It was announced earlier this year that more movies in the Lord of the Rings franchise were in development. The first of these movies will be The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum starring Andy Serkis, who will also direct the film; Or, perhaps I should say… films. While speaking on This Morning in the UK, Ian McKellen confirmed that he has been approached about reprising his role of Gandalf for The Hunt for Gollum, but he claims that the movie will actually be a two-parter. Gotta milk that Middle-earth, baby!

“Well, all I know is that they called me up and said these films were going to happen, that [they’re] mainly going to be about Gollum,” McKellen said. “Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, is going to direct, and there will be a script arriving sometime in the new year…and then I’ll judge whether I want to go back. I’m told it’s two films. I probably shouldn’t be saying this. But I haven’t read the script, and I don’t know when it is, and I don’t even know where it will be filmed.“

As we don’t know much about The Hunt for Gollum‘s plot, it’s hard to say whether there will be enough story for two movies. As we know, The Hobbit was originally envisioned as a two-parter before the choice was made to expand it to three movies. I think we can agree that it spread the story a little too thin. This is just speculation on my part, but it’s also possible that the second movie is another Lord of the Rings project that could involve Gandalf.

It’s been ten years since McKellen last played Gandalf, but the 85-year-old actor recently said that if they want him to reprise the role once again, they’d “better be quick” about it.

Serkis dropped a few teases about The Hunt for Gollum earlier this year. “It is so early; it would be unfair to commit to anything at this point,” Serkis said. “But I will say that it will be a deep dive where we investigate Gollum’s character. There may be characters that we recognize that might be coming back. I’m not going to say who.“

While we did see a lot of Gollum’s saga play out in the previous six movies, Peter Jackson has previously said that there’s still a lot of story left to be told. “The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic,” Jackson said. “I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien.“

Do you think The Hunt for Gollum will ultimately consist of two movies?

The post Ian McKellen claims The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum could be a two-parter appeared first on JoBlo.

Although Those About to Die was a success for Peacock, it remains to be seen if we’ll see season 2 of the historical drama, but that hasn’t stopped Roland Emmerich from dreaming about it.

Should Those About to Die return for a second season, Emmerich told THR that he’d like to take a little inspiration from The Godfather Part II and feature dual timelines. “We hope to do a little bit what Godfather II did,” Emmerich said, adding that the show would continue the story in the present timeline and explore The Year of the Four Emperors in the flashback timeline. The flashbacks would take place 10 years before the events of the series and begin with the suicide of Emperor Nero (Emmerich is already thinking of who could play the character). This event led to power struggles and rebellions, with Galba, Otho, and Vitellius each being proclaimed Emperor one after another before Vespasian (played by Anthony Hopkins in the series) finally took control.

Those About to Die is “an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never before told — the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most…blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.” Although the series wasn’t quite on the same level as something like HBO’s Rome, I did find myself enjoying it as pulpy entertainment. However, the same can’t be said for our own Alex Maidy, who found himself underwhelmed by the series.

“Those About To Die struggles to balance the historical accuracy of life in 79 A.D. with the complexities and dramatic tension needed for a long-format television series. There are characters in this series worth rooting for and despicable ones you will hate. The violence is explicit, and the action is well-choreographed. But that is all established in the premiere episode and repeated with minimal variation for ten episodes,” Maidy wrote. “Those About To Die is one of Peacock’s most visually ambitious projects, and it also says a lot about the limitations put on streaming series these days. I wanted to like Those About To Die but felt bored and underwhelmed. This series asked if I was entertained, and I responded with a big thumbs down.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

Would you like to see season 2 of Those About to Die?

The post Those About to Die: Roland Emmerich wants to take inspiration from The Godfather Part II for season 2 of the Ancient Rome series appeared first on JoBlo.

From the beginning, it was expected that The Batman would be the first part of a new trilogy. However, no one could have anticipated that a new DC Universe would take shape in the months after the release of the first movie. We’re still awaiting the release of The Batman Part II, but director Matt Reeves confirmed to Collider that he still plans on completing the trilogy.

“Yes, that is still the plan,” Reeves said. “I mean, it’s sticking very closely to the path we envisioned.” The director admitted that some things have shifted, most notably in the choice to showcase Penguin’s (Colin Farrell) rise to power in a TV series. “I had always intended to continue Penguin’s story, and wanted to tell this story of his beginning of rise to power. Because we know that he’s introduced in The Batman as a kind of mid-level, sort of overlooked, mocked figure, who’s not yet in anyone’s eyes the kingpin we come to know him as in the lore,” Reeves explained. “And so, that was deliberate because I wanted— whereas it wasn’t Batman’s origin story, I wanted the origin stories of these other characters, of the Rogues Gallery and that story was originally going to be the entrée into the next movie.“

The Batman Part II co-writer Mattson Tomlin has said the sequel will finally start shooting next year. It is currently slated for an October 2, 2026 release.

Just last week, Reeves revealed that DC is super excited about the sequel. “We’ve shared [the script] as we’ve been going along with DC, and they’re super excited,” Reeves said. “It’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption, and it goes into places [Bruce Wayne] couldn’t even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie & it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see. Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that.“

As for The Penguin, the series will premiere on HBO next week. Taking place after the events of The Batman, the series will find Oswald Cobblepot taking advantage of the power vacuum created by the death of Carmine Falcone. In addition to Farrell, the series stars Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, daughter of the late Carmine, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Oswald’s driver, Michael Kelly as Johnny Vity, Falcone family underboss, and Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, a rival gangster. Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Michael Zegen, Carmen Ejogo, and Theo Rossi also star in the series. Our own Alex Maidy called the series “a masterpiece that will be the defining performance of Colin Farrel’s career.” Damn! You can check out the rest of his review right here.

The post The Batman director Matt Reeves still aiming for a trilogy: “It’s sticking very closely to the path we envisioned” appeared first on JoBlo.

James McAvoy did such an incredible job juggling multiple characters in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split that it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, but McAvoy was actually a last-minute addition. Joaquin Phoenix had originally signed on to star, and James McAvoy told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he got the role after Phoenix reportedly dropped out just two weeks before shooting was set to begin. Not a lot of time for McAvoy to prepare for so many characters.

The actor didn’t think it was weird to take over the role from Phoenix. “No, definitely not,” he said. “I’m confident enough to think that I will do it better anyway. I’m joking. I just like saying the wrong thing.” He added that Phoenix is “an amazing actor” and would likely have given “a very different performance than the one I did, but I think he’d give an incredible performance.” That would have been interesting to see.

McAvoy continued, “Sometimes coming in last minute is the best way. I think he ditched it two weeks before they started shooting. It was really last minute. I had a couple of weeks [to prep]. Two weeks. The script was well put together so a lot of it was clear what I wanted to do straight away. A couple characters took a little longer to find. Patricia came real quick. Dennis came real quick. Hedwig took awhile.“

Joaquin Phoenix is no stranger to dropping out of projects last minute; in fact, just last month, he exited a gay romance movie from Todd Haynes just days before filming was due to commence. It’s been said that Phoenix got “cold feet” about the project, which has unfortunately been scrapped entirely.

McAvoy can currently be seen in Speak No Evil, a psychological horror thriller which follows an American family who are invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation. But what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. Our own Tyler Nichols was a fan, particularly of McAvoy’s performance. “James McAvoy is absolutely the star of the show and gives a riveting performance as Paddy. He’s electric from one moment to the next and brings such a chaotic energy,” Nichols wrote. “This is an all-time performance from McAvoy and will likely stand out as a career-best. As evil as the trailers make him out to be, the performance is much more nuanced and he draws you in. He’s like a dog playing with a new toy, just testing how best to tear it apart.” You can check out the rest of Nichols’ review right here.

The post Split star James McAvoy got the role after Joaquin Phoenix dropped out two weeks before shooting appeared first on JoBlo.

Fall is almost here, we’re officially in the thick of the back-to-school scramble, and I can’t stop buying apple cider spice candles for the house. We’re also officially in the thick of game release season, so why not take a minute to talk about Metacritic?

Read more…

Fall is almost here, we’re officially in the thick of the back-to-school scramble, and I can’t stop buying apple cider spice candles for the house. We’re also officially in the thick of game release season, so why not take a minute to talk about Metacritic?

Read more…

I’m excited to get a more powerful PlayStation 5 later this year. I’ve set aside the money for it and I’m ready to buy it when pre-orders go live later this month. And weirdly, admitting this online will likely lead to people yelling at me.

Read more…

I’m excited to get a more powerful PlayStation 5 later this year. I’ve set aside the money for it and I’m ready to buy it when pre-orders go live later this month. And weirdly, admitting this online will likely lead to people yelling at me.

Read more…

A massive Lego recreation of Stardew Valley’s Pelican Town won the “People’s Choice” award at BrickCon 2024. But according to the person behind this incredible piece of Lego art, the best moment of the event was when Stardew Valley’s creator stopped by to take a look at the brick-built village.

Read more…

A massive Lego recreation of Stardew Valley’s Pelican Town won the “People’s Choice” award at BrickCon 2024. But according to the person behind this incredible piece of Lego art, the best moment of the event was when Stardew Valley’s creator stopped by to take a look at the brick-built village.

Read more…