Oh look, another week of shenanigans in the world of film – and stuff.
In this week’s “Legendary loss” story, the great actor Harry Dean Stanton died today at the age of 91.
Stanton had iconic roles in films like Alien, Godfather II, Pretty In Pink, Escape From New York, and Repo Man.
He’s basically been in practically everything in some form, from Twin Peaks to The Avengers, going as far back as the mid-1950’s. He was also a musician, who sang and played guitar. He performed for years with The Harry Dean Stanton Band. I had the good fortune to have seen him perform here in L.A. at the Grammy Museum.
Harry Dean’s final performance will be seen in Lucky, which is set to air later this month. I’ve been REALLY looking forward to this one.
He was a lifelong bachelor, but was survived by some family. I get that he was 91, but this is like losing a mythological being. I am sad.
In this week’s “Well, nobody else worked out” story, after firing practically every director hired to make a Star Wars film, the powers that be – probably Kathleen Kennedy – have gone back to JJ Abrams to write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX.
I’m sure they’re saying “Oh, he’s the only director that really ‘gets’ the material”. My theory, of course, is that he’s likely the only director that would do what Kennedy says without arguing about it. Just shut up and makes this the way we want you to.
How much are they paying Abrams, though? Yeah, that’s the question I want to know the answer to.
In this week’s “But now you have to find more directors – or is JJ Abrams going to direct them ALL?” story, there is a new book publishing in October that contains 40 new Star Wars stories.
Ok, I know it’s abook and we don’t usually talk books here. However, the obvious connection is that these 40 stories, in a book titled Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, are potential fodder for future Star Wars films.
Each story is told from the perspective of a background character from the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. “from X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star to the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for.”
Among the writers are Gary Whitta (Rogue One screenwriter), famed comic book and Warner Bros. animation writer Paul Dini, and Thrilling Adventure Hour creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker.
Writing stories from these points of view is a fascinating way to explore the Star Wars Universe. Del Rey Publishing will release the book in October. I’m going to be looking for this one.
In this week’s “Once more into the breach” story, Jamie Lee Curtis will delve in to the Halloween franchise one last time.
Yes, Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN, released by Universal Pictures October 19, 2018. #HalloweenMovie,” Blumhouse Productions tweeted Friday.
“Same porch. Same clothes. Same issues. 40 years later. Headed back to Haddonfield one last time for Halloween,” Curtis tweeted.
David Gordon Green, the co-creator of HBO’s Eastbound & Down and director of movies such as Pineapple Express and Our Brand Is Crisis, will helm a new movie with a script co-written by him and frequent collaborator Danny McBride. That announcement was made in February by John Carpenter, the co-creator of the franchise and director the 1978 original.
Blumhouse, Miramax and Trancas are the production entities involved. Carpenter will executive produce along with Gordon Green and McBride’s Rough House Pictures.
“David and Danny both came to my office recently with Jason Blum and shared their vision for the new movie and … WOW. They get it. I think you’re gonna dig it. They blew me away,” Carpenter wrote then. “I might even do the music. Maybe. It could be kind of cool. And you’ll get to see it in theaters on October 19th, 2018.”
It’s really cool to have John Carpenter on board, right? Right!
In this week’s “Witches are cool” story, actress Adria Arjona from Emerald City will play “practical occultist” Anathema Device in Amazon’s forthcoming Good Omens adaptation, showrunner Neil Gaiman announced Thursday via Twitter.
The series is a six-part comedy for Amazon based on the acclaimed fantasy novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Gaiman (American Gods) and Terry Pratchett (Colour of Magic). Gaiman also serves as showrunner. It takes place in the near future, as the apocalypse approaches and humanity is about to undergo Final Judgment. It all seems to be unfolding according to Divine Plan… which is not good news to an angel named Aziraphale (played by Masters of Sex‘s Michael Sheen) and a demon named Crowley (Broadchurch‘s David Tennant), both of whom have lived among Earth’s mortals since the dawn of time and really rather enjoy their lifestyle.
Arjona’s character is a descendant of Agnes Nutter, an ancient witch. As Gaiman notes in his tweet, the series also cast the following actors: Nina Sosanya (Love Actually) as Sister Mary Loquacious of the Chattering Order of St. Beryl, Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders) as Duke of Hell Hastur and Ariyon Bakare (Rogue One) as Duke of Hell Ligur.
And as I saw today on Twitter, Michael McKean (Better Call Saul) revealed that he will play Shadwell in the adaptation.
This should be super fun! Yay!
In this week’s “Not THat kind of gore” story, Michael Stuhlbarg, Freya Mavor and Nikolai Kinski have joined the cast of Gore, Netflix’s upcoming bio of author Gore Vidal starring Kevin Spacey in the title role. The newcomers follow the previously announced Griffin Dunne and Douglas Booth to the project.
Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) will play Howard, Gore’s longtime companion; Booth and Mavor (The Sense of an Ending) will be a young couple whose Amalfi Coast vacation is derailed by Gore’s attentions; and Dunne and Kinski (Yves Saint Laurent) are set as Leonard Bernstein and Rudolph Nureyev, regular visitors to Gore’s Ravello villa.
Gore is directed by Michael Hoffman from his screenplay with Jay Parini, author of the 2015 biography Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal. The film centers on the period in 1982 following Gore’s failed California Senate attempt. He retreats to his Italian home La Rondinaia in a Bacchanalian attempt to circumvent writer’s block and ennui.
This has a great cast, but despite that I’m not sure how interested I am in it.
In this week’s “Racial white-washing be gone!” story, actor Daniel Day Kim will replace Ed Skrein in the new Hellboy film directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent). Kim will play Ben Daimio. He joins Stranger Things actor David Harbour who will be playing Hellboy.
You can see a cool photo preview of Harbour as Hellboy online right now. Strangely, he looks a lot like Ron Pearlman’s Hellboy. Go figure. Here’s the pic: http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3458912/first-look-david-harbour-incredibly-badass-hellboy/
In this week’s “Guess the real ending” story, the folks over at Games of Thrones are going to film multiple endings to their series finale in order to try to thwart people that would try to pirate or thieve the ending and leak it to the world.
Good luck!
In this week’s “Ok Ok, you can be in it!” story, actress Nicole Kidman REALLY wanted to be in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
The tense, dramatically escalating domestic drama appeared at the Toronto Film Festival. The film, loosely based on the myth of Iphigenia (Google it after seeing it is the recommendation), pairs Colin Farrell with Nicole Kidman as a couple whose lives are upended when a young stranger (an especially sinister Barry Keoghan) beguiles his way into their lives.
Lanthimos explained that the original kernel of the concept was very simple—it was “the idea of a teenager wanting to seek justice for the death of his father,” he noted. Farrell was first to get on board when the screenplay, co-scripted with the director’s usual writing partner Efthymis Filippou, was finished
For the wife, Lanthimos finally yielded to the stream of texts sent to him on a regular basis by Kidman, usually comprising the words “Is there a part for me?” The actress professed no regrets at all for such fan-girl behavior
She also said, “I’m a huge believer in his cinematic voice.”
Well, Lanthimos directed The Lobster, and Dogtooth, and I enjoyed both of those. So, I’m in for this, too.
In this week’s “Nightwing is going to win an Oscar?” story, DC’s film about Nightwing will be directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie), and he says it’s going to win an Oscar. Like, for sure.
But for action stunts, which is something no Oscar exists for yet. McKay explains:
“It’s going to be unlike any other sort of superhero movie because it’s not gonna rely on a lot of CG. This movie is going to win a stunt Academy Award. They’re going to make a stunt Academy Award for this movie. I guarantee it. It’s going to be insane.”
Ok, that’s some considerable confidence for there. Maybe even cockiness? Either way, I hope it’s actually that good. I mean, the character, Dick Grayson IS a trained circus acrobat, so there is some merit to the notion. But to have the Academy actually invent a new Oscar just for this? Sounds a bit over-confident to me.
In this week’s “Sweet! story, John Wick: Chapter Three gets a release date!
Lionsgate will release Summit’s third installment of the Keanu Reeves shooter franchise on May 17, 2019. It is the film series’ first summer release. No plot details have yet been unveiled for the upcoming threequel.
John Wick: Chapter Three is currently the only studio project with that release date. Earlier that month, Disney will unveil a new Avengers movie and Sony’s TriStar will release its adaptation of The Rosie Project, while Disney’s Aladdin reimagining and Warner Bros.’ Minecraft will be released afterward.
The R-rated action series stars Reeves as a no-holds-barred ex-hitman who comes out of retirement to get retribution on gangsters who took away everything he loved. Chapter 2 found Wick fighting off bounty hunters seeking the large prize placed on his head.
Directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, John Wick debuted in October 2014 and grossed $88 million worldwide. The sequel, helmed by Stahelski, grossed $171 million globally upon its release in February of this year.
Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first two films, will return to pen the third installment.
Am I excited? Uh, HELLZ yes.
In this week’s “Mars is the new Wild West.” story, writer of The Big Short, Charles Randolph, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt, will join forces to create a sci-fi thriller series called Red Rush.
The drama is set in the 22nd century, where Mars is the new Wild West, luring those in search of wealth and freedom to its inhospitable surface. A brilliant scientist studying Earth from afar, an outlaw miner hoarding a vast but illegal fortune, a ruthless intelligence operative with cameras and spies everywhere — all will be drawn into a plot that will shake the powers that be on the Red Planet, and beyond.
Randolph, who won an Oscar for writing The Big Short screenplay with Adam McKay, developed the concept and will pen the scripts. Wyatt is attached to direct. Gaumont and Ivanhoe Pictures are set to co-produce.
“I’ve been obsessing over this story for years, so I’m happy to have in Rupert a director who can paint big worlds with a fine brush — and to have in Gaumont and Ivanhoe partners with fearless international perspectives,” said Randolph.
If picked up for series, look for it on Netflix.
And in this week’s “Celebrity Feud” story, apparently Michael Rapaport has a beef with musician Marilyn Manson.
On Thursday, Marilyn Manson said that Justin Bieber had acted like a “real piece of sh–” toward him during a Billboard interview.
Well, It seems Rappaport has reason to defend Bieber and had some words – AND a challenge for Manson.
In a video promoting the latest installment of his “I Am Rapaport” podcast, the “Atypical” star set out the terms of the challenge.
“That fake-ass ghoul Marilyn Manson tried to diss my man Justin Bieber, so we have the Marilyn Manson Challenge,” Rapaport said. “We challenge you to do a show without the lipstick, the lace and the pigeon blood. See what you got?”
And no, he wasn’t done there.
“No-talent, gimmick-ass Marilyn Manson made a career out of dressing up like every day is Halloween,” Rapaport continued. “Take your f—ing broomstick and get the f— out of here!”
The actor also had some words for actor James Woods, who was recently accused by actress Amber Tamblyn of trying to pick her up when she was 16.
“James Woods, you’re a fucking creep,” Rapaport said. “Everybody in Hollywood and show-biz knows it.”
Rapaport has a history with Bieber. In 2015, the pair teamed up for a mockumentary in which Rapaport, haunted by Bieber securing the MVP award at the 2011 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game the year after Rapaport had won the award, relentlessly seeks a rematch from the “Baby” singer.
Wow. I mean, just, like….Wow. That just seems like a no-win situation for either side.
And with that, we’re out! See you all next week!