Netflix is looking to bring Ubisoft’s video game franchise Assassin’s Creed to the small screen and have reportedly landed on a well-known action film writer to tackle the upcoming live-action series.
The open world games explore the war between the rival secret orders of the Assassins and the Templars as they use advanced machines to access the genetic memories of Assassins in different periods of the past to track down powerful artifacts called Pieces of Eden.
According to a report from Variety, Netflix has tasked writer Jeb Stuart for the new show and had recently worked with the streaming service giant for Vikings: Valhalla. His screenwriting credits are the iconic action flick Die Hard that established Bruce Willis’ acting career, the genre-bending/underrated Leviathan, Harrison Ford’s The Fugitive, Another 48 Hours, and Sly Stallone’s Lock Up.
Casting information hasn’t been announced but it sounds like it hasn’t been given an official series order at this time.
Sony Pictures has finally given a release date for their Japanese-set action movie Bullet Train. The project stars Oscar-winner Brad Pitt (Killing Them Softly, Inglourious Basterds, Fight Club, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) as an assassin named Ladybug, that is travelling on a bullet train in Japan, only to face a wave of murderous fellow assassins.
Bullet Train will hit theaters on April 8, 2022, as announced by the studio via Deadline.
It was helmed by stuntman-turned-director David Leitch and has been hyped-up for the amount of in-camera stunt work Brad Pitt did on the film, similar to how Keanu Reeves did a lot of his own stunt work on the John Wick films thanks to months of intense training and prep.
Leitch co-directed the original John Wick only to move on as a solo filmmaker with credits such as Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, and his next project is the memory loss thriller Fast & Loose starring Oscar-winner Will Smith. He produced Bob Odenkirk’s Nobody and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Kate at Netflix coming out in September.
The rest of the cast consists of Joey King (The Dark Knight Rises), Andrew Koji (G.I. Joe Origins: Snake Eyes), Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Man of Steel), Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock (Gravity, Speed), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven The Hunter, Godzilla, Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys, Suicide Squad), Brian Tyree Henry (Godzilla vs Kong, Widows, Joker, Eternals), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, Sunshine, Westworld, The Last Samurai), Logan Lerman (Fury, Hunters), Lady Gaga (Gucci, A Star Is Born, Machete Kills), Masi Oka (Heroes), Zazie Beetz (Joker, Deadpool 2), and rapper Bad Bunny.
Director Rian Johnson has reportedly added a Star Wars actor to his Knives Out sequel.
The impressive cast of Knives Out 2 already consists of Daniel Craig (No Time To Die), Dave Bautista (Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy, Army of The Dead), Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders, Moonrise Kingdom), Janelle Monae (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Madelyn Cline, and Leslie Odom Jr. (Murder On The Orient Express, One Night In Miami).
Deadline is reporting that actress Jessica Henwick has landed a role ahead of the sequel starting production. Her credits include The Matrix 4, Game of Thrones, Iron Fist, and had her scenes from Godzilla vs. Kong removed from the final cut. Both Daniel Craig and Henwick appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Filming begins this month in Greece, suggesting the murder mystery could involve a hotel or cruise ship given the overwhelming amount of American actors on the call-sheet and the European setting. Daniel Craig returns to play detective Benoit Blanc, and will return for a third film that will shoot at a later date.
The Knives Out sequels made headlines when Netflix closed a massive deal with Johnson and Craig worth a massive $400 million to secure the next two installments.
The Ronin previous confirmed that Johnson will reunite with his longtime cinematographer Steve Yedlin.
KNIVES OUT – The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.
Are we getting another casting addition to the Red Sonja remake from director Joey Soloway? Red Sonja was a supporting Conan The Barbarian character that was born in the Marvel Comics run, she eventually got her own solo film in 1985 starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sonja was created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for Marvel Comics’ Conan the Barbarian comic in the early 1970s and was an amalgam of several characters from Conan creator Robert E. Howard. The character, fiery and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Conan while refusing his advances, proved popular enough to get her own book, continuing to this day even as the Howard and Conan licenses have moved through several companies. Millennium is saying their movie is based on the comic published by Dynamite Entertainment
Thor franchise actress Jaimie Alexander has posted an image of herself reading the new Red Sonja script on a flight. The image below was posted on her Instagram stories. Normally, actors don’t humble-brag about reading high-profile scripts unless they’ve joined the project or are at least considering it.
At one time, Jaimie Alexander was in the mix to play Wonder Woman before Gal Gadot ultimately took the part for Batman v Superman. She talked about losing out on the major superhero part to Variety back in 2016.
Fellow Marvel actress Hannah John-Kamen (Resident Evil, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ant-Man & The Wasp) took the titular role recently, which could mean that Jaimie might be taking a supporting role as either friend or foe.
If I had to guess what the role might be, The Pirate Queen Belit could be an interesting choice for Jaimie Alexander. However, we don’t know if they’re even allowed to use Belit as she is a cohort/lover of Conan The Barbarian.
