Hello again to all of you wonderful people of the information superhighway to the 90th edition of Weird Mind News Room where of course like every week on this series I will be delving into all of the new releases, a handful of trailers and a quiet week of news with all similar topics in mind but without too much time wasting, lets get to talking on what has releases in this week on all things media.
A New Release Worthy Battle
Movies
Gladiator II
The first of the big releases for the week is the one that will be really asking the question of Are you not entertained as after 2 decades since the original award winning film graced it presence on the big screen, we are returning to the world of time of epic battles, corruption and power and high levels of entertainment as Ridley Scott brings us back to the realm of Ancient Rome for the long awaited sequel to Gladiator. The film will be set years after the death of Maximus at the hands of his uncle, the now adult Lucius must enter the colosseum after the powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home. With rage in his heart and the future of the empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return to the glory of Rome to its people. Reception to the follow up has been well recieved from Critics with praise to the set pieces performances and being a return to form for Ridley Scott since his last big action film of Last Duel or earlier, though some performances feel underused and can lull and question if the sequel was necessary, but if you want to find out for yourself and see if you will become entertained, then you can catch this new film out now in cinemas.
Emilia Perez
As for the 2nd film for this week is one that may be a little overlooked but has been sweeping the film festivals with great acclaim that is full of power, deception and a bit of a musical flair to it all as we have the new crime based musical comedy of Emilia Perez. The film will follow a Mexican Lawyer (Zoe Saldana) who is offered an unusual job to help a Notorious Cartel Boss retire and transition into living as a woman, helping to fulfill a life long desire. Reception to the film has been very well recieved with praise to the performances (particularly of Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez) its concept and being a well respected and empowering story about finding ones self in choosing who they want to be a powerful story for Transgenders and if you want to see all the film festival buzz is about then you can catch this new film out now on Netflix.
tv Shows
Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2
On the only TV series for this week is seeing us get out the Gi's and tying them up with the coloured belts and bust out the moves to defend ones self as its time to battle it out once again as the story of the end continues with the 2nd part of the final season of Cobra Kai. The pot will continue the story from the first part that will see the Miyagi Do's elites head to Barcelona Spain to compete in the Sekai Takei tournament where old faces and new will fight to prove who is the ultimate fighter with secrets and stakes have never been higher then they have ever been. reception on this second bundle of episodes have been well recieve with praise to the continuing story, narrative and characters and an entertaining amount despite the episodes being a little overstuffed and if you want to check out this next part of the final season you can catch the first 2 parts now on Netflix with the final part of the season releasing in February next year.
Games
Lego Horizon Adventures
As for the games for this week is with a game that has seen a recent remaster about 2 weeks ago and mixed with a new form of genre and style as we are heading to the robotic animal future all built from the ground up one piece at a time as we have the release of the new title of LEGO Horizon Adventures. The game will be retelling the story of the original 2017 Zero Dawn game with a more upbeat and family-friendly way with the focus of downplaying the post apocalyptic story and more of a focus on its environmental messages and Aloy's connections with her family and friends all in a fun new LEGO adventure. Reception to the title has been well recieved with praise to the visuals and retelling of the tale and entertainment for the young audience and families, with some critiques on the bland level design and lack of content after its enjoyable campaign but I think its intentional for a fun family title at its focus and if you are up to playing it yourself you can play it now on PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
But if you are looking for a return to a beloved series but giving the full HD upscaling treatment of a long running franchise, then you are in luck as the other game for the week is taking us back on an epic quest in the fantasy realm as we have the new title of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake. The title is a HD remake of the classic RPG from 1988 that will see you take control of the hero Erdrick who will be tasked with saving the world from the archfiend Baramos by gathering a group of companions, travel across vast lands and defeat the villain in his lair in the start of the epic trilogy narrative. Reception to the remake has been very well recieved from critics with praise to the visuals, narrative, controls and respectful update of a classic title and if you want to play it for yourself then you can do so on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC with the other 2 entries of the trilogy releasing in early 2025.
