Park Chan-Wook Directing Sci-Fi 'Second Born'; Shawn Levy to Helm 'Forty Thieves'

Park Chan-Wook, the acclaimed South Korean director behind Oldboy, Thirst, Stoker, and a producer on Snowpiercer, is sticking with the sci-fi genre for Second Born. Penned by David Jagernauth, the story takes place in a futuristic society in which one's consciousness can be stored in neural microchip implants, leading to all kinds of black market body-swapping. It's a big deal any time Chan-Wook takes on a new project, so color me excited for this one. [Variety]

On the other end of the spectrum is Shawn Levy, the guy behind all three Night at the Museum movies. He's sticking with the stuff of historical legend for his next film, Forty Thieves, an updated take on "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves". Apparently the project, described as similar to Guardians of the Galaxy (uhhh, what?) is far enough along that he's already begun testing for the lead role with Evan Peters (X-men: Days of Future Past), Liam Hemsworth (Paranoia), and Dan Stevens (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) all vying for it. To Levy's credit he's good at this sort of film, and he is a director that's hard to pin down. He also was at the helm for Real Steel and recently led the ensemble dramedy, This is Where I Leave You. [TheWrap]

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Quicksilver Re-Confirmed for 'X-men: Apocalypse'; Teased for a Solo Film

Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past was pretty grim, which may be why Evan Peters' dash (literally) of fun and humor as Quicksilver stood out so much. Everybody loved the character and wished he had a bigger role throughout, but fortunately we haven't seen the last of the speedster mutant. Although screenwriter Simon Kinberg confirmed Quicksilver would be back for 2016's X-men: Apocalypse, second unit director Brian Smrz tells Newsarama he'll begin work on his scene soon...

"They want me to start pretty soon, on the storyboarding and stuff. I’ll be working on the next X-Men for the next month or so part-time, and by the end of the year it’ll be full-time... There will be another Quicksilver scene, which I'm looking forward to. That'll be fun."

Smrz had a lot to do with Quicksilver's awesome slow-motion kitchen scene, and he would love an opportunity to do more, possibly in a solo film...

"We talked about Quicksilver before. I'd love to do a Quicksilver as a solo film because there's a lot to enjoy with that character."

What do you think? Is a Quicksilver solo film a good idea? Or is he better off in small doses? X-men: Apocalypse opens May 27th 2016.

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Watch Honest Trailer for the 'X-men' Trilogy; Quicksilver Confirmed for 'X-men: Apocalypse'

To fans of the X-men just saying the name "Brett Ratner" will make them want to pop a claw in somebody's gut, preferably his. The crappy director dropped his pants all over the franchise with X-men: The Last Stand, ruining the good work done by Bryan Singer and sending the entire series into a tailspin it didn't recover from until X-men: First Class. With Singer returning for X-men: Days of Future Past, those clever Screen Junkies have delivered another one of their 'Honest Trailers' recapping the earlier movies. Not only do they give Ratner the grief he deserves, but they also poke fun at Hugh Jackman's 'roided up physique, Rogue's misfortune, Gambit (sorta), and the entire idea of mutants being hated in the first place.


And with Ratner's film back in the spotlight where he probably hoped it would never be again, screenwriter Simon Kinberg has opened up about it and how it relates to X-men: Days of Future Past. If there are still angry fans out there pissed over what happened to their favorite character, nobody seems to have more regrets over it than Kinberg. He tells ScreenCrush....

Kinberg: "I regret that The Dark Phoenix story wasn’t the primary story of the movie. I wanted The Dark Phoenix story, but I regret where the movie ended up. And so, weirdly, ['DOFP'] was sort of my opportunity, a little like the characters in ‘Days of Future Past’ going back and improving their younger selves with the lessons they’ve learned as wiser men. It’s sort of a chance for me to go back and do differently what I did ten years ago on ‘X3.’ "

One of the improvements Kinberg made in' DOFP' is giving the new characters a bigger, more memorable introduction. Not only do we get a few incredible action sequences with Bishop, Blink Warpath, and Sunspot, but the buzz surrounding Evan Peters' Quicksilver has been incredible. And for good reason as the character is a total jolt of energy to the film, which is why Kinberg confirmed to Total Film that Quicksilver will "absolutely" return for 2016's X-men: Apocalypse. He also talks briefly about a scuttled plan to bring in Quicksilver's sister, The Scarlet Witch....

Kinberg: “We talked about bringing Scarlet Witch into the mix for ['X-Men: Days of Future Past']".  Actually, there was a little scene that we shot that we ended up cutting out of the movie that alluded to her. But it was sort of an interstitial scene that didn’t push the movie forward, so it ended up being cut…But [Quicksilver] would absolutely be back for the next X-Men movie.”

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd, and keep an eye out for our review tomorrow.

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Quicksilver Is a Pain in the Ass in 'X-men: Days of Future Past' Clip

When Evan Peters was revealed to be playing Quicksilver in Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past, it was said to be for a small scene basically designed for the mutant speedster.  And the reaction from fans has pretty much been that he'll be a forgettable version of the character when compared to what Joss Whedon is doing with him over in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But that's not what the early buzz is saying as Peters' performance as Quicksilver is being hailed as one of the biggest surprises.

This new clip makes the case for Quicksilver being a very cool addition to the cast, even though it's basically a hype reel for how his powers will look on screen. A couple of things worth noting are that his name is billed as "Peter Maximoff" rather than Pietro Maximoff as in the comics; and his arrogant attitude seems to be well in place. He's someone Wolverine knows from somewhere, which makes me wonder if an older Quicksilver will be seen in future movies?

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd.

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See Quicksilver in Action in 'X-men: Days of Future Past' Image

You'll have more chances to see Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, than you will Tony Stark's Iron Man over the next year. That's because the comics character walks between the X-men and Avengers universes, and will do the same in Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past and Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Evan Peters plays the mutant speedster in Singer's film, and although we've had a few glimpses of him, EW has just released the first look at him actually doing what he does best.

When Singer first revealed he'd added Quicksilver to the huge roster of mutants, he said it was for one specific scene, and now writer Simon Kinberg has backed that up....

Kinberg:  "That is the bulk of Quicksilver’s presence in this film. They need somebody who can help them get in and out of somewhere. And the idea is that Logan knew him in the future and so they go to try to find his younger self. The way we conceived him is a sort of an ADD kid. Everything he does is just popping and zipping around. He doesn’t take anything seriously. He’s not in a situation for more than a few seconds. So it infused the movie with an energy that was really useful for us."

In the comics, Quicksilver and his sister Scarlet Witch are the children of Magneto, played by Michael Fassbender, and Kinberg adds that we may see those family ties hinted at....

Kinberg: “Quicksilver is Magneto’s son in the comics and there may be an allusion to it in the movie. But it’s not something we fully explore yet.” 

With more movies on the way, perhaps we'll even see Magneto's other kid, Polaris? X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd. 

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Is this Scarlet Witch in 'X-men: Days of Future Past'?

It was already a little odd that both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Bryan Singer's X-men: Days of Future Past would have Pietro "Quicksilver" Maximoff racing through them, considering the legal mumbo-jumbo that prevents such things from happening. But what was even weirder was that Singer didn't have make any mention of Quicksilver's sister, the Scarlet Witch, when they almost always come as a pair (that's been less true lately, but still). But it looks like she may be in the film alongside her brother after all, judging by this new scanned photo from Empire Magazine.

The image shows Evan Peters as the silver-haired Quicksilver, sitting with a little girl that is presumably his sister, Wanda the Scarlet Witch. The most telling thing about this image is the wide age difference between them, when in the comics they are twins of the same age. Frankly, I don't understand why they would change their ages to such a degree, but it's hardly worth getting bent out of shape over. All of these movies come with numerous character alterations both big and small, and worrying about Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch is pretty pointless. By Singer's own account, Quicksilver is only in the story for one big action scene, although this image would seem to refute that, wouldn't it? The siblings have another sister that won't be appearing in the film at all, Magneto's mutant daughter, Polaris.

It's probably best to look to Avengers: Age of Ultron for a more faithful interpretation of the Maximoffs.

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd. [CBM]

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New teaser for 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' gives a glimpse of Evan Peters as Quicksilver

So are people really excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past? BECAUSE I AM REALLY EXCITED FOR X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. And the new video clip released on Instagram today has only fueled my fangirl-ing even more.

To be honest, it's not like there is that much new stuff in this video, which is really just a brief teaser. We get Michael Fassbender as young Magneto again, we get James McAvoy as young Professor X again, we get Jennifer Lawrence as young Mystique again (looking very period-appropriate in her '70s gear, I must say). But we are getting a couple of first glimpses, including of Quicksilver, who in this film will be played Emma Roberts' fiance Evan Peters. (In the Marvel films, the role will be played by Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson.) Anyway, here's a screengrab of Peters:

And here are the other new X-Men we see in the teaser; from left to right, that's teleporting mutant Blink (Fan Bingbing), super-strong and super-fast Warpath (Booboo Stewart, of Twilight fame), and the solar power-absorbing Sunspot (Adan Canto):

Check out the rest of the clip for yourself, if you're so inclined; Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Ian McKellen as older Magneto, and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman also make an appearance. X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters on May 23, 2014.

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Take a Look at Quicksilver in 'X-men: Days of Future Past'

There may be about a hundred mutants running around X-men: Days of Future Past, but only one is also going to be appearing in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. That would be Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver, and in Bryan Singer's mutant film (the only one that can use the term "mutant) he'll be played by Evan Peters. A brand new photo has just given us our first look at him in the film and other than his silly outfit, his presence poses some interesting questions.

In the photo we see him alongside Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and the younger versions of Magneto (Michael Fassbender), and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy). In the comics, Quicksilver is Magneto's son, so he shouldn't be around in the past but in the present. Are they scrapping that relationship between the two? Has Quicksilver traveled back in time, as well?

Another image features Wolverine and Beast playing an awkard-looking game of Twister or something. Hopefully that's not what leads to the arrival of Apocalypse in the sequel, X-men: Apocalypse.

X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd. [SuperheroHype/EW]

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