Sony Pictures

[SONYESP]

MONDAY, MARCH 4

SHAZAM!---new trailer released for the superhero movie.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uilJZZ_iVwY&t=9s



GHOSTBUSTERS 3---Finn Wolfhard (STRANGER THINGS, IT) is in talks to play the lead role in the Sony Pictures sequel. Carrie Coon (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR) is in talks to play his mother.





METAL GEAR SOLID---Oscar Isaac said he wants to star as Solid Snake in the movie based on the video game, “METAL GEAR SOLID, that’s the one. I’m throwing my hat in for that one.” Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (KONG: SKULL ISLAND) posted a Photoshopped photo of Isaac as Solid Snake with the comment, "The Ball's in Oscar's court".





STAR TREK---details about the new Jean-Luc Picard series include the series is set in 2389, 20 years after STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and Romulus was destroyed by a supernova. Picard must help establish a relationship between the Federation and what is left of the Romulan empire. Picard finds an alien artifact which plays a key part in the plot. Also, a list of characters was uncovered.

– Connie. Early 30s African-American woman. Mercenary pilot and widow with a bounty on her head.
– Lawrence. Early 30s man. A thief with a dodgy moral compass, and Picard’s pilot for a mission.
– Starton. Early 30s man. A positronic brain specialist terrified of space travel.
– Dr. Smith. Holographic crewman. Programmed to avoid becoming too self-aware.
– K’Bar. Late teenage male Romulan martial artist extremely devoted to Picard.
– Indira. Early 20s woman. Smart, agile but socially inept and immature.
– Alana. 40s-50s woman. Former intelligence officer – analytical, paranoid, substance abuser.





GAME OF THRONES---Season 8's Battle of Winterfell is the longest battle in series history and, “the longest consecutive battle sequence ever committed to film.” It includes the following characters: Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, Brienne of Tarth, Jorah Mormont, The Hound, Davos Seaworth and Samwell Tarly.





REMINISCENCE--photo released of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson starring in the Warner Bros. action thriller movie about a Miami private detective who retrieves memories for his clients and searches for a mysterious client he has fallen in love with after she disappears.





THE INVISIBLE MAN---Elisabeth Moss in in talks to co-star in the Universal Pictures remake of the 19333 movie based on the HG Wells novel.

THE WALKING DEAD---Chandler Riggs said he is disappointed Carl was killed off which prevented his relationship with Lydia, Alpha's daughter, from being fully explored as in the comic book storyline, “I was looking forward to a lot of the storylines, specifically with Lydia because it was just such a unique storyline for Carl and it meant so much to the storyline."

ZANBOTO---Guillermo del Toro is the writer/director of this Paramount Pictures movie about a young girl with lethal fighting abilities. No other plot details were released.

MARVEL STUDIOS---a rumor claims Wesley Snipes is returning for an R-rated sequel in which he passes the torch to his daughter. A second rumor says a Fantastic Four remake movie underway in which the superhero team explores outer space and Doctor Doom is not the villain.

CRITTERS---Syfy has supposedly filmed a movie based on the 1986 sci fi movie with Dee Wallace, who starred in the original movie. Bobby Miller (THE CLEANSE) is the director.

ACADEMY AWARDS---Netflix replied to the movement being including Steven Spielberg that wants Academy Awards to be limited to theatrical movies and excludes streamed movies, “We love cinema. Here are some things we also love:
– Access for people who can’t always afford, or live in towns without, theaters
– Letting everyone, everywhere enjoy releases at the same time
– Giving filmmakers more ways to share art.
These things are not mutually exclusive.”

ESTHER THE WONDER PIG---movie underway on the true story of a couple who adopted a supposedly five pound pygmy pig who grew to 650 pounds and became a social media star.

THE TORTILLA CURTAIN---tv series underway based on the novel.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
Alison Doody played Bond Girl Jenny Flex in A VIEW TO A KILL, Roger Moore's last Bond movie. Peter Jackson personally offered Doody the role of Eowyn in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING, but she declined the role due to her pregnancy. The role went to Miranda Otto.

Alison Doody (left) played Bond Girl Jenny Flex in A VIEW TO A KILL.




Doody declined the Eowyn role in two THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies because she was pregnant, so Miranda Otto got the role.

[SONYESP]

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

GAME OF THRONES--trailer released for Season 8.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKuirT2uhIs



THE WALKING DEAD---new trailer released.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBwlB0kO6k



ANIARA---trailer released for the Swedish movie about a spaceship headed to Mars that faces disaster.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MIlE9R00ik



STAR WARS---Brie Larson may get her wish to be a Jedi Knight in an upcoming STAR WARS movie. She had tweeted that Samuel L. Jackson brought his lightsaber prop to the set of CAPTAIN MARVEL and let her hold it, "I got to hold his [@SamuelLJackson's] lightsaber! He brought it to me on set on May the 4th, and I cried. It was so cool. I wanna be a Jedi." The official STAR WARS Twitter account replied to Larson's tweet, "The Force is definitely with you, Captain". Larson replied, "Honored to be an intergalactic hero with you"
Also, Mark Hamill said his comments on the new STAR WARS movies continue to get him in trouble, “I got myself into trouble…My problem was, I wasn’t dealing with social media back then, where you say something and it goes around the world in 24 hours! If I were to answer your questions on paper, I’d think: oh, that sounds a little strong, or, I shouldn’t say this. But I have a tendency just to talk and talk and talk, and you can cherrypick.
You know, I’ll be reading something, and say, ‘What moron said this?’, and then realize, ‘Oh, it’s me.’ They can take selective comments you’ve made out of context and use it to support their argument: ‘See, Mark hated Star Wars!’ ‘Did I?’
I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again.
Then the second thing was that they killed me off. I thought: oh, okay, you should push my death off to the last one. That’s what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as I’m concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled me.”





JAMES BOND---a British tabloid claims that director Danny Boyle left the 25th James Bond movie because he wanted to kill 007 off, "Boyle thought that killing 007 would be a brilliant way to pave to introduce a new Bond." However, producer Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig were against it, "When the dust settled there was push back from Barbara and Daniel. The feeling was that the audience should be left guessing as to the plight of their man."

MORBIUS---Jared Harris (MAD MEN, THE TERROR) has joined the cast of the Sony Pictures SPIDER-MAN spinoff movie in an undisclosed role.

STAR TREK---Santiago Cabrera (BIG LITTLE LIARS) and Michelle Hurd (BLINDSPOT) have joined the cast of the Jean-Luc Picard tv series in undisclosed roles.





KING CONAN---Arnold Schwarzenegger commented on the delays in the long-gestating latest sequel to CONAN THE BARBARIAN, “The sad stuff about all of this is when there’s an estate like this, The Robert E. Howard estate… when someone buys these rights, those people now own the rights and they have their own vision of what they want to do and the guy that has the rights is some young guy and he’s trying to figure out how to get his way through Hollywood and this is not easy to do.
So there are people that say to him, ‘why don’t you start with a TV series and then he negotiates for a TV series and that falls apart. And then he goes maybe to Netflix and that falls apart. Then he decides to make a movie maybe… but in the meantime, we have been trying to convince him for years now that the way to go is to come back and hire a really great director and to do another Conan movie and have me play King Conan, when Conan is like 70 years old and he’s disgusted by sitting on the throne and being the king and then something happens after that.
It’s really not that far from creating a finished script. The only one who really has to pull the trigger there is the people who own the Conan rights to do a movie. Let’s go to Netflix or whoever it is, let’s hire a director who’s very creative and can elevate the project to make it a winning project. I hope it will be done very soon because I think it’s a great idea.”

GARDEN OF BEASTS---Joe Wright (DARKEST HOUR) will direct this movie about William Dodd, the first US ambassador to Nazi Germany, who discovers the horror of genocide under Adolf Hitler's regime.

RIP VAN WINKLE---Cynthia Erivo and Josh Gad are developing a movie musical based on the Washington Irving fable.

GREEN KNIGHT---Dev Patel is in talks to star in this movie about the retelli9ng of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

KING RICHARD---Will Smith will star in this biomovie about Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.

NO ACTIVITY---CBS All Access renewed the series for Season 3.

TRIVIA---in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, other George Lucas characters make an appearance. R2-D2 and C-3PO from STAR WARS appear as hieroglyphics on a pillar as Indiana Jones lifts the cover of the Ark. In another scene, there is a hieroglyphic of Princess Leia loading the Death Star plans into R2-D2.

[SONYESP]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6

FRAMING JOHN DeLOREAN---trailer released for the hybrid documentary starring Alec Baldwin as the charismatic developer of the failed DeLorean sports car.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu8xBYqTa7Q



BRIGHTBURN---new trailer released for the sci fi/horror movie.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpiypAMXvSk



TOLKIEN---new trailer released for the JRR Tolkien biomovie.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY5A97s5YPs



GOOD OMENS---trailer released for the Amazon Prime/BBC tv series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJoR4vlIIs&t=37s



MOTHERLAND: FORT SALEM---trailer released for the Freeform tv series about witches who fight for the US in exchange for not being persecuted.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CFy0p3hid0



GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS---new sequel photos show Godzilla and King Ghidora.






KING RICHARD---blacks are protesting Will Smith playing Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, in the biomovie because Smith is too "light-skinned". Among the protest tweets are: "Is he going to be in blackface? I know there's a dark skinned actor that can play this role." and, "Scarlett Johansson might as well play Venus with this kind of mess casting".





MORBIUS---Sony Pictures announced the cast: Jared Leto as Morbius, Adria Arjona as Morbius' love interest, Matt Smith as Loxias Crown, Jared Harris as Morbius' mentor and Tyrese Gibson as an FBI agent.

RUSH HOUR---Bingbing Li (THE MEG) has been offered a starring role in the New Line Cinema all-female reboot of the movie franchise that starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.





THE THINGS THEY CARRIED---movie underway based on the book of short stories about soldiers during the Vietnam War. Rupert Sanders is the director.

MALEFICENT---Walt Disney Studios announced the Angelina Jolie sequel is titled MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL.

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD---Karen David (LEGACIES) will play Grace in the new season.

PRODIGAL SON---Fox pilot underway starring Michael Sheen as a criminal psychologist who helps the NYPD solve murders and whose father is a serial killer known as "The Surgeon".

THE SINNER---USA Network renewed the series for Season 3 with Matt Bomer co-starring.

HELLO KITTY---New Line Cinema movie underway based on the cartoon kitty.

TRIVIA---veteran character actor Larry Pennell appeared in many tv shows and movies (GUNSMOKE; MANNIX; THE OUTER LIMITS; MAGNUM, PI). He played Clark Gable in three projects (QUANTUM LEAP, MARILYN: THE UNTOLD STORY and ANOTHER CHANCE), but he is probably best known as Dash Riprock, Elly May's love interest on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.

Veteran character actor Larry Pennell played Clark Gable in three different projects.




Pennell is probably best known as Dash Riprock, Elly May's love interest on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES.

[SONYESP]

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

LATE NIGHT---trailer released for the Amazon Studios comedy movie starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxefiCjQirw&t=73s



PERPETUAL GRACE, LTD---trailer released for the Epix noir series starring Jimmi Simpson and Ben Kingsley.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM22R23JFiY



STAR WARS: EPISODE IX---Mark Hamill said he thought he would have a prominent role in the new trilogy movies and hinted he will only have a cameo in EPISODE IX, "I thought: oh, okay, you should push my death off to the last one. That’s what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as I’m concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled (tricked) me.’"





BLACK WIDOW---a rumor claims that Emma Watson is the top candidate to play a female James Bond-type role in the Scarlett Johansson superhero movie. Florence Pugh, Alice Englert and Dar Zuzuvsky also auditioned for the role.
Another rumor claims Andre Holland auditioned for the main villain role. Rachel Weisz is rumored to be a candidate for the secondary female villain, and Alec Baldwin and Sebastian Koch are candidates for the secondary male villain.





THE LORD OF THE RINGS---Amazon Prime announced the prequel tv series is set in the Second Age, 3,000 years before the movies, and posted a new map captioned, "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."





GAME OF THRONES---George RR Martin commented on the last season, "I haven’t read the [final-season] scripts and haven’t been able to visit the set because I’ve been working on Winds. I know some of the things. But there’s a lot of minor-character [arcs] they’ll be coming up with on their own. And, of course, they passed me several years ago. There may be important discrepancies."

SUPERMAN: FLYBY---Brendan Fraser talked about auditioning for this unmade Superman movie written by JJ Abrams and was to be directed by Brett Ratner, "I auditioned for Superman. I even wore the suit. It was cool, it was pretty cool. I mean, I didn’t get the job. It went away. Brett Ratner was a bit ‘woo hoo’ in those days, and that’s well documented. And that was a script J.J. Abrams wrote but it never got made. And it was freaking Shakespeare in space. It was so cool. It was worlds colliding and, it was really, really cool.”

THE SUICIDE SQUAD---Idris Elba replaces Will Smith who left due to a schedule problem.

ARROW---CW announced that the upcoming Season 8 will be the last season.

GUNDAM---live-action movie underway based on the anime. Brian K. Vaughan (LOST) is the writer/executive producer.

CIA---Brie Larson stars in this untitled Apple series based on the Amaryrillis Fox's upcoming memoir of a young woman who was a CIA undercover operative.

RUN---HBO romantic comedy series underway about a woman with a humdrum life who gets a text message from her old boyfriend who wants her to fulfill a long-ago promise. Merritt Weaver and Domhnall Gleeson star.

MISS MARPLE---tv series underway based on the novels and short stories.

RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY---reboot of the tv series is underway by Emily Mortimer, daughter of the original series creator, John Mortimer.

CARTEL---FX tv series underway based on the book trilogy about DEA agent Art Keller.

LANNY---Rachel Weisz stars in this movie based on the novel.

TRIVIA--in THE NAKED GUN 2 1/2: THE SMELL OF FEAR, the three energy villains played by Lloyd Bochner, Peter Mark Richman and Tim O'Connor all appeared in the original THE TWILIGHT ZONE.




Lloyd Bochner starred in the classic THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode "To Serve Man" which had the famous line, "It's a cookbook!". Bochner played head cryptographer Michael Chambers, who is assigned to decode a book left by a giant race of aliens who want to serve man.






THE NAKED GUN 2 1/2 included a spoof of "To Serve Man" with Bochner screaming, "It's a cookbook!"





Peter Mark Richman starred in THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode "The Fear" in which highway patrol trooper Robert Franklin and a woman in an isolated mountain cabin are attacked by a giant alien.




Tim O'Connor played Col. Sloane and co-starred with James Whitmore in THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode "On Thursday We Leave For Home" in which the leader of Earth colonists on a desolate planet refuses to return to Earth with his fellow settlers.

[SONYESP]

FRIDAY, MARCH 8

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX---a source said EPISODE IX film footage shown at a recent Walt Disney Company shareholders meeting included a glimpse of Lando Calrissian and, "We saw a blockade runner in an abandoned looking hangar. An explosion knocking Stormtroopers in a starship hangar bay. Kylo Ren in a white room looking at the Vader helmet. Rey, Finn, Poe in Falcon cockpit."





Also, Matt Smith commented on rumors that he is appearing in a "key role" in EPISODE IX, possibly as a young Sheev Palpatine, “As far as I can tell, I’m definitely not [in it].”





GAME OF THRONES----Vladimir Furdik commented on the Night King in the last season, "Somebody made him the Night King. Nobody knows who he was before — a soldier or part of [nobility]. He never wanted to be the Night King. I think he wants revenge. Everybody in this story has two sides — a bad side and a good side. The Night King only has one side, a bad side.
People will see he has a target he wants to kill, and you will find out who that is. There’s also that moment [in “Hardhome”] when Jon Snow was on the boat and the Night King looked at him and raised his arms — there’s a similar and even stronger moment between Jon and the Night King this time."





BLACK WIDOW---the Scarlett Johannson superhero movie is adding an ethnic female role. The candidates are reportedly Storm Reid (A WRINKLE IN TIME), Isabela Moner (TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT), Camila Mendes (RIVERDALE) and Hannah Quinlivan (SKYSCRAPER).

BLACK ADAM---Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) will reportedly battle Hawkman, Stargirl and Atom Smasher in the movie.

SWAMP THING---Adrienne Barbeau, who starred in the original 1982 movie, confirmed she will be part of the tv series cast. She did not disclose her role.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD---characters who appear in the sequel include Ratcatcher, Nanaue, Polka-Dot Man and Peacemaker. Dave Bautista is a candidate to play Peacemaker.

THE SIMPSONS---the 1991 episode "Stark Raving Dad" featuring Michael Jackson in the voice cast has been removed from syndication due to the allegations of sexual assault against Jackson in the HBO documentary LEAVING NEVERLAND. Producer James L. Brooks said, “It feels clearly the only choice to make. The guys I work with — where we spend our lives arguing over jokes – were of one mind on this… This was a treasured episode. There are a lot of great memories we have wrapped up in that one, and this certainly doesn’t allow them to remain. I’m against book burning of any kind. But this is our book, and we’re allowed to take out a chapter.”

PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS---Adriana Barraza (BABEL) will play Maria Vega, the powerful matriarch of the Vega family in the sequel series.

TRIVIA---the main cast of CHARADE was Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn, Ned Glass, George Kennedy and Walter Matthau. Glass was the only member of the main cast who never received an Academy Award.
Cary Grant received an Honorary Academy Award, Audrey Hepburn received an Oscar for ROMAN HOLIDAY, James Coburn's Oscar was for AFFLICTION, Walter Matthau won an Academy Award for FORTUNE COOKIE and George Kennedy's Oscar was for COOL HAND LUKE (ironically, Kennedy passed away on the same day as the 88th Academy awards ceremony).

CHARADE starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.




George Kennedy, James Coburn and Ned Glass.




Ned Glass, Cary Grant and James Coburn.




Walter Matthau and Audrey Hepburn.

[SONYESP]

MONDAY, MARCH 11

THE WALKING DEAD---new trailer released.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzcqCAgqG6Y


TIME BANDITS---Taiki Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK) is the co-writer/director for the Apple tv pilot based on the 1981 Terry Gilliam movie.





TERMINATOR 6---Arnold Schwarzenegger commented on James Cameron and the latest sequel, “Jim Cameron is right now directing AVATAR films, so he’s taken on this enormous challenge and he’s very busy with that, BUT he’s a control freak. As you know, TERMINATOR is kind of his baby; so he does get involved in the filming. There were interesting discussions about which direction to go with a certain scene or how the dialogue should finish or what the certain look should be of an individual and all that stuff, so there was a big collaboration between Jim and Tim Miller. I feel it was in good hands with both of them.”

CRUELLA---Nicole Kidman is the top candidate to star in the live-action 101 DALMATIANS prequel movie. Other candidates are Emma Thompson, Charlize Theron, Julianne Moore and Demi Moore.





THE MOTHER CODE---Amblin Partners movie underway based on the upcoming sci fi novel set in an apocalyptic future where biological warfare has killed most of mankind and unborn children are raised by robotic mothers. After the government orders the destruction of robots, a young boy seeks to save his robot mother.

PORT OF EARTH---Amazon tv series underway based on the comic book about Earth and aliens agree to use Earth as a space port for other civilizations when renegade aliens use the Port to invade Earth.

CHERRY---Tom Holland stars in this Russo Brothers movie based on the true story of Army medic Nico Walker who suffered from PTSD after the war in Iraq and became a bank robber.

PRODIGAL SON---Finn Jones (GAME OF THRONES) will star in the Fox pilot about a criminal psychologist who helps the NYPD solve crimes and whose father (Michael Sheen) is the serial killer called the "The Surgeon".

THE GOOD LORD BIRD---Ethan Hawke stars in this Showtime miniseries based on the novel.

SMILF---Showtime cancelled the series. The cancellation may be related to Samara Weaving complaining about having to do a sex scene even though she has a no-nudity clause in her contract and showrunner Frankie Shaw's behavior regarding this and a previous sex scene.

WARNER BROS.---Warner Bros. Entertainment head Kevin Tsujihara issued an apology after he had an affair with actress Charlotte Kirk in exchange for his promise to advance her career. An studio investigation is underway.

ACADEMY AWARDS---Steven Spielberg's former DreamWorks partner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, clarified Spielberg's comments about wanting Academy Awards be given only to theatrical movies, “I talked to Steven about this yesterday. I asked him very specifically. He said, ‘I absolutely did not say that.’… What happened is a journalist was onto a story about this and had heard a rumor about Steven. They called a spokesperson to get a comment and honestly, just twisted it around. One, Steven didn’t say that, and two, he is not going to the Academy in April with some sort of plan. But he has not opined at all, nor has he aligned with some specific thing. [Spielberg] knows there is a realignment coming and he wants everyone to win and prosper.”

CRASHING---HBO cancelled the series.

TRIVIA---more James Bond movie trivia.
Tanya Roberts is the only member of CHARLIE'S ANGELS to play a Bond Girl when she played Stacey Sutton in A VIEW TO A KILL. Jaclyn Smith would have been the first CHARLIE'S ANGELS star to play a Bond Girl, Dr. Holly Goodhead, in MOONRAKER, but schedule problems with CHARLIE'S ANGELS resulted in the role going to Lois Chiles.

In A VIEW TO A KILL, Tanya Roberts is the only CHARLIE'S ANGELS actress to play a Bond Girl, Stacey Sutton.




Jaclyn Smith would have been the first CHARLIE'S ANGELS actress to play a Bond Girl, Dr. Holly Goodhead in MOONRAKER, but schedule problems with the tv series resulted in the role going to Lois Chiles.

[SONYESP]

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

ALADDIN---trailer released for the remake movie.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcMtWwiyzpU



CHERNOBYL---trailer released for the HBO five-part miniseries.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMlwjCID3Io



COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL---actresses Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman were among 46 people who were indicted in a college admissions scandal in which 33 parents paid from $200,000 to $6.5 million to get their children admitted into exclusive universities including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford, Wake Forest, University of Texas, USC and UCLA.
The indictment against Laughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, stated the parents, "agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC."
Huffman and her husband, William H. Macy, allegedly "made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 ... to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. Huffman later made arrangements to pursue the scheme a second time, for her younger daughter, before deciding not to do so." Macy was not charged. The scheme also involved fake SAT and ACT scores.
US Attorney Andrew Lelling said, “These parents are a catalog of wealth and privilege. This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admission through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud.”





THE INVISIBLE MAN---a rumor claims Armie Hammer and Alexander Skarsgard are the top candidates to play star in the Universal Pictures remake of the 1933 movie based on the HG Wells novel. The lead role is Adrian Griffith, “a billionaire sociopath who made his money by developing an invisibility suit for the Department of Defense.”





GAME OF THRONES---run times for Season 8's six episodes are reported to be: Episode 801--54 minutes, Episode 802--58 minutes, Episode 803--70 minutes, Episode 804--78 minutes, Episode 805--80 minutes, Episode 806--80 minutes.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY 2---Queen's music video director, Rudi Dolezal, said Jim Beach, Queen's manager, has, “plans for a sequel that starts with Live Aid”. Dolezal added that the sequel is, “being heavily discussed in the Queen family”. Representatives for Rami Malek and Queen's record label said they are unaware of a sequel being discussed.

STAR TREK---CBS Television Studios head David Stapf talked about when the Michelle Yeoh tv series would premiere, "It's a good couple of years away."

THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD 2---Morgan Freeman will co-star with Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson and Salma Hayek in the sequel.

WHAT IF---Marvel Studios/Disney+ animated tv series underway based on the comic book.

TRON 3---co-producer Justin Springer commented on a possible new sequel, “Look, I will never stop being interested in making a TRON movie. I love the opportunity to do it. It’s a title that never really goes away internally. There’s always people around the company who like it a whole lot. And so, we’ll see what happens. It would be great to get the opportunity to do it again.
It’s interesting – what I will say is that I think it continues to be relevant both in its ideas and also just the visual iconography of it. I think people are still are interested in it and it still feels contemporary to me. So it’s just about finding the right time, right script, and the right people at the studio saying ‘yes’. You know, just the usual."

THE BLACK LIST---NBC renewed the series for Season 7.

ORPHAN BLACK---AMC is developing a new series set in the same universe as the original series, but it is not a spinoff or reboot series.

TRIVIA---in CHINATOWN, private detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) discovers a pair of broken bifocals in the garden pond belonging to Los Angeles city engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling) and thinks Mulwray was drowned in the garden pond. Later, Mulwray's wife, Evelyn (Faye Dunaway), tells Gittes that her husband did not wear bifocals. The bifiocals really belong to Evelyn's father, Noah Cross (John Huston), who had Mulwray drowned in his garden pond.
In reality, Zwerling was an optometrist before he quit the profession to become an actor.

In CHINATOWN, private detective Jake Gittes discovers a pair of broken bifocals in the garden pond of murdered Los Angeles city engineer Hollis Mulwray.






Noah Cross and his henchman force Gittes to return the incriminating broken bifocals that really belong to Cross.




Gittes thought the broken bifocals belonged to murdered Hollis Mulwray, who was played by veteran character actor Darrell Zwerling. In reality, Zwerling was an optometrist before he quit the profession to become an actor.

[SONYESP]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

VICTORY---Jaume Collet-Serra (THE COMMUTER) is the director/co-writer of the Warner Bros. remake of the 1981 John Huston World War II POW soccer movie that starred Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Max von Sydow.





JUMANJI 3---Dwayne Johnson posted a photo of himself, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black returning for the Sony Pictures sequel with the caption, "Yes, you're favorite band is back ~ lookin' lean (ish) and mean. Even though things may not be as they seem. So buckle up world because soon we'll all play."





DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS---the candidates to star in the Paramount Pictures movie based on the game include Will Smith, Chris Pratt, Josh Brolin, Vin Diesel, Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Foxx, Joel Edgerton, Dave Bautista, Jeremy Renner and Johnny Depp.

CHARLIE'S ANGELS---Ella Balinska posted a photo of herself, Kristen Stewart and Naomi Scott from the reboot movie.





POISONWOOD BIBLE---Amy Adams/HBO miniseries underway based on the novel about a missionary, his wife and their four daughters who journey to the Belgian Congo in 1959 during the military conflict.

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK---John Magoro (UMBRELLA ACADEMY) has joined the cast of THE SOPRANOS prequel movie in an undisclosed role.

THE TALISMAN---Mike Barker (FARGO) will direct the horror movie based on the novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub.

THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH---Netflix animated tv series underway based on the zombie book series with a voice cast of Mark Hamill, Bruce Campbell, Nick Wolfhard, Catherine O'Hara and Rosario Dawson.

THE HONEYMOON---Jessica Chastain is developing a movie based on the novel THE HONEYMOON: A NOVEL OF GEORGE ELIOT.

THE HUMANS---Richard Jenkins, Steven Yeun and Amy Schumer will star in the movie based on the play.

JAY AND SILENT BOB---Shannon Elizabeth confirmed she is returning for the reboot movie.

GODS & HEROES---Netflix Greek mythology anime series underway.

DRAGON'S DOGMA---Netflix anime series underway.

TRIVIA---THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT '79 was the last of the four-movie AIRPORT disaster franchise. At the movie's end, the Concorde supersonic transport crash-landed in the Alps. In reality, on July 25, 2000, the Concorde that was used in the movie was taking off for a Paris to New York flight, Air France Flight 4590, when it struck runway debris from a previous airliner. The Concorde crashed into a hotel in nearby Gonesse, killing the 109 people on board and four people in the hotel.

In THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT '79, the Concorde supersonic transport crash-landed in the Alps.




The Concorde supersonic transport used in the movie was on a Paris to New York flight when it hit runway debris and crashed into a hotel in Gonesse, France, killing the 109 people on the SST and four people in the hotel.

[SONYESP]

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

AVENGERS: ENDGAME---trailer released for the sequel.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMBFSGVi1c&t=7s



ALIEN---trailer released for 20th Century Fox's six fan-made ALIEN short films marking the franchise's 40th anniversary. The short films will premiere on a weekly basis on IGN beginning on March 29. Beginning on May 3, they will be on the official @AlienAnthology social channels and AlienUniverse.com.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8C8OPS3avo


1. ALIEN: ALONE---Hope is an abandoned crew member who has been on a derelict chemical spaceship for a year and discovers hidden cargo on the spaceship.
2. ALIEN: CONTAINMENT---four survivors of an Alien attack try to reach their spaceship's escape pod while one of them might be infected.
3. ALIEN: HARVESTER---surviving crew members try to reach their escape shuttle as they are pursued by an Alien---and something hidden in plain sight.
4. ALIEN: NIGHT SHIFT---a missing, disoriented space trucker and his co-worker are reluctantly allowed to enter a supply depot where his condition worsens.
5. ALIEN: ORE---Lorraine, a miner on a colony mining planet, discovers her co-worker died under mysterious circumstances.
6. ALIEN: SPECIMEN---Julie, a botanist, discovers a cargo containing a contaminated soil sample which causes the lab to go into full shutdown as she is pursued by something released from the soil sample.


SHANG-CHI---Destin Daniel Cretton (JUST MERCY) will direct the Marvel Studios Asian superhero movie.





DOCTOR STRANGE---director Scott Derrickson tweeted a now-deleted graphic of Doctor Strange being attacked by Namor the Submariner with the caption, "Are you experienced?" which led to speculation that Namor will be in the sequel.





DOCTOR DOOM---writer Noah Hawley, who had been writing the long-gestating DOCTOR DOOM script, said he recently talked with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, who asked Hawley, "Are you still working on it?" Hawley replied, "Should I still be working on it?"

THE HIT MAN'S WIFE'S BODYGUARD---Antonio Banderas will co-star in the sequel in an undisclosed role.

LITTLE THINGS---Denzel Washington will star in this movie about, “a burned out but gifted Kern County deputy sheriff who teams with a crack Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective, Baxter, to capture a serial killer.” John Lee Hancock is the writer/director.

RED SONJA---director Bryan Singer was fired from the remake movie because of allegations that he sexually assaulted boys. Singer was also fired from BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY because of the sex scandal allegations.

JAMES BOND---a British tabloid claims James Bond will drive an Aston Martin all-electric Rapide E instead of the traditional DB series car in the 25th James Bond movie as ordered by environmentally-concerned director Cary Fukunaga.

LINCOLN---Michael Imperioli (THE SOPRANOS) will play NYPD Detective Rick Sellito, the partner of criminologist Lincoln Rhymes, in the NBC pilot based on THE BONE COLLECTOR movie that starred Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Arielle Kebbel will play the female lead, beat cop Amelia Sachs.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN--writer Terry Rossio is in talks to return to write the reboot movie.

TALES FOR A HALLOWEEN NIGHT---Syfy cancelled plans for the John Carpenter horror tv series based on the book series.

TITANS---Esai Morales will villain Deathstroke in Season 3.

AN ANONYMOUS GIRL---USA Network tv series underway based on the novel.

TRIVIA---Kathleen Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm, had a cameo in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM as a dancer in Kate Capshaw's "Anything Goes" performance.

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

THE GREAT EASTERN---movie underway based on the upcoming Howard A. Rodman novel described as, "A sprawling adventure pitting two of literature’s most iconic anti-heroes against each other: Captain Nemo and Captain Ahab. Caught between them: real-life British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, builder of the century’s greatest ship, The Great Eastern. But when he’s kidnapped by Nemo to help design a submarine with which to fight the laying of the Translatlantic cable – linking the two colonialist forces Nemo hates, England and the US – Brunel finds himself going up against his own ship, and the strange man hired to protect it, Captain Ahab, in a battle for the soul of the 19th century." Rodman will write the screenplay.





BLONDE---Ana de Armas (BLADE RUNNER 2049) is in talks to star in the Netflix Marilyn Monroe biomovie.





BUTTON MAN---Netflix movie underway based on the graphic novel. Brian Helgeland (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, MYSTIC RIVER) is the director. Netflix is also developing a movie based on the novel THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE with Patrick Brice (CREEP) as the director.

GAME OF THRONES---HBO released the dates and run times for Season 8's episodes. Episode 1--April 14/54 minutes, Episode 2--April 21/58 minutes, Episode 3--April 28/82 minutes, Episode 4--May 5/80 minutes, Episode 5--May 12/80 minutes, Episode 6--May 19/80 minutes.

WONDER WOMAN 1984---producer Charles Roven said the new movie is not a sequel, “[Patty Jenkins] was just determined that this movie should be the next iteration of Wonder Woman but not a sequel. And she’s definitely delivering on that. It’s a completely different time frame and you’ll get a sense of what Diana-slash-Wonder Woman had been doing in the intervening years. But it’s a completely different story that we’re telling.”

THE BATMAN---director Matt reeves said the movie will start filming, "...around year's end."

NEWARK---Warner Bros. announced the new title for THE SOPRANOS prequel movie is NEWARK instead of THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK.

THE KOMINSKY METHOD---Kathleen Turner will reunite with her ROMANCING THE STONE co-star Michael Douglas when she guest stars as Sandy's second wife, Ruth, "who delights in still being able to push the buttons of her ex-husband." Turner replaces Jacqueline Bisset, who was to have played Sandy's French second wife, Gabrielle.

FULLER HOUSE---Netflix fired Lori Loughlin due to her arrest following her involvement in the college admissions scandal. Loughlin was also fired by the Hallmark Channel from WHEN CALLS THE HEART and GARAGE SALE MYSTERIES.

PACHINKO---Apple series underway based on the novel about a Korean immigrant family. Soo Hugh (THE TERROR) is the writer.

THE THING ABOUT THE JELLYFISH---Millie Bobby Brown will star in this movie based on the young adult novel.

ONE DAY AT A TIME---Netflix cancelled the series due to low ratings.

TRIVIA---in JAWS 3-D, Roy Scheider did not want to return as Police Chief Martin Brody for the sequel, "Mephistopheles ... couldn't talk me into doing [it] ... They knew better than to even ask". Scheider chose to star in BLUE THUNDER, a movie about a high-tech helicopter, so he would be unavailable for JAWS 3-D.

Roy Scheider starred as Police Chief Martin Brody in the original JAWS.




THE JAWS 3-D poster.




Scheider starred in BLUE THUNDER so he would be unavailable for JAWS 3-D.