After yesterday’s news that the next James Bond movie has been booked in for a November 2019 release, now comes the expected news that Daniel Craig has indeed agreed to return as 007.

The New York Times broke the news, with them citing several sources close to the production as confirming that Craig is indeed returning for Bond 25.

Of course, Craig famously said he’d rather slit his wrists than return as Bond following Spectre, although earlier this year saw reports that MGM were waving a whopping $150 million at the actor for just two more movies. There’s no details just yet on whether this will be a one-picture return or whether the Layer Cake actor has been lured in for two films by the prospect of 150 million gold pieces.

Craig’s return has yet to be officially confirmed by the powers that be, but you’d have to think that MGM, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson would only move to announce a release date for Bond 25 if they’d locked in Craig. As ever, though, expect to hear more on all of this as it continues to develop.

At this stage, the still-to-be-titled Bond 25 is booked in for November 8th, 2019.

With Sony currently developing a Bloodshot adaptation, it appears that Jared Leto is the frontrunner to take the titular role.

Bloodshot is a Valiant comic tale from Kevin Van Hook, Don Perlin and Bob Layton, with the main character being a former soldier who was killed and brought back to life complete with a whole bunch of swanky technological upgrades. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Leto is now in the frame to take the lead role in the adap.

At present, Arrival’s Eric Heisserer has put together a script for the picture, with Halo 2’s Dave Wilson signed on to direct. The plan at one point in time was to develop cinematic Bloodshot and Harbinger (also another Valiant property) franchises before crossing them over, although all has gone a little quiet on that front lately.

As ever, expect more on this as we get it.

Jim, Jim, Jim. Really?

As well as currently working on four Avatar sequels, James Cameron has now revealed plans for three more Terminator movies.

The iconic director told News.com.au of his plans, explaining, “The question is, has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up? So I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise, and the rights in the US market revert to me under US copyright law in a year and a half. So he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now, we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it.”

*Sigh*

While we can all agree that both The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day are monumental, game-changing movies, the franchise has been operating under the laws of diminishing returns since then with the now-decent-in-hindsight Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the plain awful Terminator: Salvation, and the let’s-spoil-our-huge-reveal-in-the-trailer Terminator: Genisys.

Of course, the notion of the Terminator rights reverting back to Cameron – the man behind those first two masterpieces – is always going to trigger some sense of optimism, but we can’t help but scratch our heads at already putting plans in place for three more films. Then again, we’re still scratching our heads at the need for four Avatar sequels.

As alluded to by Cameron, he will indeed see the rights to the franchise revert back to him in 2019, and he has previously discussed plans for bringing Arnold Schwarzenegger back for one more film. And just like that, off he goes, now talking about three more movies.

If and when things continue to develop, we’ll bring you more an all things Terminator as we get it.

With recent stories suggesting that Daniel Craig is likely to continue as 007, the next James Bond movie has now been given a confirmed release date.

Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, EON Productions and Gary Barber, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. have moved to announce the next Bond film for a November 8th, 2019 release.

Franchise mainstays Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are on board to write this next outing for England’s greatest spy, although a director has yet to be revealed at this stage. Additionally, the Craig stories have still not been put to rest one way or the other, with the actor still yet to be confirmed as returning to the 007 role or walking away from the franchise altogether. Of course, if you remember back, Craig initially said he’d rather slit his wrists than play Bond again following Spectre. That, though, was followed by him being offered a reported $150 million to reprise the role for just two further movies.

With a release date for Bond 25 now set, it’s fair to say we can expect to be hearing something concrete on Craig’s future sooner rather than later. And, as ever, we’ll bring you more on that as we get it.

With four Avatar sequels currently being worked on by James Cameron, it’s been confirmed that CCH Pounder will be returning to the franchise.

Well known to genre fans for the likes of RoboCop 3, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, Face/Off, and Sons of Anarchy, Pounder appeared in the first Avatar movie as Moat, the spiritual leader of the Omatikaya clan.

Pounder joins a cast that currently includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore, and franchise newcomers Oona Chaplin, and Cliff Curtis.

The current plan is for shooting to start on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 this September, with production on Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 to start shortly after. The first of these sequels is booked in for a December 2020 release, with the subsequent follow-ups to hit the big screen on December 2021, December 2024, and December 2025.