Tag: Legendary

Legendary Reunites With Denis Villeneuve For 'Nuclear War' & Announces 'Dune Messiah' Officially In Development
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Legendary Reunites With Denis Villeneuve For ‘Nuclear War’ & Announces ‘Dune Messiah’ Officially In Development

French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is coming off the massive success of “Dune: Part Two” and is cementing his future working relationship with Legendary Entertainment, who are the main folks behind the “Dune” franchise. Yesterday, it was announced by Deadline that he would be reuniting with Legendary for a feature adaptation of the non-fiction novel “Nuclear War: A Scenario,” a book from author Annie Jacobsen that covers the plans and logistics behind a full-scale nuclear war between the various superpowers that have massive caches of nuclear weapons ready to be launched at a moment’s notice. Ensuring the mutual destruction of every living being on the planet.

Here is the synopsis of the original “Nuclear War” novel:

An edge-of-your-seat non-fiction thriller for readers of American Prometheus by Kai Bird or Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. The first rule of nuclear war is that there are no rules. Until now, no one outside official circles has known exactly what would happen if a rogue state launched a nuclear missile at the Pentagon. Second by second and minute by minute, these are the real-life protocols that choreograph the end of civilization as we know it.

If a single nuclear missile is launched, it could provoke dozens in return. Frantic calls over secure lines work to confirm the worst as armored helicopters are scrambled outside. Decisions that affect hundreds of millions of lives need to be made within six minutes, based on partial information, in the knowledge that once launched, nothing is capable of holding the destruction.

Because the plans for General Nuclear War are among the most classified secrets held by the United States government, this book takes the reader up to the razor’s edge of what can legally be known. Based on dozens of new interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, been privy to the response plans, and taken responsibility for crucial decisions, this is the only account of what a nuclear exchange would look like.

Nuclear War is at once a compulsive non-fiction thriller and a powerful argument that we must rid ourselves of these world-ending weapons forever.

That’s not it as Legendary also confirmed (via Entertainment Weekly) that “Dune Messiah” is also officially in the works after Villeneuve had been quietly putting together a script before the release of “Dune: Part Two.” Continuing Paul’s journey into starting his own galaxy war against the other Houses that wouldn’t take a loyalty oath after he made the Emperor submit and killed-off House Harkonnen’s Baron and Fyed.

Villeneuve is a busy guy with other projects on the horizon. Those include a “Cleopatra” film, and Villeneuve is also attempting to tread in the footprints of Stanley Kubrick with an adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) sci-fi novel “Rendezvous With Rama.” So, with that in mind, don’t expect “Dune Messiah” to happen anytime soon, and Warner Bros. has yet to give the sequel a release making it hard to predict when cameras could begin rolling.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & EW

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‘Dune Messiah’: Denis Villeneuve Says Script “Almost Finished” But Hopes To Make Another Movie Before Tackling His Last ‘Dune’ Installment

There has been an assumption of what happens next for the “Dune” franchise once the second installment, the other half of the first book, is released in theaters on March 1, 2024, after being bumped from its November date as Warner Bros. fearing the cast wouldn’t be able to promote the sequel due to the SAG-AFTRA strike (A deal with the AMPTP is now ratified by members). Director, co-writer, and producer Denis Villeneuve is giving us a rather large update.

While speaking at an event in South Korea (via Tong Tong Culture) today to promote “Dune: Part Two,” the filmmaker revealed that the script to “Dune Messiah,” aka, “Dune 3” is nearly finished but doesn’t see himself jumping back to Arrakis anytime soon after a “very challenging” shoot on the second pic.

“There’s the dream of making an adaptation of ‘Dune Messiah,’ the third movie that will be the end of the journey of Paul Atreides. It will make absolute sense for me to do this movie. The movie is being written right now, the screenplay is almost finished, but it’s not finished it will take a little time. I don’t know exactly when I’ll go back to Arrakis, but I might make a detour before just to move away from the sand for my mental sanity (laughs), I might do something in between but my dream would be to rule one last time on this planet that I love.”

Villeneuve also seemed to reiterate that the third film is expected to be when he dismounts from as the franchise director, nothing says someone else couldn’t keep the movies going as there are four other novels from Frank Herbert to adapt. Neither Legendary nor Warner Bros. has officially greenlit/dated the third installment. Still, barring any major box office and critical hiccups next year when “Dune: Part Two” is finally released, there is an expectation that the studio will sign off on the next installment of the “Dune” saga.

One of those potential projects Villeneuve could attempt to make between “Dune” installments is his adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke sci-fi novel “Rendezvous With Rama” and would see him reunite with Alcon Entertainment after working with them on “Blade Runner 2049” and his thriller “Prisoners.” Clarke, of course, was the author and co-writer of the screenplay of the iconic Stanley Kubrick film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The French-Canadian filmmaker was first announced for the project back in December 2021 in an article from The Hollywood Reporter and screenwriter Eric Roth (“Killers of The Flower Moon“) may have revealed doing some screenwriting work on the project last month without directly naming “Rama.”

“I just wrote a movie for Denis Villeneuve. We’ll see what ends up happening with it, but it’s about space and time, and it’s very lonely. It’s certainly about eternity,” Roth said on the Script Apart Podcast.

Rumors based on a production grid making the rounds online had suggested that his next film could be “Cleopatra” for Sony Pictures. However, this has yet to be confirmed/backed up by Villeneuve (Who has yet to announce his involvement), trades, or Sony themselves. Also worth bringing back up is Villeneuve’s new statement from today about “moving away from the sand” for a production shoot which would suggest he’s not itching right now to make a movie about a historical Egyptian leader.

As mentioned, “Dune: Part Two” will hit theaters on March 1, 2024.

You can watch that full exchange with Villeneuve below.

SOURCE: DENIS VILLENEUVE VIA TONG TONG CULTURE

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‘Pacific Rim 2’: Guillermo del Toro Wanted Rinko Kikuchi & Donnie Yen To Lead His Sequel, Exited Due To Studio Losing Stages In Toronto

Sometimes when sequels are made they don’t often look like the original incarnation of that follow-up from the development stages and the same can be said about Legendary’s haphazard sequel to Guillermo del Toro‘s “Pacific Rim.” There had been an attempt by del Toro to return for the sequel but left due to some studio hijinks that left them without a stage facility to make the film in a timely manner. His exit from that kaiju-vs-robots sequel was a lot more avoidable than you might imagine.

While speaking with Collider recently, the filmmaker revealed that he ultimately didn’t return to make “Pacific Rim 2” because the studio, Legendary, according to del Toro, let their access to stages at Pinewood Studios Toronto (Where the first film had been shot) expire by not paying the deposit needed to hold them and would have further delayed production with the promise that they could simply shoot the film in China. However, del Toro wanted to do location shoots in China after scouting but mainly do that stage work in Toronto. Instead, del Toro passed after the studio lost the stages they needed in Toronto and moved on to his Oscar-winning film “The Shape of Water,” which as you might expect he shot in Toronto alongside Buffalo, New York.

The Mako Mori test | Karavansara

He revealed that Rinko Kikuchi‘s Mako Mori (Adopted daughter of Marshall Pentecost), the female lead of the previous installment was poised to take the reigns from Charlie Hunnam as the lead of del Toro’s version of “Pacific Rim 2.” Along with the aim to get Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen (“Rogue One,” “John Wick 4”) a key role as well. Yen and del Toro had previously worked together on “Blade II,” where the actor had played a member of the vampire black ops team, The Blood Pack, but didn’t last very long in that picture.

“The main character for me in many ways was Mako Maori…I wrote a phenomenal role for Donnie Yen, I wanted Donnie Yen. I wanted Donnie Yen to star in a damn mainstream movie, I was all for [filming in China]. We did scout in China and we were going to do location shooting [in China] but [for] stage I wanted to be in Toronto.”

Legendary decided not to use those actors in del Toro’s desired capacity. Pivoting to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” actor John Boyega playing the never-mentioned son of Pentecost as our new main protagonist. The main leg of the sequel’s production took place in Australia with director Steven S. DeKnight (“Daredevil”) at the helm, making his feature film debut on a rather massive studio film which is infamously a make-or-break situation on such a large project.

Ultimately, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” wouldn’t be as much of a hit with critics or audiences as it only mustered $291 million which was $100 million less than the last movie had made ($411 million). Guillermo also admittedly never ended up watching the version the studio made and made a flowery comparison to “home movies from your ex-wife.” Adding, “They’re terrible if they’re good and worse if they’re bad.” That line got some chuckles from the audience at the Q&A that Collider was hosting.

Just the other day, del Toro had stated that Tom Cruise nearly had a big role in the original film and was wanted for Idris Elba‘s part but it ultimately didn’t work out.

You can watch that full exchange between del Toro and Collider’s Steve Weintraub below.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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Director Denis Villeneuve Shares Update On Status Of ‘Dune Messiah’ Adaptation: “There Are Words On Paper”

Recently, it was announced by Warner Bros. that they would be moving the release of their sci-fi fantasy film “Dune: Part Two” from November 3, 2023 to March 15, 2024. The move stemmed from the studio being upset they wouldn’t be able to get the film’s popular/young cast to help promote the film ahead of release because the actors’ strike has prevented members from doing press/promotion for struck studio work. A key element of the disruptive nature of strikes and how actors could be highlighting how important their contributions are beyond being in front of the camera. Pushing the film into 2024 is an obvious tactic by the studio to a new date when they assumingly believe the strikes could be resolved.

That hasn’t stopped the early promotional campaign for the film such as a new issue of Empire Magazine featuring an interview with co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve and the filmmaker gave a brief update on the status of their third film in a “Dune” trilogy with the adaptation of Frank Herbert‘s second novel, “Dune Messiah.” Something that the director has been talking about making for a while now and seems like there has been some writing taking place.

“If I succeed in making a trilogy, that would be the dream,” the filmmaker told Empire. “’Dune Messiah’ was written in reaction to the fact that people perceived Paul Atreides as a hero,” Villeneuve explains. “Which is not what [Frank Herbert] wanted to do. My adaptation [of Dune] is closer to his idea that it’s actually a warning.”

“I will say, there are words on paper,” Villeneuve said of the status of the third film referred to as “Dune: Part Three.”

There had been previous indications that franchise screenwriter Jon Spaihts (“Prometheus”) had already tossed around ideas, but it’s starting to sound like they might actually be developing an early outline/draft. This wouldn’t be that shocking given Villeneuve has been talking about making his “Dune” trilogy for a while now. The speediness of the development would likely hinge on the material already existing in a book that the public is very much aware of and that fits nicely alongside the last two films. It would also explain why Villeneuve is talking about stepping away from the director’s chair once he completes the trilogy, three films would allow him to accomplish his adaptation without having to wade into the waters of the more wacky elements of the subsequent sequels that got increasingly weirder.

SOURCE: EMPIRE

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‘Street Fighter’: Legendary Secures Rights To Make Live-Action Film & TV Projects

Video game adaptations are having a bit of a moment with HBO‘s series The Last of Us doing extremely well and now heading into a second season. One video game property that is about to launch a brand new installment, Street Fighter, is getting brand new live-action projects. The Hollywood Reporter is revealing that Legendary has secured the rights to Street Fighter from publisher/owner Capcom to make live-action films and a television series with game company co-producing those future projects. Although, no creatives are named in the report or who is expected to direct the new movie.

Street Fighter first released back in 1987, but it wasn’t until it’s sequel, Street Fighter II and subsequent versions/sequels that the fevered fandom was created leading to a multitude of crossovers and merch. A tournament-based fighting game (less violent most competitors) that focuses on a global group of fighters that are sort either cohorts of heroic Japanese protagonist Ryu or the evil minions of M. Bison. The game was so popular it helped developers get backing for other arcade fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Tekken.

In 1994, the first live-action film “loosely” based on the game was released with a cast that consisted of Jean-Claude Van Damme as “American” soldier Guile, the late Raul Julia as the villainous dictator M. Bison, Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li, Bryon Mann as Ryu, and Aussie pop-star Kylie Minogue as Cammy. While many fans have since embraced the campy nature of the production, it hardly had anything to do with the video game and felt more like it was trying copy the hit Hong Kong film Supercop that starred Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh, but turning it into a kid-friendly version. That same year, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie was released in Japan but the anime took a darker R-rated tone than it’s live-action counterpart with violence/nudity and is considered the better of the two films. North America eventually got a PG-13 cut of the anime on home video in 1995.

To speak towards the game’s massive popularity in the 1990s, the year before the film’s release the characters showed up in the Jackie Chan film City Hunter with the actor portraying various characters including dressing in drag to play Chun-Li.

The less said of the 20th Century film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li from 2009 the better.

Legendary was behind the live-action Detective Pikachu movie and certainly did the Nintendo franchise justice as a sequel is in the works. So, after Capcom’s Hollywood experience with the Resident Evil franchise and the recent Monster Hunter film, you can’t really blame them to court a studio like Legendary behind bigger things. Other Legendary IP projects on the horizon include Dune: Part Two, a sequel to Godzilla vs Kong, Detective Pikachu 2, Gundam, Duke Nukem, The Toxic Avenger, HBO Max’s Dune: The Sisterhood, a Sin City series, and the Apple’ series Godzilla & The Titans.

SOURCE: THR

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Denis Villeneuve Still Keen To Adapt ‘Dune Messiah’ To Make A ‘Dune’ Trilogy: “I Always Envisioned Three Movies”

This week saw Legendary announce officially that Dune: Part Two is moving forward with Warner Bros. planning to release it on October 20, 2023, all but confirming its shoot will indeed start by fall of 2022 (hinted to by Denis Villeneuve).

However, it doesn’t sound like they’ll stop at only two movies and a series, Dune: The Sisterhood. During the promotional tour for the film, director Denis Villeneuve has talked up the idea of tackling the second Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah, for a third film.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, he doubled-down on the idea of making a trilogy and suggests he’s “always envisioned” making three movies.

“I always envisioned three movies. It’s not that I want to do a franchise, but this is Dune, and Dune is a huge story. In order to honor it, I think you would need at least three movies. That would be the dream. To follow Paul Atreides and his full arc would be nice.”

“Herbert wrote six books, and the more he was writing, the more it was getting psychedelic. So I don’t know how some of them could be adapted. One thing at a time. If I ever have the chance to do Dune: Part Two and Dune Messiah, I’m blessed.”

If Villneueve gets to make his trilogy, the impression he gives he won’t be the one to adapt the other four books such as Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. Given the time-jumps, it would mean they’d have to recast roles and we don’t know if Legendary will even attempt to adapt the other books.

Then again, cycling out different directors to continue a Dune franchise wouldn’t be unheard of. Legendary could also decide to stop at a trilogy and pivot to television/HBO Max for the other books. Global box office returns would likely have a big impact on all of this.

As far as we know, Jon Spaihts is only tackling the Dune: Part Two script and they haven’t said they are actively working on a Dune Messiah movie, just the intention to do so in the future.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

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‘Dune: Part Two’: Legendary Officially Announces Sequel To Release October 2023

After Dune’s impressive $41 million domestic opening weekend, Legendary has officially announced that Dune: Part Two is moving forward with a release in October 2023 from Warner Bros. as the sci-fi epic has already earned $223.2 million globally.

Denis Villeneuve had previously said a fall production start next year was “realistic.”

We already know that Dune: Part Two has been in development for the better part of two years with Villeneuve co-writing the script with Jon Spaihts, the latter exiting the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the sequel. A clear sign the project was a priority for Legendary.

While they could stop at two movies, Villeneuve has considered the idea of pushing towards a trilogy by using Dune Messiah as the basis of the third movie.

“There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

The second installment would allow for more casting additions with roles such as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Paul’s young sister Alia Atreides, Princess Irulan, Shaddam IV The Padishah Emperor, and others. Since those characters are being saved and allowed for Dune to give newbies a crash course on the franchise’s deep mythology.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if we see a bit of a time jump between the two movies.

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‘Dune’ Earns $41M Over The Weekend With ‘Dune: Part Two’ Announcement Incoming

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune has finally been unleashed domestically after an international launch weeks prior and the dense sci-fi has achieved a big hurdle, making a solid amount of money at the domestic box office during the opening weekend.

According to Bloomberg, the film has earned an impressive $41 million domestically over the weekend, putting the film’s global cume to $223.2 million with Dune’s production being said to have cost $165 million.

It’s the best domestic opening for Warner Bros. since 2019’s Joker and has surpassed every other pandemic era film including things like Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984 (Wonder Woman 3 already in development), Godzilla Vs. Kong, Space Jam: Legacy, Mortal Kombat, and The Suicide Squad.

