Star Wars: The Clone Wars Trailer: Meet Clone Force 99, AKA The Bad Batch

Disney+ and Lucasfilm have debuted a new trailer for the seventh and final season of the acclaimed Star Wars: The Clone Wars introducing audiences to Clone Force 99, also known as The Bad Batch.

From Dave Filoni, director and executive producer of The Mandalorian, the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars will continue the storylines introduced in the original series, exploring the events leading up to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

The 12-episode season will feature the voices of Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker as Captain Rex and the clone troopers, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, and Sam Witwer as Maul.

Created by George Lucas, the show first aired in 2008 and became an entry point into Star Wars for an entire generation, following fan-favorites like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padmé Amidala, while introducing major new characters like Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. It became a multi-Emmy winner and is now regarded as essential Star Wars.

Even though The Clone Wars will be having its epic conclusion this year, it appears it won’t be the end for the animated Star Wars universe as SWNN has also revealed that a sequel series to Rebels is currently in development to pick up the story of Ahsoka from the series finale and could premiere as early as this year.

Castlevania Season 3 trailer: Evil never stays buried On Netflix

Castlevania Season 3 trailer: Evil never stays buried

After revealing the premiere date for the series earlier this month, Netflix has debuted the first full trailer for the third season of its animated adaptation of Castlevania showing that the human world is in chaos and that evil never stays buried.

A Konami video game, the first Castlevania was a popular title for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, following the game’s release in 1986. The storyline has the player controlling a vampire hunter by the name Simon Belmont. Belmont, the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, is trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself. Inspired by the game, the animated Castlevania hails from bestselling author and comic book legend Warren Ellis.

The Castlevania cast features the voice talents of Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Preacher) as Dracula, Richard Armitage (The Hobbit trilogy) as Trevor Belmont, James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) as Alucard, Emily Swallow (Supernatural) as Lisa, Matt Frewer (Orphan Black) as The Bishop, Tony Amendola (Annabelle) as The Elder and Alejandra Reynoso (G.I. Joe: Renegades) as Sypha Belnades.

Castlevania is executive produced by Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Adi Shankar and Fred Seibert. Production services are provided by Austin, Texas-based Powerhouse Animation with Brad Graeber supervising producer, Jason Williams as producer, and Sam Deats as director.

Marvel's First Gay Superhero & Kiss Accidentally Confirmed By Eternals Actor

• BY MOLLY FREEMAN
• FEB 13, 2020

Marvel's first gay superhero is Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who will have the MCU's first gay kiss, confirmed by Eternals movie actor Haaz Sleiman.

Marvel's first gay superhero is Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who will have the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first gay kiss, as confirmed by Eternals movie actor Haaz Sleiman. After Avengers: Endgame - and, to a lesser extent, Spider-Man: Far From Home - wrapped up Phase 3 of the MCU last year, Marvel Studios is kicking of Phase 4 in 2020. The two Marvel movies slated to hit theaters are Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Eternals. The latter will introduce a whole new team of superheroes to the MCU, played by an all-star cast that includes the likes of Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek.

As the MCU has progressed, there have been more and more calls for films with diverse lead characters. In 2018, Black Panther became the franchise's first black-led movie, while 2019's Captain Marvel was the first MCU solo movie starring a female character. Eternals promises to bring a great deal more representation to the MCU with a diverse ensemble cast. It's also been confirmed by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige that Eternals would include the MCU's first gay superhero, but it was unclear which hero it would be. Now, one of the supporting actors in the film has confirmed as much.

In an interview with NewNowNext, Haaz Sleiman spoke about his role in the upcoming Marvel movie, Eternals. Sleiman confirmed he's playing the husband of Henry's Phastos, though he didn't specify his character's name: "I just shot a Marvel film with the first openly gay superhero, The Eternals. I’m married to the gay superhero Phastos, played by Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry, and we represent a gay family and have a child." When asked if Eternals would feature Marvel's first gay kiss, Sleiman confirmed it would. He said:

Oh, yeah, absolutely, and it’s a beautiful, very moving kiss. Everyone cried on set. For me it’s very important to show how loving and beautiful a queer family can be. Brian Tyree Henry is such a tremendous actor and brought so much beauty into this part, and at one point I saw a child in his eyes, and I think it’s important for the world to be reminded that we in the queer community were all children at one point. We forget that because we’re always depicted as sexual or rebellious. We forget to connect on that human part.

Last year, Avengers: Endgame introduced a gay character, the nameless support group member played by co-director Joe Russo, who became Marvel's first confirmed LGBTQ character in the MCU. Though technically a step forward for representation in the MCU, it was criticized for being such a minor part of the film, and for the role not going to a gay actor. Last spring, reports first surfaced that Eternals was casting a gay superhero, and ever since the film's cast was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, many speculated it would be Richard Madden's Ikaris.

Instead, it appears the MCU's first gay superhero will be Henry's Phastos, and he'll share an on-screen kiss with his husband, the character played by Sleiman. Sleiman's comments fall in line with what Feige previously said about Phastos being married with a child, having a family of his own, though we didn't know at the time the studio head was talking about Henry's character. Based on Sleiman's comments, it seems Phastos' kiss with his husband will be more highlighted than the incredibly brief lesbian kiss in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Hopefully Phastos' sexuality will be a key part of his character in Eternals, bringing much-needed representation to the MCU. But it's also important the character isn't entirely defined by his sexuality either, which is something Sleiman alludes to in his comments about Phastos. Fans will learn more about Phastos, his husband and their child as the Eternals release date gets closer.

New trailer arrives for Horrible Bosses 2: watch now

A new trailer has landed online for Horrible Bosses 2, in which Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day and Jason Bateman begin to settle in to their new life of crime.
Newly jobless, the trio have settled on kidnapping as their next big moneymaker, with Chris Pine, the heir to the fortune of hard-ass businessman Christoph Waltz, the latest target in their crosshairs.

However, life as a criminal isn’t always plain sailing, and it isn’t long before the boys are having to call in a favour or two from some familiar old faces…
Sprinkled with even more stardust than the first film was, the sequel certainly has a supporting cast to die for, while judging by this latest trailer, the script seems to have hit its mark also. Colour us excited!

Directed by Sean Anders and co-starring Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston, Horrible Bosses 2 will open in the UK on 28 November 2014.

Source: Warner

Batman Vs. Superman's Production Is Still On Schedule Despite Release Date Shift

Don’t change that Bat-channel too quickly! The industry has been scattered since news broke that the Man of Steel sequel was being pushed from its 2015 release date to May 2016. Everyone figures with a shift like this, everyone simply moves to the right, and we start talking about Wonder Woman movies, Ben Affleck’s other jobs, and an inevitable Justice League film. Instead of everything shifting, however, could it be that Warner Bros. plan is to just build on the production plans they already had set?

Buried within a Deadline report about Ben Affleck’s possible commitment to direct the Fox pilot The Middle Man is the news that Affleck will not be free to shoot the show due to plans that involve a certain black cape and cowl. Despite the release date change, the report says that production on Batman vs. Superman is imminent and Deadline claims that "the main players have been summoned to start work right away." This scuttles plans for Affleck to helm his first ever series pilot, a step several major directors have been taking recently (just last night, Fox debuted Rake with Sam Raimi behind the camera). On the TV side of the story, the network remains undecided about either pursuing another director, or waiting for Affleck’s schedule to clear up.

The question is, will that ever happen? Or will the WB ride Affleck like The Lone Ranger rode Silver? Part of this whole Affleck-as-Batman situation, which will involve the actor starring in multiple films as WB’s crown jewel superhero, was about pleasing the actor/director, given that both The Town and Argo were such mainstream successes for the studio. Affleck wants to continue directing, shooting his next feature Live By Night sometime later this year, and in the fall he’ll have press obligations for David Fincher's Gone Girl. Basically, commitments to Batman vs. Superman - which promises to have both a long, arduous blockbuster-level shoot and will be a tremendous physical strain on the 42 year old thespian - mean that he doesn’t have a lot of free time for anything else. The studio likely knows that pushing the superhero film to a start date during any other time in 2014 was a fool’s game, and that by postponing or losing Live By Night they’d be losing another potential moneymaker as well as angering one of their treasured filmmakers. So, hey, maybe they do have a script ready to go, namely one from Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo collaborator Chris Terrio.

Of course, if they’re ready to shoot now, why was the movie delayed at all? Why depart that primo 2015 release date? The opening slot of summer 2016 is undoubtedly also primo real estate, but by that time it will be only the fifth big DC hero film (not including Jonah Hex) since 2008, the start of Marvel Studio’s self-produced empire. In contrast, the competing studio will have put out ten films in the same time period, with the eleventh currently carrying the same May 6, 2016 release date. Seeing Superman and Batman tango onscreen is undoubtedly the audience draw. Waiting another year certainly tempts the overexposure of the genre, though, particularly if it’s a long and drawn-out production period. All it takes is the smallest droplet of bad buzz, and the project will look like a sorry sister next to whatever Marvel is cooking up for that date - or even later that summer. Perhaps there’s more to this story, but regardless: full steam ahead on the Man Of Steel sequel!
By Gabe Toro

The Fantastic Four Screenplay Completed, More Actors Testing This Month

Variety reports that screenwriter Simon Kinberg has completed his re-write of Fox's The Fantastic Four reboot and that they're looking to finalize the film's cast shortly. The site notes that actors will continue testing for roles in the film later this month, including Miles Teller, Kit Harington and Richard Madden for Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic, and Kate Mara and Saoirse Ronan for Sue Storm aka The Invisible Woman.

As previously mentioned, the only name reported for the Johnny Storm/Human Torch role is Chronicle‘s Michael B. Jordan. No names have been mentioned for the Ben Grimm/The Thing role, though Terry Crews says he wants it.

Filming on the reboot is expected to begin in Baton Rouge this March. Josh Trank will direct the big screen adaptation, which is currently set for release on June 19, 2015​.

Rupert Sanders to Direct Live Action Ghost in the Shell

Next to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, a movie that Warner Bros. has been trying to turn into a live action epic for a long time, Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell may be one of the most known Japanese Manga comics and Anime films outside of Japan, and DreamWorks seems to be ready to move forward with the idea of doing a live action version of the Japanese cyberpunk cartoon after years of trying to make it happen. According to Deadline, DreamWorks has made a deal with Rupert Sanders, director of Snow White and the Huntsman, to help bring the sci-fi police thriller to life from a script by William Wheeler.

Produced by Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul and with the backing of Steven Spielberg, the rights to Shirow's original 1989 complex futuristic thriller about the members of a covert ops unit that takes on technology-related crime were picked up several years ago with plans to use the latest 3D technology to film it. In Japan, the huge success of the comics led to a number of anime film adaptations, a TV series and a series of video games with DreamWorks releasing the second anime film in North America.

It's not yet determined whether Sanders might tackle Ghost in the Shell next since he has a number of other projects lined up, including 90 Church for Universal, a Napoleon Bonaparte movie at Warner Bros., a film called Juliet with Sony and New Regency, as well as an adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's thriller The Kill List.
Source: Deadline
January 24, 2014