John Wick kills people with pencils. As far as competition goes, Jason Statham’s latest lead role needs nothing more than a jar of honey to do the trick in what MGM has up its sleeve from director David Ayer with revenge and retribution thriller, The Beekeeper.
Getting the buzz it did after SXSW is now on par with the campaign running for Bottoms, the new hard-hitting teen romp from Shiva Baby helmer Emma Seligman. MGM has since unveirled the first poster and stills this week, and as of Tuesday, an official red-band trailer featuring actors Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri.
Deadline‘s Anthony D’Alessandro, Nellie Andreeva, and Peter White are reporting that a more unilateral TV and film campaign is in the works at Amazon following the $100+ million box office success of Creed III. According to the report, a “Creed-Verse” is brewing to create an animated series, as well as a companion live-action series, and a possible project that centers on Amara, the daughter to our protagonist in the third film portrayed by Mila Davis-Kent in her film debut.
The highly anticipated third instalment to the Creed franchise is hitting cinemas this week on 3rd March. I was lucky enough to check out the film at an early press screening thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures UK in glorious IMAX and I was not disappointed.
Forty-seven years since the first Rocky, the legacy of the Sylvester Stallone-led franchise now comes to a head with its own successive trilogy led by Michael B. Jordan in 2018’s Creed. Its impending threequel now unfolds with Creed III with the actor making his directorial debut, in addition to starring opposite Jonathan Majors whose own career prospects have lined up excellently this year as a staple villain in the MCU, and as the star of Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams for Searchlight.
KFTV has word that production in London has begun on The Beekeeper, from director David Ayer (Bright, Sabotage) and starring Jason Statham (Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw). The film marks a reunion for the action star with MGM following their previous involvement on Guy Ritchie revenge thriller, Wrath Of Man, with the company acquiring the film for U.S. distribution as of late last month.
BRON Creative, the joint venture between BRON Studios, led by Aaron L. Gilbert, and Creative Wealth Media, led by Jason Cloth, and Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) have reportedly entered into a multi-picture $100 million plus co-financing deal according to the latest press announcement from MGM.
Actor Michael B. Jordan is still poised to take the lead in a revival of classic heist pic, The Thomas Crown Affair. For this, there’s word from Deadline that Marvel movie directors Anthony and Joe Russo may be in the running to helm the project.
Well on the way with his final bow as the title role in Rambo: Last Blood, actor Sylvester Stallone of Creed and Creed II fame can now be seen active with what’s being described as a “dark, fresh take on the superhero genre” according to Amanda N’Duka at Deadline.
Well it took a few years and a small compromise to make happen but we now have another James Bond film in the mix for release next year with cameras now set to roll this December 3. Actor Daniel Craig, following a slight controversial stint, is at long last returning to star as 007 for a fifth outing since rebooting it with Casino Royale onward through the action-packed Spectre.
As the latest announcement reads, EON and MGM have made it official with Universal Pictures partnering to release Bond 25 next year with Universal’s UK open on October 25, followed by MGM’s U.S. rollout on November 8 through its new joint domestic venture with Annapurna Pictures. Slumdog Millionaire helmer Danny Boyle is finally confirmed to direct from an original screenplay by Academy Award nominee, Trainspotting scribe John Hodge.
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli commented, “We are delighted to announce that the exceptionally talented Danny Boyle will be directing Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as James Bond in the 25th instalment of the franchise. We will begin shooting Bond 25 at Pinewood Studios in December with our partners at MGM and thrilled that Universal Pictures will be our international distributor.”
“Under the leadership of Michael and Barbara, we couldn’t be more thrilled than to bring the next 007 adventure to the big screen uniting the incomparable Daniel Craig with the extraordinary vision of Danny Boyle,” said MGM’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kevin Ulrich. MGM’s President, Motion Picture Group Jonathan Glickman added, “It has been 16 years since DIE ANOTHER DAY was distributed by MGM and it’s incredibly gratifying to be releasing this film alongside the powerhouse team at Universal.”
“Universal is extremely proud to collaborate with Michael, Barbara and MGM on the international marketing and distribution of Bond 25,” said Chairman of Universal Pictures Donna Langley. “The unparalleled combination of Danny’s innovative filmmaking and Daniel’s embodiment of 007 ensured we simply had to be partners in the next chapter of this iconic series.”
Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn was intially tapped to direct back in 2015. Lloyd Braun is producing the film from a script by Hayes whose screenwriting credits also include Payback, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Dead Calm and From Hell.
MGM’s Stargate franchise has certainly endured over the years, spawning multiple feature films and television shows since 1994. We last heard of efforts toward a trilogy reboot in 2014 with Roland Emmerich back in the director’s chair and thus, those plans were shelved indefinitely last year.
That hasn’t stopped progress though and as it stands, a new digital series aims to live on the fandom with Stargate Origins. Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Virtual Morality) is directing from a script by Mark Ilvedson and Justin Michael Terry that sees actress Ellie Gall (A Midsummer’s Nightmare, Mind Over Maddie) reviving the role of Catherine Langford as she embarks on an unexpected adventure to unlock the mystery of what lies beyond Stargate in order to protect Earth from unimaginable darkness.
The role of Catherine Langford was introduced in the first film as the civilian leader of the Stargate project. Late actress Viveca Lindfors portrayed the character in the 1994 film accompanied by Kelly Vint who appeared as a younger iteration.
“The opportunity to portray this iconic character is once in a lifetime,” said Gall. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the Stargate family and I hope Stargate fans are as equally excited as I am about Catherine Langford’s new adventure.”
The role of Catherine’s father, Professor Langford will be played by Stargate Atlantis alum, actor Connor Trinneer. Joining into complete the current cast is actresses Salome Azizi (American Wrestler: The Wizard) and Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez (The Adventures Of Superseven, Female Fight Squad, Pimpkillah), actors Philip Alexander and Daniel Rashid (Bodied) with Sarah Navratil (Pretty Little Liars), Shvan Aladdin, Tonatiuh Elizarraraz (Jane The Virgin), Derek Chariton (The American West), Justin Michael Terry (The #Hashtagged Show), and Lincoln Werner Hoppe (Carthage).
Stargate: Origins hails from MGM and New Form with plans to air later this year exclusively on Stargate Command. (Deadline, SYFY)
At a time no less opportune for a film project to bring the evils of Nazism to light, actors Oscar Isaac and Lior Raz are set to lead upcoming drama, Operation Finale. The news comes just shy of two years since MGM opted for UK screenwriter Matthew Orton’s script with the goal of fast tracking its development, now targeting locations in Argentina for the start of production this Fall.
Twilight Saga: New Moon helmer Chris Weitz is set to direct the film, aiming to echo tones similar to that of Ben Affleck’s Argo and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 thriller, Munich with its premise encircling the story of the team that captured Nazi Adolf Eichmann. Raz and Isaac will star in the respective roles of Mossad director Isser Harel who allows Peter Malkin to lead the Argentina mission to capture Eichmann, the latter to be performed by actor Ben Kingsley.
via THR:
Eichmann was considered one of the architects of the Holocaust and oversaw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews. After World War II, he fled to Argentina, where he lived in hiding. Israel’s spy agency Mossad eventually discovered his whereabouts, and in a tense operation captured him and smuggled him out of the country.
Raz, also the star and co-creator of hit Netflix series, Fauda, has a number TV and film projects coming down the pipeline, including two reported several weeks ago which you can read about here. Isaac is set to appear in George Clooney’s latest dark crime comedy, Suburbicon on October 27 prior to returning as Poe Dameron in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi on December 15.
Actor Bruce Willis has amassed decades of cinema with many an action movie and blockbuster. The obvious Die Hard franchise comes to mind among his listed film credits of well over one hundred in his lifetime, and now he’s back and ready to add to that legacy with another potential starter in Eli Roth’s latest treatment of MGM classic Charles Bronson revenge saga, Death Wish.
Efforts to revive the title have come and gone over the past decade or so with a revolving door of stars and directors. Roth (Hostel, Hostel: Part 2, The Green Inferno) has since taken his seat in the director’s chair and thrown in a few changes added for a more realistic perception, setting Willis in the mix as the salty, stoic vigilante, Paul Kersey, whose peaceful family life is turned upside down following a violent home invasion, forcing him to seek his own bend on justice.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures presents director Eli Roth’s reimagining of the classic 1974 revenge thriller DEATH WISH. Dr. Paul Kersey (Bruce Willis) is a surgeon who only sees the aftermath of Chicago violence when it is rushed into his ER – until his wife (Elisabeth Shue) and college-age daughter (Camila Morrone) are viciously attacked in their suburban home. With the police overloaded with crimes, Paul, burning for revenge, hunts his family’s assailants to deliver justice. As the anonymous slayings of criminals grabs the media’s attention, the city wonders if this deadly vigilante is a guardian angel or a grim reaper. Fury and fate collide in the intense, action-thriller DEATH WISH.
The first official teaser trailer is out this week following exclusive coverage at Yahoo! where Roth discusses his own drive to revive Willis’s action movie heyday glory, and with a film he hopes to match that of movies like A History Of Violence, Sicario, Eastern Promises, Unforgiven and Taken. It’s quite a list of examples and standards to operate by and says a lot about Roth’s ambitions here… but the trailer is here to speak for itself and it touts those ambitions nicely so far with radio host Sway Calloway setting the tone thusly.
Check it out below ahead of the film’s November 22 release from APR.
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