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  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    We’re only a few more days ahead of the release of Andor, the latest Disney+ series to release and further explore the Star Wars galaxy. We’ve known for a while that we’ll also be getting a second season, which will likely start production soon. As it turns out he’s expecting to start production by November according to showrunner Tony Gilroy in an interview with The Wrap. Even still, we shouldn’t expect the release until 2024.

    I have two more years to go. We start shooting in November on Part 2. And I don’t know if … Our past pattern was two years, but I mean, I’ll be on … We’ll shoot from November to August. And then our post[-production] last time was about a year.

    Tony Gilroy

    In an interesting tidbit during the interview, Gilroy hints at the fact that this might be the most time he’s ever spent on a franchise as he tends to jump from one project to the next; highlighting how dedicated he is to this project.

    This is the most home I’ve ever made. I’ve always had a very nimble approach to this. I never take a job in front of another job. I’ve always just done one thing at a time and moved around and never made a company or got a letterhead or I never had a production deal or anything. This is the longest I’ve ever spent anywhere.

    Tony Gilroy

    It’s definitely motivating to see that the project has Gilroy wanting to spend as much time as he can on it. His initial idea for Andor was originally going to consist of five seasons which would highlight just how excited he was to tackle the project moving forward even as he compressed the idea into two seasons.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Joins Neil Blomkamp’s ‘Gran Turismo’

    ‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Joins Neil Blomkamp’s ‘Gran Turismo’

    Sony is turning up the gear to ensure they have the cast ready for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular gaming franchise Gran Turismo. They already have District 9 and Elysium director Neil Blomkamp attached to tackle the project and has already gathered quite the cast. With veterans David Harbour and Orlando Bloom, Sony’s upcoming racing film has also added See‘s Archie Madekwe in a leading position. Now it seems they have one more star to add to the list in Never Have I Ever‘s Darren Barnet.

    Of course, the ongoing casting announcements are mostly due to production having already started in Hungary this week. They will adapt the film based on a script by American Sniper‘s Jason Hall and King Richard‘s Zach Baylin. While it’s an adaptation inspired by the video game, it’s also set to be based on a true story and acts as the ultimate wish-fulfillment for a fan of the video game getting his chance to actually start a career as a race car driver.

    Madekwe will take on the role of the teenager, who got his chance at a group of Nissan competitions to make a dream come to life. Harbour will be the retired driver that teaches the kid with Bloom set to take on the role of the hungry marketing executive looking at the perfect PR scheme. Barnet’s role is seemingly someone who is at the top of the GT Academy and isn’t a big fan of the thought that some upstart might pass him.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘House of the Dragon’ – Best & Worst of ‘We Light the Way’

    ‘House of the Dragon’ – Best & Worst of ‘We Light the Way’

    Yikes. Now, there’s an episode that feels like Game of Thrones. The latest edition of HBO’s House of the Dragon, titled We Light the Way, is a rollercoaster ride of political intrigue and romantic persuasion. Milly Alcock’s Princess Rheanyra Targaryan is engaged to be married with Theo Nate’s Ser Laenor Valeryon, only neither of them are all that interested in each other. Instead, they’d rather be with their paramours. For Rheanyra, that is Fabien Frankel’s dashing Kingsguard soldier Ser Criston Cole, and for Laenor, it’s Solly McLeod’s Ser Joffrey Lonmouth, his secret partner and battle companion. As the wedding draws near, things begin to take a turn for the worse, with Paddy Considine’s King Viserys Targaryan growing increasingly ill and Emily Carey’s Queen Alicent Hightower learning the truth about her closest friend. If that wasn’t enough, Matt Smith’s Prince Daemon Targaryan is still up to his violently mischievous ways and causing quite a bit of trouble all on his own.

    It’s a lot to tackle, but nothing Murphy’s Multiverse can’t divide into “best” and “worst” categories. Let’s get into it.

    BEST – Planning a Wedding

    Obviously, what is now being called “The Green Wedding” was the big spectacle of We Light the Way. It’s what everyone will be talking about coming out of this week and the highest point of the entire season thus far. However, none of that pageantry would be possible if it weren’t for the exceedingly wonderful build-up happening in the first three-fourths of the episode. King Viserys and Princess Rhaenyra’s trip to visit Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys, played by Steve Toussaint and Eve Best, in their home provided immaculate foreshadowing for what was to come. The wordplay between Corlys and Viserys in coming to political agreements, the conversations Laenor has with both his future wife and his lover, and the moment shared between Rhaenyra and Criston aboard her ship – all existed to serve the episode’s ending, and yet still managed to be more interesting in the long run.

    As has been said before, this sort of thing is actually the juice that keeps this franchise running. It’s the slow build-up and quick pay-off combo that keeps fans coming back for more, and oftentimes, it’s the first half that really stays with viewers for weeks to come. For example, Alicent’s arc in this episode alone is magnificent. Yes, it’s her beautiful green dress and dramatic wedding entrance that stands out, but it’s the tearful argument with her father and the quiet rage she displays as Ser Criston drops a bombshell that stick in the brain. Game of Thrones’ infamous Red Wedding had seasons worth of material to play off of when everything went down, but the Green Wedding had no such advantage. It had only a handful of episodes to use as meat in the emotional grinder, and We Light the Way did a fantastic job of bringing all those elements together before finally pulling the rug out from under Westeros.

    WORST – The Death of Ser Joffrey Lonmouth

    It’s so unfortunate that people can never just be happy in these shows. It’s even more unfortunate how often it’s women and LGBTQ+ folks who face the brunt of the suffering. All commentary aside, Ser Laenor and his partner were so close to having the best kind of future Westeros could possibly afford them, and then Joffrey had to have his face bashed in for, assumedly, making a comment he shouldn’t have. It’s an old and tired trope, to have the gay character suffer for being gay, and it would have been nice if the show could have embraced Joffrey and Laenor as an interesting subplot instead of slaughtering the former and forcing the latter into a loveless marriage against his will. Alas, this is how it is and how it shall continue to be. There is much opportunity for storytelling with Laenor going forward.

  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Praises Impressive Set by Former ‘Chernobyl’ Production Designer

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Praises Impressive Set by Former ‘Chernobyl’ Production Designer

    Andor will be the first Disney+ series to take a step away from the Volume, which has become quite popular by many productions during the pandemic. Of course, it made sense considering that it helped work around the restrictions set by COVID and some countries closing their borders. Still, The latest Star Wars series ist focusing a bit more on using real sets to highlight the grounded aspect of what the project has to offer.

    In the official press event for the Disney+ series, Tony Gilroy got a chance to talks about the sets that were built for this series. They had production designer Luke Hull attached, who also gave us the chilling Chernobyl, and teased the “eight-and-a-half-acre city” they built for this production.

    You know, we talked before about the set and the thing that they were talking about, our production designer Luke Hull, who did Chernobyl, I mean, he really is in the brain trust that puts the show together with Sanne and Luke and Leo, my brother John Gilroy, Cathy, the core group of people that put this together. I mean, Luke is just, I mean, he’s Mozart, and he’s a young production designer, and he’s just soaring. And they built an eight-and-a-half-acre city for us that we will use for all 12 episodes.

    Tony Gilroy

    He also goes on to highlight how it helped them build an entire community around the set that brought this world to life. So, it’s not just establishing a practical set for them to film in but also ensuring that they have a chance to create a living community that changes across the timeline they hope to tell in this story.

    And as they said, it’s a 360 set. And the community that we were allowed to build within it and the social structures and the rituals of it, because there are some really intense rituals about it, it really feels like a place, like what is it? You get to play God. We built a place, we built a whole culture, we built a whole life, we built a whole tradition, we had people care about it and anyways. It’s a fantastic maximal expression of imagination to be able to do this. It just fantastic to be able to do it. It’s thrilling.

    Tony Gilroy

    Tony Gilroy certainly knows how to sell his series, and it’s exciting to see how they make use of this set. It’ll also be interesting to see how they showcase the change of this community throughout time. We’ll have to see as the three-season premiere releases on Disney+ on September 21st.

  • James Cameron on the Decision to Re-Release ‘Avatar’

    James Cameron on the Decision to Re-Release ‘Avatar’

    After numerous setbacks, Avatar‘s long-awaited sequel, The Way of the Water, is finally set to hit theaters this December. However, before The Way of the Water finally hits the big screen, Avatar is set to return for a limited run in 3D. While this won’t be the first time Avatar has been re-released into theaters, there’s a good reason behind this re-release. During a virtual press conference to promote the re-release, writer and director James Cameron explained why they’ve decided to release the film again.

    Well, look, I mean, it’s been, you know, 12 years since the release, and so basically if you’re kind of under 22 or 23 years of age, it’s very, very unlikely that you’ve seen the film in a movie theater.  Which in a way kinda means you haven’t seen the film.  I mean, we authored the film for the big screen, for the giant screen, in 3D.  And now we’ve remastered it in 4K, in high-dynamic range and some 48-frame-per-second sections in the film.

    James Cameron

    Released in 2009, Avatar has gone on to become one of the most successful films of all time. The film focused on a paraplegic Marine who is sent to the moon Pandora on a mission but soon finds himself feeling torn between his orders and protecting the place he believes to be his true home. Avatar managed to amass an astounding haul of $2.743 billion at the worldwide box office. $749.7 million of that came from the states, while the other $1.993 million came from international markets. The film remains the highest-grossing movie of all time.

    Avatar will be temporarily removed from Disney+ ahead of its re-release in theaters. The re-release will be for two weeks only beginning on Sept. 23rd and will see the film available in stunning 4K High Dynamic Range. Written and directed by Cameron, Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. The film was produced by Cameron and Jon Landau. The long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of the Water, will finally be released in theaters this December, just in time for the holidays.

  • Den Den Murphy Episode 25 – Chapter 1057 – 1058

    Den Den Murphy Episode 25 – Chapter 1057 – 1058

    The Den Den Murphy crew is back to talk about all the chapters they missed out on and finally wrap up the Wano Arc, as well as the first glimpse we get at our future Emperors being taken down by their own crew. Also, Nami has Conqueror’s Haki?

  • Tony Gilroy Explains the Inspiration Behind ‘Andor’

    Tony Gilroy Explains the Inspiration Behind ‘Andor’

    When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story debuted in theaters in 2016, no one expected to see the series continue years down the line. Especially not leading man Diego Luna. However, Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, had an idea on how to expand upon Cassian Andor’s story. During the virtual press conference for Andor, Gilroy was asked about his inspiration behind the Disney+ series, and the showrunner explained he wanted to be able to showcase the complexities of the character before the events of Rogue One.

    I think the main idea is we have a character in Rogue One.  And we know where he ends up.  And we know how accomplished and complicated he is.  And the idea that we can do a story that takes him literally from his childhood origins and walk him through a five-year history of an odyssey that takes him to that place, during a revolution, during a moment in history in a place where huge events are happening and real people are being crushed by it, the fact that we could follow somebody as an example of a revolution all the way through to the end, that was the walk-in for me. 

    Being able to showcase Andor and his life leading up to the revolution was ultimately the selling point for Gilroy. While the series has a ton of characters, including some we’ve already met previously, the series ultimately focuses on Andor and the difficult times and decisions that are made leading up the events of Rogue One – just on a “big canvas.”

    And Gilroy isn’t the only one excited to be expanding upon the character of Andor. Luna was quick to note how much he enjoys working with Gilroy, who he calls someone he admires, and how exciting the prospect of Andor is because it’s not just about a specific event.

    First of all, just the chance to be back working with this family, getting to do more stuff with Tony, which is someone I admire, and I love his company and, and collaborating with him is amazing.  So just being back felt great.  But I think Rogue One is a film about an event, you know?  You don’t get to know those characters.  You don’t get to understand exactly where they come from, what needed to happen. 

    Luna

    Star Wars: Andor will debut with three episodes on September 21st. The remaining nine episodes will then drop weekly on Disney+.

  • Netflix Still Hasn’t Renewed ‘The Sandman’ But Work Has Already Started

    Netflix Still Hasn’t Renewed ‘The Sandman’ But Work Has Already Started

    The Sandman has become one of Netflix’s biggest hits as it dominated the top spot for quite some time on the streaming service. Yet, we still haven’t gotten any word on an official confirmation for a second season. While the wait still continues, it does seem like the team behind the production are confident they’ll get to continue work on the series. In an interview with ScreenRant, VFX supervisor Ian Markiewicz has hinted that they’ve already prepped the scripts and are even looking into how to tackle the VFX as they wait for a confirmation.

    We have a really wonderful framework for what we think season 2 looks like. Allan is still touching up scripts and reworking things, but we have an arc. Up until pretty recently, I think maybe even two weeks or so, Gary, our production designer, myself and Allan meet over lunch, and we will do a script over that meeting. It’s like, “Okay, let’s look at 201,” and we’ll do our breakdowns together, where we do page turns on 201, and we say, “Okay, what do we think? Where can we film this? Can we film this in a real space? If not, what do we need to build, if we need to build it?

    Ian Markiewicz

    He also reveals that they’ve been trying to adapt their approach for the second season, as they decide what can be tackled through VFX and what would make use of a practical set. The work on the first season definitely helped them shape their approach.

    Are we building this as a physical set, or can it be a building as a virtual set or a combination thereof? Is it physical to a certain extent, and then digital beyond that?” Just trying to break each one down to be like, “What’s the most value for this, what’s the most sensible way that covers the need for what we need it to be?” That process is happening now, which is great, and it’s really fun and exciting to be able to sort of have season 1 and behind us to know what we feel worked there, things that we wanted to sort of finesse further, and how that impacts our approach for season 2.

    Ian Markiewicz

    The team certainly sounds confident even as Neil Gaiman has been hesitant regarding the missing confirmation by Netflix itself. Here’s hoping that the wait isn’t much longer and we’ll finally get a confirmation in the coming weeks.

    Source: ScreenRant

  • Brie Larson Offers Glimpse Into Her ‘Fast X’ Role

    Brie Larson Offers Glimpse Into Her ‘Fast X’ Role

    Just recently, Brie Larson has been on a high promoting her upcoming Marvel film The Marvels, which will see her once again return to the role of Captain Marvel alongside some new co-stars. That isn’t the only big production she’s currently involved with, as she also has a big role in the latest Fast and Furious entry, Fast X.

    Little is still known about her character and it seems that the actress wanted to offer a little glimpse behind-the-scenes with the reveal of her character’s name. It seems she’ll be playing someone named Tess and that is sadly all she’s willing to let us know in regards to her role in Fast X.

    Brie Larson has gone through quite a bit since her jump to stardom as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’ll be interesting to see how the reactions will be when she joins another major project like this. She’s definitely powered through it, as showcased in some recent postings poking fun at the reactions from the D23 panel.

    There’s a lot of drama already surrounding the project. Fast X‘s production has been quite chaotic early on as Justin Lin, it’s initial director, left the film shortly after they got the cameras rolling. There was teases that there were a lot of conflicts between Lin and the franchise’s main star Vin Diesel. They were able to add Louis Leterrier as its new director, but it definitely must’ve left some sour taste during the production of the tenth entry.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Woman King’ Dominates the Weekend Box Office as ‘Barbarian’ Shows Strong Hold

    ‘The Woman King’ Dominates the Weekend Box Office as ‘Barbarian’ Shows Strong Hold

    Here’s some great news as The Woman King has taken the weekend. Not only did it pull in $19M with strong word-of-mouth but also nabbed the rare A+ CinemaScore from General Audiences. It’s quite the boost after taking in $1.7M in previews. In a market dominated by high-octane action flicks like Marvel and this year’s stand-out Top Gun: Maverick, it offered something quite unique.

    Production wasn’t easy on the film, so it’s exhilarating for everyone involved to see its current success. The movie could still end the weekend with more than $19M as Sony hopes to see an additional boost in churchgoing audiences that’ll head to cinemas, which is currently predicted to end with around $5M. Given the film’s little, women were also the majority viewers with 60% and an older demographic; a good sign for non-four quadrant productions moving forward.

    Taking second place is Barbarian, which is holding quite well with a 40% drop and pulling in $6.3M. Disney was smart to bring this film to theaters even if it could’ve done the same with a few other productions throughout the year. A24’s Pearl has also opened and gotten a TIFF boost, as it pulled in $3.124M which is slightly below Ti West‘s previous entry with X, but still mighty impressive considering its low budget.

    Source: Twitter, Deadline