Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

‘Shape of Water’ Plagiarism Lawsuit Against Guillermo del Toro Has Been Dismissed

Director Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water was a lovely and horny love letter to the filmmaker’s passion for movie monsters. The off-beat genre flick was a hit earning an impressive 12 Oscar nominations leading to wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. Guillermo co-wrote The Shape of Water script with Vanessa Taylor, the pair landing a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

THE SHAPE OF WATER – Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab’s classified secret — a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.

Making money, being popular, and becoming a multiple Oscar nominations led to a claim of plagiarism from David Zindel, the son of Let Me Hear You Whisper playwright Paul Zindel. With Zindel suggesting that Guillermo del Toro took from his father’s play for The Shape of Water and filing a copyright lawsuit back in February 2018, just before the Oscars ceremony that saw the film earn four awards. Fox called the claim baseless back in 2018 and there was an update on the upcoming trial.

LET ME HEAR YOU WHISPER – The play revolves around Helen, a recently hired scrub-woman, at the American Biological Association Development for the Advancement of Brain Analysis. During the course of her work, Helen learns the plight of an imprisoned intelligent dolphin that is being harshly studied by scientists.

Yesterday, it was announced via outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter that the lawsuit has been dismissed avoiding a trial that was said to begin in July.

Searchlight Pictures added this comment below on the lawsuit and suggests the two sides have agreed to simply end the dispute.

“David Zindel, the son of Paul Zindel, author of Let Me Hear You Whisper, acknowledges, based on confidential information obtained during the litigation process, that his claims of plagiarism are unfounded. He acknowledges Guillermo del Toro as the true creator of The Shape of Water.  Any similarity between the two works is coincidental.”

The next film from Guillermo del Toro is a remake of the thriller Nightmare Alley that is set to be released on December 3, 2021.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ Indeed Planning To Shoot Scenes In San Francisco

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania is going to be third installment in the Ant-Man franchise with director Peyton Reed returning alongside a a growing cast that consists of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet, Kathryn Newton as the new Cassie Lang, and Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors playing Marvel Comics baddie Kang The Conqueror.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Marvel is planning on returning to shoot selected scenes in San Francisco, California at some point during the film’s production and likely will be exteriors. Back in November, we had heard that filming would be heading back but can now confirm this information as the studio is in the pre-production stage and securing filming locations before the summer shoot.

San Francisco is the main setting of the first two Ant-Man films and Marvel shot there briefly last year for Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. Sony’s Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage has also used to location.

The Ant-Man sequel is expected to shoot primarily in the United Kingdom at Pinewood Studios UK under the working title Dust Bunny (via Production Weekly).The Pinewood facility is said to have The Volume, which Peyton Reed got experience using on the two episodes of The Mandalorian he directed for Season 2. As we previously revealed, the production designer will be Will Htay (Andor, No Time To Die, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One, Solo).

Shooting their projects in multiple cities/countries has been tough for Marvel Studios during the pandemic and they might have scaled-back certain plans, but they’ve been able to manage this sparingly. The Hawkeye series has been able to shoot in both New York City and the Atlanta area despite the risk of any production shooting in the United States at the moment. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is also said to have scenes shot in New York City even though the main production is at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.

Lilly announcing on Instagram that filming on the sequel will begin this summer.

Marvel Studios hasn’t given Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania an official release date but could be released sometime in 2022.

Posted on in Film News

‘Captain Marvel 2’: ‘Widows’ Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt Reveals He’s Joined The Marvel Sequel

Captain Marvel 2 will see Nia DaCosta (Candyman) direct a trio of Marvel Studios heroines with the main cast set to star Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau. As production is expected to take place this year under the working title Goat Rodeo (via Production Weekly) in the United Kingdom, a cinematographer has seemingly been selected.

Sean Bobbitt revealed to Below The Line News back in February that he’s signed-up for Captain Marvel 2 and that filming is indeed taking place in 2021.

BOBBITT: “I’m hoping to get back. I’m sort of signed-up to shoot Captain Marvel 2, so that will be a real change for me. It’s a very different type of film to what I usually make, and I’m very excited to be a part of that.”

The cinematographer’s credits include 12 Years A Slave, Judas & The Black Messiah, Widows, Byzantium, Shame, Hunger, The Place Beyond The Pines, and the Oldboy remake. Notably working consistently with British filmmaker Steve McQueen on a regular basis.

Zawe Ashton is reportedly playing a villain in Captain Marvel 2 and will likely have some connection to the Disney+ series Secret Invasion, which has a Skrull-focused plot with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Talos taking lead roles. The ending of WandaVision seemed to hint that Parris’ Monica Rambeau might end up showing up in Secret Invasion as well.

