‘Eternals’: Marvel’s Nate Moore Confirms Ebony Blade & Black Knight Won’t Be Showing Up

A while back, Eternals actor Kit Harington was asked by Total Film about the future of his character Dane Whitman, who in the comic books is the Avengers member, Black Knight. He gave the impression that his character will simply be a human that gets caught-up in the Eternals adventure.

“The human character of the story. He’s not an Eternal. He’s a character who works with the Natural History Museum in London. But he’s not an Eternal – that’s the main takeaway!”

“I’ve got no idea whether my character goes on or not. I had read up on who he could be, or might be. So there’s the possibility for a longer trajectory. And hopefully, I think this is the tip of the iceberg for my character. I hope. But I just don’t know, you know? I’m as in the dark as anyone else. And I try not to live too far ahead in the future with anything. Even when I was in Game of Thrones, even on the sixth season, I presumed the seventh season wasn’t going to happen!”

This idea that the Black Knight stuff via Ebony Blade will be saved for later on is being echoed by Marvel Studios.

Longtime Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore revealed during a set visit (via Screen Rant), that Eternals won’t exactly focus on Dane Whitman becoming his superhero persona. Mentioning that the Ebony Blade (gives him his powers) and Black Knight will be something they tackle “down the road.”

“We think he’s interesting and a great character and actually Kit Harington, who just wrapped yesterday, was fantastic, but we very much explore the relationship between Dane Whitman and Sersi, which is again something for comic readers … you won’t see the Ebony Blade in this movie. He’s not going to be a Black Knight necessarily, but that is something that we get to play with down the road.”

It’s not entirely shocking that the first Eternals film is aiming to develop the relationship between Dane and Sersi, before giving him his superhero status.

The film is confirmed to have two post-credit scenes, so, we’ll be curious if those will involve some teases for Dane Whitman’s Black Knight, the Ebony Blade, or something else completely.

“A magical blade forged by Merlin and Sir Percy from the Starstone meteorite. The Ebony Blade was enchanted to cut through any object, to prevent the death of its wielder, and to deflect any magic, but it also carried a curse that would slowly corrupt any user and cause a lust for violence, bloodshed, and death.”

We’ll have to wait and see where Kit Harington’s Whitman will show up next. It’ll be interesting to see Marvel Studios finally cover a true fantasy project after sort of wading in those waters with the Thor franchise (skewed more cosmic) and elements seen in Shang-Chi.

Eternals will finally hit theatres on November 5.

ETERNALS – The immortal heroes, the Eternals, came here 7,000 years ago, since the dawn of man, to “protect humans from the Deviants.” Sersi reveals that she hasn’t seen some of the other Eternal teammates for centuries. With the monstrous creatures, the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, Ikaris decides that it’s time for them to “find the others” and defend humanity once again. As the epic story unfolds, Sersi and Ikaris reunite with Kingo (played by Kumail Nanjiani), Sprite (played by Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (played by Don Lee), Thena (played by Angelina Jolie), Makkari (played by Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry), and Druig (played by Barry Keoghan).

SOURCE: SCREEN RANT

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3’: Will Poulter Reportedly Lands Adam Warlock Role

Over the weekend, The Cosmic Circus posted the rumor that British actor Will Poulter was in the mix to play Adam Warlock in James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 and it seems that was on point.

Today, Deadline is supporting the rumor by reporting that Poulter has signed-on to play Adam Warlock.

There is a shot that he could also be playing the villainous incarnation, Magus too.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 ended with a tease that Ayesha, Golden High Priestess of The Sovereign, is going to bring Adam Warlock into the sequel as his cocoon was shown. Gunn has since denied that Adam Warlock will be in the film among other rumors connected to the film including the casting of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill.

Back in 2017, Gunn told IGN that Adam Warlock would be part of the cosmic universe post-Infinity War/Endgame, while also dodging a confirmation of Warlock’s involvement in the third installment. We do know that Ayesha is coming back though.

Will Poulter’s credits include the fantastic Ari Aster horror pic Midsommar (led by Black Widow actress Florence Pugh), Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, The Revenant, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit. He had been originally attached as a key cast member on the Lord of The Rings series at Amazon, only to bail months before production started in Auckland, New Zealand and was replaced with Game of Thrones’ Robert Aramayo.

James Gunn confirmed the news on Twitter.

