Tag: eOne

Posted on in Film News

Paramount’s New ‘Power Rangers’ Movie Aiming For A 2023 Release Date According To Hasbro

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro are teaming up for a new feature film reboot of the Power Rangers, after Hasbro was able to get their hands on the rights from Saban alongside various stuff like My Pet Monster. The project won’t be continuation of the previous installment from Lionsgate and will likely see a new group of actors in the lead roles instead of having the previous lineup reprise their roles.

Jonathan Entwistle had been hired to direct the Power Rangers reboot, who is currently working on Lucasfilm’s Willow series that is filming in Wales and will debut on Disney+ sometime next year. He’s also apparently going to be involved in a Power Rangers series as well.

Well, it sounds like Hasbro has an idea of when Paramount might release the new movie.

What looks to be like an official press release from Hasbro for a Licensing Convention in Brazil (spotted on by fans on Twitter), briefly mentions that the next film will be released in 2023. The screenshot comes of the event’s website.

Here is a rough English translation.

Power Rangers is a global phenomenon! A unisex brand with more than 90% knowledge, present in over 180 countries since the 90s! With more than USD 10 billion in retail sales in the most diverse categories, Power Rangers has in its DNA a lot of Action, Emotion, Teamwork, Diversity and Humor! With a movie release planned for 2023, Power Rangers is a streaming success, with more than 26 seasons and 900 episodes available on Netflix and has a very active fan community with over 2.8 million followers on Facebook, 330,000 on Instagram and another 140,000 on Twitter! Its 29th season, called Dino Fury is ready to be released!

However, until Paramount Pictures adds the film to their 2023 release slate we should treat this as a rumor for the moment.

SOURCE: LICENSING CON

Posted on in Television News

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series In Development From ‘John Wick’ Creator Derek Kolstad – Multiple Projects In The Works

As production is expected to begin soon in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a new live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie from Paramount Pictures, more projects within the fantasy table-top franchise is reportedly in the works. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Hasbro/eOne is now in the early stages of development on a series with the help of writer Derek Kolstad.

Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer behind the John Wick franchise, has been tapped to pen and develop a pitch for a live-action series based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

A screenwriter with massive action chops, Derek is best known for creating the successful John Wick franchise at Lionsgate starring Keanu Reeves, he’s also worked on Marvel’s The Falcon & The Winter Soldier and the Bob Odenkirk action flick Nobody that will be released by Universal next month.

They also mention that other writers are working on multiple other projects, but they stopped short from naming who they are and what they’re developing. This sounds a lot like how a handful of Transformers projects were developed all at once for Hasbro/Paramount, using a writers’ room format to hash-out many different film projects. While there are plenty of stories within the umbrella of the Dungeons & Dragons mythology, it’s unknown if the series will be something original or connected to various table top modules or existing stories/characters.

Paramount’s feature film starring Star Trek actor Chris Pine will be directed by with a release date of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo behind the comedy Game Night. More casting announcements are expected within the coming weeks/months.

The fantasy genre is getting many high-profile television projects with a Lord of The Rings and Wheel of Time series at Amazon, both expected to have large budgets. HBO is about to begin production on their Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon this spring. Streaming giant Netflix has their The Witcher series adaptation starring Henry Cavill that is in the middle of filming Season 2 with another spin-off show in the works and they also recently secured film/television rights to Robert E. Howard’s iconic fantasy character Conan.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Chris Pine Tapped To Swing A Sword In Paramount’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie

Filming on Paramount/eOne’s Dungeons & Dragons (working tile Chainmail) is expected to begin sometime in the spring with locations set to include Belfast, Northern Ireland and various spots in France. It was recently confirmed that Game Night cinematographer Barry Peterson would be reuniting with directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. The director of photography has been location scouting in 2020 getting ready for production to take place in 2021.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Chris Pine is now in talks to take an unnamed lead role in the fantasy flick. We still don’t have a good picture of what type of film they’re going for as people could easily be sucked into a game or it simply might explore the mythology of Dungeons & Dragons as straight fantasy film. There is an expectation since the adventure game is played with a group of people that Pine will be part of an ensemble of actors playing the lead roles.

The iconic table-top game was a huge hit in the 1980s and recently got a resurgence thanks to Netflix’s Stranger Things popularizing it with a new generation. It’s mostly a hodgepodge of fantasy elements and creatures either created via the Monster Manuel or influenced by existing material pulled from various literary sources.

Pine is likely best known globally for his lead roles in the Star Trek and Wonder Woman films making him an obvious franchise player in the eyes of a studio. This wouldn’t be the first time Chris has swung a sword as he played Scottish historical hero Robert The Bruce in the Netflix film The Outlaw King from director David Mackenzie.

I watched it recently and was quite impressed with Pine’s accent.

THE OUTLAW KING – The untold, true story of Robert The Bruce who transformed from defeated nobleman, to reluctant King, to outlaw hero over the course of an extraordinary year. Forced into battle in order to save his family, his people and his country from the oppressive English occupation of medieval Scotland, Robert seizes the Scottish crown and rallies a ragtag group of men to face off against the wrath of the world’s strongest army lead by the ferocious King Edward 1 and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales.

Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley made waves with their comedy Game Night, but also penned Marvel’s successful Spider-Man: Homecoming and led the duo being hired to direct The Flash for Warner Bros. only for them to eventually exit.

Dungeons & Dragons currently has a release date of May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Bryan Cogman Developing Series Based On Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Yojimbo’ – Previously Worked On ‘Game of Thrones’ and Amazon’s ‘Lord of The Rings’

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Bryan Cogman has landed an overall deal at Entertainment One (formerly at Amazon) and his first project will be a commentary series based on the iconic Akira Kurosawa masterpiece Yojimbo that starred legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune.

The first project under the pact is a contemporary take on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. 

YOJIMBO (1961) – A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshiro Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

The samurai film, like Seven Samurai, influenced multiple versions in the west most famously the Sergio Leone western A Fistful of Dollars (1964) that starred Clint Eastwood and there was also a lesser known gangster remake from Walter Hill with Last Man Standing (1996) starring Bruce Willis. It also has had some influence on more modern projects such as the Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

Cogman previously worked on HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones and the first season of Amazon’s expensive Lord of The Rings series. He also penned Disney’s live-action Stone In The Stone film.

FX is also attempting their own modern samurai series with a revival of Shogun based on the novel by James Clavell.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER