New Line Cinema and producer James Wan have seemingly found the director for their remake of the South Korean zombie flick Train To Busan as Deadline reports that Timo Tjahjanto is currently in negotiations for the gig.
Timo is likely known for the action film Headshot that starred Iko Uwais.
Sang-Ho Yeon was behind the original that spawned a action-packed sequel that released in 2020. They’ll really have to knock it out of the park with this remake given that the original is beloved and most people are puzzled why a studio is even attempting it.
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?
Back in November, Discussing Film was the first to reveal that Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix was planning on joining Ari Aster’s next feature film, referred to as a surliest horror film. Aster being the filmmaker behind horror films Hereditary and Midsommar.
Deadline now supports that report without citing the original outlet adding that the new title is Disappointment Blvd and that A24 will finance the project.
An intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.
Phoenix is also involved with Ridley Scott’s Napoleon film Kitbag at Apple, that was said to begin shooting in early 2022. Ridley and Joaquin previously working together on the Oscar-winner Gladiator.
The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. The intention of the film is to capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.
There is an expectation that Disappointment Blvd will shoot before Kitbag as Scott is expected to begin shooting his crime thriller Gucci soon in Italy.
Today, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer for their R-rated reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise in an attempt to revitalize the property for a new generation of fans. The reboot is produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster and is the feature film debut of director Simon McQuoid.
It will feature different incarnations of fan-favorite characters along with Lewis Tan playing Cole Young, a brand new heroic figure created for the film.
Mortal Kombat will debut on April 16th in theaters alongside HBO Max.
Take a look at the new red-band trailer below which reveals that Goro is officially in the film.
In “Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?
The diverse international cast reflects the global nature of the brand, with talent spanning the worlds of film, television and martial arts. The ensemble includes Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”) as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee (“The Meg”) as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson (“Bombshell”) as Kano; Tadanobu Asano (“Midway”) as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks (TV’s “Supergirl”) as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Ludi Lin (“Aquaman”) as Liu Kang; with Chin Han (“Skyscraper”) as Shang Tsung; Joe Taslim (“Star Trek Beyond”) as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero; and Hiroyuki Sanada (“Skyscraper”) as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion. Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; Matilda Kimber as Emily Young; and Laura Brent as Allison Young.
McQuoid directed from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham (“Wonder Woman 1984”), from a story by Oren Uziel (“Mortal Kombat: Rebirth”) and Russo, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers.
The Hollywood Reporter is confirming a fall report from The Illuminerdi that Aladdin and The Old Guard actor Marwan Kenzari is joining the New Line Cinema film Black Adam, a solo DC Comics film starring Dwayne Johnson in the titular role.
The original report from October claimed that Kenzari was being considered to play DC villain Sabbac, however, the new update isn’t mentioning the part actually is.
Marwan joins a growing cast that includes Noah Centineo as Al Rothstein aka Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall aka Hawkman, and Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkell aka Cyclone.
Filming is set to begin this April in Atlanta, Georgia.
There is news via The Hollywood Reporter that Leonardo DiCaprio will be taking a different role in Martin Scorsese’s expensive thriller Killers of The Flower Moon as Jesse Plemons is reportedly taking over Leo’s part of FBI Agent Tom White.
DiCaprio will instead play Ernest Burkhart, the nephew if powerful rancher played by Robert De Niro and the husband of Lily Gladstone’s Mollie.
Based on David Grann’s best-selling book, the Apple Original Film adaptation takes place in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts a string of brutal murders of Osage Nation Native Americans, which came to be known as the Reign of Terror. The Osage Nation, who were the richest people per capita in the world, were killed one by one after oil was discovered on their land. As the death toll rose, the newly-created FBI took up the case and unraveled a chilling conspiracy and one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.
Plemons is best known for his television work on shows such as AMC’s Breaking Bad and FX’s Fargo, he recently worked on the Netflix drama I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Martin Scorsese’s gangster flick The Irishman.
Filming is said to begin this May and could become a conflict with making Jordan Peele’s secret project for Universal, as the outlet confirms Plemons is indeed being eyed for a lead role there as well.
Composer Danny Elfman has confirmed to Inverse that he’ll be reuniting with Sam Raimi for Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. The pair worked together on the original Spider-Man trilogy and Elfman isn’t a stranger to the MCU scoring Avengers: Age of Ultron.
ELFMAN: “I am starting to do bits of pre-work for Doctor Strange 2 that Sam Raimi’s directing. Even though I don’t start it for some months, there’s bits of recorded music they need for the sets.”
Raimi took over directing duties from Scott Derrickson after he exited over creative differences.
Benedict Cumberbatch will be appearing in Spider-Man 3 and in all likelihood we will see Tom Holland’s Peter Parker show up in the Doctor Strange sequel.
The sequel will also co-star Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff and there has been confirmation from Marvel that the series WandaVision connects to it.
It was confirmed in December that America Chavez will be played by Xochitl Gomez.
The Ronin was able to previously confirm the sequel’s production team will also include cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, X-Men: First Class) and production designer Charles Wood (Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame).
Filming is underway at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
A casting update for Paramount Pictures’ new Dungeons & Dragons film from The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Bridgerton actor Rege-Jean Page has closed a deal for a role in the fantasy film that will be directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein .
Dungeons & Dragons is based on the beloved table top game that eventually incorporated various universes including elements from the Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser series of novels created by American fantasy author Fritz Leiber.
Page joins a cast that includes Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith.
The Ronin previously confirmed production under the working title Chainmail will be taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland and France. The film’s cinematographer will be Barry Peterson (Game Night) and production designer Raymond Chan (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier).
John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Nobody) is also developing a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series for Hasbro/eOne as reported last month by The Hollywood Reporter.
Paramount Pictures has given the film a release date of May 27th, 2022.
Deadline reports that actress Keke Palmer has joined the cast of Jordan Peele’s next feature film for Universal Pictures. They’re also backing up a previous report from The Illuminerdi that Get Out breakout-star Daniel Kaluuya is negotiating to reunite with Peele on the untitled film.
Illuminerdi also claimed that Daniel’s Judas & The Black Messiah co-star Jesse Plemons would be in the film as well, but this has yet to be supported by the trades. Filming they suggested would begin this April in Los Angeles, California.
Depending on when the Peele project shoots this could mean that Kaluuya might not be returning for Marvel’s Black Panther 2 that had been expected to begin shooting around June/July in Atlanta. Although, an April start and if they finish quick enough it likely won’t hinder his involvement. But given how many productions have been delayed or paused due to COVID-19 it’s hard to make assumptions about any film project finishing up on schedule.
Details about the project are scarce but Peele’s last two films skewed into the body horror realm.
Jordan’s movies are essentially a license to print money as Get Out was made for $4.5 million and ended-up making $255.4 million at the global box office. His follow-up Us earned a similar amount at $255.1 million but cost $20 million, dipping slightly into that return but still strong successes given they were both original takes on the horror genre.
The secretive project is set for a release by Universal Pictures on July 22nd, 2022.
It looks like Rian Johnson himself has revealed in a chat with Sariah Wilson with that he’s indeed still working on his new Star Wars trilogy. This comes after the December update from Lucasfilm concerning their Star Wars projects failed to give us an update on the status of Johnson’s trilogy. However, it sounds like he’s still making them but his Knives Out sequel is the priority at the moment.
WILSON: “Yes, Rian’s SW trilogy is still on. No dates or timelines because he has other projects going on, but it is happening.”
This is how Lucasfilm described the trilogy when they first announced it’s development back in 2017.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce.
As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
Concerning the feature films, if the December presentation is to be believed Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron would be the next project to go into production. While it’s a possible toss-up between Taika Waititi’s film (may have lost screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns) and this mysterious project from Rian. There have been multiple rumblings that either the studio or Johnson himself has moved on, but these have always been met with denials and this update seemingly is coming from Johnson himself. It’s worth mentioning a handful of Star Wars films haven’t reached the finish line and likely has people wondering if the trilogy will ever get made given how long ago it was announced.
The Book of Boba Fett and Andor are currently in production with Kenobi about to start filming in the late spring. Pedro Pascal might be a little busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us and could suggest he’s been given a window to shoot something else before Season 3 of The Mandalorian beings.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what exactly Rian is making and when that first installment will get in front of cameras.
While the original plan was to shoot the next two Mission: Impossible films back-to-back under the working title Libra, that seems to be on hold according to a report from Deadline. As the outlet states Paramount Pictures is going to need Tom Cruise to help promote Top Gun: Maverick for it’s July 2nd release, assuming the film doesn’t get pushed to the fall or winter, which means that filming will need to be placed on pause for a bit.
Sources said this is simply down to the shifting release calendar. Star Tom Cruise will now be needed on promotional duties by the studio for Top Gun: Maverick ahead of that film’s planned release on July 2, and will be out of action for a period.
This comes as Mission: Impossible 7 is heading back to London for some “finishing touches” according to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram.
MCQUARRIE: “Now back to London for a few finishing touches. All aboard for our greatest challenge yet…”
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 actress Pom Klementieff, who has a role in the films recently flew to Sydney, Australia to get ready to for the shoot of Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder. We have to assume this signaled that she had completed the filming for the first installment.
The rest of the cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Shea Whigham, and Henry Czerny.
Filming on the 7th installment hasn’t been all rainbows and sunshine, there had paused back in March of 2020 due to the pandemic that led to production hiccups and a viral audio clip of Tom Cruise chewing out crew members for not adhering to the strict on-set COVID-19 protocols. It’s possible that everyone just needs a break after spending over a year on this film.
Mission: Impossible 7 is slated for November 19th, 2021 and Mission: Impossible 8 is set for November 4th, 2022.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK – After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
THE RONIN 