Tag: Laeta Kalogridis

Posted on in Features

What Can We Expect Next From Live-Action ‘Star Wars’?

With the second season of The Mandalorian winding-down, we won’t likely have any new live-action Star Wars until possibly next fall. So, I figured I would give a rundown of what other live-action projects are in the works from Disney+ shows to feature films in various stages of development.

BOBA FETT SERIES: Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had begun shooting without mentioning who exactly was starring, writing or directing the thing. We can only assume with Temuera Morrison now firmly in the role for The Mandalorian that this might be the incarnation that this new project tackles.

I have my own speculation that this might actually end up being Season 3 of The Mandalorian given the lack of information on who is working on it and the proximity of when Jon Favreau wanted to start shooting Season 3. While Lucasfilm can be sneaky, this would be the first time they’ve started filming a Star Wars project without us knowing who was at least writing and directing it.

At one time, Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg were developing a Boba Fett movie but the project ultimate didn’t come together after hiccups between the two making Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. There had even been rumors that James Mangold was in talks to resurrect the series but quickly shot that down along with his involvement with Season 2 of The Mandlorian.

CASSIAN ANDOR PREQUEL SERIES: Diego Luna recently confirmed to Jimmy Kimmel that his Rogue One prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO has already started shooting in London with director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror). Haynes stepped in for Tony Gilroy, who may still end up directing an episode.

The cast for the Star Wars series includes Luna, Alan Tudyk, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Andor will skew more in the spy genre and might continue the tone established in Rogue One.

DEBORAH CHOW’S KENOBI SERIES: Ewan McGregor is officially reprising the Obi-Wan Kenobi role but as we all know uses the name Ben Kenobi while hiding out on Tatooine and overseeing the protection of Darth Vader’s son Luke Skywalker from the Empire. Lucasfilm revealed via a franchise timeline that Kenobi will take place around the time of the Corellia scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) and there are assumptions that Joel Edgerton will return to the role of Uncle Owen along with a new actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. It’s unconfirmed if we’ll be seeing flashbacks to the Clone Wars or if Kenobi will ever go off-world at any point.

Casting announcements should be incoming shortly.

Filming according to Ewan McGregor is expected to take place this March. The locations are said to be Pinewood Studios UK and Boston, England as the Pinewood facility will have their own Volume/StageCraft which has been used frequently on The Mandalorian.

THE MANDALORIAN: A third season of The Mandalorian is expected to begin shooting at some point after there was word from showrunner and producer Jon Favreau they hoped to get filming started before the end of 2020. We had heard that Jon is expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3.

It’s also possible we could see spinoff series focusing on Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. Those have yet to be announced despite the fan assumptions.

LESLYE HEADLAND’S MYSTERY STAR WARS SERIES: Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is officially working on a new female-centric Star Wars series that according to Deadline would include martial arts elements and take place at a different point in the Star Wars timeline.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.

There has been plenty of speculation of what the show could be or who it could focus on but no details have been confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney.

I’m sure we’ll learn more about the series soon.

RIAN JOHNSON’S BRAND-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY: Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has been developing his own original trilogy for the studio but looks to be more focused on his Knives Out sequel at the moment. There haven’t been much in the way of details concerning Johnson’s project but is expected to take place in another era of Star Wars with new characters. Also, there had been some talk that while Rian would oversee all three films he likely wouldn’t end up directing all them.

Here is how the official press release described the trilogy.

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce…In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

Johnson has also dismissed multiple claims he’s exited.

TAIKA WAITITI’S STAR WARS MOVIE: After dismissing reports of his involvement, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was officially announced for an upcoming theatrical Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) co-writing the script. This news wasn’t terribly shocking after Kathleen Kennedy suggested wanting to work with him. Taika later getting his feet wet working on Season 1 of The Mandalorian as both director and voicing the bounty hunter droid IG-11.

The Kiwi director is going to be a little busy as he’ll start shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder soon in Sydney, Australia.

JEDI ORIGIN TRILOGY: According to Variety back in October 2019, the Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B Weiss and David Benioff, had been developing a trilogy of films that would have explored the origins of the Jedi.

Benioff and Weiss had ambitious plans to take the “Star Wars” universe in a new direction, one that would exist apart from the Skywalker family saga that comprised the franchise’s centerpiece nine-film series. The Star Wars period the pair was interested in exploring was how the Jedi came to exist. However, Lucasfilm executives and the creators begin to see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer.

This would have likely taken place way before eras like the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic or even The Old Republic.

However, the pair left Lucasfilm for a rather pricey deal with Netflix which seemingly squashed the project for the foreseeable future. There are new rumblings online that this project might get resurrected but it’s unofficial for the moment.

THE OLD REPUBLIC TRILOGY: BuzzFeed had once reported that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a Knights of The Old Republic film that could eventually become it’s own trilogy.

A movie based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — the beloved video game first released in 2003 — is currently being written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) for Lucasfilm, three sources close to the project told BuzzFeed News.

Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy, according to the three sources. 

While this was never confirmed, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy teased they’ve had internal discussions about projects in that era during a chat with MTV back in April 2019.

MTV: Knights of The Old Republic, a lot of fans wanna see that, is there any development of that?

KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things might fall..”

There is also a film project that would see Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige get involved as a producer but there next zero official information about what and when that would be. I have to assume it’s either something already mentioned like Taika’s film or something that hasn’t been made public.

I’m sure with Disney keen to get more originals for Disney+ that we’ll likely hear about more live-action Star Wars shows in the near future.

Posted on in Film News

Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot Reunite For Paramount’s ‘Cleopatra’ Movie – Written By ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis

Deadline has some interesting news this weekend as Wonder Woman duo of director Patty Jenkins and actress Gal Gadot are set to reunite on a Cleopatra biopic film written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Alita: Battle Angel, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) for Paramount Pictures. The studio won a biding war that included contenders such as Warner Bros., Netflix, Universal, and Apple.

It most recently had Dune and Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve attached for a time before it eventually moved to Jenkins.

Cleopatra is the daughter of Ptolemy, ancestor of the leader of Alexander the Great’s army. When Rome’s ruler Julius Caesar’s mentor-turned-rival Pompey fled to Egypt after a brutal war for control of the empire, Egypt became a fixation of Roman rulers. Two siblings battled for the throne of Egypt. After winning that internal struggle by appealing personally to Caesar, Cleopatra had a complicated relationship with Rome, becoming the lover of Caesar and later Marc Antony. The latter alliance would become the undoing of both Antony and Cleopatra.

While Jenkins is currently known for directing Wonder Woman and the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984, she has tackled mostly serious features including the serial killer film Monster that earned Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar.

Laeta Kalogridis’ background in the action genre would suggest that the film could be more than strictly a period drama.

When filming is expected to begin is a little unclear at the moment as Gal is currently shooting Netflix’s Red Notice and has other projects in the works as well.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy Teases Desire To Explore ‘The Old Republic’ Again?

Could we finally see Lucasfilm tackle a cinematic version of The Old Republic era?

While speaking with The Wrap, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy recently talked about the future of Star Wars suggesting an interest of exploring other eras in the universe as they’re currently stepping back to figure what they want to do as they focus more on the Disney+ shows for the next couple of years.

Specifically mentioning the mythology of Star Wars spanning over 25,000 years, an obvious reference to The Old Republic.

KENNEDY: “And now we’re stepping back. Stories have been told within this universe over the last 40-odd years, and there’s now the realization that this is a mythology that actually spans about 25,000 years, when you really start to look at all the different stories that have been told, whether it’s in books and games.”

“We just need the time to step back and really absorb what George has created, and then start to think about where things might go. That’s what we’ve been doing, and we’ve been having a great deal of fun doing it, and meeting with lots of different filmmakers and talent. There’s so many fans out there and so many filmmakers that have been influenced by Star Wars for so long that it’s a fantastic opportunity to get a sense of who wants to be a part of this. So that’s what we’ve been doing.”

This isn’t the first time Kennedy has teased an interest in going backwards with Star Wars mythology, when asked by MTV News about development on something in The Old Republic, Kennedy confirmed development but stopped short on giving any details about when that could happen.

KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at.”

You can see that exchange from last year’s Star Wars Celebration below.

Last year, BuzzFeed reported that the Altered Carbon series creator Laeta Kalogridis was writing a Star War film that was set within The Old Republic and could potentially become a trilogy.

There was also some interesting news this week as it was announced via Deadline that Netflix has cancelled Altered Carbon after two seasons allowing Kalogridis to move on to other things, like this potential Old Republic trilogy for Lucasfilm/Disney.

Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love & Thunder director Taika Waititi is officially helming a Star Wars movie for the studio, but details about his project are scarce. He’ll be co-writing with Oscar nominated screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Last Night In Soho, 1917).

We still don’t know where in the timeline that film will be taking place.

The scope of The Old Republic would allow Lucasfilm and filmmakers to create a brand new path for the Star Wars film franchise since they could jump into certain points in the past and not being beholden to the original trilogy along with forced to connect to it because there is so much time between the eras.

I guess we’ll have to wait to get some solid details from Lucasfilm what they are planning on doing.