Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

Marvel Studios’ Victoria Alonso Debunks Bizarre ‘Black Panther 2’ Rumor – “There’s Only One Chadwick and He’s Not With Us”

Sorry folks, Marvel Studios is not going to use a digital-double of Chadwick Boseman for their Black Panther sequel. As terrible as that sounded it wasn’t even something they’ve been considering according to Marvel Studios brass.

In a new interview with Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso, she reveals to Clarin (via Comic Book Movie) they are not in anyway considering CGI effects to resurrect recently departed actor Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther 2 as they haven’t even started to think about what they want to do as they’re still mourning the late actor.

ALONSO: “No. There’s only one Chadwick, and he’s not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to the story and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really.”

“[We] have to think carefully about what we are going to do, and how, and think about how we are going to honor the franchise.”

Chadwick Boseman, you might remember suddenly passed over the summer from colon cancer. Something he kept private and even shot multiple Marvel films during his treatment. People close to the production of Black Panther 2 (including Marvel and Disney) are stilling mourning the loss of Chadwick and the studio rightfully isn’t rushing the production giving people time to grieve. It’s still unclear what they’ll do with the film which fans should have an extra notch of patience for the cast, creatives, and crew at this time.

The ghoulish rumor originally came from YouTuber Grace Randolph, who isn’t a reliable source of news.

SOURCE: CLARIN

Posted on in Film News

Amber Heard Says She’ll Be Returning For ‘Aquaman 2’ and They’ll Begin Filming In 2021

Despite multiple fan-petitions to remove actress Amber Heard from the role of Mera in Aquaman 2, she has now confirmed her return to Entertainment Weekly with production expected to begin sometime in 2021.

HEARD: “I’m super excited about the amount of fan love and the amount of fan appreciation that Aquaman has acquired and that it has garnered so much excitement for Aquaman and Mera that it means we’ll be coming back. I’m so excited to film that.”

There had been an assumption that filming could return to Australia at Village Roadshow Studios with director James Wan attached.

It’s worth noting that studios normally ignore most online petitions with either positive or negative demands and there had been plenty of calls to remove other actors in Warner Bros. franchises that never went anywhere.

Aquaman 2 has a release date of December 16th, 2022.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’ Debut Officially Delayed To January 15th On Disney+

The mystery of WandaVision’s release date has been finally solved!

While there was an expectation back in August that they would be able to begin airing episodes before the end of 2020, that isn’t the case. Disney has officially announced on social media that the series will begin airing on Disney+ starting on January 15th.

Many fans had tried to convince themselves that WandaVision could be ready before December but that obviously wasn’t realistic given that production delays due to COVID-19 has seemingly impacted multiple Marvel Studios even the film slate.

Back in August, in The Ronin’s report on the delay of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier to sometime in 2021 there had been an expectation that WandaVision was much further along in the production/post-production process and could have been ready in late 2020.

Fans will really need to dig deep down to find their patience because targeted release dates are written in sand and not stone. We’ll likely see many more delays and shifts throughout 2021 as situations are influx leading to date changes/production pauses.

This news would confirm that 2020 will be the first year without new MCU projects in a long time.

Other live-action series officially on the way include Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Hawkeye.

WANDAVISION – Marvel Studios’ WandaVision blends the style of classic sitcoms with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

SOURCE: DISNEY

Posted on in Television News

Netflix Nabs Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Globetrotting Father-Daughter Spy Series From Skydance

In a shocking twist, Netflix (not Amazon) has landed the untitled spy series being developed by Skydance Television and Scorpion’s Nick Santora. The news coming from Deadline.

They’ve already set Arnold Schwarzenegger and Top Gun: Maverick’s Monica Barbaro as the show’s two main leads.

The project will see the action star return to the spy genre after tackling it in James Cameron’s True Lies and will be Arnold’s first real entry into scripted television/streaming. Arnold previously worked with Skydance on the last two Terminator installments.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ Series Will Indeed Shoot In Budapest and Officially Adds ‘Morbius’ Production Designer Stefania Cella

In a brief production update from Discussing Film, they mention that Marvel’s Moon Knight series will be shooting Budapest, Hungary and that they’ve added production designer Stefania Cella (Morbius).

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. 

The Ronin can independently confirm from our own sources that Budapest is indeed one of multiple locations being used for Moon Knight (working title Good Faith). A shoot in United Kingdom had been previously revealed last year along with an expectation before the pandemic of possibly shooting in the United States and Morocco (used for Black Widow) but those plans have yet to be made concrete.

Budapest is a popular production locale which has been used for Marvel’s Black Widow, Showtime’s Halo series, Blade Runner 2049, Legendary’s Dune remake, The Martian, Red Sparrow, Terminator: Dark Fate, Bloodshot, Gemini Man, Midsommar, and the first season of Netflix’s The Witcher.

Stefania Cella also posted on her website that she has officially joined Moon Knight as production designer working on the pilot and the series. Her film credits include Morbius, Downsizing, White Boy Rick, Lucy In The Sky, and Black Mass.

Oscar Isaac is reportedly in negotiations to play the role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight, although, neither Disney nor Marvel has made an official announcement.

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab had been recently announced for the series.

Lost of casting is underway and there should be announcements via trades in the coming weeks.

Posted on in Television News

Showtime’s ‘Halo’ Series Recasts Cortana Role With Franchise Voice Actress Jen Taylor

As Showtime’s Halo series has officially resumed filming in Budapest there has been a bit of a casting shakeup concerning the role of artificial intelligence character Cortana that assists Master Chief.

IGN is reporting that Halo video game franchise actress Jen Taylor is set to replace Natascha McElhone (Ronin) as Cortana in the series due to a scheduling conflict but will keep playing Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of Cortana.

IGN can exclusively reveal that Showtime’s Halo TV series has recast its Cortana actress, bringing in Jen Taylor for the role. You’ll know Taylor from her role as Cortana in all the mainline Halo games. It’s not yet clear if Taylor will play the role in-person, or lend her performance to a full CGI character.

Due to scheduling difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, McElhone can no longer complete her work as Cortana – but will continue in the role of Halsey.

Despite the delays it’s looking like they’ll be able to begin airing the 10-episodes of Halo sometime in 2021 on Showtime. They’ve already started the post-production process on the series.

SOURCE IGN

Posted on in Television News

James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Officially Adds Robert Patrick, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, and Chris Conrad As Vigilante

Today, HBO Max has officially announce more cast members have joined the new DC Comics series Peacemaker starring John Cena as his character Christopher Smith from The Suicide Squad. The 8-episode series will be written and directed by James Gunn with it’s shoot set to begin this January in Vancouver under the working title The Scriptures and wrap in June.

In an official press release, they announced that Danielle Brooks is playing Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick is playing Aggie Smith, Jennifer Holland is reprising her role as Emilia Harcourt, and Chris Conrad will play Adrian Chase aka Vigilante.

HBO Max announces new stars for original DC action-comedy series “Peacemaker” from “The Suicide Squad” writer / director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran. Danielle Brooks (“Orange Is the New Black;” “The Color Purple” on Broadway) will star as Leota Adebayo, along with Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day;” HBO’s “Perry Mason”) as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn;” “American Horror Story”), who will reprise her role of Emilia Harcourt from “The Suicide Squad” film and Chris Conrad (“Perpetual Grace, LTD.;” “Patriot”) as Vigilante/Adrian Chase. They join previously announced stars John Cena in the title role and Steve Agee as John Economos. Cena and Agee also reprise their roles from “The Suicide Squad” movie. 

While details about “Peacemaker” are being kept under wraps, the series will explore the origins of the character that Cena will play in the upcoming film, a man who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. The series will extend the world that Gunn is creating for “The Suicide Squad” movie, which is scheduled to be released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 6, 2021.

The Suicide Squad is set to be released on August 6th, 2021.

SOURCE: HBO MAX

Posted on in Film News

‘Doctor Strange’ Actor Mads Mikkelsen In Talks To Replace Johnny Depp As The Villain of ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’

Deadline reports that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Doctor Strange, Casino Royale) in talks with Warner Bros. to take the role of Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3, replacing Johnny Depp. Mads being director David Yate’s choice to take the role.

Put Mads Mikkelsen atop the list of actors being considered to replace Johnny Depp in the David Yates-directed Fantastic Beast 3, the third installment of the Harry Potter spinoff based on the JK Rowling fantasy franchise. Sources said he is Yates’ choice to play Grindelwald and he is in early talks.

Mikkelsen is no stranger to playing villains including the iconic Hannibal Lecter in the series Hannibal and feels like an organic casting choice for The Potterverse. It’ll be interesting to see if this version of the villain would be taking visual cues from Depp’s incarnation or if they’ll try something a bit different.

Johnny Depp announced his forced exit from the franchise via Instagram likely connected to the ruling against him in his libel case against The Sun. However, despite only shooting a single scene will be reportedly payed $10 million by the studio as part of his pay or play deal.

Fantastic Beasts 3 is currently filming in London and is expected to be released on July 15th, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

George Lucas Wanted ‘Star Was’ Sequel Trilogy To Include Leia As Supreme Chancellor of The New Republic and Luke Reviving The Jedi With Survivors of Order 66

An excerpt from a new interview from George Lucas has been making the rounds online (via Reddit) that comes from a new book titled The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005 has the franchise creator talking-up ideas he had for the sequel trilogy that ultimately weren’t used by Lucasfilm/Disney. Lucas first mentioned that Disney wasn’t interested in his ideas during his infamous interview where he called them “white slavers”.

He alludes that he wanted Luke Skywalker to restart the Jedi with what seems to be 50-100 Jedi that survived the events of Order 66 from Revenge of The Sith, it sounds like a much larger amount than we would have expected.

LUCAS: “It starts out a few years after Return of The Jedi and we establish pretty quickly that there’s this underworld, there are offshoot stormtroopers who started their own planets, and that Luke is trying to restart the Jedi. He puts the word out, so out of 100,000 Jedi, maybe 50 or 100 are left. The Jedi have to grow again from scratch, so Luke has to find two and three-year-olds, and train them. It’ll be 20 years before you have a new generation of Jedi”

“By the end of the trilogy Luke would have rebuilt much of the Jedi, and we would have the renewal of the New Republic, with Leia, Senator Organa, becoming the Supreme Chancellor in charge of everything. So she ended up being the Chosen One.”

I’m slightly curious if this germ of an idea is why Disney wanted to explore a Jedi characters like Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Kanan Jarrus in Rebels both survivors of Order 66. I’m also curious if they try to reuse it in the Disney+ shows.

Ultimately, the version of Luke Skywalker we saw wasn’t this version as Lucas alludes wanting to have a new Jedi Order established, which never happened in the films we got.

Leia’s final journey was more than likely hindered because of her sudden death while Colin Trevorrow was still working on Duel of The Fates and they had to make creative choices to work around that tragedy.

SOURCE: THE STAR WARS ARCHIVES 1999-2005

Posted on in Film News

George Lucas Wanted Darth Maul and Darth Talon To Be Villains of The ‘Star Wars’ Sequel Trilogy

One of the biggest issues a lot of fans of myself with the prequel trilogy is that it never really had a menacing villain and once they killed off Darth Maul, who at the time felt like was going to become the next Darth Vader was dispensed so quickly it felt like a horrible mistake on the part of George Lucas. Neither Darth Sidous and Count Dooku really measured up “great villains” feeling like Maul was wasted potential.

Well, it sounds like Lucas had plans on bringing him back for his version of the sequel trilogy that was never used by Lucasfilm/Disney.

During a interview for a new retrospective book on the prequels titled The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, George states that he wanted to use both Darth Maul and Darth Talon (Legends/Expanded Universe character) as the villains in the new trilogy with the latter becoming the new Vader of those films.

What looks like a page from the book with these details leaked on Reddit.

LUCAS: “Darth Maul trained a girl, Darth Talon, who was in the comic books, as his apprentice. She was the new Darth Vader, and most of the action was with her. So these were the two main villains of the trilogy. Maul eventually becomes the godfather of crime in the universe because, as the Empire falls, he takes over.”

Darth Maul got a bit of redemption from his wasted use in The Phantom Menace in The Clone Wars and Rebels becoming more of a developed character. Then reappearing in a brief cameo at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story as a crimelord in Crimson Dawn, which seemed to mirror what Lucas had in mind for the new trilogy. Despite unverified rumors it doesn’t seem likely we’ll see the character return in the live-action realm anytime soon given that Darth Maul actor Ray Park may have posted revenge porn on his Instagram account.

The inclusion of Darth Talon is interesting since we’ve seen her pop-up in a lot of places in the Star Wars mythology and development.

Darth Talon from Star Wars: Legacy published by Dark Horse Comics

Darth Talon originally came from the Dark Horse Comics run but under Disney wouldn’t be part of canon anymore allowing Lucasfilm to use the character however they’d like. There had been development on a Darth Maul game titled Battle of The Sith Lords that included Talon in concept artwork but the project was ultimately killed after Disney acquired the company.

Darth Maul & Darth Talon concept artwork from Battle of The Sith Lords

Her journey didn’t seem to end with Disney there as unused concept artwork from Star Wars: The Force Awakens confirms that someone at Lucasfilm considered using Darth Talon in the new films but for whatever reason J.J. Abrams or Kathleen Kennedy decided against it.

Darth Talon concept art from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Asajj Ventress, a key figure in The Clone Wars happened to be based on a rejected Sith design from the prequels but got second life in the animation side of things. It sounds like Lucas wanted the same thing for Talon on the live-action side, but it was never fully realized.

I’d personally love to see Talon get her own series which could be in the cards as Disney+ seems to be keen to develop various Star Wars shows.

SOURCE: THE STAR WARS ARCHIVES 1995-2005