Again, it’s been a relatively quiet week for pop culture news. The SAG-AFTRA strike continues in Hollywood, with proposal reviews currently underway, following the latest round of table negotiations. And with no big project news to dissect, the media has been snuffling around rumours instead, like claims that Disney is considering bringing back Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson to reinvigorate the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For the record, you can read a great deep dive into the MCU’s current woes from Variety here.
Anyway, arguably the biggest news of the past week has been a shock celebrity death. Friends star Matthew Perry (54) was found dead, from drowning, in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. No foul play is suspected, and while the post-mortem examination has been inconclusive (toxicology results are still incoming), the star did have a long public battle with addiction.
Film
Though the trailer below gives far too much away, we’re suddenly pumped for The Fall Guy, an action comedy from stuntman-turned-director David Leitch (Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and co-director on the original John Wick).
Inspired by the Lee Majors TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, a battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) of a mega-budget studio movie—being directed by his ex (Emily Blunt) —goes missing. Also with Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, and Stephanie Hsu. The Fall Guy is in cinemas from 1 March 2024.
Also on our radar out of nowhere is the latest entry in the Planet of the Apes film series: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. While The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves is no longer in the director’s chair for this fourth entry in the rebooted franchise, Maze Runner’s Wes Ball is overseeing matters instead.
This time around, events are set several generations after Caesar’s reign, with apes the new dominant species, and humans turned feral. Owen Teague plays Noa, a young chimpanzee who not only clashes with Kevin Durand’s tyrannical chimp ruler, but also befriends Freya Allan’s wild young human. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes releases on 24 May next year.
You can also check out the first poster and stills for the film here.
One final piece of movie-related news this week: You can look forward to sequels to two indie thrill fests.
2014 horror hit It Follows will be, erm, followed a decade later by They Follow, which reunites original director David Robert Mitchell and star Maika Monroe. Similarly, vertigo-inducing survival thriller Fall (2022) will be expanding into a franchise, with two sequels planned. Scott Mann, director of the first film, will produce the two sequels as well as co-write and helm the third entry. The new movies will bring back some of the original characters, and introduce new ones.
Series
If you need more epic historical action in your life, get ready for Shōgun. This miniseries is the second small screen adaptation of James Clavell’s best-selling novel, following the 1980 miniseries which is notable as the second most watched of all time, behind Roots. No pressure, then.
Shōgun is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Brilliant Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. Complicating matters, a European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, bringing with it English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), a complete outsider to this world. Rounding out the key cast is Anna Sawai as Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills and dishonorable family ties who must prove her value and allegiance.
Shogun is set to launch in February on Hulu and FX, which means it will come to Disney+ in South Africa.
Here’s your reminder about Netflix Geeked Week 2023, a week-long virtual showcase that kicks off next week, on Monday, 6 November, and runs until the 12th. Every day, via streams and social platforms, there will be new reveals and content for the likes of upcoming 3 Body Problem, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Brothers Sun, Damsel, Devil May Cry, the Tomb Raider anime, Rebel Moon, and more.
One final TV-related news tidbit is that the resurgent Futurama has been renewed for two more seasons. Meanwhile its upcoming Season 4 will be the last for Superman & Lois, thereby wrapping up The CW’s DC Comics era. Superman & Lois is the last series still standing from a set that included The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.
Comics & Books
We don’t feel like talking about the depressing Bungie layoffs this week, which saw around 100 people (most from the social and publishing teams) out of 1,200 employees axed due to Destiny 2 “poor performance.” So we’re just not having a gaming section in the recap this week.
Instead, let’s spotlight a more intriguing piece of comics news. Netflix is all in with Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic, Rebel Moon (Part One comes to the streamer on 22 December), and that investment extends to the printed page. Out in January, through Titan Comics, is Issue 1 of a four-part prequel comic series based on a story by Zack Snyder, and written by Eisner-nominated Mags Visaggio, with art by Clark Bint and colors from Francesco Segala.
House of the Bloodaxe is set 5 years before the events depicted in Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, and provides backstory for the characters of Devra and Darrian Bloodaxe (played by Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher), leaders of a band of outlaw revolutionaries. War is looming on the planet Shasu, and the formidable Bloodaxe family have conflicts to resolve before world-changing bloodshed erupts.
