Lest we stray too far from Stallone, we can’t continue from yesterday without mentioning Creed 2. Ryan Coogler shepherded the 2015 spin-off near perfectly with Michael B. Jordan starring, and host to a bevy of talent as well as a spry and impressive one-take boxing match midway in the film. Stallone and attached filmmaker Stephen Caple Jr. will commence production in Spring next year with Jordan joined once more by Tessa Thompson along with the long-rumored, expected return of Rocky IV antagonist Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago, and bearing rumors in mind, an actor slated to play Drago’s son, whoever that is.
With Ernest Cline’s 2011 publication of Ready Player One.. I never even read the book. All I know really is that the official trailer from earlier this year is as exquisite as one could hope with Tye Sheridan leading the dystopian future tale of a teenager who competes an immersive video game battle for a billionaire fortune and full ownership of the VR world of OASIS at the behest of its late creator. The film opens on March 30 and yes, the teaser trailer, obviously… Peep it.
Director Lee Thongkam is kind of another anomaly. Little is known about his latest independent directorial outing, The Last One, but it does have an official website up with all the trimmings…sans a trailer as there was one prior to its removal. I managed to catch a glimpse of it myself and it has all the more made me curious. The set-up? A band of survivors fight to protect something very precious in the wake of a nasty plague that has wiped the earth of all living humans with O-blood type. The cast? Kim Santiago, Luis Vallardes, Ben Bernard, and Film Combat Syndicate favorites, Felix King and Yadi Nieves. Release? Your guess is as good as mine, but do pay the official website a visit and feel free to pester all you may about this movie. As for footage, here’s a mid-production teaser from a few years ago:
Roar Uthaug still has some pretty big shoes to fill with his latest game adaptation, Tomb Raider. Alicia Vikander is the star this time around with a glimmering and gritty take on the popular IP which now has our heroine obliged to follow the mystery of her father’s death at every harrowing turn. Dominic West, Walton Goggins and Daniel Wu also star for the film’s release on March 16.
Some of the neatest superhero films have been offered to us courtesy of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men film franchise. Not all of the movies were solid, but the studio has covered enough of its bases to move forward with our ensemble of heroes as we now approach Simon Kinberg’s treatment, X-Men: Dark Phoenix with Sophie Turner in the title role for the film’s November 2 release next year. It’s early days so don’t expect any trailer footage for a while longer than required.
Stay tuned for the next five!
