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Tag: Lucasfilm

  • Antonio Banderas Joins “INDIANA JONES 5”

    Antonio Banderas Joins “INDIANA JONES 5”

    The cast of Indiana Jones 5 continues to impress. Deadline has revealed that Antonio Banderas has been added to the ranks of the upcoming adventure sequel. It is unknown who Banderas will be portraying, but he joins a cast that already includes the star power of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Reneé Wilson, and Harrison Ford returning as the iconic titular character. He barely requires any introduction, but for the uninitiated, Banderas is best known for his starring roles in the Zorro franchise, Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy, Interview with the Vampire, and the Spy Kids films, among others. This will be the second action-adventure project to include Banderas in the next couple of years, as the actor also plays a role in Tom Holland’s Uncharted film adaptation.

    Indiana Jones 5 is set to debut in July of 2022, with James Mangold taking over directing duties from franchise creator Steven Spielberg. The script for the installment comes from Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Mangold himself. Filming for the project is currently on hold, as Ford recovers from an injury sustained while performing an action scene. The new Jones film has been in various stages of production for over ten years, with Spielberg attempting to make a new movie on and off since 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Very little is known about the plot of the film, but rumors suggest it will take place during the 1960’s Space Race, and we should get more details sooner rather than later.

    Source: Deadline

     

  • ‘Star Wars: Visions’: New Spin-Off Novel ‘Ronin’ to Focus on Former Sith

    ‘Star Wars: Visions’: New Spin-Off Novel ‘Ronin’ to Focus on Former Sith

    Not too long ago, we got our first look at Star Wars: Visions. It was a brand new anthology series heading to Diseny+ that would feature original short films by famous Anime production studios. It was a new direction for the franchise and allows them to break away from its canon. It seems that one of the short films has inspired a novelization, as the official Star Wars site just revealed a brand new novel titled Star Wars: Ronin: A Visions Novel written by Emma Mieko Candon. Here’s a first look at the book’s cover:

     

     

    It’ll focus on a former Sith who is now known as Ronin. It’ll act as an expansion of the short film titled The Duel, which is directed by Takanobu Mizuno for Kamikaze Douga. Lucasfilm Story Group’s James Waugh, who also acts as an executive producer of the Vision anthology series, shared the inspiration to expansion:

    Out of all the shorts, The Duel felt most rife for an ongoing story in a novel. Another one of Ronin’s adventures. One of the things I always loved about the short was that it was clear there was a larger history at play. That this wasn’t the first adventure this warrior had been through and it certainly won’t be their last. What are those stories?

    He went on to share that Kamikaze Douga even pitched in ideas to expand the story’s lore. It’s Candon‘s first foray into the franchise. She went on to state that the story will dive into Japanese period dramas, also known as jidaigeki. So we can expect Japanese monsters and folklore. It’s an exciting prospect to dive into a unique take on the galaxy far far away that also acts as a character study on the dark side of the force. The novel will arrive on October 12th.

    Source: Star Wars

  • First Details for Disney+ Anthology Series ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Revealed

    First Details for Disney+ Anthology Series ‘Star Wars: Visions’ Revealed

    Lucasfilm is venturing out into new territory. Most of the Star Wars series that hit Disney+ continued the overarching story and explored the different eras throughout the franchise’s history. Currently, The Bad Batch is continuing where The Clone Wars left off. We also are expecting the release of The Book of Boba Fett that continues where The Mandalorian’s last season left off. Luckily, that isn’t all, as they just revealed the upcoming anthology series Star Wars: Visions during the Anime Expo Lite. It’ll release September 22nd with nine unique stories that are inspired by the famous franchise and they even revealed the official listing of which iconic Anime studio is tackling which story:

    • The Duel (Kamikaze Douga)
    • Lop and Ocho (Geno Studio)
    • Tatooine Rhapsody (Studio Colorido)
    • The Twins (Trigger)
    • The Elder (Trigger)
    • The Village Bride (Kinema Citrus)
    • Akakiri (Science Saru)
    • T0-B1 (Science Saru)
    • The Ninth Jedi (Production IG)

    It’s quite the line-up of talent and Lucasfilm did not restrict them to follow the franchise’s current canon. As such, these unique shorts are their own independent stories that even explore stories of existing characters, such as Tatooine Rhapsody. The pandemic has affected the productions with various shorts being in production simultaneously. As the trailer revealed, each episode will follow a different art style, such as The Twins looking like it could be an episode of Kill la Kill. Akakiri and T0-B1 have a similar art style and tone with the former seeing the return of Astro Boy‘s sound designer, which was recorded at the Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall. It’s great to see the franchise explore new avenues and, hopefully, it might also be a sign that Marvel adds an anime-inspired anthology series in the future s well.

     

    Source: Star Wars, YouTube

  • Patty Jenkins’ ‘Rogue Squadron’ Adds Writer Matthew Robinson

    Patty Jenkins’ ‘Rogue Squadron’ Adds Writer Matthew Robinson

    It looks like the upcoming Star Wars film Rogue Squadron has finally found its writer, as The Hollywood Reporter has just revealed that Matthew Robinson has joined the project. He famously co-wrote and co-directed the 2009 comedy The Invention of Lying with Ricky Gervais. The upcoming Star Wars film will be the first entry since 2019’s Rise of Skywalker. Not much is known bout the project and THR has also pointed out they are unsure how long he has already been working on the film’s script. It seems the project is eyeing a production start this fall or early in 2022 to hit its 2023 December release date.

    The franchise has mainly focused on its Disney+ outings that started with The Mandalorian. It’ll expand into a variety of franchises, which include this year’s The Book of Boba Fett and the upcoming Ahsoka seres. There have already been hints that the latter started casting and is seeking to add The Clone Wars‘ character Barrs Offee. Just recently, Discussing Film shared some details regarding The Acolyte series which is eyeing a February production start.

    After a brief slowdown, it seems that a lot more Star Wars is heading our way in the near future. In the meantime, Disney+ has been dominated by Marvel Studios’ original series that is also seeing a return to theaters in July with Black Widow. Disney has been expanding their iconic franchises through different media and it’ll be interesting to see how they plan to expand the Star Wars franchise through films that are more loosely connected than before.

    Source: THR

  • REPORT: ‘Star Wars’ Disney+ Series ‘The Acolyte’ Eyeing February Production Start

    REPORT: ‘Star Wars’ Disney+ Series ‘The Acolyte’ Eyeing February Production Start

    It looks like the Star Wars live-action series are revving up, as Discussing Film has shared some interesting news regarding the upcoming The Acolyte Disney+ series. It seems it is eyeing a production start in February of 2022. They will film in London’s The Volume, which has been popularized by the streaming platforms’ first galactic entry The Mandalorian. It currently is being used by Peyton Reed for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. They also revealed that casting has already started. Lucasfilm is currently eyeing a young woman of color to tackle the lead role. Leslye Headland is serving as the show’s showrunner after her success with Netflix’s Russian Doll.

    Details have been quite sparse on the project. It’s uncertain if the multitude of shows might build up to a specific storyline. The various shows that are spin-offs from Mandalorian‘s second season might potentially build to a crossover event. Now, there are some series that explore the different timelines such as Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the above-mentioned Acolyte. There is a chance these series will act as their own independent property that can spin off into other various shows that explore that specific era.

    Andor is all bout the beginning of the Rebellion, while Kenobi explores the fallout from Order 66. It could even connect into the currently running The Bad Batch series that is exploring a similar timeline. It’s not the first time we’ve seen animated characters find their way into live-action. So, the franchise is certainly not restricted in how it expands. Here’s hoping we get more information on what the future holds for Star Wars in the near future.

    Source: Discussing Film

  • Disney+ Officially Shifting All Original Series to Wednesday Premieres After ‘Loki’s Success

    Disney+ Officially Shifting All Original Series to Wednesday Premieres After ‘Loki’s Success

    It turns out Tom Hiddleston wasn’t lying when he said Wednesdays are the new Fridays. After his show, Loki, debuted to record-breaking numbers last week on Disney+, the streaming service has officially made the move to leave weekends behind and shift all original programming to Wednesday episode drops. Only Disney+ original films will continue to be made available on Fridays. The shift in their schedule will affect the platform globally, with every series set to debut after July 1 changing its initial release date. For example, the anticipated Monsters Inc. spin-off Monsters at Work will now drop its first episode on July 7 instead of July 2, and Disney’s Turner & Hooch reboot series will move its debut from July 16 to July 21. Other series impacted include Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life, Growing Up Animal, Short Circuit, Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts, and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse.

    The change is a notable one, considering Disney has been fully committed to the classic weekend episode drop since its launch. Marvel’s previous series, WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, both adhered to the policy with great success, as did Lucasfilm’s The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian. It would seem Loki debuted to astronomical numbers if they were convincing enough to alter a working machine. Disney+’s current Star Wars project, The Bad Batch, will not be affected by the new corporate policy. Episodes will continue to be released on Fridays. Yet, it will most likely be the last high-profile series to do so on the streaming service.

    Source: TV Line

  • Temuera Morrison Confirms ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Will Explore His Time Post-Empire Strikes Back

    Temuera Morrison Confirms ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Will Explore His Time Post-Empire Strikes Back

    While The Mandalorian is taking a backseat, we have a new member of the race taking centerstage. Well, technically he is a clone but it was Boba Fett that popularized the look and feel. After making a grand return in the second season of the popular Star Wars series on Disney+, he will not grace the world with a spin-off titled The Book of Boba Fett. We did get a brief tease in a post-credit sequence from the last episode, where he revisits Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine but that was pretty much it. Now, it seems like actor Temuera. Morrison may have confirmed that we might finally get an answer on how he escaped the Sarlacc Pit back in Empire Strikes Backs.

    Well, we can’t say too much, but we’re going to see his past and where he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Somebody pointed out he’s been kind of stuck in this one place, and now’s the time to actually go back in time and check out his journey and find out more about him.

    We got a brief glimpse of him during the first season but we don’t know why he avoided getting back his iconic armor. There seemed to be a reason why he didn’t take it back from Timothy Olyphant‘s Cobb Vanth, who could make an appearance in the upcoming spin-off. We might get some introspection into the spiritual journey he undertook after leaving that past behind and whose names might be on his list after stewing in thoughts of revenge throughout the last years. Whatever the upcoming spin-off has in store for us, it’s great to finally get to see more of the iconic character in action.

    Source: Rotten Tomatoes

  • Latest ‘Indiana Jones 5′ Set Photos Confirm Toby Jones’ Involvement and a Familiar Threat

    Latest ‘Indiana Jones 5′ Set Photos Confirm Toby Jones’ Involvement and a Familiar Threat

    It looks like some more Indiana Jones 5 set photos and videos have found their way online that offer an even closer glimpse at what we can expect from the upcoming film. Almost a week ago, we saw a stunt double wear a creepy mask of Harrison Ford that confirmed we’ll get a flashback sequence of some kind. It seems that isn’t the only moment we’ll get a de-aged Ford, as the new set photos from the Daily Mail reveal that the actor has some dots on his face that may hint at them taking out a few of his wrinkles.

     

     

    Now, that isn’t the only thing we see on set, as we also get the confirmation of another addition to the cast, Toby Jones. It is our first confirmation of his involvement and he joins Thomas Kretschman, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen.

     

    The cast already looks very promising as Steven Spielberg hands over the director’s chair to Logan‘s James Mangold. Now, there is one more reveal that may offer some weight to a recent report that Mikkelsen is playing a former Nazi scientist, as the set also includes the infamous swastika on various vehicles.

     

     

     

    It seems the recent report might have some credence to it and the fifth entry will explore Indiana Jones continued confrontation with them. It’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together and if this film might also open up the franchise for a new hero to take on Jones’ ongoing battle to preserve history. It does seem likely that this might be the final entry for Ford, who is nearing 80. Of course, he may always surprise us and get ready for a sixth film, but there’s a lot of interest in what Indiana Jones 5 might bring to the table.

    Source: Daily Mail, YouTube

  • REPORT: Ben Mendelsohn May Reprise ‘Rogue One’ Role in Disney+ ‘Andor’ Spin-Off

    REPORT: Ben Mendelsohn May Reprise ‘Rogue One’ Role in Disney+ ‘Andor’ Spin-Off

    It looks like one more Rogue One veteran is returning in the upcoming Andor spin-off, as The Direct has reported that Ben Mendelsohn will reprise his role as Orson Kennic. However, they do point out that they are unsure of how big his role might actually end up being in the series. There is a chance he has a brief cameo, as our titular character Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, might infiltrate an Empire base at some point in the series. This news drops shortly after Bill Skarsgard leaked the fact that Forest Whitaker was also returning in the upcoming Disney+ series as Saw Gerrera. It seems that we could see more familiar faces from Star Wars‘ first non-episode film pop up potentially.

    Mendelsohn gave us a great performance as the main antagonist in Rogue One. So, his return is a welcomed one. It looks like the actor has a big future with Disney+, as he is also slated to appear in the upcoming Secret Invasion series from Marvel Studios. Of course, it is uncertain if he simply has a brief cameo in Andor, but he would make for a great recurring character that somehow manages to always get into Cassian’s way at the most inopportune times. You can never go wrong with more of Ben Mendelsohn n in any project. Here’s hoping we also get some more familiar faces returning to flesh out the era when the Empire ruled over the galaxy.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Andor’: Forest Whitaker to Return in the ‘Rogue One’ Spin-Off

    ‘Andor’: Forest Whitaker to Return in the ‘Rogue One’ Spin-Off

    Andor has been busy filming for some time now and we still know very little about what direction the series is heading. All we know is that it’ll take place before Rogue One and explore the early days of its titular character, Cassian Andor. Some time ago we did get a good look at the cast, which includes Marvel Studios veteran Stellan Skarsgard. Well, it seems he accidentally let slip in an interview with Sverige Radio that he had “at least two good” scenes with Rogue One veteran, Forest Whitaker. He played the character of Saw Gerrera, which he even returned to play in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game.

    It actually makes a lot of sense for his character to return in the series. While he did find his end in Rogue One, there are a lot of stories that can be explored while he leads the Rebellion against the Empire. We might get a closer look at how he became infamous among even their ranks. It also opens up the question of how much Andor will explore in its first season, as we might get a look at the darker side of the Rebellion rather than the hopeful one we are introduced to in Star Wars: A New Hope. It looks like we might have al to more surprises heading our way.

    Source: Sveriges Radio via The Direct