by Kim Filchak, Reporter

Good afternoon and welcome back to Rampant Speculation! We are running a little behind today so let’s jump right in and get to all the rumor and wild guessing that has spilled forth from the internet this week like a tidal-wave of awesome, somewhat less awesome and downright terrifying news.

Ant-Man- The drama is finally over! After breaking up with their original choice and weeks of searching Marvel Studios has finally found someone to take to prom and by take to prom I mean direct a multi-million dollar summer blockbuster movie about a guy who can shrink to the size of an ant but still retain the proportional strength of a regular sized dude. Yes, Ant-Man finally has a director. After digging through the pile of available directors, and being rejected by their first few picks, Marvel Studios has finally settled on Peyton Reed (Bring It On) as their chosen one. The script for the up coming film, which was rumored to be the bone of contention between former director Edgar Wright and Marvel Studios, will get a rewrite by former front runner for the job Adam McKay (Anchorman) and the film is still due to land in theaters on its original release date of July 17th, 2015.

The press release from Marvel Studios does not really tell us much more than that, but it’s good to have the “officially” official word from the people in charge and what looks like some actual forward momentum from a project that seemed like it was terminally stalled for a while.

“When Marvel’s “Ant-Man” hits theaters July 17, 2015, director Peyton Reed will help shepherd the hero into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a cast led by Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, with writer Adam McKay contributing to the film’s script.Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.”

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice- The production of Warner Bros. 2016 precursor to their inevitable Justice League movie is chugging right along on schedule. Batman-News is reporting that the scenes at LexCorp are next on the docket and that the feel of the company will be less Massive Dynamic and more Facebook. Also there is still no news on the state of Jessie Eisenberg’s (Zombieland, The Social Network) hair.

“A source close to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has informed me that production is heading to LexCorp next week. In Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel, LexCorp is described as a young, edgy company. Think of it as a .com or Google type workplace. It’s a smart company with a stylish vibe, a youthful clash of rock and roll, preppy, and nerdy employees. Hipsters!

The LexCorp scene will be shot on June 12th and 13th and it will take place in the fall. Actors will be wearing layers with long sleeves, lightweight jackets, and blazers.

Will “Mr. LexCorp” Lex Luthor (played by Jesse Eisenberg) be in the scene? I’m hearing ‘yes’, but I’ll have an update on exactly what goes down from my source next week. If a bald Jesse Eisenberg is spotted on set, you’ll be the first to know.”

Doctor Strange- Deadline is reporting that Marvel already has a wish list for the actor to play Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme and the names on that list were not the ones previously expected.

“Marvel is putting together its cast list, and I’m hearing that Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch are on it. While Marvel has teased this property with mentions in films including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the film solidified and felt urgent when Scott Derrickson tweeted this week that he will direct the script by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer.”

These are strong, interesting choices for the role, though between the two I could see Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek: Into Darkenss) pulling off the cape with a little more aplomb then Tom Hardy(Inception, Dark Knight Rises), though Hardy could totally rock the embroidered blue shirt. Both are great actors and I personally would be happy if either ended up as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Stephen Strange.

Gambit- As we all know, even though no official casting for the film as been announced, at this point Channing Tatum is set to appear as Gambit in X-Men: Apocalypse. Some people are trilled by this news, others less so, but what is done is done so let us focus now on what the future may hold for the Cajun mutant with a perchance for class C felonies and a lose understanding of property laws. There have long been rumblings in the rumor mill that the people behind the scenes wanted to spin Gambit off into his own film after the next joint X-Men collaborative effort and now we can add Channing Tatum’s interest in doing so to the list of reason as to why this is probably going to happen, though with the addendum that Tatum would like to see Gambit in a solo film prior to his appearance in X-Men: Apocalypse. Tatum spoke to MTV about the character and his thoughts about a Gambit solo film.

“Creatively, we’re starting to chug forward. Obviously there’s nothing [official],” Tatum told MTV News about where he stands with the Ragin’ Cajun. “There are only conversations and dreams right now, really. I’ve been pretty vocal about wanting to be the part of Gambit for a very long time,” said Tatum. “It’s a weird, pinching-myself moment that we’re even having the conversation.”
Recent rumors have suggested that Tatum’s Gambit is part of the design of “X-Men: Apocalypse,” the upcoming sequel to “Days of Future Past.” But that’s not what Tatum has in mind; he wants a full-on standalone “Gambit” movie before ever entering the proper “X-Men” equation.
“We’ve talked about it being a standalone, first, and actually trying to change the ‘hero, superhero movie.’ Because Gambit is not your typical hero. He’s a thief. He walks on the gray. I’m hoping we can change it a little bit, and then ultimately feather into the other ones.”
All of that is easier said than done, of course.
“The machine of the Marvel world is so ginormous that it’s literally like climbing a mountain, getting one of these movies made, and all of the pieces that go along with it,”

Those are certainly some ambitious plans, though honestly they are not exactly the first studio to do the whole solo origin movie that gets “feathered into” a greater story being told, coughcough The Avengers did it first coughcough, so perhaps acting like they are reinventing the wheel here may be overstating things a bit.

Ghostbusters- This not actually either gossip or news but if you are a fan of the original movie than I highly recommend checking out the Vanity Fair article about its inception and creation. Did you know when the script was originally written Ghostbusters was not even set in NYC? I can’t even imagine that.

Jurassic World- After shooting in slightly more exotic locals Jurassic World is heading to New Orleans for the next round of filming. MoviePilot is reporting that they will be shooting in a place that has long haunted both Scooby-Doo’s and my own nightmares, an abandoned amusement park. The abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans will be the productions home for the next eleven weeks and if you are not terrified of the very idea of setting one foot into that hell-scape of rusting rides and discarded costume heads than has MoviePilot have some good news for you.

“Casting for background extras, and all that jazz, is allegedly being being carried out under the working title Ebb Tide. The call went up as follows:

A Steven Spielberg film, needs men and women
(18yrs-75yrs) who are available to work: 6/6, and 6/9 through 6/13
at Six Flags Park. Pay is $101.50/12 hrs.

If you are available for at least 2 of the dates, please email directly to “EbbTide”:
your photo, name, email, phone, height and weight to:
[email protected].”

In the subject line, please put: referred by Robin Batherson.
If you’ve already registered for “Ebb Tide”, no need to submit again.”

So yeah, if you live in the area and want to run around an abandoned amusement park being chased by killer dinosaurs there you go and, uh, good luck with that.

Snowpiercer- Chris Evans (The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Not Another Teen Movie) looks down right filthy and as far from Captain America as you can get  in the new poster for Snowpiercer, which opens June 27th and looks amazing. 

Star Wars-  The big news this past week was that Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) have both been cast in roles in Episode VII. What those roles may be is totally unknown but that has not stopped the internet from coming up with a plethora of ideas. MoviePilot has broken down a list of possible roles based on the now seemingly defunct “Star Wars Extended Universe” for each actress, though I do think Grand Admiral Thrawn might be a stretch, and Metro is reporting on rumors that Lupita Nyong’o will be playing a descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi but has no idea who Gwendoline Christie might be cast as. At this point all of this really is just rampant speculation and with J.J. Abrams doing his best to plug leaks in the production we may not get any more of an idea of who these ladies will be playing until Lucas Arts wants us to.

Keep speculating along with ComicsOnline.com on Facebook and Twitter for more rumor mongering and for everything geek pop culture!