Tag: Chris Hemsworth

Posted on in Film News

Karen Gillan Confirms Nebula’s Return In ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Alongside Claims Matt Damon Has Joined The Cast

Another high-profile may have joined a large Marvel Studios film.

Local Australian outlets (spotted by The Direct) are claiming that actor Matt Damon has arrived to the country with his family and will begin quarantine, so that he can shoot scenes for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph reports that Matt Damon is skipping the state’s mandatory two-week quarantine at a set New South Wales hotel.

Damon, you might remember had a brief cameo in Thor: Ragnarok as an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki for the play about his life. He also wore extensive make-up for his other Marvel cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 2 along with Rogue One’s Alan Tudyk.

Matt doesn’t seem to have anything else on his schedule at the moment but recently wrapped on the Steven Soderbergh film No Sudden Move and Ridley Scott’s period drama The Last Duel. He had reportedly signed on to star in James Mangold’s The Force before the director agreed to direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm.

Christian Bale is confirmed to be playing Gorr The God Butcher, the film’s villain. Bale and Damon previously co-starred in the racing drama Ford v Ferrari.

If Matt Damon indeed has a substantial role in Thor: Love & Thunder, it wouldn’t be the first time an actor has been given a smaller part only to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a completely different role.

Personally, I’d love to see him play Balder The Brave (another son of Odin) or Cul Borson aka The Serpent (Thor’s uncle).

There has been some fan speculation with Nebula actress Karen Gillan (quarantining in Australia as well) that she had been expected to appear in the sequel as well. Since we already know that that multiple characters from Guardians of The Galaxy are showing up alongside Chris Pratt’s confirmed return as Star-Lord.

Karen has now confirmed Nebula’s return on her Instagram stories (spotted by The Ronin) talking about getting her haircut to be more comfortable for Nebula’s bald-cap.

GILLAN: “This is my hair, I cut it the other day in preparation for Nebula, so we don’t have to get so much hair into the bald-cap because I have so much hair, it’s unbelievable.”

Drax actor Dave Bautista is also quarantining in Sydney getting ready for the shoot.

Taika Waititi returns to direct with a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Lady Thor aka Jane Foster, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie, Taika back as Korg, and as previously mentioned Bale is playing the film’s baddie Gorr.

Filming was said to begin this month at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, under the working title The Big Salad. The Australian stages had been previously used for Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings back in 2020.

Marvel Studios has set the sequel’s release date for May 6th, 2022.

Posted on in Film News

‘Furiosa’: George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Prequel Releases June 23, 2023

It was announced not too long ago via Warner Bros. that they are indeed moving forward with the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel dating it for June 23, 2023. They also confirmed the official title is simply Furiosa with director George Miller co-writing the film alongside Doug Mitchell. A summer 2023 release date suggests they might expect filming to begin sometime in 2022.

Here is an excerpt from the studio press release that confirms that the prequel’s lead actors will include Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Up first in the lineup will be writer/director/producer George Miller’s “Furiosa,” a prequel to his hit “Mad Max: Fury Road” that introduced the wildly popular character.  Set for June 23, 2023, it will star Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, alongside Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.  Miller penned the script and produces alongside his longtime partner, Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Babe”).

George Miller is currently busy shooting in Australia with his fantasy film titled Three Thousand Years of Longing that had been delayed earlier in the year when the film’s main lead Idris Elba got COVID-19 and documented his experience on social media leading to a hiatus. Filming recently resumed down under with Elba and co-star Tilda Swinton.

Despite Furiosa being a “prequel”, all four movies have been considered standalone features in the franchise which could mean, technically, another version of Max could appear in the film. Charlize Theron originally played the role but was recast with Anya because Miller wasn’t thrilled with the digital de-aging visual effects technology.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD – Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot’s five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

Posted on in Television News

‘Loki’: ‘Lovecraft Country’ Actress Wunmi Mosaku Confirmed For Disney+ Series

The Multiverse is going to be a huge part of the upcoming MCU projects and one of the more interesting one so far is the Loki series starring franchise-favorite actor Tom Hiddleston time-hopping after getting his hands on the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame leading to him getting on the radar of the Time Variance Agency. A group of people that police the Multiverse in Marvel Comics and it looks like at some point Loki is recruited by them.

Loki is set to debut on Disney+ in May 2021 featuring the God of Mischief as he steps out of his brother’s shadow in a new series that takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Tom Hiddleston returns as the title character, joined by Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant. Kate Herron directs Loki, and Michael Waldron is head writer.

One of the highlight of the news concerning the series seems to be Marvel’s confirmation that Lovecraft Country actress Wunmi Mosaku will be in the Multiverse show.

The trailer teases that Idris Elba‘s Heimdall could be appearing during the 1970s segment with Loki as the infamous criminal D.B. Cooper. Seeing Asgard again wouldn’t be shocking after a report from Deadline has suggested that Jaimie Alexander might be showing up in the Disney+ series as Lady Sif alongside Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

After watching the series trailer, I’m really looking forward to the show as it feels like live-action version of Rick & Morty, the popular sci-fi animated series at Adult Swim.

As mentioned above Loki will begin airing on Disney+ starting in May.

Posted on in Film News

Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord Joins ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ Character Lineup – Will Other Guardians Appear?

At the end of Avengers: Endgame, we saw Thor join the ranks of The Guardians of The Galaxy and that seemingly will be carrying over to Thor: Love & Thunder.

The Hollywood Reporter says that after Chris Pratt does some additional photography for The Tomorrow War he’ll join the production of Thor: Love & Thunder (working title The Big Salad) sometime next year in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Reprising the Peter Quill/Star-Lord role for the Thor sequel.

Love and Thunder is due to shoot in Australia in January, and Pratt will do a short round of additional photography for his sci-fi movie The Tomorrow War before heading to the land Down Under.

I have to assume the rest of the Guardians cast will being showing up as well.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Thor: Love & Thunder’s Working Title of ‘The Big Salad’ Might Be Another Nod To A ‘Seinfeld’ Episode

The other day, Production Weekly posted what seems to be the official working title for Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder which apparently will be The Big Salad during the filming at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia early next year.

While many believe this could be a hint to “Fat Thor” going on a diet it more likely is director Taika Waititi following in the footsteps of Spider-Man 3 director Jon Watts and honoring classic Seinfeld episodes.

Here are the previous Seinfeld references from the Spider-Man working titles.

Spider-Man: Homecoming = Summer of George

Spider-Man: Far From Home = Fall of George

Spider-Man 3 = Serenity Now

The Big Salad, just happens to be a title of a Seinfeld episode from Season 6, where as you’d guess a “big salad” happens to be part of the plot.

At Elaine’s request, George purchases a “big salad” to go for her from Monk’s. George’s girlfriend Julie hands Elaine the salad in Jerry’s apartment, and Elaine thanks her. George is displeased that Julie took the credit for the salad, and tells Elaine that he bought it. Elaine is irritated at George for making a point of such a trivial matter, and briefly vents to Julie about this. Julie is so irate that George told Elaine she didn’t buy the salad that she breaks up with him.

All four working titles seem to connect directly to the George Constanza character and I’m a little curious if there could be a Spider-Man connection to the Thor sequel.

The cast will consist of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie The King of Asgard, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Taika returning in a bigger role as Korg, and Oscar-winner Christian Bale is reportedly playing the film’s villain.

With Tom Hiddleston’s Loki wondering around the Multiverse in his Disney+ series there is a good chance he could end up appearing in Thor: Love & Thunder or even Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.

We don’t know much about the film but Natalie Portman suggested that they will indeed include Jane Foster’s cancer journey when adapting the Mighty Thor elements for the feature film while speaking with Yahoo! not too long ago. Having a superhero dealing with cancer could be incredibly powerful for kids that are on treatment or are cancer survivors.

PORTMAN: “I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited. I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”

For the time being the sequel is going to be released theatrically by Disney on February 11th, 2022, as week before Valentine’s Day.

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Prequel ‘Furiosa’ Moving Forward At WB Officially Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Chris Hemworth

Warner Bros. has announced via trades such as Deadline that they are indeed moving forward with their Mad Max: Fury Road prequel spinoff Furiosa written and directed by George Miller.

They’ve also announced that the cast will indeed include Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, The Northman, The New Mutants, Last Night In Soho), Yahya Abdul Mateen II (Watchmen, Matrix 4, Aquaman), and Thor/Avengers actor Chris Hemsworth. All three names had been circulating for the lead roles before today’s confirmation.

It had been suggested that Hemsworth could be playing the film’s villain.

Miller’s production team will include cinematographer John Seale, production designer Colin Gibson, and stunt coordinator Guy Norris.

When filming begins is a little unclear as Miller is busy with Three Thousand Years of Longing and his cast is busy themselves at the moment with Hemworth set to begin shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder in early 2021 at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Anya is currently shooting Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman in Belfast, Northern Ireland and recent Emmy-Winner Yahya Abdul Mateen II is finishing up Matrix 4 in Berlin, Germany.

Warner Bros. hasn’t given the film an official release date.

The film will focus on the Mad Max: Fury Road character Furiosa originally played by Charlize Theron.

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD – Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot’s five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Natalie Portman Suggests Jane Foster’s Cancer Journey May Be Explored In ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ – “She’s Going Through Cancer Treatment”

With filming for Thor: Love & Thunder expected to begin around January-February at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, we haven’t really had much of an update on the project until now.

While speaking with Yahoo! Life, franchise actress Natalie Portman briefly suggested that we might indeed be seeing Jane Foster’s going through cancer treatment in the film just like her comic book counterpart.

PORTMAN: “I can’t tell you that much. I’m really excited. I’m starting to train, to get muscles. If there can be all these female superheroes, the more of them they are, the better it is. I’m trying to think — it’s based on the graphic novel of the Mighty Thor. She’s going through cancer treatment and is a superhero on the side.”

Portman could be simply relaying plot points about the Mighty Thor story, but I don’t really see Marvel removing that important element of the hero.

It was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that Natalie Portman would be playing Lady Thor in the film giving her a strong reason to come back for the sequel and possibly allows her to play the Marvel Comics heroine for many years.

Having a superhero that is undergoing cancer treatment or is a cancer survivor can be extremely powerful to kids with cancer or in remission. I can speak from direct experience that kids really looked up to Deadpool when they discovered he has cancer in that first film.

I’m sure Chadwick Boseman, the man, will also have a huge impact on kids as well as an example of strength. In the wake of the revelation that actor Chadwick Boseman was secretly undergoing cancer treatment during the film of multiple films including Black Panther, it’s not that hard to imagine that a fictional character could juggle superhero duties while fighting cancer.

I’m sure fans will have opinions on this but I think if handled properly it could be an extremely powerful and important part of Marvel’s new direction of representation.

Joining Portman in the Thor sequel will be fellow cast members Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, and Christian Bale, the latter reportedly playing a villain.

Thor: Love & Thunder is expected to be released on February 11th, 2022, unless there are further delays or shifts with the Marvel slate.

SOURCE: YAHOO! LIFE

Posted on in Film News

Chris Hemsworth Still Open To Play Thor Beyond ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’

We might have a tough time convincing Chris Hemsworth to step down from the Thor role anytime soon according to some recent quotes he’s given. 

Polish magazine Elle Man (via Variety) was able to speak with the Aussie actor about reprising the God of Thunder role beyond the upcoming Taika Waititi sequel Thor: Love & Thunder, as previously stated by Chris he still sounds game to keep playing the character as long as Marvel Studios will allow him. 

HEMSWORTH: “Are you crazy?! I’m not going into any retirement period. Thor is far too young for that. He’s only 1,500 years old. It’s definitely not a film that I say goodbye to this brand. At least I hope so.”

He also talked-up a solid script for Thor: Love & Thunder. 

HEMSWORTH: “After reading the script, I can say that I am very excited. In this production, there will for sure be a lot of love and a lot of lightning. I’m glad that after all that happened in Avengers: Endgame, I’m still part of the Marvel Universe and we can continue the story of Thor. Of course, I can’t reveal anything about the plot. But to satisfy your curiosity, I will say that reading the script, I had a lot more fun than on Thor Ragnarok, and that shows something because that movie was brilliant.”

There is a slim chance he might end up sticking with the Guardians of The Galaxy for their third film as hinted to at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but that hasn’t been exactly confirmed by director James Gunn. 

Depending on the outcome of Love & Thunder, Taika might want to make fifth installment but would likely come after the Star Wars movie he’s currently developing for Lucasfilm. 

Filming on Thor: Love & Thunder is expected to begin sometime between January-February of next year at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is reportedly going to use ILM’s StageCraft technology that was made famous by The Mandalorian.

SOURCE: ELLE MAN

Posted on in Film News

ILM’s StageCraft VFX Will Be Implemented For Marvel’s ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’ In Australia – ‘Ant-Man 3’ Will Most Likely Use It At Pinewood Studios UK

In a post-COVID-19 world, it looks like Disney is looking to adopt safer methods of production which includes expanding the use of the StageCraft technology used to shoot the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. Using this technology means less production crew would be potentially put in harm’s way for set construction and also limit the number of secondary exterior locations as productions traveling to multiple countries might not be the wisest idea at the moment. 

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that ILM’s StageCraft technology will be used for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love & Thunder (MCU Cosmic mentioned this previously) at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

This comes after writer and director Taika Waititi had used the technology when filming the final episode of the first season of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian. 

There has been an expectation that Thor: Love & Thunder will begin shooting sometime between January-February of next year as director Destin Daniel Cretton is trying to finish up production on Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings allowing Taika to move in for the Thor sequel. 

THR adds that they’ll also be adding StageCraft to the Pinewood Studios UK facility. 

 In addition, ILM is building a StageCraft volume at Pinewood Studios in London (expected to open in February), and a larger custom volume at Fox Studios Australia that will be used for Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi previously used virtual production when he helmed the final episode of The Mandalorian season one.

Actor Ewan McGregor previously confirmed that his Star Wars series Kenobi directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) would be implementing the technology during an interview with Ace Universe back in June. 

The next Marvel Studios feature film to shoot at Pinewood Studios UK is expected to be Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man 3, who happened to direct an episode of The Mandalorian for Season 2 just like Taika and may also be familiar with StageCraft after his own experience with that show. 

Yesterday, I posted an update of sorts on Ant-Man 3 via Twitter that they are deep in pre-production and that we should expect some massive action sequences given they’ll be moving filming from Pinewood Atlanta Studios to Pinewood Studios UK, the latter facility has been used for the Star Wars films and traditional all of the James Bond movies as well. 

We should expect this installment to feel more like an event. 

I was also able to confirm Marvel/Disney is aiming to release the film sometime in 2020, however, release dates for the next little while will be in flux and most will unlikely be set-in-stone for the foreseeable future given multiple projects will begin production in 2021 meaning that some projects may have be delayed to 2023.

Peyton Reed recently mentioned that the film would be “bigger” and “sprawling” while speaking on The Jess Cagle Show and reaffirmed via Yahoo! Entertainment that Evangeline Lily’s Wasp would be getting equal billing on the sequel. 

REED: “They’re a partnership, and she’s a very, very important part of that. And that was a very gratifying thing, I guess technically we were the first Marvel movie with a female hero in the title of the movie. Finding that balance in that movie, that’s very important to me because that’s very much a men’s playing field, historically. But that’s really, really changing now in a great way.”

I’m personally holding out the hope that we’ll see the film morph into some sort of MCU version of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim as Peyton Reed hasn’t been shy about how the films have been influenced by Japanese kaiju projects like Ultraman. Moving the setting of the film outside of San Francisco might also help shake things up given that Scott Lang might be allowed to move a little more freely around the world after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

Most recently the Pinewood facility has been used for Black Widow and Eternals both films are expected to be larger in scale than Ant-Man or Ant-Man & The Wasp. There is also an expectation that the Moon Knight series will spend some time there as well and we should be getting some updates on that show in the near future. 

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is confirmed for Longcross Studios in Surrey, England and it’s unknown at this point if they’ll have access to the StageCraft tech, but it’s possible. 

This new technology certainly would cut-down costs and post-production time, the safety element is simply a massive benefit.