The Terminator franchise isn’t dead according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Japanese animation studio Production I.G, Skydance, and Netflix are teaming up for a new anime series set within the Terminator universe with Mattson Tomlin set as writer and showrunner. Tomlin worked with Netflix on the superhero film Project Power and co-wrote The Batman with director Matt Reeves.
James Cameron’s Terminator franchise has had a rocky-road with varying degrees of success with sequels. The last entry directed by Tim Miller, Terminator: Dark Fate, was supposed to kick-off a brand new trilogy that producer Cameron was excited to explore but had a bit of trouble at the box office.
The new anime project could breath new life into the franchise when repeated attempts at reviving the films (three times) has been exactly what filmmakers had hoped.
Deadline has breaking news that Warner Bros. is looking to reboot their iconic Superman franchise with a script from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and producer J.J. Abrams via Bad Robot. Coates is best-known for his work on the fantastic modern run of Black Panther comics for Marvel.
Deadline has confirmed that author Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Superman reboot feature for Warner Bros and DC, which J.J. Abrams is producing under his Bad Robot label.
Funny, it’s being called a “reboot” and Deadline mentions Henry Cavill, but if it’s a hard-reboot that would likely mean he’s not going to be in it. The addition of Coates would give the impression they might be going with a different take on the DC hero.
They point out that Coates is working with Ryan Coolger and Michael B. Jordan on the film Wrong Answer, the connection to Jordan is certainly interesting given rumblings he wanted to play a new version of Superman.
Could that Michael B. Jordan/Superman casting rumor come true?
Variety mentioned in a report last year that Jordan pitched a Superman project.
To help find a way to make Superman relevant to modern audiences, studio brass has been polling lots of high-profile talent. There have been discussions with J.J. Abrams, whose company Bad Robot recently signed a massive first-look deal with the studio, and there was a meeting with Michael B. Jordan earlier this year with the “Creed” star pitching Warners on a vision for the character. However, Jordan isn’t ready to commit to taking on the project since filming doesn’t seem likely to happen for several years and he has a full dance card of projects. Insiders think that a new Superman film is unlikely to hit screens before 2023, given that there’s no script and no director attached.
UPDATE:The Hollywood Reporter has chimed-in and Warner Bros. are reportedly indeed looking to introduce a black Superman in the reboot. They certainly have options with Steel’s John Henry Irons, Val-Zod, and Calvin Ellis established in the comic books. Given Coates is writing the reboot and his history with Black Panther it’s hard to imagine this won’t have a black Superman.
According to sources, the project is being set up as a Black Superman story. This is something that the studio has been trying to wrap its head around for months, if not a year or two. Michael B. Jordan tried to develop a Black Superman project when he first arrived at the studio with his deal in 2019, but that did not go very far at the time, according to sources. It is possible that the studio could return to him to star down the line.
Will audiences be introduced to a Black Superman? That is the intent and something that the studio has been trying to find a way in for months if not a year or two, according to sources. https://t.co/X8RTtSJ7EK
It’s worth mentioning Michael B. Jordan is producing a film for the studio based on the DC Comics hero Static Shock.
This news comes after Warner Bros. has been developing a new solo Supergirl film from The Cloverfield Paradox (produced by Abrams) screenwriter Oren Uziel and the studio recently hiring Sasha Calle in the role, making her big screen debut in The Flash.
It’ll be interesting to see if Henry Cavill ultimately comes back to the Superman role as the chances of that seem to be getting smaller with Supergirl entering the picture and this reboot from Bad Robot now in development.
Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie is returning to HBO.
According to Deadline the cable giant has hired Rose for the role of Claire Abshire in their series adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife from Sherlock and Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat. She’s been paired-up with fellow British actor Theo James, who will play her love interest Henry DeTamble.
Moffat will be adapting the series from the novel from Audrey Niffenegger.
Claire Abshire is fiery, clever and unstoppable – and for most of her life she’s had an amazing secret. Since she was six years old, Clare has had an imaginary friend: a kind and funny man, sometimes old, sometimes young, who appears in the woods behind her house and tells her tales of the future. Visits from the mysterious Henry are the bright spots in the tedium of her childhood. As the years pass, and she grows into a beautiful young woman, she starts to realize her friend is not imaginary – he’s a time traveler, visiting from the future. And he’s not just from any old future – he’s from her future. Clare has a literal date with destiny. One day she’s going to meet a young man called Henry DeTamble – whom she’ll know very well but who won’t recognize her at all – and she will become the time traveler’s wife.
Henry DeTamble has a problem. Since he was eight years old he’s been time traveler. It’s not a superpower, it’s a condition – he can’t help it. Sometimes, when Henry is stressed or worried – and sometimes for no reason at all – he loses his grip on the current moment and falls naked into the past or the future. One minute he’s making breakfast, the next he’s naked at a hoedown in 1973. He can be stuck there for minutes or months, he never knows. His life is a rollercoaster of constant danger and white-knuckle survival. Until one day he meets a beautiful redhead in the library where he works. Her name is Clare Abshire and although he’s never seen her before, she claims to have known him all her life. Finally his curse has given him something good – and Clare and Henry are about to have the time of their lives!
When production is expected to begin or when the series is aiming to begin airing isn’t mentioned in the report.
Deadline has word that David Lietch has been replaced as director on Netflix’s feature film adaptation of the video game Tom Clancy’s The Division. They’ve pivoted to director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who recently wrapped the high-budgeted heist flick Red Notice that stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds.
Marshall will co-write The Division’s script with Ellen Shanman.
The story is set in the near future with a virus spread via paper money on Black Friday, decimating the city of New York and killing millions. By Christmas, what’s left of society has descended into chaos. A group of civilians, trained to operate in catastrophic times, are activated in an attempt to save who and what remains.
Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal are still set to star/produce the film.
Leitch is apparently too busy to tackle the film as he’s deep into production on Sony’s assassin flick Bullet Train starring Oscar-winner Brad Pitt. However, he’ll stay on as producer via 87North Productions.
It’s unknown when filming is going to start.
The Ubisoft video game has been reasonably successful with two installments released.
Fans of Neill Blomkamp’s debut film District 9 have been patiently waiting for a sequel as the end of original film finished on a cliffhanger on the promise of Wikus being transformed back into a human.
The filmmaker has revealed on Twitter that they’ve started work on the sequel’s script with himself, his wife Terri Tatchell (co-wrote the original) and Sharlto Copley working on it.
It’s unknown at this point if Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films or Sony Pictures will be involved. We know that Neill had a falling out with the head of Sony Pictures, Tom Rothman, over the failed film adaptation of Halo when Tom was the head of 20th Century Fox. Blomkamp stopped working with Sony Pictures conveniently around the same time Rothman joined the studio and attempted to make Alien 5 at Rothman’s former studio 20th Century Fox.
DISTRICT 9 – Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth — not to conquer or give aid, but — to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens’ welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent (Sharlto Copley) contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9.
Last week, it was finally revealed that everything bad that was happening withing the Hex bubble was Agnes, who was rumored during production is actually Agatha Harkness. Not exactly a villain in the comic books, but seeming is a villain in the MCU. Episode 8 starts off showing her in the 1600s killing her own coven of witches including her own mother and potentially stealing their powers after they accuse her of using dark magic.
Agatha, a witch who uses spells, has been trying to figure out how Wanda was able to change reality and resurrect Vision. She uses the twins as a way to force Wanda show her how she was able to change things on such a large scale and I assume steal the power for herself. Yet again, it’s confirmed that Evan Peters version of Pietro isn’t Wanda’s brother and was used to manipulate her. Sorry folks, no Singerverse era of X-Men for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While Agatha has been meddling, it’s really was Wanda behind the Hex and bringing an entirely new version of Vision out of thin air. Something that completely puzzles/frustrates Agatha as Wanda is able to do such “magic” effortlessly and without spells.
Watching old sitcoms being Wanda’s way of dealing with grief and explaining the homages, as her father Oleg Maximoff used to bring them home as a way for the kids to practice their English. This further illustrates that Magneto won’t be showing up in some secret cameo.
During the flashbacks it’s revealed that Hayward lied in earlier episodes when he said Wanda broke into the S.W.O.R.D. facility and stole Vision’s body parts, as we see see a flashback to her being let in and calmly leaving without him.
We also see the real motivations of S.W.O.R.D. and Director Hayward as they were trying to nudge Wanda to resurrect the dead body of Vision so they could use him as a weapon. Wanda conjures a new version of Vision which is likely why Hayward had been attempting to track him within the Hex bubble. Hayward and S.W.O.R.D. have been trying to figure out how to power-up Vision and in the end credit scene use the Hex charged drone to bring their version of zombie Vision back online. He’s is now ghostly white (a nod to the comic books) and will likely be used as a weapon against Wanda in the next episode.
The episode ends with Harkness holding the twins and calling Wanda the Scarlet Witch as she uses chaos magic, the first time Wanda has ever been referred to her X-Men name.
Episode 9 feels like it’s going to be some sort of standoff and possible establish the events of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. It’s a smart move on the part of Marvel Studios as people following WandaVision will likely be more inclined to go see the Doctor Strange sequel. The original while a fine installment, but wasn’t the most memorable or anticipated Marvel film to date and didn’t set the box office on fire.
It’ll be interesting to see if further trauma (possibly in Episode 9) pushes Wanda to become a villain herself or if Agatha/someone else is revealed as the main antagonist for the Doctor Strange sequel.
Warner Bros. has hired director Jon M. Chu for a heist film the studio is developing based on a GQ article by Alex W. Palmer according to a report from Deadline. Titled The Greatest Chinese Art Heist, the film will be focusing on a rash of real-life crimes where a group in Europe stole a bunch of Chinese antiquities and art that might have been connected to the Chinese government.
The article follows a slew of museum art robberies that occurred in Europe, in which Chinese antiquities were stolen, chiefly those that came from the country’s old Summer Palace which was raided in 1860 by French soldiers. No one knows who the thieves are, but the works of art continually wind up back in China. Essentially, there’s a new generation of wealthy Chinese people who are collecting artifacts from the old Summer Palace. Is China’s government behind the art theft wave? The feature questions who gets to own art, and who gets to own history and culture. The GQ piece also poses the question whether there’s some sort of coordinated effort to reclaim Chinese art.about.
Meanwhile the museums are remaining quiet about the robberies. The thefts put museums in a vulnerable position: Everyone questions their security, no one wants to donate works or materials, and their insurance rates spike as many would question an art institution’s credibility.
The studio is currently seeking a screenwriter to pair with the filmmaker.
Chu previously directed Crazy Rich Asians and the upcoming musical In The Heights. He recently exited the Lucasfilm series Willow, instead attaching himself to the feature film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked for Universal Pictures.
Deadline is reporting that Paramount and Skydance are developing a television series for Amazon Prime Video that will focus on G.I. Joe operative Lady Jaye expanding upon the franchise. They’ve hired Erik Oleson, who was the Season 3 showrunner of Netflix’s Daredevil series, to write and showrun the streaming project.
The character appeared in Jon M. Chu’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation (an upgrade from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) and was previously played by John Wick actress Adrianne Palicki.
Paramount Pictures is rebooting the franchise with their upcoming film G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes with multiple new actors in key roles. In the origin film we’ll be seeing Henry Golding playing Snakes, Andrew Koji is Storm Shadow, Samara Weaving in the role of Scarlett, and Ursula Corbero is the the new Baroness. The assumption here would be that Lady Jaye would be getting a reboot and new actress as well.
A third G.I. Joe film has been in the works for ages now but when it will actually get made it’s a little unclear.
G.I. Joe is a Hasbro toyline that was rebranded with a cartoon series, animated film, and comic books published by Marvel Comics that led to two feature films with Snake Eyes set to reboot the franchise.
Yesterday, it was announced by Marvel/Sony that the third Spider-Man film will be titled Spider-Man: No Way Home and it’s lead actor Tom Holland has been doing the press tour for his upcoming crime flick Cherry, revealing some interesting plans in an interview with USA Today.
Holland revealed that he plans to take a break and travel (hopefully safety given the pandemic) as he’s currently without a studio contract which means his current Marvel contract has ended with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Mentioning he’d like to take to go skiing as he wasn’t allowed to previous because the danger of injury.
HOLLAND: “I’m going to take a break and travel the world. It’s the first time since I signed on to (Spider-Man: Homecoming) that I don’t have a contract with someone. I might go skiing because that’s something I’ve not really been allowed to do because it’s obviously a dangerous sport. I’ve been very careful over the years, which is why I’ve become obsessed with golf because it’s the only sport I can play without getting injured.”
He reiterated this over at Collider but added he’d be willing to come back whenever they called.
HOLLAND: “[Spider-Man 3] would be my last one [under contract] so I’ve always said to them if they want me back I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I’ve loved every minute of being a part of this amazing world. It’s changed my life for the better, I’m so lucky to be here. If they want me back I’ll be there, if they don’t I will walk off into the sunset a very, very happy person because it’s been an amazing journey.”
“The way I understand it is that agreement between the two studios has already happened. I don’t think that they’re going to run into the same troubles that they did as we were going into… was it ‘Spider-Man 2’? ‘Far from Home’ had come out and then the whole thing happened between Sony and Marvel. I think the two studios have worked that out, and I don’t think that that will be a problem in the future. That said, I’m just the actor and I was a part of a few phone calls during that process, but I think they love working with each other, I think they found a way in which it can be beneficial for both studios, and I’m just kind of like a kid in the middle of it, between two parents during an argument (laughs).”
Given that Tom shot Cherry, Uncharted, and Spider-Man: No Way Out in a short period of time he’s certainly owed some vacation time.
Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released on December 17th.
Deadline is reporting that George R.R. Martin’s fantasy short story In The Lost Lands is going to be getting a big screen adaptation from Resident Evil franchise director Paul W.S. Anderson and FilmNation. Martin is most best-known for creating the Game of Thrones franchise, so the project should have some increased interest given the connection to the author.
They also reveal that Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista are attached to star in the fantast-action film as the sorceress Gray Alys and a drifter named Boyce.
Anderson is adapting the short into a script.
The movie will follow a queen, desperate to obtain the gift of shape shifting, who makes a daring play: she hires the sorceress Gray Alys (Jovovich), a woman as feared as she is powerful. Sent to the ghostly wilderness of the ‘Lost Lands’, Alys and her guide, the drifter Boyce (Bautista), must outwit and outfight man and demon in a fable that explores the nature of good and evil, debt and fulfillment, love and loss.
Milla’s action roles go back to Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element and got most of international notoriety from leading the profitable Resident Evil film franchise, she was most recently seen in Lionsgate’s Hellboy reboot.
Bautista is coming off his involvement with Marvel’s successful Guardians of The Galaxy franchise with a third installment on the horizon along with appearing in the box office juggernauts Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He recently worked with Zack Snyder on the zombie flick Army of The Dead and is attached for an alien bounty hunter movie, titled Universe’s Most Wanted, directed by Brad Payton.
The film’s distribution rights are being sold at the European Film Market’s virtual event.
THE RONIN 