The Estrogen Strikes Back - and more!

It's only Tuesday, but there's a lot going on this week!

First, Doctor Strange has landed a director - Scott Derrickson, whose previous films have a definite horror bent. I haven't seen Sinister, but now I plan to. His new film Deliver Us From Evil comes out this July, so that's now a definite attention-getter, because otherwise why would Marvel have snapped him up? Here's hoping they keep Doctor Strange a full-on supernatural horror-fest, and stay true to the character.

The Wachowskis got bumped - Jupiter Ascending was all set to open in its daffy glory on July 18th, just over a month from now. They'll be relegated to February 6th, 2015. This may be good news, as Jupiter is such a zany sounding hodgepodge, it could easily become this year's John Carter. At least this gives them (and Warner Brothers) more time to finesse the effects (there have been rumors that it's not ready) and to find the right angle to market the film properly. It's interesting to remember that their breakthrough picture The Matrix opened on March 31st, so sometimes coming out between the big seasons can work for you.

Don't stage the intervention just yet - there were rumblings after a recent fan Q&A with Anne Groell, the patient Saint who edits George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, that the series might end up with eight books instead of seven. Martin himself has since come out and asserted that his plan continues to be for seven books, though he leaves things wide open, especially when the original notion was for three books. The most disturbing quote of Groell's reveals that "I currently have 168 pages that he submitted back in Feb 2013 in order to receive a contracted payment, but I know more exists." Given the size of these books, let's hope old George is a lot deeper into book six than that!

The Estrogen Strikes Back! While there have been a surprising amount of revealing pics leaked from the new Star Wars film on TMZ this week, what's really got me excited is the casting. Both 12 Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth herself!) have joined the cast of J.J. Abrams' Episode VII. That's more great news for what's sounding increasingly like a truly promising resurrection of one very beloved franchise.