THE WOLVERINE (Images and Mangold Comments)

• THE WOLVERINE

EW just released some exclusive images from the Wolverine, which would be releasing on July 26 later this year.

The Wolverine certainly looks to be quite the interesting and intriguing prospect as director James Mangold has been saying all the right things thus far concerning the film. Looking at the posters as well as images that we have seen so far it certainly looks like the film will deliver and various levels.

Check out the pics below as well as Mangold’s comments on each of the images. You can expect to catch your first glimpse of the Wolverine, when the trailer premiers online on the 27^th of March. So make sure you check back for updates on that.

Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, in Japan. He's now serving as a protector for Mariko (Tao Okamoto), the target of the Yakuza. ''At the time this movie opens, there's a kind of gangland war going on between law enforcement and the Yakuza, and there's been a lot of kidnappings and extortion,'' explains director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma). ''So she's someone who's under threat.''

Viper (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's Svetlana Khodchenkova), a villainess straight from the comic books, is brought in to help another one of the film's baddies. Teases Mangold, ''As her name would imply, she's kind of snakelike. She likes to play with toxins. She's immune to toxins. She's kind of formidable.''

Says Mangold, ''Viper views Logan like a great hunter might view hunting a lion in his quarry. There's kind of an admiration, a desire to destroy and a desire to consume and to have and to hold.''

While in Japan, Wolverine is befriended by Yukio (newcomer Rila Fukushima). Says Mangold, ''I would say they have a unique relationship. She's lethal herself.''

Death, or Wolverine's inability to die, is a theme that echoes throughout the film. ''He realizes everyone he loves dies, and his whole life is full of pain,'' says Jackman. ''So it's better that he just escapes. He can't die really. He just wants to get away from everything.''

A funeral at a Japanese temple is interrupted by an attack by the Yakuza which naturally brings out Wolverine's claws. ''There's an urgency and a kind of intensity and hand to hand physicality to the fighting that I hope is a little different than everything else out there,'' says Mangold.

Mangold stresses that Yukio can more than hold her own in this world of ninjas and mutants. ''She's a tremendous fighter.''

Besides her butt-kicking skills, Yukio also has style. Says Mangold, ''I think she's both sexy and almost kind of sprung from the anime world. It's a real badass character.''

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Abrams talks Star Wars)

• STAR TREK INTO STAR WARS

Star Trek Into Darkness will soon be hitting big screen all around the world, as director J.J. Abrams will be prepping himself for the unavoidable Star Wars questions when he does he his rounds promoting Star Trek. 

Star Trek Into Darkness

Abrams however, recently opened up to the guys at Empire sharing his thoughts on directing the next Star Wars film. Its no secret that  Abrams wasn’t the biggest fan of Star Trek when he took the helm of that series reboot in 2009, so Empire asked Abrams how he’ll be able to keep the same objectivity with Star Wars, a property for which he has very strong affection:

“I don’t know because we’re just getting started. So it’s a great question that I hope I’ll have a good answer to when I know what the answer is. There are infinitely more questions than answers right now, but to me, they’re not that dissimilar. Though I came at these both from very different places, where they both meet is a place of ‘Ooh, that’s really exciting.’ And even though I was never a Star Trek fan, I felt like there was a version of it that would make me excited, that I would think ‘that’s cool, that feels right, I actually would want to see that.”

Zoe Saldana in Star Trek Into Darkness

Abrams continued by reminiscing about his feelings when he first took on Star Trek and how he’s in a similar state while approaching Star Wars:

“I feel like I can identify a hunger for what I would want to see again and that is an incredibly exciting place to begin a project. The movies, the worlds [of Trek and Wars] could not be more different but that feeling that there’s something amazing here is the thing that they share.”

Most fans will remember back in November when Abrams made a public statement that he would not be helming the next Star Wars as fans all around the world had him at the top of their wish list. He obviously had a little change of heart:

“My knee-jerk reaction was that I’m in the middle of working on the Star Trek movie and I can’t even consider it. But then time went by and I got further along working on the movie and getting to a place where I had done most of the heavy lifting. So when I met with Kathy Kennedy we just started discussing it and I was able to actually engage in the conversation. I went down to tell Katie, my wife and I said ‘I had just a very interesting conversation with Kathy.’ That was the beginning.”

EXODUS (Cast Rumour)

• EXODUS

Christian Bale

Deadline reports that Twentieth Century Fox and director Ridley Scott are keen to have Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Trilogy) play Moses in an upcoming epic based on the biblical figure's life.

The film was initially scripted by Bill Collage and Adam Cooper which was  re-written by Steve Zaillian, for the film now titled Exodus.

Bale, who last appeared on the big screen in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, can be seen later this year in David O. Russell's still-untitled drama and Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups.

Exodus is one of two competing big screen stories about Moses in the works. Warner Bros. is developing Gods and Kings. Scripted by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine, the film had initially attracted the interest of Steven Spielberg. Now, however, it is said that Spielberg is out and that the studio is keen on signing Ang Lee to helm.

ELIZA GRAVES (Cast News)

Kate Beckinsale

• ELIZA GRAVES

Underworld and Total Recall star Kate Beckinsale has signed onto Eliza Graves, the next directing vehicle for Brad Anderson (Session 9, The Call).

Eliza Graves is a psychological thriller about a doctor who takes a job at an insane asylum. There, she falls for another doctor and soon comes to learn that the patients have taken over the clinic.

The film is based on the Edgar Allen Poe tale "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" and was adapted by Joseph Gangemi (Fear Itself, Wind Chill).

Shooting is expected to begin this June. 

MAN OF STEEL (Goyer Excites)

• MAN OF STEEL

Man of Steel will be releasing a little later this year, and with the teaser and trailer releasing a little while back it certainly looks to be one awesome film. In a recent interview with Total Film, screenwriter David S. Goyer stated that we haven’t even seen in the tip of the iceberg as yet, going on to say:

Man of Steel

"It's something Chris [Nolan] tried hard to do with the Batman films," Goyer said. "I'm genuinely pleased with how much secrecy we've been able to maintain. There's so much of the movie that people don't know, that hasn't been touched upon. The trailer's just the tiniest, tiniest tip of the iceberg."

Goyer also talked about whether or not this Superman movie will be darker. "Relatable and realistic doesn't necessarily mean dark. I think it would be inappropriate for us to approach a Superman film as if we were doing The Dark Knight. The Batman films are a lot more nihilistic; Superman has always been a story about hope."

Opening in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on June 14, Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Michael Kelly, Harry Lennix and Richard Schiff. You can watch the trailer from December using the player below.