Picard's a wrap, We'll take it.

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Tonight, the cards are wrapped, more trouble in Discovery's writers of realm, and JJ Abrams has something to say about Star Wars fans. All this and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight. Hello and welcome to the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. Now, I'll admit right here at the beginning of the show that my heart wasn't fully in this episode. You see, this episode falls at the end of one of the few vacations I get from my night job. And my wife and I were going to go to Wizard World Tulsa this past weekend, but we canceled it because the fridge died. And so we had to buy a new one. And yeah, it we have an elderly dog, and you know, it we our our hearts just weren't in it. So this became a staycation. Uh but it wasn't all that bad. You know, we went to the Kansas State Fair, we saw it chapter two, and we went to a couple of good places to eat. By the way, if you'd like to help me get to more cons in the future, just go to the website and click on the donate link at the top of the page. However, that doesn't mean we don't have some news, so let's get on with some Star Trek news. Now we start Star Trek News today with Star Trek Picard, and it's a wrap. The production has wrapped up filming on season one, and we know this thanks to VFX supervisor Ant De Devoc Dev Ant Devo De Kovic, who posted on Instagram, quote, that's a wrap on Star Trek Picard, at least the filming part. All is left months of pro post-production. Thanks at Star Trek CBS, at Michael Chabon, Akiva, at Alex Kurtzman Official, and of course at Sir Pat's 2 for the experience. Also a big thank you to everybody who helped us onset with the VFX. Even that, for the most of the time, it was hard to imagine or understand the things that we ha that we do. Can't wait for the world to watch the show and get their minds blown. The series comes to CBSL Access in early 2020. And one man who is breathing a sigh of relief is number one himself, Jonathan Frakes. Speaking at Fan Expo Canada, Mr. Frakes admitted that after spending so much time behind the camera as a director, he was nervous about acting opposite Patrick Stewart again. He said, quote, I haven't acted in a long, long, long time. I hadn't played Riker in 18 years, and I've been very fortunate to be busy directing. I acted briefly in a movie in Winnipeg about ten years ago, and I had a major anxiety attack because, for whatever reason, I'd forgotten to act. I forgot how to act. It was not a pretty picture for a few hours. I got my bleep together and ended up doing fine. I just I had just directed two episodes of Pepard with Sir Patrick, and as I said, his acting muscle was well toned, and Marina Certis had just closed having starred in a play in the West End in London, so I knew she was going to be in good form. So I was a nervous wreck. It ended up being very well, but don't let anybody tell you it's like getting back on a bike. That's bull bleep, that's acting bull bleep, unquote. He was excited to direct the third and fourth episodes of the series, saying, quote, eighteen years later, I think the fans are going to be thrilled and excited and surprised. I have had the privilege of reading the first couple of episodes, and I have spent some time with Patrick, who is so engaged. Laughing. Sorry, it's wonderful. It's smart. I'm excited about it. He is obviously more excited. He is his announcing of it at Las Vegas, which I believe was his idea, was very smart. You know, he is 78, and he is going to be carrying the show on his shoulders, his considerable shoulders. I'm excited for him and personally I feel so blessed to bet to be back. It's so ironic that I spent so many years trying to expand where I was working, and I was lucky enough to get into one into an other types of shows. The directing has been a mitzvah for me to learn another craft, and now I am deeply ensconced in the world I was in 31 years ago. I've got to say, incredibly grateful for it, because the Orville and Discovery and Picard, and hopefully the Empress Georgeot show, unquote. That wasn't all Mr. Freaks had to say at Fan Expo Canada. He also discussed season three of Discovery, saying, quote, I can tell you this much about season three of Discovery. It is in fact much more optimistic. They've gone themsel gotten themselves out of the mirror universe after Gene died. Some of the writers decided that Deep Space Nine should maybe take a different tone, which I think it did a certain it did to certain degrees of success. The optimism that Gene infused in all of his shows and in all of us may not be as obvious as it once was, but it's certainly the driving force of his vision and the franchise, and Alex Kurtzman and all the people who run our shows are very conscious that Canon is important to all of you and all of us. JJ Abrams' movies, I thought, were very uplifting and wonderfully told stories. There needs to be conflict to make drama. So I'm here to share that Discovery certainly is taking a more optimistic, traditional Star Trek approach in next season. Wait, wait. Wait, they're they're uh conscious about canon? Really? Really? Well anyway, Discovery season three jumps nine hundred and thirty years into the future, but arrives sooner than that next year. Now, Ethan Peck, who played Spock in the last season of Discovery, is still hoping for a Captain Pike spin-off. Speaking at the TiconderogaCon in Tygo Tycogar Tychonderoga, New York, the most recent Mr. Spock said, quote, So hopefully Anson Mount Rebecca Remain and I are all hoping to have a spin-off of our own and we can do all of this proper. He also told the audience that his eyebrows were fake, but his beard was his own. Quote, about a month before I went out to start filming, Alec Kurtzman, the showrunner, who became the showrunner as I joined the show, he was like, don't shave. When he told me that Spock was going to have a beard, I was like, oh shoot, I'm gonna be Spock with a beard. People are gonna absolutely smash me online, and of course a lot of people did, which is fine, it to be expected. People are going to think what they're going to think, and I can't control that, so I just do my best. And I thought it'd be gone in an episode or two. I think Alex liked it so much, and I think they were still developing the end of the season in the writer's room when I joined, it stayed. And I'm so glad it did. Unquote. Spock and number one will be back in one of the new short tricks coming soon. And just when I thought I was done with this episode's Discovery News, this past Friday, the Hollywood Reporter dropped news that author Walter Mosley has quit Star Trek Discovery's writer's room after he used the N-word in the room. Moseley, who is who is black, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times in which he revealed that he quit after being chased chastised by human resources for using the word on the job. Mosley had been recruited for the writers' room by Alex Kurtzman. Mr. Kurtzman and showrunner Michelle Paradise were informed of the complaint by the Human Resources Department. Mr. Mosley's op-ed read, quote, Earlier this year, I had just finished with the snow with the Snowfall Writers' Room for the season when I took a similar job on a different show at different network. I'd be in the new room for a few weeks when I got a cut the call from Human Resources. A pleasant sounding young man said, Mr. Mosley, it has been reported that you use the N-word in the writer's room. I replied, I am the N-word in the writer's room. Mr. Mosley went on to explain in the op-ed how he was told that although it was alright to use the word in a script, it was not alright to say it. Apparently, he had used the word in the telling of the story about a cop who had used it. He also said that he was unaware who had complained. CBS, in response to the op-ed, put out a statement saying, quote, We have the greatest admiration for Mr. Mosley's writing talents, and we are excited to have him join Star Trek Discovery. While we cannot comment on the specifics of confidential employee matters, we are committed to supporting a workplace where employees feel free to express concerns and where they feel comfortable performing their best work. We wish Mr. Mosley much continued success, unquote. Ms Mr. Mosley decided to resign because, in his words, quote, my answer to HR was to resign and move on. I was in a writer's room, trying to be creative while at the same time being surveilled by unknown critics who would snatch who would snitch on me to a disembodied voice over the phone. My every word would be scrutinized. Sooner or later I'd be fired or worst. Silence. Unquote. Walter Mosley is a best selling writer, widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written four sci-fi books Blue Light, Future Land, Nine Stories of an Eminent World, The Wave, and 47. I hope Mr. Mosley well in his future endeavors. Presidential candidate and new and New Jersey Sander Corey Booker is a trekkie. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Booker revealed how his father first introduced him to Star Trek and how Gene Ronbre's vision of the future informed his 2020 presidential bid. He also revealed that his favorite Star Trek captain is Jean-Luc Picard. He told the Times, quote, because his great haircut, I do love how profoundly intellectual he is and how reasoned and thoughtful. I was just re-watching the episode with him and Wesley Crusher, basically the one where Wesley is leaving and they get trapped and Picard is injured. He is incredibly affectionate toward him in a very restrained British way. You s you could still see that he is still a nurturing leader. There is something about his style that I've just found compelling. Here's seeing how far Cory Booker can can boldly go in his presidential run. Now, let's go on to some Star Wars news. Roger, Roger. Solo, a Star Wars story, almost had a new character, Lando Kalrizian's brother. Jonathan Kazdan confirmed that this bit of trivia on Twitter. The character actually appears in a UK Han Solo sticker book. Kazden then filled in the details, quote quote, Corso, the kel the muscle in Beckett's crew, who died in battle shortly after they crash landed on Mimben. Corso was in every draft of the script, including an early version where he was Lando's big brother, and every cut of the movie till just before Locke, wh when he was ready removed to simplify. Unfortunately, he will probably never see this brother has a sequel to solo, as that seems unlikely. Maybe they could use him in The Mandalorian or one of the other new series. Now, while I brought up the Mandalorian, we have some news that Giancarlo Esposito spoke to IGN about his character on the show, Moth Gideon, and his role in the wake of the Empire's dissolution, saying, quote, He certainly looks villainous, we don't know. Could be, could be for good, could be for evil, could be the conqueror, could be the savior. We all need order in our world, and this is an empire that's fallen. It has no order. Moff Gideon's very, very intelligent, very knowledgeable, he's very particular about his operation and what he does. He's certainly rising, he was an imperial soldier before the empire fell, and uses all of what he's learned and has been risen through and has been rising through the ranks because he has some sense of order. But yet he can be cruel and he will not withstand fools, and he's a traveller, he gets around and knows everything, and knows and knows and no one knows why. Unquote. Sounds like with the Empire Gone, Gideon is busy setting up an empire of his own. Additionally, in a feature in Entertainment Weekly, showrunner John Favreau described the setting for the show as quote, it's like after the Roman Empire falls or when you don't have any centralized showgun in Japan, and of course the Old West, there when there wasn't any government in the areas that had not yet been settled. Those are also cinematic tropes in films that originally inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars. We also learned about IG 11 in the article. The character who bears a resemblance to IG 88 from the original trilogy is voiced by Taka Watiti. He said that quote, IG 11 is very innocent and naive and direct and doesn't know about sarcasm and doesn't know how to lie. He's like a child of a gun. Child of the gun, naive. You know, you know that sounds like a really bad combination. JJ Abrams had something to say about Star Wars fans, and it's not an expletive. Speaking with Marvelous TV during the D-23 Expo, he said, quote, You have to be grateful for them, because you don't want to be working on something no one cares about, and you don't have to understand that they've got their opinions, and of course, you have to value them. You're never going to please everyone, you have to know that going on that going in, and just do the best you can. I'm nothing but thankful as someone who considers myself a fan. I can't wait to see the see the film, unquote. Now, talking to the Associate Press, he also made it very clear that Rise of the Skywalker won't be any kind of course correction from Ryan Johnson's Last Jedi, saying, quote, The story that we're telling, the story that we started to conceive when we did the Force Awakens, has allowed was allowed to continue. Episode 8 didn't really derail anything that we were thinking about. But I will say that the fun of this movie is that these characters are all together on this adventure as a group. That's the thing that I was most excited about to see. The dynamic between these characters, that these amazing actors play on this desperate Sea of Your Pants adventure, that to me was the most fun having the group together. In other words, sit back, relax, stop reading haters stop reading things that haters post online, and just enjoy the show. He didn't say that, I did. Anyway, uh while one thing that just about every Star Trek fan of Star Trek Star Wars fan can agree on, is a love for John Williams's Star Wars store scores. Mr. Williams began work on that score for The Rise of Skywalker this summer and recently talked about it at one of his concerts. Terry Metallas, the showrunner for Syfy's 12 Monkeys, shared a clip of Williams' remarks from the concert and put it up on Twitter. Mr. Williams said, quote, J.J. Abrams is directing a new film, and I agree he's doing a fantastic job, and I think I won't say anything about it spoiling the ending. I'll just put you all away. I think you'll love it. Yeah, I always enjoy his scores. He's one of my favorite composers. So The Galaxy's Edge is now open at both Disney World and Disneyland. If you've been there in the past month and want to go again, Disney is now offering a special contest to anyone who visited between August 29th and September 30th. The official at Star Wars Twitter account tweeted out quote, ready to go, ready to head, hashtag BackTubeBatoo. Find out more about the exciting new Star Wars hashtag Galaxy's Edge Sweepstakes, unquote. So here's the deal. Star Wars.com wants you to post to Instagram or Twitter photos from the Galaxy's Edge using the hashtags sweepstakes, Galaxy's Edge, and BackTubeBatoo. Plus tag uh at Walt Disney World. There is also a post on the Walt Disney World Facebook page where you can enter, and you can learn more at BackToBatoo.com. The Transportation Safety Administration, or as I call them, the Security Theater Department, has decided to reverse the ban on the Galaxy's Edge Coke bottles. The TSA recently had decided to ban people from bringing the Coke collectible bottles through airport security because the bottles looked like thermal detonators, a fictional explosive device. However, in a statement given to CNN, a spokesperson for the TSA said, quote, We have completed our review and instructed our officers to treat these as an oversized liquid. Because these bottles contain liquids larger than 3.4 ounces, 100 milliliters, they should be put in checked baggage or emptied to be brought in, brought on as a carry-on item. Unquote. These bottles are one of the most affordable souvenirs you can get at the attraction, coming in at a whopping five dollars and forty-nine cents. Now, let's go to some geek news. Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series is set to be adapted into a new TV series from A24 and producer Jennifer Fox. Deadline reports that the series had been optioned last year prior to Le Guin passing away. She had given her blessing for the novels to be turned into a series of films. However, that has been revisioned as a TV series. The Earth Sea Cycle spans a series of novels and stories beginning with 1968's The Wizard of Earth Sea. The series spans five novels. There's no word on where or when this show will air. Too expensive. That's what the Goonies stars Cory Feldman and Sean Aston were told by director Richard Donner about their pitch for The Goonies 2. Feldman told fans at Fan Expo Boston, quote, every year the rumor circulates, Goonies 2 is definitely gonna happen now. And we'll be like, no, it's not. But Richard Donner at one point started fueling it himself and went to the press. He called he used to call us and tell us we were going to back to work, and we'd all get get all excited, and then it wouldn't happen. Laugh. Donner Feldman was joking was jok with Donner, Feldman explained, was joking with everyone, but Aston and Feld and Feldman did sit down to work on a serious idea. They sat down and came up with a sequel idea and presented to Richard Donner, and Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg. However, though Donner loved it, he told them it was just too expensive and he wanted to go smaller. However, they both think Goonies 2 could still happen, more likely a reboot with cameos, but Feldman said, quote, They're making Ghostbuster 3, come on, if they can make Ghostbusters 3, they can make Goonies 2. So, are the Goonies good enough to get a sequel? Or should they just reboot it? And uh speaking of reboots, Paramount Pictures is set to reboot the Nicolas Cage John Travolta movie, FaceOff, with a reboot done by 22 Jump Street Rider or an Ozeal. This news was confirmed by the Hollywood Reporter. The original 1997 movie saw Cage and Travolta in a film where Travolta's FBI agent and Cage's terrorist trade faces via plastic surgery to mess mess with each other. Trust me folks, that's the simplest explanation I can I can make up. The new film will be produced by Fast and Furious's Neil Moritz, with David Permut serving as executive producer. No more details about the project has serviced. Now let's take a look at this weekend's past box office. Now, I'm gonna I'm gonna you'll you'll see in on uh the live feed they hear that I start number 13. If you go way down to the bottom, um Avengers Endgame is actually still making money, so it's still down there, way, way, way down to the bottom. But I'm not gonna go down that far. Uh let's start just with uh number 10, which is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It stayed at number 10. At number 9, falling down two slots is scary stories to tell in the dark. At number 8 is Ready or Not, which fell down from number 5. Uh Dora and The Lost City of Gold actually jumped up to number 7. It was number 11 last week. So I guess all the parents took the kitties to uh Dora. Overcomer uh starts out at number six. Uh this is a I think it's a religious film. So I'm betting that it will probably drop next week. Uh these films usually do fine the first week and then just plummet the following week. Uh Fast and Furious presents Hobbes and Shaw, uh comes in at number five, down space. The Lion King, still in theaters, is uh down from number three to number four. It's pulled in a total gross of domestically $529 million. So it's still doing pretty good. Uh Good Boys fell from number two to number three with five point four million dollars for the weekend. And uh it made back it's made back more than its budget, so I'm guessing we'll probably see Good Boys 2. Angel has Fallen, the next in the As Fallen line of movies, uh inexplicably fell from number two number one to number two, has made uh five point nine million dollars this weekend. Uh it's for a total domestic gross of 53.4 million. Uh that makes back its budget, so it's doing okay. But the number one winner, and I mean winner with a capital win, is uh it chapter two, which this past weekend made 91 that 91,062,152 domestically in in over uh 4,000 theaters, making an average in each theater of $19,926. It's total gross again, is it's at 91 million. So, and I'll probably do great domestically. So it chapter 2, great movie. You know, I highly recommend you going going to see it. And uh that brings us, of course, to the uh end of another sci-fi edition of multiverse tonight. Now uh be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as multiverse tonight as well. And uh go over to our uh c our coffee or Patreon. Uh you can find them at mtpodcast.com or go to multiverse tonight.com and check out our affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store, the show notes, again the donate button, and so much more. And uh if you're a subscriber, please be sure to share us with your friends. And if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave us with some feedback and let us know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro music theme. Thank you for watching the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just a couple of days with the comic book edition. Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night.