Movie/TV News (2 Viewers)

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, JULY 17

SQUID GAME---Netflix "Goodbye" trailer for the last season.

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ALIEN: EARTH---new trailer released for the FX spinoff tv series.

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WONDER WOMAN---VARIETY reports that inside sources claim Warner Bros. is fast-tracking its Wonder Woman movie due to the success of SUPERMAN.

TOUGH GUYS---Ryan Gosling and Will Ferrell are in talks to star in the Amazon MGM Studios action comedy movie about two mob henchmen who decide to leave their mob boss, who sends an assassin to kill them.

THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER---photo released from the Netflix/theater movie starring Colin Farrell and Fala Chen about a gambler in Macau, the "Las Vegas of Asia".

AVENGERS---THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS director Matt Shakman said Reed Richards will be the Avengers' new leader, “Reed was the most challenging role to cast. ‘He goes from being the nerdy scientist who’s locked away in the lab, to the husband and the father who’d do anything to protect his family, to the guy who’s leading the Avengers. I realized that the version we were building had to have all of those elements.”

GROWN UPS 3---Kevin James commented on a new sequel to the movie that starred James, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and David Spade, “I think there have been [conversations]. And I think, yeah, I think you can keep hope alive. I can say that. I would keep a lot of hope alive. And I think it’s happening—something’s happening. I can say that.”

ASSASSIN'S CREED---Netflix live-action tv series underway based on the video game.

INVINCIBLE---Amazon Prime renewed the series for Season 5. Matthew Rhys has joined the voice cast in an undisclosed role.

AMITYVILLE---reboot of the horror house movie is underway and will not be connected to the earlier movies.

TRIVIA---CHEERS won 28 Emmys and is considered to be one of the best tv shows of all time. The star of another classic tv show, Lucille Ball, who starred in I LOVE LUCY, the "Best TV Show of All Time", was a big fan of CHEERS and tried to get a guest star appearance on the show. Co-creator Les Charles said, "Lucille Ball had seen the show the first season and got in touch with us indirectly that she liked it and would consider coming on. We had the idea of Diane's mother. We met with Lucy at her house and had a long chat with her. She very wisely decided against it because she felt that LUCY fans wouldn't want to see her as another character. There's something to that."

CHEERS won 28 Emmys and is considered to be one of the best tv shows of all time.

Lucille Ball, who starred on the classic tv show I LOVE LUCY, tried to get a guest star appearance on CHEERS.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, JULY 18

NOBODY 2---trailer released for the sequel starring Bob Odenkirk.

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MORTAL KOMBAT II---trailer released for the movie starring Karl Urban.

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JUDGE DREDD---Taiki Waititi will direct the latest Judge Dredd movie with a script by Drew Pearce (IRON MAN 3, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-ROGUE NATION). The 1995 JUDGE DREDD movie starred Sylvester Stallone and the 2012 DREDD starred Karl Urban. The new movie will be the start of a Judge Dredd multimedia franchise and is not connected to the earlier movies.
Fan speculation is that the JUDGE DREDD franchise might lead to Waititi leaving his planned STAR WARS movie.

BASIC INSTINCT---writer Joe Eszterhas signed a deal with Amazon MGM Studios/United artists for a reboot of his 1992 movie with Sharon Stone possibly returning as Catherine Tramell.
Eszterhas' deal reportedly is for $2 million and another $2 million if the reboot proceeds. His script is described as being "anti-woke".

BANE & DEATHSTROKE---the script for the untitled Bane and Deathstroke movie has reportedly been finished by Matthew Orton (CAPTAIN AMERICA-BRAVE NEW WORLD) and submitted to DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Also, DC Studios posted the new official logos for Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Harley Quinn.

BARBIE---Mattel Studios is developing an animated movie based on its Barbie doll line for theater release.

OSIRIS---poster and synopsis released for the sci fi movie starring Linda Hamilton, “A team of Special Forces commandos wake up on an alien spacecraft with no memory of how they arrived. They horrifically discover they are being hunted by a merciless Alien race.”

JAMES BOND---producer Barbara Broccoli commented on Denis Villeneuve directed the next James Bond movie, “He’s a fantastic filmmaker, I’m thrilled he’s going to be doing it.”
Broccoli said she will not be actively involved with the new movie, “You know, I did it for 44 years and I loved every minute of it, but I’m getting up there now and there’s a lot of things I want to do… like this beautiful musical [SiING STREET]. I’m doing a lot of other things. I have other movies I want to make and other stage shows.“

THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT---CBS cancelled the show.

CAPTAIN PLANET---Netflix live-action tv series underway based on the 1990s animated tv series.

TRIVIA---Blake Edwards' 1970 World War I comedy musical DARLING LILI starred Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson. Andrews played popular British entertainer Lili Smith, who was really a German spy assigned to seduce American fighter pilot Major William Larrabee in order to get top secret information. The movie was a huge box office bomb, earning only $3 million on a budget of $25 million. DARLING LILI's co-writer, William Peter Blatty, redeemed himself three years later when his classic THE EXORCIST earned $441 million worldwide ($3.27 billion in 2025) on a $12 million budget.

The 1970 box office bomb DARLING LILI starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson was co-written by Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty.

Blatty redeemed himself three years later when his classic THE EXORCIST earned a whopping $441 million worldwide ($3.27 billion in 2025) on a $12 million budget.

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, JULY 21

PREDATOR: BADLANDS---trailer released for the spinoff movie starring Elle Fanning.

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DCU---DC Studios co-head James Gunn gave updates on DCU movies. Gunn said he is, “very excited about Wonder Woman right now” and the new movie will be "very" different from previous Wonder Woman movies. He denied a rumor that DC is seeking an actress with a tv background like Milly Alcock in SUPERMAN, “Nope, and I’d never in a million years look for a major role based on whether they did TV, films, or whatever. It’s all about the casting. I didn’t cast Milly because of her past, but because she was the best one for the role. But we’re also not casting WW, nor even discussing it, until a script is finished.”
Gunn also commented on fan support for Alan Ritchson to be the next Batman, “I am a big Alan Ritchson fan, both as an actor and as a guy… let’s just wait to see what happens...I haven’t thought of casting yet.” He added, “Let’s see where the script comes in. It’s not the furthest along thing. We have things that are much further along than that.”
He commented on if the DC comics World War II superhero movie SGT. ROCK is still underway after director Luca Guadagnino left, “Hugely, I’m really excited about SGT. ROCK.”
Gunn said about James Mangold and SWAMP THING, “We talked to James the other day. No, he hasn’t delivered a script. He’s been distracted with his billions of movies. But we’re talking about it again."
Gunn said THE AUTHORITY movie is on hold after he transferred the writer to another DC Studios project.

MCU---Kevin Feige commented on if there will more Deadpool and Wolverine projects, “There have absolutely been discussions. We’re in touch with Ryan [Reynolds] a lot. So the answer is yes...[Hugh jackman] He’s doing it until he’s 90, man.” Feige also confirmed the BLADE reboot is still underway.
Feige also commented on if he might leave Marvel Studios when his contract expires in two years, “Do I want to be making big movies for big audiences in ten or 15 years from now? Yes, that’s all I want to do. Marvel is great way to do that."
He also commented on SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY, “I think there’s a promise at the end of NO WAY HOME, that for as sad as it is that Peter is forgotten by everyone in his life, we are seeing for the first time in the Tom Holland Spider-Man stories him being a proper Spider-Man. Him being by himself, dedicated to saving the city, and dealing with — for lack of better terms — street-level crime, as opposed to world-ending events.”
Feige also blamed the failures of THE MARVELS and THUNDERBOLTS* on tv, “It’s that expansion that I think led people to say, ‘Do I have to see all of these? It used to be fun, but now do I have to know everything about all of these?’ And I think THE MARVELS hit it hardest where people are like, ‘OK, I recognize her from a billion-dollar movie. But who are those other two? I guess they were in some TV show. I’ll skip it.’”
On the THUNDERBOLTS*, Feige said, “THUNDERBOLTS* was a very good movie, but nobody knew that title, and many of those characters were from shows. There was that residual effect of [audiences going], ‘I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is?’”
Feige said Marvel will recast characters including iron Man and Captain America.
Also, a photo from THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS shows Paul Walter Hauser as villain Mole Man. The reboot movie cast's characters were revealed with Natasha Lyonne playing teacher Rachel Rozman and Sarah Niles playing Lynne Nichols, Future Foundation chief of staff.

GODZILLA---Toho is developing two Godzilla sequels and a third original movie. The GODZILLA MINUS ONE sequel with director Takashi Yamazaki returning starts filming in August and will have a bigger budget, scale and action scenes than the original movie. THE MINUS ONE sequel synopsis says, “In postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair and fight back against an unrelenting horror". The sequel to SHIN GODZILLA is also underway. Toho's third Godzilla movie will focus on a Godzilla adversary monster.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2---Anne Hathaway posted a sequel photo.

CHRISTY---photo posted of Sydney Sweeney starring in the biomovie about female boxer Christy Martin, the "female Rocky".

STAR TREK 4---director Matt Shakman commented on leaving the STAR TREK sequel to direct THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, "We had stages, we had crew, we were moving ahead.” But Shakman left for THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS after Paramount Pictures fired the sequel crew, removed the sets and cancelled the premiere date. Shakman added, “The core idea, I think, remains the same. I really hope they get a chance to make that movie.”

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR---star Taylor Russell (BONES AND ALL) has left the Michael B. Jordan remake of the 1968 movie that starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Russell reportedly left due to creative differences.

TRIVIA---the costume designer for STAR TREK was Bill Theiss. His costumes for the show's female characters led to the Theiss Titillation Theory which said, "The sexiness of an outfit is directly proportional to the perceived possibility that a vital piece of it might fall off". Perhaps the most famous costume of the Theiss Titillation Theory is the very revealing pink costume worn by Leslie Parrish in the episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" Parrish said, "There was a little section, yes, they had to glue it to me everyday. And it was a different piece of skin everyday--and everyday they'd rip it off and, finally, I didn't have much skin to glue it to. It was really painful."
Parrish's costume was featured in the 1992 Star Trek Smithsonian Exhibit. To attest to the costume's legendary status, when it was up for auction in 1993, its estimated price was $700-$900, but it actually sold for $9,200.
Parrish guest-starred on the MANNIX episode "The Girl in the Frame" wearing the same costume she wore in "Who Mourns for Adonais?" (both shows were produced by Desilu).

STAR TREK costume designer Bill Theiss' Theiss Titillation Theory is best exemplified by the very famous and revealing pink costume worn by Leslie Parrish in the episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?"

Parrish guest-starred on the MANNIX episode "The Girl in the Frame" wearing the same famous costume she wore in "Who Mourns for Adonais?"

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, JULY 22

MORTAL KOMBAT II---trailer released for the movie starring Karl Urban.

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ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN---Margot Robbie will star in the Tim Burton remake of the 1958 cult classic sci fi movie about a woman who is transformed into a 50 foot giantess by an alien and seeks revenge on her philandering husband.

WONDER WOMAN---Ana Nogueira (SUPERGIRL) will the script for the upcoming DC Studios movie.

X-MEN---Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige announced Jake Schreier (THUNDERBOLTS*) will direct the reboot movie, “It’s official, Jake Schreier is doing X-MEN for us, and we’re very, very lucky. And we’re very, very lucky to have him and very excited to have him. And so we’re beginning. It’s all starting now. The script’s underway.“

JAMES CAMERON---Billie Eilish announced during a concert to announce she is working on a 3D project with James Cameron, “So, you may have noticed there’s more cameras than usual up here. Basically, I can’t say much about it, but what I can say is I’m working on something very, very special with somebody named James Cameron, and it’s going to be in 3D. So, take that as you will, and these four shows her in Manchester, you and me, are part of a thing that I’m making with James.”

TRAPPED---movie underway based on the story co-written by Stephen King in which a troubled college student finds herself pursued by a bizarre serial killer in the woods of Maine. The movie will be directed by Mark Pavia, who directed THE NIGHT FLIER movie based on King's short story.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR---Adria Arjona (ANDOR) replaced Taylor Russell in the Michael B. Jordan remake movie after Russell left for creative differences.

HAPPY FACE---Paramount+ cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---Joan Taylor is best known to sci fi fans for for starring in two early Ray Harryhausen movies. In 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, Taylor played Marisa Leonardo, who encountered a baby Ymir, a rapidly-growing alien creature from Venus that wreaked havoc in Rome. In EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, Taylor played Carol Marvin, whose husband, space scientist Dr. Russell Marvin, must find a way to stop flying saucers from destroying Washington, DC and the rest of mankind.
Taylor's first husband was Leonard Freeman, the creator of the classic HAWAII FIVE-O that ran on CBS from 1968-1980. After Freeman died, Taylor married director Walter Grauman, whose tv credits include THE TWILIGHT ZONE; COLUMBO; MURDER, SHE WROTE, BARNABY JONES and others. Grauman also directed the World War II movie 633 SQUADRON which inspired George Lucas' famous "trench run" battle scene in STAR WARS. Grauman's cousin, Sid Grauman, built the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Joan Taylor is best known to starring in the Ray Harryhausen sci fi movies 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS.

Joan Taylor's first husband, Leonard Freeman, created the classic HAWAII FIVE-O.

Taylor's second husband, Walter Grauman, directed 633 SQUADRON which inspired George Lucas' "trench run" scene in STAR WARS.

Walter Grauman's cousin, Sid Grauman, built the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23

GOOD FORTUNE---trailer released for the comedy movie starring Keanu Reeves.

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SHIN GODZILLA---trailer released for the 4K version of the movie which returns to theaters on August 14.

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NO OTHER CHOICE---trailer released for the South Korean movie directed by Park Chan-wook (OLD BOY).

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CLAYFACE---Naomie Ackie (STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER) is in talks to be the female lead in the DC Comics movie.

BASIC INSTINCT---writer Joe Eszterhas commented on the reboot of his 1992 movie that starred Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas, “I can’t talk very much about the storyline at this point because much of it isn’t formed yet. It begins in 2025. The Catherine Trammel character I will write and I hope Sharon agrees to do the picture because I thought she was brilliant the first time out. In my reboot she is not the star of the picture but she is the main co-star of the picture. It’s about the serial killers. It’s about copycats. There’s a demonic element to it that I think will be spooky.“
He also commented on the reboot being "anti-woke", “It means that dialogue-wise she will be open about her sexuality, character-wise she will be raunchy at times, funny, iconoclastic and all of those things. In terms of the woke culture, I think that there is a segment of the population that’s had it with woke culture. But then there’s also a huge segment that hasn’t. I don’t believe in woke and I don’t believe in being politically correct because I think it’s not the truth, and I like the truth spoken.“

WEDNESDAY---Netflix renewed the series for Season 3 and showrunner Alfred Gough said a spinoff is in the early stages of development, “It’s something we’re definitely noodling; there are other characters we can look at.”

VINCE GILLIGAN---Rhea Seehorn will star in the untitled Vince Gilligan/Apple TV+ tv sci fi series. No plot details were released.

JOHN CARTER OF MARS---the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and showrunner Michael Kogge announced they are developing an animated tv series based on the Burroughs novels.

ZITA THE SPACEGIRL---movie underway based on the graphic novels.

BOOSTER GOLD---HBO Max tv pilot underway based on the DC comic book superhero.

TRIVIA---Walt Disney's DAVY CROCKETT five-part tv miniseries starring Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen premiered in 1954 and was a huge hit. The show's merchandising including coonskin caps, t-shirts and bubblegum cards had sales of $300 million ($3.5 billion in 2025 dollars). The show's title song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is the only song on Billboard's Top 10 at the same time by three different artists (Bill Hayes, Fess Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford).
Walt Disney originally picked Ebsen to play Crockett, but Disney went to see the sci fi giant ant movie THEM! which starred James Arness to evaluate Arness for the role. In one THEM! scene, Arness played the FBI agent interviewing Fess Parker, who played the Texas pilot committed to a mental hospital after he claimed he saw UFOs that looked like giant ants. Disney was so impressed with Parker, he gave the Davy Crockett role to Parker and switched Ebsen's role to Crockett's sidekick, George Russell.

In Walt Disney's hit DAVY CROCKETT tv miniseries, Fess Parker played Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen played his sidekick, George Russell.

Walt Disney originally picked Ebsen to play Crockett, but he watched the giant ant sci fi movie THEM! starring James Arness to evaluate Arness, but he liked Fess Parker so much he gave the Crockett role to Parker and switched Ebsen's role to Crockett's sidekick, George Russell.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, JULY 24

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER---trailer released for the dark comedy movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.

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FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2---trailer released for the horror movie sequel.

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STAR WARS: MAUL---SHADOW LORD---Lucasfilm posted an image from the Disney+ animated tv series that premiers in 2026.

SUPERMAN---the WALL STREET JOURNAL reported that "a knowledgeable person" claims DC Studios co-head James Gunn is considering spinoffs from SUPERMAN. Among them is a Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) spinoff tv series in which DAILY PLANET reporter Jimmy Olsen investigates various supervillains including Gorilla Grodd. DC has filed trademark applications for "MR. TERRIFIC" and "MISTER MIRACLE".
Also, Gunn commented on why SUPERMAN's foreign box office has been disappointing, “Superman is not a known commodity in some places. He is not a big known superhero in some places like Batman is. That affects things. And it also affects things that we have a certain amount of anti-American sentiment around the world right now. It isn’t really helping us. So I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow.”

LILO & STITCH 2---Chris Sanders is in negotiations to return as the director of the sequel.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY---Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is reportedly the "second lead" in the sequel.

MEGALOPOLIS---Francis Ford Coppola said he will release a new cut of his box office bomb that will be more weird than the original, “It was [originally] more weird. I own the picture, I can do anything I want with it.” Coppola said the original version had a lot of the weird scenes removed “because already people were saying this film was so weird.”

BEETLEJUICE 3---Tim Burton commented on a possible second sequel, “It took 35 years to make the second one, so by that time I’ll be 105. I know those odds are not good. I really, really enjoyed making this one, and [Warner Bros.] didn’t even really want to do it. We did it the same way I did the first one, with the actors doing improv. It was beautiful to see some of the old cast and have Jenna. But it’s like trying to re-create the Wednesday dance scene. I love the characters, but I don’t necessarily see it.”

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE---Netflix co-head Ted Sarandos commented on AI, “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper. So this is real people doing real work with better tools. Our creators are already seeing the benefits in production through pre-visualization and shot planning work, and certainly visual effects."

STICK---Apple TV+ renewed the series for Season 2.

TRIVIA---George C. Scott was nominated for an Academy Award in two movies in which Rod Steiger was originally offered the role. Scott received an Academy Award nomination and won for PATTON after Steiger turned the role down. Steiger later said it was the biggest mistake of his career. A year later, Scott was offered the starring role in THE HOSPITAL, but he wanted $300,000 which the producers thought was too much. The role was then offered to Steiger, who wanted even more money, so the producers gave the role to Scott, who received his second Academy Award nomination in two years.

George C. Scott received an Academy Award nomination and won for PATTON after Rod Steiger turned the role down.

Scott received his second Academy Award nomination in two years for THE HOSPITAL after Steiger wanted too much money.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, JULY 25

SPINAL TAP II: THE END CONTINUES---trailer released for the sequel mockumentary.

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WAR OF THE WORLDS---trailer released for the Amazon Prime movie based on the HG Wells novel and starring Ice Cube and Eva Longoria.

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THE LAST FRONTIER---trailer released for the Apple TV+ thriller tv series starring Jason Clarke.

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PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS---Disney+ trailer released for Season 2.

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AZTEC BATMAN: CLASH OF THE EMPIRES---trailer released for the HBO Max animated movie.

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ELDEN RING---the CIVIL WAR team of director Alex Garland Caillee Spaeny might reunite with Spaeny reportedly in negotiations to co-star in Garland's movie based on the video game.

MURDER, SHE WROTE---Jamie Lee Curtis commented on rumors of a movie based on the murder mystery tv series that starred Angela Lansbury, “Oh, it’s… happening. We’re a minute away, but yeah, [I’m] very excited. Very excited. But I’m tamping down my enthusiasm until we start shooting. I have a couple of other things to hustle, but then I’ll get to enjoy that work.“

STAR WARS: AHSOKA---Season 2 photo shows Jedi Ezra Bridger's new uniform.

THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM SULLIVAN---JT Mollner will direct the Lionsgate movie based on the Stephen King novel.

ROAD HOUSE 2---Ilya Naishuller (NOBODY) is in negotiations to direct the sequel starring Jake Gyllenhaal after Guy Riitchie departed after Doug Liman departed.

RESIDENT ALIEN---USA Network cancelled the tv series.

TRIVIA---Danielle Brisebois is best known for playing Stephanie Mills on ALL IN THE FAMILY. After retiring from acting in the 1980s, she became a songwriter. She co-wrote the song "Lost Stars" from the movie BEGIN AGAIN which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2015.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk2QlYuvglc