Category: Film News

Posted on in Film News

Director Spike Lee Would Consider Making A Marvel Movie “If The Right Opportunity Comes Across”

While Marvel Studios likely won’t be landing Martin Scorsese anytime soon, another landmark New York filmmaker is keeping the superhero door open.

In a recent chat with Entertainment Weekly, Oscar-winner Spike Lee revealed he would be open to the idea of making a Marvel movie if the right project and opportunity materialized. Lee didn’t mention any franchises or characters he’d like to tackle but had grown up reading Spider-Man comics.

LEE: “I have nothing against Marvel. I grew up reading Spider-Man comic books. To me, DC Comics was always corny… I’m just saying. I was all about Marvel. If the right opportunity comes across, I’m not campaigning for it, but I will give it consideration.”

One of Chadwick Boseman’s final performances was in Spike’s Vietnam War drama Da 5 Bloods.

It’s worth mentioning that Spike and Samuel L. Jackson have been working together for over 30 years with his early films School Daze and Do The Ring Thing. You might also remember that Sam embraced the filmmaker on stage when Spike was awarded his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019. The idea that the pair could reunite for a Nick Fury movie wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities given that Marvel had been developing a solo film before some elements of that were folded into Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Jackson will reprise the Nick Fury role in Secret Invasion and is expected to appear in Captain Marvel 2.

Another interesting project could be an MCU reboot of Luke Cage or Heroes For Hire as Lee could certainly make a NYC-set project feel authentic and might bring a fun vision for it. We know that Marvel/Disney is open to making R-rated projects as Deadpool 3 is confirmed to be heading in that direction and might also be the case for Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot as well.

However, being open to the idea doesn’t mean anything is going to come from this statement but it’s surely neat to hear that Spike is open-minded.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

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‘The Falcon & The Winter Soldier’ Production Designer Raymond Chan Confirmed For Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Reboot

The Ronin has been able to confirm that production designer Raymond Chan has indeed been added to the production team of Paramount’s new Dungeons & Dragons reboot, a fantasy film based on the beloved table-top game from directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

Chan recently worked on the Disney+ series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier along with previous MCU credits as the supervising art director on Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of The Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, and Avengers: Infinity War.

Filming will be taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland and exterior shots in France.

It stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Justice Smith.

Dungeons & Dragons could become a huge franchise for Paramount if successful given the game’s revitalized popularity in the last couple of years (Stranger Things is partly to thank) with the demographic they’re aiming for, mainly, kids under the age of 18. Television has been skewing more in the realm of mature content concerning recent fantasy projects which leaves kids missing out on the genre, something that Paramount could capitalize on.

Posted on in Film News

‘Captain Marvel 2’: Zawe Ashton Tapped To Play A Villain – Will She Play Skrull Queen Veranke?

Deadline was the first to break the news that Marvel Studios has hired actress Zawe Ashton to play an undisclosed villain in Captain Marvel 2.

Candyman’s Nia DaCosta is directing a cast that consists of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel’s Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, and WandaVsion’s Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.

Given that Secret Invasion is said to be a crossover event series on Disney+, there is a good shot that Ashton is playing a Skrull, possibly Queen Veranke. When the Fantastic Four rights reverted back to Marvel they also got full control of the Skrulls, ability to use various characters such as the Super-Skrull and their ability to mimic/copy the power-sets of superheroes. A female version of Super-Skrull could be nifty as well, even though that character is primarily known as a Fantastic Four baddie.

However, there are plenty of other cosmic villains Ashton could end up playing.

Moonstone could be another option as well.

Secret Invasion might help established the events that will be later explored in Captain Marvel 2 as both productions are expected to take place in the United Kingdom later this year. Captain Marvel introduced the Skrulls as the enemies of the Kree Empire, only to reveal they were refugees seeking a new home and we might end up villainous incarnations surface which could become a big problem for Earth.

This a good chance that we could see Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Randall Park, and Kat Dennings take roles in the sequel as well given the likelihood S.W.O.R.D. will have a large part to play and depending on how their respective Disney+ series end.

Captain Marvel 2 currently has a release date of November 11th, 2022 and could suggest a production start in summer/fall.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Black Widow’: Marvel’s Kevin Feige Reportedly Opposed To A Hybrid Release

Yesterday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek reaffirmed their plan is to keep Black Widow as a theatrical release. A new report from Variety is suggesting that Marvel Studios president and Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige is opposed to the spy flick heading to Disney+ or given a hybrid release.

Here is that tidbit from Variety.

According to insiders, that’s partially because Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, the lead architect behind the meticulously constructed Marvel Cinematic Universe, was opposed to a hybrid rollout. Having produced many of the studio’s highest-grossing movies, including Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Feige’s opinion certainly carries considerable weight at Disney. But that doesn’t mean the powers that be can’t eventually convince Feige to change his mind — or overrule him completely.

It’s debatable if the film will even stick to it’s current release date of May 7th as plenty of other spring and summer movies are being pushed to the fall and early 2022. Seeing the Marvel flick bumped to later in the year sounds like what will happen at this point as they’ve been simply delaying previously.

BLACK WIDOW – In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Black Widow’: Disney CEO Bob Chapek Insists Marvel Movie Still Heading To Theaters

Despite consist demand from Marvel fans, it doesn’t look like Disney is going to be dumping Black Widow on their streaming platform Disney+ at this time. Disney CEO Bob Chapek reiterated the studio’s position from December where they reaffirmed the Scarlett Johansson spy flick would indeed be released in theaters as planned. This statement coming from Disney’s quarterly earnings call where many had expected to hear plans to finally release Widow on streaming as it’s coming up on being delayed for a full year soon.

Our good friend Nicholas Whitcomb aka Whos Nick was listening to the Q1 earnings call yesterday and was able to tweet this out about the comment made by Bob Chapek. However, things are fluid and another possible release date push is likely coming given the amount of studio films that have already exited the winter/spring.

Disney has had plenty of opportunities to pivot from their theatrical plans for Black Widow over the last year and didn’t seem to be terribly swayed by the HBO Max day-and-date announcement. It likely doesn’t help that Wonder Woman 1984 reportedly is going to lose Warner Bros. over a $100 million because of it’s dismal box office performance.

We’ll have to wait to see if they ultimately push the release to the fall or finally cave-in with a hybrid model releasing the film earlier.

It’s current release date is still set for May 7th.

BLACK WIDOW – In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

SOURCE: DISNEY

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Director Adam Wingard & ‘The Guest’ Screenwriter Simon Barrett Reuniting For A Direct Sequel To John Woo’s ‘Face/Off’

Deadline broke the news yesterday that Paramount Pictures has hired Adam Wingard (Godzilla vs. Kong) and screenwriter Simon Barrett to rework a Face/Off film that had been in development at the studio. The project is based on the 1997 film directed by Hong Kong action director John Woo that had actors John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in the main roles.

FACE/OFF – Obsessed with bringing terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) to justice, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) tracks down Troy, who has boarded a plane in Los Angeles. After the plane crashes and Troy is severely injured, possibly dead, Archer undergoes surgery to remove his face and replace it with Troy’s. As Archer tries to use his disguise to elicit information about a bomb from Troy’s brother, Troy awakes from a coma and forces the doctor who performed the surgery to give him Archer’s face.

Adam and Simon previously worked together on the underrated Dan Stevens action-thriller The Guest.

Wingard’s latest film Godzilla vs. Kong broke records for online views for it’s first-look trailer and debuts on March 31.

However, while the reports claimed that the project was a remake, Adam Wingard took to Instagram to clarify that the film they are writing is actually a direct sequel and not a remake/reboot.

You can see that post below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLK_-uUFVqY/

SOURCE: DEADLINE & ADAM WINGARD

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‘Killers of The Flower Moon’: Lily Gladstone Joins Leonardo DiCaprio & Robert De Niro In The Martin Scorsese Crime Thriller

Variety has revealed that actress Lily Gladstone has joined the next Martin Scorsese film Killers of The Flower Moon, which already stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

Eric Roth adapted the script from David Grann’s novel.

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.

Gladstone, a descendant of the Blackfeet and Nez Perce tribes, will play the role of Mollie Burkhart, an Osage married to Ernest Burkhart, who is nephew of a powerful local rancher. 

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Bullet Train’: Oscar-Winner Sandra Bullock Joins Brad Pitt In Assassin Flick

Sony’s action movie Bullet Train currently filming Los Angeles has reportedly added Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock (Gravity) according to Deadline. Bullock returning to the action genre after starting her career in movies like Speed and The Net.

Starring fellow Oscar-winner Brad Pitt and directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, John Wick, Deadpool 2), the Tokyo-set film will focus on a group of assassins with varying motivations on a Japanese bullet train.

The rest of the cast consists of Joey King (The Dark Knight Rises), Andrew Koji (G.I. Joe Origins: Snake Eyes), Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Man of Steel), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (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.

As previously revealed, film’s production team will include production designer David Scheunemann (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, Gunpowder Milkshake), cinematographer Jonathan Sela (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, Transformers: The Last Knight), and stunt coordinator Greg Rementer (The Mandalorian, Nobody, Hobbs & Shaw).

Leitch is also lining-up his next film Fast & Loose starring Will Smith and produced the upcoming Bob Odenkirk actioner Nobody.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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The Russo Brothers Still Keen To Tackle Wolverine & Advises Marvel Take Some Time Before Rebooting

While promoting their upcoming film Cherry, directors Joe and Anthony Russo spoke with the Lights Camera Barstool podcast (spotted and transcribed by The Playlist) and revealed they’d still love to get their hands on Marvel’s reboot of Wolverine. The pair continually brings up Wolverine and Secret Wars as things that could draw them back to Marvel Studios.

JOE RUSSO: “Wolverine has always been such a special character for me. To realize him on screen, it’s very hard because Hugh Jackman‘s performance is definitive. It’s like Batman; you have to really think of a way to, you have to really find the right actor to come in and give a really different take to that character. But I would really love to see him on screen.”

However, Joe advises that the studio give the franchise some time before jumping into a reboot.

JOE RUSSO: “I think the best thing is to take a break, without question. You need a [palate cleanser], you need to rinse the towel a little bit, let everyone enjoy what was, and then come up with something new. But I’d love to take a crack at Wolverine at some point.”

We already got some signs from Marvel’s Kevin Feige they’re not in any rush to reboot as they’ve chosen to go with Fantastic Four first. It’s still unknown what they ultimately plan to do with Wolverine and the X-Men reboots. Even though, they’ve introduced things like S.W.O.R.D. and Madripoor that are directly connected to the X-Men comics.

There is a good chance they could be able to convince Marvel Studios to allow them direct a Wolverine or X-Men project if they’re that persistent about being able to play with the characters. They were able to bring new blood to both the Captain America and Avengers franchises, with the latter Marvel now hold the box office record for the highest grossing film as Avengers: Endgame toppled James Cameron’s Avatar.

Given their experience working with large groups of heroes and villains, The Russo Brothers could be alongside screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus might be the team to reboot the X-Men. We’ve already seen Marvel look at their existing directing bench for the Fantastic Four reboot as they announced in December that Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts would be tackling it.

Wolverine certain could deserve to have his origin retold for the Marvel Cinematic Universe either connected to Alpha Flight or the Weapon X Program. I also believe that a project set during WWII giving them an excuse to have Wolverine in a period action-film. A solo project could give a new actor a great entry point and give the main X-Men reboot some space, as one of the big gripes that fans had with the Fox franchise is that Wolverine was the predominate character when he isn’t supposed to be.

Ryan Reynolds revealed on Twitter last month that one of the ideas they had for Deadpool 3 before the merger was convincing Hugh Jackman to end his retirement as they wanted Logan and Wade to do a road trip movie. They could also eventually meet up in an X-Force film.

Mark Ruffalo has also voiced his own desire to have Hulk interact with Wolverine in a project as the mutant debuted in the pages of Hulk comic books.

SOURCE: LIGHTS CAMERA BARSTOOL

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‘Watchmen’ Director Nicole Kassell Tapped For ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ – Will It Become A Film Franchise For New Line Cinema?

Deadline reports that New Line Cinema has hired Watchmen director Nicole Kassell to direct a new Wizard of Oz project based on the Frank L. Baum American fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Kassell recently worked on the HBO series Watchmen where she directed three episodes of the limited series including it’s powerful pilot that explored the real-life Tusla race massacre.

The novel published in 1900 is in the public domain which would explain why Disney was able to make the super scary Return To Oz and Sam Raimi’s prequel Oz, The Great & Powerful. However, since the 1939 is owned by Warner Bros., elements they invented for the film were their intellectual property such as the ruby slippers (silver in the book).

They also note that previous screenplay drafts were written by Darren Lemke and the duo of Neil Widener and Gavin James.

It’s kind of nuts that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. had been sitting a potential franchise that could be on par with Harry Potter/Narnia as Frank L. Baum wrote fourteen books for source material and has always been a build-in franchise waiting to be made. There is a treasure trove of characters New Line Cinema can explore.

SOURCE: DEADLINE