‘Die Hard 6,’ originally announced in 2015, has officially been canceled according to a producer.
The sixth installment of the action film franchise ‘Die Hard’ has been long-gestating in development limbo and has gone through several revisions all which included Bruce Willis returning to portray police detective John McClane. From being a direct sequel to ‘A Good Day To Die Hard’ to a cross-over with the ’24’ TV series before finally being settled on as a prequel titled simply ‘John McClane.’ That appears to be off the table now.
“Yeah, no, it’s not happening,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said according to NME. “But what was really interesting was we actually came up with an idea to do it. It was a project that wasn’t Die Hard that then, eventually, shifted over to Die Hard.”
He continued, “What was interesting about our idea was it allowed you the ability to meet the young John McClane and use Bruce.” He added, “So it was really interesting in that way. So you sort of got to see both versions of him. A bit [like The Godfather Part 2].”
When asked about whether the 20th Century Films acquisition by Disney will lead to a possible sequel, di Bonaventura replied, “I don’t know what their plans are.”
The original ‘Die Hard’ was released in 1988 and was directed by John McTiernan. It was very closely based on the 1979 action novel ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ by Roderick Thorp.
The official synopsis explains, “NYPD cop John McClane goes on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly in Los Angeles where she works for the Nakatomi Corporation. While they are at the Nakatomi headquarters for a Christmas party, a group of robbers led by Hans Gruber take control of the building and hold everyone hostage, with the exception of John, while they plan to perform a lucrative heist. Unable to escape and with no immediate police response, John is forced to take matters into his own hands.”
The movie would spawn four sequels including ‘Die Hard 2: Die Harder,’ ‘Die Hard With A Vengeance,’ ‘Live Free Or Die Hard,’ and ‘A Good Day To Die Hard.’
‘Die Hard’ Prequel Has Been Canceled
HBO Max Announces ‘The Prince,’ A Satirical Cartoon About The British Royal Family
The Netflix drama ‘The Crown’ may have to move over when it comes to portraying the British royal family. HBO Max has released ‘The Prince,’ an animated series that aims to lampoon the Queen’s inner circle.
Along with a trailer, Warner Media discussed the humorous cartoon in a press release.
“THE PRINCE is a satirical take about the imagined inner workings of the royal family through the eyes of an animated Prince George, the youngest heir to the throne, as he spills all the royal “tea” on his family, followers, and the monarchy,” they write. “Featuring a star-studded voice cast, THE PRINCE is an outlandishly funny, warm, and one-of-a-kind parody of Buckingham Palace’s residents and staff.”
All 12 episodes are available on HBO Max.
You can check out the trailer:
“Gary Janetti stars in the series as the fictionalized Prince George alongside the voice talents of Orlando Bloom as Prince Harry, Alan Cumming as George’s butler Owen, Frances de la Tour as Queen Elizabeth, Lucy Punch as Kate Middleton, Condola Rashad at Meghan Markle, Iwan Rheon as Prince William, Dan Stevens as Prince Charles, and Sophie Turner as Princess Charlotte.” Warner Bros. explained, “Guest stars on the series include: Paul Anderson, Samuel Barnett, and Sacha Dhawan as various voices; and as themselves, Andy Cohen, Brad Goreski, Kelly Ripa and from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”: Garcelle Beuavais, Erika Jayne, Dorit Kemsley, Teddi Mellencamp, Kyle Richards and Lisa Rinna.”
“The series is created, written, and executive produced by four-time Emmy nominee Gary Janetti (“Will & Grace,” “Family Guy” and “Vicious”) and produced by Eli Dolleman (“The Cleveland Show”),” they said. “The animation is executive produced by Emmy winners Joel Kuwahara and Scott Greenberg (“Bob’s Burgers”) and produced by Leanne Moreau (“Young Justice”).”
The Royal Family has frequently appeared in movies, television, streaming services, and animation for both serious drama and comedy.
Dynamite Comics Is Launching James Bond Into A New Mission
British author Ian Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond is back for a new MI6 mission from Dynamite Comics in ‘James Bond: Himeros.’
Written by Rodney Barnes with artwork from Antonio Fuso and coloring from Adriano Augusto, Syfy Wire reports that the story will see 007 trying to stop an international human trafficking ring.
“I’ve always loved James Bond; the books, the movies, and the comics,” Barnes explained to Syfy Wire. “He’s got staying power that a lot of characters from his era lack. I chalk that up to the genius of Ian Fleming and my prayer and hope is that I do right by his creation. Himeros takes 007 on an adventure around the world, and an issue, sex trafficking, that’s a problem around the world as well.
He continued, “My goal with the series is to shine a light on the problem of sex trafficking and to bring Bond a case that’s a little closer to the ground—something that moves him emotionally and takes him out of his comfort zone. I couldn’t be happier with Antonio Fuso’s art, the various variant artists covers and our entire creative team. Very honored to be working with them and Dynamite.”
James Bond Returns in "Himeros" by Rodney Barnes! @DynamiteComics
#comics https://t.co/x3nlIuyRsS pic.twitter.com/27Q8pf57wL— Comic Crusaders™️ (@ComicCrusaders) July 21, 2021
The synopsis explains, “The plot line finds billionaire British financier Richard Wilhelm behind bars after being charged with trafficking minors to his remote private island in the South Pacific. Now in official custody, his political, personal, and criminal connections to the elite of international society is in grave danger of being exposed.”
It continues, “Notorious arms developer Anton Banes happens to be one of these important parties, and he’ll stop at nothing to hide his tracks, including hiring an enigmatic assassin codenamed Kino to take down Wilhelm and any incriminating evidence.007 is then recruited to unravel the mystery and protect Wilhelm’s right-hand woman Sarah Richmond, who has a head full of precious secrets that everyone on all sides is after. A “Bond girl” like no other, can Sarah be trusted by Bond, or does she have blood on her own hands?”
With the latest Bond film starring Daniel Craig “No Time To Die,” getting another delay, fans will be able to get their fix with this new mission on the pages of a comic book.
Screenwriter Tim Sheridan Sheds Light On ‘Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2’
‘Batman: The Long Halloween Part 2’ is the upcoming DC Animation sequel based on the comic book written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale. The first part had a deviation from the original story arc leaving audiences curious to see what will happen.
Screenwriter Tim Sheridan recently sat down with Syfy Wire to discuss the approach at adapting the DC Comic plot, calling Part 2 “this fast-moving train with a lot of stuff happening.”
“Our goal was just to make a story that is a cinematic version of The Long Halloween. As close as we could get,” he explained. “I said, ‘I’m gonna write a live-action Long Halloween script. This is going to be a script that we could produce for live-action, but we will end up animating it.’ It helped in the process for me because I wasn’t writing, let’s say a kids’ cartoon — I was writing a serious, adult, live-action adaptation of The Long Halloween.”
He continued, “The first part is very much the clean, pristine side of the coin and then the second part is the marred-up side of the coin. The dirtier part of the story.”
“As the costumed villains begin their reign as ushered in by, as we know at this point, Two-Face … In some ways, it’s kind of a happy accident for me because the ratings of the PG-13 and the R really represent those two sides of the coin,” he said. “It is faster and dirtier and darker in Part Two and so, the R seems to represent that.”
Sheridan goes on to say that the sequel gets “ramped up” with action, violence, and how many characters are involved with the story. He also praised Loeb and Sale for their work on the comic book.
“I think that the book is beautiful and it exists and people should go back and read the book. Hopefully, this movie inspired people to pick up the book — either for the first time or again, and really get to experience Jeph and Tim’s incredible work of art that is The Long Halloween,” Sheridan said.
‘Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1’ is currently available on DVD and digitally. Part 2 was released on July 27, 2021, with the DVD coming out on August 10, 2021.
You can check out the trailer to Part 2 below:
Director Of Johnny Depp Film ‘Minamata’ Accuses MGM Of “Burying” The Movie
Johnny Depp produces and stars in ‘Minamata,’ a movie about photojournalist Eugene Smith who documented the effects of mercury poisoning on the citizens of Minamata, Kumamoto, Japan.
While the film has received release dates in Europe and Asia, its North American distributor MGM has put the movie through several delays and has yet to give a concrete date for its premiere.
Some have speculated that it is due to the very public legal battle between Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard. While the former has lost out on parts during the lawsuit, the latter seems to be getting roles without an issue.
”Minamata’ director Andrew Levitas told Deadline that he was told by MGM acquisitions head Sam Wollman that the film conglomerate “had decided to ‘bury the film’” and would not be promoting it.
This prompted Levitas to write a letter to MGM, as well as its backers The Eugene Smith Foundation and the Minamata Foundation to decry the attempt to stop the movie from being released in the United States. Deadline obtained the entire letter.
“Roughly a year ago MGM purchased the North American rights to the film Minamata after viewing it at the Berlinale. MGM was intent on bringing to light the suffering of the thousands of victims of one of the most heinous industrial pollution incidents the world has ever seen,” he wrote. “In re-exposing their pain in the sharing of their story, this long marginalized community hoped for only one thing – to lift history from the shadows so that other innocents would never be afflicted as they have… and it seemed in that moment, with MGM’s partnership, a decades-long wish was finally coming true.”
Levitas continued, “Now, imagine the devastation when they learned this past week, that despite an already successful global roll out, MGM had decided to “bury the film” (acquisitions head Mr. Sam Wollman’s words) because MGM was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them and that from MGM’s perspective the victims and their families were secondary to this.”
The movie was released in Europe, making its debut at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020 and will be released in the United Kingdom in August 2021, though covid restrictions may create another delay for that country.
You can watch the trailer here:
Lucy Liu Dishes About Feud With Bill Murray On The Set Of ‘Charlie’s Angels’
The 2000 action film remake ‘Charlie’s Angels’ was known for taking the dramatic elements of the original 1981 show and turning into a comedic moment. It was also known for a very tense relationship by film stars Bill Murray and Lucy Liu, who had a very public feud during the filming process. It leads to Bill Murray being replaced by Bernie Mack in the 2003 sequel.
According to some sources, Murray stopped a scene and publically told Liu that she could not act, prompting a heated argument that became physical, leading to the crew forcing them into separate rooms. Murray would go on to say that her behavior on the set was “unprofessional.”
Deadline reports that Lucy Liu has opened up about the drama, telling the Los Angeles Times podcast “Asian Enough” that she does not regret standing up for herself.
“We had taken the weekend to rework that particular scene and Bill Murray was not able to come because he had to attend some family gathering,” Liu said. “So it was everyone else, and we just made the scene more fluid.”
“I wish I had more to do with [the rewrite], but I didn’t,” she explained. “Because I was the last one cast, and I probably had the least amount of privilege, in terms of creatively participating at that time.” She added that Murray began “to sort of hurl insults.”
“I was, like, ‘Wow, he seems like he’s looking straight at me.’ I couldn’t believe that [his comments] could be towards me, because what do I have to do with anything majorly important at that time?” Liu explained. “I say, ‘I’m so sorry. Are you talking to me?’—and clearly he was, because then it started to become a one-on-one communication.” She said that what he said was “inexcusable and unacceptable” prompting her to respond.
“I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it,” Liu continued. “Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down.”
Liu also criticized the media coverage of the incident, declaring it to be “sexist,” but was armed by the cast and crew who backed her up following the incident.
The ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’ actress stated that the two of them have made up and that there are no hard feelings regarding the incident.
“I have nothing against Bill Murray at all. I’ve seen him since then at an SNL reunion, and he came up to me and was perfectly nice,” Liu said. “But I’m not going to sit there and be attacked.”
Count Chocula and Franken Berry are Now Action Figures!
In a couple of months, our grocery stores will start stocking the greatest cereals ever made. Yes, the cereals based on classic monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and … a ghost. OK, the 1970s were a more forgiving time when it came to these concepts.
Regardless, every year we buy boxes of County Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry and remember a tiny slice of our childhood. But why wait another year when you can own physical representations of the classic cereal mascots?
Jada Toys, the folks bringing us classic Universal Monster toys later this year, is now tackling child-friendly versions of the horror icons.
Breakfast at midnight? Our favorite Transylvanian chocoholic Count Chocula likes nothing better than to dig into a bowl of the classic General Mills cereal, and now you can collect this transfixing General Mills Count Chocula 6-Inch Scale Action Figure– replete with accurately sculpted and painted details. Count Chocula arrives with an alternate head, accessories, and retro cereal-centric window box packaging.
What’s sweet, pink, and animated? More specifically, reanimated. It’s your General Mills Franken Berry 6-Inch Scale Action Figure! Fully licensed and articulated, he’s ready to show off all his scary sculpted and painted details. Pose him on a collector’s shelf or next to your breakfast bowl. This man-made monster arrives with an alternate head, accessories, and retro cereal-centric window box packaging.
Where’s Yummy Mummy? Or Fruit Brute? Most aggravating of all … where is Boo Berry?! OK, those guys are probably on the way in the future if these two sell well. So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to Entertainment Earth and pre-order your not-so-scary cereal mascots.
What other cereal mascots deserve the action figure treatment? Cookie Crook? Sugar Bear? Cap’n Crunch? Let us know in the comments.
Mezco’s One:12 Collective Goes Mad With a ‘Gotham By Gaslight’ Joker
Back in May, Mezco showed off the Gotham By Gaslight Batman. Of course, every good Victorian crime fighter needs an equally debonair villain. So, the One:12 Collective is adding the Joker to the mix!
The One:12 Collective The Joker: Gotham by Gaslight is outfitted in a Victorian era-inspired outfit. He wears a dress shirt, necktie, suspenders, and slacks, and an optional leather-like butcher’s apron. A double-breasted overcoat, a scarf, top hat, and tinted glasses are also included to assist The Joker in concealing his identity.
The Joker features two head portraits inspired by his vintage comic book appearances – a maniacal smile and an unnerving stare. The tools of his trade are no laughing matter and all can be stored neatly in the included valise.
This dashing version of the clown prince of crime comes with the following features and accessories:
- One (1) top hat
- One (1) pair of glasses
- One (1) tool storage valise
- Nine (9) assorted tools
- One (1) One:12 Collective display bases with logo
- One (1) One:12 Collective adjustable display posts
- Two (2) head portraits
- Eleven (11) interchangeable hands, including
- One (1) pair of fists (L & R)
- One (1) pair of gesture hands (L & R)
- One (1) pair of holding hands (L & R)
- One (1) tool holding hand (R)
- One (1) tool holding hand (L)
- One (1) card holding hand (L)
- One (1) grabbing hand (L)
- One (1) pointing hand (L)
When I saw the images, I thought the Joker was going to command a hefty price tag. He doesn’t! Click here to pre-order your grinning menace for only $100. The ultimate arch-enemy will be shipping in August!
Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s New Trailer Calls Upon Familiar Faces and Frights
We got one!
Finally! A new trailer! It has been over a year and a half since the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife came out. Since then, the movie’s release date has been bumped, and we were left with just a few small teases as to what awaits us in Jason Reitman’s follow-up to the original 1984 film.
After all that wait, this new trailer delivers some familiar faces and frights. However, I’m still betting that the Mini-Pufts scene is a dream/nightmare. That would explain the overabundant product placement and empty Walmart. Come on! When have you been to a Walmart, at any hour, and it is empty?
We see that this story is more based on the family element than we’ve seen in the previous two GB films. Afterlife feels like it has a meaningful story to tell about kids fitting in and overcoming something bigger than themselves. Is there a place for melodrama in a Ghostbusters movie? We’ll find out.
Janine! Ray! Ghost traps! Gozer! A … Gozerian temple buried under the ground in the middle of nowhere? Terror dogs! Mini-Pufts!
And this doesn’t feel like a bait-n-switch like we’ve seen so often when these classic franchises get resurrected. I’m not expecting the surviving team to be front and center in this film because Sony isn’t tricking us into thinking such a thing.
Sure, it may be a group of kids now bustin’ ghosts, but at least this film isn’t going to be comprised mostly of adlibbed lines and a director blaming everyone but himself for the fans’ reactions.
Sorry for bringing up the 2016 film. To cleanse our minds of that mess, let’s take a look at my Ghostbusters collection!
‘The Promised Neverland’ Writer Kaiu Shirai On The Origins Of The Hit Manga
‘The Promised Neverland’ is a Japanese fantasy horror manga that follows a group of children who have grown up in an orphanage with the promise of a better life only to discover that a demonic purpose exists for the kids. It gained popularity during its run from 2016 to 2019 in Jump Comics, spinning off an anime, live-action film, and building a strong fan base.
Viz Media gained the distribution rights to an English translation of the series and released an interview with creator Kaiu Shirai about the inspiration behind the story.
“We wanted a create a big difference between the “gentleness” that the title may imply and the actual hell that happens in the story,” Shirai explained. “The word ‘promise’ is from Sir James Matthew Barrie’s Peter Pan, who makes a promise with Wendy, and I already knew that our story would eventually involve a promise between humans and demons. This resulted in the English title having a connection to the phrase ‘promised land,’ so it was good to have ‘promise’ in the title.”
When asked if he is a fan of horror, he replied, “I like suspense-thrillers more than horror movies. I’m not sure if this counts as horror (maybe it’s more of a thriller than a horror), but off the top of my head I like, ‘The Others’ (with Nicole Kidman) and ‘Identity’ (with John Cusack).”
Shirai also praised the fans and expressed his enthusiasm that ‘The Promised Neverland’ has gained popularity not just in Japan, but also in the West.
“Thank you so much to the fans of The Promised Neverland who have read, enjoyed and supported us,” he said. “In Japan, the series has concluded and the final volume has come out, but thankfully, the world of The Promised Neverland continues to grow through the anime, live-action film in Japan, and plans for a drama series in the U.S.”
While the first season of the anime was praised for its adaption, fans expressed their disappointment that the second season skipped a major arc in the manga and abbreviated several key points in the plot.
