In 2018, the final episode of the final season of the animated canonical series Star Wars Rebels ended with Sabine Wren making a promise to find Ezra Bridger. Five years and a jump to live-action later, fans will finally see Sabine, brought to life by actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo, make good on that promise in the Disney Plus streaming series Ahsoka.
As teased in the epilogue to the final episode of Star Wars Rebels, former Jedi Ahsoka Tano will accompany Sabine on the journey to find out what happened to their friend after they freed Ezra’s home planet of Lothal from looming Imperial presence. While it’s not entirely clear how much time has passed in the galaxy far, far away since the epilogue, Bordizzo says that Sabine’s promise to find Ezra remains at the forefront of the character’s mind.
“She feels an obligation to him,” Bordizzo told Empire. “When they freed Lothal, she was given this hero status. But she doesn’t feel that she’s earned that because she lost her friend in that whole debacle. She’s just focused on the promise she made to him to find him.” And while finding Ezra will fulfill that promise, Sabine and the rest of the crew of the Ghost will have to deal with the fact that their friend won’t be the only familiar face they find. How will she and her friends deal with the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who went missing alongside Ezra? Tune into Ahsoka when it debuts on Disney Plus on August 31st to begin to find the answer to that question.
Now one of two primary creators of the New Republic era stories being told through multiple streaming series on Disney Plus ahead of a theatrical event, Dave Filoni was once the chief creative mind behind Lucasfilm’s canonical animated adventures such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Through Disney Plus streaming series such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Filoni has had the opportunity to shepherd the adaptation of several fan-favorite animated characters into live-action.
Of those characters, none was dearer to Filoni than Ahsoka Tano, who, played by Rosario Dawson, made her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian. Now, three years later, the former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker will take center stage in her own streaming series, Ahsoka, and Filoni opened up to Empire about putting his beloved creation at the center of a series to be shared with legions of Star Wars fans, some of whom have not seen the animated adventures that fleshed out her story.
While Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels are considered canon, Filoni is acutely aware that not everyone who will be tuning into Ahsoka will be a Star Wars completist, meaning that not insignificant chunk of the audience won’t be fully familiar with the lead character’s story. According to Filoni, that presented him with a bit of a problem. “The biggest challenge was, there’s a whole bunch of audience that know her, and a whole bunch that don’t,” said Filoni. “She has one foot in the Star Wars that a lot of people know because of her connection to Anakin, and yet she’s all new and can go in her own direction, in her own way.”
As is often the case with creatives, however, Filoni found a way to reframe that challenging aspect of the character. Rather than limit Ahsoka by holding her to what little fans who haven’t seen the animated series do know about her, Filoni has chosen to see the unfamiliarity as door that opens myriad possibilities. “I think that makes her an interesting bridge between what came before and what’s really possible,” said Filoni of Ahsoka’s potential. Given that the character is likely set to play a major role in Filoni’s New Republic era film and his enduring love for her, it sounds like there may be many more stories in Ahsoka’s future.
While the old DCEU begins to flame out, James Gunn and Peter Safran look to be grabbing one of its hottest embers to start the fire of their new DCU. One Take News is reporting that The Flash director Andy Muschetti has agreed to direct DC Studios’ upcoming film, The Brave and the Bold.
The report comes on the heels of earlier rumors that Gunn would look to find a way to retain Muschetti as the transition from the Snyderverse era continues. Described by Gunn as a “a very strange sort of father-son story,” The Brave and the Bold will introduce the DCU’s new Batman alongside his son, Damian, and will also “feature other members of the extended Bat-Family just because we feel like they’ve been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.”
Muschetti, who recently refused to comment on the rumors saying only “I don’t think I can talk to that yet,” became a hot commodity after turning in two stellar films as an adaptation of Stephen King‘s It. As a follow up, he is currently filming the Max streaming project and It prequel, Welcome to Derry. According to OTN, The Brave and the Bold is currently without a script or release date.
After making the jump to live-action in The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano her own streaming series this August on Disney Plus. Ahsoka, brought to live action by Rosario Dawson, has had one of the most compelling and emotional arcs of https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/ahsoka-wanderer-dave-filoni-exclusive-image/any character in the great history of the Star Wars franchise. Once the promising Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka is a Jedi no more and now finds herself in a galaxy again on the brink of another major power struggle. The series, set in the same New Republic era as The Mandalorian, will reunite the character with her friends from the cast of and, according to an Empire interview with creator Dave Filoni, help her find a “new purpose.”
“She’s a wanderer at this point,” says Filoni of Ahsoka’s lifestyle at the beginning of the series, “and is in a lot of ways wary of any organization as such because of the power that comes with it as a group.She walks a path that basically died out a long time ago,” he explains. “And there aren’t many like her left, if any. So that’s a lonely thing.” No longer a Jedi, Ahsoka is more of a ronin, as fans have seen in her appearances in The Mandalorian.
However, as teased in the final episode of Star Wars Rebels, the former Jedi has one very important mission to take care of that will reunite her with her friends, the crew of the Ghost, who she hasn’t seen in years. “If you are a loner, you have a very small circle of friends. What is it like, then, when you try to open back up?” That question seems to be at the heart of what fans can expect in Ahsoka.
With the series set to see Grand Admiral Thrawn return to the galaxy far, far away, it is expected to play a major role in the ongoing New Republic era of stories. While it’s not been confirmed, it’s widely believed that the character will play a large role in Filoni’s untitled and undated Star Wars “Heir to the Empire” film. If that’s the case, that makes Ahsoka a ca n’t-miss for fans when it starts streaming on Disney Plus on August 31st.
Disney has officially ordered a third Hocus Pocus movie. The news was announced on Sunday, with Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey revealing the news in a New York Times profile piece. When asked what other upcoming live-action projects were in development at the studio, Bailey answered with, “‘Hocus Pocus 3’ is happening.”
The news comes after the long-awaited sequel to 1993’s Hocus Pocus finally hit Disney+ in 2022. The sequel saw Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy return as the Sanderson Sisters, however, the film notably left out some of the main cast from the original film. Hocus Pocus 2 writer, Jen D’Angelo, explained that she hoped they could bring back both Max (Omri Katz) and Alison (Vinessa Shaw) for a third film. “We tried so hard to get the original cast back for cameos and then it just kept not working out for one reason or the other. But I’m hoping in ‘Hocus Pocus 3,’ we’ll see Max and Alison living in California.”
Anne Fletcher directed Hocus Pocus 2 from D’Angelo’s script, but it’s currently unknown if either are returning for Hocus Pocus 3.
Both Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are currently streaming on Disney+.
Persona 5 was released in 2016 and since we haven’t had a new mainline entry to the franchise. Persona 5 Royal found its way into the market three years later but the pandemic has definitely left its impact with various productions being pushed back throughout many industries. Now, it almost seems like rumors have gone haywire for the franchise with a remake of Persona 3, the sixth entry supposedly dropping next year, and a new spinoff for the fifth entry.
Not too long ago, a new website matching Atlus’ usual naming structure found its way online. P5T.JP hinted that something is happening and further added weight to the rumors of a potential spinoff existing in the first place. Now, a new update to the registration may be hinting that the official reveal is sooner than we think.
As shared by Persona Central, the website domain received an update that matches what was seen with past entries before an official announcement was made. It moved to the company’s nameserver rather than the domain registry from Japan, Onamae and the timing would hint that it could be unveiled at the Summer Game Fest later next week.
There were rumors that the Persona 3 Remake will be revealed at the Xbox Showcase on June 11th. It would be strange to showcase two games from the same franchise as it may overshadow, but going in with a spinoff at the biggest event only to surprise people with a remake of the game that technically started the day system it became famous for. It also seems fitting with the remasters getting showcased at an Xbox event as rumors have it Persona 6 will be a timed exclusive for PlayStation.
The wait still continues for the second entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. Titled Rebirth, there have been many questions on how they will continue the story beyond Midgard as our team of unlikely heroes heads out into the open world. While the original featured a fully open world, there was some concern that the remake would move further away from the original to tell a more streamlined story.
Surprisingly, the developers started sharing some answers to questions on Twitter with the seventh seemingly lining up for Summer Game Fest, which may hint that we’ll have a trailer soon (hopefully). Still, the second question was if we’ll be able to travel through the open world, and the answer seems quite promising:
Players will be able to journey across the wide and multifaceted world with . high degree of freedom, experiencing a myriad of different stories along the way.
So, it seems like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will allow players to travel across Gaia but the big question is how it might accomplish this. It’s been a while since we saw the first teaser and here’s hoping that the wait isn’t much longer. Square Enix is quite focused on FinalFantasy XVI’s release, and we might have to wait until afterward before they push their next major 2024 release. Who knows if they may also give us a Kingdom Hearts tease at some point in the near future?
You read that correctly, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has opened to $51.7M on opening day, which makes it the biggest of 2023. Yes, it outgrossed Super Mario Bros.’ $31.7M Wednesday and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s $48.1M. It’s not yet clear if this is a bit of a frontloading due to the animated film’s growing popularity since the release of Into the Spider-Verse, but it makes the third-best opening day for any Spider-Man movie. Only Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 3 at $59.8M and Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $121.9M are ahead of it.
That’s not all, as it is also the third highest animated opening ever only beaten by the Pixar film Incredibles 2 at $71.2M and Finding Dory’s $54.7M. Either way, it is Sony Pictures Animation’s biggest opening day ever and about to become its biggest opening weekend. If the film does end up being a frontloaded film it might land at $113.5M but has a chance that strong word-of-mouth might push it towards $125M.
As of now, 93% are positive with 82% recommending the film according to PostTrak, which is already a good sign. It also nabbed an A CinemaScore, which isn’t quite No Way Home’s A+ but still the score that gives superhero films strong legs moving forward. Even if the film ends up frontloaded, it’s still quite an accomplishment in just how big of a jump it is from the first film which highlights that films that don’t make the biggest mark on the box office have the potential to grow exponentially.
The only other major release here is The Boogyman, which pulled around $11.5M, which is slightly behind its initial tracking. The counterprogram was a smart placement even with a PG-13 rating, but it seems all eyes are on Across the Spider-Verse for the weekend. The curious case will be how the films perform internationally, as The Little Mermaid wasn’t quite the performer some may hope outside of the States.
Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Boogeyman was initially intended to release on Hulu before getting upgraded to a full theatrical release. While the film has not been a huge hit with critics, it is holding on to a Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes with a 60%. After opening night, however, its Cinemascore indicates it may have been better off heading straight to streaming.
Opening night audiences have chimed in and given director Rob Savage‘s adaptation of King’s 1973 short a B-. That score puts it on par with recent horror and horror-ish films The Pope’s Exorcist and Renfield and combined with the projected $15M opening weekend box office take (it’s up against Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, for Pete’s or Miles’ sake) does not bode well for a long and successful theatrical run.
Regarded as one of King’s more terrifying works of fiction, The Boogeyman tells the tale of a man named Lester Billings and his horrific history with the titular monster. While critics have praised the atmosphere of the film adaptation, they’ve been less bullish on the creative choices made jumping from page to screen, insisting something was lost in translation.
After a long hiatus from Marvel Comics following the controversial One More Day mini-series he co-created with Joe Quesada, J. Michael Straczynski has returned to writing a monthly ongoing series for the publisher. In an interview with Gizmodo, Straczynski revealed that he and artist Jesús Saiz, who most recently worked with Jason Aaron on The Punisher, will be the creative team behind the new Captain America series launching in September.
The new book will launch following the completion of the current Cold War crossover series which is running between both of the publisher’s current Captain America titles, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty and Captain America: Symbol of Truth. Straczynski‘s return to Marvel Comics, for whom he wrote ongoing Thor and Spider-Man solo books, is major news and, according to the writer, was a slow-developing process. “Like most things, the process was incremental,” said Straczynski of his return to monthly Marvel Comics. “It started when Wil Moss asked me to do a short piece for the big Thor anniversary issue, which ended up getting a fair bit of attention. Then he asked me to do a Thanos story for that big issue, which also drew a lot of eyeballs, which led to me writing yet another piece for Marvel Age 1000 coming out soon. During all this, Wil Moss asked if I’d write a six-issue mini-series that would be a bit of an Event. I did so, it was a ton of fun for everyone involved, and Wil gave Alanna [Smith, Marvel comics editor] one of my scripts that involved Captain America.“
While we all await news on just what that event that his six-issue mini-series might be, Straczynski reminded everyone that he’s always had Cap on the brain. “Alanna liked how I handled the character, and sends an email asking if I’d like to take over the monthly Captain America book…and that was pretty much the best thing ever, because I’ve always had a strong affinity for Cap, which is why I would sneak him into just about everything I wrote for Spider-Man and Thor.” Longtime fans of Marvel Comics will remember that Straczynski slipped Cap into Amazing Spider-Man #537 where the character gave one his most memorable speeches…one that made its way into Captain America: Civil War.
As for what he has planned for Steve Rogers in the new book, Straczynski says “it’s all about servicing the main character first and foremost.” That’s going to entail tackling a period of time never before explored in depth in Cap comics: Cap’s early, transformative years. “One thing about Steve Rogers that’s never really been addressed is the period between when his parents died, and when he became Captain America. We’re talking about a sickly, skinny 17-year-old kid, trying to survive on his own for because he’s stubborn and independent, on the street for several years, hustling for any gig he can get, even if it’s bigger than he is, trying to afford food and a place to stay. So we will counterpoint a present-tense story in which Captain America faces off against a new villain of supernatural origin, with a story about his younger self, with both stories tightly interwoven.“
By exploring those years, Straczynski hopes he’ll get at what makes Steve Rogers–not Captain America–tick. “Because there’s one other, key aspect to that period that we will be addressing. The years young Steve was on his own were the same years during which the American Bund – for all intents and purposes the Nazi Party in America – was growing very powerful in real-world New York, blocks from where he lived. They held public marches and rallies, harassed people, and spread hate, all part of an effort to get America on the side of the Nazis, a campaign that came to a head with the biggest Nazi rally on American soil in history, as tens of thousands of people, Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, crammed into Madison Square Garden to celebrate their dream of a thousand-year Reich.“
And Straczynski hopes that by exploring that era, he’ll find in Steve the same type of motivation to be a hero that Peter Parker found after the death of his Uncle Ben. “We are going to put young Steve right into the middle of that real-life vortex, where despite terrible odds he will make a crucial difference at an even more crucial moment. For a young Peter Parker, the murder of his uncle Ben was a transformational event putting him on the path to becoming Spider-Man. This story will be equally transformational, putting a young Steve Rogers on the path to being the hero he eventually becomes.”
It’s a novel pitch from Straczynski and one that could either go a long way in redefining the character or threaten to anger hardcore fans. See for yourself when Captain America #1 hits stores this September.
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