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WIRE Buzz: Marvel show can return to Prague; Project Blue Book, Knightfall canceled; more
If it so chooses, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier can complete its shoot in Prague. According to Deadline, the Czech Republic is ready for films and shows to resume production there, after everything was shut down back in March as the coronavirus began to spiral into a global health crisis.
However, any incoming actors or crew members must undergo a stringent two-step testing process. An individual must test negative before leaving their country of origin, and upon arriving in the Czech Republic they must test negative again.
“Within 72 hours of arrival, they will undergo a second test, and remain quarantined until they receive a negative result,” Czech film commissioner Pavlina Zipkova said in a press release obtained by Deadline. “The result is usually received the next day. In this way, they can avoid the 14-day quarantine, which would severely impact film budgets.”
While the public is still required to wear face masks in public, “actors and performers are exempted from wearing a mask in the exercise of their profession," the release says. "Instead, PCR testing will be required every 14 days. This condition will also be lifted on the basis of further development.”
Coming to Disney+, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will see a team-up between Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) after the events of Avengers: Endgame. The show was scheduled to arrive in August, but that seems highly unlikely now.
Just this week, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that there is no timeline for resuming Marvel shoots. Even with the Czech government opening back up again, the studio may very well choose to err on the side of caution and wait things out for a little while longer.
In addition to the MCU show, the Czech Republic was also playing host to Season 2 of Amazon's Carnival Row, as well as the company's upcoming Wheel of Time adaptation.
Sad times for anyone who was hoping to get to the bottom of History Channel’s alien cover-up mystery, as the network has decided not to renew Project Blue Book, now that its second season (which ended in March) is complete. But if fans have anything to say about it, maybe — just maybe — the story can continue.
Show creator David O’Leary tweeted out news Thursday that History Channel had decided not to renew Project Blue Book for a third season, but pledged to shop the show for a new home while putting out the #SaveBlueBook hashtag call for fans to show their support. “We are committed to finding it a new home! Now we need our 2.5mil+ weekly fans’ help!” O'Leary wrote.
Starring Aidan Gillen in a dramatized take on the UFO-sleuthing exploits of real-life 20th-Century ufologist Dr. Josef Allen Hynek, Season 2 of Project Blue Book went for the Holy Grail of unexplained alien encounters, taking on both Roswell and Area 51 ahead of a cliffhanger ending that definitely left things open for the story to continue.
In the meantime, you can take an even deeper dive into all 20 of the show’s History Channel episodes by tuning your antennae to Project Blue Book: The Official Podcast, hosted by none other than SYFY WIRE’s Tara Bennett.
Speaking of Holy Grails, another History Channel show is also making an early exit. Knightfall, the medieval drama that explored the inner workings of the Knights Templar, has been canceled nearly a year after its second season ended last May, according to Deadline. Starring Tom Cullen as Templar knight Landry de Lauzon, Knightfall also featured Mark Hamill as Master Talus, a grizzled veteran of the Crusades who trained newcomers to the Templar order.
Cullen told SYFY WIRE last year that he had a blast starring opposite Hamill, who stepped into a decidedly non-Jedi kind of knighthood when he joined the cast for the show's second season. Farewell, Knightfall — the Force will be with you, always.
Andy Serkis, famous for playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films, is heading back to Middle-earth for a charitable, 12-hour live reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The announcement was punctuated with rasping comments from the ring-loving Sméagol himself.
The aptly named "Hobbitathon" begins tomorrow (Friday, May 8) at 5 a.m. ET. The campaign has already raised £56,000 out of its £100,000 goal. You can donate to the GoFundMe page here. All proceeds will be split between two U.K. non-profits: Best Beginnings and NHS Charities Together.
Serkis also took the time to update fans on Sony's Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage, which he directed. Fortunately, he's been able to edit the film while in lockdown, meaning it'll hopefully be ready in time for its new theatrical release date of June 25, 2021.
