Last year we heard that Marvel were aiming to begin production on the Thor sequel in April but since then there has been a director change, with Alan Taylor replacing Patty Jenkins, and in a recent interview Tom Hiddleston confirmed shooting is still planned for later this year.

From Empire:

“All I know about Thor 2 is that we’re supposed to film it in London in the summer and that it is being directed by Alan Taylor.”

It seems the director issues have caused a slight delay in production, but nothing that will prevent the movie hitting its November 2013 release date. Don Payne, co-writer of the first film and one of the writers on Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, wrote the first draft of the script which will now be going through re-writes. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman will return to star in the film, and we’re hoping Anthony Hopkins and the rest of the original cast return too.

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Earlier this month a German trailer for The Avengers hit the web and gave us some new snippets of footage. Now a Russian trailer has been released which is a mix of both the German and US trailers, but contains more shots Loki, the villain of the film once again played by Tom Hiddleston.

Watch below:

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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In October Marvel announced that Patty Jenkins, director of Monster and The Killing pilot, would be directing the Thor sequel after Kenneth Branagh decided against returning. Now Deadline reports that Jenkins has left the movie due to “creative differences” and Marvel is now in search of a new director.

The Thor sequel isn’t expected to start filming until next April so there’s still over 4 months for a director to come on-board and work on pre-production, but it’s never a good sign when a director exits. Earlier this year Chris Hemsworth said Jenkins “has a great take on the story and a solid grasp on that kind of universe” but something obviously didn’t work out somewhere. Deadline says the director make take on another movie for Marvel, just not a sequel.

Don Payne, co-writer of the first film and one of the writers on Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, is currently working on the script and Marvel has a release date set for November 15, 2013. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman will return to star in the film along with Tom Hiddleston.

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Yesterday Disney released a brand new TV spot for War Horse on their YouTube channel that’s more the length of a standard trailer than a TV spot, but if that’s how they wish to brand the preview, then that’s how I will present it.

This “TV spot” gives us a few new clips from the movie along with shots of the cast explaining what War Horse is all about and trying to sell the family aspects. With War Horse opening December 25th, exactly on Christmas Day, DreamWorks are pushing the family side to maybe turn this into the “must see” movie of the holiday season.

Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hiddleston (Thor), Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), David Thewlis (Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter movies), Emily Watson and newcomer into the world of feature films, Jeremy Irvine, War Horse is the story of a young man and his horse. When that horse is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War 1, the young man, despite not being old enough to enlist, heads to France in order to save his beloved friend.

Again, War Horse opens wide on Christmas, leaving little over 3 weeks for DreamWorks to start rolling the marketing campaign in full force, that is if they want to make this the hit it probably should become. Strangely enough, another Steven Spielberg directed movie opens just 4 days before War Horse in North America. I’m obviously talking about The Adventures of Tintin, already an international hit at the box office. This should make for a very interesting Christmas since you rarely see two movies from the acclaimed director opening so close to each other.

So what movie you think will win both the hearts of people and their pockets, War Horse or The Adventures of Tintin?

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Since setting a July 2013 release date for Thor 2 Marvel have been searching for a director to replace Kenneth Branagh, who decided against directing the sequel as he has other projects in the pipeline he wants to work on. Earlier this month we heard Game of Thrones director Brian Kirk was in talks, but now another director has entered the frame. Patty Jenkins.

According to Deadline Marvel will be making a decision soon and they may go with Jenkins, who directed Charlize Theron in Monster (for which Theron won an Oscar) and directed the pilot for AMC’s The Killing. Hiring a female director to take on a big budget sequel will be a surprise move, but a welcomed one.

Whoever takes on the sequel will have to pick up from where The Avengers finishes off, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gave EW a few hints about the direction of the next film:

Kevin Feige recently told EW that plans were developing fast for the sequel, which he said would “take Thor literally to other worlds.” While moviegoers will next see Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-swinging hero in The Avengers next May, Thor 2 would “primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father (Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins) is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for The Nine Worlds,” Feige said.

This suggests both Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman will be back (if not there characters will be).

Don Payne, co-writer of the first film and one of the writers on Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, is currently working on the script, and Marvel aim to begin shooting next April.

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A few weeks back we heard Brian Kirk, best known for directing episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, as well as episodes of Dexter and Luther, was in talks to take on the Thor sequel.

Well in a recent interview with MTV Tom Hiddleston, who will also be seen as Loki in The Avengers next May, said a spring 2012 shoot was likely (confirming his return) but he spoke to Kevin Feige last week and a director has not yet been set.

This could be because talks with Brian Kirk are ongoing, however they could also be looking at other potential directors. Hiddleston went on to discuss Loki’s state of mind in The Avengers, and hopes to see Thor and Loki team up in Thor 2.

“In ‘The Avengers’ he’s really dark and kind of sociopathic, or maybe even psychopathic is the word, in a deluded way. Obviously I haven’t let go of the spiritual damage at the heart of him, it still comes from that lost place, but he’s just incredibly nasty. I think that probably in ‘Thor 2′ his previous actions will, he’ll have to take responsibility for what he’s done. The great thing about Loki is there is potential in him for greatness and awfulness, for great heroism and great villainy. There are still, even within ‘The Avengers,’ there are moments where you see within Loki a glimmer of hope and that possibility of redemption. It makes it fun to play and it makes it fun for the audience. Nobody is black and white, there are shades of grey in all of us. We all have potential for greatness and we all have flaws. I for one am championing the redemption,” he added hopefully, along with a wish for a future Thor and Loki action scene: “This isn’t definitely going to happen, but I think there would be nothing more awesome than seeing Loki and Thor fight somebody side by side.”

That would be interesting, as it paves way for a new villain to enter the frame. Hopefully in the sequel we get to see more of Asgard, and Natalie Portman said she’s signed on for more films so Thor could be heading back to Earth at some point.

Don Payne, co-writer of the first film and one of the writers on Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, is currently working on the script, and Marvel have set a release date for July 2013.

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The first teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s World War I epic War Horse has today been set free by DreamWorks. The film, based on the 1982 novel, traces a friendship between Joey, a horse sold into the British army and sent off to serve on the battlefields of France in World War I, and Albert, his young owner. The two become separated but “continue to be intertwined” as they try to survive the horrors of WWI.

The trailer opens with a horse galloping through a battlefield surrounded by explosions, and we are then guided through a montage of footage to the music of John Williams. It’s classic Spielberg, and an awards contender for next year, no doubt.

Watch the trailer below:

Newcomer Jeremy Irvine has landed the lead role of Albert, with Emily Watson and Peter Mullan playing his parents. David Thewlis (Remus Lupin from Harry Potter), Benedict Cumberbatch (Atonement), Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean 4) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki in Thor) are also among the cast.

War Horse was pushed back from August 2011 to a more Oscar friendly December 2011 release. Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn will also be released in December 2011, on the 23rd, which is 5 days before War Horse will hit screens.

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When Marvel confirmed last week that Tom Hiddelston would reprise his role of Loki in The Avengers it confirmed speculation that he would be the villain (or one of them) in the film.

In a recent interview the actor said he was told Loki would be in The Avengers from the beginning, but it wasn’t made official until he’d finished filming Thor. He also spoke about meeting with director Joss Whedon, and is “flattered” Marvel chose him to take on their superhero team.

From Vulture:

Well, I think it was a plan from the get-go, but it wasn’t really dead-set until near the end of Thor. What was wonderful is that about four days after I wrapped on Thor, I went out for a cup of tea with Joss Whedon. We sat down at two o’clock in the afternoon, and we were still sitting there at six o’clock. He said, “Listen, you’ve lived with this guy for six months. I want you to spill the beans and tell me all of his dark secrets. Who is this guy? Why is he who he is?” Ken had already shown him a rough cut of the film, and mercifully, everything I had done accorded with Joss’s idea of the character, too. I’m really so flattered that Marvel and Josh think I can take them all on. In Avengers, it’s going to be me versus seven of them, and I say “Good luck to them,” frankly.

