Posted on in Film News

‘Bullet Train’: Rapper Bad Bunny Joins Brad Pitt Action Flick Currently Filming In Los Angeles

Production is already underway on Sony’s big action film Bullet Train in Los Angeles, Californi and the new additions to the film’s cast keep rolling in from Deadline.

The outlet reports that rapper Bad Bunny has nabbed an undisclosed role.

Starring Oscar-winner Brad Pitt and directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, John Wick, Deadpool 2), the action flick 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), and Zazie Beetz (Joker, Deadpool 2).

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).

Recently, a bad ass trailer for an upcoming action movie titled Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk was released by Universal Pictures which is also produced by David Leitch and worth checking out as it was led by Bullet Train‘s stunt coordinator.

NOBODY – When two thieves break into his suburban home one night, Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) declines to defend himself or his family, hoping to prevent serious violence. His teenage son, Blake (Gage Munroe), is disappointed in him and his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen), 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)—and ensure that he will never be underestimated as a nobody again.

A release date has yet to be announced by Sony Pictures for Bullet Train.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Star Trek’: Chris Pine Isn’t Sure If He’ll Be Back For Future Films – Thinks Quentin Tarantino’s Project Would Be “Tremendously Interesting”

Actor Chris Pine is currently doing the press rounds to help promote his upcoming film Wonder Woman 1984 and while speaking with Comic Book revealed he hasn’t read any scripts concerning the Star Trek franchise such as Noah Hawley‘s Star Trek 4 or even the Quentin Tarantino project written by Mark L. Smith, the latter was said to be influenced by the 1930s gangster episode from the original series.

“You know, I haven’t [read a script],” Pine tells Comic Book. “I really, in terms of the Star Trek of it all, I wish I knew anything. I’m quite literally one of the last people ever to find out. So, I haven’t read that script, I don’t know where it is in development, I haven’t read the Noah Hawley script, I have no idea what’s happening in Star Trek land. But I love the character, I love the universe, I love my friends in it, you know, to have a Quentin take on it would be tremendously interesting and entertaining.”

Pine even suggests he might not even return for future films in the exchange.

“You know, look, whatever happens, if I come back or not, it’s a great universe, it deserves to have a future, and I hope that is the case.”

Paramount has seemingly pressed pause on the film side of the franchise to focus on multiple television shows for their streaming service Paramount+ formerly CBS All Access. It would be a little upsetting if the studio ultimately recast the Captain Kirk role but hardly surprising given that they couldn’t figure out salaries back when S.J. Clarkson was attached to direct Star Trek 4 years ago.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK

Posted on in Film News

Chris Pine Tapped To Swing A Sword In Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie

Filming on Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons (working tile Chainmail) is expected to begin sometime in the spring with locations set to include Belfast, Northern Ireland and various spots in France. It was recently confirmed that Game Night cinematographer Barry Peterson would be reuniting with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The director of photography has been location scouting in 2020 getting ready for production to take place in 2021.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Chris Pine is now in talks to take an unnamed lead role in the fantasy flick. We still don’t have a good picture of what type of film they’re going for as people could easily be sucked into a game or it simply might explore the mythology of Dungeons & Dragons as straight fantasy film. There is an expectation since the adventure game is played with a group of people that Pine will be part of an ensemble of actors playing the lead roles.

The iconic table-top game was a huge hit in the 1980s and recently got a resurgence thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things popularizing it with a new generation. It’s mostly a hodgepodge of fantasy elements and creatures either created via the Monster Manuel or influenced by existing material pulled from various literary sources.

Pine is likely best known globally for his lead roles in the Star Trek and Wonder Woman films making him an obvious franchise player in the eyes of a studio. This wouldn’t be the first time Chris has swung a sword as he played Scottish historical hero Robert The Bruce in the Netflix film The Outlaw King from director David Mackenzie.

I watched it recently and was quite impressed with Pine’s accent.

THE OUTLAW KING – The untold, true story of Robert The Bruce who transformed from defeated nobleman, to reluctant King, to outlaw hero over the course of an extraordinary year. Forced into battle in order to save his family, his people and his country from the oppressive English occupation of medieval Scotland, Robert seizes the Scottish crown and rallies a ragtag group of men to face off against the wrath of the world’s strongest army lead by the ferocious King Edward 1 and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales.

Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley made waves with their comedy Game Night, but also penned Marvel’s successful Spider-Man: Homecoming and led the duo being hired to direct The Flash for Warner Bros. only for them to eventually exit.

Dungeons & Dragons currently has a release date of May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Pedro Pascal Hopeful To Appear In New Disney+ Shows Set In ‘The Mandalorian’ Timeline – Debunks Helmet Rumor

An unreliable rumor had made the rounds online that actor Pedro Pascal had a dust-up with producers over wearing the helmet on The Mandalorian and led to even more dubious claims that episodes would be reshot possibly with a new actor. All of this seems to have been debunked thanks to the episodes themselves but Pascal added his own two-cents while appearing on BBC’s The One Show to promote Wonder Woman 1984.

“That is not true, actually,” Pascal said. “It’s a really wonderful way of telling the story. It’s always been a very clear creed for the character, and the collaborative process of the whole thing has been, we’ve all been on the same page with this, I think. So I, you know, what I want is for them to make the best show possible, however they get that done.”

After the announcements from Lucasfilm that new Disney+ series Rangers of The New Republic and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka would be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian there had been assumptions that Pascal could do crossovers. A brief comment from the actor to Comic Book suggests he’s at least open to the idea.

“Man, fingers crossed. How could you not?,” Pedro says. “This is like, this is something that’s so much bigger than all of us, and we’re all a passenger to it in a great way. And so, I find out, as it is decided and shared.”

This Friday will see the final episode of Season 2 and could inform us what to expect in Season 3.

SOURCE: BBC THE ONE SHOW & COMIC BOOK

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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

Posted on in Film News

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.

Posted on in Film News

‘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

Posted on in Television News

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Ewan McGregor Teasing Limited Series May Go Off-World? – “We Start On Tatooine and We Go On A Rollicking Adventure”

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) officially takes places 10 years after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith as announced by Lucasfilm during the Disney Investor Day presentation last week.

Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor made some interesting comments (spotted by The Playlist) on the upcoming Star Wars project which might hint that the limited series may actually leave Tatooine for off-world adventures.

MCGREGOR: “There’s a hunger for this character to come back. The fans have been waiting long enough, you know? We start on Tatooine, and we go on a rollicking adventure.”

What this could mean is pretty vague as some fans believe that we might get to see some gritty flashbacks to battles during the Clone Wars as General Kenobi giving more of a war-like edge to the prequels or possibly Obi-Wan reflecting on past adventures as a Jedi Knight. Also, it’s possible something else could drag Kenobi off-world like fellow Jedi in distress and during the development of the Sequel Trilogy there was chatter that Rey might have ended up part of the Kenobi family, something that could be explored in this project.

It’s worth mentioning that Hayden Christiensen is confirmed to reprise the role of Darth Vader in the series and having him arrive on Tatooine wouldn’t make a lot of sense as he simply arriving on the planet could sense a young Luke Skywalker’s presence. Then again, he had multiple interactions with Princess Leia without discovering she was his daughter. Having whatever interactions off-world with Obi-Wan Kenobi or through the force could be a better explanation of his involvement. Darth Vader is also under the impression his children died in childbirth and the Empire is possibly only seeking out former Jedi to kill them.

Having off-world adventures might be one of the ways to keep Luke Skywalker’s location on Tatooine kept a secret along with the knowledge that the Jed Knight is using the alias Ben Kenobi while hiding out on the planet or even there to begin with.

Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that production would begin this March and that Andor is already three weeks into it’s UK production.

There are plenty of fans that are praying that the limited series could be the perfect excuse to bring in Legends characters such as Galen Marek aka Starkiller, a powerful character from the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games played by actor Sam Witwer (The Mist) that happened to be Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. He was slightly referenced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story via Mads Mikkelsen’s character Galen Erso and before that with Starkiller Base in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, since he’s a Legends character he can be retrofitted to become whatever a specific project needs him to be and may simply turn Marek into one of the many force-sensitive Inquisitors that are tasked to hunt-down and kill Jedi for the Empire as seen in Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

The Mandalorian has established that most characters aren’t off the table for live-action adaptations as Legends character Grand Admiral Thrawn was repurposed for Star Wars: Rebels and a live-action version could show up on the Ahsoka series after being teased in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.

A release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi hasn’t been announced but sometime in 2022 wouldn’t be shocking that Andor is aiming for a release in 2022.

Posted on in Television News

‘Loki’: ‘Lovecraft Country’ Actress Wunmi Mosaku Confirmed For Disney+ Series

The Multiverse is going to be a huge part of the upcoming MCU projects and one of the more interesting one so far is the Loki series starring franchise-favorite actor Tom Hiddleston time-hopping after getting his hands on the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame leading to him getting on the radar of the Time Variance Agency. A group of people that police the Multiverse in Marvel Comics and it looks like at some point Loki is recruited by them.

Loki is set to debut on Disney+ in May 2021 featuring the God of Mischief as he steps out of his brother’s shadow in a new series that takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Tom Hiddleston returns as the title character, joined by Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant. Kate Herron directs Loki, and Michael Waldron is head writer.

One of the highlight of the news concerning the series seems to be Marvel’s confirmation that Lovecraft Country actress Wunmi Mosaku will be in the Multiverse show.

The trailer teases that Idris Elba‘s Heimdall could be appearing during the 1970s segment with Loki as the infamous criminal D.B. Cooper. Seeing Asgard again wouldn’t be shocking after a report from Deadline has suggested that Jaimie Alexander might be showing up in the Disney+ series as Lady Sif alongside Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

After watching the series trailer, I’m really looking forward to the show as it feels like live-action version of Rick & Morty, the popular sci-fi animated series at Adult Swim.

As mentioned above Loki will begin airing on Disney+ starting in May.

Posted on in Television News

‘Ms. Marvel’: Aramis Knight Officially Playing Marvel Crimefighter Red Dagger

During the Marvel Studios presentation at the Disney Investor Day, Kevin Feige revealed that Ms Marvel actress Iman Vellani would be co-starring with Brie Larson in Captain Marvel 2, but would be appearing first in Kamala Khan’s solo series first and would begin airing on Disney+ in late 2021.

READ MORE: Marvel’s ‘Ms. Marvel’ and ‘Hawkeye’ Still Targeting 2021 Releases On Disney+

READ MORE: ‘Captain Marvel 2′ Guaranteed To Include Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau In A Significant Role

The rest of the cast announced by Disney/Marvel will include Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha.

READ MORE: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Meera Menon To Direct ‘Ms. Marvel’ Series

Ms. Marvel, launching on Disney+ in late 2021, is a new series that introduces Kamala Khan—a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A great student, an avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, she has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel. But Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school—that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?

The Badlands actor Aramis Knight confirmed on Instagram he’ll be playing Kareem aka Red Dagger.

Filming is underway in Atlanta, Georgia.

READ MORE: First ‘Ms. Marvel’ Set Images Reveal Captain Marvel Fangirl Kamala Khan – Filming Officially Begins In Atlanta

READ MORE: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Rundown of All The News At Disney Investor Day 2020

A sizzle video with some brief footage from the upcoming series was also released during the Marvel presentation.