Speaking of Conan, Netflix secured the rights to make films, series, and animated projects based on the iconic character created by Robert E. Howard. So, it’s possible that Belit might be connected to that package.
It’s more likely an original character crafted by the screenwriters or from the extensive run of comics.
Alexander is best known for her series Blindspot and playing Lady Sif in the MCU. She is reportedly set to appear in both Marvel’s Loki series and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder.
RED SONJA – Power-hungry Queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman) captures the priestesses guarding the Talisman, a mystical orb that created and can destroy the world. But one of the priestesses escapes and seeks out her warrior sister, Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen), to warn her about Gedren’s plan for world domination. Lord Kalidor (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the Talisman’s keeper, insists on helping Sonja, and though she scorns the assistance of any man, she soon gains respect for Kalidor’s fighting prowess.
The Ronin mentioned not too long ago that something related to the Loki series was going to shoot in the United Kingdom. Our latest update is that the Ms. Marvel series is potentially doing some filming there as well. Unlike with Loki, there haven’t been signs that Marvel would like to pursue a Season 2, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did as Marvel has left the door open to some shows getting multiple seasons. For the time being, I’m going to assume this is connected to Season 1.
While looking into this, we were able to confirm that Ms. Marvel head writer/executive producer Bisha K. Ali is developing a new sci-fi series called The Well. However, plot details are unknown or what this ultimately means for follow-up seasons of the Marvel superhero show.
It’s worth noting that Loki head writer Michael Waldron has been able to rewrite the Doctor Strange Into The Multiverse of Madness script from scratch, potentially write on the Kevin Feige-produced Star Wars project, and is reportedly going to be involved with Loki’s second season in some capacity. So, theses writers can juggle many different plates at once.
If Loki and Ms. Marvel were to “hypothetically” get Season 2 renewals from Disney they wouldn’t be able to begin production until sometime in 2022 at the earliest because of how many things are shooting there in 2021 along with the actors’ commitments to other stuff since wrapping. Moving the two shows from Atlanta to England would be an ordeal itself.
As far as we know, Kamala Khan actress Iman Vellani is going to be busy with Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels and could possibly appear in Secret Invasion too, since both MCU projects are featuring S.W.O.R.D. and will have primary stage locations in the United Kingdom. This may allow Marvel to have the two the projects cross-pollinate characters/cast members. We were able to confirm recently The Marvels is shooting mainly at Longcross Studios, the facility located in Surrey was just used for Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
Marvel Studios is bringing a lot of industry business to the United Kingdom with Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Moon Knight, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 set to shoot there in 2021 on top of The Marvels and Secret Invasion. Turning the London area into the next Atlanta could make some sense as the studio continues to expand the volume of things they are releasing on Disney+ and in theaters.
Pinewood Studios UK now has their own Volume/StageCraft via ILM, which could make the increased amount of MCU projects a little easier to handle.
The studio has confirmed the Ms. Marvel cast includes other folks such as Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer, and Nimra Bucha. Episodes were directed by Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
The Marvel Studios original series centers on fan-favorite Kamala Khan — a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A great student, avid gamer, and voracious fan-fic scribe, Kamala has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. However, Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school — that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?
The Ronin can confirm that German cinematographer Alwin Küchler has joined the upcoming Neil Burger-directed thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter. The pic begins shooting this month in Toronto with Star Wars actors Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom, Killing Them Softly) taking main roles.
Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be.More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.
His feature film credits include Joe Wright’s Hanna, Neil Burger’s Divergent, Danny Boyle films Sunshine and Steve Jobs alongside additional photography for Netflix’s Project Power. Alwin recently worked on the MARV Films’ video game development biopic Tetris directed by Jon S. Baird (Filth) and stars Taron Edgerton (Rocketman, Eddie The Eagle, Kingsman 1-2).
Writers Mark L. Smith (Overlord, The Revenant, The Midnight Sky) and Elle Smith adapted the Karen Dionne novel for the screen. Mark was also working with Quentin Tarantino to develop a Star Wars film for Paramount that seemingly has stalled.
Mendelsohn will reprise his Marvel Cinematic Universe role, Talos, in the Disney+ series Secret Invasion. The Marvel sci-fi show will focus on the shape-shifting Skrulls replacing superheroes as the aliens attempt to invade Earth. It’s possible he’ll also appear in Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels.
A release date for The Marsh King’s Daughter hasn’t been set.
Predator 5 started production this week in Calgary and we finally know who will be tackling the creature effects on the fifth installment. Studio ADI, who tackled Alien vs. Predator, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, and The Predator, is officially back for the latest project.
Some folks over at Studio ADI have confirmed on Instagram they’ll be returning to handle predator creature effects on Predator 5, including Alec Gills himself. The film is being directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg and it’s said that the alien hunter will clash with a group of Comanche warriors, something that the crew shirt reflects.
Predator 5’s production team consists of cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane), production designer Kara Lindstrom (Den of Thieves), and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation).
Neither Disney nor 20th Century Studios have announced a release date but trades had been speculation it would land a spot in the Summer of 2022.
A big thanks to our pal Nicholas Whitcomb for sending this our way, please give him a follow over on Twitter and subscribe to his channel on YouTube. Nick and I previously worked together at HN Entertainment. So, if you like what we’re doing here at The Ronin, I would advise you check him out as well as he’s equally as passionate about genre projects, if not more.
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.
Earlier this week, it was announced that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation would be teaming for a brand new anime film set within the fantastical world of Middle-Earth created by British author J.R.R. Tolkien. The project will explore the origin’s of Helm’s Deep and King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan.
UPDATE: A producer on the project saw our original headline and has clarified on Twitter they won’t be taking the same liberties with Helm Hammerhand as the video game did and sticking to canon instead. Sorry, for the miscommunication.
He will NOT be a Nazgûl in case anyone is wondering. We are sticking to official canon with our story of Helm. https://t.co/RXDjpEQLnv
The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who is likely best known to folks in the west for his work on the series Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blood: The Last Vampire, and the series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, which has yet to debut.
Below is some examples from Kamiyama’s work.
It’s script will be penned by The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’s Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews alongside Oscar-winning screenwriter Philippa Boyens acting as a consultant.
Below is WarnerMedia’s official press release from this week.
Twenty years after delivering the award-winning “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, based on the iconic books by J.R.R. Tolkien, New Line Cinema has partnered with Warner Bros. Animation to produce an original anime feature directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama that will plunge fans into a legendary battle that helped shape Middle-earth and set the stage for the epic adventures brought to life in “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” explores and expands the untold story behind the fortress of Helm’s Deep, delving into the life and bloodsoaked times of one of Middle-earth’s most legendary figures; the mighty King of Rohan – Helm Hammerhand.
With Kamiyama (the “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” and “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” TV series) at the helm, the all-new standalone feature is being produced by Joseph Chou (“Blade Runner: Black Lotus” TV series) with Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”) penning the screenplay. Oscar-winner Philippa Boyens, from the screenwriting team behind “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies, is serving as a consultant on the project.
Though a standalone story, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is being created as a companion piece to New Line’s “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, with story and artistic elements woven throughout that will reconnect fans to the excitement and cinematic wonder of Middle-earth.
Jason Momoa will begin shooting his Aquaman sequel Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom over the summer for director James Wan, but while speaking with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show he couldn’t help to gush about viewing his other big film, Dune, with his children. He went on to praise Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and called the film a “masterpiece.”
“It is a masterpiece, I’ve never been on something of that scope, Denis [Villeneuve] is a genius. I got to see it, it’s really cool because my kids are up here and took them to it. First time I got to see something like that with my kids, it’s very adult movie but it’s so beautiful, the cast is massive,” Jason Momoa told Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon also reiterating that Dune will indeed a hybrid release on October 1 heading to both theaters and HBO Max, an obvious note from WarnerMedia when the project was brought-up and promoted by the two.
Luckily, for Dune fans it won’t end with this single film as Denis Villeneuve is attached to return for Dune: Part Two (an adaptation of the second half of the first novel) and had been expected to helm episodes of the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood.
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.
The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name,” “Little Women”), Rebecca Ferguson (“Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”), Oscar Isaac (the “Star Wars” franchise) Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “Avengers: Infinity War”), Stellan Skarsgård (HBO’s “Chernobyl,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), Dave Bautista (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Avengers: Endgame”), Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Fences,” “Lady Bird”), Zendaya (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” HBO’s “Euphoria”), David Dastmalchian (“Blade Runner 2049,” “The Dark Knight”), Chang Chen (“Mr. Long,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Netflix’s “Sex Education”), with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years,” “Assassin’s Creed”), with Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Skyfall”).
Production is underway on the Obi-Wan Kenobi show in California but it sounds like we might not see the return of Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn despite The Phantom Menace star’s previous interest in reprising the Jedi Knight, even as just a force ghost.
The Irish actor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his upcoming action film The Ice Road and was directly asked about appearing in the Star Wars series.
Liam Neeson responding with the following statement after being asked if he would show up, “I heard Ewan McGregor was gonna do a series. No, I don’t think so. No, I haven’t been approached.”
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Thinking Neeson would return isn’t coming out of the blue, as fallen Jedi have been known to return as force ghosts and Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith directly mentioned that Qui-Gon Jinn had learned this ability to communicate from beyond the grave before he was killed at the hands of Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
The cast already consists of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi aka Ben Kenobi, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Indira Varma, Kumail Nanjiani, Sung Kang, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Benny Safdie, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton as Uncle Owen, Moses Ingram, Bonnie Piesse as Aunt Beru, Maya Erskine, and Simone Kessell.
The inclusion of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru has all but confirmed we’ll see a young version of Luke Skywalker.
Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) is directing with Joby Harold (Army of The Dead) acting as the showrunner.
There is an expectation that Obi-Wan Kenobi will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022 and has seen it’s episode count bumped to six.
THE RONIN 