It is time for this week’s movie news roundup, where I pick some of the stories that caught my eye over the last seven days.

Peter Jackson and Hugo Weaving to team up for Mortal Engines – The cast for Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Philip Reeve’s steampunk futuristic Young Adult novel Mortal Engines has grown a lot this week. One of the big names added to the cast has been Hugo Weaving, who previously teamed up with Jackson on the hugely successful Lord of the Rings film series. Others added to the cast this week include Rege-Jean Page, Patrick Malahide and Colin Salmon. They will join up with the film’s stars Robert Sheehan (best known for his role as Nathan on Misfits) who will play Tom Natsworthy, and Hera Hilmar who will be starring as the protagonist Hester Shaw. The Mortal Engines series features a post apocalyptic world where the city of London has been raised onto a wheeled vehicle allowing it to move. Mortal Engines will arrive in cinemas on 14th December 2018.

James Gunn will return for Guardians 3 – Even before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 arrives in cinemas this Friday, Marvel has backed the series’ director James Gunn, meaning he will return for a third film. Gunn announced the news on his Facebook page last Monday saying, “So, yes, I’m returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3″. The first Guardians film was a surprise huge hit, and starred Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel as the titular team. The second film is on course to open even bigger, and could possibly become one of the MCU’s biggest financial hits to date. Gunn’s full post can be found here.

Spiderman deal end date – The main man behind the MCU, Kevin Feige, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that Tom Holland as Spiderman would be appearing not only in Avengers: Infinity War, but also in the still untitled Avengers 4 and a sequel to Spiderman: Homecoming both planned for 2019. There is nothing further beyond that as yet planned between the two studios, with Feige telling THR “That’s as far as it goes for now”. This would mean that Spiderman’s time in the MCU is currently limited, and would end up being 5 picture deal. Tom Holland’s next outing as Spiderman will be in his first stand alone film, Spiderman: Homecoming, which is out on 7th July 2017.

Will Smith as the Genie? – Disney is pushing their Live Action adaptations of their Animated classics hard, including a remake of 1992’s Aladdin directed by Guy Ritchie. The big question surrounding this remake has been who could possibly replace Robin Williams as the Genie in the film. It seems that Disney could view Will Smith as the man to take on that role. According to Deadline, Smith is in talks with the studio over the role. A potential role for Smith is the Tim Burton helmed Dumbo remake has already failed to materialise, so this deal is far from set in stone. Should Smith sign on to play the Genie he will become the first actor to be announced for Ritchie’s Aladdin remake.

That is it for this movie news roundup. I would love to hear your thoughts on any of the stories from this week, and if there are any I’ve missed. Let me know in the comments.