Maybe it’s because it’s the 4th of July week in the United States but it’s been a relatively quiet period for pop culture news.
As for notable deaths during this period, screenwriter, script doctor and director Robert Towne passed away aged 89. Towne wrote the Academy Award-winning script for Roman Polanski’s noirish mystery Chinatown, and, later in his career, enjoyed writing credits for The Firm, Days of Thunder and the first two Mission: Impossible films, which all starred his friend Tom Cruise.
Film
Take 3! The half-demon, dark forces-battling Hellboy is getting yet another big screen reboot after 2019’s panned Hellboy, starring David Harbour, failed to revive the big screen franchise kickstarted by Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman. This time around the title character is played by Deadpool 2’s Jack Kesy and enjoys the heavy involvement of creator Mike Mignola, who wrote the script with new director Brian Taylor (Crank, Happy!).
Based, in fact, on the Hellboy comic arc The Crooked Man, Hellboy: The Crooked Man takes a younger, more inexperienced Hellboy, and a rookie Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.) agent, to 1950s rural Appalachia. There they find a community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with connections to Hellboy’s past.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man currently has no release date, but is listed as “Coming Soon.”
Coming-of-age comedy My Old Ass has come out of nowhere to become one of our most highly anticipated movies. Written and directed by Megan Park (the filmmaker behind Jenn Ortega’s school shooting drama The Fallout), My Old Ass seems a lot more lighthearted.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) takes mushrooms on her 18th birthday, the trip brings her face to face with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza). Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, forcing Elliott to rethink her priorities over a transformative summer.
My Old Ass comes to select theatres starting 13 September. We can assume it will eventually stream on Prime Video.
It’s a sequel that nobody expected or arguably wanted, but it’s still happening anyway. Ridley Scott returns to direct the follow-up to his Oscar-winning Ancient World epic Gladiator in Gladiator II.
Set around 15 years after the events of the first film, Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), the former heir to the Empire, and young boy seen in Gladiator, has grown into manhood and leads a peaceful life outside of Roman influence. However, he is hauled back into the Empire’s political conflict when Roman forces invade his new home.
Gladiator II’s star-studded cast includes Denzel Washington as a former slave turned merchant and gladiator sponsor. Pedro Pascal is Marcus Acacius, a brilliant Roman general, while the film’s villains are co-emperor twins Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). Meanwhile, Connie Nielsen returns as Lucilla, the mother of Lucius.
In the lead-up to the film’s release in cinemas on 15 November (pitting it against Wicked Part 1), Vanity Fair has an exclusive first look at the film, delving into the plot, various connections to the first Gladiator, and what fans can expect. You can see all images there while below is a sample. Expect the first trailer for Gladiator II, next week on 9 July.
One final tidbit for the week: After last week’s behind-the-scenes pictures of David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, more unofficial shots from the set of Superman have revealed the looks of Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardener/Green Lantern and Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl. Their similarity to the already-seen costume of Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific suggests that the trio of superheroes are corporate hires for businessman Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn).
We’re linking off to some images here in case you don’t want them spoiled.
Series
Last week it was One Piece Season 2 cast additions (especially since the show is now officially back in production in Cape Town). This week it’s all about The Sandman S2.
With the next season of the epic fantasy, based on Neil Gaiman and DC Vertigo’s acclaimed comic, in the works, Netflix revealed who is playing key figures alongside the already revealed full Endless family. This includes Ruairi O’Connor as Orpheus, main character Morpheus’s son and the Greek mythological figure; and Game of Thrones’ Joffrey, Jack Gleeson, as mischievous fae Puck. Learn more about the actors and their characters here.
For the record, The Sandman Season 2 will be pulled from The Sandman collections Seasons of the Mist and Brief Lives. In other words, along with dealing with his family, Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, will have to contend with the formidable rulers of Hell, Asgard, Faerie, and other mystical realms.
Lifestyle
A reminder that it’s ICON Comic and Games Convention this weekend in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, if you’ve got eyes only for Comic Con Africa, taking place at Joburg Expo Centre over four days, from 26 – 29 September, well, another international guest has been announced: Inkpot Award-winning comic artist Humberto Ramos, out of Mexico.
Having worked for various comic publishers, such as DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Boom, penciller Ramos has loads of big name titles on his CV, including The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Extraordinary X-Men, and Strange Academy. His creator-owned work includes the series Crimson. Notably, Ramos co-created the Spider-Man character of Silk.
