Category: Film News

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‘Rogue Trooper’: Duncan Jones’ Sci-Fi Animated Comic Book Film Adds Hayley Atwell, Jemaine Clement, Sean Bean & Matt Berry To Voice Cast

Rebellion and Liberty Films are behind a feature film incarnation of the 2000 A.D. Comics (publisher of “Juge Dredd”) character ‘Rogue Trooper.” British filmmaker Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Mute,” “Warcraft”) is set to write and direct the film after an extensive gestation period has finally lined up his voice cast. An official announcement has been made for the former live-action film as a collection of newcomers and veteran actors have been assembled for “Rogue Trooper.”

Taking on the lead voice roles consists of Aneurin Barnard (The Goldfinch, Dunkirk) as the titular Rogue Trooper, alongside Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses, Dunkirk), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters, Good Luck To You Leo Grande) and Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9, Saltburn). Other names mentioned for the sci-fi animated film include Jemaine Clement (Avatar 2: The Way of Water), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth), Alice Lowe (Black Mirror), Asa Butterfield (Sex Education, Hugo) and Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings).

Here is the film’s logline from today’s press release:

“‘Rogue Trooper’ tells the story of 19, a ‘Genetic Infantryman’, who finds himself the sole survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet, and rucksack.“

The animated pic was originally planned to be live-action but Jones has obviously pivoted and is expected to be ready for release by 2025. “Rogue Trooper” hails from the same mature comic book publisher that gave us “Dredd,” so there is an expectation it will skew potentially in the realm of R-rated material. They also added a piece of first-look artwork and the film will be using the Unreal Engine 5 to animate.

Rebellion has also been developing a series set within the universe of “Dredd” with “Mega-City One.” However, we haven’t had any sort of concrete update on that front in years. Perhaps, “Mega-City One” could also consider a pivot into animation to cut costs as the show was expected to focus on other judges, not specifically Dredd.

SOURCE: 2000 A.D./REBELLION

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Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out 3’ Starring Daniel Craig Begins Filming Later This Year With Potential 2025 Release Date

After the success of “Knives Out,” writer/director Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig decided to turn the mature whodunnit comedy into a string of films with it landing at streaming giant Netflix. Their original deal would be for two sequels with “Glass Onion” being that second film and a third untitled pic would be made to round out a trilogy. There is a big update on “Knives Out 3” (Won’t be the actual title) as filming is aiming to start up real soon.

A new report from Deadline focusing on Johnson’s production company, T-Street, revealed that the untitled third installment in the “Knives Out” trilogy is said to be shooting later this year. We could easily speculate that this update means there is a great shot it will be ready to be released on Netflix in 2025.

Of course, the bigger aspect of these sequels is trying to suggest and figure out who will be part of the lineup of actors Johnson will select to become the latest group of murder suspects.

One of the more interesting aspects of “Glass Onion” was the reveal in the opening act that Hugh Grant (“The Gentlemen”) plays Benoit Blanc’s (Craig) husband and easily could be making a return in a bigger role for this third installment. Also, exploring that relationship as Blanc seemed to have been spending an extended period of time in the bathtub playing video games and reading stacks of books during the lockdown era of the COVID pandemic.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Actor Lewis Pullman Top Choice To Play Sentry In Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts’ Movie After Steven Yeun Exit

With the production of Marvel’s “Deadpool 3” wrapping this week, it means that the studio can continue pursuing the other steam of projects that have been delayed such as “Blade,” “Fantastic Four,” “Thunderbolts,” and some reshoots for “Captain America: Brave New World.” You might remember that actor Steven Yeun (“Nope,” “Burning”) had been set to play the character Sentry in “Thunderbolts” until some scheduling issues led him to exit, and a casting search began to replace him.

There is finally a solid update that was first pointed out by insider Daniel Richtman on Twitter that Lewis Pullman (“Salem’s Lot”), who played the fighter pilot Bob in “Top: Gun Maverick,” has been offered Sentry. That reporting is now being backed up by The Hollywood Reporter calling Pullman a “top choice” to replace Yeun. Pullman can be seen starring alongside Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson in the Apple TV+ series, “Lessons In Chemistry” and the upcoming Stephen King vampire film “Salem’s Lot.”

