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Tag: Movie News

  • Next ‘The Expendables’ Film Adds ‘The Raid’s Iko Uwais as a Villain

    Next ‘The Expendables’ Film Adds ‘The Raid’s Iko Uwais as a Villain

    It looks like the net entry of The Expendables franchise has found its main antagonist, as Deadline reports that The Raid‘s Iko Uwais joined the film. The film’s staff will see the return of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture. They’ll also be joined by Andy Garcia, Jacob Scipio, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and Megan Fox. So, it’s quite the all-star cast of unlikely action heroes for Uwais to take on. Scott Waugh is directing the film based on a script by Spenser Cohen, Max Adams, and John Joseph Connolly.

    The film will continue where the last entry ended, as a group of veteran mercenaries takes on an unlikely challenge. Uwais‘ role is still kept a secret, but supposedly he’ll play a former military officer, who is now an active arms dealer with the private army. He’s a great addition to the franchise, who became famous for his role in 2011 and 2014’s entries of The Raid films. He recently also joined Paramount’s Snake Eyes and is currently set to appear in Fists Full of Vengeance.

    The Expendables franchise started back in 2010, as David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, who also took the director’s chair, wanted to revive the 90s action. As such, it also started to include many iconic actors from that era such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and many more. There were also plans for a spinoff titled The ExpendaBelles featuring an all-star female cast.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Dune: Part Two’ Officially in The Works at WB and Legendary

    ‘Dune: Part Two’ Officially in The Works at WB and Legendary

    This past weekend was crazy for films, with Dune finally hitting theaters after multiple delays due to the ongoing pandemic. Dune was immediately met with praise from critics and fans alike and opened to $40 million at the domestic box office this weekend. Fans have become increasingly anxious for the continuation of the franchise as the film begins with the reveal that this is only the first part in what could be a potential franchise for Warner Brothers and Legendary. 

    Luckily, fans appear to have received their wish. Legendary took to Twitter to officially confirm that Dune: Part Two is officially in the works. The sequel is set to hit theaters on October 20th, 2023, and will be exclusive to theaters, unlike Part One‘s day and date release on HBO Max. 

    Director Denis Villeneuve had this to say about the sequel announcement and how happy he is to continue telling Herbert’s story.

    “I just received news from Legendary that we are officially moving forward with Dune: Part Two, It was a dream of mine to adapt Frank Herbert’s Dune and I have the fans, the cast, and crew, Legendary and Warner Bros. to thank for supporting this dream. This is only the beginning.”

    Legendary also commented on the news following its big announcement

    “Legendary is pleased to officially move forward with Dune: Part Two…once again based on the amazing books written by Frank Herbert, We would not have gotten to this point without the extraordinary vision of Denis and the amazing work of his talented crew, the writers, our stellar cast, our partners at Warner Bros., and of course the fans! Here’s to more Dune.”

    No official casting has been announced but Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgård will most likely be reprising their roles in the sequel.

    SOURCE: THR, Twitter

  • James Gunn Confirms the Guardians of the Galaxy Were Originally Set to Debut in Marvel One-Shots

    James Gunn Confirms the Guardians of the Galaxy Were Originally Set to Debut in Marvel One-Shots

    Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy introduced a brand new cast of characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with immense success, but it looks like debuting all of the titular characters at once wasn’t the original plan. In an excerpt from the new book, The Story of Marvel Studios, famed Marvel boss Kevin Feige reveals each Guardian was going to debut in individual Marvel One-Shots.

    He explained:

    We toyed with the idea of doing short films on Drax, on Rocket and Groot, and on Gamora, leading up to Guardians. This One-Shot series would have led into the Guardians movie proper – which would have also been directly preceded by a fourth self-contained short film about a mysterious kid who loved fantasy things. Then you’d start Guardians. And half-way through, we would reveal that big space hero is the kid from the short. We thought that would be clever, but it was too much.

    Taking to Twitter, the franchise’s helmer James Gunn confirmed the information and elaborated on it further. The filmmaker revealed he had been set to write and direct the shorts. In fact, he had even gotten as far as storyboarding and filming scenes for a Rocket & Groot One-Shot.

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1452764256311578624?s=20

    The above Twitter thread reveals that Gunn also wrote a part for fan-favorite nerd actor Alan Tudyk in Rocket and Groot’s origin story. Gunn even goes on to say the shelved shorts are still canon in his head.

    Of course, much of what the One-Shots would have entailed ended up being included in Guardians of the Galaxy. In the end, it’s likely the shorts not seeing the light of day may have been for the best. However, that doesn’t seem to have stopped Gunn from feeling hopeful about a potential resurrection of the One-Shots in the future.

    Source: Twitter, Screen Rant

  • ‘The Trench’ Was Going To Be a Black Manta Solo Project

    ‘The Trench’ Was Going To Be a Black Manta Solo Project

    Just a few years ago, as the DC Extended Universe was still blooming, there was an urge to get things done as fast as possible when it came to building its shared universe. WB became quite impulsive with its projects, green lighting spinoff after spinoff, most of which would never come to fruition. 

    Hot off the success of Aquaman, WB announced development had begun on a spinoff focusing on the Trench with undersea monsters featuring in the film aptly titled The Trench. News on the project would go dark, though, and eventually, the film would be shelved alongside Ava Duvernay‘s New Gods. 

    Little was known about the Trench film, aside from that it would feature the frightening fish-men of the deep; the same fish-men that would eventually aid Arthur and Mera in the fight against Orm, earning Arthur the throne. However, today James Wan took to Instagram to clear up a bit of what the trench would’ve featured. He revealed that it was originally intended to be a Black Manta solo project, likely featuring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II reprising his role as David Kane in the film. 

    While the project isn’t in development as of right now, critical and fan reception to the Aquama and The Lost Kingdom, featuring Manta in a much larger role, could determine if that film has legs and could be revived. The film could be something very different for DC, taking the comic book film genre in a new direction with a horror approach, one of director James Wan‘s specialties in film. 

    The project was initially set to be written by Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald, with Wan set to produce the project. No director or casting was ever announced, aside from Mateen likely leading the film.

    SOURCE: Instagram

  • Brendan Fraser Joins ‘Batgirl’ as Firefly

    Brendan Fraser Joins ‘Batgirl’ as Firefly

    The resurgence of Brendan Fraser continues with DC as it is being reported that he has joined the upcoming HBO Max film Batgirl as the main antagonist. Sources at Deadline believe Fraser will be playing popular Batman rogue, Firefly, a retired and disgruntled firefighter turned mad arsonist. Casting for the role listed an actor in the 50-60s age range to play a “disgruntled former firefighter.”

    With Firefly set to be the main villain of the Batgirl solo film, it seems likely that the project will be taking inspiration from Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon’s Batgirl: Year One mini-series. The story saw Barbara Gordon rejected from both the Gotham City police department and the FBI, deciding to take her love of superheroes, especially Black Canary. The most interesting bit is that the story features Firefly as the big bad, alongside Killer Moth. While there has yet to be any word of Killer Moth in the film, the pieces seem to be fitting together well.

    With the debut of Jurnee Smollet as Black Canary, it seems possible they could include Barbara’s love of Canary in the film and eventually lead her to join the Birds of Prey within the DCEU, and maybe even lead to an appearance of the team in the film.

    Batgirl currently has no set release date but will release sometime in 2022. The current cast includes Leslie Grace, Jacob Scipio, and JK Simmons who will be reprising the role of Commissioner Gordon and Barbra Gordon’s father in the upcoming film.

    SOURCE: Deadline

  • More Additional Photogrpahy Planned for ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel

    More Additional Photogrpahy Planned for ‘Doctor Strange’ Sequel

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first of many dominoes in Marvel Studios recent shift of of their upcoming release slate, moving off of its March 25th, 2022 date to May 6th, 2022. Marvel Entertainment CCO Kevin Feige attributed the shifting slate to production shifts and changes and now we might have a little clearer idea of what he meant thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch.

    In an interview with the Today Show, Cumberbatch indicated that the sequel, which began filming last November, is scheduled to undergo additional photography over the next two months.

    Additional photography is something that Marvel Studios has scheduled into its productions, but in an interview earlier this year, Cumberbatch indicated the planned reshoots were supposed to wrap in September. Whether those reshoots were delayed or these reshoots are in addition to those is unclear; however, in any case, it certainly seems it’s best practice to have the creative team complete the film they want to put in theaters rather than having a new “Release the (insert director here) cut)” movement on social media every 6 months. The Strange sequel has been entirely reinvented since Scott Derrickson left and Michael Waldron and Sam Raimi took over, so letting those two continue to shape the film until they feel its ready to go is in everyone’s best interest.

  • Tom Holland Hints at a Mystery Character in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Tom Holland Hints at a Mystery Character in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Empire Magazine’s coverage of Spider-Man: No Way Home has been full of interesting quotes but none to date are going to cause as much of a conversation as this one. While discussing his time on the Spider threequel, Tom Holland described “one of the coolest scenes” he’s ever shot and noted that he shared the scene with Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau and an unnamed actor.

    The scene, as described by Holland, includes his Peter Parker sitting at a table with his Aunt May, Happy Hogan and the unrevealed character discussing what it’s like to be a superhero. Given Holland’s hesitancy to reveal anymore info about the scene, it’s pretty clear he’s not talking about Doctor Strange, meaning Holland is confirming that there are some “surprises” still in store for the audience.

    For close to a year now, the worst kept secret in Hollywood has been that the film would see characters from the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-films enter the MCU, including those versions of Peter/Spidey. The first trailer showed us Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and hinted at Willem Dafoe’s Goblin and Emprire’s coverage has mentioned the multiversal nature of the new film, so it’s easy to imagine the scene Holland described being one in which an older Parker (Maguire or Garfield) sits down to discuss the superhero business. Such a conversation would be a fantastic time to have a philosophical discussion about the interpretation of the Uncle Ben’s advice and provide an opportunity for one of the other Spideys to shine.

    With a new trailer expected sometime soon, maybe we’ll get answers to some of these questions…then again, maybe Sony will just keep us guessing until Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17th.

    Source: Empire Magazine

  • First Look at a New, Out-of-this-World Logo for ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’

    First Look at a New, Out-of-this-World Logo for ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’

    Production on Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has been ongoing for several months now and very little has been revealed from the set…until now. Last night, we got our first look at an all-new, all-different logo for the film. As you can see below, the new logo includes some very stylized, alien-like text for the subtitle.

    We know that a Variant of Jonathan Majors He Who Remains will be in the film, so the text could be a reference to his 31st century origins; on the other hand, we also have plenty of reason to believe a portion of the film will take place in the Quantum Realm, a dimension that’s to date only been explored by Janet van Dyne, so it’s possible that the text could be a reference to some of its residents. Of course, it’s also entirely possible that it was just a pretty cool looking logo. Regardless, we might have to wait quite some time before we find out as Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania isn’t set to hit theaters until July 28, 2023.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Dune’ Becomes Denis Villeneuve’s Best Domestic Opening with $40.1M

    ‘Dune’ Becomes Denis Villeneuve’s Best Domestic Opening with $40.1M

    As we were going into the weekend, early Thursday numbers were hinting at Dune managing a $30M+ opening in the domestic office. All eyes were on Denis Villeneuve‘s next epic to see if the space opera could make a big splash at the box office. Especially if you consider that it’s also available on HBO Max. Well, the weekend is coming to a close and it garnered around $40M. As such, the film is Warner Bros.’s best box office performer with an HBO release. Not just that, Dune marks Villeneuve‘s best opening ever in the domestic market.

    https://twitter.com/frankpallotta/status/1452288582048178192

    These numbers are a great showcase for its potential staying power at the box office, especially as it’s the biggest debut for Warner Bros. all year. So, it’s definitely a safe bet to think that they would be interested in exploring a sequel entry in the franchise, as it’s also what this film openly sets up at the end. Recently, WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff pretty much confirmed that they’re banking on a sequel. So, these numbers might be that extra push to fast-track the project.

    Villeneuve has shared that it’s a passion project. So, it’s always great to see it pay off for him to further explore Arrakis and more of Frank Herbert‘s iconic novels. The film also might’ve given IMAX cinemas an extra push, as it’s the biggest opening for the cinema format since the pandemic started with $9M. It’ll be interesting to see if it holds steady over Halloween and then against Eternals in November.

    Source: Twitter, Variety, Twitter (BO), Twitter (IMAX)

  • Steven Caple Jr. Shares New Look at Optimus Prime As Production Wraps on ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’

    Steven Caple Jr. Shares New Look at Optimus Prime As Production Wraps on ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’

    All eyes have been on the new entry in the Transformers franchise. The subtitle Rise of the Beasts promises a very different take on the characters we’ve seen in cinemas so far. We’ll get to explore many different factions of the famous alien robots and director Steven Caple Jr. has been actively giving us a good look at their production. He shared a look at the Autobots and Decepticons earlier this month but remains coy on the Predacons and Terrorcons who are rumored to appear in the series. Now, as production wraps up, he shared a new look at Optimus Prime’s truck design in the film.

    It feels like production started just recently. So, it’s always a surprise when they share the announcement that production has wrapped up. Caple Jr. has been great at actively sharing from the production, as it offers some insight into what we can expect. The designs seem closer to that what we saw in the Bumblebee film, which was one of the standout aspects of that film. In the film’s opening, we see the blocker designs from the classic cartoons and toy lines. Of course, it still had some elements from Michael Bay‘s run to keep the complexity of what is beneath their exterior.

    Source: Twitter