While the Mission: Impossible sequels are going to eventually resume filming in the United Kingdom, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie spoke with Empire Magazine revealing that he was considering pushing the Jack Reacher into the realm of R-rated franchises if it was allowed to continue.
MCQUARRIE: “Tom and I were talking about, had the series continued, to take Reacher to a place where, in the post-Deadpool, post-Joker world, Reacher could have been an R-rated movie and an R-rated franchise and really fed into the brutality of those books. We were fully ready to lean into that.”
However, the Reacher franchise ended after Jack Reacher: Never Go Back flopped at the box office and instead is getting rebooted as a television series for Amazon Prime Video. The pair are seemingly still planning another R-rated project in the future, but Christopher is keeping mum concerning details while teasing it.
MCQUARRIE: “It’s a very un-Tom character, and we have plans for an even more un-Tom character that we’ve been talking about, which I’m hopeful about in the future. […] The franchise has moved on, and we haven’t. So we’ve now got stuff in the hopper. The [Jack Reacher] stuff we’re talking about now is tinker toys [compared to it], I’m actually very, very excited.”
McQuarrie and Tom have a longstanding working relationship as they will have worked on four Mission: Impossible films, Jack Reacher, and more recently Christopher did some rewrites on Top Gun: Maverick coming out on December 23rd.
It’ll be interesting to see what this project would ultimately be and if they’ll attempt to adapt existing IP or tackle something original.
A brief report from the Belfast Telegraph reveals that production on Robert Eggers’ large-scale viking revenge thriller The Northman will be resuming at Belfast Harbour Film Studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
It’s been teased that the film set in 10th Century Iceland is larger than we’ve previously thought and could be bigger than the last two films from Eggers. They’re also expected to do some secondary film in Iceland, at some point.
Robert will be reuniting with production designer Craig Lathrop and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, having previously worked with them on The Witch and The Lighthouse.
Here is what the impressive cast of The Northman looks like.
Anya Taylor-Joy (The New Mutants, The Witch, Last Night In Soho)
Nicole Kidman (The Others, Destroyer, Bombshell, Big Little Lies, Stoker)
Alexander Skarsgard (Generation Kill, The Stand, The Little Drummer Girl)
Bill Skarsgard (Atomic Blonde, Castle Rock, IT, IT: Chapter Two)
Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse, Nightmare Alley, John Wick)
Claes Bang (Dracula, The Girl In The Spider’s Web, The Affair)
Another high-concept and potentially expense series is coming to Amazon Prime Video.
Today, game developer Bethesda announced that they’re partnering with Amazon Studios and Kilter Films to bring to life a live-action series based on the beloved post-apocalypse video game franchise Fallout.
They’ve hired Westworld series co-creators and showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan to develop the show for the streaming service via Kilter Films and will act as producers. Nolan is also known as a screenwriter working on his brother Christopher Nolan’s films such as Interstellar, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.
Here is the press release.
Amazon Studios has licensed the rights to the worldwide best-selling game franchise Fallout, with acclaimed producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s Kilter Films attached to produce the project, currently in development with a series commitment.
The world of Fallout is one where the future envisioned by Americans in the late 1940s explodes upon itself through a nuclear war in 2077. The magic of the Fallout world is the harshness of the wasteland set against the previous generation’s utopian idea of a better world through nuclear energy. It is serious and harsh in tone, yet sprinkled with moments of ironic humor and B-movie-nuclear-fantasies.Fallout games have achieved record-setting sales and received hundreds of awards, including dozens of Game of the Year awards, while its mobile game, Fallout Shelter, has been downloaded more than 170 million times.
Fallout is from Amazon Studios and Kilter Films in association with Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks, with executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, and Athena Wickham for Kilter Films, Todd Howard for Bethesda Game Studios, and James Altman for Bethesda Softworks.
The pair’s Kilter Films is also in pre-production on their series adaptation of the William Gibson cyberpunk novel The Peripheral.
Lisa Joy recently made her feature film directorial debut with her sci-fi thriller Reminiscence for Warner Bros. starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, and Thandie Newton.
This is yet another high-profile series in development at Amazon Prime Video as they’re about to resume production on their fantasy shows such as The Lord of The Rings and The Wheel of Time.
If successful, I’m curious if Amazon Studios will also attempt to license the rights for Doom and Skyrim in the future to give those properties series adaptations as well.
Following the recent development of the Avatar sequels resuming production in Wellington, New Zealand last month, there is word from Deadline that Marvel Studios is hoping to restart filming on Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings by the end of July.
Filming had been taking place at Fox Studios Australia facility in Sydney, New South Wales.
This comes after Australia productions were halted over COVID-19 concerns and director Destin Daniel Cretton self-isolating when it was believed he might have come into contact with someone that was sick with Coronavirus.
Like New Zealand, Australia has been able to keep Coronavirus cases to a minimum and this means they’ll be able to resume filming sooner than other projects located in other countries.
