This week in news: Babs takes on an empress, Christopher McQuarrie accepts another Mission: Impossible, and Batman and Superman meet Wonder Woman
It’s Mission: Impossibler for Chris McQuarrie
After the bumper success of Rogue Nation, the announcement of a new Mission: Impossible was a formality. Despite the franchise’s record of carouseling through directors like prizes on The Generation Games conveyor belt, this one – the sixth – will have an old hand behind the camera. [Christopher McQuarrie is officially back](http://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/christopher-mcquarrie-return-mission-impossible-6/
) to write, direct, co-produce and probably help strap Tom Cruise to a rocket as he and his old collaborator try to conjure up another in-camera stunt sequence of eye-popping improbability. He talked about what drew him back.
Batman Vs Superman Vs Lex Luthor Vs Giant Monster Vs Wonder Woman
Unless you live in Metropolis and are still rebuilding your house from last time, this week you’d have been wowed by not one, but two Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice trailers. The latter – a bumper cut running just shy of three minutes – showcased Supes and Bats’ burgeoning frenemyship, as well as antagonist Lex Luthor and his skittish brand of villainy. Oh, and there are epic battles in store, too. Fish out those hardhats, Gotham-ites.
Read Steven Spielberg’s lips: no new Indy
“I don’t think anyone could replace Harrison as Indy,” Steven Spielberg told a relieved world this week. "I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.” And, lo, it was the best Christmas present since three old dudes showed up in Bethlehem with a bag of goodies, because there can only be one Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford. The attempt to groom Shia LaBeouf Mutt as the good professor's heir successor looks doomed, but where does all this leave Chris Pratt’s position as Official Future Indy? In the space between spaces, we’d wager.
Barbra Streisand directing Catherine the Great biopic
One of them is empress of all she surveys, a potentate with power over millions of her subjects who’s able to lift the souls or shatter hearts on the merest whim. The other is Catherine the Great. Together they look like making movie magic, with Barbra Streisand circling her first directorial gig since 1996’s The Prince Of Tides. This week brought news that she’ll be showcasing her filmmaking skills, directing from a 2014 Blacklist script by Kristina Lauren Anderson that charts the trials of a young Catherine as she grapples with ruling a colossal Russian empire.
Sylvester Stallone producing Rambo: New Blood for US TV
With Creed attracting unlikely awards buzz for Sylvester Stallone, the announcement of a John Rambo TV series came as a surprise. But prepare for a run on muscle vests because everyone’s favourite headband-wearing Vietnam veteran is back in a Fox TV series that’s going by the name Rambo: New Blood. It may or may not see the actor step back into those sweaty fatigues, but we can expect a father-and-son angle, outlaw angst, bazookas and probably quite a lot of dead foreigners.