Category: Television News

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James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Will Shoot January-June In Vancouver and Working Title Is ‘The Scriptures’

The Ronin has been able to independently confirm that James Gunn’s upcoming 8-episode Peacemaker series for HBO Max will shoot in Vancouver under the working title The Scriptures. Filming will take place from January 18th until June 15th.

James Gunn recently mentioned on Twitter that filming would be taking place in Canada.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1325505559009742848

The HBO Max series is a direct spinoff of his DC Comics film The Suicide Squad starring John Cena as Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker and Steve Agee returning as Warden John Economos.

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first. Gunn and The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran will serve as executive producers of the series, with Cena as co-executive producer. Based on characters from DC, Peacemaker will be produced by Gunn’s Troll Court Entertainment and The Safran Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. Peacemaker is scheduled to begin production in early 2021, prior to Gunn beginning work on the next Guardians of the Galaxy film.

Gunn is expected to begin prepping Guardians of The Galaxy 3 once he finishes up on Peacemaker and could begin shooting once the promotional tour for the August 6th, 2021 release of The Suicide Squad ends.

James reassured fans on Twitter that Peacemaker won’t be delaying Guardians of The Galaxy 3.

GUNN: “I’m doing Peacemaker in the time always allotted between The Suicide and Guardians of Galaxy Volume 3. Normally I would have been taking more of a break in this space but it’s Covid, I’m stuck at home, so I wrote a TV series.”

We should be getting more casting announcements very very soon.

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Netflix Halts UK Filming On ‘The Witcher’ Series Due To Four Positive COVID-19 Tests From Today

Despite a lockdown in the United Kingdom, film and television productions were allowed to keep going without much hindrance from the British government.

There is now a report from Deadline that filming has paused by Netflix after four people working on the fantasy series had tested positive for COVID-19 today. Filming on the Henry Cavill show had been taking place at Arborfield Studios which is near London, England.

Netflix has halted production in the UK on The Witcher following multiple positive COVID-19 cases, we can reveal. The four positive cases are from today, we have confirmed, and Netflix will carry out an isolated round of testing of everyone involved in the show. Those impacted have been isolated and are not among lead cast, we hear.

This would be the second time that filming has been disrupted by positive COVID-19 tests.

Given the increase of COVID cases in the UK and the lockdown, it seems odd that productions are being allowed to keep going and this just another example that even being extremely careful the amount of people on set just makes it easier for people to get exposed to an airborne virus.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Kim’s Convenience’ Star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Plays Captain Carson Teva In Latest Episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ – Honored Season 1 With His Halloween Costume

In the latest episode of The Mandalorian, we saw the return of Dave Filoni playing his X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf but even more interesting is that they added Kim’s Convenience star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Trapper Wolf’s fellow New Republic pilot Captain Carson Teva.

The Star Wars super-fan gave a huge nod to Season 1 of the The Mandalorian over Halloween dressing up as a Scout Trooper with Baby Yoda.

The seasoned Canadian actor has been growing in popularity thanks to the international attention on the CBC comedy series which introduced Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu to the world before landing the Marvel Studios role. It’s also worth noting that Simu Liu has been telegraphing for a while now he’d like to join the Star Wars Universe at some point in time.

I’m sure we’ll see more neat cameos in future episodes.

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Leslye Headland’s Female-Centric ‘Star Wars’ Series Reportedly An Action Thriller Featuring Martial Arts Elements and Set In An Alternate Timeline

Yesterday, Deadline broke a rumor that filming on an unannounced Boba Fett series could begin as early as this week.

They also added some new details concerning the untitled female-centric series coming from Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland. Stating that it will be an action thriller that will have martial arts elements taking place in “an alternate timeline”.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.

While we’ve seen Jedi and gunslingers, we really haven’t seen a martial arts type project before. Star Wars: The Force Awakens featured The Raid 1-2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 actors Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, and Cecep Arif Rahman as the group Kanjiklub. All three known for martial arts films. It’ll be interesting if they’ll be pursuing those kinds of actors for this new “action” series.

Martial arts star Donnie Yen’s also had a supporting role as Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

It remains to be seen where this timeline will land. I know fans like myself would enjoy a setting in The Old Republic and could be one of the better untapped sectors of the Star Wars Universe.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 10 Homages Ralph McQuarrie, ‘Aliens’ and ‘The Thing’ – Plus New Batch of Concept Art

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 10 OF THE MANDALORIAN

In Chapter 10, directed by Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed, we see Season 1 actress Misty Rosas return after playing Kuiil (voiced by Nick Nolte) to take a new role of the Frog Lady fare and Richard Ayoade’s droid bounty hunter makes a brief return too.

Mando encounters some tie-fighter pilots leading to him wrecking the ship and stranding the group on an icy planet.

We also see a huge call-back to the white spiders created by artist Ralph McQuarrie for The Empire Strikes Back (seen above) and excellently used on this snowy planet, the new episode also homages both James Cameron’s Aliens and John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing. They were also used in Star Wars: Rebels and given the name of Krykna.

Between tackling the Krykna in this new episode and the Krayt dragon on Tatooine in Chapter 9, it is starting to feel like the visual effects budget has been greatly increased from Season 1.

Here is a new batch of concept artwork from Chapter 10.

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Unannounced ‘Boba Fett’ Miniseries For Disney+ Rumored To Begin Shooting This Week

Deadline is claiming that a Boba Fett miniseries is set to begin shooting this week before Season 3 of The Mandalorian.

A project that has yet to be confirmed officially by Lucasfilm or Disney.

I hear possibly a Boba Fett miniseries, would film first, starting next week, with The Mandalorian Season 3 following after a monthlong break.

We previously got confirmation that actor Temurea Morrison would be taking the Boba Fett role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian, as his New Zealand agency confirmed the part in an official CV document.

Information on this Boba Fett series is limited given that Lucasfilm hasn’t even announced it officially or who is working on it. We also don’t know if it will be following Morrison or a younger incarnation of the character before the events of the original trilogy. Daniel Logan played a younger version of Boba in the prequels and could be the right age for a series.

Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg had been developing a Boba Fett movie for Lucasfilm before the project dissolved after the hiccups at 20th Century Fox making Fantastic Four. Lucasfilm attempted a second incarnation of the Fett movie but development there stalled again leading to the studio to pivot to The Mandalorian series instead along with the other spinoff films like Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This path would seemingly echo how Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi film turned into a limited series for Disney+ with The Mandalorian’s Deborah Chow set to direct that show after film development didn’t stick.

Boba Fett is established as a clone of Jango Fett (played by Temurea Morrison) and first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special in the animated sequence, then appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi (also in Special Edition of A New Hope years after it’s original release). A younger live-action incarnation of Boba Fett (played by Daniel Logan) was last seen in Star Wars: Attack of The Clones.

Who exactly is directing or writing this Boba Fett project is unknown.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Actress Sophie Thatcher Reportedly Joining ‘The Mandalorian’ Universe

Deadline is reporting a rumor that American actress Sophie Thatcher (Prospect) is joining The Mandalorian universe in Season 3, a spinoff series or both. It’s unclear at the moment what the project is, however, they suggest that rumor of a spinoff featuring Cara Dune and Bo-Katan is untrue for the moment.

A recent online report pointed to a potential offshoot featuring Cara Dune, played by Gina Carano, and the Star Wars Rebels character Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff, who has been rumored to appear The Mandalorian‘s second season.) Such a project does not appear to be real, at least for now.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.

It remains to be seen what this spinoff series could be if it’s something else than what has been reported previously. They’re also not disclosing information concerning Thatcher’s Star Wars role.

Sophie previously worked with The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal in the sci-fi thriller Prospect.

Showrunner and director Jon Favreau has stated that they’re hopeful to roll cameras before the end of the year. Deadline is also pointing to a start in 2021.

Earlier this morning we posted about Season 3’s working title seemingly being confirmed as Buccaneer via Production Weekly (originally coming from The DisInsider last month), a potential sign we could be seeing more pirates, smugglers, thieves, and criminal syndicates in the new season. Also, our own speculation that beloved alien pirate, Hondo Ohnaka, could show up given he’s still alive in this era of Star Wars and Filoni adding his characters from the animated series in Season 2.

Depending on how the shoot goes, Season 3 might be ready to air on Disney+ by the end of 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Working Title Is ‘Buccaneer’ – Jon Favreau Expected To Direct Again

It was posted by Production Weekly that the working title of Season 3 of Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian will be Buccaneer.

The title is a pirate term which could suggest that a beloved Clone Wars/Rebels character like Hondo Ohnaka might be showing up in Season 3, but that is more speculation given how other animation characters are said to have live-action counterparts appearing in Season 2.

However, it is worth noting that Hondo happens to be a character at Galaxy’s Edge (means he is alive in The Mandalorian era and beyond) and there is an obvious reason to link a theme park character to the popular series.

It could also be a nod to the criminal group Dharus Buccaneers.

There are plenty of pirate gangs and criminal syndicates in Star Wars but we really haven’t seen them in full display as The Mandalorian (so far) has been mostly exploring the world of bounty hunters and Imperial forces with limited interaction with the criminal side of the galaxy.

Back in August, The Ronin reported that Jon Favreau is returning as writer, producer, showrunner, and director. He’s expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3 as he recently directed the Season 2 premiere. We also confirmed that Emmy-winning production designer Andrew Jones would be returning.

There is also an assumption that Dave Filoni will be back as a director too.

Favreau has suggested to Variety that filming could begin before the end of the year.

Executive producer and showrunner Jon Favreau told Variety that The Mandalorian is “on schedule” to start production on Season 3 of the series “before the end of the year” — after Pascal wraps shooting in Europe on the feature film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent with Nicolas Cage.

Despite fan rumblings of actor Pedro Pascal being replaced as Din Djarin aka Mando that doesn’t seem to be happening given how credible sources haven’t supported that chatter and Pascal has been heavily promoting the series (even on his own time).

The working title was first brought-up by Skyler from The DisInsider back in October via Twitter and is now seemingly confirmed by Production Weekly’s update.

The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire. “The Mandalorian” stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez. Showrunner Jon Favreau serves as executive producer along with Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson, with Karen Gilchrist serving as co-executive producer.

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

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Steve Agee Officially Reprising Warden John Economos Role In James Gunn’s ‘Peacekeeper’ Series For HBO Max

Yesterday, it was announced by Deadline that comedic actor Steve Agee (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2) will be reprising one of his two roles from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad for the upcoming spinoff series on HBO Max. Steve will be playing Belle Reve warden John Economos. The DC Comics series will focus on John Cena’s character Peacekeeper with James Gunn returning to write and direct.

I hear Agee will reprise one of two of his Suicide Squad roles, that of John Economos. The character is a warden of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary and an aide to Viola Davis’ government character Amanda Waller. Agee is a longtime thespian in Gunn’s canon, having starred in the filmmaker’s Super, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and his horror feature production Brightburn directed by David Yarovesky. Agee also is playing King Shark in Suicide Squad. 

Gunn and Steve confirmed the news on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1322003900077993984

The Suicide Squad is set for release on August 6th, 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘John Wick’s John Leguizamo Plays Gangster Gor Koresh In ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Premiere – Plus Episode 1 Concept Art

Warning spoilers ahead for Episode 1 of the new season of The Mandalorian.

Character actor John Leguizamo (John Wick) reunites with Chef director Jon Favreau on the Season 2 premiere episode of The Mandalorian titled The Marshall. John plays the seedy gangster Gor Koresh in the opening sequence who wants Mando’s armor because of the value of it.

Also, in the episode we got confirmation that Timothy Olyphant plays Cobb Vanth, a Tatooine marshal (a nod to Justified?) that happened to acquire Boba Fett’s armor from jawas. It’s super interesting to see a live-action version of a Star Wars Legends character in the series, hopefully, we see more in the future.

Temuera Morrison showed up briefly at the end to show his face.

Here is a batch of concept art from the first episode as well.