Tag: FX

Posted on in Features

Marvel Studios Needs To Hire The Creative Team Behind FX’s ‘Mr. Inbetween’ For A ‘Wolverine’ Series

Earlier in the week, I mentioned a desire to see Loki series director Kate Herron tackle Marvel’s X-Men reboot. Keeping with the mutant topic, I’ve been watching the Aussie hitman series Mr. Inbetween from FX (now it’s in it’s third season) lately and I can’t help to get huge Wolverine vibes from this show. I’m come to the conclusion that the show’s creator/writer Scott Ryan (also stars as Ray) and director Nash Edgerton (brother of actor Joel Edgerton) could be the perfect duo to bring a solo Wolverine series to life for Marvel Studios.

The show is dark, emotional, funny and action-packed something that I believe would be extremely attractive to Marvel. Nash Edgerton, like the John Wick fellas Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, is a director with a background as a stuntman.

If you’re unfamiliar with the show here’s a rundown and trailer from Mr. Inbetween.

Mr. Inbetween stars Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, a hitman for hire who makes a life out of balancing his criminal activities with his obligations to friends and family. He tries to be a father to Brittany (Chika Yasumura), his daughter with his ex-wife, a loving boyfriend to Ally (Brook Satchwell), and a good caretaker to his sick brother Bruce (Nicholas Cassim). Ray also covers for his friend Gary (Justin Rosniak) when needed, and follows his boss Freddy’s (Damon Herriman) orders without question.

Marvel hasn’t officially announced any upcoming plans for any Wolverine projects despite online rumors of a Wolverine show potentially being in the works. Officially, they are indeed moving forward Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3 with writers working on the script and lacking any real updates are expected to reboot the X-Men movies sometime in the future.

Giving Wolverine his own series could be a way to properly tackle his military service during World War II that has been teased a couple of times, a real version of the Weapon X Program, Logan’s connections to Department H/Alpha Flight, his time in Japan/Madripoor, and potentially what he was up to during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. It could also help give other characters on the X-Men roster to take more leading roles in the MCU reboot.

We don’t have any idea who’ll ultimately take the Wolverine role from Hugh Jackman, but I’m leaning towards former Batman contender Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Peaky Blinders, 28 Days Later, Dunkirk, A Quiet Place Part II). The Irish actor has rubbed shoulders with plenty of MCU stars co-starring with Brie Larson in Free Fire, Chris Evans in the sci-fi thriller Sunshine alongside appearing with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in Ron Howard’s In The Heart of The Sea.

He’s a little bit older, however, not too much older than Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac (42) or Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch (44). While Cillian is slightly younger than Marvel’s new Blade actor Mahershala Ali (47).

Murphy is one of the few cast members from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine that hasn’t landed an MCU role as Chris Evans became Captain America, Benedict Wong plays Doctor Strange pal Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada briefly appeared as sword wielding Yaukza boss killed by Clint Barton in Avengers: Endgame, and Michelle Yeoh will be seen in Shang-Chi this September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8BSlqHAhuY

If they wanted to hire a younger actor, Aussie lad Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers, Stranger Things, Baz Lurman’s Elvis Biopic) wouldn’t be a horrible choice and he happens to have family connection to Canada. His Power Rangers co-star Naomi Scott took the Princess Jasmine role in Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie with Stranger Things leads playing Marvel characters as David Harbour is The Red Guardian in Black Widow and Charlie Heaton played Cannonball in The New Mutants.

I can’t help but be reminded that Legion and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawely was developing a Doctor Doom film for 20th Century Fox before the merger, who knows if that will ever see the light of day. However, Hawley has since pivoted to an Earthbound series set within the Alien universe for FX On Hulu that has Ridley Scott (Raised By Wolves, Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner, Alien: Covenant) attached to produce. I wouldn’t be shocked if we eventually saw Marvel Studios also look at the creatives at FX and Hulu to develop shows for them like Scott Ryan and Nash Edgerton.

Hiring a couple of Aussies could help the idea of shooting a would-be Wolverine series at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Fox Studios also happens to be where Mr. Inbetween is shot.

It’s the same studio facility used for The Matrix, Star Wars: Attack of The Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith, Superman Returns, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Mad Max: Fury Road, Alien: Covenant, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Thor: Love & Thunder, and George Miller’s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa.

Anyways, we’ll keep our fingers crossed Marvel will consider them for a hypothetical Wolverine series.

Posted on in Television News

FX’s Samurai Series ‘Shōgun’ Starring Hiroyuki Sanada Begins Shooting This August In Vancouver

The Ronin has been able to confirm that the FX limited series Shōgun will begin shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 24 and wraps in June of 2022. The new series is based on the James Clavell novel that was developed into a television miniseries that aired in 1980.

Shōgun is set in feudal Japan. It charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne (Jarvis), a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga (Sanada), a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties who must prove her value and allegiance.

Shōgun’s two male lead characters are Yoshii Toranaga and John Blackthorne. Yoshii is a powerful daimyo from a feared lineage, isolated and outnumbered by his enemies in Osaka Castle and John is an English pilot trying to fight a trade route the Pacific islands. The two lead roles have down to legendary Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada and British actor Cosmo Jarvis.

The Samurai series was written by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo.

Sanada is mostly known in the west for projects such as Westworld, The Last Samurai, Mortal Kombat, Army of The Dead, The Wolverine, Avengers: Endgame, Sunshine, Rush Hour 2, and 47 Ronin. He’ll be seen next in the Brad Pitt action flick Bullet Train, directed by David Leitch.

Posted on in Television News

FX Samurai Limited Series ‘Shōgun’ Casts Hiroyuki Sanada & Cosmo Jarvis In Lead Roles – Begins Shooting This Summer

The FX limited series Shōgun is finally moving into production after there had been plans to shoot back in 2018 but for various reasons it got delayed. It’s based on the James Clavell novel by that was developed into a television miniseries that aired in 1980.

Shōgun’s two male lead characters are Yoshii Toranaga and John Blackthorne. Yoshii is a powerful daimyo from a feared lineage, isolated and outnumbered by his enemies in Osaka Castle and John is an English pilot trying to fight a trade route the Pacific islands. FX has reportedly secure actors for the lead roles as Deadline says the network has hired legendary Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada and British actor Cosmo Jarvis.

The Samurai series was written by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo.

Shōgun is set in feudal Japan. It charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne (Jarvis), a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga (Sanada), a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties who must prove her value and allegiance.

Filming is said to begin sometime this summer.

Sanada’s western credits include Rush Hour 3, The Last Samurai, Mortal Kombat, Westworld, Avengers: Endgame, Life, The Wolverine, Sunshine, 47 Ronin, Speed Racer, and Army of The Dead.

This won’t be the samurai series remake in the works as Entertainment One is developing a show based on the classic the iconic Akira Kurosawa masterpiece Yojimbo from Bryan Cogman, who worked on HBO’s Game of Thrones and Amazon’s new Lord of The Rings series.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle Directing Sex Pistols Limited Series At FX – Toby Wallace & Maisie Williams To Star

Director Danny Boyle is returning to television with a 6-episode limited series for FX titled Pistol according to Deadline.

The project will focus on the British punk band The Sex Pistols, told from the perspective of guitarist Steve Jones and based on his memoir. Boyle, who will direct the limited series is best known for his break-out films Trainspotting and Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire.

Pistol is written/created by Moulin Rogue!’s Craig Pearce and is co-written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, the latter was responsible for the amazing British comedic biopic 24 Hour Party People. Let’s just say the combination of people working on the project should make any music fan excited to see what they come up with.

Australian actor Toby Wallace recently seen in Babyteeth will play Jones with Game of Thrones alumni Maisie Williams playing punk icon Pamela Rooke aka Jordan.

Here is the rest of the cast.

  • Anson Boon as John Lydon 
  • Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious
  • Jacob Slater as Paul Cook
  • Fabien Frankel as Glen Matlock
  • Dylan Llewellyn as Wally Nightingale 
  • Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde
  • Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen

Filming is said to begin on March 7th.

Danny Boyle previously worked with FX on the limited series Trust which was essentially the television version of Ridley Scott‘s All The Money In The World.

This wouldn’t be the first time the punk bank has been explored before as the Gary Oldman film Sid & Nancy attempted to cover volatile and drug addicted guitarist Sid Viscous and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Disney Combining Hulu and Disney+ To Give Older Subscribers Mature Content Options?

Disney has had huge success with their family-friendly streaming service Disney+, however, the service is indeed geared towards families and younger audiences which means other Disney-owned content can’t really appear there.

A new report from Collider claims things might be changing soon with sources suggesting that their domestic service Hulu is being prepared to be folded into Disney+, Disney is a majority owner of Hulu and plenty of people have suggested this becoming an option given that Hulu doesn’t have an international presence being a domestic service but could with some help from Disney/Disney+ take the leap into the global realm like Netflix.

Sources say Disney is looking to combine its two streaming services into a single juggernaut.

For more than a year now, there has been speculation that Disney might one day fold Hulu into its Disney+ streaming service, and sure enough, Collider is hearing that multiple Hulu executives have been leaving or let go from the streaming service in anticipation of the move, which makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.

They phrase the report’s headline as a question which could mean this might be more of a rumor circulating among reliable people they’re talking to.

If this officially happens, Disney+ adding Hulu’s content, the 20th Century Studios library and their multiple television offerings from 20th Television/FX would add a massive under served demographic to their international streaming service. Another upside is that Disney might be forced into developing mature content with the Disney branding moving into the 21st Century as the media company will need to attract adult audiences as well and move beyond children’s entertainment.

We’ve already seen this with 20th Century Studios moving forward with Predator 5 and Marvel Studios hiring screenwriters for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, both expected to be R-rated offerings. This could be a way for Disney+ to start making mature shows using their budgets that they’ve used for Star Wars and Marvel series. I’m sure that Alien series that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) wanted to make wouldn’t have as much trouble getting the budget it would need to look proper. It also gives a home to franchise films like Die Hard, Alien/Predator franchises, Logan, and Deadpool.

Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are doing a lot to attract older subscribers with original content which to some extent HBO/HBO Max is doing as well but like Hulu isn’t on the global stage.

Speaking of HBO Max, does this mean Disney announces this and then throws their entire 2021 slate of films on the combined service? We don’t really know if they’re going to mirror HBO Max’s new release model for 2021 and if this happens it could be another ding on the theatrical runs of future films. Alongside their potential to earn the billions at the box office that Disney is accustomed to. Hulu could be placed in an odd spot here and might see massive layoffs as jobs become redundant.

SOURCE: COLLIDER