The Avengers will also star Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and will be released May 4th, 2012.

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Marvel’s Thor is the first of many comic book movies to be released this summer, and not only does it have to compete with them, there’s added pressure due to Marvel’s plans for The Avengers next summer.

With Iron Man already a hit with audiences, would Thor be good enough to earn its place in the Marvel universe, or would it be the bad egg of the bunch? Paramount recently screened the movie for press and critics and the good news for fans is, there’s not much bad news.

Here’s a spoiler-free collection of thoughts on the movie:

The Hollywood Reporter:

The Marvel universe moves into the cosmic realm with Thor, a burly slab of bombastic superhero entertainment that skitters just this side of kitschy to provide an introduction befitting the mighty god of thunder. It’s a noisy, universe-rattling spectacle full of sound and fury with a suitably epic design, solid digital effects and a healthy respect for the comic-book lore that turned a mythological Norse god into a founding member of the superhero team known as The Avengers.

Variety:

“Thor” delivers the goods so long as butt is being kicked and family conflict is playing out in celestial dimensions, but is less thrilling during the Norse warrior god’s rather brief banishment on Earth. With Aussie hunk Chris Hemsworth impressive in the lead and helmer Kenneth Branagh investing the dramatic passages with a weighty yet never overbearing Shakespearean dimension, pic looks sure to reap big B.O. on the strength of its ready-made audience, but faces a tougher time attracting viewers for whom this type of fare is the exception rather than the rule.

IGN:

Outside of these occasional moments of comic relief, director Kenneth Branagh keeps the focus squarely on Thor’s dramatic arc. The movie’s strongest moments aren’t necessarily the comic booky ones (although they are pretty cool), but rather the familial ones in Asgard. Thor’s scenes with Loki and Odin crackle with an intensity and emotion sometimes lacking in the earthly scenes. These moments feel like the ones that Branagh and his leads were the most emotionally invested in, and that sincerity helps you buy into this otherwise fantastical world, one which we see far more of than the marketing has heretofore revealed.

Thor may not be a game-changer for comic book movies, but it’s a solidly entertaining one most noteworthy for taking what could have been utterly campy material and making it dramatic and relatable. There’s action and otherworldly elements to appease the core fans and possibly even win over some skeptics, and enough humor and humanity to engage general audiences.

HitFix:

A few observations about things I really liked in this film: when superpowered beings fight in this film, there is a sense of power and force that we still haven’t seen in many of these movies. In this film, there are many fights where every single being onscreen is superpowered, and all of the punches and kicks and throws are full-strength, nothing held back. And while Kenneth Branagh has still never met a dutch angle he didn’t love, the action in the film is staged well, and there are some beats and some images that push comic book language on film to places we haven’t seen before. In particular, I think everything involving Heimdall (Idris Elba) is spectacular, and I love his Observatory and the way the Bifrost works. It is crazy, but it’s also kind of beautiful.

While many more reviews are set to pour in, the general consensus is that Thor is a good movie, which is the least we could have hoped for. Apparently the Earth scenes are the weakest point about the film, but that could have been expected considering Asgard is where most of the action, special effects, and family dynamic takes place.

Filmonic’s review of Thor will hit closer to the movies release on May 6th. The UK will get to see the movie a week earlier on April 27th.

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The guards of Asgard haven’t been doing their job properly as the 5 minute Thor trailer from Comic Con has landed on Earth. As the trailer hasn’t been released officially it might not be around for long, so check it out while you can.

Thor finished filming in May and has 1 year of post-production in total, which is probably why there aren’t many flashy effects shots in the trailer. What we do see, however, is very cool and gives us a sense of where director Kenneth Branagh is heading. I can also see the Thor world fitting well with Iron Man, which I was unsure about before.

What do you think of the trailer?

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