Tag: Netflix

Posted on in Film News, News

‘The Gray Man’: Russo Brothers Have Wrapped On Netflix’s Most Expensive Original Film To Date

Netflix and The Russo Brothers are teaming to bring the streaming service’s most expensive original film with a feature adaptation of The Gray Man, a spy thriller that is said to have a budget of over $200 million.

To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…

The impressive cast consists of Ryan Gosling (The Nice Guys, Drive, Blade Runner 2049), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer, Captain America 1-3, Avengers 1-4), Ana De Armas (No Time To Die, Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out), Wagner Moura (Narcos), Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton, Dungeons & Dragons), Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo), Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage), Julia Butters (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Eme Ikwuakor (Inhumans, Moonfall) and Scott Haze (Venom, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minari).

The sibling filmmakers have announced over the weekend that they have wrapped on the film.

It’s been said that Netflix hopes The Gray Man will be the first of multiple installments as they see it has potential to become their own Mission: Impossible or James Bond franchise. However, we’ll have to see if spending all that money was worth it as many of the original films from Netflix make for flashy trailers but never really live up to the hype and tend to lack the quality of studio blockbusters.

Netflix brass recently told Deadline they have zero plans to make a follow-up to Michael Bay’s 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds, something I’m sure they believed would become a massive success for them too.

They’re likely crossing their fingers that Red Notice starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds (another pricey action film) will also become a franchise player for them as well.

SOURCE: THE RUSSO BROTHERS

Posted on in News, Television News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Empty Man’ Director David Prior Joins Guillermo del Toro’s Horror Anthology Series ’12 After Midnight’

Netflix and Guillermo del Toro are working together on a bunch of live-action and animation projects including a darker version of Pinocchio that he is co-directing with Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) that will be using stop-motion animation. They’re also partnering on a new horror anthology series 12 After Midnight (formerly 10 After Midnight) that will see a group of hand-selected directors will be working on including Guillermo del Toro and Australian director Jennifer Kent (The Babadook, The Nightingale)

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that American director David Prior has joined the horror anthology project and is now part of the 12 After Midnight directing team.

Prior previously wrote and helmed the 20th Century Studios horror film The Empty Man, that starred James Dale Badge (Iron Man 3, The Pacific, The Departed), Marin Ireland (Hell or High Water), Stephen Root (Barry, Perry Mason), Ron Canada (The Strain, House of Cards, The West Wing), Robert Aramayo (Amazon’s Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones), Joel Courtney (Super 8), and Sasha Frolova (Little Women, Red Sparrow, Mare of Easttown).

Guillermo del Toro has wrapped on his Nightmare Alley remake for Searchlight Pictures and is co-writing a sequel to Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.

We’ll be excited to see what other horror directors that Guillermo will pick to direct the rest of the episodes.

THE EMPTY MAN – This supernatural horror film, drawn from the Boom! Studios graphic novel, centers on shocking events originating in a small Midwestern town. After the mysterious disappearance of a group of teenagers, James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), a troubled retired cop, is thrust into action to investigate. Following leads that may tie a secretive occult-minded group to a terrifying local legend, he soon realizes that his life — and the lives of those close to him — are in terrible danger.

Posted on in Film News, News

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Feig’s ‘The School Of Good & Evil’ Shot By ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ Cinematographer John Schwartzman

Director Paul Feig’s (Spy, Last Christmas, Bridesmaids) next feature film will be The School of Good & Evil for Netflix, from a script penned by David Magee (Life of Pi, Mary Poppins Returns, Finding Neverland) and Laura Solon (Office Christmas Party, Let It Snow) based on the bestselling book by Soman Chainani.

Best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where fairytale legacies go to school: the School for Good and Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. With her princess ambitions, Sophie knows she’ll be picked for the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her grim aesthetic and wicked cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil. Yet soon the girls find their fortunes reversed: Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, Agatha into the School for Good. But what if the mistake is the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are? Their friendship will be put to the test in this thrilling and comedic story where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that the adaptation will have cinematographer John Schwartzman, who previously worked with director Paul Feig on his holiday pic Last Christmas. His other credits include Jurassic World, The Little Things, The Amazing Spider-Man, Dracula: Untold, The Green Hornet, and Universal’s big upcoming blockbuster release Jurassic World: Dominion.

We can also confirm that the film’s production designer will be Andy Nicholson, who previously worked on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Assassin’s Creed, Captain Marvel, Gravity, and Netflix’s big action pic Red Notice.

It has a fantastic cast that includes folks such as Oscar-winner Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, The Old Guard, F9: The Fast Saga) as Lady Lesso, Michelle Yeoh (Shang-Chi, Gunpowder Milkshake, Last Christmas, Crazy Rich Asians) Professor Anemone, Laurence Fishburne (Man of Steel, John Wick 2, John Wick 3, Ant-Man & The Wasp) as the Schoolmaster, Kerry Washington (Django Unchained, The Last King of Scotland, Scandal) as Professor Dovey, Sophia Anne Caruso as Sophie, Sophie Wylie as Agatha, Demi Isaac Oviawe as Anadil, Kaitlyn Akinpelumi as Dot, and Freya Theodora Parks as Gester.

Filming is taking place in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The location has been recently used for Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons movie led by Chris Pine, Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman, and famously was the home for eight seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Netflix has yet to announce a release date for The School of Good & Evil.

Posted on in Film News, News

Anthony Mackie & David Harbour To Star In Netflix’s ‘We Have A Ghost’ From ‘Freaky’ Director Christopher Landon; Filming Has Started

Freaky director Christopher Landon has secured a high-profile project at Netflix with We Have a Ghost, which is based on the short story Ernest from Geoff Manaugh.

We Have A Ghost follows Kevin and his family, who find a ghost named Ernest haunting their new home and get turned into overnight social media sensations. But when Kevin and Ernest go rogue to investigate the mystery of Ernest’s past, they become a target of the CIA.

The news coming from The Hollywood Reporter adds that the fantastic cast consists of Anthony Mackie (Outside The Wire, The Falcon & The Winter Soldier), David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow), Tig Nataro (Army of The Dead, Star Trek: Discovery), Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde), Erica Ash (Survivor’s Remorse, Uncle Drew), Isabella Russo (School of Rock the Musical, Crashing), Niles Fitch (This Is Us), Faith Ford (Murphy Brown, Hope & Faith) and Steve Coulter (Shotgun Wedding, The Conjuring).

It’s not mentioned in the report, but Landon’s previous work has skewed more comedic/tongue-in-cheek and I guess we’ll have to assume that is the case with We Have A Ghost, given that Harbour and Mackie have done humorous roles in the past.

Christopher Landon took to Twitter to announced that film had officially started on Monday and confirmed that cinematographer Marc Spicer (Escape Room, Escape Room 2) will be behind the camera. Spicer has a wonderful eye and those Escape Room movies have an extremely slick look which should mean that We Have A Ghost will really have a strong visual edge to it.

The pairing of Mackie and Harbour is interesting as Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige suggested on Twitter (during a Black Widow watch party) recently he’d like to see Sam Wilson’s Captain America and Alexei’s Red Guardian come to blows at some point. It’ll be interesting if the two actors could reunite for an MCU project like Captain America 4.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Cinematographer Ben Seresin Joins Jennifer Lopez Assassin Pic ‘The Mother’ Directed By ‘Mulan’s Niki Caro

Back in February, Deadline reported that Jennifer Lopez was attached to star/produce a new action film for Netflix. The Mother has a script penned by Misha Green (Tomb Raider 2, Lovecraft Country) and Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) it was described as being in the vein of Luc Besson’s The Professional and would see Lopez playing an assassin. 

Lopez will play a deadly female assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter that she gave up years before, while on the run from dangerous men.

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that Kiwi cinematographer Ben Seresin has joined The Mother’s production team and should bring a striking visual flair after being behind Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong. Seresin’s other credits include World War Z, Pirates of The Caribbean At World’s End, Pain & Gain, Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, Unstoppable, Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, and Chaos Walking. 

Fellow Kiwi, director Niki Caro (Mulan), has closed her deal to direct, and we can confirm that Canadian production designer Jean-Francois Campeau (Annie With An E, Bon Cop Bad Cop II) has also joined the production team. 

We’ve learned that filming will take place from early October to late January in Vancouver, British, Columbia, Canada.

Misha Green is currently attached to write and direct MGM’s Tomb Raider sequel starring Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander, she also signed an overall deal with Apple after HBO cancelled Season 2 of Lovecraft Country.

Lopez is coming off the heat from her stripper movie Hustlers and has wrapped on the action-comedy Shogun Wedding. You might remember her kicking serious ass in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight opposite George Clooney, so it’ll be interesting to see her tackling a similar badass role.

HUSTLERS – Working as a stripper to make ends meet, Destiny’s life changes forever when she becomes friends with Ramona — the club’s top money earner. Ramona soon shows Destiny how to finagle her way around the wealthy Wall Street clientele who frequent the club. But when the 2008 economic collapse cuts into their profits, the gals and two other dancers devise a daring scheme to take their lives back.

Posted on in Television News

Guillermo del Toro’s Horror Anthology Series ’12 After Midnight’ Enlists ‘Nightmare Alley’ & ‘The Strain’ Production Designer; Jennifer Kent Also Directing

A new horror anthology from writer/producer Guillermo del Toro is coming to Netflix with the show titled Guillermo del Toro Presents 12 After Midnight (formerly 10 After Midnight), and it allows the filmmaker to honor the genre he loves. Guillermo del Toro is directing some episodes of the anthology alongside Australian director Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale, The Babadook). More directors will be announced later on. 

In this new genre-defining anthology series, acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will present a collection of personally curated stories, that are both equally sophisticated and horrific. Creator and executive producer del Toro will bring his own visionary style as both a writer and director to certain episodes. In addition, he will handpick a team of the genre’s best writers and exciting new filmmakers to bring his selection of stories to life.

The Ronin can confirm that the horror series has added seasoned production designer Tamara Deverell (Star Trek: Discovery), who had recently worked with del Toro on his latest feature film Nightmare Alley and his vampire series The Strain. Deverell will work alongside art director Brandt Gordon (Nightmare Alley, Crimson Peak, Total Recall, Suicide Squad, Shazam!)

We’ve also learned that the production team will have visual effects supervisor Dennis Berardi, who has a fantastic body of work with projects such as Shazam!, Crimson Peak, Monster Hunter, Antlers, The Shape of Water, The Strain, Nightmare Alley, Vikings, and The Strain. 

Filming is already underway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and will wrap sometime in February. 

A longtime producing partner of del Toro, J. Miles Dale, is behind the series. His credits consist of Nightmare Alley, Antlers, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, The Shape of Water, The Strain, Mama, Shadowhunters, The Thing (2011), and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. 

12 After Midnight will drop on Netflix sometime in 2022. 

Posted on in Film News

Big Budget Action Pic ‘Red Notice’ Releases November 12 On Netflix

Netflix has officially announced their high-profile and expensive action movie Red Notice, will drop on November 12 on the streaming giant. The pricey pic costing between $160-200 million stars Hollywood blockbuster darlings Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds in the lead roles.

In the world of international crime, an Interpol agent attempts to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted art thief.

SOURCE: NETFLIX

Posted on in Film News

Karen Gillan’s Action Pic ‘Gunpowder Milkshake’ Already Has A Sequel In Early Development

The other day, a heap of a announcements and production updates made by StudioCanal revealed a bunch of projects on the horizon including Paddington 3, Benedict Cumberbatch’s WWII drama War Magician, and one interesting tidbit that just caught our eye was that Karen Gillan’s action pic Gunpowder Milkshake has a sequel in early development.

Gunpowder Milkshake hasn’t even released as it’ll debut on Netflix in the U.S. next week on July 14.

The action pic was helmed by Big Bad Wolves co-director Navot Papushado with a fantastic supporting cast that includes Lena Headey (Dredd, Game of Thrones), Paul Giamatti (Billions, Sideways, Shoot Em Up), Chloe Coleman (Avatar 2-5), Michelle Yeoh (Avatar 2-5, Shang-Chi, The Witcher: Blood Origin, Crazy Rich Asians), Angela Bassett (Strange Days, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), and Carla Gugino (Spy Kids, The Lookout, Sin City, Watchmen).

We’re a wave of John Wick inspired female led action projects with Gunpowder Milkshake alongside things likes Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Kate and Kate Beckinsale’s Jolt (taking cues from Jason Statham’s Crank films as well) also on their way soon.

GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Sam (Karen Gillan) was only 12 years old when her mother Scarlet (Lena Headey), an elite assassin, was forced to abandon her. Sam was raised by The Firm, the ruthless crime syndicate her mother worked for. Now, 15 years later, Sam has followed in her mother’s footsteps and grown into a fierce hit-woman. But when a high-risk job goes wrong, Sam must choose between serving The Firm and protecting the life of an innocent 8-year-old girl – Emily (Chloe Coleman). With a target on her back, Sam has only one chance to survive: Reunite with her mother and her lethal associates, The Librarians (Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Carla Gugino). These three generations of women must now learn to trust each other, stand up to The Firm and their army of henchmen, and raise hell against those who could take everything from them.

SOURCE: STUDIOCANAL VIA THR

Posted on in News

‘Rebel Moon’: Zack Synder Brings His Old ‘Seven Samurai’ Inspired ‘Star Wars’ Film Idea To Netflix & Will Direct Next

Netflix and Zack Snyder are expanding their working relationship as The Hollywood Reporter reveals his next project will be a another genre pic for the streaming giant. He’ll direct an original sci-fi Rebel Moon, a script was penned by Snyder, Shay Hatten, and Kurt Johnstad.

The story is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate people dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

Rebel Moon is pretty much a reworked version of his original Star Wars pitch to Lucasfilm from back in 2012. As Snyder wanted to make a Jedi film that was inspired by the Akira Kurosawa samurai film Seven Samurai. Removing all the “Star Wars” elements to make it legally distinctive from a galaxy far far away (title is an obvious nod to Star Wars’ Rebel Alliance and the moon of Endor). He had teased back in May that idea has been transformed into another project entirely.

SEVEN SAMURAI – A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.

Snyder working with Netflix back-to-back on Army of The Dead and now Rebel Moon, could suggest an overall deal with the streaming service could be in the cards for the filmmaker.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

James Gunn Echoes Marvel Studios’ Stance That Marvel Television Era Shows Aren’t MCU Canon

Earlier in the year, Marvel Studios’ producer/executive Nate Moore revealed that the Disney+ shows were the first time that films universe, the MCU, connects directly with Marvel shows. This comes after Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb exited the company and Kevin Feige took over the television division (killing multiple shows including a Ghost Rider series) after becoming Marvel’s chief creative officer, re-branding as Marvel TV Studios.

“When Disney+ was announced we realized that there was an opportunity to interweave a cinematic universe with a television universe which has never been done before,” Nate Moore said in a Disney+ special Marvel Studios: ASSEMBLED focusing on The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.

You can see that clip below spotted by The Playlist.

This would confirm that Marvel Studios only sees the series that they make are the shows that are canon in the MCU because Moore’s statements were cleared by both Disney and Marvel, since this was their own segment and not a random interview. Even if it was an interview, Moore is so high-up at Marvel Studios that what he says is gospel, just like when Kevin, Victoria or Louis speak upon what the studio is doing.

Now, Guardians of The Galaxy franchise writer and director James Gunn (who speaks with Marvel Studios brass on a regular basis) is under this impression too while interacting with fans on Twitter and dismissing that Agents of SHIELD/Agent Carter are MCU Canon, despite what fans think or desperately want to believe is true.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1410677884390236160
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1410762542998122498
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1410764308712022018

He also debunks the narrative that Marvel Studios had been blocking actors from taking roles in DC Comics projects at Warner Bros. Pictures.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1410677684871393280

James Gunn has completed work on The Suicide Squad (releases August 6), will wrap on his HBO Max series Peacemaker this month (releasing January 2022), and Chris Pratt says Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 (will hit theaters on May 5, 2023) begins shooting this November.

SOURCE: JAMES GUNN