Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘Ironheart’ Series Using The Working Title Of ‘Wise Guy’

A new Production Weekly update is supporting that Ironheart’s working title during production will indeed be Wise Guy. The production grid info for the Marvel Studios show was first spotted by the folks over at The Cosmic Circus earlier in the week.

Although, we should be cautious as Production Weekly has mixed up a handful of the Marvel Studios working titles lately. They recently attributed the working title of Buzzcut to The Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special, only for James Gunn to debunk that on Twitter.

We’re assuming at this point that Buzzcut is likely really being used for Ryan Coogler’s untitled Wakanda series (currently listed for an untitled Marvel project on Production Weekly) as a nod to the bald female warriors, the Dora Milaje. The Ronin recently confirmed the Wakanda series is using the Disney LLC, Maglev Train Productions, which is a direct nod to the high-tech railway system used in Wakanda.

Marvel Studios has yet to reveal who is even the head writer of Ironheart let alone the show’s directors, which could suggest that the show isn’t as close to starting as something like Armor Wars.

However, it was announced back in December that Dominique Throne will be playing Riri Williams, the brilliant youngster that is able to build her own armor suit and becomes a superhero. Williams is yet another character added to the Marvel Cineamtic Universe that could appear in a future Young Avengers project.

There is a good chance there could be some story/character crossover with the War machine series Armor Wars led by Don Cheadle.

Other recent working titles for Marvel projects include the following.

LOKI – ARCHITECT

BLACK WIDOW = BLUE BAYOU

ETERNALS = SACK LUNCH

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS = STEAMBOAT

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS = STELLAR VORTEX

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME = THE NOVEMBER PROJECT

THOR: LOVE & THUNDER = THE BIG SALAD

SHE-HULK = CLOVER

MOON KNIGHT = GOOD FAITH

THE MARVELS = GOAT RODEO

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER = SUMMER BREAK

ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA = DUST BUNNY

SECRET INVASION = JAMBALAYA

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.3 = HOT CHRISTMAS

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Television News

‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus’ Anime Series Taps ‘Matrix 4’s Jessica Henwick, ‘The Wolverine’s Will Yun Lee & More For Voice Cast

Alcon Entertainment and Crunchyroll had teamed together for an anime series that takes place within the cyberpunk universe of Blade Runner. The dystopian alternative future where man has created a disposable workforce with Replicants, artificial humanoids that are mainly used as slave labor, sex workers, and soldiers on the off-world colonies with a limited lifespan.

The show called Blade Runner: Black Lotus has seasoned Japanese directors Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed) and Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) working on all 13 episodes with Shinichiro Watanabe (The Animatrix, Blade Runner Black Out 2022, Cowboy Bebop) set as a creative producer.

Deadline now says the English and Japanese voice cast will consist of Jessica Henwick, Arisa Shida, Will Yun Lee, Shinshu Fuji, Samira Wiley, Takako Honda, Brian Cox, Wes Bentley, Josh Duhamel, Taiten Kusunoki, Peyton List, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Stephen Root, Hochu Otsuka, Barkhad Abdi, Takayuki Kinba, Gregg Henry, Masane Tsukayama, Henry Czerny, Akio Nojima, Jason Spisak and Kazuki Yao.

Here is a rundown of who they’ll be playing.

Henwick/Shida voice Elle, a female replicant created for a secret and unknown purpose. Lee/Fuji voice Joseph, a mysterious figure who owns a spare parts junkyard in Los Angeles. Wiley/Hona voice Alani Davis, a fresh LAPD recruit. Cox/Hashi voice Niander Wallace Sr, founder and CEO of the Wallace Corporation. Bentley/Koyasu voice Niander Wallace Jr, brilliant scientist working for his father. Duhamel/Kusunoki voice Marlowe, a deadly Blade Runner. List/Sakakibara voice Josephine Grant, the wife of the police chief. Root/Otsuka voice Earl Grant, Police Chief of the LAPD. Abdi/Kinba voice Doc Badger, a black market dealer. Henry/Tsukayama voice Senator Bannister, a politician with strong feelings on replicant production. Spisak/Yao voice Hooper, a journalist in the pocket of the Wallace Corporation.

While Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve has teased a Blade Runner 3, there aren’t any concrete plans for a third feature film despite how well-received the last installment was.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Quentin Tarantino Muses That Longtime Pal Robert Rodriguez Should Direct ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ Spinoff Movie Focused On ‘Lancer’

Quentin Tarantino has been on a press tour to promote his new novelization as Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and while he’s spend a lot of time talking about hypothetical things he might direct (likely won’t), he mused during an interview with The Q&A With Jeff Goldsmith Podcast (via The Playlist) about Robert Rodriguez directing a spinoff film about the Lancer stuff, where Timothy Olyphant played James Stacy aka Johnny Madrid Lancer.

“I actually imagine when I send Robert Rodriguez Once Upon A Time In Hollywood [the novelization], I think he’s going to read the book and go, ‘Well, what’s going on with Lancer? If you don’t want to do it, I’ll do it! I could see that being a great Robert Rodriguez movie,” Tarantino said on the podcast about Rodriguez potentially being allowed to make a spinoff film.

The pair have a longstanding relationship as Quentin Tarantino appeared as an actor in Robert’s Desperado, Planet Terror as part of their double-feature experiment Grindhouse, and the vampire pic From Dusk Till Dawn (also written by Tarantino). They also co-directed on rarely talked about Tim Roth-led hotel anthology Four Rooms the first Sin City movie.

However, Rodriguez is busy as it comes. He recently wrapped on the Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett for Lucasfilm, is currently working on the Ben Affleck thriller Hypnotic, and also developing a sequel to We Can Be Heroes for Netflix. It remains to be seen if he’d want to make a Lancer movie but being a workaholic he’d find time at some point.

SOURCE: THE Q&A WITH JEFF GOLDSMITH PODCAST

Posted on in Film News

Matthew Vaughn’s Spy Film ‘Argyle’ Reportedly In Talks To Add Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell & Samuel L. Jackson

A while back, The Ronin first revealed that Matthew Vaughn’s (The King’s Man) next feature film would be using the working title Argyle along with confirmations that the film’s production team would consist of cinematographer George Richmond (Fantastic Beasts 3, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Rocketman, Eddie The Eagle) and production designer Daniel Taylor (Tetris).

I had recently been able to confirm production would be mainly taking place in the London area.

Well, now Observer is reporting that MARV Films is currently in talks to add Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World, Black Mirror, Spider-Man 3), Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2, Three Billboards, Jojo Rabbit, Moon), and Samuel L. Jackson (Captain Marvel, The Avengers, Secret Invasion, Spider-Man: Far From Home).

Bryce Dallas Howard is in talks to star in the lead role. Tricked into thinking she’s a writer, her lethal skills return with her memories, setting her down a path of revenge against the shadowy organization she used to work for, the Division. Also in talks to star are Sam Rockwell as a former Division agent and our heroine’s love interest, and Samuel L. Jackson as a rogue agent dedicated to exposing the corruption within the clandestine spy network.

However, the trio admittedly haven’t closed deals and might not ultimately join the pic but the likelihood is good.

Samuel L. Jackson’s Marvel series Secret Invasion will be filming in the United Kingdom and Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer is expected to appear as a key figure in Don Cheadle’s Armor Wars series as well (Hammer featured in the Marvel Comics source material). It’s worth mentioning that commitments to the those Marvel shows could possibly conflict with Argyle’s shooting schedule.

Giant Freaking Robot was the first outlet to report details on the film.

Vaughn’s latest film The King’s Man will be released by Disney in December and there are still expectations that Kingsman 3 will be shooting in the near future, wrapping up the Eggsy/Harry Hart trilogy.

THE KING’S MAN – As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

SOURCE: OBSERVER

Posted on in Film News

Karen Gillan’s Action Pic ‘Gunpowder Milkshake’ Already Has A Sequel In Early Development

The other day, a heap of a announcements and production updates made by StudioCanal revealed a bunch of projects on the horizon including Paddington 3, Benedict Cumberbatch’s WWII drama War Magician, and one interesting tidbit that just caught our eye was that Karen Gillan’s action pic Gunpowder Milkshake has a sequel in early development.

Gunpowder Milkshake hasn’t even released as it’ll debut on Netflix in the U.S. next week on July 14.

The action pic was helmed by Big Bad Wolves co-director Navot Papushado with a fantastic supporting cast that includes Lena Headey (Dredd, Game of Thrones), Paul Giamatti (Billions, Sideways, Shoot Em Up), Chloe Coleman (Avatar 2-5), Michelle Yeoh (Avatar 2-5, Shang-Chi, The Witcher: Blood Origin, Crazy Rich Asians), Angela Bassett (Strange Days, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), and Carla Gugino (Spy Kids, The Lookout, Sin City, Watchmen).

We’re a wave of John Wick inspired female led action projects with Gunpowder Milkshake alongside things likes Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Kate and Kate Beckinsale’s Jolt (taking cues from Jason Statham’s Crank films as well) also on their way soon.

GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Sam (Karen Gillan) was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite assassin, was forced to abandon her. Sam was raised by The Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate her mother worked for. Now, 15 years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps and grown into a fierce hit-woman. But when a high-risk job goes wrong, Sam must choose between serving The Firm and protecting the life of an innocent 8-year-old girl – Emily (Chloe Coleman). With a target on her back, Sam has only one chance to survive: Reunite with her mother and her lethal associates, The Librarians (Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino). These three generations of women must now learn to trust each other, stand up to The Firm and their army of henchmen, and raise hell against those who could take everything from them.

SOURCE: STUDIOCANAL VIA THR

Posted on in News

‘Rebel Moon’: Zack Synder Brings His Old ‘Seven Samurai’ Inspired ‘Star Wars’ Film Idea To Netflix & Will Direct Next

Netflix and Zack Snyder are expanding their working relationship as The Hollywood Reporter reveals his next project will be a another genre pic for the streaming giant. He’ll direct an original sci-fi Rebel Moon, a script was penned by Snyder, Shay Hatten, and Kurt Johnstad.

The story is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate people dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

Rebel Moon is pretty much a reworked version of his original Star Wars pitch to Lucasfilm from back in 2012. As Snyder wanted to make a Jedi film that was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa samurai film Seven Samurai. Removing all the “Star Wars” elements to make it legally distinctive from a galaxy far far away (title is an obvious nod to Star Wars’ Rebel Alliance and the moon of Endor). He had teased back in May that idea has been transformed into another project entirely.

SEVEN SAMURAI – A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.

Snyder working with Netflix back-to-back on Army of The Dead and now Rebel Moon, could suggest an overall deal with the streaming service could be in the cards for the filmmaker.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Chris McKay Compares His Horror-Comedy ‘Renfield’ Movie To ‘Evil Dead 2’; ‘Rick & Morty’s Ryan Ridley Wrote The Hard-R Universal Monsters Pic

The Tomorrow War director Chris McKay was announced as replacing Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman, The Saint) on Universal’s Renfield movie, based on the Dracula assistant, and part of their Universal Monsters umbrella. The kicker is that the horror film will be a comedy written by Rick & Morty’s Ryan Ridley and McKay is teasing that it’s violence will be taking cues from Sam Raimi’s beloved Evil Dead 2.

“Renfield is a story about Dracula’s assistant set in modern times, and it’s kind of a codependency success story. And it’s a comedy. It’s a horror movie. It’s an action movie. It’s about bad bosses. It’s written by Ryan Ridley, who worked on Rick and Morty, and it’s a really funny and emotional. It’s gonna be like a hard-R action movie, crazy-violent in an Evil Dead 2 kind of way. That’s gonna be fun,” the filmmaker revealed about his upcoming Renfield project at Universal Pictures. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the 1987 film directed by Sam Raimi, it was pretty much a remake of the previous Evil Dead film, however, taking a slapstick angle as the original was a slightly more straightforward horror movie without as many comedic elements. 

Ryan Ridley is part a group of Rick & Morty writers moving into the realm of live-action projects as Michael Waldron is behind the Loki series, worked with Sam Raimi on Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, and is attached for untitled Star Wars movie that will be produced by Kevin Feige. Jessica Gao is the head writing on Marvel’s She-Hulk series and Jeff Loveness is behind the script for Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania.

EVIL DEAD 2 – The second of three films in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) once again battling horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After discovering an audiotape left by a college professor that contains voices reading from the Book of the Dead, Ash’s girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) becomes possessed by evil spirits that are awakened by the voices on the tape. Ash soon discovers there is no escaping the woods.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Director Chris McKay Teases ‘The Tomorrow War’ Sequels

Last week saw the debut of Chris McKay’s sci-fi action film The Tomorrow War, while there have been mixed reviews, as a streaming film all Amazon is going to care about is how many people watched it and for how long. The filmmaker spoke with Variety over the weekend and teased potential ideas for future installments if the studio/streamer want to pursue them.

“We had such a fun design process. We talked about the world of these creatures, where they came from, how they were created or raised, and how they were maybe being used. I like world-building experiments, especially when you have the potential of some kind of time travel. I think that a sequel could go in a lot of fun areas and the ethnographic study of the whitespikes in their world and where they came from, and what their purpose was, and all of that kind of thing. So yeah, I think that could be a lot of fun. And with this cast, too, we’re just getting started,” Chris McKay told Variety on the potential of follow-up films.

While Chris McKay is keen for multiple films, neither Skydance/Paramount Pictures or Amazon have announced official plans for more films.

I watched it myself and while there were some interesting elements like their jump to the future and enlisting regular people, I almost fell asleep a couple of times while watching it and there were some questionable character/story choices and some odd things technical-level.

However, I’m sure there will be plenty of people willing to watch sequels.

THE TOMORROW WAR – The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Dave Bautista Game To See Drax The Destroyer Get His Traditional Comic Book Costume In ‘Guardians of The Galaxy 3’

Marvel Studios will finally begin shooting Guardians of The Galaxy 3 in November, according to star Chris Pratt and fans are already assembling wish lists for the sci-fi superhero film.

James Gunn recently laughed-off the fan idea of giving Drax The Destroyer his traditional look (see above) from the comic books (includes a cowl, cape, and top) in the upcoming sequel, however, Dave Bautista jokingly chimed-in giving his endorsement on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1412202496097931267?

You can’t really blame Dave Bautista, considering that adding more clothes to the character would cut-down on the time he spends in the makeup chair as to play Drax in previous films he’s had half his body covered in special effects makeup. Even if they’re covering his torso, that would likely trim time in the makeup trailer.

Bautista has suggested this will be his final outing as Drax and that he hasn’t been terribly happy with how he’s become simply the comic relief, instead of being a fearsome alien strong-man. There had been early rumblings that we could see Drax’s daughter Moondragon in the sequel, who eventually became a member of the Avengers, but this has yet to be confirmed by Marvel or supported by trades.

Ultimately, it’s director James Gunn’s call and he’ll be wrapping up his HBO Max series Peacemaker soon, so he can start pivoting to focus on prep for Guardians of The Galaxy 3 ahead of it’s production start in the United Kingdom. The rest of returning cast is expected to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023 and we have to assume the Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special will air on Disney+ around December 2022. However, we’ll see the Guardians next in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder on May 6, 2022 as they shot scenes during the production in Australia earlier this year.

SOURCE: DAVE BAUTISTA

Posted on in Television News

HBO’s ‘House of The Dragon’ Series Adds Young Actresses Emily Carey & Milly Alcock; ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Will Debut In 2022

HBO is developing multiple series set within the world of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, one of the projects, House of The Dragon, has already started production and the network announced it will begin airing next year.

Based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, the series will tell the story of House Targaryen (a.k.a. the House that gave us the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys Targaryen) and take place 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

It’s been officially announced today that Emily Carey and Milly Alcock have landed parts in the mature fantasy series.

Below are the official character descriptions.

Milly Alcock as Young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen. She’s the king’s first-born child, of pure Valyrian blood, and she is a dragonrider. Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything…but she was not born a man.

Emily Carey will play Young Alicent Hightower, the daughter of Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, and the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms. Alicent was raised in the Red Keep, close to the king and his innermost circle; she possesses both a courtly grace and a keen political acumen.

George R.R. Martin and Ryan Condal will serve as co-creators on the series with Condal and .Miguel Sapochnik set as showrunners.

The rest of the cast consists of Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon (The Sea Snake), Eve Best as Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower (The Hand of the King), and Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria.

Martin recently signed a five-year deal with HBO and could see even more Game of Thrones projects being developed. There have been previous reports that Martin’s Knight of The Seven Kingdoms will be turned a series, titled Tales of Dunk & Egg, along with three other projects in development such as Sea Snake aka The 9 Voyages, Flea Bottom (slum in King’s Landing), and 10,000 Ships.

SOURCE: HBO