Guy Ritchie Laments Not Making ‘Snatch’ Sequels – “I Probably Would Have Made Three of Those”

Back in late August, writer/director Guy Ritchie posted an interesting retrospective for the 20th anniversary of his second feature film Snatch on his official Instagram account. It’s something I completely slept on, as the director detailed the making of the film and shared behind-the-scenes footage. He gives the impression he would have been keen to make sequels and even suggests he would know where the characters are if he were to make a sequel today.

“One of the things I do lament is I feel as though I sort of wish that I’d made a follow-up to Snatch. But I’m so distracted by other things in my life at that time that I just, I didn’t know what was up and what was down,” Guy Ritchie states at the tail-end of his retrospective. He continues to mention he would have made a trilogy of films, “But if I was in that position now, knowing what I know now, I probably would have made three of those.”

He teased it wouldn’t take long for him to figure out where the characters could be at the moment.

“If I sat down and thought about it now for 15 minutes…Brad Pitt became Tyson Fury… it wouldn’t take me too long to piece together where all those characters are now, ” says Ritchie.

Snatch is arguably one of Ritchie’s standout films and it isn’t surprising he would chat-up potential sequels. You might remember that when he originally made RocknRolla back in 2008, there had been a plan to make it a trilogy but due to the film’s poor reception that never came together.

After a stint making successful event films like Disney’s Aladdin he’s returned to the smaller action comedy genre with The Gentlemen (now developing into a series for Miramax), he’s also reunited with Jason Statham for the upcoming films Wrath of Man, a thriller about an armored truck, and the spy flick Five Eyes co-starring Aubrey Plaza.

His renewed working relationship with Jason Statham could lead to the actor pushing Ritchie to eventually make this hypothetical sequel eventually. Revisiting some of his characters from Snatch two decades later wouldn’t be shocking as Danny Boyle did something similar with T2 Trainspotting.

SNATCH (2000) – Illegal boxing promoter Turkish (Jason Statham) convinces gangster Brick Top (Alan Ford) to offer bets on bare-knuckle boxer Mickey (Brad Pitt) at his bookie business. When Mickey does not throw his first fight as agreed, an infuriated Brick Top demands another match. Meanwhile, gangster Frankie Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) comes to place a bet for a friend with Brick Top’s bookies, as multiple criminals converge on a stolen diamond that Frankie has come to London to sell.

You can check out that fantastic retrospective video below.

SOURCE: GUY RITCHIE

New ‘Mortal Kombat’ Movie Now Set For Release On April 16th – Coming To Theaters & HBO Max

The other day it was officially announced by Warner Bros. that the New Line Cinema reboot of the Mortal Kombat film franchise is now coming to theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max on April 16, 2021. The martial arts film produced by James Wan‘s Atomic Monster is expected to take a new angle on the franchise which is based on the supernatural fighting tournament arcade video game. It’s the feature directorial debut of Simon McQuoid with a script penned by Greg Russo.

There is an expectation the reboot will land an R-rating as it will involve the brutally violent fatality moves made famous from the video games, the two original movies were PG-13.

The cast consists of Lewis Tan as a new character described as a family man, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, and Sisi Stringer as Melina.

The film has been undergoing reshoots with main actors in South Australia at Adelaide Studios and wasn’t going to be ready for it’s previous release date of January 15th, 2021 regardless. They had originally wrapped principal photography back in December 2019 but had to wait until recently to do reshoots because of the pandemic restricting international travel.

Mortal Kombat is part of a controversial announcement from WarnerMedia that they would be adding 17 upcoming films from their 2021 feature film slate to both HBO Max and theaters on the same day.

A trailer is likely coming in the near future.

‘Star Wars: Rogue Squadron’ Is An Original Film According To Director Patty Jenkins – Not Based On Games or Books

It was exciting to learn last week during the Lucasfilm presentation, at Disney Investor Day, that Patty Jenkins would become the first female director to tackle a Star Wars film with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and she’s given a little more insight to what they’re planning to do with the sci-fi adventure film.

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.

Patty spoke exclusively with IGN and revealed while Rogue Squadron will be an original project rather than a direct adaptation of existing stories within the Star Wars universe, but will still have “great influence” from the games and books.

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.”

It’s not shocking the studio is looking to focus on pilots as the best scenes from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: The Last Jedi were the spectacular space battles enhanced by modern special effects.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron will be released on December 22nd, 2023 and will likely between shooting sometime in 2022.

I’ll be keeping my fingers-crossed that Patty and Lucasfilm will consider adding Legends pilot Dash Rendar aka Rogue Twelve for the new film.

