Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Ant-Man 3’ Adds ‘Shang-Chi’ & ‘The Matrix’ Cinematographer Bill Pope

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania has been shooting at Pinewood Studios UK with director Peyton Reed returning for the third installment. As cameras have already started rolling we now have a new tidbit of information that has seemingly revealed the MCU film’s director of photography, the person behind the camera.

A crew listing for Tommy Holman on Arri Crew (spotted by Will Mavity on Twitter) seemingly confirms the cinematographer on the Ant-Man sequel will be Bill Pope, a veteran of the industry. Some of Pope’s credits include movies such as Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy, Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver, The Matrix Trilogy, and Alita: Battle Angel.

You can see a screenshot of the site’s crew listing below.

Filming is taking place under the working title Dust Bunny and will see Jonathan Majors playing the film’s big villain, Kang The Conqueror. The evil variant of Majors’ Loki character He That Remains and is expected to become the next Thanos, being an antagonist in multiple MCU movies.

It’s been confirmed that Pinewood has their own version of The Volume and the Ant-Man sequel will be using it.

We previously reported that production is again returning to San Francisco and that Will Htay (No Time To Die, Rogue One, Solo, Andor) would be the movie’s production designer.

Interestingly enough, both Scott Lang and Shang-Chi happen to have made the Bay Area their home.

The cast consists of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet. There is also a shot that Canadian actor Dan Levy might have a role too after being spotted out to dinner with Paul Rudd.

There have been signs the next installment will be much bigger in scope than the previous two movies and having Kang’s true introduction will be part of that.

If you’re curious, the other cinematographers working on upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Ben Davis (Eternals), Eric Steelberg (Hawkeye), Carmen Cabana (Ms. Marvel), Mauro Fiore (Spider-Man: No Way Home), John Mathieson (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness), Baz Idoine (Thor: Love & Thunder), Florian Ballhaus (She-Hulk), Gregory Middleton (Moon Knight), Sean Bobbitt (The Marvels), Autumn Durald (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), and Sylvaine Dufaux (Secret Invasion).

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

SOURCE: ARRI CREW

Posted on in Film News, News

First Looks From ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’ With Trailer Officially Dropping On Thursday

The Matrix: Resurrections is about to give Matrix fans a massive thrill as Warner Bros. has announced the first trailer on Thursday, the film’s official Twitter account confirmed this and we even have some teases of that trailer. You can watch the snippets of teaser footage on the reactivated Matrix website here.

Lana Wachowksi returns to direct a cast that consists of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Daniel Bernhardt, Priyanka Chopra, Ibarra, Neil Patrick Harris, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Christina Ricci, and Ellen Hollman.

The new footage shows Jessica Henwick’s character, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as his Morpheus-like role, a Sentinel in the real world, Neo back in the dojo training program, Neo and Trinity together, and we see Keanu Reeves as Neo getting ready to fight a crowd of people along with stopping multiple machine guns at close range.

There is an expectation this latest installment could be the start of a second Matrix trilogy, but has yet to be officially announced by the studio or Lana Wachowski.

The Matrix: Resurrections still has a release date of December 22.

THE MATRIX – Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

Posted on in Film News, News

Charlie Cox Denies ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Rumor Due To Pandemic Travel Restrictions & Filming Irish Crime Series ‘Kin’

A recent fan-theory claimed that Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock appears in the new Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, however, IMAX versions of the trailer have debunked this and showed the man people believed was Murdock was really just the Damage Control gentleman, who had appeared with Peter Parker in that same room moments earlier.

While online rumors have pointed towards a Matt Murdock cameo in the Spider-Man sequel, someone is pouring cold water on that idea, Charlie Cox himself.

Speaking with the Irish Examiner, Charlie Cox says he’s not only not showing up in the film, but he’s had to break the news to friends and even crew members on the Irish set of his latest AMC+ series Kin. Pointing out that while he was supposedly in Atlanta shooting Spider-Man: No Way Home, he was actually shooting his new crime series in Ireland and adding travel restrictions that were in place at the time would have made that a logistical problem.

“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?”

If you remember following adamant denials from Tom Holland, former Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield denied rumors he would be appearing in the film as well.

We’ve seen that even with these public denials, it hasn’t done much to detour either fans or outlets from keeping faith that Cox’s Matt Murdock will show up, confirmed or not.

Other segments of Marvel fans have been pointing out that Tatiana Maslany could have easily played the role of Parker’s lawyer in the film given that she is playing Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk, a superhero defense attorney that we know is confirmed for the MCU as she just wrapped her series in Atlanta (same location where Spider-Man: No Way Home was filmed).

Also, it is worth noting if Doctor Strange’s spell did work erasing everyone’s memory of him as Spider-Man before the Multiverse stuff…why exactly would Peter Parker need a lawyer?

I guess we’ll find out for sure this winter when the film drops.

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: IRISH EXAMINER

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Secret Invasion’ Has Apparently Started Filming & ‘Hawkeye’ Heads To Toronto For Brief Reshoots

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

There is word from Film London that production has indeed started this month on Secret Invasion.

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).

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

Also, we have some updates concerning the reshoots for Hawkeye.

Hollywood North Buzz is relaying information from Production Weekly that claims that the Hawkeye series (working title Anchor Point) will be doing some brief reshoots in Toronto, where Jeremy Renner is filming his other series Mayor of Kingstown.

The Ronin can confirm this information along with adding our own that directors Rhys Thomas and new addition Tim Roche (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Silicon Valley) will be involved with the two days of filming that kick-off today. Roche has been an editor on WandaVision and Hawkeye, but has directing experience on sitcoms.

Bert and Bertie are also part of the show’s directing team.

Joining Renner includes actors such as Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Brian D’Arcy James, Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, and newcomer Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez aka Echo (getting her own spinoff series).

The six-episode MCU series originally wrapped filming back in April with a crew that includes production designer Maya Shimoguchi (The Matrix Resurrections, War For The Planet of Apes), cinematographer Eric Steelberg (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) and Heidi Moneymaker (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3) as the show’s stunt coordinator.

Hawkeye will debut on Disney+ starting November 24 and Secret Invasion should be ready in late 2022.

SOURCE: FILM LONDON & HOLLYWOOD NORTH BUZZ

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Shang-Chi’ Earns $90M+ At The Domestic Box Office Over The Long Weekend

Surpassing industry and studio box office projections, Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is said to be looking at a four-day total of $90 million, according to Variety. This number could increase given we won’t have total numbers for Monday until later in the week and estimates can always go up and come down.

UPDATE: Deadline is reporting that the final weekend numbers are $94.4 million domestically for the four-day long weekend.

It’s three-day total of $75. 5 million not only did better than Black Widow, it also broke a Labor Day weekend record that had been previously held by Rob Zombie’s Halloween back in 2007, when the pic earned $30. 6 million. A weekend not really known for huge box office takes.

The film has already earned an impressive $146.2 million globally on a possible budget of $150 million, which should make Marvel and Disney quick to put a sequel into development very very soon (if it isn’t already).

While YouTubers are trying to convince themselves and their subscribers that the film is a flop, everyone else living in reality can see how successful the film is going to become given that it really doesn’t have much competition until October unless James Wan’s R-rated horror flick Malignant surprises everyone.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Features

The Xian & Seven Capital Cities Of Heaven Could Play A Large Role In ‘Shang-Chi 2’

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOTH SHANG-CHI & POST-CREDIT SCENES

After the recent box office performance of Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and the stinger at the end of the film, it’s obvious that Marvel Studios will be moving forward with more films, possibly even a Disney+ series.

In the post-credit scene, Wong seems baffled by the Ten Rings and the objects’ origin alongside a possibility they’re now calling upon an outside force using a beacon.

One strong possibility might be The Xian or pantheon of Chinese gods in Marvel Comics.

They could be part of the expansive secret interdimensional inhabitance that Michelle Yeoh’s Auntie Nan was talking about when giving a rundown of Ta-Lo. Wenwu’s Ten Rings may have come from their dimension and might explain why there is a beacon calling to them, potentially because it’s a weapon of their making and Shang-Chi activating them in the village set it off.

One of the first instances of Ta-Lo in Marvel Comics was in the pages of Thor. There we are introduced to the Jade Emperor, aka, Yu Huang when the God of Thunder is traveling to the various pantheon of gods.

Basically, a group of powerful immortal beings that could easily either be friends or foes to Shang-Chi/Earth. There is a heap of characters that could be introduced some that jump out is Guan Yu The God of War, Yen-Lo Wang The God of Death, Zhurong The God of Fire, and Xi Wangmu The Goddess of Immortality.

Another interesting Xian character that might conflict with either Shang-Chi or Xialing could be the Demi-God Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). Best known from the iconic Journey To The West tale. In recent Marvel Comics, Sun Wukong is a crime lord that could easily cross paths with Shang-Chi on Earth with a magical staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, making him a formidable adversary.

The Immortal Weapons of Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, could also have a connection to The Xian and allow Marvel Studios to do a hard-reboot of Iron Fist/Danny Rand, K’un-Lun, and Shou-Lao The Undying after the lackluster Netflix series.

Iron Fist and K’un-Lun don’t really have to be that far apart from the new Shang-Chi franchise and could allow the new Avenger to have another MCU character that might have some insight into this secret world of gods and martial arts.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s love for the genre was highlighted in the first Shang-Chi film and it would be a fantastic excuse to reboot Danny Rand, unless they feel he’s too similar to the version of Shang-Chi they just gave us.

The Seven Capital Cities could expand the interdimensional realm of Ta-Lo beyond the village seen in the first film. The cities include K’un-Lun, K’un-Zi, Tiger Island, Peng Lai, Kingdom of Spiders, Z’Gambo, and Under City each having their own protector (maybe even their own dragon too?).

While not the traditional threat in Secret Wars, The Xian testing the might of heroes from various realms and The Multiverse seems like an interesting version the studio could with instead of simply rehashing the comic book incarnation.

Posted on in Film News, News

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Series Enlists ‘Lost In Space’ Production Designer Frank Walsh

With The Marvels’ production in full swing at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shooting in Atlanta, the next big project is about to kick-off soon with Secret Invasion. The big Skrull-centric series that will bring back Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos together since Captain Marvel and the button scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

There is a neat crew tidbit we can now share.

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Frank Walsh is working on Marvel’s big event crossover series.

Walsh has recently worked on shows such as Season 1 of Carnival Row, Season 2 of Lost In Space, and episodes of the comic book Netflix series Jupiter’s Legacy. As an art director, he’s worked on projects such as High-Rise, Inception, Game of Thrones, The Mummy, Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, and the infamous Luc Besson-produced sci-fi film Lockout (film was sued for plagiarism by John Carpenter).

We previously confirmed the show’s director of photography will be French-Canadian cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Future Man) and revealed that the series was expected to shoot sequences in Scotland with production gearing up to begin this month in the United Kingdom.

You can check out some of Dufaux’s work here which includes reshoots for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The crossover event’s impressive cast also consists of 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).

There is an expectation due to the proximity to the filming of Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels and overlapping production schedules, we should see some cross-pollination between the two casts. Samuel L. Jackson has already confirmed on social media that he’s shot Nick Fury scenes for The Marvels.

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

Secret Invasion is expected to release on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

Posted on in Film News, News

Marvel & Russo Brothers Were In Negotiations For Mystery Movie Before Scarlett Johansson Lawsuit Stalled Talks

We’ve been excited about the potential return of the Russo Brothers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after giving us Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.

There is now an update of sorts from the Wall Street Journal, as they point out the sibling directing team was indeed in talks with Marvel Studios to return to the MCU for a mystery film but talks apparently have stalled.

The reasoning is being linked to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow lawsuit against Marvel/Disney, as the Russo Brothers are concerned by the issues raised by the actress including the potential release of the unnamed pic and if their contract for payment will ultimately be upheld by Disney.

This is the first real instance of fallout from the lawsuit since it was filed.

We don’t know what exactly that mystery film could be, but considering they’ve talked up a desire to tackle X-Men’s Wolverine and a hard-reboot is on the horizon. Marvel Studios could look to the Russo Brothers to help with the reboot as they did with seasoned MCU director Jon Watts for Fantastic Four. Watts being behind Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy before landing the reboot.

However, this is simply my own speculation given the director’s comments in the past about being able to get their hands on mutants.

Here is what Joe Russo said about Wolverine back in February.

“Wolverine has always been such a special character for me. To realize him on screen, it’s very hard because Hugh Jackman‘s performance is definitive. It’s like Batman; you have to really think of a way to, you have to really find the right actor to come in and give a really different take to that character. But I would really love to see him on screen.”

I think the best thing is to take a break, without question. You need a [palate cleanser], you need to rinse the towel a little bit, let everyone enjoy what was, and then come up with something new. But I’d love to take a crack at Wolverine at some point.”

The Russo Brothers would be perfect to handle the scale and volume of characters as they’ve proven multiple times being able juggle a large roster of superheroes. Despite fans potentially wanting someone brand new to direct a reboot, Marvel might be more comfortable from their existing group of filmmakers given the importance of these MCU reboots.

Secret Wars is something they’ve also talked-up but we don’t have concrete information that is happening in the near future.

Another potential contender could be Anthony Mackie’s Captain America 4, given that doesn’t have a director attached. We had been hearing that the studio wanted a POC director for that one, but having Russo Brothers making a third Captain America movie wouldn’t be that shocking either.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’: Bassam Tariq Confirms He’s Signed On To Direct The Marvel Reboot

Not too long ago it was reported that director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to helm Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali. The director has confirmed this, but also that he’s signed on.

During a chat with The Playlist Podcast, Tariq talked a little bit about screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Hunters, Watchmen), praising her and working on Blade.

“Yes, I can confirm I am directing Blade, Marvel is letting me do it.”

“I didn’t think [‘Blade’] was going to happen, just to be very honest. I’m honored and it’s a privilege, but I’m here in service of Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who is the incredible writer that is writing the film…She’s just a phenomenal presence and a juggernaut in her own right. And for Mahershala [Ali]. For me, it’s really just working in their service. [Marvel] takes big swings, you know?…I can’t say anything about it, but I’m just so excited for what we’re doing.”

“Character is very important for me. I don’t think of genre, I think of character. It’s not so boxed in as people imagine it to be [working with Marvel Studios]. It’s quite exciting. And I think the reality is there is no ‘Blade’ canon, you know? If you ever read the comics, they’re always changing…Unfortunately, the [comic book series] never lasted that long.”

Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world.

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.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Loki production designer Kasra Farahani is considered for the production team. A release or cast have yet to be announced by Marvel, we’ll have to wait and see about that information.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in Film News, News

Tony Revolori Reunites With Director Wes Anderson For New Film Currently Shooting In Spain

Despite already being in production on his new film in Spain, director Wes Anderson has added another familiar face to the untitled project.

Deadline reports that actor Tony Revolori (Dope) has secured a role making this the third time he’s worked Anderson after previous projects such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch.

Revolori is likely best known as Flash in the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man films and recently nabbed a part in Lucasfilm’s Willow sequel series that will air on Disney+ sometime next year.

The new movie already has an impressive cast that consists of Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, Isle of Dogs), Jason Schartzman (Fargo, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Rushmore), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Drive, Trumbo, Argylle, Isle of Dogs), Jeffrey Wright (The French Dispatch, Westworld, The Batman), Hope Davis (Your Honor, American Splender), Liev Schreiber (Spotlight, Isle of Dogs), Rupert Friend (Death of Stalin, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Bill Murray (Rushmore, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs, The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom), Tilda Swinton (Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch), Adrien Brody (The Darjeeling Limited, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch) and Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Road To Perdition) in a cameo.

Plot details have been kept under wraps and might be a while before we know what it’s exactly about or who the cast will be playing. I’m sure fans will be interested to know if Wes is attempting something more in the way of genre filmmaking (western or sci-fi) or still continue in the realm of quirky character-driven comedy.

It’s assumed that Anderson will make a distribution deal with Searchlight Pictures.

The French Dispatch brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. It stars Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson.

SOURCE: DEADLINE