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WIRE Buzz: Anthony Mackie's Boba Fett helmets; Jason Reitman talks Ghostbusters; Raya and the Last Dragon & Luca
Anthony Mackie loves Star Wars, especially a certain bounty hunter we first meet in the original trilogy. On The Late Late Show with James Corden, Mackie revealed his Star Wars fandom, and specifically his love of Boba Fett, in a segment of the show called Late Late Show & Tell, where guests share one of their most prized items.
“I wanted to be this character my entire career,” Mackie teased before revealing his beloved object. “When they recently made a show about him, I told my manager, 'If I'm not cast as that character, I will never talk to you again, you'll be eating pork and beans in West Hollywood.' I wasn't cast as that character.”
Mackie then said he had met Jeremy Bulloch — the actor who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy — and had him sign a screen-accurate replica of the bounty hunter’s helmet.
Interested in seeing Mackie’s prized possession yourself? You can check out the full segment here:
Mackie also goes on to eagerly share his motorcycle helmet, which his makeup artist designed to look like Boba Fett’s iconic headgear. Mackie is a great actor, but it’s clear his enthusiasm for the character is genuine. And although he didn’t land the role of Jango Fett in The Mandalorian, there’s always a possibility he might play some other character in The Book of Boba Fett, The Manadalorian spinoff series that is set to air on Disney+ in December 2021.
Earlier this week, we learned that Ivan Reitman cried after seeing a cut of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but as it turns out, his son, Jason Reitman, never had any plans of touching such a sacred supernatural franchise.
"I always thought, 'There's no need for me to walk into that woodchipper," the writer-director told Empire for the magazine's March 2021 issue. "I think every young person stands in the shadow of their parents to a certain extent and spends their life looking for a piece of sunlight only to discover themselves. I felt like I'd kind of accomplished that; I'd become a filmmaker in my own right, made films in my life that were very personal to me. And Ghostbusters always felt like a third rail as far as a career choice."
Even when production kicked off on the soft reboot (which serves as a sequel to the second movie released in 1989), Reitman Jr. never forgot to respect his father's creation. Nowhere was that more important to him than the scenes involving OG cast members like Bill Murray ("Peter Venkman"), Dan Aykroyd ("Ray Stantz"), and Ernie Hudson ("Winston Zeddemore"). In fact, he compared working with these silver screen legends to making a documentary.
"It's not my job to shape who Venkman is," the director added. "It's just my job to be there when he starts talking."
Written by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, Ghostbusters: Afterlife arrives in theaters sometime this summer.
John Wick and Disney aren't exactly two names that mesh well together...or are they? Also speaking with Empire, the filmmakers behind the Mouse House's Raya and the Last Dragon compared their upcoming animated feature to the ultra-violent John Wick franchise starring Keanu Reeves.
"There may have been some things that if we were to include [them] would give us an R rating for violence," said co-director Carlos López Estrada. "So just so you know, there is a cut of the movie with broken bones and stuff."
Inspired by the cultures of Southeast Asia, Raya stars Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) in the title role of a lone, young warrior who must track down the last-living dragon in an effort to unite a divided people and save a fractured land. Awkwafina (Jumanji: The Next Level) voices the dragon.
Raya and the Last Dragon hits theaters Friday, March 5. At the same time, the film will be available to stream on Disney+ for an added fee.
The latest issue of Empire also provides some more plot info for Pixar's next original project: Luca. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, the fantasy film is set against the backdrop of the sunny Italian Riveria where two young sea creatures (one is shy, the other outgoing) befriend a human girl. Casarosa was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki and Federico Fellini, but based on the story on his own childhood in Genoa, Italy.
"My summers were spent on beaches. I met my best friend when I was 11," he said. "I was really shy and I found this troublemaker of a kid who had a completely different life. I wanted to make a movie about those kinds of friendships that help you grow up."
Here's a new image from the movie:
Luca swims into theaters Friday, June 18.
