Sci-Fi Storm

We already know that Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been charged with developing a new saga trilogy to follow on once the Skywalker saga is concluded with Episode IX. But now it appears there is another saga in the works, this one from the minds of Game Of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

We wonder if this might squeeze out the anthology films, while these two sagas interleave their release years.

Disney happened to have their earnings call today as well, and CEO Bob Iger was asked if they considered doing a series, given their experience in the small format. Their interest was in creating Star Wars films,” replied Iger. “We’ve been talking with them for some time. They didn’t express interest in a series.”

Of course there were no details on release dates or plot, but Iger did say they were focused on “a particular point in time” in the Star Wars universe. I’m still hoping for some new stories set in the Old Republic.

In theaters May 25th

In theaters May 4th

In theaters June 22nd

And the biggest surprise Super Bowl commercial (where many are spoiled before hand) seems to go to The Cloverfield Paradox…not because we finally got the new title (it had been going around as The God Particle) and see the first footage, but actually because Netflix released it for streaming immediately after the game! That’s right – it’s available now from Netflix…it had been rumored that the streaming service would acquire the film, which had been very quiet about showing footage, and was planned to be released in theaters in April.

So far, reviews have been poor to mixed – Rotten Tomatoes so far has a tomatometer score of 15% on 41 reviews from critics, and a 61% audience score.

Peter Craig, who wrote the screenplay for both parts of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, will return to young adult/teen violence by adapting S.T.A.G.S., the [asin=B074DGVYMF]YA novel from M.A. Bennett[/asin] released this past week.

The movie, from Fox 2000 and Chernin Entertainment, revolves around St. Aidan the Great’s School (S.T.A.G.S.), an exclusive English boarding school. Greer and nine other first year students are surprised to receive invitations from the Medievals, the school’s most admired – and snootiest – group of students, to attend a private weekend retreat, given that they’ve only received ridicule from them. But the retreat which promised “hunting” turns foul, as the first years are in fact the prey being hunted…

Real Heroes. Not Actual Size.

In theaters July 6th

The third movie in the Maze Runner trilogy, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, had a strong opening weekend, taking in $23.5M domestically and $62.6M internationally, and $105.5M overall including some openings a week earlier. The movie appears to have retained the fans, after a lackluster Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and a long delay in production due to star Dylan O’Brien’s injuries sustained on set.

Still going strong is the deserved Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, taking in another $16.1M and totaling $338M domestically, making it one of Sony’s biggest movies ever.

Another movie that has emerged out from the shadow of Star Wars: The Last Jedi is The Greatest Showman, a catchy musical (and very fictional) account of how master showman P.T. Barnum got his start. Facing tough competition through its run, it still gained $9.5M this weekend and $126M total. If you like musicals, give this movie a shot.

I am once again trying to play catch up, so here is a rundown of the last several days worth of news…

On the casting side, Syfy’s Superman prequel Krypton has signed Hannah Waddingham (How to Lose Friends & Alienate People) as Jax-Ur, once one of Kypton’s eminent scientists turned leader of the terrorist group Black Zero. An interesting choice, as the character has traditionally been portrayed as a male.

On the opposite side of the comic world, Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil added Joanne Whalley (Willow), in an unspecified role. However, the finale of The Defenders made mention of a “Maggie” who is believed to be Sister Maggie, a character in the comic series who is in fact Matt Murdock’s mother who left her family to become a nun, and return to nurse her son back to health.

The much anticipated Ready Player One will open a day earlier than originally scheduled. Instead of opening on Good Friday, March 30th, of the Easter weekend it will now open on the Thursday, March 29th. Thursday openings for big movies is becoming more common…based on the [asin=0307887448]2011 SF novel[/asin], the story is set in a near-future dystopian society, in which teenager Wade Watts enters a virtual reality game to look for the game’s “easter egg” which could net him wealth – but there are those willing to kill to stop him.

ABC has ordered a pilot for the remake of The Greatest American Hero with a put commitment (ABC will at a minimum air the pilot as a special/TV movie, or pay a penalty). This version centers around a tequila and karaoke-loving 30-year-old Indian-American woman who becomes entrusted with a suit that gives her the power to protect the planet – but it doesn’t work out so well. Cast has yet to be named. This is the first collaboration between 20th Century Fox Studios and ABC, who are set to become siblings. Fox and ABC studios are co-producing with Fresh Off the Boat‘s Rachna Fruchbom and Nahnatchka Khan’s Fierce Baby.

Lastly, the Irish Film Board just gave a huge boost to the production of George R.R. Martin’s Nightflyers, which will be filming at Troy Studios in Limerick, Ireland. The board granted €850,000 (about $1.1 million) to the production, which is the largest such award in the current funding cycle. Syfy ordered the 10-episode series earlier this month from Universal Cable Productions, with Netflix on board for international distribution.

It appears that director Gore Verbinski has quit the Gambit starring Channing Tatum. The split is amicable however – Verbinski just had too many scheduling conflicts. The movie will now look for yet another director – Doug Liman (Edge Of Tomorrow) and Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) were previously attached.

With the need to find a new director, Fox has already pushed back the movie on the planned release schedule, moving to June 7th, 2019 from February 14th.