Tag: Jason Momoa

Posted on in Features

Netflix Should Offer Zack Snyder Their ‘Conan The Barbarian’ Reboot

It was recently suggested by WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff in an interview with Variety that they don’t have plans to continue or restore the Snyderverse. Which means that Zack Snyder is finally free to make all the wacky film ideas he’s been cooking up over the last decade. He’s talked about making action film about George Washington and taking a crack at the Arthurian legend.

What’s interesting is that he’s now established a working relationship with streaming giant Netflix with his upcoming action-horror flick Army of The Dead, that is coming out on May 21, 2021.

This could mean that Snyder and Netflix will continue working on stuff in the future potentially leading to an over-all development deal at some point.

There is a newly acquired IP at the streamer that feels tailor-made for the filmmaker. As Netflix got their hands on the film and television rights to Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery hero Conan The Barbarian last year. The character has multiple stories written by Howard and other writers that continued Conan’s adventures over the decades including folks like Wheel of Time’s Robert Jordan.

In my opinion, there is really only one solid live-action adaptation and that is the fantastic John Milius movie from 1982 that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones. The film got made thanks in part to the books popularity in the 1970’s and the string of comic books that were published by Marvel Comics.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) – Orphaned boy Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is enslaved after his village is destroyed by the forces of vicious necromancer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), and is compelled to push “The Wheel of Pain” for many years. Once he reaches adulthood, Conan sets off across the prehistoric landscape of the Hyborian Age in search of the man who killed his family and stole his father’s sword. With beautiful warrior Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) and archer Subotai (Gerry Lopez), he faces a supernatural evil.

I have to assume given Zack’s obsession with John Boorman’s Excalibur that something like Conan The Barbarian might also be a fantasy film that resonates with him and could be an established IP that Netflix could offer Snyder.

We’ve seen with 300 that Zack could bring something visually interesting to a mature fantasy adventure epic like Conan The Barbarian. At it’s core, the 300 comic from Frank Miller and the Zack Snyder film owes a lot to things like Conan.

The world of Conan can be a blank canvas for someone like Snyder to develop something into his own and Netflix isn’t likely going to micromanage because box office isn’t even a factor with their originals as streaming is a complete different. You can tell with his DC stuff that he’s itching to tackle something like this.

The less said about Jason Momoa’s 2011 Conan reboot the better. Since then, the actor has developed a more charismatic on-screen persona with stuff like Game of Thrones and taking on the Aquaman role. I wouldn’t be opposed to giving Jason another shot at playing Conan given that he’s grown as an actor and has an existing relationship with Snyder.

Anyways, I’m hopefully that Netflix’s interest with expanding Snyder’s Army of The Dead into their own franchise means that they’ll at least consider him for other stuff like Conan The Barbarian as it feels like it could be a good fit for him.

Posted on in Film News

Jason Momoa Wanted Gail Simone To Write A Treatment For A ‘Conan’ & ‘Red Sonja’ Crossover Movie

Comic book writer Gail Simone (Red Sonja, Deadpool, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Domino) has taken to Twitter to reveal that Conan The Barbarian actor Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game of Thrones) once wanted her to write a treatment for a potential crossover film featuring Jason’s Conan and Rose McGowan’s Red Sonja. The project never actually written but seemed kind of interesting since there were plans for a new Red Sonja film before the Conan reboot was released.

The film rights to both Conan and Red Sonja had been acquired by the same production company Millennium Films (formerly known as Nu Image) around this time, in theory, a crossover could have happened.

At the time, Rose was attached to the Red Sonja reboot with Robert Rodriguez set produce, the project had been promoted at San Diego Comic-Con 2008 with mock-up posters/teaser images. She had recently worked with Robert on the his Grindhouse installment Planet Terror playing the film’s leading heroine Cherry Darling. It played in theaters as a double-feature with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, which also featured Rose in the small supporting role of Pam. McGowan ended up with a role in 2011’s Conan The Barbarian playing a witch villain named Marique in heavy special effects makeup.

SIMONE: “Jason Momoa wanted me to write a Conan/Red Sonja treatment for a movie crossover featuring him as Conan and Rose McGowan as Sonja. Nothing came of it, but it would have been a blast to do. He pitched me the whole idea while we were in a van through a city in New Zealand (can’t remember which). He’s just a very enthusiastic, lovely guy and I liked him immediately.”

Conan The Barbarian didn’t connect with audiences, so there was never sequel made and Jason Momoa eventually landed his supporting part as Khal Drogo in HBO’s hit fantasy series Game of Thrones. That success on television led to him landing the Aquaman role in Warner Bros’ DC Comics franchise. More recently, Netflix has acquired the rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan allowing them to make films, television shows, and animated projects.

Robert Rodriguez’s incarnation of Red Sonja never actually came together as the filmmaker instead pivoted to producing 20th Century Fox’s Predators and other subsequent things like taking over directing duties on James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel. A newer version of Red Sonja had Millennium Films hire disgraced X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer before he was ultimately replaced with Transparent’s Jill Soloway in the summer of 2019. However, it’s been a couple of years since Jill’s announcement and unclear if it will ever get made.

SOURCE: GAIL SIMONE

Posted on in Film News

Francis Lawrence Confirmed To Reunite With ‘Red Sparrow’ Cinematographer Jo Willems For ‘Slumberland’ Starring Jason Momoa

The Ronin can now confirm from multiple sources that cinematographer Jo Willems will be reuniting with director Francis Lawrence for the upcoming Netflix film Slumberland. The cast of the film includes Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Dune), Kyle Chandler (Godzilla vs Kong), Chris O’Dowd, and Marlow Barkley.

Jo and Francis previously worked together on Red Sparrow and his three Hunger Games films. Also has a history with Jason as well working on the Apple TV+ series See. Other credits include Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, and Limitless.

We can also confirm that production designer Dominic Watkins (The Mummy, Green Zone, Bad Boys II) has joined the film’s crew as well.

Slumberland is said to be taking cues from Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland.

Filming on Slumberland will take place from February to mid-April in Toronto.

Jason has already been spotted in the city.

Posted on in Film News

Amber Heard Says She’ll Be Returning For ‘Aquaman 2’ and They’ll Begin Filming In 2021

Despite multiple fan-petitions to remove actress Amber Heard from the role of Mera in Aquaman 2, she has now confirmed her return to Entertainment Weekly with production expected to begin sometime in 2021.

HEARD: “I’m super excited about the amount of fan love and the amount of fan appreciation that Aquaman has acquired and that it has garnered so much excitement for Aquaman and Mera that it means we’ll be coming back. I’m so excited to film that.”

There had been an assumption that filming could return to Australia at Village Roadshow Studios with director James Wan attached.

It’s worth noting that studios normally ignore most online petitions with either positive or negative demands and there had been plenty of calls to remove other actors in Warner Bros. franchises that never went anywhere.

Aquaman 2 has a release date of December 16th, 2022.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

TRAILER: First ‘Dune’ Footage Explores Fantastic World of The Sci-Fi Epic

Today, Legendary and Warner Bros. have finally revealed the first official trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s new feature film iteration of Frank Herbert’s science fiction fantasy masterpiece Dune. 

You can watch the first trailer below along with an interview from super-fan Stephen Colbert as Twitter Movies is streaming the reveal event.

The studio is splitting the first novel into two movies with the sequel expected to be titled Dune: Part Two and is currently being worked on by screenwriter Jon Spaihts. 

Author Frank Herbert left the Denis and Legendary plenty of material to use as he wrote six rather hefty novels before son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson took over the franchise writing multiple installments in various points in the mythology. 

A spinoff series in the works for HBO Max called Dune: The Sisterhood that will see Denis direct the pilot and produce the series. 

Dune is set for release on December 18th, but there is a shot it could be delayed to 2021 like a majority of other 2020 films. 

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.

The film stars Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name,” “Little Women”), Rebecca Ferguson (“Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”), Oscar Isaac (the “Star Wars” franchise) Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “Avengers: Infinity War”), Stellan Skarsgård (HBO’s “Chernobyl,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), Dave Bautista (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “Avengers: Endgame”), Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Fences,” “Lady Bird”), Zendaya (“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” HBO’s “Euphoria”), David Dastmalchian (“Blade Runner 2049,” “The Dark Knight”), Chang Chen (“Mr. Long,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Netflix’s “Sex Education”), with Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years,” “Assassin’s Creed”), with Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), and Oscar winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Skyfall”).

SOURCE: WARNER BROS

Posted on in Film News

DC FANDOME: James Wan Calls ‘Aquaman 2’ More Serious Than First Film – Patrick Wilson’s Ocean Master Officially Returning

The Aquaman panel was short and sweet.

Director James Wan confirmed the Aquaman 2 will be more serious taking cues from modern themes and that Patrick Wilson will be returning as Ocean Master.

Warner Bros. has given Aquaman 2 a release date of December 16th, 2022. This would suggest they would attempt to begin shooting by the end of next year, if not sooner.

Filming on the first installment took place at Village Roadshow Studios in Australia and there is a good shot they’ll return to that facility.

SOURCE: DC FANDOME

Posted on in Film News

‘Dune’ Officially Returning To Budapest For Additional Photography In August

Deadline has revealed that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will be returning to Budapest, Hungary to film an unknown amount of additional photography. The film is the latest adaptation of the sci-fi novels written by Frank Herbert.

Filming had previously taken place at Origo Film Studios in Budapest along with exterior shoots in Norway and Jordan.

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.

It’s cast includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, and David Dastmalchian.

Legendary is already developing a sequel will act as Part 2 of the first novel with screenwriter Jon Spaihts currently working on the script. There is also an HBO Max series in the works titled Dune: The Sisterhood.

The release date has been set for December 18th, but with all the various shifting dates for Warner Bros. movies, it’s hard to assume that they’ll ultimately stick to that holiday spot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE