Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy.
Taika Waititi will Return for Thor 4
San Diego Comic-Con is upon us, Spoilerites! This means more news is breaking this weekend then maybe in the rest of the year! Despite the fact that the Marvel Studios panel hasn’t happened yet, The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday broke the exclusive that Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi, would be returning to direct the fourth installment in the Thor franchise.
THR revealed that Waititi remaining on Thor means that he has stepped away from his previously announced directorily duties on Warner Bros’ Akira live action adaptation. Although according to the announcement Waititi may be sticking around WB for future projects:
Warners’ next step for Akira is unclear. Several sources have said that the studio is keen on keeping Waititi involved for the long term and hopes to see him pick up Akira after Thor 4.
What’s particularly interesting about this news being revealed at the same time as SDCC Preview Night is it likely harkens to a Thor 4-related announcement coming our way on Saturday when Marvel Studios hits Hall H. Starts theorizing on what we are going to see now!
Game of Thrones Actors Submitted Themselves for Emmy Consideration
Game of Thrones has been a huge part of our pop culture landscape for over a decade now and obviously the center of so much media coverage and conjecture this year. When the Emmy Nomination broke earlier this week it came as no surprise that Game of Thrones swept several categories. The Emmys love to celebrate a show during its final season (i.e. Mad Men, Breaking Bad), so GoT appears poised to sweep with wins as well.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that several of the actors nominated for their incredible performance self-submitted for consideration and were not put up by HBO.
HBO, which on Tuesday scored a single season record 137 total noms, including a drama series record 32 for Thrones‘ final season, did enter Kit Harington in the lead actor race, Emilia Clarke in the lead actress race, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage in the supporting actor race and Lena Headey, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams in the supporting actress race. All of them also wound up with nominations.
THR wrote.
However, Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), and Carice van Houten self-submitted and were nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series respectively.
… as possibly the world’s only Theon Greyjoy stan, I’m thrilled!
As the original article points out, Game of Thrones has a gigantic ensemble show and it would not be conceivable for production to nominate everyone who ever strode the ground of Westeros. While the entry fee for Emmy Nomination is only $225, the fact that these actors took this on themselves and believed in the work they did is a wonderful reminder to everyone working at every level that you have to be your own biggest fan. Especially in the current climate of new media and DIY success I love that Allen, Christie, and van Houten made this move in handling their careers.
Imagine what the conversation is going to look like if any or all three of them win?
Upcoming Disney+ Line Up
Disney+ has been a swirling question mark around all of us since it was very first rumoured to be in development. Last week Discussing Film on Twitter dropped what appears to be the entire slate of content planned for Disney+:
DiscussingFilm on Twitter: “Disney+ has a wide variety of content releasing throughout the next few years from the streaming service’s upcoming release on November 12th.Read this thread to discover all of the new content that is set to be developed and released onto Disney+ pic.twitter.com/lNM4abnYhg / Twitter”
Disney+ has a wide variety of content releasing throughout the next few years from the streaming service’s upcoming release on November 12th.Read this thread to discover all of the new content that is set to be developed and released onto Disney+ pic.twitter.com/lNM4abnYhg
According to the thread this will cover the next few years of Disney+ content. For many people seeing everything laid out like this stands to make Disney+ a very attractive upcoming purchase. However it does not lay out what may emerge from the Disney Vault or what from the past slate could be offered along with all of this new content as well.
To see it all laid out like this is a very powerful tool in convincing those who still may be on the fence about signing up for yet another subscription service in a sea of streaming.
Dwayne Johnson’s “Red Notice” Moves to Netflix
Further to streaming services, Netflix is back in the news with another exciting acquisition! Per Variety, Universal Pictures was poised to produce the action movie Red Notice starring Dwayne Johnson. While it is yet unknown what led to production halting, but the end result is Netflix swooping in and taking over production. In fact, one of the first moves Netflix made was to add Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, to the cast of Red Notice.
In addition to Reynolds, Rawson Marshall Thurber (who wrote and directed Skyscraper and Central Intelligence), was added, stating:
I’m beyond thrilled to be making ‘Red Notice’ with Scott Stuber and Netflix — a company that believes in filmmakers and big ideas for a global audience.
For his part, Johnson plays an Interpol agent who must capture the world’s most wanted thief. About the change in production he stated:
With ‘Red Notice,’ our goal at Seven Bucks Productions was to break down traditional barriers and create a true global event for the audience. Netflix has illustrated that they are the perfect partners to accomplish this goal.
This isn’t the first project Netflix has poached from another starting point, Dwayne Johnson is hugely popular, and Red Notice is poised to be their John Wick. I’m looking forward to tracking this project through its development and peeeping out the end result!