Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Moved Again, This Time To August

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June 25, 2020

Well, we kinda knew this was coming, right? Due to the recent coronavirus spikes around the country, in particular in Los Angeles county, Warner Bros. has delayed Christopher Nolan’s Tenet until August 12th. The big budget espionage film was previously moved to July 31st, and before that July 17th.

I’ve been tweeting about this a lot today and look…Warner Bros., Disney…they are going to have to make significant moves. This one week here, two weeks there bullshit can’t stand. They’re acting as if COVID-19 works on Hollywood’s timeline and it doesn’t. These films are going to have to be moved further, definitely out of the summer blockbuster season and possibly outside of the fall.

Here is Warner Bros.’ statement on the matter: “In this moment what we need to be is flexible, and we are not treating this as a traditional movie release. We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy.”

And before you even ask, because I’ve got this question a lot lately, nah you will not see Tenet moved to streaming. Nolan wants his movie on the big screen and frankly, so do the rest of us. The film, which stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and more, cost north of $200M and could possibly be a $1B billion hit for the studio, but the timing is going to have to be right and now definitely isn’t it. [Variety]

‘Max Reload And The Nether Blasters’ Trailer: Retro Indie Features Geek Royalty Kevin Smith And Greg Grunberg

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

Fans of geek gods Kevin Smith and Greg Grunberg are going to want to take notice of Max Reload and the Nether Blasters, which also features the voice of Wil Wheaton.

The retro vibes are strong with this one, especially for anyone who loved sci-fi, fantasy, and video games of the era. The film stars Tom Plumley as Max Jenkins, who discovers a long-lost game called Nether Dungeon, and accidentally unleashes an ancient curse while playing.

The film is written and directed by Scott Conditt & Jeremy Tremp, and co-stars Smith, Grunberg, Hassie Harrison, Joey Morgan, Lukas Gage, Joseph D. Reitman, Richard Lippert, horror icon Lin Shaye, and Cobra Kai‘s Martin Kove, along with the voice of Wheaton. Grunberg, best known for his roles on Heroes and as Snap Wexley in two Star Wars movies, also produces alongside Conditt and Tremp.

SYNOPSIS: When small-town video game store clerk Max Jenkins (Tom Plumley) discovers and plays the only known copy of Nether Dungeon, the legendary lost installment of the Nether Game series, he accidentally unleashes the ancient “Curse of The Ages,” turning friends and family into possessed ghouls hell-bent on destroying civilization. It’s up to Max and his best friends Reggie (Joey Morgan) and Liz (Hassie Harrison) along with old-school gaming gurus Eugene Wylder (Greg Grunberg) and Barton Grabowski (Joseph D. Reitman) to figure out how to beat the dark forces of The Nether before it’s GAME OVER for humanity.

Featuring Kevin Smith, Lin Shaye, Martin Kove, Jesse Kove and voice talent by Wil Wheaton, Max Reload and The Nether Blasters is a love letter to gaming, retro nostalgia and the wonderfully ridiculous plotlines of 1980s adventure-cinema.

Max Reload and the Nether Blasters hits select theaters on August 7th, followed by VOD on August 11th.

Patty Jenkins Unsure If She’ll Direct ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Or ‘Amazons’ Spinoff, Has Hit Pause On Both Films

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

The continued “will they or won’t they” releases of Tenet and Mulan are an example of the chaos Hollywood is in right now. Wonder Woman 1984 has been a victim of it, as well, moving a couple of times to its current date in October 2020. But it doesn’t end there, and director Patty Jenkins has been forced to reconsider the future of the franchise in the pandemic’s wake.

Speaking with Total Film while doing press for Wonder Woman 1984, Jenkins talked about Wonder Woman 3 and the Amazons spinoff she’s attached to. While the story ideas for those films are pretty much already figured out, Jenkins says COVID-19 has forced her to reevaluate everything, including whether she directs either film…

“I’ve really hit the pause button [on ‘Wonder Woman 3’]. Because the truth is, where that plotline was coming from was our state of being six months ago. And so I want to make sure that I’m totally absorbing whatever the result of this pandemic is.”

“We’re not starting to work on [‘Wonder Woman 3’] right away. I’m hoping to do this ‘Amazon’ movie before we do the third ‘Wonder Woman.’ And I may not do either of them. You never know what will happen in this world, you know? But yes, I think the plotline will stay very similar, probably. But I want to make sure it’s influenced by all of this.”

As for Wonder Woman 1984, star Gal Gadot stressed how different it was from the hit 2017 movie, which took place during WWI while the sequel is in the 1980s. That’s given Diana a lot of time to grow and evolve as a hero…

“It’s totally of its own,” Gadot said. “It’s true. And I feel, in the first movie, a big thing that we played off was the naiveté of Diana. And she’s not naive anymore. She’s been around. She’s wiser. She’s more mature. We meet a very much evolved character in this one.”

‘Spring Blossom’ Trailer: Suzanne Lindon’s Directorial Debut Is A Cannes And TIFF Favorite

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

Although Suzanne Lindon’s directorial debut Spring Blossom has yet to officially premiere, the accolades are already coming in. Not only was the film, about a bored teen who falls in love with a much older man, selected as a standout feature by the Cannes Film Festival, it was recently announced as part of the lineup for this year’s TIFF.

Lindon writes, directs, and stars in Spring Blossom, joined by co-stars Arnaud Valois, Frédéric Pierrot, and Florence Viala. She’s following in the footsteps of her parents, award-winning French actors Vincent Lindon and Susan Kiberlain

SYNOPSIS: Suzanne is 16. People her own age bore her. Every day on her way to high school, she passes a theater. There, she meets an older man, who becomes obsessed with her. Despite their age difference, they find in each other an answer to their ennui and fall in love. But Suzanne is afraid she’s missing out on life – that life of a 16-year-old, which she had struggled so much to enjoy in the same way as her peers.

Spring Blossom will play next at TIFF, but there’s no theatrical release date yet.

‘Twister’ Reboot In The Works From ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Director Joseph Kosinski

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

Hard to believe that we’re nearing the 25th anniversary of the release of Twister, a disaster film that is still quite a topic of discussion among cinephiles. A gigantic hit at the time with $495M and a cast led by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, some consider it to be a classic while others see it as a silly spectacle. My position is that it’s a little bit of both, and it had a pretty good amusement park ride at Universal Studios. Loved that shit.

That said, I don’t know if anybody wants a Twister reboot, but that’s exactly what we’re getting. Variety reports that Tron: Legacy and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski is attached to a new take on the disaster film about a group of storm chasers.

Considering Kosinski’s close ties to Tom Cruise, having also directed him in Oblivion, perhaps there’s a chance the A-list actor will sign on to chase down a tornado outbreak? Admit it, you’d watch that shit, too. I can see the posters now with Cruise ducking out of the way of a flying cow.

That said, without a star on Cruise’s level I find it hard to believe a Twister redo will matter much. Disaster movies are a dime a dozen, all utilizing much the same formula. What separated Twister was the strength of its cast, with Hunt and Paxton joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, and more. Sure, the story was pretty generic even by disaster movie standards, but the performances, and some slick direction by Jan de Bont (of Speed 2 and Tomb Raider 2 infamy), kept the thrills at a high level.

As COVID-19 Cases Surge, Disney Eyes Moving ‘Mulan’ Yet Again

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

We’re in the midst of a worrisome spike in COVID-19 in spots all across the country, occurring just as states are going through a reopening process. The uncertainty about the future has left the major movie studios twisting in the wind, so to speak, and so we’ve seen them take stop-gap measures that are almost certain to be temporary, such as Warner Bros. pushing Tenet back a measly two weeks to July 31st. That put Disney’s live-action Mulan in the position of being the first major film of the summer, but that spot is now in jeopardy.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreaks, Disney is considering another move for Mulan, which was originally meant to hit theaters in March. THR adds that China’s situation is also of concern, since Disney is expecting Mulan to play particularly well there.

Mulan opens in less than a month on July 24th, but for Disney to go through with a theatrical release it’ll need theaters in New York and Los Angeles to be at full steam. While NY has flattened its curve considerably, Los Angeles County is leading the country in new coronavirus cases. That’s a recipe for Mulan to be moved yet again, but really, will ANY date be safe as long as the situation keeps getting worse? Not likely.

First ‘Enola Holmes’ Images Reveal Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, And Sam Claflin As The Family Of Detectives

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

Stranger Things star Milie Bobby Brown might have another hit Netflix franchise on her hands. The first images have arrived for Enola Holmes, which stars Brown as the brilliant kid sister to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. The film is based on Nancy Spring’s popular series of YA novels.

The images (via EW) reveal Brown as Enola Holmes, plus Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes, and Sam Claflin as the eldest Holmes, Mycroft. On her 16th birthday, Enola wakes up to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has vanished, and it’s up to the youngest of the family of detectives to figure out what happened. All the while she must race through London to escape from her brothers who want to send her away to finishing school.

Enola Holmes is written by Jack Thorne (Wonder) and directed by Harry Bradbeer. Netflix will debut the film in September.

‘Greenland’ Trailer: Gerard Butler Tries To Save His Family From An Extinction-Level Event

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Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

What to do when the government downplays all of the warnings that something potentially lethal is threatening the world? While that may sound like a question we have to consider right now given our current situation, the answer is pretty simple for Gerard Butler in the upcoming disaster film, Greenland. Grab your family and get them to safety. Only in this case he’s not trying to outrun a deadly pandemic, but a planet-killing comet hurtling towards Earth.

Greenland is the latest action flick led by Butler, who, like him or not, is pretty reliable when it comes to this stuff. The film is directed by Ric Roman Waugh, a solid filmmaker behind some good crime flicks such as Felon, Snitch, and Shot Caller. He also directed Butler in 2019’s Angel Has Fallen, which many consider the best movie in the franchise. Count me in on that score.

The cast includes Deadpool‘s Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn, David Denman, Andrew Bachelor, and Joshua Mikel.

Greenland crashes into theaters on August 14th.

SYNOPSIS: A family fights for survival as a planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary. Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet’s fragments, the Garrity’s experience the best and worst in humanity. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.

David Leitch Books Passage On Action Flick ‘Bullet Train’

By

Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

David Leitch has booked passage on the Bullet Train! The Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, and Atomic Blonde director will direct the action flick which sounds like Speed meets The Raid.

THR has the news of Leitch directing Bullet Train, which Sony will distribute. The action flick takes place in Tokyo and “centers on a group of hitmen and assassins with conflicting motives on a train.” Sounds tight and simple enough. Who needs more than that? I don’t. Leitch will also produce alongside Antoine Fuqua, who was attached to direct at one point. This totally sounds like a Fuqua film, too.

Filming is to begin this fall, where the single contained set should be easy for compliance with recent coronavirus health regulations for movie productions. Leitch is keeping super busy, and has multiple projects coming up including an adaptation of hit video game The Division, and vampire romance Undying Love.

Jenny Slate And Kristen Bell Quit Mixed-Race Roles On Animated Shows

By

Travis Hopson

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June 25, 2020

The acclaimed Netflix animated series Big Mouth is about to undergo a big, and very welcome, change. Series creator Nick Kroll hit social media and announced that Jenny Slate, who voices Missy, one of the show’s main characters, has decided to step down from the role so that the biracial character can be voiced by a person of color.

pic.twitter.com/buwhkbi5LD

— nick kroll (@nickkroll) June 24, 2020

This is, at least as far as I know, an unprecedented move for series television. It also comes at a time when the white-washing of characters on the big and small screen is under extra scrutiny, as well it should be. It’s also a move fitting for a show that has been lauded for its thoughtful depiction of teens from all walks of life.

Season 4 of Big Mouth has already wrapped so Slate’s voice will be heard throughout, and then replaced moving forward. It’s possible Slate could take on a brand new role, as she’s taken on smaller roles in the past. Others in the main cast include John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Jessi Klein, Fred Armisen, Andrew Rannells, and Jason Mantzoukas.

Meanwhile, over on Apple TV+, Kristen Bell has dropped out of voicing a mixed-race character on Central Park. Bell would have played the character Molly on the animated series about a family living in the New York park to save it from land developers.

Bell dropped the news on Instagram…

“Playing the character of Molly on Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege.

“Casting a mixed race character with a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience. It was wrong and we, on the Central Park team, are pledging to make it right.”

The cast includes Josh Gad, Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs and Kathryn Hahn, while the search is on for someone to replace Bell.

View this post on Instagram

This is a time to acknowledge our acts of complicity. Here is one of mine. Playing the character of Molly on Central Park shows a lack of awareness of my pervasive privilege. Casting a mixed race character with a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience. It was wrong and we, on the Central Park team, are pledging to make it right. I am happy to relinquish this role to someone who can give a much more accurate portrayal and I will commit to learning, growing and doing my part for equality and inclusion.

A post shared by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Jun 24, 2020 at 3:46pm PDT