Tag: The Gray Man

Spy Movie News – September 27, 2022

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Here’s our September 27, 2022 edition of Spy Movie News!

Today we remember Queen Elizabeth II and talk about the upcoming spy movies Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Gray Man, Inheritance, Blackbird, Section 8, Kandahar, Argylle, Spy Kids, James Bond, and more.

Queen Elizabeth II

We start this edition of Spy Movie News remembering Queen Elizabeth II.    In remembering the Queen, we as spy fans must remember her support, especially for the James Bond series.

As pointed out in The Spy Command, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond toasts and apologizes to a picture of the Queen when he resigned.  It is odd to think that if that movie was made today, it would be called On His Majesty’s Secret Service in honor of King Charles III.

And as Sharon Oliver reminds us on MovieWeb.com, Queen Elizabeth II’s part in the skit with Daniel Craig’s Bond in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony was at the suggestion of the Queen, herself. In fact, she suggested that she get a line to say.  The production was ready to make copies of the Queen’s outfit and other images. They wanted to build a set. However, the Queen’s staff informed the crew that that the Queen wanted to do her part herself.  You have to love that support for the series and it seems like she had a good time doing it.

Also, we were very relieved that there was no London Has Fallen incident during the tributes and ceremonies for the Queen. Being spy movie fans, that movie instantly jumped to the front of our minds when thinking about the security needed for the funeral which brought together so many of the world’s leaders.  Thank goodness all went as planned.

Movies in Development

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning

We’ll start with two stories about Tom Cruise.  In our September 2021 Spy Movie News we told you of a chance encounter some hikers in the Lake District in England had with Tom Cruise as he was preparing for a stunt in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One.  

Well, it appears that now the Lake District had some locals who created a delay in shooting for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two.  And we know this movie has had a lot of delays.  Ok, so this time it was a slight delay but we think it is funny why it happened.  It turns out that there are plenty of sheep in the Lake District.  Amazingly, a flock of these sheep caused shooting to stop to let them pass.  This is one of the funniest reasons we’ve heard for shooting to be delayed on this often delayed movie.

The second story about Cruise is a bit similar to something we told you about in our November 2021 Spy Movie News. We told you that Tom Cruise filmed a stunt where he walks on the wing of a biplane.  Duxford Airfield in Cambridge was used for the filming. 

Well, @icemavs tweeted a video that was shown at Cinemacon.  It shows Tom Cruise standing on a plane over a canyon.  The audio is a bit rough but it sounds like he’s over the Blade River Canyon in South Africa.  Again, the audio is rough so we may have that location wrong, but it is an interesting clip to view.  Tom Cruise has ice in his veins.   I see no reason to get out of my seat on a perfectly functioning biplane.

The Gray Man

When we gave our quickfire no-spoiler review of The Gray Man, we commented on how much we liked the actor Dhanush who played Lone Wolf.  Most of us in the west had never heard of Dhanush.  His career is mostly in Tamil movies, although he’s done some Bollywood movies as well.  He is a South Indian superstar who is one of the big box office stars in India.  And his father is a director and producer and his brother is also a film director.

Dhanush is also a film writer and producer, and he has written and performed songs for a variety of movies.

Rajiv Prajapati has an excellent article on MovieWeb.com which gives more details about this fascinating performer to who we have just been introduced to.

Also, if you haven’t seen The Gray Man and you have Netflix, give it a watch and you’ll see why we liked Dhanush in this role.

Blackbird

We’ve talked about Michael Flatley’s spy movie Blackbird in the last few Spy Movie News episodes.  Well, Craig Jones has written an article called “Why Michael Flatley’s Blackbird Could Be on Par With Tommy Wiseau’s The Room”.  That title floored us.   In case you aren’t familiar with The Room, it has been called by more than one critic the worst movie ever made (which is really saying something).  Clark Collis in Entertainment Weekly called The Room “The Citizen Kane of bad movies”.

Ok, so is Jones saying that Blackbird is as bad as The Room?  It gets complicated as The Room is one of those “so bad it’s become a cult movie” to some, especially comedians.  As for Blackbird Jones says the visuals and the acting, other than Michael Flatley’s performance are good.  His problem with Blackbird is the script and Flatley.  So, once this movie gets released we’ll find out what we think.

Inheritance

Fans of “Bridgerton” will be happy to see that Phoebe Dynevor who played Daphne Basset, Duchess of Hastings will be starring in a new spy thriller called Inheritance.  Not a lot of the plot has been released, but we’re told Phoebe’s character will be thrown into a world of secrecy and crime after her estranged father reenters her life.  

So, even though the movie has reportedly finished filming, it doesn’t appear on IMDB.com and no other cast members have has been announced. Also, no release date has been set. This is intriguing. 

Also, once again, a movie is coming out with the same name as a recently released movie.  Simon Pegg and Lily Collins were in the 2020 movie of the same name.  At least that one wasn’t a spy movie. This gets confusing sometimes.

Section 8

Limited Theatrical Release

The new movie Section 8 started streaming this past weekend on AMC+. It also had a limited theatrical release.  How limited you ask?  Only one theater in Chicago showed it.  We understand the concept of streaming and where the revenue stream is for these streamers.  However, many of these action movies are best to watch in a theater.  So, while we appreciate that it is available in a single theater in all of Chicagoland, it is a tough pill to swallow.

The Plot

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox.  Let’s talk about the movie, Section 8.  The tagline is “The Only Way Out … Is to Go Deeper In”.  That sounds interesting.  But what’s it about?   Well, we’re told that: “After avenging the murder of his wife and child, a former soldier is sent to prison with a life sentence. He’s given a shot at freedom when a shadow government agency recruits him for an off-the-books assignment, and he soon realizes Section 8 isn’t what it seems.”

Hmm. This sounds like a well-worn plot, with a twist in the reason he was in prison.  But we’ve seen movies where someone has a shot of freedom from prison if they take on a new task.  The Harry Palmer Movies, the 1964 movie The Secret Invasion, and The Dirty Dozen all have this driver for the protagonist to act the way the government wants.

The Cast

At least it has a strong cast. Ryan Kwanten, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Dermot Mulroney, and Scott Adkins lead the cast.  And according to director Christian Sesma, the movie starts with character development and setting up why the lead is seeking revenge.  All of that before the main action-movie stuff starts.  We applaud that as we like when spy movies have a story and aren’t 100% action.

The movie even accidentally has a current-news feel to it with the recent accusations against Bret Favre having some similar undertones to this movie.

If you want to read more about this movie before watching it, there is a detailed article written by Matthew Mahler on MovieWeb.com.

Kandahar

Open Road has picked up the U.S. rights to Kandahar. Kandaha is expected to have a 2023 theatrical release.  Kandahar is a story of a CIA operative, Tom Harris who is in a hostile part of Afghanistan.  The major plot of the movie is that Harris gets exposed and has to escape.

Gerard Butler takes on the role of Tom Harris.    This could be a good one.

Argylle

What’s up with Argylle?  And who is the author?

Argylle is an Apple project that we’ve talked about numerous times starring Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Bryan Cranston, and Bryce Dallas Howard.  What a fantastic cast.  And the movie has already been adapted into a motion picture.

The questions are around the book author, first-time novelist Elly Conway, and the release of the book.  As reported in The Hollywood Reporter, the book was to be released on September 29 this year. However, the new date is March 2023.  The Hollywood reporter goes on to tell us that the only thing about it on Amazon is a page for a German-language version on the Kindle, scheduled for January 10, 2023.  In addition, Hollywood Reporter tried unsuccessfully to get an advance copy of the book.  And they tell us that Conway only has a two-line bio.  “Elly Conway is the author of the heavily anticipated debut thriller, Argylle. She lives in the United States and is currently working on the next instalment (sic.) in the series.”

While we applaud The Hollywood Reporter for actually trying to report, we think they missed a step while setting up the intrigue about the author and the book. Yes Amazon’s US site indeed has almost nothing on this book.  However,  Penguin’s UK site does. Their page on the book has a summary and multiple places where you can pre-order the book, including Amazon’s UK site.

So, we get that they can’t find anything about Elly Conway and are bummed they couldn’t get an advance copy.  However, we think the reporting about the Amazon not having a page for the book is a bit misleading.

Spy Kids

We’ve been talking about this one for quite a few episodes. Now we hear that the reboot of Spy Kids has wrapped filming. This will be the fifth Spy Kids Movie. Netflix hasn’t announced a release date yet but has this synopsis of the movie:

“When 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, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.”

We can’t wait.

James Bond

Most of the James Bond news this month has been speculation about who should be the next actor to take on the role of James Bond.  We talked about that last month and since there is nothing really new there, we’ll move on to other topics.

George Lazenby

There is unsettling news about George Lazenby, who played James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  As has been widely reported, Lazenby, who was born in Australia, got into some trouble with some comments he made telling some stories during an interview he gave in Australia.  He had been on a tour with the national concert tour “The Music of James Bond”. However, he has been kicked off the tour for his remarks.  

We’ve been unable to find exactly what Lazenby said as no recording of the interview has been released. In this situation it appears that callers to a talk radio program complained about Lazenby’s remarks which stoked the blowup in the media.

Lazenby did apologize, saying in part “It was never my intention to make hurtful or homophobic comments and I am truly sorry if my stories that I have shared many times were taken that way.”

While we can’t condone or criticize the comments he made as we don’t know exactly what he said,  we’d be happy to have George Lazenby on our podcast to talk through what happened and get his side of the story.  People can get canceled quickly in today’s media. And often, in hindsight, we wonder if cancellation was the right approach.  George, you’re welcome to use our platform to help us understand what happened.

Kabir Bedi

In happier news, one of our favorite henchmen from the James Bond movies has received a Lifetime Achievement Award.   An article on Variety.com tells us that Kabir Bedi, who exquisitely played Gobinda in Octopussy received the Filming Italy Movie Lifetime Achievement Award.  As Bedi put it “Since the time of ‘Sandokan,’ I’ve done over six major series in Italy and not many people realize that really Bollywood and Hollywood are a far lesser part of my life than my career in Italy,”  Sandokan was a popular tv mini-series in Italy. 

So, congratulations to Kabir Bedi on this well-deserved recognition.

Two Documentaries

We normally talk about spy movies, not documentaries. But at the Telluride Film Festival, two documentaries were shown that we think spy movie fans will probably be interested in.  We have not seen details as to when these will be picked up for broader distribution.  We’ll keep you posted.

A Compassionate Spy

First up is A Compassionate Spy, a documentary that looks at Ted Hall, one of the scientists on the Manhattan Project. With the expected July 2023 release of the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer, this is a good time to learn more about the Manhattan Project and find out about Hall who gave nuclear secrets to Russia.  We are expecting some espionage in Oppenheimer so A Compassionate Spy seems like a natural to watch first.

A Compassionate Spy has been shown at the Venice, Telluride, and Camden International Film Festivals this month. It hits the Chicago International Film Festival on October 12, 2022. 

My Name is Alfred Hitchcock

The second documentary that hit Telluride this year that should be of interest to Spy Movie News fans is called My Name is Alfred Hitchcock.  This isn’t a documentary about a spy, but it is about Hitch.  We’ve been decoding Hitchcock’s spy movies on our Cracking the Code of Spy Movies podcast.  So, this documentary should let us learn more about Hitchcock.  

An interesting twist is that impressionist Alistair McGowan provides us with Hitchcock’s voice giving us commentary. Therefore, we’re looking forward to a broader release of this one. It seems like an interesting way to tell Hitchcock’s story.  Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot new to find outabout Hitchcock. So bringing in an impressionist to lend Hitchcock’s “voice” to the story sounds like it could work.

You can read more about My Name is Alfred Hitchcock on Deadline.com.

In Memoriam

Henry Silva

Probably best known for his role in the 1962 version of The Manchurian Candidate, Henry Silva passed at the age of 95.  He had a distinctive look and often portrayed villains.  Of his 140 credits in IMDB, Silva appeared in the 1960 version of Ocean’s Eleven (and he had a small part in the 2001 remake), numerous spy tv programs, and even some spy movies.  These include Matchless and Assassination.  However, probably our favorite role he delivered was that of John Durrell in the 1964 movie The Secret Invasion.  His portrayal of Durrell was excellent.  You really didn’t want to mess with this character that Henry Silva delivered.

Irene Papas

Actress Irene Papas passed at the age of 93.   Papas is probably best known for her role in Zorba the Greek. Spy movie fans may remember her from the 1953 movie The Man from Cairo and the 1961 movie The Guns of Navarone.

Marsha Hunt

Actress Marsha Hunt passed at the age of 104.  Her acting career spanned 73 years.  Spy movie fans may remember her from her role as Mary Smith in the 1942 movie Joe Smith, American.

Amanda Mackey

Casting director Amanda Mackey dies at age 70.  She was the casting director for A League of Their Own, Smokin’ Aces, While You Were Sleeping, The Fugitive, and many others.  Spy movie fans have seen her work with the casting of The Hunt for Red October, Green Zone, Executive Decision, Patriot Games, and Olympus Has Fallen.

So that’s a wrap.  We hope you enjoyed this Spy Movie News for September 27, 2022.  Check out our podcast called Cracking the Code of Spy Movies.  We have a YouTube Channel with the same name.

Spy Movie News – July 26 2022 – Blackbird, Kingsman 3, Sicario 3, The Gray Man

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Spy Movie News – July 26 2022 – Blackbird, Kingsman 3, Sicario 3, The Gray Man

Learn about what's streaming and in the theater, BLACKBIRD, KINGSMAN 3, THE GRAY MAN 2, SICARIO 3, SPY KIDS and more.

Here is our Spy Movie News for 7/26/2022. We discuss the August releases of spy movies. We’ll look at some ongoing projects like Blackbird, Kingsman 3, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One, The Gray Man 2, Sicario 3, Spy Kids, and take a quick look back at Austin Powers in Goldmember and True Lies.

Be in the know in 16 minutes and be up-to-date on the spy movie industry!

Comments: info@spymovienavigator.com

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Spy Movie News – July 26, 2022

Related: Spy Movie News – July 26 2022 – Blackbird, Kingsman 3, Sicario 3, The Gray Man

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Here’s our Spy Movie News for July 26 2022!

This article discusses the August 2022 releases of spy movies and we’ll look at some ongoing projects like Blackbird, Kingsman 3, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One, The Gray Man 2, Sicario 3, Spy Kids, and oh, Happy 60th Birthday Tom Cruise.

Let’s start by looking at what’s coming in spy entertainment in August 2022.

We are in the summer doldrums here and our pickings for new or re-released spy movies are pretty slim. 

August Theatrical Spy Movie Releases

On August 12, IFC Films will release Rogue Agent both in theaters and on AMC+.  Their synopsis of the movie is: “The chilling true story of conman, Robert Freegard, who posed as an undercover MI5 agent kidnapping countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt until the woman who fell for him brought him to justice.”

We like seeing true spy stories brought to the screen.   The twist of having the MI5 agent just being a conman and not a real agent sounds intriguing to us. We’ll be checking this one out.

Ok, we had to stretch a bit for this next one.   On August 5th, we’ll see the theatrical-only release of Bullet Train.  This isn’t technically a spy movie, but it looks like it has a feel of a spy movie.

According to the Sony Pictures website:

“In Bullet Train, Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug’s latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe—all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives”

Streaming Spy Movie Releases for July

This list is very sparse.  Come on streamers, give us spy fans more to watch.

Netflix

On August 5th Netflix will add:

Carter – This Korean Netflix original movie sounds like it has a bit of a Bourne feel to it.  The synopsis of this one is: Agent Carter wakes up one day in a motel room without any recollection of his identity and follows orders to join an explosive mission.

Skyfall – Also on the 5th, Netflix will re-release Skyfall for streaming.

Then on August 8th, they will release another Netflix Original Film, the Spanish movie – Code Name: Emperor.  This movie Follows Juan, an agent working for the intelligence services, who also reports to a parallel unit involved in illegal activities.

Hulu

Hulu will rerelease the 1993 movie In the Line of Fire on August 21st.

HBO Max

HBO Max has no new spy movie releases in August, not new releases or re-releases.

And that’s pretty much it for August.  So let’s now look to the future.

Upcoming Spy Movies

Spy Kids

We’ve mentioned the Spy Kids reboot that is being developed for Netflix in past Spy Movie News editions.  Billy Magnussen, who played Logan Ash in No Time To Die, has signed on to the Spy Kids reboot.  So this cast is really taking shape.  We can’t wait to see the finished product.

Kingsman 3

An article on movieweb.com gives us some insight (maybe) into Kingsman 3.  We’ll call it Kingsman 3 as that is what the article uses.  We know the name will change.  This is expected to be the last of the Eggsy and Harry Hart arc of the series.  It is not expected to be the last Kingsman movie, however.  It will just be the last with Eggsy and Harry. 

We remember that Eggsy and Harry weren’t in the most recent movie in the series The King’s Man.  That movie was a prelude to the Eggsy and Harry arc.  It hinted at more arcs in the series.   We like this as this is a series about an organization, not a person. People can be replaced or killed as part of the design. 

Mission: Impossible is in a similar position to the Kingsman series as it is technically about the Impossible Mission Force, not Ethan Hunt.  So, they can take that series forward if they want, even if Ethan Hunt dies or retires in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning part one or part two.  This avoids the problem that the Bond series has entrapped itself with.  These two series can go on easily unlike Bond.

So, here’s why we said maybe at the beginning of this discussion.  Here is Taron Edgerton’s quote from the article:

“My understanding is that we are to be shooting the third installment in my saga I believe next year. But you know, don’t listen to what I say because I don’t really know. You know, they’re grown-up decisions.” 

Edgerton does go on to say “there is a script”.

So, he hedges while giving us a clue.  Let’s hope he’s right as we like this series and would like to see more.  We need a replacement for James Bond and this one works.

The Gray Man

We have three things to discuss about The Gray Man which was just released in July on Netflix and in limited theaters.  As we’ve talked about before, the hope is that this movie will launch a series of movies based on Mark Greaney’s book series.

The Gray Man has some great chase scenes.  An article in Variety discusses how COVID affected the shooting in terms of locations.   Our favorite quote comes from production designer Dennis Gassner: “A rooftop chase scene was assembled from various locations, including a spot in Prague. “If you went to visit it, you wouldn’t find it,” he teases.”   That’s too bad for us here at SpyMovieNavigator.com because we love finding filming locations.  We guess we’ll have to move on to the next location.

Will there be a The Gray Man 2? Well, Ryan Gosling is ready to go on.  In an article by Jonathan Fuge, Gosling says:  “I loved making this film. I’d love to do it again. I’m hoping we can bump Six up to a name status at some point, just for his own sanity”.

The article continues to tell us that “both The Gray Man 2 and a prequel centering on Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen are already said to be ‘at the very early stage.’ ”

Well, we enjoyed watching this movie and hope they do press on with more from the series.  The prequel on Lloyd Hansen is an interesting take.  He is the antagonist in The Gray Man. We liked his crazy character very much. It would be awesome to get his backstory in a sequel.

And finally, director Joe Russo has been quoted in Variety as saying: If we do continue forward with the story, I can guarantee you that Dhanush’s character will be part of that world moving forward.”  This is great news for us.  We called out Dhanush’s character Lone Wolf in our no-spoiler review of The Gray Man.  His role and Dhanush’s performance were fantastic. [I changed the name here because in the credits he’s called Avik San, but in the closed captioning and in the movie they call him Lone Wolf.]

Blackbird

Some people will finally get a chance to see the Michael Flatley movie Blackbird.  This spy movie has been shrouded in intrigue since it debuted at London’s Raindance Film Festival in 2018. Hollywood reporter.com tells us that at that premier, no journalists were allowed to view it and there were no reviews or audience reactions on Twitter.  Then, like Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, it disappeared.

Then, in July 2021, it was the opening night movie at the Monaco Streaming Film Festival.   Oh yeah, and they didn’t stream it. Michael Flatley won the best actor award at the festival for his performance as Blackbird.  He is described as a “troubled, sharply-dressed, James Bond-esque secret agent who retires from the service and seeks solace as the owner of a glamorous nightclub in the Caribbean.”

So, why did we start out saying “some people” will get the chance to see it?  Well, they are releasing Blackbird on September 2, 2022, but only in some theaters in Ireland.

So, the intrigue continues.  We hope nobody wanted a return on their investment quickly.  That said, we think this intrigue might set Blackbird up for a huge payday in the future.  If it does well in Ireland and given its mystique, this could just be marketing genius.

Sicario 3

Expected to get the title Sicario: Capos, Sicario 3 is in development.  This is the third movie in the Sicario series.  The cast hasn’t been announced.

In an article on movieweb.com, we’re told that the story will likely pick up from the Sicario: Day of the Soldado, ending.  Black Label Media is the producer and has confirmed that “the movie should enter production this year”.   It also quotes actor Josh Brolin, who has appeared in the previous two installments as saying that the script has been “written and rewritten”.  And, he joked “we may be 80” when they finally do film it.  Given that Brolin is only 54, let’s hope that was a joke.

Mission: Impossible

Ok, so we still have a year to wait for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One.  We still can’t believe that’s the title they came up with. Anyway, there are a couple of news items that caught our attention this month:

Tom Cruise Turns 60

Tom Cruise hit his 60th birthday on July 3rd.  That prompted director Christopher McQuarrie to tweet out a fantastic picture of Cruise doing a stunt for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part Two. Well, maybe it was Part Two.  We’ve also seen an article about this that says it was for Part One.  Either way, check it out.  It is an impressive look at a 60-year-old Cruise still going nuts with his stunts.  You can find it on JoBlo.com.   

We don’t think Mickey Rourke and Tom Cruise will be having dinner anytime soon

We’re going to have to sensor this a bit due to the language, but Mickey Rourke lashed out at Tom Cruise on Piers Morgan Uncensored.   Morgan asked Rourke “When you see someone like Tom Cruise, grossing a billion dollars with Top Gun Maverick .. what do you think of that?”

“That doesn’t mean (bleep) to me,” Rourke said about the film’s success. “The guy’s been doing the same effing part for 35 years. … I got no respect for that. … I don’t care about money or power. I care about… when I watch Al Pacino working or Christopher Walken, and De Niro’s early work and Richard Harris’ work and Ray Winstone’s work, that’s the kind of actor I want to be like. …A lot of guys that tried to stretch as actors.”

Piers pressed Rourke and asked him “you don’t think Tom Cruise is a good actor” to which Rourke replied, “I think he’s irrelevant”. 

Wow, coming from a guy who’s had a hit-or-miss career, including one Oscar nomination while Cruise has 3, that is quite a statement. Yeah, we should probably keep these guys apart for a while. You can catch the interview on Twitter.  There is a link to it on Variety.com. 

Looking Backward

Two articles caught our attention this month looking back at older spy movies.

Austin Powers

In celebrating the 20th anniversary of Austin Powers in Goldmember, Vulture gave us an oral history of Beyonce and her role as Foxxy Cleopatra.  Makeup artist Kate Briscoe gave us some background on the making of one of the movie posters.  Beyonce thought it made her look too skinny.  Brisco said:

“When we were shooting, someone brought her a poster that would be promoting the movie,” Biscoe said. “He showed it to her, like, ‘Do you like it?’ And she was kind of like, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘What’s the matter?’ And she says, ‘You made me too skinny. It’s not me.’ Then she did this hourglass shape. And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll fix that.’”

Briscoe continued, “She walked away to go do the scene, and I looked at him and smiled, like, ‘Is that the first time that you’ve ever had an actress ask to make her body bigger?’ He was like, ‘Yes. It’s going to cost me thousands of dollars, but I am going to do it.’”

We applaud the decision to both change the poster and to tell us about it.  Great job.

True Lies

Ok, this one looks back and forward.  We’ve already told you that there is an upcoming tv series based on the movie True Lies. 

Well, the movie just hit its 28th anniversary this year is True Lies.  Jamie Lee Curtis starred as Helen, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Jamie Lee recently discussed one of the stunts from the movie.  Namely, the stunt where she hangs off a helicopter in the movie. She credits her stunt double Donna Keegan but says one shot required Curtis to be wired to a helicopter.  The article has a picture from the movie, and one of the stunts being performed.  It’s nice work and it is fun to get a behind-the-scenes look at a very cool scene. You can check it out in this article on Movieweb.com.

In Memorium

Monty Norman

Well, the James Bond family lost a very important member of its history.  Monty Norman passed away at the age of 94.  

Norman created the James Bond theme that was then arranged by John Barry.  There were disputes how much Norman contributed versus John Barry, who orchestrated the Bond theme for the movie.  Yet, Norman is credited with writing it.  He also penned ‘Underneath the Mango Tree’ for Dr. No.

We can’t imagine James Bond without his theme.

James Caan

Probably best remembered for his roles in The Godfather and Misery, the prolific actor James Caan passed away at 82.  Spy movie fans may remember him playing The President in the 2008 movie Get Smart.  Caan also appeared in two episodes of the ‘Get Smart’ tv series in 1969.

Gregory Itzin

Gregory Itzin has passed at the age of 74.  He is most known for his role as President Charles Logan on the television series ‘24’.  He also played Henry Wilcox on the CIA-based tv series ‘Covert Affairs’.

David Warner

And finally veteran English actor, David Warner has passed at the age of 80.  Among his 228 IMDB credits, he starred in Titanic and The Omen, and several Star Trek productions .  Spy Movie fans may remember him from the 1992 movie Spies Inc., the 1978 remake of The Thirty Nine Steps,  or Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming where Warner played Admiral Godfrey.

So, that’s a wrap!  This has been the July 26, 2022 edition of our Spy Movie News. Please subscribe to our show – Cracking the Code of Spy Movies – in your favorite podcast app and on YouTube.  Tell your friends about us – Share info about our show on your own social media – Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too!   All the links are on our website.  SpyMovieNavigator.com –  Thanks for listening – we appreciate it!

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Spy Movie News – June 28 2022 – The Gray Man, Spy Kids, Slow Horses and more!

Podcast Episode

Spy Movie News – June 28 2022 – The Gray Man, Spy Kids, Slow Horses and more!

Here's our Spy Movie News for June 28 2022. we look at the July spy movies release schedule, spy movies in production and some industry news.

Join us for our Spy Movie News for June 28 2022. In this episode we look at spy movies being released in theater and on streaming platforms in July, 2022, including The Gray Man and Code Name Banshee. We’ll also look at spy movies in production and some industry news. Oh, and we’ll throw in a tidbit about the Glastonbury festival and a show coming to Broadway.

Comments: info@spymovienavigator.com

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Spy Movie News Article – Sept 15 2020: RED NOTICE, FIVE EYES, M:I 7, THE DUKE, TENET, NTTD

Related: Spy Movie News Sept 15 2020: RED NOTICE, FIVE EYES, M:I 7, THE DUKE, TENET, NTTD

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Here’s our September 15 2020 edition of Spy Movie News with the latest updates on Mission: Impossible 7, Red Notice, Five Eyes, TENET, The Duke, NO TIME TO DIE, and some Idris Elba and spy industry news. 

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7

  • Let’s start with some Mission: Impossible 7 news. We know that Tom Cruise has been in England on some rented land practicing stunts for the movie Mission: Impossible 7. 
  • From a Cinemablend.com article, Christopher Mcquarrie, the director says filming has started up again.  And he and released the photo that shows a huge ramp.  This will be used for a stunt with a motorcycle launching off this ramp which is probably 600 feet in the air. It’s something to see if you haven’t seen it yet.  
  • According to independent.co.uk, Mission: Impossible 7 filming in Norway.  Tom Cruise rented a £ 500,000 cruise liner. That’s about $645,000. And this is for the crew and the stars, to prevent further delays and to protect them from COVID-19. So this is clever.  Expensive but clever. Bravo, Tom Cruise you are Top Gun. 

RED NOTICE

  • The Netflix movie Red Notice has some news.  In March, shooting was postponed because of the COVID-19  pandemic. In August 2020 they announced the shooting would start back up in mid-September. So here we are.  According to cinemablend.com, it looks like they are back on the set.  They are being vigilant about making sure that anyone arriving back on the sets for filming is COVID-19 free through testing and so on. No other details were available, but Ryan Reynolds posted pics of him taking the COVID-19 test and said it was easy.
  • Good to hear Hollywood is being careful.

THE GRAY MAN

  • Speaking of Netflix, they’re investing 200 million dollars, according to theverge.com, on a movie based on Mark Greaney’s, “The Gray Man” series of books.  The movie will be about a former CIA agent who was an assassin, also called The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. And Chris Evans would be the CIA agent who’s on the hunt for The Gray Man.
  • Netflix hopes to build a franchise out of this first movie. We don’t know much else about the movie other than what was reported, but sounds a little like Bourne doesn’t it? Hey, no release date yet. Production should start next year. Check theverge.com for all the details.

Five Eyes

  • From deadline.com we see that German major Leonine has won the rights to the recently announced Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie spy thriller, Five Eyes.  This marks the first major deal to go down during Toronto’s virtual market. According to the article, in this spy thriller, Statham will play an MI 6 guns-and-steel agent recruited by the Global Intelligence Alliance,’ Five Eyes’.  His mission will be to track and stop the sale of a deadly weapon that threatens to disrupt the world order.  Reluctantly paired with a high tech CIA expert, he sets off on a globe-trotting mission to infiltrate a billionaire arms broker.
  • Principle photography is due to start in October 2020 in Europe. Additional casting is underway. 
  •  In a related article in collider.com, they say that Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie are teaming up again for Five Eyes. They say Statham’s character, the MI 6 agent, will be named Orson Fortune, who is paired with CIA agent Sarah Fidel. This is the fifth time Statham and Ritchie are working together.  And the article says, hey, this is an appropriate title then, Five Eyes. Oh wait, there are two of them. Shouldn’t the title be Ten Eyes? (groan)

WIFE OF A SPY

  • Yahoo has a review of the Kyoshi Kurosawa movie, Wife of a Spy, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. 
  •  The review makes it unclear if the movie is really a spy movie.  But there are bioweapons,  smuggled reels of surveillance footage, and forged letters.
  •  The author appeared to not want to give away the film, which of course, hey, that’s a good idea. 
  • This movie is seeking US distribution.

TENET

Here’s an update on TENET from Europe and the US.

  • Hollywoodreporter.com reports that while the domestic box office launch for Warner Brother’s TENET has widely been described as tepid, one analyst said he sees it as a good sign. “We actually view the results as encouraging and a positive indicator of demand. Given all of the COVID-19 headwinds.”  That’s what B Riley, analyst Eric Wold wrote in a Monday report.
  • The analyst echoed Warner Brothers’ argument that it was a promising sign that TENET this weekend dropped just 29% from the 9.4 million earned during the September 4th through the 6th weekend. Even though that isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison since the film rolled over the long Labor Day weekend and is now playing in 100 more theaters.
  • According to deadline.com, one of the offshoots of the release of tenant has Warner Brothers, who has both TENET and Wonder Woman 1984, pushing Wonder Woman 1984 to a Christmas release.  Part of the speculation is that the original early October release might have competed with what Warner Brothers hopes will be an early October reopening of theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Warner Brothers will release TENET in those cities if they do open up.  They didn’t want to have Wonder Woman 1984 compete with it.
  • Also, 30% of the nation’s theater space in the US is still closed down due to the pandemic.  If TENET doesn’t open in New York in LA, Warner Brothers might not want to open another blockbuster to only 70% of the US market. In addition, the spot opened up once, the movie Top Gun: Maverick had its release pushed to July 2021. 
  • So what does this portend for the November 6th and 20th release in the US of Black Widow and NO TIME TO DIE respectively? Well in terms of NO TIME TO DIE,  in an article on express.co.uk, they’re wondering about the release date. In a compelling statement, they suggest that
  • Wonder Woman 1984 has moved from its October 2nd release to Christmas Day.
  • MGM’s Candyman has been delayed indefinitely from the same month to 2021
  • The same studio, MGM, has the movie NO TIME TO DIE, which is internationally distributed by Universal Pictures.

So what does this mean? Read their article for more info, but it does make one wonder!  And they point out we should take another look at the most recent movie poster release for NO TIME TO DIE. Anything about the date pop out? Check out their article.

IDRIS ELBA

  • Movieweb.com has an article on an upcoming espionage movie starring Idris Elba.  The movie is untitled, but will release on Apple TV plus.
  • So it isn’t James Bond, but Elba will have another spy movie leading role. 
  •  Not much else has been said about the movie other than it’s being called a “spy movie with romance” and is set in Africa.

Let’s hope it’s not a romance movie like director John Woo called Mission: Impossible II. Let’s also hope it’s a better movie than Mission: Impossible II.

JAMES BOND, LIFE AFTER NO TIME TO DIE

  • Digitalspy.com has an article quoting Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, saying that the next James Bond movie is an “opportunity for change, be it female, male, BI gay, straight, trans, Asian, Black, Latina.”
  • He ducks the question of if he’s been approached for the role.

THE DUKE

  • We’ll end with a story about a movie that isn’t technically a spy movie.  But the story it tells had a slight influence on the first James Bond movie, Dr. No.  In our podcast on Dr. No, we talked about how EON Productions brought a bit of the real world into the movie.
  • In one scene when James Bond is in Dr. No’s lair, he passes a portrait,  “The Duke of Wellington” by Goya. He stops and takes a quick look.   That portrait in real life had been stolen from the National Gallery in London before the filming of the movie. EON Productions added that touch of reality.
  • At the Venice Film Festival, the movie The Duke, starring Helen Mirren, Matthew Goode, and Jim Broadbent, was shown.  The topic of that movie, the theft of the Duke of Wellington portrait. The movie has an expected UK release in 2021.

So that’s it for this edition of Cracking the Code of Spy Movie News.  Be sure to check out our website, SpyMovieNavigator.com, and our podcasts on your favorite podcast app,  we have a YouTube channel too.  Tell your friends about us.

We’ll catch you in the next edition of Spy Movie News.

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Spy Movie News Sept 15 2020: RED NOTICE, FIVE EYES, M:I 7, THE DUKE, TENET, NTTD

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Listen to our September 15 2020 edition of Spy Movie News with latest updates on Mission Impossible 7, Red Notice, Five Eyes, Tenet, The Duke, No Time to Die - and some Idris Elba and spy industry news!

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