Author: Christopher Marc

Posted on in Film News

Trio of Directors Announced For ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ Sequel – Team Includes ‘Soul’ Co-Director Kemp Powers

While we’re still waiting on official confirmation that we’ll be getting a live-action Spider-Verse movie with Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony Pictures is moving forward with a sequel to the Miles Morales franchise that was launched with the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

Sony Pictures Animation now has three directors working on the next installment as Variety reports that they’ve secured two more directors to help out Joaquim Dos Santos (Legend of Korra) with Kemp Powers (Soul, One Night In Miami) and the original film’s production designer Justin K. Thompson joining the team. Kemp is currently nominated for Best Animated Feature thanks to his excellent work on Pixar’s Soul.

It’s script is being penned by Shang-Chi’s Dave Callaham, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller.

The last film ended with Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 (voiced by Oscar Isaac) suggesting that we’ll see a technological device used to move between the Spider-Verse in the sequel and we’ll see Miguel have an important role. Producers have also teased that characters such as Takuya Yamashiro aka Japanese Spider-Man will be considered for the lineup alongside other potential candidates like Cindy Moon aka Silk.

Sony has given Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 a release date of October 7, 2022.

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE – 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: VARIETY

Posted on in Features

‘Shang-Chi’ Trailer Teases Further Connection Between Ten Rings, Genghis Khan & Atlas?

Earlier today Marvel Studios dropped the first wave of promotion for Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming flick Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, which showcased a lot of the action scenes featuring the martial arts superhero played by Canadian actor Simu Liu.

One of the more interesting elements of the trailer released is that we see Tony Leung’s Wenwu in full costume as the iconic Iron Man villain, The Mandarin (seen above). However, we clearly see Wenwu wearing modern clothing in contemporary scenes and has a shorter haircut. It seems like this is actually a shot in the past and potentially connected to The Ten Rings’ obsession with Genghis Khan, first mentioned by Ten Rings member Raza in the original Iron Man film when Tony Stark is forced to build them weapons in a cave after being kidnapped.

Here is Raza’s speech from Iron Man.

“The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology. It was used by Genghis Khan to forge an empire that stretched across Asia, from the wintry woods of Ukraine to the Eastern shores of Korea. Now, whoever holds the weapons manufactured by Stark Industries rules the world… and soon, it will be MY turn.”

The Mandarin claims linage with Genghis Khan in the comic books and would explain why he was chosen to become the surrogate character to play Shang-Chi’s father in the film. His is father in the comic book is the infamous Fu Manchu and had to be updated as that character has long been considered an Asian racial stereotype. Wenwu can be given a lot more depth to his character while Fu Manchu would have simply just been a caricature of Asian villains in western culture.

We also see a huge battle with an army on horseback which looks to also be in the past, potentially alluding to Wenwu having the ability to extend his life (thanks to the Ten Rings?) or potentially is Genghis Khan himself. There is already a supernatural element with superpowers on display alongside large Foodog-like creatures.

In the comics, there is another group other than the MCU’s Ten Rings that has a close connection with Genghis Khan and Shang-Chi, that would be The Atlas Empire aka Atlas Foundation. A secretive group that mandates that leaders must have linage to Genghis Khan, you might know them better via Agents of Atlas a group of heroes that are led/recruited by Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo (eventually leads Atlas as well) and in more recent incarnations has Shang-Chi on the roster. They also happen to have a secret base of operations, Temple of Atlas, below San Francisco, the same American city where Shang-Chi has been calling home for the last decade (Jimmy Woo was also stationed there in Ant-Man & The Wasp).

I’ve actually been talking-up the idea that The Atlas Empire/Agents of Atlas could have a connection to Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings going back to April 2019. Having these potential scenes linking Wenwu to Genghis Khan seems to only bolster the possibility of Atlas being introduced in Shang-Chi. That would, of course, lead to the Agents of Atlas eventually joining the MCU. It’s worth mentioning one of the original members recruited by Jimmy Woo just happens to be Namor’s cousin Namora.

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings releases on September 3, 2021.

Posted on in Television News

Oscar-Winner Olivia Colman Joining Marvel’s ‘Secret Invasion’ Series – Will She Play Skrull Royalty?

As the finale of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier will hit Disney+ on Friday, another big Marvel Studios series event is assembling it’s cast with Secret Invasion. A new casting update from The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Oscar-winner and current nominee, Olivia Colman, is now in talks with Marvel for an undisclosed role in Secret Invasion.

The British actress would join Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull Leader Talos, and fellow Brit Kingsley Ben-Adir reportedly taking a villain role in the Disney+ series.

Colman has had a bit oddball career as she had been primarily known as a comedic actress in things like Peep Show and Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz when she took a dramatic pivot with projects such as Broadchurch, The Crown, and Tyrannosaur. Olivia eventually won Best Actress for her permanence in the dramatic comedy The Favourite from director Yorgos Lanthimos starring alongside Marvel alumni Rachel Weisz (Black Widow) and Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man 1-2). She recently landed a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film The Father, which she co-stars with Thor franchise actor Anthony Hopkins.

Considering her high-profile and previously playing two historical queens, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume Colman might end up playing one of the royal members of the Skrulls.

Olivia might not be the only actor currently nominated for this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony that is being courted by Marvel Studios for upcoming projects.

Secret Invasion is an event from Marvel Comics that sees a bunch of established characters being revealed as Skrulls, not humans. However, in Captain Marvel we learned that Talos and his group were not antagonists but actually refugees looking for a new place to call home. We last saw Nick Fury in the button scene for Spider-Man: Far From Home on some space station that the Skrulls were building, which could have a direct tie-in to both S.W.O.R.D. and Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Skrulls have a part to play in Black Panther 2 given how Wakanda is invaded by Skrulls and have their asses handed to them in the comics. There is also a huge connection to space with The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda and their vibranium (from a space rock) technology could be appealing to an evil sect of Skrulls looking to defeat/replace Earth’s superheroes.

THR also confirms previous production info that Secret Invasion will indeed shoot in the United Kingdom and that filming on the Disney+ series could begin as early as this fall.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Shang-Chi’: Marvel Releases First-Look Trailer, Poster & Images For Martial Arts Superhero Flick

Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.

Celebrating the birthday of Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu, Marvel Studios has released a wave of promotional material for their upcoming martial arts flick Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. This includes a first-look teaser trailer revealing that Shang-Chi’s father Wenwu gave his son 10 years to live his own life in San Francisco before taking his place at his side.

Wenwu is expected to be the MCU’s version of The Mandarin, a character that had been seen in Iron Man 3 but was revealed to be a fake. The Iron Man villain has long been seen as a stereotype, however, it looks like director Destin Daniel Cretton will be giving him a more complex adaptation as he stands-in for Shang-Chi’s comic book papa Fu Machu.

A trio of images were also posted by Entertainment Weekly which you can see below.

SOURCE: MARVEL & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Television News

Season 1 of ‘Lord of The Rings’ Will Cost Amazon $465M – They Spent $11B On Content In 2020

Amazon has been known for throwing around their buyer power for a while now. Last week, it was revealed via CNBC that Amazon had spent a massive $11 billion on content for streaming and music services. It’s a lot of money and it’ll be interesting to see what will come from that spending.

Amazon spent $11 billion on content for its streaming video and music services last year, the company disclosed Thursday in its annual report, the latest sign of the company’s willingness to invest heavily in entertaining Prime members.

On Friday, we learned from The Hollywood Reporter that Lord of The Rings series is going to one of the most expensive shows. The streaming service is spending $465 million on just the first season on the fantasy prequel. There is an expectation with a five season commitment at Prime Video it could end up costing them $2.3 billion if the next four seasons have a similar price tag.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Amazon will spend roughly NZ$650 million — $465 million in U.S. dollars — for just the first season of the show.

The show’s massive cast includes actors Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, Lenny Henry, Peter Mullan (Trainspotting, Children of Men), Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Benjamin Walker (Heart of The Sea, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Arrow, Power), Simon Merrells, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Geoff Morrell, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, and Sara Zwangobani.

Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-Earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Beginning in a time of relative peace, 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. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

Filming is taking place in Auckland, New Zealand and is expected to continue to shoot there in follow-up seasons.

SOURCE: CNBC & THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Spinoff ‘Furiosa’ Officially Shooting In New South Wales Next Year Becoming A Huge Boost To Local Economy

Today, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia at Fox Studios Australia it was officially announced that Mad Max: Fury Road prequel/spinoff, titled Furiosa, will be shot next year in New South Wales. It’s said to bring $350 million (Australian dollars) to the area which is going to be a huge boost the local economy.

Director George Miller and actor Chris Hemsworth were in attendance alongside New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian, who posted images on her Twitter account.

 Warner Bros. has given the film a release date of June 23, 2023.

Furiosa will be a prequel focusing on Charlize Theron’s Furisoa from Mad Max: Fury Road, but will see The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy in that role instead. Miller citing de-aging technology not being up to snuff to his standards leading to hiring a new younger actress instead of using VFX to bring back Theron. Joining Anya in the post-apocalyptic film will be Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

They also add that George Miller has finally wrapped production on Three Thousand Years of Longing.

Hemsworth is currently shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder (The Big Salad) with director Taika Waititi at Fox Studios Australia.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Ben Wheatley Down To Tackle A New ‘Doom’ Movie If Given The Chance

British director Ben Wheatley has been mulling-over the idea of making a video game film as he was originally hired to direct a Tomb Raider sequel starring Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. He eventually exited to focus on The Meg 2 and Misha Green (Lovecraft Country) was hired to replace him on Tomb Raider 2.

While speaking with The Playlist Podcast to promote In The Earth, Ben revealed a desire to still potentially tackle a video game project citing a third Doom movie or a film based on the shooter Counter-Strike.

WHEATLEY: “I still want to make a Doom film though. I know it’s been done, but come on! Or Counter-Strike, that would be the one I’d like to make.”

After recently re-watching Wheatley’s gun-play action flick Free Fire, you can understand why something like Doom could be appealing to the filmmaker. Doom is basically all the elements of a fun action-horror project with Mars, Hell, demons, and a never-ending amount of gunfire. However, there have been two attempts to make a feature film based on the property with Doom movie released in 2015 starring Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike. The other being the 2019 film Doom: Annihilation.

DOOM – The game is set on Mars, with a UAC facility being invaded by the forces of Hell. The Doom Slayer awakens chained to a sarcophagus in a UAC facility. After stabilizing the Foundry before a meltdown occurs, Doomguy learns that Pierce plans to use the UAC’s Argent Energy Tower to tear a permanent portal into Hell.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in Film News

‘Game of Thrones’ Alumni Pilou Asbæk In Talks To Join James Wan’s ‘Aquaman 2’

As director James Wan is preparing to shoot the sequel to the billion-dollar hit Aquaman starring Jason Momoa under the working title Necrus, there is a casting update.

A report from Deadline from yesterday states that Danish actor Pilou Asbæk is currently in talks to take a role. Pilou is likely best known for his villainous role in the latter seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones and playing an evil Nazi in Bad Robot’s Overload. He also co-starred alongside Scarlett Johansson in DreamWorks’ live-action Ghost In The Shell movie playing Batou.

While his part in the DC Comics project wasn’t mentioned. The working title is likely a reference to the underwater city of Necrus aka The Black City that is ruled by King Mongo, it’s possible that could be Pilou’s role in Aquaman 2.

Black Adam is currently filming in Atlanta with upcoming productions The Flash and Shazam! Fury of The Gods in the United Kingdom.

Aquaman 2 is still set to be released by Warner Bros. on 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: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Falcon & Winter Soldier’ Episode 5 Big Cameo Was Supposed To Be Introduced In ‘Black Widow’ First

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 OF THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER

We’re down to one more episode of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and it seems to be a bit of a super-soldier showdown. Interestingly enough, while a big cameo was teased for this current episode they sort have delivered on that front when the teases for WandaVision were mostly smoke to confuse fans.

The big cameo in Episode 5 aka Truth wasn’t what I think a lot of people were expecting as Julia Louis-Dreyfus revealed herself as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine aka Agent 14. Traditionally, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent that was for a time secretly joined HYDRA as a version of Madame Hydra.

I personally wouldn’t be shocked if she turned out to be the secret Power Broker, given her interest in John Walker and knowledge of the super-soldier serum. If she turns out to be the MCU’s version of Madame Hydra/Viper it would also make perfect sense as the Ophelia Sarkissian incarnation for a time ruled Madripoor. There is also a connection to Sharon Carter via Femme Force, so having the two linked-up wouldn’t be a stretch either.

It’s interesting to see a Seinfeld cast member given all the working titles to Marvel projects honoring the series, including Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder going under The Big Salad during filming. A direct nod to a title of an episode. Jon Watt’s Spider-Man films have also honored the show with The Summer of George and Fall of George/Bosco on the first two movies.

Vanity Fair has also revealed that Julia’s Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was supposed to first show up in Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and potentially reveal herself as being some sleeper Russian agent connected to the Black Widow Program, not unlike Rachel Weisz’s Iron Maiden. Not to mention that Marvel is said to have “big plans” for her character.

According to sources close to the production, Louis-Dreyfus was slated to first appear in the Black Widow film which, in a pre-Covid world, was scheduled to debut in theaters May 1, 2020. But Marvel, reportedly, has even bigger ambitions for Louis-Dreyfus’s villainous figure. 

They’re still unsure if she’ll still appear in Black Widow or not along with teasing the possibility of a link to The Thunderbolts too. It wouldn’t be surprising if both Walker and Zemo end up on the Thunderbolts lineup alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. We see Walker building his own shield after the real one was taken away and Zemo is being sent to Thunderbolt Ross’ super-prison The Raft, the latter feels like a huge nod that The Thunderbolts are coming in the future.

Black Widow has been pushed to July 9, 2021 and Marvel really didn’t have a choice to delay Falcon given the demand for original content for Disney+. The final episode of the series will be released next week.

SOURCE: VANITY FAIR

Posted on in Television News

Gabriel Luna To Play Joel’s Brother Tommy In ‘The Last of Us’ Series

Production on HBO’s live-action series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us will begin this July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They’ve added another cast member as Gabriel Luna has been hired to play the younger brother of lead character Joel, Tommy. The news coming to us via Deadline.

Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Luna is likely best known for his roles in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Terminator: Dark Fate, and briefly appearing in Season 2 of HBO’s True Detective.

Lead actor Pedro Pascal is also attached to Star Wars series The Mandalorian Season 3 which hasn’t officially started filming as Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to be the next Disney+ show to shoot at the California facility starting this month. Their is a new rumor making the rounds that Pascal’s Din Djarin will be appearing in The Book of Boba Fett.

There is a possibility that Pedro will shoot The Last of Us over the summer and might jump into The Mandalorian Season 3 later in the year when Alberta gets too cold to shoot outdoors.

Kantemir Balagov is directing the pilot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE