Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

‘Spider-Man’ Composer Danny Elfman Confirms He Is Scoring Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’

Composer Danny Elfman has confirmed to Inverse that he’ll be reuniting with Sam Raimi for Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The pair worked together on the original Spider-Man trilogy and Elfman isn’t a stranger to the MCU scoring Avengers: Age of Ultron.

ELFMAN: “I am starting to do bits of pre-work for Doctor Strange 2 that Sam Raimi’s directing. Even though I don’t start it for some months, there’s bits of recorded music they need for the sets.”

Raimi took over directing duties from Scott Derrickson after he exited over creative differences.

Benedict Cumberbatch will be appearing in Spider-Man 3 and in all likelihood we will see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker show up in the Doctor Strange sequel.

The sequel will also co-star Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and there has been confirmation from Marvel that the series WandaVision connects to it.

It was confirmed in December that America Chavez will be played by Xochitl Gomez.

The Ronin was able to previously confirm the sequel’s production team will also include cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, X-Men: First Class) and production designer Charles Wood (Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame).

Filming is underway at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.

SOURCE: INVERSE

Posted on in Television News

‘Constantine’ Getting Dark HBO Max Series Reboot From J.J. Abrams & Bad Robot

After it was previously announced that J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot would be working on a Justice League Dark series, there is word from Deadline that he’ll also be working on a new Constantine series reboot that will be written by Guy Bolton based on the occult DC Comics character. Bolton is said to be prepping to open a writers’ room next month.

The report stating the new version will skew darker than the previous series. Matt Ryan most recently played John after the Keanu Reeves film released back in 2005, they are reportedly seeking a diverse young actor to play the new version.

This is part of the overall deal that Bad Robot has with WarnerMedia. Abrams is also a producer on HBO’s Lovecraft Country and Westworld.

It’ll be interesting to see if this project will directly connect to that Justice League Dark show in development given that John Constantine is a key character on that team. Justice League Dark originally was put together as film for Guillermo del Toro before the studio attempted to give to other directors before deciding to turn it into a series instead.

CONSTANTINE – As a suicide survivor, demon hunter John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) has literally been to hell and back — and he knows that when he dies, he’s got a one-way ticket to Satan’s realm unless he can earn enough goodwill to climb God’s stairway to heaven. While helping policewoman Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz) investigate her identical twin’s apparent suicide, Constantine becomes caught up in a supernatural plot involving both demonic and angelic forces. Based on the DC/Vertigo “Hellblazer” comics.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Django’: Matthias Schoenaerts To Lead 10-Part Series Reboot of Classic Spaghetti Western

While the title might invoke Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Serigo Corbbuci’s 1966 Django is a considered one of the many iconic Spaghetti Westerns that helped influence the filmmaker. The original starred Franco Nero and it is getting a series reboot starring Matthias Schoenaerts from Sky/Canal+ according to Deadline.

Here is the synopsis for the new series.

The story is set in the Wild West in the 1860s and 1870s. Sarah and John have founded New Babylon, a city of outcasts, full of men and women of all backgrounds, races and creeds, that welcomes everyone with open arms. Haunted by the murder of his family eight years earlier, Django is still looking for his daughter, believing she may have survived the killing. He is shocked to find her in New Babylon, about to marry John.

Gomorrah’s Cattleya is behind the English-language western show with Atlantique Productions producing.The 10-part series will be directed by Francesca Comencini (Gomorrah).

It’ll be interesting to see if they’ll attempt to be as violent as the original.

DJANGO – Walking through the desert dragging a coffin, a lonely cowboy rescues Maria from a group of bandits. That cowboy is Django, and he arrives in a muddy ghost town ravaged by those bandits, where only the saloon and the brothel, owned by Nataniele, are open. Soon, Major Jackson, who charges protection fees from the dwellers, rounds his gang up to face Django. Then a mercenary and acquaintance of Django, Gen. Hugo Rodriguez, arrives in town, and Django proposes a bold plan to steal the gold from Jackson and split between them.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Dungeons & Dragons’: Paramount Reportedly Adds ‘Bridgerton’ Actor Rege-Jean Page To Their Fantasy Remake

A casting update for Paramount Pictures’ new Dungeons & Dragons film from The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Bridgerton actor Rege-Jean Page has closed a deal for a role in the fantasy film that will be directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein .

Dungeons & Dragons is based on the beloved table top game that eventually incorporated various universes including elements from the Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser series of novels created by American fantasy author Fritz Leiber.

Page joins a cast that includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith.

The Ronin previously confirmed production under the working title Chainmail will be taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland and France. The film’s cinematographer will be Barry Peterson (Game Night) and production designer Raymond Chan (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier).

John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Nobody) is also developing a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series for Hasbro/eOne as reported last month by The Hollywood Reporter.

Paramount Pictures has given the film a release date of May 27th, 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Jordan Peele Reportedly Taps Keke Palmer & Daniel Kaluuya As Leads In His Next Film Coming July 2022

Deadline reports that actress Keke Palmer has joined the cast of Jordan Peele’s next feature film for Universal Pictures. They’re also backing up a previous report from The Illuminerdi that Get Out breakout-star Daniel Kaluuya is negotiating to reunite with Peele on the untitled film.

Illuminerdi also claimed that Daniel’s Judas & The Black Messiah co-star Jesse Plemons would be in the film as well, but this has yet to be supported by the trades. Filming they suggested would begin this April in Los Angeles, California.

Depending on when the Peele project shoots this could mean that Kaluuya might not be returning for Marvel’s Black Panther 2 that had been expected to begin shooting around June/July in Atlanta. Although, an April start and if they finish quick enough it likely won’t hinder his involvement. But given how many productions have been delayed or paused due to COVID-19 it’s hard to make assumptions about any film project finishing up on schedule.

Details about the project are scarce but Peele’s last two films skewed into the body horror realm.

Jordan’s movies are essentially a license to print money as Get Out was made for $4.5 million and ended-up making $255.4 million at the global box office. His follow-up Us earned a similar amount at $255.1 million but cost $20 million, dipping slightly into that return but still strong successes given they were both original takes on the horror genre.

The secretive project is set for a release by Universal Pictures on July 22nd, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & THE ILLUMINERDI

Posted on in Film News

‘Star Wars’: Rian Johnson’s New Trilogy Still Happening Despite Lack of Updates From Lucasfilm

It looks like Rian Johnson himself has revealed in a chat with Sariah Wilson with that he’s indeed still working on his new Star Wars trilogy. This comes after the December update from Lucasfilm concerning their Star Wars projects failed to give us an update on the status of Johnson’s trilogy. However, it sounds like he’s still making them but his Knives Out sequel is the priority at the moment.

WILSON: “Yes, Rian’s SW trilogy is still on. No dates or timelines because he has other projects going on, but it is happening.”

This is how Lucasfilm described the trilogy when they first announced it’s development back in 2017.

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce. 

As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

Concerning the feature films, if the December presentation is to be believed Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron would be the next project to go into production. While it’s a possible toss-up between Taika Waititi’s film (may have lost screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns) and this mysterious project from Rian. There have been multiple rumblings that either the studio or Johnson himself has moved on, but these have always been met with denials and this update seemingly is coming from Johnson himself. It’s worth mentioning a handful of Star Wars films haven’t reached the finish line and likely has people wondering if the trilogy will ever get made given how long ago it was announced.

The Book of Boba Fett and Andor are currently in production with Kenobi about to start filming in the late spring. Pedro Pascal might be a little busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us and could suggest he’s been given a window to shoot something else before Season 3 of The Mandalorian beings.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what exactly Rian is making and when that first installment will get in front of cameras.

SOURCE: SARIAH WILSON

Posted on in News

Zack Snyder Says He’s Developing Arthurian Project – “Faithful Retelling of That Arthurian Mythological Concept”

While Zack Snyder has been suggesting he’ll be moving on from DC Comics projects in the future, that doesn’t seem to have stopped his fans from demanding he return to the franchise after the release of his version of Justice League heading to HBO Max on March 18th. However, a new non-DC project was apparently revealed by Snyder during a chat with Minutemen (spotted by CBR). As the director, who is a big fan of John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur, has teased early development on his own project covering the iconic Arthurian mythology.

SNYDER: “I’m working on something but we’ll see. I’ve been thinking about some kind of retelling, like, real sort of faithful retelling of that Arthurian mythological concept. We’ll see. Maybe that will come at some point.”

It will be interesting to see if the project lands at Netflix, where Zack Snyder was able to sell Army of The Dead after he couldn’t secure a proper budget for the horror-action flick elsewhere. Netflix is keen on the fantasy genre with two projects taking place within the world of The Witcher and they recently landed the film/television rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan The Barbarian.

Given that the Arthurian stuff is in the public domain it could allow Snyder to find a comfortable home for the project and getting the budget he needs to make it properly without having to worry about it being a studio IP.

John Boorman made his R-rated Excalibur after he couldn’t get his mature Lord of The Rings film together and was instead turned into an animated feature by Ralph Bakshi. Another mature feature set within the Arthurian mythology is eventually going to be released by A24 with David Lowery’s The Green Knight.

Warner Bros. attempted to launch a King Arthur/Knights of The Round Table franchise starting with the Guy Ritchie film but it failed to connect with audiences killing development of the multiple films they had been planning for each of the Knights.

I’ll be curious to see if Snyder actually wants to attempt a real fantasy project or some sort of genre hybrid. 300 has been the closest thing to a fantasy project from Zack but also happened to be a comic book adaptation.

SOURCE: MINUTEMEN

Posted on in Film News

‘Mission: Impossible 7’ & ‘Mission: Impossible 8’ Won’t Be Filming Back-To-Back As Schedule Will Conflict With ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Promotion

While the original plan was to shoot the next two Mission: Impossible films back-to-back under the working title Libra, that seems to be on hold according to a report from Deadline. As the outlet states Paramount Pictures is going to need Tom Cruise to help promote Top Gun: Maverick for it’s July 2nd release, assuming the film doesn’t get pushed to the fall or winter, which means that filming will need to be placed on pause for a bit.

Sources said this is simply down to the shifting release calendar. Star Tom Cruise will now be needed on promotional duties by the studio for Top Gun: Maverick ahead of that film’s planned release on July 2, and will be out of action for a period. 

This comes as Mission: Impossible 7 is heading back to London for some “finishing touches” according to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram.

MCQUARRIE: “Now back to London for a few finishing touches. All aboard for our greatest challenge yet…”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLRQi0ljRUn/

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 actress Pom Klementieff, who has a role in the films recently flew to Sydney, Australia to get ready to for the shoot of Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder. We have to assume this signaled that she had completed the filming for the first installment.

The rest of the cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Shea Whigham, and Henry Czerny.

Filming on the 7th installment hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, there had paused back in March of 2020 due to the pandemic that led to production hiccups and a viral audio clip of Tom Cruise chewing out crew members for not adhering to the strict on-set COVID-19 protocols. It’s possible that everyone just needs a break after spending over a year on this film.

Mission: Impossible 7 is slated for November 19th, 2021 and Mission: Impossible 8 is set for November 4th, 2022.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK – After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Director Spike Lee Would Consider Making A Marvel Movie “If The Right Opportunity Comes Across”

While Marvel Studios likely won’t be landing Martin Scorsese anytime soon, another landmark New York filmmaker is keeping the superhero door open.

In a recent chat with Entertainment Weekly, Oscar-winner Spike Lee revealed he would be open to the idea of making a Marvel movie if the right project and opportunity materialized. Lee didn’t mention any franchises or characters he’d like to tackle but had grown up reading Spider-Man comics.

LEE: “I have nothing against Marvel. I grew up reading Spider-Man comic books. To me, DC Comics was always corny… I’m just saying. I was all about Marvel. If the right opportunity comes across, I’m not campaigning for it, but I will give it consideration.”

One of Chadwick Boseman’s final performances was in Spike’s Vietnam War drama Da 5 Bloods.

It’s worth mentioning that Spike and Samuel L. Jackson have been working together for over 30 years with his early films School Daze and Do The Ring Thing. You might also remember that Sam embraced the filmmaker on stage when Spike was awarded his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019. The idea that the pair could reunite for a Nick Fury movie wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities given that Marvel had been developing a solo film before some elements of that were folded into Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Jackson will reprise the Nick Fury role in Secret Invasion and is expected to appear in Captain Marvel 2.

Another interesting project could be an MCU reboot of Luke Cage or Heroes For Hire as Lee could certainly make a NYC-set project feel authentic and might bring a fun vision for it. We know that Marvel/Disney is open to making R-rated projects as Deadpool 3 is confirmed to be heading in that direction and might also be the case for Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot as well.

However, being open to the idea doesn’t mean anything is going to come from this statement but it’s surely neat to hear that Spike is open-minded.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Television News

‘Solo’ Co-Stars Donald Glover & Phoebe Waller-Bridge Reuniting For A ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ Series Coming To Amazon In 2022

Yesterday, it was announced by Amazon Studios that Donald Glover would be reuniting with Phoebe Waller-Bridge for a series remake of the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the Doug Liman-directed flick that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Phoebe and Donald previously worked together on the Lucasfilm prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The new series from co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane is expected to debut on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.

MR. & MRS. SMITH – John (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie), a couple in a stagnating marriage, live a deceptively mundane existence. However, each has been hiding a secret from the other: they are assassins working for adversarial agencies. When they are both assigned to kill the same target, Benjamin Danz (Adam Brody), the truth comes to the surface. Finally free from their cover stories, they discover that they have been assigned to kill each other, sparking a series of explosive attacks.

SOURCE: AMAZON