Welcome to The Rundown with Nerd Union (as gathered by Taryn Belle) for the weekend of September 10th, 2021.
MOVIES
Looks like Elizabeth Olsen has wrapped on her role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. MCU hairstylist Karen Bartek – who has previously styled characters, including Wanda Maximoff, in Infinity Wars, Endgame, and WandaVision – took to Instagram to celebrate that Elizabeth is quote: “Not ‘Strange’ Anymore!!’” with a photo inside one of the makeup trailers.
NME.com reports that the upcoming biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain has rounded out its cast with Benedict Cumberbatch as Louis Wain supported by Olivia Coleman as the Narrator, Nick Cave as H.G. Wells, Taika Waititi as New York newspaper editor Max Kase and Claire Foy will play Louis’ wife Emily Richardson-Wain. For the Loki fans out there, Sophia Di Martino is also listed among the cast!
SHOWS & SERIES
The Witcher: Blood Origin is in production and recently photos have been captured of action sequences being filmed. Most images have had multiple people fighting – sometimes imaginary things and other times extras in dark outfits and on horses. Due to the outdoor location, the photos and videos captured are a bit blurry and far away, but Redanian Intelligence notes the being able to “distinguish Huw Novelli‘s Callan ‘Brother Death’ in the tall bald man with a beard. He appears to carry either a big battleaxe or a hammer.”
Annie Wersching has been cast at the Borg Queen for season 2 of Star Trek: Picard. The Borg Queen was first played by Alice Krige and originated in the 1996 Star Trek: First Contact. Krige also played the role in Star Trek: The Next Generationand the series finale for Star Trek: Voyager. Susanna Thompson played the Borg Queen in three earlier episodes of Voyager. According to TVLine: “The Borg Queen won’t be the only thorn in Jean-Luc’s side when Star Trek: Picard returns for Season 2 on Paramount+. John de Lancie is set to reprise his TNG role as trickster god Q.”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge has parted ways with Donald Glover for the upcoming reboot of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Amazon. Apparently, creative differences were realized during the writing stage and the show is now looking for a new leading lady to star opposite Glover, who is still an executive producer and co-creator for the series. Per Deadline, “Both Glover and Waller-Bridge have overall deals at Amazon” – so it will be interesting to see if the company decides to ultimately cast an actress who also already has an overarching agreement.
Just when you thought Reality TV couldn’t get any stranger, a new singing competition series is announced … Alter Ego is being promoted as “the world’s first avatar singing competition” and “showcasing (the singers’) unique performance style via motion capture technology.” The video promo shows some behind the scenes footage, with the contestants outfitted in full motion capture suits that’s integrated with the stage to project each designed avatar to the live audiences and the judging panel of: Alanis Morissette, Grimes, will.i.am, and Nick Lachey. We’ll see how well this does with viewers at home, wrestling with the uncanny valley of eeriness this method will certainly stir up.
HBO Max is bringing Batman: The Audio Adventures to the streaming platform. The all-star voice cast includes Jeffrey Wright as Batman, Rosario Dawson as Catwoman, and John Leuizamo as the Riddler. The 10-episode podcast will all drop on September 18th, which is Batman Day, and it’s “believed a version of the title card… will be on screen as the audio-only podcast plays” according to TVLine.
A new Chrome Extension has just been released for ASL captions over Disney+ movies! The program is called SignUp Captions and it’s free-of-charge. According to SignUp, this “Google Chrome Extension overlays ASL interpretation on the streaming platform, Disney+, for more accessible captioning. SignUp was founded because many young people from the Deaf community find written captions indescriptive, or even absent from media sites. A 2017 study showed that 80% of children who signed face challenges with reading – making written captions inaccessible. It will also be used as a learning tool for ASL students.” The four Disney+ movies with full length captions are: Frozen, The Incredibles, Moana, and Zootopia. On the landing page for the company, SignUp notes that they are developing for other devices and streaming services, so stay tuned.
CELEBRITIES
2021 might just be the year we #FreeBritney! On Tuesday September 7th, Britney’s father Jamie Spears actually filed a legal petition to end her conservatorship. In a statement to Yahoo! Entertainment, Britney’s current attorney Mathew S. Rosengart stated: “This filing represents a massive legal victory for Britney Spears, as well as vindication. Having exposed his misconduct and improper plan to hold his daughter hostage by trying to extract a multi-million-dollar settlement, Mr. Spears has now effectively surrendered. There is no settlement…” while also blasting Jamie’s legal team for the inappropriate leak of the petition “…to the media before it was served on counsel.” The next scheduled hearing for this case is on September 29th.
AWARDS
Zerina Akers, the creator of the online resource Black Owned Everything, has won a 2021 Emmy for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program, for Beyonce’s Black Is King. For the film, the stylist created over 60 outfits just for Beyonce, multiple cameos, and the “Mood 4 Eva” segment had a cast of 70 individuals! This win makes Akers only the second Black woman to be awared in this Emmy category, the first being awarded back in 2006 for Dana Campbell’s work on Dancing with the Stars, according to The Root.
TECH
Apple announced that the upcoming iPhone 13 will be premiering on September 14th during their “California Streaming” event. Endgaget notes that the rumores features include “ a smaller notch and an always-on display that can ramp up to a smooth 120Hz.” and also suggests “An Apple Watch Series 7 might debut alongside the new iPhone, sporting redesigned cases and larger screens as well as improved performance and wireless tech.”
Twitter is now testing out a feature called “Communities” with the goal to connect the feeds of users who tweet alike, as “a way to easily find and connect with people who want to talk about the same things you do.” It’s currently testing on the web for desktop and iOS, with Android coming soon. For information on how Communities word, check the show notes! https://twitter.com/HiCommunities/status/1435649202810404864
ByteDance, the parent company for TikTok, has acquired Pico which is a company that produces virtual reality headsets. According to TechCrunch: “Like Oculus, they create both hardware and software for their VR devices. Unlike Oculus, they have a substantial presence in China. Pico may not hold the same name recognition as Oculus or HTC, but the company is a top VR hardware maker, selling to consumer audiences in China and enterprise customers in the Western world.” It will definitely be interesting to see how ByteDance plans to integrate VR into its social media outlets.
MERCHANDISE
Have you always wanted your very own Dread Pirate Roberts? As you wish: McFarlane Toys has released a first look at their action figures for The Princess Bride movie. The four characters featured are: Buttercup in her red dress, Westley in his Dread Pirate Roberts regalia, Inigo Montoya sporting his sword, and Fezzik towering above the rest with rock in hand. Pre-orders open the week of Sept 13th.
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Doug Schumann
Shelby Johnson