1. Has Ben Affleck revealed the identity of the latest Batman villain?

Yeah, probably. It sure looks like Batman has himself a new villain, and Jared Leto is nowhere to be seen. On Monday, the growl behind the cowl posted a 30-second clip on Twitter that appears to show Deathstroke, aka Slade Wilson (aka no, Wade Wilson is Deadpool, this is Slade Wilson), walking towards the camera. Could this be Batman’s newest nemesis? Yes, apparently. TheWrap has confirmed that Deathstroke will indeed face off against the Dark Knight in his Affleck-directed solo outing. So, now we can all start speculating about who might play the white-haired, semi-immortal cyclops. Ron Perlman, anyone?

2. Jackie Chan set to receive an honorary Governor’s award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors are set to deliver Honorary Awards to martial artist, actor, and stuntman Jackie Chan, editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster, and documentarian Frederick Wiseman [via Variety].

The annual ceremony will take place in November and is seen as an opportunity to reward the careers of industry figures both on and off the screen. Last year’s recipients included Spike Lee, Gena Rowlands and Debbie Reynolds.

3. Karen Gillan will also jump into the Jumanji sequel

Last week we regurgitated the news that Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, the acting powerhouse and powerskyscraper behind Central Intelligence, were reuniting for Jumanji. Now Deadline is reporting that Karen Gillan, of Doctor Who and Guardians of the Galaxy fame, is also on board. According to Deadline, Gillan is the “final piece of the casting puzzle” and her casting means production can begin as soon as next month, in Honolulu. Joining Hart, Johnson and Gillan will be Jack Black and Nick Jonas, as well as the many dark secrets that the game of Jumanji holds…

4. Participant Media pick up Rupert Wyatt’s Captive State

After a tense bidding war, Participant Media has acquired rights to produce and distribute Rupert Wyatt’s next feature, Captive State, based on a script co-written by himself and Erica Beeney [via Deadline]. After the general indifference that greeted The Gambler, Wyatt’s biggest hit remains his franchise rebooting ape-actioner Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Little is known about Captive State at this point but Participant Media don’t dabble with anything small-fry, having been responsible for current Venice hot ticket The Light Between Oceans and incoming festival entries such as Denial, starring Rachel Weisz, J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls, Pablo Larraín’s Neruda and the Peter Berg-directed Deepwater Horizon. Of course, last year Participant went on to win a Best Picture Oscar with Spotlight – so keep Wyatt’s next on your radar.

5. David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike stir in A United Kingdom‘s trailer

Given the talent of the two leads in Amma Asante’s period romance race drama A United Kingdom, one can hope that her film rises above the issues-bait presented by its trailer. A United Kingdom is Asante’s upcoming adaptation of Susan Williams’ true story of Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana’s romance with Ruth Williams, a white British woman that, naturally, caused a stir at home for both. The film will feature at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival and open the LFF in October.

6. Steve Carell, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston are the first to join Last Flag Flying

Boyhood and Everybody Wants Some!! director Richard Linklater has had enough of working with young bucks if his next project is anything to go by. Variety reports that the director has recruited an impressive trio of leading men – Steve Carell, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston – for his take on the novel Last Flag Flying.

The project is a sequel to the 1973 flick The Last Detail, which saw Jack Nicholson and Otis Young as two sailors seeking to deliver Randy Quaid to Portsmouth Naval prison, albeit with a few stops along the way. Linklater has apparently wanted to get the project off the ground for the best part of a decade, pretty much since the book’s publication in 2005, and looks to have finally gotten his wish. 

7. Disney short reveals what Thor was up to during Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War was a whale of a time – a $1.15 billion box office and a resounding thumbs-up from our end are testament to that. Still, it’s worth sparing a thought for poor ol’ Thor, who didn’t even get a look-in. While we thought it might have been because he’s stronger than just about everyone involved in that little feud, Disney have released a little short that explains what the Norse god was actually up to at the time.

It turns out the fella was in Australia waiting for the phone to ring and trying to work out just what the deal is with the purple guy who sits in a chair and tries to collect Infinity Stones. Also, he was busy doodling pictures of Mjölnir with some pretty cool sunglasses. All in all, it seems like he had a good time, and serves to whet our appetites just that little bit more for Thor: Ragnarok, due out late next year.

8. The London Film Festival (LFF) unveils its line-up

Many of the big films to receive gala premieres at this October’s London Film Festival – including Sundance hits The Birth of a Nation and Manchester by the Sea, and Venice hits La La Land, Arrival and Nocturnal Animals – have already reared their heads elsewhere on the awards circuit. Other premieres will include hotly anticipated films such as Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest, Oliver Stone’s Snowden, and J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls.

The films in competition include:

  • Brimstone (dir. Martin Koolhoven)
  • Certain Women (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
  • Clash (dir. Mohamed Diab)
  • Elle (dir. Paul Verhoeven)
  • Frantz (dir. François Ozon)
  • Goldstone (dir. Ivan Sen)
  • Layla M. (dir. Mijke de Jong)
  • Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins)
  • Neruda (dir. Pablo Larraín)
  • A Quiet Passion (dir. Terence Davies)
  • Una (dir. Benedict Andrews)
  • Your Name (dir. Makoto Shinkai)

9. Relative newcomer Billy Howle joins On Chesil Beach

Over the years, acclaimed British author Ian McEwan has seen a number of his works adapted for the big screen, not least 2007’s Atonement, which garnered a bunch of Oscar noms and provided a breakout role for Saoirse Ronan. Almost 10 years later, Ronan is returning to the material of the author who made her as Florence in an adaptation of McEwan’s novel On Chesil Beach.

Relative newcomer Billy Howle has been cast opposite Ronan as Edward, the other half of the newlywed couple tasked with negotiating their wedding night in light of the social and sexual mores of the 1960s [via Empire].  

10. Dev Patel sports a convincing accent and rumpled mane for Lion

We like Dev Patel; we’re human and have eyes and ears so it’s not an altogether unsurprising statement. Now, with the trailer for Lion, we’re ready to like him a whole lot more. Patel plays Saroo Brierley, a man separated from his family as a child and now, as a fully-fledged adult, trying to track them down using Google Earth and the power of flashbacks. It looks very good indeed, and co-stars Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. Expect it in UK cinemas on October 27th (because when it’s actually released on October 26th, it’ll be a nice surprise).

-SON & EF