SALAAR, AMATEUR, SPY X FAMILY CODE: WHITE, MAGGIORE, RED NOTICE 2, and BLINDSPOT are just some of the upcoming spy movies or series that we’ll fill you in on today in our Spy Movie News July 25 2023 edition. 

Upcoming spy movies and series

We’ll start out as usual by looking at some upcoming spy movies and series.

AMATEUR shuts down production

We told you about the movie AMATEUR starring Rami Malik back in our February 2023 Spy Movie News.  At the time we didn’t know any production details.   Well, they started production but have now shut it down due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Shutdowns like this are rampant with these strikes. 

AMATEUR isn’t the first, nor will it be the last to shut down until the strikes end.  Last month we mentioned the spy series The Old Man had halted production due to the writer’s strike Let’s hope this mess gets cleared up soon.

Anyway, we’ll keep you posted about AMATEUR as we hear more after the strikes and they start up again. 

Spy X Family Code: White

Here’s another one we’ve been talking about for a while.  Spy X Family is an animated spy series. They are working on a spin-off movie called SPY X FAMILY CODE: WHITE that is slated to release in December 2023 in Japan. 

The creative team likes to have fun.  For instance, their spy dog is named Bond.

Well, they had fun with the latest Mission: Impossible movie.  In collaboration with Paramount, they created a teaser trailer for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE.  It is a combination of Spy X Family with clips from the Dead Reckoning Part One trailer with SPY X Family’s Loid Forger providing commentary.  Next, they created a combined poster that is a take-off of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE poster.  You can find that on DigitalSpy.com.

We like it when the studios don’t take each other too seriously and will have fun with marketing.  Great job teams. 

Maggiore

Israeli network Yes TV is behind an upcoming 8-part series called MAGGIORE.  They are the same group that brought us the wonderful spy series FAUDA.

MAGGIORE’s main plotline is that a boat is sunk on Lake Maggiore, which connects Italy and Switzerland.  That boat was filled with intelligence officers from both Israel and Italy. 

Oh yeah, and this is a real event that recently happened on May 29, 2023.  There were at least 13 Mossad and eight Italian intelligence officers onboard. Due to the intelligence passengers, some of who died, there is a lot of speculation about the spies and what they were doing on the boat. 

There is intrigue about what happened. An article about MAGGIORE in Variety.com tells us that the location of the drowning which was between Italian manufacturing plants and the heavily spy-traveled Switzerland has brought about conspiracy theories.  Plus, Israel sent a private plane to evacuate the Israeli victims.  No, nothing to see here (laugh).

We find it fascinating that they already have this designated as an 8-part series.  All of the details behind the boat accident are probably not likely flushed out yet.  So, it will be interesting to see where they take this.

However, that article also points out that the goal is to create a series much like the French spy series “The Bureau”, but this time highlighting Italian intelligence, instead of French.

One possible outcome of MAGGIORE is that the series spins into taking on other mysterious accidents.  We’ll have to see.

As of now, we don’t have an expected release date.

Blindspot

Another upcoming spy series based on reality, albeit much older reality, is called BLINDSPOT.  This one has Maipo Film and Spero Films backing it.   The series will focus on a real Mossad assassination mission in Lillehammer in 1973.   Let’s just say that the mission didn’t go well and the wrong person got killed.   

BLINDSPOT will be a drama trying to tell the story of what happened.  It will dive into the events and examine the people impacted by this mission.

No production details have been released as of press time.

Alia Bhatt Set for YRF Spy Universe

In last month’s Spy Movie News, we talked about the actress Alia Bhatt.

She will be in the Netflix movie HEART OF STONE, which will be released on August 11, 2023.

At the time we told you to pay attention to this British-Indian actress.   We expected her career to soar. She was fantastic in the spy movie RAZZI and also was a lead in the immensely popular RRR  (just say the R three times).

Yash Raj Films delivered what we think was an excellent spy movie PATHAAN, and talked about their YRF Spy Universe when that movie was released this past January.  Well, they have announced that Alia Bhatt will be the first female to have a lead in the YRF Spy Universe.  Sometimes you just get lucky with your timing as we did here.  

The movie, whose title hasn’t been released, is expected to start production next year.   But we know Bhatt will play a “super-agent” in the movie.

Interestingly, she will be joining Gal Gadot in HEART OF STONE as we think that Bhat will have a similar career trajectory.  She is already very popular in India.  We bet she and Gadot end up competing for some female spy roles in the near future.

As usual, we’ll keep you posted as we hear more.

Rainbow Six?

Tom Clancy’s spy novels have been turned into movies, tv-series, and video games.   Of course, we have the Jack Ryan series.   But, one of his novels, “Rainbow Six” was turned into a very successful video game.  The game deviates from the novel,  which is common.

Movieweb.com speculates that “Rainbow Six” as a movie was teased in the Jack Ryan series.  They speculate that a RAINBOW SIX might be a continuation of the WITHOUT REMORSE storyline or be part of the Jack Ryan universe.

Now, we normally don’t talk about movie speculation, but this one seems like it has a realistic chance of happening.  We’ll keep you posted.

RED NOTICE 2

When Netflix released the successful movie RED NOTICE, we told you there were plans for both a RED NOTICE 2 and RED NOTICE 2. That was two years ago. 

Gal Gadot has told Collider that she’s read the script and filming will be underway soon.  That was before the strikes so we don’t have a handle on what “soon” means. 

That said, we’re happy to see this.  Although we had some mixed feelings about RED NOTICE, we thought they did have a chance to make this a series that could work.

So, once we get more notice about RED NOTICE 2, we’ll give you a heads up.

THE MAN FROM ROME

The spy movie THE MAN FROM ROME has a clip giving us the basis of the plot that was put out by Screen Media Films.  In addition, an official trailer has been released that you can find on YouTube.  So, we have two slightly different videos on this movie.

The tagline for THE MAN FROM ROME  is:

THE MAN FROM ROME is based on the novel “The Seville Communion” and stars Richard Armitage.  Armitage is one of the names bandied about as a possible “next actor to play James Bond”.

THE MAN FROM ROME was released last year in Spain and has recently started to be available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Google Play.

More John Le Carré in India

In 2016, the English-language series based on John Le Carré’s novel “The Night Manager” was a hit.  The novel has recently been adapted and released as a big hit series in India.  This time it is Hindi-language based.

An article in Variety talks about this Hindi-based adaptation, and the fact that it is not just a remake of the 2016 series.  More importantly, it tells us that future seasons of “The Night Manager” are being looked at.

Plus, it looks like more John Le Carré novels than just “The Night Manager” are expected to be adapted into Indian Hindi-language movies or series.   The Ink Factory manages the Le Carré  novels and has said:

“We are in the process of adapting one, which is in a relatively late stage of adaptation and one, which is at an early stage. We’re very keen to bring more le Carré to India.”

We’re keen to see if any of these Hindi-language releases make their way to English-Language adaptations.

SALAAR

Back in February’s Spy Movie News, we told you about the upcoming pan-Indian movie SALAAR.  At the time we told you that we weren’t sure that this is going to be a spy movie.  We know it is an action movie.  But, the plot has been kept under wraps.

We know that the release will include the Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi languages.

Even though it is supposed to release on September 28, 2023, we still don’t know if it is a spy movie.  That’s even with the movie’s teaser trailer being released.  You can see the trailer on YouTube.

We may have to wait until the SALAAR is released before we know if it is just an action movie or a spy movie.  We’ll let you know.

MR-9-DO OR DIE

Last June we told you about the movie MR-9.  This is a movie based on the Rana series of novels that Bangladeshi writer Qazi Anwar Hussain wrote.

An article in Deadline.com tells us:

We’ve liked Grillo in his past movies and are looking forward to seeing him in this one.

We can now update you and tell you that there will be a U.S. and Canada release on the same day as its release in Bangladesh.  That will be on August 25^th.

Frank Grillo Movie ‘MR-9: Do Or Die’ Gets North American Deal – Deadline

Business News

AMC Theatres drops movie ticket prices based on seat location

We had a rant about the controversial policy AMC implemented at some of its theaters where the price you paid for your seat was based on where in the theater your seat was.  They called it “Sightline at AMC”. It was somewhat like what the airlines do.

However, we didn’t like this policy and enough other theater-goes voiced their negative opinion of the policy. 

Fortunately, AMC Theaters has heard the feedback (and possibly some lost revenue) and is dropping the experiment and won’t roll it out nationally.  Supposedly they found that people would pay for premium seats, but wouldn’t use the front row, even though those seats were less expensive under the experiment.

We are very happy to see this.

Stitcher is Shutting Down

Ok, this one isn’t about spy movies, but it may affect our podcast listeners. SiriusXM is going to shut down their podcase app Stitcher on August 29, 2023.  The goal is to move podcasts to SiriusXM subscriptions.

Their press release says that podcast fans will still be able to listen to ad-supported versions of shows that had been on Stitcher.

If you want to continue to listen to our show via another podcast app, we are virtually everywhere you can listen: Apple, Google, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, etc.

The Strikes

As we mentioned earlier, the actors have joined the writers and are striking in Hollywood.   This has effectively shut down most movie and tv production here. It has also curtailed the amount of movie news coming out.  Therefore, we may not release an August 2023 Spy Movie News episode.  If there isn’t enough to discuss, we’ll wait until the strikes are over.

 In Memoriam

Alan Arkin

Actor Alan Arkin passed at the age of 89.  Arkin was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning in 2007 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.  One of his nominations was for the same category for his performance in the spy movie ARGO. Spy movie fans will also remember him as Dr. Sheldon Kornpett in the spy comedy THE IN-LAWS.

Lawrence Turman

Producer Lawrence Turman passed at the age of 96. Turman is probably best known as the producer of THE GRADUATE.  However, before becoming a producer, Turman worked at a talent agency.  He placed four clients in the espionage classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

Carlin Glynn

Actress Carlin Glynn passed a the age of 83. She won a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway musical “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”.  Spy movie fans will remember her for her role as Mae Barber in THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR.

Manny Coto

Writer and Producer Manny Coto passed at the age of 62. His writing credits include 43 episodes of the tv series 24 and its spin-offs.

Rob Young

Oscar-nominated sound mixer Rob Young passed at the age of 76.  He was nominated for Best Sound for the movie UNFORGIVEN. Spy movie fans will know his work as a sound mixer on the  1990 movie THE RUSSIA HOUSE and the 2002 movie I SPY.

Robert Lieberman

Director, Producer, and writer Robert Lieberman passed at the age of 75.  Spy tv series fans will know his work as the director for the episode “Girl’s Best Friend” of the series NIKITA.

Margia Dean

Actress Margia Dean passed at the age of 101.  Spy tv fans will know her work as Rehab in the “Ancient Spies” episode of the series I SPY.

That wraps up the Spy Movie News July 25 2023 edition. Thanks for spending time with us – we appreciate it!

Citadel, Pathaan, The Bucharest Dossier, Lioness, Mission: Impossible, The Mole Agent, and Ghosted are just some of the upcoming spy movies or series that we’ll fill you in on today in our Spy Movie News – March 28 2023, edition.    

Upcoming Spy Entertainment

Citadel

We’re going to lead things off by discussing the upcoming Prime Video Russo brother’s spy drama, Citadel.    Of all the spy entertainment news we have found this month, Citadel is getting the most press. They released the first trailer which you can watch on YouTube. It looks like we’re going to like this one.

Citadel is a six-episode series starring Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Stanley Tucci.  As for the plot, the tagline from the Amazon press site tells us:

April 28, 2023 is the date on Prime Video for the release of the first two episodes. Through May 26, 2023, we get another another episode weekly.

According to movieweb.com, “The plan is for Citadel to launch a “landmark global franchise” for Prime Video. Each Citadel series will be locally created, produced, and filmed in-region in different parts of the world. Prime Video states that series are already underway in Italy and India, respectively, starring Matilda De Angelis, Varun Dhawan, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.”

So, once again Amazon is trying to develop a spy franchise.  Are they hedging their bets against James Bond? We’re seeing a lot of these franchise efforts as we think the industry may be seeing weakness in the James Bond franchise and the likely ending of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character in the Mission: Impossible franchise next year.

Pay Parity

Also, one other comment about Citadel comes from an article on variety.com. Actress Priyanka Chopra Jones told the audience at Austin’s South by Southwest Festival:

“I’ve been working in the entertainment industry for now 22 years and I have done about almost 70-plus features,” she said. “I’ve done two TV shows. But when I did ‘Citadel,’ it was the first time in my career that I had pay parity with my male co-actor. The first time in 22 years. And I wonder that did that happen? “

She was sharing the stage with Amazon Studio’s head, Jennifer Salke.  The suggestion is that she finally got pay parity because a woman is leading the studio.

We don’t know if that is the real reason, but we are happy to see it.   Pay disparity is an ugly issue and it is good to see that, at least in this case it has been addressed. 

The Bucharest Dossier

Ok, so this one is very early in the process.  But, the William Maz novel “The Bucharest Dossier” has had its movie and tv rights acquired by Gifford Media Group.

This appears to be yet another attempt to create a franchise around a CIA Analyst. The novel “The Bucharest Legacy” is due to be released in 2023.  That will be the second novel in the series.

And, a 4.2 rating on barnesandnoble.com and a 4.3 rating on Amazon tell us that this is a well-received novel.  Both of those are out of 5 points so this looks promising.

Physician and author William Maz’s website describes the novel like this:

In December, 1989, Bill Hefflin is a peculiarity in the CIA. Besides being the lead analyst on Eastern Europe, he is also the only analyst running his own mole, code-named Boris, inside the KGB. When Boris demands that Hefflin come to Bucharest to “create” history, Hefflin is forced to confront not only the dangers of a bloody revolution but his own passions for the girl he left behind. … The revolution is obviously controlled by outside forces, and Hefflin must decide whether his own CIA is on the right side of history.

We don’t have any information about the production of The Bucharest Dossier for either a movie or tv.  However, we think this announcement is good news.  We like when novels are brought to the screen.  Especially if they are spy novels.   We’ll keep you up to date as we learn more.

The Mole Agent

The Mole Agent may get a new title.  But, Netflix has ordered eight episodes of an adaptation of the documentary “The Mole Agent”. 

Ted Danson will be the lead.  Mike Schur, who wrote this series also worked with Danson on the tv series “The Good Place”.

An article on Variety.com says that “Danson will star as Charles, ‘a retired man who gets a new lease on life when he answers an ad from a PI and becomes a mole in a secret investigation.’”

The documentary debuted at the 2020 Sundance Festival. And, it was nominated for an Oscar for “Best Documentary Feature”?

We’ll let you know more as details get released.

Ghosted

When we first read about the upcoming Apple TV+ movie, Ghosted, we saw it was a rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Amas. We stopped reading.  We are Cracking the Code of Spy Movies, after all.  Not Cracking The Code of Romantic Comedies.  Well, we’re glad we looked again.  It turns out that Ghosted is a rom-com-spy-thriller.  Ah, this is a spy movie.

The tagline for Ghosted is:

“Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie – but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent.  Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.”

Apple TV+ released a 3-minute trailer for the movie that you can see on YouTube. Based on the trailer, it looks like Ghosted could be worth watching.  That said, we are curious about how long the set-up of this movie will take.  The trailer makes it look like it takes a while for Cole to find out she’s a spy.  The other thing is that the trailer gives up that fact.  Cole is surprised. The trailer and tagline ruin the surprise for us. 

This is the third movie that de Armas and Evans have worked on together and they have a very nice on-screen chemistry.  Interestingly, Scarlett Johansson was originally cast in the lead role.  However, she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

Apple TV+ will release Ghosted on April 21 on Apple TV+.  Joining Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are Amy Sedaris, Adrien Brody, Tim Blake Nelson, Tate Donovan, and more.

Kandahar

We told you about Kandahar in our January 31^st Spy Movie News.  This is the upcoming movie starring Gerard Butler and Ali Fazal about a CIA operative sent to dismantle a nuclear weapon.  He ends up stuck in Afghanistan and has to get to his extraction point in Kandahar.

Mitchell LaFortune, who was a military intelligence officer, wrote the spec script so hopefully this will have a feel of realism.

The trailer is out and it looks really good.  You can watch it on YouTube.  The scenery in the trailer looks great.  Saudi Arabia was the filming location for Kandahar. So, we’ll be waiting to see what Cinematographer MacGregor does with this one.

Kandahar will release in Russia on May 2023, the United States on May 26, 2023, the Netherlands on June 8^th, and Spain on June 16^th.  – IN THEATERS!!!

Lioness

Also in our January 31 2023 Spy Movie News, we told you about the upcoming Paramount+ series Lioness. 

This month’s news is that Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef will have a guest-starring role.  He’s joining  Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Morgan Freeman, and Nicole Kidman, among others.

And, Variety.com tells us that Youssef will play a character named Amrohi who is “a rags-to-riches billionaire businessman with ties to terrorism, building his own fortune by legitimate means before profiteering off the wars that destroy the Middle East he’s spent decades helping to rebuild.” 

Let’s hope he can be as good in this shady billionaire role as Hugh Grant was as a billionaire arms dealer in Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre.

We still haven’t seen a release date for Lioness but will keep you posted as we find out more.

Kingsman 3

Taron Egerton told Collider.com that he expects there will be a Kingsman 3, rumored to be titled Kingman: The Blue Blood.  Egerton says :

We like this series and hope they do get this one done.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

The hype machine is continuing for the upcoming two-part Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning movies.   Part One has a US release date of July 14, 2023.  We have a few nuggets to pass on about these movies.

A tip of the cap to Top Gun?

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning: Part Two has filmed something on the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier off the coast of Italy. We don’t know what they filmed, but given that the Top Gun: Maverick actors trained on an aircraft carrier, is there going to be a tip of the cap to Top Gun in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning: Part Two?  We’ll have to wait to find out.

Hannah Waddingham joins the cast

Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham has been announced as an addition to Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning: Part Two.  She was reported to have been on the aforementioned aircraft carrier, or a similar one.   We don’t know her role yet, but the never-ending casting and filming of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning continues.

Rolf Saxon is back

In the 1996 Mission: Impossible movie, Rolf Saxon played CIA agent William Donloe.  He was the guy in the vault who got stomach problems after Claire put that stuff in his coffee.

Well, it looks like he’s back in Part Two.  Christopher McQuarrie tells us this in an Instagram post.

So, now we have at least Kittridge and Donloe back.  It will be great to see what they do, some 28 years after we first saw them.

Norway Authorities Cancel a stunt

Even Tom Cruise can’t get everything he wants.   A stunt that was to be done in Norway got squashed by authorities. They were concerned about wildlife in the area. 

“The production was reportedly aiming to film at various locations on Svalbard, a protected archipelago between Norway and the North Pole, but local Norwegian authorities denied requests for a planned 40 helicopter landings due to concerns regarding disruptions to local wildlife..” 

Screenrant.com

So, it looks like there will be at least one thing Cruise wanted to do that he couldn’t with Part 2.

Initial screen tests question length

Movieweb.com tells us that Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning: Part One has started test screening.   Paramount Global’s President, Bob Bakish tells us this about the first screening:

Awards

Slow Horses writers

We’re in the heart of awards season and we want to call out “Slow Horses” screenwriter Will Smith and novelist Mick Herron for winning the episodic TV category at the 35^th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards.  Thanks to Variety.com for this one. We are big fans of this Apple TV+ series and are happy the writers have been recognized. Congratulations Will and Mick.

Spy x Family

Spy x Family won Best Comedy a the 2023 Crunchyroll Anime awards.  We’ve talked about this series in previous Spy Movie News episodes.   There is a movie in the works from this series that we are eagerly anticipating.  This award heightens this anticipation.

Industry News

Sam Neil

Actor Sam Neil caused quite a stir when an excerpt from his just-released memoir mentioned he was treated for stage three blood cancer.  He has since posted a video on his Instagram account letting us know that he’s in remission and still working on a mini-series with Annette Benning.

James Bond fans may know that he was in the running twice to take on the role of James Bond.  Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan won those parts.

We wish Sam all the best and hope all goes well for him.

Pathaan breaks more box office records

The movie Pathaan continues to shine at the box office.  It has overtaken the Hindi dubbed version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion in India. Congratulations. 

In our no-spoiler review of Pathaan,  we talked about how we liked this movie and that it was the first sold-out movie we’ve been to in years.

In Memoriam

Chaim Topol

Israeli actor/producer Chaim Topol passed at the age of 87.  Topol is probably best known for his Oscar-nominated performance as Tevye in the 1971 movie Fiddler on the Roof.  The 1990 revival of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” netted Topol a Tony award nomination.  He played Tevye in over 3,500 stage performances. 

Spy movie fans will remember his great performance as Columbo in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only.

An article on Spy Command tells us that the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog announced Topol’s death on Twitter. A Google translation of the tweet said of Topol

We couldn’t have said it any better. 

Ruben Igielko-Herrlich

Ruben Igielko-Herrlich has passed at 62.  You may never have heard of Ruben, but he was a marketing executive who was instrumental in product placement in movies.  The Nokia flip phone in The Matrix and the BMW used in chase scenes in Mission: Impossible were two examples of his work.

Ricou Browning

Actor, writer, director, underwater director and cinematographer, and stuntman Ricou Browning passed at the age of 93.  Browning played Gill Man when Gill Man was underwater in The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954, Revenge of the Creature in 1955, and The Creature Walks Among Us in 1956.

However, behind the camera, he was known for his direction of underwater camerawork.  “Sea Hunt”, “The Aquanauts”, and “Flipper” all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Browning for his work on those shows.

James Bond fans will know his underwater direction in Thunderball and its remake Never Say Never Again.

And, as it is one of our favorite comedies, we wanted to be sure we pointed out that Browning did the underwater sequence in Caddyshack in 1980.

Tom Sizemore

Actor Tom Sizemore has passed at 61.  Among Sizemore’s 226 IMDB entries are Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down, Pearl Harbor, and Natural Born Killers.

Spy movie fans have seen Sizemore’s work in Radical, Unkillable, The Martyr Maker, Murder 101, and The Acquirer.

Lance Reddick

Actor Lance Reddick passed at the age of 60. The television shows “Oz”, “The Wire”, “Fringe”, and “Bosch” all had Reddick performing in at least 12 of their episodes.  

Reddick also played Charon in all four chapters of the John Wick movie series. Spy entertainment fans will remember Reddick for his roles in the movies Angel Has Fallen and The Seige. He also played DCI Jeffrey Tatazoo in the television series “Intelligence”.

Erik Loomis

Film distribution executive Erik Loomis passed at age 64.  His career included distribution for MGM, United Artists, and the Weinstein Company with many Oscar winners and blockbusters in his portfolio. Some of the James Bond movies Loomis distributed include GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, and No Time To Die.  “A part of the industry has died with him today” said Barbara Broccoli.

That’s a wrap!  We hope you enjoyed this Spy Movie News – March 28 2023 edition. Please help us out and subscribe to our show, Cracking the Code of Spy Movies” through your favorite podcast app! 

In this article, our June 28, 2022 edition of Spy Movie News we discuss the July releases for spy movies (The Gray Man and Code Name Banshee), for both in the theater and streaming, We’ll look at some ongoing projects like Spy Kids,Slow Horses, MR-9, Face/Off 2, and Mission: Impossible. And we’ll throw in some industry news too.

Let’s start this episode by looking at what’s coming in spy entertainment in July 2022. 

And it’s been a while, but we finally have not one, but two spy movies hitting theaters in July. 

July Theatrical Spy Movie Releases 

Code Name Banshee 

The first to hit the theaters in July is on July 1^st and is titled Code Name Banshee.  This movie stars Antonio Banderas, Jaime King, and Tommy Flanagan.  It is one of those assassins vs. assassins vs. the CIA-type of movies.   We’ve seen this type of plot in numerous movies and feels a bit similar to The Protégé at a high level. We’re intrigued to see what they do with it and how they try to make it unique. Code Name Banshee will have a limited theatrical release as well as a streaming/video-on-demand release on the same day. 

The Gray Man 

The second spy movie to hit theaters this July is The Gray Man.   We’ve been talking about this movie with you since at least February 2021.  Well, this Netflix movie is finally here, on July 15 in theaters.  It has a fantastic cast of Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, and more.  The official tag for this one is: “When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he’s hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who’s put a bounty on this head.”   

The Gray Man is based on a book with the same title from an 11-book series.  The hope is that a series of movies will be created based on the books.   

Netflix, as it has done recently with their more expensive-to-produce movies, will release The Gray Man in theaters a week before it starts streaming.   

This time, however, they are giving us advance notice that there is a theatrical release.   Given that this is the most expensive movie Netflix has ever done (supposedly over $200 million), it makes sense to try to pull in some theatrical revenue. We appreciate that as viewers. We’d rather watch most action-based spy movies in a theater rather than in our home theaters.  

Streaming Spy Movie Releases for July 

Netflix 

On July 1^st, in the US, Netflix will release two spy movies that have been released in the past:  

• A Call to Spy – This 2019 movie tells the story of a real intelligence officer, Vera Atkins, who was a recruiter for Churchill’s secret army.  We’ve seen this movie and recommend it.  Let us know your thoughts. A Call to Spy is also being released on IFC Films Unlimited on July 6th. 
• Catch me If you Can – This 2002 movie stars Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.  It is about a real guy, Frank Abagnale Jr, who was a con man and money forger.  Tom Hanks, is the FBI agent to has to catch Frank. 

Then on July 22^nd, Netflix will stream The Gray Man. 

HULU 

Hulu has one spy movie and one spy series it is releasing in July.   On July 1^st, they will release the 1997 movie The Man Who Knew Too Little. The tag line for this comedy spy movie is “He’s on a mission so secret, even he doesn’t know about it. The movie stars Bill Murray and is a comedy/drama. 

Then on July 29, Hulu is releasing the complete series called “The Americans”.  This series has 75 episodes so it will be quite a binge to watch it all, but this was an excellent spy series.  “The Americans” is about Russian Agents who assimilated into US life for years trying to be a married couple with kids while spying for Russia. It was based on a true story of a spy ring called “The Illegals”.  It stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.  We think this is a series any spy movie fan will enjoy.   

Amazon Prime 

Amazon Prime is adding 4 spy movies in July: 

• The 1988 Debra Winger, Tom Berenger movie Betrayed  
• Two Tom Clancy movies, 1992’s Patriot Games and the 2002 movie The Sum of all Fears.  
• And the 2019 spy movie, The Mongolian Connection 

The Kite Runner 

Finally, although this one isn’t a spy story, we talked about the movie The Kite Runner in our 2-part interview with the director of photography for Quantum of Solace, Roberto Schaefer.  Well, “The Kite Runner” is coming to Broadway.   The play had a 2-season run in London’s West End.   Previews start July 6^th at The Hayes Theater on Broadway and will open at the Hayes Theater in New York on July 21. This is a limited engagement that will run through October 20, 2022.  

Upcoming Spy Movie Projects 

Face/Off 2 

Ok, this is another project we’ve been talking about for a while.  We’ve been asking “Will it be a sequel or a new story”?  Will Nicholas Cage or John Travolta be in it? and what is going on with this thing?’ 

Well, an article on movieweb.com has the following as it’s subheader:  “Face/Off 2 seems to be moving along, but will not go forward until it can live up to the legacy of the original move”.  Um, we say (sarcastically) “Good Luck With That”.  That’s a tall order due to the excellent interplay between Travolta and Cage in the original. 

It appears that the director, Adam Wingard has said that the new film will be an “absolute sequel” to the hit original.   We’ll have to wait to see what happens here.  

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One 

We can never get enough Mission: Impossible 7 news, even though we have to wait until July 14 next year to see it. Oh, wait, the name is now Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One.   That title is almost as long as the wait. 

Anyway, we know that Tom Cruise does many of his own stunts for this character Ethan Hunt.   Well, it looks like Hayley Atwell, who plays a character named Grace had to do some stunts too. 

She gave an interview at the recent Awesome Con.  Most of the 44 minutes were talking about her MCU character, Agent Carter, and other roles.   However, at about 8:00 minutes in, someone asked her about her stunts in the upcoming Mission: Impossible movie. It’s an interesting watch.  She is very complimentary to Tom Cruise and his quest for perfection. 

Although she says more, the highlight that we’ll call out is when she said she:  “Backflipped over a bridge, jumped off backward off a moving train, a lot of running uphill in high heels while handcuffed to Mr. Cruise.”  Given how intense Tom Cruise is while running, that had to be a challenge.  You can find the interview on YouTube by searching for Haley Atwell Peggy Carter Panel.  Choose the one from Awesome Con 2022. 

The Gray Man  

Well, now that the movie is almost here, it’s time for a bit of hype: 

Omaze.com is a website that does charity fundraising and occasionally has celebrities involved.   Well, they recently held a raffle that ended yesterday with a chance to go to The Gray Man premier, stay at a 4-star hotel, and get pictures with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling.  The winner won’t be announced until July 13.   The goal is to help Christopher’s Haven with homes for kids with cancer.  

Many movies have these types of activities and Omaze is one of the bigger sites that manage them.   If you have an upcoming movie you are interested in, it’s worth taking a look at Omaze.com to see if they have a drawing you might like. We here at SpyMovieNavigator.com and our Cracking the Code of Spy Movies podcast have no affiliation with Omaze, but we have entered and have donated with previous drawings! 

Netflix released a new Exclusive Clip on YouTube. 

In May, Netflix released their trailer for The Gray Man.  Now, Netflix has released an “exclusive clip” of a scene from The Gray Man.  The clip includes Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas.   You can click on these links to see both the trailer and this exclusive clip.   

The Gray Man who is Ryan Gosling playing? 

Well, we’re still a couple of weeks before the first The Gray Man hits the screen, but EmpireOnline talked with Ryan Gosling about his character, Courtland Gentry (codename Sierra Six).   It sounds like Gentry has a similar feel to Harry Palmer in the Len Deighton series in that he was taken from prison and put into a spy organization, here the CIA.  So, he’s a reluctant spy like we often talk about in spy movies. 

Gosling tells Empireonline:  “What I liked about this character is that he wants something that most of us want, which is just to be free,” … “In almost every scene we tried to set it up so that he was at a disadvantage. And it becomes about watching him use whatever is in his environment to gain leverage.” 

Gosling also tells us that he loved making the movie and would love to do another.   We bet that if this first movie is successful, he’ll get a few more spins as Sierra Six. 

Empire’s Summer Preview has Gosling and Evans on the cover.  The Gray Man is set for a limited release on July 15, 2022, followed by its release on Netflix on July 22, 2022. 

Slow Horses 

We mentioned that this Gary Oldman series had been picked up by Apple + for a second season.  Well, according to Variety, it has been picked up for a third and fourth season.  The series is based on the spy books series “Slough House” which was authored by Mick Herron.   Season 1 was called “Slow Horses” and was based on the book of the same name.  Season two is based on the book “Dead Lions.  Season 3 is based on the book “Real Tigers”. And finally season 4 will be based on the book “Spook Street”.  

We are very happy to see that the series has been picked up for 3 more seasons.  We thought that Season 1 was very well done and are looking forward to the next 3 seasons.  

Spy Kids 

We mentioned in our April Spy Movie News that Netflix was rebooting the Spy Kids franchise.  Well, now we know some of the actors for the movie.  An article on deadline.com tells us that Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Everly Carganilla, and Connor Esterson are signed. 

The article also tells us that “This latest Spy Kids chapter is set after the children of the world’s greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful game developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, leading them to become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.” 

We liked the first Spy Kids movies and hope this reboot takes hold.  We’re big fans of spy movies for kids to help them get excited about the genre.  

MR-9  

Now, this could be a long series if it is successful. We know that James Bond movies are, or were based, on the writings of Ian Fleming.  Fleming wrote 15 novels or short stories that were the inspiration for the movies.   Well, Bangladeshi writer Qazi Anwar Hussain wrote over 500 novels including a series of books on a spy named Masud Rana. They were supposedly influenced by the James Bond series.  

Production has started on a movie based on his first book in the Rana series.   Rana had the code name “MR-9”, which is where the movie gets its title.  

Rana will be played by Bangladeshi actor ABM Sumon.  Frank Grillo has signed on to play Rana’s nemesis.  Joining them will be Michael Jai White, Matt Passmore, and Remy Grillo (yes, he’s Frank’s son).    

For those of you who listened to our interview with Brigitte Millar, who was in Spectre and No Time To Die, we talked about a short movie she did with Matt Passmore called Nox.   Passmore was great in that so it will be fun to see him in MR-9.  

Industry News 

The Wasp Network 

Three years after the movie The Wasp Network (2019) was released, Netflix is being sued for defamation of character.  The Wasp Network was based on the book “The Last Soldiers of the Cold War” and is about a group called Cuban Five that infiltrates Cuban exile groups in Miami.   It had previously been sued by Ana Martinez over her character’s portrayal.   

The defamation suit was brought by Jose Basulto who is the leader of a group called Brothers to the Rescue. “The Film is an obvious attempt to rewrite and whitewash history in favor of the communist Cuban regime and is factually inaccurate,” the complaint states. “The Film portrays the Cuban Five as courageous heroes who were simply defending their homeland. In reality, the Cuban Five were a spy network that produced actionable intelligence enabling the Cuban government to commit extrajudicial killings.”  The suit claims that Netflix portrayed him as a puppet of the United States and as a traitor to Cuba. It adds, “This portrayal of Mr. Basulto, Brothers to the Rescue, and the Cuban exile community was deliberately calculated to create two clear and unmistakable villains for the Film”. 

Basulto is trying to get an injunction either barring Netflix from carrying the espionage movie or to force edits of scenes and have Netflix delete references to this being based on true events.  

You can read the details of the suit on hollywoodreporter.com.  Netflix did not respond to Hollywood reporters’ requests for comment. This could be interesting. 

Glastonbury Festival 

The Glastonbury Festival had its post-COVID restart after a two-year pause.  Although this festival isn’t a spy movie, Glasto, as it is colloquially called,  had a big presence in the movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  And at this year’s festival, two singers with a Bond history performed. 

On Friday night Billie Eilish took to the Pyramid Stage.  Eilish won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Original Song for the theme song to No Time To Die.

Then on Saturday night, Sir Paul McCartney took the stage.   McCartney delivered the first James Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award.  Of course, we’re talking about “Live and Let Die”.  So, this music festival has some nice spy movie props to its name. 

In Memoriam 

Today’s In Memoriam, unfortunately, has one actor and four behind-the-camera workers who’ve had an impact on spy movies. 

Philip Baker Hall 

Veteran actor Philip Baker Hall has passed at age 90.  He had a 50-year acting career in both tv and movies.   TV fans will most likely remember him for his roles on Seinfeld and Modern Family.  Spy Movie fans will remember him as Defense Secretary Becker in The Sum of All Fears and US Attorney General Ward in Air Force One. 

Isidoro Raponi 

Mechanical Effects artist Isidoro Raponi passed at the age of 76.  His work on special effects and the art department was seen in Alien, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Running Man, The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and others.  In the spy movie world, he worked on Argo and The Hunt for Red October.  

May Routh 

Costume designer May Routh died at age 87.   Her work is seen in 30 movies and tv shows.  In the spy movie world, she was the costume designer for the 1998 movie, Ronin. 

Duncan Henderson 

Producer/director Duncan Henderson died at the age of 72.  He was nominated for the 2004 Best Picture Academy Award, along with Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and Peter Weir for the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.  In the spy movie world, he was the first assistant director: second unit on the 1985 movie The Man with One Red Shoe. 

Well, that wrap’s our June 28, edition of Spy Movie News. Enjoy some spy movies in July!

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