The Hollywood Reporter briefly adds that British actors Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, The Gray Man, Dungeons & Dragons, The Saint), and George MacKay (1917) were part of a shortlist of actors considered for Adam Warlock.

Filming will begin this November in Atlanta and the United Kingdom.

The returning cast will be Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

It’s crew is expected to include production designer Beth Mickle (The Suicide Squad, Drive), cinematographer Tico Poulakakis (Foundation), the visual effects supervisor will be Stephane Ceretti (Eternals, Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man & The Wasp), and will have Hawkeye stunt coordinator Heidi Moneymaker crafting the film’s action sequences.

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023

SOURCE: THE COSMIC CIRCUS & DEADLINE

Jake Gyllenhaal In Negotiations To Join The Next Guy Ritchie Movie That Begins Shooting By End Of 2021

Director Guy Ritchie post-Aladdin has been hyper-focusing on a bunch of his own movies at Miramax, despite being loosely attached to helm an Aladdin sequel for Disney, he’s been spending more time putting together his own projects to avoid having to do the sequel.

His recent run includes the release of the Matthew McConaughey gangster pic The Gentlemen (being developed into a television series) and Jason Statham’s armored truck thriller Wrath of Man (a remake of the 2004 French film Le Convoyeur). Ritchie recently wrapped on a big globetrotting spy project, Operation Fortune (previously called Five Eyes), that stars folks such as Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, and Hugh Grant.

Deadline reports of a mysterious new film from Guy Ritchie at Miramax that will begin before the end of the year with American actor Jake Gyllenhaal in negotiations to take a lead role.

A title and plot details are unknown but given that casting is ramping up we’ll likely learn concrete information soon.

It’s a shocking development given that Ritchie had been developing a World War II action drama for Paramount Pictures, based on the novel The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Damien Lewis. Focusing on the first unit of British black ops commandos.

Previous drafts of the script were penned by Arash Amel, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson.

When France fell to the Nazis in 1940, Churchill declared that Britain would resist the advance of the German army–alone if necessary. Churchill commanded the Special Operations Executive to secretly develop of a very special kind of military unit that would operate on their own initiative deep behind enemy lines. The units would be licensed to kill, fully deniable by the British government, and a ruthless force to meet the advancing Germans. The very first of these “butcher-and-bolt” units–the innocuously named Maid Honour Force–was led by Gus March-Phillipps, a wild British eccentric of high birth, and an aristocratic, handsome, and bloodthirsty young Danish warrior, Anders Lassen. Amped up on amphetamines, these assorted renegades and sociopaths undertook the very first of Churchill’s special operations–a top-secret, high-stakes mission to seize Nazi shipping in the far-distant port of Fernando Po, in West Africa.

Jake Gyllenhaal has been lining up a wave of genre pics including the war drama Combat Control and Image Comics movie Prophet with Extraction director Sam Hargrave involved with both projects. He’s also attached to star alongside actress Jessica Chastain in Netflix’s film adaptation of the video game The Division with Rawson Marshall Thurber (replacing David Leitch) directing, the graphic novel thriller Snow Blind from director Gustav Möller (The Guilty), and sci-fi film based on the Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) comic Oblivion Song.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre will officially hit theaters on January 21 and a trailer is likely coming within weeks.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

‘The Killer’: Tilda Swinton Joins Michael Fassbender In David Fincher’s Assassin Thriller

David Ficher is returning to genre filmmaking. His latest pic, The Killer, will see actor Michael Fassbender play an assassin in adaptation of the Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel that will have a script from Se7en’s Andrew Kevin Walker.

A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.

The Playlist got word directly from Tilda Swinton in a recent interview that she has joined the cast of the action thriller.

Filming is expected to begin next year in Paris, France with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (Mank).

While this is the first graphic novel/comic book adaptation for David Fincher, it won’t be his first attempt to tackle genre material as his first feature film was Alien 3 and had been trying to direct a sequel to Brad Pitt’s World War Z until things fell apart.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Cillian Murphy Confirmed To Play J. Robert Oppenheimer In Christopher Nolan’s Atomic Bomb Film ‘Oppenheimer’ Releasing July 2023

Director Christopher Nolan had been shopping around a new World War II film project to multiple studios about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. His work ultimately led to the surrender of the Japanese after two atomic bombs were unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military, killing countless civilians in an instant and even more than that slowly/painfully over time.

The project, Oppenheimer, found a home at Universal Pictures (after a bidding war) with production said to begin in early 2022 and the studio recently committed to a 100-day theatrical release.

