'Shōgun' Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At 'Star Wars' Universe

‘Shōgun’ Star Hiroyuki Sanada Wants A Crack At ‘Star Wars’ Universe

Japanese action star Hiroyuki Sanada (“Westworld,” “Sunshine”) isn’t a stranger to Hollywood genre work, briefly appearing in Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” as a sword-wielding Yakuza desperately trying to fight off Clint Barton’s revenge-seeking Ronin and even played a scheming corporate villain in James Mangold‘s “The Wolverine.” In his new Hulu samurai series, “Shōgun,” the veteran actor is getting a lot more stage time, and it’s led to some serious buzz around the show alongside the authentic touches across the production thanks to Sanada’s creative involvement as a producer. However, it sounds like Sanada is itching to travel to a galaxy far, far away.

‘Yeah, all of them. Especially ‘Star Wars’ I’m a big fan of them…I can’t wait. I can’t say [one favorite character] because [the] world itself is amazing,” Sanada told Variety (See video below) on the red carpet at the Hulu On Disney+ launch event Friday.

Twinsand — Hiroyuki Sanada in John Wick 4 (2023)

It’s worth mentioning that Sanada has long been trained in sword work, which was displayed in both “The Wolverine” and “John Wick 4” (has a sword fight versus “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” actor Donnie Yen) So, in theory, playing a stoic Jedi master would feel like a perfect casting choice.

Yashida Compound (Wolverine Production Design) | Hugh jackman, Scene photo,  Jackman
Hiroyuki Sanada and James Mangold on the set of “The Wolverine”

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mangold keeps Sanada in mind for a role in his upcoming Jedi origin movie “Star Wars: Dawn of The Jedi,” which is potentially going to be ready for a December 2027 release. The project recently added Beau Willimon (“Andor,” “House of Cards”) to help Mangold co-write the film’s script, but we’re still waiting on major casting news on multiple fronts for upcoming “Star Wars” movies.

Sanada has plenty of “Star Wars” options beyond “Dawn” with follow-up seasons for “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” and “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” on the table at Lucasfilm. There are also two other feature films gearing up to begin shooting this year with Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” that sees Daisy Ridley reprise the Rey Skywalker role to train a new generation of young Jedi. Dave Filoni (“Ahsoka”) and Shawn Levy (“Deadpool & Wolverine”) are also developing their own features.

“Shōgun” is currently streaming on Hulu (internationally on Star) and is being billed as a limited series, which should allow Sanada to take more franchise roles down the road.

SOURCE: VARIETY

‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’: Lucasfilm Announces That Jon Favreau To Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Film That Begins Shooting This Year

We’ve been waiting for ages to get some real concrete details about some of the upcoming “Star Wars” movies in various stages at Lucasfilm and there has been a bit of reveal. Today, the studio has announced a new film from Jon Favreau is set to head into production in 2024 and given the new “Star Wars” film the title of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” which clearly establishes his spinoff of the popular Disney+ series will indeed feature the former bounty hunter and the foundling with Jedi abilities.

American actor Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us“) plays the titular Mandolarian, Din Djarin, the surrogate father of Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) as the two have turned into a family as they go on various adventures across the galaxy which sees them become integral parts of the Mandalorian community. The setting takes place years after the events of “Star Wars: The Return of The Jedi” and we’ve seen two appearances from Luke Skywalker, and there are expectations we could see other original trilogy characters appear in the spinoff movie but how exactly they’ll be present to theatrical audiences isn’t known.

We also assume that likely means that this new movie will replace the fourth season of “The Mandalorian” and means the crew of the show is likely working on the feature as well.

The official “Star Wars” website also includes a piece of concept artwork, and that you can see below.

Pascal had been reportedly in talks to play Dr. Reed Richards in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot from director Matt Shakman and is expected to go into production before “The Mandalorian & Grogu.” One of the more interesting aspects of the streaming series is that Pascal mostly does voiceover work as Din Djarin with a stunt actor performing a bulk of the in-costume and fight scenes, the character rarely taking off his helmet makes all this possible.

Ahsoka Release Date Confirmed For August On Disney+

Filoni and Favreau are said to be officially in development for a second season of “Ahsoka” too continuing the story of the characters from “Star Wars: Rebels” and the former Jedi from “Star Wars: Clone Wars.” However, given the film is the now main priority for the writer/director it’s unknown when we’ll see “Ahsoka” season two begin shooting. It was previously announced that Filoni would be making his own film as well taking place in the era of the Disney+ series and seemingly could focus on Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return, ala, “Heir To The Empire.” Although, we’re unclear how much of that will impact the second season of “Ahsoka” or if the two will be related at all.

Of course, Favreau isn’t a stranger to cinematic universes after directing “Iron Man,” and “Iron Man 2” for Marvel Studios helping to usher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a global audience with a batch of lesser-known Marvel characters. He’s been since working on a fleet of streaming series for Lucasfilm with the aforementioned “Ahsoka,” “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” miniseries, and the upcoming Jon Watts project “Skeleton Key.”

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is also set to direct Daisy Ridley‘s return as Rey Skywalker in a new film that will see her start a new Jedi school and had been expected to begin shooting this year as well but we’re still waiting on casting news on that front. Other “Star Wars” pics in the works include a Jedi origin film from James Mangold (“Logan”) set ages before the Jedi Order/The Old Republic alongside mystery films from Taika Waititi, and Shawn Levy.

SOURCE: LUCASFILM

‘Prophet’: Jake Gyllenhaal & Sam Hargrave Team For Film Based On Image Comics Superhero With Nazi Origins

A movie based on Image Comics character Prophet has been in the works for a while at Studio 8 with Marc Guggenheim assigned to write the film’s script. There is now a big update as the project inches closer to getting made.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that actor Jake Gyllenhaal and Extraction director Sam Hargrave had jumped on board with Jake playing John Prophet. The two were previously attached to the war flick Combat Control.

Prophet is a product of Nazi experiments during the end of WWII, which is said to be still part of the film’s plot.

In the film, John Prophet volunteers for a German experiment near the end of World War II in order to feed his family. After a bombing buries him alive and traps him underground for 20 years, he reawakens in 1965, where things are not great for Prophet. The world has moved on without him, his daughter resents him, and KGB agents are after him to create super-soldiers from his blood.

Gyllenhaal is no stronger to comic book projects after appearing in Spider-Man: Far From Home as Quentin Beck aka Mysterio and is attached to a movie adaptation of the Robert Kirkman sci-fi comic book Oblivion Song.

Hargrave is currently busy on the Netflix sequel Extraction 2 starring Marvel Studios alumni Chris Hemsworth. He’s also got strong genre credits working as second unit director on Season 2 of The Mandalorian and multiple MCU movies.

Having a writer, lead actor, and director is a good sign but it’s unclear when they ultimately want to get cameras rolling.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Lucy Lawless Suggests Cara Dune Recast Campaign Hurt Chances For Different ‘Star Wars’ Role

A while back, there was a call online from Star Wars fans to see the Cara Dune role to continue with New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica) taking the part in season three of The Mandalorian (currently filming in California).

However, Lawless alludes to Metro during a chat that the online campaign may have hurt her chances to land another Star Wars role that she had been in discussions for. Although, she won’t name the project other than it’s not The Mandalorian.

“Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on – it wasn’t The Mandalorian – something Star Wars-affiliated.”

“It might have hurt me in some way, because then they couldn’t hire me because it would seem to be pandering to… I’m just guessing here, I don’t know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?”

It doesn’t sound like Lucy Lawless is going to join the Star Wars universe anytime soon, revealing that she might have talks with Lucasfilm for something else would suggest that nothing came together. Normally, we don’t often hear from actors that didn’t land roles so it’s certainly interesting to hear her perspective of a well-meaning online campaign.

As expected since December, The Mandalorian will return to Disney+ in 2022.

SOURCE: METRO

‘Star Wars’ Actress Rosario Dawson Is The Latest Addition To Disney’s ‘Haunted Mansion’

Disney’s new Haunted Mansion movie is filling up roles with actors such as LaKeith Stanfield (Uncut Gems, Judas & The Black Messiah, Knives Out), Tiffany Haddish (The Card Counter), and Owen Wilson (The French Dispatch, Loki) joining the haunted-house pic.

Another name has been added to the call-sheet, according to Deadline.

Actress Rosario Dawson after recently wrapping on Clerks 3 has reportedly nabbed herself a role in the family-friendly horror film from director Justin Simien (Dear White People). Her credits include Sin City, The Mandalorian, Clerks II, Daredevil, Luke Cage, The Rundown, and the HBO Max comic book series DMZ.

Haunted Mansion is a film based on Disney’s beloved spooky theme park attraction similar to previous films Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl, Jungle Cruise, and the unfortunate flop Tomorrowland.

She’s not new to the world of horror appearing in Zombieland: Double Tap and Quentin Tarantino’s unique slasher flick Death Proof.

It’s starting to sound like Dawson won’t be shooting her spinoff Star Wars show Ahsoka anytime soon given that Haunted Mansion begins filming next month in Atlanta, the cast is said to be an ensemble which could mean she’d have to be on set for a majority of the shoot alongside her co-stars. A potential start sometime in 2022 for Ahsoka is looking more realistic.

Speaking of Star Wars, Lucasfilm announced in late 2020 that Justin Simien would be behind a new Disney+ series focusing on Lando Calrissian, but we don’t have a clear picture when that Star Wars project is going begin shooting given that Simien will be busy with Haunted Mansion for the next year or so, and Donald Glover has his own projects coming out the wazoo.

THE HAUNTED MANSION – Workaholic real estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is accused by his wife, Sara (Marsha Thomason), of neglecting his son (Marc John Jefferies) and daughter (Aree Davis), so he takes the family on a vacation. Along the way, the family stops off at a sinister mansion that Jim has been asked to sell, only to discover it’s haunted by Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) ; his stern butler, Ramsley (Terence Stamp) ; and two other servants who need some help breaking a curse.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

‘Hypnotic’: Robert Rodriguez Calls Next Film Starring Ben Affleck “A Hitchcock Thriller On Steroids” & Started Writing It In 2002

After tackling effects heavy projects like James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian/The Book of Boba Fett, director Robert Rodriguez is set to direct Ben Affleck (The Accountant, The Town) and Alice Braga (Predators, Queen of The South, City of God) in a new crime thriller called Hypnotic.

A detective (Affleck) becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of high-end crimes.

Speaking with Collider, Robert Rodriguez has revealed that filming on Hypnotic begins in six weeks (in Austin, Texas) and has been working on the project for nearly 20 years, starting the script back in 2002. Also, comparing to the thriller to an amped-up version of a Hitchcock film, which is certainly a way to get naysayers on board to the idea of Rodriguez making something less cartoony.

“It’s like a Hitchcock thriller on steroids. That’s all I can say. As soon as you see the first trailer, you’ll go ‘I got it. I’m there.’ It’s that kind of a movie. A lot of twists, a lot of turns. Very exciting. It’s a not everything you see is real-type movie and it’s got a great cast. It’ll be very energetic. It’s one of my favorite stories. I started writing it back in 2002. So it’s one of the ones I’ve had the longest that I’ve been wanting to do. I’m very excited that we finally might be making it.”

It’ll be interesting to see him tackle something a little more grounded and mature, while an action movie, Desperado is oddly enough one of his less silly/grounded pictures. He sort of went overboard with kiddie flicks, CGI experiments, and wacky exploitation projects over the last couple of decades. So, seeing Rodriguez make something more for adult viewers and not teenage boys or kids will be fun to see come together.

He’s already wrapped on The Book of Boba Fett, his Star Wars spinoff series that will debut on Disney+ in December. We’re hearing there is a good shot that Rodriguez is returning to direct an episode of The Mandalorian for Season 3 as well.

Hypnotic is expected to see the filmmaker reunite with veteran stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw, who has a wave of action film credits under his belt like Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Sin City, Planet Terror, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, Predators, A Good Day To Die Hard, Machete Kills, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, The Magnificent Seven, and The Equalizer 2.

At one point, Rodriguez was hired by 20th Century Studios (prior to the merger) to remake John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, but remains to be seen if that will ever happen. Interestingly enough, The Book of Boba Fett features work from Escape From New York cinematographer Dean Cundey, who worked with Carpenter on a wave of his films such as Big Trouble In Little China, The Thing, The Fog, and Halloween.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

‘Star Wars’ & ‘Game Of Thrones’ Actress Natalia Tena Joining ‘John Wick 4’?

John Wick 4 has been filming outside of Berlin, Germany with Keanu Reeves back as the big bad assassin John Wick and director Chad Stahelski assembling quite the cast for the latest action pic. Another actor might have been added to the main lineup.

Take the following with a grain of salt, but British actress Natalia Tena (Black Mirror, Wolfe) has been listed on IMDB (could be bogus) as being part of the cast. However, Tena is such a left-field name to falsely attach to the project and sort of makes sense given her recent projects including a new crime series Wolfe.

Tena has various franchise roles including being part of the Star Wars universe playing Xi’an in the first season of The Mandalorian, Osha in multiple seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Nymphadora Tonks in four Harry Potter installments.

She wouldn’t be the only Game of Thrones alumni involved with the Wick franchise as Aflie Allen was the little brat that pulled Wick back into the life of hired killers and Ian McShane also had a brief role in the fantasy series.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ended with John Wick surviving the fall from the roof of The Continental hotel after Ian McShane’s Winston shot him. Winston’s motivations weren’t entirely clear as he didn’t seem shocked that Mr. Wick got away and could be giving The High Table a false sense of security. Wick eventually lands at the feet of Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, who had his organization taken away from him by The High Table and convinces John to go to war with him against the mysterious group of criminal syndicate puppet masters. 

The rest of the cast consists of Ian McShane as Winston, Lance Reddick as Charon and Laurence Fishburne back as the Bowery King, Donnie Yen (Mulan, Ip Man, Blade II, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shogun, Westworld, Sunshine, The Last Samurai) as Watanabe, Clancy Brown (Highlander, The Punisher, Billions), Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2, Doctor Strange), Marko Zaror (Machete Kills, Alita: Battle Angel), Bill Skarsgard (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2), Shamier Anderson, and Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama. 

John Wick 4 is set for release on May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: IMDB

‘The Mandalorian’: Carl Weathers Confirms He’ll Direct Again For Season 3 & Returns As Greef Karga

The Mandalorian is the next live-action Star Wars project to go in front of cameras and actor/director Carl Weathers has revealed that he’ll not only reprise his role as Greef Karga for Season 3, but he’s also back as one of the directors too.

Weathers made the announcement at Steel City Con (via Fandom Spotlite).

“And so now, we’re gonna start a new season of The Mandalorian, within the next month. Yeah. And I get to be in front of camera again, and I get to direct again.”

This makes Weathers the first official confirmed director for Season 3 outside of the assumed usual suspects like Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Rick Famuyiwa. We’ll have to wait and see if Robert Rodriguez will be involved after tackling episodes in Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett, he’s been busy prepping a new action film starring Ben Affleck.

Pedro Pascal (Mando) and Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan) are expected to return as well. Pascal’s return to the set is a little unclear as he’s currently busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us in Calgary.

However, due to the recent sexual assault allegations against actor Horatio Sanz it’s doubtful he’ll be returning.

Lucasfilm fired Gina Carano over various disturbing social media posts making it unlikely we’ll see Cara Dune in Season 3 either, unless they decided to recast the role new a new actress.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

It’s assumed we won’t be seeing the next season of The Mandalorian debut until late 2022.

You can watch the full video of Carl Weathers at Steel City Con below.

SOURCE: FANDOM SPOTLITE

‘The Mandalorian’: Cinematographer David Klein Confirmed For Season 3

With The Book of Boba Fett wrapped months back, it looks like The Mandalorian is on deck in California. We have some small production tidbits to share.

After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

The Ronin has been able to confirm that cinematographer David Klein is back for Season 3 after working on Season 2 and multiple episodes of The Book of Boba Fett. It’s unclear how many episodes he’ll be working on this time around.

Production designers Doug Chiang and Andrew Jones are back as well, they recently worked on The Book of Boba Fett and should help keep the look of the universe cohesive between the two shows.

There is an assumption that director Bryce Dallas Howard might be back as well, but we can’t confirm this. She recently joined the lineup of directors on The Book of Boba Fett and returning for Season 3 isn’t that huge of a leap to make.

Pedro Pascal is said to be busy shooting HBO’s The Last of Us in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and it’s unclear when he’ll be on the set of The Mandalorian.

Returning cast members have yet to be announced but Carl Weathers and Katee Sackhoff are expected to be named.

We suspect that Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka series won’t being shooting until the fall at the earliest.

The Book of Boba Fett will be the next big live-action Star Wars project to debut on Disney+ in December and Star Wars: Visions begins airing on September 22. Next year is expected to see things like Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Season 3 of The Mandalorian start airing.

Robert Rodriguez Signs First-Look Deal With HBO & HBO Max: Will He Tackle DC Comics Projects?

WarnerMedia has announced via The Hollywood Reporter that they’ve striked a two year first-look deal with Robert Rodriguez and his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios. He’ll specifically develop various film and television projects for HBO/HBO Max.

The filmmaker had this to say about the deal:

“It’s intriguing to be able to tap into the wealth of iconic IP available across the WarnerMedia portfolio and explore new stories to tell. I’m looking forward to a meaningful collaboration with the high caliber creative talent at HBO and HBO Max who have proven they’re willing to take risks, challenge norms and tell inclusive stories while producing a wide breadth of quality content.”

We previously saw J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot’s deal with WarnerMedia leading to them tackle a wave of DC Comics projects such as Justice League Dark, Constintine, Madame X, and producing a new Superman film.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Rodriguez/Troublemaker Studios attempt to adapt various comic book projects given their experience with existing material. They were behind films such as Predators, Sin City, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, and Alita: Battle Angel. Robert was once approached by Ryan Reynolds and 20th Century Fox to direct the first installment of Deadpool, but declined.

Most recently Robert Rodriguez was working with Lucasfilm on Star Wars shows such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

There are plenty DC Comics projects Rodriguez could end up bringing to life such as various movies that had been gestating at Warner Bros. for ages such as Lobo (Guy Ritchie formerly attached to direct), Sgt. Rock (Quentin Tarantino was offered it), and Deathstroke (The Raid’s Gareth Evans was developing at one point).

Hopefully, this is a sign that James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is giving WarnerMedia the impression they can continue to keep making mature projects based on their IP.

Like Gunn, Rodriguez has a unique style and vision that clearly is imprinted on his inventive/energetic R-rated action projects such as Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Planet Terror, Machete, and Machete Kills. Applying that to the DCEU could only make for exciting and entertaining adaptations.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER