Here’s our March 9th, 2021 edition of Spy Movie News with updates on Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, No Time to Die, Ana de Armas, The Gray Man, Agent Game, Killers of the Flower Moon, how to get paid watching Bond movies, Boon, Operation Mincemeat and more!
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE NEWS
Mission: Impossible 7 & 8 no longer shooting back-to-back
We have been hearing all along that Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 were going to be filmed back to back and in some cases simultaneously. But no.
According to this article on Deadline.com, Mission: Impossible 8 will not shoot back-to-back with Mission: Impossible 7. It appears that promotional duties for Tom Cruise’s movie, Top Gun: Maverick’s July 2 release will force Cruise to push Mission: Impossible 8 filming. There are no plans to alter the release date of Mission: Impossible 8 because of this.
Release dates as of now at Mission Impossible 7: November 19, 2021, and 8 on November 4, 2022.
Kittridge is back!
Twenty-five years ago, Henry Czerny introduced us to Eugene Kittridge in the first Mission: Impossible movie. In this article on CinemaBlend.com, we see a picture that Christopher McQuarrie (Mac QUARY) posted on Instagram showing today’s Kittridge. The picture is black and white and it looks to us like it could be a train car that he’s sitting in. Once again, not a lot has been said about what Kittridge will be doing in this movie, but it is great to see him back. The article reminds us that IMF is without a secretary right now. Might Kittridge get that promotion?
In this similar article that discusses Kittrige on MovieWeb.com, we get this quote from McQuarrie: When we went into making Fallout, I said to Tom, ‘I really want to make this more of an emotional journey for [Cruise’s character, Ethan Hunt],'” McQuarrie said. “Going into this, I said, ‘I want to take what we learned from Fallout and apply it to every character in the movie. I want everyone to have an emotional arc. … I just want the movie to have more feeling across the board.”
Tom Cruise Gets Foggy
Another image that McQuarrie posted shows a silhouette of Tom Cruise’s character running – in a dark and very foggy shot. You can check it out on here on Cinemablend.com.
THE GRAY MAN
The Gray Man’s updated cast list
We’ve talked about the cast for The Gray Man in previous editions of Spy Movie News. We now have some updated news. In this article on Cinemablend.com, they tell us that Chris Evans plays a villain, Ryan Gosling plays the protagonist. Other previously announced performers in this star-studded cast include Ana De Armas, Jessica Henwick, Wagner Moura, Dhanush, and Julia Butters.
They just announced the three newest performers: Billy Bob Thorton, Alfre Woodard , and, Tom’s wife’s pick for the next James Bond actor, Regé-Jean Page. This sounds like a fantastic cast with filming to begin later in the year. We can’t wait.
How Ana de Armas trains
We’ve seen Ana de Armas in a few roles like Knives Out and Knock Knock. In her upcoming role as Paloma in No Time To Die, she has to do a lot of fighting. Now in The Gray Man, she rachets that up a notch. In this article on Cinemablend.com, de Armas talks about her training regimen to handle these action-type roles. She tells us: “I have to prepare for this action film I’m doing with really intense, physical work, training and choreographies. I do it from 9am to 2pm and then I get a break – and then on the weekends I go to the shooting range and I practice shooting with firing arms that I have to use in the film. And some knife training, too. I enjoy it very much.”
We are hoping to see the fruits of those efforts when No Time To Die and The Gray Man are released.
JAMES BOND
No Time To Die to arrive in U.K. theaters a week early?
According to this article on MovieWeb.com, No Time To Die will be released in the United Kingdom September 30th. This is a week ahead of the previously announced October 8th release date. This is an interesting development given that the official James Bond website (007.com) still lists the release date as October 8th. As much as we want the movie out as soon as it is safe, we, at US-based Spy Movie Navigator, would like to see a global release date for No Time To Die.
With the internet and all the buzz about this movie, those of us in the US and other non-UK parts of the world are unlikely to be able to keep away from all the buzz during the week between releases. It will be tough to see this movie after this wait if we hear or read the ending before getting to see it. We know this is change is probably for marketing and buzz creation. Our guess is they will hold multiple premier events as they have in the past. But, this news does sadden us a bit as we here at Spy Movie News will know the ending before seeing the movie.
And, in a supporting article on Collider.com, dated March 6 2021, they talk about the same October release date and the new poster which shows Craig as Bond facing left, holding a pistol in his right hand clearly says October 2021. And they talk about the UK release of September 30th in the UK.
We think we will wait until the official notification from Eon Productions and the studios. Digital posters with dates are easy to make at virtually no cost! We have seen similar posters for all the other “release” dates as well. Let’s just hope the world is ready for people to return to theaters and we can finally see No Time To Die – and on a big screen!
Ana de Armas view as a Bond Girl!
Back to Ana – sure why not?! DigitalSpy.com released this article, on March 6th called, No Time to Die star Ana de Armas on being a Bond girl In the article, they reference Ana de Armas having spoken to Vogue about joining the Bond team, and what makes her character, Paloma in No Time To Die different from previous Bond girls.
A snippet of what she says: “Paloma is a really beautiful woman in her own way – and she’s badass and very glamorous.”
We at SpyMovieNavigator.com think we will see more Bond women who are beautiful, and also tough characters who can stand on their own. We saw that early on, in Licence to Kill with Carey Lowell’s character, Pam Bouvier. We will see more – as it should be!
Get Paid To Watch All 007 Movies
In a contest by NerdBear.com, you can get paid to watch all 24 Eon Productions 007 movies. NerdBear will pay one fan $1000 and a $50 AMC gift card to watch them all in 30 days. Also included is a $100 Amazon gift card to rent the movies on Amazon Prime. The winner will be required to watch all 24 movies and complete a simple worksheet over 30 day. Go to this NerdBear.com webpage for all the details. The closing date for entry into the competition is April 16, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST.
No Time To Die Still Expected To Smash Box Office
Mike Reyes tells us in this CinemaBlend.com article that the 5-time delayed No Time To Die should still be a hit. With so many people having been locked up during the pandemic, they are looking for nights out. This being the last Daniel Craig movie also helps fuel the desire to see the movie. Plus, we’re talking about James Bond here.
Could the new James Bond be Henry Cavill?
Ok, so this is just speculation on our part here at Spy Movie Navigator. But in this article on MovieWeb.com, the rumor is that Henry Cavill won’t be cast as Superman in the upcoming reboot. The article doesn’t mention it, but could be because Cavill will be locked up playing James Bond? I guess this is how rumors start.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON GETS ITS LEAD
This article on HollywoodReporter.com touts the signing of Jesse Plemons to star in the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon. Jesse will play an FBI agent. Lilly Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro round out the leads. Killers of the Flower Moon is expected to shoot this May to late summer.
AGENT GAME SIGNS KEY ROLES
In this article on Deadline.com, by Amanda N’Duka, we find out that Dermot Mulroney, Katherine McNamara, Rhys Coiro , Annie Ilonzeh , and Mel Gibson have been signed for the movie Agent Game. This spy thriller has Mulroney starring as a CIA officer who is involved with relocating foreign nationals. When Washington has a political change, he finds that the people he thought were his friends are now his enemies.
BOON PICKS UP GROSSE FOR KEY ROLE
Demetrius Grosse is joining the Derek Presley-directed movie Boon in the role of Agent Redd. According to this article on Deadline.com, Boon “is described as a “strong, burnt out FBI agent on a personal mission to find and bring in an assassin that is causing turmoil to a few criminal organizations.” His long-time friend gets killed and he is out for vengeance.
NETFLIX PICKS UP OPERATION MINCEMEAT
We’ve talked about Operation Mincemeat, the actual operation, in our podcast Spy Movies & Real-World Connections and our podcast on the movie The Silent Enemy. This was a real World-War II espionage operation focused on a dead man. We don’t want to give any more away. Well, this article on Deadline.com discusses how Netflix has bought the North and Latin America rights for already completed Colin Firth movie called Operation Mincemeat which is based on this real-life operation. The movie counts Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, and Penelope Wilton among its cast members. This one will be high on our “to-see” list when it releases.
RED NOTICE
Speaking of Netflix, Red Notice is still scheduled to premiere on Netflix in 2021. Of course, looking at Red Notice, it’s about an Interpol agent tracking an art thief. And in real life, a Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Additionally, as reported by CinemaBlend.com, Dwayne Johnson, who collaborated on and will star in Red Notice, has attached himself to another project, Teddy and the Guardians of the Night which has been picked up by Netflix. While not a spy movie, it is about teddy bear protecting a sleeping child from a monster. Johnson is growing his bond with Netflix.
INDUSTRY NEWS
New York City Movie Theaters Start To Reopen
Branden Roberts reports in this article on CinemaBlend.com, that New York City theaters are able to open for the first time since the pandemic started. Capacity will be limited to 25% and up to 50 people. We see this as a huge step forward and gives us hope that maybe, Black Widow will finally get released on its now targeted May 7th, release date.
Paramount+ announces a 45-day release window on 2 movies
Jon Fuge reports in this article on MovieWeb.com, that Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place 2 will stream on Paramount+ 45 days after the theatrical release. This is a nice hype-move for promoting the new Paramount+ service. It also gives some clarity to the Theater vs. Streaming release window debate on release schedules that have been mangled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ve previously reported on the tension between movie theaters and movie production companies about how long a window the theaters will have before a movie hits streaming services (if there is a delay at all).
This past weekend Cinemark, Harkins, and Cineplex theaters decided not to show Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon in its theaters because of this tension. They were supposed to but because Disney announced a simultaneous release at the theater and on Disney Plus, these three chains decided to play hardball and cancelled their showings.
It’s good to see Paramount announce this early like this so we know the ground rules. Not all releases will have this long of a “in-theaters first” window. Historically, the window was about 90 days so these changes put more pressure on the theater chains.
The industry is changing with all of the streaming competition and the desire to have theaters survive. This will be interesting to watch play out.
IN MEMORIAM
We are sad to announce that the spy movie world has lost two more of its cast and crew.
William P. Cartlidge (1942-2021)
As posted on 007.com, Bond associate producer and assistant director, William P. Cartlidge, who worked on 3 James Bond movies directed by Lewis Gilbert has died. He had worked on You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker. He had a 30 year directing and producing relationship with Gilbert.
Ronald Pickup (1940-2021)
Variety reports, that Ronald Pickup, who James Bond fans would know from his role as Elliott in the movie Never Say Never Again, has passed away. He had a 54-year career and some of his other memorable roles include Norman Cousins in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Neville Chamberlain in Darkest Hour.
That wraps up our Spy Movie News for March 9th 2021. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@SpyNavigator) and InstaGram too! Subscribe right now to our Cracking the Code of Spy Movies show on your favorite podcast app!
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