Posted on in Film News

Lily James Starring In Thriller ‘The Paris Trap’ – Production Eyeing Start In Early 2021

Another project announced at the Cannes Virtual Market via Deadline is a Paris-set thriller titled The Paris Trap from director Pablo Trapero (ZeroZeroZero, The Chain) with British actress Lily James (Baby Driver, Cinderella, Rebecca) set to take the lead role.

The Paris Trap has a script penned by Daniel Taplitz with rewrites from Michael Lesslie.

The Hitchcockian thriller revolves around a young American woman on a visit to Paris who becomes the victim of mistaken identity. Caught up in a secret international government operation, she must play the part to save her own life. James will play the young woman whose character is thrust to the center of the operation and must find her way out of the “trap,” helped by her handler. That role, the co-lead of the film, will be cast shortly.

Pablo’s current work includes the Amazon series ZeroZeroZero and Spanish-language thriller The Clan.

Lily’s most recent projects include Baby Driver, Darkest Hour, Yesterday, and Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca for Netflix. James had just signed-on for Phillip Noyce’s bank robbery film Peggy Jo, where she’ll be playing a female criminal that disguised herself as a man to commit crimes.

Filming on The Paris Trap is expected to begin sometime early next year in Paris, France.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Joe Cornish Says He’s Met With John Boyega About An ‘Attack The Block’ Sequel

It sounds like John Boyega might be returning to the world of science fiction in the near future.

While on the Script Apart Podcast (via Empire), writer/director Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) has revealed that he has met with Star Wars actor John Boyega about potentially returning for a sequel to his breakout British sci-fi comedy Attack The Block.

CORNISH: “We’ve got ideas. I met with John a couple of months ago to talk about it. We’ve always had ideas after the first one. But obviously we’ve both been busy doing different things. In a way, the longer you leave it, the more interesting it is. So, that’s all I’ll say.”

Boyega got noticed thanks to his leading role in the R-rated film which led to big franchise roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Pacific Rim: Uprising. This comes after John felt he might see some career backlash from speaking out at UK protests supporting Black Lives Matter, which saw a bunch of directors stating publicly they are keen to work with the actor after his impassioned speech went viral on social media.

Next May will see the film’s 10th Anniversary.

ATTACK THE BLOCK – From the producers of Shaun of the Dead, ATTACK THE BLOCK is a fast, funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen street gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. It turns a London housing project into a sci-fi battleground, the low-income apartment complex into a fortress under siege. And it turns a crazy mix of tough street kids into a team of kick ass heroes. It’s inner city versus outer space and it’s going to explode.



SOURCE: SCRIPT APART PODCAST

Posted on in Film News

Walter Hill Reveals ‘Alien V’ Script Co-Written With David Giler Is From March 2020 – Teases Retconning ‘Alien 3-4’?

Last week, it was revealed by Alien franchise actress Sigourney Weaver that producer Walter Hill penned a draft for Alien 5 over a year ago. Weaver didn’t sound terribly enthusiastic about reprising the Ripley role.

Hill has now reached out to SyFy Wire and has added some new information including images of the script titled “Alien V” is dated March 13th, 2020 and is co-written by fellow franchise producer/screenwriter David Giler. The pair did rewrites on the original Alien script, worked on Aliens with James Cameron, and were behind the final version of Alien 3.

HILL: “Sigourney, as she has from the very beginning, is being too modest about her proven ability to pull off the idea — which is to tell a story that scares the pants off your date, kicks the ass of a new Xenomorph, and conducts a meditation on both the universe of the Alien franchise and the destiny of the character of Lt. Ellen Ripley.”

This would establish the pair have been more recently working on the project since Neill Blomkamp exited to purse other films and might be something they’ve been doing on their own, rather than something guided by Disney or 20th Century Studios.

Meaning that Alien V hasn’t been greenlit.

“In space nobody can hear you dream” is mentioned on the tagline, which might suggest their version could attempt to retcon both Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection via cryosleep. Blomkamp wanted to have Alien 5 a direct sequel to Aliens with bringing back characters like Hicks, Newt, and even Bishop.

I sort of get vibes from when Ridley Scott’s production company Scott Free was originally tasked to develop the Alien: Origins script with Jon Spaihts before it became the version of Prometheus we know today.

SOURCE: SYFY WIRE

Posted on in Film News

TRAILER: New Footage From ‘Train To Busan’ Sequel ‘Peninsula’ Proves The Zombie Flick Is Seriously Action-Packed

South Korean action-horror film Train To Busan has to be one of the better foreign zombie movies out there and they’re about to release a sequel that is certainly cranking-up both the budget and action set pieces.

Studio Canal UK has released a brand new trailer showing up the action of the film along with a little bit of the plot, it certain gives the impression they’re aiming to be the Aliens or Mad Max: Fury Road of zombie movies.

Check out the new trailer below.

PENINSULA – When the zombie outbreak swept the entire nation, Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) barely escaped South Korea alive. While living a life of despair in Hong Kong, he receives an enticing offer to return to the quarantined peninsula. His mission is to retrieve an abandoned truck in the middle of Seoul within a time limit and escape the peninsula silently. But his operation goes haywire when a mysterious militia known as Unit 631 ambushes Jung-seok’s small team, as well as even more vicious hordes of zombies. In his most desperate moment, Min-jung’s (Lee Jung-hyun) family saves him and he plans one last chance to escape the peninsula once and for all. The prodigal son, the Survivor and the Deranged. Their violent struggle for survival begins!

SOURCE: STUDIO CANAL UK

Posted on in Television News

Ewan McGregor Confirms ‘Kenobi’ Series Will Employ StageCraft VFX Used By ‘The Mandalorian’

Ewan McGregor earlier in the year revealed on the Birds of Prey red carpet that the Kenobi series would be pushing it’s start date from the summer to January 2021. This was due to script issues and Lucasfilm ended up hiring Joby Harold (King Arthur: Legend of The Sword, Army of The Dead) to do rewrites for the Star Wars series that will be directed by Deborah Chow.

Ace Universe was able to speak with Ewan McGregor, where he revealed that they’re expected to be using the StageCraft visual effects on the untitled Kenobi series that were employed in Season 1-2 of The Mandalorian.

MCGREGOR: “[The prequels] were all blue screen and green screen and it was hard to imagine, but nowadays I think things have moved on so much, and I think a lot of what you see is gonna be what we see on the set. I don’t know if you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes of The Mandalorian series, but they employ that incredible screen…it’s pretty amazing. It makes you feel like you’re in the place, it’s going to feel realer for us, as actors. And I think we’ll be using some of that technology on our show.”

You can check out the entire interview conducted by ACE host Angélique Roché below.

Hopefully, they’ll be able to be able to begin shooting in January as planned and if that happens there is a good chance that we’ll end up seeing the Kenobi series ready to air on Disney+ sometime between late 2021 and early/mid-2022.

SOURCE: ACE UNIVERSE

Posted on in Film News

Lionsgate Sets Oscar Isaac and Director Ben Stiller For Jo Nesbo Thriller ‘London’

Deadline is reporting that Lionsgate has paired director Ben Stiller with actor Oscar Isaac for a new high-concept thriller titled London based on a new story from crime author Jo Nesbo (The Snowman), which will be adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (Killers of The Flower Moon, The Insider, Munich, Forrest Gump).

Details on the project are scarce at the moment but the writing talent involved is certainly very interesting to say the least.

Oscar was recently working on Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter before production was paused due to a COVID-19 outbreak on set and he also wrapped Denis Villeneuve’s Dune remake for Warner Bros./Legendary Entertainment last year.

Stiller is best known for directing comedies such as Zoolander and Tropic Thunder. But has tried his hand at more adventurous projects like The Secret Life of Water Mitty and the Showtime mini-series Escape At Dannemora.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Avatar’ Sequels Have Officially Resumed Production In New Zealand

Yesterday, producer Jon Landau announced via his Instagram account (has oddly removed all his previous tweets) that the Avatar sequels have now resumed the live-action portion of the filming in Wellington, New Zealand.

Production is taking place at the Stone Street Studios facility.

Jon posted this image from the set.

LANDAU: “Used my iPhone to snap a picture of our first shot back in production on the Avatar sequels.”

This comes after their 14-day mandatory isolation as per government regulations.

The Avatar sequels are seemingly the first major productions to resume after the pandemic first broke out, worth noting that New Zealand has only had two new cases of COVID-19 over the last 24 days. The remote island nation is certainly in much better position to resume filming than the United States or even the United Kingdom.

It’s unknown if the production delays from back in March will directly impact the release date of December 17th, 2021.

SOURCE: JON LANDAU

Posted on in Film News

Antoine Fuqua To Direct Will Smith In Runaway Slave Action Thriller ‘Emancipation’

Deadline is reporting some news from the Cannes Virtual Marketplace as Will Smith and Training Day director Antoine Fuqua will be uniting for a new runaway salve action thriller titled Emancipation.

An action thriller about the harrowing escape of Peter (Smith), a runaway slave forced to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey North. There he joined the Union Army.

 Willam N. Collage penned the script.

Filming on Emancipation is expected to begin in early 2021.

You might remember that Will Smith had turned down the titular role in Quentin Tarantino’s slave era revenge action flick Django Unchained with the role of Django instead going to fellow Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx. However, it sounds like Emancipation is going to be less tongue-and-cheek than the Tarantino film.

Fuqua recently worked on the sci-fi thriller Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg and Smith has yet to complete production on King Richard.

Posted on in News

Star Wars Celebration 2020 Officially Cancelled – Will Return To Anaheim In August 2022

After next month’s San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled because of the current risk of holding an international event during the COVID-19 pandemic. Star Wars Celebration 2020 in Anaheim, California has been cancelled as well for similar reasons.

However, it will return to the Anaheim Convention Center in August 2022.

Here is the official press release about the announcement.

To our Star Wars Celebration fans and friends,

At Star Wars Celebration, the health and safety of our fans, attendees, exhibitors, guests and staff is always our number one priority. Due to the global impact of the COVID-19 virus and in speaking with local and state authorities on the latest public health guidelines related to indoor conventions, we have made the decision to cancel Star Wars Celebration for 2020.

While this news is disappointing, we are happy to announce that Star Wars Celebration will return to the Anaheim Convention Center on August 18-21, 2022.

Tickets Transfers and Refunds: Fans who were planning to attend Star Wars Celebration Anaheim this year may either transfer their current ticket purchase to the new event dates, receive a refund or receive a credit for Star Wars Celebration merchandise. As a token of our appreciation and to thank all Star Wars Celebration 2020 fans who choose to transfer their tickets to the 2022 show, we are excited to offer a free exclusive Star Wars Celebration stormtrooper character pin for all transferred tickets. All information about transferring your tickets or requesting a refund can be found at starwarscelebration.com and all ticket holders will receive an e-mail with detailed instructions on how to submit your request.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM

Posted on in Film News

‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ To Resume UK Filming Next Month According To Universal

Deadline has spoken with Universal Pictures about when Jurassic World: Dominion (working title Arcadia) could possibly resume filming. The studio is suggesting that by July 6th or mid-July they’ll having cameras rolling in London, England.

Universal’s Jurassic World: Domininion is set to be the first major studio movie to re-start filming proper in the UK, we can reveal. Cameras are due to roll the second week of July (July 6) at Pinewood Studios, Universal has confirmed.

“The plan is for us to be shooting early-mid July,” a senior Universal production executive confirmed.

The production presumably resuming at Pinewood Studios UK.

Universal also gave in-depth details to the outlet about the precautionary protocols they’re putting into place to adhere to government guidelines.

We’ll see if the studio actually sticks to this plan given that the United Kingdom is still in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic with 41,600 deaths and counting. There very well could be a second production shutdown if there is an outbreak on set or if the government implements new stay-at-home orders leading to filming to be placed on hiatus.

Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow returns with a cast that includes Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, Dichen Lachman, Scott Haze, Isabella Sermon, Jake Johnson, and Omar Sy. 

Franchise producer Frank Marshall recently gave the impression that they’re hoping to continue beyond the new trilogy.

Universal had given the film a release date of June 11th, 2021 and that is more than likely going to change to a later date given how far they are behind on photography.

SOURCE: DEADLINE