Universal

In Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey alludes to his former lover / sex buddy Elena Lincoln, who basically serves as his very own Mrs. Robinson — the two had an affair when Christian was just 15 years old, as if his whole situation couldn’t get any more skeevy. Today comes news that Universal has found its Ms. Lincoln in Kim Basinger, a fitting choice for the role of the seductive, experienced and confident character who will throw a wrench in Christian’s relationship with Ana.

In a development likely to give Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan some sense of relief, Universal has officially decided to shoot Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed back to back, giving its actors a chance to fulfill their commitments to the troubled franchise in one fell swoop. In addition, the studio has confirmed James Foley to direct both sequels, with author E.L. James’ husband Niall Leonard adapting both stories for the big screen.

Before Michael Fassbender was cast as Steve Jobs, the biopic went down a long and complicated road in pre-production. Directors (including David Fincher) were offered the job and passed. Actors (Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale and Natalie Portman, among them) were offered the title role and passed. With an Aaron Sorkin script we now know is very, very good, it’s surprising that so many talented people declined to participate in the movie. But, we now have an idea why these people decided to pass on Steve Jobs and it has nothing to do with the quality of the film.

The Fast and Furious franchise wouldn’t be where it is now without Vin Diesel. The films didn’t even kick into high gear until Diesel returned for 2009’s Fast and Furious, and the box-office numbers have been climbing astronomically since then. To say Universal owes Vin Diesel a gigantic debt of gratitude is an understatement, but exactly how much do they owe him? Would they actually let Diesel, who has little experience directing a movie let alone directing a movie on the scale of a Fast and Furious film, behind the camera of Fast and Furious 8? According to a new report, this may be what Vin Diesel wants and Universal is terrified.

Fast and Furious 7 just made Universal over $1.5 billion and when you make people that much money, you can pretty much do whatever you want for your next project. Vin Diesel, the star of and producer of the Fast franchise, has that kind of clout now and has decided to use that clout to make…xXx 3?

Miley's little sister Noah may have signed a deal with Universal.

It would be easy to label the opening weekend for Ant-Man a failure. After all, it’s significantly lower than the openings for recent Marvel Studios movies and it’s a good $130 million less than the three-day opening Avengers: Age of Ultron had a few months ago. But let’s not be so hasty. Its opening numbers may not have blown anyone away, but Ant-Man’s box office arrival is textbook Marvel.

If you didn’t get your fill of board game movies with either Battleship or Ouija, don’t worry, the trend isn’t going anywhere. After years in development, Lionsgate is moving forward with a Monopoly movie with a script by Oscar-nominated writer Andrew Niccol.

Furious 7 had one of the biggest box office openings of all time last weekend, earning a jaw-dropping $392 million worldwide. Somehow, Universal’s silly car-racing franchise has officially grown up and has the monetary clout to stand alongside the biggest movies of all time. So yeah, of course everyone wants a Fast and Furious 8, but fans hoping for a quick turnaround need to get comfortable. The next film is stuck at a red light and it’s going to be a little while before it turns green.

Increasingly the Fast and Furious franchise has felt like a superhero franchise. A group of heroes with seemingly infinite strength and abilities taking on the bad guys and becoming a family in the process. It's like Avengers meets the Fantastic Four, but with a lot of cars. With the movies already up to Part 7 and Paul Walker sadly gone, the series can't go on forever. So, how do they continue the brand? Just like the superheroes do: with spinoffs.

The massive success of the ‘Despicable Me’ films have created a monster. Monsters, actually. Well, cute, yellow, strange little monsters that countless children (and some adults) all over the world have fallen in love with. Yeah, ‘Minions’ is going to be huge and it’s all going to be thanks to those little guys. However, the presence of a major star like Sandra Bullock can’t hurt and Universal has released the first images of her supervillain character, Scarlet Overkill.

Back when Disney paid $3 billion to purchase Lucasfilm, most focused on what they could and would do with the 'Star Wars' franchise. But, let's not forget about that other big Lucasfilm franchise: Indiana Jones. If Disney's dropping stacks on stacks for Lucasfilm, you better believe they're going to want their money's worth, and that includes a new series of Indiana Jones movies. Case in point: Disney has reportedly ready to focus on a reboot of the popular character and want 'Guardians of the Galaxy' star Chris Pratt to take over the whip from Harrison Ford.