We already know that Dune: Part Two has been in development for the better part of two years with Villeneuve co-writing the script with Jon Spaihts, the latter exiting the HBO Max series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the sequel. A clear sign the project was a priority for Legendary.

Denis Villeneuve has talked up the potential of starting production in the fall of 2022, a director wouldn’t normally mention a start date for filming unless there was already prep in certain stages already.

WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff has all but said that they’re planning on moving forward, but as Variety points out it’s, apparently, Legendary’s call and the next installment could be announced very soon.

Why Legendary has yet to unveil plans for a sequel remains ambiguous, though an announcement could come shortly, according to insiders.

While they could stop at two movies, Villeneuve has considered the idea of pushing towards a trilogy by using Dune Messiah as the basis of the third movie.

“There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

The second installment would allow for more casting additions with roles such as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Princess Irulan, Shaddam IV The Padishah Emperor, and others. Since those characters are being saved and allowed for Dune to give newbies a crash course on the franchise’s deep mythology.

A late 2022 shoot likely means we won’t see Dune: Part Two released until 2023-2024.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

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‘Dune’: Denis Villeneuve Would Consider Adapting ‘Dune Messiah’ For A Trilogy & Confirms Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Won’t Appear In First Movie

While director Denis Villeneuve is already in the scripting phase of Dune: Part Two and mentioning a potential fall 2022 production start, assumed to take place in Budapest again. He’s started talking up his desire for a third Dune movie to round-out a trilogy, as he mentioned to Radio Canada (spotted by The Playlist) he could see Frank Hebert’s Dune Messiah (the second installment) making an “extraordinary film.”

“There is ‘Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

Below is a rundown of the second book.

“Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known–and feared–as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne–and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty…”

The director also confirmed that Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen won’t be showing up in Dune during his lengthy interview with Total Film. Feyd is the nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) and pretty much takes the role of Paul’s rival in the space opera.

“The book is so rich. There are so many fantastic details about the different cultures. In order to preserve and have the time to bring that to the screen, we had to make important choices. It was a powerful image, that jockstrap.”

Dune is still set to be released on October 22 in theaters and HBO Max.

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: RADIO CANADA & TOTAL FILM

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Legendary’s ‘Toxic Avenger’ Reboot Wraps Filming & ‘Fargo’ Cinematographer Dana Gonzalez Confirmed

Legendary finally has made their Toxic Avenger film reboot after ages of development.

The Toxic Avenger was essentially Deadpool before the mutant merc-with-a-mouth was ever a notion at Marvel Comics. The hyper-violent comic book hero parody debuted in 1984 and suddenly became a cult hit with multiple sequels, landing a short-lived comic book published by Marvel, the Toxic Crusaders cartoon, and a kids toyline connected to the show.

This is the story of Melvin, the Tromaville Health Club mop boy, who inadvertently and naively trusts the hedonistic, contemptuous and vain health club members, to the point of accidentally ending up in a vat of toxic waste. The devastating results then have a transmogrification effect, his alter ego is released, and the Toxic Avenger is born, to deadly and comical results. The local mop boy is now the local Superhero, the saviour of corruption, thuggish bullies and indifference. 

The cast consts of Peter Dinklage (Avengers: Infinity War, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Game of Thrones) as Toxie, Jacob Tremblay (The Predator, Room, Good Boys), Elijah Wood (Lord of The Rings Trilogy), Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, White Boy Rick), Jonny Coyne Sarah Niles, and the villain will be played by Kevin Bacon (Flatliners, Tremors, Super).

Writer/director Macon Blair has announced on Twitter that production on the Toxic Avenger has wrapped in Bulgaria. Blair’s last film was the comedy thriller I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore and is a longtime actor collaborator with director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room).

The Ronin has been able to confirm that the film’s cinematographer is indeed Dana Gonzalez, who is known for shooting Noah Hawley shows such as Legion and Fargo. He was the director of photography on the Gerard Butler disaster film Greenland.

A release date for Toxic Avenger has yet to be announced as the action comedy doesn’t officially have a distributor. I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Netflix attempts to secure the global rights to it as they’re developing various projects together including an upcoming live-action Gundam film from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island, Metal Gear Solid).