returning as CIA agent Felix Leiter in the new film.

• Bond's Best One-Liners

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• James Bond: From Page To Screen

• James Bond: 007 Film Anniversaries in 2017

Exclusive New Look At Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge

Pirates Of The Caribbean is setting sail for its fifth voyage soon – and with the new issue of Empire also dropping anchor this week, we bring bounty from Davy Jones’ Locker. Specifically, a brand new and exclusive image from the film known as Salazar’s Revenge here in the UK, and Dead Men Tell No Tales in the US. Take a look below, and click to embiggen.

Here, we see Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, in possibly his final Pirates adventure) squaring up to old sparring partner Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), both of whom have appeared in every film in the franchise thus far. Speaking to Empire, the cast and crew seemed keen to return to the spirit of 2003’s franchise opener, The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

“I like all of the films in the franchise, but the first one is my first love,” says Joachim Rønning, the Norwegian co-director of the new film. “For me, it was important to come back to a character dynamic where it is about relatable, real people — some of the people are real, at least — then Jack Sparrow comes in and crashes the party. It was also very important to bring more comedy back in. I feel like they lost some of the humour. This is Buster Keaton on steroids.”

Buster Keaton on steroids sounds like something we would watch. For the full insane story on Salazar’s Revenge, which takes in script delays, mass vomiting, cast injuries and a homicidal monkey, pick up a copy of the new issue of Empire, on sale from Thursday 20 April. Want to get your copy days before anyone else? Subscribe to Empire here.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, meanwhile, arrives in cinemas from 25 May.

Empire Podcast: Warren Beatty Interview Special

For an extremely special edition of the Empire Podcast, we sat down with a genuine bona fide one-of-a-kind Hollywood legend: the great Warren Beatty. In town to talk about his new film Rules Don't Apply, Beatty speaks to us for nearly an hour on his life, career, politics – and that Oscars moment.

A true raconteur, Beatty tells us anecdotes of his times with Elia Kazan, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean and Ronald Reagan, from his early career in the '50s and '60s through to his current status as an elder statesman of cinema. For any film fan worth his or her salt, this is an essential listen.

You can listen to the Empire Podcast via our iTunes page, our SoundCloud page, this RSS feed or by pressing play below.

Marvel's Cloak And Dagger Gets A New Trailer

Marvel has certainly spent the past couple of years getting down, dirty and gritty with its various Netflix series (the latest of which, the crossover event The Defenders, is coming this summer). It seems that now they're going the Young Adult route with their new series, Cloak And Dagger, for which a new trailer has been released.

Based on the comic of the same name, the focus is on a gradually growing romance between Tandy Bowen/Dagger (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson/Cloak (Aubrey Joseph), who come from extremely different backgrounds. They're initially drawn together as they develop superpowers, romance following shortly thereafter, but, notes part of the official description, "They quickly learn they are better together than apart — but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging." Damn those feelings!

Tandy has the power to unleash light daggers, while Tryone is able to engulf others in complete darkness.

Other cast members include Andrea Roth as Tandy's mother, Melissa; Gloria Reuben as Tyrone's mother, Adina; Miles Mussenden as Tyrone's father, Michael; Carl Lundstedt as Tandy's criminal boyfriend (uh-oh, romantic tension, here we come!), Liam; James Salto as Bernard Sanjo, a friend of Tyrone's; and J.D. Evermore as Connors, described as a detective "with an intimidating secret" (intriguing). The series is created by Joe Pokaski, who served as a writer and executive story editor on Tim Kring's Heroes.

Cloak And Dagger represents just one of several series from Marvel titles expected to be on television in the near future, including the expected-to-return Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., season two of Legion, The Defenders, the untitled X-Men TV pilot, Hulu's Runaways and Inhumans (which will be making its debut on IMAX cinema screens this September).

• Marvel's Inhumans: A Guide to Who's Who

• X-Men TV Pilot: A Guide To Who's Who

• Marvel And Hulu Round Up Runaways TV Cast

Three Exclusive New Alien: Covenant Images Revealed

Alien: Covenant graces the cover of Empire this month – and lurking within the pages of the world’s biggest movie magazine, there’s some planet-sized world exclusives on Ridley Scott’s return to the Alien-verse. As a little extraterrestrial aperitif, we’re happy to share a sneak preview of some of those never-before-seen images below. Take a look, and click each to embiggen. Alien: Covenant’s Xenomorph Stars On Empire’s Latest Newsstand Cover Empire’s Alien: Covenant subscriber exclusive cover revealed. Empire Issue Preview: Alien: Covenant, Pirates 5, Spider-Man: Homecoming

The first image show a mysterious figure on the Engineer’s planet,, unleashing pods previously seen in Prometheus.

Our second image shows Michael Fassbender, returning in one of his dual roles as the android David (“My first question was, ‘Do I get paid double?’” Fassbender quips in the issue), in what appears to be a flashback with Weyland Industries CEO Peter Weyland.

Our third and final image shows the gruesome-looking “Neomorph”, chowing down on a hearty meal. The Neomorph was inspired by Scott’s fondness for nature documentaries on living nightmares, like goblin sharks. “Some of those nature videos are so stomach-churning that they don’t pay me enough to watch them,” shudders Covenant screenwriter John Logan. “But Ridley will see something to do with insects swarming, for example, which eventually finds its way into a movie. Usually there’s some sort of grotesqueness we find interesting.”

This is just a taste of our extensive eight-page coverage on Alien: Covenant – for the full insane story, be sure to pick up a copy of Empire, on sale in all good and malevolent newsagents now. Want to get your copy days before anyone else? Subscribe to Empire here.

Alien: Covenant, meanwhile, arrives in the UK on 12 May.

Scott Derrickson And Carlton Cuse Set For New Locke & Key TV Pilot

Writer Joe Hill Developing Locke & Key As A TV Series Universal Buys Rights To Locke & Key Spielberg Unlocking Locke & Key

Locke & Key, which debuted via IDW Publishing in 2008 written by Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, is a complex, sprawling tale that has a history going back to the American Revolution. But the focus is on Nina Locke and her children Tyler, Kinsey and Bode, who are trying to start a new life after surviving an unspeakable horror. Trying to rebuild, they move to the family home known as Keyhouse in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. There, they discover magical keys that can open portals that are also being sought by a terrifying, hate-filled creature who has his own designs on the portals.

The project has been as far as pilot stage before, as Fox Television developed it in 2010. It never made it to series, but the title wouldn't go away – Universal looked into making it as a movie. Finally, last year, Hill took matters into his own hands, developing the script along with Cuse, and Derrickson was quick to sign on to direct the pilot when he got the finished draft. If it goes to series, Cuse, who recently finished up working on Bates Motel, will run the show. According to Deadline, Derrickson is scheduled to shoot several episodes should that happen and is then going to be making the Doctor Strange sequel, though that has yet to be officially confirmed or dated by Marvel.

New Game Of Thrones Season 7 Images Arrive

While we continue the longer-than-usual, agonising wait for the next season of Game Of Thrones, the show's home HBO has at least seen fit to show mercy and release some new images from the forthcoming run of episodes. Nothing too spoilery here; though if you're looking to avoid knowing anything about the show before it returns... well, you've probably already looked away just in case. For everyone else, point those eyeballs below. Game Of Thrones Season 7 – Everything You Need To Know It's Musical Chairs In The New Game Of Thrones Teaser Game Of Thrones Recruits Jim Broadbent For Season 7

The team is naturally trying to keep the big details from leaking out before the premiere, but a lot of the main characters are present and correct... The ones that survived this far, at least. Lena Headey's Cersei Lannister, for example, is on the Iron Throne and planning to stay there as long as possible with Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau by her side. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), with a newfound sense of strength and ambition, looks imperious here, while Kit Harington's Jon Snow... Well, he mostly just looks worried as usual.

As we have been since Season 6, we're beyond George R.R. Martin's books, so readers can't just look smug and wait for viewers to catch up to the latest twist. And with seven episodes to tell the story this season, expect a lot of big events.

Season 7 hits the US on 16 July. Expect the usual simulcast by Sky Atlantic in the UK at 2am on the 17th, and a repeat that evening.

Captain Marvel: Anna Boden And Ryan Fleck Hired To Direct

Brie Larson Confirmed As Captain Marvel Captain Marvel Gets Closer To Picking A Director

After a lengthy search that has included a good number of female directors, the choice of the pair feels in keeping with the Marvel tactic of finding those who have worked in the indie field and elsewhere, but seemed ready to bring their talents to the MCU. Examples have included Guardians Of The Galaxy's James Gunn and Joe and Anthony Russo, who have tackled Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and are at work on the two Avengers: Infinity War films.

Boden and Fleck come from the world of movies such as Half Nelson and Grind, but have also worked in TV on shows including Billions. According to Variety, they had a number of meetings with Kevin Feige and the Marvel team and impressed the bosses with their take on what to do with the character. Guardians' Nicole Perlman and Inside Out's Meg LeFauve have been at work on the script, which will introduce the cinematic world to Carol Danvers, a skilled test pilot whose DNA is melded with that of Kree warrior Mar-Vell. Subsequently, she gains powers such as flight, enhanced strength, damage resistance and the ability to absorb and re-channel energy.

Captain Marvel is targeting an 8 March, 2019 release in the UK, so now the work really starts...

Injustice 2 Trailer: Superman And Batman Take on Brainiac

What if Superman was manipulated into inadvertently killing Lois Lane and their unborn child? What would that do to his psyche? It's a question explored in the 2013 game (and subsequent comic book series) Injustice: Gods Among Us, which postulated the Man Of Steel being so desperate for justice, that he essentially takes control of the entire planet. And what follows are the struggles between he and his allies, and his opponents — led by Batman.

Next month will see the release of the game Injustice 2, the latest trailer for which focuses on the arrival of the android Brainiac. It's Brainiac who was responsible for the destruction of Krypton, and now, having discovered the existence of Kryptonians on Earth in the forms of Superman and Supergirl, is driven to complete its mission and destroy them, destroying the planet in the process if necessary. A variation of this plot can actually be found in the 2013 animated film Superman Unbound.

Among the cast members are George Newbern as Superman (a role he voiced on the animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), Kevin Conroy as Batman (a character he's been voicing on and off since 1992's Batman: The Animated Series) and Laura Bailey as Supergirl.

Additional playable characters of the game include Aquaman, Bane, Black Adam, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Cold, Catwoman, Cheetah, Cyborg, Darkseid, Deadshot, Doctor Fate, The Flash, Firestorm, Gorilla Grodd, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Robin, Scarecrow, Swamp Thing and Wonder Woman.

• Injustice: Gods Among Us — The Empire Review

• Krypton: First Trailer For The Superman Prequel

Stephen King and Owen King's Novel Sleeping Beauties Being Developed For TV

Sleeping Beauties, to be published in September, is set in the not-to-distant future at a women's prison in an Appalachian town. Offers the official description on stephenking.com, “Something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep, they go to another place. The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied? Or is she a demon who must be slain?”

Ain't that the eternal question?

Like his brother, Joe Hill, Owen is no slouch in the writing department. Owen and Joe are currently developing a TV series based on their original screenplay Fade Away, and Owenn is co-writer (with Mark Poirier) of Alien Invasion, which is based on their graphic novel of the same name.

Serving as executive producers of Sleeping Beauties are Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta, who serve the same capacity on the Netflix series The OA and the new show Maniac. The former has been renewed for a second season and the latter begins production in late summer.

• Stephen King and JJ Abrams Launching Anthology TV Series

• Stephen King's It — Everything You Need To Know

• Stephen King And Joe Hill's Novella Throttle Will Be A Movie

Eric Roth To Write Dune For Denis Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve Confirmed As Director Of Dune Remake Legendary Grabs The Rights To Dune Denis Villeneuve In Talks To Direct Dune

Legendary Pictures made a deal to grab the rights from the Frank Herbert estate late last year and now the job has been to find a new team to make a movie about the struggle for the planet Arrakis and its valuable spice, which allows for space travel.

Much like the rise of the Atreides in the book, Dune’s cinematic history is legendarily chaotic. It languished in development hell for most of the 1970s. Alejandro Jodorowsky tried and failed to produce it (with some insane names attached – Orson Welles! Mick Jagger! Salvador Dali!), though his aborted efforts became a superb documentary in its own right. David Lynch eventually directed – and quickly disowned – the first completed adaptation in 1984, which starred Kyle MacLachlan, Max Von Sydow and Sting.

Roth, who has written the likes of Forrest Gump, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and The Good Shepherd will be trying his hand at science fiction for the first time. The man clearly loves a challenge...

The same can be said of Villeneuve, who this year has sci-fi sequel Blade Runner 2049 headed our way on 6 October.

Justin Kurzel On To Direct Post-War Drama Ruin

Macbeth's Justin Kurzel Plans Mumbai Massacre Film Justin Kurzel Developing True History Of The Kelly Gang

Ryan and Matt Firpo have written the screenplay as a spec and it's generating plenty of heat. The story follows a former Nazi captain who anonymously travels the ruins of post-World War II Germany and seeks to atone for his crimes by hunting down the members of the SS Death Squad that once worked under him.

Sounds like something Kurzel's previous collaborator Michael Fassbender could do – he's already had Nazi-hunting experience from Inglourious Basterds and his time as X-Men's Magneto. But casting decisions are a ways off yet, as first this script has to find a home.

Demian Bichir Will Star In Conjuring Spin-Off The Nun

Corin Hardy Directing The Nun The Conjuring 2's Nun Gets Her Own Movie Demian Bichir Joins Alien: Covenant

Corin Hardy is in the director's chair for the film, which will explore more about the demonic nun character that Conjuring 2 director James Wan added during reshoots on the scary film, using it to terrify Vera Farmiga's Lorraine Warren.

Not much is known about the plot for the new movie, which has a script by Wan and Gary Dauberman, save that Bichir will be a priest named Father Burke who is dispatched by Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun.

With Hardy planning to crank the cameras this summer in Romania, The Nun already has a Stateside release date set for 13 July next year. In other Conjuring spin-off news, Annabelle: Creation is out here on 11 August. And Alien: Covenant will unleash its scares on 12 May.

Comedian And Actor Don Rickles Dies, Aged 90

Rickles was born in New York in 1926 to an insurance salesman father and housewife mother, and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. Before he could forge any career path for himself, he was called up to the US Navy during World War II and served in the Philippines. "When I got out of high school back in the '40s, I had to go to a thing called a war against Japan," he recalled. "What did I know then? I was still trying to figure out why I had pimples."

After the war, he attempted to make a go of it as a salesman, hawking air conditioners, insurance and women's cosmetics door to door. But it was when he was delivering meat and cleaning his local butcher's shop that he decided to give acting a try. He applied to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was somewhat surprised to get in, learning alongside the likes of Jason Robards and Anne Bancroft.

Yet drama was not to be Rickles' calling – after graduation, he failed to win roles on Broadway and decided to change paths to comedy. In 1951, he landed an agent who got him small stand-up gigs in even smaller clubs, but eventually graduated on to bigger things when he arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1950s. Rickles gained notoriety for taking pot-shots at celebrities in his audience, and from there nabbed his first acting role: surprisingly, in a drama, 1958 World War II submarine movie Run Silent Run Deep.

From there, his on-screen career blossomed, and he'd go on to appear in movies such as Beach Blanket Bingo, Kelly's Heroes, Casino and, more memorably for younger audiences, voicing Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story films, the fourth of which will be out in 2019.

On the small screen, he had his own short-lived variety show and made two attempts to star in sitcoms. He also won roles on series such as Get Smart, The Lucy Show, The Addams Family and The Twilight Zone. "The stand-up is what paid for the house and the car and all the good things in life," he once told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The movies and television have been a bonus for me." Perhaps the best portrait of Rickles, in all his prickly glory, can be found in 2007 documentary Mr. Warmth, which explores his background and features a wealth of friends and those who have been the target of his wit talking about him.

He's survived by Barbara, his wife of 52 years, their daughter Mindy and two grandchildren.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Joins Dwayne Johnson In Rampage

Naomi Harris Joins Dwayne Johnson In Rampage Dwayne Johnson Starring In Rampage Malin Akerman Ready To Join The Rampage Cast

While New Line has yet to release an official synopsis, the movie's video game origins point to what we can expect: Johnson's animal-loving hero must help save cities from rampaging giant creatures (a lizard, a gorilla and wolf) that have been cooked up in a less-than ethical laboratory. Morgan has nabbed a supporting role as Agent Russell, who works for covert government outfit OGA and apparently has some attitude. Will he be a help or a hindrance? That's for the film to decide.

He joins a cast that already includes Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Joe Manganiello, Jake Lacy, Marley Shelton, PJ Byrne, Jack Quaid, Matt Gerald and Breanne Hill. [Brad Peyton]http://www.empireonline.com/people/brad-peyton/) is directing, and Rampage is scheduled for release on 13 April next year.

Pablo Larrain Directing Tom Hardy In The True American

Tom Hardy Is A True American Neruda: Exclusive Clip For Pablo Larraín’s Acclaimed Historical Drama

The True American will draw from Anand Giridharadas' non-fiction tome subtitled Murder And Mercy In Texas. It’s the story of Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladesh Air Force officer who longed to live and work in America’s technology sector. He made it to the States, finding temporary work in a Dallas minimart, which is where cruel fate intervened. A few days after September 11, 2001, self-styled "American Terrorist" Mark Stroman walked into the store and shot him.

Some stories would end there, but the astonishing tale isn’t done: as Stroman sat on death row for his crime and Bhuiyan struggled to recuperate from injuries that had maimed and nearly killed him, the Bangladesh native decided to seek out his attacker and grant him forgiveness, while starting a campaign against the death penalty in their state. Stroman, for his part, strove to become a better man in prison.

With Bigelow acting as a producer, the film will attempt to move forward again and Larraín will lock in a new script. The director's latest film, Neruda, will be in UK cinemas this week.

Michael Keaton Looking To Play A Villain In Dumbo

Danny DeVito Heads For The Live-Action Dumbo Eva Green Ready To Reunite With Tim Burton For Dumbo Colin Farrell Heads For The New Dumbo Film

Burton has been busy casting this latest Disney conversion job from its cartoon catalogue. Eva Green and Danny DeVito are in place and Colin Farrell is in talks to co-star. DeVito is playing the kindly owner of a small circus outfit home to Dumbo and his mother, while Green will be a French trapeze artist.

If he does make a deal, Keaton will be Vandemere, the owner of a much bigger, less friendly big top who sees Dumbo as something he can exploit. Boo! Hiss! Etc. Ehren Kruger wrote the script for the new movie, and Burton should be rolling the cameras this year.

It would mark another villainous role for Keaton, following this year's Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he plays Adrian Toomes, AKA The Vulture. The new film will be out on 7 July.

Pirates Of The Caribbean's Joachim Rønning Directing Micro

DreamWorks Finds Michael Crichton's Micro Tom Cruise And Pirates Of The Caribbean Director Take On Methuselah

Micro is one of the oddities of Crichton's career, because it was unfinished at the time of his death in 2008. Richard Preston stepped in to complete it for publication in 2011 and the rights were snapped up back in 2015 by Steven Spielberg's Amblin company, with Frank Marshall still aboard to produce alongside Sherri Crichton and Laurent Bouzereau.

Goosebumps' Darren Lemke has written the script, which finds a group of graduate students brought to Hawaii by the lure of jobs at a mysterious biotech company, which then shrinks them down to tiny size and maroons them in the rainforest, forcing them to use their wits and know-how to survive. A blend of Crichton's Timeline and Honey, I shrunk The Kids, if you will. Universal will be in charge of getting it into cinemas.

Rønning has plenty of projects on his plate waiting for he and co-director Espen Sandberg to finish working on and promoting the new Pirates movie (which arrives on 26 May). He's attached to direct Tom Cruise in Methuselah and shot a pilot for US network ABC.

Ridley Scott Talks The Future Of The Alien Movies

Alien: Covenant will be out on 12 May in the UK. For more from the interview, head to Fandango's site. Ridley Scott Says Two More Alien Movies Will Follow Covenant Ridley Scott Directing Kidnapping Drama All The Money In The World Latest Alien: Covenant Trailer Brings Fresh Fear

Talking with Fandango, Scott and Covenant star Katherine Waterston (who appeared to be try to keep her director in line, spoiler-wise), the filmmaker confirmed another outing and the basic timeline. "There will be another one before we kind of literally and logically, clockwise, back into the original Alien," he said, before, more interestingly mentioning the next film will actually fit between Prometheus and Covenant... "It will go Prometheus, Awakening, Covenant... Fairly integral where this colonization ship is on the way...." Let's see if that situation remains once the third film of this new set is confirmed. But Scott certainly appears to have plans for the future, something he's talked about in the past. "If this is successful, and then the next one, and then there will definitely be three more." Unfortunately for Blomkamp, they're all likely to be set pre-Alien, which means his plan for a movie to catch up with Sigourney Weaver's Ripley post-Aliens will have to keep on waiting.

Scott also cleared up that Noomi Rapace will definitely be appearing in the film, but not necessarily how we expect. "Yes, in a way," he says of Prometheus' main character. "Not fully, but in a way. She was integral to what David (Michael Fassbender) carried out later." We'll have to wait to find out what he means, but we doubt it was positive for poor Elizabeth Shaw.

Groot Stars On Empire’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Subscriber Cover

This month at Empire, we are Groot. With Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 just around the corner, everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic tree graces the limited edition subscriber-only cover of the latest Empire, seen here getting his twiggy paws into the tape of the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 cassette.

As ever, this cover will only be made available to lucky Empire subscribers, who should start having their issue plop on doormats in the next few days. The regular newsstand edition (cover yet to be revealed) will go on sale next Thursday.

The cover is just the papery tip of the movie iceberg – within its 146-page bounty, you’ll find your favourite movie magazine bursting with exclusives, including eight pages of coverage direct from the Atlanta set of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. There’ll be something good, something bad...maybe a bit of both.

Issue #335 of Empire will be on sale in all good and evil newsagents from Thursday 23 March. Fancy getting exclusive limited edition covers like this one, delivered to your door days before everyone else, at a discount? Subscribe to Empire here.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, meanwhile, arrives in cinemas from 28 April.

Spider-Man Spin-Off Venom Now Scheduled For October 2018

Spider-Man's Venom Is Alive Again At Sony With A New Writer Venom Getting A Spin-Off? More Venom For Marvel

Venom – the alien symbiote that requires a human host to live and bestows great powers with little responsibility – has had mixed history in film. Relegated to a side threat in 2007's Spider-Man 3, the creature was supposed to come back after Sony decided to spin-off an entire Spider-Man cinematic universe. Alex Kurtzman was aboard to write and direct a new movie, but all of that was mothballed when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to generate much interest (and suffered low box office returns).

Still, Sony has persisted, hiring Edge Of Tomorrow contributor Dante Harper to start working on a new script last year, with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner re-writing that for producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad. Former Sony boss Amy Pascal is also aboard to produce and the plan is to have the movie in US cinemas for 19 October, 2018. No-one is saying what the plot is yet, or whether it will in any way tie into Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is out here on 7 July this year. Nor do we know what version of the character will appear; the original villainous form or the more recent heroic/anti-heroic continuity. And above all else, this one will have to get moving quickly to meet that deadline...

This new release date announcement is part of a set of shuffling superhero movies, as Warners has just moved Aquaman off that October slot to a new home of 18 December, taking advantage of Avatar 2 once again failing to lock down a release.

Meet Izzy In A New Transformers: The Last Knight Trailer

Though it has a story that stretches back in time and explores another legacy of the Transformers' long past on planet Earth, the latest trailer for Transformers: The Last Knight is more focused on one of the main characters, Isabela Moner's Izabella and lots of battle action, as befits a Michael Bay film. See the new footage below. Killer Robots Are On The Loose In A New Transformers: The Last Knight Clip First Trailer For Transformers: The Last Knight Transformers: The Last Knight Casts Liam Garrigan As King Arthur

Designed as a hybrid trailer and introduction to the young new character, the piece, which will be in cinemas in front of Beauty And The Beast, shows the war-weary but resilient and resourceful Izzy, who we met along with some of her friends in a clip put online a few days ago.

As with that footage, the new material focuses on the present day, a world where humans and the living robots are at war with each other. Izzy, who already has her own connection with the 'bots, meets Mark Wahlberg's Cade Yeager and the two have to help in the fight against the forces of evil. There are plenty of explosions and some flying machines that look for all the world like TIE Fighters.

Oh, and because you can never have too much of him, Grimlock shows up here, making a nuisance of himself. With Anthony Hopkins, Laura Haddock and Josh Duhamel also in the cast, Transformers: The Last Knight is out on 23 June.

First Teaser Poster For The Dark Tower Promises Other Worlds

Finally headed our way after several versions failed to ignite, the cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's epic The Dark Tower series is finally headed to screens. And the first teaser poster for the movie has landed. First Official Look At Idris Elba And Matthew McConaughey In The Dark Tower Ron Howard And Brian Grazer Talk The Dark Tower Matthew McConaughey And Idris Elba Confirmed For The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower promises a subtly different origin story for the conflict between Roland Deschain AKA The Gunslinger (Idris Elba) and warlock Walter, The Man In Black (Matthew McConaughey), who brought chaos and destruction to a realm known as Mid-World. Walter's current target is the Dark Tower, which maintains order in the various realms and multiverses, and Deschain's target is... Walter.

The first movie, with Nikolaj Arcel directing, finds Walter on the hunt for Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) who posses "The Shine" (you might recognise the power from another slightly well-known King story), which could help destroy the Tower's support and allow Walter to bring his particular brand of apocalypse to other realms.

It's a striking initial image for the movie, which has the burden of an awful lot of anticipation to carry, and it will out here on 28 July. You'd have to guess that the first trailer will be following quickly behind.

New Fargo Season 3 Teaser Has Unfathomable Pinheadery

A couple of weeks ago, we got our first look at some of the characters in the new season of Fargo. The new teaser brings almost the whole new cast to the screen for a quick introduction and – in the words of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Nikki Swango – some "unfathomable pinheadery". Ewan McGregor Looks Different In The First Teaser For Fargo Season 3 Mary Elizabeth Winstead Joins Fargo Season 3 Ewan McGregor On For Fargo Season 3

The new season appears to hew even closer to the original Coen brothers film, while still remaining its own thing thanks to the creativity of show boss Noah Hawley and his team.

This year, the story partly focuses on Emmit and Ray Stussy, both played by Ewan McGregor. Emmit is handsome, confident and has conquered the real estate market in Minnesota. Younger brother Ray, on the other hand, is a flabby parole officer who blames his sibling for his bad luck. We see both of them in the new teaser, alongside Winstead's Nikki, a crafty and alluring recent parolee.

Carrie Coon, meanwhile, is Gloria Burgle, a practical woman who grabs the fire extinguisher when the bacon catches fire and everyone else panics. The chief of police in Edna Valley and a newly divorced mother, she struggles to understand this new world around her where people connect more intimately with their phones than the people directly in front of them.

Add to that the gloriously named likes of Michael Stuhlbarg‘s Sy Feltz and David Thewlis‘ V.M. Vargas, and you have quite the assortment. Fargo will be back on US screens on 19 April, with the show due to return to Channel 4 in the UK shortly after that.

Brian Cox Is Winston For The First Churchill Trailer

The first look at Brian Cox in costume and make-up as Winston Churchill arrived last year. We've had to wait a while to see how he moves and what he sounds like in the role, but here's the first trailer for Churchill. First Look At Brian Cox As Winston Churchill It's War! Brian Cox Starring In New Churchill Film

Kicking off in June 1944, Churchill finds the Allied forces perched on the brink as a million soldiers are secretly assembled on the south coast of England, poised to invade Europe and wrest it from the grip of the Nazi war machine. But one other thing stands in their way: Winston Churchill, who fears repeating the fallout of his disastrous previous command on the beaches of Gallipoli in 1915.

