This week in film news, the sequel to Godzilla has suffered a major setback. According to Deadline, director Gareth Edwards has dropped out of the project. He was scheduled to direct Godzilla 2 after he completed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but now Legendary must find someone else to helm their monster sequel. Supposedly the split was amicable and Edwards hopes to pursue smaller projects. This announcement comes in the same week that the studio delayed the movie from 2018 until 2019, according to The Wrap. There's some good news, though; Godzilla vs. King Kong has officially been given a release date of May 29, 2020.
Speaking of sequels, 20th Century Fox might actually try to make Fantastic Four 2, after all. In an interview with Den of Geek, producer Simon Kinberg said that while the first Fantastic Four was not a good movie, he isn't giving up on the franchise just yet. He noted that he wants to make a sequel, which he hopes will be a bit brighter than the first installment. "I think we tried to make a darker Fantastic Four movie, which seemed like a radical idea but we were kind of messing with the DNA of the actual comic instead of trusting the DNA of the comic," he said.
And yet another news item involving a second installment to a popular blockbuster: Pacific Rim 2 is moving forward and the studio has just hired a new screenwriter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Derek Connolly will write the screenplay for the upcoming sequel. Connolly is known for co-writing Jurassic World and he's also signed on to write Kong: Skull Island and Star Wars: Episode IX. Guillermo del Toro will not be returning for Pacific Rim 2; rather, this new one will be directed by Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight.
In trailer news, we saw the first footage of Assassin's Creed, the upcoming film based on the popular series of video games from Ubisoft. The footage premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live and fans seem to be mostly enjoying it, though many are questioning the decision to use a Kanye West song in the trailer for a historical film. The movie is directed by Justin Kerzel, and it hits theaters on December 21.
Lupita Nyong’o is in talks to join the cast of Marvel's Black Panther, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She would be playing the love interest of Chadwick Boseman's titular character, who made his debut in Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther will be directed by Creed's Ryan Coogler and will be released in 2018.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has just found a co-star in the Jumanji remake. According to The Wrap, Jack Black has signed on to the upcoming film, a new adaptation directed by Jake Kasdan. The Rock has previously said that the movie will pay tribute to the late Robin Williams, who starred in the original movie. Kevin Hart has been rumored to be joining Jumanji as well, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The director of Brave is making another fairy tale for Disney. According to Deadline, Brenda Chapman will direct Come Away, a live-action prequel to both Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. In the movie, Peter and Alice are actually brother and sister, and when their parents die in a tragic accident, they must choose between home and imagination.
X-Men: Apocalypse will hardly be the end of the X-Men franchise. According to Collider, 20th Century Fox is moving forward with New Mutants, an X-Men spin-off film directed by The Fault in Our Stars' Josh Boone. Professor X will be involved, although it's unclear if he will be played by James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, or a new actor. As Deadpool pointed out, these timelines are so confusing.
And speaking of X-Men, just a few weeks before the release of Apocalypse it has been revealed that the next film will jump forward to the 1990's, according to Coming Soon. There was some speculation for a while that Apocalypse would be the last X-Men film set in the past, but that no longer appears to be the case.