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.
By George Robbins
With the movie industry the way it is right now due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is always nice to find out that things are still moving forward. The movie industry found itself grinding to a halt after everything from theaters to productions were shut down to help prevent spread of the virus. Despite all of this, we still ended up getting news about new projects that are being worked on or will be worked on when people could get back to work. Many movies were supposed to begin production around the time the pandemic began, but had to postpone until a later date. Others haven’t even started production yet and now is the perfect time for plans to be made concerning how studios will move forward from here with filming.
Within the last few years, there has been a resurgence in remakes of films being made and now we will be getting a ‘Pinocchio’ remake. Though it seems this new film will be much darker than the original film which isn’t all that surprising given it is being directed by Guillermo del Toro. The new movie will be a stop-motion animated film that still maintains the musical aspect of the story, but tells a much darker fantastical tale. Guillermo del Toro is known for creating worlds in his movies that have dark tones to them with one of the most prominent being ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’ He intends to make the film more reminiscent of the 2002 adaptation of the original 1883 novel ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio.’
At a time where film productions, if they are even allowed to start, are difficult to maneuver, it would be very hard for a movie to still be worked on properly. With an animated film, it becomes much more likely that the film can be worked on even if not in the proper setting. Not having actors involved in any live action scenes makes the production of the movie simpler since they won’t have to worry about the distancing rules or anything like that. With this being the case, talented actors must still lend their voices to create characters that fit into the world of the movie. One of the most memorable characters in the history of this story is Jiminy Cricket and if you want a memorable performance for the character, who better than Ewan McGregor.
McGregor was recently seen in ‘Birds of Prey’ as villain Black Mask and is most notably remembered as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels. It was revealed by the voice of Gepetto, David Bradley, that McGregor was cast early this year to play an unspecified role. Now we are aware that the role he will be playing is the one of the iconic character and the guide for Pinocchio’s journey, Jiminy Cricket. As of now, the film still has a 2021 release, so perhaps the fact it is an animated film will make it possible to finish working on it for a timely release. This way, we will be able to listen to McGregor’s performance and see if he can truly create a memorable version of the character.
By George Robbins
The ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise is one that has cemented its place in history as one of those action film series that people will always love. This hasn’t really changed over time and it has only managed to increase its fan base as time seems to go on. Unlike other action films at the time, the ‘Indiana Jones’ films harked back to older movies about exploration and treasure hunting. Putting a lot of effort into the creation of the movies was something director Steven Spielberg made note of, but it wasn’t just because of him that the movies were successful. The plots for the films, more often the first three films, are pretty strong and tell stories that are very interesting.
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark‘ kicked everything off by giving us a unique story that takes place in the early part of the 20th century. The following films continued to build on top of the story of the main character and each had their own story to tell. Every movie was unique and provided us with some fantastical end to the hero’s journey while giving us an incredible journey to follow. Although the most recent entry into the franchise, ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ wasn’t well received by the fan base, it let people know that there were still people willing to work on the franchise. This led to the confirmation not too long ago that there would, in fact, be a fifth entry in the ‘Indiana Jones’ series of films.
The current title of the film is simply ‘Indiana Jones 5’ due to the fact that it was only just recently announced that they would start filming and the movie is not even close to the start of production. It may also take some more time before they have a working script in order now that writer David Koepp has left the project making it more difficult for the film to come any closer to starting. When Koepp left the project he said that now that James Mangold is directing the film, he wants to give him the chance to pen his own story or have someone he knows write it up with him. There have been many issues with the start of production thus far and this just seems like another issue that must be dealt with.
The initial announcement, which revealed the fact that the fifth movie would even end up being made to begin with, was made back in 2016. Following that, the theatrical release date for the film kept getting delayed due to things like Spielberg leaving the project and most recently the coronavirus pandemic. Filming was meant to start in April, but the pandemic pushed to back to the point where they aren’t sure when they are going to restart the film. The release date was originally set for some time in 2019, then it change to 2020, 2021, and following the onset of the outbreak, 2022. At this point, it is almost entirely unknown just when the film will manage to get back into production or even what year it will end up releasing in.
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