What’re y’all beaming into your eyeballs these days? More and more theatres are streaming their performances (check inside~), streaming services are opening their paywalls, and then there’s all the stuff you just haven’t made time to catch up on, right? Well don’t worry, Disney+ continues to march onward in their mission to buy IP, and Netflix is snagging premieres of their own.
With all this great content, I ask governors across the US, why risk it and go out? (Unless you’re essential, in which care thank you and good luck).
Animated
A Whisker’s Away (aka I Want to Cry, So I’ll Pretend to Be A Cat) had it’s theatrical release postponed — but never fear. Written by Mari Okada (O Maidens in Your Savage Season) and directed by Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon), the anime will premiere on Netflix, June 18th, globally. [CrunchyRoll]
Superman: Man of Tomorrow drops this summer, starring some Ryan Murphy regulars. Darren Criss (Hollywood, Glee) plays Supes against Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, NOS4A2) as Lex Luthor. Hope they kiss! Get a peek over at [EW]
I am very proud of this moment. https://t.co/UB6sArc6Tw
— Mairghread Scott (@MairghreadScott) May 5, 2020
Bisexual disaster John Constantine (voiced by Matt Ryan, who played the character on NBC’s Constantine and crossed over to the CWverse in Legends of Tomorrow) gets a saucy wink from his ex in this clip from Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, which dropped on May 5th this week. Maighread Scott, the screenwriter, also confirmed an intimate detail about their relationship on Twitter. [FanByte]
https://twitter.com/hbomax/status/1258473232077778946
HBO Max and Crunchyroll are joining forces to bring you all that crunchy anime content, along with the series tweeted above. [ComicBook]
Film
Taika Waititi is the latest director and writer attached to a mystery Star Wars film, along with co-screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917). Playwright and screenwriter Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is also to be helming a separate series series for Disney+, serving as showrunner, exec producer, and writer. [StarWars]
Headland is ready to roll:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0jY14JaKG/
Previously, when asked about working on a Star Wars film on Twitter, Waititi responded:
I'd be fired within a week.
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) September 6, 2017
Movie theaters continue to explore ways to open ~safely~ amid the COVID-19 crisis and some in Texas and Oklahoma are looking at emulating TSA checks. Moviegoers at two EVO Entertainment locations in Texas would be questioned upon entry about their health, potential exposure, and have their temperatures taken via an “infrared scan” and turned away if feverish. In Oklahoma, arthouse theatre Circle Cinema installed plexiglass dividers. [IndieWire]
Elon Musk and Tom Cruise want to film a Mission Impossible in space and I say, please send them there and keep them there. [Deadline]
Television
As states force businesses open, guidelines for safer filming and production include reducing or eliminating crowd scenes, thus eliminating the need for extras. What does this mean for the future of “background actors,” many of whom are are SAG-AFTRA members themselves? [Deadline]
The Weeknd wrote an entire song about being a virgin for last night's episode of 'American Dad,' which he co-wrote and starred in. pic.twitter.com/lkiIXeJ67U
— Pigeons & Planes (@PigsAndPlans) May 5, 2020
Disney+ just nabbed the adaptation rights to horror writer RL Stine & Kelly & Nichole Matthews’ Just Beyond middle grade comics, from BOOM! Studios. [Variety]
The Mandalorian continues to grab some big names for the director’s chair: Robert Rodriguez (Battle Angel Alita) and Peyton Reed (Bring it On, Ant-Man):
I am truly humbled to say I have now had the very rare privilege of directing the biggest star in the universe. @StarWars #TheMandalorian #MayThe4th #StarWarsDay pic.twitter.com/pcmzOHfgaW
— Robert Rodriguez (@Rodriguez) May 5, 2020
#MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/XUk5Xfs0JE
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) May 4, 2020
Legal drama All Rise used FaceTime and Zoom to film a whole quarantine episode, which aired this past Monday. Star Simone Missick talked to The Wrap about the whole process and the technological challenges behind blocking a scene virtually, saying “Eventually, I had to print out pictures of everyone and tape them onto my computer screen, which in-turn blocked my view of the actual actors.” [The Wrap]
Grab Bag
London’s National Theatre has announced an expanded program of streamed, star-studded performances, including Gillian Anderson’s A Streetcar Named Desire and Tom Hiddleston’s Coriolanus. It’s maybe not as thrilling to watch a play via YouTube but on the plus side, you can munch on popcorn as loudly as you’d like. [The Guardian]
Ubiquitous producer Greg Berlanti has donated $1 million to COVID relief efforts, $600,000 of which will go to employees on his own productions. The remaining money will be donated to the Motion Picture Television Emergency Relief Fund, The SAG-AFTRA COVID-19 Disaster Fund, and The Actors Fund. Greg Berlanti Productions are currently running 17 shows, including The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Titans. [Deadline]
Turns out Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike) has a stacked group of players for his on-going D&D campaign – Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, True Detective), Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, wrestler Paul “The Big Show” Wight, and D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones) have all been playing together for about two years. [Variety]