Last Friday, The Hollywood Reporter[1] said that Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai) had joined the cast of Detective Pikachu[2], the live-action Pokemon film. He’ll play Detective Yoshida, a character specifically created for the movie. Ryan Reynolds is voicing Pikachu, if you didn’t know. Detective Pikachu is slated for release May 10, 2019.
According to a report in The Daily Mail[3], the standalone Black Widow[4] movie might be out in 2020. A source said that Scarlett Johansson had signed on for a $25-million deal, and both Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn – who are set to appear in Captain Marvel – might also be part of Black Widow. This all seems a bit dubious, considering the two films take place in different time periods.
On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences revealed the nominations for the 90th Academy Awards[5], better known as the 2018 Oscars. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water led the pack with a total of 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay. Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was second with eight.
Later that day, Castlevania[6] writer Warren Ellis revealed on Twitter[7] that the Netflix anime would return for a second season in summer 2018 with eight more episodes, doubling the count from the first season. There are no other details.
In an interview with Glamour[8] this week, Stranger Things[9] producer Shawn Levy said that the show’s third season – which is rumoured to premiere in 2019 – will deal with “forces of evil that are...