Tag: Star Wars

Posted on in Television News

Benedict Cumberbatch Not Terribly Interested In Playing The Live-Action Version of ‘Star Wars’ Villain Thrawn – “That’s A Straight No From Me”

In the last season of The Mandalorian, we saw Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano on a mission to find Grand Admiral Thrawn, a Legends villain that become part of Star Wars canon after appearing in Star Wars: Rebels. This leading many to assume that a live-action incarnation is likely coming in the very near future.

A big fan-cast contender has been Sherlock and Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who has played villains in the past such as Star Trek’s Khan in the J.J. Abrams movies, The Hobbit’s Smaug The Dragon, and Marvel Comics supervillain Dormammu in Doctor Strange.

While speaking with Collider, Benedict was asked about his interest in the hypothetical role of Thrawn but seems to be turned-off to the idea of being in a makeup chair. A grueling makeup job could easily be a reason someone might want to avoid a role like Thrawn, while others might jump at the chance.

CUMBERBATCH: “That’s a straight no from me, right now. There’s no way I want to be turned blue. I turned the air blue, very recently. No no, seriously, I have precious time with my children and I think sitting in a makeup chair and being painted blue, and the amount of time it would take to do that and then take it off at the end of the day might just… it’s not the right time in my life for that.”

Despite the tease in The Mandalorian, we still don’t know when and where Thrawn could end up appearing officially. Benedict Cumberbatch is currently shooting Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and is also attached to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home as well.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-Winning Production Designer of ‘The Mandalorian’ Is Working On ‘The Book of Boba Fett’

The Ronin can confirm that Andrew Jones, the production designer of The Mandalorian Season 1-2 will be returning to the Star Wars universe for The Book of Boba Fett. The series is said to be currently filming in California and according to Lucasfilm/Disney, will be debut this December on Disney+.

Jones won an Emmy last year for his work on the first season of The Mandalorian.

Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez are executive producing the series that stars Tamuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. It’s expected the trio of producers will also be directing episodes.

The Book of Boba Fett will be set within the timeline of The Mandalorian and star Temuera Morrison as the titular bounty hunter, along with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand. Robert Rodriguez — who directed Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian, a thrilling installment that reintroduced Boba Fett to the Star Wars galaxy — joins Favreau and Dave Filoni as executive producer.

We’ll be excited to see what the cast ends up looking like.

Posted on in Television News

‘Game of Thrones’ Actress Indira Varma Reportedly Joins ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Series In Mysterious Role

A report from Deadline posted yesterday revealed that British actress Indira Varma has taken an undisclosed role in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series which already stars Ewan McGregor as Ben Kenobi and Hayden Christensen reprising the Darth Vader role. 

Varma is likely best know for her supporting role in HBO shows such as Game of Thrones and Rome. However, the outlet isn’t sure who exactly she’ll be playing in Star Wars series that takes place many years before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: A New Hope as Luke Skywalker will still be a child during this era in the timeline. 

Deborah Chow, who previously worked on Season 1 of The Mandalorian is directing the spinoff series focusing on the former Jedi Master/General and according to McGregor, Kenobi will begin shooting in Los Angeles around late spring. 

Lucasfilm is busy as they’re currently filming The Book of Boba Fett and Andor with a Willow sequel series starting production in Wales this month as well. Other live-action Star Wars shows announced back in December include Season 3 of The Mandalorian, Rangers of The New Republic, Ahsoka, Lando, and The Acolyte. The studio has its hands full as Patty Jenkins will be directing the next feature film, titled Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and has a release date of December 22nd, 2023. 

The Book of Boba Fett is expected to be the next Disney+ series to release in the fall. 

SOURCE: DEADLINE 

Posted on in Film News

Daisy Ridley Starring In Neil Burger’s Thriller ‘The Marsh King’s Daughter’ – Begins Shooting This Summer

Star Wars franchise alumni Daisy Ridley has secured a leading role in an upcoming thriller from director Neil Burger (Limitless), titled The Marsh King’s Daughter, which will see Ridley playing a woman that has to deal with her past as her violent father escapes from prison.

The project is a joint collaboration between Black Bear and STX.

Screenwriters Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith adapted the Karen Dionne novel for the screen.

Helena Pelletier has a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a business that fills her days. But she also has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature, and despite her father’s sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too…until she learned precisely how savage he could be. More than twenty years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn’t know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marsh. The police begin a manhunt, but Helena knows they don’t stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King–because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter. 

Filming is said to begin this summer after the project has been trying to get off the ground for years.

Daisy’s next film is Doug Liman’s sci-fi flick Chaos Walking, where she co-stars with Spider-Man actor Tom Holland.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Star Wars’: Rian Johnson’s New Trilogy Still Happening Despite Lack of Updates From Lucasfilm

It looks like Rian Johnson himself has revealed in a chat with Sariah Wilson with that he’s indeed still working on his new Star Wars trilogy. This comes after the December update from Lucasfilm concerning their Star Wars projects failed to give us an update on the status of Johnson’s trilogy. However, it sounds like he’s still making them but his Knives Out sequel is the priority at the moment.

WILSON: “Yes, Rian’s SW trilogy is still on. No dates or timelines because he has other projects going on, but it is happening.”

This is how Lucasfilm described the trilogy when they first announced it’s development back in 2017.

Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce. 

As writer-director of The Last Jedi, Johnson conceived and realized a powerful film of which Lucasfilm and Disney are immensely proud. In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.

Concerning the feature films, if the December presentation is to be believed Patty Jenkins’ Star Wars: Rogue Squadron would be the next project to go into production. While it’s a possible toss-up between Taika Waititi’s film (may have lost screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns) and this mysterious project from Rian. There have been multiple rumblings that either the studio or Johnson himself has moved on, but these have always been met with denials and this update seemingly is coming from Johnson himself. It’s worth mentioning a handful of Star Wars films haven’t reached the finish line and likely has people wondering if the trilogy will ever get made given how long ago it was announced.

The Book of Boba Fett and Andor are currently in production with Kenobi about to start filming in the late spring. Pedro Pascal might be a little busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us and could suggest he’s been given a window to shoot something else before Season 3 of The Mandalorian beings.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what exactly Rian is making and when that first installment will get in front of cameras.

SOURCE: SARIAH WILSON

Posted on in Television News

‘Solo’ Co-Stars Donald Glover & Phoebe Waller-Bridge Reuniting For A ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ Series Coming To Amazon In 2022

Yesterday, it was announced by Amazon Studios that Donald Glover would be reuniting with Phoebe Waller-Bridge for a series remake of the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the Doug Liman-directed flick that starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Phoebe and Donald previously worked together on the Lucasfilm prequel Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The new series from co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane is expected to debut on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.

MR. & MRS. SMITH – John (Brad Pitt) and Jane Smith (Angelina Jolie), a couple in a stagnating marriage, live a deceptively mundane existence. However, each has been hiding a secret from the other: they are assassins working for adversarial agencies. When they are both assigned to kill the same target, Benjamin Danz (Adam Brody), the truth comes to the surface. Finally free from their cover stories, they discover that they have been assigned to kill each other, sparking a series of explosive attacks.

SOURCE: AMAZON

Posted on in Television News

‘The Last of Us’: HBO Series Is A ‘Game of Thrones’ Reunion With Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey Nabbing Lead Roles

Despite previous casting rumors for The Last of Us, Deadline has revealed that HBO has hired Game of Thrones alumni Pedro Pascal as Joel and The Hollywood Reporter adding that fellow Thrones actress Bella Ramsey for the role of Ellie. Based on the Naughty Dog video game, The Last of Us focuses on Joel and his young companion Ellie has they navigate a post-apocalypse United States.

Twenty years after a fungal infection obliterated most of the U.S. population and turned the victims into infected monstrosities, Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie to the Fireflies to help reverse engineer a cure. However, this isnt easy for either of them, since Joel has been left almost permanently bitter after the death of his daughter, and Ellie is distrusting of him.

The series is being developed by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

Pedro Pascal is the lead of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian and his commitments to The Last of Us likely explains why Season 3 is seemingly going to be delayed. The Book of Boba Fett is reportedly shooting in California and Ewan McGregor confirmed Obi-Wan Kenobi will begin shooting there in late spring.

Deadline also pointing out that Pedro will be making the HBO series before moving on to The Mandalorian, however, it’s unknown when Lucasfilm will start shooting or if they’ll start without him.

He will continue on the Star Wars series, where he is used sparingly because of the nature of his character, though The Last Of Us has him in first position.

Lucasfilm just announced they had fired actress Gina Carano for an antisemitic post on social media and pausing production for a little bit might be a good call.

SOURCE: DEADLINE & THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Lucasfilm Has Officially Terminated Gina Carano’s Employment Amid Antisemitic Post On Social Media

Yesterday, it was finally announced by Lucasfilm (owned by Disney) that they have severed the employment of The Mandalorian actress and former UFC fighter Gina Carano.

This comes after a massive online campaign with the hashtag #FireGinaCarano being sparked after an antisemitic post was revealed and circulated on Twitter. I guess comparing her social media backlash to the six million Jews who were persecuted and murdered in the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis was apparently a step too far for Disney and Lucasfilm.

It’s worth noting that Jon Favreau, essentially her boss on the series, is Jewish.

Here is what a Lucasfilm spokesperson had to say via The Hollywood Reporter.

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”

She’s also been dropped by her agency.

Carano has also been dropped as a client by UTA, an agency spokesperson confirms.

This late move is coming after the actress rightfully saw public backlash for posting similar antisemitic imagery, sharing/liking anti-vaxxer and anti-mask postings along with initially teasing the trans community for asking people to use pronouns in their bios as a form of support. Her co-star Pedro Pascal had only this week announced support for his sister Lux Pascal, who has come out as trans.

The public “backlash” led the actress to announce she would be joining the Alt-Right social media platform Parler.

It’s unknown at this time if Lucasfilm will recast the role of Cara Dune or stop using the character altogether because of Carano’s association. I had mused during the start of Season 2 airing on Disney+ that Lucasfilm might have opted to kill-off her character to end the relationship.

However, The Hollywood Reporter mentions they had scrapped plans to announce a spinoff series for her character Cara Dune during the December presentation after her November tweets sparked outrage and might have still considered adding her to Dave Filoni’s series Rangers of The New Republic before the final straw.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM VIA THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’: Ewan McGregor Says Production Begins Late Spring In Los Angeles

Despite rumblings that Lucasfilm has started shooting Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ series star Ewan McGregor while chatting with comedian Eddie Izzard for a charity streaming event revealed that production won’t be taking place until “late spring” and that the production location is actually going to be Los Angeles, California and not the United Kingdom as previously rumored.

The chat taking place during Izzard’s marathon Run For Hope and the clip with Ewan was posted on Reddit.

MCGREGOR: “We start making it in the late spring and we’re going to be shooting it here in [Los Angeles].”

He also took some grabs at the inaccurate tabloid reporting on the upcoming production and were it would be taking place stating it had always been planned for a shoot in California, not Boston or the United Kingdom.

My former website Omega Underground actually had talked about Obi-Wan Kenobi possibly shooting in California back in 2017, when the project was still being considered as a feature film at Lucasfilm and we pointed out the state being a strong contender for it’s production for a multitude of reasons.

A late spring shoot would suggest they might not begin until around May-June, given that most projects are being delayed due to COVID-19 seeing them push back from a March start wouldn’t be all that shocking. According to Deadline, The Book of Boba Fett is currently shooting in the California facility which might also have something to do with it.

There is also an interesting production crew report from a South Korean site Cine21 (spotted by Star Wars News Net) that Oldboy cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung has been tapped for the series, however, this has yet to be confirmed by Disney/Lucasfilm. His other credits include IT, The Handmaiden, Uncharted, and Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho.

What we do know is that Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) is directing with Hayden Christensen officially singed-on to reprise the role of Darth Vader. We should also expected to start hearing casting news in the very near future as we get closer to the Star Wars show’s production start.

SOURCE: EDDIE IZZARD/RUN FOR HOPE

Posted on in Film News

‘Spy Kids’: Director Robert Rodriguez Rebooting The Kid-Friendly Action Franchise With New Movie

Robert Rodriguez is working on yet another new project!

Deadline reports that Robert has signed-on to write and direct a reboot of his Spy Kids franchise for Skydance Media and Spyglass Media. Robert attempted a soft-reboot of sorts with Spy Kids: All The Time In The World but Carmen and Juni still appeared connecting it to the previous three movies, it’s unknown if this will be another hard-reboot or expansion simply with a new family/kids.

Rodriguez is also working on is the Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett, a spinoff set in The Mandalorian timeline starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen that is said to be currently filming California for debut on Disney+ in December 2021. He wrapped the Ben Affleck thriller Hypnotic and recently got a sequel to We Can Be Heroes greenlit by Netflix.

SPY KIDS – Two young kids become spies in attempt to save their parents, who are ex-spies, from an evil mastermind. Armed with a bag of high tech gadgets and out-of-this world transportation, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) will bravely jet through the air, dive under the seas and crisscross the globe in a series of thrilling adventures on a mission to save their parents … and maybe even the world.

SOURCE: DEADLINE