Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’s Kimmy Gatewood to Direct an Episode of ‘The Muppets Mayhem’

    EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’s Kimmy Gatewood to Direct an Episode of ‘The Muppets Mayhem’

    Even though Disney owns The Muppets brand, they’ve been struggling to get a series going besides a small variety series. Luckily, it seems that they are finally moving forward with a series titled The Muppets Mayhem, which moves away from the usual Kermit and Ms. Piggy shenanigans to focus on The Electric Mayhem Band, who are on their way to recording their first studio album. The Goldbergs creator, Adam F. Goldberg, is working on the project alongside Jeff Yorkes and Muppets veteran Bill Barretta. Now, we can exclusively share that The Baby-Sitters Club director Kimmy Gatewood is attached to direct at least one episode of the series.

    Gatewood is set to direct the fifth episode of the series, which is tentatively titled “Fortunate Son.” We currently can’t confirm if she’ll direct multiple episodes of the Disney+ series. While many might know the actress for her role as Stacey Beswick from GLOW, Gatewood also has quite a lot of experience as a director. She worked on series like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Baby-Sitters Club, Single, Drunk Female, and recently Ghosts.

    The series will include YouTube star Lilly Singh as the human companion of the Electric Mayhem Band, who will act as their junior A&R executive, who has to manage the Muppet band. Earlier this month, we also got the casting announcement of Baby Daddy‘s Tahj Mowry as Gary “Moog” Moogowski, who is a die-hard fan that follows them from one gig to another. The concept will allow for a fun road trip with some Muppet mayhem (pun totally intended) and it’ll be exciting to see what the series has to offer once it premieres on Disney+.

  • EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams and HBO’s ‘Demimonde’ Series Eyeing September Production Start

    EXCLUSIVE: J.J. Abrams and HBO’s ‘Demimonde’ Series Eyeing September Production Start

    Bad Robot has been busy with various projects as part of their deal with HBO and HBO Max. We’ve been recently hearing more rumblings on their adaptation of Constantine, but they also have quite a few original projects also lined up. Just recently, we got an update on the HBO sci-fi drama Demimonde, which is a French word meaning a part of society that is isolated with a bad reputation. It has found its leading role in Danielle Deadwyler and they hinted that the limited series, which was initially ordered straight-to-series all the way back in 2018, is still in early pre-production even though it was initially believed to start production next week. We can exclusively share that the production is currently eyeing a start in September.

    The production will start later this year and run from September until May of 2023. The production will be traveling the world, as they aim to film in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe. The series is still actively adding to its supporting cast and is currently casting under the production title “Contraband.” It’s interesting to note that producer J.J. Abrams hinted that they’ve already written the scripts for the sci-fi series back in May of 2019, but they may be rewriting elements of it.

    Kira Snyder, Rand Ravich, and Far Shariat are serving as showrunners on the project, which will follow Deadwyler’s Olive Reed. When she was torn away from her husband and daughter after a strange accident, she is left to her own devices to uncover the conspiracy and hopefully reunite with her family once again. Abrams and Ben Stephenson are producing the series for Bad Robot with Rachel Rusch Rich aboard as co-executive producer.

  • ‘Lost in Space’ Director Tim Southam Joins Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series

    ‘Lost in Space’ Director Tim Southam Joins Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series

    It looks like we finally have a reveal of a new director for the upcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. Netflix and TV veteran, Tim Southam, has revealed his involvement with Tomorrow Studios and Netflix’s adaptation on his personal website, as uncovered by @OP_Netflix_Fan. While there is no mention if he’s involved with a specific amount of episodes, he is seemingly also attached as an executive producer.

    As mentioned, the director has quite a history with Netflix, as he worked on two episodes of Locke & Key and quite a few episodes of Lost in Space. He’s also worked on an episode of American Gods, Bates Motel, The Good Doctor, and many more. So, he has quite the filmography as a director. He’s also worked as an executive producer on Colony and Locke & Key.

    He’s the second director revealed to be working on the series. Daredevil and Black Sails director Marc Jobst also is involved with the project and is directing the series pilot. It’ll be interesting to see what they bring to the One Piece adaptation, especially as we’ve seen quite a bit from the set that hinted at some massive sets, such as Shank’s ship, the Red Force.

    We might get more information in June once Geeked Week starts, which may even give us a full reveal on who the directing team is behind the project. It’s unclear how many episodes Jobst and Southam might be working on, but it’s great to finally get some hint at who is working on bringing our favorite Straw Hats to life.

    Source: Tim Southam

  • Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s ‘Isle of the Dead’ Adds Gaius Charles

    Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s ‘Isle of the Dead’ Adds Gaius Charles

    While The Walking Dead spinoff focused on Daryl and Carol has hit a snag with Melissa McBride leaving the project, Isle of the Dead is moving forward. Deadline has just reported that the project led by Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan has now added actor Gaius Charles as an additional lead. He’ll join their journey through a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, which has been cut off and is now a cesspool filled to the brim with Walkers, and anarchy reigns among its survivors.

    Charles will take on the role of Izaak, who has a strong sense of justice and unyieldingly follows his own path. He enjoys what he does and certainly adds some humor to the terror he pushes. Izaak is also looking after his wife and daughters, and we may uncover a loss in his life that he still carries with him to this day, yet he never runs away fro his mistakes.

    Gaius Charles made his name with his portrayal of Brian “Smash” Williams on Friday Night Lights, as well as a recurring role on The Wonder Years, Roswell, New Mexico, and Queens. The AMC and AMC+ series is eyeing a 2023 release. It’ll consist of six episodes with Scott M. Gimple, Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead franchise, producing the series alongside Eli Jorné, Cohan, and Morgan.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: ‘The Batman’s Penguin Spinoff May Start Production in June

    RUMOR: ‘The Batman’s Penguin Spinoff May Start Production in June

    The Batman is all the rage right now with the film just recently hitting HBO Max and crossing $750 million at the worldwide box office. So far, it’s one of the year’s biggest hits. In its first week the film quickly became HBO Max’s second-highest streamed film ever, and its most-streamed DC film, topping the likes of The Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman 1984, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The road doesn’t end there, however, as we’re set to return to Gotham city exclusively on HBO Max much sooner than we originally thought.

    HBO Max will bring us back to the world of The Batman will the upcoming limited series following Oswald Cobblepott as he rises to power in Gotham’s darkest hour and the death of Carmine Falcon, becoming The Penguin we’ve all come to love. It seems production on the show may begin a lot sooner than we anticipated as a listing has revealed that the series will start on June 15th in Los Angeles.

    There has been no official word on this start date and a lot of details are still murky on the project. As it’s something that can also change, it’s unsure if they’ll stick with this production start. We have yet to get any new casting, as well as hear who may be directing this series or any specific episodes. This news comes just a few days after Warner Bros. and Matt Reeves took to the CinemaCon stage to announce that a sequel to The Batman is in development with Reeves returning to write and direct, with Robert Pattinson set to don the cape and cowl once again.

    Source: FTIA

  • Tom Hiddleston to Start Working on ‘Loki’ Season 2 in 6 Weeks, Promises Answers

    Tom Hiddleston to Start Working on ‘Loki’ Season 2 in 6 Weeks, Promises Answers

    Loki was a standout among the Disney+ series with its exploration of the inner turmoil and losing your “glorious purpose.” It surprised many when the season ended with quite the cliffhanger, as Loki found himself back at the TVA yet no one could seemingly remember him. We got a tease that it’ll be the first Disney+ series to get a second season, and it looks like production may start sooner than expected.

    As Kate Herron left the project, Moon Knight directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson are taking over the second season. They’ll build upon the foundation she set and it looks like they’ll start work on it in six weeks. Its leading star Tom Hiddleston revealed it in an interview with The Playlist, and promised there will be “lots of questions to be answered.”

    Absolutely. We’re in it already. I mean, we’re not filming, but we’re in prep, but we start in like six weeks or something. So we’re in full steam ahead in terms of a script and story and it’s really exciting. Yeah, I can’t say too much, but lots of questions to be answered.

    Tom Hiddleston

    It looks like we might get to see the series next year if they start production soon. So, luckily the wait might not be as long as we expected plus with Kang’s appearance teased, it’s the perfect timing to release it ahead of the third Ant-Man and the Wasp film. So, we’ll see if they manage to get it out by then.

    Source: The Playlist

  • RUMOR: ‘Moon Knight’s Final Episode May Be its Shortest

    RUMOR: ‘Moon Knight’s Final Episode May Be its Shortest

    With all the threads that were set up in past Moon Knight episodes, it’s looking like the finale might end up being quite a bit shorter than initially expected. Amid Chaudhari, who has shared the episode lengths of previous Disney+ episodes, took to his Twitter account to potentially reveal the length of the final episode of Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series. It looks like it’ll be its shortest, as the episode will be around 42 minutes long. If we put that into comparison from past episodes (according to Disney+):

    • The Goldfish Problem – 48 min
    • Summon the Suit – 53 min
    • The Friendly Type – 53 min
    • The Tomb – 54 min
    • Asylum – 50 min

    So, it seems like the final episode is eyeing a runtime that is similar to the first episode The Goldfish Problem. We have to also keep in mind that the runtime also includes the credits, which opens up the question of just how they might tie everything together in such a short timeframe. perhaps they’ll surprise us with a second season announcement, but given that it’s been described as a limited series on multiple occasions, it almost seems uncertain if or when we can expect his story to continue within the MCU.

