House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal says that Game of Thrones prequel series will come to an end with season 4.

The second season of House of the Dragon wrapped up on Sunday, bringing the Game of Thrones prequel series to its halfway point. That’s right, series showrunner Ryan Condal has confirmed that House of the Dragon will likely end with season 4.

In a virtual press conference moderated by journalist Joanna Robinson (via THR), Condal was asked if House of the Dragon would run five seasons. “No, I think it’s four,” he said. The showrunner also said that season three will start shooting early next year. As with the second season, the third is also expected to consist of eight episodes. Based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. You can check out a review of the second season from our own Alex Maidy right here.

The second season finale has come under fire from fans, who were annoyed that the episode came to an end seemingly before a massive battle was set to begin. Condal defended the move, citing resource management. “One of the challenges of making television at any scale [is] nobody has infinite time and resources,” Condal explained. “When you’re a showrunner, you’re always in the position of having to balance storytelling and the resources that you have available to tell that story. One of the things that came into play in season two is: What is the final destination of the series and where are we going? It was a combination of factors that led us to rebalance the season knowing now where we’re going. We wanted to rebalance the story in such a way that we had three great seasons of television [after season one] to round out and tell this story. When you’re trying to mount the show, which requires a tremendous amount of resources, construction, armor, costumes, visual effects … we are trying to give The Gullet — which is arguably the second most anticipated action event of Fire & Blood — trying to give it the time and the space that it deserves.“

Condal continued, “We are building to that event that will happen very shortly in terms of the storytelling, and it should be the biggest thing to date that we’ve we’ve pulled off. We just wanted to have the time and the space to do that at a level that is going to excite and satisfy the fans in the way it’s deserved. We also wanted to build some anticipation toward it. So I apologize for the wait, but … with the team that we have together, we’re going to pull off a hell of a win with The Battle of the Gullet.“

The next Game of Thrones prequel series is already shooting, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms expected to launch in late 2025, How do you feel about House of the Dragon coming to an end with season 4?

Robert Pattinson & Zendaya are in talks to star in The Drama, a new film from Dream Scenario director Kristoffer Borgli for A24.

Deadline reports that Robert Pattinson and Zendaya are in early negotiations to star in The Drama, a new movie from Dream Scenario writer/director Kristoffer Borgli for A24.

Plot details are unknown, but the story is rumoured to revolve around a “romance that takes an unexpected turn before a couple’s big day.” That unexpected turn could be just about anything. I’m down. After the success of Dream Scenario, which starred Nicolas Cage as a man who keeps appearing in other people’s dreams, A24 was keen to work with Borgli again. Zendaya showed a lot of interest in the project, and with Robert Pattinson also involved, the studio is making this a top priority.

Both Zendaya and Pattinson have very busy slates. Zendaya is finally expected to start working on Euphoria season 3 early next year. Pattinson is set to star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in Die, My Love, a thriller directed by Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here). The film takes place in a remote, forgotten rural area and follows “a mother who struggles to maintain her sanity as she battles with psychosis.”

Pattinson will next be seen in Mickey 17, a sci-fi movie written and directed by Bong Joon-ho based on Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. “Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey,” reads the novel description. “After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.” In addition to Pattinson, the film stars Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Holliday Grainger.

Beyond a short teaser released in 2022, we have yet to see much of Mickey 17. Our own Chris Bumbray did catch a new trailer for the film at CinemaCon earlier this year, with the consensus being that it could be “totally amazing or a complete disaster.” The release has been delayed several times, with some rumours saying Warner Bros. won’t let Bong Joon-ho release his director’s cut as they want to release a “more accessible” version. The film is currently slated for a January 31, 2025 release.

Pattinson is also set to collaborate with Smile director Parker Finn on a remake of Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession. At the moment, Pattinson will produce through his Icki Eneo Arlo production company, but he may also star in the film once the script and schedules develop.

The WWE’s annual “biggest party of the summer”, SummerSlam, could go the way of WrestleMania by becoming a full weekend event.

WWE’s SummerSlam event was full of surprises, with betrayal and returns that made for just the sort of dynamic storying that has been in full effect ever since Vince McMahon was forced out. Even though there were only seven matches, the event was stacked to say the least. So, could the WWE expand SummerSlam into a two-night event like they did with WrestleMania? Current CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque thinks it’s possible. Now, we just have one question for the WWE Universe: Are…You…Ready???

As Triple H said during a post-SummerSlam press conference, he can see not only the demand for a two-night event but also the necessity. “Who knows what the future brings? But I do think that, even tonight, seeing this SummerSlam seven-match card goes almost four hours, and yet there was a lot of stuff we could have put into this. Some people say, ‘Well, why wasn’t that in there?’ Well, because it would have been eight hours, and you still need stuff for Raw, you still need content for SmackDown. You still need all that stuff. As we continue to grow, we’ll take it step by step. So is this is the last SummerSlam that you see that is one night? I think so, but we’ll see where that goes long-term. I’m excited about that opportunity.”

Like WrestleMania, SummerSlam is one of the “big four” in WWE live events, alongside with January’s Royal Rumble and November’s Survivor Series. Personally, I think if any could work as a two-night event it would be Royal Rumble, especially since there have been two rumbles — a men’s and a women’s — since 2018, those matches alone taking up around two hours of airtime. Then again, with that being so close to April’s WrestleMania, which went to the two-night format in 2020. As such, perhaps SummerSlam — historically held in August — might be the best of the lot to expand the format for.

This past weekend’s SummerSlam had a number of notable matches and happenings, with Dominik Mysterio turning on Rhea Ripley, CM Punk back to in-ring action and the return of Roman Reigns, who had been on hiatus since WrestleMania XL.

Do you think SummerSlam is worthy of two nights or should it be kept at one? Lay the smackdown on us in the comments section below!

Everyone assumed Walker Scobell would play Kidpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, and he would have if not for one little thing.

When rumours first emerged that the Deadpool Corps would be appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine, fans naturally thought Walker Scobell would be a shoo-in for Kidpool, but it didn’t happen. According to director Shawn Levy, Scobell would have had the role if it weren’t for one little thing: puberty.

“If Walker Scobell had stopped evolving right before puberty, he absolutely would’ve been Kidpool,” Levy told Entertainment Weekly. “It was his dream. Ryan and I reached out to him once we realized he was now going to be too old, both too tall and with his voice too low. Puberty is what it is, and all the Hollywood dreams in the world can’t stop it. So we did call Walker and explain why he couldn’t be Kidpool, and he was completely understanding.“

Scobell played a younger version of Ryan Reynolds’ character in The Adam Project, and his love of Deadpool was no secret. He even effortlessly recited a foul-mouthed monologue from the movie. While it’s a shame he couldn’t play Kidpool in Deadpool & Wolverine, he has been busy starring in Percy Jackson & the Olympians, which has been renewed for a second season. Kidpool was voiced by Reynolds and Blake Lively’s 7-year-old daughter, Inez.

Taking place six years after the events of the last movie, Deadpool & Wolverine finds Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) toiling away in civilian life with his days as Deadpool behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, he must suit up once again and convince a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help save his universe. In addition to Reynolds and Jackman, the cast also includes Matthew Macfadyen, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Rob Delany, Stefan Kapičić, and more.

Our own Chris Bumbray had a lot of fun with Deadpool & Wolverine, which sounds like a real crowd-pleaser. “Have you ever been to a concert and wished that your favourite band would stop playing their not-as-good new stuff and play the hits? That’s exactly what Marvel is doing with Deadpool & Wolverine,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “After a rough run of movies, with many saying their Phase 5 has been disastrous, this feels like an everything but the kitchen-sink attempt by the company to win back those fans who feel alienated by the new direction the company seemed to be heading in. With this, you have a rock ‘em, sock ‘em thrill ride that delivers fans exactly the movie they wanted to see, with nary a message to be found amidst all the charred, sliced and diced corpses our heroes leave in their wake. It’s glorious fun.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s spoiler-free review right here, and don’t forget to let us know what you think of Deadpool & Wolverine as well!

The Terminator is the latest James Cameron film to undergo a major restoration, but it will be controversial.

James Cameron’s The Terminator is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, it’s the latest one of the director’s movies to get a radical 4K restoration done by Park Road Post, a post-production facility owned by Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films. This company is behind some of the most incredible, acclaimed restorations in recent memory, including Peter Jackson’s WWI documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, and his The Beatles’ Get Back documentary.

But they’ve also been controversial, with James Cameron using them to significantly alter the looks of several of his films as they hit 4K. Notably, each film had been completely wiped of any film-like grain, making them look more like contemporary films than those made in the 1980s and 90s. This was especially noticeable in Aliens, which always sported a grainy look due to the high-speed film stock used. With the AI-assisted transfer, Cameron made the movie look flawless, but this led to some consternation from purists, who claimed he was doing revisionist filmmaking.

This notion hit a fever pitch when the long MIA True Lies finally hit 4K, which looked radically different than in the previous transfers or theatrically. For that one, Cameron used Super35 film stock, which allowed him to shoot in a spherical format, making it easier to do pan and scan transfers back in the VHS era without simply lopping off the sides of his image. The downside to this technology was more film grain, but when it hit 4K, you’d swear True Lies was shot using the latest technology. The transfer was so controversial here on JoBlo that film preservationist Robert Harris, who gave the transfers high marks, wrote to us to clarify what was happening with the Cameron transfers, writing, “The work performed was a re-visualization. An entirely new digital product, which (to varying degrees of success) appears to have achieved Mr. Cameron’s goals.’

Some fans love the new Cameron transfer, but many fans hate them. Whatever the case, Cameron’s The Terminator has now undergone a similar “re-visualization,” which I caught theatrically yesterday. Note that The Terminator was a low-budget movie by 1984 standards, with Cameron shooting the film using a 1:85:1 matted aspect ratio. It was never as visually polished as the director’s latest films, and to be sure, Cameron hasn’t done anything too radical with the transfer here. It doesn’t suddenly look like it was shot with IMAX cameras (like True Lies), nor is it as wildly re-imagined as Universal’s recent Jaws 3 restoration.

However, the film has no grain whatsoever, and it looks pristine in a way that the film never looked back in 1984. To me, this is Cameron’s prerogative, as given how timeless the film has become, he probably wants it to look as good as it can for younger generations. I honestly thought it looked really good. My issue with the restoration has more to do with the sound mix than anything.

The Terminator was initially shot in Mono, but in the early 2000s, Cameron had the film remixed in Dolby 5.1, and it sounded a lot different than it did initially. The new restoration has a similar sound, with some of the SFX sounding “too new” in a movie shot in 1984—another movie with that problem is Tim Burton’s Batman. If Cameron had included the original mono track in the UHD release, I wouldn’t have cared, but the mono track has been unavailable for some time. 

In the end, The Terminator’s 4K release will undoubtedly prove to be another controversial Cameron upgrade for film purists, and I’m sure we’ll be writing about it again in the months to come. I’m curious: Did anyone else check it out in theatres this weekend? Let us know how you thought it looked in the comments. 

An awesome fan-made video hosted on JoBlo.com from back in 2017 predicted the opening of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Warning! Spoilers ahead! Move over, Simpsons, there’s another Nostradamus in town! A whopping seven years ago, we wondered what it would be like if 2017’s Logan had a post-credits sequence. What would happen? Who would it tease? What would it predict? Well, as it turns out, a fan-made video made exclusively for JoBlo.com nailed it! How ‘bout that, bubs

In the video – which was made exclusively for us by Banana-Dragon Films – we see Deadpool using a metal detector and coming across the grave of Logan (as played by Hugh Jackman). There, he opens a hand-drawn picture of himself and Wolverine, with the childish writing reading, “DEADPOOL 2 LOVE MACHINE”, a nod to the working title of Deadpool 2. Below that, a drawing of Deadpool holding a boatload of cash. After that, Deadpool sets about resurrecting Logan, saying, “Hugh, I want us to be together, but not like this.”

So, for those who have seen Deadpool & Wolverine, you’ll notice the similarities right away. Sure, the short video predicted the actual existence of the latest MCU entry, but that movie also opens with the Merc with a Mouth digging up Logan, only to find that he is totally dead. Whoops! But don’t worry because Deadpool does find a way to meet up with his BFF.

Now, we’re not saying Marvel or Ryan Reynolds saw the video and said, “Yup, that’s what we’re doing!” but we do have to assume that the video is now officially canon…right? Honestly, it’s just cool to see a fan-made video get recognition for all the right reasons and we’re happy to be host.

As the creator of the video wrote on Reddit following the viral short blowing up once again (it had 13 million views prior to the release of Deadpool & Wolverine), the entire thing was shot on a weekend in just two hours. Pretty incredible work for such a small window. Such a strong job the team did in not only production values but also calling the opening of a blockbuster seven years before the fact that we hope to see the clip blow up even more in the weeks to come.

Be sure to check out the fan-made video courtesy of Banana Productions – and exclusive to JoBlo.com – and chime in with your thoughts!

Marvel blew the lid off of Comic Con. With the announcement that Robert Downey Jr. is back in the MCU as Dr. Doom, what does it mean?

Less than 24 hours before this was written, Marvel dropped a giant bombshell at their Hall H panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not as Iron Man. Instead, he’ll be donning the visage of the fearsome Dr. Doom in both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Watching the video, you can see the room erupt as soon as he revealed himself. The MCU fans have been hoping he would make a return. After the dust settled, some fans seemed confused about why they would cast someone who was already a well-loved character in the cinematic universe. Well, that can easily be explained.

Same Character, New World

Marvel is in the middle of their Multiverse Saga, so we’ve seen many alternate realities lately. This is no different. While he was announced to be playing Dr. Doom, more than likely, we’re still seeing him play Tony Stark, a version of Tony Stark that comes from another reality. In whatever reality he comes from, Tony took a different path in life. He didn’t go through the same situations we’ve seen him deal with, so in his reality, he became a villain instead of the hero that we saw save the world in Avengers: Endgame.

We have already seen that Tony had moments in his life when he could have strayed from the heroic path. Different choices could have easily pushed him into a role that would be seen as villainous. Doom always considers himself a heroic character, even when he bends other people to his will. He thinks it’s always for the greater good. That’s no different than with Tony Stark. Luckily, he has always had people surrounding him to keep him on the path to righteousness.

What If . . . ?

This is not a new concept in the comic book source material. In a 2010 issue of the comic series What If . . . ? we saw this story sort of play out, although with some body swap concepts. The minds of Tony Stark and Victor Von Doom switched bodies during an accident at college. Tony was then deported back to Latveria in Doom’s body. It showed how your environment can shape you even if you start with the best intentions.

There was also a storyline in the main line of Marvel comics called The Infamous Iron Man. Tony Stark is thought to be dead, and Doctor Doom decides to take up the mantle of Iron Man to become a hero. While trying to change his ways, he sees that breaking good is much more complicated than it looks. Both stories are a great read and worth checking out.

What Is Secret Wars?

Even though Marvel was gearing up to have Kang (played by Jonathan Majors) be the big bad of this cycle, incidents outside their control made them have to pivot, drop Majors, and change course. The good thing is that they had already announced that everything was leading up to another two-part Avengers tale. One was supposed to be The Kang Dynasty, and the other was Secret Wars. Luckily, with Secret Wars already their destination, it made it easy to change course and bring in Dr. Doom as the big bad.

So, what exactly is Secret Wars? In the comics, different realities are being destroyed, and the 616 universe (the main Marvel Universe) is about to be destroyed along with the Ultimate universe. Through comic shenanigans, Dr. Doom is able to harness enough power to save parts of different universes and combine them into one. This Earth is labeled Battleworld, and other territories house different realities. We see parts of the 616 universe as well as pieces of the realities that housed storylines like Age Of Apocalypse, Old Man Logan, MC2, and Marvel 1602 that appeared on the Disney + series What If . . . ? this season.

As we can see, Dr. Doom plays a massive role in Secret Wars, so bringing him in as the main antagonist makes a lot of sense. In a fun, thematic way, the character and actor who created the MCU will now be the one saving it. Will he recreate it in his own image? Have you met Tony Stark? Of course he will. If that is good or bad, it remains to be seen. The fun part is that a lot of the alternate characters we have been seeing over the last few years will more than likely be making an appearance. So expect all the Spider-Men to return along with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.

How Long Do We Have To Wait?

Fans have been wanting to see all these characters FINALLY interact with each other in the two upcoming Avengers films since the MCU took its first steps. It looks like it will take Robert Downey Jr. and Dr. Doom to make that happen finally. Even if fans are tired of the Multiverse Saga, it will be exciting to see it all finally come to a head when Avengers: Doomsday hits the screen in 2026.

Are you excited by Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the MCU as Dr. Doom? Let us know what you think of Downey playing Doom in the comments below.

Keanu Reeves was spotted playing the John Wick pinball machine from Stern at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Whoever comes, whoever it is…I’ll tilt them. I’ll tilt them all…We all know that Keanu Reeves is one of the most chill, down-to-earth guys in the movie business, and he just renewed that license in one of the nerdiest ways possible, taking time out of his schedule to play the John Wick pinball machine at the San Diego Comic-Con.

The video, posted across Stern’s social media accounts, sees Keanu Reeves saddling up to the John Wick pinball machine at the company’s booth, which also featured Jaws, the 70th Anniversary Premium Edition of Godzilla and more. Reeves looks genuinely interested in the game and proves to be inquisitive throughout his free play, asking the team how much time it took to design the John Wick machine, to which the rep confirmed the time frame was around two years. He also said that 48 minutes of music was used. And while Reeves is genuinely interested in the details and backstory of the John Wick pinball machine, he can’t help but get wrapped up in the game, focusing and screaming, “Look at that! You see that save?!”

A teaser trailer has been released for season 2 of the AMC series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, starring Alexandra Daddario

The AMC series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches – which, as you may have deduced from the title, is based on author Anne Rice’s trilogy of Mayfair Witches novels – was only four episodes into the eight episode run of its first season when AMC ordered a second season of the show back in February of 2023. We still have a while to wait for Mayfair Witches season 2, as it’s not scheduled to premiere until sometime in 2025, but a teaser trailer for the new episodes has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above. Our review of the first season of the show can be read HERE.

AMC’s Mayfair Witches series is an exploration of female power and the mortal implications of our decisions. Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.

Alexandra Daddario (We Summon the Darkness), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Tongayi Chrisu (Palm Springs), Harry Hamlin (Mad Men), Annabeth Gish (Rim of the World), Beth Grant (No Country for Old Men), Erica Gimpel (God Friended Me), and Jen Richards (Her Story) star. Daddario plays Rowan, “a brilliant doctor who grapples with her fate as the heir to a family of powerful witches.” Huston’s character is Lasher, “a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years.” Chrisu is series regular Ciprien Grieve, Hamlin plays Cortland Mayfair, “current reigning patriarch of the Mayfair clan with a voracious appetite for more money, more power and more life”. Gish takes on the recurring role of Diedre, Grant is the recurring Carlotta, Gimpel is the recurring Ellie, and Richards is Jojo.

Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) is overseeing the building of AMC’s franchises based on both her Mayfair Witches novels and her Vampire Chronicles novels. Esta Spaulding and Michelle Ashford, both of whom previously worked on Masters of Sex, are writers and executive producers on Mayfair Witches, with Ashford also serving as the showrunner.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches trilogy consists of the novels The Witching Hour (1990), Lasher (1993), and Taltos (1994).

Are you looking forward to Mayfair Witches season 2? What did you think of the teaser trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Dan Aykroyd, who starred in the first two Ghostbusters, has come to the defense of the 2016 all-female version.

Almost immediately after its release, the trailer for 2016’s Ghostbusters was one of the most disliked videos on YouTube. And while that hate has subsided – or at least been buried by the disappointments of Afterlife and Frozen Empire – it undoubtedly left a mark on the franchise. But it does still have its defenders here and there; and finding one in one of the OG Ghostbusters is a good get, with Dan Aykroyd continuing to show support.

Aykroyd – who, like the rest of the original surviving Ghostbusters, had a cameo in the 2016 version – remembered having some issues initially behind the scenes but coming around to the movie itself. “I liked the movie Paul Feig made with those spectacular women. I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there and I didn’t do my job and I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do. All these movies do.” He added, “But boy, I liked that film. I thought that the villain at the end was great. I loved so much of it. And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that. So I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made.”

Dan Aykroyd is no doubt in the minority with that particular Ghostbusters take. It’s one thing to say that it’s a good movie but to say that it works within the rest of the universe is a different kind of stretch. While Afterlife and Frozen Empire are far from being worthy entries, they do at least handle the nostalgia factor quite well and legitimately care about passing the torch. The ’16 version, not so much.

But hey, good on Aykroyd for going to bat for 2016’s Ghostbusters because it has been an easy movie to punch down on. That holds true even for the original team, as Ernie Hudson has been vocal in his confusion about the purpose of doing the movie in the first place.

Do you think 2016’s Ghostbusters will ever find its fanbase? How does it compare to the newest movies?