Tag: HBO Max

Posted on in News, Television News

‘Dune’ Prequel Series ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’ Lands New Showrunner Diane Ademu-John; Denis Villeneuve To Direct Pilot

You might remember that Legendary and HBO Max would be partnering for a spinoff series set within the Dune universe acting as a prequel to the upcoming film helmed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival, Prisoners, Blade Runner: 2049). The show, Dune: The Sisterhood, originally had Dune co-writer Jon Spaihts set to showrun the project, but exited to help work on Dune: Part Two.

Dune: The Sisterhood is told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, known to its inhabitants as Dune. It will serve as a prequel to the films.

A new report from Variety has revealed that they have hired Diane Ademu-John as the new showrunner of the the sci-fi series at HBO Max. She has previously worked on shows such as The Haunting of Bly Manor, Empire, The Originals, and The Vampire Diaries.

Denis Villeneuve is a producer on Dune: The Sisterhood and will still direct the pilot.

Dune, of course, is coming soon with a release date of October 22 as it will hit both theaters and HBO Max on that date.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Batgirl’: Leslie Grace Nabs Barbara Gordon Role In Solo Movie At HBO Max

A Batgirl movie has been in development for years now and Warner Bros. dodged a bullet when Joss Whedon exited as his toxic behavior on the set of Justice League reshoots among other sets over the years. Instead, the project has moved from Warner Bros. to HBO Max with Bad Boys For Life and Ms. Marvel directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are helming the DC Comics from a script penned by Christina Hodson (The Flash, Birds of Prey).

After a recent report of a multiple candidates in the mix to play Barbara Gordon, it’s been revealed by Deadline that In The Heights actress Leslie Grace has secured the role. Barb is the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner Jim Gordon and suits-up alongside Batman, Robin, and handful of other masked vigilantes.

The solo Batgirl film is at HBO Max, but it’ll be curious to see if Grace ends up playing the role any of upcoming DC Comics movies.

Folks have assumed that Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne could end up being a mentor to this incarnation of Barb and seeing the project becoming a female version of Batman Beyond.Given that Batgirl is expected to be set in Gotham City it’ll be interesting to see what villains she’ll end up tackling. If I was Warner Bros./HBO Max, I would plant seeds for Gotham City Sirens by adding Poison Ivy and other potential characters.

Other DC Comics movies in the works include Wonder Woman 3, Zatanna, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, Supergirl, a black Superman movie produced by J.J. Abrams, Hourman, a female version of Plastic Man, and director Chris McKay is still hopeful about making Nightwing.

Batgirl has yet to be given a release date at HBO Max.

IN THE HEIGHTS – In Washington Heights, N.Y., the scent of warm coffee hangs in the air just outside of the 181st St. subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies a vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is a likable and magnetic bodega owner who hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, Trailers

TRAILER: James Wan’s Visually Stunning Horror Flick ‘Malignant’ Releases In Theaters & HBO Max On September 10

Director James Wan is currently shooting his Aquaman sequel, Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom, in Watford, England and we finally have a brand new trailer for his upcoming horror film Malignant at New Line Cinema. The film is an original concept and is said to homage the Italian horror sub-genre Giallo, most nobly created by Italian filmmakers Mario Brava and Dario Agento.

Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

The horror film’s cast consists of Jacqueline McKenzie, Maddie Hasson, Jake Abel, Michole Briana White, Annabelle Wallis, Ingrid Bisu, and Mckenna Grace.

Malignant will hit theaters and HBO Max on September 10.

“Malignant” is the latest creation from “Conjuring” universe architect James Wan (“Aquaman,” “Furious 7”). The film marks director Wan’s return to his roots with this new original horror thriller. In the film, Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities. “Malignant” stars Annabelle Wallis (“Annabelle,” “The Mummy”), Maddie Hasson (YouTube’s “Impulse,” TV’s “Mr. Mercedes”), George Young (TV’s “Containment”), Michole Briana White (TV’s “Black Mafia Family,” “Dead to Me”), Jacqueline McKenzie (“Palm Beach,” TV’s “Reckoning”), Jake Abel (TV’s “Supernatural,” the “Percy Jackson” films) and Ingrid Bisu (“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” “The Nun”). Wan (“Aquaman,” “Furious 7”) directed from a screenplay by Akela Cooper (“M3GAN,” upcoming “The Nun 2”), story by Wan & Ingrid Bisu and Cooper. The film was produced by Wan and Michael Clear, with Eric McLeod, Judson Scott, Bisu, Peter Luo, Cheng Yang, Mandy Yu and Lei Han serving as executive producers. Behind the scenes, Wan was joined by his frequent collaborators, director of photography Don Burgess and editor Kirk Morri (“Aquaman,” “The Conjuring 2”), production designer Desma Murphy (art director, “Aquaman,” “Furious 7”), as well as costume designer Lisa Norcia (“Insidious: The Last Key”). The music is by Joseph Bishara, who has composed the score for all seven films in “The Conjuring” Universe, among many others. New Line Cinema Presents, In Association With Starlight Media Inc. and My Entertainment Inc., An Atomic Monster Production, a James Wan Film, “Malignant,” will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 10, 2021 in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max via their Ad-Free plan in 4K UHD, HDR10, and Dolby Vision on supported devices; it will be available on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.

SOURCE: WARNERMEDIA

Posted on in Film News

‘Batgirl’: Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch, Leslie Grace & Haley Lu Richardson In The Mix To Play Barbara Gordon

A Batgirl movie has been in development for years now and Warner Bros. dodged a bullet when Joss Whedon exited as his toxic behavior on the set of Justice League reshoots among other sets over the years. Instead, the project has moved from Warner Bros. to HBO Max with Bad Boys For Life and Ms. Marvel directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are helming the DC Comics from a script penned by Christina Hodson (The Flash, Birds of Prey).

Deadline is now reporting that Warner Bros. is in the thick of casting an actress to play Batgirl.

Although test deals still are being locked up and some already have passed, the talent expected to test for the role includes Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch and Leslie Grace. We also have heard Haley Lu Richardson’s name, but she might have bowed out before the test process.

The list of candidates would suggest that Batgirl isn’t directly connected to Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy and likely will have a stronger connection to projects like The Flash and other recent DCEU projects. Folks have assumed that Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne could end up being a mentor to this incarnation of Barb and seeing the project becoming a female version of Batman Beyond.

Given that Batgirl is expected to be set in Gotham City it’ll be interesting to see what villains she’ll end up tackling. If I was Warner Bros./HBO Max, I would plant seeds for Gotham City Sirens by adding Poison Ivy and other potential characters.

Other DC Comics movies in the works include Wonder Woman 3, Zatanna, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, Supergirl, a black Superman movie produced by J.J. Abrams, Hourman, a female version of Plastic Man, and director Chris McKay is still hopeful about making Nightwing.

Batgirl has yet to be given a release date at HBO Max.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: James Gunn’s ‘Peacemaker’ Series Adds ‘Game Of Thrones’ & ‘Lost In Space’ Cinematographer Sam McCurdy

The Ronin can confirm that James Gunn’s HBO Max series Peacemaker has added British cinematographer Sam McCurdy, who is likely best known for shooting Neil Marshall’s Blackwater episode of Game of Thrones. Pacemaker is a direct spinoff of Gunn’s upcoming sequel The Suicide Squad focusing on the origins of John Cena’s character Christopher Smith.

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first.

Sam McCurdy also worked with Neill Marshall on his feature films Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday, and Centurion. Other credits include Netflix’s Lost In Space (Neil Marshall again), The Hills Have Eyes 2, The Devil’s Double, Into The Badlands, Pennyworth, and Carnival Row.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxKzT7AzK1c

He isn’t the only seasoned cinematographer on the DC Comics project as Michael Bonvillain (Westworld, Zombieland, Cloverfield, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Outside The Wire) was announced a while back.

The show’s directing team working alongside James Gunn consists of Jody Hill (Eastbound & Down), Rosemary Rodriguez (Jessica Jones), and Brad Anderson (Boardwalk Empire).

Production on Peacemaker is said to be wrapping up next month and actor Chris Pratt revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he expects Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 to begin filming in November.

James Gunn previously announced that Peacemaker will debut on HBO Max sometime in January 2022 and you’ll get your first real taste of John Cena as the character on August 6 in The Suicide Squad.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD – Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Posted on in Television News

‘Too Old To Die Young’ Cinematographer Diego Garcia Worked On Michael Mann’s HBO Max Crime Series ‘Tokyo Vice’

Originally, filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton was attached to direct a Japanese-set crime series based on the non-fiction novel Tokyo Vice by journalist Jake Adelstein, but had to exit due to scheduling conflicts with his Marvel Studios film Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, that was shooting in Australia. Instead, HBO Max ended up hiring the best replacement imaginable for a crime series, Michael Mann. Since he was the creative force behind the original Miami Vice series.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that one of the show’s cinematographers is Diego Garcia, who worked on the Nicolas Winding Refn thriller series Too Old To Die Young and the upcoming Jennifer Lawrence drama at A24 from director Lila Neugebauer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1WFA9B77Rw

One of the other names mentioned for the series has been Westworld cinematographer John Grillo.

After a long pause in 2020, production resumed in November despite allegations of sexual assault against the show’s lead actor Ansel Elgort (Westside Story, Baby Driver) from last summer as the American actor wasn’t replaced.

Tokyo Vice is a firsthand account of a young American journalist (Elgort) working the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat. Elgort stars as Adelstein as he embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. The series chronicles Adelstein’s daily descent into the sordid underbelly of Tokyo, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem.

Ken Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller, and Ella Rumpf also have key roles.

Tokyo Vice’s production resuming happened to take place around the same time Destin Daniel Cretton was finishing up principal photography on Shang-Chi and moving into post-production. Cretton remains as the show’s executive producer alongside Michael Mann and series leads Ken Watanabe and Ansel Elgort.

Director Michael Mann is best known for his impressive body of work that consists of Thief, Manhunter, Heat, The Insider, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies, and Blackhat. Oddly enough, he never directed an episode of the Miami Vice series but did helm a single episode of the Chicago-set show Crime Story starring the late Dennis Farina.

The impressive part of the series is that they’ve done a lot of filming in country in Japan, which is notoriously expensive for foreign/western productions because of the endless red tape and scheduling that is involved. I also can’t imagine the added costs with pandemic delays and protocols thrown into the mix.

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Brad Anderson Joins The Directing Team On HBO Max Series ‘Peacemaker’

The Ronin can confirm that veteran director Brad Anderson is the latest person added to the directing team on James Gunn’s Peacemaker series starring John Cena. Anderson’s credits include the Christian Bale thriller The Machinist, Beirut starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike, Fringe, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, The Shield, Treme, The Killing, Almost Human, The Man In The High Castle, Treadstone, and Titans.

The HBO Max show is a direct spinoff of Gunn’s upcoming film The Suicide Squad.

Oh f*ck, it’s Peacemaker! HBO Max is set to explore the origins of the Peacemaker character, the master of weapons from the highly anticipated upcoming The Suicide Squad film, in the new Max Original action-adventure-comedy series Peacemaker. HBO Max has given a straight-to-series order of eight episodes for the first season of the show. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad movie to star in the series, and the film’s acclaimed writer/director James Gunn will write all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct multiple episodes, including the first.

We previously reported that Jody Hill (Observe & Report, Eastbound & Down) is also directing on the DC Comics series alongside James Gunn and Rosemary Rodriguez (Jessica Jones).

Peacemaker is said to debut January 2022 on HBO Max.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD – Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Posted on in News

WarnerMedia Admits They Only Added 11 Million HBO/HBO Max Subscribers In The First Year

HBO Max is starting to look like a big albatross for WarnerMedia after reports that the hybrid release model (Warner Bros. films dropping on the same day in theaters and HBO Max) meant to boost subscriptions to the service has lost the company over a billion dollars (and counting) and the sluggish growth of HBO Max has been dismissed multiple times by both company representatives and defensive subscribers that have championed the platform’s library/original content.

Well, it looks like the subscriber count is indeed as bad we thought.

WarnerMedia (via The Playlist) has released official subscriber information from the last year, as their new streaming service, HBO Max, was launched one year ago today. Revealing in the official chart is that they only added 11.1 million subscribers since they launched the app (See info-graph image below) and are still mixing together HBO numbers with HBO Max numbers, despite lumping the two services together it’s not great growth and could explain the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger that was announced earlier in the month.

The total subscriber count is listed as being 44.2 million subscribers but as we imagined the bulk of these people have HBO subscriptions (around 3/4 of the total 44.2 million) prior to the launch. Making the growth look even worse.

Now, this doesn’t mean HBO Max can’t improve upon these numbers but it stands to reason that WarnerMedia/AT&T’s belief that the hybrid model would bring in a huge amount of subscribers has been nothing short of a disaster. It’s possible piracy played a big role here as HD copies of their shows and high-budgeted films are posted online almost as soon as they’re available on the service, one of the many risk factors to the hybrid release model for their feature films was removing the theatrical window that acts as a buffer to combat piracy.

There is some hope that the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger could place HBO Max in the hands of better management, but there are already industry rumblings the move was meant to make a sale of WarnerMedia easier in the future. Opening up the service to international markets should also help it’s growth.

SOURCE: WARNERMEDIA

Posted on in Television News

‘Green Lantern’: Lee Toland Krieger Directing The First Two Episodes On The HBO Max Superhero Series

A couple days ago it was reported by The Direct that Lee Toland Krieger was attached to director episodes of the HBO Max series Green Lantern, the report was spot on as Deadline confirms the information, adding that Lee will helm the first two episodes of the mature DC Comics show.

Green Lantern will focus on multiple human members of the Green Lantern Corps. such as Finn Wittrock’s Guy Gardner, Jeremy Irvine’s Alan Scott, Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Sinestro, and Kilowog. The group consists of a specially selected roster of space cops (mostly aliens) from across the universe that use green power rings to fight evil and that are recharged using a cosmic green lantern.

Lee isn’t a stranger to genre television previously directing episodes of Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Deadly Class, Superman & Lois, and Shadow & Bone.

Warner Bros. released a live-action feature film built around Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan in 2011, but trilogy plans quickly were squashed when the film failed to meet expectations and the needed box office earnings to move forward with sequels. Zack Snyder attempted to include John Stewart (played by Wayne T. Carr) at the end of the Snyder Cut version of Justice League but the scene was ultimately removed. The studio is said to be still planning to make their Green Lantern Corps. movie that has been in development stages for years now that reportedly will feature a two-hander with Jordan and Stewart as the main characters.

SOURCE: THE DIRECT & DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Evil Dead Rise’: Aussie Actresses Alyssa Sutherland & Lily Sullivan Join HBO Max Horror Flick – Begins Filming Next Month In New Zealand

A new Evil Dead movie, titled Evil Dead Rise, is coming from New Line Cinema with franchise stewards Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell attached to produce. The horror project is heading to WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO Max from Lee Cronin, who will write and direct.

We finally know the first two actors that have joined the cast of Evil Dead Rise, as The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Australian actresses Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings, The Mist) and Lily Sullivan (Jungle) will play sisters in the horror film. Traditionally, the films focus on murderous demons called Deadites that jump into the bodies of human hosts possessing them after being unleashed by reading from the Necronomicon aka Book of The Dead.

The new film’s synopsis mentioned in the report reveals the setting will move from the cabin in the woods to the city and takes place in a high-rise skyscraper.

Evil Dead Rise takes the undead action away from the cabin in the woods and into the city as two estranged sisters’ reunion is cut short when flesh-possessing demons thrust them into a battle for survival. 

Filming on Evil Dead Rise is said to begin sometime next month in New Zealand with previous crew members from Ash vs. The Evil Dead joining the production team including production designer Nick Bassett (Sweet Tooth, Guns Akimbo, Kung Fury 2) and stunt coordinator Stuart Thorp (Zero Dark Thirty, Avatar). Stuart recently worked on James Cameron’s Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 while they were shooting at Stone Street Studios in Wellington.

The Evil Dead franchise has led to three movies, a reboot film, and even a television series that brought back Bruce Campbell’s iconic Deadite slayer Ash. It also helped filmmaker Sam Raimi make an impact before tackling bigger movies down the line like the original Spider-Man trilogy for Sony Pictures.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER