Total Eclipse of the Obituary

Cold Open And What’s Ahead

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Tonight, it's a death heavy episode, as we remember, actor Michael Byrne, actress Annette Bauer, Disney Legend Don Iwerks, singer Bonnie Tyler, and actor Sam Neal. Plus, what Geeky Shows got Emmy nominations, and more. All that more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight. Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, your source for Geek News. We dissect films, games, comics, and much more, bringing you insightful commentary on OpHology. This is Multiverse Tonight. Now, here's your host, Thomas Downley.

Summer Check In And Health Tech

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Well, hello and welcome to episode 269 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm your host, Thomas Downley. And, well, summer's here in full effect. Uh you know, 90s, 90 degrees all week, dry, you know, hot. Even a little muggy there and here and there. So uh Yeah, it's not a great time to be doing anything outside. Um not a lot of news for me personally. Um you know, I've been you know keeping trying to keep myself fit, you know, lose lost a little weight. So that's good news. And I've been trying to get a get a hold of my um digestive tract. I have a new device that I blow into and it tells me uh how much uh how much of methane and hydrogen are in my breath, so I can like correlate my digestion to how I'm eating and what I'm doing. So it's given me a little bit of insight.

DC Crime And Gorilla Grodd Rumor

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But uh anyway, let's go on to the DC Comic News. Jimmy Tatro is in talks to join the live-action Superman spin-off series, DC Crime, in the role of Gorilla Grodd. Sources close to the production, fulldeadline.com. The news arrives before the Jimmy Olson series officially has received a green leg. Now, DC describes the character as a hyper-intelligent telepathic ape who has sought to rule both the Simeon and human worlds, though the Flash has frequently thwarted his plans. Now, DC crime is built as being akin to a true crime docuseries, with Jimmy Olson from Superman hosting, played by Skylitter Glizondo from the summer blockbuster directed by James Gunn. Season one, reportedly, will be centered around DC bad guy Gorilla Grodd, who often wrestles with the Flash, a Grod who psychic powers and other skills after his encounter with an alien spaceship. The character was created in 1959 and has even starred in the former DC Aeroverse. Now, DC Crime comes from Tony Asinda and Dan Peralt, creators of Netflix's American Vandal series, a true crime satire series that ran from 2017 to 2018. Lil Wright, executive producer, and showrunner series. Now DC studio bosses James Gunn and Pierre Saffron will be executive producing, with Gallan Weisman overseeing production. Warner Brothers is, of course, producing.

William Shatner On Being Kirk

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Now let's go on to the Star Trek News. At 95 years old, William Shatner remains open to reprising his most iconic role as Captain James T. Kirk. Reflecting on his expansive career in an interview for TV Guide magazine's Star Trek The Captain Special Issue, Shatner discussed what it would take for him to step back onto the bridge of a starship. When questioned about returning to the character, Shatner explained that his motivation goes beyond financial compensation, quote, the longer I played Kirk, I was allowed to put various shades of character in there. He shared by a TV insider. He also noted that his current age brings a unique perspective well suited for leadership, quote, I think Captain Kirk, as the captain of the deadly instrument of war, as well as a some ship of peace, could reside in somebody like me very well. I mean, I still have the aggression and the instinct for battle, and I've gotten myself into very dangerous things. Shatner added that while aggression is a useful trait, acting provides a planning and smoothing of one's actions, making Kirk an even more effective commander at this stage of life. Now, of course, Shatner originated the role of Captain Kirk in 1966, 60 years ago when Star Trek debuted. Although the series ran for only three seasons and struggled initially, it spawned massive success in syndication, spawning the animated franchise, multi-decade film franchise, and you know, on and on and on and on. Now the character of uh Kirk has been interpreted by many actors, including Chris Pine in the uh Kelvin verse, Paul Wesley in Star Trek Strange New Worlds. So uh he expressed he also expressed that the show resonates because of its core concept that four centuries from now humanity will not only survive on Earth, but truly thrive. Now, Shatner's connection to space exploration extended into reality five years ago when he participated in Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spaceflight, earning the distinction of being the oldest living person to travel to the edge of space. Beyond Star Trek, his acclaimed career includes uh TJ Hooker, Danny Crayon the Practice, and Boston Legal, and uh, of course, a documentary called William Shatner, you can call me Bill. So um I hate to say this. I really don't need you know, William you you've you've earned your rest. Retire. Enjoy, you know, what is probably going to be the last two or three years of your life, if not more. I mean you could be the lucky one, you could get to get to the hundred year mark. But, you know, don't worry about, you know, doing that again. Just, you know, be you, which is pretty much what you're good at anyway.

New Projects From Horror To Reality TV

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Anyway, let's go on to the geek news. Paramount pictures' forthcoming animated feature based on the comic Freddie the 13th has scored an appropriate release date. The studio announced Thursday that was releasing the untitled animated film horror comedy movie from director Dan Tracktenberg on October 13, 2028, which naturally is a Friday. The Paramount animation film adapts Uhida Marcota Marcota's comic Freddie the 13th, with Marcota tapped to co-direct. Trackenberg and Ben Rosenblatt serve as producers of the film that starts on a family vacation that takes a bad turn when lovable Uncle Freddie accidentally kills the boogeyman and adopts his powers. The project was first announced last month during the Annecy International Film Festival, where Paramount touted the movie is delivering wholesome PG Red scares and laughs to the whole family. After the feature was announced, Marcato took to Instagram to celebrate getting to work with Trackenberg in the studio. Most of all, I'm grateful I never gave up on my dreams. Thanks, Paramount Animation. Let's get spooky, unquote. Trackenberg, who recently signed a first look directing and producing deal with Paramount, has experience with feature animation. He helmed Predator Killer of Killers, which launched on Hulu last summer and marked the first anime title in the Predator franchise. The filmmaker is also known for directing two other movies in the Predator series, 2022's Prey and last year's Prether Badlands. His television work includes Black Mirror, The Boys, and The Lost Symbol. Production on the second season of FX's Alien Earth has officially begun in London with Tracy Ullman, Sam Spurl, and Jerome Flynn joining the series. The project reunites Spurl, with series creator Noah Hawley, the British actor, also portrayed a role in the fifth season of Hawley's FX series, Fargo. The three cast members, new cast members will line up aside returning cast members Sidney Chandler, Alex Lautner, Timothy Oliphant, S.C. Davis, and others, as well as uh the pre the previously announced season two newcomer Peter Dinklage. As with the broader plot for season two, specific details regarding the characters Allman, Spurl, and Flynn will portray are currently being held under wraps. Netflix is officially passing go on its reality competition series based on the iconic board game Monopoly. The streamers greenlit the series, which comes from Studio Lambert and has a $2 million grand prize. This comes after Deadline.com revealed that the trader's producer had won the bake-off to produce the show, which saw around 50 production companies vie for the order. It's uh making the show with Hasbro Entertainment. Netflix has kicked off casting for the series, which was set to premiere next year. Now, this uh show will have some 12 contestants competing in a life-size, fully realized Monopoly Town Square. Per the log line, the players will enter on equal footing, but equality won't last long. To survive, contestants must accumulate everything or lose it all. Every negotiation, every decision, and every role could mean the difference between building an empire or going directly to jail. One by one, bankrupt players are eliminated until a single winner is left standing to take it all. Now, last year, Netflix struck a pact with Hasbro for the rights to monopoly. It was a priority project for the recently departed unscripted head Jeff Gaspin. And

Emmy Nominations For Genre Shows

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now let's turn to the Emmy nominations that were just announced. The top nominee was The Pit with 25. Hacks came in 24. But let's look at the list, at the uh what genre shows got nominations. Now I'm not going to tell you uh which specific awards they're up for because, well, that list takes too long. But uh Spider-Noir earned 11 nominations. Uh Fallout earned nine. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms also earned nine. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earned nine. Stranger Things earned seven. Jimmy Cole Live earned six. Millbrooks, the 99-year-old man, earned six. The Muppet Show, that's that one-time special that earned that uh showed on Disney Plus and on ABC as kind of a backdoor pilot, uh, earned six nominations. Wednesday from Netflix earned six. Wicked one Wonderful Night earned six. The Boys got five. The documentary John Candy, I like me, got five. And uh up for animated program are Bob's Burgers, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Smiling Friends, South Park, and Star Wars Visions. But the big winner of genre programming with uh 16 nominations was Vince Gilligan's Pleurus.

Remembering Character Actor Michael Byrne

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Let's get to our sad and happy duty and uh talk about those who have passed on. First off, the reliable, handsome, and widely admired character actor Michael Byrne, celebrated for his striking blue eyes, has passed away at the age of 82. Born in Hampstead, North London on November 7, 1943, to Helen Byrne, a single mother and cook from Kilkenny, Ireland, he attended the Anna Freud Nursery and Burgess Hill School, backed by the Freud Institute. He completed his training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and in 1962, while touring Ireland with the Arena Theatre Company, he met Carol Nimmens, who he married in 1965. Byrne's professional journey was highlighted by two distinct eras, starring with his 1963 casting and minor roles under Lawrence Olivier's National Theatre Company at the Old Vic. He performed alongside luminaries like Maggie Smith, Robert Stevens, and acclaimed 1960s productions, including Schaefer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Barquire's The Recruiting Officer, and Pinero's Fralani of the Wells. Parallel to Michael Gambon, he climbed from understudy roles to more substantial parts through a traditional repertory system, the total disappearance of which has since disadvantaged British theater. By the 1970s, Byrne moved into prominent stage roles across the West End, the Royal Court and the Young Vic. The noble highlights include his performance in Harold Pinter's 1971 Criterion production of Simon Gray's Butley with Laughten friend Alan Bates, and his depiction of Cassius to John Shrapnel's Brutus in Pierre Gill's 1980 staging of Julius Caesar at the Riverside Studios. John Sturgis's The Eagle Has Landed in 1976, written at Burroughs' A Bridge Too Far in 1977, and Guy Hamilton's Force Ten from Navarone in 1978. His film momentum carried forward into Christopher Hempman's The Good Father in 1985 and the evil role in Steven Spielberg's India Jones and The Last Crusade in 1909, where he played a brutal SS officer. In the 1990s, Byrne expanded his cinemac presence with roles in Braveheart, Pierce Brosen's James Bond adding Tomorrow Never Dies, and Brian Singer's Apt Pupil. On stage, he was featured in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden at the Royal Court, while Polonius played Polonius opposite Alan Rickman in Hamlet at the Riverside Studios, and portrayed the loyal servant Alfredo Armoso in Pierre Hall's direction of Philomena at the Piccadillage Theater. He also received extensive television recognition in Smiley's People with Alleginness and has Ted Page in Coronation Street, while scoring with film enthusiasts as the elder Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows, part one. Later in his career, Byrne spearheaded the trend of seniors occupying useful roles by portraying a 66-year-old Romeo in Tom Morris's 2010 adaptation of Juliet and Her Romeo at the Bristol Old Vic, alongside CN Phillips and Michael Medwin. His final theatrical engagements include playing Talbot and Schiller's Mary Stewart at the Duke of York's and appearing as Rupert Everett's production of Uncle Vanya at the Theatre Royale. Byrne, who died on June 20th, 2026, is survived by his daughters, Tara and Byrony, Briany and three grandchildren, and Carol, with for whom he was separated, but who minded him toward the end of his life. Michael Byrne was 82 years old.

Antoinette Bauer And Don Iwerks Legacy

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The talented German-born British actress and Antoinette Bauer, known for her notable roles in the Twilight Zone and Star Trek, passed away at the age of 93. She died on April 30th at a senior retirement home in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, as confirmed by her friend Carla Glacken. During her career, Bauer appeared in several films, including the horror movie Super Beast, Prom Night, and the action thriller The Evil Let Men Do. She became a familiar face on television through guest spots on numerous shows, including The Man from Uncle, The Fugitive, Columbo, and Murder She Wrote, as well as a role in the 193 mini-series The Thornbirds. Two of her most recognized roles were on classic television series. On The Twilight Zone, she portrayed Eve Norda in the 1963 episode Probe 7 Over and Out, opposite Richard Basehart. And Star Trek, she played the villain Sylvia in the 1967 episode Cat's Paw, alongside Theo Marcuse. Born on September 30th, 1932, in Baden-Baden, Germany. Bauer was educated in England and worked with the United Nations in the late 1940s to assist displaced people after World War II. After moving to Canada in 1953, she began her career in broadcasting and acting before eventually establishing herself in Los Angeles. Beyond her acting career, she was an accomplished craftsperson who studied carpentry and pursued documentary filmmaking. She is remembered by fans for her legacy in science fiction and classic television, and that Antoinette Bauer was 93 years old. Don Iwerks, a Disney legend who spearhead various cam camera and production systems for the company's parks and films, has passed away at the age of 96. iWorks was an innovator whose work brought the whole the Walt Disney Company to new technological heights, aiding in perfecting the sodium vapor process used in 1964's Academy Award-winning Mary Poppins, developing the 360-degree circle vision camera used to film America's Beautiful for Disney Parks, and implementing the product projection system for the fan favorite Star Tours attraction, among numerous other advancements. The achievements of Don Iworks and his family have shaped Disney's creative ethos and will forever be a part of the company's history. Unquote. Born on July 24th, 1929, IWorks was the son of fellow Disney legend UB IWorks, co-creator of Mickey Mouse. Eyeworks began at Walt Disney Productions in 1950 when he was a special photographic process laboratory technician. He was drafted into the Korean War, but upon his return, two years later, he returned to Disney. IWorks took his role as a camera technician physician in 1953 when he worked on his first feature film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He went on to lead the machine shop department, camera service department, and technical engineering and manufacturing division. The executive is particularly known for developing the 360-degree circle vision camera alongside UB. He also helped develop the sodium vapor process. After 35 years with Disney, he founded iWorks Entertainment in 1986. The company was acquired by SimEx Incorporated in 2001. In 1997, iWorks received the Gordon E. Sawyer Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors, then named a Disney Legend in 2009. Disney CEO Josh Damara said in a statement, quote, Don embodied that rare combination of heart, ingenuity, and passion that has always defined Disney. Through his innovative contributions to some of our most iconic films and attractions, he helped create experiences that have delight generations of fans around the world. All of us at the Walt Disney Company will miss him deeply, and we send our most heartfelt condolences to his family, whose enduring connection to Disney has helped shape its legacy for over a century. Don Iworks was 96 years old.

Bonnie Tyler And The Power Ballad Era

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Next up, Bonnie Tyler, the powerhouse Welsh vocalist behind Indelible A's hits like Total Eclipse of the Heart and Holding Out for a Hero, has died at the age of 75. A statement posted on her website confirmed the singer's death, quote, Bonnie's family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for. We will issue a further statement shortly, but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy. Unquote. In early May, Tyler was hospitalized in Faro, Portugal, after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery. Over the next few days, Tyler's doctor put her on an induced coma to aid her recovery, while they later described her condition as seriously ill but stable. Tyler broke through in the UK and Europe with 1976's Los and Friends before crossing over to the United States in 1977's It's a Heartache. But her most enduring hit was 1983's Total Eclipse of the Heart. Since its release, the song has barely strayed from popular consciousness, popping up every time there's a noteworthy lunar or solar eclipse while remaining a potent evergreen karaoke classic. And a hell of a video. You gotta go see it, folks. Penned by Jim Steimon, best known for his work with Meatloaf, Total Eclipse of the Heart was a nearly seven-minute power ballad suffused with longing and yearning. Tyler had the vocal power and gravitas necessary to deliver this mighty hit, but the famous rasp in her voice also lent the performance that necessarily frayed Edge vulnerability. Quote, I poured my heart out singing it, he said in a 2023 interview with The Guardian. Born Gaynor Hopkins on June 8, 1951, Tyler grew up in a large with a large family in a small village underneath Wales. She described her mother in a 2025 documentary as a wonderful opera singer who only sang around the house, but could stop people in their tracks as they passed by the family's home. Tyler's siblings reduced her to a variety of music, and she religiously listened to the radio, developing a particular fondness for Tina Turner and Janice Joplin. Tyler never envisioned herself as a professional singer, but that changed after her aunt entered her into a local talent competition in 1969. After placing second, a nearly newly confident Tyler decision to be a backup singer for a local group and got the gig. Not long after, she formed her own band, Imagination. Tyler recalled in a 2005 documentary quote, we were working like six nights a week, every Week for peanuts, really, but we loved it. Anything was better than working in the fruit and veg that I did work in when I first left school, unquote. While singing with Imagination, a talent scout spotted Tyler and brought her to London to cut a demo. A few months later, RCA gave her a contract, and after choosing the moniker Bonnie Tyler, she released her first debut single, My My Honeycomb, in April of 1976. Though that song failed to chart, Tyler's follow-up, Lost in France, cracked the top ten in the UK and enjoyed further success across Europe. But around the same time, Tyler developed nodules on her vocal cords threatening her ability to sing. She underwent surgery, then had to endure six weeks of intense vocal rest, which included neither speaking nor singing. A self-admitted chatterbox, Tyler struggled to follow these rules, and one day while driving home with her mother, even Les left a frustrated scream. Her repercussions were significant. After I got my voice back, she said, I went into the studio for the first time and started singing. The band said, Whoa, your voice sounds great, Tyler recalled in a 2009 Guardian article, My voice was huskier than before and had more of an edge. It turned out losing my voice was not too treacherous for me, unquote. On Tyler's 1976 debut, The World Starts Tonight, her vocal tone was practically crystalline, but she returned on 1977's natural fourth with a rasp that would become her signature. The change was immediately clear on It's a Heartache, a major hit in the UK and Europe, that also broke in in the US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the next few years, Tyler released modest hits like 1979's My Gun, My Guns Are Loaded, and The World is Full of Married Men. In 1981, she released her last album with RCA, saying goodbye to the island, after she was after she began searching for a new label and career of direction. She signed with CBS and after expressing a desire to make music like Meatloaf, started working with his primary collaborator, Jim Steimon. In a 1983 interview, Styman admitted he was surprised Tyler reached out, noting a lot of Metal Acts were eager to work with him following the success of Meatloaf's Bad Out of Hell, but he also loved Tyler's voice, quote, one of the most passionate voices I ever heard in rock and roll, and believed her past records weren't really getting out what she was capable of. In an early session, Styman played Tyler, and in Procus track, he'd begun writing during a recent lunar eclipse. He described it more of a fever song about the darker sides of love, the eclipse serving as the perfect image to describe when someone is totally overwhelmed by love. Tyler understood immediately what an incredible song it was, and she put it on, and as she put it in a 2023 garden interview, she went on to recall a letter she sent a friend not long after recording Total Eclipse of the Heart. Quote, I recorded an incredible song today. The trouble is, it's so long I don't think anybody will ever play. Unquote. But as Tyler noted, as the song gained momentum, everybody loved it so much they played the full album version. Further bolstered by an immemorable video filmed at an old sanatorium in England, Total Eclipse steadily rose up the charts, eventually hitting number one on the Hot 100 in October and spending four weeks there. Total Eclipse of the Heart anchored Tyler's fifth album, Faster than the Speed of Night, which went to number one in the UK and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. Tyler also earned two Grammy nominations for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance and Best Rock Female Vocal Performance, although she went home empty-handed. While Tyler never had another song as big as Total Eclipse of the Heart, she followed it up with a run of memorable singles, including A Rockin' Good Way to Mess Around and Fall in Love with Shake and Stevens, Here She Comes, if you were a woman and I was a man, and loving you was a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it, with Todd Rundgren. The biggest of these, though, was Holding Out for a Hero, another Steinem connection cut for the Footloof soundtrack. Over the coming decades, Tyler continued to tour and recorded regularly, enjoying particularly strong and sustained support in Europe. One notable song was her 1995 cover of Air Supplies Making Love out of nothing at all, which incorporated samples of Tyler's mother singing an aria from Puccini's Madame Butterfly. In 2021, she released her 18th and now final studio album, The Best Is Yet to Come. A live action album from Berlin arrived in 2024. In 2025, Tyler even returned to the charts in France after partnering with David Guida and Hypayton for the single Together. When Tyler was hospitalized in Portugal, she was preparing to embark on yet another tour later that month. Tyler never lost her enthusiasm for performing or music, nor did her love ever waver for her biggest hit. During a total eclipse in 2017, she performed Total Eclipse of the Heart on a cruise ship positioned in the path of totality. And when the cosmic event occurred, again, Taylor gamely did the press rounds as the hit enjoyed a fresh surge in streams and even returned to some charts. Tyler wrote in 2009, quote, It's no good singing if you just want to be a pop star. You've got to work at it. Do it all for the love of for it. Not because you think it will make you famous. I never did that. I never thought about that. I advised wannabe singers to form a band, practice in your garage if you have to, but do as many charity or open mic nights as possible to get experience. You need that live experience. I sang for seven years before getting a record deal, and I was already loving what I was doing. Persistence is key. I was working seven nights a week for peanuts, but I loved it because any stage was better than the fruit and veg job I had. You have to have a genuine passion for the craft to sustain you through those years before you get lost and before you get lucky and get discovered. Again, Bonnie Tyler was 75 years old.

Sam Neill And A Five Decade Career

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And finally, tonight, this uh news just broke today. Sam Neal, the versatile actor whose career for more than 50 years was highlighted by three appearances in the Blockbuster Jurassic Park Jurassic World franchise, died on Monday in Sydney, Australia. He was 78 years old. A statement from the family says, quote, It was with immense sadness that the Wano family of Sam Neil shared the news of his passing on Monday, 13th of July, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected, but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free, they would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St. Vincent's Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss. Following the completion of principal photography for Jurassic World Dominion, Neil revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 angiommunoblastic T cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer, which would require him to take chemotherapy for the rest of his life. In April, Neil said he was cancer-free. Born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, Neil was a pioneering figure in the development of the film in The Antipods. He starred in Roger Donaldson's action film Sleeping Dogs in 1977, the first theatrical film to be shot in 35mm film in New Zealand. Two years later, he played the bedazzled, bewildered suitor of the unconventional, ambitious Sylvia Milvin in Gillian Armstrong's debut, My Brilliant Career. The film, one of the key works of the Australian New Wave of the 1970s, became a worldwide hit and established as stars and director internationally. He attracted further attention in a pair of horror films released in 1981, Omen III, The Final Conflict, its first major Hollywood production, in which he played the adult incarnation of satanic spot Damien Thorne and public and Polish writer director Andreas Zulowoski's over the top position, in which Neil and co-star Isabella and Janie played doubled roles in a stunning, agonizing body horror Statsarnalia. Neil scored a TV hit and a Golden Globe nomination as best actor in the mini as a in a miniseries and TV film in 1983, playing the real-life production agent Sidney Riley in the 12-part series Riley, Ace of Spies. It may have led work on this show that led him to become one of the top candidates to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond, but ultimately Timothy Dalton would be handled the role in 1987. Two features opposite Meryl Streep further raised his profile as a leading man. In Plenty, Aussie director Fred Shepchies, an adaptation of British Hare's play, he portrayed a British spy who rekindles a brief romance with a French resistance fighter. In the director's A Cry in the Dark, a drama based on a sensational Australian trial, Neil and Streep played a Prasitor and His Wife, agonized by the disappearance and probable death of their infant daughter. The actor portrayed wrapped the decade in Philip Noyce's popular suspense thriller, Deadcom, which paired him with another popular down understar, Nicole Kidman. In 1990, Neil was featured in a bona fide box office Smash, The Hunt for Bit October, the first adaptation drawn from Nickel from novelist Tom Clancy's series of Jack Ryan thrillers playing an officer on the titular Russian submarine commanded by Captain Mark Ramsey's Sean Connery, and being tracked by CI agent Ryan, who was played by Alec Baldwin. The feature grossed more than $200 million worldwide. The performer's next profile endeavors were not successful until the end of the world, when Wenders' uh catastrophically recut globe-trotting futuristic drama, which provided which proved to be a commercial catastrophe, and John Compner's misguided Chevy Chase vehicle, the comedy fantasy members of Memoirs of Invisible Man. However, Mate 93 proved to be Niels Animum Mirabolis. First, he starred in Jane Champions' uh period drama, The Piano, as the sadistic husband of a deliberately mute woman displaced with her daughter in 19th century New Zealand. The off-beat film became a critical and audience hit, grossing 140 million and and uh gave and uh gave Oscars to Hunter Packwin and screenwriter champion. That film's success was dwarfed by the to have Steven Spielberg science fiction thriller Jurassic Park, based on the Michael Crichton bestseller, which marked the about which marked the start of Neil's best-known character, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, who tries to save a group of terrified visitors to an island theme park after genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok. The film grossed 914 million on its initial release. Neil returns as Grant in two of the original features' five sequels, Jurassic Park 3 and Jurassic World Domination, the third of a second trilogy which marauding dinosaurs escaped Isla Nubar to terrorize the world. In an interview with Forbes, the actor said his amusement about his decades spanning work as a character, uh quote, I always think Alan Grant is like an old comfortable pair of boots. They've seen bare days, but they're really comfortable, and there's no way you'll get rid of those. Of course, you put on the comfortable boots and the hat, and you're back in it. What was familiar is that is what's true of all the Jurassic films. They're not dinosaur films. These are films about people, ordinary people like a paleontologist and a mathematician, but in very, very extreme situations. It's the people that generate these films. You can't have a movie with dinosaurs as the lead because the dinosaurs have very limited interest. They're j they just want to breed and eat things.

unknown 33:52

Unquote.

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After follow-up, uh Jurassic Park with the with roles in Disney's live-action rendering of the Jungle Book and Carpenter's HP Lovecraft's Homage in the Mouth of Madness, Neil bowed as writer-director with Cinema of an Ease, a short feature film of New Zealand cinema. He remained active in Aussie Cinema and Renette with Judy Davis in the 1996 political black comedy Children of the Revolution, but he balanced that work with major Hollywood productions like the sci-fi film Event Horizon, the expensive box office failure, but it was really interesting, folks. If you've never seen Event Horizon, watch it. It is trippy. And The Horse Whisper, the Western drama drawn from Nicholas Evans' popular novel, which collected more than 187 million internationally. On small screen, Neil played Kansas detective Alvin Dewey in the 1995 miniseries remake of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. His turn has Merlin as the in the Ethereum Wizard collected primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nods as the best actor in the miniseries or TV film. The Millennium bowed with The Dish, a comedy drama about Australia's role in the international space program that became the country's biggest box office hit. While audiences' hunger for Sorian thrills waned with Jurassic Park 3, Neil's second turn as scientist grant still drew 368 million internationally. Over the course of the decade, the actor increasingly busied himself in Australian and New Zealand-based film and TV productions. He was nominated for Best Actor at Honors for his lead role in the 2004 historical telephone Jessica, and he received similar kudos for his work as Cardinal Thomas Woolsey in the 2007 American miniseries, The Tudors. In Larry Years, one of his most notable roles came as the thorny foster uncle of a New Zealand juvenile delinquent in Hunt for the Wilder People, a 2016 adventure by the actor's Oscar-winning Countryman and writer-director Taike Watiti. Neal also took small roles in Waititi's Marvel installments, Thor Ragnarok and Thor Love and Thunder. His last screen appearances were in the Netflix series Untamed and Binge Original, The Twelve. He was born Nigel John Dermott Neal in Omaha County, Tyrone, and Ngred with his family to Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand at the age of seven, and took to calling himself Sam, a handle that stuck professionally. He never envisions a self an actor and was afflicted for years with a severe stutter. He ultimately began work on the stage while studying at Canterbury University and moved into acting professionally in New Zealand with TV work and short films before finally breaking through in Sleeping Dogs. Neil was uh twice divorced, is survived by his son Tim from his marriage to actress Lisa Harrow and his daughter Alina from his marriage to makeup artist Naroko Wantabi. He also adapted Wanatavi's uh daughter from from her first marriage and has a son in his early 20s, whom he put up for adoption, but was later reunited with in 1994. Again, Sam Neil was 78 years old. And

Where To Follow And Final Sign Off

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with that, and with that, uh, we bring is we bring this screaming to a halt. Uh at the end of the show, please be sure to check us out on social media or on blue sky at multiverse tom, uh, Twitter thread, Facebook, and Instagram at multiverse tonight. If you've gotten some value off the show or would just like to tell me the you know, prepare prepare my show better, whatever, head on over to multiverse tonight.com or you can find the Patreon and Kofi links, our show notes, our T Public store, leave us some feedback and so much more. If this is your first time listening, uh thank you very much. Go ahead and go back and listen to some of the interview episodes. Those are probably my best episodes. Um but uh while you're there, go ahead and share us with others. Please, uh special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outdoor theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse tonight is a production of Half Big Genre Productions, copyright twenty twenty-six. All right.