Are you not entertained from trailers
Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning
The first of the trailers for this week is a big one, one that has been left in a mix of mystery as to the subtitle of this entry when it was initially a 2nd part to an already announced entry but after a bit of time we have a mission for you to choose to accept it and that comes with the first official trailer for the final entry of MI series with Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning. The film will follow on the the conclusion of Dead Reckoning with Ethan Hunt and the IMF obtaining the key item needed and must now travel across the globe in order to find and destroy a highly deadly weapon known as the Entity, a powerful AI gone rogue that may destroy humanity if it falls into the wrong hands, while also dealing with the misdeeds of the past getting in the way of saving the world. SO I know that this was the initial Dead Reckoning Part 2 but due to it slightly underperforming (given it released a week before Barbenheimer) that the film's 2 part aesthetic was underplayed but I think from what I can get from this trailer so far is that the film is looking really good and entertaining from the small snippet we have seen so far and I am looking forward to checking this out when the mission drops into cinemas from May 21st next year.
Marvel' What If Season 3
Time, Space and Reality are all part of a linear path that is all about to possibly break apart and morph with one another in much bigger ways then expected as we are once again joined by the Watcher as we have the trailer for the 3rd and final season of What If? This series will continue the narrative of the previous 2 seasons that will tell new stories and outcomes of the heroes of the MCU with them all having a different outcome like Red Guardian and Winter Soldier teaming up for a mission, The Avengers Assembled in the days of the Wild West and the heroes joining forces to create a powerful mech like Gundum to take on a massive galactic threat and many more concepts across the multiverse. SO its a case I like what they do with this series in telling new stories and concepts that I feel could work as another perspective to the films as well as some that tell multi episode narratives, new heroes and even concepts that I would actually love to see in a full film of series (like last season's Marvel 1602 inspired episode) and I am intruiged to see what they will rework from the massive library of films and characters from the past 15 plus years and looks like they are doing more recent phase characters which is what was lacking in the last 2 seasons and its not too long away to see how this turns out as the series will begin streaming from December 22nd (and probably similar to last season of a new episode every day).
A better Man
The final trailer for this week is delving us to the world of the biographical film but told in another unique aesthetic for telling the tale of another famous face and musician as we have recieved a new trailer for the Robbie Williams Bio film of a better man. The film will tell the story of the life of Robbie Williams on his life and career through his initial part of Take That, Dealings with hardships of life and addiction and turning it around to become one of the most beloved musicians in the industry, all while shown with the perspective of Robbie being portrayed as a monkey. SO the likes of this musician is one I have known about for a bit of time and the ideal of being portrayed as how they see themselves in an animal form is a decent concept and so far I think from what I have heard that it is a decent film to watch from some of the film festivals of recent memory and will be worth a check out when the film releases on December 26th.
News of this life or the next
A multitude of castings and names for projects and events
On the first of 2 stories for the week, we have the collection of most of the news stories from the week which is the aspect of some of the casting news for a few projects with updates to one or 2 previous stories, some upcoming announcements and some rumoured casting as well and this will be delved into the story in a moment.
The first of the casting stories was one that was initially part of the casting news from last week but was not finalized or confirmed and was in discussions of final negotiations and that is with the confirmation of another cast member joining the new Christopher Nolan film and that is Lupita Nyong'o who you may know for her Oscar Winning performance in 12 Years a Slave and appeared in this years Quiet Place Day One and the voice of Roz in the Wild Robot who will now be joining the cast consisting so far of Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya and Anne Hathaway. With all of these new casting announcements for this project it looks like Nolan may have the key to another big blockbuster hit on his hands and it will be interesting to see what other addition will be added to this all star line up at the moment but I am sure it will be a big one and I look forward to see what the plot is and how it all comes together.
