Despite a lockdown in the United Kingdom, film and television productions were allowed to keep going without much hindrance from the British government.
There is now a report from Deadline that filming has paused by Netflix after four people working on the fantasy series had tested positive for COVID-19 today. Filming on the Henry Cavill show had been taking place at Arborfield Studios which is near London, England.
Netflix has halted production in the UK on The Witcher following multiple positive COVID-19 cases, we can reveal. The four positive cases are from today, we have confirmed, and Netflix will carry out an isolated round of testing of everyone involved in the show. Those impacted have been isolated and are not among lead cast, we hear.
This would be the second time that filming has been disrupted by positive COVID-19 tests.
Given the increase of COVID cases in the UK and the lockdown, it seems odd that productions are being allowed to keep going and this just another example that even being extremely careful the amount of people on set just makes it easier for people to get exposed to an airborne virus.
A while back it first reported by Murphy’s Multiverse that Disney had listed a new LLC called Solve Everything Productions, that we were able to back-up. The claim made was that it was likely hinting to the studio moving forward with their Fantastic Four reboot before tackling X-Men.
A small update from Charles Murphy further confirms that the Disney-owned LLC is indeed at Marvel Studios. This would mean that they’re going into production on the project which is most likely going to be Fantastic Four given the LLC’s name is connected to the Marvel Comics property.
However, it’s worth noting that Marvel/Disney and trades have yet to announce any screenwriters or directors have joined the project, let alone they are moving forward with a Fantastic Four film or series. All signs are pointing towards a Fantastic Four project will be announced in the near future and could be primarily filming in the United States.
The Fantastic Four has had four live-action films starting with the Roger Corman-produced film from 1994 that was ultimately never released and then 20th Century Fox released two installments from director Tim Story then attempted a reboot from Josh Trank in 2015.
The film rights shifted back to Marvel once Disney finalized their acquisition of 21st Century Fox (included 20th Century Fox). Marvel now has access to Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, The Brood, The Shi’ar Empire, Alpha Flight, X-Force, New Mutants, X-Men, Deadpool, Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Super-Skrulls, and many many more characters to use for their MCU projects.
A one time, writer/director Adam McKay (Ant-Man, Vice, The Big Short) was interested in pitching a Silver Surfer film to Marvel’s chief creative officer Kevin Feige.
The Ronin can now confirm independently that veteran production designer Arthur Max will be reuniting with director Ridley Scott for his thriller Gucci. The MGM project stars Lady Gaga, Jared Leto, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jack Huston, Robert De Niro, and Reeve Carney according to a previous casting report from Deadline.
In the new film, Gaga will play Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, who was tried and convicted of orchestrating her ex-husband’s assassination on the steps of his office in 1995. Maurizio had two daughters with Reggiani, but he left her for another woman. She’d had a brain tumor removed, and her children blamed it for her actions; the media took a darker view of her during a sensationalized affair, depicting her as a hot-blooded woman scorned and dubbing her “Black Widow.” She was originally drew a sentence of 29 years.
Max’s credits include Gladiator, Se7en, The Martian, Robin Hood, Prometheus, American Gangster, Black Hawk Dowan, All The Money In The World, and worked on Ridley’s most recent film The Last Duel that recently has wrapped in Belfast after pausing for COVID-19.
In the latest episode of The Mandalorian, we saw the return of Dave Filoni playing his X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf but even more interesting is that they added Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Trapper Wolf’s fellow New Republic pilot Captain Carson Teva.
The Star Wars super-fan gave a huge nod to Season 1 of the The Mandalorian over Halloween dressing up as a Scout Trooper with Baby Yoda.
The seasoned Canadian actor has been growing in popularity thanks to the international attention on the CBC comedy series which introduced Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu to the world before landing the Marvel Studios role. It’s also worth noting that Simu Liu has been telegraphing for a while now he’d like to join the Star Wars Universe at some point in time.
I’m sure we’ll see more neat cameos in future episodes.
After multiple production delays due to the Coronavirus outbreak and deal hiccups between Sony/Marvel, Spider-Man 3 is finally shoot with it’s lead Tom Holland back as Peter Parker!
Tom Holland made the announcement today on his Instagram account posting the first official set photo with himself in the costume wearing a mask, supporting calls for people to embrace mask wearing as new American COVID-19 cases have exploded (hitting 100,000+ daily cases).
HOLLAND: “Wear a mask, I’m wearing two…”
Tom had recently completed filming his Uncharted feature film co-starring Mark Wahlberg before arriving in Atlanta, Georgia to begin production on the untitled Spider-Man sequel others that have been spotted in the area getting ready to shoot include Zendaya and Jacob Batalon.
It’s also expected that Tony Revolori, J.K. Simmons, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and Angourie Rice will reprise their roles.
Returning to direct is Jon Watts, who previously helmed Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. There have been reports that Jamie Foxx will be reprising his role as villain Electro (potentially a new MCU version) along with Benedict Cumberbatch shooting his scenes as Doctor Strange before moving on to Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
Marvel Studios has yet to confirm any new additions but more casting announcements via trades are assumed in the coming weeks given that filming has started officially.
The new deal between Sony and Marvel allows for Holland to appear as Spider-Man in one more Disney film before they have return to the table and examine if they want to continue the beneficial relationship, which most likely could be the Doctor Strange sequel given Benedict’s participation in Spider-Man 3.
Marvel’s next big productions are Doctor Strange 2 in the UK and as Shang-Chi has wrapped in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia will see Thor: Love & Thunder move into those stages at Fox Studios Australia.
Both Ant-Man 3 and Captain Marvel 2 were aiming to shoot in England next year but COVID-19 may have delayed that shooting schedule. Director James Gunn is also going be returning for Guardians of The Galaxy 3 once he finishes his work on The Suicide Squad and his Peacemaker series for HBO Max. Black Panther 2 is more of an unknown for the time being after the sudden death of franchise lead Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer. Everyone involved including the cast seems to be focusing on grieving that loss rather than rushing a sequel.
Sony Pictures has set Spider-Man 3’s release date for December 17th, 2021.
Yesterday, Deadline broke a rumor that filming on an unannounced Boba Fett series could begin as early as this week.
They also added some new details concerning the untitled female-centric series coming from Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland. Stating that it will be an action thriller that will have martial arts elements taking place in “an alternate timeline”.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.
While we’ve seen Jedi and gunslingers, we really haven’t seen a martial arts type project before. Star Wars: The Force Awakens featured The Raid 1-2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 actors Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman as the group Kanjiklub. All three known for martial arts films. It’ll be interesting if they’ll be pursuing those kinds of actors for this new “action” series.
Martial arts star Donnie Yen’s also had a supporting role as Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
It remains to be seen where this timeline will land. I know fans like myself would enjoy a setting in The Old Republic and could be one of the better untapped sectors of the Star Wars Universe.
Neon, best known for the domestic release of Oscar-winner Parasite will be distributing a new horror film titled In The Earth directed by Ben Wheatley (Free Fire, Rebecca, A Field In England) secretly during the pandemic according to Deadline via the American Film Market.
As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the forest for a routine equipment run. Through the night, their journey becomes a terrifying voyage through the heart of darkness, the forest coming to life around them.
In The Earth is said to be aiming for release sometime next year and I’ll be keeping my fingers-crossed that this pandemic project will a bit more tasteful than the Michael Bay-produced Songbird (feels super exploitative from the trailer).
It’s cast consists of Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Hayley Squires, and Reece Shearsmith.
The director is no stranger to horror tackling films such as Kill List and Sightseers, the latter skewing more in the realm of satire.
Ben Wheatley is attached to direct Tomb Raider 2 and The Meg sequel for Warner Bros. but when those will shoot is a little unclear.
Johnny Depp won’t be in Fantastic Beasts 3 after all, the actor took to his Instagram account to make a public statement about the studio asking him to resign the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald.
The studio is said to be looking to recast the role as filming has been underway at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England making it a little difficult to pivot to a new villain given how Grindelwald was being lined-up to be a baddie in the next three films.
Colin Farrell had played a version in the first installment before morphing into Johnny Depp and we’ll keep our fingers crossed they’ll go back to him, given how much hype the Irish actor is getting for playing The Penguin in The Batman with heavy special effects makeup.
It feels like Warner Bros. was waiting on the results of Johnny Depp’s libel court case against The Sun (concerning articles calling him a “wife beater”) before making any concrete calls, Depp had recently lost that trial and alludes in his statement to that being a reason for the exit.
There has also been some behind the scenes chatter that Depp will also be removed from Disney’s Pirates of The Caribbean franchise as well, despite two separate projects in the works from the studio.
Warner Bros. has also had to deal with multiple anti-trans comments from Fantastic Beasts franchise screenwriter and Harry Potter author/creator J.K. Rowling, the writer sticking to guns and seemingly inflaming upset fans by doubling-down on that transphobia.
Rowling and director David Yates had previously stood by Depp.
In Chapter 10, directed by Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed, we see Season 1 actress Misty Rosas return after playing Kuiil (voiced by Nick Nolte) to take a new role of the Frog Lady fare and Richard Ayoade’s droid bounty hunter makes a brief return too.
Mando encounters some tie-fighter pilots leading to him wrecking the ship and stranding the group on an icy planet.
We also see a huge call-back to the white spiders created by artist Ralph McQuarrie for The Empire Strikes Back (seen above) and excellently used on this snowy planet, the new episode also homages both James Cameron’s Aliens and John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing. They were also used in Star Wars: Rebels and given the name of Krykna.
Between tackling the Krykna in this new episode and the Krayt dragon on Tatooine in Chapter 9, it is starting to feel like the visual effects budget has been greatly increased from Season 1.
Here is a new batch of concept artwork from Chapter 10.
Deadline is claiming that a Boba Fett miniseries is set to begin shooting this week before Season 3 of The Mandalorian.
A project that has yet to be confirmed officially by Lucasfilm or Disney.
I hear possibly a Boba Fett miniseries, would film first, starting next week, with The Mandalorian Season 3 following after a monthlong break.
We previously got confirmation that actor Temurea Morrison would be taking the Boba Fett role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, as his New Zealand agency confirmed the part in an official CV document.
Information on this Boba Fett series is limited given that Lucasfilm hasn’t even announced it officially or who is working on it. We also don’t know if it will be following Morrison or a younger incarnation of the character before the events of the original trilogy. Daniel Logan played a younger version of Boba in the prequels and could be the right age for a series.
Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg had been developing a Boba Fett movie for Lucasfilm before the project dissolved after the hiccups at 20th Century Fox making Fantastic Four. Lucasfilm attempted a second incarnation of the Fett movie but development there stalled again leading to the studio to pivot to The Mandalorian series instead along with the other spinoff films like Solo: A Star Wars Story.
This path would seemingly echo how Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi film turned into a limited series for Disney+ with The Mandalorian’s Deborah Chow set to direct that show after film development didn’t stick.
Boba Fett is established as a clone of Jango Fett (played by Temurea Morrison) and first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special in the animated sequence, then appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi (also in Special Edition of A New Hope years after it’s original release). A younger live-action incarnation of Boba Fett (played by Daniel Logan) was last seen in Star Wars: Attack of The Clones.
Who exactly is directing or writing this Boba Fett project is unknown.
THE RONIN 