Exhausted by years of conflict and plagued by doubt and depression, Churchill is a shadow of the heroic man who helped his country resist the Blitz. He'll need the support of his unflappable wife Clementine (Miranda Richardson) to find the strength to support the battle plan. Will he do it? Well, er, spoiler alert: history, though as ever with this sort of thing, it's the journey and the emotional underpinnings that are more important than the outcome we know.

With John Slattery, James Purefoy and Ella Purnell also in the cast, Churchill will fight them on the beaches from 2 June in the States and 16 June in the UK.

Robert Downey Jr. Will Be Doctor Dolittle

Iron Man To Man Of The People For Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. Turning Director For TV Drama Singularity Robert Downey Jr. Aboard Spider-Man: Homecoming

Stephen Gaghan is directing this one for Universal after re-writing a script that began life with Tom Shepherd. The new film will adapt the work of Hugh Lofting, who created the eccentric doctor who claims he can talk to animals for a series of children's books in the 1920s.

The character previously hit screens in 1967 for the musical Doctor Dolittle played by Rex Harrison. Despite some bad reviews, it went on to win Oscars for Best Original Song and its visual effects and made it as far as a Best Picture nomination. The concept was remade for the 1990s starring Eddie Murphy, who worked on both the first movie in 1998 and its initial, cinematic sequel in 2001.

Syriana and Gold director Gaghan seems like an unlikely choice to work on this, but it'll be fascinating to see what he does. And Downey Jr. will get the chance to play some slightly different tones from his usual snark-tastic Stark stuff. Talking of the genius, billionaire playboy philanthropist, he'll be back in Spider-Man: Homecoming, set to hit our screens on 7 July.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2: See Three Exclusive New Images

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 sits front-and-centre on the latest issue of Empire, with an instantly loveable Groot-heavy limited edition cover already on its way to subscribers. Inside, there's eight pages of coverage on the return of galaxy-saving gang, including a full set report from the Atlanta shoot, and several never-before-seen images – three of which we can share with you now. Take a look below – and click to embiggen.

The first shows Yondu (Michael Rooker) squaring off with Rocket (Bradley Cooper). You wouldn't bet against either of them in this fight.

This one shows the gang in action, including Karen Gillan's Nebula – is she with the good guys this time?

Finally, it's a venerable newcomer to the cast, Kurt Russell, as Ego The Living Planet, father of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord. As recounted in the new issue of Empire, it was Pratt who suggested Russell's casting during a casual chat with his director James Gunn, when Pratt made an offhand suggestion: “Hey, what about Kurt Russell?”

“I started writing for Kurt as I was finishing the screenplay,” Gunn recalls. “I would have been really disappointed if he’d said no.” Fortunately Russell said yes, after checking out the first movie, which he’d missed the first time around. “Fifteen minutes in, I said, ‘I think I see why they’re coming to me…’” the former Snake Plissken tells Empire. “The baggage I bring from some of the movies I’ve done is the right kind of baggage to bring into this one.”

Ego is, in a very real sense, his biggest-ever part. “That’s true!” Russell roars. “I’ve never played anybody bigger! I’ve never played a character with broader possibilities, I’ll say that.” Indeed, Ego proved the film’s largest technical challenge. Inspired by the elaborate fractal art of Hal Tenny, who Gunn hired to help design Ego’s environment, it’s pushed visual effects past the existing limit. “We have over a trillion polygons on Ego’s planet,” says Gunn proudly. “It’s the biggest visual effect of all time. There’s nothing even close to it. Which is cool.”

This is just a preview of our extensive Guardians 2 coverage – for the full planet-sized report, including more interviews with Gunn and all the key cast, be sure to pick up a copy of the new issue of Empire, on sale in all good and evil newsagents from Thursday. Empire subscribers should start to receive their limited edition covers already. Want to get your copy days before anyone else too? Subscribe to Empire here.

First Look At Claire Foy And Andrew Garfield In Andy Serkis' Breathe

Andy Serkis To Direct Breathe Game Of Thrones' Dean-Charles Chapman Joins Andy Serkis' Breathe

Based on the inspiring true story of producer (and Serkis' Imaginarium Studios partner) Jonathan Cavendish's parents, Breathe finds Garfield as Robin Cavendish, a polio-sufferer who not only survived the illness (and life on a respirator) but flourished thanks to his indomitable spirit and that of his wife, Diana Blacker (Foy).

Cavendish was initially diagnosed with polio at 28 and given only three months to live yet went on to raise money for charity, test out pioneering new equipment and champion the cause of the disabled. All while paralysed from the neck down.

Hugh Bonneville, Dean-Charles Chapman and Tom Hollander are also part of the cast, while Gladiator's William Nicholson wrote the script, and Breathe will be in UK cinemas from 27 October.

Kate McKinnon And Mila Kunis Up For Comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me

Scarlett Johansson Parties Hard In The Red Band Rough Night Trailer Bryan Cranston, Mila Kunis And Armie Hammer Join Jackpot Bad Moms Review

Susanna Fogel co-wrote the script with David Iserson and will be calling the shots on the movie for Lionsgate. The new comedy should find McKinnon and Kunis as best friends who are always there for each other. When one of the women discovers that the boyfriend who dumped her was actually a spy, they become entangled in an international conspiracy.

No other details have been released, though Brian Grazer is aboard to produce via his Imagine Entertainment company and shooting should kick off this summer.

Kunis most recently appeared in hit comedy Bad Moms and has a few projects in development. McKinnon was part of the cast for Office Christmas Party and is back in new raucous comedy Rough Night, due 16 June.

Colin Farrell To Play Oliver North For A New Miniseries

Colin Farrell Heads For Inner City Colin Farrell Joins The Killing Of A Sacred Deer

Still, the pair has signed deals to make a miniseries about the affair at Amazon, with Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson providing the scripts and Ben Stiller and Nicky Weinstock on to produce via their Red Hour Films company.

The Iran-Contra scandal saw American officials secretly selling weapons to Iran in the 1980s (subject of an arms embargo at the time) and sending the money to the Contra militant groups in Nicaragua while also negotiating the release of hostages. Lieutenant Colonel North, a decorated marine with a seat on the National Security Council, was one of the people behind the plan, and destroyed evidence once it was rumbled. He was arrested, and ended up convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and ordering the destruction of documents through his secretary. In 1989, he was sentenced to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 21,000 hours of community service, though in 1990, his convictions were reversed. North went on run for the senate and hosted a show on Fox News.

"I’m really excited to be working with Colin again on something quite different to what we have done so far," Lanthimos tells Variety. "I look forward to joining forces with Ben and Nicky, who had an excellent casting idea and saw the potential of the material early on and Amazon, who has embraced the project with great enthusiasm. It makes me very confident and excited to be working on a script which, although based on relatively recent history, feels very fresh and relevant to our times." Oh, government officials caught lying? We can see that.

This one's still bubbling away, but expect all involved to get moving on it once their schedules align and the scripts are in. Farrell will next be seen in Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled (out 23 June) and is on board Dan Gilroy's Inner City, which should be shooting soon.

Chris Evans And Haley Bennett Join Red Sea Diving Resort

Resort, which was originally developed by Homeland's Gideon Raff from Alice LaPlante's book Turn Of Mind, has gone by several titles on its journey to the screen, as was once known as Operation Brothers and then Operation Resort. Raff is still aboard to direct his script, which will chronicle the evacuation of Jewish Ethiopian Civil War refugees from Sudan to Israel in the late 1970s and early '80s. On the orders of then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Mossad set up a secret base in a deserted Sudanese holiday camp, and orchestrated the mass extraction by sea and air. Evans is aboard to play Ari Kidron, a charming Israeli agent who assembles a team to help refugees on the ground, while Bennett's role has yet to be revealed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Raff originally sold the idea to Fox Searchlight, but after development there crawled to a halt, he shopped it around and landed at Fences production company Bron Studios, with Alexandra Milchan still aboard to produce. All being well, Raff should have the cameras cranking this summer.

Evans had Gifted arriving here on 16 June and has been back at work as Captain America for the Avengers: Infinity War films, the first of which opens in the UK on 27 April next year. Bennett will next be seen in A Kind Of Murder and Thank You For Your Service.

• Gideon Raff Plans Operation Brothers

Rachel Weisz Is A Threat In The New Trailer For My Cousin Rachel

Following on from the first glimpse at the new Daphne Du Maurier adaptation My Cousin Rachel earlier this year, here comes the new trailer for the film, which stars Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin. First Trailer For Gothic Drama My Cousin Rachel Holliday Grainger Joins My Cousin Rachel Rachel Weisz Knows My Cousin Rachel

Du Maurier's work was previously adapted for the big screen in 1952 and by the BBC in 1983, but Roger Michell's film, which he also wrote, heads back to the book to dig up more details. The story follows Philip (CLaflin), an orphan who is used to living a happy life with his cousin and guardian, Ambrose. But during one of Ambrose's health-related holidays, he reports back that he has fallen for Rachel (Weisz), a distant relation. When the tone of his letters starts to change, Philip decides to go and investigate. Yet he underestimates the power the beautiful Rachel will have over him, as she tries to tell her side of the story. But who can he trust?

Iain Glen and Holliday Grainger feature in the cast, and My Cousin Rachel will be out on 9 June.

Henry Cavill And Nicholas Hoult Are At War In The Sand Castle Trailer

Netflix has already dropped eight promos for upcoming projects over the past few days, including Brad Pit’s War Machine, Alison Brie’s Glow and an Amy Schumer stand-up special. Next up is Sand Castle, the Netflix original film set in 2003 Iraq during the early days of the Second Gulf War.

Not, as the title might suggest, a light-hearted story about a sandy fortresses, Sand Castle is in fact based on screenwriter Chris Roessner’s own experience as a machine gunner in Iraq, and promises a grunt’s-eye-view of life and death on the front line.

The movie is centred on Matt Ocre (Nicholas Hoult), and as he and his troops attempt to protect farming village, Baqubah, in the crosshairs of some very dangerous enemies.

Also starring Henry Cavill, Glen Powell, Logan Marshall-Green, Tommy Flanagan and Parker Sawyers, Sand Castle premieres 21 April on Netflix worldwide.

Spotlight's Tom McCarthy Re-Writing Disney's Christopher Robin Movie

With an earlier draft by Alex Ross Perry, the movie is currently simply known as Christopher Robin. Sounding a little like Hook-meets-Paddington, the story follows a grown Christopher Robin who has left behind the imaginative adventures in Hundred Acre Wood and is focusing on his adult life. But when his job starts to overwhelm his family commitments, he is suddenly visited by Pooh, who needs help finding his friends. Christopher Robin has to figure out how to handle the two sides of his life colliding without losing both.

In case you're thinking this new hire means that McCarthy will also be taking over the director's job on the film, that's not the case: Marc Forster is still attached to call the shots.

McCarthy, who won a Best Original screenplay Oscar with co-writer Josh Singer for Spotlight in 2016 (he was nominated as its director and the film took Best Picture), has several other scripts in development but has been spending time as executive producer and director on new Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, which will hit the streaming service on 31 March. You can watch the trailer below.

• Marc Forster On To Make Christopher Robin Film

Big Bang Theory Spin-Off: Young Sheldon Has Been Cast

Deadline is reporting that HBO's Big Little Lies' Iain Armitage will take on the lead role, bringing to life Sheldon's growing up in Texas, and the interactions between he and the rest of his family. Parsons, who came up with the concept for the show, feels that it's a natural, largely due to The Big Bang Theory's writers providing such detail to the character over the past decade. "It just seems like a really wasted opportunity if you don't decide to explore the origin story with that," the actor related. "I mean, they've layered so many things in there that are ready to be drawn from."

Also cast is the part of Sheldon's born-again Christian mother, Mary, played on the regular series by Laurie Metcalf, but to be portrayed on the spin-off by the actress' daughter, Zoe Perry.

Still to be cast are the parts of Sheldon's twin sister, Missy; older brother George, Jr. (who we have not met yet), and his father, George, who had died prior to the events of BBT.

One of the reported reasons that the spin-off hasn't been announced yet is that negotiations for a two-year renewal of The Big Bang Theory are ongoing.

• The Big Bang Theory: Jim Parsons Talks The Sheldon Spin-Off

• Big Bang Theory Team Plans Young Sheldon Spin-Off

Latest Red Band CHIPS Trailer Gets Ruder

The Jump Street movies proved you can take a cult classic TV show and somehow spin gold from it, so it's only natural that others are trying to repeat the trick. But while it's clearly not as easy as that, Dax Shepard is attempting it with '70s/'80s cop show CHIPS, and the new, Red Band trailer shows he's leaning into the rude gags... CHIPS Trailer Offers A Look At The Cops In Action Exclusive New Look At Dax Shepard And Michael Peña in CHIPS. Kristen Bell Recruited For The CHIPS Film

Shepard wrote, directed and stars here as Jon Baker, an injury-prone pro motorcyclist looking to fix his broken marriage (if not some of his broken bones) by joining up with the California Highway Patrol in Los Angeles. He's partnered with Frank "Ponch" Poncherello (Michael Peña), who has his own reasons for signing on: Ponch is actually an undercover Federal agent looking to take down a suspected gang of crooked cops are pulling off heists.

The first trailer showed the style and tone that Shepard is going for, and the new one just confirms it: expect lots of genital-focused gags layered on a basic action plot. CHIPS is out on 24 March.

The X-Men TV Pilot Casts Amy Acker

Acker will plays Kate, the "ordinary" mother of children who have turned out to be mutants, and who she takes off on the run with to avoid capture by the government. Ultimately the family, which includes Kate's estranged husband, Reed (Stephen Moyer), becomes a part of an underground mutant network. Playing Kate's kids are Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane, also known as Polaris, with the power of magnetism; and Percy Hynes as Andy.

Acker gained attention as Winifred "Fred" Burkle on Angel. While the character died during the fifth and final season of that show, the actress immediately took on a whole new persona, the demon goddess Illyria. Other genre roles have included Supernatural, Alias, Dollhouse, and Person Of Interest.

As to genre appeal, Acker details that she had been a dancer, doing a lot of ballet growing up until she was sidelined by knee surgery. Seeking an alternative, she turned to acting.

"I had always been super shy, but I found out that if I said words that other people wrote, and got to be characters other than myself, that it was sort of this amazing thing that I couldn’t imagine doing anything else after it started," she says. "I think that’s part of the reason I’m drawn to this genre. I mean, all of my favorite roles that I’ve gotten to do have been in genre TV. Those roles really allow you to transform, sometimes from a human to an alien, but it also gives you a journey as a character that a lot of other shows don’t always have."

• Jamie Chung Will Be Blink In The X-Men TV Pilot

• Stephen Moyer Starring In The X-Men TV Pilot

• Bryan Singer Directing The New X-Men TV Pilot

New Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge Trailer Explores the Villain

Given that the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean adventure is called Salazar's Revenge after Javier Bardem's antagonist in the UK, you might expect to learn more about the rage-filled supernatural sailor. And indeed you do in this new trailer for the movie. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge Super Bowl Spot First Teaser Trailer For The Latest Pirates Online Brenton Thwaites Set For The New Pirates Movie

Turns out Captain Salazar and Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow have a past, and it's not that Sparrow owes Salazar $3 million for a scarf or something like that. No, in life, Salazar was dedicated to wiping out pirates until a young Sparrow (Depp, given a quick coat of de-aging magic with the CGI brush) took him down and left him for dead. Now he's undead, bristling with fury and ready for vengeance.

Jack, down on his luck as usual, must find the legendary Trident of Poseidon and will need the help of headstrong young sailor Henry (Brenton Thwaites) and smart, daring astronomer Carina (Kaya Scodelario). We're promised the usual spectacle (zombie sharks!), this time wrangled by Kon-Tiki duo Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg.

No reason has yet been given for why the name was switched from the US title (Dead Men Tell No Tales), though perhaps in a mirror of the Zootopia/Zootropolis situation, there was a European theme park with the moniker already out there (Decomposing fun! Terrify the kids!). Whatever the reason, Salazar's Revenge will sail into UK cinemas on 26 May.

Arnie Gets Emotional In Our Exclusive New Aftermath Clip

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent career has been quite different from the sorts of roles we were used to, pre-Governator, drawn to tougher, meatier dramatic roles like Maggie and Sabotage. That trend continues with Aftermath, a gritty revenge thriller in which Arnie plays a grieving father looking track down the air traffic controller he holds responsible for a plane crash that killed his wife and children. We’ve got our hands on an exclusive clip – have a look below.

Grizzled with a face full of silvery face fuzz, Arnie is quite a different beast to how we’re used to seeing him in this film. It’s all based on a fairly extraordinary real-life tale, in which a Russian man tracked down and murdered an air traffic controller, apparently in revenge for the deaths of his family. Elliott Lester (Blitz) is behind the camera on this one, which also stars Scoot McNairy as the target in Arnie’s crosshairs, and Maggie Grace as his wife.

Essentially the anti-Sully, Aftermath is released in the UK from 7 April. Here’s the UK poster.

• Exclusive: Schwarzenegger Fires The Apprentice