By George Robbins
For those of you who are Jim Henson fans, then you might be aware that one of the series he created ‘Fraggle Rock’ was supposed to be getting a movie. The development of this movie was something that was being worked on since 2005 and has run into countless problems ever since the inception of the original idea. The original series focused on the adventures of underworld dwelling Fraggles. This interpretation of what life would be like for Muppets but underground is what made Henson’s live-action puppeteering special. The original series ran for a grand total of five seasons and then they had cameos which extended to a large number of different productions.
The Fraggles haven’t seen the spotlight since their appearances in other media, and with the exception of loyal fans, they were forgotten by most. By the year 2005, there was enough interest still in the characters for studios to start looking at making a movie based on the original characters and a new adventure. However, it seems like this plan was really not meant to last since they couldn’t find a screenwriter that they wanted to hire for the film initially before it was handed off. When it was brought to another company 6 years after the initial development was supposed to begin there was hope it would be finished not too long afterward. This was, unfortunately not meant to pass.
The following year, 2012, was when they announced that they found new writers to work on the movie since they could never come up with a script that worked. Two years later, it took Brian Henson saying that the movie was “still in development” to get people to realize the movie was still being made. Within a year of that he mentioned that they were still making a script, but people were enthusiastic about working on it. So with what has been said, and done, by people so far indicates that they had no idea how to make the movie work. That year though, there was hope in the fact that actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt attached himself to the project as a producer and star.
Hope would unfortunately turn to despair because three years after Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to the project, there was still no word on whether it was being made. Then there was a statement that he had made about them having a meeting for the film to get it done properly. The ‘Fraggle Rock’ movie would not come to pass as it has now been announced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt himself that the movie is canceled. Instead of there being a movie, they have instead decided to take the Fraggles and put them back on television. The Fraggles will make a return through their new series that will premiere on Apple TV+.
By George Robbins
Recently there seems to just be an influx of good news for DC fans amidst the terrible atmosphere the world is currently experiencing. First, fans found out that there would, in fact, be a Zack Snyder director’s cut of the ‘Justice League’ movie coming out in 2021 to HBO Max. Then we found out more details from ‘Suicide Squad’ director David Ayer about what happened during the filming of his movie and why it ended up the way that it did. Most recently announced is the fact there DC is going to be having a convention entirely online called the DC FanDome which will be a 24 hour event taking place August 22. One of the talked about- but to a lesser extent- projects that is coming up is the movie ‘The Batman.’
Not much is actually known about the film other than who will be acting in the film and what the Batsuit will look like on the big screen. The titular hero is played by Robert Pattinson and the dark knight’s occasional antagonist/sidekick/love interest, Catwoman will be played by Zoë Kravitz. Also starring in the movie is Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jefferey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Peter Sarsgaard as District Attorney Gil Colson. As of now, the actors haven’t really revealed any plot details for the movie, but have talked about how great the script for the film was. Paul Dano teased fans by saying that the script of the film was a powerful script and now it seems Zoë Kravitz is backing that up.
As mentioned, Kravitz will be playing the role of Selina Kyle A.K.A. Catwoman and it has already been stated that she had to go through a lot of physical training to prepare for the role. She has been excited to play the role of Catwoman ever since she was cast for the role and has talked at length about the costume fittings she had to do to get into the role of Catwoman. No one is quite sure how she will look on the big screen, but a glimpse of it can be seen online in set photos that were taken. According to Kravitz, Pattinson is the right man for the job to take up the role of “The Bat” after seeing some of what has already been shot and she believes that the script for the film is “phenomenal.” With multiple actors working on the film saying the script is good, we can only hope the end result will be as great as they say it could.
The production for ‘The Batman’ was in the middle of being filmed when the pandemic hit and all productions worldwide had to stop. Going back about a month ago, it was announced that the UK would lift restrictions enough for filming to recommence. Not too long after that, however, there was an announcement that ‘The Batman’ wasn’t ready to resume filming due to the size of the production crew and the difficulty of the entire project. Now that there are a new set of regulations in place, plans have to be made to change the way film productions are done. This movies was meant to be done and released to theaters by October 2021, but with the way things are moving forward, there is no way of knowing when it will release for sure.
By George Robbins
With most live events through the end of the year canceled, there has been a somber tone since there is now less for people to do. Nowadays there is little for people to do in the way of activities and most activities people were looking forward to were ones where people gathered together. This is not a good option in the broad spectrum of things that are currently going on and the coronavirus is still very much a threat. There has been a spike in the number of new cases since businesses reopened their doors to the public and it makes it too dangerous to host public events. This is why events like Star Wars Celebration were canceled and there are now going to be at-home versions of conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con.
It is clear with the at-home virtual conventions that it is still entirely possible for communities to come together and celebrate what they love, but just not face-to-face. One of the things many people don’t realize that they miss while being in isolation for so long is the company of other people, especially those who share your interests. Technology can cause a lot of harm, but also has plenty of good uses as well. This is evident in its ability to keep people connected during times like these and make sure that we can keep in touch with family, friends, and communities. One big event that is coming up that helps connect a fan base is the upcoming DC FanDome event being held online.
For those who are unaware of just what DC FanDome is, it is an online convention which will allow the DC fan base to get the latest news on upcoming projects and allow them to get involved with the community. The event itself doesn’t require any kind of payment to get involved with it and it is the first ever time this event will be done whether offline or online. This is an opportunity for them to show people whether this concept could work and eventually establish it and solidify it as another convention people can look forward to. They are already willing to allow people the chance during these hard times to have a little fun and maybe get excited about something.
To help get people excited, they have already announced that Dwayne Johnson would be attending the convention and now they have said Zack Snyder will be in attendance. Recently Snyder was announced to be working on his own director’s cut of the ‘Justice League’ movie, which is something that a lot of fans have been asking for since the movie’s release in 2017. The film will release on HBO Max some time next year, but other than that there are no really new details in regards to the film or its intended release date. With his taking part during the event, it might be a good opportunity to find out some information in regards to the new cut of the film. I guess it is something fans will have to find out on August 22 during the 24 hour window of the convention.
By George Robbins
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the lives of people all over the world, even in small ways that we don’t think about. There are parts of our daily lives we have had to change because the virus made that thing impossible to do regularly. There were countless things taken for granted that we now can’t experience because those places are closed and those events are canceled or postponed. Many places are reopening with restrictions now because the virus is still very much a threat, but the economy was collapsing. Limited capacity is one of the new guidelines to prevent too many people from gathering in one place where the virus can spread rapidly. This restriction can work for movie theaters because they are selling seats, but not for concerts or conventions.
In order for concerts and conventions to make money, they need as many people attending as possible to make up for the costs it takes to host them. That apparently hasn’t stopped fans and some organizers from trying their best to keep their favorite conventions alive and giving people something to do. One of the smaller, but well known Star Wars conventions, May the 4th, was still held this year but it was held online instead of in-person. Announced recently was the cancellation of the San Diego Comic-Con for this year, but that hasn’t stopped the convention wholesale at all. Instead, while actual event is cancelled, there will be an “At-Home” version of the Con that people can join in online when the event would have taken place.
Despite the fact that these massive gatherings of fans cannot happen in real life, the internet has its uses and can help bridge the gap. These events are a way for people who have been stuck at home to get some interaction with other people who share common interests. Not only that but it is an opportunity for the organizers to make announcements to fans first who can then make the announcements known to everyone they know. This means that this year is an important one for any companies that decide to host a convention as they may be among the few that do, drawing in attention. This year will be the first year that fans are getting the DC Fandome, which is a virtual convention.
The DC FanDome is a 24 hour virtual convention that will be taking place on August 22 this year. From now leading up to the event they have promised to release new information about movies, games, comics, etc. As of now, to get fans hyped up for the event, it has been announced that Dwayne Johnson will be making some kind of appearance at the event. Johnson will be playing the part of Black Adam in the upcoming movie of the same name, but production was put on hold because of the pandemic. This means that there will likely be a good number of live-streams of panels that will talk about everything new that is going on. This convention shows that there are still plenty of ways for us to do the things we love.
