1. Live-action Pokémon film gets live-action director

Remember Pokémon Go? Yes, it wasn’t so long ago that budding Poké trainers the world over were traipsing around catching Zubats, Weedles and T-shirt tans thanks to that ubiquitous app. And, on the back of its success Legendary Entertainment announced it was making a live-action Poké film based on Detective Pikachu, a small electric rabbit-monster that solves mysteries. Now, according to Deadline, the production company has caught itself a director to helm the project: Rob Letterman. Letterman is no stranger to weird little critters – he directed Goosebumps, and Monsters Vs. Aliens – and those were both… pretty good. And hey, its not like films based on Nintendo properties have ever been terrifying in the past.

2. No, there probably won’t be a Rogue Two

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is but a few days away and is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, on track to hit almost $150 million on its opening weekend. Yet you probably shouldn’t expect a sequel. In an interview with Empire, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has admitted that Rogue One was always conceived as a self-contained flick which feeds into the wider Star Wars universe. And for those itching for some follow-up, Rogue Two already kinda exists as Episode IV – A New Hope because that’s where… well, we won’t spoil it for you. Although this doesn’t mean that certain characters won’t appear in other instalments, it does match up with what Kennedy stated last year that the standalone films are just that, and “are not being designed to necessarily build new franchises.” Still, “necessarily” is probably the important word. [via /Film]

3. Tom Cruise has Mummy issues in the first Universal teaser

With nary a Brendan Fraser in sight, Universal has teased the first of its classic monster reimaginings. Starring Tom Cruise (yes, he manages to do some textbook Cruise running), Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella and Courtney B. Vance, The Mummy sees an ancient princess brought back to life and doing all sorts of evil Mummy-like things. We’ll get a better look this Sunday when the full trailer is released, which is handy because then we’ve got something to write about next week. Until then, feast your eyes on this…

4. Tom Holland in the running to join Chaos Walking

Doug Liman, Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley together at last? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Holland is currently in talks to join the already confirmed Ridley in a Liman-helmed adaptation of Patrick Ness’s YA bestseller, Chaos Walking. The plot sees survivor Todd (Holland) fleeing his town, dog in tow, and fending for himself in a world where all women have been killed by a mysterious plague and living creatures can hear each other’s thoughts. What should he find out there in the wastes? Only a young woman called Viola (Daisy Ridley) and, presumably, a very confused feeling in his trousers. Lionsgate are set to produce and both Charlie Kaufman and Money Monster scribe Jamie Linden worked on the story, adapted from part one of a trilogy of novels, so it looks a very appealing property. Especially if Holland signs up.

5. Golden Circle a new date on your calendar, Kingsfan

Buried amongst a whole heap of Fox scheduling announcements – much of which concern the question “What’s to be done with these X-Men?” – is some potentially bad news for eager Kingspersons. It seems that Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the second in Fox’s baby Bond franchise, has been pushed back from its June 16 release date to October 6, 2017. The Matthew Vaughn vehicle which stars Taron Egerton, Julianne Moore and Channing Tatum will now face off against Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner: 2049 in a pretty decent week for cinemagoers. The eagle-eyed will note that October 6 was originally all lined up for Channing Tatum’s Gambit, but with that going nowhere, Golden Circle‘s new date will at least ensure that Tatum’s Fannings are still able to see their boy. [via Collider]

6. Denzel and Viola swing for the Fences

According to Calum’s exhaustive Academy Awards rundown, Fences “has been hoovering up excellent early notice” and its newest trailer isn’t going to do much to take away from that. Denzel Washington directs, produces and stars in an adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winner and looks a near-cert for an acting nomination as Troy Maxson. Viola Davis plays his wife, Rose Maxson, and she also looks a near-cert for an acting nomination. Everything’s falling into place. For lucky Americans, you’ll have the chance to get a better look at all the crying and shouting and grandstanding speeches on Christmas Day. The rest of the world – you’ll have to let your your own family approximate all that until it opens on February 10.

7. Ivan Reitman ain’t afraid of there being no more Ghostbusters

For whatever reason, this year’s Ghostbusters reboot did not do very well. Even though it certainly has its defenders – our own Sian Brett hailed its “snappy jokes, kickass women and great fight sequences” while Kambole judged it “a fun, breezy and pretty much harmless summer blockbuster” – evidently not enough of them went to see it. Its current global box office stands at $229 million, a relatively dire take for a film with a budget of $144 million.

Yet according to Ivan Reitman, director of the original and producer of the remake, there are still “many other Ghostbusters movies… in development”. Reitman was probably referring to the animated feature that snagged a director back in March, but it seems odd he’d choose to say “many” other Ghostbusters movies unless there are other proposals on the table. Could he be referring to the once-mooted Channing Tatum-led reboot? We don’t know, but considering Reitman was on the Mr Wavvy podcast to talk about Space Jam it’s a little odd he’d say Ghostbusters at all.

8. Watch out for The Shack attack!

With the winter firmly settled around us northern hemisphere types, we thought you’d all like something to warm you up. So how does Sam Worthington sound? Well, if you take his dialogue from the first trailer for The Shack as an answer, then he sounds like a fairly indecipherable mix of American South and Antipodean somewhere. Based on the bestseller by William P. Young, Worthington stars as a father who loses his daughter and his faith, only to be confronted by God herself, Octavia Spencer. Also, Jesus is there. There’s no release date set for the UK market yet but it looks like The Shack might pop up in Spring next year.

– SON