Category: Film News

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‘Argylle’: Matthew Vaughn Confirmed To Reunite With ‘Layer Cake’ Costume Designer Stephanie Collie

We first revealed the title for Matthew Vaughn’s (Kingsman 1-2, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass) upcoming high-profile spy film Argylle alongside production team that will include cinematographer George Richmond (Fantastic Beasts 3, Tomb Raider, Eddie The Eagle) and production designer Daniel Taylor (Tetris).

Argylle’s epic cast so far reportedly includes Henry Cavill (The Witcher, Man of Steel), Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2, Moon, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards), Bryce Dallas Howard (Black Mirror, Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Dominion), Bryan Cranston (Godzilla, Breaking Bad), Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone, SCTV, Schitt’s Creek), John Cena (Bumblebee, F9: The Fast Saga), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained).

The Ronin can confirm that director Matthew Vaughn will indeed reunite with costume designer Stephanie Collie (Silent Night, Hellboy, Peaky Blinders), who he hasn’t worked with since his directorial debut Layer Cake that released back in 2004. The humorous crime film was notably Daniel Craig’s big solo outing before landing the James Bond role in Casino Royale and even had the actor pretending to play 007 when he was being shown a collection of guns. You’ll also spot a very young Tom Hardy as well.

LAYER CAKE – An unnamed mid-level cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) in London makes plans to step away from the criminal life. Before he can cut ties, the dealer’s supplier Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) draws him into a complicated pair of jobs involving kidnapping the teenage daughter of a rival gangster (Michael Gambon) and brokering the purchase of a large shipment of ecstasy pills from a dealer known as “the Duke” (Jamie Foreman), leading to a series of elaborate double-crosses from all corners.

I would argue that Layer Cake might be Vaughn’s best film. It also had a lot of custom-made suits and more stylish causal wear worn by the Duke’s crew, Collie has a fantastic eye for men’s wear.

Collie also worked with Guy Ritchie on Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (produced by Vaughn) and his recently reunion with Jason Statham on the armored truck thriller Wrath of Man.

Production is expected to take place in England and Europe.

A distributor and release date have yet to be announced for Argylle. It’s said to be the first installment of a trilogy.

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Gareth Edwards’ New Sci-Fi Movie ‘True Love’ To Shoot In Vietnam

Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards is returning the science fiction genre with his new film True Love that has a fantastic cast that consists of John David Washington (Tenet, Beckett), Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, Captain Marvel, Eternals), Benedict Wong (Sunshine, Prometheus, Doctor Strange 1-2, Annihilation, Shang-Chi), and Danny McBride (Alien: Covenant, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, Your Highness).

The Ronin has been able to confirm that True Love’s production will spend time in Vietnam, which has been used previously as a location for projects such as The Impossible, Kong: Skull Island, and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. There is also the possibly that other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand could also be used.

Details on the project are scarce but is said to be set in a near-future setting, the title suggests a romance angle as well.

Gareth Edwards famously helmed Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story before the studio brought-on Tony Gilroy to handle massive reshoots. Gilroy returned to the Star Wars universe to showrun the Disney+ series Andor starring Diego Luna, a prequel to Rogue One.

GODZILLA – Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Navy bomb expert, has just reunited with his family in San Francisco when he is forced to go to Japan to help his estranged father, Joe (Bryan Cranston). Soon, both men are swept up in an escalating crisis when Godzilla, King of the Monsters, arises from the sea to combat malevolent adversaries that threaten the survival of humanity. The creatures leave colossal destruction in their wake, as they make their way toward their final battleground: San Francisco.

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Edgar Wright’s ‘Last Night In Soho’ Starring Anya Taylor-Joy Will Have World Premiere At Venice Film Festival

It looks like Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will have some company at the Venice Film Festival.

Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film Last Night In Soho will officially have it’s world premiere at the Italian film festival as well. This will be the first time one of his films has been shown there. The British filmmaker said in a tweet, “I’m incredibly honoured that Last Night In Soho has been chosen to have its World Premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival. It’s very exciting for me show a film of mine in Venice for the first time and bring Soho to the Lido.”

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO – A young woman, passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s, where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. However, 1960s London is not what it appears, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.

Wright’s cast for Last Night In Soho consists of Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, The Queen’s Gambit, The Northman), Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Terence Stamp (Superman II), Diana Rigg, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, and Synnøve Karlsen.

Focus Features recently bumped the film’s release from October 22 to October 29, to avoid sharing the debut weekend with Dune.

Last Night In Soho’s lead Anya Taylor-Joy is a busy lady, as she is set to begin shooting George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa at Fox Studios Australia in August and will be seen in Robert Eggers’ Viking epic that will hit theaters on April 8, 2022.

Edgar Wright is working on a bunch of projects including a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger dystopian sci-fi flick The Running Man, the new version at Paramount Pictures is expected to be more faithful to original source material and will be adapted from the Stephen King novel written under his pen name Richard Bachman. Before The Running Man, the filmmaker was developing a sci-fi about robots in 2054 with the Simon Stephenson adaption Set My Heart To Five at Working Title Films.

SOURCE: EDGAR WRIGHT/VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

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‘Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’ Director Peyton Reed Announces Filming Has Finally Started; Plus First Set Photo

2021 will see one of the largest group of MCU movies shot as Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home wrapped earlier this year. Stuff such as Thor: Love & Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels (Captain Marvel 2), Ant-Man 3, and Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 will have kicked-off filming.

While we’ve had a few teases that production was underway before this week, it looks like Monday has seen cameras begin to roll on Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (Dust Bunny) and director Peyton Reed posted on Twitter that production has started (spotted by Ant-Man News) but was sadly deleted. It included our first set photo that had Cassie’s ugly rabbit doll in a lab set.

You can check out that post/image from Peyton Reed below.

The cast includes Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jonathan Majors playing the film’s villain Kang The Conqueror (the evil variant of Loki’s He Who Remains).

The title suggests a return to the Quantum Realm and having Kang involved would give the impression that this will be another MCU film that will incorporate The Multiverse, as Loki has introduced audiences to the idea of variants and different universes interacting with each other. Kang and his variants are expected to become the successors to Thanos becoming the MCU’s big bads for years to come.

We previously revealed the film’s production designer is Will Htay and they return to San Francisco to shoot various exterior scenes. Main production is taking place at Pinewood Studios UK and they’ll have access to The Volume/StageCraft that director Peyton Reed previously used on Season 2 of The Mandalorian.

Ant-Man & The Wasp will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

SOURCE: PEYTON REED VIA ANT-MAN NEWS

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Andrew Koji Says ‘Bullet Train’ Set Was Claustrophobic & Season 3 Of ‘Warrior’ Aims To Start Shooting Spring 2022

Paramount Pictures is releasing a new origin film set within the G.I. Joe franchise with Crazy Rich Asians lead Henry Golding is playing a young version of Snake Eyes. The action blockbuster is about to hit theaters and Storm Shadow actor Andrew Koji is during the press tour to promote the G.I. Joe reboot.

While speaking with Collider, the British actor confirms that the third season of his martial arts series Warrior won’t begin shooting until the spring of 2022 and will wrap sometime around that summer.

He also briefly spoke about what it was like shooting the Brat Pitt assassin flick Bullet Train during the pandemic and the claustrophobic set brought on action scenes on film that mainly takes place on speeding train along with the mask/face shield they were required to wear.

“Yeah, it’s very different. It’ tight, it’s very claustrophobic. Also, we shot it all during COVID times. It’s going to be one of them few big blockbuster films that was made purely during COVID. [motions to mimic putting on a mask/face shield] It’s super claustrophobic, you’ve got the mask and the shield shout-out to Chris Stag, who took care of us…There is just less room, less space,” the actor told Collider what it was like shooting Bullet Train.

The rest of Bullet Train’s cast includes Joey King (The Dark Knight Rises), Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Man of Steel), Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock (Gravity, Speed), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven The Hunter, Godzilla, Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron), Karen Fukuhara (The Boys, Suicide Squad), Brian Tyree Henry (Godzilla vs Kong, Widows, Joker, Eternals), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, Sunshine, Westworld, The Last Samurai), Logan Lerman (Fury, Hunters), Lady Gaga (Gucci, A Star Is Born, Machete Kills), Masi Oka (Heroes), Zazie Beetz (Joker, Deadpool 2), and rapper Bad Bunny.

Sony will release David Leitch’s (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw) next action film on April 8, 2022.

SNAKE EYES – An ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage welcomes tenacious loner Snake Eyes after he saves the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teach him the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing him something he’s been longing for: a home. However, when secrets from Snake Eyes’ past are revealed, his honor and allegiance get tested — even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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David Lowery Is Aware ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Will Be A New Generation’s ‘Peter Pan’ Movie & Hopes It Will Appeal To Adults As Well As Kids

After tackling a reboot of Pete’s Dragon, director David Lowery has been shooting a new Disney film with Peter Pan & Wendy. Based on both the original novel and the beloved animated film that was released back in 1953. 

While speaking with Collider, David Lowery mentioned he understands that he’s making a new generation’s Peter Pan movie and is aiming to make the best version he can that will appeal to both children and adults alike. 

“It’ll be an entire generation’s first Peter Pan movie, and that’s something I don’t take lightly. I want this to be a movie that is important to the children who see [it],” said Lowery. “And I want to make a movie that will matter… that the kids will look back on fondly and think that they got something from it, that they learned something from it, that it mattered to them. And I hope that adults will feel the same way, because as someone who is just now finally feeling comfortable with calling myself an adult, I think there’s a lot of valuable material that we’ve pulled from the source, from the text,” Lowery told Collider. 

The filmmaker also mentions while they’ll be true to the book and using things from the original animated film, he alludes to them ignoring the racist stuff concerning the Native American characters and the notorious musical number What Makes The Red Man Red?. The film being released in the 1950s didn’t have the Native community or sensitivity in mind when making that “creative choice.”

“…Very true to the original book and to the elements of the Disney movie that we can adapt. Obviously, there’s a lot of things about the animated film that you’re just going to leave to the darker side of history, but we’re not reinventing the tale. But I hope that we are illuminating it and making it a movie of great import.”

The cast includes Alexander Molony as Peter, Black Widow’s Ever Anderson as Wendy, Jude Law as Captain Hook, Jim Gaffigan as Mr. Smee, and Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell.

Peter Pan & Wendy will hit Disney+ sometime next year.

David Lowery’s next release will be The Green Knight (not for kids), as it’s still set to head to domestic theaters on July 30, while it recently had its United Kingdom date pulled due to increased COVID cases. The film is an R-rated take on one of the many Arthurian legends, oddly enough, one that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about. 

THE GREEN KNIGHT -An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, The Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger, and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger. From visionary filmmaker David Lowery comes a fresh and bold spin on a classic tale from the knights of the round table.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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Neill Blomkamp Says ‘District 10’ Has A Connection To American History

Filmmaker Neill Blomkamp hasn’t much luck trying to put together a big studio film as he exited a string of movies he tried to develop such a purposed “Alien 5 (second incarnation) starring Sigourney Weaver, a direct sequel to the original RoboCop with “RoboCop Returns,” and most recently he was the original director of “Greenland before Ric Roman Waugh was brought on. 

Blomkamp has been not-so-quietly developing a sequel to his big hit film, District 9, with his co-writer and wife Terri Tatchell (“District 9,” “Chappie“) and has given us an update of sorts. 

The original sci-fi film produced by Peter Jackson was an obvious allegory to South Africa’s apartheid, and it looks like “District 10” will continue that political/sociological edge to it as the filmmaker revealed to IGN during an interview this month the film will focus on “a topic in American history.”

Aliens, referred to with the slur “prawn,” arrived in South Africa thirty years ago, and when they are relocated out of the slum things go bad quickly. Sharlto Copley‘s Wikus van de Merwe dowses himself with alien fuel that eventually transforms him into an alien and is made assurances that if he helps another alien get to the main ship, he’ll return with the technology to turn him back into a human. 

Blomkamp continued, “That script continues to be written. It’s looking good. It took a decade to figure out, to come up with a reason why to make that film as opposed to just make a sequel.”

It’s possible that the treatment of Native Americans or African-Americans could be the crux of the sequel, but that is pure speculation based on the last film spotlighting European colonialism.

His next release will be the horror flick Denomic and may end up returning to complete Inferno starring fellow Canadian Taylor Kitsch.

DISTRICT 9 – Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth — not to conquer or give aid, but — to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens’ welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent (Sharlto Copley) contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9.

SOURCE: IGN

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‘Train To Busan’ Remake Director Timo Tjahjanto Co-Wrote Secret Genre Movie With ‘Doctor Strange’s Scott Derrickson

Director Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes For Us) has announced on social media that he co-written a passion project of his with Doctor Strange screenwriters Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. Tjahjanto is attached to direct an English remake of the hit South Korean horror flick Train To Busan for producer James Wan and New Line Cinema.

He also confirmed that the Train To Busan remake will be made first.

“After nearly seven years of trying to get this passion project running. It had finally gained some amazingly “strange” traction. Humbled and honored to be working with two of these very talented filmmakers and writers. This one will happen after a train ride, and when it does…[multiple skull emojis],” Timo Tjahjanto stated in a post on Instagram alongside a brief synopsis of the project teasing a possible dystopian sci-fi angle.

The year is 20**, society is screwed. Crime and violence have risen steadily in all remaining regions of planet Earth. Most of Asia has been unified.

Scott Derrickson has been busy since exiting Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness over creative differences with Marvel Studios. He’s attached to direct an adaptation of Joe Hill’s The Black Phone starring Ethan Hawke and is also making a sequel to Jim Henson’s beloved fantasy film Labyrinth.

TRAIN TO BUSAN – Life-or-death survival in train bound to Busan. A divorced man, Seok-woo is always caught up at work, leaving him no time to spare with his daughter Su-an. He offers to take her on the train to see her mother in Busan. As the train departs, an abnormal virus spreads from a girl who is infected, and people start to transform to zombies. Will Seok-woo and Su-an make it out alive? TRAIN TO BUSAN is director YEON Sang-ho’s debut feature film, who is loved by Cannes with his edgy animation.

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Sony Pictures Adapting ‘Kaiju Score’ With ‘Brightburn’ Screenwriters

Sony Pictures landed the rights to the genre hybrid comic book Kaiju Score last summer and focuses on a massive heist that takes place during a massive kaiju attack.

It’s the most dangerous heist ever attempted. Four desperate criminals are going all in on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to steal millions in art and turn their miserable lives around. The catch? They have to pull it off under the nose of a one thousand-ton Kaiju. And a giant monster might just be the least of their problems.

Deadline now says that development is moving forward with Brightburn (a horror spin on Superman) screenwriters Brian and Mark Gunn (cousins of filmmaker James Gunn) tackling the script for Kaiju Score, but remains to be seen who’ll Sony will select as the film’s director.

It’s hard not to get Army of The Dead vibes from the project, but adding the kaiju element could certainly be neat if done correctly. However, we’ve seen with Pacific Rim: Uprising that simply having kaiju in your film doesn’t make it entertaining or compelling. The crux for pulling this off will obviously be making sure you hire a charismatic cast alongside a solid script and giving a filmmaker the budget needed to make an event kaiju pic.

Nothing could be worse if they don’t get the visual effects where it needs to be, one of the biggest issues with Legendary’s Godzilla movies has been how dark and muddy the effects have been until Godzilla vs. Kong brightened things up.

BRIGHTBURN – After a difficult struggle with fertility, Tori Breyer’s dreams of motherhood come true with the arrival of a mysterious baby boy. Brandon appears to be everything Tori and her husband, Kyle, ever wanted — bright, talented and curious about the world. But as Brandon nears puberty, powerful darkness manifests within him, and Tori becomes consumed by terrible doubts about her son. Once Brandon begins to act on his twisted urges, those closest to him find themselves in grave danger.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Battle Of The Planets’: Russo Brothers Enlist ‘F9’ Screenwriter Daniel Casey For Their Epic Sci-Fi Anime Adaptation

Back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Anthony and Joe Russo announced a bunch of projects their production company AGBO would be developing and that group included a feature film adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime series Battle of The Planets aka Gatchaman.

There is now a status update as Deadline reports that The Russo Brothers have hired F9: The Fast Saga screenwriter Daniel Casey (Kin, 10 Cloverfield Lane) to work on the script for Battle of The Planets.

The series followed five young orphans who are trained from a young age to form an elite, intergalactic team known as G-Force, swearing to protect Earth and its allies from otherworldly invading forces.

Russo Brothers are behind some of the biggest Marvel Studios successes with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avenger: Endgame. Their experience with large scale team based blockbusters should put fans’ of the anime at ease about a feature film adaptation. They’re currently shooting Netflix’s big budget spy action flick The Gray Man starring Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling, the streamer claiming it is their most expensive film to date with a budget of over $200 million.

There is an expectation the sibling duo will direct Battle of The Planets (given their personal connection to the anime) and could end up getting a hefty budget to cover the elaborate futuristic sets and the visual effects needed to bring the anime adaptation to life.

The project comes as we’ve seen a limited amount of anime/manga adaptations from Hollywood such as Alita: Battle Angel, Ghost In The Shell, Speed Racer, Guyver, Dragonball, Death Note, and Netflix’s upcoming Cowboy Bebop series. Other projects in development include Robotech, Attack On Titan, Gundam, and Warner Bros. has spend almost two decades trying to bring Akira to the big screen.

With most prime comic book projects have been picked over by Hollywood studios over the last thirty years there will be a point that movies based on anime and manga source material will end up having more regularly, because the genre concepts may translate well to the big screen.

SOURCE: DEADLINE