REEL NEWS: AUGUST 31ST-SEPTEMBER 7TH

The Haunting of Bly Manor Trailer

Early in the week (like an hour after last week’s Reel News went up, thanks for that Netflix), the trailer for The Haunting of Bly Manor was released.

If you thought The Haunting of Hill House was creepy get ready for dolls (always creepy), undead lake monsters and little girls, a staple of the horror genre.

Little story information was released, but with Mike Flanagan back as showrunner you can expect a series that tackles real world problems through the lens of the horror genre.

The Haunting of Bly Manor will be available on Netflix on October 9th.

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Gossip Girl Reunion/Reboot for HBO Max

HBO Max are cashing in on their back catalogue of shows by reviving them.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast are recording an unscripted reunion special on September 10th.

The special will reunite Will Smith, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Alfonso Ribeiro and DJ Jazzy Jeff for a retrospective on the culturally significant series.

This follows the announcement of a dramatic reboot of the Fresh Prince series, Bel-Air, being developed based on a fan-made short.

The other series being revitalised for HBO Max is Gossip Girl which is getting a reboot, 8 years after the show’s ending.

The 10-episode series will continue the story of New York elitist teenagers and their introduction to the Gossip Girl website, just now with the heavy involvement of social media in people’s lives.

Kristen Bell is the only returning cast member as the narrator of the show, with a new cast of actors who have not had a big break prior to this show.

Production will begin in New York around October, with the show to be released sometime late 2021.

Marvel’s Avengers DLC Characters

Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel’s Avengers game has been fully released, and the upcoming DLC characters have been announced.

At the ‘War Table’ livestream, it was revealed that Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye will be the next playable character after Clint Barton’s Hawkeye.

Kate Bishop is the protégé of Clint Barton and shares the title of Hawkeye with him in the comics.

In the game, Bishop is called to help The Avengers to find Hawkeye I who has gone missing before they find he is working with (or undercover) the bad guys, A.I.M (he’s definitely undercover).

The trailer also shows Bishop’s new ability to teleport, which feels reminiscent of Captain Boomerang’s speed ability in the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League trailer.

At the start of the livestream, a tribute was made to Chadwick Boseman with a statement saying the livestream was altered to honour him, followed by an icon resembling the Black Panther mask.

This alteration was most likely the removal of the announcement of Black Panther as a DLC character, out of respect of Boseman’s recent passing.

Bishop (and potentially Panther) join Hawkeye I and, only for the PS, Spider-Man as DLC characters.

Marvel’s Avengers is currently available now, but based on reviews, may not be worth going in on what is a superhero, games-as-service (money drain).

The Three-Body Problem at Netflix

David Benioff and D.B Weiss, the pair responsible for the Game of Thrones TV series, are working on a series for Netflix based on the book, The Three-Body Problem.

Benioff and Weiss are also joined by Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Looper), Alexander Woo (The Terror) and the book’s authors Liu Cixin and Ken Liu.

The Three-Body Problem is the first book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past sci-fi trilogy, which follows a woman who in response to the Chinese Cultural Revolution, attempts to make contact with aliens to make them invade Earth.

What follows is a sci-fi epic that spans from the 1960s till the end of time in what Benioff and Weiss called “the most ambitious science-fiction series we’ve read”.

Cixin describes the series as “a story that transcends time and the confines of nations, cultures and races; one that compels us to consider the fate of humankind as a whole”.

Well, so long as you give Benioff and Weiss a definitive ending before they start making the series, Netflix could have another hit on their hands.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Release Date

Disney have spoken, and The Mandalorian Season 2 will be streaming on Disney+ on October 30th.

The announcement came with a new poster for the series, which is an evolution of Season 1’s poster.

The colour is a cooler palate and the titular Mandalorian is joined by the star of the show, The Child (Baby Yoda).

No story details have been released with only the conclusion of Season 1 with the Mando searching for The Child’s “people” while being pursued by Moff Gideon.

The Child’s “people” could either be his species, or Force sensitive beings, like the Jedi, who can train The Child.

There are rumours of characters like Ahsoka Tano or Bo Katan, or the useless bounty hunter, Boba Fett, appearing but there has been no confirmation beyond an all-star cast including Rosario Dawson, Michael Biehn, Timothy Olyphant, Katee Sackhoff and Temuera Morrison.

Season 2 will follow the weekly release schedule of Season 1, with a double feature premiere on October 30th.

The Mandalorian Season 1 is currently available on Disney+.

Mulan Free on Disney+ Soon

Prior to its exclusive release on Disney+, it was confirmed that the live-action Mulan film will be made available for free soon.

The news came when the Mulan link was put up on Disney+ with the fine print explaining that the Premier Access would expire in December.

Currently, the movie is available for $35 ($30 USD) along with a current Disney+ membership.

Or, Disney+ members can now choose to wait till December 4th to check the movie out for free.

Read the review to find out whether it’s worth it.

No Time To Die Trailer

The latest trailer for No Time To Die, the 25th Bond film was released in aims to build up awareness and anticipation for the film.

In a rare progressive move for the franchise, No Time was the first major blockbuster to delay its release as a result of COVID-19 back in March.

The film was moved from an April release to November before it was later joined by Black Widow, Wonder Woman and Godzilla vs Kong (for a bit before that was moved again).

Check here for a further breakdown of the action-packed trailer.

The Batman Filming Delayed Again

Production on The Batman won’t be resuming anytime soon, with star Robert Pattinson, reportedly, testing positive for COVID-19.

Warner Bros. confirmed that the film’s production was halted due to a member of the crew contracting the virus.

Vanity Fair first reported their source that Pattinson was the one who tested positive.

Filming had resumed in the UK in recently, after being put on hold for….well, ya know…everything.

Even after only shooting roughly 20% of the film, a teaser for the new take on the Dark Knight debuted at DC FanDome.

The Batman is eyeing an October, 2021 release.

Ray Fisher Is or Isn’t Helping Investigation into Justice League Filming

The independent investigation into the reshoots of Justice League has encountered a problem. Or so. Or maybe it hasn’t.

Ray Fisher, the actor who played Cyborg in Justice League, recently accused the producers, Joss Whedon and executives at Warner Bros. for abusive behaviour during the film’s reshoots.

In response, an independent group was called in by Warner Media, the parent company, to investigate Fisher’s allegations.

Now, Warner Bros. are questioning Fisher’s assistance, accusing the actor of refusing to speak with the investigator.

Fisher then disputed these claims tweeting an email he made saying he meet with the investigator and suggesting that the investigator was not hired by Warner Media but Warner Bros, and is reporting to them.

As if the making of Justice League wasn’t messy enough, now we can add ‘he said, they said’ goings on with no evidence to prove otherwise to the mix.

First Image from Mission Impossible 7

Lastly, director Christopher McQuarrie has announced production commencing on Mission Impossible 7 by releasing the first production image.

The image shows nothing beyond a lengthy ramp looking out over scenic mountains with no landing point in sight.

The Mission franchise have become known as the home of ‘Tom Cruise Finds Absurd Ways to Nearly Kill Himself, whether it be strapped to a jumbo jet, flipping a helicopter in mid-air or jumping along London rooftops before breaking his ankle.

This ramp is definitely gonna be one of the ridiculous stunts he performs.

We can only speculate what; maybe he rides a motorbike off, does a flip and then wingsuits through a ring of fire and lands on a different motorbike below.

Or he jump-flips over a helicopter and lands on a moving plane.

Or he-.