The X-Wing pilot book series had 10 installments which consists of the following titles:

Rogue Squadron (1996), Wedge’s Gamble (1996), The Krytos Trap (1996), The Bacta War (1997) -Wraith Squadron (1998), Iron Fist (1998), Solo Command (1999), Isard’s Revenge (1999), Starfighters of Adumar (1999), and Mercy Kill (2012).

The run of video games included Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (1998), Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (2001), and Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike (2003).

Earlier in the year, Lucasfilm and EA released the video game Star Wars: Squadron.

SOURCE: IGN

Denis Villeneuve Pens Editorial Criticizing AT&T and WarnerMedia – “Warner Bros. Might Just Have Killed The ‘Dune’ Franchise”

Following some strong worded comments from Warner Bros. darling Christopher Nolan after WarnerMedia announced they would be adding their entire 2021 film slate on HBO Mac with a day-and-date release alongside theaters, a model that is expected to become the new norm at WarnerMedia even post-pandemic.

READ MORE: ‘Dune’, ‘Godzilla vs Kong’, ‘The Suicide Squad’, ‘Mortal Kombat’, ‘Matrix 4’, and Other WB Films Heading To HBO Max

READ MORE: Christopher Nolan Reacts Negatively To News of WarnerMedia Moving Their 2021 Film Slate To HBO Max – Upset They Didn’t Consult With Filmmakers Beforehand

There were even some signs earlier in the week that Legendary Entertainment could end up filing a lawsuit against WarnerMedia for not being consulted prior to the announcement and the industry unions are also displeased which could lead to a boycott of the company.

READ MORE: Legendary May Sue WarnerMedia Over HBO Max Announcement For ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ and ‘Dune’ – Didn’t Give Them Advance Notice

Dune director Denis Villeneuve has chosen to write an opinion editorial on Variety laying out his concerns. I selective some of the key segments which you can read below but I would advise people read the entire opinion piece in full.

Warner Bros.’ sudden reversal from being a legacy home for filmmakers to the new era of complete disregard draws a clear line for me. Filmmaking is a collaboration, reliant on the mutual trust of team work and Warner Bros. has declared they are no longer on the same team.

Streaming services are a positive and powerful addition to the movie and TV ecosystems. But I want the audience to understand that streaming alone can’t sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID. Streaming can produce great content, but not movies of “Dune’s” scope and scale. Warner Bros.’ decision means “Dune” won’t have the chance to perform financially in order to be viable and piracy will ultimately triumph. Warner Bros. might just have killed the Dune franchise. This one is for the fans. AT&T’s John Stankey said that the streaming horse left the barn. In truth, the horse left the barn for the slaughterhouse.

Public safety comes first. Nobody argues with that. Which is why when it became apparent the winter would bring a second wave of the pandemic, I understood and supported the decision to delay Dune’s opening by almost a year. The plan was that Dune would open in theaters in October 2021, when vaccinations will be advanced and, hopefully, the virus behind us. Science tells us that everything should be back to a new normal next fall.

I’m speaking on my own behalf, though I stand in solidarity with the sixteen other filmmakers who now face the same fate. Please know I am with you and that together we are strong. The artists are the ones who create movies and series. Once the pandemic is over, theaters will be filled again with film lovers. That is my strong belief. Not because the movie industry needs it, but because we humans need cinema, as a collective experience.

Denis is rightfully upset because he’s currently working on a second film titled Dune: Part Two with screenwriter Jon Spaihts covering the second part of the original Dune novel by Frank Herbert and is producing an HBO Max series titled Dune: The Sisterhood that Denis is expected to direct. There are still five original books to adapt into feature films with even more subsequent installments from Frank’s son Brian Herbert and franchise writing partner Kevin J. Anderson.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

The science fiction property was the inspiration for Star Wars as key elements were lifted by George Lucas and if given the right chance could become a global success story after the David Lynch version from 1984 become a famous flop.

SOURCE: VARIETY

‘The Gray Man’: Ana de Armas and Ryan Gosling Reunite For Russo Brothers’ $200M+ Budgeted Spy Movie

Netflix is slowly ramping-up the scale of it’s film productions and that includes spending more on the budgets. It’s been reported that their upcoming spy thriller The Gray Man from Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will cost the streamer over $200 million making it their most expensive feature film to date.

READ MORE: Russo Bros. To Direct Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans In Netflix’s $200M+ Budgeted Spy Flick ‘The Gray Man’ – Eyeing January Start In L.A.

