'Fantastic Four': Ralph Ineson To Play Planet-Eating Villain Galactus In Marvel's Reboot
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Fantastic Four’: Ralph Ineson To Play Planet-Eating Villain Galactus In Marvel’s Reboot

We have our Galactus! Marvel Studios has reportedly landed on veteran character actor Ralph Ineson to play the iconic planet-eating bad guy in their upcoming “Fantastic Four” reboot that is gearing up to start filming this summer at Pinewood Studios UK in England. Making this the actor’s second MCU role after appearing in James Gunn’s “Guardians of The Galaxy” as a Ravager pilot.

This casting update comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter, as they’ve also added John Malkovich in another undisclosed part. You might remember that Malkovich was once in the mix to play The Vulture in Sam Raimi’s never-made “Spider-Man 4.”

The two new additions to the “Fantastic Four” cast will join Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, and Paul Walter Hauser. Matt Shakman directs after tackling the Disney+ series, “WandaVision,” which also played with period production design.

Ineson is likely known for roles in genre projects like “Game of Thrones,” “The Witch,” “The Creator,” “The Green Knight,” and will be part of Robert Eggers’ remake of “Nosferatu.”

While the reboot is expected to take place in the 1960s, some retro-futuristic skyline in promo artwork might have telegraphed that the movie is set in another universe, outside of Earth-616. “Fantastic Four” has a release date of July 25, 2025, and with casting in full swing, we’ll likely keep hearing new names being added over the coming days/weeks. So, stay tuned for those updates.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

'Blade Runner 2099': Michelle Yeoh To Star In Amazon's Cyberpunk Spinoff Series
Posted on in News, Television News

‘Blade Runner 2099’: Oscar-Winner Michelle Yeoh To Star In Amazon’s Cyberpunk Spinoff Series

Amazon Prime Video is riding high after their latest series “Fallout” has become their second biggest viewed show on the streaming service behind “Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power,” and one of their other ambitious projects looks to help expand the “Blade Runner” universe with “Blade Runner 2099.”

Best Actress Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) is the first actor to join the limited cyberpunk series, according to various trade reports, including one from Variety. That would suggest that Yeoh is taking a lead role, but there aren’t any concrete plot or character details about who exactly the actress is playing in “Blade Runner 2099.”

The world of “Blade Runner” hails from the Philip K. Dick novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” but properly fleshed-out thanks to Ridley Scott in 1982 with the original movie and then Denis Villeneuve’s sequel “Blade Runner 2049.” As the title would suggest, there is going to be a 50-year time jump with this new streaming series, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed we’ll finally see some of these off-world colonies (nine colonies established back in 2049).

While both feature films have had a huge influence from both Japanese and Chinese atheistic, we really haven’t seen what these Asian countries look like in this universe. However, there is the assumption that various Asian countries like Japan are behind the effort to populate the off-world colonies, and Earthbound nations might be just as sparse as the United States.

One of the other impressive hirings for the spinoff series is director Jonathan van Tulleken, who most recently worked on the massive FX hit streaming series, “Shogun,” and helmed two episodes.

Yeoh has made her presence in Hollywood’s genre realm well-established going back to the 1990s when she joined the James Bond franchise with “Tomorrow Never Dies,” which nearly led to her own spinoff film but ultimately didn’t materialize. Some of those other genre projects include “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Danny Boyle’s sci-fi thriller “Sunshine,” “American Born Chinese,” “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” had a brief cameo in “Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2,” “Morgan,” “The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor,” and James Cameron’s highly-anticipated “Avatar” sequels to the two previous multi-billion dollar successes.

An exciting development on a streaming project that could help add to the “Blade Runner” mythology.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Jack O'Connell Enlisted For Role In Danny Boyle's '28 Years Later'
Posted on in Film News, News

Jack O’Connell Enlisted For Role In Danny Boyle’s ’28 Years Later’

Writer Alex Garland (“Civil War”) and director Danny Boyle (“Trance”) have had a long-established working relationship going back to the late 1990s (first working on “The Beach”) and will be reuniting for a sequel to their action-horror pic, “28 Days Later,” with a continuation movie that will launch a trilogy at Sony Pictures. A new report from Deadline has revealed that Jack O’Connell is the latest addition to this third movie, “28 Years Later,” joining Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Bullet Train”), Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”), and Ralph Fiennes (“No Time To Die”).

Details about the sequel and these new characters are being kept under wraps, but it is said to be a direct sequel to the original and could skew toward a military angle, given that most of the United Kingdom has been overrun by the infected (hosts of the rage virus). While “28 Weeks Later” (could be removed from franchise canon) was indeed a sequel, the project didn’t have Garland or Boyle’s creative involvement as they would be focusing on their sci-fi thriller “Sunshine,” which also starred Cillian Murphy (attached to executive produce this new trilogy and might return as Jim alongside co-star Naomie Harris).

The Ronin previously revealed the film’s crew will consist of cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (“Dredd”) and production designer Mark Tildesley (“No Time To Die,” “Sunshine”), who previously worked on the original installment.

O’Connell most recently signed on to play the villain in Ryan Coogler’s period vampire action pic that stars Michael B. Jordan and takes place in the South in the 1930s. Other credits include the WWII pic “Unbroken” helmed by Angelina Jolie, “Starred Up,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” the military thriller “’71,” “Black To Black,” and “300: Rise of An Empire.”

Sony Pictures has yet to give “28 Years Later” an official release date, but stay tuned for that update down the line.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

'The Death Of Robin Hood': Hugh Jackman & Jodie Comer Star In Reimagining Of Classic Outlaw With Cameras Rolling Next February
Posted on in Film News, News

‘The Death Of Robin Hood’: Hugh Jackman & Jodie Comer Star In Dramatic Reimagining Of Classic Outlaw With Cameras Rolling Next February

While British actress Jodie Comer (“The Last Duel”) is gearing up to shoot Danny Boyle/Alex Garland’s “28 Years Later” this year, she’s being announced for a new period pic and will be co-starring alongside Hugh Jackman (“Prisoners”). Titled “The Death of Robin Hood,” the original feature film is a reimagining of the fictional English outlaw coming from Michael Sarnoski (“Pig,” “A Quiet Place: Day One”), who will both write and direct.

“The Death of Robin Hood” heads to the Cannes Film Market with WME Independent handling sales. Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company are behind the project as the pair are also involved with the upcoming Adam Wingard (“The Guest”) film “Onslaught” that recently landed at A24 Films.

That report from Deadline also features a brief idea of what to expect from the film that will keep its period angle in place, “The film will see the title character grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, a battle-worn loner who finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman who offers him a chance at salvation.”

Some modern incarnations of the outlaw have had varying success with audiences. Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” from 2010 tried to infuse historical events into the fictional tale with a stellar cast led by Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. While the franchise starter spent a good amount of time lining up sequels didn’t have the kind of impact Universal Pictures was hoping for, given the cost.

“It has been an incredible opportunity to reinvent and freshly innovate the story we all know of Robin Hood,” Sarnoski said in a statement on his retelling of the Robin Hood tale. “Securing the perfect cast to transform the script to screen was essential. I could not be more thrilled and trusting in Hugh and Jodie to bring this story to life in a powerful and meaningful way.”

Jackman recently shot “Deadpool & Wolverine,” reprising his iconic role of the beloved “X-Men” team member, and it sounds like this would be more of a dramatic take on Robin Hood, allowing the Aussie actor to flex those acting skills.

Filming on “The Death of Robin Hood” is expected to begin in February of next year.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

'Button Man': David Leitch Developing Action-Thriller Series Based On Comic Book From 'Judge Dredd' Co-Creator With The Aim To Direct
Posted on in News, Television News

‘Button Man’: David Leitch Developing Action Thriller Series Based On Comic Book From ‘Judge Dredd’ Co-Creator With Aim To Direct

David Leitch‘s “The Fall Guy” is out in theaters, and the filmmaker is starting to line up a potential small screen project as a future directing gig. A report from Deadline has revealed that there are plans behind the scenes, but deals haven’t been made, for the rights for the comic book “Button Man” hailing from 2000 AD (British publisher of popular mature comic books such as “Rogue Trooper” and “Judge Dredd”) is being developed as a television series.

Fifth Season has acquired the comic from “Judge Dredd” co-creator John Wagner (“A History of Violence”) with 87North (Leitch and Kelly McCormick) hoping to get involved with the project that focuses on a collective of skilled killers that participate in a game to the death taking a page from properties like “Highlander,” “John Wick,” and “Battle Royale.”

Leitch is said in the report as eyeing “Button Man” as something he could direct if the stars align for him.

The official logline for the comic book via Amazon/2000 AD reads as follows:

The world didn’t seem to need a man like Harry Exton anymore. An ex-soldier and mercenary, Harry was a human-killing machine without a vocation until an old colleague told him about ‘The Game.’ The players, known as “Button Men” are paid to fight to the death in a modern-day gladiatorial contest. Organised by mysterious backers known as ‘Voices’, the killing game offers bountiful financial rewards… if you live. Harry decides to participate but soon discovers that death offers the only way out! The world didn’t seem to need a man like Harry Exton anymore. An ex-soldier and mercenary, Harry was a human-killing machine without a vocation, until an old colleague told him about ‘The Game’. The players, known as ‘Button Men’ are paid to fight to the death in a modern-day gladiatorial contest. Organised by mysterious backers known as ‘Voices’, the killing game offers bountiful financial rewards… if you live. Harry decides to participate but soon discovers that death offers the only way out! Written by John Wagner (Judge Dredd, A History of Violence) with art by Arthur Ranson (Anderson: Psi Division, Mazeworld), “Button Man” is an action-packed thriller, deservedly regarded as one of the greatest strips ever to be published in 2000 AD.

“Button Man” once started out as a feature film that Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive”) was considering that bounced around from DreamWorks to Netflix.

Leitch has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures and has been trying to figure out his next directorial effort after exiting talks to tackle the latest installment of the “Jurassic” franchise before Gareth Edwards nabbed the job.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Amazon's 'Crime 101' Starring Chris Hemsworth & Pedro Pascal To Begin Filming This September, Thriller In The Vein Of 'Heat'
Posted on in Film News, News

Amazon/MGM’s Jewel Heist Pic ‘Crime 101’ Starring Chris Hemsworth & Pedro Pascal To Begin Filming This September

Last year, it was announced that Chris Hemsworth (“Extraction 2”) and Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”) would team up for a crime film said to be “in the vein of Michael Mann’s ‘Heat,'” and there is a neat update on where “Crime 101” from director Bart Layton (“American Animals”) is currently at in the development/prep stage.

Author Don Winslow (his novella of the same name adapted for the pic) has shared an update on Twitter, confirming that Amazon MGM Studios has acquired “Crime 101” after a bidding war with Netflix and that the film will begin shooting sometime in September.

Here is the official synopsis for Winslow’s novella, which should give you an idea of what to expect from “Crime 101”:

A string of high-level jewel heists up and down the Pacific Coast Highway has gone unsolved for years, mostly because the perpetrator has lived by a strict code he calls “Crime 101”. Police attribute the thefts to the Colombian cartels. But Detective Lou Lubesnick’s gut says it’s the work of just one man. Now the lone-wolf jewel thief is looking for that fabled final last score, and Lou breaks all the rules of “Crime 101”.

Pascal is a busy bee these days as he’s expected to play Dr. Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot this summer at Pinewood Studios UK in England and has a July 2025 release date. It’s starting to feel like he’ll move directly from “Fantastic Four” into “Crime 101.”

Hemsworth has been getting a bunch of success with his “Extraction” films on Netflix and will be seen next in George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” A fellow MCU actor, Hemsworth, has been teasing his interest in returning to the “Thor” role for a fifth solo film, while rumored online, it’s one that has yet to be made official by Marvel.

This isn’t the only Winslow project in the works, as Oscar-nominee Austin Butler (“Dune: Part Two,” “Elvis”) is attached to star in “City On Fire,” a mobster epic that has been compared to “The Godfather,” which would see Irish and Italian criminal syndicates going to war and is expected to be a franchise-starter for Butler. James Mangold (“Ford v Ferrari”) was also developing a feature film adaptation of “The Force” that had Matt Damon circling the cop thriller at 20th Century Studios.

Amazon MGM Studios has yet to give “Crime 101” an official release date.

SOURCE: DON WINSLOW

'28 Days Later' & 'Dredd' Cinematographer Reunites With Director Danny Boyle For '28 Years Later'
Posted on in Film News, News

’28 Days Later’ & ‘Dredd’ Cinematographer Reunites With Director Danny Boyle For ’28 Years Later’

Danny Boyle (“Yesterday”) and Alex Garland (“Civil War”) are getting the band back together as Garland is looking to make his grand return to screenwriting for other filmmakers by launching a new trilogy set within the universe of their previous film “28 Days Later.” The first installment, “28 Years Later,” landed at Sony Pictures with a cast that currently consists of Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Bullet Train,” “The Fall Guy”), Jodie Comer (“The Bikeriders,” “Free Guy”), and Ralph Fiennes (“No Time To Die”).

Podcast: Adventures of Anthony Dod Mantle, part I by Michael Goldman - ProVideo Coalition

The Ronin can confirm that cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (“Dredd”), who previously worked with Boyle on ’28 Days Later,” “Trance,””Slumdog Millionaire,” “Millions,” ‘T2: Trainspotting 2,” and “127 Hours” has joined the crew of the upcoming sequel. Most recently, Mantle and Boyle collaborated on the Sex Pistols series, “Pistol.”

What originally kicked off the rage virus being unleashed into the population was when an infected chimp gets released by well-intentioned animal rights activists, only for the chimp to bite them as they turn into the mindless killers that spread across the globe. Not traditional zombies, as the rage virus horde can run which influenced a heap of horror films. “28 Weeks Later” alludes to France/Europe also being overrun with rage hordes by the end of the film, as the main gist of the sequel was that the US military trying to repopulate the country slowly before that goes south too.

It’s still unclear what the actual plot of the film will be. However, there is an expectation that two more installments are also in the works, with trade reports claiming that Nia DaCosta (“Candyman,” “The Marvels”) is in talks to direct the second movie in the trilogy. Characters played by recent Best Actor Oscar winner Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) and Naomie Harris (“No Time To Die”) have survived the events of the original, but it remains to be seen if either will reprise their respective roles. Murphy attaching himself as a producer could signal his eventual return to the franchise.

For Boyle, this will be one of his biggest recent films after bowing out to helm the last James Bond movie over scheduling/creative differences. There is an expectation that production designer Mark Tildesley (“No Time To Die,” “Sunshine”) will be a department head and also previously worked on the original pic.

“28 Years Later” will shoot primarily in the United Kingdom, and Sony is handling the global distribution, although. we’re still waiting on an official release date from the studio.

'Fantastic Four': Paul Walter Hauser Nabs Mystery Part In Marvel's Latest Reboot
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Fantastic Four’: Paul Walter Hauser Nabs Mystery Part In Marvel’s Latest Reboot

Marvel Studios is still casting roles for their upcoming reboot of “The Fantastic Four” and has added actor Paul Walter Hauser (“Cruella”) in a mystery part, according to both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. Who exactly Hauser is playing is unknown; we could theorize it is anything from a random supporting role to a villain like Mole Man or the voice of our heroes’ loyal robot, H.E.R.B.I.E., the latter being confirmed by official teaser artwork released by Marvel Studios back on Valentine’s Day.

After delivering “WandaVision,” Matt Shakman has been selected to direct the latest incarnation of “Fantastic Four” with a cast that consists of Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”) as Dr. Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (“Mission: Impossible” and “Fast & Furious” franchises) as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear,” “Andor”) as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things”) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.

This update comes after Julia Garner (“Wolf Man,” “Ozark”) was tapped by the studio to play the Earth-X version of Silver Surfer with Norrin Radd’s love, Shalla-Bal, playing the herald of cosmic villain Galactus. From the teaser artwork, there are elements of our version of the 1960s (a Time Magazine from the era) but also a cityscape teasing a retro-futuristic setting that may hint the film won’t take place within the main MCU, Earth-616.

The budding comedic actor made a curious pivot into dramatic roles thanks to Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” and “Da 5 Bloods,” Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewel,” and the prison drama “Black Bird.” There is a bit of a connection between Hauser and Shakman, as one of the first roles Hauser had was playing a teenage Juggalo on “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” which was a comedic series that Shakman directed and he did work on that episode from 2010.

“Fantastic Four” has a script from Eric Pearson (tackling the latest draft) with an expectation that shooting will start later this summer at Pinewood Studios UK and has a tentative release date of July 25, 2025 (be prepared for more MCU slate shifts between now and then).

SOURCE: DEADLINE & THR

'Flesh Of The Gods': Kristen Stewart & Oscar Isaac To Lead 1980s-Set Vampire Pic From 'Mandy' Director Panos Cosmatos
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Flesh Of The Gods’: Kristen Stewart & Oscar Isaac To Lead 1980s-Set Vampire Pic From ‘Mandy’ Director Panos Cosmatos

Kristen Stewart (“Crimes of The Future”) and Oscar Isaac (“Ex Machina”) are set to play a married couple in “Flesh of The Gods,” a new vampire genre flick from “Mandy” director Panos Cosmatos. The news hails from the Hollywood Reporter, and while the pairing of the two leads is impressive on its own, the script hails from Andrew Kevin Walker, who has genre film credits that include “Se7en,” “8MM,” and David Fincher’s latest film “The Killer.” Walker worked off a story from Cosmatos, and there is hope that production could begin later this year.

This will be one of the many films heading to the Cannes Film Market, with CAA/WME handling domestic rights sales and XYZ Films overseeing the international side of sales. Cosmatos previously worked with XYZ on his Nicolas Cage-led psychedelic revenge film, “Mandy.”

“Flesh of The Gods” is a vampire movie set during the 1980s in Los Angeles, California. In the report, producers provided the logline, and it reads:

“Follows a married couple, Raoul (Isaac) and Alex (Stewart), who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm of 80’s LA. When they cross paths with the mysterious and enigmatic woman and her hard-partying cabal, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills, and violence.

Sounds a bit like “Flesh of The Gods” could be taking a page from Tony Scott’s sexy vampire thriller “The Hunger.”

Adam McKay (“Vice”) is part of the producing team, which also consists of Betsy Koch via the duo’s Hyperobject Industries production company and Isaac’s banner, Mad Gene Media.

Panos, you might remember, directed a wild, mind-melting episode of “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” called “The Viewing.” Stewart recently starred in A24’s period thriller “Love Lives Bleeding,” and Isaac has been playing Dr. Victor Frankenstein in del Toro’s spin on Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein,” with production expected to be completed by mid-June.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

George Miller Finally Developing Script For His Third 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Movie With Tom Hardy Reprising Role
Posted on in Film News, News

George Miller Hopeful He’ll Get To Make Third ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Movie Idea With Tom Hardy Reprising Role

This month sees a grand return to George Miller’s wasteland with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” a prequel exploring the origin of Imperator Furiosa, first played by Charlize Theron in “Mad Max: Fury Road” and now has Anya Taylor-Joy in the role as we explore Furiosa’s journey from The Green Place of Many Mothers, to the clutches of a roving biker gang led by Dementus, and to Immortan Joe’s Citadel. However, “Furiosa” won’t be the end of the stories told within the “Mad Max” universe if Miller has any say in that.

Miller has revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he’s hopeful that his long-gestating idea for a third movie that developed alongside “Furiosa” 15 years ago when “Mad Max: Fury Road” was on hiatus with Miller and his creative team hashing out backstories for all their characters, will get made down the line as he’s keen if he gets the chance to do it. Confirming that Max is indeed lurking in the background during the events of “Furiosa” and he’ll have a minor cameo in the new film.

Set Decor / Directors Chair: George Miller: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

“In doing what we did in the preparation of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ we also wrote what happened to Max in the year before we encounter him in [that film],” Miller said of his third film idea taking place a year before the events of “Fury Road” and where we’d see the grizzled antihero. “And as we get towards the end of this movie, the chronology… Basically, we had to see that Mad Max was lurking around somewhere because we do know what happened. The writers know what happened to Mad Max in that year before, and we have a whole story of that, which I would like to do sometime if I get the chance.”

What exactly would a Mad Max prequel set a year before “Fury “Road” look like?

This isn’t the first time a prequel tie-in has been brought up as a comic book and video game (had featured Gastown) seemingly took some of these elements as we saw Max’s connections to Glory The Child, the phantom girl portrayed by Coco Jack Gillies that haunts Max during the events of “Fury Road,” and her mother, Hope. As those flashbacks would suggest, the fate of Hope and Glory doesn’t lead to a happy ending, alongside other potentially dead cohorts Max wasn’t able to save before redeeming himself in “Fury Road.”

Nothing says that Miller couldn’t attempt to incorporate a Furiosa B-story taking place elsewhere in the wasteland and opposite to what Max is up to, allowing Theron to reprise the role one more time.

“Furiosa” will speed into theaters on May 24 with a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and we’ll have to wait to see how many more adventures in the wasteland that Miller is willing to give us.

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY