1. Channing Tatum will play a mermaid in remake of Splash, obviously

Channing Tatum is no stranger to reboots; there’s the pair of Jump Street films, the adaptation of G.I. Joe, and the upcoming Men In Black/Jump Street crossover episode/feature film. However, none of them compare to Disney’s latest dalliance with a re-imagining of Splash – a project which has a certain… twist in the tail.

Deadline is reporting that Tatum has been tapped by Disney and Imagine Entertainment to play a mermaid (merman?) in a remake of Splash which will see the half-fish, half-man, half-washboard fall in with Jillian Bell who will take on the Hanks role of the original and is apparently responsible for conceiving this idea. Marja-Lewis Ryan is set to write the script but little else is known thus far.

2. The week in numbers; box-office bust ups

We’ve previously reported on the fact that 2016 has been a little hit-and-miss in regards to its blockbusters. While some films have been runaway successes – take, for instance, Captain America: Civil War, Zootropolis, and The Jungle Book – others, including Batman v Superman and Alice Through the Looking Glass have struggled to make good on their large budgets.

Well, the summer does not seemed to have provided the box office delights that the major studios were relying on. After The BFG impressed critics but failed to draw large numbers, despite being made under the dependable banner of Spielberg’s name, other films seem to be following suit: Star Trek Beyond dipped a massive 60% in its second week while Jason Bourne failed to open to as much as The Bourne Identity in 2008 [via Box Office Mojo]. Despite large predictions for Suicide Squad‘s opening weekend [via Box Office Mojo], the unfavourable reviews will likely work against it in the same way that they did against BvS. The hit of the summer at this point is set to be Finding Dory which is only $100million shy of its predecessor despite having only just opened in some major regions. Let’s see what the rest of the year has in store; the pressure is on for box office hopeful Doctor Strange, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Rogue One. 

3. Dominic Cooper posts his James Bond audition online – turns out it’s a trailer for Stratton

Dominic Cooper is John Stratton: the SBS commando ready, willing and able to do all he can to save the country (if that country is specifically the United Kingdom). The new trailer for Stratton sees Cooper play the semi-fictional John Stratton, the protagonist from Duncan Falconer’s best-selling thrillers, alongside Gemma Chan, Connie Nielsen, Tom Felton and Derek Jacobi. Henry Cavill was originally set to take the role of Stratton but dropped out due to the ol’ “creative differences” just five days before shooting was due to begin.

4. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn to star in The Professor and the Madman

The Professor and the Madman: It’s hard to think of a more fitting title for a film starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, two actors famed for both their genius and for their questionable sanity. Having acquired the rights to Simon Winchester’s book way back in 1998, Gibson has long had his mind set on adapting the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. Well it finally look like it’s about to happen [via The Hollywood Reporter].

Despite the fact that Gibson had long-planned to direct the film himself, he has handed over directing duties to Apocalypto screenwriter Farhad Safinia. Gibson will stay on as star in the role of Professor James Murray who, along with the help of the criminally insane Dr. W.C. Minor, compiled the first Oxford dictionary in the mid-nineteenth century. If handled well, this film could find favour at the Oscars.

5. Kiefer Sutherland coughs up details on that Flatliners sequel

A few weeks ago we expressed a little disdain with the news of another Flatliners film – seemingly the deathspasms of a bloated corpse-like metaphor – but Kiefer Sutherland has given us a few details in an interview with hard-hitting news behemoth Metro that have really put our minds at rest. For one, Sutherland is returning to the project in the role of a “professor at a medical university” and is “the same character [he] was in the original Flatliners” – but with a new name! Though other plot details are lacking, it currently sounds like a Scrubs spinoff, except with Ellen Page, Diego Luna, James Norton and Nina Dobrev attached as the spunky new upstarts getting thrills from experimenting with life, death and whatever is between the two.

6. Hacksaw Ridge gets a trailer

Andrew Garfield is one of those actors that most discuss with enthusiasm despite the fact that he’s never really had his moment to shine. While excellent in The Social Network he was ultimately outshone by Jesse Eisenberg; while moving in Never Let Me Go he was left in the shadow of Carey Mulligan; while well-cast in The Amazing Spider-Man he was poorly served by the films themselves. Perhaps this is his moment. Hacksaw Ridge finds Garfield in Oscar territory as real-life hero Desmond Doss who won the Medal of Honour despite never holding a gun. The film is helmed by Mel Gibson who hasn’t directed a film since 2006’s Mayan action epic Apocalypto.

7. Fantastic Beasts uses a sequel spell or something, gets a sequel

Despite having no idea whether completely unproven Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them will rake in millions of dollars when it’s released, Variety reports that Warner Bros. have announced that a further instalment will be coming along in November 2018. The studio is apparently tapping Rowling to write the screenplay and longtime Potter person David Yates to direct, with all the regular cast set to return to the roles that may, or may not, have made us fall in love with them on November 18.

8. Kathryn Bigelow assembles cast for new thriller

After delivery a one-two hit with two of the last decades most critically-lauded films, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow is finally set to start work on her next feature. The Oscar winning director will reunite with returning screenwriter Mark Boal – the two both won academy awards for Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker in 2008 – on a currently crime thriller that will take place against the backdrop of the 1967 Detroit riots.

Already on board are rising stars John Boyega, Ben O’Toole, and Jack Reynor, but now Bigelow has added Will Poulter, another young but exciting actor, to the roster [via Empire Online]. The film will also star previous Bigelow collaborator and Avenger Anthony Mackie and is set to start shooting soon for a 2017 release date to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the riots.

9. Colin Trevorrow’s The Book Of Henry gets itself a new release date

Despite originally being set for release in mid-September this year, the newest feature from Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has been pushed back by Focus Features to allow it to better find its audience in a less crowded schedule [via Variety]. With a new release date of 16 June 2017, Focus hopes it’ll bypass the current busy box office by launching against Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Cars 3 instead… Starring Naomi Watts, Jacob Tremblay and Sarah Silverman, The Book of Henry follows a single mother (Watts) raising a child prodigy (Tremblay) and has apparently been testing well so, hey, that’s good news.

10. Dunkirk gets a teaser

For many, Christopher Nolan can do no wrong. Even among his detractors – and there are certainly some – there is no denying his formidable talent; after bending time and space in Inception, reinventing Batman in The Dark Knight trilogy, and saving the human race in Interstellar, Nolan could finally be set to secure his first directing Oscar nomination with next summer’s Dunkirk. Judging from from what we see here, Dunkirk certainly looks the part…

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