The first season of Legendary’s MonsterVerse TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters ran on Apple TV+ from November into January (you can read our own Alex Maidy’s review of the first batch of episodes HERE), and while Godzilla was an important figure in that season, it wrapped up with an episode that indicated Kong might be taking the spotlight if there were to be a follow-up. In April, it was confirmed that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 was a sure thing – and earlier this month, the new season officially began filming. The first season’s star Anna Sawai is back for season 2, and in an interview with TV Line she said she hopes her character will be less of a victim this time around.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the latest chapter in Legendary Entertainment’s MonsterVerse series, which currently consists of Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and the Netflix animated series Skull Island.

The ten episode first season was set after “the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real” (as seen in Godzilla 2014). It tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw, taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga – spanning three generations – reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.

The cast includes Anna Sawai, Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski. Season 2 brings the addition of Prey star Amber Midthunder.

Sawai told TV Line, “I feel like Cate should have more agency. In Season 1, she is kind of the victim — thrown into it all and sometimes wanting to go back to her normal life. But after going down to Axis Mundi, she should come out as a different person. She’s seen stuff that she didn’t know before. They have answers and things to do now.“

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters comes our way from Legendary Television. Matt Shakman (WandaVision) directed the first two episodes. Black, Fraction, and Shakman executive produce the series with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures, as well as Andy Goddard, Brad Van Arragon, and Andrew Colville. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd., the owner of the Godzilla character.

Are you looking forward to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2? What do you think of what Anna Sawai had to say about her character? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Did I do thaaaaaat? Irritating nerd next door Steve Urkel did a lot throughout Family Matters’ nine seasons but one thing he didn’t do was get his own series. Cereal, board games and pull-string dolls, sure, but a spin-off? Not if Jaleel White had his say.

In his new book (via EW), Growing Up Urkel, Jaleel White reveals that he was approached to have his own Urkel show to capitalize on the nostalgia wave of shows like Fuller House and Girl Meets World, both spin-offs of beloved TGIF shows. In it, Urkel would have married Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) – something teased in “Pop Goes the Question” but pushed aside for the odd two-part finale where Urkel goes to space(!) – and the two would have had a son. On the premise, White noted, “I was offered the chance to do a reboot of Family Matters but I turned it down for several reasons. The script would have been the same, and the show’s dynamics no longer work in the world that we live in.” On the potential premise, he was told, “Carl and Harriette will stop by from time to time, perhaps two episodes out of the first season order. But this incarnation of the show will revolve more around you and Laura and your new family, and your son who is so much like you when you were his age.”

But that doesn’t mean Jaleel White doesn’t have his own plans for how to bring Steve Urkel back into living rooms. “Instead of a sitcom reboot, ’cause none of them work, quite frankly, we make a single-camera show like Young Sheldon. We cast a good actor and a smart kid to play Jaleel, a twelve-year-old from Pasadena who lands the part of Steve Urkel. We depict all the challenges that came with growing up in the nineties and being the kid who played that character. The show could explore the dynamic between me and my parents, struggling to adapt to fame while trying to live regular lives.”

Look, who doesn’t love Urkel? OK, a lot of us found him insanely annoying but that was part of his charm, which Jaleel White brought so much of that he made the character a lead despite being meant to be a one-off, becoming the sort of breakout character in the mold of Fonzie. Of course, with that, White could never really shed the glasses and suspenders and will always be known as Steve Urkel, which obviously he has leaned into with the name of his book.

Were you a fan of Family Matters? What is Urkel’s place in sitcom history?

The post Jaleel White turned down an Urkel spin-off…but still has an idea for a show appeared first on JoBlo.

Last month, it was reported that Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan were in talks to star in a new Guy Ritchie series called The Associate, which was to believed to be a spin-off of the Showtime series Ray Donovan. The Associate was also once thought to be called The Donovans, which had the following synopsis: “With the most powerful clients in Europe, The Donovans will see family fortunes and reputations at risk, odd alliances unfold, and betrayal around every corner, and while the family might be London’s most elite fixers today, the nature of their business means there is no guarantee what’s in store tomorrow.” Guy Ritchie was to direct The Donovans and executive produce alongside series writer Ronan Bennett.

