Posted on in Film News

Saoirse Ronan, Sam Rockwell and David Oyelowo Join Searchlight’s London-Set Whodunit That Takes Place During The 1950s

Deadline reports that a new untitled period thriller is in development at the Disney owned Searchlight Pictures as three high-profile casting additions are announced. Director Tom George (This Country) is assembling a cast for his untitled murder mystery that includes Irish actress Saoirse Ronan (The French Dispatch), Sam Rockwell (Jojo Rabbit), and David Oyelowo (The Midnight Sky).

Here are plot and characters details of the film penned by Mark Chappell.

The story is set in 1950s London, where a desperate Hollywood film producer sets out to turn a popular West End play into a film. When members of the production are murdered, world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and overzealous rookie Constable Stalker (Ronan) find themselves in the midst of a puzzling whodunit within London’s glamorous Theatreland and sordid underground.

A production start isn’t mentioned but will seemingly be shot in United Kingdom.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Spider-Man 3’ Officially Sees Return of Composer Michael Giacchino

Spider-Man 3 will officially see it’s score composed by Michael Giacchino!

The composer announced his return on his Twitter account yesterday and used the first official set photo that had been previously shared by franchise star Tom Holland. Michael will now secure scoring an entire Spider-Man trilogy.

We are hearing that there is an expectation that Giacchino will be back for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness after tackling the first film’s score. Both films are currently in production with Spider-Man 3 shooting in Atlanta under the working title The November Project and Doctor Strange 2 filming at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.

Jon Watts is directing a cast that includes Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Tony Revolori, Angourie Rice, Jon Favreau, and J.K. Simmons.

There have been rumblings that we could learn the film’s title in the coming weeks/months. We do know the film is will follow the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home where Peter Parker is outed publicly by J. Jonah Jameson as Spider-Man along with being framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. The extent of those consequences or Parker going on the run or being captured are currently a mystery.

Questions remain about the inclusion of Jamie Foxx’s Electro and if this will become an MCU incarnation of the Spidey villain rather than a resurrection of the same character from Amazing Spider-Man 2 via The Multiverse. J.K. Simmons’ reprisal of J. Jonah Jameson is clearly a new soft-reboot of the character for the franchise and is expected to cross into the other Sony/Marvel films like Morbius. The Jared Leto film has already had it’s connection to Spider-Man: Homecoming outed with it’s trailer including Michael Keaton’s Vulture.

The deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures expires after one more Marvel film that most likely will be the Doctor Strange sequel given that Benedict is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man and could easily lead to Peter Parker showing up in Doctor Strange’s “solo” film as these installments are quickly become quasi Avengers movies because of the team-up nature of them.

I have to assume that Disney and Sony will eventually come back to the negotiating table to work together on more movies as it is an increasingly beneficial situation for both companies.

Olivia Wilde is reportedly directing a Spider-Woman film but it remains to be seen if Kevin Feige/Marvel Studios will be involved with that project. It’s been assumed they will be, as Marvel has access to Jessica Drew the alter ego that is traditionally known as Spider-Woman. The heroine debuting outside the Spider-Man comics and happens to be an agent of S.W.O.R.D. that is firmly set within the MCU via WandaVision along with other upcoming projects.

Sony Pictures has given Spider-Man 3 a release date of December 17th, 2021.

SOURCE: MICHAEL GIACCHINO

Posted on in Film News

‘Predator 2’ Director Explains How Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch Would Have Been Introduced and Why He Passed On Steven Seagal – Sequel Turns 30 Today!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Predator 2 and director Stephen Hopkins stat down with Scream Magazine for an interview about the film. Hopkins explains how they wanted to originally introduce Arnold’s Dutch in the start of the film and how he ultimately had to chose between making Terminator 2 or making Predator 2.

HOPKINS: “I think we got on okay, in fact, the opening scene of the film was supposed to be these guys playing golf on a golf course and a helicopter lands, and there is a guy with white hair golfing and they come and say ‘he’s back’, and Arnold turns around he’s got white hair and a scar across his face. Him and Danny Glover would have teamed-up.”

“Actually what I think it was that Jim Cameron, who I used to work for, he said to Arnold that he wanted him to do Terminator 2 and he didn’t want to both to happen. He didn’t feel like help Terminator 2 if Predator 2 happened with Arnold in it and Jim was preparing it for a long time. I think Arnold had to make a choice and clearly it was a great choice because Terminator 2 is one of the great science fiction films.”

He also confirms the rumors that Steven Seagal almost joined the film but Hopkins met with him to talk him out of doing it as he wasn’t a fan of the action star.

HOPKINS: “I had to go up to have a meeting with [Seagal] at his house which was one of the most craziest afternoons I’ve had, sort of to talk him out of doing it. He’s an unusual kind of twisted kind of guy and in the end I couldn’t see myself doing it with him, it didn’t feel right.”

“He was desperate to do it. I went up to his house and he crushed my hand [makes handshake motion] and took me into a room where all the walls were covered with guns. He told me about how he wanted to play a C.I.A. psychiatrist, who also is a martial arts expert and carried a gun, I listened to him for a long time and he was clearly a little crazy at the time…then he threw his arm around me on the way out and he said ‘I want you to come to my ranch in Santa Barbara because I have a grenade launching range there so we could go launch grenades together’. That didn’t happen. I’m sorry, I’m not a fan of his.”

Predator 2 is considered one of the better sequels and totally worth revisiting for that fun cast along with some interesting action scenes.

PREDATOR 2 – Los Angeles is enduring a heat wave and a crime wave, so the pressure on police officer Michael Harrigan (Danny Glover) to solve a strange string of murders is mounting. Harrigan thinks the culprit can be found among the warring gangs and drug cartels, but FBI Special Agent Peter Keyes (Gary Busey) knows the horrible truth: Their killer is a fearsome extraterrestrial (Kevin Peter Hall) with keen hunting abilities that include superior night vision and the power to make itself invisible.

SOURCE: SCREAM MAGAZINE

Posted on in Features

Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese Absent From ‘Deadpool 3’ Update – Are They Still Involved?

We learned yesterday from Deadline that Marvel Studios are finally moving forward on Deadpool 3 almost a year Ryan Reynolds announced publicly that development started at Marvel. While the report mentioned how closely Ryan would be working with the studio as he reprises the role of Wade Wilson and seemingly will keep his position as part of the creative team while two creatives are missing from the report entirely (“team Deadpool” is mentioned) questioning their involvement.

Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the screenwriters and executive producers on the previous two Deadpool films are absent from the article announcing that The Molyneux Sisters (Bob’s Burgers) would be tackling the Deadpool 3 script.

Have they’ve exited the project?

The two had been originally set to write Deadpool 3 when the project was at 20th Century Fox and post-merger met with Marvel Studios over the summer of 2019 with Ryan. There had been an assumption they had been chosen to write the outline/story for the sequel or at the very least help produce given their success with the X-Men character. However, their names don’t appear in the Deadline report or in the follow-ups from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

The screenwriting duo had been tapped by Disney to pen Pirates of The Caribbean 6 (a reboot) before the script changed hands to Ted Elliot and Craig Mazin. They had also reunited with Ryan for Michael Bay’s Netflix film 6 Underground and a mature take on Clue at 20th Century Studios.

We can’t really ascertain why the pair weren’t mentioned in the article, however, this wouldn’t be the first time a key creative walked away from a Deadpool sequel. You might remember that Tim Miller was all set and ready to direct Deadpool 2 only to exit over “creative differences” which led him to team-up with James Cameron for Terminator: Dark Fate and was replaced with David Leitch. Speaking of David, it’s mentioned that while Marvel is open to him returning as director they’re realistic about his busy schedule and will likely end up hiring a new director.

It’s unclear if they’re even producing or consulting on the film. Hopefully, there will be some clarity in the coming weeks given how much they contributed to the success of the franchise.

Posted on in Film News

Lord & Miller Producing Mystery Movie Inspired By Universal Monsters Legacy With Channing Tatum Set To Star

Yesterday, Deadline reported that Channing Tatum is planning on reuniting with his 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who are producing an untitled film for Universal Pictures that will be satirical thriller set in the Universal Monsters universe.

Tatum attached to take the lead role.

Sources tell Deadline that Universal Pictures, Lord Miller and Free Association are developing an untitled monster project, described as a modern-day, tongue-in-cheek thriller inspired by Universal’s classic monster legacy with Tatum set to star.

There are zero plot details but the idea/outline came from Channing’s producing partner Reid Carolin and a script penned by Wes Tooke.

On paper, the mystery project might not be too dissimilar to the mystery Universal Monsters project that Paul Feig is developing separately.

Tatum has been keeping a low profile lately after a starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky, taking a supporting role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and upcoming cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy. At one point, he was producing and co-writing a solo Gambit film for 20th Century Fox before the merger with Disney essentially killed it.

The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell is following up with another Universal Monsters project with a Wolfman film starring Ryan Gosling.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Will Letitia Wright Have A Bigger Role In ‘Black Panther 2’?

Another little tidbit in The Hollywood Reporter’s casting news concerning Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 2 with Narcos: Mexico actor Tenoch Huerta in talks to play one of the film’s villains. They mention that the returning cast will include Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Wintston Duke, and Angela Bassett with the former possibly getting a much larger role.

Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett are expected to return for the new feature, with some saying Wright’s character may take on a more prominent role. Marvel, which had no comment on this story, has not revealed its plans on how it plans to proceed without Boseman, although it has indicated that it will not use CGI to include the late star in the film.

Oddly enough, Danai Gurira is not part of this returning group but I assume she will be in the future.

Chadwick passed over the summer after a battle of colon cancer and everyone involved has been focused on mourning which makes me a little skeptical they’ll at this pointing locking-down production dates after they just lost their lead actor. Marvel Studios executive vice president Victoria Alonso debunked an online rumor that they were considering on using a digital-double of Chadwick Boseman for the film.

While the outlet is pushing this news that filming is set to begin in July the studio hasn’t confirmed if they’ll be promoting Wright’s Shuri to Black Panther status or simply recasting the T’Challa role which seems like the simpler move on their part as weird as it might be. Handing the reigns to Shuri would mean they’d also have to kill-off the T’Challa character and I’m not terribly sure Disney is keen on that idea. However, giving Wright more to do in sequel could lead to her becoming Black Panther at some point.

There seems to be a process where the ruler of Wakanda can retire the Black Panther position and still rule, as was the case of T’Chaka and T’Challa in Captain America: Civil War.

We’ll have to wait and see what Marvel/Coolger ultimately decide to do.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man 3’ Adds Production Designer Will Htay – Worked On Multiple ‘Star Wars’ Projects and ‘No Time To Die’

The Ronin has learned that Marvel Studios has added Will Htay as the production designer of Peyton Reed’s upcoming Ant-Man 3 and could speak to the scale of the film.

Will’s impressive credits on massive blockbusters as a concept designer includes films such as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, No Time To Die, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story. His work on Star Wars isn’t relegated to just feature films as has been part of the production design team on Disney+ series Kenobi and the untitled Cassian Andor show.

Reed is no stranger to Star Wars either as he directed Chapter 10 of The Mandalorian.

Returning cast members include Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Emma Fuhrmann

Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors is reportedly playing the villain Kang The Conqueror in the sequel which suggests the scale of the Marvel Comics sequel.

We’ve been hearing for months that filming on Ant-Man 3 will be taking place mainly on the stages of Pinewood Studios UK in Buckinghamshire, England and they’ll have access to The Volume/StageCraft for their shoot. The facility was used for upcoming Marvel films Black Widow and Eternals, the latter finishing up their reshoots.

Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is currently shooting at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England with Elizabeth Olsen suggesting she’ll join them next month.

Ant-Man 3 is without an official release date but is coming out sometime in 2022.

Posted on in Film News

James Gunn May Start Filming ‘Guardians of The Galaxy 3’ In Atlanta Before The End of 2021

A tiny tidbit mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter suggests that James Gunn’s Guardians of The Galaxy 3 could begin before the end of 2021, as it had been set to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia before Gunn’s firing/rehiring. He’s a busy bee lately as he’s in post with The Suicide Squad and will begin shooting Peacemaker early in the new year.

The studio will have Peyton Reed back for a new Ant-Man movie in 2021 and is ending the year with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 shooting with a returning James Gunn.

James Gunn’s HBO Max series Peacemaker will be shooting from January to June in Vancouver and if all things come together will release The Suicide on August 6th alongside a promotional tour for the film (most likely virtual) before jumping into shooting Guardians 3 in the fall/winter.

The Guardians cast are expected to show up in Thor: Love & Thunder after the announcement Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill will have a role in the Thor sequel which is being considered somewhat of an Avengers-level project (Doctor Strange 2 and Ant-Man 3 will be considered too once more characters are revealed officially).

Other Marvel films said to begin shooting in the 2021 include Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man 3 in London, Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2 in London, and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 2 in Atlanta.

Unlike most of the Marvel slate the sequel doesn’t have an official release date.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Marvel Will Reportedly Begin Shooting ‘She-Hulk’ In Atlanta and ‘Moon Knight’ In London Starting In March

Tucked in The Hollywood Reporter’s update and casting information about Marvel’s Black Panther 2 they mentioned the shooting statuses of upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk and Moon Knight, both said to kick-off filming in March 2021.

Marvel Studios has yet to make any official casting announcements for the two shows but are expected to be led by Oscar Isaac (Dune, Star Wars, X-Men: Apocalypse) as Marc Spector in Moon Knight and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Perry Mason) as Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk as trades have reported they’ve essentially landed the superhero roles.

Moon Knight will be using the working title of Good Faith shooting in London, Budapest, and possibly Morocco with the recent announcement that Mohamed Diab will direct.

She-Hulk’s filming is confirmed to take place in Atlanta under the working title Libra (also being used for Mission: Impossible 7 overseas) with Rick & Morty’s Jessica Gao set as writer/showrunner and Kat Coiro (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) directing.

We should be getting some new casting information in the coming weeks.

Current productions filming include Spider-Man 3 aka The November Project (Atlanta), Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness aka Stellar Vortex (Surrey), and the Ms. Marvel aka Jersey (Atlanta) series has started filming this week. The Loki series aka The Architect (Atlanta) is a few of weeks away from wrapping joining WandaVision and Falcon as releases in 2021.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Stephen Lang Talks Returning As Colonel Miles Quaritch For The ‘Avatar’ Sequels – Already Shot A Scene For ‘Avatar 4’

We’re excited to finally get to see some footage from James Cameron’s Avatar sequels and during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, franchise actor Stephen Lang sort of broke how how much filming he’s done so far on the projects as he is reprising the role of Colonel Miles Quaritch. Revealing he’s shot for two years already for Avatar 2 (finished filming) and Avatar 3 (expected to be finish soon) along with a scene already for Avatar 4.

LANG: “I haven’t shot anything in probably close to a year. But I’d shot for two years before that, so I’m good. I know there is still a huge amount of work to be done. As far as I can tell,  Avatar 2 — it’s shot.”

“I have no doubt that when Avatar 2 does come out, it’s going to be the movie he feels it needs to be. I’d say the same for 3, 4 and 5. We haven’t got to 4 or 5 yet, even though we have shot a scene from 4.”

In a world of cloning and new “avatar” bodies a resurrection for the very dead Colonel Quaritch isn’t terribly strange but they haven’t really explained how they plan on bringing him back. I have to assume that RDA has the kind of money laying around to clone a bunch of Colonels installing them all over their off-world operations.

Quaritch isn’t the only baddie in the new movies as Sopranos star Edie Falco will play General Ardmore, who is heading up a different RDA installation on Pandora called The Bridgehead.

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll start showing us more polished promotional materials beyond set photos.

Avatar 2 won’t be out until December 16th, 2021.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER