It was perhaps just a matter of time before Benedict Cumberbatch’s debut entrance in the world of Marvel superheroes in and as Doctor Strange rode to the top of the box office. The film is so successful that it’s the single biggest solo-character hit for Marvel since Robert Downey’s Iron Man, which raked in 585 million dollars in 2008. With a grand total of 616 million dollars earned by Doctor Strange on the global box office,
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are all set to return in the upcoming fourth season of the hit series, Sherlock, which will run on TV and select theatres across the UK and the Ireland simultaneously.
Instep looks at some prolific stories that
are making news in Hollywood.
It was perhaps just a matter of time before Benedict Cumberbatch’s debut entrance in the world of Marvel superheroes in and as Doctor Strange rode to the top of the box office. The film is so successful that it’s the single biggest solo-character hit for Marvel since Robert Downey’s Iron Man, which raked in 585 million dollars in 2008. With a grand total of 616 million dollars earned by Doctor Strange on the global box office, this extraordinary success has also made way for rumours that the Avengers line-up could go through a massive shift. For now though, the bigger news is that at least one episode from the upcoming fourth season of Sherlock will be screened in select theatres in the UK and the Ireland (for one night only) simultaneously with its transmission on BBC One. The detective series, adapted from the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, will return with a darker, bloodier and much more emotional tone and could mark the end of the series for the time being. The three-episode series will air on January 1 with The Six Thatchers and will end with an episode called The Final Problem.
Riz Ahmed will star in Rogue One as Bodhi Rook, a cargo pilot who becomes part of a group of rebels.
Moving on, Riz Ahmed who ruled the hearts of TV viewers everywhere this year with a solid performance as Pakistani-American college student Naz Khan, arrested on the suspicion of murder, on HBO’s The Night Of and a small but memorable appearance in spy drama, Jason Bourne, is now gearing up for the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In the film, Riz Ahmed stars as Bodhi Rook, “a cargo pilot who becomes part of a group of rebels who conspire against the evil Empire to steal plans for the Death Star”.
Speaking about his role in the film, Ahmed said in a recent interview: “He (Rook) has kind of woken up to certain things and it causes him to make the fateful decision of assessing what he’s doing with his life and what he should be doing. So he finds himself part of this unlikely group of heroes that decide they need to do something to change the future.”
One half of hip-hop duo Sweet Shop Boys, Ahmed is also starring in an upcoming Netflix series called The OA. While not much is known about the plot at this point, it has been confirmed that the series will feature eight episodes.
While we’re on the subject of curious projects, the trailer for the fifth Transformers film is here and it’s another robot war packaged in slick action and ridiculous stunts. One major plot twist is Optimus Prime’s turn from good to bad; in one sequence Prime is trying to murder Bumblebee. Titled Transformers: The Last Knight, the film will see the return of Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager who is on the run. Speaking about his role, Wahlberg noted recently, “Yeah, you know, he’s like a man on the run which is fun, it’s a bit of an adventure story.”
Other than Wahlberg, actors such as Stanley Tucci, John Turturro and Josh Duhamel are also returning for the fifth film and will join new entrant Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Many view this venture to be a reboot of sorts. Its success could open the door to more sequels and it is entirely possible that we will continue to watch robots exploding on earth and in space until the end of time.
