6 Oct – Academy Award nominated director Taika Waititi is hammering out a deal with Marvel to direct the third instalment of the "Thor" movie series, starring Chris Hemsworth. The New Zealand filmmaker reportedly beat other directors such as Ruben Fleischer ("Zombieland"), Rob Letterman ("Monsters vs. Aliens") and Rawson Marshall Thurber ("We're the Millers") for the directing gig, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Waititi is more well-known for smaller movies like his vampire comedy "What We Do in the Shadows", which debuted at Sundance Film Festival, rather than a production with a hefty budget like Marvel movies. He is, however, no stranger to Hollywood as he did get an Oscar nomination for his 2004 short film, "Two Cars, One Night", and appear alongside Ryan Reynolds in 2011's "Green Lantern". He is also currently writing the script for Dwayne Johnson-starrer, "Moana".
As for Hemsworth, this will mark his fifth movie with Marvel. As the Aussie actor revealed previously, he will only get to reprise his God of Thunder role for two more outings after this, which will be in the upcoming two-part "Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War". Tom Hiddleston and Jaimie Alexander will return alongside Hemsworth's Thor as Loki and Lady Sif, respectively, for "Thor: Ragnarok". The first Thor was directed by Kenneth Branagh, which made USD449.3 million worldwide. The 2011 movie spawned a 2013 sequel "Thor: The Dark World", helmed by Alan Taylor, which made USD644.8 million worldwide. All, including the upcoming third "Thor", are produced by Kevin Feige. "Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok" is slated for release 2 November 2017. (Photo source: The Salt Lake Tribune)