Category: Television News

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‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 11 Sees Mercedes Varando Play Koska Reeves and A Cameo From Titus Welliver

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 11 AND CHAPTER 12 OF THE MANADLORIAN

In the latest episode of The Mandalorian directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, we learn that actress Mercedes Varando aka Sasha Banks isn’t playing Star Wars: Rebels character Sabine Wren after all (debunking the rumor). Instead, she is playing one of the members of Bo-Katan’s (played by Katee Sackoff) Nite Owls. The other two are called Axe Woves and Koska Reeves, the latter played by Banks.

Bo-Katan is on a mission to retrieve the Darksaber from Moff Gideon and this would suggest Mando will cross paths with the Nite Owls later on in the season as he’s also interested in The Child for unknown reasons.

She also mentions that Mando is part of a Mandalorian cult called The Children of Watch and taking off your helmet isn’t as required as he previously thought.

Chapter 12 seemingly will reveal the live-action version of Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson) as Bo-Katan tells Mando that the Jedi can be found in city of Calodan on the planet Corvus.

Bosch actor Titus Welliver played an Imperial Captain in a cameo appearance.

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Marvel Studios Confirms The ‘Loki’ Series Has 4-5 Weeks Left of Filming

When asked by Clarin the production status of their upcoming Marvel series in a recent interview, Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso confirms that both WandaVision and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier have indeed wrapped filming.

However, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki series has about four to five weeks left of shooting before they are finished.

ALONSO: “We finished filming The Falcon… and WandaVision , because it is almost, almost, almost finished. Loki  (with Tom Hiddleston) still have four or five weeks to go.”

Loki has resumed filming in Atlanta, Georgia and potentially could be all wrapped-up by end of the year depending if they’ll take breaks for the American holidays.

While WandaVision (January 15th) and The Falcon have been delayed until 2021, the Loki series was always planned to drop next year and likely won’t be pushed too far down the road because of the production delays caused by COVID-19. Disney+ has yet to give the Marvel series an official debut date.

Unconfirmed but possible rumblings have suggested that Loki will jump straight into Season 2 next year but this has yet to be announced by Marvel Studios, as the only series they’ve officially confirmed has a second season will be What If…?, an animated anthology show inspired by the comics of the same name.

There is an expectation that the Loki series will inform the plots of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love & Thunder, and possibly even Ant-Man 3 given it will explore The Multiverse via The Time Variance Authority.

SOURCE: CLARIN

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Marvel’s ‘WandaVision’ Debut Officially Delayed To January 15th On Disney+

The mystery of WandaVision’s release date has been finally solved!

While there was an expectation back in August that they would be able to begin airing episodes before the end of 2020, that isn’t the case. Disney has officially announced on social media that the series will begin airing on Disney+ starting on January 15th.

Many fans had tried to convince themselves that WandaVision could be ready before December but that obviously wasn’t realistic given that production delays due to COVID-19 has seemingly impacted multiple Marvel Studios even the film slate.

Back in August, in The Ronin’s report on the delay of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier to sometime in 2021 there had been an expectation that WandaVision was much further along in the production/post-production process and could have been ready in late 2020.

Fans will really need to dig deep down to find their patience because targeted release dates are written in sand and not stone. We’ll likely see many more delays and shifts throughout 2021 as situations are influx leading to date changes/production pauses.

This news would confirm that 2020 will be the first year without new MCU projects in a long time.

Other live-action series officially on the way include Loki, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Hawkeye.

WANDAVISION – Marvel Studios’ WandaVision blends the style of classic sitcoms with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

SOURCE: DISNEY

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Netflix Nabs Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Globetrotting Father-Daughter Spy Series From Skydance

In a shocking twist, Netflix (not Amazon) has landed the untitled spy series being developed by Skydance Television and Scorpion’s Nick Santora. The news coming from Deadline.

They’ve already set Arnold Schwarzenegger and Top Gun: Maverick’s Monica Barbaro as the show’s two main leads.

