Category: Film News

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Hugh Jackman Reiterates He’s Still Done Playing Wolverine Despite The Multiverse: “It’s In My Past, Man”

Hugh Jackman might be one of the longest running comic book actors in a single role spending nearly twenty years consistently playing X-Men’s most popular character, Wolverine, from 1999 to 2017.

There seemed to be some confusion when Marvel Studios decided to keep Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool (Deadpool 3 in active development and “might” begin shooting in 2022) and not doing the same for the Singerverse, the impression was that Kevin Feige would be rebooting those characters alongside Fantastic Four.

Jackman, even before the release of Logan (featuring the death of his character) announced he would be hanging up his claws and starting championing actors like Tom Hardy (would later take Venom role at Sony Pictures). However, with The Multiverse becoming a key thing in Phase Four, fans and unverified rumors have been pointing towards Hugh returning.

While doing the first rounds of interviews to promote his upcoming sci-fi thriller Reminiscence, he’s now had to reaffirm he’s ready to give new actors the character to play with.

First off, during a chat on Jake’s Takes (via Comic Book), the Aussie actor said he still hasn’t changed his mind.

“I’m hearing about this from you [Hamilton], and there’s nothing in my inbox from Kevin Feige means it’s probably, no matter what idea I came up with, not on the table. Let’s just be clear that, but now, I realized, before we shot Logan, I was like, we got the idea. We knew what it was going to be-ish, right? And I thought this is it. And that really helped me, it really helped knowing I was going into my last season, that it was my last season that I made the most of it. And it’s still a character I hold close to my heart. But I know it’s done. Tell that to whoever you want to. Please tell it to Ryan [Reynolds]. Because he’s like, doesn’t believe anything’s I’m joking, please.”

That’s not the only interview where it was brought-up, as Jackman essentially said the same thing to Screen Rant.

“It’s in my past, man. Don’t tell anyone, alright? Let me just say one more thing. Because as I said that, there’s not a day goes by where I’m not unbelievably grateful for having been part of that MCU Universe. Particularly to be there at the beginning of it, and to watch it. To see Kevin Feige going from being an assistant to a producer and a mate of mine, to where he is today. And that was a role of a lifetime. So, I don’t ever want people to feel that when I say I’m done, it’s a glib thing. It was one of the great chapters of my life.”

I’m guessing Hugh Jackman is going to have a long press tour spending way too much time telling interviewers that he’s still done with the Wolverine role after making the announcement ages ago.

The problem is that fans and outlets rarely take actors at their word, so, you’ll see plenty of folks who might be disappointment with the comments to just assume they’re lying and echo that on social media. Sadly, we’re likely going see fans believe he’ll return (without solid confirmations) until Marvel Studios finally announces the new actor.

SOURCE: JAKE’S TAKES & SCREEN RANT

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Yahya Abdul-Mateen II & ‘Transformers: Rise Of The Beast’ Director Steven Caple Jr. Team For Warner Bros. Dystopian Thriller ‘By All’

Warner Bros. and actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman, HBO’s Watchman) have been working together on a consistent basis with Aquaman, The Matrix 4, Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom, and will begin shooting George Miller’s Furiosa soon in Australia.

Well, Warner Bros. has just picked up another project that stars the rising talent, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They’re just acquired the dystopian thriller By All that will be led by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and has director Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) attached.

The story kicks off in the aftermath of a tragic event and follows Donte, a man struggling to make ends meet who is forced to go on the run in a world without police, where justice is crowd-sourced. The studio and the actor sparked to the action thriller given its provocative and timely premise about the imbalance of power in communities and how it warps the sense of responsibility, family, and friendship.

The filmmaker is deep into production on Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of The Beast.

Yahya’s next big release will be the Candyman soft-reboot from director Nia DaCosta (The Marvels) and producer Jordan Peele, finally heading to theaters on August 27.

CANDYMAN – For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘The Suicide Squad’ Production Artwork Confirms Deathstroke Was Supposed To Appear: Did Bloodsport Replace Him?

The Suicide Squad is getting some positive reactions from fans, critics, and casual moviegoers alike. But despite all the praise the film from James Gunn, it looks like a popular DC Comics character was nixed from the sequel.

Fans have spotted that Slade Wilson, aka, Deathstroke was supposed to lead Team Two in the film via concept artwork (See below) in the production offices. However, we know that Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba, was the character that ultimately chosen. It’ll be interesting to find out why they wanted Deathstroke in the film in the first place and why they pivoted.

I’m sure we’ll see get some insight from James Gunn in the near future.

If you’re not aware, Joe Manganiello was cast as Deathstroke for a button scene in Justice League with the idea he would appear in Ben Affleck’s Batman movie and had a solo film in development from The Raid director Gareth Evans. We don’t know if Manganiello was ultimately going to play Slade Wilson in The Suicide Squad, but it was likely.

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.

The film stars Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey,” “Bombshell”), Idris Elba (“Avengers: Infinity War”), John Cena (upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker,” “Bumblebee”), Joel Kinnaman (“Suicide Squad”), Jai Courtney (the “Divergent” franchise), Peter Capaldi (“World War Z,” BBC’s “Doctor Who” ), David Dastmalchian (upcoming “Dune,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Daniela Melchior (“Parque Mayer”), Michael Rooker (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films), Alice Braga (“Elysium”), Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island,” TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), Joaquín Cosio (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” TV’s “Narcos: Mexico”), Juan Diego Botto (“The Europeans”), Storm Reid (“The Invisible Man,” “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Euphoria”), Nathan Fillion (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” TV’s “The Rookie”), Steve Agee (“Brightburn,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”), Sean Gunn (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the “Avengers” films), Mayling Ng (“Wonder Woman”), Flula Borg (“Ralph Breaks the Internet”), Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn,” upcoming HBO Max series “Peacemaker”) and Tinashe Kajese (TV’s “Valor,” “The Inspectors”), with Sylvester Stallone (the “Rocky,” “Rambo” and “Expendables” franchises), and Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Suicide Squad”).

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Sterling K. Brown To Lead Amazon Action Pic ‘Coyote Blue’ Penned By ‘John Wick’ Creator Derek Kolstad

Amazon Studios and John Wick creator Derek Kolsad are teaming up for an original action film.

Variety reports that Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) will lead the pic titled Blue Coyote, which will see Brown playing a man on the run from a group of ruthless criminals, but as seen in other Kolstad projects he has a certain set of lethal skills that will be begrudging be used at some point against his would-be killers.

The story revolves around an everyman (Brown) who’s hunted by a ruthless criminal syndicate for his mysterious cargo, and now must navigate the treacherous terrain of Route 66 while unleashing his lethal set of skills in a fight for survival.

Coyote Blue will be the feature film debut for television director Hanelle M. Culpepper, who has worked on Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Kung Fu, American Crime, Mayans M.C., Samuel L. Jackson’s Apple TV+ limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, and the upcoming Amazon series adaptation of Neil Gaimen’s Ansani Boys.

Sterling K. Brown is no stranger to action projects with credits such as Hotel Artemis, The Predator, The Rhythm Section, and had a brief role in Marvel’s billion-dollar hit Black Panther playing the father of Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger.

Kolstad was recently behind the Bob Odenkirk actioner Nobody (sequel in early development) and worked with head writer Malcolm Spellman on Marvel’s hit streaming series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

With Culpepper busy with Amazon’s Anasni Boys, it’s unknown when we can expect Blue Coyote to begin shooting.

Still, it’s interesting to see Sterling K. Brown make the big jump to action lead and should be a fun ride given how he’s grown as a solid actor over the years. We don’t normally see seasoned actors given these type of roles and Brown’s involvement should easily elevate the material, just like with Bob Odenkirk in Nobody.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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Stephen Lang Says “Beautiful” ‘Avatar 5’ Script Left Him “Weeping”

According to James Cameron and producer Jon Landau, principal photography has wrapped on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 (both motion-capture and live-action portions), but there are two more films to be made with their attention moving on to Avatar 4 an Avatar 5.

One of the unanswered questions of these four upcoming sequels is how they’ll be bringing back Stephen Lang’s villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch, as he died in the original movie. However, they have the ability of to clone Na’vi bodies, aka, avatars and there is assumption that Quaritch could simply be a clone or RDA having multiple versions Quaritch all over their off-world operations.

Lang recently spoke to Collider while promoting his horror film Breathe 2 and dished about his reaction to reading the Avatar 5 script (a bulk of the scripts were written before filming on Avatar 2 started). Highlighting his emotional reaction and calling it “beautiful” multiple times.

“When I finished the last script, I was weeping. I just thought it was so beautiful. Yeah, the final script, because he’s telling a great, great story, an original story, a beautiful, beautiful story, and I was just incredibly moved by it. I hope and I trust and believe that audiences will be too, because one of the things that he does really, really well is he moves it from the page to the stage in a way that that is very literal. You know what I mean? You really see it. What you read is what you get from him, I think, and more.”

Even more interesting than Quaritch’s resurrection, is how the dynamic will look like with Edie Falco’s (Sopranos) General Ardmore joining the franchise as the new head of RDA operations on Pandora and how compelling that new villain will be.

Baring any other delays, Avatar 2 will be released on December 22, 2022.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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‘John Wick 4’ Adds ‘Highlander’ & ‘Starship Troopers’ Actor Clancy Brown

John Wick 4 hasn’t stopped adding new cast members and the latest one is a doozy.

Deadline reports that veteran character actor Clancy Brown (The Punisher, Billions, SpongeBob SquarePants) has nabbed a role in the action sequel, who is likely best known for his roles in films such as Highlander, Shawshank Redemption, and Starship Troopers.

Director Chad Stahelski and Clancy Brown have a Highlander connection, as Stahelski is attached to direct a reboot of the fantasy action film for Lionsgate. Given that project is spending a portion of its production shooting in Paris, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before French action star Christopher Lambert is announced next.

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

The newest additions to the cast consist of Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada as Watanabe, Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen playing Wick’s old pal, British martial artist Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Atomic Blonde’s Bill Skarsgard, Stowaway’s Shamier Anderson, and the film’s female lead played by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama. 

Returning actors are Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King. Meanwhile, we’re still in the dark about established characters played by Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillion, John Leguizamo, Peter Stormare, Common, Jason Mantzoukas, Anjelica Huston, Said Taghmaoui, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecept Arif Rahman making an appearance in John Wick 4.

John Wick 4 will hit the big screen on May 27, 2022, and Lionsgate had confirmed plans to make John Wick: Chapter 5, but will no longer shoot back-to-back with the next installment. Franchise creator and architect, Derek Kolstad, stated that he won’t be involved in the next two films and suggested John Wick 5 could be the final pic.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Shang-Chi’: Martial Artist Andy Le Confirms He’s Playing Marvel Villain Death Dealer

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is still set to theaters exclusively on September 3, but it looks like we finally know who is hiding under that mysterious mask of the talented martial artist villain seen fighting Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi in that construction site and training him as a boy.

Martial artist Andy Le has confirmed he is playing the silent/faceless villain Death Dealer in Shang-Chi via Instagram posts (See below). While it’s likely we could see another celebrity reveal like with Taskmaster in Black Widow, it’s even more likely that since Florian Munteanu (a Romanian boxer) is playing Razor Fist that Andy Le is actually playing the character throughout the film and not just during stunts.

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

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.

SOURCE: ANDY LE

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‘Deadpool 3’: Ryan Reynolds Says Sequel Has “70%” Chance Of Shooting In 2022; Calls The Molyneux Sisters “So Smart”

Ryan Reynolds has people with Deadpool 3 on the brain as he’s been using the character to help promote his new movie Free Guy. He’s also been giving brief thoughts and updates on the project, as technically, he could be the first high-profile mutant to appear in the MCU (excluding Scarlet Witch).

When asked by Collider to give a percentage of the chance that Deadpool 3 begins shooting next year, the actor replied “70%” after realizing it was August.

It’s not a huge update by any means, but he did give some insight with the working relationship between himself and screenwriters. Saying that Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin (Bob’s Burgers) are “so smart” and he’s having a lot of “fun” working with them.

Reynolds also gives the impression they’re not finished the script calling it a daily process concerning the writing, this could explain why a director hasn’t been announced.

However, with a shoot in 2022 this likely means it could end up landing a release date in 2023 or 2024.

There is an expectation that Blade could also be ready to begin shooting soon too, but it’s unknown if Fantastic Four or X-Men reboots will be anywhere ready for production in 2022. We’ll have to wait for Marvel Studios to start announcing new release dates and projects before we get a clear picture of the entire lineup for 2023-2025.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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‘Shang-Chi’: Ben Kingsley’s Return As Trevor Slattery Outed By Stuntman

Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will debut in theaters next month and it looks like another casting tidbit has been revealed for another returning MCU actor.

This comes after the trailer confirmed the film will bring back Wong and Abomination.

Stuntman Brett Metter lists on IMDB that he is the stunt double of Ben Kingsley and would seemingly confirm that the actor is reprising his role of Iron Man 3’s Trevor Slattery, the British actor hired by A.I.M. to pretend to be international terrorist and leader of The Ten Rings, The Mandarin.

We last saw Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery in the Marvel One-Shot short film All Hail The King, where it’s revealed that The Mandarin was a real person and not just fictional creation of Killan/Slattery. Various members of The Ten Rings, one played by Scoot McNairy, break into the prison to seemingly get their hands on the pretender.

However, we really never see what happens to Trevor and could see his fate in Shang-Chi.

Kingsley’s return was rumored yesterday and it looks like we now have more concrete evidence to support that.

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

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.

SOURCE: IMDB

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‘Deadpool 3’: Ryan Reynolds Down To First Appear In Another MCU Flim As Long As Disney Is Open To “Wildly Divergent” Uses Of Wade Wilson

We’re still curious why Marvel Studios hasn’t made a grand announcement about Deadpool 3, as Disney acquired the franchise along with the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer when the Fox rights reverted to Marvel. 

Actor and producer Ryan Reynolds is promoting his latest film Free Guy (using Deadpool in the marketing campaign) and appeared on Comic Book’s podcast Phase Zero. Reynolds was asked if he prefers that Wade Wilson be first introduced to the MCU in Deadpool 3 or another unnamed project (Ryan has been extremely keen on the idea of interacting with mainstream MCU characters). 

“I think both are pretty warranted. I think you’re always gonna zig when everybody’s expecting you to zag when it comes to that character. As long as Disney’s open to doing some pretty wildly divergent or having some wildly divergent uses of Deadpool then I dig it, man. I think it’s all great,” Reynolds said on the Phase Zero podcast. 

It was announced in December that Jon Watt’s (Spider-Man: No Way Home) would direct their Fantastic Four reboot, but we’re still in the dark about mutant projects and if Deadpool 3 will release in 2023-2024 (Kevin had indicted that X-Men won’t be ready until 2025). 

Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin (Bob’s Burgers) were previously announced as the film’s screenwriters, but we’re still waiting on a director announcement or an official release date to give us the indication of when it’ll begin shooting. Disney and Marvel have reiterated multiple times that they plan to keep the project R-rated and likely that it could end up distributed by 20th Century Studios (known for handling mature releases).

Disney obviously felt comfortable enough with Deadpool interacting with Thor: Ragnarok/Thor: Love & Thunder character Korg, played by Free Guy co-star Taika Waititi.

Technically, the reaction video could be considered the character’s first MCU appearance.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK