Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

Michael B. Jordan May End Up Directing ‘Creed 3’ For MGM

As reports swirled that MGM was meeting with Apple and Netflix for the streaming rights for their Jame Bond film No Time To Time (reportedly not happening), Deadline added a neat update concerning MGM’s third Creed film suggesting that Michael B. Jordan may end up making his directorial debut on the Rocky franchise spinoff.

While MGM is working on a Creed sequel that Michael B Jordan is considering to direct…

Michael B. Jordan’s most recent film Without Remorse moved from Paramount Pictures to Amazon Prime Video, an action film set in the world of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe as Michael will be playing lead character John Clark. Clark is a Navy SEAL turned C.I.A. operator previously played by Willem Dafoe in Clear & Present Danger and Liev Schreiber in The Sum of All Fears.

CREED II – In 1985, Russian boxer Ivan Drago killed former U.S. champion Apollo Creed in a tragic match that stunned the world. Against the wishes of trainer Rocky Balboa, Apollo’s son Adonis Johnson accepts a challenge from Drago’s son — another dangerous fighter. Under guidance from Rocky, Adonis trains for the showdown of his life — a date with destiny that soon becomes his obsession. Now, Johnson and Balboa must confront their shared legacy as the past comes back to haunt each man.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Tom Holland Has Finally Arrived In Atlanta To Shoot ‘Spider-Man 3’ and Is Super Excited About It – “Let’s Go!”

It looks like Spider-Man 3’s main shoot is about to kick-off soon in Atlanta, Georgia as Tom Holland has now officially flown over from Europe to the United States after seemingly competing the production on the Uncharted film.

Tom posted some videos of himself on what looked like a private plane on Instagram Stories and the final one was of him walking on the tarmac confirming he was in the city to shoot Spider-Man 3 and was super enthusiastic about it.

HOLLAND: “So we just landed in Atlanta and… it’s time for Spider-Man 3. Let’s Go!”

I don’t really blame Tom Holland for the excitement given the film had been delayed multiple times due to the Coronavirus pausing the production of Uncharted back in March just before they started rolling on it. That pretty much cemented that the summer shoot for Spider-Man 3 would be pushed into the fall/winter.

However, with the skyrocketing new cases of COVID-19 in the United States as single day numbers are the highest since the pandemic started, I’m slightly curious if the production will see multiple hiccups throughout the shoot if they don’t use a production bubble (similar to what was used with the NBA) to keep cast and crew safe. We’ve already seen in the United Kingdom (less cases and deaths per capita than the U.S.) that both massive films The Batman and Jurassic World: Dominion, despite new safety precautions, still ended up with positive test results with the former lead actor Robert Pattinson testing positive.

I’ll try to remain hopeful but it’s hard not to be at least worried that stateside film productions over the winter aren’t likely going to have an easy go as other places in the world.

While there have been plenty of rumors about who will show up in the third film cast members reported by trades include Holland, Zendaya as MJ, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Jacob Batalon as Ned, Tony Revolori as Flash, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Jamie Foxx shocking return as villain Electro.

There is also an expectation that J.K. Simmons will be back as the meddlesome J. Jonah Jameson.

I’m slightly curious if following the events of Spider-Man 3 that Tom Holland will be showing up in Doctors Strange In The Multiverse of Madness as his final Marvel Studios movie before the Sony/Marvel deal expires for a second time.

The film with returning director Jon Watts is expected to use the new working title of The November Project (used Serenity Now for 2nd unit shoot in NYC) during it’s time filming in Atlanta. It’s currently unknown if Spider-Man 3 will attempt to shoot in multiple other countries as previously planned.

More casting news should be coming very soon.

Spider-Man 3 has been given a release date of December 17th, 2021 by Sony Pictures but a lot can happen over a year and they just might not be able to hit that target as we’ve seen plenty of these release dates move for various reasons. They are hardly set in stone anymore.

SOURCE: TOM HOLLAND

Posted on in Film News

Destin Daniel Cretton May Have Announced A New Cast Member For Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’

Director Destin Daniel Cretton recently announced that filming on Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings has completed filming on Instagram.

He also seemingly revealed on Instagram Stories a new cast member with newcomer Zhang Meng Er playing an undisclosed character in the MCU film as mentioned how proud he was with her right after praising the film’s lead Simu Liu. Although, we can’t find a lot of information on her and isn’t the two other Chinese actresses with a similar name.

UPDATE: The director has confirmed she is indeed part of the film’s cast mentioning her alongside Shang-Chi’s three official main leads.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGx_IC3pLEU/

All we have to go on is the Instagram account the director linked to on the post which might suggest she is a new actress. She also hasn’t posted on Instagram since December 30th, 2019.

It’s worth noting that Marvel Studios has only confirmed three cast members with Simu, Tony Leung, and Awkwafina. Destin announcing them on social media as the film has wrapped wouldn’t be shocking.

Here she is at a signing back in the summer of 2019.

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is set to be released on July 9th, 2021.

SOURCE: DESTIN DANIEL CRETTON

Posted on in Film News

Simon Kinberg Is The Latest Screenwriter Hired For Universal’s ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Movie

Universal Pictures has hired a new screenwriter to help them realize their long in-development feature film reboot of the beloved 1970s sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica as The Hollywood Reporter reveals that writer Simon Kinberg is the latest addition to the project.

Simon Kinberg has signed on to write and produce Battlestar Galactica, Universal’s long-gestating feature adaptation of its sci-fi TV franchise.

Screenwriters John Orloff (Band of Brothers, Masters of The Air), Jack Paglen (Alien: Covenat), Lisa Joy (Westworld), and Jay Basu (Metal Gear Solid) previously worked on the film’s script in various incarnations.

Simon Kinberg is no stranger to science fiction as he worked on Star Wars: Rebels and had been trying to help Warner Bros. with their own reboot of the sci-fi thriller Logan’s Run. He was also involved with the Boba Fett film for Lucasfilm that was going to be directed by Josh Trank before the project was ultimately shelved.

His other screenwriting credits include X-Men: The Last Stand, Jumper, xXx: State of The Union, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes, This Means War, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, and the unremarkable Fantastic Four reboot.

Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Red Sparrow, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1-2) was the last director attached.

Universal is also developing a new BSG series for their streaming service Peacock.

SyFy revived the property as a three-part miniseries in 2003 and then moved forward with a series that lasted for four seasons.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind, the last major fighter carrier leads a makeshift fugitive fleet in a desperate search for the legendary planet Earth.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Ben Wheatley To Direct Jason Statham In ‘The Meg 2’

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rebecca director Ben Wheatley has been hired by Warner Bros. to direct their sequel to the shark action flick The Meg.

The studio has set filmmaker Ben Wheatley, whose updated version of Gothic tale Rebecca debuted this week, to direct the sequel to its 2018 giant shark thriller hit, The Meg.

The original earned an impressive $530.2 million globally on a budget of $130 million.

THE MEG – Previously thought to be extinct, a massive creature attacks a deep-sea submersible, leaving it disabled and trapping the crew at the bottom of the Pacific. With time running out, a visionary oceanographer recruits rescue diver Jonas Taylor to save the crew and the sea itself from an unimaginable threat — a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon.

Ben Wheatley is no stranger to action with his excellent R-rated action comedy Free Fire that focused on a Boston arms deal with the IRA that goes sour very quickly which starred Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, and Sharlto Copley.

He was also tasked to direct the Tomb Raider sequel but we haven’t got many updates on that film recently from Warner Bros. or the trades.

Jason Statham is a busy bee lately as he filmed a thriller called Wrath of Man aka Cash Truck for director Guy Ritchie and will reunite with Ritchie for the spy flick Five Eyes.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Jared Leto’s Joker and Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke Returning For Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ – Will Be Part of Additional Photography

The additional photography of Zack Snyder’s Justice League for HBO Max will see two Batman rogues make a return.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Jared Leto will be reprising the Joker after previously playing him Suicide Squad and having his role reportedly scaled-down from the original version from David Ayer. Other actors mentioned returning include Ben Affleck as Batman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and Amber Heard as Mera.

The Joker and Affleck’s Batman briefly tussled in a scene in Suicide Squad but never shot scenes for Justice League.

Collider also reports that Joe Manganiello will be reprising the role of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke as well. He was briefly shown at the end of Justice League alongside Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor as a teaser for the Legion of Doom.

The extent of their return isn’t mentioned. However, this news of the inclusion of Leto’s Joker seems to reinforce the project is indeed moving beyond the edit he showed Warner Bros. brass before Joss Whedon was brought-on.

It seems like neither Henry Cavill or Gal Gadot will be part of the new filming.

Snyder’s Justice League instead of being a single film edit will be divided into four hour long segments similar to a miniseries format as confirmed by HBO Max, who is putting up the money.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER & COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

MGM Says ‘No Time To Die’ Is Not For Sale Despite Report of Talks With Apple and Netflix

A report from Bloomberg states that MGM has held talks with Netflix and Apple (Apple TV+) about taking the latest James Bond installment titled No Time To Die to streaming with a massive deal, but the studio is declining to comment on those talks pointing out that the film isn’t for sale and they’re committed to releasing the film theatrically.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. held discussions with Apple Inc. and Netflix Inc. about taking its new James Bond film directly to streaming, according to people familiar with the situation, but the studio says it’s committed to a theatrical release.

The film, “No Time to Die,” could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars in a potential streaming sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. MGM declined to comment on any talks, but said the film “is not for sale.”

A deal like that would be massive and I have to assume would be extremely pricey given how costly the production budget is to make one of these James Bond films. However, it might cap what the producers, EON, and MGM would end up making in comparison to a regular theatrical run and might not be terribly appealing.

UPDATE: Variety says they were asking for a massive $600 million which was too rich for the streaming companies.

However, multiple insiders at rival studios and companies said that a possible Bond sale was explored overtly, and believe that MGM was at least open to the possibility of unloading their crown jewel for a princely sum. The studio was said to be looking for a deal of roughly $600 million — a price tag that was deemed too rich for two of the free-spending streaming services.

The film recently moved to a theatrical release on April 2nd, 2021.

NO TIME TO DIE – Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. 

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

Posted on in Film News

Marvel Studios Searching For Screenwriters To Tackle Their ‘Blade’ Reboot Starring Mahershala Ali

Marvel Studios is reportedly finally seeking screenwriters to write their upcoming Blade reboot film starring two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks aka Blade, a Marvel Comics anti-hero that hunts/kills vampires and happens to be half-vampire himself.

The brief update comes from The Hollywood Reporter as Marvel is looking at black writers to tackle the horror superhero, although, no names were mentioned.

Current projects that studios are hoping to populate with Black behind-the-camera talent include Marvel’s Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali, which is looking for writers…

Before the epic casting announcement at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Marvel had an in-house draft back in 2013 that sprung-up from their writers program that was created to produce original scripts internally. The original version of the Guardians of The Galaxy script was penned by Nicole Perlman in the writers program ahead of the hiring of James Gunn. It’s unknown if they’ll even use that previous draft as a blueprint.

This news would confirm that Blade isn’t as far along in the development process as we previously thought.

Wesley Snipes previously played the role in three feature films from New Line Cinema and rapper Sticky Fingaz reprised the part for a short-lived television series for Spike TV. The rights eventually reverted back to Marvel and they had been sitting on them until Mahershala asked to play Blade when he met with Marvel. Blade is traditionally an R-rated character that was reworked for the big screen by Snipes, screenwriter David S. Goyer, and director Stephen Norrington.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige has yet to confirm if they are aiming to make the new film for mature audiences or will go with a PG-13 route, given that they are dealing with vampires it would be difficult to have a large amount of blood, violence or gore.

Blade is currently without a director or a release date.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Has Officially Wrapped Filming

Today, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings has officially wrapped according to the MCU film’s director Destin Daniel Cretton, who made the announcement on his Instagram account. Filming had been placed on hiatus after the director had to quarantine himself from the cast and crew that was prolonged when Australia paused all productions for a good amount of time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGt_BaoJ76Z/

Simu Liu also commented on the post on Instagram Stories.

The only three cast members announced by Marvel Studios include Simu Liu as the titular hero Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as the real version of The Mandarin, and Awkwafina as the undisclosed female lead. Hopefully, with the film completing production we’ll start to get to official stills or at least the official cast/character list.

Shang-Chi is a martial arts superhero that was an homage to Bruce Lee and seemingly took direct inspiration from Lee’s film Enter The Dragon. While his power-set is mostly being incredibly skilled with weapons and various martial arts such as kung-fu (referred to as The Master of Kung-Fu), he later got the superhuman ability to replicate himself with multiple duplicates.

The new MCU film is expected to explore the real Mandarin’s relationship with terrorist group The Ten Rings (first appeared in Iron Man) and the villain is likely a surrogate for Shang-Chi’s comic book father Zheng Zu aka Fu Manchu.

Production was taking place at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia under the working title of Steamboat and filmed some exterior scenes in San Francisco recently. Now that Shang-Chi is finished principal photography, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder aka The Big Salad can move in to those stages to begin shooting in early 2021.

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is currently slated for release on July 9th, 2021 after being moved from February 12th and May 7th previously.

SOURCE: DESTIN DANIEL CRETTON

Posted on in Film News

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is The Latest Addition To Brad Pitt’s Assassin Action Flick ‘Bullet Train’

Deadline reports that British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson has landed a role in the upcoming action flick Bullet Train from John Wick and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch.

Aaron’s credits include Kick-Ass, Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tenet, and the upcoming Kingsman prequel film The King’s Man.

The film from Sony Pictures has recent Oscar-winner Brad Pitt in the lead role with Joey King and Andrew Koji also playing fellow assassins on a Tokyo bullet train.

SOURCE: DEADLINE