Las Vegas, April 15 (IANS) “Deadpool 2” is in the works, with actor Ryan Reynolds and director Tim Miller returning to the fold, Fox co-chairman Stacey Snider said at CinemaCon, the annual meeting here of theater owners and studios.
Fox said that the entire creative team behind the superhero blockbuster will be back, with original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick handling script duties, reports variety.com.
“Deadpool” which was grossed $757.3 million globally, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film on a worldwide basis.
“Deadpool” was Miller’s feature film directorial debut. He is also an animator and visual effects specialist.
Fox also unveiled footage from the latest “Ice Age” sequel, “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Independence Day: Resurgence.”
‘Game of Thrones’ creators mulling shorter final seasons
Los Angeles, April 15 (IANS) The executive producers of “Game of Thrones” are considering an abbreviated end game for the hit HBO fantasy drama TV series.
Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss told variety.com that they are weighing wrapping up the Emmy-winning TV series with just 13 more episodes once this sixth season is over — seven episodes for season 7 and six for the eighth and potential final season.
“I think we’re down to our final 13 episodes after this season. We’re heading into the final lap. That’s the guess, though nothing is yet set in stone, but that’s what we’re looking at,” Benioff said.
Sources later clarified those exact numbers were premature, given that the showrunners are now just beginning to outline their plans, but said that any upcoming seasons may be shorter than the full 10 episodes of seasons past.
HBO programming president Michael Lombardo acknowledged the showrunners’ plan to wind down the series with two more years.
“That’s my understanding from them right now, those have been the conversations we’ve had because where these narratives go, it feels like another two years to them. As a television executive, as a fan, do I wish they said another six years? I do,” Lombardo said.
But, he added, “I’m always an optimist, and I do believe we will figure this out.”
It’s long been speculated that the show would end with season eight as HBO signalled earlier in January that they were in talks with Weiss and Benioff for two more seasons.
To live up to the standard they’ve set for themselves and fans, Weiss and Benioff said they can’t continue to produce 10 episodes of the show in its usual 12 or 14-month time frame.
“It’s crossing out of a television schedule into more of a mid-range movie schedule,” Weiss said.
While the “Game of Thrones” showrunners said the shorter-episode scenario is their hope, HBO executives made it clear there’s no deal yet in place.
“We’re still in conversations,” said Lombardo.
“Game of Thrones” season 6 will air in India on Star World Premiere HD on April 26.
Kendrick Lamar sued for illegally sampling Bill Withers
Los Angeles, April 15 (IANS) Grammy Award-winning rapper has been sued for illegally sampling a song by musician Bill Withers.
Mattie Music Group, a music company which says it owns the rights to Withers’ “Don’t you want to stay”, has filed a lawsuit against the rapper, claiming he sampled the veteran singer’s 1975 song without their permission on “I do this” off his 2009 eponymous EP, reports tmz.com.
“The musical composition ‘I do this’ consists of nothing more than new, so-called rap or hip hop lyrics, set to the existing music of ‘Don’t you want to stay’,” Mattie Music Group argues in the documents they filed on Thursday and obtained by ew.com.
“Rather, the music of ‘I do this’ is a direct and complete copy of the music of ‘Don’t you want to stay'”.
Lamar’s label Top Dawg Entertainment and its owner Warner Bros. Music are named as defendants in the suit as well.
Plaintiffs are now seeking a temporary and final injunction on “I do this” plus an unspecified amount of damages.
This isn’t Lamar’s first time to have been sued over anything related to his music.
Prior to this, he was accused by a freelance photographer of stealing a photograph that was eventually used as a cover art of “The blacker the berry”, a single off his 2015 Grammy-winning album “To Pimp a Butterfly”.
Four sequels of ‘Avatar’, says James Cameron
Las Vegas, April 15 (IANS) Filmmaker James Cameron, who previously planned three sequels for his American epic science fiction film “Avatar”, has announced that he and his creative team are adding another follow-up story to the franchise.
“We have decided to embark on a truly massive cinematic process. We began to bump up against the limitations for our art form,” Cameron said during Fox’s panel at CinemaCon here, as quoted by hollywoodreporter.com.
Cameron said as he was planning the three sequels, he found it limiting.
“We began to bump up against the limitations for our art form,” he said, explaining that he decided he would need more instalments to tell the whole story.
Cameron said each of the four sequels will be able to stand alone, but will together create a saga. His goal is to release “Avatar 2” at Christmas 2018 and then a new film in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
“I’ve been working the last couple of years with a team of four top screenwriters to design the world of Avatar going forward: the characters, the creatures, the environment, the new cultures.
“So far, the art I’m seeing is, in pure imagination, really far beyond the first film. It’s going to be a true epic saga,” he added.