Film News: First look at new James Brown biopic, Paul McGann on Doctor Who, plus the latest trailers

FIRST LOOK AT JAMES BROWN BIOPIC, GET ON UP
Delayed for several years, a new biopic of legendary funk and soul singer James Brown has unveiled its first trailer this week. The film, produced by Mick Jagger, looks at the early years and subsequent career of James Brown, who began life in South Carolina and Georgia before finding worldwide fame as lead singer of The Famous Flames, and later the James Brown Orchestra, with whom he pioneered the emerging funk sound. Chadwick Boseman plays Brown, with a supporting cast featuring Dan Akroyd as his agent Ben Bart. The film is directed by Tate Taylor. 

THE RUMOUR MILL: PAUL MCGANN EYES DOCTOR WHO RETURN, LUPITA NYONG'O FOR STAR WARS VII, MARC WEBB ON AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PLANS, THE WOLVERINE 2 CONFIRMED
After his brief return during the finale of Matt Smith's run, Paul McGann has expressed an interest in returning to the role of Doctor Who once more. McGann reprised his role as the Eighth Doctor in 2013's short The Night of the Doctor, in which he regenerated into the form of the War Doctor, played by John Hurt. Speaking to Yahoo! this week, McGann indicated that under the right conditions, he would be willing to return, saying: "If the same thing were to happen again and [Steven] Moffat were to say 'would you come back and do it and I'll write it?', why wouldn't I want to do it? If it's going to be that quality, why wouldn't you want to do it?" But, he added, "I think it's only fair that [Peter Capaldi] gets a decent run on his own without any distractions so he gets his feet under the table."

The latest name on the table in the rush to cast J.J. Abrams' Star wars: Episode VII is Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o of 12 Years A Slave. THR reports that N'yongo has met with the director to discuss an undisclosed role, which may see her playing a distant relative of Obi-Wan Kenobe. The film is now set for release in December 2015. 

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb has ruled himself out as director for the fourth film in the series – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is out this year, and a third film in the series has already been commissioned, along with a potential slew of spin-off movies featuring characters like Venom and The Sinister Six. "I'd like to be involved as a consultant," Webb tells The Daily Beast, "and I've already talked to these guys about it, but in terms of directing it, that will close out my tenure. I've had so much fun doing it, but after the third movie, it'll be the time to find something else." Speaking about the planned expansion of the franchise, which, although a Marvel property, is license to Columbia / Sony, Webb comments: "We're building out a more complicated Spider-Man universe with characters that people haven't seen in other Spider-Man movies – The Sinister Six, Venom, and more. We'd all love to overlap with other studios, but it's beyond my pay grade."

Finally, director James Mangold has confirmed – via Twitter – the eighth appearance from Hugh Jackman as Logan, the Adamantium-clawed mutant and member of the X-Men known as Wolverine. Jackman will return in The Wolverine 2 – it will be the next film on the slate from 20th Century Fox, who have an option on the X-Men franchise. The Wolverine 2 will begin shooting after the release of the forthcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past. The title of the sequel sets Mangold's first movie, The Wolverine, distinctly apart from it's much-maligned predecessor, Wolverine: Origins. Commenting on fan rumours that Mangold would not get another crack at the franchise, the director tweeted: "With cost of 117M and [worldwide] gross of 415M (#2 of all X's), of course there'll be another Wolverine solo. Manufactured internet drama is boring!"

TRAILERS: THE DEN, KID CANNABIS
In an attempt to kick-start the genre of the 'webcam thriller' – a fixed-point cousin of the 'found footage' movie, one must suppose – The Den pits a young woman investigating the habits of 'bloggers' and Skype-heads against a brutal killer targeting webcam users. If there is a bottom of the cheaply-shot horror barrel, The Den may well be scraping it. This is basically Chat Roulette The Movie.  

Kid Cannabis, meanwhile, tells the true story of an 18-year-old high school dropout and his friends who set up a weed-trafficking operation moving bud across the border from Canada to the US. It plays like a mashup of Mr. Nice, The Wolf of Wall Street and Superbad, but with more bong hits. Plus, the ever-watchable Ron Perlman (Hellboy) stars as a local gangster who gets involved with the young gang – and he's a fairly reliable mark of quality.