Weird Mind News Room episode 7: April 10th- 16th 2023

 *I want you to visualize the news room music in your head*

Hello to all you wonderful people and I would like to welcome you all to the 7th episode of the Weird Mind News Room. For those that have just tuned into the series, this is where your host with the most (Me cause who else is writing these news round ups) and we look at some of the new releases in film, tv and games (that I am aware of myself in the recent week), look at some of the recent new trailers and then discuss some of the media news from the week including casting announcements, box office earning and records when it comes relevant and all other media news. So now lets get into the news

What we watch in the daily week.

Movies

Renfield

The first and only film from this week is a new Horror comedy that could've been easily described and summarized as Nicolas Cage plays Dracula and I could just leave it at that. But I am going to delve a little into this as instead of focusing on Nic Cage, we focus on the titular character, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), the undead kings assistant who has been his servant for nearly a century and is looking to get himself out of this relationship and get to be together with a new love interest, Rebecca (Awkwafina) a police officer that will help Renfield get his live back. From some of the reviews it seems to be that Nic Cage is having a lot of fun and it is showing its colours, and even if a bit mixed I am sure it will be a film that people will sink their teeth into overtime.

TV Shows

Mandalorian Season 3 episode 8

We have now reached the Penultimate episode of the very mixed season compared to the first 2 in the series and will be seeing the scattered Mandalorians all coming together to help take back their lost home of Mandalore and build that stronger and better community. I am sure that while I mentioned in a previous one that I find it a little mix that I am sure that by the end of the season I will fully understand the season and find the story in it all, cause I have enjoyed it and has built on more of the world and the characters, as well as seeing Mando and Grogu appear now and again, but honestly it doesn't need to be very complex and heavy story wise sometimes, just seeing cool action scenes and characters is what I like a lot of the time.

Roll the Trailers

Peaches (I know it is not a trailer but I'll do what I want and it technically is a promo for the film)

Now I know technically this film already came out (talked about next week, currently writing my review) but I want to bring this up as this was officially released by Nintendo and Illumination of the best song of 2023 so far of how love can really make a guy come out of his shell and has been a song I have been listening too so much since seeing this film (have seen it again since that first viewing and plan again at some point after one or 2 other films to watch) (Probably not helping that it is in nearly every piece of audio on socials at this point) but yeah I am counting it cause I decide

Star Wars Visions Season 2

On the next line of upcoming releases from a galaxy far, far away, we have gotten a new season of one off stories and tales based on Star Wars and every episode being made from some different studio and many famous faces voicing characters and this season will have a wide variety of styles and studios making them (including one of them being made by a personal favourite studio of mine: Aardman animation) and they all have some unique and amazing art styles to them and look forward to checking  them out on Star Wars Day (May 4th)

Peter Pan and Wendy

Before we take a trip under the sea with The Little Mermaid, we are taking a trip to the mysterious Never land with the Boy who never grew up and learn the tale of Peter Pan and the Lost children (no longer just the Lost Boys) and save Never Land from the dastardly Captain Hook. I am sure it will be something I will give a look at and I am sure it will do well with viewing numbers but we'll see when the film releases on April 28th

The Marvels

Now this one I didn't expect until a little later into the year due to the delay but I guess it makes sense to have a promo for the next one in front of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 but I guess it makes sense. This one introduces us to the new trio of female heroes teaming up for a new cosmic adventure that sees them swapping places with each other where the plot sees Carol, Khamala and Monica swapping places with each other every time that they use their powers and they must team up together to understand why this is happening. Now  I do not know if this is from fatigue, but I feel this trailer has been getting some mixed reactions and dislikes because of people being upset about the reasonable comments that Brie Larson mentioned back during the press for the first Captain Marvel movie for a lacking of female interviewers at press junkets (which is not wrong and feel that a equal mix of them should be recognized for their work as well and well balanced) and it saw a big dislike amount in the first 24 hours and a lot of misogynistic and sexist comments which is really not needed as I think this looks like a lot of fun and am excited to see more and check it out in November.

The Penguin

Now this would be the only one of the pieces I will talk about in the trailers as it does have more then a splash screen of footage from the announcements from earlier in the week (and have some more to talk on some when I get to it) but this one is the one that has peaked my interest. One of my favourite films of Last year was Matt Reeves The Batman and following on from the success of the film, a sequel was announced for 2025 and 2 or 3 shows were confirmed and one is on the way in early 2024 is focused on the Penguin and of his rise to power after the end of the first film and will lead into the sequel. It has really only started production a short while ago, Colin Farrell is back in the fantastic hair and makeup and Reeve's is back in the creator chair for this and what I have seen from this and I am excited for this.

The Continental

Now we are currently seeing a strong box office for the Baba Yaga for nearly the last month with Chapter 4 (a review that I will be working on soon) and now we have gotten our first look at the newest iteration at this world of assassins by going back to 1970's New York and in this new 3 part Mini series out in September, we will learn the rise of the young Winston and Charon and how they came to running the Continental hotel and became the base of operations for the assassins in New York. From the brief teaser from the past week it does look very stylized and cool and I look forward to seeing how this turns out when it releases.

Muppet Mayhem

It's time to play to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time for the muppets to take the stage again with an all new series on Disney+ that will focus on the band of Dr Teeth and the electric mayhem as they have been performing for years but the one thing they have never done is actually make an album, so we follow on the journey for the band to create their first recorded studio album and I am sure mayhem and hijinks will ensue throughout the series.

Lets get those headlines

American Horror story makes a horror casting

So first bit of news and one that I question the logic behind why but there was some confirmed new casting for the 12th season of the long running American Horror story and that casting was...... Kim Kardashian (you think this is a joke but it is not). Yes it was announced earlier this week that Kim Kardashian alongside returning star Emma Roberts would be in the 12th season of the show and will be a main role and not some side character. Now personally I do not like the kardashian's at all really, I find them annoying and got famous for doing nothing and don't do much still (and don't understand how they had a long running reality series and another one recently that is still going) and I seem to be not the only one as a lot of people don't like the announced casting. Now some will say that she could pull a Gaga like performance, but again, Gaga had talent in music and even proven in acting, so unless she does some really strong performance, this ain't for me and I'll pass (Apologies if this sounded rude and I do not mean it to be, it is only my personal opinion, and you have your own)

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In an announcement earlier in the week, Stranger things is adding yet another form iteration to its growing adaptations, From a 5th and final season, a originally planned game from Telltale (this was true and there are Screenshots and info), a stage play production and now a planned animated series from Netflix. Now not much is known about the series as of yet and where the series will be set and if it will follow the same cast or new characters with some cameos now and again but I am sure once we get more information, we will post it here with an update.

An engagement in the Upside-down

Speaking of Stranger things cast, it was announced early this week that Millie Bobby Brown, the actress who plays Eleven / El / Jane in Stranger Things, took to her socials to announce her engagement to her Boyfriend of 3 years, Jake Bongiovi (the son of musician Bon Jovi). While all congratulations are in order, most discussion is them getting engaged while they are still technically a bit young. Brown is 19 and Jake is 20, some are saying that they are a little young to be getting engaged but I am sure the engagement will be a few years or will be married in secret but who knows at this point. But let them be happy with each other, and that's all we can do.

Mario Bros Making it rain

In the course of the first weekend of release which opened on April 5th, The Super Mario Bros movie has been making records this year. In the first few days it had the biggest opening weekends of every animated movie, out beating the record held by Frozen 2, the biggest opening for an Illumination movie beating the record held by Minions or Despicable Me 2 and earned an eye watering $378 million in the opening weekend. A day or 2 later, it had become the highest grossing video game movie adaptation, the first video game adaptation to cross $500 Million and as of Writing is now the highest Grossing movie of 2023 and is showing no signs of stopping. Could this be the first video game adaptation to cross a billion dollars and the first animated movie to cross that milestone since 2019, I sure hope so and hope it does and brings more films in the franchise (as well as other games from the Nintendo Treasure trove to make too)

The Bomb Testing may be delayed

Now this one is uncertain and is just some rumours right now, but according to some info shared by the head of the Cannes Film festival, it may be the case that Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer may be getting delayed from it's initial release of July 21st to later into the year. the rumoured reasons is stemming to the ideal that they delay it so it is a part of the awards season talk later in the year, but until their is some confirmation if it is or not will be up to the studios (and the fears of many who have made memes about the competition opening the same day as Greta Gerwig's Barbie may be all for nothing). But I can't see it not being part of the awards circuit for next year and it would still have a chance given that films released around this time got the recognition too.

From the archaeological adventures to the swamps

On some new news relating to the new DCU that James Gunn and Peter Safran is currently building on, we have got two pieces of news for 2 upcoming projects. The first relate to an upcoming film adaptation of Swamp Thing, a character who got a 1 season series that was very highly received. This comes that news of James Mangold, director of Logan and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be penning the script for the upcoming film adaptation of the DC character. Not much is known of who will play the character or who will direct the film but we will learn more as Gunn and Safran expand the universe of their Gods and Monsters arc for the DC

Casting the Commandos

Speaking of the DCU, Gunn announced during the week of the casting for the upcoming Creature Commandos series from Gunn and the casting is quite the interesting choices. We have 2 returning cast members with Gunn's brother Sean returning for the Motion capture of Weasel from 2021's The Suicide Squad as well as supposedly portraying the character of G.I Robot, and Steve Agee is back as Economos from The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and the recent mid credits scene from Shazam Fury of the Gods. As for some of the new casting we have David Harbour as Frankstein, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag SR. Indira Varma as the Bride, Maria Bakalova as Ilina Rostovic, Zoe Chao as Nina Marzusky and Alan Tudyk as Dr. Phosphorus. the series is set during the 2nd world war and will be a new animated series that is projected for Release in 2024 and I am sure we will get more info closer to release.

The Boys have done their Hero shots

In another bit of hero news, the Amazon prime series of the Boys have announced that they have officially wrapped on the upcoming 4th season of the show after starting filming a short while ago. While we have not heard when we will expect to see the next season of the show, it could arrive by the end of the year or by early next year, but we will keep it updated when it gets the announcement.

The Dragons have returned home to rest

In some other fantasy news that we will be getting into more of, we got some confirmation that the 2nd season of HBO's House of the Dragon had officially started production this week. Not much is know of how much of the narrative is being adapted from some of the novels and stories of Westeros and the question of if there is another array of countless time jumps throughout the series like the first season but I am sure we will get some confirmation as the season continues filming and we see it unfold in a projected 2024 release.

Harry Potter and the somewhat unnecessary series reboot

So in the middle of the Week it was announced that alongside the Penguin first look, HBO Max was getting a new name brand where it is simply being called Max (probably a dumb name for a streaming service when they could've just worked it more with the Warner brand). In amongst the announcements that day was that the rumoured reboot series of the Harry Potter series was confirmed. Now this is confirmed to be a tv series adaptation where every season will tackle one of the books totaling at least 7 seasons and could help flesh out more of the books that were left out of the later films. However there is quite a divide online as why this is unnecessary due to the series still be recently and still relevant and the fact the wizarding world has been in a state of controversy lately due to the opinions and harsh words of the author, the appeal of the most recent films and the fact of trying to recast those that perfected the roles of the characters of the main trio of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) as well as some that have passed, specifically Snape (the Late Alan Rickman, although there has been a fan casting of Adam Driver for his role) and Hagrid (the recently Pass Robbie Coltrane). It just seems very divided and while I feel they need to update the look of the setting of Hogwarts Castle, the logo design and music (as they are all taken from the original film series) it just isn't doing much for me right now.

The Knights of the hedge

In amongst all of the newest announcements and with the 2nd season of House of the Dragon entering development, Warner Media announced that we are getting a third series based on the world of Game of Thrones that will be another prequel in the series. This one will be based and adapted on the story known as the Knight of the Seven Kingdom: The Hedge Knight or otherwise known as the Tales of Dunk and Egg (but will not be named as that) and will be based on the Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and the Mystery Knight and set a century from the original series and follows the characters of the Knight Ser Duncan the Tall and his Squire of Aegon V Targaryen. It is in the early stage and I am sure we will learn more as it develops and releases sometime in the future and we will keep you updated when it does

From the expansive case files of the Warrens

Alongside the announcements of Fantasy and magic, we are also delving into more spooky scary tales as it was also announced that we are getting a new series based on the Conjuring Horror series and being made into a tv show. Not much is know about the series but will follow on from the 8 film series established since 2013 and will most case delve into some of the lesser known cases of the Warrens probably. It will have Peter Safran and James Wan involved in an executive producer roles and it will depend if Vera Famiga and Patrick Wilson will be back as the Warrens but we will see as this develops.

Bazinga!

For the last of the announcements to come from the changing name of the HBO Max to Max branding and announcements of other concepts and shows, there was one other announcement in the form that there was another new spin off coming based on the series of The Big Bang Theory. Now not much is know exactly at all of what this series spin off will be about, given that there is a continuing spin off focused on a young Sheldon, it seems unlikely to focus much on him. Some have theorized it may be focused on Penny or one of the female leads but as of now we don't have much to go off of besides the original series creator being involved, but I guess we will see what happens when more is announced.

New Jedi order wanted within 2 years time

Now we delve and journey to a galaxy far far away and talk on some info about Star Wars. In the previous media wrap up I discussed some of the new announcements that were made at the Star Wars Celebration and one of them was the announcement of Daisy Ridley returning as Rey for a new film set after the Rise of Skywalker. Well according to some insider discourse, they are hoping that the next Star Wars film will be this one and hoping for the release that has been bookmarked for December 17th 2025, making it out they have just a little over 2 and a half years to get it made. As things stand not much is known on how far into development the announced films are currently and from the directors who were announced making the films for a while (mainly Taika Waititi and Ryan Johnstons films) but if they are hoping for something to have released by then, then they better get started and have it all planned and made for a watch in the Cinema in 2 years time. Whether this is accurate info is unknown and could be simple rumours, but I will update if any confirmation arises.

A new horror in space

In the last story for this week and one that also comes from the rumour mill is a new adaptation discussion. With the recent and ongoing success of the Super Mario Bros Movie and the confirmed release this year of Witcher season 3 in the Summer and Five Nights at Freddy's movie in October, another adaption of a popular mature and horror game has been discussed and that is with Dead Space. According to some rumours, this film adaptation is possibly eyeing conjuring director James Wan for the directing duties for the horror game of the story of Issac Clarke, an engineer onboard the Ishimura, who must survive against strange creatures of the Necromorphs (or space zombies). This was rumoured for a while to being directed by John Carpenter but that is unknown at this point or even if he was attached to direct and given the release of the well received and well made remake early this year, it may be a good time to make an adaptation. Now this is all rumours as of now and until there is any confirmation, we will speculate and once confirmed I will update in a follow up.

And that is all that I have to discuss on right now this week for the week of media. I hope that you have read into the whole piece and apologize if it seems a little long but I appreciate you getting through it all. Tune in next week for the next round up of releases, trailers and news. Stay being wonderful people and good night and good news.

Signing off

Sam H