Now, it’s been confirmed by Deadline that Irish actor Cillian Murphy has indeed landed the Oppenheimer lead role and the drama has nabbed the release date of July 21, 2023.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema will reunite with Nolan after working on, Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet along with Oscar-winning Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson (Tenet, Black Panther, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) joining the film too.

Murphy had been long in the mix for the role and has previously worked with Nolan on The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Bond Producer Says ‘No Time To Die’ Supporting Characters Won’t Be Getting Spinoffs & Dismisses Idea Of Future Spinoffs Too

No Time To Die will see the end of the Daniel Craig era opening the door for a hard-reboot recasting all roles, not just James Bond. However, EON’s Barbara Broccoli has now downplayed the idea of spinoffs or even seeing more of the supporting characters of No Time To Die in solo projects.

Here is what she said to Fandango.

“We have not done [a spinoff] in the past and I don’t think we have any plans to do it in the future.”

I’m sure folks had been banking on Lashana Lynch’s Nomi getting her own movie or spinoff, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

At one time, there had been rumblings of Michelle Yeoh and Halley Berry’s characters from the Pierce Brosnan era getting their own films, that also never materialized.

This likely means that they’d push against the idea of branching-out of the franchise drowning in content and will seemingly simply focus on the Bond movies, given how tough they are to put together. While MGM Studios is most likely going to be bought by Amazon (hasn’t been approved or finalized), this doesn’t mean that the streaming service will be suddenly able to bully EON around, who are the main stewarts of the Bond franchise and will likely continue to keep creative control.

Broccoli has also previously told BBC Radio 4 they’re not rushing into Bond 26 and won’t even consider the casting search until 2022 at the earliest. Meaning that there aren’t any frontrunners or anyone signed on, despite years of internet rumors.

“We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.”

Today, marks the wide release of No Time To Die.

NO TIME TO DIE – Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. 

SOURCE: FANDANGO

Denis Villeneuve Willing To Tackle Big Challenge Of Rebooting James Bond After Daniel Craig’s “Ultimate” Incarnation

French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve is doing a heap of press for the upcoming released of Dune and was asked by the Happy Sad Confused Podcast about his continued desire to tackle the next era of James Bond after Daniel Craig steps down with the latest/final installment, No Time To Die.

Admittedly, he hasn’t watched No Time To Die, but would love the challenge of rebooting Bond after Craig’s unmatched/ultimate version of the iconic spy character.

“Franky, the answer would be a massive yes. I would deeply love one day to make a James Bond movie. It’s a character that I’ve been with since my childhood. I have massive affection for Bond. It would be a big challenge to try and reboot it after what Daniel did. What Daniel Craig brought to Bond was so unique and strong and honestly unmatchable. He’s the ultimate James Bond. I can’t wait to see Cary’s movie. I’m very excited. I’m one of the biggest Bond fans.”

While we’ve been getting a lot of sci-fi from Villeneuve with Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune, his other impressive pics such as Prisoners and Sicario would certainly be an excellent resume alone to nab the James Bond gig.

Interestingly enough, Sicario had British actor Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Widows, Black Panther) in a supporting role years before he’d nab an Oscar for his work on Judas & The Black Messiah. Kaluuya would make an excellent Bond candidate as he’s in the right age-range and isn’t leading multiple franchises.

Director Christopher Nolan (Inception, Tenet, Dark Knight Trilogy) has also been vocal multiple times in interviews wanting to tackle a Bond reboot himself, however, we’re still in the dark what EON/MGM are planning to do with Bond 26. Producers have said they won’t even begin thinking about recasting the role until next year (Sorry, nobody has been cast despite what the internet has said), that’s not even guarantee they won’t wait longer given the time between these movies and how long development can take.

Villeneuve’s Dune will hit theaters on October 22.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: HAPPY SAD CONFUSED PODCAST

‘Prophet’: Jake Gyllenhaal & Sam Hargrave Team For Film Based On Image Comics Superhero With Nazi Origins

A movie based on Image Comics character Prophet has been in the works for a while at Studio 8 with Marc Guggenheim assigned to write the film’s script. There is now a big update as the project inches closer to getting made.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that actor Jake Gyllenhaal and Extraction director Sam Hargrave had jumped on board with Jake playing John Prophet. The two were previously attached to the war flick Combat Control.

Prophet is a product of Nazi experiments during the end of WWII, which is said to be still part of the film’s plot.

In the film, John Prophet volunteers for a German experiment near the end of World War II in order to feed his family. After a bombing buries him alive and traps him underground for 20 years, he reawakens in 1965, where things are not great for Prophet. The world has moved on without him, his daughter resents him, and KGB agents are after him to create super-soldiers from his blood.

Gyllenhaal is no stronger to comic book projects after appearing in Spider-Man: Far From Home as Quentin Beck aka Mysterio and is attached to a movie adaptation of the Robert Kirkman sci-fi comic book Oblivion Song.

Hargrave is currently busy on the Netflix sequel Extraction 2 starring Marvel Studios alumni Chris Hemsworth. He’s also got strong genre credits working as second unit director on Season 2 of The Mandalorian and multiple MCU movies.

Having a writer, lead actor, and director is a good sign but it’s unclear when they ultimately want to get cameras rolling.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

New ‘Hellraiser’ Movie Will Have A Female Version Of Pinhead Played By Jamie Clayton

Nia DaCosta’s recent release of the Candyman soft-reboot proved that not all horror remakes/re-imaginings are created equal, some can actually improve upon the original. However, we get plenty of examples of films that just shouldn’t exist and because of this, it’s tough to gauge which projects will ultimately be great.

A new Hellraiser movie is on the way at Spyglass Media Group and in a press release via The Playlist that their new horror flick, directed by David Bruckner, is heading to Hulu. Mentioned in the casting list, Jamie Clayton will be playing a female incarnation of the beloved horror iconic Pinhead.

Also, Clive Barker has joined the film as an executive producer.

According to Spyglass and Hulu, the “loyal, yet evolved re-imagining” of “Hellraiser” stars Odessa A’zion (“Grand Army”) in the lead role opposite Jamie Clayton (“Sense8”) as the iconic Pinhead. Yes, it appears Pinhead is getting a major makeover with Clayton taking on the role and putting a new spin on the legendary horror baddie. The supporting cast includes Brandon Flynn (“13 Reasons Why”), Goran Visnjic (“The Boys”), Drew Starkey (“Love, Simon”), Adam Faison (“Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”), Aoife Hinds (“Normal People”), and Hiam Abbass (“Succession”). In addition, “Hellraiser” creator and filmmaker, Clive Barker, has joined the project as an executive producer.

The Illuminerdi first reported on the casting of Odessa A’zion.

Some other installments of established horror franchises on the horizon include Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, Scream 5, a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film heading to Netflix, and lost-gesting reboot of Friday The 13th.

HELLRAISER – Sexual deviant Frank (Sean Chapman) inadvertently opens a portal to hell when he tinkers with a box he bought while abroad. The act unleashes gruesome beings called Cenobites, who tear Frank’s body apart. When Frank’s brother (Andrew Robinson) and his wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), move into Frank’s old house, they accidentally bring what is left of Frank back to life. Frank then convinces Julia, his one-time lover, to lure men back to the house so he can use their blood to reconstruct himself.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

‘Boy Kills World’: Sam Raimi-Produced Dystopian Action Pic To Star Bill Skarsgard, Samara Weaving & Yayan Ruhian

Sam Raimi and Roy Lee are producing a new genre film based on a graphic novel, Boy Kills World, with German director Moritz Mohr making his feature film debut.

A one-of-a-kind action spectacle set in a dystopian fever dream reality. Boy is a deaf-mute with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, Boy escapes to the jungle and is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.

Deadline is confirming that Swedish actor Bill Skarsgard (Atomic Blonde, John Wick 4, Deadpool 2, It, It: Chapter Two) will be playing the lead role, while also adding that action star Yayan Ruhian (John Wick 3, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Raid 1-2) and Australian actress Samara Weaving (Snake Eyes, Bill & Ted Face The Music) will co-star.

Murphy’s Multiverse first reported on Bill Skarsgard’s casting.

Skarsgard and Ruhian are interestingly enough both alumni of the John Wick franchise, all three actors working alongside Keanu Reeves in the last couple of years.

Production is said to begin next year in Capetown, South Africa.

Sam Raimi has dabbled in both horror and comics book projects over his career, most notably directing the Evil Dead and Spider-Man franchises. He’s also been mostly taking a producer role over recent years scaling-back the volume of his directorial efforts. However, he’ll be making his big return to the world of Marvel Comics with his Doctor Strange sequel Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness being released on March 25, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE