Tag: Potterverse

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Lucasfilm’s ‘Willow’ Series Adds ‘Outlander’ Director Stephen Woolfenden

The Ronin can exclusively reveal that British director Stephen Woolfenden has joined Lucasfilm’s Willow series with production officially taking place in Wales. It’s unclear how many episodes he’ll be helming. The director’s television credits include Outlander, The Spanish Princess, Poldark, Doctor Who, Strike Back, and Fate: The Winx Saga.

Woolfenden also has an extensive career as a second unit director working on massive studio films such as Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix, Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows 1-2, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts 3, Detective Pikachu, and The Legend of Tarzan.

Willow is a direct sequel to Ron Howard and George Lucas’ original 1988 fantasy film but is set decades after those events.

Warwick Davis is reprising the role of Willow Ufgood with new additions like Erin Kellyman (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Green Knight) in the role of Jade, Ellie Bamber (Nocturnal Animals) playing Dove, Ruby Cruz (Castle Rock) taking the role of Kit after replacing Cailee Spaeny, and Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dope, Spider-Man: Homecoming) in an undisclosed part.

Jonathan Entwistle, who is attached to direct the Power Rangers reboot at Paramount Pictures, is set to helm the pilot after Jon M. Chu (In The Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) exited the fantasy series to focus on a big screen adaptation of Wicked.

Willow is said to debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.

WILLOW – Enter the world of Willow. Journey to the far corners of your imagination, to a land of myth and magic, where dream and reality live side by side … to a place that never existed, a time that never was. It is a world where a young man named Willow lives out an adventure that explodes beyond the boundaries of his own hopes and fears.

Posted on in Television News

Live-Action ‘Harry Potter’ Series In Early Development At HBO Max

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that WarnerMedia is in early development on a Harry Potter/Potterverse series for HBO Max. Plot details aren’t mentioned, where it will take place in the franchise timeline, characters it will focus on or who will work on the series.

Essentially, it sounds like the series hasn’t exactly come together just yet and there is a chance it doesn’t even happen if these “exploratory meetings” don’t go anywhere.

A Harry Potter live-action TV series is in early development at HBO Max. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that executives at the WarnerMedia-backed streamer have engaged in multiple conversations with potential writers exploring various ideas that would bring the beloved property to television. Sources say broad ideas have been discussed as part of the early-stage exploratory meetings.

Filming is currently underway on Fantastic Beasts 3 in Watford, England, as the studio replaced Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen for the role of villain Gellert Grindelwald. There are also two more Fantastic Beasts sequels also in the works at the studio.

It would be interesting if they’ll attempt another prequel series potentially set even before Fantastic Beasts or will attempt something more contemporary with new characters.

HBO Max has been looking to mine a bunch of film spinoff series including James Gunn’s Peacemaker, The Batman series focusing on Gotham PD, Dune: The Sisterhood, Overlook, and heap of other DC Comics projects.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed they’ll eventually announce other off-shoot shows such as one set in Godzilla vs. Kong‘s Monsterverse or taking place in the worlds of The Matrix and Mad Max. I’d personally would love to see a Matrix origin series that takes place during the war between humans and the machines.

It’s unknown how much involvement that J.K. Rowling will have on the untitled series, considering the franchise creator has been doubling-down on multiple anti-trans comments and endorsements. Making Rowling increasingly toxic to have attached to future projects.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Mads Mikkelsen Officially Playing Franchise Villain Grindelwald In ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ and Beyond

In an official press release from Warner Bros., they have confirmed that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Casino Royale, Hannibal, Doctor Strange) has replaced Johnny Depp as the Fantastic Beasts franchise villain Gellert Grindelwald. Depp announced his forced resignation of the role on social media and this led to a Deadline report that placed Mads as director David Yates’ top contender to fill the part.

Filming is already underway on Fantastic Beasts 3 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England.

He joins fellow cast members Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Callum Turner, William Nadylam, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Jessica Williams, Victoria Yeates, and Jude Law.

The studio is also developing Fantastic Beasts 4 and Fantastic Beasts 5. We have to assume that Mikkelsen will be playing the role in those films as well.

Fantastic Beasts 3 will be released on July 15th, 2022.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

Posted on in Film News

‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ To Release A Week After ‘Captain Marvel 2’ On July 15th, 2022

Today, Warner Bros. announced that their Potterverse film Fantastic Beasts 3 would be getting a new summer release date of July 15th, 2022. The sequel will be competing directly with Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel 2 in it’s second weekend of release.

It remains to be seen if Captain Marvel 2 keeps it’s July 8th, 2022 spot or if Warner Bros. moves Fantastic Beasts 3 again. The film’s previous release date was November 12th, 2021.

This comes after filming has already begun in England despite the announcement that Johnny Depp has officially exited the franchise as the main villain. The actor released a statement on his Instagram account last week that he was being forced to give up the role upon request of the studio.

There is an expectation that Warner Bros. will recast the Grindelwald role but has yet to make any formal announcements on Depp’s replacement.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.