By George Robbins
Even as the entertainment industry, as well as many others, are just getting back up and running following lock down due to the pandemic, there are a lot of issues they face moving forward. One industry a lot of people were worried about was the sports industry, which is like an offshoot of the entertainment industry itself. Most people weren’t sure if the NBA would be able to continue their season, but as of recently they will be able to finish it out. The remainder of the NBA season will feature the top 22 teams and it will take place in the Wide World of Sports complex in Disney World. So for all those NBA fans out there, they will have the chance to watch these teams compete and finish out the season.
The purpose of hosting the rest of the season in Disney World is because they have multiple regulation sized courts to play basketball in and they can accommodate all of the players. With multiple courts there could be a much larger number of games played because they can simultaneously play out games. In order to achieve their goal to have every game left in the season played out between the very end of July to the beginning of October, this has to be done. Also included with the players having to play hard to finish out their 2020 season, they aren’t allowed to leave the “Disney bubble,” so to speak. They are essentially not allowed to leave the Disney premises after they arrive there until the season ends.
With that in mind, it should be no surprise that they are going to be looking for things to do while they are stuck on Disney grounds. Out of all of the places a person could be stuck, Disney World is up there as one of the places you probably wouldn’t mind being stuck in. Disney is reportedly doing their best to make sure the players and their families have added amenities while they finish up the season. It appears that among those additional amenities might be the opportunity for the players and their families to watch unreleased movies. Marvel’s ‘Black Widow’ was supposed to release in May, but the pandemic pushed the release back to the end of the year. This is one of the ways they hope to keep them entertained while they are on the grounds.
Disney was forced to postpone ‘Black Widow’ until later this year as well as any other films that were under the Disney umbrella. This means a number of films are not going to be available for awhile still especially since theaters seem to be in for trouble moving forward. There is just no way of knowing if those release dates will remain the same or what will happen with theaters, but as of now it is still a while off before their movies release. This is an opportunity these players might have while they are there and gives an opportunity for them to promote the movies for Disney. If they like them, they can say they like it and people will flock to theaters when the movies release in an official capacity.
By George Robbins
Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, one of the biggest questions on people’s minds was just when businesses that had to close would reopen again. Most of the ones that shut down were public businesses that saw a lot of foot traffic, as well as other businesses that were considered non-essential to daily living. Among those non-essential, high-risk businesses that were shut down were movie theaters which have suffered greatly over the past few months. Theaters were already seeing a decline in sold tickets before the pandemic was announced in mid-March, but it is far worse than that. They had to lay off or furlough many of their employees and keep their doors shut, but now it seems they will all be opened soon with the second largest chain, Cineworld announcing their reopenings.
Theaters have been in nothing but financial trouble ever since the start of the pandemic. They have had to keep their theaters in working order while there was no one in them while not being able to take in any new income. Within the past month or so, businesses have been getting the green light to reopen their doors to the public and eventually theaters were given the go-ahead as well. One of the first big theater chains to make an announcement as to just when they planned on opening their doors was Cinemark. They are one of the biggest chains and they had their sights set on reopening as many locations as possible by June 19th.
Not too long after the announcement that Cinemark would be opening their doors to the public again, AMC made their announcement of their plans. The plan that they came up with was to open their locations back up by some time in July. It seems Cineworld followed in AMC’s footsteps because they plan on trying to get all of their locations opened in the U.S. and the UK by the time July 10th rolls around. They are the second largest chain worldwide after AMC and they are doing what they can to get everything back to working order again. For those unaware, they are also the parent company of Regal Cinemas, one of the most prominent theaters.
Regardless of when they open, they all have a hard time ahead of them because they have new guidelines to follow and no new movies to show. Included in the new guidelines is a clause about how there must now be a limit on capacity to enforce social distancing, which makes selling tickets to enough people to make a profit an issue. The lack of new movies to show is also an issue since that is the main selling point for theaters, to present the public with new films to watch. Most movies have been pushed to late this year and only a couple will release by the end of July. With all of this going on, it might not matter if they reopen at all, but all that can be done now is to wait and see.
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