Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Adds ‘Future Man’ Cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Marvel Studios’ big Skrull crossover event series Secret Invasion has added French-Canadian cinematographer Sylvaine Dufaux (Future Man) to the production team as they continue to assemble the cast. Dufaux also did various camera/director of photography work on films such as Solo: A Star Wars Story, Source Code, The Fountain, Destin Daniel Cretton’s The Glass Castle, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, John Wick: Chapter 2, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

You can check out some of her recent work on Season 3 of the Hulu sci-fi comedy series Future Man below.

In the comics, Secret Invasion focuses on the reveal that multiple people in power and even superheroes have been replaced with an alien race with the ability to shape-shift, called the Skrulls. They were first introduced in Captain Marvel as peaceful cosmic refugees and covered for Nick Fury and Maria Hill while they were seemingly off-world having a space station built (for S.W.O.R.D.?), as seen at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

We previously revealed the Disney+ show’s working title will be Jambalaya, while shooting in the United Kingdom. Other Marvel projects confirmed to shoot across the pond are Moon Knight, The Marvels, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3.

Secret Invasion’s impressive cast already consists of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull leader Talos, Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, Hot Fuzz, The Crown), four-time Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, Peaky Blinders) said to be playing a villain, and most recent addition to the Marvel series is character actor Christopher McDonald (Hacks, Happy Gilmore).

I wouldn’t be shocked if cast members from The Marvels ended up appearing in Secret Invasion, given the two projects are expected to have S.W.O.R.D. playing a major role in them.

The show’s head writer is Kyle Bradstreet with directors Thomas Bezhucha (Let Him Go) and Ali Selim (The Looming Tower) recently announced.

Secret Invasion will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

Posted on in Television News

‘Halo’: Pablo Schreiber Teases The Paramount+ Series Has Finally Wrapped Filming

A few months back, it was announced that a brand new live-action Halo series from Amblin Television would be moving from Showtime to Paramount’s streaming service Paramount+, formerly known as CBS All Access.

An epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.

The sci-fi streaming series will see Den of Thieves and American Gods actor Pablo Schreiber (younger brother of Liev Schreiber) playing Master Chief in the 10-episode run.

The Canadian actor has been posting regularly on his Instagram account giving fans updates on Halo’s shoot. Cameras eventually started rolling again last November as announced by the actor and it looks like things have wrapped or are about to, thanks to the latest Instagram post from Schreiber teasing he’s about to leave Budapest, Hungary.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPyLSZYBBm-/

Budapest stages have been previously used for high-profile sci-fi projects such as Blade Runner 2049 and Dune.

We should expect some high-level action sequences as stunt coordinator Tom Struthers worked on the first season before recently moving on to Season 3 of Jack Ryan at Amazon. Struthers’ impressive feature film credits include Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, X-Men: First Class, Terminator Salvation, John Carter, and Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune remake.

Halo’s cast consists of Bookem Woodbine, Charlie Murphy, Olive Gray, Kate Kennedy, Yerin Ha, Jen Taylor, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Danny Spani.

Otto Bathurst, Joanthan Liebesman, Roel Reine, and Jessica Lowery are directing various episodes.

At one time, director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson were developing Halo as a feature film for 20th Century Fox before the project was killed as Blomkamp and Jackson pivoting to make District 9 instead.

Halo will officially debut on Paramount+ in 2022.

SOURCE: PABLO SCHREIBER

Posted on in Television News

‘Star Wars’ Spy Series ‘Andor’ Adds Robert Emms From ‘Chernobyl’

Lucasfilm is deep into production in England on their Star Wars series starring Diego Luna as the rebellion spy Cassian Andor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but there has been another addition to the show’s cast. British actor Robert Emms has nabbed a mystery role in the Disney+ series according to a report by Deadline. He’s been seen in things such as His Dark Materials, Chernobyl, and War Horse.

Joining Diego Luna will be Adria Arjona (Morbius), Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Stellan Skarsgard (Thor, Dune, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Fiona Shaw, and Kyle Soller. Originally, Alan Tudyk was announced to reprise his role as the smart-mouthed droid K-2SO, but had recently revealed to Collider that he was unlikely going to be involved with Season 1 due to changes made by Tony Gilory when he joined the project and rewriting episodes. He also inadvertently teased Andor would be getting multiple seasons.

TUDYK: “They’re shooting it right now, I’m not in it. But, if it stays on the air, stories keep getting told, I’ll end up in there.I’m going to be in the show. It’s just that the story that Tony [Gilroy] is telling doesn’t involve K-2SO until later on… I can’t be too specific, but I can definitely say that I’m not going to be in the first season.”

Given the show’s setting is five years before Rogue One, this could allow them to cover multiple seasons exploring the Rebellion spy.

Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Utopia, Black Mirror) will be directing with a writing team that includes Tony Gilroy (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Beau Willimon (House of Cards), and Stephen Schiff (The Americans).

Some photos from the set of Andor in England have made their way online and confirm that the Shoretroopers, introduced in Rogue One: A Story Story, will be making their return on the show, which takes place five years before the events of Rogue One. The well-designed troopers had previously appeared briefly on Season 2 of The Mandalorian.

Andor’s 12-episode run will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Speed Racer’ Actress Christina Ricci Joins ‘The Matrix 4’

The Matrix 4 wrapped months ago and won’t be released until December 22, but a new press kit for the film spotted by Collider has quietly added actress Christina Ricci to the cast. Ricci previously worked with director Lana Wachowski on the anime adaptation Speed Racer in the role of Trixie. Her credits include The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Casper, Monster, and Sleepy Hollow.

Lana Wachowksi returns to direct a cast that consists of Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jessica Henwick, Daniel Bernhardt, Priyanka Chopra, Ibarra, Neil Patrick Harris, Toby Onwumere, Brian J. Smith, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Ellen Hollman.

There are expectations that The Matrix 4 will launch a second trilogy.

THE MATRIX – Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question — What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Brad Anderson Joins The Directing Team On HBO Max Series ‘Peacemaker’

The Ronin can confirm that veteran director Brad Anderson is the latest person added to the directing team on James Gunn’s Peacemaker series starring John Cena. Anderson’s credits include the Christian Bale thriller The Machinist, Beirut starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike, Fringe, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, The Shield, Treme, The Killing, Almost Human, The Man In The High Castle, Treadstone, and Titans.

The HBO Max show is a direct spinoff of Gunn’s upcoming film The Suicide Squad.

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first.

We previously reported that Jody Hill (Observe & Report, Eastbound & Down) is also directing on the DC Comics series alongside James Gunn and Rosemary Rodriguez (Jessica Jones).

Peacemaker is said to debut January 2022 on HBO Max.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD – Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Posted on in Film News

‘John Wick 4’ Cast Adds Canadian Actor Shamier Anderson From Netflix’s ‘Stowaway’

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.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John surviving the fall from the roof of The Continential 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. 

Canadian actor Shamier Anderson has reportedly joined the project, according to Deadline. Anderson was most recently seen in the Netflix sci-fi movie Stowaway.

He’ll be joining Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Donnie Yen, and Rina Sawayama in the next installment.

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: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2’ Adds Issa Rae As The Voice Of Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse made huge waves in the animation community as the Sony Animation Studios project was not only different stylistically, but also a huge departure from other Spider-Man projects they’ve tackled in the past and earned them an Oscar for Best Animated Feature back in 2019. 

Of course, a direct sequel and spinoffs have been subsequently announced and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 is already being worked on. The follow-up film even has a script co-written by Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings screenwriter Dave Callaham. 

One casting addition that was announced earlier today by The Hollywood Reporter is that comedic actress Issa Rae (Lovebirds) will voice the role of Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman in the sequel. 

It’s expected that Oscar Isaac will reprise the role of Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Verse 2 after being teased at the end of the first film with technology that allows him to move between the Spider-Verse.

The Marvel Comics heroine has been the incarnation of of the superhero that everyone has assumed will be the lead in Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman film for Sony Pictures, but hasn’t been announced officially by the studio. Unlike other Sony characters, Jessica Drew didn’t first appear in the pages of Spider-Man comic books as she started as a Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. villain brainwashed by HYDRA, making her a shared character with Marvel Studios. 

Jessica Drew has ties to the big Skrull event Secret Invasion that will be covered in a Disney+ series and was an agent of S.W.O.R.D., making her a strong contender to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon. It remains to be seen who will play the live-action incarnation of Jessica Drew and if Marvel Studios will even be involved with the Olivia Wilde project. While Oscar Isaac voices Spider-Man 2099 and Hailee Steinfeld voices Spider-Gwen they have their own hard-canon roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Moon Knight’s Marc Spector and Hawkeye’s Kate Bishop, respectively.

There is also a an all-female Spider-Verse spinoff project in the works that will likely have Rae’s Jessica Drew on the roster too.

The animation and live-action Spider-Man universes haven’t been directly tied to each other, yet.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 will release on October 7, 2022.

Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 

Posted on in Film News

‘John Wick 4’: Singer Rina Sawayama Joins Keanu Reeves & Donnie Yen

John Wick: Chapter 4 is easily going to be one of the most anticipated action films alongside Lana Wachowski’s Matrix 4, both films highlighting the twilight era of Keanu Reeves’ action star status even as he inches closer to his 60s. The John Wick franchise fancies itself as action films made by action guys as director Chad Stahelski went from stuntman to director having extremely close ties with the stunt team, building the action sequences from the ground up and having star Keanu Reeves in training for months behind filming begins. 

A huge nod to the franchise’s action roots was the recent hiring of Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen in a supporting role. Instead of playing another foe, Deadline reports that Yen will play a friend of John Wick with a similar history and could potentially help him take on The High Table. Yen is best known for a multitude of martial arts projects like his Ip Man films alongside Hollywood productions such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Guillermo del Toro’s Blade II, and the Vin Diesel sequel xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.

Another interesting addition we missed was Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama taking a role in the film, as mentioned by Deadline last month.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John surviving the fall from the roof of The Continential 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. 

Production on John Wick: Chapter 4 is said to start this month at Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, Germany with other locations such as Paris and Japan. 

Lionsgate had previously announced a release date of May 27, 2022, and their plans to make John Wick: Chapter 5 at some point. 

Posted on in Television News

‘She-Hulk’: ‘Gotham’ & ‘The Punisher’ Actress Anais Almonte Spotted On The Set With Mark Ruffalo

Marvel’s She-Hulk series is currently filming and another actor seemingly has joined the cast.

Actress Anais Almonte (The Punisher, Gotham) posted a bunch of set photos, including one with herself in costume with Marvel Ruffalo in his Hulk motion-capture suit. She has since deleted the photos but She-Hulk Daily on Twitter was able to post the photos online.

Matthew Bass spotted this fourth image of Anais in her full costume from her Facebook account that was also deleted.

Almonte’s character hasn’t been revealed but could be playing someone with action scenes given that she’s pictured with Mark Rufflao. But don’t get too excited about her links to The Punisher as she played a dead body on that show.

Jennifer is the cousin of Avengers member Dr. Bruce Banner aka Hulk and after a blood transfusion from Bruce is granted her own Hulk powers becoming She-Hulk. The series officially will see the return of Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky aka Abomination, Mark Ruffalo back as Banner, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Amelia, and Ginger Gonzaga.

The 10-episode series will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia with Emmy-winner Jessica Gao (Rick & Morty) set as head writer.

She-Hulk’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).

Marvel Studios hasn’t announced when She-Hulk will debut but given the visual effects involved likely won’t drop until later in 2022.

SOURCE: ANAIS ALMONTE & SHE-HULK DAILY

Posted on in Film News

Action Star Donnie Yen Joins ‘John Wick 4’ Cast

It looks like we have our first new casting addition to John Wick 4.

Action star Donnie Yen has landed a main role, according to Deadline.

Yen will play an old friend of Reeves’ super assassin John Wick, who shares his same history and many of the same enemies.

Donnie Yen has made for himself coming from the action star lineage, where he does a lot of his own fight and stunt work. Some of his film credits are Blade II, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Hero, IP Man movies, and Highlander: Endgame.

The fourth chapter is expected to see Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and Laurence Fishburne’s The Bowery King going to war with The High Table, the group of mysterious criminal syndicate leaders that control the world of assassins and seemingly most criminal operations as well. There is hope that we’ll see and learn more about The High Table in the next installment.

A portion of the filming of John Wick: Chapter 4 will take place at Germany’s studio facility Babelsberg Film Studio just outside of Berlin in Potsdam.

The iconic German facility where Fritz Lang’s sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis was shot has been used on multiple modern Hollywood productions such as Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde, Duncan Jones’ Mute, The Girl In The Spider’s Web, A Cure For Wellness, Eddie The Eagle, Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, V For Vendetta, Ninja Assassin, Joe Wright’s Hanna, Michael B. Jordan’s Without Remorse, Lana Wachowski’s Matrix 4, and Tom Holland’s Uncharted.

Franchise star Keanu Reeves was at the European studio last year filming Matrix 4.

We previously mentioned they hired Uncharted stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy.

According to Collider, filming will begin this month with locations to include New York City, Paris, Berlin, and Japan. They added that Mike Finch (American Assassin, Predators) will be the main writer on the script after Derek Kolstad revealed he wouldn’t be writing the next two chapters.

John Wick: Chapter 4 director Chad Stahelski is also busy with other various projects but Lionsgate wants him to return for John Wick: Chapter 5 (potentially final installment) and has been attached to helm their Highlander reboot that might end up starring Henry Cavill (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, The Witcher, Man of Stell).

The studio plans to expand the John Wick universe with a Starz series, The Continental, focusing on a young version of Winston in New York City during the 1970s and previously hired Underworld director Len Wiseman to tackle their spinoff movie Ballerina written by Shay Hatten.

Lionsgate has given John Wick: Chapter 4 a release date of May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE