Today’s Movie Morsels is big. I’m talkin’ Kaiju-sized big. The kind of Kaiju big enough to fill Pacific Rim: Maelstrom. Oh yes, we’ve got our very first behind-the-scenes look at the Pacific Rim sequel! But if that ain’t big enough for ya, we’ve also got the big, bad Death Star of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the creatures of Monster Hunter (yes, a film adaptation is in the works), yet more monsters in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel, and… well, the next Smurfs movie. Hey, sometimes size isn’t everything!
Pacific Rim: Maelstrom
Strap yourself into your Jaegers, Pacific Rim fans! Some industrious folks have snapped a handful of red-hot behind-the-scenes pics of the Pac Rim sequel’s set, and put them online for all to see and enjoy. Here’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega in Sydney, Australia, dressed up for his latest role as the the son of Idris Elba’s Pacific Rim character Stacker Pentecost. Something tells me Stacker Jr. has a score to settle with the Kaiju after his old man gave his life in an effort to destroy them…
John Boyega on the set PACIFIC RIM 2. It’s lit. #PacificRim2 pic.twitter.com/RBpq98ykj9
— Geeks Of Color (@GeeksOfColor) November 21, 2016
Fun fact: Boyega will also serve as a producer on the February 23, 2018 release, which co-stars Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian and Levi Meaden.
[Twitter]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
While it may not have John Boyega, the latest Star Wars movie has lots of other fine actors in it. Two of whom we see a little more of in the latest TV spot for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Yup, we get a bit of new footage here featuring Felicity Jones’ strike force leader Jyn Erso and her colleague, Diego Luna’s cooly efficient Captain Cassian Andor. Both freedom fighters have their work cut out for them when they go after the original Death Star’s secret plans on December 16th…
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2
While today is only the fifth day it’s been out in theaters, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has performed well enough to guarantee its four sequels will be produced. The first of which, set in Paris, will co-star Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald. And we’ve just received confirmation that another character, one briefly referenced in the first movie, will be a part of the sequel’s cast. Warning: the next paragraph contains Fantastic Beasts spoilers…
Still with us? Okay then! In an interview with Cinema Blend, director David Yates says that Zoe Kravitz’s Leta Lestrange, glimpsed in a black-and-white photo in the film, will indeed appear in the flesh in the second Fantastic Beasts. “Leta Lestrange,” explains Yates, “comes into the second movie. She’s quite complicated and damaged and confused and Newt is absolutely still in love with her, so she has a kind of power over him, and she, yeah, she’s a kind of tragic figure, so we will see a bit more of her in the second movie.”
Monster Hunter
And speaking of beasts, Capcom’s Monster Hunter video game franchise is one of the most successful going these days. So it comes as no surprise that a movie version of its creature-ific universe is in development, from two gentlemen with more than a little experience with such adaptations: Resident Evil writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson and his producing partner Jeremy Bolt. Since Resident Evil is also a Capcom property, and Anderson’s film series is finally coming to an end with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the duo are set on making Monster Hunter their next big project, and are now looking for a studio to work with. Deadline reports that Anderson has already written the first Monster Hunter film’s script, and that “they come armed with still and VFX visual renderings of the creatures.”
[Deadline]
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Finally today… The very best thing about the last Smurfs movie was this tweet it prompted from Patton Oswalt:
I feel like the working title for SMURFS 2 was OH GODDAMIT.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 1, 2013
Of course that hasn’t stopped Sony Animation from producing a third CG-animated feature film about the little blue critters. At least this time around the Smurfs look a little closer to how most of us remember them from their hit 1980s cartoon series, since the entire film is animated (sorry, Neil Patrick Harris fans!). Oh, and Demi Lovato has replaced Katy Perry as the voice of Smurfette. Though I was kind of rooting for Lady Gaga…
What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!
(Editor’s note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Entertainment)
Featured Image: Legendary/Warner Bros.
Images: Warner Bros., Capcom
