Tag: Dredd

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Rogue Trooper’: Duncan Jones’ Sci-Fi Animated Comic Book Film Adds Hayley Atwell, Jemaine Clement, Sean Bean & Matt Berry To Voice Cast

Rebellion and Liberty Films are behind a feature film incarnation of the 2000 A.D. Comics (publisher of “Juge Dredd”) character ‘Rogue Trooper.” British filmmaker Duncan Jones (“Moon,” “Mute,” “Warcraft”) is set to write and direct the film after an extensive gestation period has finally lined up his voice cast. An official announcement has been made for the former live-action film as a collection of newcomers and veteran actors have been assembled for “Rogue Trooper.”

Taking on the lead voice roles consists of Aneurin Barnard (The Goldfinch, Dunkirk) as the titular Rogue Trooper, alongside Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses, Dunkirk), Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters, Good Luck To You Leo Grande) and Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9, Saltburn). Other names mentioned for the sci-fi animated film include Jemaine Clement (Avatar 2: The Way of Water), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth), Alice Lowe (Black Mirror), Asa Butterfield (Sex Education, Hugo) and Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings).

Here is the film’s logline from today’s press release:

“‘Rogue Trooper’ tells the story of 19, a ‘Genetic Infantryman’, who finds himself the sole survivor of an invasion force. Desperate to track down the traitor who sold him and his comrades out, the super soldier is accompanied by three killed-in-action squad mates, whose personalities have been stored in his gun, helmet, and rucksack.“

The animated pic was originally planned to be live-action but Jones has obviously pivoted and is expected to be ready for release by 2025. “Rogue Trooper” hails from the same mature comic book publisher that gave us “Dredd,” so there is an expectation it will skew potentially in the realm of R-rated material. They also added a piece of first-look artwork and the film will be using the Unreal Engine 5 to animate.

Rebellion has also been developing a series set within the universe of “Dredd” with “Mega-City One.” However, we haven’t had any sort of concrete update on that front in years. Perhaps, “Mega-City One” could also consider a pivot into animation to cut costs as the show was expected to focus on other judges, not specifically Dredd.

SOURCE: 2000 A.D./REBELLION

Posted on in Television News

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bS2qRi1mcg

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.

Posted on in Film News

Alex Garland’s Next Film ‘Men’ Heads To A24 With Jessie Buckley & Rory Kinnear Tapped To Star

Deadline is reporting that Alex Garland is moving forward with his next writing/directing effort titled Men at A24. Irish actress Jessie Buckley (Fargo, Wild Rose) and Bond franchise actor Rory Kinnear are being in the mix for the lead roles.

Scott Rudin and DNA Films will produce.

The film follows a young woman who goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband. A24 will finance and distribute.

While the synopsis doesn’t really give us much in the way of plot details, Garland is known for genre projects and likely has a little more to it than a straight drama. Speaking with Empire Magazine a few months ago, Alex Garland gave the impression his next movie would be a low-budget horror movie filming in the United Kingdom sometime during the spring/summer of 2021.

GARLAND: “I wrote a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK… I don’t know if it’s unrealistic or not. Always at this particular moment, a film always feels unrealistic, but then somehow it works out.”

Garland is best known for his work on films such as Ex Machina, Annihilation, his recent limited series DEVS, and is said to ultimately directed Dredd uncredited according to star Karl Urban.

Buckley recently worked with Charlie Kaufman on his drama I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Kinnear will be seen next in Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond for No Time To Die.

We’ll be hopeful that more casting and plot details will be revealed in the coming weeks or months.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Alex Garland’s Next Feature Will Be A Low-Budget Horror Movie Set In The UK – Might Begin Shooting Spring/Summer 2021

Writer/director Alex Garland is moving back into feature films as he tells Empire Magazine he abandoned a new series he was developing to focus on a low-budget horror film he plans to begin shooting in spring or summer of next year. Although, we don’t really get any preliminary details or teases concerning the project’s plot.

GARLAND: “I wrote a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK… I don’t know if it’s unrealistic or not. Always at this particular moment, a film always feels unrealistic, but then somehow it works out.”

You might remember that Garland wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later which spawned a sequel titled 28 Weeks Later. Body horror was a huge part of Annihilation and there are plenty of horror/thriller elements in pretty much everything he’s done including his recent series DEVS.

SOURCE: EMPIRE MAGAZINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Y: The Last Man’ Series Adds ‘Dredd’ Actress Olivia Thirlby – Production Resumes In Toronto

Deadline reports that the FX On Hulu series Y: The Last Man has found two replacement actresses for the sci-fi project based on the DC Comics property. As Dredd’s Olivia Thirlby and Shameless’ Ashley Romans are taking roles previously played by Imogen Poots (Filth, 28 Weeks Later) and Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die, Captain Marvel).

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event decimates every mammal with a Y chromosome but for one cisgender man and his pet monkey. The series follows the survivors in this new world as they struggle with their efforts to restore what was lost and the opportunity to build something better.

Production on the pilot has resumed in Toronto and is expected to complete on November 17th.

Eariler this year Ben Schnetzer took over the lead role of Yorick Brown from Barry Keoghan (Chernobyl, Eternals), who is currently filming The Batman in the United Kingdom. The rest of the cast consists of Diane Lane (Judge Dredd, Man of Steel), Amber Tamblyn, Marin Ireland, Diana Bang, Elliot Fletcher and Juliana Canfield.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Features

Oscar Isaac’s High-Profile May Signal That ‘Moon Knight’ Is Heading To The Movies Sooner Than Expected

We’ve seen a handful of the new castings for the Disney+ shows such as Canadian actresses Iman Vellani for Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel and Tatiana Maslany for Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk. However, both of those picks felt more in the realm of television castings from Marvel Studios and could be actors they can transform into international stars such as they did with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and are expected to do with Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu.

If Marvel Studios ultimately hires Oscar Issac for Marc Spector (fingers-crossed he signs on officially) they would be landing one of the more high profile leading actors since the likes of Brie Larson for Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel and the late Chadwick Boseman who played T’Challa aka Black Panther, both known mostly for their film work at the time of being cast in their respective roles. The last big high-profile casting announcement was when Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was announced for the role of Eric Brooks aka Blade back in July 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, who happened to have been dabbling in television at the time with Netflix’s Luke Cage and HBO’s True Detective.

We already know that Kevin Feige has confirmed that the Disney+ characters would eventually move into feature films but the Moon Knight casting, to me, suggests Marc Spector is a hot commodity for Marvel Studios and they needed a high-profile actor to play him.

It’s worth noting that Oscar Isaac has been making films regularly for the last 18 years (started in 1996) but has previously only agreed to make three television projects such as the HBO miniseries Show Me A Hero, voice work on the Disney animated series Star Wars: Resistance, and is about to make another HBO limited series titled Scenes From A Marriage co-starring Jessica Chastain. That is only two live-action TV projects that were made for HBO. Agreeing to make a streaming series on Disney+ would be a big deal given his limited television work and the time commitment attached it alongside a Marvel contract.

Oscar is known as an actor internationally thanks to playing Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and recently taking the role of Duke Leto Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune installment, all massive films giving him global exposure that a lot of other Marvel leads didn’t have before landing their franchise gigs.

It’s expected that will Dune release globally before Moon Knight begins to air on Disney+ with their new release date of October 1st, 2021.

Landing someone as popular and busy as Isaac would suggest to me that Moon Knight is likely heading to the feature films very very soon. His high-profile screams film casting rather than Marvel looking to develop new talent in a streaming series before. I wouldn’t be shocked if he showed up in other New York City projects or at the very least in Mahershala Ali’s upcoming Blade reboot, as both anti-heroes are wading in the realm of Marvel’s supernatural and horror corner.

It remains to be seen if he shows up in other movies before getting his own but this totally feels like Oscar was picked because he’s a well-known film actor that can help elevate a lesser-known hero like Moon Knight into the mainstream.

Marvel hired Oscar even before a director/directors have been chosen which could be considered another sign that he’s wanted for things beyond the series sooner rather than later. I’m quite curious if Marvel will end up pursing experienced film directors for the Moon Knight series instead of folks primarily known for television/streaming series. That could be another sign of how committed Marvel would be boosting the profile of this character before moving into the films.

I’ll keep my hopes up that Marvel can convince people like Alex Garland to direct episodes given his experience working with Oscar Isaac on Annihilation and Ex Machina. Garland made the comic book film Dredd in 2012 and recently tackled television with DEVS.

With that all said, I’m excited to see how this project comes together.

Posted on in Television News

Karl Urban Reaffirms Desire To Reprise Judge Dredd Role In ‘Mega-City One’ Series

Alex Garland’s Dredd is considered a modern cult-hit as the film has done exceptionally well on home video and streaming despite it being a bit of a finical flop when released in theaters back in 2012. The mature comic book film was a reboot of the 2000 AD character Judge Dredd previously portrayed by action-star Sly Stallone.

There had been a grassroots campaign to get a Dredd sequel off-the-ground which never really amounted to anything outside of both actors Karl Urban (Judge Dredd) and Olivia Thirlby (Judge Anderson) suggesting they’d be willing to reprise the role if a sequel was ever put together.

Producers pointed out the original film’s sprawling international global distribution combined with the poor box office as a major roadblock to a theatrical sequel ever coming together which led to Rebellion to announce plans for a series titled Mega-City One, taking place in the world of Judge Dredd but not exactly focusing on the character himself.

Karl Urban is currently doing press rounds for the upcoming second season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys and reaffirmed to Screen Geek his desire to reprise the Dredd role in that Mega-City One series from Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley, that’s if they want his services.

URBAN: “Well, listen, it’s very, very early to get into any specifics on that, but I’ve gone on the record before saying that I would love to come back and be a part of that world and tell more Dredd stories. There is just a plethora of great, great stories within the Judge Dredd universe. I think that Jason [Kingsley] and his team – I think that the legacy of Judge Dredd is in great hands. And if I get the opportunity to work with those guys, you can bet your bottom dollar I will be there – because I think that it would be just a real rich and rewarding experience for, not only for us to collaborate, but for the fans. So, if that happens, that’d be fantastic and for whatever reason – and there are many – if it doesn’t happen, then I wish them the best, and I can’t wait to see what they do.”

Outside of some pieces of concept artwork, a pilot script being written Rob Williams and Rebellion building their own studio facility Rebellion Film Studios in Oxford, England for film and television, there haven’t been any substantial updates concerning the series.

Urban seemingly will have a bit of a break and then jump into filming Season 3 of The Boys next year in Toronto.

DREDD – Mega City One is a vast, violent metropolis where felons rule the streets. The only law lies with cops called “judges,” who act as judge, jury and executioner, and Dredd (Karl Urban) is one of the city’s most feared. One day, Dredd is partnered with Cassandra (Olivia Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities. A report of a terrible crime sends Dredd and Cassandra to a dangerous area controlled by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), a drug lord who will stop at nothing to protect her empire.

SOURCE: SCREEN GEEK