Category: Film News

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David Cronenberg’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Crimes of The Future’ To Star Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux & Kristen Stewart

We finally have some solid confirmation about Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg’s next feature film as Deadline has revealed that he’ll write and direct the science fiction thriller Crimes of The Future that will be distributed in the U.S. by Neon, according to a report from Deadline. Filming is set to take place in Athens, Greece over the summer, a location that is said to be used for Rian Johnson’s sequel to Knives Out.

Crimes of The Future will be David’s first original script in over 20 years and uses the title of his 1970 film that takes place in 1997 but seemingly will attempt a difference route.

While some embrace the limitless potential of trans-humanism, others attempt to police it. Either way, “Accelerated Evolution Syndrome” is spreading fast. Saul Tenser is a beloved performance artist who has embraced Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Along with his partner Caprice, Tenser has turned the removal of these organs into a spectacle for his loyal followers to marvel at in real-time theatre. But with both the government and a strange subculture taking note, Tenser is forced to consider what would be his most shocking performance of all.

The outlet also mentions the cast so far includes Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué, Don McKellar, and Lihi Kornowski. Mortensen and Cronenberg have worked together previously with A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method.

David previously directed genre flicks such as The Fly, Videodrome, Naked Lunch, Scanners, Dead Ringers, and eXistenZ.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Eternals’: Chloe Zhao Reunites With ‘Songs My Brother Taught Me’ Actress Jashaun St. John – Will Appear In Upcoming Marvel Movie

A new casting tidbit for the Marvel Studios film directed and co-written by Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao has been revealed. An article from that L.A. Times has mentioned that actress Jashaun St. John, who starred in Zhao’s film Songs My Brother Taught Me has been given an undisclosed part in Eternals.

Reaffirming that vote of confidence, Zhao cast St. John again in her upcoming Marvel superhero saga “Eternals,” scheduled to be released on Nov. 5.

Word on the street is that there are plenty of actors that are in Eternals that haven’t been announced outside of the main cast and I’m super curious if they’re indeed big names or other actors Zhao was worked with previously.

The rest of the cast includes Gemma Chan as Sersi, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman aka Black Knight, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Kumail Nanjani as Kingo, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh.  

I’ll be keeping my fingers-crossed that Marvel will be able convince Zhao to stick around for a trilogy of movies given that she had approached the studio with the idea of tackling the Jack Kirby characters after meeting with them to direct Black Widow. She very well could end up becoming the architect of the franchise, not unlike James Gunn with Guardians of The Galaxy.

Eternals is set for release on November 5, 2021.

SOURCE: THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

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‘Black Panther 2’: Lupita Nyong’o Talks About Returning To The Set Without Chadwick Boseman

While everyone at Marvel Studios alongside the cast and crew of Black Panther are still mourning the loss of actor Chadwick Boseman to colon cancer last year, the studio and director Ryan Coogler are pressing on with the sequel set to begin shooting this July in Atlanta under the working title Summer Break.

Fans are still extremely curious how they’re going to continue without Boseman’s T’Challa.

Yahoo! Entertainment‘s Kevin Polowy was able to speak with Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o during an interview to promote her animated project Super Sema. During their chat the subject of returning for Marvel’s Black Panther 2 was brought up and Lupita talked about the emotion surrounding the upcoming production alongside director Ryan Coogler’s

NYONG’O: “People will ask me, ‘Are you excited to go back?’ Excitement isn’t the word. I feel like I’m in a very pensive and meditative state when it comes to Black Panther 2. His passing is still extremely raw for me. And I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like to step on set and not have him there.”

“But at the same time we have a leader in Ryan, who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well. And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we’ve all experienced as a cast and as a world. So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we’re still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure.”

We’re heard similar sentiments from other cast members and we’re still in the dark to how exactly Ryan and Marvel are going to approach the film without recasting T’Challa. The studio has repeatedly stated they don’t have plans on using a digital version of Chadwick and with the summer shoot looming you’d think they would have shared their angle by now.

Black Panther 2 is set for release on July 8, 2022 and we should start hearing more casting news in the coming months.

SOURCE: YAHOO ENTERTAINMENT

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‘Captain America 4’: Director Kari Skogland Game To Tackle The Next Installment & Writer Malcolm Spellman Downplays His Involvement

Last Friday, there was a scoop from The Hollywood Reporter that revealed Marvel Studios was already moving forward with Captain American 4 hiring screenwriters Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson to begin working on a script.

This new was coming off the success of the Disney+ series Falcon & Winter Soldier, where Spellman was the head writer. That 6-episode series followed the journey of Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson transforming into the new Captain America alongside acknowledging the dark-side of the super-soldier program via Isiah Bradley’s history of being the first black Captain America, but his story being kept from the public and his subsequent 30 year imprisonment. It’s been all but confirmed that Mackie would end up leading Captain America 4 and potential further installments.

However, this has yet to be announced by Marvel/Disney and Malcolm Spellman doesn’t give a strong impression the project is a lock. When asked about the report by Comic Book, Malcolm has seemingly downplayed how involved he currently is with Captain America 4 and points back to Kevin Feige being the one that makes these things official.

SPELLMAN: “Who said it? Did Kevin say it? I would not put faith in anything you do not hear directly from the man himself!”

While we’ll have to wait for some official confirmations about Captain America 4, Falcon & Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland has revealed to Cinemablend’s Reel Blend podcast that she would be game if the offer came her way.

SKOGLAND: “I think if Marvel called me to do anything, if they called me to film the phone book, I would do it. … The Marvel characters are all very, very rich. I’ve become friends with Anthony and Sebastian, and I really enjoyed working with them. And Emily and Daniel Bruhl. I mean, I’ve worked with them for a couple of years, so of course, I have a special place in my heart. But as I said, if Kevin (Feige) picked up the phone, I would answer it.”

I’m pretty sure we’ll end up seeing some cross-pollination between Don Cheadle’s Armor Wars and Captain America 4, given that the heroes and villains are essentially mingling in similar government circles.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK & CINEMABLEND

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‘Eternals’: Kevin Feige Reaffirms Gemma Chan’s Sersi Is The Film’s Main Character

After Chloe Zhao making waves over the weekend earning two Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for her fantastic film Nomadland, we’re all waiting to see footage from her next feature film, Marvel’s Eternals.

It’s based on the characters created by King Jack Kirby that mixed elements of Greek/Roman mythology alongside notions of aliens seeding Earth via Swiss author Erich von Daniken’s novel Chariots of The Gods, work that heavily influenced Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus and the idea that humans are a science experiment of an alien race. In the case of Eternals, they are created by the the giant alien creatures known as the Celestials (first seen in Guardians of The Galaxy) alongside their antagonists The Deviants and early humans have the mutant gene hidden within them to later become the mutants we know from the X-Men.

While speaking with Variety, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reiterates that while it’s a team project, the film’s main character is Gemma Chan’s Sersi, who is expected to become a full-fledged members of the Avengers just like the comic books.

FEIGE: “So for Sersi, for instance — and if there was a lead in this ensemble, it is Sersi, it is Gemma Chan — we looked at and read all sorts of women for that part. And ended up really believing that Gemma was best for it. And thankfully, she’s proven that to be the case in the final movie.”

While it was originally announced that Sersi would be the main character of the film in early casting reports, that was when trade outlets were under the impression that Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie was going to be landing that role. Instead, Angelina is playing the equally interesting heroine Thena and Marvel hired Captain Marvel’s Gemma Chan for her second MCU role. This new one is likely going allow her to stick around for much longer than she previously would have and allows the Marvel franchise to add another talented Asian lead.

The rest of the cast includes Kit Harington as Dane Whitman aka Black Knight, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Kumail Nanjani as Kingo, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, and Don Lee as Gilgamesh.  

Sequels to Eternals are extremely likely could see the team go head-to-head with folks like Hercules/The Olympians and Hyperion/Squadron Supreme. I think it all depends if Marvel Studios is able to convince Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao to return for multiple films after co-writing the script and directing the first installment, set to be released on November 5th, 2021. However, Zhao has been tapped by Universal for a new Dracula film and could be one of the projects that could whisk her away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a couple of years.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘The Tomorrow War’ Teaser Trailer: Chris Pratt Fights Aliens In Time-Traveling Action Flick Releasing This July On Amazon Prime Video

In The Tomorrow War, the world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester (Chris Pratt). Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist (Yvonne Strahovski) and his estranged father (J.K. Simmons) in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.

It stars Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson, Edwin Hodge, Jasmine Mathews, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Keith Powers.

The sci-fi film directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie) was originally going to be released theatrically by Paramount Pictures only for the film to be sold-off to Amazon Prime Video for the hefty price of $200 million and will be streaming starting July 2, 2021.

Tomorrow War isn’t the only Paramount Pictures action movie picked-up by Prime Video as the Michael B. Jordan franchise starter Without Remorse will hit Amazon this Friday. Without Remorse focuses on John Kelly/Clark, a CIA operator that lives in the world of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan franchise. You might be aware of Amazon’s popular Jack Ryan series led by John Krasinski, which likely made the film very attractive to the streaming giant.

It remains to be seen if either The Tomorrow War or Without Remorse will lead to sequels, despite originally signing-on to reprise John in a Rainbow Six movie too.

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Paramount’s Next ‘Transformers’ Movie To Shoot In Montreal Under The Working Title ‘E-77’

Paramount has been gearing-up their next Transformers installment by hiring Creed II director Steven Capble Jr. and reportedly in talks with In The Heights actor Anthony Ramos for a leading role.

The Ronin can independently confirm that Paramount Pictures and director Steven Caple Jr. have already assembled the film’s crew in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where it’s expected to shoot sometime in 2021 (potentially over the summer/fall).

It’s also apparently going to be using the title Transformers: Beast Alliance according to Production Weekly with the working title E-77, during production. A potential nod to this being Paramount’s Beast Wars adaption as that CGI animated cartoon series featured Optimus Primal, an ancestor of Optimus Prime. Instead of transforming into vehicles, that group of Transformers had to make due with the creatures of Earth.

Illuminerdi first reported on the shooting locale and film’s title last month stating it could begin filming this May/June, dates I haven’t been able to verify but are extremely likely.

The Canadian location has been previously used for studio films such as 300, Arrival, John Wick: Chapter 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, Chaos Walking, Midway, White House Down, Riddick, Warm Bodies, Source Code, Punisher War Zone, Immortals, Disney’s new Home Alone movie, and the upcoming sci-fi flick Moonfall.

Paramount has given the next Transformers installment a release date of June 24, 2022.

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Ari Aster’s ‘Disappointment Blv.’ Starring Joaquin Phoenix Confirmed To Shoot In Montreal This Summer

The Ronin has confirmed that Ari Aster’s next feature film Disappoint Blv. will shoot in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as the filmmaker has already assembled it’s crew and is planning on a summer shoot in the Canadian province. Filming is said to begin in late June and continue into October, this all depends if there aren’t production hiccups due to the COVID-19 virus. Canada’s COVID-19 numbers increasing there could end up being delays if Quebec decides to also issue similar stay-at-home orders that Ontario has recently implemented.

Director Ari Aster is best known for his recent horror efforts Hereditary and Midsommar.

Deadline previously reported that Aster has landed Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix for the lead role and that A24 is involved with the project. Phoenix is also attached to reunite with Gladiator director Ridley Scott on the Napoleon film Kitbag for Apple, Scott is currently busy with his crime thriller House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.

The Canadian location has been previously used for studio films such as The Fountain, Life of Pi, Arrival, John Wick: Chapter 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, Chaos Walking, Midway, White House Down, Riddick, Warm Bodies, 300, Source Code, Punisher War Zone, Immortals, Disney’s new Home Alone movie, and the upcoming sci-fi flick Moonfall.

We can also confirm that Paramount is gearing up to use Montreal as a filming location for their next Transformers movie directed by Steven Capble Jr. as they’re assembling a crew there as well.

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Legendary Reportedly In Talks With ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Director Adam Wingard For Another MonsterVerse Film – Could End Up ‘Son of Kong’

Legendary might not be winding-down plans for their MonsterVerse after all. After Godzilla Vs. Kong crossed $400 million globally at the box office over the weekend, there is talk that the studio might be already looking to secure Adam Wingard for another future MonsterVerse movie.

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Wingard is currently in talks with Legendary to direct another film in the MonsterVerse for them, potentially with the title of Son of Kong. This could make sense as the ending of Godzilla Vs. Kong seemed to hint there were further adventures for Kong in his new home in the Hollow Earth.

I have to believe that audiences would be a little more inclined to support a second solo Kong film given how well both Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla Vs. Kong have done in comparison to Godzilla: King of The Monsters. Also, that Kong seems to have a little bit more of a personality than Godzilla which goes a long way for a CGI performance from a towering monster and now that he can communicate with humans makes another film even more appealing.

Son of Kong would likely mean that there is female of Kong’s species somewhere in the Hollow Earth, but we still don’t know if that is the project they’ll end up making since they don’t even have a screenwriter attached at this point and the Son of Kong is only a rumbling of a title.

Adam is a little busy at the moment working on a sequel to John Woo’s Face/Off for Paramount Pictures and is going to make a big screen adaptation of the cult cartoon ThunderCats mixing animation with CGI for Warner Bros. as well. It’s unclear when this new MonsterVerse is expected to shoot or even be released. Normally, Legendary announces their plans on these projects way in advance and seemed like they could attempt to pause the release of them entirely.

If Adam Wingard closes a deal with Legendary it would make him the first MonsterVerse director to make two films.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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Christopher Nolan Has Spoken To Netflix About Working With Them But Global Theatrical Distribution Is A Concern – Signal He Is Searching For A New Studio Home?

You might remember how heated things got when WarnerMedia announced their day-and-date release model, something depending on where you look for numbers didn’t seem to make a huge impact on subscriber growth for HBO Max in Q1. Filmmakers Christopher Nolan (Tenet) and Denis Villeneuve (Dune) came out swinging with public comments denouncing the company.

There was even a report that Nolan was unlikely to work with WarnerMedia again.

Netflix’s film chief Steve Stuber has mentioned to The Wall Street Journal (via Coming Soon) that he has spoke with Christopher Nolan about his desire to see them expand into global distribution of their original films. Nolan has been a huge champion of traditional theatrical windows and audiences having access to the theatrical experience. Apparently, he’s also talked about potentially working with them but the cinematic distribution would be a huge sticking point for that to happen.

STUBER: “I think there are aspects of global distribution in the cinema that are still appealing. Chris Nolan and I have spoken quite a bit…and that’s still something he wants deeply. If we can’t provide that, it will still be an issue for him.”

“I think we have a model that works and we’ve done well with the theaters that have played us. As these things change, we’re all having these conversations to see where it all lands and what the landscape on the other side of all of this is.”

There have been plenty of calls for Netflix to get into the theater chain business as some companies have been struggling and now that studios can legally buy-up theaters it would allow Netflix to fully embrace a hybrid model of distribution with their original films that could allow their tent to expand with more high-profile filmmakers looking to work with them, like a Christopher Nolan. Netflix has been able to convince Martin Scorsese to bring The Irishman to the streaming giant and they’ve been able to win multiple Academy Awards with their originals.

It does feel like Nolan could be directly courting studios to find a new home and making sure his movies will be released in theaters worldwide is going to be part of whatever deal he attempts to secure. At this point in his career, any place would likely welcome him with open arms alongside blank checks for future projects.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL