Tag: 20th Century Studios

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‘Predator 5’: Amber Midthunder From ‘Legion’ In The Mix For The Lead Role?

The Ronin has come across information that points at actress Amber Midthunder as being in the mix for the upcoming Predator 5 from director Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane). Amber is likely best known from her roles in shows such as the X-Men series Legion, the western thriller Hell or High Water, and the new Roswell reboot.

The actress posted a bunch of blood droplets on a image post from Trachtenberg’s Instagram account for some special effects test they were conducting behind the scenes. A post that that happened to be liked by the president of 20th Century Studios, Steve Asbell, which feels like a strong hint she is indeed involved with the film.

Amber isn’t a stranger to productions shot in Canada both Legion (Vancouver) and the upcoming Liam Neesen action flick The Ice Road (Winnipeg) were shot in the country, which means she likely won’t have a lot of issues working in Calgary, Alberta. Apparently, the third season of Roswell, New Mexico was supposed to complete filming in April and could mean Amber has an opening in her schedule.

UPDATE (AUGUST 14, 2021): Amber Midthunder posted these images a few weeks back on Instagram that are likely from the Calgary Stampede (a huge yearly event in the city), and would confirm she’s in Alberta.

Filming on Predator 5 is set to begin early next month in Calgary, Alberta as Dan has assembled a nifty production team that consists of cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane), production designer Kara Lindstrom (Den of Thieves), and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation).

Given how soon production begins I have to assume casting announcements are going to be made in the next couple of weeks. Interestingly enough, the new film shares the same casting director that is also working on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of The Flower Moon, another film expected to have a large cast of native actors and could signal that Dan might be aiming to fill other roles with unknowns.

It likely means that the lawsuit that is reportedly coming from the original screenwriters of the 1987 film likely won’t have a huge impact on delaying the fifth installment’s shoot.

A release date has yet to be announced by Disney or 20th Century Studios but there had been teases from trades about it potentially being released next summer.

PREDATOR – Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier of fortune, is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes weapons expert Blain (Jesse Ventura) and CIA agent George (Carl Weathers), land in Central America, something is gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings.

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‘The Predator’ Actor Kyle Strauts Expected To Suit-Up For ‘Predator 5’

The Ronin has learned that Canadian actor and stuntman Kyle Strauts is most likely going to be reprising the role of the alien hunter in Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator 5, although we weren’t able to confirm. Kyle previously suited-up in Shane Black’s The Predator and posted a heap of behind-the-scenes images of the Emissary Predators that got cut out of the final cut, which Kyle played.

Kyle recently worked with Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow on the revival of Are You Afraid of The Dark? in British Columbia.

Filming on Predator 5 is set to begin early next month in Calgary, Alberta as Dan has assembled a nifty production team that consists of cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane), production designer Kara Lindstrom (Den of Thieves), and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation).

We’re still waiting on casting announcements concerning who’ll be playing the humans in the new film, but we’re hearing that Dan might end up hiring unknowns for some of the lead roles.

There is also a good chance that ADI is working on the creature/special effects.

While trades have teased a Summer 2020 release for the film, Disney/20th Century Studios haven’t announced a date for the sci-fi action flick.

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‘Predator 5’ Adds ‘Den of Thieves’ Production Designer & ‘Damnation’ Stunt Coordinator – Filming Begins Next Month In Calgary

The Disney-owned 20th Century Studios is moving forward with a fifth Predator film directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg and is said to be a large departure from previous installments. As instead of muscle-bound soldiers or cops, it’s rumored that the main human protagonist is going to be a young female Comanche warrior. 

Dan will be reuniting with cinematographer Jeff Cutter, the two previously worked together on Bad Robot’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. 

The Ronin has now learned that two more folks have joined Predator 5’s production team with Den of Thieves production designer Kara Lindstrom and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation, Wynonna Earp) have boarded the sci-fi action flick. Steven was once Hugh Jackman’s stunt double in the original X-Men movie and has moved up the ranks in the stunt world since. 

Kara has been posting amazing landscape pictures from Alberta on Instagram. There has been talk they’ll be using beautiful and remote areas in Alberta for various exteriors needed for the shoot. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/COYDY2IhzkS/

Production in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is confirmed to begin June 7 and wrap by August 20.  There is an assumption we’ll start hearing some casting news with the production less than a month away.

The previous installment The Predator from director Shane Black was meant to lead to multiple contemporary sequels as teased with that ridiculous predator-killer suit post-credit scene. However, this next film isn’t expected to continue that story or characters, which might relieve a lot of fans that weren’t thrilled with how The Predator turned out.

Every Predator sequel since Predator 2 has attempted to coax Arnold Schwarzenegger to return as his iconic franchise character Dutch, but it remains to be seen if they’ll even attempt that if Predator 5 is going to taking place too far in the past for that to make sense.

Neither Disney nor 20th Century Studios have officially given the Predator sequel an official release date or announced the film’s release date.

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Original ‘Predator’ Screenwriters Suing Disney To Get Rights Back

The rights to Predator might be on the chopping block.

A report from The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Disney’s hold on the franchise copyright expires this Saturday, allowing the original screenwriters Jim and John Thomas to attempt to activate the copyright termination provision allowing the brothers to recapture the rights from Disney via their original script, titled Hunters. Something similar has been happening with the Friday The 13th franchise, they’ll also be represented by Marc Toberoff.

20th Century Studios (now owned by Disney) had been planning on shooting Predator 5 aka Skulls this summer in Calgary with director Dan Trachtenberg, it’s unknown what this could mean for this upcoming project and if the Thomas Brothers will be entitled to a piece of the box office.

There are six feature films with the iconic alien hunter such as Predator, Predator 2, Predators, The Predator, Alien vs. Predator, and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem.

The Predator franchise has been extremely lucrative for 20th Century as it’s spawned decades worth of comic books, novels, video games, multiple toys lines, t-shirts, and other merchandise since the release in 1987. I don’t see Disney giving up the franchise without a fight or attempting to buy them out.

PREDATOR – Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a soldier of fortune, is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. But when Dutch and his team, which includes weapons expert Blain (Jesse Ventura) and CIA agent George (Carl Weathers), land in Central America, something is gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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UPDATE: ‘Predator 5’ Shoot In Calgary Taking Place From June To August

Predator 5 aka Skulls has been previously confirmed for a shoot in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg and cinematographer Jeff Cutter. It’ll be the first installment with the franchise under Disney ownership after the merger saw them take over 20th Century Fox, now re-branded as 20th Century Studios.

The Ronin has learned about some updated production dates as location scouting is underway in Alberta they are planning on a shoot that will kick-off on June 7 and wrap filming by August 20. This would be different from the dates mentioned by AVP Galaxy last month.

Shane Black’s The Predator was released back in 2018 and that one shot in Vancouver (used for Alien vs. Predator: Requiem). The film was a bit of a critical and commercial blunder for the studio earning a poultry $160.5 million globally on a budget of $88 million, it also underwent reshoots removing a sub-plot with the Emissary Predators.

Hopefully, Dan is able to make the version he wants to do without meddling from franchise producers during production or in post.

Predator 5 is without a release date or an official cast.

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’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Cinematographer Jeff Cutter Joins ‘Predator 5’ Production Team

As production on 20th Century Studios’ Predator 5 aka Skulls is expected to kick-off in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There seems to be an reunion of sorts on director Dan Trachtenberg’s production team.

10 Cloverfield Lane cinematographer Jeff Cutter has signed-up for the fifth Predator installment as he posted on his Instagram account a location scout in Alberta with Dan. The pair also worked together on the pilot episode of Amazon’s hit mature themed comic book series The Boys.

The last cinematographer to work on the franchise was Larry Fong (300, Kong: Skull Island, Watchmen) on Shane Black’s The Predator.

Disney is now the owners of the Alien and Predator franchises from the merger, it’ll be interesting to see what the new era will look like. While there was talk of Ridley Scott developing another film for 20th Century the next Alien project is a streaming series from Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo). The next Predator installment will take place within the world of Native American culture and could bring it back to it’s roots of the 1987 original. Unlike the other Predator movies, we’re expected to see a female protagonist and likely will be a nod to the comic book character Machiko Noguchi.

Predator 5 is currently without an official cast or release date.

SOURCE: JEFF CUTTER

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20th Century Hires Joe Cornish To Write/Direct A Feature Film Adaptation of Mark Millar’s ‘Starlight’

Finally, a new high-profile project has been announced at Disney’s 20th Century Studios.

Attack The Block’s Joe Cornish has been assigned to write and direct a feature film adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book Starlight. The project seems to be influenced by sci-fi swashbucklers such as Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and John Carter.

The comic centers on a space hero who saved the universe 35 years ago but when he came back to Earth, no one believed his fantastic stories. He married, had kids and settled into old age, but then his old rocket ship shows up, and he is called back for one fantastic adventure.

It’s a little odd would attempt Starlight since 20th Century Studios has the rights to Flash Gordon with development on both animated and live-action movies over the last couple of years. Perhaps, the twist is appealing enough to purse this project alongside Flash?

Joe previously co-wrote the original Ant-Man script with Edgar Wright, the pair also worked on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tinin: The Secret of The Unicorn. He recently directed The Kid Who Would Be King and is set to helm the Lockwood series for Netflix.

Mark Millar is a comic book writer that is behind mature work such as Kingsman, Kick-Ass, Wanted, Empress, Superior, and Jupiter’s Legacy.The latter getting an upcoming Netflix series.

At one time, 20th Century Fox (pre-merger) was developing a film based on his Shazam!/Superman knock-off Superior with Matthew Vaughn (had been attached to direct a Flash Gordon remake). It’s unknown if the studio is going to move forward with that superhero project anytime soon.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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James Cameron Says He Threatened To Fire Screenwriters Working On The ‘Avatar’ Sequels

With principle photography (live-action and motion-capture) completed on both Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 there should be some celebration involved as many people weren’t sure if James Cameron was going to be able to complete all four of his sequels. They still have to finish-up Avatar 4 and Avatar 5, but having two in the post-production phase should be a step in the right direction to delivering on his ambitious plan.

However, it sounds like things didn’t go terribly smoothly in the development process according to James Cameron. During a chat on The Marianne Williamson Podcast (via The Playlist) the filmmaker revealed that he had to threaten to fire screenwriters because they weren’t listening to his instructions about waiting until figuring out what worked in the first film before adding new ideas and stories. Despite the “threat of firing,” it doesn’t look like he followed through with it.

CAMERON: “When I sat down to write the sequels, I knew there were going to be three at the time, and eventually it turned into four, I put together a group of writers and said, ‘I don’t want to hear anybody’s new ideas or anyone’s pitches until we have spent some time figuring out what worked on the first film, what connected, and why it worked. They kept wanting to talk about the new stories. I said, ‘We aren’t doing that yet.’ Eventually, I had to threaten to fire them all because they were doing what writers do, which is to try and create new stories. I said, ‘We need to understand what the connection was and protect it, protect that ember and that flame.’”

The writing team on the first three Avatar sequels includes James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. They all share “story by” credit then divided-up the screenplays across Avatar 2 to Avatar 4. Shane Salerno co-writing the finale, Avatar 5, with James Cameron.

Cameron is known to be a complete control-freak on his productions and micromanaging the script development on four films is certainly something unsurprising given how much time he would be investing filming the movies and wanting to make sure he wasn’t wasting time/money pointless things. He’s also a writer himself and was closely working with them to execute his vision that would be told over five different films.

Jim also doesn’t suffer people working on his projects that don’t listen to him and has had to fire people even deep in production. Luckily, it doesn’t look like anyone was actually fired off the films.

SOURCE: THE MARIANNE WILLIAMSON PODCAST

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‘Kingsman’ Prequel ‘The King’s Man’ Bumped From August To December

Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man is yet another summer film be pushed to a later date.

Disney/20th Century Studios has moved the Kingsman prequel from August 20th to December 22nd.

The film’s cast includes Ralph Fiennes as Duke of Oxford, Harris Dickinson as Conrad, Gemma Arterton as Polly, Djimon Hounsou as Shola, Charles Dance as Arthur, Daniel Bruhl, Stanley Tucci, Matthew Goode as Tristan, Tom Hollander, Rhys Ifans as Rasputin, an Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Marv, the studio behind the franchise has teased ambitious plans for 10 Kingsman films and multiple series.

THE KING’S MAN – As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man.

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Box Office Record Reverts From ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Back To ‘Avatar’ Thanks To Re-Release In China

Deadline is reporting that estimates from China’s box office has given Avatar enough money from the re-release to have surpassed Avengers: Endgame, giving the James Cameron sci-fi movie the box office title again making it the highest grossing film. That’s until Disney re-releases Avengers: Endgame and the record flips back to Marvel Studios at some point.

The China reissue of the 2009 3D sci-fi phenomenon had taken an estimated RMB 58M ($8.9M) through 5PM local time on Saturday after re-releasing on Friday in the market. This closes and surpasses what was a $7.82M gap between the two films prior to China’s resissue. Disney/Marvel’s Endgame previously snapped up the top global crown from Avatar in July 2019. The current (and fluid) Avatar global total is an estimated $2,798,579,794 versus Endgame‘s $2,797,501,328.

It’ll be interesting to see if the domestic or global box office will ever fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as many don’t believe we’ll see blockbuster movies surpassing $1-2 billion grosses any time soon. While certain international markets might be able to go back to “normal” sooner than places that were harder hit by the virus such as the United States.

The re-release comes at an important time as James Cameron is prepping to release four Avatar sequels and making sure Chinese audiences remember the franchise will be a key element of those films making top-dollar when they’re eventually released starting with Avatar 2 in December 2022. I’m extremely curious to see if Jim can replicate the success of the original film four more times.

Filming on the multiple sequels has been taking place in California for the motion-capture portion and the live-action scenes being shot at Stone Street Studios in Wellington, New Zealand. Hopefully, we’ll end up getting a teaser trailer for Avatar 2 before the end of the year from Disney/20th Century Studios.

SOURCE: DEADLINE