Category: Film News

Posted on in Film News

‘No Time To Die’ Expected To Get Another Release Delay

We’ve been waiting almost a full year to finally get to watch the final Daniel Craig outing as James Bond, however, No Time To Die has moved it’s official release date twice already and it looks like there might be another release hiccup on the way. According to a small tidbit from Daily Mail reporter Baz Bamigboye (very reliable for Bond news) another delay for the action blockbuster is expected.

The actress plays an MI6 agent with a licence to kill in No Time To Die. But the 007 movie keeps being postponed. A release date was set for April 2. Expect it to shift again.

We’ll have to wait for official word from EON/MGM concerning No Time To Die‘s release delay.

This wouldn’t be terribly shocking as the pandemic is getting increasingly worse in both the United States and the United Kingdom, both top box office markets for the Bond franchise. There is also the less than speedy distribution and administration of the COVID-19 vaccines in North America. Delaying a couple of months into the summer or even November at this point seems like a foregone conclusion for it’s distributor to avoid a weak box office performance in April.

We have yet to hear about the fate of other movies in the spring but there could be a move from studios to either push releases to later in the year, further offload to streaming services or quickly put together PVOD options for consumers. It seems tougher to find homes for these massive blockbusters given their budgets and projected profits.

Wonder Woman 1984 recently had an extremely tough time earning money at the domestic box office over the holiday season proving that releasing big films theatrically during the pandemic won’t magically create box office dollars even with large studio IP and franchises. It’s also worth mentioning that WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO Max was a direct competitor with U.S. theaters via their day-and-date release model likely kneecapping those domestic numbers alongside online piracy, a symptom of early digital access.

How major studios and distributors will react to the pandemic in 2021 isn’t fully known at this point as we’re only in January. There are signs that WarnerMedia might pivot from dumping their entire 17 film lineup on HBO Max after backlash and potential lawsuits from Legendary, films like Dune may avoid the day-and-date model. If this extends to other big projects remains to be seen.

NO TIME TO DIE – Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology. 

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL

Posted on in Film News

‘Army of The Dead’: Zack Snyder Says Warner Bros. Passed On The Zombie Project – Prequel Movie Wraps Production

Zack Snyder‘s horror remake Dawn of The Dead (penned by James Gunn) is arguably one of the filmmaker’s most accessible feature films to date. So, having the the director return to the zombie/action-horror genre with Army of The Dead for Netflix is exciting for a multitude of reasons.

Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zack reveals that the film had been lingering at Warner Bros. for years but the studio ultimately didn’t want to make it because of the money involved for the budget that would have taken to get it made the way that Snyder wanted.

SNYDER: “They didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a zombie movie, or just didn’t take it that seriously. I was always like, ‘Look guys, this is more than [just a zombie movie],’ but it fizzled out.”

Ultimately, the streaming giant Netflix picked-up Army of The Dead after they loved the pitch detailed by Snyder. They’ve been so enthused about the project, Netflix also recently wrapped on a prequel film last month directed by franchise actor Matthias Schweighofer.

SNYDER: “We were in a meeting at Netflix and I was talking about some of these scripts I was working on. And I mentioned the idea to [Netflix head of original films Scott Stuber] and he was like, ‘That is the movie! Go write that movie and let’s make it.’ I was like, ‘What, do you mean now?’ And he’s like, ‘Go write it tomorrow and we’ll do shoot it in a week.'”

Netflix obviously has few roadblocks concerning budgets for their projects as they notably spend a hefty amount of money on original programming, however, The Gray Man from The Russo Brothers will be their first film budgeted over $200 million competing on the level of major film studios.

Army of The Dead’s large cast consists of Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Tig Notaro, and Samantha Win. 

It’s expected to drop later this year and Netflix is banking on it becoming their new horror franchise. A trailer is likely on the horizon given the new promotion for the film.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

Kevin Feige’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie Reportedly Adds ‘Loki’ & ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Screenwriter Michael Waldron

Another big update concerning the Star Wars franchise as Deadline reports that the Kevin Feige-produced project has hired screenwriter Michael Waldron (Rick & Morty) to pen a script. Waldron recently working with Feige at Marvel Studios on both Loki and Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

Feige is the head of Marvel Studios and Marvel’s chief creative officer, which would make this his first non-MCU project as producer since leading the studio. Lucasfilm hasn’t revealed any details about the new film or even what era within the timeline it will take place.

I’m sure people are curious if this means that Kevin will attempt to produce more films within the Star Wars Universe alongside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It had been previously announced that the next feature film will be Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron coming out on December 22nd, 2023. Taika Waititi is also developing another film which could go into production once he finishes Thor: Love & Thunder for Marvel and Rian Johnson had been announced to be working on an original trilogy for the studio.

There is a wave of Disney+ shows on the way with Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Season 3 of The Mandalorian, Rangers of The New Republic, Ahsoka, Lando, and The High Republic era series The Acolyte.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Eternals’: Director Chloe Zhao Confirms She Was A Writer On The New Marvel Movie

We’ve been dying to see some footage from Chloe Zhao‘s upcoming Marvel Studios film Eternals as a trailer has yet to be released by the marketing department at Disney. The project is based on the obscure cosmic superhero team creating Jack “King” Kirby that had a limited run but led to characters like Sersi joining the ranks of The Avengers.

It sounds like Chloe had an extensive hand in the creative side of Eternals when it comes the script as she revealed during an interview with Margret Gardiner (spotted by The Playlist) that she is one of the writers on the film and briefly talked about that experience.

ZHAO: “I am the writer on Eternals, the credits just aren’t updated yet. I don’t know what it would be like if I didn’t write the film, if I wasn’t at least a huge part of the writing process. So yeah I haven’t experienced that in my career, I’m scared of that if that happens one day.”

“In the writing process, that’s sort of where I bring my sensibility in, that’s a huge part of it. And creating situations that will allow certain kinds of cinematic language to come in, that is something that I’ve learned from my last three films. I think what Marvel has been so incredible at – Kevin [Feige] and Nate [Moore] and the whole team – they knew from the moment I pitched the film, I really wanted the scope and scale at the same time as the intimacy. They knew I wanted both. They have been so incredible holding my hand through the entire process of allowing me to go as far as possible and as small as possible, and how that fits into the whole MCU. It’s been a pretty incredible process. You’ll have to wait and see.”

You can watch that full interview below which was to promote her upcoming film Nomandland which is already getting Oscar buzz.

Zhao wouldn’t be the only Marvel director to have added their own flare to the script of the project they’re working on as James Gunn and Taika Waititi had a similar process on their first films. The other two credited screenwriters are Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo.

It’s 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.  

The reshoots for Eternals have seemingly already taken place late last year which should allow them plenty of time to focus on tweaking the visual effects before the potential release on November 5th.

SOURCE: MARGARET GARDINER

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‘The Flash’: Ray Fisher’s Cyborg Cameo Reportedly Written Out – Role Won’t Be Recast

It’s starting to look like Ray Fisher and his character Cyborg won’t be appearing in The Flash after all.

The Wrap is supporting a tweet from Forbes writer Mark Hughes that Cyborg’s cameo in the film has been removed and they will not be recasting the part. This news would debunk unreliable online rumors that the studio and director was recasting the Cyborg role specifically for The Flash.

Justice League actor Ray Fisher, who was offered a cameo role last June to appear as Cyborg in The Flash solo movie, has been written out of the screenplay and will not be recast, according to insiders with knowledge of the situation.

However, we aren’t terribly shocked by this news as the Justice League actor seemed to telegraph this update on his character. Ray Fisher made the following statement on Twitter last month signaling he wouldn’t be working with DC Films or Walter Hamada in the future, possibly getting ahead of the reports of his cameo being nixed by the studio. Essentially announcing his exit from the franchise.

DC Films had previously announced a solo Cyborg movie that never materialized as neither a screenwriter or director were ever announced as developing it. The character is also being used in the live-action realm with the series Doom Patrol, played by Jovian Wade.

Andy Muschietti (IT, Mama) is directing from a script penned by Christina Hodson (Batgirl, Birds of Prey) with a cast said to include Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, and Michael Keaton using a different version of The Flashpoint storyline that will usher-in DC Comics’ own Multiverse.

Filming on The Flash is expected to begin this April at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios in Watford, England. The facility is currently being used for Fantastic Beasts 3 as it’s been the homestead production stages for the Harry Potter franchise and was used for previous DC Comics movies such as The Batman, Justice League, and Wonder Woman.

It’s release date has been set for November 4th, 2022.

SOURCE: THE WRAP

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‘Spawn’ Actor Michael Jai White Puzzled By Todd McFarlane’s Reboot – “Good Luck With That”

A Spawn feature film reboot has been in the works for over two decades as the character had been widely popular in the 1990s with the original Image Comics run, a toyline, video games, an animated series on HBO, and lackluster feature film released back in 1997 that had some of the worst CGI of that decade in a major motion picture.

Spawn focuses on Al Simmons, a murderous government assassin who is killed and while in hell makes a deal to lead their army as the Hellspawn if can say goodbye to his wife Wanda. During this brief time on Earth he decides to take own his killers and a local mob boss with his new powers as he attempts to protect Wanda’s new family alongside his homeless cohorts.

It’s comic book creator Todd McFarlane had eventually convinced Blumhouse Pictures to get involved allowing him to write and direct the film, however, there have been multiple hiccups despite landing Jamie Foxx as Al Simmons aka Spawn and Jeremy Renner as Detective Twitch (bizarre casting).

Comic Book Resources caught-up with the original film’s actor Michael Jai White, who starred in the live-action film from 1997 to get his impression of the reboot being pursued by Todd McFarlane and Blumhouse Pictures. It sounds like White isn’t terribly convinced of either the way they want to make the film or if Todd is the right person to execute it as the director.

WHITE: “He’s been trying to get a new movie up and going for 23 years so I don’t know. [Laughs] The last time I saw him, he was telling me about his idea of Spawn being ethereal fog that you don’t see, like Jaws, and he strikes and you never see him and I’m like ‘Okay, good luck with that!’.

“Personally, I wish him well, that would be a major investment.”

“I don’t know Todd to be a director at all. It’s kind of like Stan Lee: He created the character but he doesn’t direct him and I guess somebody would have to pony up a lot of money for Todd McFarlane to direct for his first time directing this movie idea that he has. I’ve heard about Jamie Foxx starring in it and wish them well. I don’t know, maybe it continues because this is what people like to hear from Todd McFarlane. He can get attention by promising another Spawn; I don’t get it.”

Despite positive talk from both Todd and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum about the impending feature film still in scripting stages, it doesn’t feel like they’ll be shooting anytime soon. There had been some information a couple of years ago that they were almost about to begin shooting in Toronto when the whole thing was unplugged at the last minute, currently still in active development.

As a fan of the source material, I’m perplexed that they want to deviate so much from the Spawn mythology to create something that fans will have trouble supporting. It mostly feels like a budgetary thing to give Todd creative freedom and his shot at directing a studio film rather than making a project that a majority of fans would embrace alongside a general audience, even though this will be a niche film with limited appeal to begin with.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK RESOURCES

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Walter Hamada To Continue His Role As President of DC Films Into 2023

Variety is reporting that DC Films President Walter Hamada has re-upped with extension that will last through 2023. This means Hamada will be around long enough to execute a heap of projects for both the big screen and WarnerMedia’s domestic streaming service HBO Max that he’s been developing for the last couple of years.

There are plenty of upcoming feature film projects on the horizon including films expected to begin shooting this year such as The Flash, Black Adam, Shazam!: Fury of The Gods, and Aquaman 2. James Gunn is also set to begin shooting his Peacemaker series starring John Cena this month in Vancouver, a mature spinoff series of The Suicide Squad exclusively or HBO Max.

Other things in the fire are Wonder Woman 3, Batgirl, Static Shock, The Trench, Plastic Man, a Green Lantern series at HBO Max, and development on a Supergirl movie before things stalled.

Hamada joined DC Films back in 2018 coming from New Line Cinema.

James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad is expected to be the next big DC release on August 6th, 2021 as Matt Reeves‘ The Batman had been bumped from October 1st, 2021 to March 4th, 2022 giving the production a bit of breathing room as they attempting to complete filming during the pandemic as there is increased strain in the United Kingdom.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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Alex Garland’s Next Film ‘Men’ Heads To A24 With Jessie Buckley & Rory Kinnear Tapped To Star

Deadline is reporting that Alex Garland is moving forward with his next writing/directing effort titled Men at A24. Irish actress Jessie Buckley (Fargo, Wild Rose) and Bond franchise actor Rory Kinnear are being in the mix for the lead roles.

Scott Rudin and DNA Films will produce.

The film follows a young woman who goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband. A24 will finance and distribute.

While the synopsis doesn’t really give us much in the way of plot details, Garland is known for genre projects and likely has a little more to it than a straight drama. Speaking with Empire Magazine a few months ago, Alex Garland gave the impression his next movie would be a low-budget horror movie filming in the United Kingdom sometime during the spring/summer of 2021.

GARLAND: “I wrote a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK… I don’t know if it’s unrealistic or not. Always at this particular moment, a film always feels unrealistic, but then somehow it works out.”

Garland is best known for his work on films such as Ex Machina, Annihilation, his recent limited series DEVS, and is said to ultimately directed Dredd uncredited according to star Karl Urban.

Buckley recently worked with Charlie Kaufman on his drama I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Kinnear will be seen next in Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond for No Time To Die.

We’ll be hopeful that more casting and plot details will be revealed in the coming weeks or months.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Michael Keaton Becoming The DCEU Batman Moving Forward?

Over the summer there were huge waves made when it was reported that actor Michael Keaton was going to reprise the Bruce Wayne/Batman role for Andy Muschietti‘s upcoming Flash movie, after previously playing the role in Tim Burton‘s Batman and Batman Returns.

Ben Affleck is also expected to appear in the film thanks to a Multiverse storyline allowing two Batman actors to appear on the big screen at once.

However, it’s starting to sound like Keaton is going to be the one continuing the role within the DCEU and Robert Pattinson playing his version from The Batman in Earth 2. This comes after an excerpt from a New York Times article from last month and a follow-up comment made by the reporter Brooks Barnes on Twitter clarifying he was talking about Michael Keaton, not Affleck being that second Batman.

To make all the story lines work, DC Films will introduce movie audiences to a comics concept known as the multiverse: parallel worlds where different versions of the same character exist simultaneously. Coming up, for instance, Warner Bros. will have two different film sagas involving Batman — played by two different actors — running at the same time.

The answer is the multiverse. Boiled down, it means that some characters (Wonder Woman as portrayed by Ms. Gadot, for instance) will continue their adventures on Earth 1, while new incarnations (Mr. Pattinson as “The Batman”) will populate Earth 2.

UPDATE: Barnes says that he doesn’t know Keaton’s fate beyond The Flash and also doesn’t dismiss the previous reporting that suggests Keaton will have bigger role beyond that film.

The inference is that Keaton could play a mentor version of Bruce Wayne in things like Christina Hodson’s Batgirl movie that might head to HBO Max and something else like a Batman Beyond live-action adaptation. Allowing other characters in the Batman franchise to take over the crime-fighting mantle be it Barbara Gordon, Terry McGinnis, Dick Grayson or others given Keaton’s advanced age.

The Hollywood Reporter essentially reporting this last year when first revealing Keaton was in talks with the studio.

If a deal makes, Keaton wouldn’t just return for Flash but possibly for several other DC-oriented film projects. Sources tell THR that the role being envisioned for the veteran actor is akin to the role played by Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something of a mentor or guide or even string-puller. Batgirl is one the projects in development that could fall into that category.

I also wouldn’t put it past DC Films to eventually make an authentic version of Frank Miller‘s The Dark Knight Returns having Michael Keaton in the lead role even if it was a standalone project within that particular version of Gotham, which would more than likely land a mature rating (something perfect for HBO Max audiences). This could allow them to do more mature stories without conflicting with Matt Reeves‘ Batman trilogy starring Robert Pattinson, while dark happens to be it’s own thing in the PG-13 realm. I’d even enjoy seeing a limited-series similar to HBO’s Watchmen.

The more interesting part will be if Keaton is expected to show up in other “Earth 1” movies moving forward that aren’t directly connected to Batman franchise characters or spinoffs.

There had been plenty of fan speculation that after walking away from the Batman role that Affleck would be jumping feet first into new projects because his appearance in The Flash, leading to extremely unreliable rumors of future Batman projects with Ben attached in the role being in the works. The impression from the New York Times stuff is that the studio is more or less pivoting from Ben’s version of the DC Comics hero, which isn’t terribly surprising since this has been the narrative since his exit from the solo film.

We’ll likely get more official word from Warner Bros. and DC Films but its looking like Michael Keaton will be sticking around longer than we have original thought back in the summer.

SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES

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Robert Rodriguez Open To ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Sequel Heading To Disney+ – “It’s Not A Bad Idea”

Fans of Alita: Battle Angel have been hoping that with Disney taking over 20th Century Studios they’d end up landing sequel given the built-in franchise potential of the sci-fi movie adapted from the Japanese manga. The James Cameron project had been always envisioned as a trilogy as the source material allowed for that to happen.

There had been some optimistic comments from producer Jon Landau about a sequel last year talking with CinemaBlend.

LANDAU: “Absolutely. … When Jim [Cameron] was going to direct us, which he was at point, in his mind he had plotted out two additional stories of where we would go very specifically.“

“Well, I won’t speak specifically about Alita. I would just tell you that I think Jim [Cameron] and I love the opportunities that streaming and these other avenues of distribution are offering people today. And you know, we would love to get into those playgrounds and play in them, no matter what the title is.“

Now while speaking with Forbes to promote his Netflix film We Can Be Heroes, director Robert Rodriguez revealed he’d be open to make a Alita: Battle Angel sequel even if it landed at Disney+ as Robert has an established with Disney/Disney+ via The Mandalorian and the upcoming series The Book of Boba Fett.

RODRIGUEZ: “I think anything is possible. Disney bought Fox, and they have Disney+, so that is worth the conversation. I know other people would love to see another, and I would love to do another one. As far as where it would go or how it would be made, I think streaming has opened up many opportunities such as sequels. It’s already a pre-sold concept, it’s already got a built-in audience that wants to see it, and then it’s delivered to them in a way that’s the easiest for them to consume. So, it’s not a bad idea.”

As far we know, there aren’t plans at Disney/20th Century to make any new Alita project but it’s worth mentioning that Rodriguez is busy with his Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett currently shooting along with his Ben Affleck thriller Hypnotic on the horizon.

I personally enjoyed the film even in the final third act spent most of that time setting up a sequel instead having a standalone conclusion. Hopefully, something comes together eventually given the first installment ended on a cliffhanger and introducing Edward Norton‘s Nova as a main antagonist.

SOURCE: FORBES