Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

‘Tomb Raider 2’: ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green Replaces Ben Wheatley As Director

Deadline reveals that MGM Studios has lost director Ben Wheatley on their Tomb Raider sequel starring Alicia Vikander, they’ve hired Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green to both write and direct Tomb Raider 2.

This will be Green’s feature film directorial debut after directing an episode of Lovecraft Country. Her HBO series produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams runs the gauntlet of genres between horror, action, thriller, crime, and science fiction. So, tackling the supernatural and action-adventure genre doesn’t seem like a huge stretch for Misha.

I do think fans are going to be puzzled why MGM was willing not to wait for someone like Ben Wheatley, who proved with his action-comedy Free Fire he really should be making more films within the action genre. He had recently signed-on to direct the sequel to Jason Statham’s The Meg for Warner Bros. and likely came into conflict with shooting Tomb Raider sequel.

Misha certainly has the writing chops to pen the film but given the scale of the film having her make a feature film debut might be scary to a lot of fans. I’m sure there is a reason why MGM selected her vision and didn’t go after a seasoned filmmaker to execute it.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Indiana Jones 5’: Director James Mangold Teasing A 1960’s Setting?

We keep forgetting that Indiana Jones 5 is still indeed a movie that Lucasfilm is making and keep promising is a continuation with Harrison Ford (almost 80 years old) in the role of Indy, rather than rebooting with a younger actor.

Details about the film are scarce but when the film take place might be something the film’s director has now hinted to on Twitter. A recent tweet from director and writer James Mangold could be confirming that the film is taking place in the 1960’s revealing “all” his movies are taking place in that decade. This would make sense given that Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull was set in 1957.

MANGOLD: “Im mentally living in 60’s NYC right now cause that’s where all the movies I’m working on take place.”

The director is also working on a movie about musician Bob Dylan titled Going Electric starring Timothee Chalamet for Searchlight Pictures and a NYPD thriller The Force starring Matt Damon for 20th Century Studios.

Lucasfilm revealed last month that they hope to get filming underway in late spring and are keeping the July 2022 release date.

Lucasfilm is currently in pre-production on the next installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. At the helm is James Mangold, director of the Academy Award-winning Ford v Ferrari, and Indy himself, Harrison Ford, will be back to continue his iconic character’s journey. Indy will begin shooting late spring of 2021 and will arrive July 2022.

James Mangold took over the writing of Indiana Jones 5’s script after David Koepp and Jonathan Kasdan tried their hand at reworking it. The script’s troubled development led to director Steven Spielberg exiting the hiring of James. It certainly sounds like Lucasfilm is trying to make sure the script is solid before moving forward since it’s production has had multiple delays as Steven first announced it would begin shooting back in April 2019 but didn’t due to development hiccups, we’re now coming up to three years later and it might finally get made.

I’m curious if they’ll continue to have the Soviet Union as the antagonists.

SOURCE: JAMES MANGOLD

Posted on in Television News

Live-Action ‘Harry Potter’ Series In Early Development At HBO Max

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that WarnerMedia is in early development on a Harry Potter/Potterverse series for HBO Max. Plot details aren’t mentioned, where it will take place in the franchise timeline, characters it will focus on or who will work on the series.

Essentially, it sounds like the series hasn’t exactly come together just yet and there is a chance it doesn’t even happen if these “exploratory meetings” don’t go anywhere.

A Harry Potter live-action TV series is in early development at HBO Max. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that executives at the WarnerMedia-backed streamer have engaged in multiple conversations with potential writers exploring various ideas that would bring the beloved property to television. Sources say broad ideas have been discussed as part of the early-stage exploratory meetings.

Filming is currently underway on Fantastic Beasts 3 in Watford, England, as the studio replaced Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen for the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald. There are also two more Fantastic Beasts sequels also in the works at the studio.

It would be interesting if they’ll attempt another prequel series potentially set even before Fantastic Beasts or will attempt something more contemporary with new characters.

