Tag: Disney

Posted on in Film News

‘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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‘Indiana Jones 5’: Director James Mangold To Reunite With Boyd Holbrook As The ‘Logan’ Star Lands Role

There are two more additions to the cast of Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones 5.

Director James Mangold has reportedly added Boyd Holbrook (The Predator, Narcos) for role after previously working together on the solo Wolverine film Logan, the new comes to us via Deadline. The outlet mentions that The Resident’s Shaunette Renée Wilson has nabbed a role in the sequel as well.

The untitled sequel’s cast also includes franchise star Harrison Ford (said to be his final outing as Indy), 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), and German actor Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Valkyrie, Blade II). 

Production is said to take place over the summer with confirmed crew members such as 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).

Disney has given Indiana Jones 5 a release date of July 29,2022 and will go head-to-head with Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam until one film moves to another spot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Disney Announces ‘Shang-Chi’ Sticking To Theatrical Window – Won’t Be Heading to Premier Access

Marvel Studios and Disney decided to release Black Widow on July 9 as a hybrid release on Disney+ with Premier Access and in theaters as well. There had been some question if Disney would adopt the hybrid release for other big feature films and it looks like we got some sort of answer, for the moment.

Today, it was announced by Disney during their Q2 earnings call (via Nicholas Whitcomb) that they’ll be sticking to a 45 day theatrical window for upcoming films Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy. Disney could ultimately change their minds but it looks like the two films will avoid Premier Access entirely.

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.

SOURCE: DISNEY

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Disney’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ Officially Heading To Disney+’s Premier Access On July 30

It was announced today by Dwayne Johnson on Instagram that his big Disney film Jungle Cruise will be heading to Disney+’s Premier Access and theaters on July 30. This comes after they announced a hybrid release for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow on July 9, that film had originally planned to be released in May 2020 before the pandemic kept delaying it’s theatrical release.

Jungle Cruise is hoping to be the next Pirates of The Caribbean, becoming a franchise based on a Disney theme park ride but we’ll have to see if they’ll able to be successful on a global level with this hybrid model. This move will likely lead to more hybrid summer releases as while vaccinations are increasing in the United States, the domestic box office won’t fully recovery until herd immunity is reached. Vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxxer narratives might make that difficult to happen by July, despite President Biden’s July 4 goal. Variants of the COVID-19 virus could also cause further headaches to the industry.

While Godzilla Vs. Kong’s box office success had shown audiences would be willing to come out to theaters for an event film, studios are still being cautious and offering home viewing options.

JUNGLE CRUISE – Inspired by the famous Disneyland theme park ride, Disney’s JUNGLE CRUISE is an adventure-filled, Amazon-jungle expedition starring Dwayne Johnson as the charismatic riverboat captain and Emily Blunt as a determined explorer on a research mission. Also starring in the film are Edgar Ramirez, Jack Whitehall, with Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti. Jaume Collet-Serra is the director and John Davis, John Fox, Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia, Dany Garcia and Beau Flynn are the producers, with Doug Merrifield serving as executive producer.

SOURCE: DWAYNE JOHNSON

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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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‘The Mandalorian’ Cinematographer Baz Idoine Confirms He’s Working On ‘Thor: Love & Thunder’

Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder (working title The Big Salad) has been filming at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia with director Taika Waititi returning to make the fourth installment. The film’s mysterious cinematographer has been officially revealed.

Speaking with New Zealand outlet Kea, Baz Idoine confirmed he is currently working on Thor: Love & Thunder. He is best known for his Emmy-winning work on The Mandalorian series and was the second unit cinematographer on American Sniper and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

IDOINE: “I can’t talk much about them, but I’m working in Australia at the moment on Thor: Love and Thunder which I’ll be working on until the end of 2021. Then, I’ll just see what happens. Personally, my wife and I are hoping to move back to New Zealand next year.”

Taika and Baz previously worked together on The Mandalorian. This could potentially explain why The Book of Boba Fett was placed into production in the fall instead of Season 3 of The Mandalorian as the show’s cinematographer has been busy working on a Marvel Studios movie. I’m curious if the two will reunite on Taika’s untitled Star Wars movie he is developing for Lucasfilm.

Love & Thunder will introduce the cosmic beings known as The Olympians and will feature cameos from many members of Guardians of The Galaxy, one of the final scenes of Avengers: Endgame saw Thor leaving Earth with the Guardians to go on an adventure in space.

The film’s cast consists of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster aka Lady Thor, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Christian Bale as Gorr The God Butcher, Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie of New Asgard, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Matt Damon as fake Loki, Melissa McCarthy as fake Hela, Sam Neill as fake Odin, Luke Hemsworth as fake Thor, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Taika as the lovable Korg, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin.

Thor: Love & Thunder will open in theaters on May 6, 2022.

SOURCE: KEA

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Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Reboot & WB’s Next ‘Superman’ Movie Courting The Same Directors

Disney and Warner Bros. are reportedly courting the same black filmmakers for their upcoming superhero projects as mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter. As both Blade and the next Superman film produced by J.J. Abrams are expected to be shot by experienced black directors. An exciting era of inclusion given the budgets expected for the two comic book movies.

Apparently, screenwriter Ta-Nehisi Coates’ black Superman project is expected to have a non-contemporary setting, which sounds similar to the studio’s original plans for Supergirl (1980s). However, it’s unclear when in the 1900s they’ll be aiming for. Instead, Supergirl will appear in The Flash movie (filming in the United Kingdom) played by actress Sasha Calle ushering her directly into the DCEU but the Superman movie doesn’t seem to be joining that corner of the cinematic universe.

The Superman film appears to be moving onto its own track and won’t be part of the universe, as of now. Sources tell THR that Coates is crafting a Kal-El in the vein of the original Superman comics and will have the protagonist hail from Krypton and come to Earth. While the story is currently being crafted and many details could change, one option under consideration is for the film to be a 20th century period piece.

THR is claiming that there is a group candidates that have been looked for both movies.

The names mentioned in the report are Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II), J.D. Dillard (Sleight, Sweetheart), Regina King (One Night In Miami, and Shaka King (Judas & The Black Messiah). It’s certainly an excellent group of contenders but it’s unclear if these names are simply suggestions by the outlet or actually in the running.

The former list can include Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr., J.D. Dillard, Regina King — who got raves for her drama One Night in Miami — and Shaka King, who is popular at Warners thanks to best picture Oscar nominee Judas and the Black Messiah. Some potential directors have met with both studios for both films, even as one agent said the process was “phenomenally early.” 

You might remember that Steven is currently busy with Paramount’s latest Transformers movie about to shoot over in Montreal and Dillard had been previously tasked to co-write a Star Wars project for Lucasfilm.

They also mentioned that Blade’s shoot was bumped from September 2021 to July 2022, giving folks over a full year to complete any outstanding projects before jumping to the MCU. Coates is said not to be delivering his script until mid-December suggesting both projects won’t be shooting until 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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Disney Taps Justin Simien To Direct ‘Haunted Mansion’ Remake

It doesn’t look Guillermo del Toro will get to make his Haunted Mansion movie after all.

A new report from Deadline reveals that Disney has selected Dear White People director Justin Simien to tackle their remake based on their popular horror-themed park attraction that got a feature film in 2003 starring Eddie Murphy.

This new film is said to be a different take on ghoulish source material and has Ghostbusters: Answer The Call screenwriter Katie Dippold penning the script. The pairing of Dippold and Simien would suggest it could have a comedic leaning.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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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