The next of the casting news comes to us from one of the stars from this weeks big film releases and in connection to a project that he had helped to get made and produced with the director of one of the most acclaimed superhero movies and that is with the acclaimed movie star of Denzel Washington who has been confirmed that he has been in talks with director of Ryan Coogler to be a new cast member for the upcoming 3rd film of the Black Panther series. Its a case that Denzel helped to get the original made and I believe that the 2 films were executive produced by the actor and it sounds like it could be a really interesting choice for the film. As of writing the character that he is playing is unknown and there is a fair few of speculation and theorizing as to who he may play in this new film but I for one think that whatever character that Coogler writes for him will be something of a great performance and I hope that it will be a 3 for 3 on the villains or characters in this trilogy of being some of the best the MCU has to offer.
The 3rd casting story for this week is a possible confirmation update of a story that was brought up about 2-3 weeks ago and it concerns another video game adaptation that is on the way from Amazon Prime and that is with the planned Tomb Raider series that is written by Phoebe Waller Bridge and the last story I mentioned that it was down to 2 actresses for the lead role and was between Game of Thrones Sophie Turner and Bohemian Rhapsody's Lucy Boynton. Well it looks like that may have been finalized as it was announced this week that Sophie Turner may be heading out on a globe trotting adventure as the badass explorer from some of the confirmed sources going around at the moment. It seems from what I have seen from online that the choice is a bit divided online from people which I get can be a concern but I see the worry going off the last few projects that she has been a part of in terms of franchise were not ones that people said were a big stand out performance but I would blame more of the direction or writing for said project more then anything and I am sure that she has some credible performances and I can see the potential and for the moment I will give it a chance, unless there is signs that things may be a bit messy in development but we will see how this comes along.
The last of the casting news for this week is one that will actually connect to the 2nd group of stories for the week and that is the project that is being developed right now for the streamer of HBO Max in the form of the Harry Potter TV Series. Now I have made a bit of a mention in the past that I have been a bit on the fence about the appeal of this recreated series given the series of films have only wrapped up less then 15 years ago and the films are still fresh in the minds of many as well as the case of people being against it for another reason (which I will get into in the next story) but this story is in relation to a possible casting for the series with the only other casting we know of is them starting to look for the young actors in April but we have a possible casting for the grand wizard headmaster and tht is with the possible casting of English Actor of Mark Rylance who you may know who played the BFG in the Spielberg adaptation, the creator of the oasis in Ready Player One and won an oscar for his performance in Bridge of Spies so he has a select range and he has I feel a good fit for the performance of the wise old wizard. Now it will come down to as I mentioned the mixed appeal of making a new take on this book series but I will delve on it more in the next story but if so I think the choice is not bad at all.
Just before I wrapped up on writing this section we got one more new entertainment piece of news and its not based on any new film or show but rather the award shows and that is with the upcoming Oscars as we have the confirmation of the host for the 2025 edition and that was confirmed that Late Night talk show host of Conan O'Brian will be hosting the Oscars next year. Now the last 2 years has been hosted by the other late night talk show of Jimmy Kimmel and while he was not a bad host, he certainly not the best and was always the weakest aspect of the last 2 years and to be fair it could have been worst (it could've been the trio from 2022 and one of them in partiular that basically destroyed the whole thing) and I think Conan will provide so much glitz and glammour to the event and will but on an entertaining variety act and I look forward to see how it comes about come the show on March 2nd.
But after all of that I like to know your thoughts on all of these casting news stories and which one are you looking forward to the most and who else would you cast for some rumoured ones? let me know what you think down below.
A Wizarding Fiasco, ancient fantasy adventure and God and Demigod discussions
As for the other story, this is going to be a mix of some updates to a variety of projects that have had a bit of development or updates on some other projects or spinoffs or adaptations of some films and shows of the past and I will give a quick rundown of what to possibly expect in the future.
So let me follow up with the story that I mentioned at the end of the first one and that was with the upcoming Harry Potter series adaptation. As I just mentioned there has been a fair bit of pushback about is this series really all that necessary or just pointless and the other big ine is with the issues and opinions from the author of said creation and her views on Transgender Rights which in some regards have appeared now and again over the last few years since her big expose in 2020 and many had wondered how much of this upcoming adaptation is she going to be involved with and it turns out that it may be a lot more then it seems to be and this is where a lot more people are getting concerned about the project as Rowling is known to add in aspects and concepts long after they have been adapted and made and never acknowledged such as Dumbledore being Gay when the full series was already written and nothing seemed to hint at that or the case when the 2nd fantastic Beasts was out on home media she mentioned about Dumbledore and villain Grindlewald had an intense sexual relationship or the other case was that Hermione was actually Black but every description of the character was labelled as having light or peach like coloured skin so it was being a little questionable that this could be the similar aspect of adding things after the fact and also oversharing way too much and take over the project that little too much as well and may also control the type of people and actors are involved with the project which may be a little more twisted to act on her views or something but it is hard to tell right now. If there is one thing that I at least can be appealed by is that she is not in charge of writing the series as that was the point of issues that the last 2 Fantastic Beast films had that she was the sole writer for the films and the dialogue for a fiar bit of it was not the best but I hope its a case that its not a major issue and will have to see how this comes about in the future but right now I am indifferent about the project and concept in the future but it may change.
On the next story is delving into talking on a franchise that had a massive appeal before it burnt down in the final season and has 2 spin offs cooking in development right now and that is with the series of Game of Thrones. Now even through all of the mess and outcome of the final season there was a few characters that made it through to the end and some have a nice wrapped up story (albeit some with some devise outcomes from it all) and some that had a potential to see follow on as a sequel series or a spin off and one of those characters is one of my favourites from the show and that was with Arya Stark as at the end of the series she was sailing off to see what lies beyond Westeros and the concept of that for a future series sounded really entertaining and something I would be interested in checking out and a lot of the stars of the show even said it would be a great follow up (and give it a continuation since that initially planned series based on Jon Snow was shelved a few months back) and it seems that it may be a possibility As it seems George R.R Martin has teased a possible new project with the actress of Maisie Williams when he was in London and they had dinner but stopped himself before he said anything else. Now the likes of a sequel with this character would be very appealing to see and it could provide some outcome as to what she found beyond the lands of Westeros and discover hidden worlds and creatures and be worth a watch if it comes along but I guess we will find out in the future and hopefully we can see something like this happen.
Now the last story of this collective news is bringing us to the realm of projects that never seem to slow down or stop and that is of course with the live action remakes of Disney (and yes as I said many a time over the last year that I will be getting to my live action remake rewatchathon but its been the case of being busy and just having a lack of motivation to record some last bits for part one but it is coming eventually). So there is a few that are well into development as of right now and one of them that has been in development for a bit of time and also been very quiet about is with the new upcoming adaptation based on the 1997 film of Hercules that is being helmed by Guy Ritchie and produced by the Russo Brothers and most of the news in the past was those announcements, some fan castings and the concept that it will have a particular vibe that will appeal to the modern audience but nothing really massive until just this week when we have a new take perspective of what we may expect for said project. According to sources, it looks like it may be taking a similar route with 2 other adaptations of their Disney films and will be the film told from the perspective of the villain of the original film and in this case that character would be the funny short tempered demigod of Hades and will see the story of Hercules through his perspective. Now in all sense from the original film Hades was one of the highlights of the film in terms of comedy and sass he brought to the project and I honestly think this ideal perspective concept would be really interesting to see cause I do like the new perspective to the films that Maleficent and Cruella did and I think it could work out well enough. Hopefully the big focus now is casting best choice for said project and not have a weird choice that people will be against and it can come together to be a rarity of these remakes of being one of the better ones that a lot of people enjoy and not a messy all over the place cash grab (and also the case that you get Danny Devito back as Phil).
But what are your own thoughts on these updates and possible announcements and is there any of these you are excited for to check out yourself? Let me know what you think down below and lets discuss them there.
And with all of that, this brings us to the end of episode 90 of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope that you enjoyed this new round up of projects and updates to the world of all things media. Let me know your thoughts on everything down below and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and I will see you all in the next episode :)
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