Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB will sell one of its largest subsidiaries, Saber Interactive, to a group of private investors in a deal worth up to $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,142 crore), according to a person familiar with the transaction.
Saber will become a privately owned company with around 3,500 employees, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information. The company plans to continue developing a remake of Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic, the highly anticipated game that was removed from its previous developer Aspyr Media in 2022.
The deal will be one of Embracer’s largest moves yet in an ongoing cost-cutting initiative that has seen the company lay off employees and shutter studios around the world over the past year.
Saber and Embracer declined to comment.
Saber, the developer of games such as Snowrunner and World War Z, operates studios in several countries, including the US, Portugal and Russia. In addition to making its own original titles, it does work for other developers.
Embracer purchased Saber for $525 million (roughly Rs. 4,349 crore) in 2020 as part of a spending spree in which Chief Executive Officer Lars Wingefors acquired at least 27 companies. Several of the acquisitions, such as Demiurge Studios, based in Boston, and New World Interactive, based in Denver, were folded into Saber.
Over the past year, as interest rates soared and a $2 billion (roughly Rs. 16,569 crore) partnership with a gaming group backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund fell through, Embracer has been shedding costs. The debt-saddled company has shut down several subsidiaries, canceled projects and is looking to sell more divisions.
The $500 million figure includes an option for Saber to bring along multiple Embracer subsidiaries, the person said.
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“Every anniversary brings a different iteration of my grief. Some infuse me with rage, some make me cry all day long, some make me feel dissociated and empty,” she wrote on Wednesday.
The “American Horror Story” alum added that some anniversaries make her “feel nothing” and “some make me feel guilty for feeling nothing.”
This year, Lourd noted that she woke up feeling “grateful — or griefull — if you will.”
“Grief has infused my life with a sense of appreciation I had never had before. It makes me soak up every moment of joy as if it were my last,” she wrote.
Fisher died on Dec. 27, 2016 at the age of 60. Getty Images
She further described how her “eyes welled up with tears of joy” when she held her daughter, Jackson, on Wednesday.
“I laughed at myself then cried more cause I was laughing. I felt my mom’s presence like the warmth of the sun on your skin on a hot summer day,” she continued.
“The kind of warmth where you unknowingly close your eyes and take a slow breath through your nose and grin,” Lourd added.
The “Scream Queens” alum posted a heartwarming tribute to her mom on Wednesday. Billie Lourd/Instagram
The “Booksmart” actress scribed that she “missed [her mom] every day, but the cliche is also true.”
“She is with me every day, she infuses my joyful moments with even more joy,” Lourd penned.
“As I tell my son, she lives in the stars — and she damn sure makes my life sparkle,” she concluded. “Sending my love to all my griefers out there. And hoping everyone can feel a little sparkle of griefull among all the feelings grief inevitably brings.”
Reynolds, Fisher, her brother Todd Fisher and Lourd attend the SAG Awards in 2015. FilmMagic
Lourd also shares son Kingston, 3, with husband Austin Rydell.
As we approach the end of August, OTT platforms have ramped up their content output, offering ample options for people to binge-watch shows and movies throughout the weekend. No one wants to waste time scrolling through streaming apps for hours, and so, we’ve come back with a list of films and shows that’ll keep you entertained. The new Star Wars live-action series Ahsoka is easily the standout, with Rosario Dawson returning to investigate an emerging threat in the galaxy far, far away. It’s already out on Disney+ Hotstar. Meanwhile, on the Indian content front, we’ve got Guns & Gulaabs, the retro-style crime-comedy from Raj & DK that blends romance, action, and nostalgia into a fine paste.
For Indian hip-hop fans, we’ve got Bajao, which navigates the Punjabi pop music industry via the eyes of three young filmmakers who’ve found themselves in big trouble. The series marks rapper Raftaar’s acting debut, and is now streaming on JioCinema. On the movie side, the Gal Gadot and Alia Bhatt-led Heart of Stone is a major one, continuing its #1 global rank, as per Netflix’s charts.
With that, here’s a guide on what to watch this weekend:
Ahsoka
When: Now streaming Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano makes her long-awaited live-action debut in the latest series from Dave Filoni, as she embarks on a new adventure to take on General Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who is poised to return as the heir to the Galactic Empire. Her effort is compounded by having to deal with her strained past — specifically, her former student Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) — an expert on explosives — who was abandoned mid-training and therefore has a bone to pick with her master. Completing the trio of returning Star Wars Rebels characters is the Twi’lek ace pilot Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), navigating the stars via her starship ‘Ghost.’
The series will also pit Ahsoka against her former master Anakin Skywalker, who we know will eventually turn to the dark side and be known as the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Hayden Christensen will be reprising that role, presumably touching on his reasons for abandoning Ahsoka many years prior. Meanwhile, the dark force honing Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his student Shin (Ivanna Sakho) serve as other major hurdles in Ahsoka’s path to saving the fragile New Republic.
The first two episodes of Ahsoka are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The remaining six will drop on a weekly basis, every Tuesday, until October 3.
A trio of young aspiring filmmakers — Ved (Tanuj Virwani), Dhaari (Sahil Khattar), and Cookie (Sahil Vaid) — strike a deal with a problematic hip-hop icon Babbar (Raftaar) to make a music video that would herald his comeback to the rap scene. Their lives soon take a disastrous turn when a night of celebration turns to chaos, causing them to lose a bag of Rs. 2 crore in cash, and the rapper missing. With no recollection of their memory and a 48-hour countdown, Bajao swells into a twisted search and rescue mission, navigating hip-hop culture and street crime, all the while dealing with a local gangster, whom the filmmakers appear to have wronged.
Yes, that last part is quite reminiscent of Todd Phillips’ The Hangover, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the missing rapper had been right under their noses the entire time.
Kartik Aaryan stars in this musical love story as Satyaprem aka Sattu, a good-for-nothing law school dropout, who always dreams — literally — about getting married to a beautiful woman, but gets rejected for being jobless. However, the realisation doesn’t strike him hard until much later, when he encounters a mesmerising dancer Katha (Kiara Advani), who is way out of his league and is looking to marry the ideal husband — something Satyaprem isn’t.
That said, fate has different plans for him and the pair end up getting married, much to Katha’s dismay, forcing Sattu to improve his ways and become a worthy husband, while being understanding of her dark secret. Marking director Sameer Vidwans’ first Hindi-language film, Satyaprem Ki Katha also stars Gajraj Rao (Maja Ma), Supriya Pathak (Rashmi Rocket), and Rajpal Yadav (Phir Hera Pheri).
Heart of Stone
When: Now streaming Where: Netflix
After partaking in a sleek heist in Netflix’s Red Notice, Gal Gadot is now slipping into the role of Rachel Stone, an international spy working for the Charter, an elusive group with no political leanings that relies on a mysterious asset called ‘The Heart’ for its day-to-day tasks. It’s basically a powerful AI that keeps track of a person’s digital footprint to create data that helps predict potential global threats and deliver odds of success in thwarting them. That prize soon gets stolen by the mysterious hacker Keya Dhawan (Alia Bhatt), kickstarting a globetrotting hunt across the snowy mountaintops to even some risky airborne manoeuvres.
Guns & Gulaabs serves as an ode to Bollywood in the mid-90s, focusing its sights on a fictional cartel-run town called Gulaabganj, where a group of outlandish characters try making a name for themselves. Among them, we’ve got Rajkummar Rao’s (Monica, O My Darling) Paana Tipu, a lovesick mechanic distraught by his father’s death, who murders a couple of thugs by shoving a spanner down their throats. Hence the first name: Paana.
Then there’s Chhotu Ganchi (Adarsh Gourav), the reluctant heir to a drug empire, who struggles with transporting a large amount of opium and is hell-bent on making his father proud. Adding some spice to this interconnecting drama is a local goofy assassin named ‘4 Cut Aatmaram’ (Gulshan Devaiah), notorious for killing his victims with four stabs of a switchblade. He never breaks his rule.
Adding some normalcy to the otherwise cartoonish characters is the honest narcotics Officer Arjun Varma (Dulquer Salmaan), who turns into a chaos agent when asked to turn corrupt and help out with smuggling opium. It’s an all-around quirky story that jumps between its characters and focuses on worldbuilding in the first half before things fall into place to unfold a revenge arc, heartbreak, and the taste of sweet innocence through the eyes of three schoolmates. Adding to its aura are the vintage titles, pop-culture references, and some classical music suited to the time period to best immerse you in Raj & DK’s newly-crafted world.
Aakhri Sach
When: August 25 (Now streaming) Where: Disney+ Hotstar
Hard-nosed investigative officer Anya (Tamannaah Bhatia) is summoned to solve a bizarre case, in which the 11 members of a ‘regular’ family were found dead — 10 of them were found hanging in the courtyard of their residence. Yep, this new Hotstar Specials show is based on the infamous real-life Burari deaths from 2018, where it was concluded that the family had committed mass suicide. While going about her investigation, Anya discovers an odd connection between the house’s layout with the family member count — there are 11 windows, 11 doors, and 11 odd pipes peeking out of a wall, making for a rather perplexing case. The only solid account she has is a set of diaries maintained by the family members.
Robbie Grewal — best known for Romeo Akbar Walter — directs all episodes of Aakhri Sach, which also stars Abhishek Banerjee (Paatal Lok) as Anya’s junior officer, and Shivin Narang as a key suspect.
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A search for Wes Anderson on YouTube turns up trailers that the famed director with a distinctive style appears to have made for adaptations of ‘Star Wars‘, ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings‘ featuring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, and other stars. Artificial intelligence allowed people with no real actors and far smaller resources than major Hollywood studios to generate the fake movie trailers, feeding debate on the issue that will be on the bargaining table when the SAG-AFTRA actors union begins labor talks with studios on June 7. AI already has divided studios and striking film and television writers, who want assurances that the emerging technology will not be used to generate scripts.
SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure its members can control use of their ‘digital doubles’ and ensure studios pay the actual actors appropriately, said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator. “The performer’s name, likeness, voice, persona – those are the performer’s stock and trade,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “It’s really not fair for companies to attempt to take advantage of that and not fairly compensate performers when they’re using their persona in that way.”
Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves already have been the subject of widely viewed unauthorized deepfakes – realistic yet fabricated videos created by AI algorithms. Reeves called the technology ‘scary’, in part because it can be deployed without actors’ input. Interest in generative AI exploded globally after the November launch of ChatGPT, the fastest-growing app of all time, by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. US and European regulators have demanded guardrails to prevent misinformation, bias, violation of copyrights and invasion of privacy.
Actors and writers envision various scenarios in which studios could try to cut costs and boost revenue using generative AI, which can be fed existing material and pump out new content. The technology already is used to erase age marks or alter mouth movements to sync with words when programming is dubbed in various languages. Actor Leland Morrill said he has worked on sets where he was surrounded by cameras taking pictures from all angles.
“With that type of content, they could use you for part of it, and then create the rest of the character, and then we’re not on set anymore and nobody gets paid,” Morrill said at a multi-union rally in Los Angeles. Producer, writer and former ‘Family Ties’ actor Justine Bateman, holds a degree in computer science and has been sounding the alarm about AI. She said companies could allow fans to make their own ‘Star Wars’ movie, and add themselves for an extra fee. Or, a studio could take footage from a popular 1980s TV show such as ‘Family Ties’ and make a new season with AI.
YOUNGER YOU
Some actors have signed off on specific uses of AI. The upcoming ‘Indiana Jones’ movie features scenes where 80-year-old star Harrison Ford appears 40 years younger. He said Walt Disney Co’s Lucasfilm used images of his face that were shot during ‘Indiana Jones’ films in the 1980s. “It’s fantastic,” Ford raved about his youthful on-screen appearance in an interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert.
James Earl Jones, now 92, agreed to allow AI to replicate the menacing voice he gave to Darth Vader, according to Vanity Fair, so the character could live on. AI helped Disney put the late Carrie Fisher in 2019 film ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, with the blessing of her daughter.
SAG-AFTRA’s Crabtree-Ireland said actors have varying comfort levels with how AI is used, which is why the union will advocate for informed consent in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that represents Disney, Netflix and other studios.
A representative for the AMPTP had no comment on its position on use of AI with actors. In negotiations with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the AMPTP proposed discussing the topic once a year, which the Guild viewed as an attempt to avoid the issue. The WGA has been on strike over AI and compensation since May 2.
If SAG-AFTRA cannot reach a deal on AI and other issues, actors also could go on strike, which would pile more pressure on the studios. Ahead of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA leaders have asked members to provide authorization to call a strike if needed. Voting on a strike authorization ends Monday. Both unions want safeguards in place before AI becomes widely used.
Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has been delayed, owing to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike. In a tweet, co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed that they stand in solidarity with the strike and hope that a fair deal is reached soon. The rules set by the Writers Guild of America state that all writer-producers are barred from participating in any writing or creative-based duties on film and television productions during the strike. It’s also refreshing to see Netflix respecting the creators’ wishes and delaying filming until further notice — a huge undertaking, given how popular the Stranger Things IP is. Meanwhile, on Disney’s side of the fence, Andor will resume production on season 2 without its primary writer.
“Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike,” the tweet reads. “We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out.” Back in November, the creators revealed the title for episode 1, ‘The Crawl,’ with the chapter being set primarily in Hawkins, charting the lead characters’ investigation of the parallel world — the realm where demons like the Demogrogon lived in.
Stranger Things 5 was originally planned to begin filming this month, as per actor Noah Schnapp, who was revealed to have a massive part in this season. It is also worth mentioning that the Duffer Brothers have struck an overall partnership with Netflix for multiple Stranger Things projects, including an animated series and a stage play.
Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out. #wgastrong
As per Variety, Andor season 2 is among the few shows that will continue production amidst the ongoing strike, with executive producer Tony Gilroy not showing up on set or writing scripts. However, he will continue working on non-writing aspects such as picking a musical score and casting. Reports from last week confirmed that Amazon Studios was continuing production on The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power season 2 without its showrunners on set.
Despite 19 days of filming remaining on the LOTR spinoff show, the team feels a bit relaxed as showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay planned things in advance for a potential writers’ strike. Meanwhile, in the case of HBO’s House of the Dragon season 2, executive producer Ryan J. Condal is reportedly present on the UK set, albeit in a strictly non-writing capacity. Scripts for the season were completed long before.
Earlier this month, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that the streamer was better prepared than most studios, in case a writers’ strike did go through, which eventually did happen. The executive pointed at its large slate of upcoming movies and shows, noting that it would keep any disruptions from the strike to the minimum. Meanwhile, other studios had been stockpiling screenplays and greenlighting series renewals earlier than required.
Disney+ Hotstar has announced a list of 29 movies and web series for release on its streaming platform in January 2023. Well, to be precise, there’s only one film in the mix, which heads to streaming, following a brief stint in theatres — The Menu. In it, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult travel to a coastal island to dine at an exclusive restaurant, where the acclaimed Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some horrifying surprises. The Menu releases January 4 on Disney+ Hotstar. Follow that up with a healthy serving of the live-action adaptation of the acclaimed PlayStation video game, The Last of Us, which sees Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey venturing into the infected, post-apocalyptic America, in search of answers. Episode one releases January 16 on the platform — reportedly 85 minutes long — after which the remaining eight episodes follow a weekly release cycle.
Popular YouTuber Bhuvan Bam headlines the Indian catalogue for Disney+ Hotstar in January 2023, with a comedy-drama series. Taaza Khabar follows a Mumbai-based sanitation worker, whose poverty-stricken life turns upside-down upon receiving some surreal powers. With new goals to accomplish and equally hard-hitting karma, all episodes will be available to stream on January 6. That should do for Indian releases this month, with even the lengthy Aashiqana season 2 ending its run in December.
Bhuvam Bam in a still from Taaza Khabar Photo Credit: Disney+ Hotstar
From the galaxy far, far away, we’ve got Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which returns for its sophomore run, as our friendly troopers navigate the empire after the fall of the Republic. The first two episodes drop on January 4, followed by a weekly schedule. After that, check out Japan’s serene surf culture in the episodic documentary, Chasing Waves, which captures the culture and tension leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Starring real-life pro surfers, including the 2021 Olympic Silver medallist Kanoa Igarashi, all eight episodes will be up for streaming on January 11, on Disney+ Hotstar.
If anime is your jam, get ready for Tokyo Revengers season 2, which adapts the Christmas Showdown arc, resuming at the point where lead Takemichi Hanagaki and Chifuyu Matsuno got shot by Tetta Kisaki, the top-ranking official of the Tokyo Manji Gang. Season 2 is also expected to introduce new characters, as we head into battle against the 10th Generation Black Dragon. Tokyo Revengers season 2 episodes drop on a weekly schedule, starting January 8. While Detective Conan’s main arc is still a long way from finishing, why not delve into a live-action drama adaptation of The Files Of Young Kindaichi? This new, reimagined series features 10 select episodes, giving the original 1995 series a “contemporary perspective.”
Will Trent is another new addition to Disney+ Hotstar this month, which highlights the abandonment issues of the eponymous special agent (Ramón Rodríguez), as he navigates through life to earn the highest case clearance rate. The series premieres January 4, with the remaining six episodes coming in the following weeks. Those looking for some fresh American cartoons to watch — because The Simpsons did everything first — check out Koala Man, which seems to draw heavy inspiration from the likes of James Gunn’s Super, albeit not as grounded. In it, an Australian family man lives a not-so-secret identity as the Koala Man, snuffing out petty crimes as a vigilante, despite being incredibly bad at it. Michael Cusack (Smiling Friends) voices Kevin/ Koala Man, while Sarah Snook (Succession) breathes life into his tired wife Vicky. Koala Man premieres January 10 on the platform.
Pedro Pascal in a still from The Last of Us series Photo Credit: HBO
Beyond that, there’s Hulu’s Extraordinary, a world where everyone develops superpowers at the age of 18, except for our 25-year-old lead Jen (Máiréad Tyers). Her insecurities about being left behind are amplified by her dead-end job and her occasional hook-up, who has no plans of committing any time soon. Will the tiny bit of hope help Jen find her “maybe superpower”? Find out when all eight episodes of Extraordinary become available to stream on January 25, on Disney+ Hotstar. Meanwhile, thriller fanatics can tune into The Watchful Eye on January 31, in which a young woman, hired as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family, observes the deadly secrets of its members.
Seeing as there are no new specials from Disney or Marvel this month — besides Willow’s continued run — all that’s remaining are some Korean and Japanese dramas. Lovers turn into political enemies in Bloody Heart, a fictional Joseon Dynasty-set drama, where the emperor Lee Tae and queen Yoo Jeong are forced to abandon their affection for each other. New episodes drop every Wednesday and Thursday, starting January 18. There’s a treat for K-pop fans as well in Super Junior: The Last Man Standing, a docu-series that captures the boy bands’ story from their early days. All episodes stream on January 18.
In addition to the aforementioned two — Tokyo Revengers season 2 and The Files of Young Kindaichi — Japan has one more Disney+ offering. In Lost Man Found, Saturo Matsudo (Taiga Nakano), an aspiring actor moves to Tokyo hoping to fulfil his dream, struggling through poverty and trouble breaking into the show business. All that changes one day when he stumbles upon a flight ticket belonging to a talent agency CEO. New episodes stream every week, starting January 25.
Disney+ Hotstar January 2023 releases — the full list
With that, here’s the full list of movies and TV shows coming to Disney+ Hotstar in January 2023. We’ve marked Disney+ and Hulu originals in bold.
Disney+ has revealed the first look at Loki season 2 and Star Wars series Ahsoka, via a sizzle reel that highlights upcoming releases on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in 2023. Narrated by lead Tom Hiddleston himself, the footage for the next chapter of Loki promises more “over the top” time-hopping adventures, as Loki finds himself in an alternate Time Variance Authority, with Owen Wilson’s returning agent character Mobius M. Mobius. The Disney+ 2023 trailer also offers a brief glimpse at Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, who is getting her own eponymous Star Wars limited series, following a first appearance in The Mandalorian.
Loki season 2 first look
The tease for Loki season 2 features an interesting bit of banter between the God of Mischief (Hiddleston) and agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), though he’s speaking to three variants of Loki, all dressed in dapper suits, in a dark, silent alley. In the background, you can see an old-school motorcycle, which might indicate that our heroes travelled back to the past. Bear in mind, that since this is a new timeline, this version of Mobius does not even recognise Loki. Also, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is in charge of the TVA, while its non-hostile multidimensional variant “He Who Remains” was stabbed to death by Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) in season 1. Loki season 2 is set to return in the summer of 2023, but before that, a variant of the villainous Kang will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, slated to release in February next year.
Ahsoka first look teaser
Meanwhile, in the galaxy far, far away, Ahsoka Tano is getting a standalone live-action series headlined by Dawson. Dave Filoni, who helmed The Mandalorian, returns as writer and creator of the limited series, which he is also attached to produce alongside Jon Favreau (Iron Man). Very little is known about the plot for Ahsoka. Ahsoka enlists Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane). Filming on Ahsoka began in May, but there’s no information on a release window for the same.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is also headed to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in 2023, following its theatrical debut on November 11. The much-awaited sequel served as a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman and has collected $788 million (about Rs. 6,519 crore) at the global box office. When out, Black Panther 2 should be available to stream in English and multiple regional languages.
Acclaimed genre filmmaker David Lowery (The Green Knight) returns to Disney once more, with a “live-action” remake of the original 1953 film Peter Pan & Wendy. Streaming next year, exclusively on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar, we get some quick shots of our lead characters.
Towards the end, there are tiny glimpses of American Born Chinese, based on the eponymous graphic novel, Pixar’s TV series Win or Lose, Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, Crater, and more.
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Andor creator Tony Gilroy has set a filming date for its second season. Speaking to Collider, the Bourne trilogy writer confirmed that the Diego Luna-led Andor season 2 will begin filming on “the Monday before Thanksgiving,” which aligns with November 21. The Disney+ series was initially reported to be shot by autumn 2022, and now we have an official date. Andor season 2, much like the first chapter, comprises 12 episodes, and continues rebel hero Cassian Andor’s journey years prior to the 2016 Rogue One movie. Released in September, Andor season 1 concludes its run on November 23, with all episodes available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.
For season 2, writer-creator Gilroy explained that he would be flying out to London to be present for the opening shot, before heading back home for Christmas. Andor season 2 also brings in new directors to the mix, namely Ariel Kleiman (Partisan), Janus Metz (True Detective), and Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie). Beau Willimon and Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler) return as writers, alongside newcomer Tom Bissell, who mostly shares credits with video games such as Gears 5, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and Batman: Arkham Origins. His writing was also adapted into films, including the 2016 James Franco-led Tommy Wiseau biographical comedy The Disaster Artist.
Gilroy described him as a “really cool and really, really interesting, versatile, really good writer. But also, a very, very, very big Star Wars fan, which we really wanted to make sure we had another pro because we’re going into Rogue [One], and we’re going to Yavin, and then we’re going into places where we eventually need to really weave our way back to the source. So, Tom came in, and he’s been great. So, he’s got some episodes too,” in the interview.
While Andor season 1 chronicles one year in the titular rebel spy’s mission to overthrow the Empire, the upcoming chapter will be divided into blocks, covering the additional four years, as it jumps across timelines. Each three-episode segment in Andor season 2 amounts to a year, with the final shot directly segueing into the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
“The scale of the show is so huge. Directors work in blocks of three episodes, so we did four blocks [in Season 1] of three episodes each. [For Season 2] we looked and said, ‘Wow, it’d be really interesting if we come back, and we use each block to represent a year’,” Gilroy told Empire, back in July.
As mentioned above, creator Gilroy has clarified that Andor season 2 will head to Yavin, the jungle moon, which served as a base of operations for the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The jungle moon Yavin IV was also featured in the 2016 Rogue One film, which serves as a prequel to A New Hope, where the Death Star was destroyed. Heading into season 2, Andor will most likely continue working alongside the rebels, and serve as a guide to memorable locales and events within the larger Star Wars franchise.
Currently, there is no release window for Andor season 2. Season 1 concludes its run later this month, on November 23, on Disney+ Hotstar.
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A Christopher Reeve “Superman” outfit could fetch up to $500,0000 at an upcoming auction — making it the most expensive superhero costume in history.
The outfit is one of the most anticipated items from a movie-memorabilia sale by the online auction house Propstore, along with Darth Vader’s gloves from the original “Star Wars,” the Bible from “The Shawshank Redemption,” Santa’s sleigh from “Elf” and a “Gladiator” chariot.
Once tossed or given away at the end of filming, movie props have become huge business for collectors and museums, with items such as Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” being sold for $2 million at a 2012 auction. (Buyers Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio donated them to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles.)
Here are a few of the treasures from the Propstore auction, which begins Nov. 3. To register, click here.
Complete Superman costume from the 1978-1987 ‘Superman’ franchise
Propstore
Expected bid: ($287,270-$574,540)
Christopher Reeve’s Superman costume has a very personal link for Propstore founder Stephen Lane.
In the late 1990s, the collectible market was flooded with suits and capes that sellers claimed were authentic. Lane had recently set up his online business when a collector got in touch asking if he could tell if one particular Superman costume was the real deal.
The iconic costume was sketched by the first film’s award-winning designer Yvonne Blake, who had already passed away; but Lane discovered they were produced by Noel Howard in the English costume house Bermans & Nathans — who confirmed it.
“[Howard] was instrumental in the making of the costume because it was a really tricky one to construct,” Lane told The Post. “If you think back to the late seventies, Spandex didn’t exist in the form it does today, nor did Lycra. So, they were trying to find a costume that would fit around the form of Christopher Reeve.
The costume department of “Superman” struggled to find a sweat-proof and stretchy blue fabric.Courtesy Everett Collection
“At the same time, they had major issues with the color because the blue would show sweat. In the end, [Howard] sourced this material from Germany which had a very specific weave of fabric — the elasticity they needed to hug around Reeve’s form, but it also wouldn’t show the sweat as he worked on all these high-action sequences.
“This is really one of the last superhero [movie costumes] which was made of this sort of soft and stretchy material,” Lane added. “Now they are heavy with a lot of body armor.”
Also surprising is that there were so few duplicates, and the outfits were reused in later films.
“The first and second ‘Superman’ films were made back-to-back, but we know which one each of the items in this costume comes from as they were numbered by the wardrobe department,” Lane said. “So the tunic part of this costume is from ‘Superman III,’ while the cloak was used in ‘Superman I’ and ‘II.’
Experts estimate there are just five or six complete original “Superman” costumes in private hands today. Warner Bros
“It started life as a ‘flying cape’ — which means it had holes at the side to allow wires to go through [to make Reeve ‘fly’], but you can also see how they were stitched up so it could be repurposed for the next film because they were trying to keep budgets down.”
The costume was taken home by a wardrobe assistant who worked on the film, which was made in Britain. He then sold it via eBay, for $15,000, to the collector Lane helped all those years ago.
Stephen estimates there are just five or six complete original “Superman” costumes in private hands today. In 2019, one of the capes from the first film sold for $193,750, making it the most expensive superhero cape sold at auction.
Rock hammer Bible from ‘The Shawshank Redemption’
Propstore
Estimated price: $114,908-$172,362
This one isn’t just a prop — it’s also an important plot point.
The Bible, which opens to a cut-out hole for a rock hammer, is a moment of real discovery in the 1994 film about an audacious prison break.
Lane showed the Bible to “Shawshank” writer and director Frank Darabont, who confirmed it was the only one in existence. Creating the hole had been intensive work for the props department.
Writer and director Frank Darabont says this is the only Bible prop from “The Shawshank Redemption” in existence.
“The cutting of all those pages into the shape of a rock hammer must have taken forever,” Lane said. “Today it might have been lasered or screen-cut, but [back] then someone would have been sitting there cutting through page by page of that Bible with a knife. It really is one of a kind.”
The object was brought in by someone who worked on the props for the film. Propstore negotiated a deal after “screen matching” — looking at the item in the movie, shot by shot.
“It blew our minds that this bible was still in existence,” Lane said of himself and colleagues.
James Bond’s pilot helmet from ‘You Only Live Twice’
Propstore
Estimated price: $69,000-$114,000
There were just two of these helmets made for the classic James Bond film: one for Sean Connery and one for his stunt double, aviator Wing Commander Ken Wallace.
After being used to promote the 1967 film at the London department store Selfridges, the headgear ended up in the care of Wallace — a real flying ace in WWII. It passed through various collectors, as well as a Bond exhibit, before going to auction.
Just two pilot helmets were made for “You Only Live Twice.”
Props and costumes from the Bond franchise, along with “Star Wars” and “Batman” films, are among the most popular for collectors, partly because their enduring popularity means they continue to be in the public eye.
Darth Vader’s gloves from “Star Wars: A New Hope”
Propstore
Estimated price: $172,000-$287,000
Just one pair of gloves was made for Darth Vader for the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie. After filming, they were used heavily for promotion.
“With this first film, no one expected it to be a success. [Writer-director] George Lucas had great reservations about its potential to even find an audience, let alone become the international phenomenon that it is today,” said Brandon Alinger, Propstore’s Chief Operations Officer and the author of the official book “Star Wars Costumes.”
“Most of the costumes were thrown away when production finished. The incredible thing is that there are very few components of this first Darth Vader costume that still exist — it is something of a legend among ‘Star Wars’ fans. There is part of the mask and then there are these gloves.”
Propstore verified them through photo-matching.
Darth Vader’s costume was heavily used for promotion of the original “Star Wars.”Lucasfilm Ltd.
“You can even see the same little tiny fold lines as were in the gloves 46 years ago, which is kind of amazing,” Alinger said. “The gloves had a bit of a life after the filming of the original movie. Darth Vader was used to help promote the film, and the costume was flown from the UK, where the film was made, to Los Angeles where an actor called Bryce “Kermit” Eller would wear them in shopping malls and meet kids.
‘Eventually, the gloves made their way to a private collector … I can’t tell you how exciting it was to even touch them,” Alinger added. “There is arguably nothing more identifiable with Star Wars than Darth Vader, and so this auction object feels very special.’
Rogue Squadron has been reportedly removed from Disney’s schedule. As per Variety, the Patty Jenkins-helmed Star Wars spin-off film has been scrubbed from the studio’s production calendar. The movie was slated to release on December 22, 2023, and now seems to have been delayed indefinitely, as development continues. Rogue Squadron was previously pushed back from a 2022 release, owing to Jenkins’ scheduling conflicts and other commitments. The filmmaker is currently attached to the third Wonder Woman movie and a Cleopatra biopic — both led by Gal Gadot.
The next big silver-screen story in Lucasfilm’s space opera saga, takes after EA’s starfighter combat video game, Star Wars: Squadrons. The first-person multiplayer title saw players fitted in orange uniforms sent out on 5v5 dogfights. Rogue Squadron was expected to be the first Star Wars movie to grace theatres since 2019’s The Rise of the Skywalker. Jenkins was brought on to direct the film back in December 2020, while fans were treated to Disney+ series such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Walt Disney dropped a slew of release dates for the studio’s upcoming projects, including the Rachel Zegler-led Snow White live-action remake — releasing on March 22, 2024. The film was unveiled at Disney’s D23 Expo, late last week, but did not have a release window. Similarly, Barry Jenkins’ The Lion King prequel, Mufasa is set for a July 5, 2024 release, while Inside Out 2 arrives on June 14, 2024. The sequel to the Oscar-winning animated film picks up with Riley as a teenager, dealing with a whirlwind of complicated emotions that come with adolescence.
Besides Rogue Squadron, Lucasfilm has three separate Star Wars feature films in the pipeline. One with Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), another with Rian Johnson (Knives Out), and a third with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Currently, there isn’t enough information on these films, so there’s no telling if they will hit theatres or go straight to Disney+.
The studio also shifted release dates for its theme-park ride adaptation, Haunted Mansion. The film was initially planned for a March 2023 release, but will now open on August 11, 2023. The new date coincides with Sony Pictures’ Gran Turismo movie release date, which recently saw David Harbour (Stranger Things) getting inducted into the cast lineup. An untitled MCU movie has also been pushed from February 16, 2024, to September 6, 2024.
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