HBO Max has been looking to mine a bunch of film spinoff series including James Gunn’s Peacemaker, The Batman series focusing on Gotham PD, Dune: The Sisterhood, Overlook, and heap of other DC Comics projects.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed they’ll eventually announce other off-shoot shows such as one set in Godzilla vs. Kong‘s Monsterverse or taking place in the worlds of The Matrix and Mad Max. I’d personally would love to see a Matrix origin series that takes place during the war between humans and the machines.

It’s unknown how much involvement that J.K. Rowling will have on the untitled series, considering the franchise creator has been doubling-down on multiple anti-trans comments and endorsements. Making Rowling increasingly toxic to have attached to future projects.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Jodie Turner-Smith To Play Éile In Prequel Series ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’

Deadline is reporting that Nightflyers and Without Remorse actress Jodie Turner-Smith has been tapped for a lead role in The Witcher prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin from streaming giant Netflix.

Declan de Barra is the show’s executive producer and showrunner.

Set in an elven world 1,200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.

Turner-Smith will play Éile, an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, who has left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption.

Jodie will be seen next in the Tom Clancy feature film adaptation Without Remorse opposite Michael B. Jordan, the film will focus on the journey of Jack Ryan cohort/Navy SEAL John Clark (Jordan) to become a field agent for the C.I.A. and the movie recently moved from Paramount Pictures to Amazon Prime Video to become a streaming release.

Netflix is currently shooting the second season of The Witcher and last year secured the film/television rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan The Barbarian franchise allowing them to explore another adult-oriented sword and sorcery world.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Trailer Teases Mechagodzilla – Pulls In 21M+ Views

It seems like people have been starving for a new blockbuster trailer, Legendary’s latest entry in the Monsterverse, Godzilla vs. Kong, has feed that need becoming quite the online hit because of the lack of big trailer releases over the last couple of months. 

How big of a hit?

Within the first 20 hours, the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer saw an impressive 13 million views from the Warner Bros. YouTube channel and then another 8 million from various official Twitter accounts connected to the film (HBO Max, Legendary, and Godzilla vs. Kong) that posted the trailer. 

I have to say the visual effects on display here are a huge improvement from the previous two Godzilla movies where the filmmakers and effects department made the shots so dark you couldn’t even figure out what was going on, which sort of makes these expensive VFX (kind of the point of the whole film) useless if they’re obscured too much by poor lighting or muddy textures on the creatures. So, a big thumbs up from me for that.

There is also a huge tease towards the inclusion of Mechagodzilla, a giant robotic version of the King of Monsters seen in the screenshot below. 

The film will be released in theaters and HBO Max (for a month) on March 26th. 

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. 

The film stars Alexander Skarsgård (“Big Little Lies,” “The Little Drummer Girl”), Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), Rebecca Hall (“Christine,” “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Joker,” “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), Shun Oguri (“Weathering with You”), Eiza González (“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”), Julian Dennison (“Deadpool 2”), with Kyle Chandler (“Godzilla: King of the Monsters”) and Demián Bichir (“The Nun,” “The Hateful Eight”).

Posted on in Film News

Sean Gunn Apparently Also In Sydney To Shoot ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’

A new post from Guardians of The Galaxy actor Sean Gunn reveals on Instagram he’s also in Sydney which would confirm he’s there to shoot scenes for Thor: Love & Thunder. There had been some footage of a masked Sean Gunn with other cast members making the rounds via The Daily Mail earlier in the month.

Sean plays on set Rocket Raccoon and Ravager Kraglin, the latter character was seen training himself to use Yondu’s telepathic weapon after the character died in the second Guardians film.

Mr. Gunn would be joining most of his Guardians of The Galaxy co-stars on the shoot including Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, and Dave Bautista.

SOURCE: SEAN GUNN

Posted on in Film News

Jaimie Alexander Teases Playing Lady Sif In ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ As She Heads To Australia

There had been a previous report of Jaimie Alexander returning to the role of Lady Sif for Thor: Love & Thunder and the Loki series, this was seemingly telegraphed as the actress flew to Atlanta prior to that announcement.

Well, Jaimie is posting another picture of herself on Instagram flying from New York City to Sydney, Australia. This would suggest that Jaimie is indeed joining the cast of Thor: Love & Thunder as other MCU cohorts are in the city quarantining ahead of their scenes being shot at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZ5vRDnh6x/

Actors flying to Sydney would suggest that they’re going there because of the Marvel film as it’s the biggest thing shooting there and it made headlines in the Australian news when both Christian Bale and Matt Damon arrived on planes.

Marvel has yet to confirm Alexander is in the film.

Bale is playing the main villain Gorr The God Butcher with returning cast members Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, and director Taika Waititi as the lovable lug Korg. It’s unknown if Matt will be reprising the role from Thor: Ragnarok or something completely new.

We’ll also see actors from the Guardians of The Galaxy such as Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and Dave Bautista. The reasoning behind this is because Thor joins the team at the end of Avengers: Endgame and he maybe spend some time with them during the sequel this could explain how Bale’s alien baddie Gorr is introduced into the story.

There is a strong possibility we might see Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki make a triumphant return in the film as well given the likelihood the film will connect to the series, a second season of Loki is in the works as well. The Multiverse is going to playing a large role in a bulk of the films and there is assumption this will continue into things like Thor: Love & Thunder.

It’s release date is currently set for May 6th, 2022, however, it is subject to change as Disney continues to adjust their 2021-2022 theatrical slate.

SOURCE: JAIMIE ALEXANDER

Posted on in Film News

‘The King’s Man’: Disney Bumps Release To August

Yesterday, there were more feature film delays announced by studios with The King’s Man, a prequel set in the Kingsman franchise, has been bumped to August 20th from March 12th. The action film directed by Matthew Vaughn is expected to be part of wave of sequels and spinoffs as Disney seemingly has plans double-down on the mature action franchise.

THE KING’S MAN – As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

Disney/20th Century Studios also announced that their animated flick Bob’s Burgers has been pulled from the schedule entirely after being etched-in for a release of April 9th and hasn’t been given a new spot. It’s possible that Disney is busy trying to determine where they want to place it with more switch-ups on the way.

This is expected to be the first of many Disney projects that they’ll moving around as their 2021 and 2022 slate is obviously going to be altered as other studios move their feature films out of the spring and summer. Black Widow and Shang-Chi are key Disney blockbusters that are likely going to get new dates.

Here’s a reminder of the recent date changes.

  • Godzilla vs. Kong – March 26th, 2021 (moved up)
  • Nobody – April 2nd, 2021
  • BIOS – August 13th, 2021
  • The King’s Man – August 20th, 2021
  • A Quiet Place Part II – September 17th, 2021
  • The Many Saints of Newark – September 24th, 2021
  • No Time To Die – October 8th, 2021
  • Last Night In Soho – October 22nd, 2021
  • Antlers – October 29th, 2021
  • Ghostbusters: Afterlife – November 11th, 2021
  • Nightmare Alley – December 3rd, 2021
  • Morbius – January 21st, 2022
  • Uncharted – February 11th, 2022
  • Ambulance – February 18th, 2022
  • Bob’s Burgers (TBA)

SOURCE: DISNEY/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Posted on in Film News

‘A Quiet Place Part II’: The Anticipated Horror Sequel Leaps From April To September

Another big film has been moved from the spring as Paramount Pictures has also delayed their anticipated horror flick A Quiet Place Part II moving it from April 23rd to September 17th.

Studios weighing closures of theaters alongside the the slow rollout of the vaccine has led to a bulk of the spring line-up being pushed to the summer and fall. In the case of some Sony Pictures films such as Uncharted and Morbius, moved completely out of 2021 to early 2022.

Paramount seems to be committed to a theatrical release of their films despite the rebranding of the streaming service CBS All Access as Paramount+ coming soon. There are signs that Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick could be bumped when studios start moving more summer tentpoles but there are suggestions they will keep a theatrical release.

However, we’ll likely see more of these pushes in the coming weeks.

The studio has future plans of continuing A Quiet Place franchise as director Jeff Nichols is currently attached to write and direct an untitled third film.

A QUIET PLACE PART II – Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

Here’s a reminder of the recent date changes.

  • Godzilla vs. Kong – March 26th, 2021 (moved up)
  • Nobody – April 2nd, 2021
  • BIOS – August 13th, 2021
  • The King’s Man – August 20th, 2021
  • A Quiet Place Part II – September 17th, 2021
  • The Many Saints of Newark – September 24th, 2021
  • No Time To Die – October 8th, 2021
  • Last Night In Soho – October 22nd, 2021
  • Antlers – October 29th, 2021
  • Ghostbusters: Afterlife – November 11th, 2021
  • Nightmare Alley – December 3rd, 2021
  • Morbius – January 21st, 2022
  • Uncharted – February 11th, 2022
  • Ambulance – February 18th, 2022
  • Bob’s Burgers (TBA)

SOURCE: PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Posted on in Film News

Christopher Nolan Unlikely To Work With Warner Bros. In The Future

A new report from The Wall Street Journal (spotted by The Playlist) is claiming that Warner Bros. golden-child director Christopher Nolan is now “unlikely” to make future films at the studio due to their decision to embrace a new day-and-date release model that is meant to boost subscriptions to HBO Max on the backs of the film division and filmmakers. This wouldn’t be terribly surprising as Christopher Nolan has been vocal against this release model since it’s announcement caught most directors it affected off guard and almost led to a potential lawsuit from production partner Legendary Entertainment.

The filmmaker made his opinions widely known in various interviews including the following quote from The Hollywood Reporter.

NOLAN: “Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service. Warner Bros. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing. Their decision makes no economic sense, and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction.”

Dune director Denis Villeneuve also made a similar plea to the studio in an op-ed at The Hollywood Reporter, suggesting the studio could be killing the Dune franchise.

This would be the first time in twenty years that Nolan had a movie that wasn’t made for Warner Bros. or distributed by them since 2001’s Memento. The filmmaker is one of the few people that can convince a studio to give him a blockbuster-level budget to make original films as seen with Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and last summer’s Tenet.

Here is a rundown of the global box office earnings of the Warner Bros. films made by Christopher Nolan over the years.

  • INSOMNIA (2002) – $113.7 Million
  • BATMAN BEGINS (2004) – $373.6 Million
  • THE PRESTIGE (2006) – $109.6 Million
  • THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) – $1 Billion
  • INCEPTION (2010) – $836.8 Million
  • THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012) – $1.08 Billion
  • INTERSTELLAR (2014) – $701.7 Million
  • DUNKIRK (2017) – $526.9 Million
  • TENET (2020) – $363.1 Million

If Nolan ultimately exits the studio this could be a huge loss for Warner Bros. and a sign of more creative fallout from WarnerMedia/AT&T’s new day-and-date model. The model sees WarnerMedia adding a bulk of their 2021 theatrical releases to their struggling streaming service HBO Max exclusively for a month at the same time the film is being released domestically in theaters, having HBO Max and theaters going head-to-head for audiences.

AT&T CEO John Stankey had previously alluded to The Washington Post in an interview, that this is likely going to be a release model they’ll be using beyond 2021 and the pandemic giving the impression they wouldn’t be turning back to regular release windows that gave theaters a proper amount of time to earn money.

STANKEY: “In March, we unleashed a new normal in society. That horse left the barn. I don’t think any of us are going to change that dynamic.”

Nolan could stick around at Warner Bros. if they change their minds on the release model or more likely he could easily find a home at another studio. I don’t think he’d have much trouble getting the same deal elsewhere given his track record.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL