Category: Film News

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‘Predators’ Actress Alice Braga Joins Ben Affleck In Action Thriller ‘Hypnotic’ Directed By Robert Rodriguez – Shoots This September In Austin

Director Robert Rodriguez is in high demand these days after helming Alita: Battle Angel for James Cameron, then jumping into the world of Star Wars with Season 2 of The Mandalorian and then being behind the Boba Fett spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett for Lucasfilm.

His next big project is an action thriller, titled Hypnotic, that stars Ben Affleck as a “detective who becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of high-end crimes.”

Deadline has a casting update mentioning that Brazilian actress Alice Braga has taken a role in the film. Braga has a connection to Rodriguez as she had a lead role in Predators, the third film in the Predator franchise was developed and produced by the filmmaker. Her other credits include I Am Legend, Repo Men, New Mutants, Queen of The South, and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

They also state that production will begin again on September 20 in Austin, Texas, where Robert’s own studio facility, Troublemaker Studios, is located.

Affleck is currently working on The Flash, reprising his Batman/Bruce Wayne role alongside fellow Caped Crusader alumni Michael Keaton. He also wrapped work on the George Clooney-directed drama The Tender Bar.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Concept Art From Neill Blomkamp’s Unmade ‘Alien 5’ Features A New Android Character

Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5 aka Red Harvest was once an elevator pitch made to Sigourney Weaver on the set of Chappie alongside a wave of concept art the filmmaker had commissioned on his own that materialized into an actual development deal with 20th Century Fox to make the sci-fi film.

Blomkamp’s idea was to ignore Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection treating Alien 5 as a direct sequel to Aliens, allowing them to have characters such as Michael Biehn’s Hicks and an adult version of Newt (the two characters spotted in concept artwork). If you missed David Fincher’s Alien 3 that movie opened by killing-off both Hicks and Newt something that frustrated fans and Aliens director James Cameron.

James Cameron famously called the Alien 5 script “gangbusters” (Cameron seemingly borrowed Alien 5’s concept for Terminator: Dark Fate) but the project ultimately didn’t get into the production phase as the studio pivoted to making Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant instead. Alien 5 would eventually be trust into limbo with Blomkamp exiting to pursue multiple other projects and Disney hasn’t suggested they plan on resurrecting it anytime soon.

However, a new batch of Alien 5 concept from artist Geoffory Thoorens’ Art Station page has been spotted by AVP Galaxy and it features a new android characters named Jax (fist image seen below with Ellen Ripley) and Killson, the latter looks a lot like Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman (second image seen below). I’m sort of curious if Neill Blomkamp wanted to have Jackman play one of the androids, the Australian actor was the face of 20th Century Fox’s popular X-Men franchise at the time and had recently worked with Blomkamp on Chappie that also co-starred Weaver.

Hugh Jackman as Killson?

UPDATE: Geoffroy’s website includes this stunning key frame image from an action sequence that features an alien queen and another type of xenomorph (Alien 5 was going to feature multiple hybrid xenomorphs). The film would have seen the evil corporation Weyland-Yutani getting their hands on one of the derelict ships filled with xenomorph eggs and finally experimenting on the dangerous alien species for their weapons division, something they’ve been trying to do since the original Ridley Scott film.

The Alien franchise is in odd place as a new television series set on Earth is in the works from Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) and Ridley Scott. There has been chatter from Ridley that he’s developing another film as well, but those plans have yet to be officially announced by the studio.

SOURCE: GEOFFROY THOORENS

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EXCLUSIVE: Patty Jenkins’ ‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’ Adds ‘Wonder Woman’ Production Designer Aline Bonetto

The Ronin has been able to confirm that Lucasfilm’s next big Star Wars film, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, has added production designer Aline Bonetto. Director Patty Jenkins was announced for the project back in December and has since revealed to IGN that Rogue Squadron won’t be based on existing books or video games.

JENKINS: “[In the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron movie] we’re doing something original with great influence from the games and the books. There’s a lot of things being acknowledged and understood about the greatness of all of those things, but yes, it’s an original story and I’m so psyched to do it.”

Oddly enough, a screenwriter hasn’t been officially announced.

The next Star Wars feature film will be Rogue Squadron — directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman franchise). The story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.

Bonetto previously worked with director Patty Jenkins on Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984.

We wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Wonder Woman cinematographer Matthew Jensen also joined the new Star Wars film after recently working on Season 2 of The Mandalorian. Jensen was the cinematographer for episodes such as The Believer, The Siege, and The Heiress.

Filming is assumed to be taking place at Pinewood Studios UK, the previous primary filming location of the Disney-era Star Wars films. Jenkins isn’t a stranger to productions made in England as she shot the last two Wonder Woman movies at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England.

With Rogue Squadron in pre-production, casting the latest Star Wars film is going to be the studio’s next big challenge.

Jenkins is still attached to direct Wonder Woman 3 as well, but Star Wars: Rogue Squadron is going to be shot next.

The Star Wars franchise is also currently focusing on a wave of new television shows such as The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, Lando, The Acolyte, and Rangers of The New Republic. Thor: Love & Thunder director Taika Waititi is writing and directing his own untitled Star Wars film and Rian Johnson is said to be still involved with developing a trilogy of original films.

Disney has officially given Star Wars: Rogue Squadron a release date of December 22, 2023.

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EXCLUSIVE: Director Matthew Vaughn’s Next Film Will Be ‘Argyle’ For MARV Films

The Ronin has learned that British director Matthew Vaughn’s next feature film is using the title Argyle and will be setup at his production company MARV Films. Sadly, details are scarce on the new movie but is expected to begin production before the end of the year. We have to assume filming will take place in the United Kingdom.

Vaughn’s directorial credits include the Daniel Craig gangster film Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and the upcoming prequel The King’s Man formerly known as Kingsman: The Great Game.

MARV is also behind films such as the sports comedy Eddie The Eagle, the Elton John film Rocketman, and they had a hand with the last Fantastic Four movie. The studio’s latest projects include a Christmas movie titled Silent Night starring Jojo Rabbit’s Roman Griffin Davis and Keira Knightley along with a Tetris biopic that stars Taron Egerton.

There have been plans in the works for a third Kingsman movie as MARV’s Zygi Kamasa has teased multiple projects set in the Kingsman universe are in the works such as a television series and seven more films.

In 2018, Vaughn told Empire Magazine he was planning on rebooting Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl.

At one time, Vaughn had been attached to studio projects such as the spy flick I Am Pilgrim for MGM Studios based on the Terry Hayes novel, a feature adaptation of Mark Millar’s Superior, and a new incarnation of swashbuckling sci-fi hero Flash Gordon for 20th Century Studios before he was replaced with Overlord’s Julius Avery.

Argyle will reunite Matthew Vaughn with cinematographer George Richmond, who has been working on the Warner Bros. Potterverse sequel Fantastic Beasts 3 and the upcoming sci-fi action comedy Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds.

MARV productions tend to use tailoring terms (Matthew Vaughn has a soft-spot for Huntsman tailors of Savile Row) for working titles, so, it’s possible Argyle isn’t going to be the film’s final title.

After multiple release delays due to the pandemic, The King’s Man will hit theaters on December 22.

THE KING’S MAN – As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

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‘A Quiet Place Part II’ Expected To Surpass ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’s Domestic Opening With An Impressive $57 Million Over The Memorial Day Weekend

It’s hard to deny that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape for various films to earn top-dollar and with the American box office struggling over the last year, you can’t blame movie fans for getting excited about the small victories concerning the box office slowly coming back to life. This weekend saw A Quiet Place Part II have an exceptional weekend at the box office despite all that and illustrates that appointment viewing is still key to getting asses in seats.

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

The John Krasinski-directed horror sequel was able to muster an estimated $57 million over four days, according to Variety. This gives A Quiet Place Part II the new pandemic era domestic opening weekend record surpassing Godzilla Vs. Kong’s five day opening total of $48.5 million. It’s release had been delayed a full year because of the pandemic.

For some comparison, A Quiet Place opened to $50.2 million in the summer of 2018 and went on to earn $341 million on a budget of $17 million. There is a good shot that the second film is able to cross the $300 million, if not earn the studio even more.

This box office performance with these two installments should help bolster John Krasinski’s directing career and ability to get original projects picked-up by studios in the future. Krasinski hasn’t given up on acting as he’s still playing Jack Ryan on the popular Amazon Prime Video series with Season 3 coming out sometime this year.

A third movie is already in the works with filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special, Loving, Take Shelter) attached to write and direct it, as reported by Deadline last fall. Nichols had once been developing a feature film reboot of the sci-fi buddy cop film Alien Nation for 20th Century Fox before the merger with the Walt Disney company placed the project into limbo, he’s currently hoping to repackage Alien Nation as a series.

Disney also decided to release Emma Stone’s 101 Dalmatians prequel, Cruella, over the weekend using a hybrid model having it drop in both theaters and on Disney+’s Premier Access at the same time. Cruella was able to earn a projected $27 million for a solid second place spot given the Disney project was being marketed to an older audience, although, I’m sure Disney was hoping for a bigger turnout.

The other big movies coming this summer include F9, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, In The Heights, Black Widow, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Space Jam: Legacy, Jungle Cruise, The Green Knight, Free Guy, The Suicide Squad, and Candyman.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Cinematographer Steve Yedlin Confirmed To Reunite With Rian Johnson For ‘Knives Out 2’

The Ronin has been able to confirm that cinematographer Steve Yedlin will indeed be reuniting with longtime collaborator Rian Johnson for Knives Out 2. Yedlin previously worked with Rian on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out, Looper, The Brothers Bloom, and Brick.

Filming is said to begin next month in Greece.

The impressive cast of Knives Out 2 consists of Daniel Craig (No Time To Die), Dave Bautista (Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy, Army of The Dead), Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Rounders, Moonrise Kingdom), Janelle Monae (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), and Leslie Odom Jr. (Murder On The Orient Express, One Night In Miami).

Craig will officially reprise the role of detective Benoit Blanc for at least two more films and the scenic filming location of Greece would lead to speculation there has been a murder at some sort of hotel or cruise ship. The second film isn’t expected to have any members of the Thrombey family return.

The Knives Out sequels made headlines when Netflix closed a massive deal with Johnson and Craig worth a massive $400 million to secure the next two installments.

Johnson is a busy guy, as he’s also developing a new mystery series with Natasha Lyonne called Poker Face and is still seemingly working on that original Star Wars trilogy for Lucasfilm. Details about the Star Wars project has yet to be made official by the studio or filmmaker.

A release date for Knives Out 2 has yet to be announced by Netflix.

KNIVES OUT – The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.

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Sony Pictures Says They Have An “Excellent Relationship” With Marvel Studios & Kevin Feige – Will They Announce An Extended Deal?

While there has been tension in the past, new comments from Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch suggest that the working relationship between Sony and Marvel’s Kevin Feige is “excellent.” This comes from an interview Panitch had with Variety where he mentioned their big Spider-Man plans will be revealed after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December.

PANITCH: “The great thing is we have this very excellent relationship with Kevin. There’s an incredible sandbox there to play with. We want those MCU movies to be absolutely huge, because that’s great for us and our Marvel characters, and I think that’s the same thing on their side. But we have a great relationship. There’s lots of opportunities, I think, that are going to happen.”

Despite those rosy comments, things weren’t always pleasant between the two companies.

In the early days of Marvel shopping the film rights to studios, Sony Pictures famously rejected a deal that could have landed-up the bulk of the Marvel Comics character lineup when Marvel first approached the studio about tackling Spider-Man movies. Those executives obviously had zero imagination about what the future held for the superhero genre and cinematic universes.

When Marvel Studios became successful, Sony Pictures still scoffed at the idea of teaming together to the point that Sony Japan had to tell their film division to a make a deal with Marvel happen after Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to get audiences jazzed about their Spider-Man cinematic universe. Even after the billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the deal between Disney and Sony dissolved which led to the potential of Sony Pictures moving forward with Spider-Man 3 without the help of Marvel. Luckily, Tom Holland able to get the two studios back to table and is the reason why Spider-Man: No Way Home exists.

After past attitudes mentioned above, it’s not hard to imagine that Sony could be under the impression they can simply copy the Marvel model for themselves without the help of Marvel Studios. The success of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and it’s Oscar win could give the studio a boost of confidence to go solo again. It wouldn’t be the first studio to do so, and Sony already attempted to create their own cinematic universe with plans to make a Sinister Six movie that was one of the main teases from Amazing Spider-Man 2, alongside introducing future Rogue One actress, Felicity Jones, as Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat (another character that was set to get a solo film).

One of the theories about Spider-Man: No Way Home is that it could be a way for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to ease his way out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gracefully with one final film.

The vagueness of the statements from the studio executive aren’t particular helpful either. We’re still kind of in the dark what Sony plans to do after Spider-Man: No Way Home, Panitch suggests they’ll be revealing their big plan after the release of the third Marvel-made solo Spider-Man film, but haven’t been clear if they’ll continue to have Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the MCU or agree to give Marvel access to other incarnations of the character (Miles Morales etc) allowing them to keep Holland for their own cinematic universe installments.

There is some hope from fans that everything can simply just be consider part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but we’ve examples in the past even at different divisions of Marvel where that wasn’t a simple thing. Marvel Studios Nate Moore mentioned off-handily that the Disney+ shows were the first time that the television and film universes have been cohesive, alluding to the Marvel Television/Loeb era being nixed from MCU hard-canon.

Keeping in mind how the Jeph Loeb era of Marvel shows were blocked from official canon, I personally don’t see how Kevin Feige would suddenly allow Sony’s spinoff films to be so easily accepted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe without his personal oversight on their development and production. Unless Marvel Studios makes or produces these new Sony/Marvel movies I don’t really see how they become part of the hard-canon MCU. Considering that Kevin won’t really be able to oversee quality control, as seen with a bonkers project like Venom.

Speaking of Venom, Sony recently confirmed that Spider-Man won’t appear in the Venom sequel and it’s unclear if films such as Morbius or Kraven The Hunter will include Parker either. Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming showing up in the Morbius trailer has only added to the confusion and fan speculation, the Vulture being a Sony-owned character.

There is also uncertainty about Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman project being part of the MCU, as Marvel wasn’t mentioned as a production partner when it was originally announced and Sony still hasn’t even given the project a title, let alone confirmed that Marvel is working with them on it.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the Marvel and Sony will announce they’ve officially extended their working relationship to other films. There have been rumblings that they’ve worked things out but according to Tom Holland himself he’s finished his existing contract obligations and is willing to re-up if asked to.

If they have a plan it seems odd that Holland doesn’t have a new Spider-Man contract already.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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Sony Says They Have A “Plan” That Will Be Revealed After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ – Studio Exec Thinks A ‘Sinister Six’ Movie Would Be “Cool”

A lot of Spider-Man fans are excited but also slightly confused about what Sony Pictures is actually planning to doing with their Spider-Man franchise and subsequent spinoff films such as Kraven The Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Tenet, Avengers: Age of Ultron) being announced for a release date of January 13, 2023.

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch revealed to Variety that Venom: Let There Be Carnage won’t include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man but reassures that audiences won’t miss the the web-head. However, he went on to clarify they do have a plan that will become more clear after the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

PANITCH: “There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it’s getting a little more clear for people where we’re headed and I think when ‘No Way Home’ comes out, even more will be revealed.”

The Sony executive also responded to the possibility of them resurrecting their former plans to make a Sinister Six film, something franchise producer Amy Pascal has said in the past she would be open to revisiting.

PANITCH: “It’s tough, because I think these projects are the kind of things we have to work on in the dark. They’re not ready until they’re ready. Kraven is a great example because we just didn’t rush it. We could have made that three plus years ago. It’s just now the script’s awesome, J.C. was the right choice, and we found the movie star because it was just kismet, and watching this other movie and realizing that could be the perfect casting.”

“It would be very cool, wouldn’t it?”

Drew Goddard (The Martian, Cabin In The Woods) was once attached to make the Sinister Six film until the studio got cold-feet from Amazing Spider-Man 2’s poor reception and they instead pivoted to making a deal with Marvel Studios, rebooting the franchise for a second time with Holland.

There have been wild casting and plot rumors concerning Spider-Man: No Way Home, from key actors from previous films reprising their villain roles to having people like Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire showing up (denied by both Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield in recent interviews). One of the more recent unconfirmed rumblings making the rounds is that we might indeed see an incarnation of the Sinister Six, something a lot of us just assumed was Marvel Studios’ aim once people like Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) were confirmed for the film that the film was going to build-up to. Bringing back existing actors quietly into those previous roles would allow them to assemble the Sinister Six quickly without have to rehash all their origins eating-up valuable screentime.

However, with most of these rumors, they are coming from multiple online sources (some are indeed creditable), but the information hasn’t actually been backed-up by the trades or confirmed by either Marvel Studios or Sony Pictures. So, it’s been tough to navigate which ones are real and which ones are simply online gossip or speculation. Many fans believe a teaser trailer is on the horizon and could answer a lot of their questions, but given Marvel’s secrecy it’s possible they could continue to hold-off confirming these cast and plot rumors.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is swinging to theaters on December 17, 2021.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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Sony Pictures Exec Reaffirms Spider-Man Won’t Appear In ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ While Hyping The Sequel – “You Don’t Miss Spider-Man”

Sony Pictures is mapping-out their own cinematic universe featuring the multiple heroes and villains they’re able to give feature films and television shows to thanks to owning the Spider-Man rights. It’s become increasingly confusing what their ultimate plan is going to be with the various spinoff films as the original Venom was rumored to include a cameo from Tom Holland but that never happened and fans have been sort of kept in the dark officially about other Sony/Marvel projects too.

While we might eventually see Holland start to appear in these movies at some point, new quotes from Sony Picture Motion Pictures Group President Sandford Panitch during an interview with Variety gives us the impression that they studio hopes their spinoff films don’t even need Spider-Man to hook audiences.

Sanford Panitch is quick to point out that Sony Pictures doesn’t see their cinematic universe as a “Spider-Verse,” but actually their own Marvel universe while alluding to these projects holding their own without the iconic superhero. This is highlighted when Panitch admits that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won’t be appearing with Tom Hardy’s Venom in the upcoming sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. But also teased the two characters may meet up, eventually.

PANITCH: “We don’t really think of our 900 characters as the Spidey-verse. We have a Marvel universe. The volume of characters we have — you know, wait until you see this next Venom. You don’t miss Spider-Man…It’ll be exciting if they do meet, right?”

This sentiment was recently echoed not too long ago by Venom 2’s director Andy Serkis while speaking with IGN about the first-look trailer. Serkis mentioning that these the characters in the Venom sequel aren’t aware of Spider-Man and “treating this very much as it’s own world.”

SERKIS: “Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story, but in this, we’re treating this very much as it’s his own world, the Venom story is his own world. There are nods and little moments just like this, the newspaper Daily Bugle, of course, but on the whole, he’s unaware, they’re unaware, at this point of other characters like Spider-Man. So that’s the way we’ve chosen to play this particular episode of the movie but well, we’ll wait and see, what little things you can pick out of it.”

The original Venom, earned a massive $856 million at the global box office without Spider-Man, so it’s possible the studio believes other films could replicate this success on their own.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE – Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘M.O.D.O.K.’s Sam Richardson Would Love A Shot At Playing Beast In Marvel’s ‘X-Men’ Reboot

Marvel Studios since landing the Fantastic Four and X-Men rights back from 20th Century Studios after their merger with The Walt Disney Company has led to some interesting fan-casting suggestions. The biggest call from the online community it is to have real-life married couple John Kransinski and Emily Blunt play the new versions of Dr. Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic and Sue Storm aka The Invisible Woman in a reboot of the Fantastic Four from director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home). Sadly, we don’t always get what we want and months after John downplayed his chances on his YouTube show Some Good News, Blunt also poured cold water on the idea as well on The Howard Stern Show.

Sometimes fan-castings are just simple fun that can be taken a little too seriously by fans and can lead to a neverending attempt by outlets to get actors to repeat quotes about playing superheroes over and over. In other cases, actors simply bring up superhero characters they want to play organically in interviews.

Variety caught up with comedic actor Sam Richardson, who briefly mentions his desire to play Dr. Hank McCoy aka Beast from X-Men, comparing the mutant superhero to his character Richard Splett on the Emmy-winning HBO political comedy series Veep led by Julia Louise-Dreyfus. You might be aware that Julia recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier as Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (possible friend or foe), which has been teased as a reoccurring role in the massive expansive universe.

Now that Sam Richardson has had a taste of action work in Amazon’s upcoming “Tomorrow War” with Chris Pratt, he wants some more. He’d love a shot at playing the X-Men’s Beast. “I think Beast is like a big blue-haired Richard Splett,” he told me at the Big Screen Is Back event, referring to the character he played on “Veep.”

Richardson is likely best-known for his roles on Veep, Spy, and The Office. He most recently worked on Marvel’s new Hulu animated show M.O.D.O.K. as Gary, Amazon’s big alien invasion flick The Tomorrow War that is led by Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt, and has a big role in the upcoming genre flick Werewolves Within. That latter project sees Sam starring alongside Milana Vayntrub, who played Marvel’s Squirrel Girl in the live-action New Warriors series that never got picked-up

Speaking of Juila’s Val, Marvel Studios has been casting a lot of comedic actors for various MCU roles (big and small) over the last couple of years, making Richardson’s Beast request not entirely unobtainable. Some examples include Parks & Rec actor Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, ageless funny man Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Fresh Off The Boat’s Randall Park playing FBI Agent/Agents of Atlas leader Jimmy Woo, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani is a main cast member of the Eternals, Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu is playing their newest superhero Shang-Chi, comedians Awkwafina and Ronny Chieng play supporting roles in Shang-Chi, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius in the Loki series, Community’s Donald Glover was the The Prowler in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Melissa McCarthy plays a fake version of Hela in Thor: Love & Thunder, and most recently Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (Hot Fuzz, Peep Show) taking a mysterious role in Secret Invasion.

Beast is an interesting suggestion given that the MCU incarnation of Hank could have a lot of crossover potential as he started out as a member of the X-Men, only to bounce for the Avengers, and then joined S.W.O.R.D. the cosmic version of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was introduced in WandaVision. S.W.O.R.D. will likely have a huge role in upcoming projects like The Marvels and the Disney+ series Secret Invasion.

During Fox’s era of the X-Men franchise, Beast was played by Kesley Grammer and Nicholas Hoult.

As it stands, Marvel hasn’t officially assigned writers or a director for their X-Men reboot and would give the impression they haven’t thought about casting the mutant heroes.

SOURCE: VARIETY