James Mangold is set to take the helm of the next Indiana Jones movie for Disney and Lucasfilm, but one project he worked on which never came to fruition was The Sandman for HBO. The filmmaker is no stranger to comic book properties after directing Logan, but Vertigo’s seemingly impossible to adapt series is something he simply couldn’t get off the ground. 

“I pitched it to HBO years ago and they bought the pitch as a long form series and then it got undone by a political turf war at WB. Regardless, now it’s happening and I am so happy for Neil who I think is a marvelous person as well as a supremely brilliant artist,” Mangold told Discussing Film, referring to the version of The Sandman now being developed for Netflix.

“His unique vision weaves the psychological, psychedelic, romantic, sexual and fantastical in a way that is both personal and epic. Anyway, in regard to other projects of the future, I couldn’t possibly speak about conjecture because anything I say in the realm of comic books becomes instant nitro-glycerine ready to haunt me for the next 10 years on Twitter.”

Mangold clearly isn’t going to be baited into revealing which other comic book properties he would be interested in developing down the line, but fans of The Sandman are no doubt just happy to see it finally starting come together. Neil Gaiman’s involvement is certainly a positive, while Allan Heinberg is set to serve as showrunner and David S. Goyer is attached to executive produce.

Do you wish we’d seen Mangold’s take on the classic Vertigo Comics series?

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Having successfully recruited a new Wildcat in Yolanda Montez (Yvette Monreal), next week’s episode will continue to see Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) fill out her new Justice Society of America and it looks like she’s on the verge of finding the new Hourman and Doctor Mid-Nite, respectively, in fellow outcast classmates Beth Chapel (Anjelika Washington) and Rick Tyler (Cameron Gellman). 

Meanwhile, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) continues his investigation into the town and begins to determine which members of the Injustice Society are still active in Blue Valley. Plus, it looks like it’ll be a Halloween episode as the photos reveal Barbara (Amy Smart) putting on some bunny makeup for her costume.

Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite (Ep# 105)

HALLOWEEN IN BLUE VALLEY — As Courtney (Brec Bassinger) sets her sights on recruiting more members to the Justice Society of America, Pat (Luke Wilson) finds himself one step closer to learning which ISA members may be in Blue Valley. Meanwhile, a search for Rick (Cameron Gellman) leads Courtney, Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) and Beth (Anjelika Washington) to Cindy Burman’s (Meg DeLacy) Halloween party. David Straiton directed the episode written by Melissa Carter (#105). Amy Smart, Trae Romano, Jake Austin Walker, Hunter Sansone and Christopher James Baker also star. Original airdate 6/16/2020.

 

The new DC UNIVERSE drama series DC’s STARGIRL follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore as she inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new drama reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in an unpredictable series that focuses on the character that started creator Geoff Johns’ career as a comic book writer when he created her in 1999, lovingly inspired by his late sister who was killed in a 1996 plane explosion.

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After finding such a great deal of success with The Invisible Man, Blumhouse is now setting its sights on rebooting a number of other classic movie “monsters,” with Dracula now on the way from director Karyn Kusama (The Invitation). Now, the filmmaker has revealed that her approach to the iconic vampire will actually adhere to Bram Stoker’s classic novel. 

Why is that a big deal? Well, while there have been countless Dracula movies and TV shows over the years, very few of them have adhered to the source material, so this could be a first! 

“I think something that gets overlooked in the adaptations of Dracula in the past is the idea of multiple voices,” Kusama explains. “In fact, the book is filled with different points of view. And the one point of view we don’t get access to, and all most adaptations give access to, is Dracula himself.”

“So I would just say in some respect, this is going to be an adaptation called Dracula, but it’s perhaps not the same kind of romantic hero that we’ve seen in past interpretations of Dracula.”

The most “faithful” version of Dracula is perhaps Francis Ford Coppola’s movie, but even that greatly changed the titular character. Stoker’s vampire was mostly a background player, and not the romantic anti-hero we’ve so often seen on screen; he was pure evil, so if that’s what we see here, it will be no bad thing. 

Like every production, work has been halted on Dracula due to COVID-19, but we’ll hopefully get some more details on this one as things start returning to normal over the coming months. 

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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic might just end up changing Hollywood forever, and until a new normal is established, studios are forced to find inventive ways to get back to the business of making movies. If a new report from The Sun is to be believed, that’s going to include sex scenes which aren’t shot for real and are instead created with visual effects! 

According to a 22-page document from “the film editors’ trade association,” guidelines have been laid out which specify that “close contact moments” should be “either rewritten, abandoned or CGI fixes them.” It appears this also relates to kisses, a frequent part of superhero movies and TV shows.

This is just one of a much wider range of rules, with more serious stipulations including the use of masks and visors, new environments for auditions, and hand-washing procedures. 

CGI has been used to enhance and change sex scenes for years, but this is a unique approach. However, it could lead to an “uncanny valley” type situation with weird VFX stand-ins used for intimate moments no longer possible thanks to social distancing guidelines. Unfortunately, it could also be a necessary evil if studios intend on including scenes like this in future productions.

Click HERE for more miscellaneous movie news from CBM!

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Black Widow releases in theaters this November, and as we’ve seen in the film’s trailers, Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova will have to face down an entire army of Black Widows. Playing one of them is stunt performer Jade Xu, but she’s also listed as being part of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. There’s also evidence that she’s been in Australia for that film’s production. 

While it’s possible she’s doubling for Awkwafina’s character Fah Lo Suee as they’re the same height and build, there’s an entirely more plausible and realistic explanation for why Xu is in both. 

Rumor has it Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will feature the title character battling in an underground tournament to earn the Ten Rings for The Mandarin, and one possible opponent has been named as a former Widow. With that in mind, it’s possible Shang-Chi will have to face Xu’s unnamed agent from Black Widow in a brutal fight. 

Nothing is confirmed, but it’s a plausible theory, and one which will hopefully pay off sooner rather than later.

Click HERE for more Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings news from CBM!
 

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