Deadline now reports a rather large casting addition to the film as actress Ana de Armas will reunite with her Blade Runner 2049 co-star Ryan Glosing. Ana has been gathering up a lot of high-profile film projects recently with the aforementioned Blade Runner sequel from Denis Villeneuve, Rian Johnson’s whodunit Knives Out, and the upcoming James Bond movie No Time To Die.

READ MORE: ‘No Time To Die’ Officially Delayed To April 2021 – Originally Planned To Release In November

It’s script was penned by The Russo Brothers with a polish by fellow Marvel alumni Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

The Gray Man is the debut novel by Mark Greaney, published in 2009 by Jove Books. It also is the first novel to feature the Gray Man, freelance assassin and former CIA operative Court Gentry. The action thriller will follow Gentry (Gosling) as he’s hunted across the globe by Lloyd Hansen (Evans), a former cohort at the CIA. The film is based on the first installment of the best-selling Gray Man book series.

Filming was once said to begin shooting next month in Los Angeles, California.

READ MORE: Ryan Gosling and Director David Leitch Team On Stuntman Drama For Universal – Penned By ‘Iron Man 3’ Screenwriter Drew Pearce

READ MORE: ‘The Martian’ Screenwriter Drew Goddard Joins Lord and Miller’s Sci-Fi Film ‘Project Hail Mary’ – Ryan Gosling Stars

READ MORE: Director Leigh Whannell Following Up ‘Invisible Man’ With Universal’s ‘Wolfman’ Remake Starring Ryan Gosling

SOURCE: DEADLINE

‘Doctor Strange 2’: Rachel McAdams Reportedly Reprising Christine Palmer Role

Despite previous reports that Rachel McAdams wouldn’t be back as Christine Palmer aka Night Nurse in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, Deadline now claims she is returning after all.

The more perplexing information shared in their article is that they believe that filming won’t being until May, however, this seemingly contradicts recent statements made by Benedict Cumberbatch and Empire Magazine that production is currently underway in the United Kingdom.

Sam Raimi will be directing the sequel with crew members The Ronin has been able to confirm will include cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, X-Men: First Class) and production designer Charles Wood (Doctor Strange, Black Widow, Avengers: Infinity Wars, Avengers: Endgame).

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is currently set for release on March 25th, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

TRAILER: Chloë Grace Moretz Fights Airborne Creatures In WWII Horror Flick ‘Shadow In The Cloud’ – Produced By David Leitch

SHADOW IN THE CLOUD: During World War II, pilots of the Allies’ various air force women’s auxiliaries were called upon to ferry planes from factories to airfields — sometimes through enemy territory, often without proper navigational tools or ammunition. Writer-director Roseanne Liang pays pulpy tribute to these veterans with Shadow In The Cloud, a rip-roaring action/horror hybrid that finds one such airwoman, WAAF officer Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz), assigned under mysterious circumstances to a rickety B-17 Flying Fortress, where she is custodian of a strictly classified piece of cargo. Forcibly sequestered by the all-male crew to a ball turret hanging from the belly of the bomber, Garrett’s dizzying new-found perspective brings to light yet another unexpected passenger — one whose stealthily sinister presence may jeopardize the lives of all aboard. Moretz is dynamite as the young aviator, a Greatest Generation “Ellen Ripley” whose warnings to her deaf-eared chauvinist comrades are validated when bizarre mechanical failures manifest throughout the vessel, and enemy forces suddenly mount a surprise aerial ambush. As the put-upon Garrett’s personal motivations come into sharper focus with each perilous predicament, the action expands from the claustrophobic confines of the turret into a death- (and gravity-) defying spectacle that encompasses the plane’s rapidly disintegrating fuselage. Yet Liang never loses sight of her remarkable lead actor. The audience remains with Moretz through every white-knuckled minute, with the rat-tat-tat radio chatter of obstinate and panicky men playing partial soundtrack to wicked suspense and freaky mayhem. With resolute verve similar to that of Shadow In The Cloud’s protagonist, Liang has radically remixed wartime superstitions and a beloved pulp-fiction premise (you’ll know it when you see it) into an exhilarating vehicle of personal empowerment — one not to be marred by any surplus of unchecked and toxic testosterone.

Shadow In The Cloud will be in select theaters, VOD, and digital on January 1, 2021.

SOURCE: VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT

TRAILER: Bob Odenkirk Channels Keanu Reeves To Become A Full-On Badass In ‘Nobody’ – From The Architect of The ‘John Wick’ Franchise

NOBODY – Sometimes the man you don’t notice is the most dangerous of all. Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, The Post, Nebraska) stars as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad and husband, taking life’s indignities on the chin and never pushing back. A nobody. When two thieves break into his suburban home one night, Hutch declines to defend himself or his family, hoping to prevent serious violence. His teenage son, Blake (Gage Munroe, The Shack), is disappointed in him and his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman), seems to pull only further away. The aftermath of the incident strikes a match to Hutch’s long-simmering rage, triggering dormant instincts and propelling him on a brutal path that will surface dark secrets and lethal skills. In a barrage of fists, gunfire and squealing tires, Hutch must save his family from a dangerous adversary (famed Russian actor Aleksey Serebryakov, Amazon’s McMafia)—and ensure that he will never be underestimated as a nobody again. Nobody is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry), from a script by Derek Kolstad, the narrative architect of the John Wick franchise, and co-stars legendary Emmy winner Christopher Lloyd as Hutch’s father and multi-hyphenate musician-actor RZA as Hutch’s brother, whose own hidden talents aid Hutch in his quest for vengeance.

Universal had planned on releasing the film on February 19th, 202 but have pushed to February 26th.

SOURCE: IGN

‘Indiana Jones 5’: Producer Frank Marshall Confirms That Director James Mangold Is Still Writing A New Script

While we’re bound to get some sort of update concerning Indiana Jones 5 later today from Disney, producer Frank Marshall has spoken with Den of Geek and provided an early update on the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. Frank reiterates that Harrison Ford is indeed reprising the role something that Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy said last year that the sequel would be a continuation, not a reboot or prequel which had been reported at one point.

He also confirmed that director James Mangold (Logan, The Wolverine, Ford v Ferrari) is still working on a new script for the film and hasn’t even seen/read the thing. This could suggest that development isn’t as far along as imagined when it was announced that Mangold would be directing.

MARSHALL: “Yeah, we are working on the script. There will only be one Indiana Jones and that’s Harrison Ford. What I’m excited about with Jim is a great story. I think you see that in his movies like Ford Vs Ferrari. It’s all about characters and telling a good story. So I’m excited to see what he comes up with. I haven’t seen (the script) yet so I don’t know what to tell you.”

James Mangold took over directing duties after Steven Spielberg dropped-out after headaches trying to get the script in a good place. Previous drafts had been penned by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man) and Jonathan Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Willow) before this new version from James. Lucasfilm is in a tricky spot with the franchise as Harrison Ford is pushing 80 years old and the last film Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skulls was sort of ridiculed by audiences/critics. They’re really going to have to be very very careful not to repeat the mistakes of the last film part of this would be making sure the script is as strong as it possibly could be.

Mangold’s writing credits include Logan, Walk The Line, and his underrated cop drama Cop Land. Notably all character driven stories that run the gauntlet of genres.

I’m a little curious if this means they might not be able to hit the film’s targeted release date of July 29, 2022 or even begin shooting when they’re expected to later this year. Disney has changed the release date so many times I don’t think it even matters anymore.

SOURCE: DEN OF GEEK

‘Black Widow’: Disney Reportedly Still Not Interested In Dumping The Marvel Flick On Disney+

In the wake of WarnerMedia’s shocking announcement that 17 films in 2021 will be heading to HBO Max with a new day-and-date model, there had been continued fan speculation that Disney would announce something similar to that with their own 2021 lineup of films. However, multiple outlets have repeatedly suggested otherwise and another tidbit from the New York Times is claiming that despite what WarnerMedia is planning to do, Disney will not be throwing the Marvel Studios film Black Widow on the streaming service.

And some of Disney’s biggest movies will continue to receive exclusive runs in theaters before arriving on the company’s streaming services. For instance, contrary to widespread speculation, Black Widow, a much-anticipated Marvel spectacle, will remain on Disney’s theatrical release calendar for May 7, the people with knowledge of the presentation said.

This would likely mean that films such as Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and Eternals will be spared from Disney+ dumps as well. We’ll ultimately know more later today thanks to the Disney Investor Day event which should shed some light on the roll-out of Marvel films in 2021 and beyond.

Fans have been feverishly trying to convince Disney to place Black Widow on Disney+ since the film’s original delays earlier in the year due to COVID-19, however, the company seems to be realistic after their experiment with Mulan on Premier Access (asking subscribers to pay $30 while the film is now free this month) turned out to be more of a let down.

It was recently confirmed that Florence Pugh will be reprising her Black Widow role of Yelena Belova in the Hawkeye series that is currently in production. The show will focus on Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton working alongside his new protege Kate Bishop played by Oscar nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Bumblebee).

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: NEW YORK TIMES