How Miracle Workers Breakout Geraldine Viswanathan Overcame Her Nerves to Steal Scenes from Harry Potter and God - Paste Magazine

UPDATE: Deadline reports that not only has Lewis Pullman landed the Sentry part in the upcoming Marvel Studios’ feature film ahead of production but has also seen the exit of recent Emmy-winner Ayo Edebiri with Aussie actor Geraldine Viswanathan (“Miracle Workers”) taking over that supporting role. Viswanathan recently co-starred with “She-Hulk” actor Jon Bass (Hulk King) in the comedic time-jumping anthology series “Miracle Workers.”

This won’t be the first cast member from “Top Gun: Maverick” to land a part in the MCU as Danny Ramirez plays Joaquin Torres, aka, Falcon in “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier” and reprises the part in “Captain America: Brave New World.”

Jake Schreier (“Beef”) will direct an impressive lineup of returning MCU characters such as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), U.S Agent (Wyatt Russell), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Julia Louis-Dreyfus will also reprise her role as CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine with Emmy-winner Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”) taking a supporting role as well.

“Thunderbolts” is set to begin shooting soon in Atlanta with an adjusted release date of July 25, 2025.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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New ‘Supergirl’ Role Down To Actresses Milly Alcock & Meg Donnelly, Will First Appear In ‘Superman: Legacy’

DC Studios and Warners are gearing up to give DC fans a second version of their interconnected cinematic universe as the newly formed DC Studios hopes to bring a large swath of heroes and villains to the big and small screens. One of those priority characters besides Superman, Batman, and the Green Lantern Corps. is also Supergirl (Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin) with casting underway.

Today, the big Supdate hails from The Hollywood Reporter and they state that only two actresses are currently vying for the part with Aussie Milly Alcock (“House of The Dragon”) and Meg Donnelly. Adding that the two have already done screen tests for the part in Atlanta that had James Gunn and Peter Safran in attendance. It’s hard not to see the potential with Alock in the role after the newcomer held her own in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff/prequel and despite that global awareness, she hasn’t signed herself up to any other big franchises.

UPDATE: THR has now confirmed that Milly Alcock has landed the Supergirl role. Although, in the new reporting they’re unsure if “Superman: Legacy” will indeed be that first outing ahead of her solo film “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.” Perhaps, that hasn’t been entirely determined or the studio isn’t exactly ready to spoil something in their upcoming Superman flick. It should be pointed out the outlet mentioned “Legacy” as the character’s first appearance in the original report and that “Woman of Tomorrow” could begin shooting as early as this fall. That production target may signal a director is being eyed or may be announced shortly.

The outlet is also confirming previous rumblings that Supergirl would be making her first big screen introduction in James Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy” before moving on to her own solo film. A project that has been confirmed to be inspired by the recent comic run of “Superman: Woman of Tomorrow” and will likely be the film’s title as well with Ana Nogueira assigned to tackle a script.

Supergirl would eventually have her own solo pic in 1984 and decades later land her own CW series that aired from 2015 to 2021. More recently actress Sasha Calle played a new cinematic incarnation of the DC heroine in “The Flash” only to have the entire cinematic universe reset, even before audiences got a chance to see her performance. We still don’t know the size or scope of her appearance in “Superman: Legacy” or if it’s simply going to be a cameo/button scene situation.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Jurassic World 4’ In The Works At Universal With Legacy Screenwriter David Koepp & Current Cast Not Expected To Return

One of Universal Pictures’ most successful franchises is the “Jurassic Park/World” films, so it isn’t surprising to hear that another film is reportedly in the works. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that “Jurassic World 4,” aka, “Jurassic 7” is now in development at the studio with “Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park: The Lost World” screenwriter David Koepp (“Mission: Impossible”) behind the new script. Koepp has a longtime relationship with Amblin/Steven Spielberg after tackling those first two installments alongside legacy sequels “Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of Crystal Skull” and “Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny.”

Colin Trevorrow opens up on directing Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas in Jurassic World Dominion : The Tribune India

However, the kicker is that Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and other cast members aren’t expected to reprise their roles. This tidbit about the cast not returning could be a suggestion that a second soft reboot might pivot to a new wave of lead characters and perhaps attempt a different angle with the dinosaur adventure flick. Things are seemingly in a really good place with Koepp’s script because Universal is said to be considering a “possible release date in 2025”, but without a director or the studio not making an official announcement we’ll just have to wait for more details.

The sixth film “Jurassic World: Dominion” hit theaters back in 2019 and was still able to make a solid amount of money for Universal with a global cume of over a billion dollars. While the new trilogy made the studio an impressive $4 billion. Not hard to see the reasoning why they’d imagine audiences would still want to see more films, but just a different group of actors starring in them.

new footage from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - GIF - Imgur

As a fan of the franchise going back to 1993, I’ve sort of lost interest in a lot of these stories as the movies have sort of all blended together until the dinosaurs had one of the islands destroyed in “Jurassic Park: The Fallen Kingdom.” The original idea for the never-made version of “Jurassic Park” featured dinosaurs being mutated into giant humanoid creatures as highlighted in concept artwork (That artwork that made it online was from Hollywood concept artist Carlos Huante and you can see it below) and there also had been ideas of adding the dinos into a military weapons program (Seeds were planted in “Jurassic World”) that may have mirrored “Dino-Riders.”

Another way to go could be taking a page from “Kingdom of The Planet of Apes” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” by pushing forward into a post-apocalyptic setting in the future where the human population has dwindled as the dinosaurs have thrived as they have reclaimed the planet.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Images - LaunchBox Games Database

The 80’s comic book “Xenozoic Tales,” later retitled “Cadillacs & Dinosaurs,” created by Mark Schultz is sort of neat template for this concept as prehistoric animals overrun a futuristic version of the planet (set in the 26th Century) that had runs at Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics. While the IP hasn’t kept in the zeitgeist decades later it did spawn an animated series that aired on CBS, a popular arcade game from “Street Fighter” publisher Capcom, and a line of action figures. Universal likely wouldn’t have to spend too much if they wanted to flat-out acquire this for its budding new trilogy or change just enough to apply the concept given that the cloned dinosaurs living in the wild is the angle of “Jurassic World: Dominion.”

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Black Bag’: Michael Fassbender & Cate Blanchett To Star In Steven Soderbergh’s New Spy Thriller

Director Steven Soderbergh (“The Good German,” “Traffic”) is putting together his next high-profile project as he’s now shopping around a package deal for a new spy thriller, “Black Bag.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director has a script from screenwriter David Koepp (“Mission: Impossible”) with actors Michael Fassbender (“The Killer”) and Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”) attached for the main roles of the project.

Plot details for “Black Bag” are being kept under lock and key, but we’re sure a logline will emerge once a studio or streaming service ends up buying the film. However, we could speculate that the title may refer to mystery off-the-book military sites that are used for interrogation/torture purposes by intelligence agencies or simply an operation to collect valuable information from a secured/unsecured location via trade-craft, aka, spying.

UPDATE: THR has shared that Universal’s Focus Features has landed the film after winning a bidding war among multiple studios and streamers. Focus has a good reputation for solid marketing of mature genre flicks and could be a great home for a thriller like “Black Bag.”

Soderbergh once attempted to turn MMA fighter Gina Carano (“The Mandalorian”) into an action star with his spy pic “Haywire,” which could have spawned a new budget-friendly franchise for the filmmaker. That plan didn’t exactly come together as the film only made $34.5 million at the box office and criticisms of Carano being able to lead the film among such other talented actors (Fassbender had a minor role). There is an assumption that the slick visuals and gritty action sequences from “Haywire” could be the template for “Black Bag.”

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Tron 3’ Enlists Actress Gillian Anderson As Production Is Finally Underway

Disney had been looking to bring a third installment of “TRON” with a cast that included Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Greta Lee, and Cameron Monaghan. The cyberpunk flicks focus on a digital world that sees human protagonists inserted where computer programs/game sprites are living humanoid beings. This next one is titled “TRON: Ares,” aka, “TRON 3” and had its shoot in Vancouver paused last summer but things are up and running again.

A new addition has joined the Disney sequel’s cast as Deadline reports veteran actress Gillian Anderson (“Sex Education,” “The Crown”) has taken a role. Anderson isn’t a stranger to productions in Vancouver as her acclaimed sci-fi series “The X-Files” was mainly shot in the Canadian province throughout its time on the airwaves.

Meanwhile, director Joachim Rønning took to Instagram over the weekend to announce that after delaying its original start last mid-August due to the Hollywood strikes, production on “TRON 3” has begun and teased the film’s new logo. We can confirm they hope to have the film all wrapped by the end of April. Disney has yet to give the film an official release date. You can view that post below.

The sad aspect of the third installment aside from not brining back “TRON: Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski after his billion-dollar hit “Top Gun: Maverick,” is that we saw the break-up of Parisian electro-duo Daft Punk, who had scored the last film. While Disney isn’t likely going to have them return (can’t rule out a solo score from one of them) one way to potentially replace them is hiring another French electro group, potentially one of their peers. I suggested over the weekend on Twitter that Disney take a serious look at Kavinsky, who has worked with The Weeknd and even featured in the opening of Nicolas Winding Refn’s neon-soaked modern noir, “Drive.”

SOURCE: DEADLINE & JOACHIM RONNING

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‘The Dirty Dozen’: David Ayer Still “Trying To Find The Right Angle” For His Remake Of The 1960’s WWII Action Film

Back in 2019, it was first reported by Deadline that director David Ayer would be taking a shot at remaking the classic WWII action film “The Dirty Dozen.” A seemingly solid pairing given that the filmmaker had recently worked with Brad Pitt on the WWII thriller “Fury,” which focuses on a group of tank operators. While promoting his new Jason Statham-led actioner, “The Beekeeper,” Ayer gave Variety a brief update on the status of the project during a recent interview. Stating that the remake is still in active development but is having some trouble finding a good angle for it.

“They’ve been on the page a minute. I’m just trying to figure out where I’m going right now. ‘Dozen’ has been in development for a bit, and it’s just trying to find the right angle for that one.”

“It’s nerve-wracking, to be honest. I have so much respect for cinematic history, and these are all projects that I grew up loving before being a filmmaker. I think that’s always the challenge of these things: How do you modernize something and build it out for a modern audience, while at the same time keeping that DNA? You see how different filmmakers deal with the same problems in different ways.“

If you’re not familiar with the 1967 movie it focuses on a “suicide squad” if you will that sees Lee Marvin‘s character Major John Reisman recruit twelve condemned U.S. military prisoners during the Second World War and the group is offered the chance to avoid being hanged in jail for their crimes if they agree to volunteer for a deadly mission behind enemy lines to take out a key Nazi position and officers by any means necessary before the landing on D-Day. Marvin led the ensemble that featured Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, John Cassavetes, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, and a baby-faced Donald Sutherland.

Maj. Reisman's Field Uniform in The Dirty Dozen » BAMF Style

The original directed by Robert Aldrich would go on to spawn three sequels with “The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission,” “The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission,” and “The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission.” Of course, it was the direct inspiration for things like the DC Comics team, “The Suicide Squad,” which has had two feature film installments with Ayer directing the first one and James Gunn handling the follow-up.

At one time, producer Joel Silver and director Guy Ritchie had been putting together their version of “The Dirty Dozen” at Warner Bros. (As well as a “Sgt. Rock” movie based on the DC hero) around the time of their success with “Sherlock Holmes.” However, once Quentin Tarantino announced he was moving forward with his big commando movie “Inglourious Basterds” (Another project highly influenced by “Dozen”) that would star Pitt the studio pumped the breaks and it never fully recovered as both exited the remake. Ritchie has pivoted back to the idea of making a WWII commando film as “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” stars Henry Cavill and “Reacher” breakout Alan Ritchson in key roles.

“The Beekeeper” is now playing in theaters.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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Director Guy Ritchie Casts John Krasinski & Natalie Portman For Global Heist Adventure Flick ‘Fountain Of Youth’ At Apple

There doesn’t seem to be any stopping Guy Ritchie as The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the British director has selected his next feature film effort with “Fountain of Youth.” It will focus on “two estranged siblings who partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth” and landed at Apple Original Films/Skydance Media. The outlet also names actors John Krasinski (“Jack Ryan”) and Natalie Portman (“Thor: Love & Thunder”) as the two leads of the film playing the aforementioned siblings with an original script penned by James Vanderbilt.

The veteran screenwriter has a varied group of credits that include the John McTiernan-directed military whodunnit “Basic,” David Fincher’s fantastic serial killer pic “Zodiac,” the last two “Scream” movies, “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Dwayne Johnson’s Brazil-set actioner “The Rundown,” and the upcoming post-WWII drama “Nuremberg” starring Russell Crowe that is based on the novel “The Nazi & The Psychiatrist” by Jack El-Hai.

Ritchie has been a bit of a workhorse lately after delivering Disney a billion-dollar hit with “Aladdin” by shooting a string of quickly developed movies since 2018 that consist of “The Gentlemen,” “Wrath of Man,” “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” “The Covenant,” and the upcoming WWII commando flick “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” The filmmaker most recently reunited with Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal for an untitled action thriller, which will see them play two extraction specialists who are tasked to designate a route of escape for a senior female negotiator with that latter role being occupied by Eiza González (“Ambulance”).

Despite mainly focusing on grinding out a horde of action-packed films, Ritchie is also involved with a series spinoff of “The Gentlemen” as well that will drop on Netflix in the not-too-distant future which stars actors Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, and longtime pal/former football star Vinnie Jones (“Snatch”).

Eddie Halstead inherits large estate from father, unaware it fronts Pearson’s drug empire. With no crime experience, he must take over the operation or lose the estate.

Interestingly enough, the director’s former creative partner and producer Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake”) has also set up shop at the streaming service after Apple spent an impressive $200 million to acquire his spy-comedy “Argylle.” There had been talk that the film could spawn a new franchise which is said to be a motivating factor why Apple spent so much money on securing the film that will debut on February 2, 2024, with Universal Pictures handling the distribution before it lands on Apple TV+.

The report isn’t exactly clear when they plan to begin production on “Fountain of Youth,” but I’m sure we’ll be getting more details in the coming weeks and months on that front.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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Nick Frost Joins Gerard Butler As Gobber In Universal’s Live-Action Feature Version Of Viking Fantasy Pic ‘How To Train Your Dragon’

Universal Pictures and DreamWorks are teaming up for a live-action feature film version of their popular animated franchise “How To Train Your Dragon” with co-writer/director Dean DeBlois returning to oversee and helm the project. While the 2023 writers and actors’ strike placed the project on pause there is now finally some movement on the casting front with supporting roles being filled. It’s been revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that British actor Nick Frost is set to play Gobber in the live-action incarnation.

He’ll star alongside Gerard Butler (“Plane”), who is reprising the Stoick the Vast, the leader of the island-dwelling Viking clan that is known as legendary hunters and killers of dragons. Stoick is also the father of our protagonist, Hiccup (played by “The Black Phone” actor Mason Thames), who isn’t as brave as other townsfolk until he decides to train/tame a rare dragon type he calls Toothless leading the Vikings to eventually cohabitate with the fire-breathers as sort of a symbiotic relationship in subsequent installments after they have a change of heart. “The Last of Us” actress Nico Parker is also set in the role of Astrid and we’re still waiting who will be cast as the other young Viking characters.

The Gobber part was originally voiced by former late-night host Craig Ferguson in the animated movies.

Frost is maybe best known to audiences for his co-starring role in Edgar Wright’s “Cornetto Trilogy” which he co-wrote with creative partner and star, Simon Pegg. Those films include “Shaun of The Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “The World’s End.” He also had a supporting part in “Attack The Block,” an alien invasion flick that introduced many of us to a young John Boyega.

Hiccup is a Norse teenager from the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. His progressive views and weird sense of humor make him a misfit, despite the fact that his father is chief of the clan. Tossed into dragon-fighting school, he endeavors to prove himself as a true Viking, but when he befriends an injured dragon he names Toothless, he has the chance to plot a new course for his people’s future.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER