Movie/TV News (2 Viewers)

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5

SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW---trailer released for the horror sequel starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiUQp0yM34



THE MANDALORIAN---Walt Disney head Bob Iger announced that Season 2 will premiere in October, 2020 and hinted at a spinoff series, "The priority in the next few years is television with THE MANDALORIAN Season 2 coming in October, and then more coming from THE MANDALORIAN thereafter, including the possibility of infusing it with more characters and the possibility of taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series." Disney+ had an impressive 28.6 million subscribers in three months. Much of this is attributed to THE MANDALORIAN.

RAY DONOVAN---Showtime cancelled the series. Season 7, which ended on January 19, will be the last season.

DOCTOR WHO---Episode 5 had 3.9 million viewers, which makes it the least-watched episode since 1986. The first five episodes of the current season averaged 4.3 million viewers, which is the lowest in franchise history. Fans are blaming star Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall for the show's decline in quality.

SNAKE EYES---Henry Golding posted a photo from the G.I. JOE spinoff movie.

SHRUNK---Walt Disney denied reports that Rick Moranis is in talks to return for the sequel to HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS.

WHITE STORK---Tom Hiddleston stars in this Netflix ten-part miniseries about a member of Parliament whose career is threatened by secrets from his past.

DIE HART---Kevin Hart and John Travolta star in this Quibi comedy series in which Hart intends to become an action star and enrolls in an action star school run by a lunatic.

FIRST LADIES---Showtime series underway about the presidential wives. Season 1 will focus on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama with Viola Davis playing Obama.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET---Elijah Wood's attempt to reboot the 1984 horror movie has run into copyright obstacles, but he commented on his reboot plans, “You have to bring Robert Englund back for one more film. I think, especially if you’re going to open up a new franchise and take it in different directions, you have to establish it with him and then you can move on. I don’t think it’s interesting to tell the same story over and over again, we don’t need another origin story of Freddy Krueger, I don’t think it should even really be so much about Freddy.”

MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM---movie underway based on the exorcism novel. Damon Thomas is the director.

FAST & FURIOUS 10---Vin Diesel said the sequel might be in two parts, “And for the fans, should FAST 10 parts one and two be the conclusion, it would be nice for this world to continue for generations to come.”

TRIVIA---Clint Eastwood's hit movie SULLY was based on the true story of US Airways pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who ditched his Airbus A320 airliner in the Hudson River shortly after taking off when a flock of birds collided with the airliner and disabled its engines. There were no fatalities among the 155 people on the airliner.
In 1951, Eastwood, then a 21 year-old Army private, survived his own ditching when the AD-1 Skyraider bomber he was riding in, ran out of fuel and ditched in the water off Point Reyes California. Eastwood had been visiting his parents in Seattle and hitched a ride on the Skyraider for a trip back to Ford Ord, California. Eastwood said, “In those days, you could wear your uniform and get a free flight. On the way back, they had one plane, a Douglas AD, sort of a torpedo bomber of the World War II vintage, and I thought I’d hitch on that. Everything went wrong. Radios went out. Oxygen ran out. And finally we ran out of fuel up around Point Reyes, California, and went in the ocean. So we went swimming. It was late October, November. Very cold water. (I) found out many years later that it was a white shark breeding ground, but I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time or I’d have just died.”

Clint Eastwood directed Tom Hanks in the hit movie SULLY about Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who ditched his crippled airliner in the Hudson River without any fatalities.

Eastwood survived his own ditching in 1951 when the AD-1 Skyraider bomber he was riding in, ran out of fuel and ditched in the the waters off Point Reyes, California.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6---PART 2

TRIVIA---in the STAR TREK episode "Arena", several guest actors also appeared in other episodes. Ted Cassidy provided the voice for the Gorn leader and played Ruk in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and Balok's puppet in "The Corbomite Maneuver".
The male Metron was played by actress Carole Shelyne, who played a female engineer in THE NEXT GENERATION. The Metron's voice was provided by Vic Perrin, who also provided the voice for Nomad in "The Changeling". Perrin played Tharn in "Mirror, Mirror".

In the STAR TREK episode "Arena", Ted Cassidy provided the Gorn's voice.

Cassidy provided the voice for Balok's puppet in "The Corbomite Maneuver".

Cassidy played Ruk in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

Actress Carole Shelyne played the male Metron in "Arena".

Shelyne played a female engineer in THE NEXT GENERATION.

Vic Perrin provided the voice for the Metron and also provided the voice for Nomad in "The Changeling".

Perrin played Tharn in "Mirror, Mirror".

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6---PART 1 (PART 2 is in the reply post below this one).

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS---Sam Raimi is in talks to direct the sequel after Scott Derrickson left for creative reasons. Also, Rachel McAdams is not returning as Dr. Christine Palmer.

MAD MAX: WASTELAND---a rumor claims Warner Bros. has approved the sequel, and filming will start this fall in Australia. Supposedly, Tom Hardy is eager to return for the sequel.

STAR WARS---Walt Disney head Bob Iger said Lucasfilm's STAR WARS theatrical movies will go on hiatus while it concentrates on Disney+ tv series, “On the STAR WARS front… we’re taking a bit of a hiatus in terms of the theatrical release. The priority for STAR WARS in the short-term is going to be… television for Disney+. Then we will have more to say about development of theatrical soon after that.”

THE MATRIX 4---Keanu Reeves was photographed on the film set in front of a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown.

AQUAMAN 2---Warner Bros. is reportedly considering firing Amber Heard from the sequel in response to a fan petition, "Justice for Johnny Depp", after an audio from her therapy session with Depp was leaked. In the audio, Heard says, "I'm sorry that I didn't, uh, uh, hit you across the face in a proper slap, but I was hitting you, it was not punching you. Babe, you're not punched. I don't know what the motion of my actual hand was, but you're fine, I did not hurt you, I did not punch you, I was hitting you." Heard claimed she was the victim of domestic abuse which was the basis for her well-publicized 2016 divorce from Depp. Heard received a $7 million settlement from Depp, which she donated to charitable causes. In 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation after she claimed in a WASHINGTON POST op-ed column that she repeated that she was the victim of domestic abuse.
More than 190,000 fans have signed the petition.

THOR: LOVE & THUNDER---Christian Bale reportedly is in talks to play an intergalactic villain in the sequel.

