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Margot Robbie’s ‘Birds Of Prey’ Soars Into Theaters In February 2020

By
John Nolan
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It’s not always easy to tell what the Hell is going on in the DCEU, but here’s what we know for sure. Aquaman is a thing that will definitely drop this December, and so will Shazam and Wonder Woman 1984 next year. Todd Phillips’ Joker movie is shooting so we can safely assume that’s real, and now we know when Margot Robbie’s all-girl gang movie Birds of Prey will fly into theaters.

Birds of Prey will open on February 7th 2020, directed by indie filmmaker Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) in her big move to the majors. Robbie will be back as the maniacal Harley Quinn, the breakout character of Suicide Squad, and this time she’ll be joined by Huntress, Black Canary, detective Renee Montoya, and the Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl. In the last few days some names have emerged as potential co-stars but right now Robbie is the only one confirmed. At some point they’ll need to cast someone to play villain Black Mask, too.

This is just the beginning for Robbie’s Harley Quinn. She’s also expected to return for an eventual Suicide Squad sequel, as well as a teamup movie featuring Jared Leto’s version of the Joker.

Mel Gibson Is Remaking Sam Peckinpah’s Classic ‘The Wild Bunch’

By
John Nolan
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Well, if you can remake The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, why can’t Mel Gibson redo Sam Peckinpah’s classic The Wild Bunch? Deadline reports Gibson has agreed to co-write and direct a new version of the 1969 Western which starred William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and Edmond O’Brien.

Gibson will pen the script with Bryan Bagby, but there’s no indication that he take on a role himself. He’d actually be kinda perfect for it, as the story centers on a group of older outlaws who shoot for one final score by robbing a railroad office of its precious silver. The film was somewhat polarizing due to its graphic violence, something Gibson should be more than comfortable depicting. Have you seen his movies, by any chance? The blood runs deep in those things.

Will Smith had been attached to an earlier remake attempt but that obviously fell through. These projects don’t appear to be related in the least.  However it would be interesting to see if Smith is approached. Probably not, but you never know.

Production won’t begin until 2020 after Gibson finishes up with a couple of other projects first. He has his WWII film Destroyer which reunites him with Daddy’s Home 2 pal, Mark Wahlberg. After that he’s got War Pigs, which will find him co-starring alongside Colin Farrell.

DC Readers: Win Passes To A Free Screening Of ‘Night School’

By
John Nolan
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We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of the new comedy, Night School, starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish.

SYNOPSIS: Star Kevin Hart and producer Will Packer, who partnered for the hit Ride Along and Think Like a Man series, bring their signature style to Night School.  The comedy from director Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip) follows a group of misfits who are forced to attend adult classes in the longshot chance they’ll pass the GED exam. 


The screening takes place tomorrow, Tuesday September 25th, at 7:30pm at Regal Majestic in Silver Spring. If you’d like to attend, simply complete the required steps in the Rafflecopter contest form below. Complete all of the steps to improve your chances. Winners will will be selected tonight at midnight, so don’t be tardy!

Night School opens on September 28th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Podcast: What’s Deadlier? THE PREDATOR? Or Reviews Of LIFE ITSELF?

By
John Nolan
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On this week’s Cinema Royale, me and Joblo.com’s Chris Bumbray talk two of the most controversial films of the month. Shane Black’s THE PREDATOR bombed at the box office but was it a worthy entry into the franchise? And Dan Fogelman erupted at critics over the reviews of LIFE ITSELF, but is he just deflecting blame from a bad movie? 
All that and more, including first looks at Joaquin Phoenix as the JOKER and Henry Cavill’s SUPERMAN exit! 
All this and more, so tune in and join us for another great show!  And be sure to follow my podcast Cinema Royale here on Blogtalkradio as part of Critical: The Movie Critics Network!

Chris Pine’s ‘Outlaw King’ Cut 20 Minutes Following Its World Premiere

By
John Nolan
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There was a great deal of hype going into the TIFF world premiere of Outlaw King, the new historical drama from Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie. That buzz was quickly muted once the reviews started rolling out, though, as the reaction was mixed with most of the praise reserved for star Chris Pine. With the film now headed to the London Film Festival, Mackenzie has taken the initiative and cut 20 minutes out of the eventual Netflix release.

Mackenzie told Deadline that he’s chopped 20 minutes from the 137-minute epic about Robert the Bruce, not because anybody told him to. Instead, he says he sat in on the premiere and could tell by the audience reaction that something wasn’t working…

 “I could feel what the audience was like in the theater,” says Mackenzie. “I’m sensitive to the way they felt.”


So Mackenzie decided, just three days after that initial screening, to re-edit the movie rather than sit back and let it get torn apart. Currently Outlaw King sits at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes.  As for what got removed, Mackenzie doesn’t go into details but he cut scenes that “weren’t helping the story move along” in the first and third acts.  “The play-ability is better now and the access to the characters,” he says. 

The initial cut of the movie was considerably longer, coming close to four hours, and Mazkenzie thinks he could easily take all of that material and go in a totally different direction with it…

“I’m sure if I had the appetite, I could do a three-part mini-series as there’s lots of characters, lots of history, but the name of the game is to make an entertaining narrative-driven film with great performances; you have to whittle down, it’s a hard game especially when there’s so much history to put in.”


Outlaw King hits Netflix on November 9th, and don’t worry, Chris Pine’s nude scene was not left on the cutting room floor.

‘Gambit’ Rumored To Begin Production Early Next Year

By
John Nolan
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It wasn’t that long ago Channing Tatum was up there on the San Diego Comic-Con stage as part of 20th Century Fox’s group pic for all of their biggest superhero movie stars. At the time it was the most certain example we had that a Gambit film was going to happen. Even before that photo the production had a tough time getting going, and since then the only thing that’s happened are delays, directors leaving, and…well, that’s about it.

The Gambit movie has become a punchline, but OmegaUnderground thinks that could be changing. The site reports Fox are about to start hiring a crew to begin shooting Gambit in New Orleans on February 15th. Keep in mind there’s no director currently attached to the film, so unless something has changed recently I’m very skeptical about that happening.

Gambit has gone through directors like a kid through Halloween candy, with Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski all bowing out before long. Through it all, Channing Tatum has stayed on board to play the Ragin’ Cajun, but how long can that last? And will any of it matter once the Disney merger goes through, right around the time Gambit is supposed to start shooting?

Zack Snyder Says The Atom Was Cut From ‘Justice League’

By
John Nolan
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I kinda feel sorry for Zack Snyder now. He’s taken all of the blame, rightfully or wrongfully, for the struggling DCEU, and after the failure of Justice League has been left to make random posts about what his version of the film might have looked like. We’re never going to see a full Snyder cut of the movie, anyway, so all of this is pretty pointless except to make him look a little better to fans. I mean, chances are his version of the movie would’ve sucked, but if he keeps telling us all the cool shit that COULD have been in it if he’d stuck around…

Case in point, Snyder recently revealed to a fan on Vero [via Batman News] that The Atom, a well-known legacy character in DC Comics, was cut from Justice League. The above image from a deleted scene made its way online not too long ago, and in it we see Joe Morton as Cyborg’s daddy. Alongside him working at S.T.A.R. Labs is an unknown scientist. According to Snyder he isn’t just some anonymous dude in a white lab coat, he’s actually Ryan Choi aka the third person to take on the mantle of The Atom. Without going too much into it, he basically has similar powers as Ant-Man, minus the whole controlling insects bit.

I’m not so much a fan of The Atom as I am his costume, which I think is one of the coolest DC has. Unfortunately, it’s doubtful we’ll get to see it on the big screen any time soon.

New ‘Bumblebee’ Trailer Finally Gives Us The G1 Transformers We’ve Been Asking For

By
John Nolan
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I don’t ask for much, but if you’re going to make a Transformers movie give me cartoon and comics accurate Autobots and Decepticons. That’s it, and I’m happy. For years Michael Bay refused to do that with his live-action flicks and Paramount let him because they were making hundreds of millions of dollars, but now that’s not the case. Now the entire franchise is getting reworked and Bumblebee, a prequel set in the 1980s, is finally giving us longtime fans what we’ve always wanted.

The O.G. Transformers dorks (I know my people well) went nuclear over the weekend when a brief teaser for Bumblebee revealed, *gasp*, a shot of the actual G1 Soundwave ejecting an actual Ravage from his cassette deck body. Yo. Now we’re seeing a bit more of that in the new trailer, and it’s simply glorious. We also get our first real look at Optimus Prime in the film, and he’s got an important mission for Bumblebee to undertake. Somebody’s always got to protect us puny humans, right? And there’s always one, this time played by Hailee Steinfeld, who gets roped into a war against the Decepticons. Another G1 fave we get a glimpse of is Shockwave, who appears to be leading some kind of revolt on Cybertron. The triple changers, Shatter and Dropkick, are voiced by Angela Bassett and Justin Theroux, while Blitzwing, who looks like Starscream, is voiced by David Sobolov.

Not only does this look like a charming Iron Giant-esque tale good for all ages, but like the best Transformers movie since the 1986 animated film.

Directed by Laika’s Knight and co-starring John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Rachel Crow, Abby Quinn, Jason Drucker, John Ortiz, and Kenneth Choi, Bumblebee opens December 21st.

‘Tyrel’ Trailer: Jason Mitchell Is Surrounded By Aggressive White People In Sebastian Silva’s Latest

By
John Nolan
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Billed at Sundance as this year’s Get Out, the latest film from Sebastian Silva (Nasty Baby, Crystal Fairy) definitely tackles black-white relationships from an interesting angle, much like Jordan Peele’s breakout horror. Tyrel stars Straight Outta Compton‘s Jason Mitchell in what amounts to his first true lead role, and while I had my share of issues with the film, and the easy comparisons to Get Out, his performance as black man backed into a cultural corner is one not to be missed.

Despite the film’s title, Mitchell’s character is actually named Tyler, one of the many little indignities he faces throughout the story. Tyler is a black man who goes to a getaway party in the Catskills with his best friend (Christopher Abbott), only to find that every single person there is white. When alcohol, fear, and toxic masculinity start coming into play, it makes for a situation that Tyler may need to fight to escape from.

I saw Tyrel at Sundance and didn’t have time to review it, but found it to be a nerve-racking look at the alienation a lot of black people feel, even when they are among friends of a different race. Unfortunately, like far too many of Silva’s films, Tyrel never culminates into anything meaningful, and just limps to an unsatisfying conclusion.

Also starring Michael Cera, Caleb Landry Jones, Ann Dowd, and the late Reg E. Cathey, Tyrel opens December 5th.

‘Joker’: Todd Phillips Reveals First Look At Zazie Beetz As Sophie Dumond

By
John Nolan
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Set photos have become the building block for every movie news site out there. Get somebody planted around the set of a major film and post early, often shitty, looks at people standing around in costume. They’re annoying, at least to me, and rarely indicative of the final product. Todd Phillips’ Joker has only been in production a short time and the Internet was ablaze with set snaps, which is why he went and posted the first look at Joaquin Phoenix as Joker early. Now he’s getting out in front of the press again with our first official look at Zazie Beetz in her role. Basically she just looks really sad, which I’m guessing will be the default emotion for everybody in this movie.

The Atlanta and Deadpool 2 star plays Sophie Dumond, a single mother who catches the interest of Arthur, Joker’s civilian name before he goes all nutso. She sees in him another person who has been crushed by the wealthy elite. The story has dark echoes of Robert De Niro’s King of Comedy, but is an original, gritty crime story penned by Phillips and Scott Silver.

Phillips was understandably upset at the number of press posting photos and videos from his movie set, so when confronted by an Instagram user that he’s releasing images a year before the movie comes out, the director offered this as a response…

“Here’s the issue. We have paparazzi all over our set, at every turn. And it bums me out that they constantly put out their bad shots. So I figure, may as well put out some good ones.”


Phillips isn’t the only one to take this approach. Marvel often tries to get ahead of things by dropping teasers from the first day or so of shooting. It’s one way of beating images that reveal key story points, cameos, or surprise twists, because many sites just don’t give a crap if that stuff gets leaked as long as they get hits. There’s no way to completely stop this from happening, unless you do the other thing Marvel does which is shoot completely fake scenes, invite actors on set who aren’t even in the film (hello Jeremy Renner!), and so forth. Not every production has Marvel’s budget to do that, though.

The Joker opens October 4th  2019.

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