by Andrew Liszewski on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9
Blockbusters like the Star Wars trilogy, as well as unregulated TV advertising to kids, helped the ’80s churn out some of the most memorable toys of all time. Thirty years later, the ’80s are enjoying a renaissance thanks to shows like Stranger Things, and toymakers are happy to resurrect and hawk classic collectibles…
Hulu.com has lowered the price of their Streaming Service (with Ads) to just $5.99 per month. Enjoy full seasons of exclusive series, hit movies, Hulu Originals, kids shows, and more. Thanks theimage13
Hulu offers unlimited instant streaming of current and classic TV shows and hit movies you love. Watch current season episodes of select top shows like Family Guy, This Is Us, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Good Doctor.
Legendary British comic book artist team Alan Davis and Mark Farmer, with colourist Laura Martin, have been commissioned by the British Royal Mail to draw a series of stamps featuring Marvel Comics characters, alongside the publisher’s 80th Anniversary.
This includes ten stamps featuring Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Captain Britain, Black Panther, Union Jack and Peggy Carter.
The Royal Mail stamps will be available to be bought in British post offices from 14 March.
Five additional stamps will also be released featuring Captain Britain, Thanos, Hulk/Spider-Man/Black Panther/Iron Man, Thor/Doctor Strange, and a group shot, that make up a short comic book strip on a mini-sheet.
by Raul Alexander Marrero on Gizmodo, shared by Cheryl Eddy to io9
Have you ever watched a show like Mad Men and wondered where they found those early Xerox machines? Or where The Americans got their hands on all the Reagan-era IBMs that you thought would be piled in a landfill? Well, there’s a good chance these historically-accurate gadgets came from a massive warehouse in…
We’ll now get a chance to see China’s science fiction smash, The Wandering Earth, based on a short story by Hugo-winning author Liu Cixin. Netflix has announced it’s acquired the film, bringing the country’s first sci-fi blockbuster to audiences around the world.
Can Tom Hanks, the most wholesome of actors, taking on the role of Mr. Rogers, the most wholesome of humans, save the world? No, don’t be ridiculous – life doesn’t work that way. But it might help make things a little more tolerable, if only briefly. Hanks plays the unbelievably kind children’s television host in the upcoming film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and a new pic has arrived featuring the actor rocking one of Rogers’ famous cardigans. See the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood image below!
According to Mister Rogers, “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD in theaters Nov 22. #RandomActsOfKindnessDay@ABeautifulDay | ?: Lacey Terrell pic.twitter.com/DMbYZstW94
Behold! Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. The image above shows Hanks as the beloved icon, shaking hands with Matthew Rhys (not, as I originally thought, ER actor Noah Wyle, even though it really looks like him). Rhys plays Lloyd Vogel, a semi-fictional character inspired by real-life journalist Tom Junod. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on the true story of a profile Junod wrote about Rogers for Esquire (you can read the full profile here). Here’s the synopsis:
Two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbor.
I don’t know how I feel about this synopsis. For one thing, that cynicism doesn’t come through in the original article – Junod never gives you the sense that he went to interview Rogers with skepticism. I get that they had to manufacture some kind of plot here, but was anyone ever really skeptical of Mr. Rogers, other than the worst people imaginable?
In any case, the real draw here will be Hanks, a beloved actor, played Rogers, a beloved television host. Hanks certainly looks the part, but I imagine the real test will be the voice – Rogers had a very distinct accent (he was from Pittsburgh, but his voice often sounded like it had a slight Southern twang for some reason). Hanks is a pro, so I’m sure he’ll do his best to nail the voice, but hopefully it will sound natural, and not forced (or bordering on parody).
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood hails from filmmaker Marielle Heller, who directed last year’s fantastic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which is also a big plus here. Look for the film in theaters on November 22, 2019.
Well that, as they say, is that. To the surprise of precisely no one, Netflix has put the final nail in the coffin for the Marvel series. According to Deadline Netflix as decided not only to cancel The Punisher after its second season aired last month but has also announced that the upcoming third season of Jessica Jones will also be the last.
“Marvel’s The Punisher will not return for a third season on Netflix,” Netflix confirmed today to Deadline. “Showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the terrific crew, and exceptional cast including star Jon Bernthal, delivered an acclaimed and compelling series for fans, and we are proud to showcase their work on Netflix for years to come,” the streamer added.
Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle in “Marvel’s The Punisher” season 2. Photo courtesy of Netflix
This was something that fans have been expecting but no one really thought that Netflix would cancel Jessica Jones before the season even airs. The statement went out of the way to acknowledge the many awards that the show won and to say that the third season will air despite the fact that the show has already been canceled.
“In addition, in reviewing our Marvel programming, we have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for Marvel’s Jessica Jones,” Netflix also made official this President’s Day. “We are grateful to showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, star Krysten Ritter and the entire cast and crew, for three incredible seasons of this groundbreaking series, which was recognized by the Peabody Awards among many others”.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones
Netflix ended the statement by thanking Marvel and the fans for the five years of work and passion that went into these series.
“We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.”
Despite the fact that no one is really surprised about this it’s still the end of an era. The Marvel Netflix shows were the first hint that Marvel Studios could do mature programming. While the experiment gave us some amazing shows ultimately it all started to fall apart with the first season of Iron Fist and then with how much of a letdown The Defenders ended up being. It’s a shame but we got some amazing stories out of this partnership and propelled some amazing c-list characters to the forefront of popular culture. It’s a shame but at least we got some great shows out of it.
Well, that’s it. Today it was announced that the Marvel-Netflix series’ have finally come to an official end. The Punisher and Jessica Jones were officially canceled by Netflix with the latter still planning to air the final season. Back in 2014, when this announcement was made, it was only a mere two years after Marvel managed to pull off the shared universe of The Avengers. Now they were doing it for TV when Netflix was big but not huge. They brought over an entirely new segment of fans to the streaming service and proved that Marvel could do thought-provoking and mature content. The partnership appears to have come to an end despite the loud protests of fans.
Head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb shared a letter to the fans on the official Marvel site after the cancelations were made public.
It had never been done before.
Four separate television series, each with different super-talented showrunners, writers, directors, cast and crew, coming out months apart and then…
…they would meet in a single event series all set in the heart of New York City.
We called them The Defenders.
And together we were thrilled by stories of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even the Punisher joined in!
They said it couldn’t be done.
But Marvel assembled amazing teams to write, produce, direct, edit, and score 13 seasons and 161 one-hour episodes.
Take a moment and go online and look at the dazzling list of actors, writers, directors, and musicians who graced us with the very best of their craft.
We loved each and every minute of it.
And we did it all for you — the fans — who cheered for us around the world and made all the hard work worth it.
So, Thank You!
On behalf of everyone at Marvel Television, we couldn’t be more proud or more grateful to our audience.
Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters… but you know Marvel better than that.
As Matthew Murdock’s Dad once said, “The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up.”
To be continued…!
– Jeph Loeb and all of us at Marvel Television
The third season of Jessica Jones currently doesn’t have a release date but we can expect, with the cancelation, that it’s probably going to be sooner rather than later. We’ll have to see where Marvel TV goes from here. The fate of Runaways remains unknown though Hulu seemed confident that they would get a third season, Agents of SHIELD has season six airing this year and has been renewed for a season seven, Cloak and Dagger returns for its second season this year, and they have the four announced cartoon adaptations on the way. We might have lost a lot but there is still plenty on the horizon.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have produced another TV series based on a Garth Ennis comic book. The Boys is about a world in which superheroes are A-holes and cause lots of collateral damage, including civilian death. The title characters are the group who step up to keep the superheroes in line. Rogen, Goldberg, EP Eric Kripke and cast were on an Amazon panel for the Television Critics Association to discuss the new streaming series coming later this year.
Here are five things we learned from The Boys’ panel.
If Preacher’s Too Much For You, Prepare For The Boys
Collateral damage and civilian deaths are one thing, but the comic version of The Boys goes there and beyond. Some superheroes even sexually harass women, or worse. Kripke didn’t want to shy away from the worst of the abuse of superpower:
“The comic book is incendiary in its material. There’s a ton of really shocking shit. It’s a really irreverent, really edgy show. We don’t want to shy away from the hard and ugly stuff, especially [what’s] happening in our world. The reason that one specific thing is in the books and the reason I felt strongly that we should put it in the show is because it’s happening. We need to talk about it. It needs to get out of the shadows and we need to have conversations, even uncomfortable and controversial ones.”
It’s understandable that there would be concerns about how a superhero show would handle rape. No one wants to see sexual assault exploited, on a superhero show or any show. But it’s all about handling it respectfully. Said Kripke:
“As long as we didn’t treat it like a fucking joke. As long as we take it as real and it’s happening and it’s happening to these characters, what is their reaction? What are the ramifications? We treated it with the gravity it deserves. In this world, in this universe, the people who do bad shit do not fucking get away with it. Those were all things for us made it not something we wanted to shy away from. We said no shit, we have to show some courage and talk about it.”
Not Anything Goes Though
That’s not to say that The Boys will do anything. There are lines Kripke won’t cross, and some of those lines are lines Ennis crossed in the comics:
“Frankly there’s a lot of stuff from the comic that, if I’m being honest, we would not do in the show. For us, from the start was the notion of you have to make it about the characters and you have to take the world very, very seriously. You have to have fleshed out people that have heart. You have to tell stories about really what it is to be human. If you took it very, very seriously, then the irreverence wouldn’t be for shock value. It would be to further the character. For us, it was always like if something in the comic doesn’t further a character, we’d cut it. If there was an idea that was crazy but told us a new aspect of the character with integrity, then yeah.”
So maybe making Hitler a sympathetic character, as AMC’s Preacher series did, would be a bridge too far for The Boys.
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Comic books like Superman, Spider-Man and Batman show noble characters learning to use their power for good. That’s aspirational, but superheroes are still people. Not everyone is going to get the message that with great power comes great responsibility. That’s what The Boys tackles.
“We’re going to explore what would it really be to be the most powerful man on the planet’s psychology?” Kripke said. “How fucked up you would be? Or how insecure you might be if your only power is talking to fish? How stressful it is to be the world’s fastest man, but you’re only a good hero if you are the world’s fastest man, so you are basically super Lance Armstrong?”
Lance Armstrong is a good reference. If a regular athlete thought he was above the law, how corrupt would an actual speedster be?
“And so, to be able to deconstruct all of it and to ground it in our world, and to play with the irreverence of it, I think is something that people are really going to enjoy because they’ve had these huge myths and it’s all been so self-important,” Kripke said. “And so for a show to come around and just kind of kick the shit out of it, I think it going to be a blast.”
Did Garth Ennis Predict Trump?
The Boys first published in 2006. Yet making The Boys on Amazon in 2019 seemed apropos. Kripke said:
“The thing that was interesting was we said [to Ennis], ‘When you started writing it in the mid 2000s, what inspired you? His response was, ‘I was really interested in what would happen if you combined the worst of politics with the worst of celebrity.’ We were like what a crazy, out there idea. Then I think the world has caught up to the show in a way that in the writers room our expression is: bad for the world, good for the show.”
Not to say The Boys is a political show, but it’s a metaphor as most good superhero stories are. Kripke added:
“To be able to explore how slick and commodified and how loaded with celebrity politics have become is dead center with where The Boys are. Everyone who writes on the show are news junkies. It’s bringing in everything that’s happening in the world, making this superhero show our own way. We think it’s one of the most current shows on TV.”
Where the Real World Ends…
The Boys takes place ostensibly in 2019. Jimmy Fallon hosts The Tonight Show and we have smartphones and social media. However, our real world doesn’t have deadly superheroes… yet. But the idea was to make superheroes the one fantasy element in our real world. Seth Rogen explained:
“Our connections made the reality of the show. We could get Jimmy Fallon. It seemed like a fun thing to anchor it as much in our world as possible. That is as much part of the take of the show. If it was real, it would be drastically different than presented to us. Just as the most famous of us tend to be the worst, the most powerful of us may not be the best of us, they may be the worst of us.”
Rogen will cameo in The Boys later as well. As he joked:
“We knew him. So as much as we can anchor that in our world as possible, it seemed like it actually just supported the premise of the show, yeah.
Superheroes making talk show rounds is also funny, and the soundtrack is full of hit rock songs to score the set piece action scenes.
Look for The Boys on Amazon Prime later this year.
Triple Frontier is yet another project that has been hanging out in development hell for several years. It’s been in various stages of production since 2010 with names like Tom Hanks, Channing Tatum, Johnny Depp, Mahershala Ali and Tom Hardy all attached to the project at some point during the last nine years. At one point Kathryn Bigelow was also attached to direct which is why the producer credit for The Hurt Locker is likely there.
The movie was never able to get off of the ground though and back in May of 2017 Netflix picked up the movie from Paramount Pictures. Netflix threw some money at big names for the cast including letting star Ben Afflec walk away from the production in July 2017 for personal problems only to come back to the movie in March of 2018.
Netflix must have realized that there was a potential for this movie to do well in the big screen since they are giving it a limited theatrical release. They have released some key art of the main cast along a trailer for the movie.
That story doesn’t sound like the most original thing in the world but the cast is pretty stellar. That can make up for the lack of originality when it comes to the plot. If this is executed well this could be something really cool and director J.C. Chandor’s last movie, A Most Violent Year, is a neat little production.
Summary:A group of former Special Forces operatives reunite to plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. For the first time in their prestigious careers these unsung heroes undertake this dangerous mission for self instead of country. But when events take an unexpected turn and threaten to spiral out of control, their skills, their loyalties and their morals are pushed to a breaking point in an epic battle for survival.
Triple Frontier, directed by J.C. Chandor, stars Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, Pedro Pascal, and Adria Arjona. It will receive a limited theatrical release on March 6, 2019, and will stream to Netflix globally on March 13, 2019.
We love a good time travel movie, especially when it does something different and cool with the idea. And that’s exactly what happens in this exclusive clip from the upcoming sci-fi comedy Mega Time Squad. It shows time travel used and abused in ways that would be highly, highly problematic...if it was actually real.
Paramount Pictures just announced an official release date for their upcoming Eddie Murphy-starring Coming To America 2. Craig Brewer, who just directed Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name, will be helming the picture from the director’s chair.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coming To America 2 will hit theaters on August 7th, 2020.
Murphy previously said in a statement about the announcement of the film:
“After many years of anticipation, I’m thrilled that Coming to America 2 is officially moving forward. We’ve assembled a great team that will be led by Craig Brewer, who just did an amazing job on Dolemite, and I’m looking forward to bringing all these classic and beloved characters back to the big screen.”
Kenya Barris is rewriting a script by original Coming to America writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, so this does have the makings of a true sequel rather than a revisit. Murphy is producing, Barris will be executive producing along with Kevin Misher.
Reportedly, the sequel will focus on Akeem learning about a long lost son, wherein he must return to America to meet his unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda. Deadline goes on to say that the intention is to bring back the original cast which includes Arsenio Hall as Semmi, Shari Headley, John Amos, and James Earl Jonesas the King of Zamunda.
The current goal is a production start sometime in 2019, and we’ll keep you apprised as more information becomes available.
Do you like Hellboy? Do you enjoy drinking beers with names like “Indigo Blue Fruit Ale” and “Maple Syrup Pancake Beer?” If the answer to both of those questions is “yes,” then you almost certainly live in Portland. You’re also the perfect target demographic for a new line of Hellboy beers bring produced by Oregon brewery Gigantic Brewing commemorating the 25th anniversary of Hellboy.
A press release details the new lineup of six beers, five of which have an alcohol content of exactly 6.66%, though one has 9.99% because it is a “British Barleywine,” and everyone knows British Barleywines have a higher alcohol content. Pfft.
The first beer will debut at Emerald City Comic Con in March at a release party offsite from the convention, and the beers come with labels illustrated by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and styled like comic book covers. Each brew will be available in limited quantities (666 cases), so be sure to bag and board them and keep them in your basement for 30 years if you want to be RICH!!!
Oh, and we were just kidding about the Portland crack. Not all beer hipsters live in Portland. You might also live in Brooklyn, New York, Austin, Texas, or Columbus, Ohio.
Check out the press release below:
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the publication of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, Oregon’s Gigantic Brewing and Dark Horse Comics are teaming up to create 666 cases of Hellboy beer, based on award-winning cartoonist Mike Mignola’s legendary character. All told, Gigantic Brewing will release six different Hellboy beers, with flavors inspired by fan-favorite characters from the Hellboy comic books. Each new beer will be a limited edition run of 666 cases and will be released approximately every seven weeks. The first beer, Hellboy, features a maple syrup and pancake profile. Gigantic Brewing’s first Hellboy beer will be released in March, ahead of Hellboy Day on March 23, 2019, when comic book stores and fans across the country will celebrate twenty-five years of Hellboy comics and graphic novels.
The limited edition beers will be released in the following order and feature different flavor profiles:
● Hellboy – Maple Syrup Pancake Beer (6.66% abv)
● Liz Sherman – Mole Chili Stout (6.66% abv)
● Johann Kraus – Citrus Wit Beer (6.66% abv)
● Abe Sapien – Indigo Blue Fruit Ale (6.66% abv)
● Blood Queen – Cranberry Yuzu Sour (6.66% abv)
● Trevor Bruttenholm – British Barleywine (9.99% abv)
Fans attending Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con will get a chance to be the first to taste Hellboy beer at its official release at an offsite event on March 15th at an as-yet-undisclosed event. Hellboy beer will subsequently be available in select locations across the US. Gigantic Brewing will also be selling prints and t-shirts featuring new Mike Mignola’s illustrations for each of the six Hellboy beers.
Hellboy has appeared in graphic novels and comic books, prose novels and short story collections, two animated features, two live action films, toy lines and all manner of merchandise. Neil Marshall’s forthcoming Hellboy film starring David Harbour, Sasha Lane, Ian McShane, Penelope Mitchell, and Milla Jovovich will be released by Lionsgate on April 12, 2019.
For more information about Hellboy Beer, follow Gigantic Brewery on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or visit https://www.giganticbrewing.com/pages/hellboy.
As if we needed more reasons to absolutely adore Ant-Man star Paul Rudd, a video surfaces of him rocking the f**k out during a Foo Fighters concert.
Paul Rudd works the crowd Photo by marcovitalefotografo / Shutterstock.com
Aaron Chewning posted this short clip from an Atlanta concert, where you can see Rudd in the upper balcony area living his best life while headbanging to Foo’s cover of The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop”:
Hey, what do you think Tommy Wiseau has been up to? If you guessed “Making a shark movie,” you are correct. The auteur behind The Room has revealed a look at his new movie, which is called, appropriately enough, Big Shark. The film is set in New Orleans, and focuses on three firefighters trying to save the world…from a big shark.
Or maybe, just maybe, this is all a big joke. More on Big Shark below!
Bloody Disgusting has the details on Big Shark, courtesy of the German site Film Flutter, and a German reader who translated some the info. During a screening of The Room at the Prince Charles Theatre, a teaser for Big Shark was revealed in all its terrible glory. You can watch an extremely poor quality copy of the trailer in the short link. In the trailer, Wiseau and his two friends, played by Isaiah LaBorde and The Room‘s Greg Sestero, are walking through a street when they suddenly notice water flowing at their feet. In the blink of an eye, the water has risen to hip-length, at which point a giant shark, rendered in cartoonish CGI, swims forth with its jaws snapping.
Based on the article, it looks like Big Shark hasn’t actually been made yet. Wiseau just shot this teaser for promotional purposes. The plan is to get the movie done in time to premiere it by September. The movie will be set in New Orleans because Wiseau has apparently been living there, and he wants to give something back to the city. That’s right, the director of The Room is gifting a big shark movie to a city. You’re welcome, New Orleans.
Obviously, if you’re a fan of what Wiseau does, and the recent film The Disaster Artist, this is good news. The filmmaker/actor/possible space alien has done other things since The Room, but it’s really that disasterpiece that has kept his reputation up. It would be nice if he managed to top it with something even more ridiculous, and Big Shark might be the film to do it. Just the thought of a shark immediately showing up in a suddenly flooded street is enough to get my attention. Throw in the subplot about firemen saving the world (from the big shark), and we’re on our way to another Wiseau classic. Or maybe it will just be completely unwatchable, you never know.
But here’s the thing: this might not actually be happening at all. In fact, it might just be one big joke, as the following tweet reveals.
Mini-Twitter-Exclusive – That Tommy Wiseau Big Shark thing is mostly a joke and probably not going to happen. Never say never, I guess, but right now, they aren't planning on making it a movie.
Sorry to get your hopes up, fans of big shark movies. Of course, you never know – maybe Wiseau will see the reaction to this, and decide to make it after all. We can dream.
Netflix wants their own Planet Earth, so they’ve developed Our Planet, a gorgeous looking nature documentary featuring Planet Earth narrator David Attenborough as our guide. The nature series “explores stunning, never-before-seen habitats,” and features adorable animals, to boot. What more do you need? Watch the Our Planet trailer below.
Our Planet Trailer
People love the Planet Earth series, the very expensive, very high definition BBC docu-series narrated by David Attenborough (and also Sigourney Weaver on the Discovery Channel). Planet Earth is currently streaming on Netflix, and in all likelihood, the powers that be saw the viewership numbers and said, “We need to make our own version of this.”
Enter Our Planet, which features the same team behind Planet Earth, including David Attenborough. Here are the details:
This eight-part series will explore the unique and precious wonders of our natural world from the creators of the award-winning series Planet Earth. In partnership with World Wildlife Fund, Our Planet combines stunning photography and technology with an unprecedented, never-before-filmed look at the planet’s remaining wilderness areas and their animal inhabitants. The ambitious four-year project has been filmed in 50 countries across all the continents of the world, with over 600 members of crew capturing more than three and a half thousand filming days, and will focus on the breadth of the diversity of habitats around the world, from the remote Arctic wilderness and mysterious deep oceans to the vast landscapes of Africa and diverse jungles of South America.
Sounds good. And it looks good, too. Our Planet might end up being a nice distraction from, well, everything. Have you seen the news lately? It’s pretty dire. Perhaps we all need to take a step back and see the bigger picture.
“Our Planet will take viewers on a spectacular journey of discovery showcasing the beauty and fragility of our natural world,” Attenborough said. “Today we have become the greatest threat to the health of our home but there’s still time for us to address the challenges we’ve created if we act now. We need the world to pay attention.”
Executive producer Colin Butfield added: “I’ve never seen a natural history series that combines real stuff you’ve never seen before but that always has a really, really great narrative in each episode. It’s not at all preachy, it’s spectacular mass public entertainment, but by the end you are absolutely aware of the challenge of climate change and overfishing and deforestation.”
The pilot for the as-yet-untitled Game of Thrones prequel has a production start date. The Game of Thrones prequel is set to begin filming this summer, as the highly anticipated series begins production on its pilot with Jessica Jones director S.J. Clarkson at the helm.
The long winter of waiting for a new Game of Thrones project is coming to an end. Or maybe it’s just beginning? The Game of Thrones prequel series, which is set to take place thousands of years before the events of the hit HBO fantasy series, will begin production in early summer, HBO programming president Casey Bloys told Entertainment Weekly.
Details are still vague on the prequel’s story, which was rumored to be titled The Long Night. The series takes “place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones” and “chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.”
Naomi Watts leads the Game of Thronesprequel cast, which includes Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Denise Gough (Broadway’s Angels in America), Jamie Campbell Bower (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), SheilaAtim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah(Humans), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties), and Toby Regbo (Reign).
The prequel is set to be an entirely different beast than HBO’s hit show, with no Iron Throne, no Targaryens, and yes, no dragons. “Westeros is a very different place,” George R.R. Martin recently described. “There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”
Most interestingly, there’s no David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners of Game of Thrones, at the helm. With Clarkson directing the pilot and Jane Goldman taking the reigns as showrunner, the Game of Thrones prequel will be the first time the property has been primarily in the hands of women — a nice change after the series made some major missteps with women behind and in front of the camera.
We are so thrilled to report the official release date for FX’s upcoming television series adaptation of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement‘s vampire mockumentary, What We Do In The Shadows.
According to FX Network, the pilot episode of the series will air on Wednesday March 27th 2019, AND a brand-new full-length trailer was released:
FX even sent along a bit of a description for the cast and what we can expect to see from the series:
“Nandor The Relentless” (Kayvan Novak) is the self-appointed leader of the group of Undead- a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire, who has taken the helm of the group despite many of his Old World tactics resulting in what some might politely refer to as bupkis.
Then there’s the British vampire “Laszlo” (Matt Berry) – a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He’s a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt.
And then there’s “Nadja” (Natasia Demetriou): the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo’s Clyde. Her wisdom and provocative tales from times past allow us insight into the many ups and downs of living an immortal life.
Also cohabiting in the vampire household is “Guillermo” (Harvey Guillén), Nandor’s familiar (a.k.a. servant/protector during the daylight hours), who wants nothing more than to be made a real vampire just like his master. Also lurking about is “Colin Robinson” (Mark Proksch), an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts — he feasts on humans, but not on their blood. A frequent visitor is Nadja’s new friend, “Jenna” (Beanie Feldstein), a student at a nearby community college. She loves LARPing, boys, and art history, and for some reason has been rather confused lately as to why it is she so ravenously craves the flesh of the living.
After an unexpected visit from their dark lord and leader, “Baron Afanas,” (Doug Jones) the vampires are reminded of what they were initially tasked with upon their arrival in Staten Island over a hundred years ago – total and complete domination of the New World. But what exactly is the best way to go about achieving said domination? Our vérité camera crew follows along as the vampires set out to answer this query.
Clement created the 10-episode series. Clement, Waititi and Paul Simms are Executive Producers with Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch and Eli Bush. What We Do in the Shadows is produced by FX Productions and stars Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch, who guest starred in the pilot before being promoted to series regular.
We absolutely cannot WAIT to see What We Do In The Shadows when it premieres on FX on March 27th.
FX took their moment in the sun at Monday’s Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter press event to announce a series order for Y, the network’s adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra‘s post-apocalyptic DC Comics-Vertigo sci-fi comic book series Y: The Last Man. Co-created, written and executive produced by showrunners Michael Green (American Gods, Blade Runner 2049) and Aida Mashaka Croal (Luke Cage, Turn), the series stars Diane Lane (Man of Steel), Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Imogen Poots (Roadies), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Juliana Canfield (Succession), Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete), and Amber Tamblyn (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants).
FX
Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force (American Crime Story, Pose, Crazy Rich Asians) and Vaughan executive produce and will develop the series. Melina Matsoukas (Insecure, Master of None) directed the pilot episode and also serves as executive producer.
“Brian and Pia’s exploration of a world without men is a favorite for its depth, its humor, its insights and its monkey. Adapted today it offers us a cracked mirror to look at our own very cracked world. We thank them for their trust — we thank FX for their support — and we thank the casting gods for letting us work with this incredible group of actors.”
– Michael Green, Aida Mashaka Croal
Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra
Slated to premiere in 2020, Y finds all of the men dead. But one. Based on DC Comics’ acclaimed series Y: The Last Man by Vaughan and Guerra, Y traverses a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event has decimated every male save for one lone human. The new world order of women will explore gender, race, class and survival.
● Lane’s Senator Jennifer Brown is a first-term Junior Senator who’s already made a name for herself in political circles for her willingness to put personal ideals above politics. She is also the mother of Yorick and Hero Brown.
● Keoghan’s Yorick Brown is a young man who uses humor to deflect from his problems – and who may be the lone male survivor of a worldwide plague.
● Poots’ Hero Brown is a tough and confident EMT who nurses a deep emotional trauma that often leads her to cross personal and professional lines.
● Lynch’s Agent 355 is a Secret Service agent who performs the duties of her job with the utmost professionalism – even under the most unexpected set of circumstances.
● Canfield’s Beth is a Brooklyn-based knife maker who grew up on a farm and went to New York to experience the big city. She finds something endearing about the hapless Yorick; and when they’re together, there’s the undeniable spark of two kids in love.
● Ireland’s Nora is the President’s senior assistant and right hand – balancing a family life with a job navigating the corridors of power.
● Hutton serves as the President of the United States of America Callows.
● Tamblyn plays the daughter of the President of the United States, Mariette Callows has been groomed for a career in politics and to uphold her father’s conservative values.
“Y: The Last Man is a towering achievement among graphic novel storytelling and it’s been rewarding to work with this outstanding team. Michael Green and Aïda Mashaka Croal have partnered with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson to deliver a stunning new expression of this fascinating and timely story. Melina Matsoukas, who directed the pilot, did an incredible job bringing it to life with Diane Lane and this stellar cast.”
– Nick Grad, Co-President of Original Programming, FX Networks/FX Productions
Sounds like the 4th season of FX’s highly entertaining Fargo will begin filming for season 4 come Winter 2019 (somehow appropriate?).
During the TCA (Television Critics Association) Winter Press Tour, Chief Executive Officer of FX Network and FX Productions John Landgraf revealed numerous things, but the Coen Brothers related-bit happened to be the reveal of when production on the award-nominated series Fargo is expected to start.
“We’ve actually now heard the season pitch for the fourth season of Fargo; Noah’s writing it and I read the first script and loved it. I didn’t know if it would go past one season [but] as long as he can come up with fantastic ideas, we’ll make them forever if he keeps coming up with them.”
According to Deadline, Fargo season 4 will be led by Chris Rock, who will play the head of a crime family set in Kansas City in 1950.
We’re pretty excited to see season 4 of Noah Hawley‘s take on the Coehn Brothers’ Oscar-winning film return to FX, as we’ve very much enjoyed the past three seasons.
We’ll let you know what we hear from FX about casting, production, and likely release date for Fargo season 4.
It’s been a bit since we’ve heard anything factual about SHOWTIME’s upcoming television series adaptation set in the world of Patrick Rothfuss’ fantasy series The Kingkiller Chronicle, so this news is pretty welcome.
According to TVGuide, pre-production has started on the series, aka writers workin’ away.
During SHOWTIME’s presentation at the TCA winter press tour, President Gary Levine offered the update:
“We have a group of writers working away and writing the stories and the scripts, and we’re working with them very diligently… [Lin-Manuel Miranda] and John Rogers are talking constantly — you can see it on Twitter — and he’s very involved. Obviously, there’s a huge musical component to the series and that will be Lin’s domain. And he’s incredibly excited about it.”
As has been previously reported, the untitled SHOWTIME series will not be a direct adaptation of Rothfuss’ planned trilogy but a prequel that is set a generation before “The Name of The Wind”, the first book. Two traveling musicians are set to be the main protagonists of the series, and we’re excited to see what Miranda does with the property.
We’re still waiting on updates from Legendary, who hold the film rights to the motion picture version of the book series.
The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is not messing around with the voice cast for his upcoming Amazon animated series, Invincible. Are you ready for this?
After years of rumors and false starts, Bad Boys For Life is really, truly, actually happening – and after seeing some recent camera tests of Will Smith posing on a sound stage, we now have our first official look at Smith and co-star Martin Lawrence reunited, straight from Smith’s Instagram account.
Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett are back for the first time since 2003’s Bad Boys 2, and they look…just like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but slightly older! And what’s with the mess on the floor? Are they in a motel room? If so, what is that cooking pot doing there? The mind boggles at the possibilities!
By the time this sequel hits theaters, it will have been 25 years since they first teamed up for 1995’s original Bad Boys. This is the first film in the series that won’t be directed by Michael Bay – Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are stepping in to take over this time, so it should be interesting to see if they attempt to ape Bay’s brash, all-out approach or if they’re going to take the franchise in a new stylistic direction. One thing’s for sure, though: this movie is going to look fantastic, because cinematographer Benoit Debie (Spring Breakers, Enter the Void) is behind the camera.
Bad Boys For Life picks up with the Miami police department and its elite AMMO team’s attempt to take down a cold-blooded, taunting killer named Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio), the head of a drug cartel. Armas’s mother – maybe a Griselda Blanco type? – sends him to kill Mike (Smith), and something tells me Armas is going to regret taking on that particular task. Paola Nuñez plays a new character named Rita, “the tough and funny criminal psychologist who is the newly appointed head of AMMO and Mike’s former girlfriend – and the one who got away.”
But I think the question that everyone is asking is: is this movie going to cross over with L.A.’s Finest? That’s the new Spectrum TV series that’s a spin-off of this film franchise, following Gabrielle Union‘s character becoming an L.A.P.D. cop who works with Jessica Alba. What’s that you say? Oh, it turns out absolutely no one is asking that question? Welp, this is embarrassing. I’ll see myself out.
Bad Boys For Life will blast into theaters on January 17, 2020.
The versatile Rosario Dawson—last seen as Claire Temple on various shows across Marvel’s Netflix slate; last heard playing the voice of the “Power Caller” elevator in Sorry to Bother You—has another new genre project: the Zombieland sequel, which also just announced its full title, too.
Amazon Studios’ upcoming Wheel of Time series is getting closer and closer to kicking off production. As it happens, we’ve got word of a possible start-date for the show, and it comes from a notification which ran via Production Weekly.
As TOR.com points out, the production notification has a start date of September 2019 in Prague:
And, a description of the series:
The fantasy epic is set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists, but only women can use it. The story follows Moiraine, a member of the shadowy and influential all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Moiraine believes that one of them might be the reincarnation of an incredibly powerful individual, whom prophecies say will either save humanity or destroy it. The series draws on numerous elements of European and Asian culture and philosophy, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Buddhism and Hinduism.
Interesting to note the description is centering on Moiraine and not, as one would expect, Rand al Thor.
There has been almost zero chatter about possible casting, but with a supposed production start date in site, that should change before too long.
[Editor’s note: during a recent re-watch of Downton Abbey, we actually are thinking Michelle Dockery as Moiraine would be pretty damn great.]
We’ll let you know what we hear about the Amazon Studios series based on Robert Jordan‘s book series, which was later finished by Brandon Sanderson.
![What We Do in the Shadows | Season 1: Official Trailer [HD] | FX](https://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/maxresdefault-36-600x338.jpg?x70969)
