Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Television News

Actress Sophie Thatcher Reportedly Joining ‘The Mandalorian’ Universe

Deadline is reporting a rumor that American actress Sophie Thatcher (Prospect) is joining The Mandalorian universe in Season 3, a spinoff series or both. It’s unclear at the moment what the project is, however, they suggest that rumor of a spinoff featuring Cara Dune and Bo-Katan is untrue for the moment.

A recent online report pointed to a potential offshoot featuring Cara Dune, played by Gina Carano, and the Star Wars Rebels character Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff, who has been rumored to appear The Mandalorian‘s second season.) Such a project does not appear to be real, at least for now.

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.

It remains to be seen what this spinoff series could be if it’s something else than what has been reported previously. They’re also not disclosing information concerning Thatcher’s Star Wars role.

Sophie previously worked with The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal in the sci-fi thriller Prospect.

Showrunner and director Jon Favreau has stated that they’re hopeful to roll cameras before the end of the year. Deadline is also pointing to a start in 2021.

Earlier this morning we posted about Season 3’s working title seemingly being confirmed as Buccaneer via Production Weekly (originally coming from The DisInsider last month), a potential sign we could be seeing more pirates, smugglers, thieves, and criminal syndicates in the new season. Also, our own speculation that beloved alien pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, could show up given he’s still alive in this era of Star Wars and Filoni adding his characters from the animated series in Season 2.

Depending on how the shoot goes, Season 3 might be ready to air on Disney+ by the end of 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Olivia Wilde Thriller ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Halts Due To Positive COVID-19 Test – Had Been Filming In Los Angeles

Yesterday, Deadline confirmed that Los Angeles filming on the New Line Cinema thriller Don’t Worry Darling has temporarily paused due to a positive COVID-19 test from an undisclosed member of the production, not to be part of the main cast. The period film being directed by Booksmart’s Olivia Wilde has an impressive cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, and Olivia Wilde.

Production will pause for 14 days.

New Line tonight temporarily shut down production on the Olivia Wilde-directed film Don’t Worry Darling when a member of the production tested positive for COVID-19. The studio confirmed it happened, something that is an occupational hazard for any film or TV show that is shooting right now. They shut down right away.

With the United States hitting 103,000+ single day new positive COVID-19 cases, an all-time record, there is a good chance that other productions in and outside of California are likely going to see more productions hit with positive tests. Even with aggressive safety protocols in place.

The New Line project isn’t the only project filming stateside that has had hiccups due to positive tests as Dwayne Johnson (along with his family) tested positive just weeks before Netflix’s Red Notice was set to resume filming in Atlanta. Speaking of Atlanta, Marvel Studios has a huge presence in the area with Disney+ shows wrapping up alongside Spider-Man 3, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk all set to film there.

In mid-October, filming on the Netflix western The Harder They Fall starring Idris Elba and Regina King that was taking place in New Mexico paused for COVID-19 tests as well. Elba famously had previously dealt with the Coronavirus while in Australia and shared his experience on social media.

There were reports that Spyglass Media’s Scream 5 had three crew members contract COVID-19 in North Carolina but kept on filming anyways which sounds extremely risky from an insurance perspective and to the safety of their cast/crew.

Production bubbles seem to be where things are headed and might be a way to curb potential future shut downs. Bubbles limit the contact of people working on the film to outsiders and hinder the chance of positive tests, the NBA bubble was a huge success story over the summer.

Director Olivia Wilde is expected to follow-up Don’t Worry Darling with an untitled Sony/Marvel film which is reportedly focusing on Jesscia Drew aka Spider-Woman.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Working Title Is ‘Buccaneer’ – Jon Favreau Expected To Direct Again

It was posted by Production Weekly that the working title of Season 3 of Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian will be Buccaneer.

The title is a pirate term which could suggest that a beloved Clone Wars/Rebels character like Hondo Ohnaka might be showing up in Season 3, but that is more speculation given how other animation characters are said to have live-action counterparts appearing in Season 2.

However, it is worth noting that Hondo happens to be a character at Galaxy’s Edge (means he is alive in The Mandalorian era and beyond) and there is an obvious reason to link a theme park character to the popular series.

It could also be a nod to the criminal group Dharus Buccaneers.

There are plenty of pirate gangs and criminal syndicates in Star Wars but we really haven’t seen them in full display as The Mandalorian (so far) has been mostly exploring the world of bounty hunters and Imperial forces with limited interaction with the criminal side of the galaxy.

Back in August, The Ronin reported that Jon Favreau is returning as writer, producer, showrunner, and director. He’s expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3 as he recently directed the Season 2 premiere. We also confirmed that Emmy-winning production designer Andrew Jones would be returning.

There is also an assumption that Dave Filoni will be back as a director too.

Favreau has suggested to Variety that filming could begin before the end of the year.

Executive producer and showrunner Jon Favreau told Variety that The Mandalorian is “on schedule” to start production on Season 3 of the series “before the end of the year” — after Pascal wraps shooting in Europe on the feature film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicolas Cage.

Despite fan rumblings of actor Pedro Pascal being replaced as Din Djarin aka Mando that doesn’t seem to be happening given how credible sources haven’t supported that chatter and Pascal has been heavily promoting the series (even on his own time).

The working title was first brought-up by Skyler from The DisInsider back in October via Twitter and is now seemingly confirmed by Production Weekly’s update.

The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. “The Mandalorian” stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez. Showrunner Jon Favreau serves as executive producer along with Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson, with Karen Gilchrist serving as co-executive producer.

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

Netflix WWII Spy Thriller ‘Munich’ Adds ‘Watchmen’s Jeremy Irons and ‘1917’s George MacKay – Filming Underway

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Netflix’s thriller Munich has landed an interesting cast that includes Jeremy Irons (Watchmen), George MacKay (1917), Jannis Niehwöhner (Mute), Liv Lisa Fries (Babylon Berlin), Erin Doherty (The Crown), Sandra Hüller (Toni Erdmann), August Diehl (A Hidden Life), Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey), Marc Limpach (Bad Banks), and Martin Wuttke (Inglourious Basterds).

The Crown’s Christian Schwochow will be directing the thriller that takes places on the eve of WWII based on the Robert Harris book being adapted by Ben Power

The spy thriller is set in fall 1938 as Europe stands on the brink of World War II. As Adolf Hilter prepares to invade Czechoslovakia, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Irons) is desperate to find a peaceful solution.  British civil servant Hugh Legat (McKay) and German diplomat Paul von Hartmann (Niehwöhner), travel to Munich for an emergency conference. As they see if war can be averted — and at what cost — the two old friends find themselves at the center of a political plot, with their own lives in danger.

Filming is said to be underway with an expectation it will drop sometime in 2021 on Netflix.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

New ‘Resident Evil’ Movie Adds ‘Blade’ Actor Donal Logue

Deadline reports that Blade and Gotham actor Donal Logue has joined the cast of the Resident Evil reboot currently filming in the Toronto area.

Chad Rook and Lily Gao also are also new additions.

Previously announced cast members include Kaya Scodelario (Crawl) as Claire Redfield alongside Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ready Player One) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone, Band of Brothers, Captain America: The First Avenger) as William Birkin.

Johannes Roberts will be directing and it’s been confirmed that it will be an origin story taking place at Raccoon City in 1998.

The film is a hard-reboot of the Resident Evil film franchise that originally focused on the original character Alice, created by director Paul W.S. Anderson for his string of feature films that barely resembled the Capcom video games.

There is a live-action Netflix series in the works as well.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Tom Hardy Leading Vietnam War Film ‘The Things They Carried’ From ‘Ghost In The Shell’ Director Rupert Sanders – Aims For Early 2021 Shoot In Thailand

Deadline reports that Rupert Sanders (Foundation, Ghost In The Shell) will be directing a new Vietnam War film titled The Things They Carried with an all-star cast that includes Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Tye Sheridan (Mud, X-Men: Apocalypse), Pete Davidson (The Suicide Squad), Bill Skarsgard (IT), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), Martin Sensmeier, Moises Arias, and Angus Cloud.

The news comes from sales at the American Film Market.

Blue chip firm MadRiver has boarded world sales rights and will launch the buzz title this week for the AFM ahead of a planned early 2021 shoot in Thailand. CAA Media Finance is arranging financing and will co-rep North American rights.

Tom Hardy is no stranger to war projects previously having roles in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down, HBO’s Band of Brothers, and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

The film is being adapted from the writings of Tim O’Brien by screenwriter Scott B. Smith (Westworld, A Simple Plan).

Pulitzer Prize-finalist O’Brien served in Vietnam in the late 1960s and his experiences course through his work. In The Things They Carried, which is often taught in middle schools and high schools across America, he tells the story of the young men of Alpha Company, a platoon of soldiers sent to fight on the ground during the War. Trekking from village to village amidst chaos and confusion, the young men struggle to navigate a growing labyrinth of physical, mental, and emotional terrains as they battle for the survival of their sanity, innocence, and each other.

Filming is said to begin early next year in Thailand.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

UK Heading Into Second National Lockdown This Week – Will Not Impact Film Productions For The Moment

The British government has announced via Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s national address over the weekend that after weeks of dire COVID-19 predictions for the region they’re finally moving back into a second national lockdown starting on November 5th and lifting it on December 2nd (could be extended if necessary).

JOHNSON: “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day”

For comparison, UK COVID-19 cases have topped 1,000,000 including 47,717 deaths while the United States still hasn’t instituted a national lockdown with 9,280,000 million cases and over 231,000 COVID-19 deaths.

While dine-in bars/restaurants (can do takeout), cinemas, and other non-essentially businesses are closing film productions are expected to chug along like nothing is happening. I’m curious how long that will last if more productions publicly deal with new positive cases after both Jurassic World: Dominion and The Batman dealt with their own recently, the latter seeing star Robert Pattinson test positive for COVID-19.

This was later backed-up by Oliver Dowden, the government’s Culture Secretary on Twitter.

Things like schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open. However, that could change if they don’t see a decrease in numbers which might also lead to stricter measures and might lead to everything non-essentially getting closed including film shoots (filming in a bubble or not).

As previously stated, The Batman and Jurassic World: Dominion are filming in the United Kingdom alongside Fantastic Beasts 3. There is an expectation that the Moon Knight series, Ant-Man 3, Captain Marvel 2, and The Flash are prepping to shoot as well in the new year. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness was supposed to film at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, however, trades have suggested that lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch is set to shoot his scenes in Atlanta for Spider-Man 3 before filming starts on the Strange sequel.

A lot can happen in a month and it doesn’t seem they’re going all-in with this new lockdown, which might return to bite them in the ass as did the slow response to rising new cases and delayed second lockdown when the government knew months ago that this was only getting worse in the UK. I’m worried these half-steps just won’t be enough and they’ll essentially announce a more rigorous lockdown in a couple weeks or in December, extending it throughout the holidays.

Posted on in Film News

Jordan Peele To Produce A Remake of Wes Craven’s Horror Film ‘The People Under The Stairs’ For Universal

With reboots of both The Twilight Zone and Candyman already under his belt, Collider reports that Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) will be producing a feature film remake of 1991 horror film The People Under The Stairs for Universal Pictures.

However, Jordan Peele is only expected to produce with Win Rosenfled.

Peele will produce the remake alongside Win Rosenfeld via their Monkeypaw Productions banner, and though Peele is not expected to direct the film himself, it remains unclear whether he and/or Rosenfeld will have a hand in writing the script, as they did in co-writing Candyman alongside director Nia DaCosta.

The original was directed by horror legend Wes Craven, who created Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream franchises.

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS – When young Fool (Brandon Adams) breaks into the home of his family’s greedy and uncaring landlords, he discovers a disturbing scenario where incestuous adult siblings have mutilated a number of boys and kept them imprisoned under stairs in their large, creepy house. As Fool attempts to flee before the psychopaths can catch him, he meets their daughter, Alice (A.J. Langer), who has been spared any extreme discipline by her deranged parents. Can Fool and Alice escape before it’s too late?

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

Dave Bautista Plays An Intergalactic Peacekeeper In Brad Peyton’s Alien Prison Escape Flick ‘Universe’s Most Wanted’ – Begins Filming In The Spring

Deadline reports that Dave Bautista will be returning to the sci-fi genre in the Universe’s Most Wanted for director Brad Peyton (Rampage) with a script penned by F. Scott Frazier (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) with the film heading the virtual American Film Market next month.

The film will focus on a small town which gets a big surprise when a space ship carrying the universe’s most wanted and dangerous criminals crash lands in their backyard. Soon the sheriff’s son becomes a hero when he finds himself helping an intergalactic peacekeeper (Bautista) to keep the ragtag group of alien prisoners from escaping and taking over the world.

AGC Studios and CAA Media Finance will launch worldwide sales on the project in the coming weeks to coincide with the virtual AFM.

Dave’s sci-fi credits include Riddick, Guardians of The Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, and Blade Runner 2049.

Honestly, this project sounds a lot like one of the early incarnations of the Lobo film, based on the DC Comics antihero that Peyton was once attached to direct for Warner Bros. Pictures years ago.

Filming on Universe’s Most Wanted begins in the spring.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Steve Agee Officially Reprising Warden John Economos Role In James Gunn’s ‘Peacekeeper’ Series For HBO Max

Yesterday, it was announced by Deadline that comedic actor Steve Agee (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2) will be reprising one of his two roles from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad for the upcoming spinoff series on HBO Max. Steve will be playing Belle Reve warden John Economos. The DC Comics series will focus on John Cena’s character Peacekeeper with James Gunn returning to write and direct.

I hear Agee will reprise one of two of his Suicide Squad roles, that of John Economos. The character is a warden of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary and an aide to Viola Davis’ government character Amanda Waller. Agee is a longtime thespian in Gunn’s canon, having starred in the filmmaker’s Super, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and his horror feature production Brightburn directed by David Yarovesky. Agee also is playing King Shark in Suicide Squad. 

Gunn and Steve confirmed the news on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1322003900077993984

The Suicide Squad is set for release on August 6th, 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE