Tag Archives: News

Brad Bird Not in Episode VII Running

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When Michael Arndt signed on for Episode VII, speculation immediately shifted towards Lucasfilm bringing Brad Bird on as the film’s director. It would have made a lot of sense. Bird has been in Disney’s good graces for a while, helming films such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Unfortunately for those hoping for Bird, E!Online reports that he won’t be handling the film.

Spielberg’s out, Abrams is out, and now Bird is out. I’m starting to think the director will be someone that most of us don’t recognize.

George Lucas To Put Lucasfilm Sale Bounty into Education

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If you hadn’t heard, George Lucas made a little bit of money this week by selling something he’s owned for a while. Just what will he be doing with that $4.05 billion suddenly flooding his bank account? Funnel the bulk of it straight into education.

By the end of the year, the $4.05 billion sale of Lucasfilm to Disney should be finalized. And since George Lucas owns 100 percent of his company – which has little to no debt – all that money goes to him.

After that, Lucas plans to quickly put the bulk of the money into a foundation which will primarily focus on educational issues, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm tells THR.

“George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.”

It’s worth noting that George Lucas was one of the first individuals to sign The Giving Pledge, which promises to give away at least half his wealth.

Disney Acquires Lucasfilm

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Bob Iger has just announced that The Walt Disney Company will be acquiring Lucasfilm (including its operating businesses such as Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound) for $4.05 billion.

What does this mean for the Star Wars universe?  We really don’t know yet.  According to the official press release, Kathleen Kennedy will be staying on and become the President of Lucasfilm and George Lucas will be a creative consultant.

There is, however, this:

Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The Disney blog says that after Episode 7, we can expect to see new Star Wars films every two to three years.

Obviously all of the details aren’t out there yet but we will bring them to you as soon as we learn something new.

Details of Joss Whedon’s New Marvel Deal

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Earlier this week, news broke that Joss Whedon would continue his role as writer/director of the Avengers 2 as well as contributing to a brand-new Marvel film-universe television series on ABC. Further details have come out since and by the looks of it, Marvel and Disney have handed Joss the keys to the city.

io9 reports that Whedon has signed an exclusive three-year contract with Marvel, locking him into their works during that duration. That’s mildly interesting, but there’s one key portion to the agreement that’s worth noting:

The three year contract, according to Marvel, means that Whedon will “contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.” You can assume that means Whedon will be involved, at some level, in the scriptwriting of the movies between now and Avengers 2 — especially the second Captain America film and Guardians of the Galaxy.

io9 goes on further to break down why Whedon’s involvement in all of the films moving forward is critical:

The main takeaway from Marvel’s announcement, though, is the notion that Whedon is joining a very small group of people who make the big decisions about the direction of the shared universe that includes Marvel’s movies and this new TV show. This comes at a crucial phase, when most of Marvel’s films are going to be sequels rather than origin stories, and at least half those films (Thor 2 and Guardians) are likely to be insanely “cosmic,” with the obvious risk of falling into the Green Lantern trap of excessive CG and flat characters.

So most of all, Marvel’s on-screen universe is going to have to stay grounded, something that Whedon excels at because he understands that the best stories are “about us.”

For long-time Whedon fans, this is all great news. Finally there’s a studio that’s going to stand behind Joss, his fans, and his process. For fans of the Avengers films, this is going to likely mean much tighter narrative control and cohesion from film to film.

It’s Official: ‘The Hobbit’ Will Be A Trilogy

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There have been rumblings for a while now, but it appears to be official. The Hobbit will be split into three films. Peter Jackson made the confirmation on his Facebook page a little earlier today.

It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life.  All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’

We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance.  The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.

So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, “a tale that grew in the telling.”

Cheers,

Peter J

Who’s excited?

(Via)

Korra Gets 26-Episode Bump

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Take that, Game of Thrones.

It turns out that if you have a wildly successful animated show that manages to beat out Game of Thrones in ratings, your hosting network may want more episodes of said wildly successful animated show. According to EW, Nickelodeon has ordered an additional 26 episodes to be added to The Legend of Korra’s run.

It’s official: The Legend continues! Nickelodeon has picked up a second season of the animated adventure series The Legend of Korra, EW has learned. After averaging 3.8 million viewers for Season 1, Book 1, which concluded June 23, the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel is receiving a second-season order of 26 episodes that presumably will be divided into two parts called Books 3 and 4, bringing the total number of episodes to 52.

Who says an action show centered around a well-crafted female lead can’t be a winning product?

‘Catching Fire’ Casting Updates

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Remember when we talked a lot about The Hunger Games on the blog and podcast? Good news, we’re talking about it again!

Academy-award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been confirmed to play Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in Catching Fire. While that’s the only official casting calla t the moment, the web seems abuzz that Jena Malone of Sucker Punch fame has been offered the key role of Johanna Mason.

Via 

The Higgs Boson All But Confirmed

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In a coup for modern physics, scientists at CERN believe they have found proof of the Higgs Boson. While rumors have been abounding about this possible discovery of late, the Daily Mail just brought out a report last night that CERN is very close to having definitive proof (definitive being the difference between 99.99% sure and 99.99995% sure–semantics for most of us).

The Higgs Boson is probably the best definition for the Force–it very literally is what binds the universe together.

Bloomsbury Hints At New ‘Potter’ Box Set

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A friend of mine found this buried in a Reuters article about Bloomsbury profits over the last fiscal year.

Bloomsbury, the publisher of the “Harry Potter” series by author JK Rowling, also said it was counting on a new Rowling three-book box set tied into the Potter series, and a non-fiction account of spies in World War II to support sales in the coming year.

This is the first I’ve heard of any three-book box set of new content in the Potter-verse. What this could be I have absolutely no idea, but deep down I’m hoping it’s a set of Marauders-era stories. A man can dream. Chances are, it’s something more along the lines of a collection of Potter universe lore stories (Tales of Beetle Bard) or the Potter Encyclopedia Rowling has said she’s working on.