Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in News, Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Guillermo del Toro’s Longtime Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro Joins ’12 After Midnight’ Directing Team

Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley) is behind a new horror anthology series at Netflix called Guillermo del Toro Presents 12 After Midnight (formerly 10 After Midnight), where he’ll write, produce, and even direct alongside others.

In this new genre-defining anthology series, acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will present a collection of personally curated stories, that are both equally sophisticated and horrific. Creator and executive producer del Toro will bring his own visionary style as both a writer and director to certain episodes. In addition, he will handpick a team of the genre’s best writers and exciting new filmmakers to bring his selection of stories to life.

The Oscar-winning director is assembling a team of directors to work on the show and we’ve learned about a new addition to the directing team that already officially includes del Toro and Jennifer Kent (The Babadook, The Nightingale).

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that Guillermo Navarro (Godfather of Harlem, Cocaine Godmother, Narcos, Hannibal, Preacher, Luke Cage) has joined the growing group of handpicked directors working on the horror anthology series.

Navarro is mainly known as a cinematographer with a heap of credits such as Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Four Rooms, and Spy Kids. He is the longtime cinematographer of del Toro working together on Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Pacific Rim.

We previously reported that director David Prior (The Empty Man) is also working on the series.

There is an expectation the more directors will be named at some point and we will update when more names are announced.

The production team includes seasoned production designer Tamara Deverell (Star Trek: Discovery), who had recently worked with del Toro on his latest feature film Nightmare Alley and his vampire series The Strain. Deverell will work alongside art director Brandt Gordon (Nightmare Alley, Crimson Peak, Total Recall, Suicide Squad, Shazam!)

Plot details on the shows are unknown but we should learn more once the streaming service releases some footage. There is an expectation that 12 After Midnight won’t be dropped on Netflix until sometime in 2022.

We know that Guillermo del Toro is busy on other projects including his next studio release Nightmare Alley this December by Searchlight Pictures and is co-directing a stop-motion animated film based on the classic fairy tale of Pinocchio for Netflix. It’ll be interesting to see if del Toro will continue his relationship with Netflix on future films and television projects.

Posted on in Film News, News

Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie Has Officially Wrapped Filming

Co-director John Francis Daley has officially announced on Twitter that filming on Paramount Pictures’ new Dungeons & Dragon movies has wrapped, after spending time shooting in Belfast, France, and Iceland.

Dungeons & Dragons is based on the beloved table top game that eventually incorporated various universes including elements from the Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser series of novels created by American fantasy author Fritz Leiber. It remains to be seen what Paramount’s angle will be with the new movie, if they’ll be setting it simply in a fantasy world or will be slightly inspired by the recent Jumanji film from Sony Pictures.

The beloved table-top fantasy game that recently got a resurgence with a new generation thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things and it growing popularity again in the gaming community.

It originally had Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The Lego Batman Movie) attached to direct before Paramount pivoted to Game Night filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. The duo, who previously wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming will tackle the script as well.

The Dungeons & Dragons cast members are Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman, Hell of High Water), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar, F9, Alita: Battle Angel), Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, The Gray Man), Justice Smith (Detective Pikachu, Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom), Sophia Lillis (It), Chloe Coleman (Avatar 2, Gunpowder Milkshake), Daisy Head (Shadow & Bone), Hugh Grant (The Gentlemen, Five Eyes) is reportedly playing a villain.

Their production team consists of cinematographer Barry Peterson (Game Night), production designer Raymond Chan (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier), and stunt coordinator Brad Martin (Underworld, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier).

Paramount will unleash Dungeons & Dragons on March 3, 2023.

SOURCE: JOHN FRANCIS DALEY

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Black Panther 2’: Kevin Feige Confirms Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams Will Debut In Sequel Before ‘Ironheart’ Series

After rumors from folks like Geeks Worldwide that Riri Williams would be making her debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Marvel’s Kevin Feige has now confirmed this to Comic Book/Phase Zero and adding that actress Dominique Thorne has already started shooting scenes.

“We’re shooting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, right now, and the character of Riri Williams, you will meet in Black Panther 2 first. She started shooting, I think, this week before her Ironheart series.”

Williams being introduced could have something to do with Wakanda investing in STEM programs as mentioned at the end of the original film. It’ll be interesting to see if Riri will have time to have a full origin explored or just teased leading into her solo series, Ironheart.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit theaters on July 8, 2022.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Aquaman 2’: James Wan Says Sequel “Heavily Inspired” By Mario Bava’s Classic Sci-Fi Horror Film ‘Planet Of The Vampires’

Production has been underway for a while now on Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England. However, we don’t know a lot about the film outside of it focusing on Necrus (assumed to be the “lost kingdom”) and the DC Comics villain Mongo.

Director James Wan has mentioned a key film that will “heavily inspire” the Aquaman sequel. While speaking with Total Film, the filmmaker cited Mario Bava’s classic Italian sci-fi horror film Planet of The Vampires from 1965.

“Aquaman 2 is very heavily inspired by Planet of the Vampires. You can take the boy out of horror but you can never take the horror out the boy.”

It’s a little shocking given how goofy and colorful the original installment was, but Wan seemingly indicates they’ll be doing a little darker with Aquaman 2.

“Well, the first movie took a lot of people by surprise, right? And that’s partially because they were not familiar with the comic book, which deals in this very lurid, strange world. People were taken aback that I didn’t throw all that stuff away and make a dark, heavy film. But I didn’t feel that would have been right for it. So with the second film, I feel it will be easier for people to accept where we go because I’ve already laid the foundation.”

If you’re not familiar to the Italian sci-fi horror film check out a synopsis and trailer (alongside Joe Dante talking about the film for Trailers From hell) below.

PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES – In the near future the two spaceships Argos and Galliot are sent to investigate the mysterious planet Aura. As the Galliot lands on the planet her crew suddenly go berserk and attack each other. The strange event passes, but the crew soon discovers the crashed Argos – and learns that her crew died fighting each other! Investigating further, the explorers come to realize the existence of a race of bodiless aliens that seek to escape from their dying world.

Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom is set to hit theaters on December 16, 2022.

SOURCE: TOTAL FILM

Posted on in Film News, News

New ‘Eternals’ Trailer Gives Us First Looks At Black Knight, Kro, New Celestials & The Deviants

Marvel Studios is getting a lot of strong buzz for their next release, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, but they’re already kicking into gear the promotional campaign for Chloe Zhao’s Eternals.

The studio has just dropped a new Eternals trailer that mixes iconic Jack Kirby imagery with new takes on his character Kro along with fellow Deviants. It’s certainly visually striking and Marvel is leaning into Zhao’s recent Oscar win for Nomandland, which we all assumed would happen.

Patrick Burleigh (Power Rangers, Ant-Man & The Wasp) co-wrote the screenplay with Chloe Zhao.

Eternals is still set to be exclusively released in theaters on November 5.

The immortal heroes, the Eternals, came here 7,000 years ago, since the dawn of man, to “protect humans from the Deviants.”

Sersi reveals that she hasn’t seen some of the other Eternal teammates for centuries. With the monstrous creatures, the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, Ikaris decides that it’s time for them to “find the others” and defend humanity once again.

As the epic story unfolds, Sersi and Ikaris reunite with Kingo (played by Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (played by Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (played by Don Lee), Thena (played by Angelina Jolie), Makkari (played by Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), and Druig (played by Barry Keoghan).

Chloé Zhao directs the film, and Kevin Feige and Nate Moore are the producers, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Kevin de la Noy serving as executive producers. The story is by Ryan Firpo & Matthew K. Firpo, and the screenplay is by Chloé Zhao & Patrick Burleigh.

SOURCE: MARVEL

Posted on in Film News, News

Sly Stallone Says He’ll Shoot Jason Statham’s ‘Expendables’ Spinoff ‘Christmas Story’ In October

While we’ll likely have to wait a little longer to see The Expendables 4 finally get made, a spinoff is moving forward according to Sly Stallone.

Stallone took to Instagram to announce that he’ll be shooting in October the Lee Christmas spinoff, Christmas Story, focusing on Jason Statham’s character. The project has been in the works for ages, but looks like is actually happening now.

“Off to shoot the spinoff of Expendables (Temp. working title is Christmas Story) in Oct.”

Stallone is coming off a fun performance as King Shark in James Gunn’s DC Comics film The Suicide Squad, there had been rumors how Barney Ross would factor into the spinoff but hopefully things have changed. The actor has since retired iconic roles such as Rocky Balboa (won’t appear in Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III) and John Rambo, but seemingly will stick around to make Christmas Story and Expendables 4.

Jason Statham has been working a string of action flicks such as David Leitch’s Hobbs & Shaw, Guy Ritchie’s armored car thriller Wrath of Man, appeared in F9: The Fast Saga, and has wrapped on Ritchie’s spy flick formerly known as Five Eyes. There is also development on a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw, but remains to be seen when that will shoot.

We’ve seen three previous installments in The Expendables franchise, with the last installment pivoting from an R-rating to PG-13 in an attempt to boost box office only to become lowest earning film out of the three.

It’s unknown at this point if other familiar cast members will join the action pic.

THE EXPENDABLES – A group of mercenaries is double-crossed during a mission and are approached by Church to overthrow the ruthless dictator of a South American country. It isn’t long before the men realize things aren’t quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of betrayal. Although their mission is compromised and an innocent is in danger, soldier of fortune Barney and his comrades decide to get the job done.

SOURCE: SLY STALLONE

Posted on in Film News, News

Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Hope Davis & Liev Schreiber Join Untitled Wes Anderson Movie

Wes Anderson’s next release, The French Dispatch, won’t be hitting theaters until October, but he’s already started production on another film in Spain.

Four more have joined the pic as The Hollywood Reporter says that Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Drive, Trumbo, Argylle, Isle of Dogs), Jeffrey Wright (The French Dispatch, Westworld, The Batman), Hope Davis (Your Honor, American Splender), and Liev Schreiber (Spotlight, Isle of Dogs) have taken roles.

The untitled 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), 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: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Star Wars: Visions’ English Voice Cast To Include Simu Liu, David Harbour, Lucy Liu, Alison Brie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Chung, Henry Golding & James Hong

We’re excited to see Lucasfilm jump into the realm of real anime with Star Wars: Visions debuting September 22 on Disney+ with 9 short films coming from Japanese animation studios.

A Lucasfilm/Disney press release (via The Playlist) has revealed the English and Japanese voice cast for the episodes of Star Wars: Visions.

ENGLISH VOICE CAST

The Duel: Brian Tee (Ronin), Lucy Liu (Bandit Leader), Jaden Waldman (Village Chief)

Tatooine Rhapsody: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Jay), Bobby Moynihan (Geezer), Temuera Morrison (BobaFett), Shelby Young (K-344), Marc Thompson (Lan)

The Twins: Neil Patrick Harris (Karre), Alison Brie (Am), Jonathan Lipow (B-20N)

The Village Bride: Karen Fukuhara (F), Nichole Sakura (Haru), Christopher Sean (Asu), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Valco), Andrew Kishino (Izuma), Stephanie Sheh (Saku)

The Ninth Jedi: Kimiko Glenn (Kara), Andrew Kishino (Juro), Simu Liu (Zhima), Masi Oka (Ethan), Greg Chun (Roden), Neil Kaplan (Narrator), Michael Sinterniklaas (Hen Jin)

T0-B1: Jaden Waldman (T0-B1), Kyle Chandler (Mitaka)

The Elder: David Harbour (Tajin), Jordan Fisher (Dan), James Hong (The Elder)

Lop & Ocho: Anna Cathcart (Lop), Hiromi Dames (Ocho), Paul Nakauchi (Yasaburo), Kyle McCarley (Imperial Officer)

Akakiri: Henry Golding (Tsubaki), Jamie Chung (Misa), George Takei (Senshuu), Keone Young (Kamahachi), Lorraine Toussaint (Masago)

JAPANESE VOICE CAST

The Duel: Masaki Terasoma (Ronin), Akeno Watanabe (Bandit Leader), Yūko Sanpei (VillageChief)

Tatooine Rhapsody: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Jay), Kōusuke Gotō (Geezer), Akio Kaneda (Boba Fett), MasayoFujita (K-344), Anri Katsu (Lan)

The Twins: Junya Enoki (Karre), Ryoko Shiraishi (Am), Tokuyoshi Kawashima (B-20N)

The Village Bride: Asami Seto (F), Megumi Han (Haru), Yūma Uchida (Asu), Takaya Kamikawa(Vaan), Yoshimitsu Shimoyama (Izuma), Mariya Ise (Saku)

The Ninth Jedi: Chinatsu Akasaki(Kara), Tetsuo Kanao (Juro), Shin-ichiro Miki (Zhima), Hiromu Mineta (Ethan), Kazuya Nakai (Roden), Akio Ōtsuka, (Narrator), Daisuke Hirakawa (Hen Jin)

T0-B1: Masako Nozawa (T0-B1), Tsutomu Isobe (Mitaka)

The Elder: Takaya Hashi (Tajin), Kenichi Ogata (The Elder), Yuichi Nakamura (Dan)

Lop & Ocho: Seiran Kobayashi (Lop), Risa Shimizu (Ocho), Tadahisa Fujimura (Yasaburo), Taisuke Nakano (Imperial Officer)

Akakiri: Yū Miyazaki (Tsubaki), Lynn (Misa), Chō (Senshuu), Wataru Takagi (Kamahachi),Yukari Nozawa (Masago)

A new trailer also dropped yesterday showcasing some of the fantastic animation from the Japanese studios. The Playlist also has a breakdown of which studio is working on what episodes.

The studios creating the nine shorts include Kamikaze Douga – “The Duel”; Geno Studio (Twin Engine) – “Lop and Ochō”; Studio Colorido (Twin Engine) – “Tatooine Rhapsody”; TRIGGER – “The Twins” and “The Elder”; Kinema Citrus – “The Village Bride”; Science Saru – “Akakiri” and “T0-B1”; and Production I.G. – “The Ninth Jedi.” 

I’m extremely hyped for episodes like The Elder and Lop & Ocha.

SOURCE: DISNEY VIA THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in News, Television News

‘The Mandalorian’: Carl Weathers Confirms He’ll Direct Again For Season 3 & Returns As Greef Karga

The Mandalorian is the next live-action Star Wars project to go in front of cameras and actor/director Carl Weathers has revealed that he’ll not only reprise his role as Greef Karga for Season 3, but he’s also back as one of the directors too.

Weathers made the announcement at Steel City Con (via Fandom Spotlite).

“And so now, we’re gonna start a new season of The Mandalorian, within the next month. Yeah. And I get to be in front of camera again, and I get to direct again.”

This makes Weathers the first official confirmed director for Season 3 outside of the assumed usual suspects like Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Rick Famuyiwa. We’ll have to wait and see if Robert Rodriguez will be involved after tackling episodes in Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett, he’s been busy prepping a new action film starring Ben Affleck.

Pedro Pascal (Mando) and Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan) are expected to return as well. Pascal’s return to the set is a little unclear as he’s currently busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us in Calgary.

However, due to the recent sexual assault allegations against actor Horatio Sanz it’s doubtful he’ll be returning.

Lucasfilm fired Gina Carano over various disturbing social media posts making it unlikely we’ll see Cara Dune in Season 3 either, unless they decided to recast the role new a new actress.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

It’s assumed we won’t be seeing the next season of The Mandalorian debut until late 2022.

You can watch the full video of Carl Weathers at Steel City Con below.

SOURCE: FANDOM SPOTLITE

Posted on in News, Television News

‘The Mandalorian’: Cinematographer David Klein Confirmed For Season 3

With The Book of Boba Fett wrapped months back, it looks like The Mandalorian is on deck in California. We have some small production tidbits to share.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that cinematographer David Klein is back for Season 3 after working on Season 2 and multiple episodes of The Book of Boba Fett. It’s unclear how many episodes he’ll be working on this time around.

Production designers Doug Chiang and Andrew Jones are back as well, they recently worked on The Book of Boba Fett and should help keep the look of the universe cohesive between the two shows.

There is an assumption that director Bryce Dallas Howard might be back as well, but we can’t confirm this. She recently joined the lineup of directors on The Book of Boba Fett and returning for Season 3 isn’t that huge of a leap to make.

Pedro Pascal is said to be busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and it’s unclear when he’ll be on the set of The Mandalorian.

Returning cast members have yet to be announced but Carl Weathers and Katee Sackhoff are expected to be named.

We suspect that Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series won’t being shooting until the fall at the earliest.

The Book of Boba Fett will be the next big live-action Star Wars project to debut on Disney+ in December and Star Wars: Visions begins airing on September 22. Next year is expected to see things like Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Season 3 of The Mandalorian start airing.