Movie/TV News (1 Viewer)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15

DUNE---new photo of Zendaya in the remake movie.





DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS---director Sam Raimi commented on the sequel, “I loved Doctor Strange as a kid, but he was always after Spider-Man and Batman for me, he was probably at number five for me of great comic book characters. He was so original, but when we had that moment in Spider-Man 2 I had no idea that we would ever be making a Doctor Strange movie, so it was really funny to me that coincidentally that line was in the movie. I gotta say I wish we had the foresight to know that I was going to be involved in the project.” Bruce Campbell has already started a lobbying effort to reunite with Raimi for a role the sequel.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER---creature effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan said a rumor claims Steven Spielberg saved Babu Frik in the sequel, “It could be a rumor, but I believe J.J. [Abrams] screened the movie for Steven Spielberg, and at the end Spielberg said, ‘What happened to Babu?’. Everybody thought, ‘Oh God, what did happen to Babu?'” Concept artist Ivan Manzella said, “I think he was going to die originally – I think the AD shot that. When the planet [Kijimi] was blown up, he was on it.”
Scanlan added, “We shot several other sequences. The ILM guys found one, lifted out Babu and put him into Zorii’s ship at the end.”





DISNEY GALLERY: THE MANDALORIAN---Disney+ eight-part documentary on the making of THE MANDALORIAN premieres on May 4.

WALT DISNEY COMPANY---media industry analyst Hal Vogel said the coronavirus is causing Walt Disney to lose, “$30 million or more a day" and forced Disney to borrow $6 billion last month. Former CEO Bob Iger has returned as "Executive Chairman" to help his successor, Bob Chapek, run the company during the pandemic crisis.

INFLUX---David SF Wilson (BLOODSHOT) will direct this Sony Pictures movie based on the novel about a scientist, who is on the verge of a scientific breakthrough, and teams up with other prisoners to escape, in order to help a society of injustice.

THE LAST RIDGE---World War II movie underway based on the book about the 10th Mountain Division and its combat against the German army in the Italian mountains. Members of the division include Sen. Bob Dole and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman.

THE HULK---Mark Ruffalo commented on his future as The Hulk, "There’s nothing completely at a place where it’s a done deal. There’s some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in [the Disney+ series] SHE-HULK. If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting. Right now that’s about it. That’s all there is on the table.”

GOD FRIENDED ME---CBS cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---the Biltmore House is the largest privately-owned house in the United States. The house is 178,926 square feet with 250 rooms including 35 bedrooms. The Biltmore Estate is situated on 8,000 acres. It was built by George Washington Vanderbilt II in Asheville, North Carolina. It has been used as a film site for many movies including BEING THERE, THE HUNGER GAMES, FORREST GUMP, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HANNIBAL and PATCH ADAMS.

The Biltmore House is the largest privately-owned house in the United States and is 178,926 square feet with 250 rooms.




The Biltmore Estate is located on 8,000 acres.




The Biltmore House banquet hall.




The Biltmore Estate was featured in BEING THERE (Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine) and other movies.

THURSDAY, APRIL 16

CAPONE---trailer released for the Al Capone biomovie starring Tom Hardy.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHYlKQSc7rA



ANGELYNE---trailer released for the Peacock miniseries about the 1980s Hollywood icon.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wotBH5NA_y0



BRAVE NEW WORLD---trailer released for the Peacock series based on the novel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0eYhglQXck



WONDER WOMAN 1984---photo released of Wonder Woman battling Cheetah.





STAR WARS & STAR TREK---Rosario Dawson said appearing in THE MANDALORIAN is not official yet, “That’s not confirmed yet but when that happens, I will be very happy. I’m very excited for that to be confirmed at some point.” However, her ambition is to appear in both STAR WARS and STAR TREK, “STAR TREK and STAR WARS, I get in those two, I’m telling you, man, that’s it. I will just retire.” In terms of ‘Trek’, Dawson said she wants to play a Vulcan or Romulan, but her father suggested being a member of the Q continuum so she could part of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and PICARD, “I just want to be with Jean-Luc Picard”

NETFLIX---Netflix stock reached an all-time high of $426.75 a share. Netflix is now worth $187.3 billion and tops Walt Disney Company's worth of $186.6 billion.

MIDDLESEX---Paramount Television series underway based on the novel about Cal Stephanides, a member of a Greek immigrant family in Detroit, who is intersexed with male and female sex organs.

MYST---tv series underway based on the video game. Ashley Edward Miller (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) is the writer.

SPAWN---Todd McFarlane commented on the status of the long-gestating movie, “There’s a couple things. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay. If I’d done my job and written a screenplay that mattered, that would have sold it. I’m culpable on that end to start with. Then there’s the fear and risk on the financing side with a first time writer, first time director. That’s why I went to get Jason Blum to produce, and attached Jamie [Foxx] and Jeremy [Renner] – to add the quality to it.
My goal is to continue to add those kind of quality people at all levels. The more I can add those people, the less I become relevant as a risk. Hopefully, the studios will see that I am planning accordingly and going about this in a businesslike way to reduce that back-end risk, and at some point, we’ll move forward.”
He said about rumors of Foxx and Renner starring in the movie, “Those reports were not quite accurate. There is someone – a major talent behind the camera – we had our eyes on and it didn’t work out. It happens. But we didn’t lose anyone, because we never had them. So we’re on the trail of someone else now. It would be a giant headline if we can get the person we’re looking at. That said, we’re not idle. Jamie [Foxx] is maybe even more enthusiastic about doing this than I am. Even if it’s only two of us, it will be Jamie and myself!.”

TRIVIA---character actor Michael Ensign is perhaps best known for playing the high-strung Sedgewick Hotel manager in GHOSTBUSTERS. However, Ensign played two characters who died in two movies about the sinking of the luxury ocean liner RMS Titanic.

Michael Ensign is perhaps best known for playing the high-strung Sedgewick Hotel manager in GHOSTBUSTERS.





Michael Ensign played Lt. Northacker, commander of the doomed deep-diving submersible Starfish in RAISE THE TITANIC.











Ensign played millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the passengers who died in James Cameron's TITANIC.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

PERRY MASON---trailer released for the HBO miniseries.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwURtbhpm60



THE GREEN HORNET AND KATO---Universal Pictures movie underway based on the 1930s radio crime-fighting duo. The 1966 tv series starred Van Williams and Bruce Lee.





STAR TREK: PICARD---LeVar Burton confirmed he is returning as Geordi La Forge, "How do I say this without getting in trouble… I think that is reasonable to assume that those people are still a part of Picard’s life and — sure, what the hell — yeah, absolutely! You’ll see us all, probably not all at the same time but, you know, never say never.”





CASSIAN ANDOR---Stellan Skarsgard and Kyle Soller are in negotiations to co-star in the Disney+ ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY prequel series.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS---Signum University President Corey Olsen recently was asked to confirm that Amazon Studios had fired Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, and Olsen replied, “Is he still involved? I don’t believe so.”

HBO---HBO and Bad Robot Productions are developing three new tv series. OVERLOOK is a horror series featuring characters from Stephen King's THE SHINING. DUSTER is a about a 1970s mob getaway driver in the Southwest US whose life goes from bad to worse. JJ Abrams and LaToya Morgan (THE WALKING DEAD) are the writers. The third tv series will focus on characters from JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK.

THE GODMOTHER---Reed Morano (THE HANDMAID'S TALE) is in negotiations to direct the Jennifer Lopez biomovie about Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco.

BATMAN---Darren Aronofsky commented on his unmade Batman movie based on Frank Miller's BATMAN: YEAR ONE, “The studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr and I wanted Joaquin Phoenix. I remember thinking, ‘Uh oh, we”re making two different films here.’ That's a true story. It was a different time. The BATMAN I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making.”

THE SHINING---director Mark Romanek commented on the unmade prequel movie to THE SHINING in which robber baron Bob T. Watson built the Overlook Hotel, "It was based on a prologue to the novel that Stephen King wrote and then that prologue was cut for length. And so it’s based on Stephen King. It’s not just something somebody made up, and it’s more of an origin story on the, almost like a Western or a wilderness story, going back to the construction and the desecration of the Indian burial grounds, and the construction of the Overlook Hotel and to its meaning to its opening night.
We wrote the script, it’s a really great script. The problem is it’s really expensive, it kind of reads like THE REVENANT or HEAVEN'S GATE or something and I think they wanted to try DOCTOR SLEEP to see if – my impression is they wanted to see if there was this sort of SHINING universe that would have financial life through them or artistic life with the audience. And I think DOCTOR SLEEP did just sort of okay, and given that our script is so costly, it’s a little dead in the water right now. But you never know, it’s a weird business. It’s a very good script. I’m proud of the script.”

JACK REACHER---Dwayne Johnson commented on losing the role to Tom Cruise which allowed him to star in FAST FIVE, Fortunately, for me, there aren’t a lot of guys at all who look like me. So, all of my roles, from the beginning of my career, I’ve been a lucky son of a ***** that they’ve been created and designed for me – except JACK REACHER.
This was 10 years ago, and I was in a much different place, I recognize that. Tom was the biggest movie star in the world, and I was not. I got the call saying ‘Hey, you didn’t get the role’ Look, I didn’t even know if I had a shot for it, but the people around me at that time made me think that I did. I felt like I did, I felt like ‘Why not me?’. I’m positive that the role of Jack Reacher, because it was an established character, an IP that was well known and beloved around the world, that I wouldn’t have had the creative space to do what I wanted with the character. I look back in gratitude that I didn’t get JACK REACHER.”

TRIVIA---Darren McGavin and Barry Atwater starred in the hit tv movie THE NIGHT STALKER in which a fearless newspaper reporter pursues a vampire preying on young women in Las Vegas. McGavin and Atwater reunited in the POLICE STORY episode "The Ripper" in which a police detective pursues a serial killer preying on gay men.
"The Ripper" also included McGavin's wife, Kathie Browne, who ironically played a police detective in the KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER tv series based on THE NIGHT STALKER. "The Ripper" also featured John Fiedler, who played morgue attendant Gordy "The Ghoul" in KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER.

Darren McGavin and Barry Atwater starred in the hit tv movie THE NIGHT STALKER in which a fearless newspaper reporter pursues a vampire preying on young women in Las Vegas.




McGavin and Atwater reunited in the POLICE STORY episode "The Ripper" in which a police detective pursues a serial killer preying on gay men.

MONDAY, APRIL 20

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE---an inside source claims John Krasinski, who lost the Captain America role to Chris Evans, might become a member of the MCU, "The studio has been taking virtual meetings with various actors, writers, and directors over the past weeks, and one of those people is none other than John Krasinski. Krasinski and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige have both said they'd love to work together, and it seems that's now closer to happening than ever before."
The source added, "While I'm not sure of the role he'd take in the MCU, whether it be that of a director, writer, or actor, I do know they discussed a multitude of projects during their meeting."
Krasinski said recently that he would like to play Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.





DUNE---David Lynch was asked if he has followed Denis Villeneuve's remake of his 1984 movie, “I have zero interest in DUNE… because it was a heartache for me. It was a failure and I didn’t have final cut. I’ve told this story a billion times. It’s not the film I wanted to make. I like certain parts of it very much – but it was a total failure for me.”





TENET---new photo released from the Christopher Nolan movie.





JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION---Colin Trevorrow posted a film set photo in the snow.





WEST SIDE STORY---new photo released from the Steven Spielberg remake movie.






THE STAR CHAMBER---Amazon Studios female-led remake of the 1983 Michael Douglas movie about vigilante judges is underway. The remake will focus on an female appellate court judge in San Francisco who decides to fight crime in her own way when the criminal court system has failed.






STAR TREK---Jonathan Frakes, after appearing on PICARD, hinted he may direct episodes of future STAR TREK series, "It has been a blessing to have my career to be rekindled by the new STAR TREKS. It didn’t hurt that I learned how to do another craft. The directing has been fantastic for me. When DISCOVERY worked out and then PICARD worked out and now there will be a new one, and another one."

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER---PETA sent an open letter to director Taiki Waititi about Thor's weight gain in AVENGERS: ENDGAME and its solution to the problem for LOVE AND THUNDER.

“Dear Taika,

We understand that you have a bit of a weight problem on your hands, and PETA is here to help. As we all remember, Thor packed on a few pounds in Avengers: Endgame, so the question consuming Marvel fans across the Nine Realms is how our favorite thunder god will return to his Ragnarockin’ bod in your upcoming film, Thor: Love and Thunder. We suggest taking a page from Chris Hemsworth’s own playbook and exploring what would happen if Thor tried going vegan.
According to his personal trainer, Hemsworth went vegan while filming the original Thor and Avengers films, developing a particular taste for beans and veggie burgers. Perhaps if Thor took the Bifrost Bridge to our world, he might get inspired by plant-based Avengers, Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) and Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) and that battle armor would start fitting a little more comfortably.
If Thor is serious about protecting the Earth, going vegan makes a lot of sense—axing animal products from his diet could save more than 1,000 gallons of water, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, and 30 square feet of forest each day as well as the lives of nearly 200 animals a year! By having Thor go vegan, you could easily explain his restored physique while hammering home the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Just some food for thought …

Best regards,
Lewis Crary
Assistant Manager, Animals in Film & Television
PETA”



TWIN PEAKS---co-creator Mark Frost commented on a possible Season 4, “I never want to close the door on that entirely. It remains a wonderful, alive creation for people that I hope stays provocative and interesting and open to their various lines of inquiry for a long time to come. As far as I’m concerned, that means the story isn’t over.”

GRINDHOUSE---Quentin Tarantino commented on why the movie did not do well at the box office, “With GRINDHOUSE, I think me and Robert [Rodriguez] just felt that people had a little more of a concept of the history of double features and exploitation movies. No, they didn’t. At all. They had no idea what the f*ck they were watching. It meant nothing to them, alright, what we were doing. So that was a case of being a little too cool for school.”

PARTY OF FIVE---Freeform cancelled the tv series remake.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
In Ian Fleming's novels, James Bond was a chain smoker, smoking up to 60-70 cigarettes a day.
In the movies, Sean Connery's Bond smoked cigarettes like the Bond in the novels. Roger Moore's Bond smoked cigars as Moore did in real life. George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton had Bond smoking cigarettes occasionally. Pierce Brosnan's Bond was the first smoke-free Bond. In TOMORROW NEVER DIES, he gives a cigarette to a Russian sentry, then knocks him out and states, "Filthy habit." In reality, Brosnan was a heavy cigar smoker who started at nine years old and got hooked later, "I got hooked onto them when I was doing REMINGTON STEELE." Daniel Craig, a heavy smoker, did not want his Bond to be a smoker, “I don’t wish for [Bond] to smoke. Fleming wrote a Bond who smoked 60 cigarettes a day. I can’t do that and then run two-and-a-half miles down a road, it just doesn’t tie in."
Fleming, like James Bond, was a chain smoker and smoked about 80 cigarettes a day which was a factor in his death at 53 of a heart attack.


In the James Bond movies, Sean Connery was a cigarette smoker like Bond in Ian Fleming's novels.




Fleming, like James Bond, was a chain smoker and smoked about 80 cigarettes a day which was a factor in his death at 53 of a heart attack.

TUESDAY, APRIL 21

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES---Lionsgate prequel movie underway based on THE HUNGER GAMES novel about the early days of 18 year-old Coriolanus Snow, “handsome and charming, and though the Snow family has fallen on hard times, he sees a chance for a change in his fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games… only to have his elation dashed when he is assigned to mentor the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.” Director Francis Lawrence and writer Michael Arndt are returning.





THE SAINT---Chris Pine is in negotiations to star in the Paramount Pictures movie based on the novels, 1960s Roger Moore tv series and 1997 Val Kilmer movie. Dexter Fletcher (ROCKETMAN) is the director.





CASINO ROYALE---Pierce Brosnan talked about Quentin Tarantino wanting to do an R-rated remake of CASINO ROYALE starring Brosnan in 2004 after DIE ANOTHER DAY and before Daniel Craig was hired, “It was after KILL BILL VOL. 2, and [Quentin] wanted to meet me. And I went up into Hollywood one day, from the beach, and I met him at the Four Seasons. I got there at 7 o’clock. I like to be punctual, I’m always punctual. 7:15 came round, no Quentin; he was upstairs doing press on Kill Bill. And someone sent over a martini, so I had the martini. I waited, it was 7:30, I thought, ‘Where the heck is he?’ Word came down, ‘Apologies’, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll have another martini.’
Eventually he came down, and he started ordering apple martinis. Well… we were fairly snockered. I was fairly snockered, but he did. He was pounding the table, saying, ‘You are the best James Bond! I wanna do James Bond with you!’ and it was very close quarters in the restaurant. I said, ‘Quentin, please, calm down, calm down.’ But, you don’t tell Quentin Tarantino to calm down.
Anyway, he wanted to do James Bond. I went back to the shop and told them, but it wasn’t meant to be. No Quentin Tarantino for James Bond. What a shame. That would be a good one to watch.”
Brosnan said he is still interested in making a spy movie with Tarantino, "Yes. I’d love to think so. Quentin, you know where to find me."
Brosnan also said he would be interested in returning to the franchise as a Bond Villain, “If asked, yes! I believe so.”





NO TIME TO DIE---director Cary Fukunaga said his original concept for the movie was that it originates in the torture scene in SPECTRE with the third act of SPECTRE and the first two acts of NO TIME TO DIE occurring inside James Bond's head, '“I had an idea that this movie could all be taking place inside the villain’s lair from the last film. There’s this scene where a needle goes into James Bond’s head, which is supposed to make him forget everything, and then he miraculously escapes by a watch bomb. And then he and Léa blow up the place, and go on to save the day. I was like, “What if everything up until the end of act two is all inside his head?”'
Fukunaga added that he was not a James Bond fan until the CASINO ROYALE remake, “Prior to that, my only in-depth James Bond experience was at my cousin’s house playing GOLDENEYE.”

HALLOWEEN KILLS---writer Scott Teems commented on the sequel after viewing the rough cut, "It's like the first one on steroids, I guess. It really is the bigger, badder, meaner version of the first one."

BATMAN---Nic Pizzolatto posted his version of a Batman movie,“Batman is the only character in the world I didn’t create that I want a shot at. And he’s the only piece of geek culture I have any affinity for. Batman’s no-kill policy and valid and should always remain. BUT the policy does not exist because ‘killing makes me as bad as them’ or some kindergarten bull*****. That never held any water at all. Batman’s no-kill policy exists BECAUSE BATMAN’S REAL AND ETERNAL ENEMY IS DEATH. DEATH is his real enemy.”
He dislikes the current version of Batman who he describes as, “some wounded boy, some man-child who can’t get over his parents [sic] death. He’s not an arrested child. He’s not the Phantom of the Opera. He’s not broken in any way. He’s the opposite.” Pizzolatto said his Batman is a, "...story of how one human Saint turned a life-defining tragedy into the pinnacle of human achievement and the single greatest humanitarian crusade the world has ever known. … Batman’s superpower is that he thinks of everything. And he has the strongest will of the spices. If he had some time to strategize, Batman could credibly defeat God.”

TRE CNT---HBO series underway about a Houston dockyard worker who uses an inheritance to build a backyard wrestling empire. Dwayne Johnson is a co-producer.

