Spinning out of The Mandalorian series on Disney+, Ahsoka is shaping up to be the next big thing in the live-action world of Star Wars. With Rosario Dawson set in the title role, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo recently cast as Sabine Wren, the series has now added a third key role as Ivanna Sakhno has joined.
The news comes from Variety, who have no information on what Sakhno’s role might be other than it’s believed to be a new character. The Ukrainian actress is probably best known for her role in Pacific Rim: Uprising, and also the High Fidelity series on Hulu.
So far I’m digging how Ahsoka is shaping up to be a very female-fronted show. They’re also clearly holding out on revealing the casting of Ezra Bridger and Thrawn, who are lost and being tracked down by Ahsoka and Sabine. I feel like Sakhno could be the other side of that equation and possibly a character connected to Thrawn. He has to have Imperials who are out to find him, too, right? Something tells me she’d make a perfect Inquisitor.
The question continues to be asked: What’s the future of Spider-Man in the MCU? Earlier this year, Tom Holland said that his contractual obligations to Marvel Studios were done, which coincides with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the end of a trilogy. The smart money has always been that we hadn’t seen the last of the wallcrawler, and now Sony producer Amy Pascal gives more reason to be confident.
Speaking with Fandango, Pascal all-but assured fans that Sony and Marvel’s working relationship would continue, and even teased a brand new trilogy of Spider-Man movies…
“This is not the last movie that we are going to make with Marvel – [this is not] the last Spider-Man movie. We are getting ready to make the next Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland and Marvel, it just isn’t part of… we’re thinking of this as three films, and now we’re going to go onto the next three. This is not the last of our MCU movies.”
There was always the possibility that Spider-man would leave the MCU and venture over to Sony’s universe of live-action movies, and I would say her comments leave that door open…
“Well, there’s the Marvel Universe, which is one container, and then there’s the [animated] Spider-Verse movies, which are different and then there’s the other universe where the Sony [‘Spider-Man’ live-action] ]characters are in. We all are very respectful of each other and work together and make sure that we’re only being additive.”
When asked if Holland’s Spidey could end up crossing into the Sony-verse, Pascal responded “We all want to keep making movies together. How’s that for an answer?”
I think the final scene in Venom: Let There Be Carnage is just a taste of what’s to come. We also know there will be some crossover with the MCU as part of Morbius, and with so much multiverse stuff going on there’s likely to be a lot more. I think her words suggest a union between Marvel and Sony that will see more crossovers happen when it’s beneficial to the story. It won’t be a frequent thing, but it will happen.
Ladies, time to hit the cashier and get some singles! The half-naked guys of Magic Mike are coming back in a third film titled Magic Mike’s Last Dance, and it’ll be for HBO Max. Not only is Channing Tatum stripping down to star one more time, but Steven Soderbergh is coming back to direct after skipping out on the first sequel, Magic Mike XXL, which was helmed by Greg Jacobs.
So what are the stripper dudes up to this time? Well, we don’t know but we can assume it’ll involve lots of bumpin’ and grindin’. Tatum’s frequent production partner, Reid Carolin, wrote the script for Soderbergh to come back and direct.
The two previous Magic Mike films have been wildly successful, with the two films combining to earn nearly $300M. That’s what makes this move to HBO Max pretty interesting because WarnerMedia could put it in theaters and probably make money. I mean, I know women who packed into buses and made it an event to check out these flicks. There’s even a successful stage show, Magic Mike Live, packing houses worldwide.
And I’m not going to lie, I’m a fan of them, too. The first film tried to bring some complexity to a profession that is easily dismissed. The sequel was a lot more comedic and frat boy-ish, and honestly, it was the one I dug most. Here’s hoping some of the old gang returns such as Kevin Nash, Matt Bomer, and Joe Manganiello.
There’s a good chance you don’t know who Tom Burke is, but I guarantee that’s about to change. Deadline reports Burke is replacing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, making this instantly the biggest project of his career.
Details on Burke’s role are unclear, as much of Furiosa remains a mystery. We know that Anya Taylor-Joy is set to play a younger version of the future Imperator, with Chris Hemsworth also on board. Miller will direct and co-write the script.
If there’s any justice in this world Burke will be playing a villain. He broke out as the emotionally abusive boyfriend in The Souvenir, and also played Orson Welles in Mank. He recently starred alongside Ruth Wilson in psycho-thriller True Things, which premiered in Venice. Burke is one of the best rising star actors around and it’s good to see him finally get some shine in a major studio role.
As for Abdul-Mateen, it’s unclear what the project is that has caused him to drop out. The story calls it a “passion project” that he’s been developing, so this is more than just another acting role.
How long has it been since the last episode of Cinema Royale? Pretty sure the last thing we talked about was No Time to Die. But now we’re back and playing catch up, talking everything from Dune to Ghostbusters: Afterlife! Plus, we discuss this awards season and why critics suck, an annual conversation to be fair, along with reviews of Bruised, House of Gucci, and Encanto!
All of this and more! You can subscribe to Cinema Royale wherever you get your podcasts! Follow the Punch Drunk Critics and Cinema Royale!
Aquaman was the butt of jokes for years before being made cool on the big screen, but even this Jason Momoa version can’t win over Peacemaker. A new clip from the upcoming spinoff of The Suicide Squad was released at the newly-launched Peacemakeriscoming.com, and in it John Cena’s wildly violent Peacemaker has nothing good to say about the aquatic hero…
“Fuck Aquaman!”
Also teased is a December 3rd trailer date for the HBO Max series. Peacemaker will be be exclusive to the streamer beginning January 13th. It’ll be interesting to see how it does. The Suicide Squad was a dud in theaters, partially due to the split release strategy, but Cena’s Peacemaker was one of the most fun characters because he’s such a jerk and a walking contradiction. There’s a lot of territory to explore with him, and I hope it doesn’t end with him becoming a hero.
You’d think that with so much talk surrounding the box office failure of Ridley Scott’s recent films, he’d start to slow down a little bit. But nope, he continues to plow ahead and is busier than ever. He’s got his Napoleon epic, Kitbag, on the way that’ll reunite him with Gladiator star Joaquin Phoenix and The Last Duel‘s Jodie Comer. But then there’s also his current film, the stylish crime saga House of Gucci. While it didn’t exactly blow up the box office last week, Scott thinks there’s still a demand for more by way of an extended cut.
Scott revealed future plans of a House of Gucci extended cut to the ReelBlend podcast, although he acknowledges the current cut is pretty damn long, already. At 2 1//2 hours he’s right…
“I’m pretty responsible; I’m not going to say it needs to be four hours or more. It’s already two and [a half hours] plus…Things do play better at home because you can pause it, get a beer, and come back…I will probably…It won’t be a director’s cut; it will be a long cut.”
This should come as a shock to absolutey no one. Scott tends to release longer cuts of his films after the fact, and will mess with them for years after they’re done. I’m willing to bet The Last Duel will get one, too.
We can probably expect to see this in time for House of Gucci’s home release.
Contrary to what’s been happening with Star Wars on the big screen, the TV side on Disney+ has run fairly smooth. The one exception came when Gina Carano’s contract wasn’t picked up, following some controversial statements by the Cara Dune actress. This caused a rolling set of issues as her popular character was set to star in a new series, Rangers of the New Republic. With Carano gone, that show got put on ice. So what happens to all of those plans for it now?
In an interview with Empire, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy makes it clear the series isn’t going to happen. Furthermore, she suggests that any potential storylines could be rolled over into The Mandalorian, which makes sense considering that’s where Dune became a favorite…
“We’d never written any scripts or anything on that…some of that will figure into future episodes, I’m sure, of the next iteration of ‘Mandalorian’”, Kennedy said.
I’m curious to see how Disney writes Dune out. Do they just never mention her again? That could leave the door open to a possible return someday. Or do they kill her off and put those hopes to rest? I think it’s funny that Lucasfilm hasn’t made an effort to simply repackage the show with a new lead, especially if no scripts were written.
The Thanksgiving holiday proved to be a battleground between family-friendly fare. Getting the edge with $27M over its five-day release was Disney’s Encanto, which finished off the week with $40.3M. That’s a decent number but a bit on the low-end for a Disney release, even though this is the first non-Pixar Disney animated movie to open in theaters since Frozen 2. The timing might have actually hurt Encanto‘s numbers, along with a general impression through promos that it’s just Coco all over again. It’s unfortunate if that’s what people think because Encanto is a much better film if you ask me.
2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife– $24.5M/$87.7M
Jason Reitman’s nostalgia-fueled Ghostbusters: Afterlife held very well in its second week, falling just 44%. The film pulled in $24.5M over the weekend and $35.25M over the five days. In all, the film has $115M worldwide in just a couple of weeks, so now who ya gonna call? Reitman for another sequel, most likely.
Ridley Scott’s second movie of the season, House of Gucci, is faring better than his first, The Last Duel. The stylish crime saga opened with $21M over the five days, and $34M worldwide when overseas is taken into account. Those numbers are the best for a straight-up drama in over two years, as the pandemic really kept those movies relegated to streaming. Obviously, Lady Gaga was a big driver of the audience, which was nearly 60% women.
4. Eternals– $7.9M/$150.6M
5. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City– $5.2M/$8.8M
So bringing Resident Evil back to its video game roots turned out to be a disastrous idea. The newly-rebooted franchise, with a completely new cast and 100% free of Milla Jojovich, opened to just $8.8M over the Thanksgiving week. Ouch. Reviews were pitiful, and the studio had such little faith in it they wouldn’t screen for most critics. Trust me, I tried and they told me to shuffle off to New York if I wanted to see it. No thank you. The previous films were hardly box office champs here in the States, but globally they were quite strong. I’m not sure that’ll happen this time, though.
Coming home and attending family gatherings isn’t always easy. In India Sweets and Spices, college freshman Alia Kapur (Sophia Ali) comes home to a less than relaxing summer vacation. Forced to participate in her Indian-American community’s party circuit, full of gossip and formalities, the straight-A student is looking for any way to rebel.
Alia gets her opportunity when she meets the handsome Varun (Rish Shah) and his family at her local Indian grocery store which they own. She immediately invites them to these social gatherings, hoping for inclusion and drama. Upon their arrival at one such event, it is revealed that both Alia’s mother and Varun’s mother (Deepti Gupta) knew each other during their formative years, bringing up secrets of the past and problems in their present.
It’s hard not to make the Crazy Rich Asians comparison. Not only do the two films share producers but India Sweets and Spices follows many of the same tropes and formulas of the 2018 box office hit. An outsider, or in this case outsiders, intrude on a rich family’s party after being invited by the youngest child looking to shake things up. We get the “hilarious” antics of secondary members of the family, mainly the Aunties. Class is dissected through romance. I bring this up, not to criticize but look closer at representation. Is it good representation if different cultures continue to use the same conventions over and over again?
Writer and director Geeta Malik’s script is at its most interesting when it does its own thing. Indian women’s history is intricately woven into the narrative through Alia’s desire to know her mother better. The family matriarch, Shelia, is played by Bollywood veteran actress Manisha Koirala who gives a complex and layered performance where she transforms from a powerful sophisticated party thrower to a resentful and ashamed former feminist stuck in a loveless marriage.
Shelia’s rediscovery of her past feminist self leads to both tension and bonding with Alia. While this feels forced and unearned by the mostly formulaic script, both Koirala and Ali give enough in their performances to pull off something worth watching in India Sweets and Spices final act. While predictable and derivative, the film is still solid, filled with humor and heart.
India Sweets and Spices is playing in theaters. Watch the trailer below.
