Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Television News

‘The Book of Boba Fett’: Temuera Morrison Confirms Robert Rodriguez Directed Episodes & Explores The Bounty Hunter’s Past

At the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian, it was announced that we would be getting a spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett, as there was a sequence with Fett taking over the criminal syndicate on Tatooine after the events of The Rescue. The scene also confirmed that Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen would be reprising their roles.

We were shocked when Lucasfilm announced it would be the next live-action Star Wars series and it was eventually revealed that The Mandalorian Season 3 would be taking a back seat as Deborah Chow’s Obi-Wan Kenobi started production on those same California stages and The Volume located at Mahattan Beach Studios.

It had all been assumed when Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror, Desperado, Alita: Battle Angel) was announced as part of the producing team he would be directing as well. Actor Temuera Morrison has now confirmed this while speaking with Rotten Tomatoes and mentioned how the Star Wars series would tackle the Bounty Hunter’s past.

“Well, we can’t say too much, but we’re going to see his past and where he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Somebody pointed out he’s been kind of stuck in this one place, and now’s the time to actually go back in time and check out his journey and find out more about him.They brought Robert back in to direct a few more. There’s some wonderful directors involved,” Morrison told Rotten Tomatoes.

There is a previous assumption that Favreau and Filoni have helmed episodes too.

Filming has wrapped on The Book of Boba Fett as revealed on Twitter by Fennec Shand actress Ming-Na Wen showing off some wrap gifts. I guess we’ll have to wait patiently for confirmation about who will be appearing from The Mandalorian and what new actors have joined the Star Wars project.

Disney announced that The Book of Boba Fett will debut later this year.

SOURCE: ROTTEN TOMATOES

Posted on in Film News

‘Indiana Jones 5’: Set Video Confirms Indy Will Face Nazis Again & ‘Captain America’s Toby Jones Joins Cast

After years of delays, script revisions, and director Steven Spielberg exiting, Indiana Jones 5 has finally started filming over in the United Kingdom.

James Mangold is set to write and direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm with a growing cast that already consists of Harrison Ford back as Henry Jones Jr. aka Indiana Jones, British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Fleabag), Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts 3, Casino Royale, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Another Round), German actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Valkyrie, Blade II).  Boyd Holbrook (The Predator, Narcos, Logan), and Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident).

There is a set video that was uploaded on YouTube (see below) that seems to show a Nazi train, which would back up recent plot details mentioned by The Illuminerdi that we’ll see the return of the franchise antagonists and the film being connected to Nazi scientists involved with the space race of the 1960s. The last time we saw Indy punching Nazis was all the way back in 1989’s Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade as the setting of Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull taking place post-WWII and it offhandedly mentioned that Jones served during the war between installments.

Well, these off-camera WWII adventures might make it into the fifth installment as Harrison Ford was spotted on set with new addition Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) with visual effects dots on his face suggesting the sequence might be a flashback. The set photos were spotted on Reddit.

This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened in the franchise, as Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade opened with River Phoenix playing a young Indiana Jones sort of explaining the origin of his iconic hat and whip. Funny enough, that sequence involved a train too.

Confirmed crew members include legendary composer John Williams, production designer Adam Stockhausen (The French Dispatch, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Widows, Ready Player One), and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Ford v Ferrari, Walk The Line, 3: 10 To Yuma).

We previously mentioned Lucasfilm is considering to shoot scenes on the East Coast United States.

Disney has chosen to give Indiana Jones 5 a release date of July 29, 2022 and will go head-to-head against Dwayne Johnson’s DC Comics film Black Adam, until one of the two projects moves to another date.

Posted on in Television News

‘She-Hulk’: Marvel Taps Jameela Jamil To Play Super-Strong Baddie & Gamma Flight Member Titania In The Disney+ Series

Marvel’s She-Hulk series is well into it’s production with Emmy-winners Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Mark Ruffalo starring. We finally have a villain on the show as it was originally reported by The Illuminerdi that Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) would be playing Titania, which was later backed-up by the trades.

Titania aka Mary MacPherran Creel, happens to be the wife of Hulk super-villain Carl “Crusher” Creel aka The Absorbing Man, the two happen to be on the Gamma Flight roster. A character the appeared in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (non-canon series) and was reworked in Ang Lee’s Hulk movie giving Bruce’s father David Banner that power-set.

We believe there is a good shot we might see an official Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation of Creel in the show given his connection to Titania alongside the need to have super-strong and formidable villains that can give Jennifer and Bruce a run for their money. That’s likely a big reason that The Incredible Hulk’s Tim Roth is back as Emil Blonsky aka Abomination, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that Marvel will give the villain a design overhaul for the series incarnation since the last version was terribly inaccurate and didn’t really work.

The 10-episode series will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia with Emmy-winner Jessica Gao (Rick & Morty) set as head writer. It’s crew consists of production designer Elena Albanese (Lovecraft Country), costume designer Ann Foley (Godzilla Vs. Kong, Altered Carbon), and stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton (Loki, Avengers: Endgame).

Set photos recently posted by actress Anais Almonte (Gotham, The Punisher) confirmed her involvement and officially announced that production is indeed happening in Atlanta, Georgia.

She-Hulk will likely debut on Disney+ sometime in the second half of 2022. Given the extensive visual effects involved and multiple motion-capture characters, we shouldn’t expect to see it arrive before the summer of next year, but we’ll certainly update if that changes.

SOURCE: THE ILLUINERDI

Posted on in Film News

‘Aquaman’ Sequel Officially Titled ‘Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom’; Confirming The Setting Of Necrus

Danish actor Pilou Asbæk (Overlord, Ghost In The Shell, Game of Thrones) is the latest addition to the Aquaman sequel with Jason Momoa and Amber Heard set to return as Aquaman 2’s leads.  The working title going to be Necrus, a direct nod the underwater city of Necrus aka The Black City that is ruled by King Mongo, a character that Pilou is most likely playing.

Well, the film’s title seems to all confirming Necrus will be the setting, as director James Wan announced on Instagram the official title will be Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom.

Momoa previous confirmed a production start next month at Warner Bros. Studios Leavseden in Watford, England. Those same stages are being used for The Flash and Fantastic Beasts 3. The actor revealed he’ll also be landing story credit on the sequel.

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Bill Brzeski is back for Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom.

The original film was shot at Village Roadshow Studios in Australia under the working title Ahab.

It’s expected that Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, and Temuera Morrison will appear as well.

Other DC Comics films currently in production are The Flash, Black Adam, and Shazam! Fury of The Gods.

Warner Bros. has given the sequel a release date of December 16, 2022.

AQUAMAN – Once home to the most advanced civilization on Earth, the city of Atlantis is now an underwater kingdom ruled by the power-hungry King Orm. With a vast army at his disposal, Orm plans to conquer the remaining oceanic people — and then the surface world. Standing in his way is Aquaman, Orm’s half-human, half-Atlantean brother and true heir to the throne. With help from royal counselor Vulko, Aquaman must retrieve the legendary Trident of Atlan and embrace his destiny as protector of the deep.

SOURCE: JAMES WAN

Posted on in Film News

‘John Wick 4’: Laurence Fishburne Finally Confirms His Return As The Bowery King

We’ve all been patiently waiting for confirmation that Laurence Fishburne would be reprising the Bowery King role in Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4 and we finally got it from the man himself while speaking with Collider.

“I should be going to Berlin within another couple of months or so,” Fishburne told Collider.

He continued to praise the sequel’s script, “I read the script. It’s really, really cool. As much as it’s the same world as the other three films, it’s just deeper. It’s much deeper in terms of the code of the assassin and the relationship that he has with one character in particular who I think Mr. Watanabe (Collider says is a character, not Ken Watanabe) is playing… is really the heart and soul of it.”

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him, Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters. 

The cast already consists of Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgard, and British singer-turned-actress Rina Sawayama. It’s unclear if Asia Kate Dillion, Halle Berry or Common will return.

John Wick 4 is on the cusp of starting production at Babelsberg Film Studio in Berlin, Germany and another actor has joined the high-octane action sequel. Other filming locations are said to include Paris and Japan.

Lionsgate has set John Wick 4’s release date for May 27, 2022 and have announced plans to make John Wick: Chapter 5 at some point as well.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

Legendary’s ‘Toxic Avenger’ Enlists Kevin Bacon As The Villain In The Superhero Satire; Filming Begins This Month In Bulgaria

Before Marvel Comics’ Deadpool, the most violent and comedic character in the “superhero genre” was Troma Films’ Toxie aka The Toxic Avenger. The character debuted in the satirical superhero movie in 1984 that focuses on the transformation of a weakling nerd janitor, Melvin, into the hulking but grotesque titular hero after being dumped into toxic waste.

A new feature film is in the works at Legendary with director Macon Blair set to reboot the character for a new generation as they’ve already assembled a cast that has Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, Avengers: Infinity War), Jacob Tremblay (Good Boys, The Predator, Room), and Taylour Paige (Zola, Boogie, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) in lead roles.

The Toxic Avenger reboot has selected an actor to play the film’s villain, as The Hollywood Reporter says they’ve hired veteran actor Kevin Bacon. He’s no stranger to genre pics after previously working on projects such as the sci-fi horror comedy Tremors, James Gunn’s Super, and Joel Schumacher’s underrated thriller Flatliners.

They also mention production begins this month in Bulgaria, a location recently used for Michael Fassbender’s Kung Fury 2.

A string of films were mature but satirical in nature taking the genre to the extreme with hyper-violent scenes including the murder of a child. Despite that, it eventually spawned a Saturday morning cartoon series, a run of comics published by Marvel Comics, and a kids toyline.

THE TOXIC AVENGER – Tromaville, New Jersey is a small American town that terrible criminals have overtaken. As the town’s corrupt mayor sits idly by, muggers, robbers, and teenage punks victimize its helpless citizens. Among the residents of Tromaville is a young man named Melvin—a nerdy, emaciated janitor who works at the local health club. That is he’s meek until a gang of thugs decide to toss the poor kid out a third story window into a vat of hazardous toxic waste. An unexpected metamorphosis takes place as the chemicals take hold of his body, and they transform him into the TOXIC AVENGER—doer of good, and brutal mauler of evil! The rest, as they say, is history as our hero sets out to single handedly wipe out the forces of evil that torment the good people of Tromaville.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Kung Fury 2’ Starring Michael Fassbender & Arnold Schwarzenegger Coming In 2022 – Check Out Wild Pics From The Action Satire

Swedish filmmaker David Sandberg has been putting together a feature film sequel to his crowdfunded Kung Fury trailer that was turned into a short film co-starring Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone. Someone was nutty enough to give him a real budget to work with and make Kung Fury 2 alongside convincing legitimate actors like Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in it.

David Sandberg also stars as Kung Fury making the project even more bonkers and akin to the VHS era he’s attempting to parody.

Here’s a short synopsis for the bizarre genre mash-up satire.

1985 Miami is kept safe under the watchful eye of Kung Fury and his Thundercops, the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat the villainous Kung Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. After the tragic death of a Thundercop sees the group disband, a mysterious villain emerges from the shadows to aid in the Fuhrer’s quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Kung Fury must travel through space and time to save his friends, defend the prestigious Miami Kung Fu Academy and defeat evil once and for all.

UPDATE: David Sanberg posted the first image of Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix) as Rey Porter on Instagram.

Sandberg revealed on Instagram last month that Kung Fury 2 would be releasing sometime in 2022.

Check out some promo and behind the scenes images from Kung Fury 2’s shoot in Germany and Bulgaria. The pics certainly showcase a lot of the set construction and practical creature effects as Sandberg seemed to add his own version of King Shark but decided against using motion-capture for it. Arnold Schwarzenegger also seems to be able to live out a fantasy of his, becoming the President, a nod to both Demolition Man and The Simpsons Movie.

Here is the original trailer and music video featuring David Hasselhoff. The short film is age-restricted, so you’ll have to head over to YouTube to watch it.

SOURCE: DAVID SANDBERG

Posted on in Film News

‘Alien 5’: More Ellen Ripley Concept Art Appears Online From Neill Blomkamp’s Unmade Sequel

Filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie, Elysium) famously attempted to put together a new Alien sequel with Sigourney Weaver back in the Ellen Ripley role. Alien 5 aka Red Harvest seemingly would have acted as a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens and ignoring the events of Alien 3/Alien Resurrection allowing them to bring back Hicks and Newt.

Previous concept art revealed that the evil Weyland-Yuanti got their hands on the derelict ship and are breeding xenomorphs in some sort of controlled facility.

Another small batch of concept artwork appeared on the website of artist Geoffroy Thoorens. It shows Ripley wearing a fireproof suit and an image of a space station.

The suit worn by Ripley was actually developed by Alien: Isolation and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concept artist Calum Alexander Watt. You can see one of his designs for the suit below.

SOURCE: GEOFFROY THOORENS

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Otto Bathurst Attached To Direct & Produce Arthurian Series ‘Warlord Chronicles’ For Epix

Back in January 2020, TV Line reported that Epix will be developing a series, Warlord Chronicles, based on The Warlord Trilogy from author Bernard Cornwell. The three books that take place within the world of King Arthur are titled The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur.

The Ronin has since learned that Otto Bathurst is attached to Warlord Chronicles as both director and producer. Otto’s experience with television includes shows such as Peaky Blinders, Black Mirror, His Dark Materials, and the Amblin Television live-action Halo series that will air on Paramount+ in 2022.

THE WINTER KING – A former warrior sworn to Arthur and now an elderly monk, Derfel tells the story of how Arthur became a warlord in Dark Age Britain despite illegitimacy to the throne. After being banished to Armorica by his father, the High King Uther Pendragon, Arthur returns to protect the new king, his infant nephew Mordred.

Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe novels was developed into a British television series starring Game of Thrones star Sean Bean and The Saxon series adapted into Netflix’s The Last Kingdom.

It was recently announced that Bathurst’s BBC London gangster series Peaky Blinders starring Cillian Murphy would be ending after Season 6 as mentioned by outlets like Variety.

Posted on in News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Luther’ Creator Neil Cross Developing A Project Based On William Gibson’s Sci-Fi Novel ‘Pattern Recognition’

The Ronin has learned that British writer Neil Cross is developing a project based on the William Gibson science fiction novel Pattern Recognition, the first in Gibson’s Blue Ant books. The sci-fi author, alongside folks like Philip K. Dick, is famously part of a small group of writers credited for the formation of the cyberpunk sub-genre.

PATTERN RECOGNITION – Published in 2003, the novel focuses on Cayce Pollard, an expensive, spookily intuitive market-research consultant. In London on a job, she is offered a secret assignment: to investigate some intriguing snippets of video that have been appearing on the Internet. An entire subculture of people is obsessed with these bits of footage, and anybody who can create that kind of brand loyalty would be a gold mine for Cayce’s client. But when her borrowed apartment is burgled and her computer hacked, she realizes there’s more to this project than she had expected.

Still, Cayce is her father’s daughter, and the danger makes her stubborn. Win Pollard, ex-security expert, probably ex-CIA, took a taxi in the direction of the World Trade Center on September 11 one year ago, and is presumed dead. Win taught Cayce a bit about the way agents work. She is still numb at his loss, and, as much for him as for any other reason, she refuses to give up this newly weird job, which will take her to Tokyo and on to Russia. With help and betrayal from equally unlikely quarters, Cayce will follow the trail of the mysterious film to its source, and in the process will learn something about her father’s life and death.

It’s unclear if the project is active or if Neil has since moved on to other things.

Gibson’s Blue Ant trilogy includes novels such as Spook Country and Zero History.

Cross worked on Spooks, created both Idris Elba’s Luther and Hard Sun, currently is the showrunner on The Mosquito Coast at Apple TV+. The former show recently got picked up for a second season earlier this month. The screenwriter is also behind the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror flick Mama, briefly worked on Pacific Rim, and was hired by 20th Century Fox to rewrite the script for their remake of the John Carpenter cult film Escape From New York.

This isn’t the only William Gibson adaptation in the works as Amazon Prime Video has a series based on the cyberpunk novel The Peripheral from Westworld co-creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. It stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Shadow In The Clouds), Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Charlotte Riley (Edge of Tomorrow), and JJ Field (Captain America: The First Avenger).