Deadline now reveals that the new show is now currently not intending to sport the name The Associate, but production has officially taken off. According to Deadline, “Hardy will star as Harry Da Souza, a professional conciliator on behalf of the Harrigan family; Brosnan will play Conrad Harrigan, the head of a very successful Irish crime family based in London and Harry’s boss; Mirren will play Maeve Harrigan, Conrad’s wife and the Harrigan family matriarch.”

The logline states that the show is “an electrifying, new global crime series centered around two warring families based in London whose enterprises stretch all corners of the globe and the fiercely loyal ‘fixer’ charged with protecting one of them at all costs.”

Keith Cox, Nina L. Diaz, David C. Glasser, Guy Ritchie, Jez Butterworth, Ronan Bennett, Kris Thykier, Ivan Atkinson, Tom Hardy, Dean Baker, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, and Bob Yari are all on board to executive produce the series.

Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President/CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, stated, “Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren are masters at their craft and we are honored to have them lead the cast for Guy Richie’s new global, original series. Guy, Jez Butterworth and Ronan Bennett’s creative prowess, coupled with these gifted actors, is the perfect recipe for what we believe will be the next brand-defining series for Showtime on Paramount+.”

Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President of programming for Paramount+ says, “The firepower on and off the screen in this new Guy Ritchie crime series will deliver exactly what audiences expect from Paramount + with Showtime: high-caliber acting, high-impact storylines, and high-level production from some of the best in the business.”

The post Tom Hardy begins production on Guy Ritchie’s new Showtime series alongside Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren appeared first on JoBlo.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is over a year old now, and developer Larian Studios is still bringing a bevy of new features to the RPG in its upcoming eighth patch. Some of these features were announced a while ago but are finally making their way to the game with this update which, it seems, is currently a few months out. Larian…

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is over a year old now, and developer Larian Studios is still bringing a bevy of new features to the RPG in its upcoming eighth patch. Some of these features were announced a while ago but are finally making their way to the game with this update which, it seems, is currently a few months out. Larian…

Read more…

Clint Eastwood remains, at 94, one of the most legendary presences both on and off the screen. And you don’t get 70 years in the industry by releasing dud after dud. And that was kind of Eastwood’s plan at a certain point, especially when he first stepped behind the camera for 1971’s Play Misty for Me, lest he be tossed out of Warner Bros. unceremoniously – not unlike them rushing Juror No. 2 to streaming, but that’s another story entirely…

Clint Eastwood sat down with Metrograph (via IndieWire) to discuss his legacy and how he had no choice but to persist even when handing over lousy movies that nobody bothered seeing. “After you get a few films that are reasonably successful, people kind of stick with you. But if you’re grinding out turkeys, they don’t stick with you.”

With that, Clint Eastwood was asked about what his legacy is, again going back to films that might not have landed. “That would be up to them, to the audiences, to answer. Up to the people on the outside. I just kind of go along. I consider this, again, emotional. It comes upon you. You have a story, you make a movie of it. You have to just go for it. If you think too much about how it happened you might ruin it. I go back and look at films I’ve made, and I could easily ask, ‘Why the heck did I make this?’ I don’t remember! It might have been a long time ago…” While Eastwood didn’t name-check any of his clunkers – as he put it, “I’m sure I’ve had disappointments. If I did, I wouldn’t dwell on them.” – surely we’re in the realm of Blood Work, Firefox, J. Edgar, The Rookie, and, yes, plenty of others.

But there’s no denying that Clint Eastwood’s talents – perhaps more so than his contacts or his luck, punk – have kept him a mainstay in the industry. As he prepares to possibly ride off into the sunset with Juror No. 2, we’ll always go back to the great ones, of which there are plenty.

What do you think Clint Eastwood’s legacy will be? What are your favorite films he directed?

The post Clint Eastwood sits for a rare career retrospective interview appeared first on JoBlo.

Jackie Chan once attempted to break out of his signature comedy style in the early part of the millennium when he made New Police Story, which had him playing a more dramatic role as an alcoholic ex-cop. He would follow it up with 2005’s The Myth, which would be half of an Armor of God-type movie where he played an archeologist and half of a period film where Chan also played a General of a historical Chinese army. Chan returns with a new sequel to The Myth, titled A Legend. This film reunites him with director Stanley Tong, who directed Chan in movies like Rumble in the Bronx and Police Story 3: Supercop.

Well Go USA has just released the trailer for A Legend. Not long after the company unveiled the trailers for the upcoming action films of other martial arts icons, Tony Jaa’s Striking Rescue and Donnie Yen’s The Prosecutor. A Legend‘s cast includes Jackie Chan, Lay Zhang, Na Zha, Aarif Lee, Li Chen, Peng Xiaoran and Shawn Dou.

The official synopsis reads,
“While investigating the history of a newly discovered ancient artifact, a renowned archaeologist (Jackie Chan) unwittingly establishes a mystical connection with a heroic Han dynasty general, blurring the lines between past and present right as the general prepares to wage war against the brutal Hun army.”

Chan will also be seen in the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends, where he and Ralph Macchio team up for a new pupil. Macchio would regale viewers of The Talk with his excitement when he stated, “I’m not allowed to say a lot about it, except another awesome chapter is on its way. Ben Wang is a young kid in the show, he’s very exciting to watch. And working with Jackie [Chan], he’s a legend. They found, you know, it’s its own story in the vast universe, you know, so it’s another chapter in a different area that connects the mythology of where it all began. And fortunately, I was the guy that was there when it all began.“

In addition to Macchio and Chan, Karate Kid: Legends stars Ben Wang (American Born Chinese) as a young teenager from China who finds identity and strength in martial arts. During his journey of self-discovery, Wang’s character meets a disciplined martial arts master. Joshua Jackson (Fatal Attraction) and Ming-Na Wen (The Mandalorian) also appear in the movie, alongside Sadie Stanley (Cruel Summer) as the romantic lead. Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World) directed the movie from a script by Rob Lieber (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day).

The post A Legend: Jackie Chan gets the de-aging treatment in the new trailer for his sequel to The Myth appeared first on JoBlo.

Sony has announced more PlayStation 2 games are coming to PS Plus’ Classics Catalog next month, and the lineup includes two of the best platformers ever released on the console:2004’s Sly 2: Band of Thieves and 2005’s Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Oh, and of course, some other stuff will be arriving in December for all…

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Sony has announced more PlayStation 2 games are coming to PS Plus’ Classics Catalog next month, and the lineup includes two of the best platformers ever released on the console:2004’s Sly 2: Band of Thieves and 2005’s Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. Oh, and of course, some other stuff will be arriving in December for all…

Read more…

Taika Waititi has brought various projects to the screen over his career. From mockumentaries like What We Do In The Shadows to superhero epics like Thor: Ragnarok to his Oscar-winning film about Hitler as a boy’s imaginary friend in Jojo Rabbit, Waititi has covered the gamut in genres, tones, and creativity. His latest project is the adaptation of the National Book Award-winning novel Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. With Yu on board to adapt his novel, a book that seemed impossible to translate to the screen has become a ten-episode series unlike any show I have seen before.

Interior Chinatown follows Willis Wu, played by Jimmy O. Yang, a waiter in a Chinese restaurant who wants more out of life than being a supporting player in his own story. When he witnesses a kidnapping, Willis is recruited by Detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet) to help solve the case and maybe find his missing brother along the way. It also becomes apparent that Willis is not just a supporting character in his own life but within a television series. Trying to break free of the tropes and cliches of television shows, Willis discovers much more than he bargained for.

I got the chance to talk with the cast and crew of Interior Chinatown about the new series. Star Jimmy O. Yang, who played a supporting background character a decade ago in Chloe Bennet’s series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., discussed taking on a lead role that has him doing comedy, drama, and martial arts. Chloe Bennet talked about the deeper story of Lana Lee and how it fits into this world, while Ronny Chieng talked about the fun of shitting on people. Sullivan Jones and Lisa Gilroy discussed playing cops and whether they based their roles on famous television detectives. Archie Kao talked about his character of Uncle Wong, who is not in the novel. In contrast, legendary veteran Tzi Ma talked about reuniting with The Farewell co-star Diana Lin and how Interior Chinatown fits into cinematic history alongside similarly themed projects like Everything Everywhere All At Once. Charles Yu and Taika Waititi also discussed how they adapted this series and used creative filming techniques to not spoon-feed the audience into what is happening in Chinatown. Check out the full interviews in the embed above.

Interior Chinatown is now playing on Hulu. Read our review!

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