On today’s installment of Studio Coffee Run, the Birds of Prey movie is bringing in a ringer for some last minute tweaks. We’ve got quite the range of headlines from this past weekend, including a very unexpected announcement about an animated Elvis Presley TV show and an update on Joss Whedon‘s HBO show about a gang of super-powered Victorian women. Then, let’s talk about Kevin Hart‘s plans to star in and produce an original superhero flick. Last, a trailer that, admittedly, is a narrative amalgam, but has more than enough spectacle to at least get you through lunch.
First, some small notes.
Richard Williams, the animator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, died on Friday, in his home. In his 86 years, he was lauded for his work on shorts, films and opening sequences including A Christmas Carol, Prologue, Ziggy’s Gift, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure and much more, earning himself a handful of Oscars and Emmys. Even now, Williams’ animation sets a standard for hand-drawn film and television.
The BAFTA award-winning Peaky Blinders has set its U.K. and U.S. release dates for August 25 and October 4, respectively. For those stateside viewers, we may have to wait a bit longer, but at least we’ll be able to binge all six episodes of the show’s fifth season. Per Deadline, this next installment kicks off with the Shelby family coping with the 1929 Wall Street crash.
The James Wan and Todd Garner produced Mortal Kombat movie has drafted a few more familiar cast members, including Mehcad Brooks (Supergirl) as Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs, Tadanobu Asano (Thor: Ragnarok) as Raiden, Sisi Stringer as Mileena and Ludi Lin (Power Rangers) as Liu Kang, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In a Deadline exclusive, it was revealed that YouTube is having second thoughts on its scripted programming as the video service announces Step Up: High Water, Wayne, Dark Cargo and It’s a Man’s World will not continue. Although it’s the end of these shows on YouTube, they’ll apparently look for new homes.
Remember Hair Love, that Lion Forge Animation short about a dad trying to tame his daughter’s hair? Although you can only see the full cartoon if you go see Angry Birds 2 in theaters, director Matthew Cherry has graciously provided his Twitter followers with a clip of the first thirty seconds.
Here goes a clip from our animated short film #HairLove. We're now playing in theaters in front of #AngryBirds2 so get there early to check us out. @SonyAnimation @AngryBirdsMovie pic.twitter.com/lytSnTl5nF
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) August 14, 2019
And, before we get started, you can look, but please do not touch Samantha Puc’s wife, Kristin Stewart in the recently released trailer for her upcoming horror film, Underwater. Costarring Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie and T.J. Miller, the movie follows a crew of researchers trying to survive an earthquake that has destroyed their underwater facility.
Netflix is hopeful that Elvis Presley’s suspicious mind means he’ll be a perfect secret agent
The king of rock n’ roll is also the king of spies in Netflix’s upcoming Agent King. The adult animated series will show fans the secret life of Elvis Presley as a master of subterfuge, employed by a secret government organization to protect the land of the free.
Agent King’s August 16 announcement marks the 42nd anniversary of the rock star’s death in 1977. For one co-creator/executive producer especially, this project is personal; that person being Priscilla Presley, who was married to the King. John Eddie shares Presley’s dual roles while Mike Arnold‘s time on Archer makes him a blue suede shoo-in as writer and show runner. Agent King is set to be produced in collaboration between Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures TV and Authentic Brands Group.
Surely, you’re wondering where this idea came from. Well, Presley has your answer. Apparently, Elvis dreamt about a life of fighting crime since he was a kid. With his new series, he’ll finally get his wish. Thanks to John Varvatos, he’ll look good doing it. The designer is planning to create a custom wardrobe for the famously fashionable singer and will also throw in his thoughts as a consulting producer.
Though we don’t have a release date as of yet, Agent King expands Netflix’s already stacked library of adult animation, including Bojack Horseman, Big Mouth, Disenchantment and the recently announced Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
Joss Whedon’s show about super-powered Victorian women expands its cast once again
Joss Whedon’s upcoming HBO show, The Nevers enlisted six more actors into its already expansive cast, bringing the total up to eighteen. The Buffy creator’s latest endeavor is, at the very least, a quirky one as it follows a “a gang of Victorian women, known as ‘The Touched,’ who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that could change the world,” per HBO.
Kiran Sonia Sawar, Elizabeth Berrington, Ella Smith, Viola Prettejohn, Anna Devlin and Martyn Ford are the latest additions and will be joining the already announced Laura Donnelly, Nick Frost, Denis O’Hare, Olivia Williams, Ann Skelly, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Zackary Momoh, Amy Manson, Rochelle Neil and Eleanor Tomlinson.
Donnelly leads the series as Amalia True, a character HBO describes as reckless, impulsive and emotionally damaged — ouch! Almost sliced myself on all the edge there. True is assisted by Frost’s character, the fickle Beggar King. When it comes to the newly announced members of the cast, Sawar portrays Harriet Kaur, a Scottish Sikh who hopes to sweep her gifts under the rug for a life of normalcy. Berrington’s ironically named yet witty character, Lucy Best, hides the worst backstory and Smith plays a mother and sex worker whose abilities cause men to spill their guts. Myrtle Haplisch is a mute who has recently arrived at the orphanage, and is played by Prettejohn. Finally Devlin plays the 10 foot tall 16 year old gyoung woman, Primrose Chattaway and Ford appears as the best henchman money can buy, Odium.
Whedon will act as show runner and executive produce with Bernie Caulfield and fellow Buffy alums Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie, who will also write for The Nevers.
John Wick director will help finalize action scenes on Birds of Prey
John Wick director Chad Stahelski is on his way to Gotham. THR reports that he’s set to oversee second unit photography in Margot Robbie‘s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). In other words, now that the film is in post-production, Stahelski will design and assist with some new fight scenes.
Stahelski’s name has been synonymous with the term action movie since his career began. He got his start as a stuntman for Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, and was able to build his reputation up enough to coordinate stunts in several movies including The Hunger Games and Captain America: Civil War. The trajectory would eventually lead him back to Reeves for three killer John Wick movies, with a fourth on the way, and now this Cathy Yan directed superhero team-up.
Birds of Prey will follow Harley-Quinn and her efforts to take down Ewan McGregor in his portrayal of Black Mask. But it wouldn’t be the Birds of Prey without friends. To that end, Harley enlists the help of fellow badass superwomen, Black Canary and the Huntress. We’ll be able to see how they play together, and Stahelski’s final touches, when Birds of Prey hits theaters in February 2020.
Kevin Hart’s next starring role makes him the son-in-law of a superhero
Kevin Hart’s next project brings him into the world of superheroes — just not any you’ve heard of before. His recently announced movie, Night Wolf, follows the classic comedy premise where a young man meets his future father-in-law, only to discover that he’s secretly the title vigilante superhero – uh oh!
The script comes from the writing team that shocked audiences with Detective Pikachu, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. Their work was acquired by STXfilms and successfully pitched to Hart and his company, HartBeat Producitons.
STX Films chairman Adam Fogelson said of the film, “it is a big, broad comedy and the idea is great fun and perfectly matched with Kevin’s comedic talent. We are thrilled to be working on what will now be our fourth film together,” a positive sentiment that Hart echoed, saying he was excited to collaborate with the studio again.
Studio Trigger’s Promare gets a final trailer before its September premiere
Last, in the world of anime, the final trailer for Promare landed this weekend. Studio Trigger’s first feature film unites the studio responsible for Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia and Neon Genesis Evangelion vet Hiroyuki Imaishi.
And if that’s not enough, look no farther than Trigger’s signature animation. This trailer, just like everything that emerges from this studio absolutely reeks of style. What’s about? Firefighters, robots and mutants, of course.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Thirty years has passed since the appearance of the Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves Mad Burnish appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team Burning Rescue, and Lio Fotia, the leader of Mad Burnish begins.”
Promare hits select theaters on September 17 with dub and on the 19th with sub.
I’ve got to go watch this trailer several more times, so hopefully that’s all the entertainment news you missed over the weekend. If not, Edward Douglas will certainly have all the important headlines compiled for you on this Friday’s Studio Coffee Run. See you then!
