1. Look! An image from Avengers: Infinity War

We don’t want to jump the gun here, but this image could be the most important thing you see all week. It probably isn’t, sure, but it’s definitely something to chew on ahead of Avengers: Infinity War. Shared by the Russo Brothers’ recently-created Twitter account it shows… something.

Comicbookmovie.com thinks it’s a doohickey on Iron Man’s armour, despite the fact it’s evidently against a wall or something. The AV Club thinks its the entrance to Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet vault. And us? We think it’s an image from a film that’s almost a year away when we’ve got other Avengers like Black Panther to think of first.

2. Funk you! Funk all of you! Sony back down over clean versions

In the latest storm in a teacup, Sony Pictures made the ill-judged move of proposing “clean” versions of their leading titles. In effect, they would neuter their titles of language and violence to better sell some of their films. “Finally,” thought no one, “I can screen T2 Trainspotting and Rough Night for my kids!” Now, this suitably annoyed directors who had clearly included these elements for a reason. Judd Apatow, director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, eloquently retorted that Sony could shove clean versions up their derrieres.

Unsurprisingly, Sony have now withdrawn their initial interest. This despite the studio believing they had full approval in place, in much the same way as there exist TV-friendly versions of many films. Instead, the studio will not sell clean versions of its films without express permission from the particular director. Now funk off, Mister Falcon.

3. Hello Goodbye Christopher Robin

We’re tremendous fans of Domhnall Gleeson. The rise and rise of the Irishman’s worth in Hollywood is a pleasure to see. And if the latest trailer for Goodbye Christopher Robin doesn’t similarly warm the cockles of your heart, you may be truly dead. The film will depict how A.A. Milne was inspired to create his honey-guzzling bear Winnie-the-Pooh by interactions with his young son Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920 following Milne’s return from World War I. It’s directed by Simon Curtis, who is no newbie to the biopic game having previously helmed the Marilyn Monroe drama My Week with Marilyn. Shout out to the also-starring Margot Robbie, who’s going to have a tremendous end of 2017/beginning of 2018 with a slew of projects set to improve her stardom even further.

4. Dame Julie Andrews remains as classy as ever

As you’re likely aware, Mary Poppins is returning to our screens in 2018 with Emily Blunt as the supernanny and Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Dick Van Dyke role. The 91-year-old “cor-blimey-Londoner” Dyke has agreed to a cameo, but Andrews declined the opportunity to do so. This wasn’t due to anger or deep-seated rage, however. According to Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall, Andrews simply didn’t want to steal any of Emily Blunt’s limelight. Said Marshall, “Julie was incredibly gracious, and we talked about it in a very general way but she made it clear right up front… this is Emily’s show, and I really want it to be Emily’s show.” Marshall goes on, in an interview with EW, to say how grateful he was to receive Andrews’ blessing–“She said it’s time and she said, ‘I know it’ll be cared for,’… and that’s the thing I think about every day when I’m at work. We all do.” Keep on being classy, Dame Julie. (via Vulture)

5. Zhang Ziyi will go monster huntin’

Hero and House of Flying Daggers star Zhang Ziyi has enrolled in the Monsterverse. No, no, not that Monsterverse – the one that Tom Cruise re-kickstarted back last week – the Legendary & Warner Bros. Monsterverse! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ziyi is set for a plum role in Godzilla: King of the Monsters alongside Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown and Vera Farmiga, as an employee of the shadowy Monarch organisation. Plus, she’ll pop up in future combinations of Kong and Godzilla for that sweet franchise cash. King of the Monsters is set to surface March 22, 2019. Godzilla vs Kong will follow a year after that.

6. New trailer proves there’s life in Flatliners remake

As Hollywood works its way through every 1980s property, it’s now encroaching on the 1990s. Yes, it’s time for the middling Joel Schumacher-directed Flatliners to be remade! The 1990s version featured a picture-perfect cast in the form of Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland and Oliver Platt – plus William Baldwin. The new version has gone for a similarly young and upcoming strain of actors. Ellen Page, a long-haired Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, and James Norton have all signed up to push science to the limit. We’re particularly pleased to see Norton’s appearance, the actor finally receiving acknowledgement of his excellent work on TV in Happy Valley, War and Peace, and Grantchester. That being said, this has all the hallmarks of being a film that flops – hard. We’re happy, and hoping, to be proven wrong, but we fear the audience will flatline on this one.

7.  A Jessica Chastain-shaped phoenix will rise

That’s a slightly misleading headline it must be said. For the origin story of Jean Grey, Sophie Turner will be reprising her role, in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Jessica Chastain is instead rumoured to be playing the almighty villain, Lilandra, the empress of an alien empire called the Shi’ar. Naturally, she leads a quest to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix, sending her into conflict with the X-Men. The involvement of Chastain certainly raises our hopes for the project, especially after the bum note that was X-Men: Apocalypse. Simon Kinberg, longtime X-Men producer and writer, is set to make his directorial debut. Fingers crossed. (via The Hollywood Reporter)

8. Danny Elfman has seen the signal

Danny Elfman’s a superhero pro. Not only has the composer worked on Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spider-Man, the guy’s also responsible for the Tim Burton (yes, really) Batman scores of yesteryear. The latter work is so iconic for the genre that it even makes up a module in the British Music A-Level. As a result, news this week that Elfman is returning to the superhero game for Justice League can generally be interpreted as “good”. Tom “Junkie XL” Holkenborg is moving on to write music for the Alicia Vikander Tomb Raider vehicle, leaving space for Elfman to slide right in – wacky brass and all.  

9. We all have terrible taste on Netflix (apparently)

We’re big fans of useless statistics. If you’re similarly inclined, you’re in for a treat. Ahead of the release of Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix movie Sandy Wexler, the platform announced a new four-movie deal with the star. In their press release, the streaming behemoth commented that “Since the launch of The Ridiculous 6, Netflix members have spent more than half a billion hours enjoying the films of Adam Sandler.” So, with 500 million hours divided by the 100 million subscribers, divided by the average length of an Adam Sandler film (1.75 hours), that’s 2.86 Adam Sandler movies per user. Unless you were watching Billy Madison twice, and maybe got bored the third time, you’ve got no excuse. (via Exstreamist)

– SON & DB