Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in News

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-Winning Screenwriter of ‘The Imitation Game’ Graham Moore To Make Directorial Debut With ‘The Outfit’ For FilmNation

The Ronin has exclusively learned that screenwriter Graham Moore is expected to make his directorial debut for a new project at FilmNation Entertainment titled The Outfit. Moore won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay thanks to his work on the WWII tech-drama The Imitation Game.

Plot details concerning The Outfit are currently unknown but is aiming to shoot sometime in 2021 as Moore is assembling his production team.

THE IMITATION GAME – In 1939, newly created British intelligence agency MI6 recruits Cambridge mathematics alumnus Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to crack Nazi codes, including Enigma — which cryptanalysts had thought unbreakable. Turing’s team, including Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), analyze Enigma messages while he builds a machine to decipher them. Turing and team finally succeed and become heroes, but in 1952, the quiet genius encounters disgrace when authorities reveal he is gay and send him to prison.

Moore had been previously set to direct a sci-fi thriller titled Naked Is The Best Disguise for Studio8 according to a 2018 article from The Hollywood Reporter. The project based on Graham’s spec-script would have been his directorial debut, but the sci-fi movie seemingly never materialized.

Disguise, which takes place over the course of one night, is set in a near future in which new technology allows one person’s memories to be extracted and inserted into someone else. It centers on an illegal memory dealer who is accused of murdering a man who she does not believe she even knows.

Almost a decade ago, Graham Moore was tapped to adapt the Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese serial killer project The Devil In The White City based on the novel by Erik Larson before it pivoted from a feature film to a television series for Paramount Television/Hulu.

FilmNation is behind films such as Promising Young Woman, Logan Lucky, The Nest, The Greyhound, The 355, The Big Sick, Suspiria remake, and the Emmy-winning HBO series I Know This Much Is True starring Mark Ruffalo as twin brothers.

Posted on in Television News

‘Lockwood’: Joe Cornish Reunites With ‘Attack The Block’ & ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Production Designer Marcus Rowland For Netflix Series

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Marcus Rowland has joined Lockwood, the Netflix series based on the books from author Jonathan Stroud will be directed by Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) with Edgar Wright‘s Complete Fiction producing.

Books in Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series include The Screaming Staircase, The Dagger in The Desk, The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow, and The Empty Grave. Allowing them to make multiple seasons if they’re inclined to.

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE – For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

The project was first announced back in May 2020.

Marcus Rowland is best known for collaborating with Edgar Wright on his films Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The World’s End, Baby Driver, and most recently Last Night In Soho. He also worked with Cornish on his feature films Attack The Block and The Kid Who Would Be King.

This would be the production designer’s first return to television since Edgar’s series Spaced from 2004.

You might remember that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish co-wrote the original script for Marvel’s Ant-Man before Edgar dropped-out over creative differences with the studio leading to Peyton Reed to be hired as it’s director.

Posted on in Film News

Former ‘Daredevil’ Actor Ben Affleck Praises Marvel’s Kevin Feige Calling Him “The Greatest Producer”

Before Ben Affleck wore the cowl in Batman v Superman and Justice League, he starred in a Marvel project with 20th Century Fox’s Daredevil feature film which predated the fan-beloved Netflix series starring Charlie Cox. That 2003 film saw Ben Affleck co-star with Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Jon became one of the architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and still plays the role of Happy Hogan in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy.

As a filmmaker and producer, Ben most certainly was watching the success of Marvel Studios, which has led to some praise to Kevin Feige in a new interview. While chatting on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast Awards Chatter, Affleck gushed about how successful Feige has been.

AFFLECK: “Fucking Kevin Feige is absolutely, you have to say, the greatest producer, most successful producer who ever lived. He’s the only guy in the world who, if he told me, ‘I know what the audience wants! This is what we’re doing!’ I would believe him 100%.”

“That fucker knows his audience like no producer (ever), he’s a genius. Kevin is like a ringmaster at the circus; he knows exactly how much to wink at the audience, exactly when to pull at the heartstrings, exactly when to do the effects, how many jokes, what the sensibility, what the tone is. Because people didn’t know to run away from the pajamas or embrace it or make it serious.”

Affleck is reportedly set to direct a film Disney with an adaptation Keeper of The Lost Cities and his pal Matt Damon has seemingly joined the cast of Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

I’m sure fans would enjoy to see Ben Affleck join the MCU in some capacity.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Karen Gillan Confirms Nebula’s Return In ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Alongside Claims Matt Damon Has Joined The Cast

Another high-profile may have joined a large Marvel Studios film.

Local Australian outlets (spotted by The Direct) are claiming that actor Matt Damon has arrived to the country with his family and will begin quarantine, so that he can shoot scenes for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph reports that Matt Damon is skipping the state’s mandatory two-week quarantine at a set New South Wales hotel.

Damon, you might remember had a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki for the play about his life. He also wore extensive make-up for his other Marvel cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2 along with Rogue One’s Alan Tudyk.

Matt doesn’t seem to have anything else on his schedule at the moment but recently wrapped on the Steven Soderbergh film No Sudden Move and Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel. He had reportedly signed on to star in James Mangold’s The Force before the director agreed to direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm.

Christian Bale is confirmed to be playing Gorr The God Butcher, the film’s villain. Bale and Damon previously co-starred in the racing drama Ford v Ferrari.

If Matt Damon indeed has a substantial role in Thor: Love & Thunder, it wouldn’t be the first time an actor has been given a smaller part only to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a completely different role.

Personally, I’d love to see him play Balder The Brave (another son of Odin) or Cul Borson aka The Serpent (Thor’s uncle).

There has been some fan speculation with Nebula actress Karen Gillan (quarantining in Australia as well) that she had been expected to appear in the sequel as well. Since we already know that that multiple characters from Guardians of The Galaxy are showing up alongside Chris Pratt’s confirmed return as Star-Lord.

Karen has now confirmed Nebula’s return on her Instagram stories (spotted by The Ronin) talking about getting her haircut to be more comfortable for Nebula’s bald-cap.

GILLAN: “This is my hair, I cut it the other day in preparation for Nebula, so we don’t have to get so much hair into the bald-cap because I have so much hair, it’s unbelievable.”

Drax actor Dave Bautista is also quarantining in Sydney getting ready for the shoot.

Taika Waititi returns to direct with a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Taika back as Korg, and as previously mentioned Bale is playing the film’s baddie Gorr.

Filming was said to begin this month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title The Big Salad. The Australian stages had been previously used for Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings back in 2020.

Marvel Studios has set the sequel’s release date for May 6th, 2022.

Posted on in Film News

‘John Wick 4’: Ian McShane Believes Sequel Will Begin Shooting This Year

Collider was able to speak with John Wick franchise actor Ian McShane and he revealed the fourth installment is still expected to begin filming this year. You might remember there had been production delays on John Wick: Chapter 4 because the extended shoot for The Matrix 4 with Keanu Reeves reprising the Neo role.

MCSHANE: “Keanu [Reeves] and I exchanged New Year’s greetings and said, ‘Hope to see you this year.’ I know the script is being written and they’re hoping to do it this year. I know they announced they were gonna do [John Wick 4] and [John Wick 5] together, but who knows. The studios announce all sorts of things. No doubt, at some point this year, we’re gonna do John Wick 4.”

Ian McShane plays Winston, who in the last film seemingly turned on John shooting him off the roof of The Continental, only for him to survive the fall and brought to the hideout of the Bowery King agreeing to go to war with The High Table. It remains to be seen if Winston actually tried to kill him (didn’t look shocked when told Wick lived) or if he was trying to remove him from further pursuit from The High Table and the price on his head.

Lionsgate had set the film’s release for May 27th, 2022 but it could be moved depending on when production actually starts.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

‘WandaVision’ Featurette Seems To Confirm Wonder Man Appearance – Will Nathan Fillion Reprise The Avenger?

A full room of concept art in a new WandaVision featurette might have revealed a special cameo. A piece of artwork featuring fellow Avenger Wonder Man has been spotted which could mean the character may end up in the Marvel Studios series that has already started airing on Disney+. You can see the Marvel superhero with the “W” on his chest in the top left corner in the image below.

You might not remember but Simon Williams aka Wonder Man had once been set to appear in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 and played by Nathan Fillion, there were multiple faux movie posters made up with him as Williams. The cameo was ultimately cut from the film and it remains to be seen if the actor would be asked to reprise the role again if he’s truly in WandaVision.

SOURCE: DISNEY+

Posted on in Film News

Kevin Feige Suggests Marvel Still Interested In Making A ‘Nova’ Project At Some Point

There have been online rumors circulating for over a year that Marvel Studios is interested in making a Nova project, however, Kevin Feige and Disney has yet to make this official.

This growing fan desire led Comic Book to ask Kevin Feige about a Nova project while appearing on their new podcast Phase Zero (spotted by The Disinsider). The Marvel Studios president didn’t confirm the development rumors but certainly gives the impression they’ll eventually tackle the cosmic superhero.

FEIGE: “Timing is relative, right? I think I’d been talking about Doctor Strange eight years before that movie came out. So, ‘immediate potential’ is relative. But clearly, we are not shying away from the cosmic end of storytelling right in the sweet spot of the Nova Corps and Nova himself.”

He also doesn’t clarify if they would attempt to make a series or full feature film. The studio certainly has it’s hands full these days and Feige hasn’t been ready to announce when Phase 4 will even end.

The Nova Corps were first introduced in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy and seemingly had been destroyed by Thanos in the events leading up to Avengers: Infinity War as they had been protecting an infinity stone on Xandar.

Marvel has a handful of cosmic projects on the horizon including Eternals, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel 2, Thor: Love & Thunder, Fantastic Four, Secret Invasion, and Guardians of The Galaxy 3.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK/PHASE ZERO

Posted on in Television News

‘The Last of Us’: Kantemir Balagov Tapped To Direct Series Pilot For HBO

There is a new update concerning HBO’s upcoming Last of Us series based on the popular post-apocalypse video game franchise from Naughty Dog and PlayStation.

Last of Us is set 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed and centers on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be key to a cure for a deadly pandemic. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Kantemir Balagov will direct the series pilot.

Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, the Cannes darling behind drama Beanpole, has been tapped to direct the pilot for the adaptation of the hit video game.

He replaces Chernobyl’s Johan Renck, who left due to scheduling conflicts.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Doug Liman Gives Updates On ‘Edge of Tomorrow 2’ & His Untitled Space Movie Starring Tom Cruise

We’ve been patiently waiting on news about the sequel to the sci-fi action flick Edge of Tomorrow that stared Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

While promoting his new film Lockdown, shot during the pandemic, director Doug Liman explained that without the the pair of actors officially signing on the film can’t move forward.

LIMAN: “I’ve always been interested in the idea of a sequel being more character-driven than the first film, because that’s not how things are normally done. That’s been my approach when developing the sequel and because Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are such phenomenal actors. I get sometimes the sequel just has to have more firepower or more explosions but no visual effect is going to top what you’re going to get from a great scene performed by Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.”

“It’s one of these things where if Tom, Emily and I were to say, ‘we’re ready to pull the trigger on this script,’ it’s Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, the film gets made. That’s pretty much how Hollywood works. The stars are the gatekeepers. If you can get Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt to commit to the movie, it’s going to happen.“

Emily Blunt has previously said she’s game but it all comes down to scheduling, the actors have to agree to a script and the production stated before anything seems to be going forward.

The filmmaker also talked to Collider about where they are concerning the untitled movie that will star Tom Cruise and will shoot sequences in space thanks to SpaceX.

LIMAN: “From the first conversations that we’ve had about the film… how you insure it has been a central part of the conversations. So, we wouldn’t be talking about this movie if we hadn’t figured out a way to navigate the insurance component. So we have navigated it, but there would not have been a conversation about this movie without figuring out the insurance… it’s the same thing in Locked Down, one of the first conversations was about insurance, because of the pandemic… You can’t make a movie without having an insurance conversation. And [whether] you’re talking about going to outer space, [or] you’re talking about shooting in London in the heart of the pandemic, you know, insurance is gonna dictate whether that actually is possible.”

“I’m not sure any of us really know what 2021 is gonna look like yet, because of the pandemic. I have something I’m working on that I’m hoping I can shoot. But I don’t think anyone can know 100% right now.”

Things are even more certain during the pandemic but I’m sure studios will eventually want to secure Tom Cruise’s schedule before other things come up.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

‘Moon Knight’: Ethan Hawke Reportedly Nabs Villain Role Opposite Oscar Isaac

Another cast member has reportedly joined Marvel’s new Disney+ series Moon Knight.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that veteran actor Ethan Hawke has landed a villain role in the superhero streaming show. They failed to mention what that role is but the two big contenders sound like Randall Spector aka Shadow Knight, brother of titular hero Moon Knight aka Marc Spector, and fellow mercenary Raoul Bushman.

Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, a mercenary who has numerous alter egos — cabbie Jake Lockley and millionaire playboy Steven Grant — in order to better fight the criminal underworld. But later he was established as being a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Most recently, the character was a consultant who dresses in all-white and goes by the name Mr. Knight. 

Ethan Hawke might be most recognizable for his roles in action films Training Day and The Magnificent Seven remake from 2016. He joins a slowly growing cast that consists of Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector and May Calamawy playing the female lead.

Marvel Studios has assembled a directing team that includes Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Filming is said to kick-off this March in Budapest, Hungary and we’ve heard that Disney+ is hoping it can be ready to begin airing on the streaming service in spring/summer 2022. Kevin Feige seemingly confirmed to Collider that the series is going to have six episodes similar to Loki and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

We’ll have to wait and see if other superheroes will be crossing over in the show from the horror/supernatural corner of Marvel Comics.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER