Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Paramount+

  • Paramout+ Pulling a Warner Bros. and Removing Freshly Canceled Shows

    Paramout+ Pulling a Warner Bros. and Removing Freshly Canceled Shows

    Warner Bros. Discovery started a terrible trend when they started pulling projects from their streaming services. Not just projects they were licensing but also originals that weren’t readily available in any legal capacity outside of their specific streaming service. Then, Disney+ joined in by pulling some great shows like Big Shot and Willow, which were only released recently. It seems the streaming wars are slowly nearing their final chapter as Paramount+ is now pulling the exact same stunt.

    The streaming service has decided to cancel four shows, which include Star Trek: Prodigy, Queen of the Universe, The Game, and Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. Yet, to add insult to injury, they have also decided to completely remove the shows from the streaming service in the coming days. So, if you haven’t seen any of these projects and still want to check them out, this might be your last chance before they are gone. A spokesperson shared the following statement:

    We want to extend our thanks to our tremendously talented cast and crew and our producing partners for their passionate work and dedication on these programs, and we wish them all the best on their future endeavors.

    The depressing aspect of this trend is simply that it highlights the importance of physical media as who knows if any o these projects may be released anytime soon on other streaming services or on network television. Some actions are done for tax reasons, but they may not just wait it out before releasing the projects as part of bundle deals with others. The only question is if this is perhaps just the beginning of other purges from Paramount+.

    Source: Variety

  • Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, and More Join ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’s Knuckles Spinoff

    Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, and More Join ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’s Knuckles Spinoff

    Still hard to believe that we’re discussing a spinoff series from a successful Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Not just that, we’re getting more time with a character like Knuckles the Echidna, who was only just introduced in the latest movie of the franchise. The Paramount+ original has been busy filming and it looks like the Idris Elba-led project has unveiled five new cast members.

    Variety has unveiled that the series has added not one but five new members to its cast. The biggest additions are the Back to the Future icon Christopher Lloyd, who has been busy with a variety of TV show appearances such as the last season of The Mandalorian. He’ll be joined by The Princess Bride’s Cary Elwes, Grease’s Stockard Channing, Rob Huebel of Bob’s Burgers fame, and Veep‘s Paul Scheer.

    They also join guest stars Tika Sumpter, who reprises her role as Maddie, and Rory McCann. Naturally, Elba is back to voice the leading role but there’s no word on who exactly the cast members might be playing. It’ll follow the story of Knuckles taking Wade under his wing to teach him what it means to be an Echidna warrior. Sadly, we don’t know if we’ll see other characters from Sonic the Hedgehog‘s gaming universe.

    Sonic the Hedgehog 2 writer John Whittington is behind the pilot and also serves as a head writer on the series. He was supported by Brian Schacter and James Madejski to continue Knuckles’ story beyond the major film release from last year. Of course, Jeff Fowler, who tackled both films, is also returning as an executive producer while also directing the pilot episode.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series in Development at Paramount+

    ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series in Development at Paramount+

    Dungeons & Dragons is set to expand further into the world of live-action Hollywood content. Paramount+ has ordered up eight-episodes straight-to-series based on the popular fantasy role-playing game from Hasbro. Rawson Marshall Thurber, the director of Netflix’s most viewed original film Red Notice, has written the script for the pilot episode and is also set to direct the series which will be a co-production between Paramount Pictures and eOne.

    Dungeons & Dragons was part of an extensive bidding war from eOne that included various major studios in the television landscape. Ultimately, Paramount came away the victors and will add the gaming stalwart to their library. This acquisition comes after the commercial success Paramount Pictures had with Halo on Paramount+. The move to work with eOne is logical as the two studios are already working together to produce and finance Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a major theatrical release set for March 31 of this year. There is no word on if there’ll be any connections between the feature film and this newly announced series.

    It’s been rumored that eOne has had the notion of adapting Dungeons & Dragons into a television series a top priority since acquiring Hasbro in 2019. The newly announced series is to be the largest project the studio has worked on by a significant margin. Assuming the project is successful, there is potential for eOne to expand into creating an expanded universe of multiple projects that interconnect to some degree. It will be interesting to follow if this iteration of Dungeons & Dragons can become one of the next major cinematic franchises in Hollywood.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Halo’ Actor Pablo Schreiber Has Had Talks With Marvel, Including For Wolverine

    ‘Halo’ Actor Pablo Schreiber Has Had Talks With Marvel, Including For Wolverine

    In the age of competing intellectual properties and streaming services, the Microsoft video gaming brand Xbox is gearing up to bring one of its most iconic properties to live-action with Halo on Paramount+. American Gods actor Pablo Schreiber is set to star as Master Chief in the series. Like any leading role in an action project, Schreiber has been fancast in plenty of Marvel roles.

    Perhaps some good news for fans of the actor, apparently a Marvel role for Schreiber is not too far-fetched to dream about. During an interview with the Bingeworthy podcast, the Halo actor has has “a bunch of discussions” with Marvel over the years:

    Yeah. You know I’ve seen things pop up a lot. I’ve had a bunch of discussions with Marvel at different points in my career. We’ve never been able to find the right thing at the right time, but I’d certainly be open to that. But yeah it’s just staying open to the right path and I don’t know exactly what that is, but I’ll know it when I see it.

    Pablo Schreiber

    Schreiber, who is Canadian, even expressed interest in playing the MCU’s Wolverine. Notably, the actor mentions that he and Marvel “flirted” with the idea of that casting:

    Oh goodness yeah, well we flirted with that one for a while. That’d be fantastic, that would certainly be a dream casting. He’s actually my favorite hero, from a child he was always my favorite comic book. So I’ve had a long flirtation with that guy, so you know obviously that’d be a dream

    Pablo Schreiber

    Whether Schreiber is speaking about talks with Marvel for Wolverine purely in the past tense or not is not entirely clear, but it definitely notable that he speaks so highly of the potential role and implies he and Marvel have had somewhat of an ongoing relationship with Marvel throughout his career.

    While Wolverine is still very much viewed as Hugh Jackman’s character, X-Men characters are expected to make their way into the MCU now that Disney owns the film rights to the characters. Who exactly will take on the iconic role is unknown at this time, but Marvel clearly has been working on casting for some time. Schreiber will make his debut as Master Chief in Halo on March 24 on Paramount+.

    Source: Bingeworthy via The Direct