    It’s one of the issues these stories face is that they tend to end with “there’s more to come” but without an actual second season or direct connection, the wait in-between projects makes it a bit difficult to truly create a connection for audiences.

    Source: Twitter, Disney+

  • RUMOR: Man-Thing May Appear in Marvel Studios’ Untitled Halloween Special

    RUMOR: Man-Thing May Appear in Marvel Studios’ Untitled Halloween Special

    The supernatural side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full bloom as projects like Blade and the upcoming Halloween special are set to explore that side of the world. The special is rumored to focus on the character Werewolf By Night, a lycan that has been around the Marvel Universe since 1972, with Gael Garcia Bernal set to paly the role. As we await confirmation on the Halloween special, it seems yet another creepy character will debut in the special.

    The folks over at the Cosmic Circus are reporting that none other then Man-Thing is set to make his MCU debut in the upcoming special. This rumor comes after last months rumblings of a Man-Thing-focused Halloween special from Screen Geek, but it seems these could possibly be the same project.

    The role is reportedly a cameo in the special with the character supposedly being partially practical effects. We previously reported on a rumor from After Hours Media in which they discovered the folks from Universals Halloween Horror Nights working on the projects practical make-up for the character of Jack Russell.

    The special is shaping up to be quite the monster mash if these rumors pan out with Cosmic Circus reporting just a few days ago that actress Laura Donnelly would be playing Elsa Bloodstone, a famous marvel universe monster hunter.

    No release date for the Halloween special has been set just yet, as the project still remains unannounced by Marvel Studios. We do know however that composer Michael Giacchino will make his directing debut with this, which we expect to release sometime this October.

    Source: Cosmic Circus

  • BREAKING: Melissa McBride Exits Daryl and Carol-Focused ‘Walking Dead’ Spinoff

    BREAKING: Melissa McBride Exits Daryl and Carol-Focused ‘Walking Dead’ Spinoff

    It looks like it’s the season to leave projects behind. Just the other day, Fast X lost its director spiraling the production into an instant halt. The same is now happening to the AMC’s The Walking Dead series as the upcoming Daryl and Carol spinoff has lost one of its main stars. Melissa McBride, who plays Carol, has left the project and will now only focus on Norman Reedus‘ Daryl. It seems that the decision for her to leave the project was a creative one.

    The original project was announced back in September of 2020 but not much was known about the project outside of it starring Reedus and McBride. They were long-time cast members of the original series and the dynamic between them was something that kept many watching. Yet, it seems that Daryl is going to have to be on his own in his next adventure that is being created by Scott M. Gimple and Angela Kang.

    It’s quite shocking when a production loses one of its main stars, especially as they were ramping up work on the project as the original The Walking Dead is coming to an end. We’ll see how they’ll tackle the project and what it might mean for Carol’s future in the franchise. They might either simply have them separated due to an event, or perhaps they could even simply have them set out towards different goals. We’ll have to see once they start work on the project.

    Source: TV Line

  • Johan Renck Boards ’Dune’ Prequel Series as Director

    Johan Renck Boards ’Dune’ Prequel Series as Director

    HBO Max’s Dune prequel series has set a director.

    Johan Renck will direct the first two episodes of the Duneprequel series. The news comes courtesy of Variety, with the outlet reporting Renck will also serve as an executive producer on the project. The current title of the series is Dune: The Sisterhood, although the title does not seem to be set in stone. Denis Villeneuve was previously attached to direct the pilot for the series, however, as he’s busy with the second Dune film, he’s had to step down.

    The events of Dune: The Sisterhood take place approximately 10,000 years prior to the events of Dune. It focuses on the Harkonnen sisters as they “combat forces that threaten the future of humankind and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.” Dune, of course, proved to be a massive success for Warner Bros. upon release last year. Despite being released day and date on HBO Max, the film went on to earn $400 million at the worldwide box office. 

    This is not Renck’s first time working with HBO. He previously worked on the critical darling, Chernobyl, where he directed the entire series and served as an executive producer. His work on that series earned him an Emmy in the Best Directing for a Limited Series category. Prior to Chernobyl, Renck also helmed episodes of The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Vikings. 

    Diane Ademu-John serves as the writer, showrunner and executive producer for Dune: The Sisterhood. As of now, no cast members have been announced.

    Source: Variety.