Looks like Wonder Woman 3's happening. Patty Jenkins has finished the first draft of the script and is now awaiting approval from Warner Bros. to greenlight the project and fine-tune the script as development goes on. I was sure that Jenkins would never work with Warner Bros. again after the battles over Wonder Woman 1984 but it's also possible that the Rogue Squadron cancellation was in the works for some time and the script was written while waiting for word to be official.
Meanwhile, it looks like Superman's going to be in Black Adam, which makes this both Suicide Squad 4 (yes, the first one counts even though The Suicide Squad was basically a bloodier remake of it) and connects to Justice League's events. Speculation came from recent comments on Dwayne Johnson's Instagram, where he makes unsubtle hints about a certain costumed hero appearing in the third act. Or it might just be Batfleck, who is somehow set to appear in more upcoming DC films as Bruce Wayne than Robert Pattinson (has anyone heard about anything related to the sequel to The Batman since the Discovery sale?).
After I posted my comments, I saw that The Batman 2 was still in the writing stages. But I must wonder if they'll shelve the plans to introduce Harley Quinn, a role rumored for Anya Taylor-Joy as there seems to be a law that requires her or Adam Driver be in every American film now, until the third film as Joker 2 will have Harley.
But then again, nothing in the DC Film Universe makes any sense anymore.
Alamo Drafthouse is getting Glass Onion, just as I expected them to. I imagine some smaller chains and independently-owned theatres will also join in on Rian Johnson's latest "talk down to the audience with unoriginal plots while distracting them with pretty images for 150 minutes" product.
My most anticipated spinoff to a franchise, DogVideoFest 2022, will open limited on Friday.
Meanwhile, I found out Stars at Noon is coming to my market on the 14th, albeit as a single matinee a day for a week. So it looks like A24's putting all its focus on the Hulu premiere.
Kenneth Branagh is returning as Hercule Poirot. Disney has announced A Haunting in Venice is now in pre-production, with a smaller budget than the first two Branagh Poirot films but still with a name cast joining him. It looks like Disney is hoping for a release next Halloween.
Continued proof that Warner Bros. has no idea what to do with the DC characters: Black Adam vs. Superman is now in the works. Do we need to watch Superman fight another superhero?
Oh, right. They are only doing what Snydercut wants.
And speaking of movies with DC actors: Slumberland hits Netflix on November 18th.
Not to be confused with last year's flop Stillwater, Open Road will be releasing the basketball biopic Sweetwater on 4/14/2023. It should have a lot of commercials out during March Madness and the last few weeks of the NBA season but I wouldn't expect much in terms of quality based on the director's track record and cast of has-been actors.
Villeneuve's version of Dune is just Star Wars for angry white guys. Had a vocal minority of people not hated the sequel trilogy the way they did, Dune would have never gotten the love that it did among certain people. Also, it benefited from one of the worst years in film history, where it got Oscar nominations solely on default.
If it had come out this year, no one would have made a big deal out of the film except for Warner Bros. and it would have been yet another money loser for them.
Rant about the people that like the movie, Villeneuve and the box office numbers all you want, but saying that Dune wouldn't have gotten nominated for Oscars outside of 2021 is asinine-especially in the categories it won for. It earned pretty much universal raves for its VFX, sound design, cinematography, production design and how well it adapted the novel to the screen and blockbusters that have that much critical juice behind them tend to be recognized by the Academy (Black Panther, Avatar, Fury Road, Return of the King, almost certainly Top Gun: Maverick this year).
