Drew Pearce to Direct 'The Long Run'; Latino Review's El Mayimbe Directing 'Breakneck'

From Runaways to Iron Man 3 to the short film All Hail the King, screenwriter Drew Pearce has been keeping plenty busy in the Marvel universe for awhile. He's begun to branch out, assisting in the Pacific Rim script and writing Mission: Impossible 5, but now he's set to make his feature directing debut on The Long Run. Details are scarce but we know Pearce wrote the screenplay and the film is described as an action-comedy.

We give Latino Review a lot of grief over here, or at least I do, for the Bob Uecker-esque "swings and misses" on some of their alleged scoops. But they also score a number of home runs for which they deserve a ton of credit. Does breaking news about movies naturally mean someone can direct movies? Well, we're going to find out.

Umberto Gonzalez, better known as El Mayimbe on the site, is set to make his directorial debut on Breakneck. It's being described as a small budget flick that "follows a New York City bodega clerk who must go on the run from a corrupt private militarized company after discovering incriminating information and being framed for murder." Potentially interesting, I guess. Filming is set to begin later this year.

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First Clip from Marvel Short 'All Hail the King' with Ben Kingsley

Sick of all the Marvel news lately? Tired of hearing about who might be Ant-Man or who could be Doctor Strange? Well how a new clip from Marvel short film, All Hail the King, with Ben Kingsley reprising his role from Iron Man 3?

Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce penned and directed the One-Shot film, which we previously learned deals with Kingsley's character Trevor Slattery behind bars enjoying his newfound celebrity. The clip features Scoot McNairy as a journalist attempting to interview Slattery, and basically finding that his ego has grown by leaps and bounds.

All Hail the King will be part of the Thor: The Dark World DVD/Blu-Ray release on February 25th.

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First Look at Ben Kingsley in Marvel Short 'All Hail the King'

The curtain has now been lifted on Marvel's somewhat-secret Marvel One Shot, titled All Hail the King, and as many predicted it is indeed the film Ben Kingsley was hinting at before. Part of the Thor: The Dark World Blu-Ray, the story will mark the return of Kingsley's Mandarin character from Iron Man 3, which is sure to rekindle what has been a very divisive debate about his true nature. That nature is a major part of EW's plot description accompanying the first images, so if you have yet to see Iron Man 3, consider this a spoiler warning....

"Ben Kingsley’s dim-witted Mandarin impersonator from Iron Man 3, who has been locked away in a maximum security prison and is reveling in his newfound infamy. (It’s as close to fame as he’s ever gotten.)"

 The story has Kingsley's character, Trevor Slattery, sharing stories with a documentary filmmaker played by Scoot McNairy. So consider this McNairy's intro into the Marvel Universe, which is pretty awesome all by itself. Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce wrote and directed the short, which shows Slattery indulging in his newfound celebrity, even behind bars...

Pearce: "When we find Trevor at the beginning of this short, other than Tony [Stark], he’s the only one out of 'Iron Man 3' to get what he wanted. And even though he was arrested and beat up and had guns pointed at him, now he’s the celebrity that he always wanted to be and he loves it. He absolutely loves it. He is living a somewhat curtailed version of the celebrity life, but he’s also leading arguably a better life than he did when he was living with, like, four other actors at the age of 52 in some bedsit in the south of London. That’s the other fun thing about the starting point is that when we meet Trevor in the short, Trevor won. The Mandarin didn’t, but Trevor in his own way was victorious."

But Slattery's "victory" may come with a price, especially from a particular terrorist group that has been made to look quite foolish...

Pearce: "Imagine a real terrorist organization whose beliefs were long held and religious for thousands of years, and imagine a drunk, British actor coming along and essentially telling the world that he’s the face of your organization. I think they would be right to be quite angry."

Pearce won't go so far as to say the short is a set-up for Iron Man 4, but he does say it could tie-in to the larger Marvel cinematic universe. Look closely at the images and you'll see Slattery is holed up in Seagate Prison, which happens to be crucial to the origin of one Luke Cage....

