- Andrew Lynch
REEL NEWS: MAY 25TH-JUNE 1ST
This week; we’ve all moved a space on this Jumanji board of 2020 with fans becoming empowered to demand what they want and America reaching its breaking point.
And, Universal move on with their Monster universe, Sonic will return, Henry Cavil will be Superman again, an 80s fantasy film is getting a "much sought after" sequel and the Planet of the Apes franchise continues.
YOU GET A DIRECTOR’S CUT! AND YOU GET A DIRECTOR'S CUT!
After the announcement of The Snyder Cut of Justice League last week, fans and creators are coming out of the woodworks to get their director’s cuts released.
David Ayer started to campaign for his Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad which went through a similarly tumultuous production to Justice League and re-edits to change its grim tone.
Ayer started responding to fan questions about his version and how it drastically changed in reshoots and the editing suite.
He pointed to films like Deadpool which made Warner Bros. change his ‘methodical’ film that he tweeted, closer resembled the first trailer for the film and the works of Christopher Nolan.
Along with this, a #MakeSolo2Happen became a thing with people tweeting to release a sequel to the financially disappointing Star Wars spin-off.
Josh Trank responded to requests for his version of the mired Fantastic 4 (2015) by tweeting “Yeah…No, Trank you”, with his Twitter account now no longer active.
Simon Kinberg, long-time X-Men producer and writer and director of X-Men: Dark Phoenix, said in an IGN watch party of X-Men: Days of Future Past that there was no secret cut of his film.
He did reveal that he planned for it to be a two-parter before the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox forced him to cut things short in the watch party.
David F Sandberg (Shazam!), brought his own quirky, take on the ‘Director’s Cut’ movement by including Henry Cavil’s face in Superman’s cameo in Shazam!.
Stay tuned for when HBO announce they are re-filming the final season of Game of Thrones, The Last Jedi is removed from existence and replaced with the “”fan”” film, Captain Marvel ‘smiles more’ and the world folds in on itself.
Doug Liman Sending Tom Cruise Into Space
Director Doug Liman will be joining Tom Cruise on his mission to space. Cause that’s a sentence in 2020.
Recently, it was announced that Tom Cruise would partner with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA to film a narrative film on the International Space Station.
Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) will direct the project, having been attached originally and written the first draft of the screenplay, according to Deadline.
It is unknown if Liman will join Cruise into space, or direct from solid ground.
Last Night in Soho New Release Date
After having its release date pushed back, Edgar Wright’s latest film has new 2021 release date.
Focus Features, the studio behind the project, announced that Last Night in Soho will come out April 23, 2021.
Originally set to come out August 2020, the film was pushed back as a result of it being unfinished and post-production only being able to be completed once COVID restrictions eased.
To announce the new date, Wright tweeted a new image of star Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) in 60s get-up.
Last Night in Soho stars McKenzie, Smith and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), Terrence Stamp (Superman II) and Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and will see an aspiring model jump between modern day and 1960s London.
Labyrinth Sequel
After departing Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Maddness, Scott Derickson has found a new project.
Deadline report exclusively, that Derickson will direct the sequel to the 80s cult Jim Henson-fantasy film Labyrinth, which originally starred David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly and a bunch of puppets.
The original saw Jennifer Connelly play Sarah who must rescue her baby brother from the goblin King, David Bowie, located in a maze. Or labyrinth, if you will.
The sequel will be written by Maggie Levin, who has primarily directed short films like Diva and Vain: This Party Sucks.
It receives the blessing of the Jim Henson Company with Lisa and Brian Henson producing.
Recently, Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal was adapted into a Netflix TV series that highlighted an all-star cast and impressive puppetry and creature work.
Henry Cavil Returning as Superman
Man, Deadline are on a roll this week.
Deadline have also reported the Henry Cavil is negotiating with Warner Bros to don the red-and-blue tights of Superman again.
Sadly, Cavil may not return in a standalone film, but appear in other DC properties.
That rules out; Wonder Woman ’84 which is out in under 2 months; The Suicide Squad which has wrapped filming and doesn’t seem like the film for his return; and The Batman which is currently either separate or a prequel to the main DC Universe.
The most likely candidate is Shazam! 2 which hasn’t begun filming, but giving Superman’s minor appearance at the end of Shazam!, makes sense he woudl appear, possibly to help Earth’s Mightiest Mortal confront Black Adam, similar to the animated film Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam.
The Last Son of Krypton could also appear in Black Adam opposite Dwayne Johnson before Shazam! 2, or in Aquaman 2.
Cavil seemingly left the role of Superman due to a lack of Superman properties being developed and a scheduling conflict resulted in him not appearing in Shazam!.
Now, after some successes with Aquaman, Shazam! and Birds of Prey, and with Wonder Woman ’84 releasing August 13, WB/DC might have their universe on track.
Darkseid Is…in The Snyder Cut
Zack Snyder has begun work on finalising his Cut of Justice League, and teased a potential major change.
Snyder Tweeted an image (albeit, low quality) of what looks like the DC villain Darkseid.
The shot in the released film sees the film’s villain Steppenwolf in that position and, while the scene is a flashback, Snyder's edit points towards more inclusion of Darkseid.
For more details on the Snyder Cut, check out my editorial here.
Wes Ball's Planet of the Apes Film Details
Wes Ball, director of The Maze Runner trilogy, has revealed details on his upcoming Planet of the Apes film.
Ball was attached to the franchise late last year and will continue on from the modern trilogy starring Andy Serkis as the primate revolutionary leader, Caesar.
However, it will not be a ‘part four’ to that trilogy.
Ball said in an interview with Discussing Film, “We have a way of staying in the universe that was created before us, but we’re also opening ourselves up in being able to do some really cool new stuff”
The writers and producers of Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver are returning, along with a number of the crew that worked on the recent trilogy.
Sonic 2
*insert something about speed here*
The 2nd highest grossing film of 2020 (currently), is getting a sequel.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was announced on Friday to be in development from Paramount with the same cast and crew returning.
Ben Schwartz will voice the blue speed demon, and as was teased in the post-credits, Sonic’s friend Tails will most likely appear.
Sonic The Hedgehog has the highest opening weekend for a video game movie, boosted by its early home release.
Upgrade TV Series
Leigh Whannel is developing a follow-up to his indie, sci-fi action film Upgrade.
Whannel is co-creating a sequel TV series along with Tim Walsh (Chicago P.D.) that is set a few years after the movie, with a different lead actor but the same body enhancing AI, STEM.
The original movie saw Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) become paralyised and lose his wife in an attack, before he is given an experimental chip in his body that enhances his body to help him track and kill those responsible.
The original film’s producer Blumhouse will produce the show, with The Purge TV series writer’s James Roland and Krystal Houghton Ziv joining Whannel and Walsh in the writer’s room.
Upgrade earned a cult following for its intense action, gritty style and thriller overtones harkening back to 80s action films like Robocop.
Netflix Buys Egyptian Theatre
The streaming giant has purchased the revered Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
Netflix will pay for renovations to the theatre as well as utilise the space for events such as screenings and premieres, except for on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
American Cinematheque, a non-profit film organisation in LA sold the Theatre to Netflix, and will have control over the programming on those days exempt from Netflix’s control.
Netflix made a similar sale late last year with the purchase of the Paris Theatre in New York, which means Netflix have two venues to distribute content for their awards run.
Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, as it is formally known, was built in 1922 and is an example of the lavish movie palaces of the Golden Age of Hollywood and was the venue of one of the first Hollywood premiere’s with Douglas Firbank’s Robin Hood.
Sid Grauman, one of the designers, also built the Chinese Theatre which is more popular due to the collection of Hollywood hand and foot prints outside it.
Ryan Gosling is The Wolfman
Finally, Universal are approaching their Monster Universe once again, after the success of Leigh Whannel’s The Invisible Man.
Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in the latest adaptation of The Wolfman, based on a report by Variety.
No director is attached, but writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo (Orange is the New Black) are working on the screenplay.
It is believed that the film will be set in the modern day and be a thriller in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nightcrawler with a supernatural twist.
Hopefully, Universal realise the smartest option is to steer away from the cinematic universe established in the doomed Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, and focus on individual, modern adaptions with social commentary.
Dracula and class inequality, anyone?