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‘Dune Messiah’: Denis Villeneuve Says Script “Almost Finished” But Hopes To Make Another Movie Before Tackling His Last ‘Dune’ Installment

There has been an assumption of what happens next for the “Dune” franchise once the second installment, the other half of the first book, is released in theaters on March 1, 2024, after being bumped from its November date as Warner Bros. fearing the cast wouldn’t be able to promote the sequel due to the SAG-AFTRA strike (A deal with the AMPTP is now ratified by members). Director, co-writer, and producer Denis Villeneuve is giving us a rather large update.

While speaking at an event in South Korea (via Tong Tong Culture) today to promote “Dune: Part Two,” the filmmaker revealed that the script to “Dune Messiah,” aka, “Dune 3” is nearly finished but doesn’t see himself jumping back to Arrakis anytime soon after a “very challenging” shoot on the second pic.

“There’s the dream of making an adaptation of ‘Dune Messiah,’ the third movie that will be the end of the journey of Paul Atreides. It will make absolute sense for me to do this movie. The movie is being written right now, the screenplay is almost finished, but it’s not finished it will take a little time. I don’t know exactly when I’ll go back to Arrakis, but I might make a detour before just to move away from the sand for my mental sanity (laughs), I might do something in between but my dream would be to rule one last time on this planet that I love.”

Villeneuve also seemed to reiterate that the third film is expected to be when he dismounts from as the franchise director, nothing says someone else couldn’t keep the movies going as there are four other novels from Frank Herbert to adapt. Neither Legendary nor Warner Bros. has officially greenlit/dated the third installment. Still, barring any major box office and critical hiccups next year when “Dune: Part Two” is finally released, there is an expectation that the studio will sign off on the next installment of the “Dune” saga.

One of those potential projects Villeneuve could attempt to make between “Dune” installments is his adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke sci-fi novel “Rendezvous With Rama” and would see him reunite with Alcon Entertainment after working with them on “Blade Runner 2049” and his thriller “Prisoners.” Clarke, of course, was the author and co-writer of the screenplay of the iconic Stanley Kubrick film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The French-Canadian filmmaker was first announced for the project back in December 2021 in an article from The Hollywood Reporter and screenwriter Eric Roth (“Killers of The Flower Moon“) may have revealed doing some screenwriting work on the project last month without directly naming “Rama.”

“I just wrote a movie for Denis Villeneuve. We’ll see what ends up happening with it, but it’s about space and time, and it’s very lonely. It’s certainly about eternity,” Roth said on the Script Apart Podcast.

Rumors based on a production grid making the rounds online had suggested that his next film could be “Cleopatra” for Sony Pictures. However, this has yet to be confirmed/backed up by Villeneuve (Who has yet to announce his involvement), trades, or Sony themselves. Also worth bringing back up is Villeneuve’s new statement from today about “moving away from the sand” for a production shoot which would suggest he’s not itching right now to make a movie about a historical Egyptian leader.

As mentioned, “Dune: Part Two” will hit theaters on March 1, 2024.

You can watch that full exchange with Villeneuve below.

SOURCE: DENIS VILLENEUVE VIA TONG TONG CULTURE

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‘Alien: Romulus’ Star Cailee Spaeny Alludes To New Film Being About The Hadley’s Hope Xenomorph Outbreak On LV-426

In August of next year, we’re expected to get our first new “Alien” film since 2017’s “Alien: Covenant” that focused on the David and Enigeeners. We now have a really solid idea of when in the franchise’s timeline the new film takes place along with a potentially exact location as well. A new quote from the film’s star Cailee Spaeny to Variety has revealed that the new “Alien” film is set between Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and James Cameron’s “Aliens.”

“It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie,” Spaeny told Variety at the Gotham Awards. “They brought the same team from ‘Aliens,’ the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours. So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.”

13 ALIENS Hadley's Hope Referance ideas | alien, xenomorph, aliens movie

This would seemingly confirm the film about young off-world colonists is indeed a film about the outbreak at the Weyland-Yutani colony, Hadley’s Hope, on LV-426 where a “shake and bake colony” gets overrun by an army of xenomorphs and their Queen. From the sounds of things, we don’t really need much in the way of plot details because we know that Newt ends up the sole survivor of events leading somewhat directly into “Aliens.” The team of Colonial Marines arrives to find all of the colonists, minus Newt, have either been facehugged or killed.

The fate of Hadley’s Hope (the main location of “Aliens”) was simply alluded to in the original theatrical cut of the 1986 film, but later “Special Editions” would add 30-40 minutes of deleted scenes that featured Ripley being told her daughter Amanda (the protagonist of “Alien: Isolation”) has died after being lost in space for decades and how the outbreak on LV-426 had Newt’s father as the first victim of the face huggers.

Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead”), the director, had recently talked up that his director’s cut of “Romulus” had been given the seal of approval by the extremely picky Ridley Scott, who is now one of the main stewards and producers of the franchise via Scott Free.

“Alien: Romulus” is set by 20th Century Studios for a release date of August 16, 2024.

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Loki’ & ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Writer Michael Waldron Takes Over Screenwriting Duties On ‘Avengers 5’

Marvel Studios is indeed retooling their next “Avengers” installment as it’s now been revealed that Michael Waldron (“Rick & Morty”), the creator of the “Loki” series and screenwriter of the Multiverse-focused “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” has been tasked to rewrite/rework the script for “Avengers 5” that had been previously titled, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” This comes after Destin Daniel Cretton was said to have exited the film to focus on a sequel to “Shang-Chi” alongside his “Wonder Man” series on Disney+ that is expected to resume production soon.

Waldron is also working on “Avengers: Secret Wars” and now makes him Marvel’s main screenwriter on their big Multiverse films. Getting someone to pen the next two installments would sort of mirror how the duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were assigned to both “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” after working on “The Winter Soldier” and “Civil War.”

This would confirm that previous screenwriter Jeff Loveness (“Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania”) has stepped aside from the project. Earlier in the month, there had been rumors suggesting that the studio had moved on from Loveness after the disappointing reaction to his “Ant-Man” sequel featuring Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror as the main antagonist. It remains to be seen if they’ll keep Kang as their big bad over the next two installments. The recent season finale of “Loki” seemingly sidestepped Kang being such a threat and left the door open for someone else to fill that void, potentially.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Multiverse villains, The Squadron Supreme, are considered for the pic. A superpowered team that was Marvel’s evil knock-off of The Justice League that had been originally pulled out of the Multiverse as foes for The Avengers. Instead of having a single menacing baddie, there could be a whole team of them looking to defeat our heroes.

The Avengers #148, Squadron Supreme June 1976, Vintage Marvel Comic, MID-GRADE | eBay

A longstanding rumor over the last year or so has been that “Doctor Strange 2” helmer Sam Raimi is being courted for “Avengers Secret Wars” and could also end up making “The Kang Dynasty” as well. Raimi’s involvement has yet to be officially announced by Marvel/Disney or backed up by trade reports, but we shouldn’t be all that shocked if someone is named in the very near future.

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‘Alien’ Series: Timothy Olyphant Reportedly Playing An Android In New Earthbound Show From Noah Hawley

As production on the new “Alien” series is expected to resume in the new year according to creator/showrunner/director Noah Hawley, a big casting addition has been revealed by Deadline. The outlet reports that veteran actor Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) has joined the sci-fi horror series that had been shooting in Thailand and is said to be playing an android character. Synthetic characters in the “Alien” franchise have been both friends (Walter, Bishop, Call) and foes (Ash, David) to our human leads.

Olyphant and Hawley previously worked together on the fourth season of “Fargo.”

The rest of the cast consists of Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, and Kit Young.

While we’re waiting on more concrete plot details the show is expected to take place in the events of the original “Alien” from 1979 and specifically is set on Earth, the first installment of the main franchise to do so. Outside of Paris scenes in “Alien Resurrection” and the opening of “Prometheus.” There is an expectation it will focus on the greedy and evil corporation Weyland Industries/Weyland-Yutani, who act as the secondary antagonists that throw various expendable crew members into the meat grinder in an attempt to secure the Xenomorph for their biological weapons program.

Meanwhile, on the film front, we’re expected to have “Alien: Romulus” by director Fede Alvarez released on August 16, 2024. That pic is said to be focused on a young group of off-world colonists that are forced to confront the Xenomorph/Xenomorphs.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Nicholas Hoult Set To Play Iconic DC Comics Villain Lex Luthor In James Gunn’s ‘Superman: Legacy’

After being in the mix to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” and losing the more recent role of James Gunn‘s new Superman, British actor Nicholas Hoult has landed the key villainous part of DC Comics supervillain, Lex Luthor. Deadline first reported the casting update. This comes after both Alexander and Bill Skarsgard were linked for being in the running alongside Hoult to play Luthor in “Superman: Legacy.”

The rest of the cast consists of David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Venezuelan actress María Gabriela de Faría playing a villain called The Engineer, Nathan Fillion features as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Isabela Merced set to play Hawkgirl, Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan takes on the role of Rex Mason/Metamorpho.

Hoult is no stranger to comic book roles after playing Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast in the “X-Men” prequel films that launched with Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” and ended with “Dark Phoenix.” Previously, the cinematic version of the Lex Luthor role had been played by Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey in “Superman Returns,” and more recently Jesse Eisenberg played the DC Comics baddie in the lackluster “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

The last version of Luthor was slowly putting together his own team, The Legion of Doom, with Joe Manganiello’s Slade Wilson, aka, Deathstroke being his first major acquisition in a post-credit scene. It remains to be seen if Lex’s Legion will be part of Gunn’s future plans for the DCU alongside “Creature Commandos” and “The Authority.”

“Superman: Legacy,” the first big live-action feature film from DC Studios’ new reset DCU, will be released on July 11, 2025.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Universal In Talks With Director Edward Berger For Next ‘Jason Bourne’ Film, Matt Damon’s Return Not Secured

It’s been a good chunk of time since we’ve seen a “Jason Bourne” installment and a report from Deadline mentions that Universal Pictures is gearing up to develop a new installment with a fifth untitled movie. Not just that, but they’re currently in negotiations with filmmaker Edward Berger, who recently got on everyone’s radar after his acclaimed Oscar-winning film “All Quiet On The Western Front” made quite the splash and earned a statue for Best International Feature Film earlier this year at the Academy Awards. If a deal is reached, Berger would be tasked to both develop and direct the action film.

The main covet about the next installment is that Universal hasn’t secured franchise star Matt Damon and his participation would hinge on a “great script and story.” Worth remembering the Jeremy Renner-led spinoff film “Bourne Legacy” didn’t reignite the property and the studio would eventually pivot back to Damon for the 2016 installment. I would assume the studio has already learned its lesson trying to replace Damon/Bourne and will likely wait until the star accepts the creative vision before agreeing to a return.

Bourne is a CIA assassin who is dealing with amnesia alongside a cat-and-mouse game with his former handlers looking to terminate him before disastrous secret government programs used to eliminate American enemies can be made public. The films were adapted from the popular Robert Ludlum books and the first installment was helmed by Doug Liman.

Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander (“Tomb Raider”) was a new addition to the franchise in the 2016 film and likely would be offered the chance to return as Heather Lee. The character was the head of the CIA Cyber Ops Division.

Given that this is so early in the development process, we shouldn’t expect that filming on this sixth installment will happen anytime soon.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘The Saint’: Regé-Jean Page Replaces Chris Pine For Paramount’s Spy Reboot From Director Doug Liman

There has been a long-gestating remake of “The Saint” in the works at Paramount Pictures that previous had a popular TV series from the 1960s and a lesser-known feature film remake starring Val Kilmer (“Heat”) and helmed by Phillip Noyce (“Clear & Present Danger”) that released back in 1997. A new report from Deadline has revealed things are up and running again with Doug Liman (“Bourne Identity”) set to direct and actor Regé-Jean Page enlisted for the role of Simon Templar. A master of disguise, not that dissimilar to Ethan Hunt, who uses the names of Roman Catholic saints as his aliases while on various impossible missions.

The British actor will be replacing his “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-star Chris Pine (“Star Trek”), who had originally been attached to the remake back when Dexter Fletcher (“Eddie The Eagle”) was set to direct. Pine had previously attempted to restart the Jack Ryan film franchise for Paramount before his installment was unsuccessful and eventually the studio selected John Krasinski to lead the Amazon Prime series. So, Pine’s hiring was always a bit bizarre after their experience on “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.”

Page has recently dabbled in the spy genre playing a heel in The Russo Brothers’ Netflix action pic “The Gray Man,” but didn’t really get a chance to do much action in that one in comparison to the other actors in it.

Image

It’s maybe worth mentioning that Roger Moore, the original actor from the ’60s TV series would eventually take over the James Bond role in the early 1970s after Richard Lazenby decided not to return for more installments. Page (35) has been long considered by UK tabloids as a strong contender to become the next 007, although, EON/MGM have yet to announce who they’ll actually cast other than a desire to hire an actor in their 30s.

Here is the official synopsis for the 1997 incarnation:

Based on the popular spy series, this film follows suave international thief Simon Templar (Val Kilmer), who is contracted by Russian oil magnate Ivan Tretiak (Rade Serbedzija) to steal a formula for cold fusion. So Templar, nicknamed “The Saint” because of his use of Roman Catholic saints as aliases, finds scientist Dr. Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue), seduces her, and steals the information. However, because the formula was incomplete, Tretiak now wants to kill Templar and kidnap Russell.

Like “Mission: Impossible,” “The Saint” has an earworm of a theme song that got reworked by Orbital for the 1997 film.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Thor 5’: Taika Waititi Reiterates He’s Not Returning But Says Chris Hemsworth Is “In Talks” With Marvel For Next Installment

After the success and audience reaction to “Thor: Ragnarok,” it felt like a no-brainer for Marvel Studios to bring back writer/director Taika Waititi to tackle a follow-up with “Thor: Love & Thunder.” However, with that sequel in the rearview mirror, it does seem like people weren’t entirely thrilled with that installment, and has landed alongside “Thor: The Dark World” as one of the lesser entries in the franchise. What exactly went wrong isn’t terribly clear. Still, it sounds like whatever comes next in the “Thor” universe won’t have Waititi behind the camera as the filmmaker has decidedly moved on and is now reiterating previous public statements made to Business Insider along with giving fans some hope that a fifth movie is potentially in early development.

While they don’t have a direct quote in the piece, Inverse says while speaking with the director that Waititi has told them he has “heard” that Marvel and Chris Hemsworth are talking about what to do next with the franchise. The main takeaway is that Waititi is moving on for the time being, which isn’t that crazy to imagine given the poor reception of “Thor: Love & Thunder” and how busy the filmmaker has become with a growing list of projects in his queue.

Waititi confirmed he’s not currently working on “Thor 5,” which would be a hypothetical follow-up to his divisive “Thor: Love & Thunder.” Waititi said that while he heard star Chris Hemsworth and Marvel are in talks about making a fifth Thor movie, Waititi “needed a break from that.” “It’s a very draining process working on these films for two and a half years and nonstop,” Waititi tells Inverse.

Some of the other projects on Taika’s plate include a new live-action “Flash Gordon” remake at 20th Century Studios (had been animated previously), a mystery “Star Wars” film at Lucasfilm (we’ll be shocked if that actually comes together), a feature film adaptation of French sci-fi graphic novel “The Incal” from Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius, and adds in the interview the main thing he’ll be focusing on is “Klara & The Sun.” Oddly enough, while we had assumed that Waititi had exited the long-gestating “Akira” movie (development goes back to the 2000s) at Warner Bros., the director gives the impression he is still actively involved alongside screenwriter Charles Yu and trying his best to get an authentic version based on the original manga.

“Obviously, I think people who loved the film, I want to make sure that they’ve also read the books because there’s a lot more in the books than there are in the film,” Waititi says. “And some people are very protective over the film, which is not quite the same as the books. So we’re drawing a lot from the books.”

To Taika’s credit, it’s been extremely difficult to get the “Thor” movies right and he was able to spin magic with “Thor: Ragnarok.”

Concept artwork for Thor Ragnarok: Valhalla Closeup by Emmanuel Shiu (cdna.artstation.com) submitted by FaeryKnig… | Thor ragnarok concept art, Concept art, Artwork
Unused concept artwork of Valhalla from artist Emmanuel Shiu and Marvel Studios.

When it comes to a fifth “Thor” installment there are plenty of things that Marvel could use if they were finally willing to make an epic-level movie that harkens back to the Norse mythology that the studio has been mostly avoiding over the last four films. “Thor 5” could quickly become Marvel’s version of “Lord of The Rings: Return of The King” considering the world of Tolkien is directly inspired by the Norse myths.

Those tidbits include James Bond actor Daniel Craig nearly playing Thor’s dead brother Balder The Brave in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” (cameo was cut) who had been a casualty of Loki’s Asgard pranks in the original myth and was briefly referenced in “Loki” Season 2. Balder’s comic book love interest Karnilla The Norn Queen, might attempt to resurrect her lost love and make dangerous alliances to make that happen. The Light Elves were teased in “She-Hulk” with the impish trickster Runa and their Kingdom within the realm of Alfheim, a fresh location they could easily use for new battle sequences. The realm of Valhalla was established in “Thor: Love & Thunder” which happens to be the home of brave dead/fallen heroes (That could include Balder, Angela, and Thor’s uncle Cul Borson) known as The Einherjar and are led by former foe, Harokin. With Ragnarok over and Odin long dead, their purpose hasn’t been fulfilled, and could become restless waiting for some big battle that is never coming. The Rock Trolls, led by iconic Thor villain Ulik, almost appeared in the original film and would make for a neat surrogate for Orcs. Speaking of Cul Borson, he could become the MCU version of The Midgard Serpent, aka, Jörmungandr, who ultimately kills Thor. Having Thor sacrifice himself to save the Light Elves or the living world entirely could be another honorable way for another original Avenger to bow out.

