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WIRE Buzz: The Mandalorian returns in October; WB taps Project Power duo for Nemesis; more
Praise Baby Yoda! The Mandalorian will officially return to Disney+ for its second season Friday, Oct. 30, the show's Twitter account confirmed today. The first live-action Star Wars series was able to wrap production on its next batch of episodes before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most Hollywood sets the world over. Season 1 was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmys, including Best Drama.
Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the series is centered around a lone bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) operating in the lawless territories of the galaxy's Outer Rim. When he comes across a baby that looks mighty similar to Jedi Master Yoda, he decides to risk everything in order to keep the child safe from former members of the Empire.
Jon Favreau (Iron Man) created The Mandalorian, whose debut season also featured the acting talents of Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Omid Abtahi, Nick Nolte, Taika Waititi, Amy Sedaris, Jake Cannavale, Mark Boone Junior, Bill Burr, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Richard Ayoade, Giancarlo Esposito, and Emily Swallow.
Rosario Dawson, Michael Biehn, Temuera Morrison, Katee Sackhoff, and Timothy Olyphant are set to appear in Season 2. In particular, Dawson and Morrison will be playing franchise favorites Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett respectively. Behind the camera, Robert Rodriguez (Alita: Battle Angel) and Peyton Reed (Ant-Man) directed episodes for the upcoming season.
Hollywood, meet the Deep State.
SYFY Wire has confirmed that Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the directing duo behind Netflix's new Jaime Foxx-led superhero flick, Project Power, has signed on to helm Nemesis, Warner Bros. long-awaited adaptation of the comic book series created by Kingsman scribe Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven.
According to the studio and Collider, which broke the story, the premise revolves around an idealistic tech inventor whose world comes crashing down when he's framed for his wife's murder and discovers the deeply rooted, duplicitous power structure that courses through the most powerful country in the world. Amidst his anger and pain, he is recruited by the "Nemesis," a masked vigilante who is determined to take down the corrupt system that has burned him in the same way it has our protagonist."
Joost and Schulman got their break in Hollywood after making their hit documentary, Catfish, into a successful MTV series. They went on to direct Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4 and Nerve before landing the Project Power assignment.
Millar, of course, is the comic book mastermind behind The Kingsman series as well as such classics as Wolverine: Old Man Logan and Captain America: Civil War, all of which inspired a major Hollywood franchise and some of the best movies to come out of the Marvel canon.
Another Favreau-created project, Gnomes & Goblins, has also received a premiere date, Deadline confirmed this morning. The fantasy-themed VR experience (which Favreau co-conceived with Call of Duty alum Jake Rowell) hits PCVR on Steam, Oculus, and Viveport Wednesday, Sep. 23. Teased back in 2016, the project helped inform the character design for Baby Yoda on The Mandalorian.
The immersive experience (hailing from studio Wevr) allows you to enter an enchanted forest and move the story along through organic exploration and character interactions/relationship-building. As you meet the titular goblins, you'll be enlisted to save them from a deadly foe.
"I’m incredibly happy to see how Wevr has brought my original vision to life in virtual reality," Favreau said in a statement run by Deadline. “From the earliest days of rough sketches and abstract concepts, Wevr’s entire team committed to fostering the kind of emotional connections that I believe will allow Gnomes & Goblins to occupy a special place in the hearts of players around the world. We worked hard to create the mood and feeling that Gnomes & Goblins is like a virtual theme-park ride, where magic and meaning are waiting around every corner."
Check out the new trailer:
“When Jon first approached us with his early concept and sketches, I immediately knew we’d found a wonderful storyline populated with engaging characters to help us explore the VR medium," added Rowell. "This project takes all the creative strides we made in developing theBlu and elevates the experience with unique AI-driven characters inhabiting an interactive world which invites players to create a connection with the forest and especially its adorable guide, Buddy the Goblin."
"As an indie studio we couldn’t be happier to share this experimental virtual world with fans around the globe," Wevr co-founder and CEO Neville Spiteri concluded. "We hope that the love and care put into this product will resonate, and enable us to continue on the journey and move the immersive medium forward for all."
Gnomes & Goblins is being featured as part of the Venice Film Festival, which kicks off today.