Pearce: "I think short movies in general, whether they’re Marvel ones or not, you kind of want them to feel like they’re opening you up to a bigger world. Yeah, I definitely think there are – the non-spoiler way for me to say it — by the end of the short, there are definitely a lot of exciting other places that are brought up in it that could then go in the Marvel universe. You know, whether that’s an Iron Man movie or another one going into Phase Two or Three."

Thor: The Dark World hits store shelves on February 25th, but you can pre-order it now. 

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Sure Shots: 'Godzilla'; Demian Bichir; Adam Brody

* Fast-rising scribe Drew Pearce(Iron Man 3) has been brought on to do a script rewrite on Warner Bros. Godzilla relaunch directed by Gareth Edwards(Monsters). If you've been paying attention then you probably already know that the script has gone through multiple hands already, most recently by David Goyer(Batman trilogy) and Max Borenstein(The Seventh Son), but this isn't a cause for concern. The studio merely wants Pearce to age up the characters a little bit before they start seeking out actors. Nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. Godzilla stomps into theaters on May 16th 2014. [Variety]

* Oscar nominee Demian Bichir(A Better Life) and Emilia Clarke(Game of Thrones) have joined writer/director Richard Shepard's Dom Hemingway, putting the final touches on the casting which began last spring when Jude Law took on the title role. Law plays a safecracking ex-con who gets out of prison after twelve years and heads to the south of France to get the money he's owed for keeping his mouth shut. Richard E. Grant(Withnail & I) will play Law's best friend, while Bichir is the gangster they must confront.

* David Talbert has added Adam Brody(Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) to the cast of Baggage Claim, the adaptation of his own bestselling 2005 novel. Paula Patton stars as Montana Moore, a frustrated 30-something single lady who embarks on a 30-day, 30,000 mile journey across America to find her true love. Brody will take on one of the male leads as a flamboyant flight attendant who throws a number of potential suitors into the mix. Octavia Spencer, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, Djimon Hounsou, Lauren London and Jill Scott co-star. [Variety]

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Drew Pearce to write Sherlock Holmes 3

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows won't hit theaters until December 16th, but Warner Brothers knows they have a hit on their hands. So why bother waiting? Get the ball rolling on that third film right now, and secure one of the fastest rising writers in the biz while they're at it.

THR reports that Drew Pearce, writer on Iron Man 3, will have a chance to work with Robert Downey Jr. again as he's been hired to write Sherlock Holmes 3. Pearce is probably best known for creating the British superhero TV series, No Heroics, but he really turned heads when Marvel dug his script for upcoming superhero flick, Runaways.

This is modus operandi for Warner Brothers, who hired the writers to 'Shadows' before the first Sherlock Holmes had opened.

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Is Shane Black co-writing Iron Man 3 afterall?

Like most people, I was ecstatic when Shane Black(Lethal Weapon) was brought in to take over the directing reins from Jon Favreau on Iron Man 3. Not that he's really established himself as a director, his one feature being 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but as a writer few can match Black's sharp, quick dialogue. Then a few weeks ago we learned that Marvel had decided to give the writing chores over to Drew Pearce, effectively blunting Black's primary strength.

Well it appears that Marvel may have had a change of heart, or atleast heard all the disappointed mumbling from fans, as Cinemablend sites multiple "trustworthy" sources that Black will at least be co-writing the film with Pearce, and that his input is in part responsible for the shaping of the current script. Last we'd heard, the plan was to make the next Iron Man film more real world than the previous ones, which could be a good thing, although I like the bombastic fun of the first two flicks. 

I'm not in the camp of most other people who really loved Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but I recognize it as being the first really good film from Robert Downey Jr. in years, leading up to his superstar status now. My love for Black's writing comes from his Lethal Weapon and The Last Boyscout stuff, which is fantastic. But he's so unproven as a director that it makes sense to lighten the load for him somewhere, hence Pearce's involvement.

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