Deadline has word that up-and-coming actress Adria Arjona has been tapped for an undisclosed role in the untitled Cassian Andor series from Lucasfilm set within the Star Wars universe. Andor, a character from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a Rebellion spy and operates mostly in a very grey-area. The series is expected to play-up the spy aspect of the Rebels and Andor played by Diego Luna.
Arjona’s recent credits include Triple Frontier, Narcos, True Detective, Pacific Rim: Uprising, 6 Underground, and will be seeing alongside Jared Leto in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff Morbius. She’ll be joining Luna, Alan Tudyk, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller.
Filming had been originally expected to begin this summer before the pandemic delayed multiple film and television productions.
Ever since the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, there has been chatter about Donald Glover’s return as the charming Lando Calrissian in a future Star Wars project. It eventually led to a handful of rumors online suggesting that Donald Glover could be getting a Lando series on Disney+.
Now, that Lando returning rumor is back with Noah Outlaw revealing on the Kessel Run Transmissions podcast that Glover is expected to lead his own Disney+ series reprising the beloved Star Wars character.
You can watch below with a snippet posted by Noah on Twitter.
We can finally announce that Donald Glover will be reprising his role as Lando in a future #StarWars series! What do you guys think of this news?? pic.twitter.com/TyQGjM0kdn
The Kessel Run guys previously stated that Lucasfilm would be making a spinoff animated series focusing on the clone trooper unit The Bad Batch from The Clone Wars, which turned out to be accurate and was confirmed by Disney/Lucasfilm not too long ago in an official press release.
This new tidbit is certainly far from official as Lucasfilm hasn’t made any announcements about Glover or Lando making a return but it’s worth considering for the time being.
If this Lando series comes together it would be interesting to see what characters from Solo: A Star Wars Story would end up returning and if the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn would have a presence.
Today, Lucafilms has announced they’ll be moving forward with a The Clone Wars spinoff series titled Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Focusing on a group of oddball clone troops that were introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch will debut in 2021 on Disney+.
Below is the official press release from Lucasfilm and Disney.
Today, Disney+ ordered its next animated series from Lucasfilm, Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Fresh off of the critically-acclaimed series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Disney+ original series will premiere on the streaming service in 2021.
The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill, which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose.
“Giving new and existing fans the final chapter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been our honor at Disney+, and we are overjoyed by the global response to this landmark series,” said Agnes Chu, senior vice president, Content, Disney+. “While The Clone Wars may have come to its conclusion, our partnership with the groundbreaking storytellers and artists at Lucasfilm Animation is only beginning. We are thrilled to bring Dave Filoni’s vision to life through the next adventures of the Bad Batch.”
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is executive produced by Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Athena Portillo (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), Brad Rau (Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance) and Jennifer Corbett (Star Wars Resistance, NCIS) with Carrie Beck (The Mandalorian, Star Wars Rebels) as co-executive producer and Josh Rimes as producer (Star Wars Resistance). Rau is also serving as supervising director with Corbett as head writer.
Deadline is reporting that Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow is already putting together another film at Universal Pictures after he completes Jurassic World: Dominion (expected to resume production next month at Pinewood Studios UK), which will seemingly stick to genre film making.
The project titled Atlantis is a thriller that will focus on the mythical lost society that has advanced technology. It’s story was development by Colin and Bridge of Spies screenwriter Matt Charman with a script penned by Dante Harper.
Atlantis is set on a lost continent in the Indian Ocean between Africa, India and Oceania. It is a multicultural civilization with its own advanced technology.
Atlantis has been done a lot in pop-culture and most recently was explored in James Wan’s DC Comics film Aquaman. There is expectation that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will also tackle their own version of Atlantis with the character Namor The Sub-Mariner.
Colin had been originally hired to write and direct the final installment of the new Star Wars trilogy before he exited over creative differences and his version Duel of The Fates didn’t make the rounds online until after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Dante’s credits include the original Edge of Tomorrow script, worked on Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, and most recently he tackled Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One follow-up Forever.
Trevorrow’s Metronome Film Co. will produce.
Jurassic World: Dominion was originally set to be released on June 11th, 2021 but delays might bump the sequel to a later date.
Another director has confirmed their involvement with the upcoming Season 2 of The Mandalorian. While speaking to Collider in a recent interview, Bryce Dallas Howard has confirmed that she indeed has directed an episode of The Mandalorian for Season 2. Bryce having previously helmed the episode titled Sanctuary in Season 1.
She joins a directing group that includes Robert Rodriguez (confirmed by myself at HN Entertainment), Jon Favreau, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed (first revealed by Charles Murphy), and a returning Dave Filoni.
It remains to be seen if others will be confirmed as James Mangold debunked a rumor that he was involved with Season 2. Bryce had also been previously rumored for a return but this is the first official confirmation.
Also, Collider was able to speak with Extraction director Sam Hargrave earlier in the month, who confirmed to them he handled the second unit directing on the series.
HARGRAVE: “They actually came to me. It’s crazy. I was in the middle of post [-production on Extraction] and I’m editing my movie and I got a call from my buddy Colin Wilson, one of the line producers, who said, ‘Jon [Favreau] and the people over here are looking for someone to bring into the team or add to the family who has experience with action.’ The team that was there did a great job in the first season and it was just all fun. But they wanted to build on that and bring a new perspective and take it to another level for the next season. So, I was like, ‘That sounds like a fun challenge.'”
“I like the people over there — Favreau’s great — so I went over and it was a really fascinating adventure. They have a crazy way of shooting. Some of the stuff is traditionally shot, with the live-action and blue screen on the backlot, but they’ve also got this technology called ‘The Volume’ where it’s just, like, the inside of a live game engine. It’s quite insane what technology nowadays is available to filmmakers. It was really eye-opening, the potential of this technology that Jon and they guys had been working on. It was a really fun learning experience.”
Sam is best known as a stuntman/stunt coordinator but recently had his directorial debut with the Netflix action film Extraction starring Chris Hemsworth that had a script penned by Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo.
Hargrave’s previous second unit work includes films such as Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and The Accountant.
Photography on the Star Wars series luckily wrapped up back in March before the pandemic essentially shut down most of the film and television industry. According to recent comments from Jon Favreau, post-production is moving smoothly and they’ll likely hit their targeted release date in October on Disney+.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is said to be already in development stages with Jon Favreau returning.
It sounds like John Boyega might be returning to the world of science fiction in the near future.
While on the Script Apart Podcast (via Empire), writer/director Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) has revealed that he has met with Star Wars actor John Boyega about potentially returning for a sequel to his breakout British sci-fi comedy Attack The Block.
CORNISH: “We’ve got ideas. I met with John a couple of months ago to talk about it. We’ve always had ideas after the first one. But obviously we’ve both been busy doing different things. In a way, the longer you leave it, the more interesting it is. So, that’s all I’ll say.”
Boyega got noticed thanks to his leading role in the R-rated film which led to big franchise roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Pacific Rim: Uprising. This comes after John felt he might see some career backlash from speaking out at UK protests supporting Black Lives Matter, which saw a bunch of directors stating publicly they are keen to work with the actor after his impassioned speech went viral on social media.
Next May will see the film’s 10th Anniversary.
ATTACK THE BLOCK – From the producers of Shaun of the Dead, ATTACK THE BLOCK is a fast, funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen street gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. It turns a London housing project into a sci-fi battleground, the low-income apartment complex into a fortress under siege. And it turns a crazy mix of tough street kids into a team of kick ass heroes. It’s inner city versus outer space and it’s going to explode.
Ewan McGregor earlier in the year revealed on the Birds of Prey red carpet that the Kenobi series would be pushing it’s start date from the summer to January 2021. This was due to script issues and Lucasfilm ended up hiring Joby Harold (King Arthur: Legend of The Sword, Army of The Dead) to do rewrites for the Star Wars series that will be directed by Deborah Chow.
Ace Universe was able to speak with Ewan McGregor, where he revealed that they’re expected to be using the StageCraft visual effects on the untitled Kenobi series that were employed in Season 1-2 of The Mandalorian.
MCGREGOR: “[The prequels] were all blue screen and green screen and it was hard to imagine, but nowadays I think things have moved on so much, and I think a lot of what you see is gonna be what we see on the set. I don’t know if you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes of The Mandalorian series, but they employ that incredible screen…it’s pretty amazing. It makes you feel like you’re in the place, it’s going to feel realer for us, as actors. And I think we’ll be using some of that technology on our show.”
You can check out the entire interview conducted by ACE host Angélique Roché below.
Hopefully, they’ll be able to be able to begin shooting in January as planned and if that happens there is a good chance that we’ll end up seeing the Kenobi series ready to air on Disney+ sometime between late 2021 and early/mid-2022.
After next month’s San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled because of the current risk of holding an international event during the COVID-19 pandemic. Star Wars Celebration 2020 in Anaheim, California has been cancelled as well for similar reasons.
However, it will return to the Anaheim Convention Center in August 2022.
Here is the official press release about the announcement.
At Star Wars Celebration, the health and safety of our fans, attendees, exhibitors, guests and staff is always our number one priority. Due to the global impact of the COVID-19 virus and in speaking with local and state authorities on the latest public health guidelines related to indoor conventions, we have made the decision to cancel Star Wars Celebration for 2020.
While this news is disappointing, we are happy to announce that Star Wars Celebration will return to the Anaheim Convention Center on August 18-21, 2022.
Tickets Transfers and Refunds: Fans who were planning to attend Star Wars Celebration Anaheim this year may either transfer their current ticket purchase to the new event dates, receive a refund or receive a credit for Star Wars Celebration merchandise. As a token of our appreciation and to thank all Star Wars Celebration 2020 fans who choose to transfer their tickets to the 2022 show, we are excited to offer a free exclusive Star Wars Celebration stormtrooper character pin for all transferred tickets. All information about transferring your tickets or requesting a refund can be found at starwarscelebration.com and all ticket holders will receive an e-mail with detailed instructions on how to submit your request.
Jon Favreau recently spoke to Vanity Fair’s Anthony Breznican, who was moderating the virtual panel for the ATX Television Festival (via The Hollywood Reporter) where Favreau gave a brief update on the status of The Mandalorian Season 2.
It sounds like things in the post-production phase are indeed moving along nicely and they’ll be able to hit that targeted drop date in October.
FAVREAU: “We were lucky enough to have finished photography before the lockdown. Thanks to how technology-forward Lucasfilm and ILM are, we have been able to do all of our visual effects and editing and post-production remotely through systems that had been set up by those companies for us.”
Luckily for The Mandalorian, they wrapped photography back in March giving them a slight edge over their fellow Disney+ shows from Marvel Studios that still need to finish filming.
Directing episodes in Season 2 include Jon, Carl Weathers, Dave Filoni, Alita: Battle Angel’s Robert Rodriguez, and Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed.
The new additions to the upcoming second season reportedly include Rosario Dawson, Timothy Olyphant, Temuera Morrison, and Michael Biehn. There is a good chance we could see these Season 2 characters getting a spinoff series as previously telegraphed by Bob Iger not too long ago.
We already know that Season 3 of The Mandalorian is in the works with Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor and Ewan McGregor’s Kenobi series expected to begin shooting by next year.
I’m slightly curious when Lucasfilm and Disney will announce plans for future live-action shows.
Earlier in the week, there was some exciting news concerning the next project for Victoria Mahoney, the 2nd unit director on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Victoria (Power, American Crime) is currently in negotiations with Paramount Pictures to direct their feature film adaptation of the Kyle Starks graphic novel Kill Them All published by Oni Press. She most recently worked HBO’s upcoming series Lovecraft Country produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams.
The comic book project sounds a lot like The Raid and Dredd according to the rundown provided.
Kill Them All tells of a betrayed murderess on a revenge campaign and a hard-drinking former cop who team up to take down a crime lord. Their nemesis rules from atop a 15-story Miami high-rise, so the duo must go floor by floor cutting through assassins, murderers, Luchadore gang bosses, ex-boyfriends, and office workers.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec are producing with a script penned by newcomer James Coyne.
When they plan on filming is currently unknown and I’ll be excited to see who they ultimately pick for the two leads.
THE RONIN 