What Would the Great Bird of The Galaxy Say?

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Tonight. Can we expect a total shift from Discovery Season 3? Lots and lots of Star Wars news on this. Maybe the fourth. And Universal is in a spat with many feeling retains all of us and more on this edition of Multiverse. Tonight. May the fourth be with you. It's Star Wars Day, as I'm recording this. So uh I don't know about any of you listening outside of the United States, but here things are starting to open back up a bit. Uh spring fever's kind of set in, and uh that's not caused by COVID, that is. Uh people are getting out, they're fishing, they're camping, and some businesses are starting to back open back up with fault qualifications like uh social distancing, masks, cleaning routines, and so forth. I just wish they'd open they'd left the hair salons open yet, but I need a haircut. But anyway, let's get on with the Star Trek news. Alex Kurtzman is someone who can be seen as ooh, a devil or saint, depending on who you ask. He's partially responsible for the first two JJ Trek movies, and then he's the co-creator of Discovery. Now he's the head of the Star Trek franchise. So we might as well get to know him. The man sat down with the Star Trek Picard official Collector's Ma Edition magazine from Titan and opened a butt up about how Trek has taken over his life and his hopes that the great bird Gene Ron Bry would be proud of what he's done. About how involved with the shows he is, and he's in deep. Saying, quote, I very much enjoy it, my involvement. It's not just in the writing of it. I post all the shows, so that means I cut them and I'm involved all the way down to the color timing and mixing. That's a lot of work, but I'll show you how I enjoy it. My wife and son actually deliberately like to stay out of any knowledge of what I'm doing until it airs. So when it airs, we all sit down and watch together, and I see it fresh through their eyes, which is really fun because it's the culmination of all the work, and now we get to sit together as a family and enjoy it. And in a funny way, isn't that what Star Trek has always been about? People sitting together as a family and loving it? I'm not at the point where I'm eating, breathing, dreaming Star Trek, and I love it. I love it for one reason. The work itself is very challenging, but it's also some of the most satisfying work I've ever done. And I think that the reason why is because I'm recognizing and seeing in so many people that I make meet how critically important it is to their lives. I see that Star Trek has influenced people's lives in a real way. It's not just a form of entertainment, it's an inspiration for the kind of people they want to be, or the kinds of things they can can they choose to pursue in their careers, or the principles they want to live by. That's put such tremendous responsibility on our shoulders to deliver and to maintain that message, unquote. And what would he do if he could somehow meet Gene Ronberry, who died way back in 1991? Quote, it's funny. I think about that actually probably more frequently than I should, he laughed. I hope that he recognizes that, well, first of all, he'd probably take issue with me for the amount of conflict the characters have. I know that was a big thing he struggled with on Next Gen, but my hope would be that he would recognize now from his grand perspective in the sky how much that opened the door for Star Trek's endurance, and how much it's reiterated and changed, and yet has remained. I believe very true to his vision, there isn't really a day that goes by when we don't think very consciously about how he would want the messaging of Star Trek to go. And is what we're doing consistent with the messaging of Star Trek? Has he envisioned it? It's really important to all of you all of us. I hope he would appreciate it. I hope he would be proud. You can pick up that magazine on Amazon right now. And uh while we're talking, you know, Star Trek and Discovery, season three of Discovery will see a tonal shift for the series, according to Jonathan Frakes. Speaking with comicbook.com, quote, Discovery is primarily to do with Sneeko's character, as you'll see. At the end of season two, we flash forwarded, I think a hundred uh think nine hundred and thirty years. Michael Burnham has found a new core, not to mention a new partner in crime. So again, there's a big tonal shift on that show, less driven by the pain and guilt of her past, and more about the magical reunification of the Discovery crew and whether she and wherever she went off to. God knows where she went as the Red Angel. So those two things coming back together is very much the theme, and how grateful everyone is and what's next. It's got a lot of action, adventure, and not so much pain. Unquote. Now that partner in crime she was referring he was referring to is uh a new character played by David Ajala named Book. By the way, uh about Riker's appearance at the end of Picard. Frake's appearance was filmed on a redress Discovery Bridge in Toronto while he was busy directing one of his third season episodes. No idea of when Discovery Season 3 will show up, but by now most of those people who have cancelled their subscriptions would really like to know. You know, kinda kinda helps with that budgeting. Well, they say lawsuits never die. A while back, a district court ended the copyright lawsuit against comic mix's Oh the Places You'll Boldly Go, a parody of Dr. Seuss's O The Place You'll Go. Uh, which is, you know, a common book that has given out graduations to uh many uh unwilling seniors, I'm sure. That federal district court judge back in March of last year ruled that it was a parody and did make fair use of copyrighted material. Well, now it's gone to the next level, and that's the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and they're right now hearing the appeal. Now there are two big issues in the case. One, what is fair use? And two, what effect does fair use have on the potential market? Now there's a great article on the Hollard Reporter about this, and I'll have a link to that in the show notes, and when a decision is handed down, I'll let you know. Now let's go on to the Star Wars news. Now again, as I record this, it's May the 4th, Star Wars Day, so May the 4th be with you. And surprise! The Rise of Skywalker was released on to Disney Plus a couple of months early, just in time for the annual uh May the 4th Geek holiday. The Rise of Skywalker made more than a billion dollars worldwide. An impressive feat for any film, however, the film was the lowest the least profitable of the sequel trilogy, even lower than Rogue One, but higher than Solo. Now, we also have some breaking news. Star Wars.com has announced that Academy Award winner Tika Watiti will be directing and co-writing a new Star Wars feature film with Oscar nominated writer Christy Wilson Carnes. And in addition to that news, they also announced that Emmy nominated writer Leslie Headland is currently developing a new untitled Star Wars series for Disney Plus. Headland will write, executive produce, and serve as the showrunner for the series. The Cassian Andor series is busy staffing up. This time they've added actress Genevieve O'Reilly and Denise Gaug to the pre-Rogue One base show. O'Reilly will play the same role she played in the movies Mon Motha, Mon Motha. Miss Gao's character was still unknown. There is still no start date for production, but the series has had some shifts behind the scenes. The Hall Reporter has learned that Tony Gilroy, a co-writer of the Rogue One movie, will now showrun the show, replacing Stephen Schiff. Gilroy also will direct the first couple of episodes. Now are you a PlayStation 4 owner? You've been given a caution flag on the last lap, because last last episode I told you about the Star Wars Episode 1 Racer coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on May 12th. Well now PlayStation owners won't get that game until May 26th. Asper has posted on Twitter about the delay, saying, quote, we have an update on the launch of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. Unfortunately, we just learned that we have will have to delay the game on PlayStation 4 until May 26th. Unquote. Now, no reason for that delay was given, but it sounds more like it's on PlayStation's end than uh Aspire's End. Now, the world might be in a state of shutdown and restart right now. Kam mixing the two, but work does continue on the Mandalorian season two. Director Rick uh Famua told uh Vradti that, quote, we've been hunkered down in the post process. It's been a challenging and great experience so far, but it's good to have that to take my mind away from the daily madness that we're living in at the moment. Unquote. Now season two is due out on Disney Plus in October. And uh while we're on The Mandalorian, the merchandising train is going full speed. Uh my Walmart even has a little the child uh handheld uh toy that's about the that's about uh like th oh I'd say about two or two to three feet high that you can hold. Really cute. Now also on the they have come out with Star Wars, the Mandalorian the Child edition of Monopoly, with the child full face on the box. Now the game pieces are all of the child, and you will buy you'll play by buying and selling hideouts and common houses and using Camptono and Bounty Puck cards. Now the game will retail for $19.99. Now uh if you're a VR fan, the VR game Vader Immortal is coming to PlayStation VR this summer. All three episodes will be available for one individual purchase, giving fans the experience to the chance to experience Vader Immortal in its entirety. A canonical part of the Star Wars Galaxy, Vader Immortal, is a cinematic narrative adventure connected to the events of Star Wars Secrets of the Empire, also produced by ILM X Lab, and is set between Star Wars Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars The New Hope. And that takes us out of the Star Wars news. Let's get on with some geek news. Now, Chris Pine obviously needs something to do. Uh why not another franchise? Mr. Pine is currently in negotiations to star in a reboot of The Saint, based on the 1920s book series, which was turned into a 1960s series starring Roger Moore, pre-James Bond, and a 1997 film starring Val Kilmer. Which I actually own the soundtrack. I love that movie. The story is about Simon Templar, aka The Saint, a Robin Hood type character who travels the world. The film will be directed by Dexter Fletcher and is written by Seth Graham Smith. Paramount sees this movie as a potential start to a Mission Impossible type movie series. Now, no idea when production would start. And speaking of Mission Impossible, Mission Impossible 7 has been, well, pushed back four months from July 23rd to 2020 uh to July twuly twenty-third, twenty twenty one to November nineteenth, twenty twenty one. The July twenty third date will now be given to the sci-fi film The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt, which had originally been set open this December. The moving of Mission Impossible has also bumped Dungeons ⁇ Dragons to May 27th, 2022. Mission Impossible 8 has also been moved away from November 4th, 2022 to August 5th, 2022. So it actually got bumped up a few uh couple months. Now, AMC Theaters, when they open up, well, not everything will be in the theater. They won't be showing anything from Universal Pictures. First, AMC has announced that unless it has new product to show, it's not going to open any of its theaters, which seems to be a sentiment that's carried over uh to other theater chain owners. AMC is also in dire straits right now as their debt load might cause the theater chain to have to declare bankruptcy if it can't avoid avoid it. However, when they do open, they won't be showing anything from Universal, as AMC CEO Adam Aaron announced in a published letter to Universal Excuse me, Universal Chairman, Donna Langley, the source of this TIFF? Trolls World Tour. Yeah. That silly Trolls movie was originally going to be sent to theaters like all big movies, but instead was shunted to digital downloads when the pandemic caused theaters to close. And it's been a big hit in digital downloads, making Universal $100 million in rental fees since April 10th. So good that uh it was so good that NBC Universal CEO, Jeff Schull, told the Wall Street Journal that, quote, exceeded our expectations and demonstrated the viability of on-demand video, unquote. And that when theaters opened, they expect to release the expect to release things in both formats, implying that it would be released in theaters and in digital at the same time. Now, in response to those remarks, AMC will quote, no longer play any universal movies in any of our theaters in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East, unquote. AMC has also added that this was no idle threat. So if AMC is your only option for theater movies, I'd start writing those emails today. If you want to see the next Fast and Furious movie next year. Now also joining AMC in this universal boycott is Regal Entertainment, parent company, uh Cineworld Group, in a statement said, quote, Cinemorld's policy with respect to the window is clear, well known in the industry, and is part of our commercial deal with our movie suppliers. We invest heavily in our cinemas across the globe, and this allows the movie studios to provide customers all around the world to watch the movies in the best experience. There's no argument that the big screen is the best way to watch a movie. Univers unquote. Universal Unilaterally uh uh and they continue, Universal Unilaterally chose to break our understanding and did so at the height of the COVID-19 crisis when our business was closed. More than 35,000 employees are at home, and when we do not yet have a clear date for the reopening of our cinemas, Universal's move is completely inappropriate and certainly has nothing to do with good faith business practice, partnership, and transparency. Well, it it kind of sounds like uh the theater companies are just getting scared. Uh they're seeing, you know, they they've they're saying that, oh, what they've shunted all this stuff to digital, and we're not getting anything for, you know, for from from anything. So you know, I'm I'm sure they're they'll work this out, you know. Either, you know, a short a short window in in movie theaters like say a month, and then you put on digital, you know, something like that, I think would probably you know work out great for everyone. Now, from movie showing to movie making. Ryan Reynolds and Sean Levy are reteaming to a for a new untitled time travel adventure for Sky Dance. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie, which originally was called Our Name is Adam, will see Reynolds' character traveling back in time to help his 13-year-old self. Together they encounter their late father, who is the same age as Reynolds. The story is written by Jonathan Trooper, and the movie has been in and out of development at Skydance in Paramount since 2012 when it had Tom Cruise in the lead role. Now, time travel seems to be really popular. James Wan and Don Murphy are reteeming to up to adapt Hunting Season, a sci-fi time travel story by Frank M. Robinson. The script will be written by Derek Colstad and who wrote the who wrote the John Wick franchise. Hunting Season follows the story of a law officer from the future who is declared an enemy of the state and is sentenced to be executed by being sent into the past and stalked by a posse. The movie, The Man, is given a three-day head start to acclimate to the new time and find a way to s to survive. You know, it kind of sounds like looper, doesn't it? I uh yeah, I'm hoping that, you know, it's something more than more than just looper with the running man added to it. Hey, look kids, Orville News! The Orville season three is still on its way, uh coming to Hulu, and Jonathan Frakes has heard only good things. However, he won't be directing this season, revealing to comicbook.com that star and creator Seth McFarlane and producing director John Cesar will direct every episode of the season. However, Frakes is hoping to get to play in an acting way, saying, quote, I keep waiting for a phone call, I am available, I've got a beard, I would just like to be just like I hoped and dreamed of being on the Big Bang Theory. There's certain things, the absurdity factor, like the Pez Dispensers and the Garden Gnomes, certain benchmarks we all want to reach, unquote. Now, maybe I should bug uh Tom Costantino about that and see if he can make something happen. Or maybe we should all just bug him on Twitter. HBO is working on a brand new series based on the Hellraiser movies. The show would come from writers Mark Ver Verhayden and Michael Doherty and David Green David Gordon Green. Now this is separate from the movie reboot of the franchise that's coming from Spyglass Media. The show will be a continuation and expansion of the film series. So take that for what you will. And finally tonight, we say goodbye to actor Gene Dinarsky. Gene made a few appearances in the Star Trek franchise, first appearing as Minor Ben Childress in Mud's Women, then playing Krodak in The Mark of Gideon. He would return on The Next Generation as Commander Quinter Quinteros in the episode 1100-1001. His other roles include appearances in Close Encarts of the Third Kind, Duel, an episode of Batman as well, as and also as Seinfeld, The X-Files, The A-Team, Little House on the Prairie, and much, much more. He passed away in a rehabilitation center in Studio City, California on February 27th. He was 86 years old. We also say farewell to actor Sam Lloyd, best known for his role of Ted on Scrubs and Cougar Town. He passed away at the A uh He passed away on April 30th. He will be best known to genre fans for roles in 1997's Flubber and Galaxy Quest. He also had roles on dozens of shows from Night Court, The Seinfeld to the Drew Carey Show, the Third Rock from the Sun, The West Wing, Modern Family, and many, many more. Usually playing a very deadpan character. Sam was also an accomplished singer, singing in an a cappella group, The Blanks, and a Beatles tribute band called The Buddies. This past January, he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, which also became metastatic lung cancer. This spread to his liver, spine, and jaw. He is survived by his wife Vanessa, his one-year-old son Weston, and his uncle, Christopher Lloyd. He was fifty-six years old. And that will bring us to the end of the sci-fi news. Now be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as well. And if you'd like to contribute some money, please visit mtpodcast.com to go to our coffee, our Patreon, and now glow.fm links as well. And just go you can just go to Multiverse Tonight and hit the support me link at the top of the page. And be sure to visit multiverse tonight.com and check out the affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store now with face masks, and so much more. And if you're a subscriber, 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 how I'm doing. Well, special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro theme music. Thanks for watching the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with the co we'll be back in a couple days with the comic book edition. We'll be back in two weeks with a brand new sci-fi edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. 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