Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News, News

Anya Taylor-Joy To Shoot ‘Furiosa’ In 2022 & Eventually Make Robert Eggers’ Long-Gestating Vampire Flick ‘Nosferatu’

Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night In Soho) finished an epic Viking film, The Northman, for director Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse) after previously working with him on The Witch. There are some interesting updates on what projects she’ll be making in the next couple of years.

The Los Angeles Time has outlined her filming schedule revealing that The Menu is next with George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa shooting in 2022 (set to shoot at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney), and highlight that Robert Eggers’ remake of the classic silent vampire movie Nosferatu (Anya Taylor-Joy attached since 2017) will finally move forward.

Right now, Taylor-Joy, 25, seems to be everyone’s kind of girl. Her schedule is booked solid for the next 2½ years, starting soon with “The Menu,” a dark comedy set in the world of exotic culinary culture directed by Mark Mylod (“Succession”) and then moving next year to “Furiosa,” George Miller’s prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road.” After that, she’ll reunite with “Queen’s Gambit” writer-director Scott Frank for the thriller “Laughter in the Dark” and Eggers again in a reworking of the vampire classic “Nosferatu,” the latest collaboration in a partnership that began with her first “real film,” the unnerving 2016 horror movie “The Witch.”

This would be the third time working with Eggers and bring her back to the horror genre.

NOSFERATU – In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.

The Northman is set for release on April 8, 2022 and Furiosa is coming out June 22, 2023.

SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES

Posted on in Film News, News

Jason Momoa Has Spoken To ‘Dune’ Co-Star Dave Bautista About Making A Buddy Cop Movie Set In Hawaii: “It Sells Itself, Bro”

Last week, actor Dave Bautista made a pitch on Twitter about making a buddy cop movie, similar to Lethal Weapon, with pal Jason Momoa and directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw). Bautista and Momoa have been working together recently on projects like Dune and the Apple TV+ series See.

“Just going to throw this out into the atmosphere and see what happens. Here we go…me and Momoa in a ‘Lethal Weapon’-type buddy cop movie directed by David Leitch. Ok! There it is. Now we wait.”

Momoa has now given a bit of an update while speaking with James Cordon on The Late Late Show, suggesting that he’s down for it and mentioned that Bautista wants to make it Hawaii.

“He literally texted me four days ago, going, ‘We need to do a buddy cop film. We love each other. We are on See and Dune together.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And he said, ‘Let’s do it in Hawaii.’ And I said, ‘Let’s do it. I have an idea.’ So it’s off to the races now. We’re doing it.”

“It sells itself, bro. Dave loves wearing Speedos. I love wearing board shorts. And both of us with our shirts off. He’ll be grumpy and I’ll be charming. Boom. It sells itself, bro. I have the hair. He doesn’t have hair. We cover all the demographics.”

When this could happen seems to be the question, as Leitch is about to shoot his Will Smith thriller Fast & Loose. Bautista is about to begin shooting James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 in November and Momoa is currently involved with James Wan’s Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom. There is an expectation that Bautista will return for Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve recently teasing a fall 2022 production start.

Anyways, it’s a rad idea and with the write script/director could be a fun time.

SOURCE: THE LATE LATE SHOW

Posted on in Film News, News, Trailers

TRAILER: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Footage Confirms Peter Parker Will Explore The Multiverse & Teases The Sinister Six

After what feels like an eternity of fan speculation of when the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer would drop it’s finally made it’s way online, thanks to Sony Pictures.

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.

The cast consists of Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, Jon Favreau, Hannibal Buress, Jacob Batalon, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Marisa Tomei, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, Paula Newsome, and J.B Smoove.

We’ve now have concrete confirmations that Benedict Wong and possibly Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn/Green Goblin will appear as well. We see a pumpkin bomb show up, someone trying to attack Peter in the shadows, Electro using his powers, and Alfred Molina’s glorious Doctor Octopus.

The Ronin first reported that Paula Newsome would appear and she is seen in the trailer.

The Multiverse was first teased in WandaVision, but fully realized in the Loki series with the TVA and Kang’s variant. It’s currently being explored with the What If…? animated show, however, there is something tonally off with that project compared to previous live-action stuff on Disney+. Hopefully, things will get better as more episodes air.

It seems like there will be a slight break for director Jon Watts, as he’ll be focusing on Fantastic Four next, as Marvel Studios will reboot the superhero team for the MCU. However, since making the announcement in December, they haven’t given any indication when they’ll begin production on Fantastic Four.

This isn’t terribly surprising as we haven’t had an announcement concerning Spider-Man 4 and Holland has revealed he completed his contract with No Way Home (he’s indicated he wants to resign but likely re-negotiate more for money). A small hiatus might be just the break everyone involved in the trilogy of films needs at this point.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is expected to debut on December 17, barring any further release delays.

SOURCE: SONY PICTURES

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Nautilus’: 10-Episode Series Focused On Origin Of Captain Nemo Heading To Disney+ & Begins Shooting In 2022

It’s been announced via The Hollywood Reporter that Disney+ has order Nautilus, a 10-episode series that will attempt a new spin on Captain Nemo from the Jules Verne adventure novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. James Dormer (Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands) will write and produce the series.

Nautilus will be produced by Moonriver TV and All3Media-owned Seven Stories.

Nautilus is set to give the famed 19th century novel a new spin, telling the origin story of Captain Nemo and his legendary submarine, the Nautilus. An Indian prince robbed of his birthright and family, a prisoner of the East India Company and a man bent on revenge against the forces which have taken everything from him, Nemo set sail with his ragtag crew on board the awe-inspiring vessel, battling foes and discovering magical underwater worlds.

Filming is reportedly starting in early 2022 and given the involved with of UK production companies will likely shoot there as well.

However, directors nor cast were mentioned in the article and will likely be announced later in the year. There is the Disney+ Day event in November which makes a lot of sense will be when/where they give updates on Nautilus.

Disney has long been trying to put together a new feature film with directors such as David Fincher (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Seven, Fight Club, Gone Girl) and James Mangold (Indian Jones 4, Logan, The Wolverine). It isn’t mentioned if Mangold’s incarnation has been nixed or if this could help establish that version.

The Nemo character was previously seen in Disney’s 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea led by Kirk Douglas with James Mason in the iconic role and 20th Century Fox’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (an adaptation of Alan Moore comic book) starring Sean Connery (his last major film before retiring).

It sounds like another high profile effects-heavy project alongside Percy Jackson that will take place outside the Star Wars/Marvel universes.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Alien 5’: Neill Blomkamp Suggests Ridley Scott’s Reaction To ‘Chappie’ May Have Led To Cold Feet

While director Neill Blomkamp was able to convince both actress Sigourney Weaver and Aliens director James Cameron (called the film’s outline/idea “gangbusters”) about his pitch for Alien 5, but it sounds like Ridley Scott was ultimately the harder sell and may have ultimately led to the project’s death.

During a recent interview with The Playlist, Blomkamp suggested that Ridley Scott was possibly behind his exit from the sci-fi sequel.

“At the end of the day even though Ridley Scott is producing it, he brought that to the world, so if he changes his mind or if there is a director on it he doesn’t want, whatever it may be, it’s his. I understand that, it makes logical sense to me.”

Blomkamp further alluded to The Guardian that Alien 5 producer Ridley Scott (current gatekeeper of the Alien franchise) potentially watched Chappie and that may have behind Scott changing his mind about letting Blomkamp direct Alien 5 (a project Ridley Scott tried to make 20 years ago).

“It’s possible that Ridley watched Chappie and he was like, this guy can’t do Alien so let’s just go ahead and move on.”

When asked if he’d return to the franchise anytime in the future he declined that as a possibility and quickly debunked online rumblings that Alien 5 was back on track with his involvement.

“Not after, no no no, there’s no coming back from that. I’m not gonna work on a film for two years and have the rug pulled out from underneath me and then go hang out and have beers. It’s exactly why I don’t want to do IP based on other people’s stuff ever again.”

“I’m sure they will make many films with that piece of IP, it just doesn’t include me.”

It’s worth noting that as soon as Alien 5 got nixed by Scott/20th Century Fox, they quickly moved forward with Scott’s Alien: Covenant. There is a good chance that Scott saw Alien 5 as a competing film to Covenant and decided to curb-stomp it (considering his high status at the studio). There were some similarities between the two films with multiple androids as revealed in concept artwork (one good and one bad), and we wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Covenant lifted other elements from Alien 5.

Chappie was both a critical and box office disaster for Blomkamp. The sci-fi movie had multiple oddball choices including giving large roles to non-actors Die Antwoord (rapper pals of Blomkamp), who played awful characters that were on par with Hugh Jackman’s villain but were supposed to be “likable.” It certainly had less to say than the social commentary infused into the story as Blomkamp’s prior two movies District 9 and Elysium, feeling like more of “this would be cool if we did this” exercise.

With District 10 in development and other Elysium films on table, I don’t think we can say that the director has any interest in Chappie follow-ups anytime soon.

CHAPPIE – In the near future, a mechanized police force patrols the streets and deals with lawbreakers — but now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid is stolen and given new programming, he acquires the ability to feel and think for himself. While the robot, dubbed “Chappie (Sharlto Copley),” puzzles out human behavior, the authorities begin to see him as a danger to mankind and order; they will stop at nothing to ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN & THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in Film News, News

Neill Blomkamp Still Wants To Make More ‘Elysium’ Movies: Will He Make His Kruger Spinoff?

Neill Blomkamp is back to making movies after a hiatus after multiple projects not coming together (Alien 5, RoboCop Returns, Greenland), focusing on his Oats Studios shorts, and attempting to put together a new original project, Inferno.

The filmmaker is currently developing District 10, a sequel to his debut film District 9. That isn’t the only sci-fi project he wants to return to explore. While promoting his new movie Demonic, he spoke with The Playlist on their podcast and briefly voiced his desire to return to the world of Elysium.

“I would love to do more films in the world of Elysium. I love the setup of that world. The world that it puts forward is very interesting to me.”

ELYSIUM – In the year 2154, humanity is sharply divided between two classes of people: The ultrarich live aboard a luxurious space station called Elysium, and the rest live a hardscrabble existence in Earth’s ruins. His life hanging in the balance, a man named Max (Matt Damon) agrees to undertake a dangerous mission that could bring equality to the population, but Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) vows to preserve the pampered lifestyle of Elysium’s citizens, no matter what the cost.

We already have idea what he’d like to tackle in follow-up.

In 2016, Neill Blomkamp mentioned to Empire the idea of revisiting the Agent Kruger character in a low-budget spinoff, a violent mercenary (played by District 9’s Sharlto Copley) that is hired to do the dirty work for Elysium. He eventually turned into main antagonist of the original film once Jodie Foster’s character was killed-off.

“I did ask [Media Rights Capital?] who paid for Elysium, I was like ‘what if you did a lower budget of this where Kruger is the lead character and is absolutely non-arc, don’t expect the character to to arc, he just doesn’t, he just does a bunch of shit that’s awesome’ and he was like ‘that does sound like that could be cool.'”

It’ll be interesting to see if he’ll tackle a Kruger-focused prequel or a direct sequel.

You can listen to that full interview below.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Cowboy Bebop’: Multiple First Look Images From Netflix’s Live-Action Series Coming November 19

Netflix has released a fleet of first look images from their live-action Cowboy Bebop series giving us some excellent glimpses at the upcoming show based on the beloved anime series.

Based on the worldwide phenomenon from Sunrise Inc., Cowboy Bebop is the jazz-inspired, genre-bending story of Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Radical Ed: a rag-tag crew of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals. They’ll even save the world…for the right price.

The cast of Cowboy Bebop includes John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, Alex Hassell as Vicious, Elena Satine as Julia, Geoff Stults (Little Fires Everywhere, 12 Strong), Tamara Tunie (Black Earth Rising, Dietland), Mason Alexander Park (Hedwig and the Angry Inch National Broadway Tour), Rachel House (Thor Ragnarok, Soul), Ann Truong (Strikeback!, Hard Target 2), and Hoa Xuande (Ronny Chieng: International Student, Top of the Lake).

Filming had been taking place in Auckland, New Zealand alongside Amazon’s Lord of The Rings series (recently moving production to United Kingdom). There were production delays when John Cho got injured on set and were able to complete filming during the pandemic last year.

Netflix is also behind a live-action series based on Avatar: The Last Airbender, but would be aiming for a younger audience. However, this could lead to the streaming service tackling more live-action adaptations of anime/manga projects. I’ll keep my fingers crossed they’re able to make a series based on Ninja Scroll with Appian Way Productions (rights holders).

A series trailer for Cowboy Bebop is likely around the corner, but these images should hold fans over until that happens. The sci-fi adventure show will debut November 19 on Netflix.

Are you excited to finally get your hands on Cowboy Bebop?

SOURCE: NETFLIX

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Dune’: Denis Villeneuve Would Consider Adapting ‘Dune Messiah’ For A Trilogy & Confirms Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Won’t Appear In First Movie

While director Denis Villeneuve is already in the scripting phase of Dune: Part Two and mentioning a potential fall 2022 production start, assumed to take place in Budapest again. He’s started talking up his desire for a third Dune movie to round-out a trilogy, as he mentioned to Radio Canada (spotted by The Playlist) he could see Frank Hebert’s Dune Messiah (the second installment) making an “extraordinary film.”

“There is ‘Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

Below is a rundown of the second book.

“Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known–and feared–as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne–and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty…”

The director also confirmed that Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen won’t be showing up in Dune during his lengthy interview with Total Film. Feyd is the nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and pretty much takes the role of Paul’s rival in the space opera.

“The book is so rich. There are so many fantastic details about the different cultures. In order to preserve and have the time to bring that to the screen, we had to make important choices. It was a powerful image, that jockstrap.”

Dune is still set to be released on October 22 in theaters and HBO Max.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: RADIO CANADA & TOTAL FILM

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Armor Wars’: Marvel Enlists Don Cheadle’s ‘Black Monday’ Co-Star Yassir Lester As Head Writer

Marvel Studios announced back in December that they would be moving forward with a War Machine series led by Don Cheadle. Armor Wars would be directly inspired by the classic Iron Man comic book story that sees a heap of armor suited villains coming out of the woodwork.

On Friday, it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that the series has finally landed a head writer with Black Monday writer/producer/actor Yassir Lester landing the gig. Cheadle leads Black Monday, which is a comedic take on the world of Wall Street and the show is essentially of the more bonkers things on television.

Lester could also land a supporting role given his acting career, but that remains to be seen and it’s interesting that Cheadle will be reuniting with a creative from Black Monday, will they pursue directors as well?

An interesting element of the comic book run of Armor Wars is that Justin Hammer is part of the story and would allow Marvel to bring back Sam Rockwell.

We’ll likely have to wait a little longer to know when Marvel Studios plans to announce a target release date or cast members/characters that will appear. I think there is a good shot we’ll see Iron Man baddies such as Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and many others finally getting their live-action adaptation.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Sharon Carter/The Power Broker and Riri Williams/Ironheart showing up in the project.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Shang-Chi’: Tony Leung Talks Reinventing The Mandarin & Kevin Feige Disavows Fu Manchu Connection

‘Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” will usher in a brand new MCU superhero, Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, and makes him their very first leading Asian hero. However, it’s not the only thing to be championing about the upcoming film as Marvel wanted to tackle a new incarnation of legacy villain The Mandarin with Tony Leung’s Wenwu, the father of Shang-Chi.

The Mandarin was originally a primary villain of Tony Stark’s Iron Man and founding member of the Masters of Evil, a supervillain team that combated The Avengers in sixth issue alongside Zemo, Nathan Garrett/Black Knight (Dane’s Whitman’s uncle), and Chen Lu/Radioactive Man.

Tony Leung recently spoke with Elle Singapore (via Slash Film) and revealed the creative process alongside how he was able to reinvention of The Mandarin for modern audiences.

“When [Marvel] offered me the role, what they wanted was for me to create a brand new Mandarin, so I got to develop my character along with the filming. I’ve never approached Wenwu from a villain’s standpoint. Rather, I tried to explore the reasons that led him to become who he is. He’s a man with a history, who craves to be loved. He is also human, and he has a family. As I read [the script], I began to consider the many reasons why he’d turn out the way he is — a sociopath, a narcissist, a bigot.”

“When director Destin Daniel Cretton first described the role to me, he said there are many layers to the antagonist role, and hoped that I could come on board. I accepted it because of the director. It just felt right. Plus, this is something I’ve never done before, to play an Asian supervillain. A chance to do something for Asia. I thought, why not?”

Shang-Chi and The Mandarin do have a racist history as multiple Asian stereotypes were infused into their comic book counterparts, but, thankfully, Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics have taken different approaches over the years.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige spoke towards those racist origins by disavowing Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi’s original comic book father. As Feige points out to Chinese outlet Sina Weibo (via Variety) it’s a character Marvel has had zero connection with for ages.

“Fu Manchu is not a Marvel character. Fu Manchu is not a character we own or would ever want to own. And that was changed in the comics many, many years ago. And we never had any intention of doing that in this movie. Fu Manchu is not in this movie in any way, shape, or form…. He was such an offensive figure and was never anything we had any interest in doing. We want heroes that look like all our fans around the world and heroes that our fans can look up to and feel that wish fulfillment to be a part of. And it’s about inviting people into our world, not keeping people out of it or keeping people separate from it. So, definitively, Fu Manchu is not in this movie, is not Shang-Chi’s father, has not been for decades. And again, is not even a Marvel character.”

Feige also said the following about Tony Leung’s Wenwu, who is one of the key elements of the film that is getting a lot of buzz.

“This is a very unique character that you can almost, almost not even call a villain. This is a story of love between a father and a son, but misunderstanding and conflict, and that’s what we’re anxious for people to see in the movie.”

‘Shang-Chi’ will hit theaters exclusively on September 3.

SOURCE: ELLE SINGAPORE & SINA WEIBO