I’ve been trying to figure out the evening compliment to the Morning 5 articles and it finally hit me and I’m going with Night Cap as the category of choice. Now this collection of stories from throughout the day won’t be exactly the same as the Morning 5, but will instead only surface when deemed necessary and will occasionally just feature a group of links from around the web. Essentially, the last bit of news you need before you head to bed, dreaming of the morning when Kevin wakes you up with his Morning 5.
That said, let’s get to this inaugural edition, we have some news to explore.
First off, Mads Mikkelsen had to drop out of Thor: The Dark World as a result of a scheduling conflict, but today we learn “Doctor Who” star Christopher Eccleston will step in to play Malekith the Accursed, a super-villain in the Marvel Universe and ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. The film will be directed by Alan Taylor for a November 8, 2013 release. [Deadline]
Next up, yes, it appears Fox and Ridley Scott are talking to new writers for a potential Prometheus sequel, which would be released in 2014 or 2015. “Ridley is incredibly excited about the movie, but we have to get it right. We can’t rush it,” Fox president of production Emma Watts told THR. It’s a bold decision considering the first film didn’t exactly light the box-office on fire with a worldwide tally so far of just over $300 million, but interested parties such as myself are more than welcome to exploring the space a little more.
Continuing down the Marvel superhero path we come to news that the X-Men: First Class sequel will go by the name of X-Men: Days of Future Past. The title was revealed in the interview you see to the right as producer Bryan Singer confirms earlier rumors after Fox registered Internet domain names with said title. As for the plot, no telling if it will follow the comic exactly, but here is the Wikipedia synopsis for the corresponding comic, issues #141 and #142 of the 1981 “The Uncanny X-Men” series:
The storyline alternates between present day, in which the X-Men fight Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and a future timeline caused by the X-Men’s failure to prevent the Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Robert Kelly. In this future universe, Sentinels rule the United States, and mutants live in internment camps. The present-day X-Men are forewarned of the possible future by a future version of their teammate Kitty Pryde, whose mind traveled back in time and possessed her younger self to warn the X-Men. She succeeds in her mission and returns to the future, but despite her success, the future timeline still exists as an alternative timeline rather than as the actual future. (The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 gave the numerical designation of “Days of Future Past” Earth as Earth-811
The film is slated for a July 18, 2014 release with Matthew Vaughn directing and an early 2013 production start planned.
And finally, Deadline reports Keira Knightley is the frontrunner to play the female lead opposite Chris Pine in Paramount’s as-yet-untitled Jack Ryan project with Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) and Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) said to also be in the hunt
Kenneth Branagh is set to direct and star in the film as its chief villain as Pine will be following the lead of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck becoming the latest to hit the silver screen as Jack Ryan, the ex-Marine turned analyst from the Tom Clancy novels. Ryan is a financial analyst living in Moscow who uncovers a terrorist plot.
