Marvel Studios Sets Up LLC For Upcoming Wakanda Project From Ryan Coogler

The Ronin can confirm and exclusively reveal a brand new Marvel Studios LLC company as they’ve set the name as Maglev Train Productions. It’s been announced a while back that Ryan Coogler would be behind a Wakanda series for Disney+ from Marvel Studios’ team. Maglev Train Productions, is likely a direct nod to the train system in Wakanda and was the location of the big third act fight between Killmonger and T’Challa.

Just so people don’t get confused thinking this would be for Black Panther 3, the first two movies used the LLCs Kimoyo Productions (Black Panther) and Kimoyo Productions II (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). A reference to the tech-based bracelet multiple characters from Wakanda wear.

This means the untitled Wakanda project is officially a go at Marvel Studios.

However, we’re still waiting on some concrete details about the project and how they’ll move forward with the Black Panther franchise without recasting the T’Challa role. It’s been expected that we could see a series focus on the female warriors of Wakanda, the Dora Milaje.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently filming in Atlanta under the working title Summer Break with Ryan Coogler back as director and has a release date of July 8, 2022.

Oscar-Winning Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle Reunited With Danny Boyle On Sex Pistols Series; Behind Films Such As ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ & ‘Dredd’

The Ronin can confirm that director Danny Boyle has been working with Oscar-winning cinematographer of Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle, on his biopic series at FX about the British punk bank The Sex Pistols. Mantle’s credits also include the gorgeous Alex Garland comic book film Dredd, T2 Trainspotting, 127 Hours, Antichrist, Trance, Rush, 28 Days Later, Millions, The Last King of Scotland, and the HBO series The Undoing.

Anthony has a stunning eye and at the very least Pistol is going to look spectacular as you can see with some select samples of his work below.

The six-episode series comes from the perspective of guitarist Steve Jones and is based on his book Lonely Boy. It was adapted by Craig Pearce and Frank Contrell Boyce.

Pistol’s extensive young cast consists of Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit) as Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Talulah Riley (Westworld) set to play punk design icon Vivienne Westwood, Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Christian Lees as Glen Matlock, Iris Law as punk icon Soo Catwoman, Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) as punk icon Jordan, Dylan Llewellyn as Wally Nightingale, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, and Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen.

That’s not the only reunion on the show’s crew as production designer Kave Quinn is also confirmed for the Apple series. Quinn previously working with Boyle on Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, and A Life Less Ordinary. Other credits are Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig pre-James Bond, Harry Brown, The Woman In Black, and the FX series Black Narcissus starring British actress Gemma Arterton.

Danny Boyle famously was originally attached to No Time To Die (known back then as just Bond 25), but left over creative differences with the script and decided to make his Beatles-themed comedy Yesterday instead.

FX hasn’t announced an official air date for Pistol.

‘Indiana Jones 5’: Harrison Ford Reportedly Injures Shoulder During Fight Scene Rehearsal

Indiana Jones 5 started shooting earlier this month at Pinewood Studios and other spots in the United Kingdom, however, there seems to be a bit of hiccup in filming and isn’t related to COVID-19. There is now a report coming from Deadline that Harrison Ford has injured his shoulder during a rehearsal of an upcoming fight scene. Director James Mangold is said to be shooting around Ford until it’s clear what his status and recovery looks like.

Harrison Ford hurt himself rehearsing a fight scene in Indiana Jones 5, sources tell Deadline. The extent of his injury wasn’t immediately known, but it involves his shoulder. Director James Mangold will continue to shoot around him while the appropriate course of treatment is evaluated. The filming schedule will be reconfigured as needed in the coming weeks.

This wouldn’t be the first injury for Ford, as he got hurt shooting J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens and given that he’s 78, various injuries along the way are expected on an action-centric sequel like Indiana Jones 5. Hopefully, Harrison Ford can have a speedy recovery and production can chug along.

The rest of the cast consists of British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Fleabag), Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts 3, Casino Royale, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Another Round), German actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Valkyrie, Blade II).  Boyd Holbrook (The Predator, Narcos, Logan), Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident), and Toby Jones (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Captain America: The First Avenger).

Details have yet to be confirmed but a flashback scene that involves a Nazi train and Toby Jones had been shot recently, something most likely that will end up as the film’s opening sequence echoing Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade.

Indiana Jones 5 is set for release on July 29, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Brian Tyree Henry & Kate Mara Tapped To Lead FX On Hulu Limited Sci-Fi Crime Series ‘Class Of ’09’

FX On Hulu is moving forward with a brand new limited series titled Class of ’09 focusing on a group of FBI agents in a near future setting as artificial intelligence has transformed the U.S. criminal justice system. The news comes from Deadline, who also add that it will be led by Brian Tyree Henry (Widows) and Kate Mara (House of Cards).

The eight-part limited series is from Tom Rob Smith, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson

Follows a class of FBI agents set in a near future where the U.S. criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence. A group of FBI agents who graduated from Quantico in 2009 are reunited following the death of a mutual friend. Spanning three decades and told across three interweaving timelines, the series examines the nature of justice, humanity and the choices we make that ultimately define our lives and our legacy.

There are also character breakdowns for the two main leads.

Henry will play Tayo Miller, one of the most brilliant and unorthodox Agents ever to join the Bureau, a man who seeks not merely to make his mark on the institution but to remake it entirely. Mara will play Amy Poet, a woman who never imagined joining the world of law enforcement and finds herself at the center of its most pivotal moment of transformation.

Brian Tyree Henry has been a busy bee with recently roles in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Joker, Child’s Play, Hotel Artemis, White Boy Rick, Widows, Godzilla Vs. Kong, Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train, and plays an openly gay MCU character in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Rachel Zegler Officially Cast In Disney’s Live-Action ‘Snow White’ Movie With Production Set To Begin In 2022

Disney is focusing on making a steady stream of live-action films based on their iconic animation library and one of those upcoming projects is Marc Webb’s Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, a live-action incarnation of the classic 1937 movie.

There is finally a casting update on the Disney flick.

Actress Rachel Zegler has officially joined the project as reported by Deadline and will play Snow White in the live-action fairy tale film, which will begin shooting sometime in 2022. Zelger stars in Steven Spielberg’s Westside Story remake and recently joined David F. Sandberg’s DC Comics sequel Shazam! Fury of The Gods, the latter film is currently filming in Atlanta.

Director Marc Webb was behind 500 Days of Summer and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Snow White & The Huntsman and Mirror, Mirror were previous efforts to bring the story to the big screen with Kristen Stewart and Lily Collins starring as Snow White in their respective pics.

SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS – The Grimm fairy tale gets a Technicolor treatment in Disney’s first animated feature. Jealous of Snow White’s beauty, the wicked queen orders the murder of her innocent stepdaughter, but later discovers that Snow White is still alive and hiding in a cottage with seven friendly little miners. Disguising herself as a hag, the queen brings a poisoned apple to Snow White, who falls into a death-like sleep that can be broken only by a kiss from the prince.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Keira Knightley Reuniting With ‘Silent Night’ Director Camille Griffin For Sci-Fi Drama ‘Conception’ At Searchlight

British actress Keira Knightley recently exited the Tom Hiddleston-led Apple TV+ series The Essex Serpent after citing “family “reasons” but has reportedly secured her next feature film project.

According to Deadline, Knightley will be reuniting with her Silent Night director Camille Griffin, the Christmas flick from Matthew Vaughn’s MARV Films that also co-stars Jojo Rabbit breakout Roman Griffin Davis (Camille’s son). The new sci-fi drama is titled Conception and is at Searchlight Pictures with Maven Screen Media producing.

Camille Griffin will also write Conception.

The story is set in the near future, when the British government takes authoritarian rule over parenting. It follows a vigorous License Officer (Knightley), who is a firm believer in the controversial system she upholds until an unexpected event imperils her own parental status in the very administration she enforces.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

EXCLUSIVE: Lucasfilm’s ‘Willow’ Series Adds ‘Outlander’ Director Stephen Woolfenden

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that British director Stephen Woolfenden has joined Lucasfilm’s Willow series with production officially taking place in Wales. It’s unclear how many episodes he’ll be helming. The director’s television credits include Outlander, The Spanish Princess, Poldark, Doctor Who, Strike Back, and Fate: The Winx Saga.

Woolfenden also has an extensive career as a second unit director working on massive studio films such as Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows 1-2, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts 3, Detective Pikachu, and The Legend of Tarzan.

Willow is a direct sequel to Ron Howard and George Lucas’ original 1988 fantasy film but is set decades after those events.

Warwick Davis is reprising the role of Willow Ufgood with new additions like Erin Kellyman (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Green Knight) in the role of Jade, Ellie Bamber (Nocturnal Animals) playing Dove, Ruby Cruz (Castle Rock) taking the role of Kit after replacing Cailee Spaeny, and Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dope, Spider-Man: Homecoming) in an undisclosed part.

Jonathan Entwistle, who is attached to direct the Power Rangers reboot at Paramount Pictures, is set to helm the pilot after Jon M. Chu (In The Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) exited the fantasy series to focus on a big screen adaptation of Wicked.

Willow is said to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

WILLOW – Enter the world of Willow. Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side … to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears.

‘Predator 5’ May Have Added Three Unknowns To The Sci-Fi Action Film’s Cast

The Ronin is hearing that a trio of unknowns might have roles in 20th Century Studios’ next installment of the Predator franchise. The project directed by Dan Trachtenberg shares the same casting director as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of The Flower Moon, which hinted to unknowns potentially joining Predator 5’s cast. Production began recently in Calgary and creature effects house Studio ADI confirmed their return to the franchise.

Those three unconfirmed names are model/activist Quannah Chasinghorse, musician Dakota Beavers, and Harlando Khat.

UPDATE: We’ve learned two more names with Cree actor Tymon Carter and Skye Pelletier.

The Ronin mentioned almost a full month ago they might be pursuing unknowns for the sci-fi movie.

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.

Filming is expected to wrap in August.

We’ve confirmed a while ago that Kyle Strauts (The Predator) would be back in the predator suit and mentioned Amber Midthunder (Legion, The Ice Road) as the potential lead actress on the project, the latter was backed-up by Discussing Film.

The film is reportedly going to involve a group of Comanche warriors with a female protagonist, assumed to be played by Amber Midthunder and would suggest this could be the first Predator installment that entirely takes place before the events of John McTiernan’s original installment. Given the project’s setting, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them fill out roles with a bunch of new actors.

Predator 5’s production team consists of cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane), production designer Kara Lindstrom (Den of Thieves), and stunt coordinator Steven McMichael (Damnation).

A big thanks to Nicholas Whitcomb, who has been helping with our recent Predator and Alien franchise coverage. Please give him a follow over on Twitter and subscribe to his channel on YouTube. Nick and I previously worked together at HN Entertainment, we both share a mutual passion for these two sci-fi franchises.

Disney hasn’t given Predator 5 an official release day but trades had suggested a possible drop 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.

Vin Diesel Comments On Rumored Role In James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Sequels; “I Have Not Filmed Yet”

You might remember a cheeky video that was posted by Vin Diesel on Instagram back in April 2019 that had the Fast & Furious actor visiting director James Cameron on the Manhattan Beach Studios set of the Avatar sequels, where they shoot the motion-capture sequences. This originally gave fans the impression that Diesel could be joining the Cameron’s new Avatar movies in some capacity but nothing was ever officially announced, only speculated.

This was only bolstered because Vin’s Fast & Furious franchise co-star Michelle Rodriguez played SecOps pilot Trudy Chacon in the first Avatar installment.

Well, MTV News caught-up with Diesel during the promotional rounds for F9 and asked him directly about joining the massive sci-fi franchise. However, it sounds like if we’ll see Diesel in these movies, it won’t be until Avatar 4 or Avatar 5 as he says he hasn’t filmed anything “yet.” It’s been well established that James Cameron has completed motion-capture/live-action photography on Avatar 2 an Avatar 3.

Diesel responded with the following when asked if he’ll appear in the sequels, “I have spent time with [James Cameron], but I have not filmed yet. [smiles while pausing] I love James Cameron, and I love the series, and I think it’s safe to say that we will be working together.”

Hopefully, Avatar 2 will stick to it’s current release date of December 16, 2022.

AVATAR – On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na’vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved. Because the planet’s environment is poisonous, human/Na’vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na’vi woman (Zoe Saldana). As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world.

SOURCE: MTV NEWS

‘Indiana Jones 5’: Set Video Confirms Indy Will Face Nazis Again & ‘Captain America’s Toby Jones Joins Cast

After years of delays, script revisions, and director Steven Spielberg exiting, Indiana Jones 5 has finally started filming over in the United Kingdom.

James Mangold is set to write and direct Indiana Jones 5 for Lucasfilm with a growing cast that already consists of Harrison Ford back as Henry Jones Jr. aka Indiana Jones, British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Fleabag), Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts 3, Casino Royale, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Another Round), German actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Valkyrie, Blade II).  Boyd Holbrook (The Predator, Narcos, Logan), and Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident).

There is a set video that was uploaded on YouTube (see below) that seems to show a Nazi train, which would back up recent plot details mentioned by The Illuminerdi that we’ll see the return of the franchise antagonists and the film being connected to Nazi scientists involved with the space race of the 1960s. The last time we saw Indy punching Nazis was all the way back in 1989’s Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade as the setting of Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull taking place post-WWII and it offhandedly mentioned that Jones served during the war between installments.

Well, these off-camera WWII adventures might make it into the fifth installment as Harrison Ford was spotted on set with new addition Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) with visual effects dots on his face suggesting the sequence might be a flashback. The set photos were spotted on Reddit.

This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened in the franchise, as Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade opened with River Phoenix playing a young Indiana Jones sort of explaining the origin of his iconic hat and whip. Funny enough, that sequence involved a train too.

Confirmed crew members include legendary composer John Williams, production designer Adam Stockhausen (The French Dispatch, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Widows, Ready Player One), and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Ford v Ferrari, Walk The Line, 3: 10 To Yuma).

We previously mentioned Lucasfilm is considering to shoot scenes on the East Coast United States.

Disney has chosen to give Indiana Jones 5 a release date of July 29, 2022 and will go head-to-head against Dwayne Johnson’s DC Comics film Black Adam, until one of the two projects moves to another date.