First Image Of Woody Harrelson As Lyndon Johnson

In Rob Reiner's presidential biopic LBJ

A passion project of director Rob Reiner's for years, the American political biopic LBJ is finally in production in New Orleans and Washington D.C. And with that news, here's our first look at an unrecognisable Woody Harrelson in the title role of 36th President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

LBJ covers five years during Johnson’s political life, from 1959-64. He was Senate Majority Leader from 1955-60 before being tapped to join John F. Kennedy as his running mate, which led to his election as the country’s 37th Vice President.  

As for what turns the story takes from there, the official synopsis reads thusly: "On November 22, 1963, one president's life was taken and a new leader emerged — Lyndon Johnson. Rob Reiner's film LBJ tells the story of a politician who was at risk of fading into irrelevancy but, upon Kennedy's death, seized his moment to rescue a nation and claim his place as one of America's most important presidents. The film offers an intimate look at Johnson's masterful political maneuvering and handling of the presidential powers during one of the most difficult weeks in this country's history."

Joining Harrelson's LBJ are Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird Johnson; Bill Pullman as Senator Ralph Yarborough; Jeffrey Donovan as JFK; and Richard Jenkins as Senator Richard Russell.

Joey Hartstone wrote the screenplay, and filming began on September 9. There are no release dates in place yet, but LBJ is expected sometime in 2016.

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Sam Smith's Spectre Theme Released

Writing's On The Wall - and online

So here it is. As announced a couple of weeks ago, the gig of the 24th James Bond theme song has fallen to Sam Smith, and Spectre's opening credits will unfold to his 'Writing's On The Wall'. Following that short original snippet, the full thing has now been released. Give it a listen and tell us what you think.

Smith is the first British male solo artist to nab a Bond theme since Tom Jones struck like Thunderball in 1965. "This is one of the highlights of my career," he said f the song he reportedly wrote in 20 minutes. "I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line-up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it."

Singer-songwriter Smith won the 2014 BRIT Critic's Choice Award and the BBC's Sound Of 2014 poll, and released his debut album, In The Lonely Hour, in May last year. He was nominated for six Grammys this year and won four. 'Writing's On The Wall' is co-written with his regular collaborator Jimmy Napes.

Spectre is out on October 26. For everything we know about it so far, check out Empire's essential briefing. And  for the next batch of intelligence, pick up the new issue of Empire - guest edited by director Sam Mendes - on shelves and digital devices right now.

 

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Richard Stanley To Direct The Colour Out Of Space

Adapting the H.P. Lovecraft story

At The Mountains Of Madness may have ultimately defeated Guillermo Del Toro, but Richard Stanley is not a man to avoid a challenge. The director of Hardware and Dust Devil is now attacking his own adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story. He's set to direct The Colour Out Of Space for SpectreVision (the indie production company behind A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night).

Stanley's aformentioned first two films in the 1990s immediately pegged him as a maverick talent to watch, but the debacle of The Island Of Doctor Moreau (recently the subject of the great documentary Lost Soul) sent him screaming into the wilderness, and he's only directed online series and documentaries since. His most recent work is the surreal The Otherworld, about his own experiences searching for a dimensional gateway in Montsegur.

His name has often cropped up in connection to projects that have fallen through: he wrote a screenplay for High Rise for director Vincenzo Natali, before that film was taken over by Ben Wheatley. And when Empire spoke to him a few years ago he was talking up Vacation (an end-of-the-world film that at one time had Bruce Campbell attached) and Bones of the Earth, based on an unrealised Donald Cammell screenplay - neither of which happened.

The Colour Out Of Space, however, seems now to be a properly going concern. Casting is underway, and shooting is pencilled in for early next year.

H.P. Lovecraft is the undisputed father of literary horror," says SpectreVision's co-founder Daniel Noah, "and yet, bafflingly, there has yet to be a cinematic treatment that captures the dark beauty of the man’s oeuvre. Richard Stanley’s note perfect adaptation of The Colour Out of Space represents an epiphany for me, as it no doubt will be for legions of Lovecraft devotees around the world.”

Lovecraft's 1927 story revolves around an unnamed narrator trying to piece together the history of a "blasted heath" in the author's regular fictional haunt of Arkham, Massachusetts. Animals mutate and people are driven insane by the place, which was the site of a meterorite crash in the 19th Century. An old madman relates the terrible events that befell the farming family at ground zero.

“There needs to be a scary Lovecraft movie,” Stanley said last year. “I want to make a bad trip film and The Colour Out Of Space definitely has what it takes to be a very, very bad trip indeed...”

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Ridley Scott Reveals Prometheus 2's Real Title

Get ready for Alien: Paradise Lost

UPDATE: Ridley Scott has now revealed the title of Prometheus 2 - or at least, the title as it currently stands. "It's going to be called Alien: Paradise Lost," he tells HeyUGuys. "It's not going to be Prometheus 2. You know the poem [by John Milton]? It sounds intellectual, but there's a similarity to it." 

"We're heading back to why and how and when the [Alien] beast was invented," he further explained later. "We'll go back into the back door of the very first Alien." Oo-er.

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In news that will send some hearts beating faster and others starting to fill with barely-concealed vitriol, Ridley Scott has revealed that he has plans for the Prometheus universe that expand beyond the sequel now in pre-production.

Talking with German site FilmFutter – so be aware that there are always translation issues when covering such stories – he was asked when Prometheus will tie in explicitly with the films he himself kicked off back in 1979 with Alien. "It won’t be in the next movie," he says. "It will be the one after this one, or maybe even a fourth film, before we get back into the Alien franchise." Yes, it appears he’s taking a leaf out of Aliens/Avatar director James Cameron’s book and keeping the story going. We have to wonder whether he’ll have the time to do it all, even given his usual fast pace when cranking out movies, or if he’ll go the same route as he did with Alien and hand other films off to different directors. We can imagine one person feeling less than pleased if Prometheus does extend across a longer run - Neill Blomkamp, whose plan to make more Alien films is reportedly on hold until Scott feels he's satisfied with the Prometheus universe.

Scott also talked more about what he sees the driving idea behind the whole Prometheus story, regardless of how many movies it ends up covering. "The whole point of it is to explain the Alien franchise and to explain the how and why of the creation of the Alien itself," he says. "I always saw the Alien as a type of biological warfare. For me, the original spaceship that I call the croissant was a battleship that contains these biomechanoid creatures, that are all about destruction."

He’s now gearing up to shoot Prometheus 2, working from Michael Green’s script. And for a film about space that’s drawing much more consistent praise, Scott's latest, The Martian, arrives on September 30. 

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Fall TV Popularity Contest: Is Your Love for Heroes Reborn? Are You All In on The Player?

Did Heroes Rebornresurrect your old feelings for the franchise? Will you be placing bets on The Player all season?

Now that NBC's new dramas have premiered, we want to know your thoughts -- and what you think of every new show this season.

Are you invested in the new Heroes chapter, or do you wish the

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• Heroes Reborn
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• Wesley Snipes

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"Sweatshirts Are the Future" and More Kanye West Gems From Vanity Fair

We've glimpsed the future, and it's all about Kanye.

Kanye West gave a mega-interview to Vanity Fair that came out Thursday. They had a chance to talk to him just after his New York Fashion Week collection hit the runways. Here's what we learned:

On stressing out about his collection West referred

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• Kanye West

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What's Grey's Anatomy Like Without Derek? Pretty Great, Actually

We already know that "Everything Has Changed" on Season 12 of Grey's Anatomy, and for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), that means readjusting to life with roommates - you know, the kind who finish the last of the coffee creamer and bang holes in your wall without permission (though, to be fair, a

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• Grey's Anatomy
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