We’ll have to see if they’ll truly be able to finish the film to meet that May 7th, 2021 release date considering the current delays they’ve seen and new protocols might see completing scenes taking longer than normal.
Delays would certainly impact Thor: Love & Thunder being ready on time as there had been expectations to begin shooting this summer/fall.
Director David Ayer really really likes making movies about criminals in Los Angeles, as he’s back with a new film titled The Tax Collector starring Bobby Soto and Shia LaBeouf.
A brand new trailer has dropped online which shows off a familiar setting but a slick slightly more grounded look to it than his more recent offerings.
THE TAX COLLECTOR – David (Bobby Soto) and Creeper (Shia LaBeouf), are “tax collectors” for the crime lord Wizard, collecting his cut from the profits of local gangs’ illicit dealings. But when Wizard’s old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, the business is upended, and David finds himself desperate to protect what matters more to him than anything else: his family.
The film will be released on VOD, Digital HD, and in theaters (we’ll see if that happens) on August 7th.
Today, Comedy Central has announced they’ve made a deal with Mike Judge to bring back MTV’s Beavis & Butt-Head for a new generation, literally. They’re expected to make a re-imagined version that will focus on Generation-Z, rather than Generation-X along with Mike Judge returning to voice the titular characters.
Here is the official press release.
Comedy Central today announced an expansive deal with Emmy® Award-winning Mike Judge to reimagine MTV’s seminal, Gen X-defining “Beavis and Butt-Head,” as well as additional spin-offs and specials.
Launched in 1993, “Beavis and Butt-Head” quickly became a force in pop culture and started a television revolution with its pure, unadulterated, satirical commentary on youth and adolescence. Centered around two teenage couch potatoes, “Beavis” and “Butt-Head,” the unprecedented concept immediately became part of the vernacular in a way no other adult animated series had before. Known for tackling social issues including teen obesity, workers’ rights and media trends, the show connected with an entire generation, laying claim as one of the most innovative series in the modern-day zeitgeist.
In this new iteration, “Beavis” and “Butt-head” are entering a whole new Gen Z world.
Comedy Central has ordered two seasons of the new series with meta-themes relatable to both new and old fans – Gen X parents and their Gen Z kids.
Judge is set to write, produce and provide voice over for both iconic characters.
Former executive producers of The Simpsons, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, left to launch their own animated alt-comedy series titled Mission Hill which only last 13-episodes. It’s still one of my faovrite animated shows and according to a new tweet made by Bill they’ll planning on pitching a spinoff focusing on supporting characters Gus Duncz and Wally Langford, an older gay couple that lives in the building and are friends of the show’s lead characters.
Wally was voiced by SpongeBob SquarePants‘ Tom Kenny and Gus by veteran voice actor Nick Jameson.
Bill also revealing the show will stick to it’s original setting and will take place in 2000.
OAKLEY: FYI Josh Weinstein working on bringing the show back and are taking it out to buyers soon. The new show takes place about six months after the original series ended (so 2000) and there is more Gus & Wally which is why it is tentatively titled GUS & WALLY.
Oakley and Weinstein moved on to produce the series Futurama. Most recently the pair reunited with Matt Groening for the Netflix animated series Disenchantment.
MISSION HILL – Andy French is an aspiring cartoonist who has trouble holding a job or a girlfriend even while he rooms with two other eccentric roommates in an apartment in the Mission Hill area of the city of Cosmopolis. The fact that he has to house his obnoxiously precocious younger brother, Kevin, is no help. However, this quartet of disparate individuals manages to struggle through life’s bizarre trials even as they learn to get along.
Former 20th Century Fox executive Emma Watts has been previously named the successor to Stacey Snider as the president of production at 20th Century Studios, while Disney took reigns of the legendary film studio. In January, Watts resigned her position at 20th Century and according to Deadline has found a new home at Paramount.
Emma has taken the role of president at Paramount Motion Pictures group starting on July 20th and will directly report to Paramount Pictures Chairman/CEO Jim Gianopulos.
Wyck Godfrey, the current president, will be returning to produce film and television.
This is exciting news for both Watts and Paramount, as she has an excellent eye for projects having produced films such as The Martian, Deadpool, Logan, Avatar and Ford v. Ferrari.
The next big project at Paramount will be Martin Scorsese’s $200 million-plus budgeted crime thriller Killers of The Flower Moon starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, which will be co-financed by Apple.
Paramount has been in a rut for the last couple of years after losing the distribution on the Marvel Studios films to Disney. Along with having a tough time competing with other studios despite their success with franchises like Transformers and Mission: Impossible. Not to mention expensive action projects like Ghost In The Shell, Gemini Man, and Terminator: Dark Fate losing them a lot of money when they didn’t perform at the global box office as expected.
Hopefully, Emma Watts can attract directors and high-end projects to the studio that will get audiences excited.
The Ronin has been able to independently confirm that Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures’ upcoming/untitled Spider-Man 3 has indeed added veteran visual effects supervisor Kelly Port to the film’s production team.
Port most recently worked on Marvel’s box office juggernauts Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. I’m curious if this potentially hints at the scale of the superhero sequel or they simply wanted someone already familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has tackled Spider-Man.
He was nominated for Best Achievement In Visual Effects at the 2019 Academy Awards for his work on Avengers: Infinity War.
Kelly has a history with Disney previously working on Beauty & The Beast and Maleficent.
Director Jon Watts is returning to finish his trilogy with a script penned by Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna. The pair of screenwriters also worked on the last two installments.
Outside of Spider-Man being framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio and his secret idenity being revealed by J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson, we don’t know much about the third MCU Spider-Man film other than Parker will likely be hunted-down by authorities.
The recent Morbius teaser trailer confirmed that the Sony Pictures spinoff film takes place in the same space as Spider-Man: Homecoming as it featured a brief cameo from Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture during some sort of prison escape scene.
No casting announcements have been made as the planned summer shoot was squashed by COVID-19, also delaying Uncharted‘s March production start. Sony most likely is going to have Tom Holland shoot the video game adaptation first in Germany (projects filming there expected to resume soon) before moving over to the Spidey project at some point.
While there have been production grids making the rounds online recently suggesting a September start for the Spider-Man sequel (working title Serenity Now) in the United States, it’s really hard to take any of those dates seriously when the COVID-19 pandemic changes day-to-day. Making those listings/dates kind of useless. Most recently, the state of Georgia has seen a massive spike of new cases over the last week and would suggest most filming that was expected to take place in Atlanta won’t be happening anytime soon along with prep/set construction given the size of the crews needed to put that together.
If the production start on Spider-Man 3 is indeed delayed into 2021 (looking more likely every day), I wouldn’t expect the film to be released on November 5th, 2021 and most likely will be pushed to another date in 2022.
The recent extension deal between Sony and Marvel includes another unnamed MCU film that will feature Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, however, what that project ultimately will be remains to be seen.
Here are some interesting Marvel tidbits that have surfaced recently.
‘WandaVision’ Expected To Have At Least 9-Episodes
A stunt person’s public resume spotted by Murphy’s Multiverse seemingly reveals that there might be at least 9-episodes of WandaVision airing on Disney+.
When WandaVision will be ready to begin airing on the streaming service hasn’t been made official. Vision actor Paul Bettany recently revealed that they still have some reshoots before they’re completely finished when that will happen is a little less unclear.
Anthony Mackie Says Marvel Studios Needs More Diversity
While speaking with Variety, MCU star Anthony Mackie took Marvel Studios to task about the diversity behind the camera.
MACKIE: “It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white.”
While Marvel Studios has a few non-white producers such as Nate Moore (Eternals, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther), Trinh Tran (Hawkeye, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Captain America: Civil War), and Malcolm Spellman (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier) Marvel and the producing team could certainly be doing a lot better in all areas of hiring and expanding their diversity behind the scenes, not just in front of the camera.
Mackie also stated to Variety that the upcoming series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier is like a six-hour film.
MACKIE: “We’re shooting it exactly like a movie. Everybody who had worked on TV before was like, ‘I’ve never worked on a TV show like this.’ The way in which we were shooting, it feels exactly like we were shooting the movie cut up into the show. So instead of a two-hour movie, a six or eight-hour movie.”
When the Marvel series will begin airing is also up-in-the-air as they didn’t finish shooting and the latest restrictions from the European Union banning American travelers would suggest that they won’t be able to complete those Prague scenes anytime soon.
The United States is also still stuck in the first wave of the coronavirus making it extremely dangerous for studios to ramp-up productions in Atlanta leaving shows like Falcon and Loki in production limbo for the moment.
Ernie Hudson Confirms He Attempted To Play King T’Chaka In The MCU
Ghostbusters and The Crow star Ernie Hudson confirmed to Comic Book that he asked Marvel producers about playing T’Challa’s father and former Black Panther, King T’Chaka. However, he asserts that Marvel thought the role was too small for him.
The original rumor that Hudson was in the mix came from Latino Review back in 2014.
Hulu’s ‘Helstrom’ Series Doesn’t Seem To Have The Marvel Studios Branding
An official logo for Helstrom posted by Hulu when announcing their lineup for Comic-Con@ Home seemingly omitted the Marvel branding from the project, which is based on characters from Marvel Comics and was produced by Marvel Television before Jeph Loeb stepped down. The company has been renamed to Marvel TV Studios and is overseen by Marvel’s new CCO, Kevin Feige.
In Marvel’s Helstrom, Daimon and Ana Helstrom are the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the terrorizing worst of humanity — each with their attitude and skills.
This could support the idea that Helstrom is neither part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (unlike the Disney+ shows) and most likely won’t be getting a second season.
I had been mostly exclusively reporting on the various directors working on the series at HN Entertainment, so I’m curious to see what the Vancouver-shot show looks like.
There have been some signs that the 10-episodes will begin airing sometime near Halloween in October/November.
THE RONIN 