First Look At Richard Ayoade’s The Double

Here’s the first images from The Double, directed by Richard Ayoade (Submarine, The IT Crowd) and starring Jesse Eisenberg alongside Noah Taylor.

The Double is a loose adaptation of a Russian literature classic originally by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Updating the tale to modern day America, The Double finds a shy bureaucrat having his life thrown into turmoil when his exact double starts working in the same office. The aggressive confidence of this unwelcome doppelganger threatens to destroy the fragile existence of the original office worker and makes him question his sanity.

The Double also stars Mia Wasikowska and Submarine starlet Yasmin Page. It will be arriving on UK screens in 2013.

Chris Hemsworth Talks Thor The Dark World

Thor himself Chris Hemsworth has spoken about what fans can expect from the latest Marvel superhero sequel Thor The Dark World. Hemsworth admits that the new film has a very different look and feel to the first film under the guidance of Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor.

“The look of the film is a lot bigger than what we did even previously,” says Hemsworth. “The first one worked and people loved it, but this is with a different director and just has a totally different feel. There’s a definite Game Of Thrones vibe thanks to [director] Alan [Taylor].”

With pictures form set starting to leak online Hemsworth also spoke about how filming in England is going.

“We have six weeks to go to shoot. This is the trickiest bit, because you can go, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re past the halfway mark!’ which isn’t a good idea, because you’re not finished yet. You sort of get that second wind about now or you hope to and push on through.”

Finally Hemswoth admitted that the absence of Thor’s love interest  Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) from The Avengers will be dealt with in the Thor sequel. He also confirmed that Thor’s mischievous brother Loki will again be playing a major role in the sequel. That should delight many fans, as the scheming villain played by the always charming Tom Hiddleston is perhaps even more popular than Thor himself.

“For Thor and Jane, there are some unanswered questions now, since obviously he didn’t stop in and catch up with her in Avengers. Thor might have some explaining to do in this one… There’s some fun to be had with that. And with Loki, we get down to the major bones of our conflict with everything that’s come from Thor to Avengers to now.”

Paranormal Activity 5 Confirmed

Paramount has officially confirmed that horror sequel Paranormal Activity 5 will arrive in cinemas next year just in time to terrify Halloween audiences. The official release date for the 5th installment in the resiliently popular franchise is 25th October 2013.

The persistent box office success of the franchise including most recent effort Paranormal Activity 4, combined with the low budget afforded by the found footage style, has convinced the studio that there’s a few more screams and dollars left to be collected.

Paranormal Activity 4 had previously been promoted as a final chapter in the saga but production will now start on the next chapter just  as soon as a director and story can both be pushed in place.

Katee Sackhoff Joins Female Expendables Cast

Katee Sackhoff has officially joined Gina Carano in the growing cast of Producer Adi Shankar All Female Expendables style action star ensemble.  In a recent interview the Battlestar Galactica pin-up seemed enthusiastic about the much hyped project and the possible line up of action heroines.

“Well, I am attached to it, but things always happen. If a script got delivered and was absolutely horrible, then you figure things out. But, I can’t imagine, with everyone that [producer] Adi Shankar is bringing around the project, that it’s going to be bad.”

Expanding on what gave her the confidence to be one of the first stars to sign on she revealed her potential co-stars were a big part of the decision:

“I really put a lot of faith in him and his eye for detail, I’m a big fan of Gina [Carano] and there’s a lot of strong women. When I sat down with Adi and he pitched the women that he wanted in the movie, these are not your 5 foot 2, skinny girls. These are the girls that can actually kick some ass, which made me excited. They are different types of girls. I haven’t seen the Expendables movies, but not every one of us has the same fighting style and we’re all different body types. It’s believable that we could all kick some ass. I’m really looking forward to it.”

It’s expected that many more names will now be added to the production. Carrie Anne Moss, Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Michelle Rodriguez, Michelle Yeoh, Linda Hamilton, Kate Beckinsale , Summer Glau, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren and Angelina Jolie are all still being mentioned with various degrees of seriousness.

Star Wars Episodes VIII And IX Get Writers

Having recently secured the services of Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt to write the seventh chapter in the Star Wars Saga, Disney has now reportedly found writers for both Episodes eight and nine as well. Simon Kinberg and Lawrence Kasdan have reportedly both signed on to help complete the rest of Disney’s new Star Wars trilogy.

Kinberg recently produced  successful X-Men reboot First Class and has co-written sequel Days Of Future Past.  Lawrence Kasdan previously wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of  The Jedi.

Kasdan seems an obvious choice for Lucasfilm having been a huge part of the original Star Wars trilogy and having written other classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark. . His involvement may help reassure fans that new trilogy will do justice to the classic saga and avoid the disappointments of the more recent prequels.

Kinberg’s screenwriting CV is considerably less enviable than Kasdan’s, he’s written flops like This Means War and Jumper as well as disappointing sequel  X-Men Last Stand. It remains to be seen whether the pair will be collaborating or taking responsibility for episodes eight and nine individually.