Tag: Legendary

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Dune’: Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune: Part Two’ Will See Zendaya’s Chani As The Protagonist

Many might know that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is on the way, but most might be unfamiliar that the movie is only the first half of a two-part story. Legendary and Villeneuve split the first novel into two films, hopefully, to make the epic fantasy tale more digestible to an international audience.

Screenwriter Jon Spaihts is currently working on a sequel, Dune: Part Two, after being pulled off the spinoff series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the next feature film.

Villeneuve has spoken to Italian magazine Il Venerdi (via Secrets of Dune) about the sequel (hasn’t been given a release date) and mentions that Dune: Part Two will see Zendaya’s Fremen character Chani become the protagonist.

While this might seem jarring given that the first film will essentially be told from the perspective of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, but it seems the film will end before we see either The Emperor (hasn’t been seen in any promotional materials) or Paul’s sister Alia Atreides.

Paul quickly gains a reputation among the Fremen, the native inhabitants of Arrakis, who eventually see him as part of a local prophecy (a manufactured one created by the Bene Gesserit) and they see him as religious figure worth rallying around to fight against the brutal foreign rulers, House Harkonnen.

Telling the second installment from Chani’s point of view could help establish the character as being just as important as Paul. Not to mention giving the Fremen a bigger voice in the story, given that Arrakis is their planet.

Legendary is also in a unique position as author Frank Herbert penned six dense books before his death, leaving a legacy of work that could be adapted for years to come. There are also subsequent books from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, so there is a hefty amount of source material to pull from for future films and television shows.

Dune will hit theaters and HBO Max on October 22.

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: IL VENERDI

Posted on in Film News

‘Toxic Avenger’: Legendary’s Bonkers Superhero Remake Adds Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne & Sarah Niles

The Toxic Avenger was essentially Deadpool before the mutant 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.

A feature film remake has been in the works for ages but finally got going when Legendary Entertainment assigned Macon Blair to write and direct the latest incarnation.

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. 

Deadline has recently backed-up The Illuminerdi‘s report that Lord of The Rings star Elijah Wood has joined the satirical superhero film and added that British comedian Julia Davis. The Hollywood Reporter also revealing that Jonny Coyne and Sarah Niles are taking parts too.

Wood and Blair have previously worked together on the Netflix dark comedy I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore.

They’ll join an established cast that already has Peter Dinklage as Toxie, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, and the villain will be played by Kevin Bacon.

Legendary will shoot The Toxic Avenger in Bulgaria but hasn’t officially announced a release date. I’ll be slightly curious to see if the project will get a traditional theatrical release or be sold-off to a streaming service like Netflix as they recently struck a deal for Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Gundam movie.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Dune’ Reportedly Releasing Exclusively In Theaters This October – Will Debut At Venice Film Festival

With Discovery and WarnerMedia’s new merger news it seems like the future of the day-and-date model is seemingly already eroding. There had been an announcement back in December that WarnerMedia would be releasing their 2021 slate in theaters and HBO Max (for a month) on the same day. This model was used for most of their films already and is expected to be used on other upcoming releases, excluding one.

Deadline is echoing previous talk that Dune would avoid the HBO Max day-and-date model and debut at the Venice Film Festival in September before it’s domestic release on October 1, heading to HBO Max on a later date.

Deadline hears that Dune, the high-profile Denis Villeneuve sci-fi remake out this fall, will not adhere to the day-and-date release pattern established for the entire 2021 slate. Instead, it will premiere in Venice in September and then enter theaters for a time before finding its way to streaming service HBO Max.

WarnerMedia seems to be refuting the report as seen with the Twitter below, causing further confusion.

It’s worth noting that the official Legendary website only lists a theatrical release for Dune in October and zero mention of HBO Max.

Legendary wasn’t notified about the day-and-date before AT&T/WarnerMedia decided to throw Godzilla Vs. Kong and Dune into that mix. There had been reports that Legendary was ready to bring a lawsuit against the distributor after they squashed a $200 million offer from Netflix for Godzilla Vs. Kong and then turned around to dump the film on streaming without a premium fee. The movies released on HBO Max does not require anything but a subscription to the service which doesn’t exactly bring any real revenue to Warner Bros. Pictures, but luckily Godzilla Vs. Kong had a great box office run when other films have been struggling before and after its’ release.

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: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Dune’: Dave Bautista Says The World Denis Villeneuve Has Created Is Beautiful & Different – “People Are Going To Be Blown Away”

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will tell half the story of the first novel written by Frank Herbert and a second film is expected to be made, but likely will depend on how audience react to the upcoming remake after David Lynch’s 1984 version became a historical box office bomb.

Army of The Dead’s Dave Bautista is making the press rounds and spoke to Slash Film about Denis Villeneuve’s vision for Dune as he plays the evil Glossu Rabban, alongside his impressive version for the sci-fi epic (inspired the Star Wars franchise) stating people are going to be “blown away” from they’ve done.

BAUTISTA: “[The] world that he’s created is so far over my head. It’s so beautiful and different, and a lot of times dark and strange. But it’s something I never could have imagined. I just don’t have that mind. When I think about things, and when I think about directing, it’s all very contained, based on simple stories, a lot of times very simple and inspiring stories. And for someone to see something and create a world this big, a galaxy, a universe this big, it’s something that doesn’t comprehend, doesn’t compute in my brain. But it’s weird that he can do both. [Denis Villeneuve] can create these huge epic worlds and scenes, but at the same time just focus on the most simple things about a performance. He’s just a special guy, he’s got a special focus, and man, he’s a brilliant storyteller. Dune is special. I think people are going to be blown away. It’s going to be one of the most beautiful films that people have ever seen. But I think that people who are just diehard fans of Dune, of the novels, they’re going to be blown away. Because they don’t have anything, really, to reference in relation to the books. Now they will. They’ll have that visual reference. He took these characters, he took this world, and he’s taken them off the page and put them on screen. It’s epic.”

The Legendary website states it’s still set for a theatrical roll-out on October 1, 2021, while other Warner Bros. releases are getting hybrid releases on HBO Max. There is already work on the second film and a spinoff series for HBO Max titled Dune: The Sisterhood, Legendary certainly wants to turn Dune into a major franchise.

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: SLASH FILM

Posted on in Film News

Legendary Reportedly In Talks With ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Director Adam Wingard For Another MonsterVerse Film – Could End Up ‘Son of Kong’

Legendary might not be winding-down plans for their MonsterVerse after all. After Godzilla Vs. Kong crossed $400 million globally at the box office over the weekend, there is talk that the studio might be already looking to secure Adam Wingard for another future MonsterVerse movie.

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Wingard is currently in talks with Legendary to direct another film in the MonsterVerse for them, potentially with the title of Son of Kong. This could make sense as the ending of Godzilla Vs. Kong seemed to hint there were further adventures for Kong in his new home in the Hollow Earth.

I have to believe that audiences would be a little more inclined to support a second solo Kong film given how well both Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla Vs. Kong have done in comparison to Godzilla: King of The Monsters. Also, that Kong seems to have a little bit more of a personality than Godzilla which goes a long way for a CGI performance from a towering monster and now that he can communicate with humans makes another film even more appealing.

Son of Kong would likely mean that there is female of Kong’s species somewhere in the Hollow Earth, but we still don’t know if that is the project they’ll end up making since they don’t even have a screenwriter attached at this point and the Son of Kong is only a rumbling of a title.

Adam is a little busy at the moment working on a sequel to John Woo’s Face/Off for Paramount Pictures and is going to make a big screen adaptation of the cult cartoon ThunderCats mixing animation with CGI for Warner Bros. as well. It’s unclear when this new MonsterVerse is expected to shoot or even be released. Normally, Legendary announces their plans on these projects way in advance and seemed like they could attempt to pause the release of them entirely.

If Adam Wingard closes a deal with Legendary it would make him the first MonsterVerse director to make two films.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ Crosses $400M At Global Box Office – Will Legendary Announce More MonsterVerse Films?

While the massive MonsterVerse flick Godzilla Vs. Kong hasn’t crossed $100 million domestically, this weekend saw the Legendary event pic hit $406.5 million at the global box office, according to numbers via Box Office Mojo.

Some outlets have stated that $160-200 million budgeted project needed to reach $400+ million to turn a profit. That creative math that still puzzles me as similar budgeted movies in the past had to earn a lot more money to cover costs. Ultimately, Godzilla Vs. Kong will unlikely surpass the box office of other films in the MonsterVerse such as Kong: Skull Island ($566.6 million) or the first Godzilla ($524.9 million).

Normally, Legendary has upcoming MonsterVerse installments in the works when the movies are released and tease those projects, but at this time we don’t know if we’ll be getting more movies. There was a cryptic video thanking fans posted by Legendary that felt more like a goodbye message than “we have more movies coming.”

At one time, there had been chatter of a Mothra movie and the end of Godzilla Vs. Kong leaves the door open for a Kong sequel taking place in Hollow Earth. We’ll have to wait for Legendary to announce plans for future MonsterVerse movies or that they’re winding things down.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO

Posted on in Film News

‘Buck Rogers’: Skydance Developing A Competing Movie As Legendary Is Hit With Legal Threats From Buck Rogers Estate

Deadline is reporting that Skydance Media is going to be making their own Buck Rogers project after there was news of Legendary hiring Brian K. Vaughn to write a new live-action series with George Clooney set to produce and possibly star as the titular Buck. This is certainly odd given that Legendary had announced it secured animation, film, and television rights to the sci-fi pulp hero.

But there seemingly have been ongoing legal issues and claims surrounding the property for ages.

Skydance is apparently developing a feature film with the Buck Rogers Estate sending a cease-and-desist letter to Legendary in the hopes of them nixing their projects claiming they’ve already signed away the property rights to Skydance. However, it doesn’t sound like Legendary is actually taking the threat of legal action seriously.

This isn’t the first or last time that a IP’s rights have been fought over.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Buck Rogers’: George Clooney To Produce & Possibly Star In New Sci-Fi Series From Legendary

Legendary‘s upcoming Buck Rogers reboot series is getting some help from a Hollywood heavy-weight as The Hollywood Reporter reveals that George Clooney has boarded with his company Smokehouse Pictures to produce the latest incarnation of the sci-fi hero. The new series is being written by Brian K. Vaughn.

Adding he might end up playing the titular character as well.

The character of Rogers first appeared in a story titled Armageddon 2419 and published in a 1928 issue of pulp mainstay, Amazing Stories. Written by Philip Francis Nowlan, the story told of a man who is trapped in a coal mine during a cave-in, falls into suspended animation and Rip Van Winkle-style wakes up almost 500 years into the future. There, he is enlisted to help fight a war between several gangs in what was once America.

George Clooney is not a stranger to the science fiction genre with films Gravity, Solaris, The Midnight Sky, and Disney’s Tomorrowland. Not to mention the cinematic achievement Return of The Killer Tomatoes!.

It’s still unknown where Buck Rogers will ultimately land as a streamer or network has yet to pick-up the show. Legendary is currently working on HBO Max’s Dune: The Sisterhood alongside Skull Island and Tomb Raider, two recently announced anime series for streaming giant Netflix.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Deal Nearing For ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ With Legendary Poised To Distribute In China – ‘Dune’ May Keep Theatrical Window

A new report from The Hollywood Reporter suggests that WarnerMedia and Warner Bros. Pictures may avoid an incoming lawsuit from production partner Legendary Entertainment as they’re nearing a new distribution deal for Godzilla vs Kong and possibly Dune as well.

Last year, it was announced by WarnerMedia they would be throwing the 17 feature films from their 2021 slate on HBO Max with a day-and-deal model, allowing HBO Max subscribers to view new releases exclusively on the streaming service for a month. This led to backlash as none of the filmmakers, talent or production partners like Legendary were informed about the decision in a timely manner ahead of the public announcement.

Godzilla vs Kong will keep it’s theatrical release on May 21 with Legendary handling the distribution in China, the company has Chinese ownership and makes sense they’d want to tackle the local roll-out. It also seems to be heading to HBO Max.

Legendary is still negotiating with talent on Godzilla but that is not expected to derail a deal. The movie will keep its May 21 release date in theaters, including IMAX, as well as HBO Max. Legendary will release the film in China.

Legendary along with Dune director Denis Villeneuve had voiced their opposition as the studio has reportedly sided with Denis as they rallied against WarnerMedia’s announcement. It’s pointed out the film could end up landing a theatrical window and another hiccup has been revealed as WarnerMedia may have used Dune “images” to promote HBO Max without permission from Legendary.

According to a source, conversations regarding various theatrical windowing approaches are ongoing and it remains unclear which option will be acceptable to Villeneuve. Another potential issue: It appears Warners may have been using Dune images to promote its streaming service without approval.

They also hypothesize that other filmmakers like Matrix 4 director Lana Wachowski could also demand theatrical window, like Villeneuve, that could help dissolve the day-and-date model for bigger films.

If Warners gives Dune an exclusive release, that could set a precedent allowing others, such as Matrix 4 filmmaker Lana Wachowski, to demand similar treatment. As talks continue, it is unclear whether Warner Media will be able to hold the line on its day-and-date strategy to bolster its streaming service. Wachowski is said to be adamant about an exclusive theatrical run.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER