Welcome to The Rundown with Nerd Union (as gathered by Taryn Belle) for the weekend of October 1st, 2021.
MOVIES
Ridley Scott is turning his attention back to the Gladiator sequel. Per an interview with Empire, Scott confirmed the sequel is being written while he completes work on Napoleon so he can move onto it as soon as he’s finished. While there are no official plot details released for this sequel, Russell Crowe’s Maximus is unlikely to return given his death in the first film. Rumors point toward’s future Emperor Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla.
Over on Disney+, Black Widow fans who didn’t opt for the Premier Access option or to catch it in theaters over the summer can start streaming starting October 6th and a behind-the-scenes featurette will launch as part of the series MARVEL’S ASSEMBLED on October 20th.
We’re officially in October, so it’s spoopy season on Disney+! A remake of the DCOM Under Wraps is premiering on October 8th and we’re finally getting a Halloween themed Muppets special: Muppets Haunted Mansion. According to Deadline: “Starring in the special alongside the Muppets are Will Arnett (as The Ghost Host), Yvette Nicole Brown (The Hearse Driver), Darren Criss (The Caretaker) and Taraji P. Henson (The Bride). In Muppets Haunted Mansion, the Great Gonzo – world-famous daredevil artiste, has done it all, seen it all and survived it all. But on Halloween night, the fearless Gonzo takes on the greatest challenge of his life by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth: the Haunted Mansion.”
Deadline exclusively reported that Michael B. Jordan has made an agreement through his company Outlier Society to produce the fantasy-action franchise for N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth with Sony TriStar Pictures. Jemisin herself is penning the script and she already has three consecutive Hugo Award for Best Novel, which makes “her the first person to win the award three years in a row and the first to win for all three books in a trilogy.” This definitely sounds like an epic collaboration!
Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson will both appear in Hallmark Channel’s upcoming film Next Stop, Christmas, which premieres on November 6th and YES it’s a time travel movie! The main character Angie (who appears to be played by Lyndsy Fonseca) wonders how her life would be if she married her ex-boyfriend who is now a famous sportscaster. When she takes the train home for Christmas, it actually takes her back to the past 10 years prior. It looks like Lloyd plays the train’s conductor who gives her the advice to use this revisited Christmas as a way to see what truly matters to her, according to EW.com.
SHOWS & SERIES
Disney+ Day is happening on the anniversary of the streaming platform: Friday November 12th. It’s going to be full of specials including: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Jungle Cruise, Home Sweet Home Alone (a reimagining of the Home Alone franchise), a special celebrating the MCU, and a special on the origins and legacy of Boba Fett.
Speaking of our favorite legendary bounty hunter, StarWars.com has officially announced that The Book of Boba Fett will drop on Disney+ Wednesday December 29th. Picking up from the end-credit teaser from The Mandalorian’s 2nd season, this story follows Boba Fett and Fennec Shand taking over the underworld crime syndicate based in Tatooine that was previously run by Jabba the Hutt.
As first reported by Variety, WandaVision star Kathryn Hahn has been tapped to play the late Joan Rivers in a limited series on Showtime, titled The Comeback Girl. Per the official tagline “Trailblazer. Adored. Cruel. Diva. Joan Rivers had a life like no other. At age 54, she was a superstar comedienne…and then it all fell apart. The Comeback Girl is the awe-inspiring untold story of how Joan Rivers persevered through near suicide and a professional abyss to rebuild herself and her career to become a global icon.” Rivers started off her career as a highly successful comic before making the transition to movies and television, and eventually revolutionized the entire approach to celebrity red carpet interviews. Emmy-nominated actress Hahn will be joined by writer Cosmo Carlson and director Greg Berlanti, of CW/Arrowverse fame.
The Witcher’s official Twitter account proclaimed this “The year of Vesemir” as they teased a photo of Geralt’s mentor and the in-universe’s oldest surviving witcher. The tweet is pretty spot-on since the franchise featured Vesemir earlier this year as the lead character in the Witcher animated movie, The Nightmare of the Wolf that debuted back in August. That film was so successful that it’s greenlit another animated series, though no word yet whether it will feature Vesemir or another character from the burgeoning universe of Witcher.
Netflix series Another Life has created a mini-Battlestar Galactica reunion of sorts. Katee Sackhoff, who played Starbuck in the 2004 Battlestar reboot plays Niko, a space captain charged with making first contact after a mysterious alien object crashes on Earth. Via Entertainment Weekly, the show’s second season has added Rekha Sharma and Kate Vernon, who played Tory and Ellen Tigh respectively on BSG. Sharma will be playing Ursula Monroe, the mother of sentient AI in the show while Vernon will be playing Niko’s mother, appearing in scenes on Earth and in space. Sackhoff said, on rejoining her BSG castmates “Battlestar Galactica was such a huge part of my life and career. I am so blessed to have built lifelong friendships with the cast and thankfully when I call and ask favors they oblige,” Sackhoff said in a statement. “We are so lucky to have Kate and Rekha join this show. They elevate every scene they are in and I can’t wait for the fans to see these two in action.”
In celebration of Last of Us Day on September 27th, HBO has teased the first season of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us TV series with a photo of Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie. The shot of them is reminiscent of promo images from the first game’s release and game creator Neil Druckmann went on to say “When I first saw them on set in full costume, I was like: ‘Hooooooly s***! It’s Joel & Ellie!’ The @HBO adaptation of @Naughty_Dog’s The Last of Us is full steam ahead! Can’t wait to show you more (from all of our projects!)”
After a 12 year absence, Russell T Davies is back as the showrunner of BBC’s Doctor Who. Davies was the main advocate for reinvigorating the franchise, which premiered in 2005. I think he will definitely give the series an anchored presence as they transition into recasting the Doctor as Jodie Whittaker wraps up her time.
TECH
Over at Amazon, TechCrunch reports that Kindle owners will be able to navigate better due to a software redesign that adds a two-tab bar on the home screen to toggle between “home” and “library” quickly while also adding an arrow on the top for quick access to airplane mode, Bluetooth connections, activating dark mode and more. Many of the newer Kindles have already updated to the latest version and any user that currently owns a Kindle made after 2015 is eligible for the update. According to The Verge, there’s a new look coming to Kindle Paperwhite that will feature a larger, brighter 6.8 inch E-Ink display with adjustable color temperature, USB-C charging, faster processing that culminates in additional weeks of battery life.
Tesla owners can now request a beta of their Full Self Driving option, provided that Tesla deems your driving habits are safe based on your car’s data. Per Engadget, owners can sign up for the beta, and after a week of data collection from Tesla monitoring your driving habits, users will be able to start testing the 10.1 beta. We should also stress for would-be adopters, Tesla’s self-driving isn’t a fully autonomous mode and as stated by NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy, Tesla’s marketing of the driving mode has been quote irresponsible, pointing to its potential to cause accidents if misused.
Skype is teasing out its latest changes, as Engadget reports, Microsoft’s video calling service has improved the quality of the service by offering new grid options which can keep non-video participants more visible. Users will also notice new themes and layouts, additional layout functions, along with a TwinCam function for users with multiple cameras in case you want to show off another angle or present yourself in one view while you work on something else in another view.
SOCIAL MEDIA
TechCrunch reports that Tumblr continues testing monetization offerings for its creators in a new open beta called Post Plus. However, the new feature continues to face issues as several creators noted potential issues in the earlier closed beta that limited their ability to moderate users and the Post Plus icon, which has since been remedied, that stoked fears that the new subscription plans would alter the culture of Tumblr. The subscription plans, ranging from 1.99 to 9.99, are set by the creator with only 5% processing fees from Tumblr. This could be a lucrative tool for creators but also exposes potential intellectual property issues due to the large quantity of fanfiction on the site. It’s already led to a major backlash from Tumblr users and remains a highly ranked topic on the website.
Wanna support your favorite video creators on Facebook? A new beta called Reels recently wrapped up that offers new tools & features to iOS and Android Facebook creators who shoot different types of videos as a direct response to TikTok’s offerings. According to TechCrunch, Facebook plans to devote over $1 Billion dollars to its creators heading into 2022 as part of their Reels Play program that could reward highly-viewed videos though there’s no word yet on how much creators can earn.
YouTube has finally updated its policies to allow bans on medical misinformation regarding vaccines. TechCrunch reports that Google had already taken steps to ban videos specifically touting COVID-19 misinformation and will now direct their efforts towards videos debating vaccine efficacy, safety, and development.
THEME PARKS
Jessica Rabbit, from the mixed live-action/cartoon movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit is getting a whole new look. According to The Orange County Register, the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride will turn Jessica into a private eye who’s tracking down the Toon Patrol weasels that were in the original film. This will be a stark contrast to the damsel-in-distress narrative the Attraction opened with back in 1995.
MERCH
Iron Studios has crafted a new Scarlet Witch statue, sporting her new look from the end of WandaVision as she reads over the Darkhold, engulfed in what we now know as “chaos magic”. You can pre-order the statue now over at Sideshow Collectibles, though orders aren’t expected to ship until late next year for the 2022 holiday season.
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