Even though Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter was only in a little bit of Captain America: The First Avenger, she seems to have made an impression fans. And thanks to those fans, we’ll be seeing a little bit more of her.

Atwell was interviewed by The Age about her possible involvement in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, involvement she is reticent to confirm or deny even though she is included in a cast list in an official press release from Marvel. However, she did reveal that footage featuring her would be shown and a certain comic book convention:

“There’s been an online campaign for Peggy to be featured. People really liked her. So Marvel have made sure that as part of Comicon there will be a little kind of snapshot as to what Peggy’s actually really capable of, which was finished here and which was great fun. Hopefully, it will lead to other things.”

Brendon Connelly over at  Bleeding Cool seems to think that Peggy Carter will be making an appearance in a Marvel One-Shot, a line of short subjects that began with The Consultant on the Thor Blu-Ray, continued with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer on the Captain America: The First Avenger Blu-Ray and  Item 47, a short that was attached to The Avengers Blu-Ray. Even though the last two had at best a transitory connection to the Marvel Film Universe, using these One-Shots to flesh out supporting characters who might not be able to support their own film is a great idea.

However, the way it sounds is that footage being shown will not be as long as the shorts typically run. So what this footage might be might be scenes from Winter Soldier featuring Peggy.

I guess we’ll see in a couple months when Comic-Con rolls around.

Marvel Studios’ has announced that production on Captain America: The Winter Soldier has started today in Los Angeles. Further shooting will take place in Cleveland, Ohio (Perhaps doubling for Manhattan they way it did for parts of The Avengers?) and Washington DC.

To note the start of filming, Marvel has released the first production photo from the project – a simple behind-the-scenes shot showing Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America at some SHIELD office/installation/helicarrier. Click on the picture for a larger version. Marvel’s press release is below.

Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Marvel Studios’ release, “Marvel’s The Avengers,” production on the highly anticipated release, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” has commenced in Los Angeles, Calif., with production also including locations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Washington D.C. Directing the film is the team of Anthony and Joe Russo (“Welcome to Collinwood”) from a screenplay written by Christopher Markus (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) & Stephen McFeely (“Captain America: The First Avenger”). Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” returns Chris Evans (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”) as the iconic Super Hero character Steve Rogers/Captain America, along with Scarlett Johansson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 2”) as Nick Fury. In addition, film icon Robert Redford has joined the all-star cast as Agent Alexander Pierce, a senior leader within the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is set for release in the U.S. on April 4, 2014.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” features an outstanding supporting cast that includes Sebastian Stan (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Black Swan”) as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker,” “Million Dollar Baby”) as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Cobie Smulders (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “How I Met Your Mother”) as Agent Maria Hill, Frank Grillo (“Zero Dark Thirty”) as Brock Rumlow and Georges St-Pierre (“Death Warrior”) as Georges Batroc. Rounding out the talented cast are Hayley Atwell (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) as Peggy Carter, Toby Jones (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Hunger Games”) as Arnim Zola, Emily VanCamp (“The Ring 2,” “Revenge”) as Agent 13 and Maximiliano Hernández (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Thor”) as Agent Jasper Sitwell.

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Alan Fine, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee. The creative production team on the film includes director of photography Trent Opaloch (“Elysium,” “District 9”), production designer Peter Wenham (“21 Jump Street,” “Fast Five”), editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. and Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E. (“Star Wars: Episode 7,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) and three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (“The Hunger Games,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”).

Marvel Studios’ upcoming release schedule includes “Iron Man 3” on May 3, 2013, and “Thor: The Dark World” on November 8, 2013. The studio most recently produced the critically acclaimed “Marvel’s The Avengers,” which set the all-time, domestic 3-day weekend box office record at $207.4 million. The film, which shattered both domestic and international box office records, is Disney’s highest-grossing global and domestic release of all time and marks the studio’s fifth film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.

In the summer of 2011, Marvel successfully launched two new franchises with “Thor,” starring Chris Hemsworth, and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” starring Chris Evans. Both films opened #1 at the box office and have grossed over $800 million worldwide combined. In 2010 “Iron Man 2,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury took the #1 spot in its first weekend with a domestic box office gross of $128.1 million.

In the summer of 2008, Marvel produced the summer blockbuster movies “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.” “Iron Man,” in which Robert Downey Jr. originally dons the Super Hero’s powerful armor and stars alongside co-stars Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub and Gwyneth Paltrow, was released May 2, 2008, and was an immediate box office success. Garnering the number one position for two weeks in a row, the film brought in over $100 million in its opening weekend. On June 13, 2008, Marvel released “The Incredible Hulk,” marking its second number one opener of that summer.

Who needs X-Men: Days of Future Past spoilers when Bryan Singer has a Twitter account?

The director is at it again, this time tweeting an image of everyone’s favorite furry scientist, the Beast.

As we can see above, we can tell this is an older version of the Beast by the patches of white and grey mixed in with the blue fur. But it looks like he is still part of the team (as we can see by the snatch of yellow on his shoulder) and it appears that it is Nicholas Hoult playing him. Well, it’s hard to tell with the make-up, but the shape of the face looks like Hoult’s.

It certainly doesn’t look like Kelsey Grammer. As we know, Grammer played the older Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand, and while Ellen Page made the jump from that film to Singer’s latest, perhaps this means that the Fraiser actor won’t.

Or this could just be a work up of some potential make-up and I am reading far too much into it.

It looks like The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s cast is about to add an Oscar-winner in a pivotal role.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Chris Cooper has signed on to play Norman Osborn in the sequel. Osborn is the billionaire scientist and industrialist who eventually becomes the villain known as Green Goblin.

The only appearance the character made in the first film was in a piece of window box advertising for Oscorp.  The role was originated by Willem DaFoe in Spider-Man.  Dale DeHaan has been cast as his son, Harry, a role originated by James Franco in the previous franchise.

Cooper is a skilled actor, and a great choice for the role. But one has to ask when will it be too much? There are a lot of characters in the film, many of whom are villains, which need screen time to develop. Whenever you try to cram this many characters in, you end up losing something in the end.

Jason Momoa might just be going from Conan the Barbarian to Drax the Destroyer in the span of three years.

Multiple sources have confirmed the Game of Thrones star has tested for the role of Drax for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. El Mayimbe over at Latino Review says Marvel was so impressed by the test that they offered the part to him on the spot and it all comes down to a matter of money. However, Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter states Momoa was only tested and no decision was made yet.

Regardless, I think its a good choice. Momoa looks the part and is not a bad actor. While Drax from the comic books isn’t overly charismatic, Momoa is and can bring a lot to the role.

We should find out soon, because all the ducks need to get in a row posthaste if the film is going to make its scheduled August 1, 2014 opening.

Attention New York residents!  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (now the official title) has started production in your state! Watch out for falling web-slingers!

Columbia Pictures has officially announced the start of production on the sequel and was nice enough to provide the world with a plot description at the same time:

In The Amazing Spider-Man™ 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.

In all fairness, this really doesn’t tell us anything that we don’t already know. But, then again, if a studio revealed everything about a film before its was done, not many people would be going to movies.

The press release also gives us the official cast list, and, in addition to confirming Paul Giamatti’s involvement, gives us a heretofore unmentioned actor. The release lists Canadian/American actor Colm Feore playing an unnamed part of the cast, and the way the release is worded, he is mentioned before either Giamatti or Sally Field. Take that as you will. I take it as Feore’s role might be a bit more focal than either of those two. Whether it’s Feore as the new Norman Osborn or J. Jonah Jameson or as the new police captain or a crime boss is yet to be determined.

This will be Feore’s second foray into the Marvel Universe, having played Laufrey, King of the Frost Giants in 2008′s Thor.

Via Bleeding Cool and ComingSoon.net.

The next Sin City has gotten it’s big bad guy…and it’s TV’s Mike Hammer.

Variety is reporting that Stacey Keach has been signed to play Herr Wallenquist, the German-American crime boss known as The Kraut who rules over Basin City with an iron fist.

The Kraut is seldom seen in the comics, preferring to work through lackeys and henchmen. When he is seen, he is portrayed as a physically imposing man whose face and neck is covered with scars. Creator Frank Miller describes the character to Variety as ”the one man who can’t be redeemed in Sin City. He is pure evil.”

Keach has a long and varied career on the stage, in films and on television, where he created his most famous role, bringing Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer to life in three separate TV series.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens on October 4, 2013.

There was a time when Twentieth Century Fox seemed eager to get right to work on a sequel to their English-language adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, with an eye for getting the film out sometime in late 2012/early 2013. Well, here we are smack in the middle of that initially projected timeframe and despite screenwriter Steve Zaillian having turned in a script that the studio likes, there has been no forward movement on the project.

So what’s the holdup? According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter, the delay all boils down to money. Specifically, although the film managed to make $233 million worldwide against its $90 million budget, the film is only considered by the studio as a modest success. And while they want to continue with their adaption of Stieg Larsson’s bestselling trilogy, they also want to do it in a way that might maximize their profits a bit more – i.e., they want to make the next film cheaper.

The chief stumbling block in decreasing the film’s budget is one of its stars, Daniel Craig. The Hollywood Reporter’s story alleges that the actor feels he is due a pay raise, especially in light of his latest James bond film Skyfall passing the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office receipts. And if Craig doesn’t budge in his salary demands the Reporter is saying that the studio is contemplating writing his character of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist out of the film entirely.

While it sounds like sacrilege to fans of the original novels and their Swedish film adaptions, excising Blomkvist from the film doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to do. For much of the novel’s narrative the reporter is separated from the books’ heroine on Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), and when it came time for Zaillian to start in on the adaption there was some speculation that he would actually change some plotlines to give them more onscreen time together. Would it be too hard for him to nudge things in the opposite direction and turn it into a solo Lisbeth film?

The only problem here is that Fox has already paid out a mid-seven figures sum to Zaillian for his work on the screenplay and would have to write another check to have him do another draft. Currently, Zaillian is working on the HBO series Criminal Justice, starring James Gandolfini, so there is a question of his availability even if Fox is willing to open up their wallets.

Meanwhile, while he waits for this impasse to be solved, director David Fincher is still working at developing a number of other projects. He recently signed on for an adaption of Gillian Flynn’s psychological thriller novel Gone Girl, though it is being reported that Flynn’s screenplay of her own book has a ways to go before being camera ready. Another Fincher project that does have a screenplay polished enough for production is his take on Jules Verne’s classic novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, though the director and studio Disney are not seeing eye-to-eye on the budget.

The Sin City sequel news is coming at us fast and furious, and Robert Rodriguez has used an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival to announce that a big name from the original cast will be returning for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.

Rodriguez told MTV that Bruce Wills will be reprising his role as Hartigan, the good cop with a bad heart, for the sequel coming later this year.

This is intriguing because as anyone who saw the last film knows (SPOILER WARNING!!!!!) Willis’ character commits suicide in the last film. He took his own life to protect Jessica Alba’s character, Nancy, from the minions of Senator Rourke, seeking revenge for Hartigan’s killing of Rourke’s son in the first movie.

However, since one of the segments in the new film will deal with Nancy trying to escape from Rourke’s goons, perhaps that suicide plan wasn’t quite as effective as Hartigan thought. It would be logical that Hartigan would appear in this segment as a flashback or a memory of Nancy’s character. Also, due to the nature of the narrative structure of these films, another segment could be set when Hartigan was alive and he could be featured there.

Other notes from the interview states that the filming process on the film has begun three months ago. Due to the way the CGI imagery lends itself to having footage being assembled in a piecemeal fashion, Rodriguez is shooting the film as the actors become available. As a matter of fact, even though Ray Liotta’s, Jeremy Piven’s, and Juno Temple’s casting was just announced last week, their parts are already finished filming.

Rodriguez also said that the pivotal part of Ava Lord has yet to be cast, as the role is weeks away from being shot. One expects an announcement should be made soon with the actress cast.

When the first Sin City came out, I was amazed at the cast that Robert Rodriguez was able to put together for the film. It was a star-studded mix of Oscar-worthy thespians, summer blockbuster idols, solid character actors, and young up-and-comers–a veritable who’s who of the Hollywood elite. And it looks like he’s having similar luck putting together the cast for that film’s sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

The Playlist is reporting that Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, and Juno Temple are set to join Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dennis Haysbert and Jamie Chung as new residents of Basin City. The website does not know what characters the actors will be playing as of yet, but, since production has already begun on the film, I’m sure details will be coming soon.

One casting announcement that should also be coming soon is who will be playing the titular “Dame to Kill For” from the original comic, Ava. With all due respect to Ms. Temple, the role calls for a more mature, classic Hollywood femme fatale in the mold of a Rita Hayworth or Ava Gardner type. Rodriguez and co-director/Sin City creator Frank Miller have gone on record saying that they were pursuing Angelina Jolie for the role.

Regardless, these three actors will be a great addition to the cast. Liotta specifically seems tailor-made for the art-noir world of the film.