With that all said, Marvel has yet to announce a screenwriter or new director and we shouldn’t expect any immediate movement outside of this attempt to secure Hemsworth. Hopefully, the next time Kevin Feige is ready to announce new projects “Thor 5” will be among them and we could get early vague plot details.

SOURCE: INVERSE

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‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ Loses Director Destin Daniel Cretton Amid Rumors Of Creative Hiccups

As Marvel Studios is already seeing its fair share of headaches after the weak domestic box office opening for their latest pic “The Marvels,” another big one has sprung up. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that director Destin Daniel Cretton has exited the next “Avengers” installment titled “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and there doesn’t sound like an immediate replacement waiting in the wings for the MCU event film.

Jeff Loveness (“Rick & Morty“) had been tapped to pen the sequel’s script after working on bringing a cinematic version of the Kang The Conqueror (played by actor Jonathan Majors) variant to the big screen with “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania.” There had been some rumblings this week from journalist/author Joanna Robinson (via ThePlaylist) on The House of R podcast that the writer was off the project and the studio had considered pivoting from Kang as the team-up’s next big villain.

Marvel has yet to officially comment on any changes to the film or its narrative direction.

This comes after “Ant-Man 3” had a bit of a disastrous response from audiences and the reason season of “Loki” attempted to distance itself from that film as well alongside Kang as the overseer of the Multiverse entirely. Potentially, allowing either Tom Hiddleston’s Loki to fill his spot as the villain (“Avengers: The Loki Dynasty”?) or Marvel looking to recast the role (Given Majors’ legal issues pertaining to domestic violence) with a big-name actor that could reenergize audiences. Thankfully, Kang being a Multiverse baddie with an unlimited amount of variant counterparts, a recast of the role wouldn’t be all that strange for audiences to accept.

This wouldn’t be the first director to exit a Marvel film in the development stage. Some of the others in the past include Edgar Wright, Patty Jenkins, and Scott Derrickson. There is an expectation his working relationship with Marvel won’t end as his Disney+ series “Wonder Man” is expected to resume filming as the strikes have been resolved and would likely continue to be a creative force on the previously announced sequel to “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.” As reports say Cretton will now focus on “Shang-Chi 2” which would see actor Simu Liu reprise the role of the Asian-American superhero.

“Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” was expected to be ready for release in May of 2026. However, if the film has lost both the director and screenwriter you could easily expect that date to be pushed back even further or end up replaced with “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Fantastic Four’: Pedro Pascal In Talks To Play Dr. Reed Richards In MCU Reboot

Today, it was revealed in a report from Deadline that “Star Wars” franchise actor Pedro Pascal is now in talks with Marvel Studios to play Dr. Reed Richards, aka, Mister Fantastic in their upcoming reboot of “The Fantastic Four,” which is being directed by Matt Shakman (“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” “WandaVision”).

However, they’re quick to mention Pascal hasn’t closed a deal for the part. That’s not hard to believe with a shoot at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom looming and a very busy Pascal has a multitude of projects to complete including his role in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2,” the second season of “The Last of Us,” a lead role in Zach Cregger’s next film “Weapons,” and not to mention a potential return for the fourth season of “The Mandalorian.”

Daniel Richtman, who is known for getting a leg-up on casting intel, was the first to post about the potential casting selection.

Although, SlashFilm has chimed in with a claim that Pascal has signed on. It’s maybe worth mentioning we haven’t had much in the way of scoops from the outlet in a very long time, yet, then again, they tend to only make claims they can back up.

Richards is considered the “smartest man in the world” and when the group is exposed to cosmic energy while in outer space end up developing super-human abilities with the good doctor becoming rubbery and able to stretch his body/limbs to extreme levels without injury.

The next big step ahead is finding the other actors to fill out the roles of Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. “Fantastic Four” has a tentative release date of May 2, 2025, but that date could easily move up or get pushed back considering how often Marvel changes their release dates.

SOURCE: DEADLINE