Tag: Warner Bros.

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Dune’: Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Dune: Part Two’ Will See Zendaya’s Chani As The Protagonist

Many might know that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is on the way, but most might be unfamiliar that the movie is only the first half of a two-part story. Legendary and Villeneuve split the first novel into two films, hopefully, to make the epic fantasy tale more digestible to an international audience.

Screenwriter Jon Spaihts is currently working on a sequel, Dune: Part Two, after being pulled off the spinoff series Dune: The Sisterhood to focus on the next feature film.

Villeneuve has spoken to Italian magazine Il Venerdi (via Secrets of Dune) about the sequel (hasn’t been given a release date) and mentions that Dune: Part Two will see Zendaya’s Fremen character Chani become the protagonist.

While this might seem jarring given that the first film will essentially be told from the perspective of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, but it seems the film will end before we see either The Emperor (hasn’t been seen in any promotional materials) or Paul’s sister Alia Atreides.

Paul quickly gains a reputation among the Fremen, the native inhabitants of Arrakis, who eventually see him as part of a local prophecy (a manufactured one created by the Bene Gesserit) and they see him as religious figure worth rallying around to fight against the brutal foreign rulers, House Harkonnen.

Telling the second installment from Chani’s point of view could help establish the character as being just as important as Paul. Not to mention giving the Fremen a bigger voice in the story, given that Arrakis is their planet.

Legendary is also in a unique position as author Frank Herbert penned six dense books before his death, leaving a legacy of work that could be adapted for years to come. There are also subsequent books from Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, so there is a hefty amount of source material to pull from for future films and television shows.

Dune will hit theaters and HBO Max on October 22.

DUNE – A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

SOURCE: IL VENERDI

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Taika Waititi Says He’s Still Keen On Making The ‘Akira’ Movie; “I Don’t Wanna Give Up On That”

Warner Bros. has been trying to make a live-action feature film version of the beloved cyberpunk/body horror anime and manga Akira and their development goes back almost twenty years starting with Stephen Norrington (Blade) in 2002.

Multiple directors had tried to bring the project to the big screen only for things dissolve and the next set of creatives being hired.

The most recent incarnation had Oscar-winner Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) attempting to adapt for the studio, but seemingly hit a brick wall when trying to make sure he was able to cast a string of young Asian kids for the roles. Warner Bros. had been trying to whitewash the project for ages and even relocate the extremely Japanese story to Manhattan.

There had been an assumption that Taika Waititi had moved to bigger and brighter things with an original Star Wars movie on the horizon and his Flash Gordon movie at 20th Century Fox being upgraded from animation to live-action.

While promoting his acting performance in Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, he spoke to Wired giving the impression he’s still involved with Akira and hasn’t entirely walked away from it.

 “I’m still trying [to make it]. I don’t wanna give up on that.”

Given his busy schedule and admitting his focus is now on his Star Wars project, it’s unlikely he’ll pivot to Akira anytime soon.

The last big anime adaptation was DreamWorks’ box office flop Ghost In The Shell, hopefully, Warner Bros. learns their lesson from that disaster.

If you’re interested in the development of Akira, you can read a feature I wrote for IGN covering the history of live-action adaptation and it includes a heap of concept artwork from various incarnations.

AKIRA – In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after the nuking of the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo’s supernatural powers suddenly manifest. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment’s secrets.

SOURCE: WIRED

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‘Shibumi’: Warner Bros. & ‘John Wick’ Franchise Director Chad Stahelski Team For Period Assassin Thriller

Director Chad Stahelski is currently in production on John Wick: Chapter 4 in Germany, but the action director isn’t slowing down as he’s attached to yet another project. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and Stahhelski are teaming to develop a feature film adaptation of Trevanian’s 1979 novel Shibumi.

“Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi.”

“Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . . shibumi.”

The book made a brief cameo in the original John Wick as the airport security guard is spotted reading it, the story likely had a direct influence on the world of high-end assassins inhabited by John Wick and could be an excellent follow-up once Stahelski completes John Wick: Chapter 5, said to be the final installment.

A previous incarnation of Shibumi had Keanu Reeves attached, but no actors are currently involved with it. Its period setting could help separate it from the more modern John Wick films.

Interestingly enough, American author Don Winslow penned another Nicholai Hel book called Satori and could give Warner Bros. source material for another film leading to a new franchise.

“It is the fall of 1951, and the Korean War is raging. Twenty-six-year-old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is a master of hoda korosu, or “naked kill,” is fluent in seven languages, and has honed extraordinary “proximity sense”-an extra-awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world’s most fearsome assassin and now the CIA needs him.”

“The Americans offer Hel freedom, money, and a neutral passport in exchange for one small service: to go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union’s commissioner to China. It’s almost certainly a suicide mission, but Hel accepts. Now he must survive chaos, violence, suspicion, and betrayal while trying to achieve his ultimate goal of satori-the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world.”

It might be a long time before we ultimately see Shibumi hit the big screen.

John Wick 5 isn’t the only project Stahelski is also involved with as Lionsgate’s Highlander reboot is one of them with Henry Cavill in talks for a lead role, Sony Pictures has assigned him to helm a feature adaptation of their popular samurai video game Ghost of Tsushima, and the New Line Cinema hybrid action movie Classified (called Die Hard meets Indiana Jones).

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Blue Beetle’: ‘Cobra Kai’ Actor Xolo Maridueña Confirms He’s Playing Jaime Reyes In New DC Comics Movie

Batgirl won’t be the only DC Comics movie heading to HBO Max.

It was announced a while back that director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings) had been hired for the upcoming Blue Beetle movie from Warner Bros. and DC Films with filming said to be aiming for early next year after previous reports claimed a fall shoot.

The Wrap is echoing previous indications that Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) is in talks with Warner Bros. to play Jamie eyes aka Blue Beetle. Big Screen Leaks had pointed towards the actor potentially taking the DC Comics role back in June.

Xolo Maridueña has confirmed this new with multiple posts on his Instagram stories saying, “I’m a frigging superhero dog, what the fuck?” In a video post at a screening for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (Miss Bala) is writing the film and recently worked on the latest Scarface incarnation for director Luca Guadagnino.

A release date for Blue Beetle has yet to be announced but early 2023 is a good bet.

SOURCE: THE WRAP

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‘Batgirl’: Leslie Grace Nabs Barbara Gordon Role In Solo Movie At HBO Max

A Batgirl movie has been in development for years now and Warner Bros. dodged a bullet when Joss Whedon exited as his toxic behavior on the set of Justice League reshoots among other sets over the years. Instead, the project has moved from Warner Bros. to HBO Max with Bad Boys For Life and Ms. Marvel directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are helming the DC Comics from a script penned by Christina Hodson (The Flash, Birds of Prey).

After a recent report of a multiple candidates in the mix to play Barbara Gordon, it’s been revealed by Deadline that In The Heights actress Leslie Grace has secured the role. Barb is the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner Jim Gordon and suits-up alongside Batman, Robin, and handful of other masked vigilantes.

The solo Batgirl film is at HBO Max, but it’ll be curious to see if Grace ends up playing the role any of upcoming DC Comics movies.

Folks have assumed that Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne could end up being a mentor to this incarnation of Barb and seeing the project becoming a female version of Batman Beyond.Given that Batgirl is expected to be set in Gotham City it’ll be interesting to see what villains she’ll end up tackling. If I was Warner Bros./HBO Max, I would plant seeds for Gotham City Sirens by adding Poison Ivy and other potential characters.

Other DC Comics movies in the works include Wonder Woman 3, Zatanna, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, Supergirl, a black Superman movie produced by J.J. Abrams, Hourman, a female version of Plastic Man, and director Chris McKay is still hopeful about making Nightwing.

Batgirl has yet to be given a release date at HBO Max.

IN THE HEIGHTS – In Washington Heights, N.Y., the scent of warm coffee hangs in the air just outside of the 181st St. subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies a vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is a likable and magnetic bodega owner who hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Batgirl’: Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch, Leslie Grace & Haley Lu Richardson In The Mix To Play Barbara Gordon

A Batgirl movie has been in development for years now and Warner Bros. dodged a bullet when Joss Whedon exited as his toxic behavior on the set of Justice League reshoots among other sets over the years. Instead, the project has moved from Warner Bros. to HBO Max with Bad Boys For Life and Ms. Marvel directing duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are helming the DC Comics from a script penned by Christina Hodson (The Flash, Birds of Prey).

Deadline is now reporting that Warner Bros. is in the thick of casting an actress to play Batgirl.

Although test deals still are being locked up and some already have passed, the talent expected to test for the role includes Isabella Merced, Zoey Deutch and Leslie Grace. We also have heard Haley Lu Richardson’s name, but she might have bowed out before the test process.

The list of candidates would suggest that Batgirl isn’t directly connected to Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy and likely will have a stronger connection to projects like The Flash and other recent DCEU projects. Folks have assumed that Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne could end up being a mentor to this incarnation of Barb and seeing the project becoming a female version of Batman Beyond.

Given that Batgirl is expected to be set in Gotham City it’ll be interesting to see what villains she’ll end up tackling. If I was Warner Bros./HBO Max, I would plant seeds for Gotham City Sirens by adding Poison Ivy and other potential characters.

Other DC Comics movies in the works include Wonder Woman 3, Zatanna, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, Supergirl, a black Superman movie produced by J.J. Abrams, Hourman, a female version of Plastic Man, and director Chris McKay is still hopeful about making Nightwing.

Batgirl has yet to be given a release date at HBO Max.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Warner Bros. Rejected ‘L.A. Confidential’ Sequel Set In 1970s Starring Chadwick Boseman Alongside Original Cast

1997’s neo-noir film L.A. Confidential is easily a huge turning point in Hollywood, it earned Kim Basinger an Oscar while essentially making Australian actors Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce stars. The film’s success is undeniable, however, when a sequel was pitched a few years back, Warner Bros. seemingly didn’t want anything to do with it.

The original’s Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland spoke with The Ringer (via The Playlist), revealing he had developed a direct sequel set in the mid-70s with author James Ellroy (his novel was adapted for the first movie). He had even secured original cast members Crowe and Pearce to reprise their roles. The kicker is that he wanted the late Chadwick Boseman to play a youg cop, the pitch was ultimately rejected by the studio.

A few years ago, the Oscar-winning filmmaker Brian Helgeland went to Warner Bros. with what seemed like a dynamite movie pitch: a sequel to L.A. Confidential, the 1997 Hollywood cop drama he cowrote with director Curtis Hanson. Helgeland had already secured a top-tier cast, including returning Confidential costars Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, alongside Chadwick Boseman, who’d be playing a young police officer. He’d developed a new story with L.A. Confidential novelist James Ellroy, one that would be set in the mid-’70s.

“We worked the whole thing out. It was great. And Warners passed,” Helgeland told The Ringer.

Yet another example of studio executives having terrible taste when selecting or rejecting film projects.

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL – Three policemen, each with his own motives and obsessions, tackle the corruption surrounding an unsolved murder at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop in the early 1950s. Detective Lieutenant Exley (Guy Pearce), the son of a murdered detective, is out to avenge his father’s killing. The ex-partner of Officer White (Russell Crowe), implicated in a scandal rooted out by Exley, was one of the victims. Sergeant Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) feeds classified information to a tabloid magnate (Danny DeVito).

SOURCE: THE RINGER

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‘Tron: Legacy’ & ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Director Joseph Kosinski Returns To Sci-Fi With ‘Chariot’ For Warner Bros.

Filmmaker Joseph Kosinski finished the big Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which simply waiting to be released by Paramount Pictures this fall and is in post-production stages with his Chris Hemsworth pic Escape From Spiderhead at Netflix.

After previously talking the science-fiction genre with Disney’s Tron: Legacy and the Tom Cruise action movie Oblivion, Kosinski is reportedly returning to the genre for a comic book adaptation, Chariot. The adaptation, according to Deadline, was won by Warner Bros. after the project went to auction.

The Chariot was a Cold War-era secret government project to provide its star agent with a weapon unlike any other in the form of a supercharged muscle car. It sank into the ocean decades ago, and the agent along with it. Now, a petty criminal looking to reform his life has stumbled upon the Chariot, and he’s about to find out that the agent’s consciousness is still controlling it in this synthwave thriller.

Julian Meiojas (Jack Ryan) adapted the sci-film’s script from the AWA Studios graphic novel written by comic book creator and screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill (American Carnage, Bitter Root) and drawn by Priscilla Petraites (Rat Queens).

From design standpoint, Chariot lucked-out landing at the feet of Joseph Kosinski as Tron: Legacy was pure eye candy and this new project could easily take similar visual cues, alongside a hip synthwave soundtrack. Sadly, Daft Punk have broken up and won’t likely get involved here.

With the popularity if the Fast & Furious franchise, picking up a high-octane driving genre movie based on a graphic novel doesn’t sound like the worst idea imaginable, hopefully, it doesn’t turn out as generic as Need For Speed did. Chariot certainly feels like it could be the fourth project for Kosinski and Tom Cruise, as Warner Bros. is also trying put together a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow with director Doug Liman but is reliant on schedules and might offer this up if things are delayed further.

Then again, it could be a good excuse for the director to reunite with Garrett Hedlund.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEndyAOpI8A

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

EXCLUSIVE: Timothee Chalamet’s ‘Wonka’ Movie Enlists ‘Godzilla’ & ‘Avengers’ Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey

The Ronin can confirm that cinematographer Seamus McGarvey has joined the production of Wonka, the prequel film about Willy Wonka that will be played by Timothee Chalamet (Dune). McGarvey is best known for his work on Marvel’s The Avengers, Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla reboot, Atonement, and Bad Times At The El Royale.

Willy Wonky had been previously played by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.

Paul King, the director of the first two Paddington movies, is at the helm with production taking place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England.The facility in Watford is the home base of the Potterverse franchise and has been one of the key places that the modern era of DC Comics movies are shot as The Batman, The Flash, and Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom have recently used their stages.

Paul King and Simon Farnaby co-wrote the latest incarnation of the script, the prequel film is said to include song and dance numbers, just like the last two movies. King had been attached to Disney’s live-action Pinocchio movie before exiting to focus on Wonka and was replaced with Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future 1-3)

Christopher Nolan’s longtime production designer Nathan Crowley (Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight, John Carter, Interstellar) is also confirmed for the film and had been previously announced.

The production team being assembled would suggest the project might be bigger than people might have originally imagined. An official release date for Wonka hasn’t been announced by Warner Bros., but there is an expectation it will be released sometime in 2023.

Below are some examples of Seamus McGarvey’s work.

WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – A sweet boy from a poor family dreams of finding one of five golden tickets hidden inside chocolate bar wrappers which will admit him to the eccentric and reclusive Willy Wonka’s magical factory. One after another, tickets are discovered by ghastly children – but will the lad find the last remaining one and have all his dreams come true?

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Quentin Tarantino Says He Was Offered A ‘Sgt. Rock’ Movie That Had A “Magnificent” Script From ‘Blade Runner’ Screenwriter David Webb Peoples

Warner Bros. has been trying since 1980s to make a feature film based on the WWII era DC Comics hero Sgt. Rock, producer Joel Silver famously tried to get an incarnation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and if you look closely at the end credits of Predator, you can see cast members like Shane Black holding copies of Sgt. Rock.

Well, it sounds like one incarnation almost had a script from screenwriter David Webb Peoples (Blade Runner, Unforgiving, 12 Monkeys, Leviathan, Soldier) and his “magnificent” script almost convinced Quentin Tarantino get involved as he was offered it by the studio. Tarantino briefly mentioned the potential comic book film during a chat on The Big Picture podcast (via The Playlist).

“There’s a really good script that David Webb Peoples wrote for Sgt. Rock that I still think about doing that from time to time. I don’t think I will, but I think it’s a really magnificent script and I would do a good job with,” Tarantino told The Big Picture.

It’s been well established that the director is a huge comic book guy.

Quentin Tarantino has mulled over the idea of making a comic book project over the years, in the 1990s, he wanted to make a Luke Cage movie starring Laurence Fishburne and had been once offered another DC Comics property Green Lantern.

He was previously upfront that Marvel’s Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos was a huge influence on the Oscar-winning film Inglourious Basterds and there were a handful of Marvel Comics homages in Reservoir Dogs.

“A big influence on the Basterds was Marvel Comics’ Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos. That was definitely an influence on that flick,” the filmmaker told MTV News back in 2009.

There seems to be further nods in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with Rick Dalton’s WWII action film The 14 Fists of McCluskey, as his character wore an eye-patch a possible wink to Nick Fury and there were Sgt. Fury/Kid Colt comics in Cliff Booth’s trailer.

SOURCE: THE BIG PICTURE PODCAST