Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

Christopher Nolan’s WWII Film About J. Robert Oppenheimer Lands At Universal & Begins Filming In 2022

Director Christopher Nolan has been shopping around a new World War II film project to multiple studios about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. His work ultimately led to the surrender of the Japanese after two atomic bombs were unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military, killing countless civilians in an instant and even more than that slowly/painfully over time.

Deadline has an update that Universal Pictures has landed the new project with production expected to begin shooting in the first quarter of 2022. This would end Nolan’s run with longtime studio partner Warner Bros. Pictures and remains to be seen if Universal will get first dibs on future films.

The report adds that Warner Bros. wasn’t in the mix for the WWII film, but Universal, Sony, and MGM were.

Nolan’s muse Cillian Murphy (Inception, Batman Begins, Dunkirk) had been previously mentioned for the role of Oppenheimer, but it doesn’t sound like it’s a lock.

I’m extremely curious if Christopher Nolan will attempt to document the Pacific War and the Japanese side of the story along with the civilians that were essentially erased from the planet as part of power move by the United States to end the bloody South Pacific campaign with an extreme show of force. One of the darkest moments in human history.

It’s really not that shocking that Christopher Nolan would attempt to explore this part of history, all you have to do is look at Nolan’s films The Dark Knight Rises and Tenet to understand the filmmaker’s obsession with nuclear armament.

You might remember that Christopher Nolan wasn’t terribly happy how Tenet was released during the pandemic in 2020 (conflicting trade reports blame both Warner Bros. and Nolan for that hiccup with various “sources” finger pointing to each other’s camp). However, when WarnerMedia announced their plans for a hybrid release for all 2021 releases to promote HBO Max, that seemed to be the final straw for the filmmaker and signs that his longtime relationship with Warner Bros. has come to an end.

Universal Pictures recently released F9: The Fast Saga (Nolan is admittedly a fan of Tokyo Drift), are distribution partners on No Time To Die (Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond), and behind the upcoming horror flick Halloween Kills.

A release date for the untitled film is likely heading towards 2023.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Andrew Garfield Says ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Set Image Circulating Online Is Photoshop: “I’m Trying To Manage Expectations”

Coming off even more denials about appearing as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Andrew Garfield is now claiming that the images making the rounds of him on some sort of set is actually “photoshop.”

Garfield appeared on The Tonight Show, when host Jimmy Fallon confronted him about the image of him and he admitted he’s seen it but it’s not real.

“I heard about it and I did see it, and it’s a photoshop. [Audience groans] I’m trying to manage expectations.”

Adding to previous denials of his involvement in the superhero pic.

He’s not the only actor pouring cold water on an appearance in the Spider-Man sequel, Charlie Cox recently said that pandemic travel restrictions and shooting his AMC+ series Kin made it impossible for him to film scenes in Atlanta.

“There was a fan on the Kin crew. I came to work one day, and the rumor had come out that I was filming in Atlanta, and he asked me like it was a sensible question, and I was like, ‘I’ve been here every day with you, on set’ but I think he was so hopeful that he still was like, ‘Is it true?’; I had to say to him, ‘How would it be true?”

“Even if I had a few days off, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I’m not allowed to fly anywhere. What are you talking about?’ Did he think Captain America came to get me?”

I guess we’ll have to see if these denials are genuine or not this winter.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still marked down for a December 17 release date.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME – For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

SOURCE: THE TONIGHT SHOW

Posted on in Television News

Live-Action ‘She-Ra’ Series Being Developed By Amazon

A new report from Variety has revealed that a new live-action series with Masters of The Universe character She-Ra is in very early development at Amazon Studios with DreamWorks Animation producing the potential show.

Sadly, we’re not getting anything concerning potential creatives such as writers, directors or even who they’ll want to play She-Ra. It’ll be interesting how they’ll approach the character after Netflix’s recent animated series She-Ra & The Princesses of Power.

She-Ra & The Princesses of Power is set on the planet Etheria and follows the stories of Adora and Catra, orphans who were raised to be soldiers in the Horde. They are part of an evil army led by Hordak, a tyrannical despot who dreams of conquering the planet.

This would be the first time She-Ra was given a live-action adaptation, while He-Man has a feature film previously and a new one has stalled multiple times to the point it seems unlikely that will come together anytime soon.

It’ll be curious to see if She-Ra series happens before a He-Man movie goes into production.

She-Ra isn’t the only fantasy hybrid projects in the works with an animated ThunderCats film from Adam Wingard (Godzilla Vs. Kong) and Millennium Films is taking a crack at a brand new Red Sonja film with Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man & The Wasp, Residential Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City) playing the female warrior.

Amazon is also behind two high-profile fantasy series The Wheel of Time and Lord of The Rings, both have multiple season commitments. It’ll be interesting to see if Amazon’s version of She-Ra will skew as a mature incarnation or be developed for younger audiences.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News, News

Rian Johnson Says ‘Knives Out 2’ Has Officially Wrapped Production

Rian Johnson has taken to Twitter to announce that his Knives Out sequel, referred to as Knives Out 2, has wrapped principal photography.

“We just wrapped production on the next Benoit Blanc mystery and also I finally watched Annette and holy shit it’s amazing. Sending so much love and gratitude to our INCREDIBLE crew and cast and Leos Carax!”

The impressive cast of Knives Out 2 already consists of Daniel Craig (No Time To Die), Dave Bautista (Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy, Army of The Dead), Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders, Moonrise Kingdom), Janelle Monae (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections, Iron Fist, Game of Thrones), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Ethan Hawke (Moon Knight, The Magnificent Seven), Madelyn Cline, and Leslie Odom Jr. (Murder On The Orient Express, One Night In Miami).

Craig returns as the comedic Southern detective Benoit Blanc as it seems like a group of Americans are the target of a new murder mystery in Greece, I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if it involves another bunch of rich/entitled characters if the set photos are anything to go by.

When the Knives Out sequels were first announced they made headlines because when Netflix closed a massive deal with Johnson and Craig worth a massive $400 million to secure the next two installments.

It’s unclear when they’ll start shooting Knives Out 3 or if Johnson has even begun writing the film’s script.

We likely won’t know for a while when Netflix will release the film as they don’t really dish on release dates too early or just after a project completes filming.

KNIVES OUT – The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.

SOURCE: RIAN JOHNSON

Posted on in News, Television News, Trailers

TRAILER: ‘Hawkeye’ Series Is A Holiday Themed Two-Hander Releasing On November 24

It’s starting to look like the Hawkeye series is going to double as a holiday special, as Marvel Studios and Disney have dropped the first-look teaser trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series starring Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton and Hailee Steinfeld as his new protege, Kate Bishop.

The new series begins airing on November 24 on Disney+.

Disney+ and Marvel Studios invite you on an unexpected holiday getaway, unwrapping a brand-new teaser trailer and poster today for “Hawkeye,” a new series set in post-blip New York City. Former Avenger Clint Barton has a seemingly simple mission: get back to his family for Christmas. Possible? Maybe with the help of Kate Bishop, a 22-year-old archer with dreams of becoming a Super Hero. The two are forced to work together when a presence from Barton’s past threatens to derail far more than the festive spirit.

Starring Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, “Hawkeye” also features Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James and newcomer Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez. Helmed by Rhys Thomas and directing duo Bert and Bertie, “Hawkeye” debuts exclusively on Disney+ on November 24, 2021.

Other live-action MCU shows on the horizon include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, an Echo spinoff, a Wakanda series from Ryan Coogler, Armor Wars, Ironheart, Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special, an untitled Halloween Special, Season 2 of Loki, Season 2 of Ms. Marvel, and much much more.

SOURCE: DISNEY

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Predator 5’ Officially Wraps Filming With Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers & Dane Diliegro Confirmed For Roles

It’s officially a wrap on Predator 5! Cinematographer Jeff Cutter reveals on Instagram that the film has finished production after spending the summer filming in Calgary, Alberta.

He also confirmed three actors for the film two of which The Ronin previously mentioned were involved with the new Predator film. They Include Amber Midthunder (Legion), Dakota Beavers, and Dane Diliergo.

UPDATE: Kyle Strauts, who we first revealed in May would be back in the predator role after appearing in Shane Black’s The Predator has also confirmed his role in the pic.

The new pic directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg will follow a group of Indigenous humans, the assumption has been this will be the first film in the Predator franchise taking place before the events of the original and will be a period film.

Filming kicked off back on June 10.

Predator 5’s production team consists of the aforementioned cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane), production designer Kara Lindstrom (Den of Thieves), and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation).

Predator 5 isn’t the only project from the Alien/Predator franchise in the works has Ridley Scott has been teasing a third Alien prequel era film is on the table at 20th Century Studios and Scott is producing an Earthbound Alien series from Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) at FX.

It’ll be curious to see if Trachtenberg’s film will be a one-off or connect to future installments or a series.

Disney hasn’t announced a release date but trades had been speculation it would land a spot in the Summer of 2022.

However, Predator 5 is a co-production between 20th Century Studios and Hulu, which means it could skip a traditional theatrical release to become a Hulu exclusive.

PREDATOR – Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier of fortune, is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes weapons expert Blain (Jesse Ventura) and CIA agent George (Carl Weathers), land in Central America, something is gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings.

SOURCE: JEFF CUTTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Shang-Chi’ Heading Towards $36M In Second Weekend

Shang-Chi & The Legends of The Ten Rings is doing pretty decent all things considered, as the new numbers for this weekend have arrived. Deadline says the current weekend estimates for the film’s second weekend at the domestic box office is $35.7 million, which is a 53% drop from their $75.3 million opening and impressive $94.6 million four-day over the Labor Day long weekend.

The new Avenger has made quite the global impact earning $258 million and counting. Disney might have to settle with lower than normal international earnings as it’s looking less likely that Shang-Chi will secure a release date in China due to the increasingly disgruntled government censors that are now looking for excuses to reject western films.

There is already chatter that Eternals might also be passed over for Chinese date too.

Disney recently mentioned that Chloe Zhao’s Eternals will be keeping a theatrical window, not unlike Shang-Chi, meaning that they’ll be avoiding a hybrid release with Premier Access. They also announced four mystery MCU films for 2024, could one of them be for Shang-Chi 2?

It’s not so great for James Wan and New Line Cinema though, as the horror pic Malignant earned a poultry $5.5 million. Not the best news when the high-profile genre project likely is essentially a flop when production, marketing/distribution costs are factored in, it will be impossible for the film to turn a profit from the domestic box office alone.

Interestingly enough, a majority of Wan’s films that he directors or produces tend to do well at the box office, but Malignant, for whatever reason, didn’t seem to interest mature audiences this time around.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News, Television News

Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Enlists ‘Harry Potter’ & ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ VFX Supervisor John Moffatt

After Film London mentioning that production has begun this month on Marvel’s Secret Invasion series, it looks like the big project has nabbed a film industry veteran to handle the show’s extensive visual effects.

The Ronin has learned that visual effects supervisor John Moffatt has joined the series. Moffatt is best known for strictly film work with some impressive credits such as Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows 1-2, Wonder Woman 1984, Life, The Brothers Grimsby, and Snow White & The Huntsman.

The impressive cast consists of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull Leader Talos, Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, Hot Fuzz, The Crown), four-time Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, Peaky Blinders) said to be playing a villain, and most recent addition to the Marvel series is character actor Christopher McDonald (Hacks, Happy Gilmore).

This would again suggest that Secret Invasion might be a bit bigger than previous Disney+ shows.

Secret Invasion is a big event in Marvel Comics, where it’s revealed that Skrulls have quietly replaced various leaders and even superheroes in a bid to invade Earth. As with other MCU adaptations, it’s assumed that the studio will have its own take on the source material for the live-action incarnation.

It’ll be interesting to see if they’ll indeed reveal that beloved characters were Skrulls the entire time or during the events of Infinity War/Endgame, which may or may not ruffle feathers depending on who they pick for that.

We previously confirmed Secret Invasion’s crew would include production designer Frank Walsh (Lost In Space) and cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Future Man).

Kyle Bradstreet (Mr. Robot) is the MCU show’s head writer with directors Thomas Bezhucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower) shooting episodes.

Samuel L. Jackson has already confirmed on Instagram that he’s shot scenes for Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels (currently in production at Longcross Studios), which further illustrates the expected cross-pollination between the casts given their similar shooting schedules and proximity as both are filming in the London area.

Secret Invasion is aiming to be ready for release on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Has Finally Wrapped After A Long & Exhausting Shoot

Christopher McQuarrie has taken to Instagram to announce that they’ve finally finished production on Mission: Impossible 7 starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. This after almost a year and a half of filming with various pauses/hiccups due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mission: Impossible 7 is part one of a two part story with Mission: Impossible 8 expected to shoot a some point, but likely won’t get going anytime soon as it was reported that it will no-longer shoot back-to-back. Given the lengthy production on this film, we shouldn’t be surprised.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTrSQEas8-U/

The rest of the sequel’s cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby (Hobbs & Shaw), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, Clear & Present Danger), Cary Elwes (Saw, Stranger Things), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Charles Parnell (The Last Ship), and British character actor Mark Gatiss (Sherlock).

Filming took place in London, Rome, Abu Dhabi, and Norway.

Paramount Pictures recently bumped the film’s release date to September 30, 2022 after putting Top Gun: Maverick in it’s previous spot of May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRIE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Prequel ‘Furiosa’ Delayed To May 2024 Due To Production Delays

Yesterday, Warner Bros. announced via Variety that Furiosa would be getting a release delay from June 23, 2023 to Memorial Day weekend in May 2024. This is directly because of the production hiccups linked to COVID-19 in Australia, where the film was originally scheduled to shoot over the summer.

Instead, the film’s main leads Anya Taylor-Joy (The Northman, Last Night In Soho, The Menu), Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Love & Thunder, Extraction 2), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman, The Matrix Resurrections, Aquman & The Lost Kingdom) are going to shoot other projects until cameras roll on Furisoa in 2022.

The extensive post-production and editing process on the film is expected to take much longer than with most big studio action films, as it did with Mad Max: Fury Road, since it shot in 2012 but didn’t release until 2015.

Production on Furiosa was going to take place at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales. The same stage facility recently used to shoot Marvel flicks Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and Thor: Love & Thunder.

Director George Miller isn’t new to delays on his Mad Max films, there was a ten year delay on Fury Road before they started shooting that one leading to the recasting of Mel Gibson with Tom Hardy. Hopefully, they’ll be able to begin filming next year without any further hiccups.

Furiosa will be the first film in the Mad Max franchise to focus on another lead character as it will explore the female warrior’s journey from The Green Place to The Citadel.

Miller is still expected to return Tom Hardy’s Max at some point with a continuation to Fury Road.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD – Haunted by his turbulent past, Mad Max believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa. They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe, from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.

SOURCE: VARIETY