Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’ Enlists ‘Hawkeye’ Stunt Coordinator Heidi Moneymaker

Production on James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is said to be finally happening this November and will wrap in April, according to star Chris Pratt.

We’ve been waiting longer than usual for the sequel because Disney fired and then rehired the filmmaker over tasteless tweets. In the meantime, James Gunn was hired by Warner Bros. to write and direct The Suicide Squad, that released last month. Leading to extensive delays but prep is underway with it’s looming fall production start.

There are some crew updates we can now share.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Stephane Ceretti is indeed working on Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3. Ceretti has worked on other MCU films such as Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp, and the upcoming Chloe Zhao pic Eternals.

We’re also hearing that Heidi Moneymaker will be the film’s stunt coordinator.

You might be familiar with Moneymaker as she was Scarlett Johansson’s longtime stunt double from Iron Man 2 to Black Widow. She was a stunt coordinator on the upcoming Hawkeye series (her sister Renae Moneymaker doubling for Hailee Steinfeld), fight coordinator on Disney’s live-action Mulan along with other other stunt work on Avatar 2, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Hobbs & Shaw.

UPDATE: James Gunn has confirmed our reporting on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1452330987669663756

Moneymaker confirmed her role as stunt coordinator on Hawkeye to Looper back in July.

“I was just the boss on this one. I did a couple of [pre-visualizations] before we had our full team, and when we didn’t have all of our doubles and stuff. So, I did a couple of pre-vises with my sis. And my sister was on the show as well, and some of the guys. But I didn’t actually do any on-camera. Too busy. It was a busy, busy show.”

Fellow Marvel Studios stuntwoman Monique Ganderton was the stunt coordinator on Avengers: Endgame, Loki, and She-Hulk. So, the studio promoting these stunt folks to coordinators isn’t that terribly strange.

The returning cast is assumed to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Filming is all but confirmed to be taking place in Atlanta, Georgia and may shoot some sequences in the United Kingdom.

Production designer Beth Mickle (Drive, Only God Forgives) has been attached for the Guardians sequel for ages and ended up making The Suicide Squad with Gunn.

Previous cinematographers Ben Davis or Henry Branham (The Flash, The Suicide Squad) might be unavailable as they’re currently involved with other film projects. However, we could speculate that someone like Michael Bonvillain (Zombieland, Cloverfield) might be a good candidate to shoot the third movie, after recently being the director of photography on Gunn’s Peacemaker series at HBO Max.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023

Posted on in Features

‘Loki’ Production Designer Kasra Farahani Would Be Perfect For ‘Blade’

Marvel’s Blade reboot goes back to 2013 when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a script (after the rights reverted from New Line Cinema) was being worked in-house at the studio as part of their writing program alongside Ms. Marvel (would later turn into Captain Marvel). Six years later and it was announced that two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Predators, Alita: Battle Angel, Luke Cage, True Detectives) would be starring in a brand new movie, In turn, officially rebooting the Blade franchise that was launched back in 1998 with Wesley Snipes.

This year it was revealed by trades that writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters) is currently writing the film’s screenplay and Deadline first reported over the summer that Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to direct the reboot.

An excellent creative combination.

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.

With Marvel’s increased budgets, it allows this new incarnation of Blade became more of a globetrotting franchise and we could see vampires in various countries, we’ve seen Asian vampires teased in the original and it would be neat to see Blade in Japan, Hong Kong or….even they newly established island nation of Madripoor.

I would love to see Loki production designer Kasra Farahani work on Blade as he’s someone who I think could be the perfect person to help bring the world of the Vampire Nation to the modern MCU.

He brought such a cinematic value to Loki as it was cited that Faranhani was influenced by Mad Men and Ridley Scott’s benchmark sci-fi film Blade Runner. Kasra previously contributed concept art to Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, Star Trek into Darkness, and even the unmade BioShock movie (has Guillermo del Toro feel to it) for director Gore Verbinski.

It wouldn’t be the first time that someone from Disney+ series making the jump to the feature films as Loki cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw is officially working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, giving that film a striking visual palate.

The Ronin has spotted that director Bassam Tariq (hasn’t officially closed his deal) is now following Farahani on Instagram, which could suggest there is a shot the production designer may indeed end up working on the Blade reboot, if Tariq signs on to direct.

You can check out of Kasra Farahani’s excellent work on the Loki series below.

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.

Posted on in Film News, News

New Movie ‘The Return Of The Rocketeer’ Heading To Disney+ With David Oyelowo Circling Lead Role

Disney is finally reviving The Rocketeer with a brand new film for Disney+ written by Ed Ricourt, that might see David Oyelowo potentially star as the titular hero. The Return of The Rocketeer will be produced by David and Jessica Oyelowo under their Yoruba Saxon banner.

The Return of the Rocketeer will have an all-new creative directive with Ricourt’s story focusing on a retired Tuskegee airman who takes up the mantle of the Rocketeer.

At one point, it was said the project would focus on a female black protagonist, so much for that.

The original Rocketeer came out in 1991, during a brief era of period-set comic book films trying to capitalize on the success of Tim Burton’s Batman. Other big-budget studios films from that era include Dick Tracy, The Shadow, and The Phantom.

Considering new technology such as Lucasfilm’s StageCraft/The Volume used on The Mandalorian, it could make for a fantastical new adventure film and potentially lead to multiple installments, given I assume their aim will to be serialize the character.

This action role doesn’t sound terribly foreign to David Oyelowo after playing a Tuskegee airman in the George Lucas-produced WWII film Red Tails.

RED TAILS – During World War II, the Civil Aeronautics Authority selects 13 black cadets to become part of an experimental program at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The program aims at training “colored personnel” to become fighter pilots for the Army. However, discrimination, lack of institutional support and the racist belief that these men lacked the intelligence and aptitude for the job dog their every step. Despite this, the Tuskegee Airmen, as they become known, more than prove their worth.

THE ROCKETEER – Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) is a cocky stunt pilot in love with a beautiful actress, Jenny Blake (Jennifer Connelly). When he discovers a jet pack hidden in a biplane, Cliff straps on the rocket, dons a flashy helmet and becomes the high-flying hero known as The Rocketeer. But when Nazis want to use the rocket as a weapon, Cliff must use his alter ego to both protect Jenny from an evil actor (Timothy Dalton) and save the day in this period adventure based on the comic books by Dave Stevens.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Expendables’: Next Installment Recruits Megan Fox, 50 Cent & Tony Jaa

The Expendable franchise sort of hit a wall with The Expendables 3, when Lionsgate/Millennium Media saw dollar signs by pivoting from a mature R-rating to a kid-friendly PG-13. However, this wasn’t the big money-maker the studio had hoped and it ended up becoming the least successful installment. I guess children weren’t terribly interested in seeing disgraced actor Mel Gibson and Sly Stallone going at in action film.

Seven years later and they are finally moving forward with another film, however, aren’t calling it Expendables 4.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the untitled pic will see franchise stars Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture return. The new recruits will include Megan Fox (Rogue, Transformers, Jennifer’s Body), 50 Cent (Escape Plan, Den of Thieves), and Thai martial artist Ton Jaa (Fast & Furious 7).

Previously, the film had been talked-up as a solo project for Statham’s character Lee Christmas and wouldn’t have as much of Stallone’s Barney Ross in the film as fans might expect. Stallone had recently referred to the project as a “spinoff” with the working title Christmas Story.

Sources say in this outing Statham will be the one with the biggest gun. Fox is the female lead.

Scott Waugh (Need For Speed) will direct from a script penned by Spenser Cohen with revisions by Max Adams and John Joseph Connolly.

As previously mentioned by Stallone, production is aiming to begin in October.

Stallone is coming off James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Statham was recently seen in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man and David Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw.

We should expect a release date in 2022.

THE EXPENDABLES 3 – Years ago, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) co-founded the Expendables with Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). After Stonebanks became an arms dealer, Ross was forced to kill him — or so he thought. Now, Stonebanks is back and he’s on a mission to end the Expendables. Ross decides that the way to fight old blood is with new blood, so he assembles a team of younger, faster, more tech-savvy recruits. The battle to topple Stonebanks becomes a clash of old-school methods vs. high-tech expertise.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘The Marvels’ Director Nia DaCosta Originally Pitched A Movie Featuring Galactus & ‘X-Men’ Characters

Candyman director Nia DaCosta made headlines this weekend becoming the first the film to give a black female director a #1 hit at the domestic box office. She’s also currently shooting Captain Marvel 2/The Marvels in England.

While promoting Candyman with an interview with The Guardian, the filmmaker reveals she pitched Marvel Studios and producer Mary Livanos a very different project before agreeing to make the Captain Marvel sequel.

“I just nerded out. I was like, here are the movies I think you should do! Galactus, Storm and Scott Summers team-up movie! Blah blah blah! She just endured me going in super-deep. And she also gave me a lot of confidence that I would have the creative latitude to not just basically be a puppet on a string.”

This sounds like this was after the merger between Disney and 21st Century Fox, as she may have assumed they were rushing into using those former Fox characters. Interestingly enough, Jon Watts did end up land the directing gig for Fantastic Four and was announced for it back in December.

The Marvels (working title Goat Rodeo) as we’ve previously confirmed will mainly shoot at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England with a production team that has cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Widows, Judas & The Black Messiah) and production designer Cara Brower (Candyman).

The cast consists of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, newcomer Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Zawe Ashton is reportedly playing the film’s villain.

There is an expectation that cast members of the Secret Invasion event series will also cross-pollinate with the sequel.

Local South Korean outlets reported on Parasite actor Park Seo-Joon joining the film, but have yet to be supported by Hollywood trades or Marvel/Disney.

The Marvels will hit theaters on November 11, 2022.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Shang-Chi’: Michelle Yeoh Confirms ‘Police Story 3’ Co-Star Yuen Wah Has Role

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will feature some established martial artists such as Tony Leung as Wenwu, Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan, and Andy Le as Death Dealer. There is another name to add to the list, legendary actor Yuen Wah likely best known from Kung Fu Hustle.

The Hong Kong actor got his start in a similar way to Jackie Chan, working on Bruce Lee movies. Those credits include Fist of Fury, Enter The Dragon, Way of The Dragon, and Game of Death.

There were signs the actor might be appearing in Shang-Chi. Director Destin Daniel Cretton had posted an image on Instagram with Yuen Wah earlier this month from 2020 in Australia, but didn’t say if he would be in the film or not.

Michelle Yeoh has confirmed that her Supercop aka Police Story 3 co-star is indeed in the film after posting a neat set photo with him in costume (see below).

Shang-Chi will hit theaters exclusively on September 3.

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.

SOURCE: MICHELLE YEOH

Posted on in News, Television News

Hulk Might Appear In ‘Moon Knight’ After Mark Ruffalo Spotted At Oscar Isaac’s Hotel In Budapest

It’s starting to look like Marvel’s Moon Knight series might have a bigger connection to the Avengers than previously expected. Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector has been a member of the Avengers in the comic books and even had a romance with fellow member Tigra.

Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac), a mercenary who has numerous alter egos — cabbie Jake Lockley and millionaire playboy Steven Grant — in order to better fight the criminal underworld. But later he was established as being a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Most recently, the character was a consultant who dresses in all-white and goes by the name Mr. Knight. 

How exactly we’ll see the character interact within the MCU beyond the solo has yet to be revealed. Fans had assumed he would be hanging out with more of the darker characters. However, we might see Spector’s Avengers connections explored sooner rather than later.

Over the weekend, a fan/celebrity spotter located in Budapest snapped and posted photos within hours of each other with both Oscar Isaac and Mark Ruffalo. The two photos taken at the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest in Budapest, Hungary.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTEThQtjCCI/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTEcbDpJ_TS/

The city is where Marvel Studios are currently filming the Moon Knight series and Ruffalo had recently wrapped work on She-Hulk in Atlanta this month. I think the easy assumption here is that Ruffalo might be appearing in the show and sharing the same hotel in Budapest could suggest this, however, not confirmed. But rushing himself out to Budapest after just wrapping on She-Hulk in Atlanta could suggest he’s there for MCU-related reasons.

There were rumblings that WandaVision writer Peter Cameron was working on an unannounced Marvel Studios series, but Cameron himself refuted this on his Twitter account by clarifying that the project has been already announced by Marvel. We’re now hearing that project is actually Moon Knight and Cameron is expected to be contributing/writing on the superhero series alongside Jeremy Slater (Fantastic Four, The Umbrella Academy) and Beau DeMayo (The Witcher, The Originals, The Witcher: Nightmare of The Wolf).

We previously reported on a rumbling that Emily VanCamp’s Sharon Carter might appear too.

The directing team consists of Mohamed Diab, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead.

Both Moon Knight and She-Hulk will debut sometime in 2022.

SOURCE: DORA MAGYARI

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Hypnotic’: Robert Rodriguez Calls Next Film Starring Ben Affleck “A Hitchcock Thriller On Steroids” & Started Writing It In 2002

After tackling effects heavy projects like James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian/The Book of Boba Fett, director Robert Rodriguez is set to direct Ben Affleck (The Accountant, The Town) and Alice Braga (Predators, Queen of The South, City of God) in a new crime thriller called Hypnotic.

A detective (Affleck) becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of high-end crimes.

Speaking with Collider, Robert Rodriguez has revealed that filming on Hypnotic begins in six weeks (in Austin, Texas) and has been working on the project for nearly 20 years, starting the script back in 2002. Also, comparing to the thriller to an amped-up version of a Hitchcock film, which is certainly a way to get naysayers on board to the idea of Rodriguez making something less cartoony.

“It’s like a Hitchcock thriller on steroids. That’s all I can say. As soon as you see the first trailer, you’ll go ‘I got it. I’m there.’ It’s that kind of a movie. A lot of twists, a lot of turns. Very exciting. It’s a not everything you see is real-type movie and it’s got a great cast. It’ll be very energetic. It’s one of my favorite stories. I started writing it back in 2002. So it’s one of the ones I’ve had the longest that I’ve been wanting to do. I’m very excited that we finally might be making it.”

It’ll be interesting to see him tackle something a little more grounded and mature, while an action movie, Desperado is oddly enough one of his less silly/grounded pictures. He sort of went overboard with kiddie flicks, CGI experiments, and wacky exploitation projects over the last couple of decades. So, seeing Rodriguez make something more for adult viewers and not teenage boys or kids will be fun to see come together.

He’s already wrapped on The Book of Boba Fett, his Star Wars spinoff series that will debut on Disney+ in December. We’re hearing there is a good shot that Rodriguez is returning to direct an episode of The Mandalorian for Season 3 as well.

Hypnotic is expected to see the filmmaker reunite with veteran stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw, who has a wave of action film credits under his belt like Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Sin City, Planet Terror, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Predators, A Good Day To Die Hard, Machete Kills, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, The Magnificent Seven, and The Equalizer 2.

At one point, Rodriguez was hired by 20th Century Studios (prior to the merger) to remake John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, but remains to be seen if that will ever happen. Interestingly enough, The Book of Boba Fett features work from Escape From New York cinematographer Dean Cundey, who worked with Carpenter on a wave of his films such as Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, The Fog, and Halloween.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ VFX Supervisor Janek Sirrs Confirmed For ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’

Director Sam Raimi has returned to the world of Marvel Comics, after tackling the original Spider-Man trilogy, with Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.

We’ve learned of yet another Spidey connection to the Marvel Studios sequel.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that seasoned visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs is working on Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The name might sound familiar since he worked on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Avengers, Iron Man 2, Batman Begins, Terminator Genisys, and The Matrix Reloaded.

Here’s an impressive effects heavy scene from Spider-Man: Far From Home that pushes more in the horror realm and might be what they’ll be going for in the Doctor Strange sequel.

The cast of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness far consists of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, Benedict Wong as Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAams as Dr. Christine Palmer, and newcomer Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez.

We first reported Sam Raimi’s production team would include cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, X-Men: First Class) and production designer Charles Wood (Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame).

Spider-Man composer Danny Elfman confirmed back in February to Inverse he’d be reuniting with Raimi.

The team of stunt coordinators consists of seasoned vets such as Jo McLaren (Overlord, Annihilation) and Brycen Counts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Ant-Man & The Wasp) with Liang Yang (Morbius, Wonder Woman 1984) taking the role of fight coordinator.

Filming took place at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England and is the current stage facility being used for Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels.

While unconfirmed, we’ve assumed for almost a year that Tom Holland might be showing up in the film as Spider-Man. There is a strong possibility he may have shot scenes already as he recently stated that he’s fulfilled his contractual obligations with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Originally, when Disney and Sony made-up it was reported by trades Holland had two more movies to make with one for Sony (No Way Home) and one for Disney/Marvel (In The Multiverse of Madness?).

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is set for release on March 25, 2022 (baring any further release delays) and Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will be seen next in Spider-Man: No Way Home on December 17.

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.

Posted on in Film News, News

Jason Statham Reuniting With Miramax For Thriller ‘The Bee Keeper’ Penned By ‘Equilibrium’s Kurt Wimmer

After working with Miramax on Guy Ritchie’s action flicks Wrath of Man and Five Eyes (will be re-titled at some point), Deadline reports the British action star has signed-on to produce and star in a new thriller, The Bee Keeper.

The spec project hails from screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Street Kings, Sphere, Law Abiding Citizen), who of recent times has been mostly involved with remakes/reboots with stuff like Total Recall, Point Break, Children of The Corn, and the Pierce Bronsan flick The Thomas Crown Affair.

“The Bee Keeper explores universal themes with an unconventional story that will have fans sitting on the edge of their seats. We’re excited to bring another iconic and irresistible film to audiences around the globe,” said Miramax CEO Bill Block.

Filming is said to begin September 2022 in both Atlanta and London.

A director isn’t named, but Wimmer was behind the wild dystopian sci-fi action film Equilibrium that starred a pre-Batman Christian Bale and created a fantastic oddball martial art using guns.

EQUILIBRIUM – In a futuristic world, a regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Clerick John Preston (Christian Bale) is a top-ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist these rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the one capable of overthrowing it.

It’s actually a really neat action movie and sadly his other directing effort Ultraviolet was just a huge mess potentially leading to him to stick with screenwriting until his new Children of The Corn movie.

Statham is expected to shoot an Expendables spinoff called Christmas Story this fall, according to Sly Stallone. There are also expectations he’ll return for the gestating Hobbs & Shaw sequel and may land a role in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming WWII movie Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

SOURCE: DEADLINE