Karan Soni and Leslie Uggams are returning to Marvel’s Deadpool franchise to play Dopinder and Blind Al, respectively, in Deadpool 3!

Casting announcements for Deadpool 3 are heating up, and today we’ve learned Karan Soni (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Deadpool) and Leslie Uggams (Roots, Black Girl) will return for Wade and Wolverine’s wacky adventure! Soni plays Dopinder, Wade’s driver-turned-friend and eager sidekick, while Uggams plays Blind Al, Wade’s roommate, and confidant. They join Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, and Matthew Macfadyen for the highly anticipated Marvel threequel.

Corrin’s character remains a mystery, though we know she’ll star in a villainous role. As for Macfadyen, the Succession actor’s role has yet to be confirmed. However, sources say he’ll play a “third wheel” character to Wade and Wolverine.

Shawn Levy will be entering the franchise with this entry as the director. Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese will write the screenplay, who will work from a previous draft by Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. Also, this being the first Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation of Deadpool, Kevin Feige will join the project as a producer along with Reynolds and Levy.

Plot details for this film are not yet known and will be kept secret in true Marvel fashion. Not only will this be the first time the rated R property will be working within the official Marvel Studios brand, but this marks a surprise performance by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine since he donned the claws for the James Mangold-directed Logan. Addressing fans, Reynolds and Jackman said the events of Deadpool 3 would not change the outcome of Logan, in which the Canadian superhero died during the film’s finale.

Dopinder and Blind Al’s return to the franchise should be music to the ears of Deadpool fans. Although their screen time was brief, both characters added plenty of laughs and heart to the R-rated superhero romp. I wonder if either will play a more significant role in future events. Will Dopinder be upgraded to a proper weapon-wielding sidekick? Will the cantankerous Blind Al use her charm and marksmanship to put bad guys in their place? How will either character react to the heated bromance between Deadpool and Wolverine? I have so many questions and look forward to seeing how this all shakes out.

Are you excited for Soni and Uggams to return to Marvel’s Deadpool franchise? Let us know in the comments!

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every day of the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. Today’s Free Movie of the Day is the 2019 action film Rumble Strip, and you can check it out over on the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

The feature writing and directing debut of Jack Littman, Rumble Strip has the following synopsis: In the near future, man has accomplished two things: The colonization of distant planets and the total destruction of Earth. After a generation of darkness, plant life is finally returning. SPHERECorp., a group of disbanded government entities rose to power using the remaining population as prisoners to mine and ship materials to the stars. When an ex-mercenary’s love is kidnapped, he must rescue her from the last dictator on the planet Earth.

According to the synopsis on the film’s IMDb page, that dictator also happens to be the ex-mercenary’s father.

Littman, who has acting credits going back to 2007, stars in Rumble Strip alongside Anna Khaja, Mark Adair-Rios, Richard Azurdia, John Bader, Paris Benjamin, Serina Paris Bernstein, Jonathan Cahill, J. Marvin Campbell, Clarie, Hugh Dane, Lisa Denke, Dylan Dovale, Ksusha Genenfeld, Richard Hench, Cord Jackman, Gregory Littman, Gray Palmer, Tina Preston, Autumn Randolph, Darrett Sanders, Donnie Smith, Jeff Torres, Michael Shamus Wiles, and Forrest Witt.

Jack Littman also composed the film’s score. Gregory Littman was the producer.

So take a look at Rumble Strip – it’s free! – then let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below or on the YouTube page.

The movies that have previously been featured as the Free Movies of the Day can be found at THIS LINK, and also on the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel.

Ike Perlmutter, the controversial mogul who orchestrated Marvel’s sale to Disney, is no longer with the company.

Ike Perlmutter, the controversial former head of Marvel Studios, is no longer with Disney. According to a story on THR, the move came following a failed proxy battle where he was allied with Nelson Peltz. This fight was dropped following a strong quarterly turnaround in the company’s profits under Bob Iger. Perlmutter famously acquired Marvel in 1998 and helped orchestrate the company’s sale to Disney for $4 billion in 2009. Perlmutter has been a controversial figure over the years and hasn’t been a part of Marvel Studios since 2015, following a public feud with Kevin Feige. Instead, he controlled Marvel Entertainment, but the unit has now been folded into other parts of the company.

Feige and Perlmutter have had a fraught relationship for years, with it recently revealed that at one point, Feige considered leaving the studio altogether. Indeed, Bob Iger recently revealed that Perlmutter wanted to fire Feige, but Iger arranged things so that Feige would no longer have to report to Perlmutter.

Perlmutter’s removal is unlikely to change much going forward for Marvel, as he hasn’t been a force within Marvel Entertainment in some time. While controversial, it should be noted that Perlmutter was instrumental in launching Marvel Studios as a filmmaking powerhouse, so he deserves some credit there. All of this comes along at a fraught time for the studio, with top Marvel executive Victoria Alonso recently being fired, along with the mediocre box office and fan reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This film was supposed to launch Marvel Phase 5. Indeed, the big bad they’ve set up, Kang, has also become a bit troublesome for the studio, with actor Jonathan Majors recently being arrested in NYC, although he maintains his innocence. It looks like things at the House of Mouse are being shaken up, but then again, Marvel’s track record has been pretty exceptional thus far, so fans shouldn’t be all that concerned.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2 won’t be finished in time for a Venice premiere like the first film, but should still play a fall festival.

Warner Bros has had a lot of luck with one particular fall festival route – a world premiere at Venice followed by a North American premiere at TIFF. Indeed, this particular route paid off, big time, for A Star is Born, Joker and Dune, but it looks like a Venice bow for Dune: Part 2 isn’t in the cards. As Deadline explains, the film won’t be ready to premiere on the Lido at the end of August due to the complicated VFX work. The film is still on track to meet its early November global launch, and Deadline says the studio still hopes for a fall festival bow.

If the studio wants a high-profile launch, they only have two options, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. TIFF runs from September 7th to the 7th, just a few weeks after Venice, so it seems unlikely the film will be able to make this festival, although it’s still possible. A TIFF bow would make sense for Dune: Part 2, given that the director, Denis Villeneuve, is Canadian and has brought many of his films to TIFF, including Prisoners, Sicario, Enemy, Arrival and, of course, Dune. It would be more unusual not for him to hit TIFF, so I imagine the film will premiere there if it’s at all possible. If not, NYFF remains a possibility, and indeed it would be quite a coup for the festival, as the sequel is one of the year’s most anticipated movies.

Dune: Part 2 sees the return of the first film’s sprawling cast (those that survived the first film anyway), which includes Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem and more. They’re joined by a whole bunch of extra A-listers, including Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken (yeah!) and Austin Butler, who will play the iconic bad guy once played by Sting, Feyd-Rautha.

Dune: Part 2 is set to hit theaters on November 3rd.

Eddie Murphy is eyeing a role in Tim Story’s upcoming film, The Pick Up. The plot revolves around a smitten man who joins a heist.

Amazon Studios has its eye on the prize for The Pick Up, a new film project with Eddie Murphy circling the lead role. The project is from director Tim Story (Fantastic Four, Barbershop), with John Davis and John Fox producing through Davis Entertainment. In addition to eyeing the lead, Murphy is in talks to produce alongside Charisse Hewitt-Webster through Eddie Murphy Productions.

The Pick Up is being developed from a spec script by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider, with Story also lined up to produce. The package is going for big bucks, with bids for the script climbing to seven figures. According to Deadline, sources close to the project say The Pick Up is a heist comedy with Bad Boys vibes. If Murphy agrees to star in the film, he’ll play a character who falls for a woman and finds himself pulled into a heist attempt. Burrows and Mider have another spec script out in the wild called Shots! Shots! Shots! Universal snapped up that project with Jason Momoa starring and Dan Lin producing.

Eddie Murphy and John Davis are well-acquainted after working on five films together, including Dolemite Is My Name, Daddy Day Camp, Norbit, Dr. Doolittle 2, and Doctor Doolittle.

Although he’s still active around Hollywood, Murphy chooses his acting projects carefully. After knocking Dolemite Is My Name out of the park, he reprised his iconic role as Prince Akeem for Coming 2 America at Amazon. His latest comedy, You People, finds Murphy playing Akbar, a father who is apprehensive about his daughter marrying into a White family. Kenya Barris directs You People, with Murphy, Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Sam Jay, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nia Long, and David Duchovny starring.

Tim Story has a touch-and-go history when it comes to directing. While his Fantastic Four movies are the subject of constant debate between Marvel fans, Barbershop remains a classic comedy starring an ensemble cast of outstanding players. His latest film, The Blackening, revolves around seven Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror help them stay alive? Probably not. By the way, The Blackening looks amazing! Be sure to check out the trailer (posted above).

We’ll give you more details about The Pick Up as the project develops.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie has set a global streaming release date on Apple TV Plus following it’s rave reviews at Sundance.

One of the most moving films I caught at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was, without a doubt, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. A deeply personal journey through the actor’s career and battle with Parkinson’s, director Davis Guggenheim made a real crowdpleaser that should become a big hit for Apple TV+. Now, the streamer has set the film for a May 12th debut, so audiences can see this inspiring documentary for themselves soon.

The documentary is riveting, with Fox uncommonly open about his battle with the disease. He allows Guggenheim and his crew to see him at his worst, when his meds have worn off, which is quite powerful as Fox, typically, is on enough medication when he makes public appearances to manage his symptoms pretty well. His goal with the documentary is to show people the truth about his illness, but here’s the thing – it sounds depressing but it’s not. Michael J. Fox hasn’t an ounce of self-pity in him, and the movie celebrates his life and career, with Fox still, as he titled his autobiography, a “Lucky Man.”

The movie takes us through his daily routines as he fights the onslaught of symptoms each and every day, but we also see his life story, told through clever re-editing of clips from his movies and TV shows. Fox is pretty open about a serious bout with alcoholism he had around the Doc Hollywood years, which is when his symptoms started to manifest themselves, and how his feature career ground to a halt in the mid-nineties before he launched a big comeback with Spin City. He also tells a ton of stories about making the Back to the Future trilogy and Family Ties (at the same time) and explores what it was like being one of the biggest stars of the eighties, all with a healthy dose of modesty and good humour.

You can read my review here, but suffice it to say Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a must-see.

HBO’s Barry Season 4 trailer finds Bill Hader’s iconic killer behind bars but still affecting the lives of others trapped in his web.

The curtain is closing on Barry, HBO‘s dark comedy series about a hit man from the Midwest who moves to Los Angeles and falls in love with the stage. HBO released its Barry Season 4 trailer on Wednesday, featuring Bill Hader’s irredeemable character losing his grip and creating chaos, even behind bars. The Emmy-winning series returns with the first of eight episodes on April 16, 2023, on HBO, with new episodes every Sunday until the May 28 series finale.

Here’s the official logline for Barry Season 4:

Cousineau (Henry Winkler) is hailed as a hero as Barry’s (Bill Hader) arrest has shocking consequences. It’s all been leading up to this – Barry’s explosive and hilarious final chapter.

That description isn’t much to go on. HBO may be trying not to spoil the events, but still, talk about crumbs. In HBO’s Barry Season 4 trailer, Barry (Bill Hader) is remorseful about his actions while rotting in prison. As Timber Timbre’s “Run From Me” plays, Barry loses his grip and begins punishing himself for past mistakes. While Barry stews in a mess of his own making, his friends and enemies try making a new path for themselves, away from Barry’s influence. However, even though Barry is in prison, the fallout from his actions is rippling through his old life. Soon, no one will be safe from the aftershocks.

The Emmy-nominated cast of regular players for Barry includes Stephen Root as Monroe Fuches, Sarah Goldberg as Sally Reed, Anthony Carrigan as Noho Hank, Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau, and Robert Wisdom as Jim Moss. Returning recurring guest cast includes Michael Irby as Cristobal; Fred Melamed as Tom Posorro; Andrew Leeds as Leo; Jessy Hodges as Lindsay; new guest star Patrick Fischler as Lon Oneil.

Barry was created by Alec Berg and Bill Hader, executive produced by Bill Hader, Alec Berg, Aida Rodgers, and Liz Sarnoff, co-executive produced by Duffy Coudreau, and produced by Julie Camino. Hader directs all eight episodes of Barry Season 4.

Are you excited about Barry Season 4? Will the series end on a high note? Let us know in the comments section!