Things have cooled a bit since last week’s explosion of awesomeness, but we’ve still got plenty to discuss this week. That includes the wide release of Brad Pitt’s other “Z” movie, The Lost City of Z, which was produced by Pitt’s Plan B production company and was originally slated to star the man himself. However, the film ran into all sorts of production troubles and eventually was forced to recast, settling on the Brad Pitt-esque Charlie Hunnam. If this all sounds familiar, that’s because another Pitt production, World War Z, had its own such troubles, including extensive reshoots and last-minute script changes.
It all seems to have come up on the topside, however. Like World War Z, The Lost City of Z is getting above-average reviews, and is in fact sitting at a very respectable 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. The latest “Z” has a very different premise than its zombie sibling. It’s based on the true story of Percy Fawcett, a man looking for an infamous lost city in the vein of El Dorado. We’ll chat about the film to open things up today, and the weird parallels between the two productions.
But first, we’ll discuss the unstoppable runaway train that is the Fast and the Furious franchise. The ridiculous box office earnings of the franchise, the latest of which just opened with a $530 million-plus weekend, is ripe for adding yet another cash machine into the fray, and it appears Universal is making a move. According to Deadline, the studio is planning a spinoff of the ever-expanding series starring franchise stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham. We’ll get into more detail during the show.
But that’s just for starters. We’ll also be talking about some new Netflix series, some weird reboots, and, of course, some comic books stuff, specifically some news about Disney’s planned Captain Marvel movie, starring Brie Larson. The film has landed its director — or directors in this case. Helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck previously teamed up on much smaller films, as a writing duo for the Fleck-directed indie flick Half Nelson starring Ryan Gosling and as co-directors on the film Mississippi Grind. It’s another prime example of Hollywood’s new penchant for chucking multimillion dollar movies at young directors and seeing what happens.
While nearly everything Marvel touches seems to turn to gold, this should be interesting, as Captain Marvel is not only one of the oldest Marvel properties, but the Captain’s female iteration in Carol Danvers marks the first lead female superhero to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We think it’s about time, and it should be cool to see how this film carves its own path in the broader Marvel universe. In addition, Marvel also gave us a first look at its new series for the teen- and tween-leaning Freeform network (formerly ABC Family), called Cloak and Dagger. If you’re as unfamiliar with the property as we were, never fear, as we’ll be parsing through it a bit on the air.
Speaking of reboots and spinoffs (we always are, really), it looks like François Truffaut’s famous 1966 film Fahrenheit 451, about an authoritarian state, is getting a refresh in the form of a TV movie rumored to star Michael B. Jordan. The new series will be based on the original Ray Bradbury book from 1953, which presents a future society locked under martial law in which books are outlawed and “firemen” burn down the premises where they’re found. It’s an extreme measure (and a metaphoric statement) that should be especially timely in today’s “fake news” society, in which even truth itself is being questioned. Get ready for a 1984 comeback, as well. We’re just saying.
Netflix is also rebooting a seemingly nonsense property in Carmen Sandiego. It will be based on the educational children’s games about a super-thief who must be hunted across the globe, which just so happen to be teaching geography lessons along the way. The series is getting an animated order on the streaming service, with Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) voicing the titular character.
Also this week, we’ll talk about other new Netflix properties (there are 29 originals coming out in May), the rumored Labyrinth spinoff, more new X-Files episodes, and more. So join us live today at 2 p.m. PT, or take our podcast along by subscribing via one of the links above!
