AVENGERS 2 (Villains and New Characters)

• AVENGERS 2

Joss Whedon was a guest on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" recently and Fallon tried to get a scoop out of the filmmaker about Marvel's The Avengers

QuickSilver and Scarlet Witch

He asked whether there are new characters and Whedon replied, "There are new characters. I've already said that we're going to have a brother-sister team, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, who were great mainstays of The Avengers when I was reading the comics as a kid."

Fallon said that he did not know the characters and then asked whether they had started casting them yet. Whedon said, "Not yet, we're doing that now."

Whedon said he is writing the sequel now and then was asked why he picked the two characters. He said, "well, besides the fact that I grew up reading them, their powers are very visually interesting. One of the problems I had on the first one was, everybody basically had punchy powers. 'I can hit,' 'I can also hit.' Hopefully it didn't get too boring. But coming into the second one, he's got super speed. She can weave spells and a little telekinesis, get inside your head. There’s good stuff that they can do that will help sort of keep it fresh."

Joss Whedon

In an interview with Empire about the film, Whedon was asked about sequels focusing on the villains instead of the heroes, which prompted his "loose-lips-sink-ships" reply where he doesn't name the villain.

"I'm very excited about the villain, and have a lot to say about him. But if you watch my shows, the one thing I've never been very good at is guest stars, because I've always been interested in the ensemble. With The Avengers, I'm still most fascinated by them.

"The other thing is, you don't try to top it. I know I will never make a moment as pleasing in a film as Hulk and Loki. You can't chase that dragon. If you try to do exactly the same thing, the chances you're going to do it better are very slim, and the only reason for me to devote three years to making another Avengers movie is the hope of making a better one."

Whedon certainly chose his words carefully as he doesn’t state anything that could hint at Thanos, although Thanos is believed to be the villain. So will Thanos be the primary antagonist? We will just have to wait and see. 

MACHETE KILLS (Poster)

• MACHETE KILLS

TMZ is reporting that Charlie Sheen is changing his name back to Carlos Estevez, his birth name, for the upcoming Robert Rodriguez sequel Machete Kills.

It's the first time in his long career that he won't be billed as Charlie Sheen. It’s the first time in a real long time that his character wont be named Charlie.

The September 13 release also stars Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demián Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.

Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent Machete, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man - he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.

EUROPA REPORT (Trailer)

• EUROPA REPORT

Magnet Releasing has released the new trailer for Europa Report, the sci-fi thriller starring Michael Nyqvist, Sharlto Copley, Embeth Davidtz, Daniel Wu, Christian Camargo, Karolina Wydra and Anamaria Marinca.

A unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller, the August 2 release follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa's icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean. After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a crewmember, the surviving astronauts must overcome the psychological and physical toll of deep space travel, and survive a discovery on Europa more profound than they had ever imagined.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3 (Update)

• GHOSTBUSTERS 3

The much-anticipated Ghostbusters 3 is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. Leading man Dan Aykroyd spoke recently on "Larry K

ing Now," revealing new details about the sequel's plot.

"It's based on new research that's being done in particle physics by the young men and women at Columbia University," he tells King. "...Basically, there's research being done that I can say that the world or the dimension that we live in, our four planes of existence, length, height, width and time, become threatened by some of the research that's being done. Ghostbusters -- new Ghostbusters -- have to come and solve the problem."

Unfortunately, it's looking quite likely that Bill Murray will not reprise his role as Peter Venkman in any way, shape or form, although Aykroyd is still optimistic for a last-minute change of heart.

"There will be a hole for him," Aykroyd says of his friend and co-star. "If Billy wants to walk in the door and be in the movie, we will find a place."

As previously revealed, Ghostbusters 3 will include a new team of younger Ghostbusters, all of which begin as Columbia University students. Although casting has not yet taken place, Aykroyd did confirm the return of one new actor from the original: Larry King will again play himself.

"Of course, we're going to be doing you in your new format as you comment on what's happening in Manhattan up there at Morningside Heights," Aykroyd tells King. "It's going to be quite a spectacular scene once the stuff starts to break."

Ivan Reitman is slated to direct Ghostbusters 3 with a script from Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg and Etan Cohen. A release date has not yet been determined, but it has been rumored for 2014, the 30th anniversary of the original.

WISH I WAS THERE (Cast News)

• WISH I WAS THERE

Zach Braff

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Zach Braff has announced that Kate Hudson will be joining the cast of his upcoming drama Wish I Was Here, playing the role of Sarah, the wife of Braff's own leading character, Aidan Bloom.

Braff's official announcement of her casting reads as follows:

The character of Sarah (my wife) needs to be pretty, funny, believable as a mother of two children ages 5 and 12 and an actress who’s skilled at both comedy and drama.

I fell in love with Kate Hudson when I first saw her in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous”. (She was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Penny Lane.)

Years later, we have become good friends. There’s an added benefit in already being close with the actor playing opposite you; a familiarity that’s real and isn’t forced. As we shoot in August, I loved the idea of jumping into this movie-marriage with someone with whom I’ve already shared lots of laughs.

Kate Hudson

Backers, I am honored and excited to introduce our leading lady: Kate Hudson.

Allow me to introduce our starting lineup thus far:

Zach Braff (me)

Kate Hudson

Mandy Patinkin

Josh Gad

Anna Kendrick

Jim Parsons

Donald Faison

P.S. We are about to be 40,000 people strong. Can't stop smiling. Love you all,

Zach

Wish I Was Here follows Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, who at 35 is still trying to find his identity; a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid.

When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids (ages 5 and 12) and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them.

The result is some funny chaos, until Aidan decides to scrap the traditional academic curriculum and come up with his own. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.