Category: Film News

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UK Heading Into Second National Lockdown This Week – Will Not Impact Film Productions For The Moment

The British government has announced via Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s national address over the weekend that after weeks of dire COVID-19 predictions for the region they’re finally moving back into a second national lockdown starting on November 5th and lifting it on December 2nd (could be extended if necessary).

JOHNSON: “Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day”

For comparison, UK COVID-19 cases have topped 1,000,000 including 47,717 deaths while the United States still hasn’t instituted a national lockdown with 9,280,000 million cases and over 231,000 COVID-19 deaths.

While dine-in bars/restaurants (can do takeout), cinemas, and other non-essentially businesses are closing film productions are expected to chug along like nothing is happening. I’m curious how long that will last if more productions publicly deal with new positive cases after both Jurassic World: Dominion and The Batman dealt with their own recently, the latter seeing star Robert Pattinson test positive for COVID-19.

This was later backed-up by Oliver Dowden, the government’s Culture Secretary on Twitter.

Things like schools, universities, construction sites and manufacturing businesses will stay open. However, that could change if they don’t see a decrease in numbers which might also lead to stricter measures and might lead to everything non-essentially getting closed including film shoots (filming in a bubble or not).

As previously stated, The Batman and Jurassic World: Dominion are filming in the United Kingdom alongside Fantastic Beasts 3. There is an expectation that the Moon Knight series, Ant-Man 3, Captain Marvel 2, and The Flash are prepping to shoot as well in the new year. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness was supposed to film at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, however, trades have suggested that lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch is set to shoot his scenes in Atlanta for Spider-Man 3 before filming starts on the Strange sequel.

A lot can happen in a month and it doesn’t seem they’re going all-in with this new lockdown, which might return to bite them in the ass as did the slow response to rising new cases and delayed second lockdown when the government knew months ago that this was only getting worse in the UK. I’m worried these half-steps just won’t be enough and they’ll essentially announce a more rigorous lockdown in a couple weeks or in December, extending it throughout the holidays.

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Jordan Peele To Produce A Remake of Wes Craven’s Horror Film ‘The People Under The Stairs’ For Universal

With reboots of both The Twilight Zone and Candyman already under his belt, Collider reports that Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) will be producing a feature film remake of 1991 horror film The People Under The Stairs for Universal Pictures.

However, Jordan Peele is only expected to produce with Win Rosenfled.

Peele will produce the remake alongside Win Rosenfeld via their Monkeypaw Productions banner, and though Peele is not expected to direct the film himself, it remains unclear whether he and/or Rosenfeld will have a hand in writing the script, as they did in co-writing Candyman alongside director Nia DaCosta.

The original was directed by horror legend Wes Craven, who created Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream franchises.

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS – When young Fool (Brandon Adams) breaks into the home of his family’s greedy and uncaring landlords, he discovers a disturbing scenario where incestuous adult siblings have mutilated a number of boys and kept them imprisoned under stairs in their large, creepy house. As Fool attempts to flee before the psychopaths can catch him, he meets their daughter, Alice (A.J. Langer), who has been spared any extreme discipline by her deranged parents. Can Fool and Alice escape before it’s too late?

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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Dave Bautista Plays An Intergalactic Peacekeeper In Brad Peyton’s Alien Prison Escape Flick ‘Universe’s Most Wanted’ – Begins Filming In The Spring

Deadline reports that Dave Bautista will be returning to the sci-fi genre in the Universe’s Most Wanted for director Brad Peyton (Rampage) with a script penned by F. Scott Frazier (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) with the film heading the virtual American Film Market next month.

The film will focus on a small town which gets a big surprise when a space ship carrying the universe’s most wanted and dangerous criminals crash lands in their backyard. Soon the sheriff’s son becomes a hero when he finds himself helping an intergalactic peacekeeper (Bautista) to keep the ragtag group of alien prisoners from escaping and taking over the world.

AGC Studios and CAA Media Finance will launch worldwide sales on the project in the coming weeks to coincide with the virtual AFM.

Dave’s sci-fi credits include Riddick, Guardians of The Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War, and Blade Runner 2049.

Honestly, this project sounds a lot like one of the early incarnations of the Lobo film, based on the DC Comics antihero that Peyton was once attached to direct for Warner Bros. Pictures years ago.

Filming on Universe’s Most Wanted begins in the spring.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Oscar-Winner John Ridley To Write and Direct 1960’s Poltergeist Film For Blumhouse

Today, it was announced via Variety that Blumhouse and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley are teaming up for new horror film. Ridley is best known for his series American Crime and winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work on 12 Years A Slave.

The film is based on the article Project Poltergeist written by Saleah Blancaflor, John will be doing double duty as both writer and director.

The story, based on true events, is set in the 1960s and follows unexplained events surrounding the first alleged haunting in a public housing project that terrified a young boy in New Jersey.

RIDLEY: “This is an incredible true-life narrative of a young man dealing with horrors — both paranormal and racially systemic — in a community that is scarred by hate, yet ultimately brought together by hope. I really appreciate Blumhouse’s commitment to telling stories that seek to entertain audiences even as it challenges them.”

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Game Night’ Cinematographer Barry Peterson Confirmed For Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie – Will Shoot In Belfast and France

The Ronin has spotted some Instagram posts from cinematographer Barry Peterson (21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Game Night, Zoolander) that has him location scouting for the upcoming shoot of the new Dungeons & Dragons movie in Belfast, Northern Ireland and France.

The Hasbro fantasy property is based on a beloved tabletop game that also integrated fantasy author Fritz Leiber’s City of Lankhmar from his Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser stories that take place in the world of Nehwon. It’s an expansive IP with decades worth of material to pull from for a film franchise.

These posts would confirm that he’ll be reuniting with Game Night directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. The pair of directors had been previously attached to direct The Flash for Warner Bros. and co-wrote the screenplay for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Production designer Owen Paterson (The Matrix, Godzilla, Captain America: Civil War, Godzilla vs Kong, V For Vendetta, Speed Racer, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions) is also part of the fantasy film’s crew. Owen happened to work on George Miller’s failed DC Comics film Justice League: Mortal.

The film’s working title during production was previously confirmed to be Chainmail.

They’ve been casting for ages which means that we should start hearing about actors soon as production is finally coming together in Northern Ireland.

Dungeons & Dragons is set to be released on May 27th, 2022 by Paramount Pictures.

SOURCE: BARRY PETERSON

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Mads Mikkelsen and Armie Hammer To Star In Cold War Thriller ‘Billion Dollar Spy’ – Begins Shooting In Eastern Europe Next Year

Armie Hammer (Rebecca, Free Fire) and Mad Mikkelsen (Hannibal) are teaming-up for a new Cold War era thriller titled Billion Dollar Spy for director Amma Asante according to Variety. The script was penned by screenwriter Benjamin August based from a true life story written by American journalist David E. Hoffman.

Brad Reid (Hammer) is a fresh arrival at the Moscow station of the CIA when he’s approached by Soviet engineer Adolf Tolkachev (Mikkelsen). Ignoring the advice from his bosses that Tolkachev is an obvious KGB “dangle,” Reid develops a bond and unique friendship with the Russian. Reid’s faith in Tolkachev is rewarded when he hands over a treasure trove of military secrets, obtained using classic Cold War spy craft. It earns Tolkachev the nickname “The Billion Dollar Spy,” and alters the balance of power between East and West.

Hammer previously played a KGB Agent in the Guy Ritchie action comedy The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and was recently seen in the Netflix remake of Rebecca.

Filming is said to begin in 2021 and take place in Eastern Europe.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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James Gunn Says Making A Superman Project “Was A Possiblity” Before Agreeing To Direct ‘The Suicide Squad’

In a new interview with Empire, The Suicide Squad writer/director spoke about when he agreed to make the DC Comics film before getting a call from Disney’s Alan Horn and Marvel’s Kevin Feige about coming back to make Guardians of The Galaxy 3.

He says that making a Superman project “was a possibility” after revealing that Feige had asked him if his DC project was indeed Superman.

After hearing from Horn, Gunn knew he had to update MCU head honcho Kevin Feige on his next project – who, when told it was a DC movie, asked: “Is it Superman?” Gunn stated that it wasn’t Superman (“That was a possibility,” he tells Empire) and explained that he had chosen The Suicide Squad. Feige’s reaction? “Please, please make a good movie. Just… make a great movie.”

At one time, it was rumored that Warner Bros. approached various filmmakers tackle a sequel to Man of Steel. However, another solo Superman film never materialized. The studio had been reportedly developing a Supergirl film that has seemingly been placed on paused for the foreseeable future.

Despite reports of Warner Bros. trying to get Henry Cavill to cameo as Superman (possibly in The Flash alongside other Justice League co-stars) his return for his own feature film is far from confirmed.

SOURCE: EMPIRE MAGAZINE

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‘The Suicide Squad’ Tasked To Destroy A Nazi-Era Prison Lab Called Jotunheim and James Gunn Had Carte Blanche To Kill-Off Characters

We won’t get to watch James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad until next August month but there are some new details about the film coming out.

James Gunn took to Twitter to reveal that Warner Bros. allowed him to kill any of the characters he wanted after a fan suggested that certain characters and high-profile actors were safe because of their usefulness in future films.

GUNN: “No character was protected by DC. They gave me carte blanche to do what I wanted. That was one of the things we agreed to before I came to work for them. I wasn’t looking for shock value but I wanted the audience to know anything could happen.”

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1320104790722969601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1320104790722969601%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fca.ign.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-suicide-squad-james-gunn-carte-blanche-to-kill-any-dc-character

The Direct also caught-wind of a Reddit post from someone with an early copy of the latest issue of Empire Magazine where producer Peter Safran reveals that the Latin American location in footage will be the fictional island nation of Corto Maltese and happens to be the home of a Nazi facility called Jotunheim where experiments took place on prisoners. These excerpts have circulating at other sites.

SAFRAN: “There they have to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory named Jotunheim where political prisoners were held and experimentations took place.”

The Nazi connection and material that could be covered there might help to support the assumption that the film might indeed end up landing an R-rating.

The sizzle-reel trailer that dropped during DC FanDome also seemingly revealed that the villain of the film might be alien baddie Starro.

Here is a rundown of the cast.

  • Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
  • Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
  • Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang
  • Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
  • Idris Elba as Bloodsport
  • John Cena as Peace-Maker
  • Alice Braga as Sol Soria
  • Pete Davidson as Blackguard
  • Peter Capaldi as Thinker
  • David Dastmalchian as Poka-Dot Man
  • Michael Rooker as The Savant
  • Sean Gunn as Weasel
  • Mayling Ng as Mongal
  • Flula Borg as Javelin
  • Steve Agee as King Shark (body)
  • Daniela Melchior as Rat Catcher
  • Nathan Fillion as TDK
  • Julio Ruiz as Major General Suarez
  • Juan Diego Botto as General Luna

The Suicide Squad is set to be released on August 6th, 2021.

SOURCE: JAMES GUNN & EMPIRE MAGAZINE

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‘Eternals’ Actor Brian Tyree Henry Joins Brad Pitt’s Assassin Flick ‘Bullet Train’

Deadline is reporting that Widows actor Brian Tyree Henry is the latest addition to the growing cast of Sony’s assassin action film Bullet Train from John Wick director David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw). As the title would suggest the story takes place on a Tokyo bullet train populated with multiple assassins.

Brian Tyree Henry was recently revealed to be playing an openly gay character in Marvel’s Eternals and will also be seen in Godzilla Vs Kong next year.

He joins a cast that also consists of Oscar-winner Brad Pitt, Joey King (The Dark Knight Rises), Andrew Koji (Snake Eyes), and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Godzilla, The King’s Man).

Filming will be taking place in Los Angeles.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Mortal Kombat’ Actors Lewis Tan and Ludi Lin Head To Australia For Reshoots – Release Delay Incoming?

Actor Lewis Tan (Deadpool 2) has posted images on his Instagram account that all but confirm that he and co-star Ludi Lin (Aquaman, Power Rangers) are heading back to Australia for some reshoots for New Line Cinema’s Mortal Kombat reboot as the duo are sharing a long flight together. Tan wearing a stylish Scorpion mask.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG1a0IDB9s7/

Principal photography originally took place at Adelaide Studios in South Australia.

Austraila, like New Zealand, has been one of the more safer places for film production as Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings wrapped-up recently after filming in Sydney. Thor: Love & Thunder is now expected to take over the Shang-Chi stages at Fox Studios Australia as production is said to begin in early 2021.

Mortal Kombat’s cast consists of Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Lewis Tan possibly playing new character Cole Turner, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, and Sisi Stringer as Melina.

The film had been scheduled for release on January 15th, 2021 but it’s looking like it’ll be getting a delay given that Warner Bros. hasn’t even released a trailer for the action pic and we don’t know how long these reshoots could last. It does seem like New Line would be cutting it really close to have the film ready on time and it remains to be seen if WarnerMedia will even stick to a theatrical release.

SOURCE: LEWIS TAN & LUDI LIN