RAY DONOVAN---showrunner David Hollander said he was surprised at the show's cancellation and commented on plans for the proposed Season 8, "So there were actually two stories to be told: What happened then, really, and how will that impact what happens now? The next step was what happened with Ray and Mickey in the ‘90s, which would have been the creation of Ray Donovan as a character and as a fixer. That’s why we went into such detail to find the right cast. That [flashback] story was a helpful pivot, at least for me creatively. I felt really good about it. And so, that story was going to run directly against the idea of Ray and Mickey now."

 

[The Military Workshop]

[FONT=tvg-sans-serif,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif] [/FONT]Feb. 13 Narcos: Mexico

: Season 2 (Netflix Original) - on top of my list for this month. ​

 

[jazzeum]

A few comments:

Ray Donovan became tiresome; I stopped watching a few years ago.

Star Trek: The Corbomite Maneuver and Arena are some of my favorite episodes, particularly the Corbomite Maneuver.

Keep up the good work!

 

[dragon53]

JAZZEUM:

Thanks, glad you like it.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7

THE VAST OF NIGHT---trailer released for the Amazon Prime sci fi movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEiwpCJqMM0



THE INVISIBLE MAN---trailer released for the Universal Pictures remake movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO_FJdiY9dA



KNIVES OUT---Lionsgate greenlit the Rian Johnson sequel with Daniel Craig returning. Lionsgate also greenlit JOHN WICK 4.

SHACKLETON---Tom Hardy will star in this biomovie about explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton who led three expeditions to Antarctica in the early 1900s. Peter Straughan (TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY) is the writer.

FRIENDS---HBO Max is in negotiations with the cast of the hit series for an unscripted reunion special. Each cast member might be paid $3 million-$4 million for the one hour special.

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS---animated movie underway based on the children's book. Julian Fellowes (DOWNTON ABBEY) wrote the script. Peter Jackson's Weta Digital will do the CGI characters.

SCARFACE---Diego Luna said he is no longer involved with the remake of the 1983 movie that starred Al Pacino. Director Antoine Fuqua is seeking Luna's replacement.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE---Vanessa Kirby confirmed she is returning for sequels 7 and 8.

FANTASTIC FOUR---John Krasinski repeated his wish to play Mr. Fantastic in a possible FANTASTIC FOUR movie, "You’re like, “Do you have any interest in not shattering people’s dreams”? [Laughs] I would love to be in the Marvel universe. I love those movies because they’re fun, but I also think they’re really well done. And certainly a lot of my friends are in those movies. I have no idea what [Marvel] are thinking. But if they are considering me for Mr. Fantastic, continue to considered me because I would love it."

Y: THE LAST MAN---Barry Keoghan has left the lead role of Yorick Brown in the FX series based on the graphic novel.

THE LAST DAYS OF MARILYN MONROE---tv miniseries underway based on the book THE FINAL DAYS OF MARILYN MONROE which will focus on the last few months of the legendary actress, John F. Kennedy and the Mafia.

LILO & STITCH---Walt Disney live-action/CGI remake of the 2002 animated movie is underway for Disney+. Chris Sanders is returning for he voice cast.

BRUNO MARS---Walt Disney music-themed movie underway with Bruno Mars writing the original music. No plot details were released.

TRIVIA---in the sci fi movie THE FINAL COUNTDOWN (Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen), the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz enters a time warp and is sent back in time near the Japanese fleet as it launches the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that brings the United States into World War II. The Nimitz sailor who hears a World War II radio newscast about World War II and thinks it is really World War III is the producer, Peter Douglas. He is the son of the star, Kirk Douglas.

In the sci fi movie THE FINAL COUNTDOWN, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz enters a time warp that sends it back into time as the Japanese fleet begins to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that brings the United States into World War II.

The Nimitz sailor who hears a World War II radio newscast about World War II and thinks it is really World War III is the producer, Peter Douglas. He is the son of the star, Kirk Douglas.

 

[marco55]

Look to be a couple of good ones.
Mark

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10

STAR WARS---Taika Waititi commented on reports Lucasfilm approached him to direct a future STAR WARS movie, “Listen, what does ‘approached’ even mean? I’ve seen STAR WARS that’s about as far as it got.”

ACADEMY AWARDS---Adam Sandler was awarded the Best Male Lead at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In his acceptance speech, Sandler joked about not getting an Academy Award nomination for UNCUT GEMS, "I'd like to give a shout-out to my fellow nominees, who will forever be known as the guys who lost to f**king Adam Sandler. You know, a few weeks back, when I was snubbed by the Academy, it reminded me when I briefly attended high school and was overlooked for the coveted yearbook superlative category, Best Looking. But my classmates did honor me with the allegedly less-prestigious designation of Best Personality. And tonight, as I look around this room, I realized the Independent Spirit Awards are the Best Personality awards of Hollywood. So, let all those feather-head, douchebags, motherf**kers get their Oscars tomorrow night... Their handsome good looks will fade in time, while our independent personalities will shine on forever!"

ELVIS PRESLEY---Maggie Gyllenhaal will play Elvis' mother in the untitled biomovie that also stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

THE THICKET---Noomi Rapace and Sophia Lillis will co-star with Peter Dinklage in this movie based on the novel about a young Texas man who recruits a bounty hunter and unsavory characters to rescue his sister who was kidnapped by the killer Cut Throat Bill and his gang.

SAMARITAN---Javon Walton (EUPHORIA) will co-star with Sylvester Stallone in this movie about a boy who seeks to find out if a superhero, who vanished 20 years before, is still alive.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS---Michael Waldron (LOKI) will rewrite the original script.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE---Ryan and Andy Tohill (THE DIG) will direct the Legendary Pictures reboot of the 1974 Tobe Hooper movie.

BATGIRL---Kaitlyn Dever (UNBELIEVABLE) did not deny rumors that she is a candidate to star in the movie and might play Batgirl in THE BATMAN starring Robert Pattinson.

MONSTER MASH---Universal Pictures movie musical underway based on the 1962 hit song "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett.

CHUCKY---Jennifer Tilley confirmed she is returning for the Syfy tv series, I’m so excited. Chucky is very near and dear to my heart. All over the world, everywhere I go, I step off a plane to a country I didn’t even know existed, and they know one word, and that word is ‘Chucky,’ and they want a hug. Don Mancini, who created Chucky 30 years ago, is the writer on this series, so it’s the original Chucky. A little bird told me that I am going to be a part of it.”

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE---Christopher McQuarrie commented on Tom Cruise's upcoming stunts for sequels 7 and 8, “He’s not going to space, nor does he need to go to space. We’ve figured out three obscene things that he’s doing that I’m terrified of, that make the helicopter chase look like tinker toys. [Tom Cruise is] training and he calls me and describes what he’s doing and I laugh and I cheer, then I hang up and I puke into a bucket. He’s training quite intensely right now.”

SEX EDUCATION---Netflix renewed the series for Season 3.

THE GOOD DOCTOR---ABC renewed the series for Season 4.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
In the original CASINO ROYALE, Jacqueline Bisset and Tracy Reed both played two different characters. Bisset played SMERSH assassin Miss Goodthighs and a spectator in Orson Welles's scene. Reed played the Fang leader and a another spectator, next to Bisset, in Welles's scene.

In the original CASINO ROYALE, Jacqueline Bisset played SMERSH assassin Miss Goodthighs.

Bisset played a spectator (far right) behind Orson Welles, and Reed played the spectator in the pink dress next to Bisset.

Tracy Reed played the Fang leader.

Reed played the spectator in the pink dress in Welles's scene.

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11

THE HUNT---trailer released for the delayed movie starring Hillary Swank.

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



LITTLE AMERICA---Sylvester Stallone will star in this movie set in a dystopian future where an ex-Army Ranger is hired by an Asian billionaire to find his missing daughter in Little America, a walled-off part of Hong Kong where Americans have fled after the US collapsed. He is helped by the missing girl's combat-skilled sister. Rowan Athale (STRANGE BUT TRUE) is the writer/director. Michael Bay is the producer.

EVEL KNIEVEL---a rumor claims Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star in the Paramount Pictures Evel Knievel biomovie based on the book EVEL KNIEVEL ON TOUR. Terence Winter (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET) will write the script.

THE ROCKETEER 2---Azia Squire (BOOMERANG) will rewrite the script for the Disney+ movie sequel to the 1991 movie that starred Billy Campbell. The synopsis for the original script said, "young African-American female pilot who tries to stop an evil rocket scientist from stealing jetpack technology during a pivotal moment in the Cold War." JD Dillard (SLEIGHT) has volunteered to direct the sequel.

PARASITE---Mark Ruffalo is in talks to star in the HBO miniseries based on the Academy Award-winning South Korean movie.

CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION----CBS is in talks to develop a limited run revival of the hit tv series in time for its 20th anniversary on October 6. Jason Tracey (ELEMENTARY) is the writer. William Petersen and Jorja Fox reportedly have been approached about returning for the revival. The original series ran on CBS from 2000-2015.

ACADEMY AWARDS---the 2020 Academy Awards drew 23.6 million viewers, the lowest audience since tracking began in 1974.

BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN---Warner Bros. has changed the movie's title to HARLEY QUINN: BIRDS OF PREY after the movie brought in a disappointing $33 million. The original projection was up to $55 million.

CLUE---James Bobin (MUPPETS MOST WANTED) is in talks to direct the Ryan Reynolds remake of the 1985 comedy move based on the board game. Jason Bateman departed due to a schedule problem.

TURNER & HOOCH---Josh Peck will star in the Disney+ tv series based on the 1989 Tom Hanks comedy cop movie.

URBAN LEGEND---Screen Gems remake underway of the 1998 college slasher movie. Colin Minihan (WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE) is the writer/director.

TRIVIA---the top ten list of the most-killed movie actors.

1. Danny Trejo---65
2. Christopher Lee---60
3. Lance Henriksen---51
4. Vincent price---41
5. Dennis Hopper---41
6. Boris Karloff--41
7. John Hurt---39
8. Bela Lugosi---36
9. Tom Sizemore---36
10. Eric Roberts---35

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12

THE WALKING DEAD---trailers released hinting at Michonne's exit and preview of Season 10.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHEsK5jdm_s

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AYZcuArwKk



THE FRENCH DISPATCH---trailer released for the Wes Anderson comedy movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcPk2p0Zaw4



THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN---sources say John Krasinski (A QUIET PLACE) is interested in directing the Universal Pictures reboot of its classic 1935 horror movie and is, "quietly exploring ways to reimagine the skunk-haired creature for the cineplex ... [tinkering] with an iteration of Bride and other Universal characters." Some sources said Angelina Jolie is still attached to the reboot, but other sources said she is no longer interested in it. Producer Amy Pascal (LITTLE WOMEN) has talked to David Koepp about writing the script.

SHRUNK---Rick Moranis and director Joe Johnston have signed to return for the Disney+ reboot of HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS which stars Josh Gad.

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE---20th Century movie underway based on the Agatha Christie novel. The writers are Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel (CAPTAIN MARVEL, SEBERG).

STAR WARS---Taika Waititi talked about directing a future STAR WARS movie, "I think people see me hanging out with people, especially with STAR WARS, and think I’m having some big discussions about it. I would f—ing love to... If it was right. I would want to do any kind of movie if it made sense, and if it felt not like career suicide."
He said about the AKIRA movie, "The whole thing went on hold. We had to keep pushing the dates, and it encroached on the THOR dates, which were immovable. So AKIRA ended up shifting two years down the track … Post-THOR. So I’m not sure if even in two years I’d be — I don’t know what I’m doing in f—ing two days … I think eventually it will happen. I’m just not sure if I’ll be doing it."

KNIVES OUT 2---Rian Johnson confirmed Daniel Craig is returning for the sequel which will feature a new cast, “Other than that, all bets are off. It’s a totally new cast.”

LADY SIF---Jaimie Alexander was asked if she can really ride a horse and wield a sword at the same time, "I might have to do that again in the future." When asked if that meant she is returning for a future Marvel project, she said she would, "cease to exist" if she confirmed anything. Her comments led to fan speculation that Alexander might appear in THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER and/ or LOKI.
Also, Gugu Mbatha-Raw will co-star in LOKI in an undisclosed role.

CASSIAN ANDOR---Diego Luna talked about the untitled Disney+ tv series that is a prequel to ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, “We are doing it this year, it’s happening, and I’m getting ready for it. It is really cool to tell a story where you already know the ending. It is a different approach because of the beauty and it’s how things happen. It’s not just what happens. It’s not the typical way of approaching a story. It’s about how things happen, which in fact, is the same that happened in ROGUE ONE. You know the ending, but you don’t know how it happened, and we have that challenge in front of us again, which is exciting.”

CARRIER---Amblin Entertainment sci fi movie underway based on the podcast about a female truck driver who protects her mysterious cargo from attacks by various groups. Cynthia Ervo returns as the truck driver.

WOLF---George MacKay (1917) and Lily-Rose Depp, Johnny Depp's daughter, will star in this movie about a home of young people who think they are really animals. Nathalie Biancheri (NOCTURNAL) is the writer/director.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN---Michael Chernus and Sam Richardson will star in this movie based on the video game.

PORGY AND BESS---MGM movie underway based on the George Gershwin opera. Dee Rees is the writer/director.

TRIVIA---in TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER, ex-Chief Inspector Dreyfus is in therapy with his psychiatrist, Dr. Longet, when he receives a phone call telling him that Chief Inspector Clouseau's airplane is missing. Dr. Longet is played by Ronald Fraser, who co-starred in THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX in which an airplane crash-lands in the Libyan desert and the survivors must find a way out.

In TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER, ex-Chief Inspector Dreyfus is in therapy with his psychiatrist, Dr. Longet, when he receives a phone call telling him that that Chief Inspector Clouseau's airplane is missing.

Dr. Longet is played by Ronald Fraser, who co-starred in THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX in which an airplane crash-lands in the Libyan desert and the survivors must find a way out. Fraser is shown with Hardy Kruger, Richard Attenborough and George Kennedy.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13

ALADDIN 2---Walt Disney announced the sequel to the 2019 live-action remake is underway. The writers are John Gatins and Andrea Berloff. The original cast is expected to return.

COSMIC SIN---Bruce Willis stars in this sci fi movie about soldiers and scientists who battle an alien invasion of Earth in which the aliens infect humans and use them as host bodies. Corey Large (IT FOLLOWS) is the co-writer/co-director.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG---Jim Carrey has been skewered on social media after his interview with HEAT MAGAZINE's Charlotte Long in which he said she was on his "bucket list".

Long: "In the film, Sonic has a bucket list, I was wondering, after all you've done in your career and in your life, is there anything still left on your bucket list?"

Carrey: "Just you. That's it, it's all done now."

Long (laughing): "I don't know what to say to that."

Carrey: "Just own it."

CROSSFIRE---Sony Pictures movie underway based on the video game.

THE GOONIES---Fox/Amblin Television pilot underway based on the 1985 sci fi movie.

AVENUE 5---HBO renewed the series for Season 2.

THE BACCARAT MADAME---Awkwafina will star in this biomovie about Cheung Yin Sun, the most successful female gambler in history.

V2. ESCAPE FROM HELL---Timur Bekmambetov World War II movie about a Soviet pilot who escapes from a German POW camp by hijacking an airplane. It is billed as, "The first blockbuster movie made entirely in a vertical format".

THE MIGHTY DUCKS---Lauren Graham will star in the Disney+ tv series based on the 1992 comedy movie.

TRIVIA---in the sci fi movie PASSENGERS (Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence), Academy Award-nominated Andy Garcia appears for only 15 seconds in a non-speaking role as Capt. Norris at the end of the movie. Writer Jon Spaihts explained, “The ending of the film is the thing that we adjusted most not just during this production but all the years leading up to it. Sticking this ending was one of the trickiest parts of the film. There was a version where we wondered around the aftermath of their lives a little bit longer and the viewpoint character who took us on that walk was the captain of the ship. So there's a version of that ending where you actually spend a few minutes with that guy silently looking at all the signs of how their lives played out. That's not what ended up on screen, what we have now is an extraordinary highbrow cameo.”

PASSENGERS starred Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.

Academy Award-nominated Andy Garcia appeared for only 15 seconds in a non-speaking role as Capt. Norris at the end of the movie.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14

THE BATMAN---official camera test footage shows the Robert Pattinson in the new Batman suit.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcQW2lb-_vE



STRANGER THINGS---trailer for Season 4 features David Harbour returning. Matt and Ross Duffer said Season 4 will be the, "biggest and most frightening season yet." They added about Harbour returning, “It’s not all good news for our ‘American’; he is imprisoned far from home in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human…and other. Meanwhile, back in the states, a new horror is beginning to surface, something long-buried, something that connects everything.”

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsYMm3OOLRU



INDIANA JONES 5----Harrison Ford confirmed the sequel will start filming, “in about two months” for the premiere on July 9, 2021.

BEE GEES---a British tabloid claims Bradley Cooper is in early talks to play Barry Gibb in the untitled Bee Gees biomovie. Anthony McCarten (BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY) is the writer.

JURASSIC WORLD 3---Jake Johnson and Omar Sy are returning for the sequel.

ELVIS PRESLEY---Rufus Sewell will play Elvis Presley's father, Vernon, in the untitled biomovie starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

DOCTOR WHO---the "Can You Hear Me" episode had 3.8 million viewers which is the worst ratings ever for the Jodie Whitaker/Chris Chibnall episodes and was 22% down from Season 12's premiere.

RAY DONOVAN---Liev Schreiber hinted the cancelled series may be returning, “It seems like your voices have been heard. Too soon to say how or when, but with a little luck and your ongoing support, there will be more Ray Donovan.”

BOSCH---Amazon renewed the series for Season 7 which will be the last season.

LUCIFER---Netflix is in talks to renew the cancelled series for Season 6.

THE MIGHT DUCKS---Emilio Estevez is returning as Gordon Bombay for the Disney+ tv series based on the original movie.

PERFECT---Olivia Wilde will direct the biomovie about Olympic gold medal gymnast Kerri Strug based on her book LANDING ON MY FEET, A DIARY OF DREAMS.

ON THE VERGE---Elisabeth Shue and Julie Delpy will star in this Netflix dramedy about four female friends in their late 40s.

VALENTINE'S DAY TRIVIA---the romantic fantasy movie GHOST was the highest-grossing movie of 1990. Actors who turned down the lead role of Sam Wheat included Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp, Alec Baldwin, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Kline, Mickey Rourke, David Duchovny and Paul Hogan. Writer Bruce Joel Rubin wanted Patrick Swayze to play Sam, but director Jerry Zucker said, "Over my dead body." After Swayze auditioned for the role, Zucker said, “We all had tears in our eyes, right there in the office—and we knew how it ends. I saw a side of Patrick that I never knew existed.”

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17

AMAZING STORIES---trailer released for the Apple TV+ series based on the Steven Spielberg fantasy tv series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sa8EDeb3eQ



PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS---trailer released for the Showtime spinoff series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vbAbdr7B6U



NO TIME TO DIE---rumors claim Rami Malek's Bond Villain, Safin, is really Dr. Julius No, from the first James Bond movie, DR. NO which starred Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No. The trailer showed Safin to have scars, which might be from radiation burns, which Dr. No suffered from. Safin's hands are not shown in the trailer while Dr. No wore gloves to hide his injured hands caused by radiation burns. Safin wears a "Noh mask" in the trailer. Also, the "No" in NO TIME TO DIE may hint that Safin in really Dr. No.
Malek commented on the rumors, “I have to be extremely careful. I can’t really talk about the character. I heard that. Am I? I mean, isn’t that an exciting thing to consider all the way up to the release?”.
He added that, “There is a resurgence of an Ian Fleming influence on this film."

VENOM 2---Tom Hardy posted a photo of Woody Harrelson playing villain Cletus Kasady with his shorter hair.

WESTWORLD---HBO released a poster for Season 3 showing a host prototype decaying in the desert.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK---writer/director Leigh Whannell commented on Kurt Russell's son, Wyatt, playing Snake Plissken in the remake of the 1981 John Carpenter movie, “seems like the obvious thing to win the fans over.”

A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS---Margaret Qualley, daughter of Andie McDowell, will star in this movie based on the horror novel. Scott Cooper is the director.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT---Daniel Bruhl will star in the German language remake of the 1930 World War I movie based on the novel.

THE AUTEUR---Jude Law will star in the Showtime miniseries based on the graphic novel. Taika Waititi is the writer/director.

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE---rumors claim future Marvel projects. Rumor #1 claims Black Knight (Kit Harington) and Sersi (Gemma Chan) are the lead characters in ETERNALS. Rumor #2 claims SECRET INVASION will be a Disney+ tv series connected to CAPTAIN MARVEL 2. Rumor #3 claims Sony Pictures is developing a SPIDER-WOMAN movie and is seeking Alicia Vikander and director Michelle MacLaren. Rumor #4 claims Sony is also developing an AGENTS OF ATLAS movie which will be a follow-on to SHANG CHI.

CATS---the movie musical brought in $73 million globally. It needed at least $250 million to break even.

REVELATION---Mark Hamill, Lena Headey and Sarah Michelle Gellar lead the voice cast for the Kevin Smith animated tv series that will be a sequel to MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE.

INSATIABLE---Netflix cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
John Wells played two roles in James Bond movies. In the original CASINO ROYALE, he played Q's assistant. In FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, he played Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's husband, Denis, during the movie's amorous ending with James Bond (Roger Moore) and Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet).

John Wells played Q's assistant in the original CASINO ROYALE with Peter Sellers.

Wells played Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's husband, Denis, in the amorous ending with Bond (Roger Moore) and Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet).

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18

STAR WARS IX: DUEL OF THE FATES---highlights of Colin Trevorrow's cancelled sequel include the following.
The sequel begins with the First Order having crushed most of the Resistance except for a few hundred survivors.
Kylo Ren is disfigured by a holocron intended for Darth Vader which increases his turn to the Dark Side and forces him to don a new mask made of Mandalorian metal.
Rey, Poe, Rose and Finn steal a Star Destroyer and head to the planet Korilev, the temporary home for the Resistance. Korilev is then destroyed by pursuing Star Destroyers.
Rey and Poe search for Force Sensitive children on the planet Bonadan and kiss in order to blend in with natives as Stormtroopers search for them.
Kylo trains with Tor Valum, the Sith Lord who trained Palpatine. Tor teaches Kylo how to use the Force to kill by draining the life force. Kylo then kills Tor by draining his life force.
Kylo tells Rey that he and the Knights of Ren were searching for Force Sensitive children, and they killed her parents when they refused to give her up.
Finn and Lando Calrissian liberate the planet of Coruscant, headquarters for the First Order, which leads to Gen. Hux committing seppuku by impaling himself on a lightsaber.
Kylo and Rey duel with Kylo draining Rey's light force when Leia senses it and pleads with Kylo to return home. Kylo spares Rey's life by draining his own life force to heal Rey.
The sequel ends in the future with Rey, who has abandoned her Jedi principles, and now teaches her duality to Force Sensitive children.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER---Harrison Ford gave a tongue-in-cheek comment about returning as a Force ghost in the sequel, “A Force ghost? I don’t know what a Force ghost is…Don’t tell anyone. I’m not talking loud enough for your recorder. I have no f*cking idea what a Force ghost is. And I don’t care!”
Ford gave a serious explanation for his cameo, “When JJ asked me to do it, I said, ‘Are you kidding? I’m dead!’ He said, ‘Sorta dead. You can do this.’ He hadn’t written anything at that time. But he said, ‘This is going to be great.’ So I said okay. If JJ asked you do something, you’d probably do it too. He’s a very persuasive guy. It was a useful addition to the story and the continuing development of Adam Driver’s character. And the chance to do another scene with Adam was great.”

THE MANDALORIAN---WWE star Sasha Banks will appear in Season 2, but it is not known if she is a guest star or a permanent cast member.

THE SAINT---Paramount Pictures reboot movie based on the novel that inspired the Roger Moore tv series and 1997 Val Klimer movie. Dexter Royal (ROCKETMAN) is the director.

EXTRACTION---photo released from the Netflix /Russo brothers movie about a mercenary who tries to rescue a boy kidnapped by drug lords. Chris Hemsworth and David Harbour star.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA---Ron Moore talked about the NBC Peacock/Sam Esmail (MR. ROBOT) reboot of his own reboot of BATTLESTAR GALACTIC, “Sam called me and was very gracious, he didn’t pitch me the story so I don’t know. But he said his plans and he wasn’t going to re-start the show and recast it but he wanted to do something in the same universe. Sam’s amazing and I love ‘Mr. Robot.’ I was like, you know, ‘You’re an amazing guy and amazing writer, go with god!'” The Peacock streamed series will be set in the same universe as Moore's Syfy series.
Moore also commented on a possible OUTLANDER spinoff series, “We are definitely talking about it, there’s nothing official but we’re in conversations about it.”

COCAINE HIPPOS---Netflix comedy movie about a group of friends who seek the lost treasure of murdered drug lord Pablo Escobar and encounter crooks, other drug lords and Escobar's deadly pet hippos. Jermaine Fowler stars.

THE LIFE AHEAD---Sophia Loren stars in this Netflix movie as a Holocaust survivor who takes in the young boy who tried to steal from her where they become an unconventional family.

GREMLINS: SECRET OF THE MOGWAI---Joe Dante talked about the HBO Max animated tv series, “Yeah, I’m consulting on it. It’s good. It’s going to be good, yeah. I’m very pleased with the way it’s going. It’s a prequel. It goes back to the character Mr. Wing when he was a boy, and when he first discovered the Mogwai. It’s set in China in the ’20s, and it’s animated and it’s very big in the sense that if you tried to shoot it as a theatrical film, it would be outrageously expensive. But in animation, you kind of get away with almost anything you can think of."

RAPUNZEL---Walt Disney Pictures live-action movie underway with Ashleigh Powell as the writer.

TRIVIA---Boris Sagal directed the sci fi movie THE OMEGA MAN (Charlton Heston) and the tv miniseries MASADA (Peter O'Toole). Sagal's daughter is Katey Sagal (MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN).
Sagal was directing the tv miniseries WORLD WAR III (David Soul) when he was decapitated by a helicopter rotor blade. Sagal also directed the pilot for the tv series COMBAT! (Vic Morrow). Ironically, Morrow was also decapitated by a helicopter blade while filming TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.

Boris Sagal directed THE OMEGA MAN starring Charlton Heston.

Sagal directed the tv miniseries MASADA starring Peter O'Toole and Barbara Carrera.

Sagal's daughter is Katey Sagal (MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN).

Sagal was decapitated by a helicopter rotor blade while directing the tv miniseries WORLD WAR III starring David Soul, Rock Hudson and Cathy Lee Crosby.

Sagal directed the tv pilot for COMBAT! starring Vic Morrow.

Ironically, Morrow was also decapitated by a helicopter rotor blade while filming TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. The photo below shows the wrecked UH-1 helicopter which killed Morrow and two child actors.

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19

THE WALKING DEAD---first few minutes of the Season 10 premiere episode released and a sneak peak trailer.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRlVtf6W6bI

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAz6BdfLG8



THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA---trailer released for the HBO alternate history miniseries.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwMwrft7So8



ROMMEL---Roland Emmerich said he wants to follow his World War II MIDWAY with a World War II biomovie about German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, “[He was] a guy who started as a military teacher, then was handpicked by Hitler to kind of become the guy who runs his personal security force, and then ends up being this kind of amazing battle commander in Africa.
And then at the end, he ends up kind of being against Hitler, and being part of people who want to assassinate him. It’s just an incredible journey of one man. On top of that he comes from an area where I came from, so that’s a little something which I’ve always been drawn to.”

THE BATMAN---Ben Affleck explained why he did not return as Batman, “I drank relatively normally for a long time. What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems… the biggest regret of my life is this divorce.”
He added, “I showed somebody THE BATMAN script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went though again.”'

REMOTE CONTROL---Gerard Butler stars in this movie about a security consultant who is framed by the secret organization "212" as being international assassin Julian Irvin. He teams up with his ex-lover as they flee 212, the CIA and various assassins to prove his innocence.

WHO KILLED NICOLE?---the Amazon Prime documentary by Norman Pardo, OJ Simpson's friend and ex-business associate, claims Simpson did not kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Pardo claims a convoluted plot involving Nicole's drug habits and blackmail led to her death. OJ's future attorney, Robert Kardashian, hired hit man Willam Wasz to kill Nicole after OJ had an affair with his then-wife, Kris Jenner. Pardo claims Nicole and Goldman were really killed by Glen Rogers, Nicole's ex-lover, who later became known as the serial killer "The Cross Country Killer".

THE AUTEUR---Showtime' released the synopsis for the Jude Law miniseries based on the graphic novel, “Based on the graphic novel by Rick Spears, James Callahan and Luigi Anderson, The Auteur is described as a gonzo horror-comedy, a twisted romance and a glamorous, high wire act of biting satire. In it, desperate to make a great horror movie after a massive bomb, a film producer accidentally traps his production on a backlot with a serial killer.”

JURASSIC WORLD 3---Dichen Lachman (ALTERED CARBON) has joined the sequel cast in an undisclosed role.

MULAN---the movie is the first of Walt Disney's live-action remakes of its classic animated movies to receive a PG-13 rating.

THE PORTABLE DOOR---Christoph Waltz and Guy Pearce will star in this Jim Henson Company adventure comedy movie based on the novel series.

PAINKILLER---Netflix eight-part miniseries about the opiate crisis in America. Peter Berg is the director.

HALSTON---Netflix miniseries starring Ewan McGregor as fashion designer Halston.

EXTERMINATE ALL THE BRUTES---HBO/Raoul Peck four-part miniseries about European colonialism. Josh Hartnett stars.

TRIVIA---in the World War II romance movie HANOVER STREET, four actors, Harrison Ford, Shane Rimmer, John Ratzenberger and William Hootkins, also appeared in a STAR WARS movie.

In HANOVER STREET, Harrison Ford played B-25 bomber pilot Lt. David Halloran.

Ford played Han Solo in five STAR WARS movies.

In HANOVER STREET, Shane Rimmer played Lt. Halloran's commanding officer, Col. Ronald Bart.

In STAR WARS, Rimmer played the InCom Engineer.

In HANOVER STREET, John Ratzenberger played Lt. Halloran's engineer/turret gunner, Sgt. John Lucas (front row, right).

In THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Ratzenberger played Maj. Bren Derlin.

In HANOVER STREET, William Hootkins played B-25 bomber pilot "Beef".

In STAR WARS, Hootkins played X-Wing starfighter pilot Jek Tono Porkins.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20

DON'T LOOK UP---Jennifer Lawrence will star in this Netflix/Adam McKay comedy movie about two astronomers who go on a national media blitz to warn that an approaching asteroid will destroy the Earth.

THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL---after President Trump pardoned ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, financier Michael Milken and ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerk, Mark Hamill asked Trump to pardon the infamous 1978 THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL.

DOCTOR WHO---showrunner Chris Chibnall confirmed he is returning for Season 3, "I do know I’m coming back for a third season. Yeah, absolutely. We are already planning the stories. Once you see the end of this series, you’ll realize there are some stories we’re already setting in train for next series. We have very big, ambitious plans for our third series together.”
Season 12 has a record-low Rotten Tomatoes score of only 17%. The last episode, "The Haunting of Villa Diodati", drew a near-record low 3.86 million viewers.

STEVEN SPIELBERG---Steven Spielberg's 23 year-old adopted daughter, Mikaela, said she is a porn star and has posted her videos on PornHub, "I also just got tired of working day to day in a way that wasn't satisfying to my soul. I feel like doing this kind of work, I'm able to 'satisfy' other people, but that feels good because it's not in a way that makes me feel violated." Mikaela temporarily removed her videos from PornHub because she has filed to register as a sex worker (stripper) in Tennessee, where she lives. Mikaela said her parents are "intrigued" by her porn career and added, “I actually think that once they see how far I’ve come from the bottom I was at a year and a half ago, they’re going to look at this and go, ‘Wow, we actually raised a really self-assured young lady.’ ”

JURASSIC WORLD 3---Chris Pratt compared the upcoming sequel to AVENGERS: ENDGAME, "It’s got everybody. It’s got pretty much everybody in it. Maybe I just blew it, but I don’t care. All the cast from the original JURASSIC PARK is coming back. It’s going to feel very much like how ENDGAME brought everything together for Marvel.”

PLANET OF THE APES---director Wes Ball denied rumors his movie will be a reboot of the franchise, “It’s never been easier for film journalists to actually get in touch with the actual people who actually know… but maybe it’s the point to NOT fact-check these days? Regardless. Don’t worry. I won’t ruin the surprises, but it’s safe to say Caesar’s legacy will continue.”

MEMORY---Liam Neeson will star in this remake of the Dutch movie MEMORY OF A KILLER in which a top assassin who is pursued by other assassins and the FBI after he refuses to complete a hit for a criminal organization. Martin Campbell (CASINO ROYALE) is the director.

AURORA---Megan Fox stars in this sci fi movie about a female astronaut who is endangered by solar flare shock waves.

SUMO---Armando Iannucci comedy movie about an overweight kid, an ex-Sumo female janitor and a friendless building manager who team up to train for the US Sumo Open.

DOC SAVAGE---Sony Pictures Television tv series underway based on the pulp hero.

INDEPENDENCE DAY 3---director Roland Emmerich has apparently changed his mind about a second sequel after the disappointing INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE. He was asked if a new sequel might be in the future, “Yeah, absolutely. I have actually a great idea for a sequel.”

FLASH CRASH---Dev Patel will star in this movie based on the upcoming book about Navinder Singh Sarao, who beat the stock market and made millions which led to him being sent to prison for stock market spoofing and the resulting 2010 Flash Crash.

BOUNDLESS---Amazon four-part miniseries underway about the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano to prove the Earth is not flat. Simon West (LAURA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER) is the director.

THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR---Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd will star in the comedy series based on the podcast.

TRIVIA---British actor James Robertson Justice narrated the opening of two movies, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (in which he also co-starred) and the Red Skelton segment in THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES.

James Robertson Justice narrated the opening of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and also played Commodore Jensen, the commanding officer of Captain Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck).

Justice narrated the opening Red Skelton sequence in THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21

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

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJbFA32_QY



THE MANDALORIAN---featurette released for the virtual technology used in the tv series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk&t=8s



THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF A MASSIVE TALENT---Nicolas Cage commented on the movie about two fictionalized versions of himself, past and present, who is trying to get a role in a Quentin Tarantino movie and his strained relationship with his teenage daughter, “It’s a stylized version of me, and the fact I even have to refer to myself in the third person makes me extremely uncomfortable. There are many scenes in the movie where modern or contemporary – here we go – ‘Nic Cage’ and then young ‘Nic Cage’ are colliding and arguing and battling it out. It’s an acrobatic approach to acting.”
He added, “I don’t like to look back. But this movie kind of pushes it all back in my face. I’m probably going to have to look at a couple of the movies from the past again because I think we’re gonna have to reenact some of those sequences. It’s like walking through a CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI version of CON AIR and FACE/OFF."

CUS AND MIKE---Anthony Hopkins will play Cus D'Amato, Mike Tyson's trainer in this biomovie. Nick Cassavetes is the director and co-writer.

GASLIT---Watergate scandal tv series underway based on the SLOW BURN podcast. Sean Penn will play Attorney General John Mitchell. Julia Roberts will play Martha Mitchell. Armie Hammer will play John Dean. Joel Edgerton will play G. Gordon Liddy.

MY ONLY SUNSHINE---comedy movie about a married couple in counseling who rob a bank, take hostages and must deal with a police hostage negotiator. JK Simmons will play the police hostage negotiator. John Cusack in talks to play the the husband.

STARGATE---Roland Emmerich confirmed MGM's reboot of the 1994 sci fi movie, but he said he will have little involvement in it, "No, not really anymore. Yes, I'm involved, but also not. Because I have so many other things to do. I have, like, two or three other projects I want to do and they're kind of more important than - I think somebody else has to do that. MGM is trying."

ALPHAS---Sam Worthington is in negotiations top star in this movie with the following synopsis, “When the local Great White population spirals out of control, environmentalist Gavin McDade (Sam Worthington) is tasked with finding a natural solution to the shark problem. He tracks down the owner of a nearby Killer Whale sanctuary, whose career as an Orca trainer was cut short when she was attacked by the star of her own show.
She reluctantly agrees to reintroduce a pod of juvenile Orcas into the same waters to drive out the sharks. However, they soon realize there’s a female alpha Great White lurking beneath the surface capable of destroying them all.
With nowhere else to turn and with his rebellious sister’s surf competition quickly approaching, Gavin must convince the former trainer to unleash the same creature that nearly killed her in what will become the greatest battle of apex predators the oceans have ever seen.”

BEAST---Morena Baccarin stars in this movie about a woman, the sole survivor of a plane crash on a remote South Pacific island, in which, “She must fight to get back to her children, face her inner demons and a real threat of unimaginable proportions,”

BADLANDS---Eli Roth will direct the Lionsgate movie based on the video game.

THE WITCHER---Kristofer Hivju (GAME OF THRONES) will play Nivellen and Paul Bullion (PEAKY BLINDERS) will play Lambert in Season 2.

THE BLACKLIST---NBC renewed the series for Season 8.

MINX---HBO Max comedy pilot in which a 1970s Los Angeles feminist and a low-rent publisher team up to to publish the first erotic magazine for women.

FAMILY JEWELS---Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler star in this comedy movie about three women and their families, who spend Christmas together after the man they were married to, dies.

TRIVIA---Anthony Hopkins won an Academy Award for playing Hannibal Lecter in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and Jonathan Demme received an Oscar for Best Director. But according to the movie's writer, Ted Tally, Gene Hackman almost was the star and director of the movie after he bought the movie rights to the novel, "I was the first writer on the job. Hackman gave me his approval finally after a lot of discussion. He didn’t have much input. We only had meetings where I pitched my ideas. It was basically, go write the first draft. We didn’t talk much about it. He hadn’t decided whether he was going to also try to play Lecter, while directing it. He thought he might have to drop back to playing Crawford, the FBI boss. He did say, maybe Bobby will play Lecter, but I didn’t have the nerve to ask, Bobby who? Bobby Duvall? Bobby Redford? Bobby De Niro? He just assumed that I would know who Bobby was. And then he quit, while I was writing my first draft. He never called me. I just heard one day from my agent, Gene Hackman’s dropped out of the project."
Bob Bookman, who brokered the novel deal, said, "I get a call from Fred saying, you won’t believe this. Gene Hackman’s daughter read the book. And she called her father and said, ‘Daddy, you’re not making this movie.’ So, Gene called Arthur, told him what happened. Arthur said, ‘Don’t worry Gene, I’ll buy out your half.’ That’s how Orion got the rights."
Jonathan Demme said, "God bless Gene Hackman’s daughter, if that’s true, and that’s what I’ve always heard. God bless her."

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24

A QUIET PLACE PART II---new trailer and featurette released for the sequel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYni0VNwaCE

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18mdqH3Lxg



WESTWORLD---new trailer released for Season 3.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nci1wH4QDVU



THE WALKING DEAD---trailer released for the next episode.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF_0MjwxERk



STAR WARS---Lucasfilm announced that director JD Dillard (SLEIGHT) and writer Matt Owens (LUKE CAGE) will develop a new STAR WARS movie. It was not announced if it will be a theatrical or Disney+ tv movie.

JURASSIC WORLD 3---Joseph Mazello, who co-starred in the original JURASSIC PARK, tweeted a hint that he might be returning for the latest sequel, "I think it's time to get back to work. What do you say gang?"

THE GOOD NURSE---Netflix is in negotiations to acquire the movie starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain which tells the true story of serial killer nurse Charlie Cullen, the "Angel of Death", who killed almost 300 patients.

SHEELA---Priyanka Chopra will star in this Barry Levinson/Amazon movie about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, who was sent to prison after her involvement in a 1984 bio-terrorist attack in Oregon in 1984.

RIVERDALE---Skeet Ulrich and Marisol Nichols are leaving the series after Season 4.

ATYPICAL---Netflix renewed the series for Season 4 which will be the last season.

THE CHAIR---Sandra Oh and Jay Duplass star in this Netflix dramedy series about the chair of an English Department at a major university.

LULLABY---Oona Chaplin stars in this horror movie about a new mother who discovers an ancient lullaby which brings out the ancient demon Lilith.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
Joe Don Baker and Charles Gray are the only two actors to play a Bond Villain and a Bond ally in franchise history. Baker played Bond Villain Brad Whitaker in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, and he played Bond ally CIA agent Jack Wade in GOLDENEYE and TOMORROW NEVER DIES. Charles Gray played Bond Villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of SPECTRE, in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, and he played British intelligence operative Dikko Henderson in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

Joe Don Baker played Bond Villain Brad Whitaker in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, Timothy Dalton first James Bond movie.

Baker played Bond ally CIA agent Jack Wade in GOLDENEYE, Pierce Brosnan's first James Bond movie, and TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

Charles Gray played Bond Villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of SPECTRE, in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, in which Sean Connery returned as James Bond.

Gray played British intelligence operative Dikko Henderson in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25

INDIANA JONES 5---Harrison Ford said the latest sequel must have the quality of a Marvel Studios movie, “I don’t really want to give them what they want to see, I want to give them something they didn’t anticipate. They are used to a degree of disappointment when you revisit. Certainly, the Marvel movies have made a spectacular example of a success of worked the other way around, they killed it! Well, we’re not going to make another Indiana Jones unless we are in a position to kill it. We want it to be the best. We’ve got some scheduling issues and a few script things to do but we are determined to get it right before we get it made.”

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS---Chris Evans in in talks to play sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello, who was played by Steve Martin in the 1986 movie.

DOCTOR WHO---viewership declined for the fourth consecutive week with the "Ascension of the Cyberman" episode drawing only 3.7 million viewers which is barely above the franchise record low of 3.7 million viewers for the 1986 episode "The Mysterious Planet". BBC drama chief Piers Wenger was asked if it is time to give the series a rest amidst the declining ratings and much fan criticism, “I worked on DOCTOR WHO myself and produced it for many years and I can honestly say I don’t think it’s been in better health editorially. The production values have never been better. It’s also not just funded by the BBC, it’s funded by lots of international partners."
He added, “It’s an incredibly important show for young audiences, it’s still watched by families in a world where there are fewer shows that have the power to do that. It will always be an important show for us and we’re a very long way from wanting to rest it.”

THE MISTER---Universal Pictures bought the movie rights to the new EL James (FIFTY SHADES OF GREY) novel which is about a wealthy British aristocrat who falls in love with his Albanian housekeeper, who is being pursued by human traffickers.

DIANE WARREN---Paramount Pictures is developing a drama movie based on new and old songs written by Diane Warren, whose songs have appeared in MANNEQUIN, CON AIR, PEARL HARBOR, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL and PATCH ADAMS.

SUPERHEROES---Liam Neeson said he is not interested in returning to superhero movies after appearing in BATMAN BEGINS, “I’m really not a huge fan of the genre. I think it’s Hollywood with all the bells and whistles and the technical achievements and stuff – which I admire – but I have no desire to go into the gym for three hours every day to pump myself up to squeeze into a Velcro suit with a cape.
It’s just not my genre, it really isn’t. The first STAR WARS, I was in that, that was 22 years ago, and I enjoyed that, because it was novel and that was new. I was acting to tennis balls, which were ultimately going to be little fuzzy furry creatures and stuff. That was interesting, acting-wise, to try and make that seem real, but that was the last. It’s quite exhausting.”

THE WALKING DEAD---Chandler Riggs said he thought Carl Grimes would not be killed off in the zombie series, "In the comics, Carl lives until the end. So I didn’t think that Carl’s story would end at any point. I found out when we were doing rehearsals for episode 6 of season 8. I was pretty bummed out at the time, but now I get to go on and do other things. It’s fun, it’s really fun being able to explore other roles and be able to actually audition for films and whatnot. When I was on the show, I was locked into the show. I couldn’t do anything else. So it’s really cool to be able to do other things in the meantime when I’m not working."

THE COUNTRY---Sean William Scott will appear in the Fox/Paul Feig mockumentary remake of the BBC Three series.

TRIVIA---in NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, Riley Poole's Ferrari 430 is seized by the IRS because he did not pay his income taxes. At the end of the movie, his Ferrari is returned by The President with his tax debt forgiven----but the car is a Ferrari 360.

Riley Poole's Ferrari 430 is seized by the IRS.

Poole's Ferrari is returned by The President, but it is a Ferrari 360.