The original film took place mostly in the 1995 and we last saw Talos pretending to be Nick Fury in Spider-Man: Far From Home. It should be interesting seeing Danvers interacting with Monica and Fury in the present. We have to assume that the new cosmic organization S.W.O.R.D. (introduced in WandaVision) will have an increased role in both Secret Invasion and the Captain Marvel sequel.

Captain Marvel 2 currently has a release date of November 11, 2022.

SOURCE: BELOW THE LINE NEWS

Posted on in Film News

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Has Worst Domestic Opening In The Monsterverse – Still Heading Towards $285M+ Globally

Godzilla vs. Kong might end up being one of the first films to make a major splash at the box office since the pandemic begin last year. However, despite some impressive numbers overseas in it’s international debut last weekend it still managed to have the lowest 3-day and 5-day domestic opening in the Monsterverse franchise at $32.2 million and $48.5 million. Of course, this is directly connected to the pandemic but it’s still worth mentioning where the numbers stack up against the other three films.

Here’s a rundown of the domestic openings of all four movies.

  • GODZILLA (2014): 3-Day $93.1M & 5-Day $107.8M 
  • KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017): 3-Day $61M & 5-Day $72.7M 
  • GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019): 3-Day $47.7M & 5-Day $57.1M 
  • GODZILLA VS KONG (2021): 3-Day $32.2M & 5-Day $48.5M

As you can see with the numbers listed above, Godzilla vs. Kong made less than half what Godzilla made over 5-days back in 2014. COVID aside, the box office numbers had already been decreasing which each Monsterverse installment. Putting the latest pic dead last in the domestic box office rankings.

The event film is still doing well overall heading towards $285.5 million globally it’s first two weekends and most likely will turn a profit when the dust settles.

GODZILLA VS. KONG – Legends collide in Godzilla vs. Kong as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & BOX OFFICE MOJO

Posted on in Television News

HBO Max’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Adds ‘Jessica Jones’ Director Rosemary Rodriguez To The Directing Team

Last week, The Ronin exclusively revealed that James Gunn’s DC Comics spinoff series Peacemaker would be adding Eastbound & Down director Jody Hill and we can now add another seasoned television director has joined the project that is filming in Vancouver.

We’ve confirmed that Rosemary Rodriguez will direct on The Suicide Squad spinoff series too. Her extensive credits include Rescue Me, Dickinson, Sneaky Pete, and The Good Wife. She’s no stranger to comic book properties directing episodes of Jessica Jones, The Walking Dead, and the live-action The Tick show.

Rosemary confirming her involvement on her website and in an interview from January.

RODRIGUEZ: “In the Spring, I’ll be directing [DC Comics’] Peacemaker for James Gunn. That will be a guaranteed good time!”

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first.

The cast consists of John Cena as Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang as Sophie Song, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Nhut Le as Judomaster, Steve Agee as John Economos, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase aka Vigilante.

Peacermaker is a direct spinoff of James Gunn’s upcoming film The Suicide Squad coming to HBO Max and theaters on August 6, 2021.

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Posted on in Film News

‘Black Widow’: New Trailer Finally Gives Us A Glimpse At Ray Winstone’s Dreykov

Marvel/Disney has released some new promotional material for Black Widow as the Scarlett Johansson flick had been given a new release date of July 9, 2021. We get another trailer and a first-look at Ray Winstone’s General Dreykov with Taskmaster in that new footage. The villain is the head of The Red Room, the program that molded Natasha into a Russian assassin.

BLACK WIDOW – In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, the movie stars Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff. Florence Pugh stars as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff.

Posted on in Film News

The Grandmaster Might Be Indeed Returning For ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ – Jeff Goldblum Spotted In Sydney

Thor: Love & Thunder will see the return of the Loki play as seen in set photos and it’s expected that actor Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) will be back as Odin in that play, reprising a brief cameo from Thor: Ragnarok. That play will include Matt Damon as Loki, Luke Hemsworth as Thor, and Melissa McCarthy as Hela.

Interestingly enough, Sam Neill posted an image on Twitter of himself with Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Dominion co-star Jeff Goldbum together in Sydney, where production is taking place on Thor: Love & Thunder at Fox Studios Australia. The pair also happened to have both appeared in Taika’s Thor: Ragnarok with Jeff playing cosmic villain The Grandmaster.

There seems to be a strong possibility Jeff might be in town to shoot something for the sequel, could we see a return of The Grandmaster?

Goldblum told BuzzFeed he was considering a return back in late 2019 and was already recording voice over for The Grandmaster in the Disney+ animated series What…If?

GOLDBLUM: “Hey, we’re talking about it, in fact. You know, I hope so. I love Taika Waititi, he’s a great director and a friend of mine, so I hope so…But I played the part again a couple of days ago. I went to the Disney studios and I recorded the Grandmaster’s voice for an episode of a show that’s gonna be on Disney+ called What If…?”

Last weekend, Russell Crowe was seen with Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth at a South Sydney Rabbitohs game, only for his role in Thor: Love & Thunder to be announced days later. While not a iron-shut case that Jeff is reprising the role of The Grandmaster, it’s been noted that most high-profile actors in the area have been connected to the sequel and seeing a former cast member of Thor: Ragnarok, who played it’s secondary villain could suggest he might be there to film something for the Marvel sequel.

Jeff also would have had to spend two weeks in a quarantine hotel before taking this photo with Sam.

Thor: Love & Thunder is set to be released on May 6, 2022, unless there is another Marvel Studios slate shift in the future.

SOURCE: SAM NEILL

Posted on in Film News

Anthony Ramos In Talks For New ‘Transformers’ Movie That Will Feature Optimus Prime

Paramount Pictures is developing a bunch of films set in the Transformers universe as they continue to flush-out the franchise. One of those new feature films includes a pic with Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. attached and a script from screenwriter Joby Harold (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Army of The Dead).

Yesterday, it was revealed by Collider that In The Heights actor Anthony Ramos is currently in talks to join the film and mentioned that the project will have Optimus Prime. Ramos isn’t new to these sort of films as he previously appeared in Legendary’s Godzilla: King of The Monsters.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Ramos is in negotiations to play a flawed and vulnerable hero who has made mistakes in his life and is eager to redeem himself with the help of Optimus Prime.

It’s expected that the untitled film will be released by Paramount on June 24, 2022 and would suggest a summer shoot.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

James Cameron Says He Threatened To Fire Screenwriters Working On The ‘Avatar’ Sequels

With principle photography (live-action and motion-capture) completed on both Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 there should be some celebration involved as many people weren’t sure if James Cameron was going to be able to complete all four of his sequels. They still have to finish-up Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, but having two in the post-production phase should be a step in the right direction to delivering on his ambitious plan.

However, it sounds like things didn’t go terribly smoothly in the development process according to James Cameron. During a chat on The Marianne Williamson Podcast (via The Playlist) the filmmaker revealed that he had to threaten to fire screenwriters because they weren’t listening to his instructions about waiting until figuring out what worked in the first film before adding new ideas and stories. Despite the “threat of firing,” it doesn’t look like he followed through with it.

CAMERON: “When I sat down to write the sequels, I knew there were going to be three at the time, and eventually it turned into four, I put together a group of writers and said, ‘I don’t want to hear anybody’s new ideas or anyone’s pitches until we have spent some time figuring out what worked on the first film, what connected, and why it worked. They kept wanting to talk about the new stories. I said, ‘We aren’t doing that yet.’ Eventually, I had to threaten to fire them all because they were doing what writers do, which is to try and create new stories. I said, ‘We need to understand what the connection was and protect it, protect that ember and that flame.’”

The writing team on the first three Avatar sequels includes James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. They all share “story by” credit then divided-up the screenplays across Avatar 2 to Avatar 4. Shane Salerno co-writing the finale, Avatar 5, with James Cameron.

Cameron is known to be a complete control-freak on his productions and micromanaging the script development on four films is certainly something unsurprising given how much time he would be investing filming the movies and wanting to make sure he wasn’t wasting time/money pointless things. He’s also a writer himself and was closely working with them to execute his vision that would be told over five different films.

Jim also doesn’t suffer people working on his projects that don’t listen to him and has had to fire people even deep in production. Luckily, it doesn’t look like anyone was actually fired off the films.

SOURCE: THE MARIANNE WILLIAMSON PODCAST

Posted on in Film News

Salma Hayek Joins Lady Gaga & Adam Driver In Ridley Scott’s ‘House of Gucci’ – Spotted On Set

Filming on Ridley Scott’s fashion industry thriller House of Gucci has been underway in Italy and there is a news of yet another excellent addition to the film’s cast that already consists of Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston, and Al Pacino among others.

It will focus on the murder of fashion icon Maurizio Gucci.

The fashion-focused true-crime drama, based on the book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, will focus on the murder of fashion trailblazer Maurizio Gucci (Driver), with Gaga playing Patrizia Reggiani, Gucci’s ex-wife who was convicted of orchestrating his hit after he had an affair.

The Daily Mail posted set photos from Rome yesterday that revealed actress Salma Hayek is appearing in House of Gucci. It’s been confirmed Hayek will be playing Pina Auriemma in the film, the clairvoyant friend of Gaga’s Patrizia.

Hayek recently filmed Marvel’s Eternals directed by Oscar nominated director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) that will release on November 5, 2021.

MGM has given House of Gucci an release date of November 24, 2021. The fall spot should allow the Ridley Scott film a prime spot for awards considerations as there is an expectation it could a contender at next year’s Oscar ceremonies given the subject matter and fantastic cast.

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL