Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in News, Television News

Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ To Debut Weekly Episodes Starting September 2022; Season 1 Wraps Filming

Amazon made waves when they announced they had secured the television rights to tackle a new Lord of The Rings series, even more incredible have already agreed to a five season commitment which makes it one of the most expensive shows to be ever produced. Lord of The Rings takes place many many years before the events of Peter Jackson’s films, in the Second Age of Middle-Earth.

Season 1 is expected to take place before the rise of The Dark Lord Sauron and Mordor, focusing on multiple ancient kingdoms that eventually fell before the events of The Hobbit/Lord of The Rings. One of the most anticipated elements will be the exploration of the ancient island kingdom of Númeno, J.R.R. Tolkien’s take on the Atlantis myth, a sect of men that would be twisted by Sauron leading to the island to sink into the water.

The new epic drama brings to screens for the very first time J.R.R. Tolkien’s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. Beginning in a time of relative peace, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.

Amazon has announced today that Season 1 has wrapped filming in New Zealand and will start airing weekly episodes on September 2, 2022. So we’ll have quite the wait before we get to watch these episodes.

The highly anticipated, yet-to-be titled Amazon Original The Lord of the Rings television series will premiere Friday, September 2, 2022 on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, with new episodes available weekly. Filming of Season One completed today in New Zealand.

It’s cast consists of Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.

https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

SOURCE: AMAZON

Posted on in Features

Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter Deserves To Lead A Live-Action ‘Invaders’ Project From Marvel

Despite the death of Peggy Carter in Captain America: Civil War, we’ve kept getting more Hayley Atwell brief cameos in Avengers: Endgame when Steve Rogers did his time-traveling and now we’ll be seeing a Multiverse incantation in the upcoming What If…? series that will debut on Disney+ on August 11.

Peggy Carter is the one who is selected for the super-soldier program and leads a team that includes Steve Rogers, who pilots the HYDRA stomper armored suit.

This has lead to rumors from The DisInsider that Atwell might be seeing her Multiverse incarnation, Captain Carter, appear in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. If they’re indeed keen on bringing her back to the live-action corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be the perfect excuse to tackle another period adventure but with Captain Carter and various characters from her timeline/universe.

Producer Brad Winderbaum revealed to Deadline recently that Marvel has plans to bring her back for multiple seasons of What If…?, which could make fans extremely happy and that could help signal the studio’s desire to do more with her in the future.

One idea I’ve had about future projects that has been growing like a germ for months is that Marvel Studios finally attempt a version of The Invaders. The other team Steve Rogers led in the comic books alongside his trusty side-kick Bucky Barnes. That lineup also consists of android John Hammon aka Human Torch (Easter Egg in Captain America: The First Avengers), Namor The Sub-Mariner (expected to be coming soon), Joey Chapman aka Union Jack (raced against Tony Stark in Iron Man 2), Jacqueline Falsworth aka Spitfire, and many many more WWII era characters that may never see the light of day (Wolverine and Captain Britain could easily join those allied ranks too).

Captain Carter leading an incarnation of The Invaders during WWII, the Cold War (could add members of Agents of Atlas), or in present time could be worth turning into a live-action series on Disney+ given how hungry Disney has been to adding multiple new shows to the streaming series. Seeing Marvel tackle off-shoot Multiverse projects on Disney+ feels like a better way to tackle this stuff instead of overloading audiences with feature film explorations.

Chris Evans has seemingly bowed-out from the MCU and Peggy Carter could be the one to lead Invaders, if Evans stays away (despite reports of a return that have been denied) and the studio wants to pursue a live-action Carter project.

We know that actress Hayley Atwell was willing to return for more seasons of Agent Carter, but if they’re focusing on new television projects at Marvel Studio. It also doesn’t hurt that she’ll be starring alongside with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8, highlighting that the actress is still interested in action roles and Marvel should capitalize on that sooner rather than later.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Posted on in Features

‘Armor Wars’: Will Sharon Carter Be A Villain?

While we know that Marvel’s Armor Wars series will see Don Cheadle’s War Machine finally getting his own solo project and will seemingly adapted the Iron Man storyline from the comics, we’re still sort in the dark concerning returning characters and who is exactly working on the show.

Don Cheadle recently spoke with Collider and mentioned they’re still only in the early development stage on Armor Wars.

“All I know is that we’re going to go into the room in a couple of weeks and actually start trying to break the spine of the story and figure out who, what, when, and where for all of it. It’s super early in the development stages so I couldn’t even spoil it if I wanted to. I don’t know what happens,” Don Cheadle said of Armor Wars’ current status at Marvel Studios.

The actor landed an Emmy nomination for his brief cameo in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier (has confused Don Cheadle just like the rest of us) and there is a good shot that we might see some connections to Armor Wars. At the end of the series, we see a villainous version of Sharon Carter revealed as The Power Broker, the show’s shadowy puppet master trying to get their hands on the super-soldier serum and willing to kill to get her hands on it.

Could The Power Broker move on to Stark Tech and armor suits?

Sharon Carter was able to keep her secret from the heroes and has now return to the U.S. with her access to government projects potential means that she’ll attempt to sell secrets/technology to whoever she was planning on selling the serum to before The Flag Smashers ended that. Interestingly enough, Carter and Rhodey have a connection of sorts. They both wore the Iron Patriot armor and the end scene could telegraph that she might want to get her hands on things like Stark technology and possibly doing a tight-rope act by trying to acquire stuff under the nose of the government and War Machine.

In the comics, the big antagonist is Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer and considering he was thrown in prison after the events of Iron Man 2, it’s unlikely that he’s been able to keep his government contract. But, Hammer could be the person Sharon Carter looks to build and repair the Stark Tech as he’s one of the few people that has got their hands on the suits when he was assigned by the government to put together War Machine in Iron Man 2.

They established Madripoor as a no-mans-land for all sorts of criminal enterprises and might be a location they could be building/selling armor suits to various high-end buyers looking to get their own advanced weapons systems. Carter moving between American and Madripoor could be extremely fun because that setting needs to be further explored along with how she operates over there.

I wouldn’t be that shocked if we see Carter and Hammer working together in Armor Wars, we’ll likely see Thunderbolt Ross and Val causing headaches as well.

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Planet Of The Apes 4’: Weta Digital Returning With ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ VFX Supervisor Tapped

It was heartbreaking to see Wes Ball’s (Maze Runner Trilogy) big special effects event film Mouse Guard getting scrapped as part of the wave of films that got cancelled in the wake of Disney’s merger with 21st Century Fox and taking oversight on feature films in development at 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios).

Ball would instead be announced as the director and co-writer on a fourth installment in the modern Planet of The Apes franchise, the filmmaker assuring fans the project wouldn’t be a reboot but taking place in the same universe as the last three movies. The director co-writing the new film with Josh Friedman, who has worked on Steven Spielberg’s War of The Worlds, Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, Terminator: Dark Fate, the Snowpiercer series, and Apple’s Foundation.

It looks like the next film should have the same level of impressive visual effects as previous installments.

The Ronin has learned that Weta Digital’s Phillip Leonhardt will be the visual effects supervisor on the untitled film having previously worked on Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel and Maze Runner: The Death Cure. Leonhardt is no stranger to the franchise with involvement on Matt Reeves’ War For The Planet of The Apes.

Weta Digital was working closely with Ball on Mouse Guard and Andy Serkis was going to have a role on that film, we would not be shocked if Serkis returned for Planet of The Apes 4. However, Serkis playing new chimpanzee role within the franchise could mimic how Roddy McDowall played both Cornelius and Caesar in the original string of films.

Folks unfamiliar with the original Planet of The Apes movies might be unaware that the modern trilogy really only covered pics such as Conquest of The Planet of The Apes and Battle For The Planet of The Apes, stories that don’t take place in the original timeline of the first two movies which is nearly 2,000 years in the future from the settings we’ve recently seen.

If I’m 20th Century Studios and Wes Ball, I would be ready at this point to make the true time jump to the point were the apes are running their own evolved society (less primitive and speaking) and potentially seeing a group of astronauts crash land on this planet having to navigate a setting where humans are no longer the dominate species. Beneath The Planet of The Apes revealed a secret group of mutated humans have gained the ability of telepathy (something that nobody has tackled since that installment), which could be an interesting spin as it’s not just a straight rehash of the original 1968 film and Tim Burton’s misguided reboot from 2001 starring Mark Wahlberg with fantastic makeup from Rick Baker.

Speaking of Wahlberg, we have our fingers crossed that Wes Ball hires someone with a little more age/skill to play a lead human role such as Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) for potential roles of Colonel George Taylor or John Brent.

It was revealed he would be reuniting with production designer Daniel Dorrance ((A Good Day To Die Hard, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, The Expendables 3) on Planet of The Apes 4.

We have to assume that Ball will also bring on Maze Runner: The Death Cure cinematographer Gyula Pados (Predators, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level), who has been working on David F. Sandberg’s DC Comics sequel Shazam! Fury of The Gods in Atlanta. Pados having extensive experience with exterior shoots would certainly make his addition to the project an asset.

How far along Planet of The Apes 4 is at the moment is unknown and when they hope to begin shooting.

Posted on in News, Television News

‘What If…?’: Producer Says Hayley Atwell’s Captain Carter Returning For Future Seasons

Marvel’s animated series What If…? will debut later this month and folks are already sharing their impressions of the first three episodes. We already know that Marvel Studios is pursuing a second season and executive producer Brad Winderbaum has teased about a Season 1 character returning for subsequent seasons.

While speaking with Deadline, Winderbaum revealed that they’re planning to have Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter/Captain Carter back, possibly in Season 1 of What If…?, but we’ll have to wait to see.

Episode one explores the outcome of Peggy Carter taking the superhero serum instead of Steve Rogers. She ultimately becomes the UK hero Captain Carter crusading against Hydra in WWII. Per Winderbaum, we can expect more of Captain Carter in future seasons of What If…?. Added the EP, “I think that without going into great detail, I can tell you that What if…? as a project, as a story that exists in the MCU, is as important as any other and is woven into that tapestry.”

Atwell has been busy shooting Paramount’s next two Mission: Impossible movies starring alongside Tom Cruise and being directed by Christopher McQuarrie. However, that hasn’t stopped online rumors (via The DisInsider) to point towards that actress reprising the Captain Carter role in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and seems to be based on things that happen in the upcoming animated series along with connections to Doctor Strange himself as the two characters are expected to interact.

It’s also assumed that Jeffrey Wright will continue to voice Uatu The Watcher for the entire run of the show as it’s going to continue beyond Season 2.

WHAT IF…? – What If…? flips the script on the MCU, reimagining famous events from the films in unexpected ways. Marvel Studios’ first animated series focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles. Directed by Bryan Andrews with AC Bradley as head writer, What If…?”launches exclusively on Disney+ on August 11, 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

Could Dan Levy Be Joining ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’?

The MCU might be adding another Canadian actor.

Asma Khan has posted a pic on Twitter of actors Paul Rudd and Emmy-winner Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek enjoying a meal at her London restaurant, Darjeeling Express.

Is there a chance that Levy is joining Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania?

There are examples of these hang-outs signaling potential roles.

This normally wouldn’t be worth noticing, however, we saw Chris Hemsworth and Taika Waititi hanging out with Russell Crowe in Sydney only for the actor to confirm he is playing Zeus in Thor: Love & Thunder.

Benedict Wong was also spotted with Simu Liu at a restaurant in Australia and he’s now confirmed to have a major role as his MCU character Wong in Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.

Director Peyton Reed has an affection for comedians previously giving cameos to Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington in past Ant-Man installments. Dan Levy, like Simu Liu, both had hit comedy shows on Canadian network CBC meaning that Marvel Studios/casting team are aware of those shows. The popularity of Schitt’s Creek skyrocketed before it’s final season.

Levy has teased an openness to play mutant and Alpha Flight member Northstar on Twitter.

This is just speculation and could be simply two friends hanging out. However, Levy seemingly doesn’t have anything shooting in London and interacting with Rudd would suggest the two are potentially in the same bubble (it’s expected Marvel cast members are sticking with people from the set to avoid spreading COVID-19).

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania has finally started shooting at Pinewood UK Studios under the working title Dust Bunny and we’ll 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.

The rest of the cast includes Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The sequel will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRfRtJciK22/

SOURCE: ASMA KHAN/DAN LEVY

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Expendables 4’: Sly Stallone Teases Fourth Installment Might Finally Start Shooting Soon

There’s been multiple hiccups and delays concerning studio plans to move forward with a fourth Expendables installment. However, Sly Stallone in the last two years has retired from both the Rambo and Rocky/Creed franchises allowing him to do The Expendables 4, something that has been in development for over five years now.

The movies focus on a team of professional mercenaries based out of the United States, that normally are assigned to rescue missions or operations deemed too dangerous. Their main draw over the years has been pitting various action stars together that previous have never worked together on the big screen. Notable stars include Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Chuck Norris, Antonio Banderas, Mickey Rourke, and Mel Gibson.

Stallone has taken to Instagram over the weekend to tease that the project might finally be underway in the near future. Showing off a new ring for his character Barney.

“Just finished the designing the new ring for EXPENDABLE 4 It’s a little heavy, but it’ll definitely put some muscles on your fingertips,” Stallone said in his post on Instagram.

There have been expectations that Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Arnold Schwarzenegger would be part of the cast, but no major announcements concerning a director or who will be joining Stallone have been made public. Also, there had been a spinoff film reported on a while back that would have focused on Statham’s Lee Christmas, but that seemed to fizzle-out and it’s unknown if that was actually Expendables 4 or not.

Gregory Poirier was the last screenwriter attached to the project and had been expected to shoot in Sofia, Bulgaria at some point.

Expendables 3 attempted a PG-13 rating in what I assume was the studio’s push to make more money, but the film ended up making the least at the box office out of the three installments with only $214.6 million globally, $100 million less than Expendables 2. Hopefully, they’ll wise-up and return to a mature rating given there aren’t many kids out there looking to spend cash watching aging action stars huff and puff for our entertainment.

SOURCE: SLY STALLONE

Posted on in Film News, News

Tom Hanks Is The Latest Addition To Wes Anderson’s Next Movie

It’s finally happening, the melding of the minds between two American cinematic icons.

Two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Philadelphia) is joining Wes Anderson’s latest pic, which was revealed by the folks over at The Hollywood Reporter. The project is supposed to begin shooting this September in Spain after pivoting from a shoot in Rome, Italy. However, they’re quick to say that Hank’s role is small and could be more of a cameo.

The untitled movie already has Wes Anderson regulars 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), and Adrien Brody (The Darjeeling Limited, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch) among the cast.

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.

Hanks recently played Geppetto in Robert Zemeckis’ live-action Pinocchio movie for Disney and made headlines when he contracted COVID while shooting Baz Lurman’s Elvis movie in Australia.

A release timeline hasn’t been given but it’s assumed that the movie will land at Searchlight Pictures with a potential festival run in 2022 if the film is completed in time.

His latest movie, The French Dispatch, will be released by Searchlight Pictures on October 22.

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 Film News, News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Godless’ Actor Samuel Marty To Appear In ‘Predator 5’

We’ve all been extremely interested to see what has been cooking with Disney/20th Century Studios’ next Predator installment as Predator 5, helmed by 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg (The Boys), has been quietly shooting in the Calgary area this summer.

The Ronin has learned that actor Samuel Marty, best known as Truckee from Netflix’s Godless, will have a role in the new untitled Predator movie. The young actor has also appeared on shows such as Fargo, Ray Donovan, and Hell On Wheels.

20th Century Studios and director Dan Tratchenberg have been mostly tight-lipped about Predator 5, but small details have been confirmed over the last couple of weeks/days.

Producers John Davis and John Fox while speaking with Collider, compared the film to The Revenant, teasing the period setting and supporting previous reporting that the film would focus on Native American characters.

This was amplified when cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane) posted a set photo from Skulls (working title) on Instragram with a Native American village seemingly in the background of the shot.

We first confirmed that Kyle Strauts (The Predator) would be back in the predator suit and mentioned Amber Midthunder (Legion, The Ice Road) as the potential female protagonist of the new film.

Midthunder and Marty would be the more high-profile of the cast members which are expected to be made up of mostly newcomers.

It was also announced by producer John Davis during an interview with Collider, that Dan Trachtenberg will be directing a Waterworld streaming series for Universal Television that will take place 20 years after the events of the Kevin Costner movie.

Predator 5 has yet to be given an official release date despite previous teases from trades about a date next summer and while producers have stated they’re shooting for an R-rating they’re open to the idea of it becoming PG-13 during the editing process (I really hope not).

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

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Crimes Of The Future’: David Cronenberg Reunites With ‘Pacific Rim’ & ‘Blade II’ Production Designer Carol Spier For New Sci-Fi Movie

Canadian director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises) is finally returning to the sci-fi genre as he’ll write and direct the science fiction thriller Crimes of The Future (title lifted from his 1970 film) that will be distributed in the U.S. by Neon (Parasite).

While some embrace the limitless potential of trans-humanism, others attempt to police it. Either way, “Accelerated Evolution Syndrome” is spreading fast. Saul Tenser is a beloved performance artist who has embraced Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Along with his partner Caprice, Tenser has turned the removal of these organs into a spectacle for his loyal followers to marvel at in real-time theatre. But with both the government and a strange subculture taking note, Tenser is forced to consider what would be his most shocking performance of all.

Crimes of The Future’s cast so far includes Viggo Mortensen (Lord of The Rings, Eastern Promises, The Road, Alatriste), Lea Seydoux (Spectre, No Time To Die, The Lobster), Kristen Stewart (Underwater, Panic Room, Spencer), Scott Speedman (Underworld The Strangers), Welket Bungué, Don McKellar, and Lihi Kornowski.

The Ronin can confirm the sci-fi film will see Cronenberg reunite with his longtime production designer Carol Spier (Eastern Promises, Naked Lunch, A History of Violence). She’s also worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, Blade II, Mimic, and had been attached for his At The Mountains of Madness film at Universal Pictures before the project dissolved.

There is also an expectation that David Cronenberg will again work with cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, Eastern Promises, Naked Lunch) on the pic as he’s been the filmmaker’s go-to director of photography since Dead Ringers.

UPDATE: Deadline reports that Canadian cinematographer Douglas Koch (Funny Boy) will be working on the film and that production has started in Greece.

Filming on Crimes of The Future is expected to begin within days as previous reports stated production is taking place in Athens, Greece over the summer.

A release date has yet to be officially announced by Neon.