Tag: Universal Pictures

Posted on in Film News, News

‘How To Train Your Dragon’: Universal’s Live-Action Remake Casts Mason Thames & Nico Parker In Lead Roles

Universal Pictures is putting together a live-action remake of the DreamWorks Animation fantasy films “How To Train Your Dragon” and it’s already slated by to be released on March 14, 2025 with Dean DeBlois set to direct. While there has been some early casting rumors, it looks like Universal has found their two big leads.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has recruited Mason Thames (“The Black Phone”) to play the film’s main protagonists, Hiccup, while “The Last of Us” actress Nico Parker has been tapped to play Astrid. The young actors are the first of many casting additions and we’re expecting to learn more names in the coming weeks/months.

In those original films, Hiccup is a son of a great Viking warrior/lead and is pretty much reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps as a killer of dragons. When Hiccup discovers a rare dragon type he’s able to able train his new found friend in secret and starts to question the deadly relationship his village has with the dragons.

The film’s story originates from the book penned by British author Cressida Cowell. And with twelve full novels in the series, there is plenty of source material for Universal to pull from beyond those DreamWorks movies. That’s if they want to sort of do their own thing instead of making exact copies of the animated incarnations.

It’ll be interesting to see who else will be cast in the film, specifically as Hiccup’s father Stoick The Vast, the chief of the Hooligan Tribe. Stay tuned for more casting updates on the project as they come in.

Hiccup is a Norse teenager from the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. His progressive views and weird sense of humor make him a misfit, despite the fact that his father is chief of the clan. Tossed into dragon-fighting school, he endeavors to prove himself as a true Viking, but when he befriends an injured dragon he names Toothless, he has the chance to plot a new course for his people’s future.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

Cillian Murphy Confirmed To Play J. Robert Oppenheimer In Christopher Nolan’s Atomic Bomb Film ‘Oppenheimer’ Releasing July 2023

Director Christopher Nolan had been shopping around a new World War II film project to multiple studios about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. His work ultimately led to the surrender of the Japanese after two atomic bombs were unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military, killing countless civilians in an instant and even more than that slowly/painfully over time.

The project, Oppenheimer, found a home at Universal Pictures (after a bidding war) with production said to begin in early 2022 and the studio recently committed to a 100-day theatrical release.

Now, it’s been confirmed by Deadline that Irish actor Cillian Murphy has indeed landed the Oppenheimer lead role and the drama has nabbed the release date of July 21, 2023.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema will reunite with Nolan after working on, Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet along with Oscar-winning Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson (Tenet, Black Panther, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) joining the film too.

Murphy had been long in the mix for the role and has previously worked with Nolan on The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

Universal’s Animated ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Movie Voice Cast To Include Chris Pratt & Coming Out December 2022

Nintendo, Illumination (animation studio behind Despicable Me), and Universal Pictures have been developing an animated film based on the iconic Super Mario Bros. video game franchise.

Yesterday, Nintendo made huge waves by announcing the film’s voice cast lineup and a December 21, 2022 release date. The former news seemingly landed a negative reaction, mainly, with Marvel actor Chris Pratt voicing Mario. Pratt previously lending his voice to Pixar’s Onward and the two LEGO movies from Warner Bros., the first installment being a mega hit.

As you can see below, Illumination has hired seasoned actors that have done voice work for animation before.

  • Chris Pratt as Mario 
  • Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach 
  • Charlie Day as Luigi 
  • Jack Black as Bowser 
  • Keegan-Michael Key as Toad 
  • Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong 
  • Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong 
  • Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek 
  • Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike 
  • Surprise Cameos From Charles Martinet (Mario voice actor)

Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies) are directing from script penned by screenwriter Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru).

Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto are also producing the project.

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if a Donkey Kong movie starring Seth Rogen is announced between now and Mario’s release in late 2022, given how popular that Nintendo character is and how Illumination has been handling spinoffs with the Minion movies.

Chris Pratt’s next big feature for Universal Pictures will be Jurassic World: Dominion, the third installment in the Jurassic World trilogy and sixth in the larger Jurassic Park franchise, which might have a part in why the actor was selected for the role. This fall he’ll reunite with writer/director James Gunn for Marvel’s long-delayed Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3.

Mario has had other non-video game counterparts in the past with live-action and animated versions on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and with the box office flop feature film Super Mario Brothers: The Movie led by Bob Hoskins.

SOURCE: NINTENDO

Posted on in Film News

Christopher Nolan’s WWII Film About J. Robert Oppenheimer Lands At Universal & Begins Filming In 2022

Director Christopher Nolan has been shopping around a new World War II film project to multiple studios about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. His work ultimately led to the surrender of the Japanese after two atomic bombs were unleashed upon the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military, killing countless civilians in an instant and even more than that slowly/painfully over time.

Deadline has an update that Universal Pictures has landed the new project with production expected to begin shooting in the first quarter of 2022. This would end Nolan’s run with longtime studio partner Warner Bros. Pictures and remains to be seen if Universal will get first dibs on future films.

The report adds that Warner Bros. wasn’t in the mix for the WWII film, but Universal, Sony, and MGM were.

Nolan’s muse Cillian Murphy (Inception, Batman Begins, Dunkirk) had been previously mentioned for the role of Oppenheimer, but it doesn’t sound like it’s a lock.

I’m extremely curious if Christopher Nolan will attempt to document the Pacific War and the Japanese side of the story along with the civilians that were essentially erased from the planet as part of power move by the United States to end the bloody South Pacific campaign with an extreme show of force. One of the darkest moments in human history.

It’s really not that shocking that Christopher Nolan would attempt to explore this part of history, all you have to do is look at Nolan’s films The Dark Knight Rises and Tenet to understand the filmmaker’s obsession with nuclear armament.

You might remember that Christopher Nolan wasn’t terribly happy how Tenet was released during the pandemic in 2020 (conflicting trade reports blame both Warner Bros. and Nolan for that hiccup with various “sources” finger pointing to each other’s camp). However, when WarnerMedia announced their plans for a hybrid release for all 2021 releases to promote HBO Max, that seemed to be the final straw for the filmmaker and signs that his longtime relationship with Warner Bros. has come to an end.

Universal Pictures recently released F9: The Fast Saga (Nolan is admittedly a fan of Tokyo Drift), are distribution partners on No Time To Die (Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond), and behind the upcoming horror flick Halloween Kills.

A release date for the untitled film is likely heading towards 2023.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Renfield’: Nicholas Hoult To Lead Universal Monster Horror-Comedy From ‘Tomorrow War’ Director Chris McKay

Universal Pictures is trying to develop a bunch of various films within the Universal Monsters branding and an upcoming project is one focused on Dracula’s familiar Renfield. The project was developed from a story idea by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible) and has a script from Rick & Morty writer Ryan Ridley.

It was originally going to be directed by Dexter Fletcher (Eddie The Eagle, Rocketman) but has since been replaced with Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War).

McKay compared the film to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter giving us an idea of what to expect from the horror pic’s tone.

“Renfield is a story about Dracula’s assistant set in modern times, and it’s kind of a codependency success story. And it’s a comedy. It’s a horror movie. It’s an action movie. It’s about bad bosses. It’s written by Ryan Ridley, who worked on Rick and Morty, and it’s a really funny and emotional. It’s gonna be like a hard-R action movie, crazy-violent in an Evil Dead 2 kind of way. That’s gonna be fun,” the filmmaker revealed about his upcoming Renfield project at Universal Pictures. 

Deadline has now revealed that British actor Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road, Those Who Wish Me Dead) has been tapped to star just a week after landing the Searchlight thriller The Menu co-starring with Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes.

The film is said to be set during present day.

Universal is also developing a new Wolf Man film starring Ryan Gosling and a Dracula hybrid genre film from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals), the latter might already have quietly started shooting.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Producer Says Dwayne Johnson Decided Not Be Involved With Future Main ‘Fast & Furious’ Movies After Filming ‘Fate Of The Furious’

Last month, while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Dwayne Johnson announced that he wouldn’t be reprising the Hobbs role in the next two films, Fast & Furious 10 and Fast & Furious 11. This made waves because there had been expectations from fans that Hobbs would appear in the final two installments.

“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me,” Johnson told THR and revealed he won’t be involved with the final two movies.

Dwayne Johnson’s producing partner Hiram Garcia (Jungle Cruise, Black Adam, Hobbs & Shaw) has reiterated this with Collider, and revealed that Johnson had decided about not returning after filming The Fate of The Furious. He also confirmed that a sequel to Hobbs & Shaw is in early development.

“After filming Fast 8 DJ made the clear decision to close the Fast & Furious chapter for all the evident reasons. He wished them all well and shifted our focus on to other story telling avenues. So while he will not be in F10 or F11, that won’t in any way interfere with our Hobbs plans. Obviously all these characters exist in the Fast universe and we love to see all aspects of that universe thrive and succeed. We just have specific plans for what we want to do with the Hobbs character and I think the fans are going to love it! We’re working to deliver something very unique and fresh and we know the studio is eager for us to get into it ASAP!,” the producer told Collider.

I’m sure many will remember that there seemed to be clashes of egos on the set of Fate of The Furious between Vin Diesel and Johnson, that seemed to be brushed-off as some wrestling promo thing. However, it’s possible that Johnson does have issues with working Diesel and simply doesn’t want to add to that tension.

It’ll be interesting to see when Johnson and Jason Statham will be able to make their sequel, director David Leitch (Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde) has indicated a willingness to return.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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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

Dwayne Johnson Says He Won’t Be Involved With ‘Fast & Furious 10’ Or ‘Fast & Furious 11’; Wishes Them “Best Of Luck”

Once upon a time, the Fast & Furious franchise had lost a bit of it’s mojo and attempted a bit of a resurrection by luring back Vin Diesel when his blockbuster career sort of fizzled-out. Universal Pictures eventually got the bright idea to start asking established movie stars to take supporting or villain roles in the franchise leading to Dwayne Johnson playing Hobbs that sort of signaled to other bigger names that is was okay to put their name to the franchise (which had been a complete joke at one point).

Later on, we’d see folks like Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, and John Cena get involved with the Fast franchise.

Interestingly enough, when it was time to start making spinoff films, Hobbs & Shaw was the first one to get made with the pairing of Johnson and Statham. The movie was a good gamble because it ended up earning $759 million at the global box office and a sequel is officially in the works.

There had been tension between stars Vin Diesel and Johnson (manufactured or not), but it seems real enough to the point that Dwayne hasn’t been involved with the movies since The Fate of The Furious. Well, the actor is promoting his big Disney movie Jungle Cruise that he stars alongside Emily Blunt and revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview that he won’t be returning for Fast & Furious 10 or Fast & Furious 11, wishing them well.

“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me,” Johnson told THR and revealed he won’t be involved with the final two movies.

F9: The Fast Saga has already earned an impressive global cume of $592.6 million at the box office, a large feat given most pandemic era blockbusters have struggled to turn a profit.

Dwayne Johnson recently wrapped on his DC Comics film Black Adam, a passion project that took well over a decade to get in front of cameras. His busy schedule likely means he can find other things to do and with the Hobbs & Shaw films can dip his toes back in the franchise if he really has the itch.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Chris McKay Compares His Horror-Comedy ‘Renfield’ Movie To ‘Evil Dead 2’; ‘Rick & Morty’s Ryan Ridley Wrote The Hard-R Universal Monsters Pic

The Tomorrow War director Chris McKay was announced as replacing Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman, The Saint) on Universal’s Renfield movie, based on the Dracula assistant, and part of their Universal Monsters umbrella. The kicker is that the horror film will be a comedy written by Rick & Morty’s Ryan Ridley and McKay is teasing that it’s violence will be taking cues from Sam Raimi’s beloved Evil Dead 2.

“Renfield is a story about Dracula’s assistant set in modern times, and it’s kind of a codependency success story. And it’s a comedy. It’s a horror movie. It’s an action movie. It’s about bad bosses. It’s written by Ryan Ridley, who worked on Rick and Morty, and it’s a really funny and emotional. It’s gonna be like a hard-R action movie, crazy-violent in an Evil Dead 2 kind of way. That’s gonna be fun,” the filmmaker revealed about his upcoming Renfield project at Universal Pictures. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the 1987 film directed by Sam Raimi, it was pretty much a remake of the previous Evil Dead film, however, taking a slapstick angle as the original was a slightly more straightforward horror movie without as many comedic elements. 

Ryan Ridley is part a group of Rick & Morty writers moving into the realm of live-action projects as Michael Waldron is behind the Loki series, worked with Sam Raimi on Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, and is attached for untitled Star Wars movie that will be produced by Kevin Feige. Jessica Gao is the head writing on Marvel’s She-Hulk series and Jeff Loveness is behind the script for Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania.

EVIL DEAD 2 – The second of three films in the Evil Dead series is part horror, part comedy, with Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) once again battling horrifying demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After discovering an audiotape left by a college professor that contains voices reading from the Book of the Dead, Ash’s girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler) becomes possessed by evil spirits that are awakened by the voices on the tape. Ash soon discovers there is no escaping the woods.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

‘F9: The Fast Saga’ Crosses $500M At Global Box Office

Universal Pictures delaying F9: The Fast Saga has paid off for the studio as the sequel is breaking miltuple pandemic records as Box Office Mojo has the film sitting at an international total of $500.3 million with $126 million coming from domestic box office.

The last installment, The Fate of The Furious, made an impressive final total of $1.2 billion.

Vin Diesel recently told Regal Movies in an interview that Furious 10 (parts 1-2) will begin shooting in January. With the main movies winding-down, there are plenty of offshoots in the works from Universal Pictures such as a Hobbs & Shaw sequel in development along with Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron getting spinoffs as well. Diesel has also mused about potential prequels as well.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Sung Kang’ Han will get his own film too because it only makes sense to bring him back to give him a spinoff adventure.

While it’s not complete picture of the theater industry completely healed, it’s a good sign that other summer films might end up doing well as Black Widow, Snake Eyes, and The Suicide Squad are coming up. The problem at the moment is that vaccine numbers have stalled in the U.S. and the Delta variant quickly becoming the dominate version of COVID-9 across the globe, when many countries are behind in their vaccinations.

F9: THE FAST SAGA – Dom Toretto is living the quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, but they know that danger always lurks just over the peaceful horizon. This time, that threat forces Dom to confront the sins of his past to save those he loves most. His crew soon comes together to stop a world-shattering plot by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered — Dom’s forsaken brother.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO