TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 24

It's been quite a while since the last entry in the National Treasure series, and now news has begun flying about a third installment being in pre-production.

Information has come out from The Hollywood Reporter in regards to a third installment in the series officially beginning pre-production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bad Boys for Life's writer Chris Bremner is working on the film, and Jerry Bruckheimer will be the one to produce the film.

At the moment, it isn't confirmed whether Nick Cage will be the one to star in the third movie. If you have seen the two previous movies, then you'd be aware that Nick Cage was the main star of the movies playing the highly intelligent treasure hunter Ben Gates. Hopefully, Nick Cage returns to play Ben Gates as I believe that the third movie would just seem strange if Cage wasn't playing the main character.

James Bond is a man, and will be a man for the foreseeable future -- even with rumors and a push from those who want more diversity in the character and for Bond to be female. But sorry, it ain't happening... at least not on producer Barbara Broccoli's watch.

In a recent interview with Variety, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said she is keen to create new female characters inside of the 007 franchise but Bond was, and will always, be a man. She said: "He can be of any color, but he is male. I believe we should be creating new characters for women--strong female characters. I'm not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that".

Pierce Brosnan who played Bond in the 90s said it was time for Bond to be a woman, but now Broccoli has stepped up and squashed those rumors. At the time, Brosnan said: "I think we've watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there. I think it would be exhilarating; it would be exciting".

At TCA, Amazon Studios officially announced the first group of actors who will be starring in their upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show.

If you have been out of the loop, Amazon Studios are currently gathering all resources to begin shooting for their upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show that will be based within J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age of Middle-Earth. We knew that young Ned Stark actor from Game of Thrones, Robert Aramayo, will star in the series, but we didn't know who else would be stepping into some vital roles. Now, Amazon Studios has revealed a further fifteen actors who will be appearing in the show.

The following actors were announced by Amazon Studios, "Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman." Amazon plans to start shooting sometime next month in New Zealand. According to Amazon Co-head of TV, Vernon Sanders, who spoke at TCA, "We still have a few key roles to cast." So in the coming months, we can expect some other actors to join in on Amazon's massive project.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a box office hit, and the screenwriter behind the movie, Gary Whitta, has spoken out about what he wants to do next.

Whitta recently took to Twitter with the above post, which expresses that he would like to write an animated movie based in the Star Fox universe. In the tweet, we can see some incredible artwork done by God of War art director Raf Grassetti, which may have inspired Whitta into wanting to write an animated movie.

If you think Whitta is a bit out of his element for writing a Star Fox animated movie, I can tell you that he has done other work other than Star Wars. Whitta has previously written for other large movies such as The Book of Eli, as well as games, including Prey, Gears of War, and Telltale's adaptation of The Walking Dead. He was also editor-in-chief for PC Gamer, which proves Whitta has a keen interest in gaming.

The internet went crazy when they saw Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian, as his cuteness melted faces. But how much did that cuteness cost Disney?

First off, massive spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't seen the first season of The Mandalorian. Now that the disclaimer is over let's move on to how much Baby Yoda costs and how a number was brought up. In the final episode of the season, a stormtrooper punches Baby Yoda, and that stormtrooper was actor Adam Pally. Pally spoke at the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour, where he was asked about this final scene and what it was like to punch Baby Yoda.

Here's what he said, "I remember the first take that I did when I punched him. They called 'Cut!' and [showrunner] Jon [Favreau], who was watching on a monitor in his office, he came down from this office and said, 'I just want to let you know that this is the hero Yoda [the main prop used for close-ups] and it costs, like, $5 million. So while I want you to hit it, I just want you to know that.'".

If you haven't yet seen the hilarious comedy Afterlife created by comic Ricky Gervais, you are missing out. If you have seen the first season and enjoyed it, it's my pleasure to tell you that season 2 is currently on its way.

In a recent tweet by Ricky Gervais on his personal Twitter account, the comic thanked viewers for all of the positive reviews he was receiving after people tuned in to his TV show, Afterlife. Gervais mentioned that he was surprised with the number of reviews he was getting, and asked his audience whether it was his recent appearance at the Golden Globes with a joke that mentioned his TV show, or whether everyone just decided to pick up Netflix for the first time.

It would most likely be the Golden Globes joke that has caused his TV show to have an influx of traffic, as Gervais made headlines with his jokes directed towards Hollywood's most esteemed actors. The show was all just fun and games, and throughout Gervais' presentation, he even managed to squeeze some Afterlife jokes that have now turned into a nice increase in viewership numbers. In the above tweet, Gervais replied to a fan who asked him when season 2 is being produced, Gervais replied with a solid "now".

The Uncharted movie has suffered in terms of finding a director and keeping on the production schedule timeline. Sony is now looking for a new director to fast-track the movie.

When producing and developing a movie, ideally, you would want everything to be as smooth as possible. Unfortunately for the Uncharted movie, that has hardly been the case. Just last week, I reported on the movie losing their sixth director, Bumblee's Travis Knight. Knight departed the movie due to Spider-Man actor, Tom Holland's filming schedule.

Holland is currently filming the third Spider-Man movie, and due to that film's shooting schedule falling behind, the Uncharted movie has taken a massive hit. Now, sources are saying that a seventh director is already in talks, and according to sources close to Deadline, that director is Ruben Fleisher. Deadline says that "Ruben Fleischer is atop the list to direct Holland and Mark Wahlberg in the film". We will have to wait for an official announcement before we confirm anything.

No one wants to see The Simpsons end, but that day will eventually come whether it's sooner or later, and Fox is currently in preparation for that moment.

Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn spoke to Deadline about Fox's current flagship animated shows. Rumors are suggesting that because Fox is increasing its production in other animated shows, that big shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy are ending soon. Thorne says this isn't the case and that none of Fox's flagship animated shows will be ending anytime soon.

Thorn said, "It's twofold--it's part of our business and programming strategy but also preparing for that day (in which Fox says good-bye to The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers) whenever it comes." Despite Fox not having any plans for ending its big shows, Thorn does say that day will eventually come and that they are currently preparing for that moment when it comes.

CES 2020 - Phillips Hue owners will be glad to know that later this year, Signify will be bringing out voice control for Phillips' smart lights.

Back in September last year, Signify launched the Phillips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. Unfortunately, while that device was great as it allowed Hue owners to connect their lights to their TV, it didn't have any voice commands with Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. Luckily, Signify is rectifying their lack of voice comparability as this Spring they will be rolling out a software update that enables voice activation.

So how does this work? The Signify Sync Box analyzes the TV's incoming image and then will change your Hue lights to the best lighting scenario for that image. The lighting experience can also be more fine-tuned with three different modes; games, music and video.

Aside from all of CES 2020 news that is spilling out in the media, we have an announcement for Amazon's massive Lord of the Rings TV show.

The announcement is in regards to the lead actor for the show being chosen, and it's a familiar face if you watched the entire Game of Thrones series. According to both Variety and Deadline, Robert Aramayo, who played young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones' later seasons, has been cast to play the shows lead role of Beldor.

Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show will take place before the events of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and will focus on the Second Age of Middle-Earth. Amazon seems to be more than confident that their show will fill up the fantasy hole that The Witcher is currently sitting in as the filming studio has already greenlit season two.

The showrunner for The Witcher TV show has shined a light on what to expect from season 2. According to her, fans should expect a much more linear story to unfold.

One of the main criticisms of The Witcher season 1 was the time jumps and the difficulty in following along with the story. Luckily, this won't be a problem in season 2 as the showrunner for The Witcher, Lauren S. Hissrich has taken to Reddit in an AMA (ask me anything) to say that season 2's story will be "much more linear, now that the three characters' stories have started to intersect."

Hissrich also says during the AMA that there will be a "whole new set of fun characters coming in season 2" some of which will be more Witchers. Hissrich teases, "We decided to save some tidbits of witcher lore until... you actually meet more witchers." Hissrich also gives a wide release date for when to expect season 2, and she says that there currently isn't a target release date, but she knows its past 2021.

*SPOILER WARNING* What you will find ahead is an alternative ending to The Witcher season one. If you haven't seen the whole first season, I would advise not reading any further.

Now that the disclaimers are over. The ending of The Witcher season one was awfully satisfying with Ciri finally finding Geralt in the forest after both of them being told that their destiny was to find one another. The showrunner for the show, Lauren S. Hissrich, took to Twitter just recently to reveal that several lines from the ending scene were sliced out of the final cut, and the reasoning behind it was because it "didn't feel earned".

Above you will find the transcript for what Geralt and Ciri actually said when they finally embrace each other. So what's different? The scene was originally meant to be much longer, and Geralt expresses his shock that destiny actually finally made them run into each other. He also realizes at this moment that he will never leave Ciri alone and that destiny is real, and he has to follow it.

The voice actor for Geralt of Rivia in CD Projekt RED's Witcher games has commented on Netflix's The Witcher TV show.

The Witcher TV show has been out for quite some time now and has even managed to usurp The Mandalorian as the most in-demand TV show. With controversial reviews but the wider public absolutely loving what they saw, who else is there left to comment on Netflix's great adaptation? How about the voice actor from CD Projekt RED's Witcher video game franchise?

Doug Cockle is the voice of Geralt of Rivia and recently announced on Twitter that he has finally finished all eight episodes in season one. He says the following, "Ok...finally saw all 8 episodes of @witchernetflix! I LOVE IT. The time jumps are challenging, but it all comes together in the end. The main characters are wonderfully played by a talented cast and the world is lovingly realised. Bring on series 2!".

Since the release of The Witcher, many fans have been flocking to other forms of Witcher IP, whether that be the original book series of CD Projekt Red's games.

The reason for the love to overflow from the Netflix series over to the other forms of IP is the root cause of why the TV show did so well in the first place. At least, that's what analysts are saying. Since people were already heavily invested in the Witcher universe (games/books), the show was expected to be a success story even before it premiered due to there already being heavily established fandom.

Ashley A. Hinck, an assistant professor at Xavier University with an expertise in fandom, spoke to The Verge and said, " That's part of the love of being a fan; love and desperation. You want more even if it's not awesome. Having a built in audience and fans committed to viewing that universe across what platform it takes place in is important for companies." The Witcher's success story is making companies realize that if they want their shows to succeed regardless of whether they are deemed 'good' or not, that they will have to pay attention to what large communities of already established fans want to see.

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has announced that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be the first with a transgender superhero, with Feige saying they're shooting a movie with the character right now.

During a recent Q&A session at the New York Film Academy, Feige was asked if there were any plans on adding more LGBT characters to MCU movies, with an asked-for focus on "specifically the T, trans characters". Feige replied, saying: "Yes, absolutely. Yes. And very soon. In a movie that we're shooting right now".

Rumor had it that Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would feature a transgender character, while we'll see the first gay character in the MCU in this year's The Eternals. Feige added: "You look at the success of Captain Marvel and Black Panther. We want the movies to reflect the audience and we want every member of our global audience to see themselves reflected on the screen".

Firstly, this is no joke. Netflix is actually looking for what they are calling as an "Associate Witcher". This person must have a passion for monster-slaying, though.

It seems that Netflix is pulling off one of the best marketing stunts I've seen a TV show do. On their official website, they have posted a job listing for an "Associate Witcher" that will be required to protect their 158 million members. Not everyone will be able to apply for the job, as Netflix says that the perfect candidate will have to possess the ability to "lift several hundred pounds overhead repeatedly."

Netflix also says that this job offer will be "contract only" and that the benefits will be that "You'll be one of many witchers responsible for the tracking and removal of all manners of monsters, beasts, demons, rogues, and more." If you are wondering what kind of healthcare plan Witchers get, Netflix says that "Healthcare is available if you know the right spell." Netflix warns anyone who accepts this contract that any standing, pending, or ensuing Law of Surprise is now rendered void. In the entirety of this article, I have provided dot points for what the perfect candidate would be and what the job opportunity entails.

A new report has come out regarding how popular The Witcher TV show really is, and this report indicates that The Witcher TV show is now the most in-demand TV show in the world.

According to some new data figures from a data company Parrot Analytics, Netflix's The Witcher has taken first place from Disney Plus' The Mandalorian as the top global series. The data also indicates that The Witcher is now the second most popular Netflix series in the US, with Stranger Things leading the pack.

The Witcher arrived on Netflix on December 20th, and for the week ranging from December 22nd to 28th, the show pulled in 127 million demand expressions. This beat Disney's The Mandalorian, which had 115 million demand expressions in that same week. A Parrot Analytics representative said, "The Witcher's' immediate worldwide success highlights the impact that a binge-released series can have on driving audience demand."

Just as you would be thinking that the Uncharted movie is gaining some production traction, it has taken another hit on the nose.

It wasn't that long ago that the Uncharted movie picked up a new director, this director was Travis Knight, the director behind Bumblebee. Unfortunately, according to sources close to Deadline, Knight has had to give up his position as the director of the movie due to lead actor Tom Hollands filming schedule.

Deadline says that Holland's filming schedule for the upcoming third Spider-Man film has created a bunch of problems. On a more positive note, the Uncharted cast will still be remaining the same, with Mark Walberg scheduled to play Nathan Drakes (Tom Holland) older ally, Victor Sully. Since there has been a director change and filming isn't on schedule, I wouldn't be counting on that December 2020 premier.

If you have been tuning into The Witcher TV show, you would have noticed how much effort Henry Cavill has put into getting Geralt's raspy voice down. But what if the actresses of Ciri and Yennefer gave it a shot?

The above video has been posted on the official Twitter of Lauren S. Hissrich, the showrunner for Netflix's The Witcher. Hissrich has done a fantastic job of staying connected with her loyal fanbase, always posting updates on the shows progress, answering fans' questions etc. If you really enjoyed watching The Witcher TV show, I'd recommend going and following her personal Twitter for real-time updates.

On a more lighter and less information-based note, Hissrich just recently posted a video of actresses Freya Allan (Ciri) and Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) attempting to replicate Henry Cavill's Geralt of Rivia voice. Unfortunately, Cavill wins this one as Anya Chalotra is unable to even get down to that level of deepness and raspiness. She gave it more than a fair shot, though!

The first season of The Witcher TV show has overall been a popular success, and with fans asking for more and more, rumors have already begun flying about season 3 being greenlit.

According to sources close to WGTC (WeGotThisCovered), Netflix has seen the hype surrounding the show and has secretly greenlit the series for season three. It wasn't too long ago that the show was already greenlit for season two, and it should be noted that Netflix did this before the show was even aired - this shows their confidence in what the show can do.

At the moment, Netflix hasn't officially announced that season three is in the pipeline just yet, so these are just rumors at this stage. If I was to give my opinion on whether or not these rumors could be true, I'd say that Netflix would certainly be heavily considering greenlighting season three and will most likely do it after seeing what season one did. Season two of The Witcher is set to begin production in February 2020, and the release is slated for early 202