The project will see the action star return to the spy genre after tackling it in James Cameron’s True Lies and will be Arnold’s first real entry into scripted television/streaming. Arnold previously worked with Skydance on the last two Terminator installments.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ Series Will Indeed Shoot In Budapest and Officially Adds ‘Morbius’ Production Designer Stefania Cella

In a brief production update from Discussing Film, they mention that Marvel’s Moon Knight series will be shooting Budapest, Hungary and that they’ve added production designer Stefania Cella (Morbius).

Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, a mercenary who has numerous alter egos — cabbie Jake Lockley and millionaire playboy Steven Grant — in order to better fight the criminal underworld. But later he was established as being a conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Most recently, the character was a consultant who dresses in all-white and goes by the name Mr. Knight. 

The Ronin can independently confirm from our own sources that Budapest is indeed one of multiple locations being used for Moon Knight (working title Good Faith). A shoot in United Kingdom had been previously revealed last year along with an expectation before the pandemic of possibly shooting in the United States and Morocco (used for Black Widow) but those plans have yet to be made concrete.

Budapest is a popular production locale which has been used for Marvel’s Black Widow, Showtime’s Halo series, Blade Runner 2049, Legendary’s Dune remake, The Martian, Red Sparrow, Terminator: Dark Fate, Bloodshot, Gemini Man, Midsommar, and the first season of Netflix’s The Witcher.

Stefania Cella also posted on her website that she has officially joined Moon Knight as production designer working on the pilot and the series. Her film credits include Morbius, Downsizing, White Boy Rick, Lucy In The Sky, and Black Mass.

Oscar Isaac is reportedly in negotiations to play the role of Marc Spector aka Moon Knight, although, neither Disney nor Marvel has made an official announcement.

Egyptian director Mohamed Diab had been recently announced for the series.

Lost of casting is underway and there should be announcements via trades in the coming weeks.

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Showtime’s ‘Halo’ Series Recasts Cortana Role With Franchise Voice Actress Jen Taylor

As Showtime’s Halo series has officially resumed filming in Budapest there has been a bit of a casting shakeup concerning the role of artificial intelligence character Cortana that assists Master Chief.

IGN is reporting that Halo video game franchise actress Jen Taylor is set to replace Natascha McElhone (Ronin) as Cortana in the series due to a scheduling conflict but will keep playing Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of Cortana.

IGN can exclusively reveal that Showtime’s Halo TV series has recast its Cortana actress, bringing in Jen Taylor for the role. You’ll know Taylor from her role as Cortana in all the mainline Halo games. It’s not yet clear if Taylor will play the role in-person, or lend her performance to a full CGI character.

Due to scheduling difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, McElhone can no longer complete her work as Cortana – but will continue in the role of Halsey.

Despite the delays it’s looking like they’ll be able to begin airing the 10-episodes of Halo sometime in 2021 on Showtime. They’ve already started the post-production process on the series.

SOURCE IGN

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James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Officially Adds Robert Patrick, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, and Chris Conrad As Vigilante

Today, HBO Max has officially announce more cast members have joined the new DC Comics series Peacemaker starring John Cena as his character Christopher Smith from The Suicide Squad. The 8-episode series will be written and directed by James Gunn with it’s shoot set to begin this January in Vancouver under the working title The Scriptures and wrap in June.

In an official press release, they announced that Danielle Brooks is playing Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick is playing Aggie Smith, Jennifer Holland is reprising her role as Emilia Harcourt, and Chris Conrad will play Adrian Chase aka Vigilante.

HBO Max announces new stars for original DC action-comedy series “Peacemaker” from “The Suicide Squad” writer / director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran. Danielle Brooks (“Orange Is the New Black;” “The Color Purple” on Broadway) will star as Leota Adebayo, along with Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day;” HBO’s “Perry Mason”) as Auggie Smith, Jennifer Holland (“Brightburn;” “American Horror Story”), who will reprise her role of Emilia Harcourt from “The Suicide Squad” film and Chris Conrad (“Perpetual Grace, LTD.;” “Patriot”) as Vigilante/Adrian Chase. They join previously announced stars John Cena in the title role and Steve Agee as John Economos. Cena and Agee also reprise their roles from “The Suicide Squad” movie. 

While details about “Peacemaker” are being kept under wraps, the series will explore the origins of the character that Cena will play in the upcoming film, a man who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. The series will extend the world that Gunn is creating for “The Suicide Squad” movie, which is scheduled to be released in theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 6, 2021.

The Suicide Squad is set to be released on August 6th, 2021.

SOURCE: HBO MAX

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Showtime and Pablo Schreiber Confirm Production Has Resumed In Budapest On Their Live-Action ‘Halo’ Series

After some recent hints from Halo lead actor Pablo Schreiber that filming was about to resume on the sci-fi series, Showtime and Pablo have confirmed this on Twitter/Instagram that production has started back up in Budapest, Hungary.

Pablo plays John 117 aka Master Chief in the sci-fi action military series based on the beloved Microsoft/Xbox video game franchise which will have 10-episodes on Showtime. Filming originally started in Budapest last November before COVID-19 restrictions became a hiccup in 2020 across the globe concerning the halt of film and television productions.

It was revealed by Rogue director M.J. Bassett, that he will not be returning to the series due to a scheduling conflict with his next film.

I’ve recently learned that Showtime has already started the lengthy post-production process on the series which is a good sign that they’ll be able to cross the finish line in the not too distant future.

SOURCE: SHOWTIME & PABLO SCHREIBER

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Amazon’s ‘Jack Reacher’ Series Reboot Shooting In Toronto From April To July – Stars Alan Ritchson

The Ronin has been able to independently confirm that Skydance and Amazon’s upcoming Jack Reacher series reboot starring Alan Ritchson will be shooting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Filming is on the streaming series is expected to take place next year from April 15th to July 30th.

Alan Ritchson isn’t a stranger to shooting projects in Canada as he shot DC Universe’s Titans in Toronto as well.

The first season is reportedly taking cues from the novel The Killing Floor written by Lee Child and takes place in Georgia.

Jack Reacher comes to the little town of Margrave looking for information about the mysterious death of a guitar player named Blind Blake. Instead, he finds one of the largest counterfeiting operations in history.

Tom Cruise previously played the titular role in the Paramount feature films Jack Reacher and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. A casting choice that author Lee Child was never happy with given the character is a tall and hulking figure in the books.

Skydance Media is also behind Amazon’s Jack Ryan series starring John Krasinski.

Since that Jack Reacher isn’t likely going to wrap until the summer (barring production delays) I wouldn’t assume that it would be ready to be released before the fall of 2021 or early 2022.

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‘Halo’ Series Expected To Resume Filming Soon But Loses Director M.J. Bassett Due To Scheduling Issues

While promoting his upcoming action film Rogue, director M.J. Bassett was asked by The Hollywood Reporter about finishing up his work on Showtime’s Halo series. Bassett revealing that a commitment to another movie has become a conflict with a return to the show as filming will be resuming soon.

BASSETT: “I got wrapped about a few days before I was due to start shooting, and I can’t go back to it because I have another project I was penciled in for. It’s my next movie, in fact. I managed to keep the date for the movie, but Halo is also going to get up and running on that date. So I had a conflict and had to step away, which is a terrible shame because Halo is going to be a really fun show. I was really looking forward to it. We built the sets, planned everything and had scripts that were working. It’s going to be an enormous, enormous show. Pablo Schreiber is going to be a great Master Chief. The whole cast was good, but unfortunately, I can’t go back to it.”

A new Instagram post today from Master Chief actor Pablo Schreiber would suggest that they’re still shooting as production was taking place in Budapest. I recently got intel that Showtime has already started the lengthy post-production process on the sci-fi project.

An air date for Halo has yet to be announced by Showtime.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER