A Spy Among Friends, Ballerina, Spy x Family, Treason, Paradox Effect, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and East Side are some of the upcoming spy movies or series that we’ll fill you in on today in our Spy Movie News - December 28 2022 edition.
As per usual, you can listen to our Spy Movie News - December 28 20022 edition podcast episode here if you would prefer to listen instead of read.
Before we start, we want to wish you all a Happy New Year. Where did 2022 go? Wow.
Ok, let’s get into it.
Upcoming Spy Movies and Television Shows
A Spy Among Friends
For some of you, this won’t appear as an upcoming show as it premiered in the UK on ITVx on December 8th. However, it won’t hit here in the US until early 2023 on MGM+, formerly Epix. A Spy Among Friends is based on Ben Macintyre’s book of the same name. It is a dramatization with name changes, new characters, etc.
We’ve watched this 6-part series and liked it a lot. The cast is brilliant with Anna Maxwell Martin playing Lily Thomas, Damian Lewis playing Nicholas Elliott, and Guy Pearce playing Kim Philby. Yes, that Kim Philby. And, in case you didn’t know Nicholas Elliott, what happens in this movie is a dramatic interpretation of his role with Philby. But, Elliott was also the person who arranged for Lionell Crabb to surveil Khrushchev’s cruiser in 1956. Crabb was the focal point in the 1958 movie The Silent Enemy that we decoded in our July 7, 2020 podcast episode.
Anyway, this series is a look at both the friendship of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby as well as covering some of the details of Philby’s defection. Again, a lot of the series is based on facts, but it is a dramatization. The acting is brilliant. I’ve never seen Damian Lewis in anything that I didn’t like. He knows how to pick what to sign up for. And he doesn’t fail us with this performance either.
One nice touch for us is that there is an uncredited role of Dutch spy, Peter Tazelaar. He comes out of a pool and is greeted by none other than Ian Fleming. When he takes off his diving suit, he is wearing a tuxedo. Well, this spy was the inspiration for part of the pre-title sequence of Goldfinger. If you want to find out the tie-in to Goldfinger, you can listen to our podcast Episode from March 16, 2022, to find out the details.
Anyway, we recommend this series and for the US-based folks, this should be on MGM+ soon.
Ballerina
In our November 29th Spy Movie News, we talked about the upcoming movie Ballerina. We also told you that Keanu Reeves will be in this along with Anjelica Huston. This is a spin-off of the John Wick series of movies and stars Ana de Armas. Well, an article on CinemaBlend.com tells us that the cast is even more flushed out with Gabriel Byrne, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Lance Reddick also signing on up. This is a very good cast so we’ll see where they take it.
Spy x Family
We like this next one because it is a bit different. The popular manga series Spy x Family is expanding by not only just adding a second season but a movie too. This could be cool. If you aren’t aware of the series, it is a story of an undercover spy who forms a family to provide cover. It has a TV-14 rating. There isn’t much out about the movie yet, but, like the series, it is expected to be in Japanese with English dubbing. The series was released on TVTokyo. Crunchyroll is where to go to stream it.
We don’t have a release date for the movie, but it is expected to release in 2023.
Atomic Blonde 2?
We’re fans of the 2017 movie Atomic Blonde, starring Charlize Theron. We also are hoping to see an Atomic Blonde 2. Well, Mike Reyes published an article where he talks with Kelly McCormick. She’s the producer of both the movies Nobody and Atomic Blonde at 87North Productions.
Mike asked Kelly about sequels for both of these movies. Kelly made it sound like Nobody 2 is in the works but was a bit noncommittal about Atomic Blonde 2. She didn’t say yes or say no, but couched her answer by being more direct about Nobody 2 being further along. So, we’ll have to see if she was just being coy or if something is really happening. We hope they do create an Atomic Blonde 2. We know we’d like that.
You can read Mike’s article which has a clip of part of the interview here, on cinemablend.com.
Paradox Effect
Another spy movie in the works will star Olga Kurylenko and Harvey Keitel. An article on deadline.com describes the plot like this. “an innocent woman (Kurylenko) is forced to confront a dangerous kingpin (Keitel) who has kidnapped her young daughter and is holding her for ransom. She teams up with a corrupt Interpol agent, whose son is also being held hostage, to rip off various criminals to raise the ransom to save their offspring. Together they have one hour to save their families from the wrath of Keitel’s character.”
Like Damien Lewis who we talked about earlier, Keitel is one of those actors who has more hits than misses. And Kurylenko we liked as Camile in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. And we’ll talk about her later in this newscast as well.
Production is expected to start in January 2023. It currently does not have a release date.
Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre
Ok, so let’s talk about one of the most bizarrely advertised spy movies in recent times. Of course, we’re talking about Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre. This was the movie that was supposed to be released in early 2022 but was pushed back. At the time we were hearing that it was pushed because the bad guys in the movie were supposed to be Ukrainian. The Russian invasion of Ukraine happened right before the expected release date so pausing for that reason made sense.
But, now we are reading in some places that this movie will release in a week, on January 5th, in some locations, hitting the US on January 12, 2023. Maybe. Those dates come from IMDB.
Um, you would think that there would be some promotion around a Guy Ritchie movie starring Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, and Hugh Grant, but we’re getting crickets. If you go to the Miramax and STX Films websites, there is nothing but the trailer. There is no release information at all. The trailer looks great. Even the “official site” Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre | Official Website | 01 January 2023 just says “Coming Soon”. So what gives?
Well, Guy Ritchie, the movie’s director commented on this at the Red Sea International Film Festival in early December about the release of the movie. He said “It starts to unfurl in different territories from January. Some are theatrical, some are not. That’s my understanding. That got caught in some administrative hell. There’s quite a lot of administrative hell, as it turns out, behind the curtain of distribution.” So, did that give us any clarity?
Well, hopefully, we’ll be able to see this movie in January. We’re not holding our breath.
Treason
The five-part series called Treason just dropped on December 26th on Netflix. According to Netflix, the tagline for the series is "An Mi6 deputy’s bright future takes a sharp turn after a reunion with a Russian spy forces him to question his entire life.” That sounds good to us.
This series counts Ciarán Hinds, Olga Kurylenko, and Charlie Cox as part of its cast which bodes well for the series.
We’ve watched this series and there are some good parts and some parts that could have used more development. If you are an Olga Kurylenko or Charlie Cox fan, this one should work for you.
Mission Majnu
On January 20, 2023, the Indian spy thriller Mission Majnu will release on Netflix both in the UK and the US. The Netflix tagline for this one is “The untold story of India’s most audacious and daring covert operation in the heart of Pakistan.
The language for the movie is Hindi. We don’t know yet if it will be subtitled or English dubbed. We’ll let you know when we find out.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
Well, once again Mission: Impossible team is doing a great job of keeping our attention as we painfully wait for its July 14, 2023 release. Well, that is the release date for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One at least.
We wish they would change to a better title, but hey, they keep giving us more glimpses as to what’s coming which helps. This time, Christopher McQuarrie posted a picture on Instagram thanking South Africa. He included a picture showing Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character standing on a plane in mid-air. It’s a great shot. We think it will be for a scene from Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two which is slated to release on June 28, 2024.
In previous newscasts, we’ve talked about the big motorcycle jump that Cruise does in Part One. Well, they’ve now posted a video on Youtube that discusses and shows us how they did the stunt. It’s a fun 9-minute video that will make to want to see Part One just to see how it ties into the movie. You can see the YouTube video here.
East Side
Ok, this one might be a bit obscure. East Side is an Israeli movie due out in 2023 on the local station Kan 11. However, Fremantle owns distribution on this but nothing has been announced about distribution outside of Israel.
Anyway, East Side is a name that has been used for multiple movies, but this time we’re talking about the Israeli movie. According to an article on Deadline.com:
“East Side follows Momi, an ex-Secret Service agent-turned-fixer who plays by his own rules as he brokers shady property deals between the Arab residents of East Jerusalem, and the powerful Jewish groups trying to take control of the area by whatever means possible. Brooding and well-connected, Momi slips between communities with ease. But behind his cool facade, the deadly consequences of his double-dealing are taking their toll, and at the center of his world is 18-year-old autistic daughter Maya.”
I hope we can see this movie here in the US at some point. I have an autistic brother and understand the pressures of raising an autistic family member. Coupling managing double-dealing in the espionage world with raising an autistic child is something I want to see how they deal with..
James Bond
Our friends at The Spy Command tell us that the Ian Fleming Foundation is pushing the 70th anniversary of the publication of Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel, “Casino Royale”.
The Ian Fleming Foundation also says that new editions of the Fleming originals will come out with new covers.
So, if you love the James Bond novels, 2023 will be a fun year for you.
Industry News For Spy Movie News - December 28 2022 Edition
Michael Denering
We all know the importance of Art Direction in movies, especially spy movies. Well, in February Michael Denering will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Directors Guild. He is known for his painting in several movies. Among his 60 movie credits, spy movie fans have seen his work in Charlie’s Angels (2000), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003).
In Memoriam
Michael Reed
Cinematographer Michael Reed has passed at 93. Among his 50+ credits is one spy movie fans love. He was the cinematographer of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
An article on Reed on mi6-hq.com tells us that Reed first became involved with the James Bond series with Goldfinger when he covered the 2nd unit’s work as Ted Moore and Guy Hamilton had to fly to the US to film the Fort Knox scenes.
Diane McBain
Actress Diane McBain has passed at 81. Probably best known for her work in the movies Spinout and The Delta Factor, as well as the “Batman” television series, McBain also had roles on the television spy series “Charlie’s Angels”, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E”, and “The Wild Wild West.”
Cliff Emmich
Cliff Emmich has passed at the age of 85. Among his almost 100 credits is his role as the out-of-control bus driver in Inspector Gadget.
Tom’s Rant For Spy Movie News - December 28 2022 Edition
I'm Mad
So, this month my rant will be a bit short but this one really frosts me. I mean it really, really makes me mad. Now, I’ll start this by saying I’m not a lawyer. I’m a movie fan. I’m not giving a legal opinion here. This is just my reaction to a stupid lawsuit and what I think is a stupid judge.
What's up with the judge?
Here in the US, Judge Steven Wilson has allowed a lawsuit to continue. Now, this isn’t an “I-was-totally-wronged-and-lost-a-million-dollars-type of lawsuit”. No, here are two, what I consider idiots, who paid $3.99 each to watch the movie Yesterday. They claim they have been wronged to the tune of $5 million. Maybe they are brilliant because the judge, in my opinion, is an idiot as well.
What is the crime?
So, what was the heinous crime? Only that the trailer showed Ana de Armas playing a character named Roxanne. The problem was that between the trailer’s release and the movie’s release, the character Roxanne had been cut from the movie.
This is just stupid
Oh, be still my beating heart. These two idiots supposedly only watched the movie to see de Armas, on a streaming service no less. And, they weren’t smart enough to check the credits before purchasing if that’s the only reason they watched? And this is the basis of a $5 million lawsuit? Paleeze. This is one of the things wrong with the legal system in the US. How could Judge Steven Wilson allow this suit to continue?
What are some of the ramifications if the plaintiffs win? Let’s say a movie like Operation Fortune that we talked about earlier released its trailer (which it did) and then oh, a global pandemic hits and Russia invades Ukraine. Hmm, they pulled the release for the movie back. Now if one of their actors had been canceled with today’s cancel culture (which didn’t happen here), is the studio stuck having to include their scenes if they appeared in the trailer? I just don’t get it. Plus, things get cut in editing. We all know that. When I see a trailer, I don’t expect that 100% of what I see I’ll see in the final cut. Trailers come out early to generate hype.
I hope the plaintiffs lose
I hope that in the end these guys lose this suit and have to pay legal fees. Lots of legal fees. Movie producers and moviegoers are going to suffer if these guys win. Trailers won’t be able to be released until after the final editing is done. Movies won’t be able to be hyped because no one will want to take the risk.
If the movie companies lose this one, I think they should take whatever was shown in the trailer and show it as a post-credit scene clip. They would then be able to claim it was shown. This is just stupid.
So, let’s make sure we call these guys out. Peter Michael Roza and Conor Woulfe, I hope you lose your suit because it is dumb. And Judge Steven Wilson, shame on you for letting this continue. I think you should have tossed it. Allowing a $5 million lawsuit on a $3.99 movie. Really? That’s just total BS and I think you should all be ostracized for being jerks.
And that’s this month’s rant.
And, that’s a wrap! Thank you for reading our Spy Movie News - December 28 2022 Edition. As usual, you can send us a comment at info@spymovienavigator.com. Please help us out and Subscribe to our show, Cracking the Code of Spy Movies through your favorite podcast app!
