It’s hot in Australia, 104 to be exact. But on the sound stages of Pacific Rim Uprising, things are heating up in an entirely different way. John Boyega and Scott Eastwood are suited up and strapped inside of a Jaeger Conn-Pod. Sparks fly (literally) as Boyega gets taken out in battle, hanging limp in his harness. It’s an intense couple of moments, but as the buzzer sounds, we watch Boyega straighten, reset, and prepare himself for another round of Kaiju beat-downs.

Later in the day, my fellow journalists and I would be put to the test on our own, sparring with stunt coordinators from the film and learning that what Boyega and Eastwood made look easy was in fact, a serious challenge that would test your brain and body (and, of course, embarrass those not gifted with hand-eye coordination). But in between all the action on set, I had a chance to speak to many of the talents involved in the production, including stars Boyega, Eastwood and newcomer Cailee Spaeny, director Steven DeKnight and producer Cale Boyter to get the latest and greatest on the heavily anticipated sequel.

Here’s everything you need to know about Pacific Rim Uprising, straight from the set:


The sequel will function as a standalone. “We built it so if you want to just watch this movie, all the information you need is in there,” DeKnight told us. Of course, fans of the first movie should expect “a rich experience” all the same.




The film will pick up ten years after the end of the first Pacific Rim, as the Jaeger program is being phased out worldwide.
The filmmakers worked from the bible that Guillermo del Toro developed on the first Pacific Rim. “We expanded it,” added Boyter.





To hear DeKnight tell it, little of del Toro’s original script is left. “I cherry picked the best parts of three scripts,” one of which was del Toro’s.


Del Toro has been involved in the ideating process and was involved on many different drafts. “We send him all the visuals and everything,” DeKnight added.
Due to production constraints, the final script was put together in about “three weeks,” according to DeKnight.
A script for the sequel was written with Charlie Hunnam in mind before he committed to Papillon, and scheduling conflicts prevented him from starring in the film.
Boyter mentioned that the film had begun production before the final script was locked. “We were already on the tracks. It’s par for the course.”


Image via Universal Pictures
Boyega’s character is Jake Pentecost, Stacker Pentecost’s (Idris Elba’s) son, but he’s hasn’t quite followed in his father’s footsteps. When we meet him, he’s a “rogue” and a “criminal,” selling Jaeger parts to pay off gambling debts.
Boyega took Elba’s performance in the first film into account when formulating his character.
The movie will provide backstory on Pentecost’s backstory, his relationship with Jake and “how that all winds together”.
Michael B. Jordan was also considered for the role of Jake Pentecost. (Ultimately he was busy with Black Panther.)
Jake’s foil will be Amara (Spaeny), a scrappy 15-year-old girl who has a knack for building Jaegers and whose parents were killed in the war ten years ago. When the pair first meet, Amara has constructed her own Jaeger named Scrapper despite the fact that they’ve been phased out. She’s an American, what Boyter refers to as “a beach bum.”





Crucially, Amara has figured out how to pilot her Jaeger on her own. “I don’t think she full understands how groundbreaking it is,” said Spaeny.
Spaeny watched the female protagonists in Alien and Star Wars for inspiration on her character.
Amara was initially conceived as a male character: “…Just looking at the script it felt like it lost something if this was a young guy saying the things that she says, and it’s that almost indefinable quality that was really hard to peg down but we just all agreed when we started talking about it that it lost a bit of its magic,” said DeKnight.
Eastwood will play a character called Lambert, a cocksure Jaeger pilot.
Pacific Rim Uprising has been aged down significantly from the first movie: Jake and Amara lead the film as cadets known as Hopefuls, rather than the adult pilots that led the first film. The choice to age the cast down was made with younger audiences in mind. “We wanted to make this concept resonate for a larger group of people,” clarified Boyter.


Image via Universal
As revealed in the early marketing campaign, Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) will be back for the sequel, but there will be plenty of tension between she and Jake when she returns.
Boyter described the film as “a big mystery, a whodunnit… There’s a rogue Jaeger that unveils itself and there’s a big ambush. And there’s an attack – we think it’s an attack – we just see an unregistered Jaeger that’s just blasting the sh*t out of a city. We don’t know who’s doing it, and the whole movie is about figuring out who that is.”
Additionally, a key character will die, giving way to a big reveal and triggering a revenge plot. “It’s weird, we get weird,” Boyter confirmed.
The Kaijus – of course – are getting upgrades, but the team was tight-lipped on spilling details about what the new ones might specifically look like. However, it seems clear that they were not formulated in the same way that del Toro’s were. Where the original Kaijus were clear rifts on classic movie monsters, DeKnight said the team was more focused on creating “truly unique creatures.”
The Jaegers too, will be undergoing some changes, most notably in their interiors. The action inside of the Jaeger is going to be a lot more dynamic this time around: “They’re in the fight, they’re not so pent up. The idea is to take anything you see outside the robot is then reflected in a hologram situation, so when a missile comes at them you see it coming in. We wanted to create something a little bit more visual and fun for kids to grasp onto,” explained Boyter.



The look of the inside of the Jaegers will move from the Steampunk interiors of the original to something much more sleek and interactive.


Image via Universal Pictures
Boyega was excited to talk to us about Jake’s new Jaeger Gypsy Avenger, which is a big change for the franchise. “She’s a beauty! They’re slicker. They’re faster. [They have] new moves. And what’s great about Jaegers, they all have like a ‘Why’ button, a special move that makes them significant and cool,” he gushed.
The drift won’t just be used to connect Jaeger pilots in Pacific Rim Uprising, it will also be used to deliver information to the audience, particularly to reveal information about Mako and Jake’s relationship with Stacker. “It’s a great device,” said Boyter.
China will play a big role in the plot, as a corporation attempts to pilot Jaegers by drone rather than with humans.
We’ll also see more Mandarin in the film. “It’s a fun dynamic between Jing Tian and Charlie Day where he’s trying to learn Mandarin and he’s really bad at it,” laughed Boyter.
The tone will be very different from the first film, which adopted a ’60s/’70s monster movie vibe. “It’s more grounded,” clarified Boyter. “There’s definitely comedy and fun, but it’s coming more out of the situation. It’s not like we’re telling jokes. We have characters like Charlie Day who are naturally funny, and people like Boyega… The tone of it is actually closer to a Marvel movie than something like what Guillermo did.”






The action in the film will be captured differently, too. “When you first saw Bourne, and you saw how Dan Bradley was capturing that action, like… it’s ugly. And this, very similar. Obviously it’s not as crazy as Bourne, but there’s a visceral quality, there’s a rawness,” Boyter said.
Boyter promises the film will up the ante on the action surprises this time around: “The action takes advantage of its environment. That becomes a character and helps evolve what’s happening. And sometimes that surprises you. The Jaegers are doing shit that you’re like, ‘How?’ We have fifty of those moments.”
The film, which will be converted to 3D and relies on CG to create the Jaeger effects, won’t exactly be littered with practical effects. “There’s not a ton to be honest with you,” Boyter conceded.


Pacific Rim Uprising hits theaters March 23, 2018. For more from our set visit, check out the links below.



With the announcement of Jurassic World 2, we’re left a bit perplexed as to where a sequel might go. How many times, exactly, can we return to an island — the original Isla Nublar or otherwise — especially after the vision for the park was fulfilled and failed? Thankfully, Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow teases plans for a sequel that goes beyond the island.

It all has to do with what B.D. Wong’s Dr. Wu said in this summer’s blockbuster: "We’re not always going to be the only ones who can make a dinosaur." In an interview with Wired U.K., Trevorrow said he found that to be an interesting idea:


What if this went open source? It's almost like InGen is Mac, but what if PC gets their hands on it? What if there are 15 different entities around the world who can make a dinosaur?
Though Trevorrow admits this isn’t really covered in the original movie, it’s something in which he sees potential for growth. Looking back to the first Jurassic Park film, we saw Wayne Knight’s Dennis Nedrey attempt to steel the genetic material from dinosaurs and smuggle them off the island for a third party. While he didn’t succeed, this seems to be along the same lines that Trevorrow is talking about.

Furthermore, Jurassic World tackled the idea of weaponizing dinosaurs, specifically the Velociraptors. This was exactly what Vincent D’Onofrio’s Hoskins wanted to do when he saw Chris Pratt’s Owen commanding these vicious creatures. Based on Trevorrow’s statements, it seems like this will continue to progress in the sequel. He said:


I feel like the idea that this isn’t always going to be limited to theme parks, and there are applications for this science that reach far beyond entertainment. And when you look back at nuclear power and how that started, the first instinct was to weaponize it and later on we found it could be used for energy.
It was only a matter of time before Jurassic World 2 was formally announced. The film became the highest-grossing movie of the year, so far, and it currently sits as the third highest-grossing movie of all time. Universal recently announced the sequel will drop on June 22, 2018. Though Trevorrow said he didn’t want to continue on as director, he will co-write the script with his writing partner Derek Connolly. Pratt and his co-star Bryce Dallas Howard will also return for Jurassic World 2. Trevorrow hinted that Jurassic Park director and Jurassic World producer Stephen Spielberg wants to make "several of these movies," and Pratt joked before that he’s signed on "for, I think, 38 movies or something." But for now, we at least find solace in the fact that the sequel is at least trying to switch things up.

Maybe the next time around Howard’s Claire can find some sensible running shoes.



Justice League 2 Has Been Delayed, Get The Details

Whether you like his filmmaking style or not, Zack Snyder is one of the chief architects of the DC Extended Universe. He kicked off the franchise in 2013 with Man of Steel, he was leading the charge on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and he's helming Justice League for next year. Following the release of the DCEU's first team-up flick, Snyder slated to return for Justice League 2 in 2019, but that plan is scrapped, as now the blockbuster has been delayed so the director can work on another project.



Justice League 2 _was originally supposed to hit theaters on June 14, 2019, but according to THR, the sequel has now been pushed back so Zack Snyder can work on his long-gestating thriller _The Last Photograph. To be clear, Snyder is still keen on directing the next Justice League movie, it's just going to have to wait a little longer so he can finally tackle the movie he's been waiting to make since 300's success. Don't fret, though, because that June 2019 date won't be without a DC movie. Instead, the plan is to release Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie at that time. A new Justice League 2 release date wasn't disclosed, but logically speaking, the soonest it could come out now is sometime in 2020, or at the very earliest, snag the November 1, 2019 spot that's reserved for an untitled DC movie.





For those wondering what kind of story would make Zack Snyder to take a break from the world of superheroes, The Last Photograph supposedly follows a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the only survivor from an attack targeting a group of Americans. This correspondent eventually encounters a special ops solider who is searching for a family member, and now together, the correspondent hopes he'll "score the story of his life." 300 writer Kurt Johnstad wrote the script for the story Snyder formed, and at one point Christian Bale and Sean Penn were supposed to lead the movie. However, now The Last Photograph doesn't have any actors attached, but Snyder is hoping to finally get the movie off the ground at Warner Bros, and the goal is to start shooting in late 2017. To pull that off, he needs to set aside working on Justice League 2.



The silver lining to delaying Justice League 2 is that the extra time can be used to work on the script longer and iron out any issues. Plus, who knows, maybe getting some distance from the DCEU will freshen his mind in a way and allow him to look at the sequel differently upon his return. Thankfully, if the plans stays intact, the solo Batman movie, which will see the Caped Crusader battling mercenary Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke (played by Joe Manganiello), will be an excellent substitute for June 2019.



While Justice League 2 is now further away, its predecessor is still slated to hit theaters on November 17, 2017. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates surrounding the DCEU.






The 2018-scheduled Tomb Raider movie reboot will star Alicia Vikander, whose fame has surged in recent years coming off acclaimed hits such as The Danish Girl and Ex Machina.

Moving on from the Tomb Raider films of Angelina Jolie, this iteration will be a prequel of sorts, with Vikander portraying a younger, inexperienced version of Lara Croft, who embarks on one of her first major adventures.



Where's that Tomb Raider reboot trailer you've been waiting for? Why it's right here! And at the very least, it looks to be a massive improvement over previous movie adaptation of Lara Croft's adventures. Indeed, see for yourself how Alicia Vikander offers a more grounded take on the video game icon. Also, it can't be understated that she's an Academy Award winner, which the below video is fiercely eager to remind you about! (To be fair, Angelina Jolie was also an Oscar winner when she wore the braid).

The trailer likewise gives us our first look at Walter Goggins as Mathias Vogel, the kind of ally we suspect Lara should not put too much trust in. Ahem...


Tomb Raider Movie Story

Per the official synopsis:


Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death.

Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who—against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit—must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name tomb raider.


Tomb Raider Movie Cast

Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander will star as Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider film from MGM, Warner Bros, and GK Films, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The 28-year-old Swedish actress has been making a lot of waves in Hollywood. In the past few years, Vikander has enjoyed starmaking turns in The Danish Girl and Ex Machina, with other recent/upcoming films including The Light Between Oceans with Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz, Tulip Fever with Judy Dench and Christoph Waltz, and Jason Bourne with Matt Damon and Julia Stiles.

As we reported, Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley was previously in talks to star in the film. While Ridley would have made a great Lara, too, no doubt the Star Wars films are keeping her very busy. And Vikander is another great choice. The young actress has proven herself in everything from period drama to science fiction to romance, and made it look easy.

Vikander is currently one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood right now, so this is a big boon for the Tomb Raider reboot. As a former ballerina, the actress also has the physicality necessary to pull off such an action-oriented role.

The news was made official via THR, announcing that Dominic West has been cast in the role of Lord Richard Croft, the father of Vikander’s Lara and a central, enigmatic figure throughout the games and original Tomb Raider movie. West is best known for his role on Showtime’s The Affair, as well as work in The Wire and films like 300, Pride, and Genius.

The role of Richard Croft has been performed before by the stunt casting of Jon Voight in the 2001 Tomb Raider, as he is the real-life father of Angelina Jolie.

Variety reports that Daniel Wu (Into the Badlands) has been cast in the Tomb Raider reboot alongside Vikander. Wu will play Lu Ren, "a ship captain who partners with Croft on a quest to find her father," which gives us just a little bit more information about the plot. Um, it will probably involve a sea voyage.

Dune may finally get a good adaptation from Denis Villeneuve


This morning, we learned that Denis Villeneuve, who directed Sicario and the heavily Oscar-nominated Arrival, not to mention the upcoming sequel Blade Runner 2049, has signed on to direct a new adaptation of Dune, Frank Herbert’s classic novel about the machinations surrounding a desert planet which supplies the universe’s most valuable commodity. This is excellent news: Villeneuve is an outstanding director. But it’s also interesting because this could be the start of a much bigger franchise.

Frank Herbert’s son Brian, who has co-written more than a dozen Dune books of his own, recently alluded to big things on the horizon for the series. Last fall, rumors broke that Legendary Entertainment picked up the rights to the Dune franchise, which culminated in rumors that Villeneuve would helm the movie. Dune has been adapted for the screen a few times already; Twin Peaks creator David Lynch took his own liberties with the novel for a 1984 theatrical movie. Later, what was then called the SCI FI Channel adapted the book as a miniseries, and followed up with a second series, Children of Dune. There was also a famous failed adaptation attempt from El Topo writer-director Alejandro Jodorowsky.


Related
Why Hollywood is turning to books for its biggest productions

Dune is a dry novel (sorry, not sorry), and it’s a tough book to adapt, since it covers everything from interstellar politics to ecological activism to metaphysics. The adaptations have gotten mixed receptions from book fans and moviegoers alike. But there’s never been a better time to adapt a dense, complicated book for film or television, and Villeneuve might be the best person to take on the challenge.
Cinematic Universes are big right now

Dune and its sequels created a huge world, and his son and fellow author Kevin J. Anderson picked up that world and expanded it, drawing from Herbert’s notes to create further spinoffs. With the successes of franchises like Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the DC Cinematic Universe, studios are looking for ways to ensure their properties can have long-lasting series potential. Studios are increasingly turning to book series for source material, and Dune is one of the best-known big fictional works that would work with the type of sprawling production a cinematic universe requires.

For one thing, it’s massive. Including the books published after Frank Herbert’s death, the Dune sequence includes 20 novels, spanning millennia and worlds. While the story originally revolved around the Atreides family, there’s plenty of palace intrigue and interstellar politics to keep the novel moving along. Even though the book was written almost half a century ago, its story of revolution against oppressors still rings true and relevant. The original six novels alone have enough material to keep filmmakers working for years, and there are plenty of options available if Legendary wants a spinoff television series or video game story. This bodes well for fans of the series: Villeneuve has a solid track record demonstrating that he’s good at getting right to the heart of a story, its characters, and its world.
An immersive world

Villeneuve’s ability to recognize the humanity in a science fiction story isn’t a trivial concern. Films like Star Wars and Alien owe their appearance and existence to Dune, either through the books of movie productions. Herbert’s novel has an outsized footprint in the larger science fiction canon. The book has endured because it deals with some heady issues that remain relevant today: environmentalism, politics, and religion. Even half a century after it was written, the book is still an exciting, thought-provoking read.

But that means that when it comes to the big screen, it has to differentiate itself from the slew of other big-budget science fiction summer blockbusters out there. There’s an incredible amount of competition for dollars at the box office, and even though Dune is a classic, Villeneuve’s adaptation will have to work hard not just to break out of the existing science-fiction-franchise pack, but also to leave behind the legacy of Lynch’s film and the SCI FI series.

Dune has some big advantages here, and it can probably overcome those barriers. Herbert designed an incredibly large universe with interstellar intrigue, huge number of characters, and the detailed world of Arrakis. If a Dune reboot works with audiences, it can be used as a much larger stepping-stone for a larger franchise. Herbert's original novel and the events on Arrakis are just one small piece in a larger galactic history. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s books precede the first novel, helping set up the larger story that brought the Atreides family to the planet Arrakis, while the sequel novels continue the story of Paul Atreides, the jihad he wages across the galaxy, and his attempts to come to terms with the movement he creates.
Restrained touch

One of the intriguing things about Villeneuve is that he’s quickly becoming a huge director, with an A-list of science fiction properties under his belt. Arrival earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Picture, and Adapted Screenplay, among others. Arrival (which was also an adaptation from the literary side of the genre) also showed that he can balance a personal story set against much larger happenings.

His next project is taking on a sequel to Blade Runner, one of the most beloved films in the science fiction film canon. A successful adaptation of Dune would essentially be the triple crown of science fiction film directing.



The most notable thing about Villeneuve’s style is his restraint. He ignores most of the flashy action and set design that characterizes so many science fiction summer blockbusters. Instead, his films tell deeply personal stories in wonderfully constructed worlds. Sicario follows a cop grappling with the violence of the war on drugs, while Arrival uses the arrival of extraterrestrials to tell a heartbreaking story about parenting. Dune has the same kind of personal story embedded in it: the story of Paul Atreides as a nobleman-turned-savior is set against the backdrop of a larger interstellar conflict. It’s a personal epic as well as a space-opera epic.

There’s no guarantee that we’ll ever actually see a Villeneuve adaptation of Dune. Filmmakers have been working on a reboot of the series for years without results. Peter Berg (Battleship, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day) and Paramount started work on one in 2008, followed by Pierre Morel (District 13, Taken) a couple of years later. Dune is a huge undertaking, which means that while it’s got plenty of potential for a huge franchise, it could also be a costly failure if the studio doesn’t navigate the right path between story and visuals. But Arrival has demonstrated that Villeneuve can do justice to a complicated story. Hopefully he’ll be the one to crack this particular series, and the first to really do it justice on-screen.



Trilogy Heads For TV

The attempt to turn Isaac Asimov's sprawling and hugely influential Foundation sci-fi book trilogy is one that has frustrated filmmakers and studios for decades. It's been mooted as a big screen project several times, but television – particularly the prestige channels that have cropped up on cable and via the streaming services – might be its natural home. Now Skydance has David Goyer and Josh Friedman taking a fresh crack at the idea on the small screen.

Foundation is partly the story of a mathematician called Hari Seldon, who has invented a science called "psychohistory" which can predict the future for large-scale human concerns (so not whether you'll meet a mysterious stranger, but definitely whether civilisation will survive the next millennium). Sheldon sees that the Galactic Empire in which he lives is going to collapse, and that there will be a period of barbarism lasting 30,000 years, but he also predicts that, with the help of psychohistory and a planet called Foundation filled with experts in sciences and philosophy from all over the Empire, that barbaric age can be reduced to 1,000 years. The first book, Foundation, tells the story of that planet. Follow-ups reveal that another planet, Second Foundation, was set up to hold the psychohistorians themselves in isolation, while further adventures revolve around the development of the plan.

This one has bounced between creative folk and companies in its time, landing at different points with such various names as Roland Emmerich and Westworld's Jonah Nolan, who was working up a version for HBO, but switched to focus on the Crichton adaptation instead. The big problems with making Foundation work on screen are manifold, but mostly because of its huge nature (it has been compared to Game Of Thrones in terms of scale), the lack of any sort of protagonist or standard narrative structure, and the fact that so much of it has been mined by movies and TV series that came after (hello, Star Wars), so it'll be tough to avoid looking like you're ripping them off.

Still, Goyer has a lot of genre experience with the likes of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and more, and Friedman has written and produced a variety of projects – he's part of James Cameron's Avatar sequels team and is overseeing the TV version of Snowpiercer.

But maybe we'll finally see Asimov's work taken off that "unfilmmable" shelf, and whether it can truly work on screen...



A million sci-fi geeks cross fingers


Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, the New Line founders-turned-producers, clearly need a challenge in life since the studio they built was absorbed by the Absorbaloff off Doctor Who Warners. So what better idea than to tackle Isaac Asimov's Foundation, a story that takes place over a thousand years with a constantly-changing cast of characters, and is concerned mostly with the ever-popular subjects of history and maths?

The story is about the fall of a Galactic Empire (no, not that one) and its aftermath. A mathematician called Hari Seldon has invented a science called "psychohistory" which can predict the future for large-scale human concerns (so not whether you'll meet a mysterious stranger, but definitely whether civilisation will survive the next millenium). Sheldon sees that the Empire is going to collapse, and that there will be a period of barbarism lasting 30,000 years, but he also predicts that, with the help of psychohistory and a planet called Foundation filled with experts in sciences and philosophy from all over the Empire, that barbaric age can be reduced to 1,000 years. The first book, Foundation, tells the story of that planet.

But don't worry, the film's moving forward carefully. "This is not a script you knock out in six months," says Shaye, who's looking at doing the whole Foundation trilogy if they can get the first film to work - and with a prequel and a few books beyond the official trilogy, the franchise potential is definitely there. In fact, Prelude to Foundation is probably a lot more cinematic than its more famous elder brother.

The film was originally in development at Fox, which was trying to mash all three books together in one movie, but is now with Shaye and Lynne's Unique. Let's hope it turns out better than Shaye's sci-fi directing project The Last Mimzy. Although it's already ahead on title points...




Few could have predicted the phenomenal success of Deadpool, the 2016 movie based on Marvel Comics’ mouthy mercenary, that turned some early positive buzz into the biggest opening weekend of all time for an R-rated film. The sequel to the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie ever hits theaters in 2018, and we now have our first teaser for the film — presented in just the sort of weird, irreverent way that Deadpool’s fans have come to expect.

Set to be directed by John Wick co-director David Leitch, the Deadpool sequel will bring back Ryan Reynolds as iconic antihero Wade Wilson, alongside returning characters Colossus (Stefan Kapicic), Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), and taxi driver Dopinder (Karan Soni). The film will also introduce mutants Cable and Domino to Deadpool’s live-action movie universe, with actors Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz, respectively, cast in the roles.

The Deadpool sequel hits theaters June 1, 2018.
A teaser that paints a picture

Deadpool channeled painter Bob Ross for the first, official teaser for the Deadpool sequel, which was released November 15, 2017, and offered up some explosive footage from the much-anticipated movie. In classic Deadpool style, though, the footage was revealed only after Deadpool painted a pretty picture … or three.

Oh, and much like the movie itself, the teaser is definitely not all-ages content — so consider that your Not Safe For Work (NSFW) warning.

Along with all of the jokes in the teaser itself (and the credits), the studio’s description of the film on its YouTube channel is also good for a laugh.

“After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Mayberry’s hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste,” reads the synopsis. “Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the Yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.”

Well, that sounds about right for a Deadpool movie, actually.
A poster to be thankful for

Like its predecessor, Deadpool 2 is bringing us hilarious marketing materials. Reynolds shared a new poster via Twitter on November 9 that is both timely and funny. The poster does an excellent job of parodying the famous Norman Rockwell painting Freedom from Want, commonly called “The Thanksgiving Picture.” The cast fills in for the original subjects of the painting, while Stan Lee’s photo replaces a picture hanging on the wall.

20th Century Fox

Reynolds also shared a Good Housekeeping cover that brought more Deadpool 2 holiday fun, such as tips for being a “supper hero” and “giving your family the bird.”

We look forward to months more of these promotional materials.
That’s a wrap!

Filming on Deadpool 2 officially ended on October 14, and Reynolds commemorated the occasion by posting a batch of photos on Facebook from the set of the movie, along with a caption that reads like it was written by the mouthy mercenary himself.


“That’s a wrap on DEADPOOL 2: A SONG OF FIRE AND ICE!” wrote Reynolds. “Thank you to our beloved Captain, Mr. David Leitch… words are too clumsy to properly acknowledge your giant heart and talent. I love my hometown of Vancouver and our obscenely gifted crew. From our PA’s, (who are first in and last out) to our set decorators and prop departments, riddling this film with Easter Eggs in almost every scene… Thank you. I already miss being on set. Which is why I’ve decided to continue shooting the film in my underwear from Josh Brolin’s well appointed living room. #MaximumEffort”
Tragedy strikes on set

Canada’s CTV News reported Monday that a stuntwoman was killed in a motorcycle accident while filming on set for Deadpool 2. The sequence was being filmed at Jack Poole Plaza when she lost control of her bike and veered off the set through a window at nearby Shaw Tower.

The Advanced Life Support ambulance remained on location for about 45 minutes before driving away with its sirens and lights off. CTV host Ben Miljure shared a few photos from the scene via Twitter. No further details have been released regarding the stuntwoman’s identity.
Cable, we presume?

Among the first batch of official photos from the set of the Deadpool sequel was a shot of actor Josh Brolin in a makeup chair, with half of his face covered in a mold in order to recreate his character Cable’s half-machine look.

Brolin posted the photo on Instagram, and accompanied it with an ominous caption.

“Insanity on the brink,” wrote Brolin. “Face is morphing into something machine, fierce, hair sliced, arm machined, bulged. Where is Deadpool?!? Looking. Looking. All I got are these two…molding me, prodding, turning me into something hard.”

An official photo tweeted by Ryan Reynolds on August 7 finally revealed what Brolin will look like on screen, with a glowing eye appearing on the mechanical half of his character’s scarred face.

“We all have that one, grumpy, heavily armed Uncle from the future,” Reynolds wrote as a caption for the photo, where Brolin’s character appears with a mechanical fingertip over his lips.

Reynolds later tweeted a more complete body shot of Brolin as Cable.

The second photo includes a teddy bear hanging around the actor’s waist — an object that may be a reference to fellow Marvel character Hope Summers, who Cable kept safe as a child.
Domino works the red carpet

On July 31, Ryan Reynolds tweeted a first-look photo of Zazie Beetz as the mutant Domino, noting “some people just know how to work a red carpet.”

The image is reminiscent of an early pic of Reynolds himself as the title character, except this time, instead of Deadpool posing on a rug in front of a fireplace, Domino is sprawled out in the same pose. The Deadpool suit (or possibly Deadpool himself) is crushed, face down on the floor, beneath her. Decked out in busty, black leather gear, the character also sports a generous afro and a fiercely menacing expression that proves she’s a worthy enemy (or ally?) to the potty-mouthed man in the red suit.

Just a day later, Beetz posted another photo of herself in costume on Instagram.

The second photo offers a clearer shot of the white mark around her eye — a visual cue from the character’s comic-book counterpart.
Oh, Canada

Filming had barely been underway a week when one of the first Easter Eggs from the Deadpool sequel found its way online.

It’s no spoiler per se, but eagle-eyed Marvel Comics fans spotted an interesting addition to a taxi being used on the film’s Vancouver set. The advertisement on the top of the taxi cab appears to be pitching an airline or travel agency going by the name of “Alpha Flight.”

The cab was spotted by Canadian movie news site HollywoodNorth.buzz and a photo was posted on Twitter.

As fans of Marvel’s comic-book universe know, Alpha Flight is actually the famous superhero team that hails from Canada — essentially, Canada’s version of the X-Men or Avengers. It appears, however, that the name “Alpha Flight” might not carry a similar level of prestige in the film.
Happy birthday to whom?

We might not know much about the story that brings Deadpool back to the big screen, but we know that it will involve a birthday party.

In late June 2017, Just Jared posted a batch of unofficial photos from the set of the Deadpool sequel, including one photo released via Twitter. The images feature Reynolds in partial costume as the mouthy mercenary, attending — or more likely, crashing — a children’s birthday party.

Reynolds appears in Deadpool’s mask, and in one photo he’s seen diving into … something. What part the party will play in things remains unknown, but at least we know it’s not all business for Wade Wilson in the sequel.
Making a house call

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds commemorated the beginning of production on the sequel with a photo of himself in costume, set against a familiar backdrop: Charles Xavier’s school.

The photo (posted on Twitter) features Reynolds’ mercenary in full red-and-black uniform, lying on the ground in front of the famous Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters — an estate that’s actually Hatley Castle in British Columbia, Canada. The iconic building has been used as the X-mansion in the majority of the X-Men films, beginning with 2003’s X2: X-Men United and throughout X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Given that there will be a few more mutants added to the mix in the sequel, as well as several returning characters who call the X-mansion home, it appears that Deadpool is getting an early start on reacquainting himself with Xavier’s school.
More cast members, more muscles

In June 2017, Japanese actress Shioli Kutsuna (Oh Lucy!, The Outsider) reportedly joined the cast of the Deadpool sequel in an unidentified role. According to Deadline, Kutsuna is playing a “key role” in the film.

Meanwhile, Josh Brolin offered a preview of the physique he’s building to bring Deadpool’s fellow mutant mercenary Cable to the screen.

The actor posted a brief video on Instagram showing his workout routine for the Deadpool sequel. As if that wasn’t enough to stoke the fires of fans’ excitement for the upcoming film, Brolin upped the ante by calling out co-star Ryan Reynolds with the hashtag “#ryanreynoldsismybitch.”

Your move, Reynolds.
A villain is cast

Josh Brolin will be stirring things up as Cable when Deadpool 2 arrives, but we can expect someone else to cause problems for the Merc with a Mouth as well. Jack Kesy has taken a key villain role, Deadline reports. The actor joins the film having previously appeared in the FX series The Strain, in which he portrayed a goth rock star who was infected with a vampiric virus and then later became a host body for the Master. Needless to say, Kesy can handle an unconventional storyline, so he should be right at home in the upcoming superhero flick.



Jack Kesy as The Master in The Strain

Just which villain Kesy will play in the Deadpool sequel remains under wraps. One name being tossed about by Deadline’s sources is the mutant Black Tom. In the comics, he is an enemy of the X-Men, and he uses plants in interesting ways, including generating blasts via any wooden object. He also faces off with Cable, and at one point, is even shot by him, so their interactions could be interesting.
Would the real Cable please stand up?

After a post-credits scene in Deadpool revealed we could expect the character Cable (aka Nathan Summers) to appear in the next film, casting speculation began. Several contenders were named, including an apparent frontrunner, Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon. As it turns out, though, the Nocturnal Animals star will not be playing the mutant after all; Marvel Cinematic Universe vet Josh Brolin has snagged the role, according to Variety.

The casting comes as a surprise, given that Shannon was “leading the pack” as the studio’s top choice for the character, according to The Hollywood Reporter in mid-March. He seemed like an ideal fit, having already appeared in three films based on comic-book properties — 2010’s Jonah Hex, as well as Man of Steel and the recent Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Brolin also brings that experience, but it will be a bit strange to see him portray another Marvel character. He played the villain Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he’ll also reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War. Don’t ask us how they’ll deal with that if there’s ever a Deadpool-Avengers crossover.

Any future strangeness notwithstanding, Rob Liefield, co-creator of the Deadpool comics, is thrilled. He posted an exclamation point-filled Facebook message, saying, “It’s OFFICIAL!!! The amazing JOSH BROLIN is CABLE!! He will be joining @vancityreynolds and @zaziebeetz in #Deadpool 2!!! SO EXCITING!! Yes, it’s happening folks, Deadpool #Domino #Cable are united on screen!!!”

In Marvel Comics lore, Cable is a powerful mutant soldier with a complicated history (involving time travel and conflicting timelines) and a stoic demeanor that often runs counter to Deadpool’s erratic nature. The pair have been enemies, allies, and co-stars of a popular shared comic-book series at various points, and screenwriters Reese and Wernick indicated that Cable’s origin will need to be simplified for the movie.

Prior to Brolin’s casting, Shannon’s name wasn’t the only one floated as the actor to play him. Stranger Things actor David Harbour was also reportedly in the mix, and Bloodline and Zero Dark Thirty actor Kyle Chandler emerged as one of the early frontrunners for the role in August 2016. That report seemed to lose momentum after Deadpool director Tim Miller departed the sequel a few months later.
The art of the tease

In March, 20th Century Fox revved up anticipation for the Deadpool sequel with a short film that was shown before screenings of Logan, Hugh Jackman’s (assumed to be) final solo film as the Marvel Comics mutant Wolverine.

Titled Deadpool: No Good Deed, the short film was directed by David Leitch and written by Rhett Reese, and features Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool). The plot sees Wade attempting to break up a robbery in a dingy alleyway, only to spend so much time trying to put on his costume in a phone booth (obviously throwing shade at D.C.’s Superman) that the victim is killed in the meantime. The film concludes with Deadpool resting on the victim’s body and eating some ice cream from his grocery bag.

Legendary Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee makes a cameo in the short, which also features some graffiti teasing the feature film’s impending debut of the mutant Cable.
A change in direction

Plans for a Deadpool sequel were announced shortly after the film hit theaters, with original director Tim Miller initially expected to return for the follow-up film. Those plans changed in the months following the film’s debut, however, and Miller announced his departure from the sequel in October 2016.

Although nothing is certain regarding Miller’s reasons for exiting the Deadpool sequel, rumors indicated that he and star Ryan Reynolds — who also serves as a producer on the film — clashed over the proposed tone and casting for the second film.

It didn’t take long for the studio to fill the director’s chair. John Wick co-director David Leitch, a former stunt man and renowned fight choreographer, was confirmed as the film’s new director just six days after Miller’s exit.
The Domino effect

Back in October 2016, unconfirmed reports began circulating that the studio was looking to cast an actress to play the mutant Domino for the sequel.

Making her first, official appearance in a 1992 issue of Marvel’s X-Force series, Domino was created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza (the same team responsible for creating Deadpool) and is capable of altering probabilities in her favor. She often makes use of her mutant ability as a mercenary and has been a partner, teammate, and lover of fellow mutant Cable, along with operating both in league with and against Deadpool at various points in her comic-book history.

Ryan Reynolds brought the speculation to an end in March 2017, however, when he used a zany tweet to announce that Atlanta actress Zazie Beetz would play Domino in the movie.
Lights, camera …

In February 2017, studio 20th Century Fox and producer Simon Kinberg confirmed plans to release the Deadpool sequel in 2018. The announcement left fans wondering when cameras would officially begin rolling on the project, but they didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Later that same month, the Directors Guild of Canada confirmed that filming will begin on the Deadpool sequel around June 19 and continue through September 18.

Update: We added the first teaser for the film.



Season 8 won't even finish filming until summer 2018

Game of Thrones final season might be its shortest at just six episodes, but it is set to have the longest production, meaning the new episodes won't be broadcast anytime soon.

"[The episodes are] definitely going to be bigger and what I hear is longer," Ser Davos Seaworth actor Liam Cunningham told TV Guide. "We’re filming right up until the summer."

With a ton of editing - not to mention VFX - to follow, this likely pushes the release date back into 2019.

On the plus side, though, the extensive amount of filming means that we can expect some pretty lengthy episodes.



"When you think about it, up until last season we’d have six months to do ten episodes, so we’re [doing] way more than that for six episodes," Cunningham added. "So that obviously will translate into longer episodes."

In spite of pressure for haste from fans, HBO is clearly committed to delivering the highest quality season possible instead of sticking to a yearly distribution.

"As shows get bigger and more complicated, I have to follow the producers' lead and let go of, 'It'd be nice to have it every year,'" HBO programming president Casey Bloys said recently.


“House of Cards” has extended its production hiatus, in the wake of the ongoing investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against series star Kevin Spacey.

The Netflix drama, which is currently in production on its sixth and final season, has been on hiatus since news first broke of Spacey’s alleged misconduct. Producers are exploring ways to write Spacey’s character out of the show, as well as a possible spinoff of “House of Cards.” The actor was suspended from the production on November 3.

In a letter sent to the cast and crew by Media Rights Capital, producers informed them that the hiatus has been extended an additional two weeks, through December 8th, and the crew will continue to be paid during the break.

“These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen,” read the letter. “The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.”

Here’s the full text of the letter:

Dear Cast and Crew, As we move into the holidays, we want to express our appreciation for all of the meaningful messages of support we have received from you and want to update all of our loyal cast and crew on our progress and where things currently stand.

We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon. As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.

In addition to the writers, there will be a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis. Our hope is that the entire crew will be able to reconvene when production resumes, but we want you to know that we will certainly understand if crew members need to find other work in the interim, which will prevent them from re-joining us. We sincerely appreciate all you have done.

Cast and other union members who are not actively working will be paid in accordance with applicable union guidelines through this period and we will be reaching out directly to your representatives to work through the details; we will get to everyone as quickly as possible and appreciate all of your patience here.

These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.



Jude Law is in negotiations to play the male lead opposite Brie Larson in Marvel’s “Captain Marvel,”

Ben Mendelsohn is on board to play the villain with “Half Nelson” helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directing. Kevin Feige is producing.

Marvel had no comment.

Geneva Robertson-Dworet wrote the most recent script with “Inside Out” scribe Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman penning previous drafts, which follows Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the superpowers of strength, energy projection, and flight.

Law will be playing Doctor Walter Lawson, a.k.a. Mar-Vell, who becomes a mentor of sorts to Danvers as she tries to figure out her new powers.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Feige announced that the superhero film will be set in the ’90s, before the Avengers ever thought of assembling, and Samuel L. Jackson is expected to reprise his role as Nick Fury.

The pic is expected to bow on March 8, 2019.

This would mark the second major tentpole part Law has landed this year after getting the role of young Albus Dumbledore in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” He is also still attached to star in a third “Sherlock Holmes” film, which Warner Bros. is currently developing.

Law just wrapped shooting Woody Allen’s next movie, starring Elle Fanning, and is about to start shooting the spy thriller “The Rhythm Section” opposite Blake Lively. He is repped by WME, Julian Belfrage Associates, and attorney Karl Austen.





Netflix Plans to Release 80 Original Films in 2018

Netflix expects to release around 80 original films next year, as it looks to hit the kind of scale in movies that it’s achieved on the TV side, according to chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

“They range anywhere from the million-dollar Sundance hit, all the way up to something on a much larger scale,” like Will Smith-starrer “Bright,” Sarandos said in an investors’ interview Monday about Netflix’s third-quarter 2017 results.

Netflix’s target for original movies next year compares with a 2017 slate of about 50 film titles that it has released or is scheduled to debut globally. Those include comedies, dramas, anime, action movies, foreign films and documentaries.

“Bright,” a cop action-thriller movie directed by David Ayer, had a reported production price tag of $90 million. It’s set to debut on Netflix worldwide on Dec. 22. Sarandos also cited as a forthcoming big-budget picture Martin Scorsese’s gangster movie “The Irishman,” starring Robert DeNiro, slated to be released on Netflix in early 2019. “The Irishman” has a budget of more $100 million.

Sarandos said with the release of “Bright” — a “big-budget, event movie” — “I think people will start seeing the potential for this original movie initiative, that it could be done on the enormous scale we have on the television side.”

Netflix released eight original films in Q3. Those included “Death Note,” based on the popular Japanese manga series; Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father” drama about the Cambodian genocide; “Naked,” a romantic comedy featuring Marlon Wayans; and anorexia drama “To the Bone,” starring Lily Collins.

Theater chains have fought against Netflix’s incursion into movies, over its model of releasing films for theatrical debut the same day they’re available to stream on Netflix.

In reporting Q3 results Monday, Netflix said that its content spending in 2018 will be between $7 billion and $8 billion — up from $6 billion this year. Previously, the company had pegged $7 billion for content spending next year. That decision was not tied to Netflix’s recent price increases in several markets, including in the U.S., according to CFO David Wells.

“There’s no timing correlation between our intent to grow content and to grow content spending and the price increases,” Wells said. “This has been planned for a long time.”

Regarding Disney’s decision to end it movie-output deal with Netflix with 2019 releases, Sarandos said, “We just have to focus on creating content that our members can’t live without… Whether or not one of our partners decides to produce for us or compete with us, that’s really a choice that they have to make based on their own business.”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings also noted that outside the U.S., the streamer has carried Disney content only in Australia, the Netherlands, and Canada. “Although [Disney’s] got an enormously significant brand… we’ve done very well in international without it,” he said.

Sarandos acknowledged that there’s a highly competitive market for top-tier content, but he argued that overall prices are not off the charts. “Those big ‘unicorn’ shows — the price of any one of them might go up in a more competitive market, but general content costs are quite predictable,” he said. With Netflix’s overall deal with Shonda Rhimes, Sarandos said, “creating a place… where she can get outside the network box a little bit had a lot more to do with her attractiveness to Netflix than, we just had to outbid ABC.”

Asked about the trend of media companies becoming less inclined to license TV shows to Netflix — for example, Hulu won exclusive rights to NBC’s “This Is Us” — Sarandos called out as an example teen drama “Riverdale” on The CW, which saw its ratings for season two increase 400% versus the first season. “Having ‘Riverdale’ in the second window meant an enormous audience growth for it in season 2,” he said. Producers and networks will have to look at the “trade-offs in value” to see when the threat of competition outweighs the value of licensing content to Netflix, Sarandos said.

Meanwhile, Hastings said Netflix will not be looking to buy the Weinstein Company, which has been devastated by the revelations surrounding Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment and assault of women over several decades.

“It would be extremely unlikely for us to be a bidder for the firm,” Hastings said in the investors’ interview.

Sarandos tried to distance Netflix from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, saying, “Our business with the Weinstein Company is pretty arm’s-distance.” According to Sarandos, the streamer has an output deal for some films and second-window distribution rights on TV series with the Weinstein Company, but he said those are “not material.”

Netflix’s first original movie came from the Weinstein Company: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny,” the sequel to Ang Lee’s 2000 martial-arts hit. “Sword of Destiny” was released in February 2016.

On Monday, Colony Capital announced that it was extending the Weinstein Company an emergency infusion of cash, and the indie studio said it was negotiating with Colony Capital to sell all or a significant portion of its assets.

The Netflix Q3 interview for investors was prerecorded and posted on YouTube at 6 p.m. ET. As with the Q2 earnings investor interview, UBS’s Doug Mitchelson was the only analyst who asked questions during the interview with Netflix execs.

At the end of the interview, Hastings and Sarandos pulled on “Stranger Things”-themed Christmas-light sweaters — tub-thumping for the season 2 premiere on Oct. 27, as well as promoting the company’s merchandise deal with Target for the show.
 
Copyright © 2015 Free Online 4k Movies
Distributed By Gooyaabi Templates