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.
Birds of Prey Poster Drops
On Tuesday the official Birds of Prey movie Twitter account sent their first message out into the world and it was as follows:
Birds of Prey on Twitter: “Mind over mayhem. #BirdsOfPrey 2.7.20 pic.twitter.com/c2D0fl1YZp / Twitter”
Mind over mayhem. #BirdsOfPrey 2.7.20 pic.twitter.com/c2D0fl1YZp
The poster prominently displays Harley Quinn at the center of the madness – no surprise there with actor Margot Robbie also taking on the role of movie producer – surrounded by her fellow performers cast as actual birds.
Reactions have been predictably mixed, as seems to be the case for all movies post Suicide Squad which star characters who first appeared in that movie which aren’t called Joker, but the poster is nothing if not eye catching. It’s bright, colourful, and inviting which are three adjectives Birds of Prey would be smart to try an embody. This poster also represents the first look we have at many of these characters official costumes, prospective audiences having seen nothing of the cast since the early costume tests that were edited together and called a teaser.
My criticism of the poster? It reveals almost nothing about the movie itself. This is ordinarily fine, but Birds of Prey may be facing more of an uphill battle than they think. There’s a good chance moviegoers who aren’t comic book readers are unfamiliar with this team (even if the movie appears to be straying pretty far from on-panel continuity), and I’m not sure this imagery is going to do anything to entice someone to check it out. In spite of this, there’s still lots of time for a full proper trailer to drop and blow all of our minds.
Birds of Prey hits cinemas February 2, 2020.
Targaryen Prequel Nears Pilot Order
According to a Deadline exclusive, Game of Thrones scribe George R.R. Martin has revealed that there are still more than one sequel shows in development at HBO and the one based on Daenerys’ ancestors is on the brink of landing a pilot:
I’ve learned that HBO is close to giving a pilot order to a GoT prequel from author and GoT co-executive producer George R.R. Martin and Colony co-creator/exec producer Ryan Condal, which is set 300 years before the events in Game of Thrones and tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen. The network declined comment.
writes Co-Editor-in-Chief Nellie Andreeva.
According to sources, the Condal/Martin project is not a sixth GoT prequel. I hear it represents a brand new take on a world originally tackled by Bryan Cogman in one of the five GoT prequel scripts commissioned by HBO in 2017. Former GoT co-executive producer Cogman confirmed in April that his prequel idea was not going forward.
In May of this year Martin wrote on his blog:
We have had five different Game of Thrones successor shows in development at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely.
The aforementioned blog post also features the cover of Fire and Blood very prominently. Was this an intentional clue to readers by Martin? By my estimation it probably was intended that way. Martin likes to both lie and spoil things, which always keeps online sleuths on our toes!
For non-Game of Thrones fans, “Fire and Blood” are the words of House Targaryen and the book bearing the same name is set “300 Years Before a Game of Thrones, Dragons Ruled Westeros.” This leaves a lot of room to establish a literal new world from what we saw in Game of Thrones if the show is based in Valyria and is something I think could really set it apart from the parent show.
Boondocks Returns to HBO Max
Comic strip-inspired Boondocks cartoon was much beloved and will be returning with a two season order to the upcoming streaming service HBO Max after ending its run in 2014 on Adult Swim. Each season is slated for 24 episodes in a typical gigantic animated series order.
The Boondocks was a revolutionary series that sparked conversations on hot button issues and brought dark subjects into the light with episodes like ‘The Trial of Robert Kelly,’ ‘The Fundraiser’ and ‘The Story of Gangstalicious. Aaron is a gifted visionary whose unique style of storytelling is a welcome voice, and we are elated the Freemans are making their thugnificent comeback on HBO Max.
said Chief Content Officer for HBO and TBS, TNT, TruTV preside, Kevin Reilly.
Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder added:
There’s a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again for today. It’s crazy how different the times we live in are now — both politically and culturally — more than a decade past the original series and two decades past the original newspaper comic. There’s a lot to say and it should be fun.
Shows are being sequelized and rebooted left and right and with HBO Max just beginning to announce their original content I know many fans are already wondering … when is Spawn: the Animated Series coming back?
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