Movie/TV News (3 Viewers)

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7

THE MARVELS---new trailer released for the superhero sequel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmDH12MAA4



SLOW HORSES---trailer released for Season 3.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLVg_D1cznE



THE LONGEST YARD---Paramount Pictures is developing a second remake of the 1974 Burt Reynolds prison football movie. The first remake starred Adam Sandler in 2005.
The new remake's writer/producer is Rodney Barnes (AMERICAN GODS).

ENOLA HOLMES 3---Netflix confirmed the third movie in the franchise is underway with Millie Bobby brown and Henry Cavill returning.

NAPOLEON--- historian Dan Snow criticized the accuracy of NAPOLEON by stating, "Napoleon didn't shoot at the pyramids" and Marie Antoinette's hairstyle at her execution is wrong. Ridley Scott replied to the criticisms, "Get a life.'
Scott added, “You know, I haven’t gotten an Oscar yet. And, if I ever get one, I’ll say, ‘About feckin’ time!'"

DOCTOR WHO---David Tennant commented on returning as Doctor Who after the 60th anniversary specials, "I think it would be disingenuous to imagine that I might never be asked again because history would indicate that it was always a possibility. So, I’m not going to say never because I don’t think anyone would believe me. That doesn’t mean I know that I ever will. But I suppose until I can’t run down a corridor it’s always a possibility. But I promise to have no plans."
He added, "[Referring to Patrick Stewart in STAR TREK]. Maybe that should be my goal, to have one last outing as The Doctor at 82. I’ve got 30 years to wait."

DUNE---the title of the Max tv prequel series has been hanged from DUNE: THE SISTERHOOD to DUNE: PROPHECY.

CHAPELWAITE---Epix cancelled the series, so there will not be a Season 2.

PEANUTS---Apple TV+ is developing an untitled CGI movie about Charlie Brown and Snoopy in the big city with director Steve Martino (THE PEANUTS MOVIE).

THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN---Danny DeVito said he and Billy Crystal are discussing a sequel to the 1987 comedy movie, “Billy and I want to work together again. We were looking at possibly doing THROW POPPA FROM THE TRAIN.” Crystal’s representative confirmed the sequel, “It’s true. They’re still working on it.“
DeVito said he TWINS sequel is dead, but he and Schwarzenegger are talking about a new movie, “We missed TWINS 2, because he became governor—which, he should have done TWINS 2 instead of becoming governor. Now we have a little thing going, a little project that we’ve been chatting about. It’s just two friends, two guys, because we have a good time together. We complement each other in a lot of ways. I am way stronger than he is.“

SVALTA---Lena Headey has left the movie about a family stalked by serial killer on a remote island and has been replaced by Aisling Bea.

TRIVIA---about 120 movie critics recently voted on the best Ridley Scott movie with each critic submitting their top five choices. One critic, who abstained, explained, "Has he even made five good movies?” Another critic, who also abstained, said, “There’s ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER and then what?”

1. ALIEN--94
2. BLADE RUNNER--88
3. THELMA AND LOUISE--67
4. THE MARTIAN--45
5. GLADIATOR--41
6. BLACK HAWK DOWN--29
7. THE DUELISTS--24
8. THE LAST DUEL--18
9. THE COUNSELOR--17
10.MATCHSTICK MEN--13
11. AMERICAN GANGSTER--13
12. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN--11
13. PROMETHEUS--9
14. HANNIBAL--6
15. BLACK RAIN--5
16. GI JANE--4
17. ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD--4
18. LEGEND--3
19. THE HOUSE OF GUCCI--3

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8

GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE---trailer released for the sequel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_6CbpF2FSk


MR. MONK'S LAST CASE: A MONK MOVIE---trailer released for the Peacock movie starring Tony Shalhoub.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krfd3OWb4hs


SHOWDOWN AT THE GRAND---trailer released for the comedy vampire movie starring Dolph Lundgren.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSr-ir9vlc



CANDY CANE LANE---trailer released for the Amazon Prime Christmas movie starring Eddie Murphy.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9d2G3l3UO4



NAPOLEON---photo released from the Napoleon Bonaparte biomovie shows Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine.

MARVEL STUDIOS---Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige commented on rumors that Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) are returning for a new AVENGERS movie, “We did not discuss that and that is the truth. We’re doing a project with Scarlett. I love Robert, he’s part of the family. But in terms of returning, we’ll have to see.”
He also was asked about a live-action reboot X-MEN movie, "Perhaps...soon."
Also, Jeremy Allen White (THE BEAR) said he talked to Marvel about appearing in a superhero movie, "I had a meeting for a Marvel-y movie, and I had an attitude. I think I played it all wrong. 'Tell me about why I should do your movie.' They were like, 'F*ck you' And I was like 'Right on.'"

BJORN OF THE DEAD---Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson will star in this comedy zombie movie as Bjorn, the lead singer for ABBAtoir, an ABBA tribute band, that is performing in a band competition that is attacked by a zombie hoard.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA---Nintendo executive Sigeru Miyamoto said Sony Pictures is developing a live-action movie based on the video game that will be directed by Wes Ball.

STAR WARS---Kevin Feige was asked if he is developing a STAR WARS movie. Feige smiled and said, "No."

IMAGINARY---DeWanda Wise (JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION) will star in this horror movie about a woman and her family who movie into her childhood home and discover an horrific teddy bear.

TRIVIA---in A SHOT IN THE DARK, Italian maid Maria Gambrelli is played by German actress Elke Sommer because Italian Sophia Loren was scheduled to play Gambrelli, but she became ill and was replaced by Sommer.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9

MASTERS OF THE AIR---Apple TV+ trailer released for the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg miniseries about the Eighth Air Force bombing Nazi Germany.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RWohylGm3c



BOOKIE---trailer released for the Max comedy series co-starring Charlie Sheen.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4iP6XmTxvk



PIG KILLER---Red Band trailer released for the serial killer movie starring Jake Busey that is based on a true story.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Hrat-l4Yo



BAD CGI GATOR---trailer released for the comedy monster movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJO4zRy1Iyc



JOHN WICK---director Chad Stahelski said a JOHN WICK tv anime is underway, “So we’re really looking forward to that; we’re really excited about it because we’re doing that and a Japanese anime because I love Japanese anime so much. So to create all the cool stories that anime could achieve better than we could and the tv show to expand our world, we’ll still get our fix, you know what I mean? And we’ll still have all the fun."
He added, “Cause I think, for tv especially, world-building and action, those two have stayed pretty separate. But to try and combine them and give fans [both]? Look, I love the [tv] slow-burn too, but after six episodes, I would like something to happen in my tv shows, you know? So, to try and bring that to tv, what we do with features would be really exciting,”

VINELAND---a rumor claims Leonardo DiCaprio and Regina Hall will star in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie based on the novel whose synopsis says, “She is the daughter of a military family that moves around the world. While in Japan, she is approached by a martial arts instructor who teaches her the secret ways of the ninja, including how to kill with a touch that takes a year to work. She is recruited by mobster Ralph Wayvone to assassinate Brock Vond while posing as a prostitute, but accidentally gives the death touch to Takeshi Fumimota, who has been sent in Vond’s place after the plot was discovered.“

WALT DISNEY---Walt Disney head Bob Iger commented on the company's recent box office failures, “That said, as I looked at our overall output, meaning the studio, it’s clear that the pandemic created a lot of challenges creatively for everybody, including for us. In addition, at the time the pandemic hit, we were leaning into a huge increase in how much we were making and I’ve always felt that quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality. And I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost some focus."
He added, “We’re all rolling up our sleeves, including myself, to do just that. We have obviously great assets, great stories to tell from the assets that we either have or that we purchased. And I feel really optimistic about the slate going forward, which is going to be a balance between some really strong sequels to some very, very popular titles, as well as some good original content, starting with WISH, which comes out Thanksgiving weekend. So I feel good about the direction we’re headed. But I’m mindful of the fact that our performance from a quality perspective wasn’t really up to the standards that we set for ourselves.”

GAME OF THRONES---director Matt Shakman defended DB Weiss and David Benioff for the much-criticized Season 8, “I think those guys are brilliant and I think they finished telling the story they intended to tell. I know that it was divisive, but I would never want to say anything about how they could have done something better.”

DOCTOR WHO---Steven Moffat commented on spinoffs, "It's tough with spinoffs of Doctor Who. I like them, I always have a slight suspicion that the thing that's best about DOCTOR WHO is that Doctor Who's in it. You don't improve a DOCTOR WHO by taking Doctor Who out of it."
He added, "So I don't know. There's loads of things you can do, there's loads of ideas in Doctor Who that are good enough for their own show, that's the truth. The obvious one is UNIT - why did no one just do UNIT?"

OPUS---John Malkovich and Ayo Edebiri will star in this horror movie about a pop star who returns after a decades-long disappearance. Juliette Lewis is in talks to co-star.

TRIVIA---in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, Enterprise security chief, Lt. Tasha Yar, was killed off because Denise Crosby decided to leave THE NEXT GENERATION. Whoopi Goldberg, a Trekkie, wanted to be the Enterprise's new security chief. Producer Rick Berman said, "When Denise Crosby decided to leave the show, we got a call from Whoopi Goldberg saying that she wanted to be considered to take Denise’s role of head of security. But Whoopi wasn’t really the head of security type for us. Gene [Roddenberry] and I sat down and discussed it. 'What a great idea to have a bartender?' To build a bar where people could socialize, and who better than Whoopi to play a bartender, who had some kind of strange, never quite explained, past relationship with Picard."

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10

ORION AND THE DARK---trailer released for the Netflix/Dreamworks Animation movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cScAQ2O26Y4



ELON MUSK---Darren Aronofsky (THE WHALE) will direct the Elon Musk biomovie based on the biography ELON MUSK by Walter Issacson.

COYOTE VS. ACME---Warner Bros. shelved its $70 million CGI/live-action movie starring Will Forte and John Cena and will take a $30 million write-down even though its test screening were "14 points above the family norm" and rumored to be in the "high 90s". Warner Bros. will not try to sell it to other outlets, although, several, including Amazon, have expressed an interest in it. Warner Bros. earlier shelved the $90 million BATGIRL movie.

CLEOPATRA---Denis Villeneuve will reportedly reunite with his DUNE stars Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya for the Sony Pictures Cleopatra biomovie.

DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS---photo and synopsis released for the Hulu murder mystery series starring Mandy Patinkin, "Set amidst the glamor of the global elite, DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS centers on the brilliant and restless Imogene Scott (played by GOD FRIENDED ME‘s Violett Beane), who finds herself in the wrong place/wrong time (okay, it was kinda her fault) and becomes the prime suspect in a locked room murder mystery. The setting? A lavishly restored Mediterranean ocean liner. Suspects? Every pampered guest and every exhausted crew member. The problem? To prove her innocence, she must partner with a man she despises: Rufus Cotesworth (HOMELAND‘s Patinkin), the world’s greatest detective.”

JOHN WICK---Chad Stahelski said he is developing a live-action spinoff that will “explore The High Table… a little bit”. Earlier, he said an anime spinoff is also underway.

SPARTACUS: HOUSE OF ASHUR---Starz spinoff underway with Nick Tarabay returning as Ashur. The spinoff will be an alternative history in which Ashur was not decapitated in SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA---Netflix executive Scott Stuber commented on what books will be featured in the Greta Gerwig two-movie series, “Obviously, THE LION, THE WITCH, and THE WARDROBE is kind of the preeminent one, but there’s such an interesting narrative form [to the NARNIA series] if you read all of them. And so that’s what she’s working on now with [producer] Amy Pascal and trying to figure out how they can break the whole arc of all of it.”

THE ROOKIE: FEDS---ABC cancelled the spinoff and will not proceed with the planned THE GOOD LAWYER.

TRIVIA---for Veterans Day on November 11.
The World War II movie WHERE EAGLES DARE starred Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. It is Steven Spielberg's favorite war movie and was Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.

The World War II movie WHERE EAGLES DARE starred Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

WHERE EAGLES DARE is Steven Spielberg's favorite war movie and was Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.

 

[The Military Workshop]

Good news that might do Sicario 3. One of the previous ones had that great scene where the black SUV's heading to the border back into USA. Great music followed by the shoot out with the trigger happy but suicidal Mexicans gunmen.

How is it possible Ridley Scott does not have an Oscar yet ?

SICARIO 3---producer Molly Smith said she is hopeful that the sequel will reunite the original cast of Benecio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin, “Our idea is to get the cast back together with Benicio, Emily, and Josh, and we’ve got a great story to tell…Benicio, by nature of just working with us most recently, has been probably the closest to it at the moment.”

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13

REBEL MOON: PART ONE---trailer released for the Zack Snyder/Netflix sci fi movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhr3MzT6exg



DAMSEL---teaser trailer released for the Netflix fantasy series starring Millie Bobby Brown.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eN_AGX8GXk



TERMINATOR: THE ANIME SERIES---teaser trailer released for the Netflix anime series based on the movie franchise.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KedFX1pn2kA



DEAD BOY DETECTIVES---trailer released for the Netflix supernatural series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bGICMgXEn0



TERRIFIER 3---teaser trailer released for the horror sequel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8hGx8Rd8L8



THE MARVELS---the sequel bombed after earning only $110.3 million worldwide which is 70% lower than CAPTAIN MARVEL and makes it the lowest-grossing Marvel movie ever. David A. Gross, head of movie consulting firm Franchise Research Entertainment, said THE MARVELS is, “an unprecedented Marvel box-office collapse.”

JOHN WICK 5---Lionsgate head Joe Drake said JOHN WICK 5 and more spinoffs are underway, “On the WICK side we got multiple spin-offs and a WICK 5. We started to work on (it) right when the writer’s strike started and we’ve gotten back to work as soon as it ended.” Director Chad Stahelski added, “We have ideas for days. We just don’t have a story locked. Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story.”

DOCTOR WHO---the BBC released a photo of David Tennant and a Dalek from the 60th anniversary specials.

FERRARI---at the Cameraimage Film Festival in Poland, an attendee asked Adam Driver about the car crash scenes, “What do you think about [the] crash scenes? That they looked pretty harsh, drastic and I must say cheesy for me. What do you think?” Driver replied, “F*ck you, I don’t know. Next question.”

COYOTE VS. ACME---Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly has reversed its decision to not shop the shelved movie to other outlets after a strong online outcry from fans. The studio denied earlier reports that the movie had strong screen tests, and it movie “actually didn’t test that well”.

THE OFFICE---creator Greg Daniels denied rumors of a reboot, "I don’t like to think of anything as a reboot, you know what I mean? Because I feel like we ended that story beautifully. The characters had closure. I would never want to redo that same show with a different cast, because I think we got the luckiest cast, the best cast ever, in TV, to do that show. So the notion of a reboot is not of interest."
He did say a spinoff is possible, “The notion of maybe something like the way THE MANDALORIAN is a new show in the STAR WARS universe, you know what I mean? Something like the notion of this documentary crew doing a documentary about a different subject. That, I think, could be intriguing and creative. But I don’t even know what you would call that. I don’t know if that’s like a sister show or something. I don’t know what the term is. But it doesn’t feel like ‘reboot’ would be the appropriate term for that.”

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
Monica Belluci played Bond Girl Lucia Sciarra in SPECTRE. Colin Salmon, who played M's Deputy Chief of Staff Charles Robinson, said Belluci auditioned for the Bond Girl roles in two Pierce Brosnan 007 movies, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and TOMORROW NEVER DIES. Salmon commented on helping Belluci audition for the Elektra King role (which went to Sophie Marceau) in THE WORLD IS NO ENOUGH. "Monica Bellucci came in twice actually. She came in once for TOMORROW NEVER DIES, and again for THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH. She strapped me to the chair, I was strapped to the chair, and she straddled me and licked my face. And I was like … and she still didn’t get it. I said ‘Give her anything she wants, please.’"

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14

THE METAL DETECTOR---trailer released for the PBS World War II documentary.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5nQe52xqAk



THE ABYSS---trailer released for the remastered 4K version which will be shown in theaters on December 6 only.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cCVYAcIIAo



LIFE ON OUR PLANET---featurette released for the Netflix documentary series.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4KQAOzq1U



PARISH---trailer released for the AMC crime series starring Giancarlo Esposito.

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



HANNIBAL---Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua will reunite for the untitled Netflix movie about Carthaginian Hannibal the Conqueror battling Romans during the Second Punic War. John Logan (GLADIATOR) is the writer.

SNOW WHITE---FORBES said the controversial Disney remake movie starring Rachel Zegler needs to make $340 million to break even. Its production costs are currently over $209 million.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON---Leonardo DiCaprio's salary is reportedly $40 million compared to the movie's total budget of $200 million. DiCaprio's salary for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET was $25 million.

AVENGERS 5---Marvel Studios has let writer Jeff Loveness go and is apparently moving away from Kang due to Jonathan Majors being accused of domestic abuse.
Also, Scarlett Johansson commented on rumors she will return as Black Widow in a new AVENGERS movie, “I think it might be…I think it was the end, right? I don’t know how you come back from that….She did [die], she did. She passed.”

LOKI---the Season 2 finale drew 11.2 million views in three days compared to 10.9 million views for the Season 2 premiere.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE---Amazon is in talks to acquire the Netflix-cancelled live-action reboot series.

TRIVIA---in PREDATOR, Arnold Schwarzenegger played Major Dutch Schaefer and RG Armstrong played Schaefer's former commander, Major General Homer Philips.
Before PREDATOR, Schwarzenegger and Armstrong appeared in the 1976 movie STAY HUNGRY, in which Schwarzenegger played Mr. Universe bodybuilder contestant Joe Santo and Armstrong played gym owner Thor Erickson. STAY HUNGRY also starred Jeff Bridges and Sally Field.

In PREDATOR, Arnold Schwarzenegger played Major Dutch Schaefer and RG Armstrong played Schaefer's former commander, Major General Homer Philips.

Before PREDATOR, Schwarzenegger and Armstrong appeared in the 1976 movie STAY HUNGRY, in which Schwarzenegger played Mr. Universe bodybuilder contestant Joe Santo and Armstrong played gym owner Thor Erickson.

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15

MADAME WEB---trailer released for the Sony Pictures superhero movie starring Dakota Johnson.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_76M4c4LTo



MERRY LITTLE BATMAN---trailer released for the Amazon Prime animated Batman Christmas movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PeJn8vca98



ALIEN LEGION---Warner Bros. bought the movie rights to the Marvel comic book. Tim Miller (TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, DEADPOOL) is the director.

SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW---DC Studios co-head James Gunn announced Ana Nogueira will write the superhero movie script.

STAR WARS---Ke Huy Quan (INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM) said he asked Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy for a role in a STAR WARS movie, "I was shameless when I saw Kathy! I went up to give her a big hug. And I said, 'Kathy, Kathy, please put me in the STAR WARS universe!' And what's so great about it, if you think about it, it's all under the Disney family, you know? So, I was lucky to be Short Round, which is also Disney. And, now MCU, and, you know, I want to stay in the family. It's great."

THOR 5---Taika Waititi commented on rumors he is returning for the fifth THOR movie, "I know that I won’t be involved.” He added he wants "to concentrate on these other films that I’ve signed on for.”

EDITH---Warner Music Entertainment is developing an Edith Piaf biomovie that will use archival film footage, interviews and animation. It will also use an AI-generated narration of Piaf's voice.

YOUNG SHELDON---CBS announced the upcoming Season 7 will be the last season.

PRAISE PETEY---Freeform cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE showrunner Manny Coto commented on William Shatner returning as Capt. Kirk in an ENTERPRISE two-part episode, "The idea was it was a Mirror Universe-themed episode. In the original “Mirror, Mirror,” the evil Kirk had a device that was called the Tantalus field, which you press a button and his enemies would vanish. Now, it was implied in there, in that episode, that they just kind of died, but what the Reeves-Stevenes were saying [was], 'What if what this field did was transport everyone who was opposed to him into this pocket universe?' So, they were all on this planet surviving. At the end of that episode, it’s implied that the good Kirk had convinced the evil Spock to take command from the evil Kirk. And Kirk told him about the Tantalus field. So you would have surmised that at the end, the evil Spock would have sent Kirk to the Tantalus field [and taken] command of the Enterprise.
So now you have this pocket universe with the evil type we were calling Tiberius Kirk kind of stranded with other people who evil Spock has banished. But they’ve forged this kind of community in basically a prison. The idea was what if Archer and the Enterprise stumbled into this pocket universe and evil Tiberius Kirk was now an older man, but still formidable, and wanted to take control of the Enterprise and escape. It was a prison escape. So it would have been evil Kirk, William Shatner, Tiberius, trying to take over the Enterprise with other minions who had been trapped there."
Producer Rick Berman said Paramount Pictures rejected Shatner's return because the studio did not want to pay Shatner what he wanted, but Coto has his own theory, "[Paramount] wanted [ENTERPRISE] to die" and rejected Shatner's return "not because he was too expensive, but because they might've saved the series. That's my conspiratorial thinking."

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16

FAST CHARLIE---trailer released for the assassin movie starring Pierce Brosnan.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tSk-a6WT10



IMAGINARY---trailer released for the horror movie starring DeWanda Wise.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W--2y6mUhbI



ANYONE BUT YOU---trailer released for the movie starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S61xB-rE770



FANTASTIC FOUR---Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider said Pedro Pascal is in talks to play Mr. Fantastic in the Marvel reboot movie and beat out Jamie Dornan and Christopher Abbott. Adam Driver and Jake Gyllennhaal were eliminated because their salary demands were too high.
Vanessa Kirby is the top candidate to play Sue Storm, the movie's lead character. Joseph Quinn (STRANGER THINGS) is the top candidate to play Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (THE BEAR) is the top candidate to play Ben Grimm. Javier Bardem has edged out Antonio Banderas as the lead candidate to play Galactus.

STAR WARS---Taika Waititi commented on his upcoming STAR WARS movie, “It will be … dramatic pause… a Taika Waititi film. It’s gonna p*ss people off."

SUPERMAN: LEGACY---Maria Gabriella de Faria (THE MOODYS) will play villain The Engineer in the DC Studios movie.

AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY---director Destin Daniel Crettin has left the movie, but he will still be involved with other Marvel Studios projects.

SEAL TEAM---Paramount+ announced that Season 7 will be the last season.

NETFLIX---Netflix cancelled SHADOW AND BONE, GLAMOROUS, AGENT ELVIS, FARZAR and CAPTAIN FALL.

TRIVIA---Sofia Vergara's first role was in BIG TROUBLE as Nina, the housemaid to corrupt Miami businessman Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci), who tried to satisfy his toe fetish with her. Director Barry Sonnenfeld had a bucket of water available during the fetish scene which Vergara used to wash her toes to guarantee personal hygiene.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17

MONSIEUR SPADE---trailer released for the AMC detective miniseries starring Clive Owen.

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



MARY & GEORGE---trailer released for the Starz seven-part miniseries starring Julianne Moore.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3ZOEvNsv4



THUNDERBOLTS---Robert Kirkman said Steven Yuen will play The Sentry in the Marvel Studios movie, “My good friend Steven Yeun is playing the Sentry in a movie. I don’t think this is a spoiler or anything that will get anybody in trouble. I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see. I don’t care. I don’t work for Marvel. What are they gonna do to me? He called me and said, ‘I just came back from a costume fitting for the Sentry. I guess I only do superheroes that wear blue & yellow.'” The movie also stars Harrison Ford, David Harbour and Florence Pugh.

THE FIRST OMEN---photo of Nell Free Tiger and the synopsis were released from the prequel to 1976 horror movie that starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, “When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate."

ALIEN---Noah Hawley commented on Ridley Scott's involvement in the upcoming FX tv series, “I mean, are the Coens involved in FARGO? Let’s just say, I’ve probably had more conversations with Ridley than I’ve had with Joel and Ethan. Scott Free [Productions] is producing ALIEN, and Ridley is making two or three movies a year is basically how that’s working.
I mean, Ridley has been an amazing collaborator to the degree that I can pick his brain about all of his thoughts, processes, decisions and the things that he’s learned, and I try to keep him [in the loop] and send him material so that he feels respected and included. But also, he’s doing his thing.”
Hawley also updated the status of the tv series, “We’re getting back into production as quickly as possible. We’re shooting in Bangkok, a half a world away; shooting again in the New Year.”

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS---remake underway of the 1991 Wes Craven horror movie with Ezra Claytan Daniels (DOOM PATROL) writing the screenplay.

FROZEN---Disney head Bob Iger said a fourth movie in the franchise may be underway, “FROZEN 3 is in the works, and there might be a FROZEN 4 in the works too. But I don’t have much to say about those films right now. [Director] Jenn Lee, who created the original FROZEN and FROZEN 2, is hard at work with her team at Disney animation on not one but actually two stories.”

HARLEY QUINN---Max renewed the series for Season 4.

LAW & ORDER---Jeffrey Donovan has left the series due to creative differences.

CHICAGO FIRE---Kara Killmer has left the series and will appear in only part of Season 12.

TRIVIA---Elmer Bernstein composed the score to THE GREAT ESCAPE and its popularity allowed Bernstein to live off the royalties for the rest of his life. A lesser-known vocal version of the main theme was recorded by singer-actor John Leyton, who played Flight Lieutenant Willie Dickes, the "Tunnel King".


LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1odhfNgK6E


John Leyton (left) played Flight Lieutenant Willie Dickes, the "Tunnel King" and sang the vocal theme from THE GREAT ESCAPE.

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20

THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE---trailer released for the spinoff.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIxa5hTszxM



THE MARVELS---the Marvel superhero sequel had the worst Marvel Studios premiere ever with only $46 million domestically and then dropped 78% from its first week box office which makes it the second worst drop in Marvel Studios history and the worst superhero movie drop in modern history. By comparison, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA had a 69% drop in its second week. THE MARVELS will be the first Marvel movie that will not reach a $100 million domestic box office.
Stephen King blamed the huge loss on, "Some of the rejection of THE MARVELS may be adolescent fanboy hate. You know, "Yuck! GIRLS!"'
Co-star Iman Vellani commented on the sequel's dubious distinction as a box office bomb, "I don't want to focus on something that's not even in my control, because what's the point? That's for Bob Iger. [The box office] has nothing to do with me. I'm happy with the finished product, and the people that I care about enjoyed the film. It's genuinely a good time watching this movie, and that's all we can ask for with these films. It has superheroes, it take place in space, it's not that deep and it's about teamwork and sisterhood. It's a fun movie, and I'm just so happy that I can share it with people."
Also, an inside source said THE MARVELS deleted a line which hinted at a lesbian relationship between Captain Marvel and Valkyrie, “We work better as friends”.

NAPOLEON---French movie critics challenged the accuracy of Ridley Scott's Napoleon Bonaparte biomove by saying it is, “Barbie and Ken under the Empire”, “deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally clumsy” and “anti-French and pro-British”. Scott replied, “The French don’t even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.”
He added, “Were you there? Oh you weren’t there. Then how do you know?”
Scott also said he has turned down offers to direct superhero movies, “Yeah, been offered, but just said, no, thank you. Not for me. I’ve done two or three superhero films. I think Sigourney Weaver’s a superhero in ALIEN. I think Russell Crowe‘s a superhero in GLADIATOR. And Harrison Ford is the super anti-hero in BLADE RUNNER. The difference is, the f*cking stories are better.”

NOSFERATU---photo released from the Robert Eggers remake of the 1922 vampire movie which shows Lily-Rose Depp being menaced by Nosferatu (Bill Skarsgard). Eggers said, “I’ll say that Bill has so transformed, I’m fearful that he might not get the credit that he deserves because he’s just… he’s not there. He felt like honoring who had come before him. It’s all very subtle. But I think the main thing is that he’s even more [of] a folk vampire. In my opinion, he looks like a dead Transylvanian nobleman, and in a way that we’ve never actually seen what an actual dead Transylvanian nobleman would look like and be dressed like.”

FANTASTIC FOUR---movie critic John Campea said Mads Mikkelsen is a candidate to play Doctor Doom, “What [Campea’s source] confirmed to me is [Marvel] has talked to Mads Mikkelsen [about] Doom. Now, to be clear, I’m sure they talked to a dozen people. They did not tell me that Mads Mikkelsen has been cast as Doom. Not at all. But they were able to confirm to me that Mads Mikkelsen is one of the people they talked to for Doom.”

SUPERMAN: LEGACY---DC Studios co-head James Gunn posted a photo of his office wall covered with artwork from the SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS comic book, which Gunn described as, “one of my favorite Superman stories [and] a huge influence on LEGACY [and] a strangely perfect bookend with ALL -STAR SUPERMAN”.
Also, Gunn replied if casting has started on the THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Batman movie, "No. We don’t even have a script yet."

REBEL MOON---Zack Snyder said R-rated directors cut versions of his two-part sci fi movie will be released on Netflix in addition to the PG-rated theatrical versions, “This was the first time I had ever been able to make a movie and plan for that. The cut was not me fighting with them like, ‘Okay, you won’t do what I want. Can I at least release it on DVD?’ It was us going together.
I’m super proud of the PG-13 version, the broader audience version, because I would say it really satisfies an awesome, timeless, mythological scope. What we’ve done with the other version is fun and subversive, because an R-rated sci fi movie at this scale shouldn’t exist.”
The directors cut versions will be about 45-60 minutes longer than their theatrical versions.

BOSCH---Amazon Prime ordered a 10-episode spinoff series featuring Detective Renee Ballard, head of the LAPD cold case division.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
In FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Pedro Armendariz played Ali Kerim Bey, head of MI6's Station T in Istanbul, Turkey. Armendariz was suffering from neck cancer and co-starred in the movie to ensure financial security for his family even though he was experiencing intense pain during filming. After completing his scenes, he shot himself with a pistol he had smuggled into his hospital room.
In 1956, Armendariz appeared in the Howard Hughes movie THE CONQUEROR which was filmed in Utah near the Nevada Test Site where nuclear tests were conducted. Within 25 years,of the 220 crew members at the film site, 91 (41%) developed cancer and 46 died.
Armendariz's son, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., played Bond Villain Republic of Isthmus President Hector Lopez in LICENSE TO KILL.

In FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Pedro Armendariz played Ali Kerim Bey, head of MI6's Station T in Istanbul, Turkey. Armendariz was suffering from neck cancer and co-starred in the movie to ensure financial security for his family even though he was experiencing intense pain during filming.

Armendariz may have developed cancer while filming THE CONQUEROR with John Wayne near the Nevada Test Site where nuclear tests were conducted.

Armendariz's son, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., played Bond Villain Republic of Isthmus President Hector Lopez in LICENSE TO KILL.

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM---new trailer released for the sequel.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSkHPW-MPE



SUPERMAN: LEGACY---Nicholas Hoult will play Lex Luthor in the DC Studios Superman movie.

BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL FOLEY---photo released from the sequel in which Axel Foley teams up with his estranged daughter to investigate corruption in the Beverly Hills Police Department.

THE PENGUIN---photo released of Colin Farrell as The Penguin in the Max tv series.

JASON BOURNE 6---Edward Berger (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) is in negotiations to direct the sixth movie in the franchise. The sequel is in the early stages of development and has no script or cast, but Matt Damon is expected to be offered the chance to return.

BLUE BLOODS---Season 14 will be the last season. Tom Selleck said, "For the past 13 years it has been an honor and a privilege to work on a show that not only celebrates the men and women who protect and serve in New York City, but also displayed the importance of family. Working alongside these incredible actors, writers, producers, directors and crew has been a dream come true and I’m grateful to have been a part of this extraordinary group for over 275 episodes. Thank you to CBS Studios and CBS Network for their steadfast support and we offer heartfelt gratitude to the fans who gathered with us for dinner every Friday night.”

THE SAINT---Doug Liman (THE BOURNE IDENTITY) will direct the reboot movie starring Rege-Jean Page. The tv series based on the novels starred Roger Moore.

LA BREA---NBC cancelled the series with Season 3 being the last season and will only have six episodes.

TRIVIA---makeup and special effects designer Stan Winston and his Stan Winston Studio won Academy Awards for JURASSIC PARK, ALIENS and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. Winston started out as a makeup apprentice at Walt Disney Studios when he got his first job on the 1972 tv movie GARGOYLES in which a scientist and his daughter encounter a colony of deadly gargoyles in New Mexico.
Winston was assigned to design the masks for the background gargoyles and makeup artist Sonny Burnham, Jr. would design the mask for the gargoyle leader played by Bernie Casey. However, friction arose between Burnham and Casey, so Winston was chosen to apply Casey's makeup. Winston said, "Sonny was a wonderful artist, and he he had done a beautiful job sculpting the lead gargoyle. But because of this tension with Bernie Casey, it was decided that I would apply the lead gargoyle makeup on the set."
During filming, Winston asked Burnham if they would receive screen credit for the gargoyle makeup, "Sonny just shrugged me off and told me to talk to the producers about it. And so I went to them and said that I thought we should get screen credit for creating the gargoyles. Their response was, 'I don't think we can do that.' And I said, 'Well, then, I'm leaving. If I'm not getting screen credit, I'm not doing the work."
Producer Rick Rosenberg assured Winston the makeup artists would receive screen credit. Winston's demand for screen credit had unintentionally good results---only cast and crew members with screen credits are eligible for Emmy Awards. Consequently, with their screen credits on GARGOYLES, Winston, Burnham and makeup supervisor Del Armstrong received an Emmy. This helped launch Winston's career as one of Hollywood's greatest makeup and special effects designers.

Makeup and special effects designer Stan Winston and his Stan Winston Studio won Academy Awards for JURASSIC PARK, ALIENS and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY.

Winston's first job was applying the gargoyle leader makeup to Bernie Casey in the 1972 tv movie GARGOYLES which led to his team winning an Emmy and helped launch Winston's career as one of Hollywood's greatest makeup and special effects designers.

 

[Terp152]

Hard to believe it's been over 50 yrs but I remember seeing " the 1972 tv movie GARGOYLES." Thought it pretty good for a tv movie.

 

[dragon53]

TERP152:

I also saw GARGOYLES on tv many years ago and thought it was pretty good---the only thing I remembered was the head Gargoyle on top of the station wagon which looked scary to me.

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22

THE KARATE KID---Sony Pictures released a video of Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan introducing the new movie.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MR1HPas-VA



THE CELLO---trailer released for the horror movie starring Tobin Bell and Jeremy Irons.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lzElGjx0jE



SCREAM 7---Melissa Barrera was fired from the sequel after she posted pro-Palestinian comments. It is not known if she will be replaced by another actress or if her character, Sam Carpenter, will be written out. Barrera's co-star, Jenny Ortega, has also posted pro-Palestinian comments, but there has been no action taken on her status in the sequel.
Spyglass Media commented on Barrera's firing, "Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion, or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Earlier, Creative Talent Agency dropped Susan Sarandon as a client after she also made numerous pro-Palestinian comments.

STAR WARS---Dave Filoni (STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS) is Lucasfilm's new Chief Creative Officer. Filoni said, “In this new role, it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on. When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.“
He added,, “I’m not telling people what to do. But I do feel I’m trying to help them tell the best story that they want to tell. I need to be a help across the galaxy here, like a part of a Jedi Council almost… To truly help filmmakers, it was really important for me to experience it firsthand. I can also lend a perspective on the challenges that telling these stories will present. I feel more capable of actually being helpful outside of just saying, ‘Well, Jedi are like this, and Sith are like this…’”
Also, Daisy Ridley commented on her upcoming STAR WARS sequel, "I'm very excited. The story is really cool. I'm waiting to read a script because, obviously, I don't have any other updates. It's not what I expected, but I'm very excited. I haven’t read anything, but I know the story. It’s really worth telling, worth exploring, and I think people will be excited."

SUPERMAN: LEGACY---Skyler Gisondo will play Jimmy Olsen and Sara Sampaio will play Lex Luthor's assistant, Eve Teschmacher, in the DC Studios Superman movie.

RENTAL FAMILY---Brendan Fraser will star in this comedy movie about a downtrodden American actor who is hired to be the token American in a Tokyo rental family company.

THE GENTLEMEN---photo released from the Guy Ritchie/Netflix spinoff tv series starring Theo James.

CAPE FEAR---Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are the producers of this tv series reboot of the novel and two movies. The tv series follows two married lawyers who are stalked by a killer from their past who was just released from prison.

GOVERNOR---Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson and Albert Brooks will star in this untitled James L. Brooks movie about a young politician who prepares to replace his mentor, a longtime governor.

AMAZON PRIME---Amazon Prime cancelled THE HORROR OF DOLORES ROACH, HARLEN COBEN'S SHELTER and WITH LOVE. The new tv series MOTORHEADS will star Ryan Phillipe and Michael Cimino in which outsiders become friends through their love for cars.

MIRACLE WORKERS---TBS cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---Thanksgiving movie trivia.
In PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, the Boeing 707 jetliner film footage is from the spoof movie AIRPLANE! The difference is that in PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, the 707 has the sound of jet engines, but in AIRPLANE!, the 707 has the sound of propellers.

Steve Martin, John Candy and Bill Irwin in the airliner scene from the Thanksgiving comedy movie PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES.

Robert Hays, Julie Haggerty and Otto in the cockpit scene from AIRPLANE!

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27

DOCTOR WHO---trailer released for the second of the 60th anniversary specials.

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



FANTASTIC FOUR---inside sources claim Anya Taylor-Joy is in talks to play villain Silver Surfer in the reboot movie.

HEAT 2---Michael Mann confirmed Adam Driver is in talks to star in the prequel, “Yeah, we’re in discussion. That’s all I can say about it.” Rumors say Driver would play the younger version of Neil McCauley, who was played by Robert De Niro in the original movie.

RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA---writer Eric Roth (DUNE, FORREST GUMP, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON) said he has reunited with Denis Villeneuve for a new movie, " just wrote a movie for Denis Villeneuve… We’ll see what ends up happening with it, but it’s about space and time, and it’s very lonely. It’s certainly about eternity." Speculation is the movie is Villeneuve's long-gestating sci fi movie based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA in which astronauts investigate a mysterious 30 mile-long spaceship.

THE MANDALORIAN---Katee Sackhoff denied rumors that Bo-Katan will be the lead character in Season 4, “No. I think there’s always going to be a lot of speculation in this fandom. You know, I think it’s one of the reasons why people love this fandom so much. And they love this universe so much that a lot of times it allows just enough ambiguity for people to interpret things the way that they want to interpret them. And out of that there is the ability to have a lot of misinformation get out, or just, you know, wishful thinking.”

MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS---the chances of the Apple TV+ 10-episode miniseries starring Kurt Russell returning for a Season 2 were discussed by executive producer Matt Fraction, “It wasn’t designed as a limited series. We certainly love the characters and playing in the world. And if we are so lucky and so fortunate, I think we could keep going for as long as people want to keep watching, quite honestly. Yeah.”
Showrunner Chris Black added, “I mean, it’s kind of really up to the viewers and the fans. We hope that they respond to the story that, what we’re telling, [and] that they’ll want to see more. We had to sort of build this from the ground up as a TV series, as something that was going to go for 10 hours and hopefully, if we’re lucky, two seasons, three seasons–whatever we’re lucky enough to get.”

SCREAM VII---after Melissa Barerra was fired for anti-Semitic posts and Jenny Ortega unable to return due to WEDNESDAY schedule problems, the sequel will undergo a "creative reset" with new lead characters.

BARBIE---Margot Robbie commented on a possible sequel, “I think we put everything into this one. We didn’t build it to be a trilogy or something. It was like Greta [Gerwig] put everything into this movie, so I can’t imagine what would be next.”

STAR TREK---Nicolas Meyer said his tv miniseries about the early days of Khan Noonien Singh will now be a podcast series, “It’s now being worked as a radio play: nine or ten half-hour episodes. I guess the thinking is, if it is successful, then we go back to making it something on film. This is a show, all I can tell you about it, and I have no wish to be indiscreet, that has a kitchen filled with cooks. Whatever timeline we had went out the window some months ago.”

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
Phyliss Davis is best known for co-starring with Robert Urich on the tv series VEGA$ as Beatrice Travis, private detective Dan Tanna's secretary. Davis signed a contract to play Bond Girl Plenty O'Toole in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but shortly afterwards, the producers changed their minds and notified her that she had been replaced by Lana Wood, Natalie Woods's younger sister. Davis said she was very disappointed about losing the role, but years later she received residual checks when the movie was shown on tv or cable.

Phyliss Davis is best known for co-starring with Robert Urich on the tv series VEGA$ as Beatrice Travis, private detective Dan Tanna's secretary.

Davis signed a contract to play Bond Girl Plenty O'Toole in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but shortly afterwards, the producers changed their minds and notified her that she had been replaced by Lana Wood, Natalie Woods's younger sister.

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW---trailer released for the Netflix survival movie based on the true story of plane crash survivors who resorted to cannibalism.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDak4qLyF4Q



BERLIN---trailer released for the Netflix MONEY HEIST prequel series.

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



ALIEN: ROMULUS---Cailee Spaeny commented on the movie, “It’s supposed to slot in between the first movie and the second movie. They brought the same team from ALIENS the James Cameron film. The same people who built those xenomorphs actually came on and built ours. So getting to see the original design with the original people who have been working on these films for 45-plus years and has been so much of their life has been really incredible.
My first film was big-budget sci-fi. I feel like I’m going back to that world. And I have so much fun. I like trying to do as many different things as I can. So I swapped my high heels and my beehive for spacesuits and lots of wire work. … I love watching those old ’70s, ’80s action sci-fi films. And I’m such a fan of that IP and Sigourney Weaver. It’s legendary to get to be a part of it.”

ALIEN---Timothy Olyphant will co-star in the Noah Hawley/FX prequel tv series set on Earth decades before the original movie. Rumors say Olyphant will play Kirsch, the android mentor to Wendy, played by Sydney Chandler.

FALLOUT---photos released from the Amazon Prime series based on the video game and stars Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachan. The series is set in 2077 after a nuclear war.

DC STUDIOS---Dave Bautista may have hinted he is switching from Marvel Studios to DC Studios after he posted a photo of himself sitting in James Gunn's studio parking space while he visited Gunn. Gunn posted a reply photo with the caption, "I can't believe you're parking your body in my space."

STAR WARS---Taiki Waititi commented on his STAR WARS movie, "I’ve been developing [the STAR WARS movie] for a few years, but I think with any film, but that one in particular, it’s something I’d really like to get right so I don’t want to rush it.
It’s going to bubble along on the side…I wanna capture that joy and entertainment of those early ones like THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI and all those ones, so I’m trying to figure that out. It’ll happen.”
He also commented on THOR: RAGNAROK, "You know what? I had no interest in doing one of those films. It wasn’t on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I’d just had a second child, and I thought, ‘You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.’
And THOR, let’s face it — it was probably the least popular franchise. I never read THOR comics as a kid. That was the comic I’d pick up and be like ‘Ugh.’ And then I did some research on it, and I read one THOR comic or 18 pages, or however long they are.”

AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY---writer Michael Waldron (LOKI, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS) has replaced Jeff Loveness.
Also, Chris Evans commented on rumors that he, Robert Downey, Jr. and Scarlett Johansson are reunited for an AVENGERS sequel, “You know, I always see those reports too, and it’s news to me. I think every couple months, someone says that they’re getting Downey, and Hemsworth, and Scarlet, and everyone’s coming back!. No one’s spoken to me about it. And look, I would never say never, but I really – I’m very protective. It’s a very precious role to me, so it would have to be just right.”

TRIVIA---Jean-Jacques Annaud commented on directing Sean Connery and F. Murray Abraham in THE NAME OF THE ROSE, “Everybody warned me that Sean Connery was impossible and an extremely difficult character. He was an absolute dream and I got on with him fantastically…My only bad memory of an actor across my whole career, and I’ve directed, I think, thousands of actors, was F. Murray Abraham, who played the inquisitor…He was terrible, not so much with me, but rather with Sean. He would say, ‘I’ve got the Oscar, and he’s an old idiot’. They would both arrive late because Sean didn’t want to wait for F. Murray, and F. Murray didn’t want to wait for Sean… it was like the school playground.”
Annaud said he had a team of lawyers on the set and shifted the schedule to accommodate Abraham's ego, “You’re going to stay here and pay your costs out of your own pocket’. He looked at me and said, ‘Touché’. He stayed on at his own cost and we shot his final scene on the last day.”

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29

MEMORY---trailer released for the movie starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi6YRSJfs3U



DR. DEATH---trailer released for the Peacock anthology series Season 2 starring Edgar Ramirez as notorious Italian surgeon Dr. Paolo Macchiarini.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx8xFjWBi9E



GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE---images and synopsis released for the sequel starring Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall, “This latest entry follows up the explosive showdown of GODZILLA VS. KONG with an all-new cinematic adventure, pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own. The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.”

DROWNING: THE RESCUE OF FLIGHT 421---Paul Greengrass will direct the Warner Bros. movie based on the novel about a plane that crashes into the Pacific Ocean leaving a sealed compartment with 12 survivors, including an engineer and his daughter, perched on an undersea cliff.

THE CROWN---photos released from Season 6, Part 2 show Meg Bellamy as Kate Middleton, Ed McVey as Prince William, Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip.

KING AND CONQUEROR---Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and James Norton will star in this historical tv series whose synopsis says, "KING AND CONQUEROR is the story of a clash that defined the future of a country — and a continent — for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066; two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.”

THE BOYS: MEXICO---Amazon Prime Spanish-language spinoff underway with Diego Luna and Gael Garcia as the producers and possible stars.

THE LONG WALK---Francis Lawrence said he is "now attached" to direct the movie based on the Stephen King novel.

DIE HARD---the original movie starring Bruce Willis will return to select AMC theaters on December 8.

TRIVIA---in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, the menacing Creature abducted scientist Kay Lawrence (Julie Adams) after killing her bodyguard, a crewman from the tramp steamer RITA. In real life, the Creature really did hurt Adams when stunt man Ben Chapman was carrying Adams and accidentally hit her head against the fake rocks which caused a big scare among the cast and crew. Adams described the incident, "There is one behind-the-scenes story that we told at least a thousand times. It is the cave incident, when the studio forgot to heat the tank on the cave set. Ben and I were reluctant to get into the cold water, but there was no time to heat the tank, so we carried on like troopers. In the scene, he is supposed to emerge with me unconscious in his arms as he carries me to his underwater lair. Things didn't go according to plan!
Ben's Creature goggles fogged up when he emerged from the chilly water with me unconscious in his arms. I was freezing cold, trying hard not shiver when I felt a bump on my head. My eyes jolted open on impact and our director, Jack Arnold yelled, 'Cut.' Ben unable to see clearly, had accidentally hit my head against the paper mache rock of the cave set. As a result, I had a small scrape on my forehead."
Adams added, "Of course, the studio made a publicity stunt out of it, and a nurse was called in to tend to my minor wound. There is a wonderful picture that has become a fan favorite; it shows the cast looking over me with worry as the nurse tends to the scrape on my forehead. The best part of the picture is Ben as the Creature, kneeling over me solicitously. Every time I see that picture it warms my heart, and makes me miss him even more. It was Ben's gentle soul inside the rubber suit that helped make his character so enduring and resonant with audiences. Of course, I was fine and a few minutes later we got the shot and worked our way through the rest of the scene."

Star Richard Carlson, director Jack Arnold, co-star Richard Denning (left to right) and Ben Chapman in the Creature suit, were greatly concerned when Chapman accidentally hit Adams' head against the fake rocks. Fortunately, it was not serious.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30

GRISELDA---trailer released for the Netflix miniseries starring Sofia Vergara as drug lord Griselda Blanco.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcF0A-Gy-Ng



THE SHIFT---trailer released for the sci fi movie starring Neal McDonough and Sean Astin.

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



WALT DISNEY---Walt Disney CEO hinted that wokeness in Disney projects might be reduced due to its negative effects on box office success, “Let me start about content and your comment about ‘woke’ characters. Our primary objective in creating content as a company — save for ABC News, which is obviously to inform — is to entertain whether it’s sports, whether it’s Disney, whether it’s Marvel. Make things that entertain people. And the good news is that there’s a marketplace out there that demands entertainment. It’s a fantastic business to be in because of that.”
He added, "I think what had happened over a period of time and was building and building and maybe it reached a peak of some sort while I was gone, is that creators lost sight of what their number one objective needed to be. Often when we entertain and we’ve entertained as a company over the 100 years we’ve been in business, we have entertained with values and with having a positive impact on the world in many different ways. I use BLACK PANTHER as a great example of that, just in terms of fostering acceptance, or the movie COCO, which Pixar did about the Day of the Dead. I like being able to do that: entertain and if you can infuse it with positive messages that have a good impact on the world, fantastic. But that should not be the objective.”
He also commented on THE MARVELS being a box office bomb, ″‘THE MARVELS was shot during Covid. There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”
He added, “I’m not sure another studio will ever achieve some of the numbers that we achieved. I mean, we got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in global box office, we were disappointed. That’s an unbelievably high standard and I think we have to get more realistic.”

SNYDERVERSE---Zack Snyder posted the DC Studios Snyderverse has come to an end. Snyder directed three DC Studios movies: MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE).

GODZILLA X KONG: NEW EMPIRE---teaser poster released for the sequel movie.

THE APPRENTICE---Sebastian Stan will star in this movie about Donald Trump building his real estate empire in the 1970s and 1980s.

NBC---NBC renewed FOUND and THE IRRATIONAL.

BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA---CBS cancelled the series with the upcoming Season 5 being the last season.

TRIVIA---MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN ran for 11 years and 259 episodes on Fox. However, only one of the episodes of the irreverent series was never shown during the series' original run. In "I'll See You in Court", Al and Peg Bundy try to spice up their sex life at the sleazy Hop-On Inn and discover the Inn secretly videotaped them having sex and also their neighbors, Steve and Marcy Rhoades having sex. The two couples then sue the Hop-On Inn in hopes of getting a big cash settlement. The episode had more than the usual sex jokes which led to Fox demanding a reduction in the sexual content. This was the result of an earlier episode, "My Cups Runneth Over", in which tv activist Terry Rakolta organized a sponsor boycott over the episode's sexual content. Fox feared another loss of sponsors and wanted less sex in "I'll See You in Court". The producers refused to meet all of Fox's demands, so the episode never aired on Fox which led to its "lost episode" status. The episode later aired on FX in an edited version and the complete episode is included in the dvd set.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA---trailer released for the Furiosa prequel movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJMuhwVlca4



NIGHT SWIM---new trailer released for the horror movie starring Wyatt Russell.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhlLO3Nb3sY



HOUSE OF THE DRAGON---HBO released posters of Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen for Season 2 which premieres on December 2.

SPIDER-MAN---Tom Holland commented on if he is returning for a fourth SPIDER-MAN movie, “All I can say is that we have been actively engaging in conversations about what it could potentially look like for a fourth rendition of my character. Whether or not we can find a way to do justice to the character is another thing.
I feel very protective over Spider-Man. I feel very, very lucky that we were able to work on a franchise that got better with each movie, that got more successful with each movie, which I think is really rare, and I want to protect his legacy.
So, I won’t make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.
But that said, if we can figure that out, I would be a fool not to put the suit back on again because I owe everything to Spider-Man. I love the character and the people I get to work with. So, I would love to tell another story, but I’ll only tell it if we can find the right one.”

DOCTOR WHO---the BBC released photos from the DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL of the new Doctor Who (Ncuti Gatwa), new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and the Goblin King.

THE ORVILLE---Adrianne Palicki commented on the status of the Seth MacFarlane sci fi tv series, “Ahh no, no longer doing that.” She also commented on if the series has been cancelled, “I don’t know, truly, the answer to that. I think there’s the talk that it could possibly be something that certain people want to do… but it’s a really difficult show to shoot, man.”

FAERIE---The Jim Henson Company and Amazon MGM Studios team up for a “modern Henson family adventure set in the magical world of Brian & Wendy Froud’s Faeries.”
The tv series synopsis says, “When the Faeries kidnap an unsuspecting father, his family must venture into the Faerie realm to rescue him. Through their journey, they will discover their inner strength and unique potential, challenging the expectations that the human world has put upon them. At its core, Faerie is a story of perseverance and the strength of a family’s love, filled with magic, adventure, and self-discovery at every age.”

KING RAVEN---producer/director Brent Ryan Green bought the movie and tv rights to the Robin Hood novel trilogy.

DYING FOR SEX---Michelle Williams will star in the FX miniseries based on the podcast about a woman diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer who leaves her husband to explore other romances.

SWAGGER---Apple TV+ cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---Nicholas Meyer commented on JJ Abrams' STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS which was a reboot of Meyer's STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, "I love Benedict Cumberbatch. I love SHERLOCK. And I loved him in PARADE'S END. I just thought he was great, but I have to confess that I don’t understand these new STAR TREK movies. Maybe I just sound like an old fogey or something, but it doesn’t seem to have anything do with what made STAR TREK compelling. I don’t think seeing Spock endlessly slugging somebody captures the idea of Spock as a character; it just seems kind of dopey. And, you know, Khan is Khan. I don’t get how any-body else can be him and not be Ricardo Montalban. So a lot of it just didn’t track for me. I didn’t understand it, and I also sort of don’t understand what those movies are about. I understand what STAR TREK II is about; it’s about friendship, old age; it’s about death. I understand what IV is about; it’s an ecological, cautionary tale. And I understand what VI is about. But other than doing all the things that people expect in a STAR TREK movie, I didn’t understand what those movies are about. I think the difference between an homage and a rip-off is that in an homage you’re supposed to add something. They should try to do something else besides trying to do STAR TREK II."
He added, "It is, on the one hand, nice to be so successful or beloved or however you want to describe it that somebody wants to do an homage to what you did and I was flattered and touched. But in my sort of artistic worldview, if you're going to do an homage you have to add something. You have to put another layer on it, and they didn't. Just by putting the same words in different characters' mouths didn't add up to anything, and if you have someone dying in one scene and sort of being resurrected immediately after there's no real drama going on. It just becomes a gimmick or gimmicky, and that's what I found it to be ultimately. This is just one person's opinion, mine...but I found it more clever than satisfying."