TRIVIA---During the filming of the steamy 9 1/2 WEEKS, the relationship between stars Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger was very unpleasant. Basinger said, “Kissing Mickey Rourke was like kissing an ashtray...I hated him sometimes." However, Rourke's hostility towards Basinger was actually suggested by director Adrian Lyne, who wanted it to create authentic on-screen tension between the two stars. Later, Rourke and Basinger mended their relationship, and Rourke complimented Basinger by saying, “That f*ckin’ Kim Basinger was hot as sh*it, I used to go home with a boner every night. Really. That was no fun…”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22

VENOM---Sony Pictures announced the sequel title is VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE. Premiere is June 25, 2021.
Also, Tom Hardy posted and then deleted artwork showing Venom feasting on Spider-Man.





TOP GUN: MAVERICK---in his new memoir, I'M YOUR HUCKLEBERRY, Val Kilmer said he begged for a chance to return for TOP GUN: MAVERICK after he found his character, Iceman, was not in the sequel, "As the Temptations sang in the heydey of Motown soul, 'Ain't too proud to beg.' The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn't have been cooler. ... Tom and I took up where we left off. The reunion felt great."
Kilmer has said he was not interested in appearing in the original movie, and dressed like a "goon" at the audition in hopes of not being selected. After he was picked for Iceman, he felt, “felt more deflated than inflated." His attitude changed after the movie became a huge hit and helped launch his career.





THE MANDALORIAN---sources claim that Season 3 is underway and that Jon Favreau has been “writing season 3 for a while”. The production design department began work on April 20 because the series requires, "such a huge lead time".

JACOB'S LADDER---director Adrian Lyne commented in the movie for its 30th anniversary, “There was a book called INCIDENT AT OWL CREEK, which was Ambrose Bierce, and there was a good short film that was based on it, and I was always fascinated by that idea of not watching what you think you’re watching. I think funny enough JACOB'S LADDER was a movie that sort of needed to be seen twice, because I think if you just saw it the first time, you spent a lot of time trying to work out what you’ve seen. But the idea of what you’re doing is watching a man’s dying process, really, while he remembers his wife and kid and while he imagines a life with Jezzie that he’s never had. So it’s his memory and imagination and essentially the whole film is just in his mind. So that was fun to do, and that’s what happened in THE INCIDENT AT OWL CREEK. You think he’s got away and you understand that what you’ve seen was literally while he’s dropping while he’s being hanged.”

ONE-PUNCH MAN---Sony Pictures live-action movie underway based on the manga. The writers are the VENOM team of Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner.

WESTWORLD---HBO renewed the series for Season 4.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER---John Boyega replied to a fan who said THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is an embarrassment, “Embarrassing? LOL you wish. Very fulfilling, some disappointments but yet not that big of a deal. Everyone has moved on.”

TRIVIA---James Mason and Karl Michael Vogler played German officers in the World War I German fighter ace movie THE BLUE MAX. Mason and Vogler also played German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in two World War II movies. Mason played Rommel in THE DESERT FOX: THE STORY OF ROMMEL, and Vogler played Rommel in PATTON.

In THE BLUE MAX, James Mason played Gen. Count von Klugerman with Ursula Andress.





In THE BLUE MAX, Karl Michael Vogler played Hauptmann Otto Heidemann with George Peppard.





Mason played Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in THE DESERT FOX: THE STORY OF ROMMEL.





Vogler played Rommel in PATTON.

THURSDAY, APRIL 23

DISNEY GALLERY: THE MANDALORIAN---trailer released for the documentary about the making of the Disney+ tv series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B492eUpIyAc&t=9s



JERRY SEINFELD: 23 HOURS TO KILL---trailer released for the Netflix stand-up comedy special.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7f1asbYiug



GRANT---trailer released for the History three-part Civil War miniseries about Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhzBYakZZW0



STAR WARS---new female-led Disney+ STAR WARS tv series underway from Leslye Headland (RUSSIAN DOLL) that will be set in a new timeline. No other plot details were released.





STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER---the sequel had the lowest profit return of the trilogy series with $300 million. THE FORCE AWAKENS earned $780.1 million in profits, and THE LAST JEDI had $417.5 million in profits. Even the non-trilogy ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY earned higher profits with $319.6 million.





BACK TO THE FUTURE---co-writer Bob Gale commented on the plot hole in which Marty's parents do not remember him as Calvin, "Bear in mind that George and Lorraine only knew Marty/Calvin for six days when they were 17, and they did not even see him every one of those six days. So, many years later, they still might remember that interesting kid who got them together on their first date.
But I would ask anyone to think back on their own high school days and ask themselves how well they remember a kid who might have been at their school for even a semester. Or someone you went out with just one time. If you had no photo reference, after 25 years, you'd probably have just a hazy recollection.
So Lorraine and George might think it funny that they once actually met someone named Calvin Klein, and even if they thought their son at age 16 or 17 had some resemblance to him, it wouldn't be a big deal. I'd bet most of us could look thru our high school yearbooks and find photos of our teen-aged classmates that bear some resemblance to our children."





THE BATMAN---Rob McClure was going to be fitted for prosthetics for the MRS. DOUBTFIRE play and saw,"...they were building the Penguin prosthetics for Colin Farrell in the new Batman movie."

I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY---Whitney Houston biomovie underway with a script to be written by Anthony McCarten (BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY).

TRIVIA---famous tv chef Julia Child got her first culinary experience in World War II working as a research assistant for the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, where she helped develop a shark repellent.
During World War II, Child was turned down by the Woman's Army Corps (WAC) because, at 6' 2", she was too tall. However, the OSS was glad to have her, and she began as a typist/research assistant to Gen. William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, the head of the OSS. Child later joined the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Experiment Section where she helped develop the shark repellent that repelled sharks from Allied servicemen and OSS explosives intended for the Nazis, "Child's solution was to experiment with cooking various concoctions as a shark repellent,,,[which] marked Child's first foray into the world of cooking ..."
Child was then sent to Ceylon and China where she met her future husband, OSS Officer Paul Child. She was awarded the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.
In 1948, Child worked for the US Information Agency in Paris and enrolled in the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school which led to her future as the popular tv chef.

OSS Intelligence Officer Julia Child (striped dress) with other OSS staffers during World War II.




Child received a Peabody Award for THE FRENCH CHEF tv series.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

THE GREAT---trailer released for the Hulu comedy series starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJGedvRfHYg



COLD STORAGE---Paramount Pictures sci fi movie underway based on the David Koepp novel about a Pentagon bioterrorism expert who must stop an escaped mutating organism from destroying mankind. Jonny Campbell (Netflix/BBC One DRACULA) is the director.





SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK---Paramount Pictures sequel is underway with director Andre Ovredal and writers Dan and Kevin Hageman returning.

THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR---Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd star in this Apple comedy series about a psychiatrist who takes over his patient's life.

DON'T WORRY, DARLING---Olivia Wilde is the director/co-star of this movie about a 1950s housewife in the California desert who discovers a disturbing secret about her life. Chris pine, Florence Pugh and Shia LaBeouf also star.

PARKS AND RECREATION---the NBC reunion special, with most of the cast returning, will premiere on April 30 to raise funds for the coronavirus pandemic.

HELLBOUND---Netflix/Yeon Sang-ho (TRAIN TO BUSAN) horror series underway based on the South Korean HELL web series in which supernatural beings appear and condemn people to Hell.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS---director Michael Doughrety said he would like to do a Godzilla movie set in ancient times, "I’d still love to do GODZILLA B.C. where we finally see this ancient world of man and monster, like a modern day Ray Harryhausen flick. Or maybe we just go for it and finally take humans out of the equation".

TRIVIA---the well-documented feud between Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger in the ironically-titled TERMS OF ENDEARMENT included Winger reportedly lifting her skirt and farting at MacLaine. Winger commented on reported physical altercations with MacLaine, "There might have been a scuffle. I don't remember. I mean, we were wild, you know."
For the EVENING STAR sequel, the producer wanted to use a photo of Winger, and MacLaine said, “The producer called Debra and asked if we could use it, and Debra said, ‘Sure, just make sure that Shirley doesn’t use it as a dartboard.’”

Extraction now on Netflix with Chris Hemsworth fighting his way through Dhaka to rescue a drug lords kid.

MONDAY, APRIL 27

INTO THE NIGHT---trailer released for the Netflix Belgian sci fi series about airline passengers who must survive after a solar event has killed most of mankind.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGosoC7q_po



CASSIAN ANDOR---the Disney+ ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY prequel tv series has added Genevieve O'Reilly returning as Mon Mothma. Also, Denise Gough will co-star in an undisclosed role.





THE ICE BENEATH HER---Daisy Ridley is in talks to star in the movie based on the novel whose plot, “revolves around a detective and psychological profiler who work to solve the case after a young woman is found beheaded in the home of a prominent businessman. The investigation quickly evolves into a race against time.”





AVENGERS: ENDGAME---the Walt Disney/Marvel Studios movie is the highest-grossing movie in history with $2.8 billion. Disney's profits were almost $900 million, and Robert Downey, Jr. earned about $75 million.

OUR NAME IS ADAM---Ryan Reynolds will star in this sci fi movie about a man who travels back in time to get help from his 13 year-old self and encounters his father.

THE ORVILLE---Jonathan Frakes, after returning as Riker in STAR TREK: PICARD, said he also wants to appear in THE ORVILLE like other STAR TREK cast members including Marina Sirtis, "I keep waiting for a phone call. I am available. I've got a beard."

FRASIER---Peri Gilpin commented on a possible reunion special or reboot series after the cast reunited to raise funds for coronavirus charities, “[A reunion] is possible. Definitely. There is a lot of talk about it. I do think there’s something going on, but I don’t know exactly what it is or whether it will actually happen,”

SONS OF ANARCHY---Kurt Sutter commented on possible spinoff series, “I had this revelation between 'SoA' and ‘Mayans,’ that the ‘SoA’ mythology would be four shows. ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ ‘Mayans M.C.,’ ‘First Nine,’ and ‘Sam Crow.’ ‘First Nine’ would be a limited series. Nine episodes. It would end before we began to tread on history we created in ‘Sons.’ ‘Sam Crow’ would be the fate of Wendi (Drea De Matteo), Nero (Jimmy Smits), [and the kids] Abel and Thomas.”
He added: “I can’t discuss my current situation with Fox, so right now I can’t comment on the reality of any of this happening.”

DIGITAL PIRACY---digital piracy research firm Muso said digital piracy increased an "unprecedented" 40%+ since the coronavirus forced people into self-isolation. Two European countries with the highest coronavirus rates also had the highest increases in digital piracy: Italy (66%) and Spain (50%).

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
British character actress Valerie Leon played a hotel desk receptionist in two hit movies, the original THE ITALIAN JOB and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Leon played a hotel guest in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN.

Valerie Leon played a hotel desk receptionist in the original THE ITALIAN JOB with Michael Caine.




Leon played a hotel desk receptionist in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME with Roger Moore.




Leon played a hotel guest in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, Sean Connery's last James Bond movie.

TUESDAY, APRIL 28

WESTWORLD---trailer released for the Season 3 finale.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtUKsaWa_PA



BIGGEST MOVIE LOSERS---the five biggest movie losers for 2019 are:

1. X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX----$133 million
2. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE---$122 million
3. CATS---$113 million
4. GEMINI MAN---$111 million
5. MISSING LINK---$101 million





BROTHERS IN ARMS---Gearbox Software is developing a tv series based on the World War II video game. Season 1 will focus on Exercise Tiger, a D-Day rehearsal in which German E-boats attacked a troop convoy and killed 749 Allied servicemen and eight soldiers who must rescue their colonel from the Germans before they can extract top secret D-Day plans from him.





DOCTOR WHO---the BBC announced that David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann and Billie Piper are returning for, "TIME LORD VICTORIOUS is a brand-new multi-platform Doctor Who story told across audio, novels, comics, vinyl, digital, immersive theatre, escape rooms and games!...TIME LORD VICTORIOUS will be set within the Dark Times at the start of the universe, when even the Eternals were young. It features the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors, travelling across Space and Time as they defend the universe from a terrible race."





THE GOONIES---on its 35th anniversary, Steven Spielberg commented on a possible sequel to the movie directed by Richard Donner and written by Chris Columbus, “Chris, Dick, and I – and Lauren [Shuler Donner] – have had a lot of conversations about it. Every couple of years we come up with an idea but then it doesn’t hold water. Until we do, people are just going to have to look at this [livestream] a hundred times!”

EXTRACTION---director Sam Hargrave talked about a possible sequel to the Netflix action movie starring Chris Hemsworth, "We’re all going to wait to see how fans react to the film, and based on that, there have been discussions of different storylines that could take place in different times – both forward in time and backwards in time. We’re just waiting to see what happens, and to see how the appetite is for these characters and for this film, and then we’ll make our decision. But there definitely have been discussions of broadening this world, for sure.”

HELLRAISER---HBO tv series underway based on the Clive Barker movie. Mark Verheiden (DAREDEVIL) and Michael Dougherty (GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS) are the writers.

DISCWORLD---tv series underway that will be "absolutely faithful" to the Terry Pratchett fantasy novels.

TURN UP CHARLIE---Netflix cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---Burt Reynolds, in his autobiography MY LIFE, commented on the DELIVERANCE rape scene involving Ned Beatty and the hillbilly played by William McKinney, “I swear to God, McKinney really wanted to hump Ned. And I think he was going to. He had it up, and he was going to bang him. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I ran into the scene, dove on McKinney, and pulled him off Ned. [director John] Boorman helped hold him down. Ned, crying with rage and fear, found a big stick and started beating McKinney on the head.” When Reynolds asked Boorman why he took so long to stop filming, he replied, “I was waiting for you to run in. I knew when you ran in that I’d taken the audience to breaking point.”

Although not stated I presume the character was ex Aussie SAS/SF so a prequel in Afghanistan would be good. "EXTRACTION---director Sam Hargrave talked about a possible sequel to the Netflix action movie starring Chris Hemsworth, "We’re all going to wait to see how fans react to the film, and based on that, there have been discussions of different storylines that could take place in different times – both forward in time and backwards in time. We’re just waiting to see what happens, and to see how the appetite is for these characters and for this film, and then we’ll make our decision. But there definitely have been discussions of broadening this world, for sure.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

THE END OF OCTOBER---Ridley Scott is developing a movie or miniseries based on the novel about a microbiologist who must find a way to stop the global Kongoli influenza pandemic.





WONDER WOMAN 1984---a leaked calendar photo hints that Wonder Woman can fly in the sequel.





DUAL---Karen Gillan and Aaron Paul will star in this sci fi movie about a dying woman who has herself cloned, but after she has a miraculous recovery, she fails to have her clone decommissioned and must kill it in a dual.





FAST AND LOOSE---movie underway about a man who wakes up in Tijuana with amnesia and eventually discovers he has two identities: a crime lord and a CIA undercover agent. He must find out which one is his real identity.

NOW YOU SEE ME 3---Eric Warren Singer (AMERICAN HUSTLE, TOP GUN: MAVERICK) will write the sequel.

THE GIRL WHO COULD MOVE ***** WITH HER MIND---Alex Kurtzman is developing a tv series based on the sci fi novel about a girl with telekinetc powers who goes on missions for the government and must clear her name after she is accused of murder.

SOCIAL DISTANCE---Netflix anthology tv series about the coronavirus pandemic from the ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK team.

BORGEN---Netflix is developing an eight-episode revival of the Danish political series with Sidse Babett Knudsen returning as Birgitte Nyborg, who is now the Danish Foreign Minister.

GOOSEBUMPS---live-action tv series underway based on the novels.

TRIVIA---writer/director John Milius is a gun collector and a former member of the National Rifle Association Board of Directors. In his movie, THE WIND AND THE LION (Sean Connery, Candice Bergen), Milius has a cameo as the one-armed German army officer who is demonstrating the Maxim machine gun to the Sultan.

John Milius was the writer/director of THE WIND AND THE LION starring Sean Connery and Candice Bergen.




Milius has a cameo in THE WIND AND THE LION as the one-armed German army officer who is demonstrating the Maxim machine gun to the Sultan.

Thanks for all those informations, I love reading them and appreciate the continuous flow .

The Hunters : I have seen the first season liked that
Star Trek Picard : directly attracted by the first episode, completely repelled by the following ones
The Irishman : We are now sure Hoffa is with Elivs ... on another plane of life :smile2: , loved the show
Joker : seems to have been written by a french social worker willing to compete in Cannes, boring

Oh! Yes: IMHO

I liked Picard better than I thought I would but he is really showing his age.
Mark

THURSDAY, APRIL 30

AVATAR 2---photo of Sigourney Weaver on the sequel film set with producer Jon Landau and actor Joel David Moore.





SPY VS. SPY---Rawson Marshall Thurber will direct the Warner Bros. movie based on the MAD MAGAZINE cartoon characters.





THE MAN FROM TORONTO---Kaley Cuoco will costar with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson in the action comedy movie about mistaken identity involving the world's deadliest assassin and a New York loser.

WONDER WOMAN 1984---Patty Jenkins commented on a sequel to 1984, “I’m not going to nail down a fresh thought about it until this movie comes out, because I kind of want to give myself a palette cleanser, and be fresh of mind. But yeah, there’s an arc that I have in mind for the first movie, and then the second movie, and then the Amazon movie, and then the third movie.”
She also commented on the untitled WONDER WOMAN spinoff movie about the Amazonians and Themyscira, "I’m not going to direct it, hopefully. I’m going to try really hard not to. It’s not going to be easy. But [1984 co-writer and former DC Entertainment President and Chief Creative Officer] Geoff Johns and I came up with the story, and we sold the pitch, and we’re going to get it going. I’ll produce it, for sure."

YANKEE COMANDANTE---Adam Driver will star in this movie based on the NEW YORKER article about two Cuban rebel leaders, Che Guevara and Ohio native William Alexander Morgan, who helped Castro achieve power by helping defeat the Cuban army. Morgan then turned against Castro when he revealed himself to be a Communist.

THE FIRST FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST---sci fi movie underway based on the novel about a man who is repeatedly born in the same life who battles a similar man to save mankind. Wes Ball (THE MAZE RUNNER) is the director.

THE MATRIX 4---Chad Stahelski and David Leitch are returning to the sequel as stunt directors.

TRANSFORMERS---Paramount Pictures animated prequel movie underway about the Autobots battling the Decepticons on Cybertron. Josh Cooley (TOY STORY 4) is the director.

MY BRILLIANT FRIEND----HBO renewed the series for Season 3.

TRIVIA---Mickey Rourke's first movie role was Pvt. Reese, a member of Dan Aykroyd's M3 Lee tank crew, in Steven Spielberg's 1941.

FRIDAY, MAY 1

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY---trailer released for the HBO horror series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWEASasO-tI



HERCULES---Walt Disney live-action remake underway of its 1997 animated movie with the Russo brothers as the producers. Dave Callaham is the writer.





THIRTEEN LIVES---Ron Howard will direct the movie based on the 2018 Thailand Tham Luang cave rescue in which 12 members of a boys soccer team and their coach were rescued after being trapped for over two weeks in a cave due to a flood caused by heavy rain. William Nicholson (GLADIATOR) is the writer.

THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON---movie underway based on the Stephen King novel. Christy Hall (I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS) will write the script.

BROTHERS---Macon Blair (GREEN ROOM) will direct the movie starring Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage whose plot has been described as being similar to TWINS which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

THE ALIENS ARE STEALING OUR WEED---Gina Rodriguez will star in this sci fi movie about two dope growers who discover aliens are plotting to steal Earth's marijuana supply.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET---Robert Englund commented on his three favorite concepts for a new movie in the franchise, “One is a prequel and it really centers on the courtroom stuff with Freddy and his lawyers and him getting off and Freddy getting caught by the cops and Freddy killing the first kids. I really think that’s interesting, I’d heard John McNaughton, who’d directed HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER mention it. The other one I heard about was about Tina’s sister, the character from NIGHTMARE 1 had an older sister, a college girl who came back to find out the truth of what happened to her sister. You would do it as a period movie, so it wouldn’t be computers and everything yet, it would be 1985 and she would come back to solve what happened and she would be this interim into Nightmare 2. But it would be a nice end for me to have a prequel, you’d have the “failed reboot” of NIGHTMARE 1 and then you could go into that and then what I would do is I would do an animated and graphic novel style. Very dark, very dark with incredible fantasy sequences, I would do an animated reboot of NIGHTMARE 1, I would never make NIGHTMARE 1 again. Just leave the two alone that are there. Then I’d do the one with Tina and her sister, I would do that live-action.”

GYPSY--Patti LuPone commented on Barbra Streisand wanting to play Mama Rose in the long-gestating movie musical based on the Broadway play, "I'm sure there's technologies (to make her appear younger onscreen) so that she could do it...I think maybe 50 years ago she would have been a brilliant Madame Rose. (But) I think she's too old." Rosalind Russell played Mama Rose in the 1962 movie.

TRIVIA---STAR TREK historian Mark A. Altman said John Belushi's last day alive was spent on the film set of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN before he died of a drug overdose, "Also an interesting story, one day John Belushi came to visit the set of STAR TREK II… He came because he wanted to perfect his [William] Shatner impersonation. So he came and watched Shatner on set all day. And that night, they wanted to have him sing and play The Blues Brothers at the wrap party, and they were going to ask him. And that night was the night he died of a drug overdose at the Chateau Marmont."

MONDAY, MAY 4

STAR WARS---Lucasfilm confirmed that Taiki Waititi will be the director/co-writer of a future STAR WARS movie. The other co-writer is Krysty Wilson Cairns (1917).





STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS--showrunner Dave Filoni commented on re[ports that George Lucas was heavily involved in the last season, “That’s largely been taken out of context in people’s enthusiasm. George and I still talk, and I’ll ask him some things. But he’s just really enjoying watching them. What’s in play are things we had discussed years ago. The Bad Batch were series of stories we had written in story meetings with him, and the Trace and Rafa arc were adapted off of outlines from them.”
He added, “These last four episodes were probably the least developed of what we had done. There are elements that were always the same. He hadn’t really seen anything until you’re releasing it here. I respect him so much, and having worked with him, I just always want make sure I’m getting it right. So I check in with him time to time.”

EXTRACTION---the Chris Hemsworth movie had Netflix's biggest movie premiere with 90 million households. It surpassed 6 UNDERGROUND with 83 million households. Kemsworth commented on a possible sequel, "There’s been a lot of talk and questions about sequels and prequels and all sorts of things, and all I can say is who knows. But with this amount of support, it’s something I will be pretty stoked to jump back into."





THE WALKING DEAD---Jeffrey Dean Morgan commented on a "special" episode due to Season 10 production being affected by the coronavirus, "It will be cool having a one off, almost a WALKING DEAD movie in the middle of the season, I guess. So we're excited about that aspect of it."
Morgan added, "I think obviously things are going to come to some sort of a head with the Beta and his character. There has to be some sort of resolution. Whether that carries over to next season. I’ll leave that open, because who knows. But we know he’s coming to wipe everybody out with his zombie horde so hopefully, we’ll see that come to a head at some point. There has to be some sort of battle. Greg Nicotero directed it, so it’s going to be a big massive episode for sure."





DEMOLITION MAN---Sylvester Stallone commented on a possible sequel to the 1993 sci fi movie that co-starred Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock, "I think there is. We're working on it right now with Warner Bros. and it's looking fantastic. So that should come out, that's going to happen."





STAR TREK: DISCOVERY---director Jonathan Frakes said Season 3's tone will be lighter and more action oriented, “Michael Burnham has found a new core, not to mention a new partner in crime. So again, there’s a big tonal shift on that show, less driven by the pain and guilt of her past and more about the magical reunification of the Discovery crew and wherever she went off to. God knows where she went as the Red Angel. So those two things coming back together is very much the theme, and how grateful everyone is and what’s next. It’s got a lot of action-adventure and not so much pain.”

SUPERMAN: MAN OF TOMORROW---Warner Bros. animated movie with voices by Darren Criss (Superman), Alexandra Daddario (Lois Lane), Zachary Quinto (Lex Luthor) and Ryan Hurst (Lobo).

G.I. JOE---Paramount Pictures is developing a new G.I. Joe movie with SEBERG writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse.

MATILDA---Netflix movie underway based on the children's book with Ralph Fiennes playing headmistress Miss Trunchbull. Jodie Comer is a candidate to play Miss Honey.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is considered to be the best of the Roger Moore James Bond movies, and legendary director Stanley Kubrick and his daughter had key roles in making the movie.
During the filming of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, cinematographer Claude Renoir's poor eyesight prevented him from devising the proper lighting for the massive stage featuring the submarine dock in the supertanker Liparus. Production designer Ken Adam, who worked with Stanley Kubrick on DR. STRANGELOVE, asked Kubrick for advice, "So I called Stanley up and asked him down to Pinewood to give me ideas. At first he said I was out of my mind but eventually he agreed to come on a Sunday when only security were around...He spent three or four hours with me telling me how he would light the stage. And of course the whole thing being in secret appealed to Stanley's sense of drama."
Also, Kubrick's daughter, Katharina Kubrick Hobbs, who worked in the studio art department, designed the steel teeth for Bond Villain Jaws, "My claim to fame is that I designed Jaws steel teeth. It was a throw away job they gave to the art dept junior who could draw...( me). Who knew they would become so iconic?"


James Bond production designer Ken Adam designed the Pentagon War Room in Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE.




Adam asked Kubrick for help in lighting THE SPY WHO LOVED ME's massive stage featuring the submarine dock in the supertanker Liparus.





Stanley Kubrick's daughter, Katharina Kubrick Hobbs, designed the steel teeth for Bond Villain Jaws.






Jaws's steel teeth on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

TUESDAY, MAY 5

I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK---trailer released for the HBO docuseries about the Golden State Killer.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTNHJETw0S8



SPACE FORCE---trailer released tor the Netflix comedy series starring Steve Carell.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdpYpulGCKc



THE BLACKOUT: INVASION EARTH---trailer released for the sci fi movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrHIbnPZ96Q



EXTRACTION---the Netflix sequel is underway with Joe Russo returning as the writer, “The deal is closed for me to write EXTRACTION 2, and we are in the formative stages of what the story can be. We’re not committing yet to whether that story goes forward, or backward in time. We left a big loose ending that leaves question marks for the audience.” Chris Hemsworth's return will depend on the script.





JOE EXOTIC---Nicolas Cage will star in an eight-part tv miniseries about Joe Schreibvogel, known as "Joe Exotic", who was featured in Netflix's TIGER KING: MURDER, MAYHEM AND MADNESS.





STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI---Sam Witwer (STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS and REBELS) said he is not a fan of THE LAST JEDI, “LAST JEDI, to me, felt like a movie made by a guy who hadn’t quite done his homework. I think Rian Johnson’s a talented guy, but Bruce Lee didn’t develop Jeet Kune Do without learning Kung Fu first. You can’t reinvent STAR WARS without knowing STAR WARS first and he didn’t – for me – make a compelling argument for why Luke didn’t go and help his sister.
This is just my opinion, guys. There were a lot of things in THE LAST JEDI I found compelling in a Rian Johnson filmmaker point of view. They just didn’t fit into STAR WARS. I don’t think he did his STAR WARS homework. The themes, what it’s about, what the characters are about. But as a standalone film, if I don’t know what the Jedi are or who Luke is or what he represents, I think there’s some compelling things in there. If that’s meaningful to you, that’s awesome.”





STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT---Jonathan Frakes was asked if the scene with the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) seducing Data (Brent Spiner), who says he is "fully functional", implied they had sex. Frakes grinned and replied, “I would.”

SCI FI---Sony Pictures and Sam Raimi are developing a sci fi movie from the A QUIET PLACE writing team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. No plot details were released.

SPACEX---Tom Cruise, Elon Musk's SpaceX and NASA are developing an action movie set in outer space.

FURY FILES---Marvel/Disney+ tv series synopsis states, “You shouldn’t be surprised that Nick Fury has files on every single Marvel Super Hero. Fury Files gives viewers top-secret access to S.H.I.E.L.D. intel on key Marvel heroes and villains. All of this is told by none other than the mysterious Fury, bringing together a mix of animation and motion comic art! Looking to download a bunch of information about every single hero? Fury’s got you covered.” Chi McBride will be the voice of Nick Fury. Premiere is May 15.

UNDER THE SKIN---tv spinoff series underway based on the 2013 Scarlett Johansson movie about an alien who preys on men in Scotland.

COVENANT---movie underway based on the sci fi short story about a serial killer who is cured of his killing impulses and then becomes a target himself. The writers are the 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE team of Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken.

COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE---Jerry Seinfeld said he thinks the series is over, “We haven’t planned anything with that show. I feel like I did that tour… I know they look very casual and easy but they’re actually a lot of work to make, the editing is very intense and I don’t know, I feel like I may have done that exploration at this point.”

TRIVIA---Michael Caine talked about the proposed sequel to the hit gold heist movie, “What happened was, we were in the south of France. We switched on the engine, ran it for several hours. The gold was at one end and we were at the other. The engine ran out of petrol so the balance went alright. We got out of the coach and then the weight of the gold once we were out pushed it over the edge. Waiting at the bottom of the cliff was the French mafia, and they ran off with it and the sequel was we chaise them through the Riviera.”
Caine said the sequel was never filmed because it was his fault the movie was not a hit in the US. Caine refused to do a publicity tour in the US because the movie poster showed a machine gun-armed gangster sitting next to a nude woman, “I said: men who want to see naked women will walk out and women with children won’t go see it. I never publicized the movie, and so it died in America.”

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6

SPACEX---NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine posted that the untitled Tom Cruse/SpaceX/NASA movie will film on the International Space Station, "NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality."





THE TERMINAL LIST---Amazon tv series starring Chris Pratt and based on the novel about a SEAL whose team is ambushed on a covert mission. After returning home, he discovers the ambush was connected to a dark conspiracy.

2084---Paramount Pictures movie underway that is described as being a "spiritual sister" to George Orwell's 1984. Mattson Tomlin (THE BATMAN) is the writer.

BORDERLANDS---Cate Blanchett is in talks to play Lilith in the Lionsgate movie based on the video game.

BRIGHT 2---Louis Leterrier (THE INCREDIBLE HULK) is in talks to direct the Netflix sequel starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton.

CATS---Judi Dench agreed with the movie flop's critics that the costumes looked ridiculous, “[I’m] a battered, mangy old cat. A great big orange bruiser. What’s that about?” She said her costume was also very uncomfortable, “The cloak I was made to wear! Like five foxes f*king on my back.”





ROB FORD---Jim Gaffigan will star in the AMC untitled comedy miniseries about the controversial Toronto mayor.

FANTASTIC FOUR---director Josh Trank commented on the movie disaster, “The trials of developing FANTASTIC FOUR had everything to do with tone. You could take the most ‘comic booky’ things, as far as just names and faces and identities and backstories, and synthesize it into a tone. And the tone that [writer Jeremy Slater] was interested in was not a tone that I felt I had anything in common with.”
Slater said, “Josh just did not give a *****… The first AVENGERS movie had recently come out, and I kept saying, ‘That should be our template, that’s what audiences want to see!’ and Josh just f–king hated every second of it.” Slater said he wrote 18 drafts of the script, but Trank gave only two to 20th Century Fox, and only gave him 5% of the notes sent by the studio which led to him quitting.
Trank said the studio thought the movie was too morose and ordered reshoots, “It was like being castrated. You’re standing there, and you’re basically watching producers blocking out scenes, five minutes ahead of when you get there, having [editors hired] by the studio deciding the sequence of shots that are going to construct whatever is going on, and what it is that they need. And then, because they know you’re being nice, they’ll sort of be nice to you by saying, ‘Well, does that sound good?’ You can say yes or no.”
He added, "They really do pay attention to what people are saying on Twitter. They look at that and they say, ‘*****, people are freaked out about how it’s not going to be funny. So we need to spend $10 million to do a comedy rewrite’.”
Trank was working on Lucasfilm's Boba Fett movie when stories of the turmoil on FANTASTIC FOUR began. Trank decided to quit before Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy fired him, “I quit because I knew I was going to be fired if I didn’t quit.”

TRIVIA---stuntman/actor/producer Dick Crockett was Willam Shatner's double in the STAR TREK episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". He also appeared in the episodes "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "The Gamesters of Triskelion". Crockett was a good friend of director Blake Edwards and was a stuntman and co-producer on many of his movies. Perhaps Crockett's biggest role in a Blake Edwards movie was playing President Gerald R. Ford in THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN.

Stuntman/actor/producer Dick Crockett was Willam Shatner's double in the STAR TREK episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before".




Crockett also appeared in the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".




Crockett also appeared in episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion".




Perhaps Crockett's biggest role in a Blake Edwards movie was playing President Gerald R. Ford in THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN.