TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 35

The Lord of The Rings movies by Peter Jackson are some of the best fantasy movies on film, so imagine turning down the role of one of the lead characters Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Russell Crowe did, and he doesn't loose sleep over it either.

In a recent interview with Howard Stern, Russell Crowe discussed some of the movies has turned down in his career and how some of those movies would of defined more of his career. One of those movies was Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings films, as Crowe explained to Stern that "I didn't think Peter Jackson actually wanted me on the film; I think he was forced into talking to me. There was a moment in time where everybody wanted me in everything."

He continued to explain: "And he's a fellow New Zealander; so I can hear his voice. I'm talking to him on the phone. And it's like, I don't think he even knows what I've done. My instinct was that he had somebody else in mind, which turned out to be Viggo Mortensen. And he should be allowed to hire the actor that he wants." Stern mentioned after the explanation that Crowe was actually offered 10% of the movies gross earnings, which would of obviously made him quite wealthy considering how much the movies grossed over time.

Keanu Reeves truly is The One, as he is hot-as-hell right now starring in the incredibly successful and equally awesome John Wick trilogy, he has a huge role in one of the most-hyped games ever in Cyberpunk 2077, and now Marvel is talking with him about everything.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Marveu Studios president Kevin Feigi said that the company has been talking with Keanu on "almost every film we make". Feigi added: "We talk to Keanu Reeves about... I don't know when, if, or ever he'll join the MCU, but we very much want to figure out the right way to do it". Rumor has it that Keanu could be involved in The Eternals, something we should hear about soon if it happens.

Keanu is already one connection away from Marvel Studios in that he stars in Toy Story 4 which is about to open, which is made by Pixar and also owned by Disney, just like Marvel Studios.

E3 2019 - Netflix have snapped up a brand new exclusive that will eventually come to their platform, 'The Division' starring Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal.

During the Ubisoft E3 2019 press conference, we learned that Netflix will be the platform to bring fans the upcoming Division movie. At the moment there is no solidified release date, but we do know that David Leitch will be taking the reins as the movies director. Leitch has also directed the upcoming 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw' and was a producer for the John Wick.

Writing wise, The Division movie will have Rafe Judkins who is also working on the upcoming Uncharted movie that is starring Avengers: Endgame and Spiderman actor Tom Holland. Back in 2016 Ubisoft spoke out about The Division movie, saying "In addition to starring in the film, both Chastain and Gyllenhaal will be a part of the development process through their production companies, Freckle Films and Nine Stories, respectively. The pandemic-stricken streets of The Division are filled with countless stories of love, loss, treachery, and heroism, but we'll have to wait to find out what avenues the film will explore." At the moment, there isn't a known release date for The Division movie.

Naughty Dog's Uncharted series is one of the titan franchises on PlayStation, and has served as a staple franchise in action/cinematic video games. What about a fully-fledged movie though?

Uncharted fans can release their excitement scream now as that very thing is happening and Sony have confirmed it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony's Uncharted movie starring Spider-Man actor Tom Holland will be released in cinemas around the world on December 18th, 2020.

The movie is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, Jonathen Rosenberg and Mark Walker are the last known people to write the screenplay draft. At the moment there is no confirmed information on how the movies will relate to the video games, all there is to go off of is that the movies will be centring in on a young Nathan Drake, hence Tom Holland being casted back in 2017.

It was back at the end of May that we heard about the running for the next actor to pick up The Caped Crusader. Since then, it has been confirmed that Robert Pattinson will take role of Batman, and stick with it for the next three Batman movies.

This news has come from from Deadline, who has said that they have heard from sources close to Warner Bros. that there is three Batman movies currently in preparation. Matt Reeves who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes will be directing the trilogy with the first movie being scheduled for release on June 25, 2021 under the title "The Batman".

Originally, Batman v. Superman star Ben Affleck was set to direct and play Batman in the upcoming movies. Instead, Affleck decided to hang up the cape and has step away from his directing position and the character entirely, saying "tried to direct a version of it, but couldn't crack it." Deadline also mentions that the movie will be produced by Dylan Clark, who also produced Reeves' Planet of the Apes films, and to expect an official announcement for the upcoming film "imminently".

A new piece of news has come out about the coming Sonic the Hedgehog movie starring Jim Carrey. The news confirms that the film will be delayed and that designers will be taking a second look at Sonic's appearance.

Back in early May, the official trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was released and unfortunately it was met with a considerable amount of scepticism on the design choice of Sonic. Many fans believed that Sonic's design was terrible, the Blue Blur didn't feature his iconic gloves, oversized shoes/feet and had a human-like appearance.

This fan critizism wasn't taken lightly, and actually resulted in the movies director Jeff Fowler recognizing that some improvements to Sonic had to be made before the movie released this November. Shortly after the trailer debuted, Fowler took to Twitter to announce that Sonic would be re-designed and that Paramount and SEGA are dedicated to making Sonic look the best that he can be.

Toy Story 4 was officially announced back in March and will be hitting theaters in this June, but is this the last movie in the franchise? Woody unfortunately believes so, and even warns fans that the finale will be a tear-jerker.

In a recent interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Tom Hanks who players the character Woody in the Toy Story movies was asked some questions about the coming film. Hanks told a story about fellow actor Tim Allen who voices Buzz Lightyear, and how Allen texted Hanks asking if he had a session of voice acting and read Toy Story 4's script. Here is what Hanks said exactly "This is the end of the series and I had gotten some texts from Tim Allen. These texts that say, 'Have you recorded yet? Have you been in? Have you had a session yet?' I said, 'No, not yet.' [Allen says] 'Wait until you see those last pages. Tough one, tough one.'"

Hanks re-confirms this and says "And it was! The last few sessions we're saying goodbye to Woody and Buzz and Bonnie's room and Andy and everybody. And it was emotional." When DeGeneres expressed her saddness for the series ending, Hanks backpedaled and said "Is it really, I don't know, is it over? I don't know, it'll live forever, that's one thing about it. I'm looking forward to a possible three-year extension for everybody." Toy Story 4 is going to hit theaters world wide on June 21.

Now that Game of Thrones has finally finished, many fans are being very vocal about their perception on whether the finale for the show was good or not. HBO's boss has responded to this controversy, and its a quite level headed response.

In a recent interview with Deadline, HBO's programming president, Casey Bloys was asked if he was surprised with the fan reaction or was this something he expected. His response was "No. To tell you the truth, for a show this big and this sprawling and for a show that has this passionate a fan base, I don't think there is any way that all fans would've been happy. I think based on online reaction, which you do have to take with a grain of salt, it does seem split and I think that's about right - some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it. But the point is, everybody is feeling really passionate about it."

He continued and said "I think everybody had hopes for where the characters might go or should go. But Dan and David have had a plan for how they wanted the show to go for a long time, and they did it the way they thought fit as creators. I think they did a spectacular job. They landed a big plane, which was not easy. You are never going to keep everybody happy, but I don't think that's what they were trying to do."

As Game of Thrones comes to a close, Amazon is looking to continue the rolling of the medieval hype ball with a Lord of the Rings TV show. Now, a Game of Thrones writer has been poached to work on Amazon's upcoming show.

Only a few days out from its finale, Amazon has hired one of the main writers from Game of Thrones. The writers name is Bryan Cogman, he wrote 11 episodes of the show and was described by Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) as one of the backbones of the series. Amazon have now hired Cogman as a consultant for the show, his exact title has yet to be revealed.

News surrounding the coming Lord of the Rings TV show is quite scarce at the moment, all we know is that the show will be based before the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It is speculated that we will be diving into the second age of Middle-Earth, and perhaps see the descendants of Numenor and the rise and fall in power from Sauron. For more information about the show, check out my breakdown on it here.

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum has barely been out a week and it is already met with well-deserved success, and it seems so much so that the studio has green-lit John Wick 4 with a release date already unveiled of May 21, 2021.

The execution of the announcement was done in a very John Wick way, with a text message sent to the fans and media that said: "You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming - May 21, 2021". We should see the return of Keanu Reeves to the titular role, with director Chad Stahelski (if you didn't know, played Reeves' stunt coordinator for The Matrix Trilogy).

John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum is currently the #1 movie in the world, and it deserves it - if you've seen the movie you'll agree it kicks ass, and if you haven't seen it -- go see it! It is awesome. What a world we live in - The Matrix is receiving a new movie with the Wachowskis involved and now John Wick 4 is happening -- oh, and let's not forget Bill & Ted 3 with Keanu Reeves. Excellent!

During this week at the Cannes Film Festival, Quentin Tarantino will be revealing early screenings of his ninth film Once Upon a Time Hollywood. Tarantino has asked his viewers to please not reveal anything.

On the official 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Twitter page, a picture of a note signed by Tarantino details how Tarantino would like viewers to come into his new movie. Tarantino begins by saying; "I love CInema, You love Cinema. It's the journey of discovering a story for the first time."

Tarantino continues and says that he is very "thrilled to be here in Cannes to share "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" with the festival audience. The cast and crew have worked so hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way."

Game of Thrones has truly taken HBO to the next level in terms of viewer ship and since the show is ending, the television network has decided to tease its user base with a new Westworld season.

The new teaser has been uploaded to the official HBO YouTube Channel and is the first trailer for the upcoming season that plans to be returning to our screens sometime throughout 2020. The new trailer shows us Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul becoming immersed in what seems to be a futuristic metropolis.

While the teaser didn't really show off much else we know that HBO have strategically dropped this trailer to keep users on their streaming service after the finale of Game of Thrones. The timing is more than just a coincidence, and HBO are smart to do so as well since Westworld's previous seasons were also quite popular.

Last week we heard about the new Mortal Kombat movie adaption produced by Aqua Man director James Wan. Recent news has now suggested that we can expect the movie to hit theaters around 2021.

The initial announcement came from South Australia's Premier, Steven Marshall who said that SA would be home to the filming of the new Mortal Kombat movie. Wan commented on the decision of SA being the filming location, saying "I'm really happy and excited to be bringing another show back to Australia with Mortal Kombat, especially after having such a great experience filming Aquaman. Now we get to experience South Australia with its scenic locations and a wealth of artistic talent to work with. It will be perfectly suited for this fantasy-action project."

Wan will be producing the filming and Simon McQuid will be directing it, McQuid also commented on the location saying; "Having lived in Adelaide early in my career, I am thrilled to be back in South Australia to make my directorial debut with Mortal Kombat. We need many different elements for its success and have found them all right here-the uniquely beautiful landscapes, the outstanding world-class stage facilities and VFX houses, and the brilliant artists and technicians from across the film-making community. I'm grateful to the Premier and people of South Australia for having us, we're all very excited to be here."

Pokemon Detective Pikachu starring Ryan Reynolds has remained at the number one spot at the box office for the second week in a row.

Pokemon Detective Pikachu has paved the way for future video game adaption movies becoming a success. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment would be proud to know that Detective Pikachu has remained at the number one spot at the box office for the second week in a row.

Detective Pikachu has almost reached the $200 million mark from overseas markets, more specifically, Variety reports that the title has earned $193.4 million. For the second week in a row, Detective Pikachu has remained at the top for the international box office, pulling in $53.8 million from 72 foreign markets. At the moment, Pokemon Detective Pikachu is sitting on top of a quite impressive $287.4 million worldwide.

If you are a Game of Thrones watcher there is a high chance that you have not enjoyed the shows finale season as much as you did the previous ones. Some people haven't enjoyed it at all and there is good reason for it, but is there good enough reason to re-write the entire season though?

Before jumping into why this season could come as lackluster, I would like to say that this post will NOT contain any spoilers for season 8. Many fans of the series, and myself included, believe that this season perhaps didn't meet the high expectational bar that the previous seasons set. Criticizing fans and many reviews on numerous websites expressed their concern with the writing of the show. Many outlets claimed that the shows direction unfortunately took a wayward turn after the shows writers deviated from author George R.R Martin's books.

While I won't get into how the show specifically made fans second guess the writings (as that would include spoilers), I will say that there is reasonable questing surrounding plot points, apparent plot holes, character logic and the length of the season as a whole. With this all in mind, 650,000 people have signed at petition on Change.org for a re-writing of Season 8. While this petition certainly showcases the concern from fans, I don't believe that any amount of signatures will cause HBO to re-shoot the final season as the expenditure would surely not be profitable.

It was the start of April we first heard about a new upcoming zombie killing filled movie starring Star Wars villain actor Adam Driver and the legendary Bill Murray. The movie is titled 'The Dead Don't Die' and gives quite a unique comedic spin on a zombie apocalypse.

Focus Features has released a brand new red band trailer for the upcoming movie directed by Jim Jarmusch. Adam Driver and Bill Murray might be the center focus for the movie, but the supporting cast is a force to be reckoned with as well. Other actors that will be in The Dead Don't Die are as follows; Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Austin Butler, Selena Gomez, Rosie Perez, RZA, Caleb Landry Jones, Carol Kane, Tom Waits, Iggy Pop and Danny Glover.

The Dead Don't Die is a deadpan comedy mixed with some zombie fueled action, and combined with some horror humor. According to First Showing, there has been some early reviews for the movie and they have reported that the film is "more of Jarmusch's angry take on how messed up the world is, and isn't as much of a zombie film as this trailer portrays it". While this does sound quite disappointing, keep in mind these are still early reviews and an open mind should always be forefront when coming into a brand new movie. The Dead Don't Die is planned for release on June 14th.

Imagine a movie about a video game where a character in the video game realizes he is in fact inside a video game and decides to try and change the fate of the game being discontinued. Introducing a movie that is doing exactly that, Ryan Reynolds' 'Free Guy'.

'Free Guy' is being organized by 20th Century Fox and will feature Ryan Reynolds playing a bank teller who works out that he is just a video game character inside of a video game that the developers has plans of closing down. What an amazing idea for a movie, it reminds me very much of Jim Carrey's The Truman Show where Carrey's character found out he is the main character on a TV about his life.

Free Guy is being directed by Shawn Levy, Levy is known for his other projects such as Night at the Museum and some episodes of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things. Other actors who are also starring in Free Guy include; Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Lil Rel Howery. Production for the film has already begun, which marks one of the first Fox films to begun production under the umbrella of Disney. Free Guy is planned to hit theaters in July, 2020.

Mortal Kombat is coming to the rural outback in a new announcement from South Australian Premier, Steven Marshall detailing that the Mortal Kombat movie reboot will be shot in Adelaide, Australia.

Marshall has come forward and said that South Australia will be home to the filming of the upcoming reboot of Mortal Kombat. Marshall has said that project is expected to inject $70 million into the economy and create 580 jobs, as well as 1,500 roles as extras on the film. Here is what Marshall has said "We think this is a great investment because we know that this blockbuster is going to create massive job opportunities for our sector".

The film is set to be led by producer James Wan who is known for his work on Aqua Man and other film titles such as The Conjuring, The Nun and Insidious. Simon McQuoid will be taking the helm as director, and has said that this movie will take Mortal Kombat fans back to what the "core essence" of these characters are. "On the surface, the game works a certain way, but we've kind of gone deeper than that". Executive producer E.Bennett Walsh has said that this is the biggest production that has ever been conducted in South Australia.

Ryan Reynolds' Detective Pikachu has arrived in theatres and has kicked off what is to be believed as the new era of video game movies. What is next though? A connected Avengers like universe but in video games instead of comic books?

After Avengers: Endgame, a crossover like universe but for video games characters seems like a valuable possibility, but where would writers start and how would they start? According to Detective PIkachu writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, there would be no better spot to start than with Nintendo's universe of characters and their crossover title Super Smash Bros. Hernandez revealed to Screenrant that the key to a successful crossover movie such as Avengers: Endgame is establishing a solid foundation in all of the individual standalone movies first.

Hernandez says "I think that the key to doing anything like that is to make sure that the other introductory movies are sensational. It'd be a dream to write something like Legend of Zelda, but before you can get to that Smash Bros stage you have to write the best damn version of The Legend of Zelda that you possibly can. And the same with Mario, the same with Kirby, the same with Star Fox." Samit also agreed with this statement, saying "Avengers: Endgame is only as good as it is because we loved all of those characters individually."

We first started hearing about The Matrix being rebooted a few months ago, but the latest rumors point to an extension of the franchise that would look at other characters and not Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and the others we came to love in The Matrix Trilogy.

The news is coming directly from Chad Stahelski, the director of John Wick 3 which stars Keanu Reeves who played Thomas 'Neo' Anderson in The Matrix Trilogy. In a recent interview with Yahoo Movies UK, Stahelski said: "I'm super happy that the Wachowskis are not just doing a Matrix, but they're expanding what we all loved".

He continued: "And if it's anywhere near the level of what they've already done, it wouldn't take more than a call to go, 'Hey, we want you to be a stunt guy' and I would probably go and get hit by a car".