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In Michael Mann's "Collateral," Los Angeles cab driver Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) spends his nights picking up and dropping off customers across the bustling city. Mann hones in on the vivid texture of the city at night, the subtle beauty of the busy neon-lit streets, and the eerie silence that fills up the cramped, empty alleyways. Something ominous seems to be lurking beneath the lull of everyday mundanities, and this sentiment manifests in the form of Vincent (Tom Cruise), a hitman who takes Max hostage after boarding his cab as a customer. A game of tense cat-and-mouse follows ... but an odd incident occurs even before Vincent boards Max's cab and terrorizes the man to no end.

When Vincent arrives at the airport in the film's opening, he bumps into a man who hands him a bag. This man, played by none other than Jason Statham, is credited solely as "Airport Man,...

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As of this writing, it's been more than five years since we've had a "Star Wars" movie in theaters, dating back to "The Rise of Skywalker" at the end of 2019 -- though it hasn't been for a lack of trying on Disney and Lucasfilm's part. In the years since Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, many, many "Star Wars" movies have entered development. There are probably several that we'll never hear about. Most of these movies never actually got made.

We're finally getting back to a place where this beloved franchise will return to theaters, with director Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" set to arrive in 2026. Beyond that, we've got a new movie starring Daisy Ridley's Rey in development, as well as a movie from "Clone Wars" maestro Dave Filoni that will tie together all of the shows in the "Mandalorian" universe.

Although I was previously saddened that Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately became a TV show and wasn't a trilogy of movies as planned, I've come to realize that it is so much better for Star Wars that this change was made. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of several recent Star Wars shows that were originally movies. In Obi-Wan Kenobi's case, this really would have meant another story entirely, as the scrapped Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy had a completely different plot than the show.

The trilogy, which would have been written by Stuart Beattie, was going to see Obi-Wan encounter Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader again, but in the movies, he would have believed Anakin was able to return to the light side of the Force. This was based on the comment Obi-Wan made to Luke Skywalker in A New Hope that he had once believed Anakin could be redeemed, which obviously never happened in the prequel trilogy.

Star Wars: 3 TV Shows That Were Meant To Be Movies (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Were you aware that some of our favorite Star Wars TV shows were meant for the big screen? Yes, before the galaxy far, far away embraced the binge-watching era, a few ideas were crafted as blockbuster movies. However, due to The Mandalorian’s smashing success in 2019, Disney+ became the new playground for Star Wars adventures.

This shift wasn’t just about streaming; it was about reimagining how the saga could thrive on the small screen. While many planned Star Wars films fizzled out after Solo’s flop, a few found new life as TV shows. According to Screen Rant, these three surprise Star Wars hits swapped cinema seats for couch cushions.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Was A Movie Trilogy

What started as a grand plan for an Obi-Wan Kenobi movie trilogy took a wild turn into a Disney+ limited...

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Territory is an Australian neo-Western drama series created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee. The Netflix series revolves around the world’s largest cattle station, Marriane Station which has been owned for generations by the Lawson family but it becomes subject to takeover by various parties after the Lawson family engages in a succession battle for ownership of the property. Territory stars Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor, and Sam Corlett. So, if you loved the Western element, engaging family drama, thrilling story, and compelling characters in Territory here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Yellowstone (Peacock & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Paramount+

Yellowstone is a neo-Western drama series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson. The Paramount Network series follows the Dutton family who own the largest ranch in Montana. The plot mostly revolves...

In a surprise to no one, the Rey film, which disappeared after being pushed back for “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” has hit yet another setback. This time, the new writer, who Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy got to replace the other two writers they fired, has also left the film.

Steven Knight was brought in March 2023 to replace the original writers Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. Lindelof has said publically that he was asked to leave Star Wars.

This isn’t even the first time this has happened. Kathleen Kennedy has a trail of people who either quit or were fired for “creative differences.”

There is a list of 18 from 2022, which has increased since then! Some of the people removed include,

Michael Arndt, Gary Whitta, Gareth Edwards, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Colin Trevorrow, Josh Trank, Stephen Daldry, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Stephen Schiff, J.D. Dillard and Matt Owens, Stuart Beattie,...

Some movies take circuitous routes to production. It all, as we like to say, starts on the page, and sometimes all you have on that page is a pitch -- a basic idea centered on a killer hook. And that pitch can go through various permutations as different producers, writers, directors, and stars become attached and unattached. Take "Bad Boys" for instance. Long before Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer teamed up-and-coming filmmaker Michael Bay with the then unproven-at-the-box-office duo of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, the project was intended to be a broad two-hander comedy starring "Saturday Night Live" veterans Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz. Hard to imagine a four-film-and-counting franchise blossoming out of that.

Something in the same vein almost happened with Michael Mann's "Collateral." The moody Los Angeles thriller starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx is considered by many to be one of the director's finest films...

The Obi-Wan Kenobi show almost included a cameo from beloved Star Wars clone trooper Commander Cody, and it's genuinely a shame that didn't happen. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a fascinating addition to Star Wars movies and TV shows. Not only did the show reveal more about Obi-Wan's time on Tatooine, but also, it filled in some major gaps in the Star Wars timeline, among them why Leia sought Obi-Wan's help specifically in A New Hope when she was captured by Darth Vader.

Obi-Wan Kenobi also saw Obi-Wan and Darth Vader face off yet again and provided updates to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader's Star Wars timeline. This included having Vader tell Obi-Wan he wasn't responsible for all that had happened in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which was both surprising and profound. Obi-Wan Kenobi almost featured a storyline that would have made the show so much better,...

The best fantasy movies of all time need their villains and are doubtlessly made even better by the perfect performances of the actors playing them. Antagonistic portrayals constitute some of the best fantasy movie performances ever, but the focus is usually on the heroic (or at least protagonist) characters. Villain actors deserve just as much appreciation for convincingly portraying the person who typically sets the story in motion. There are a range of complex fantasy villains for A-list actors to play, supporting different types of stories.

The most evil fantasy movie villains ever are usually just evil for the sake of it, leaving it up to the actors to make them amazingly charismatic when there is no explanation for their actions. Villains with a tragic backstory are potentially easier and more difficult in different ways; while they have more understandable motives, they demand nuance. Many legendary actors have dazzled audiences with their larger-than-life villain performances,...

Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton is directing an upcoming movie about Pemulwuy, a significant figure in Australian history. The film, titled “First Warrior,” will tell the epic story of Pemulwuy’s leadership battling British colonization in the late 1700s. Sam Worthington and Jason Clarke are attached to star, and producers are looking for an actor to portray Pemulwuy.

Pemulwuy was a leader of the Bidjigal Aboriginal group near modern-day Sydney. For over a decade, he organized resistance against settlers moving onto traditional Indigenous lands. His efforts are regarded as some of the earliest, strongest opposition to colonization in Australia. Yet this pivotal period receives little attention historically.

The film aims to shine a light on Pemulwuy’s remarkable story. Thornton says the script captures “an important story” and he’s honored to be involved. Thornton has won acclaim for movies including “Samson & Delilah” and “Sweet Country.” Aboriginal creatives hold central...

Leading Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton has signed on to direct First Warrior, an epic feature about Australian Aboriginal resistance fighter Pemulwuy. Aussie stars Sam Worthington (Avatar, Hacksaw Ridge) and Jason Clarke (Oppenheimer, Zero Dark Thirty) have boarded the project in lead parts, while a casting search is said to be underway for the lead role of Pemulwuy.

A Bidjigal man of the Sydney tribes, Pemulwuy led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands as Australia was colonized in the late 1700s.

One of Australia’s most admired directors, Thornton broke through in 2009 when his directorial debut, Samson & Delilah won the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’Or prize. His 2017 film Sweet Country took home Venice’s Special Jury Prize and his most recent work, The New Boy, starring Cate Blanchett, premiered at Cannes last year.

First Warrior is supported by the Bidjigal, Dharawal and...

Star Wars might not have had a lot of fan support these past few years. However, the films still managed to rake in a lot of money at the box office, remaining one of Dinsey’s most lucrative franchises. However, there was one film that never managed to be the bee’s knees for the franchise, despite George Lucas’ involvement in the project.

Solo: A Star Wars Story || Credit: Disney

Solo: A Star Wars Story, the second installment of the Star Wars Anthology series of films that Disney shelved, had the lowest box office numbers of a Star Wars film, largely due to factors like not wanting the film to compete with Infinity War’s marketing cycle. However, George Lucas’ involvement should have at least merited a better environment for the film to be nurtured in.

It was George Lucas who came up with the idea of making a Solo...

Stuart Beattie, the writer who penned the scrapped Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy of movies for Star Wars, has revealed exactly what this story would have looked like, and I can't help wondering what it would have meant for the franchise if it had actually been made. The scrapped Obi-Wan trilogy has been a topic of conversation ever since Beattie started discussing it around the time of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show, which was loosely based on what Beattie had already written. As it turns out, however, Beattie's trilogy is vastly different from what actually happened in the show.

To be clear, my current feelings about the Obi-Wan Kenobi show go either way. I do feel as if there was much more that could have been done and developed better in Obi-Wan's show, such as the ending that Reva's character has and the overall relationship between Obi-Wan and Leia. One...

Screenwriter Stuart Beattie reveals George Lucas' role in a Star Wars movie that bombed at the box office by grossing only $393 million.

Appearing on the YouTube channel Star Wars Theory, screenwriter Stuart Beattie revealed George Lucas' role in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Watch the portion of the video or read his comments below:

He was partially involved in Solo, because he was the one who started that. He brought that to Larry Kasdan... It was already in development when they bought it from George.

More to come...

Source: Star Wars Theory...

One of Obi-Wan Kenobis writers recently revealed his scrapped plans for an Obi-Wan-centric film trilogy, which included ideas that could have been game-changing for the franchise. Obi-Wan Kenobi has been one of Star Wars most influential characters since the beginning. As an inextricable player in the Skywalker saga, it was only a matter of time before Lucasfilm made him the focus of a movie, or, as it later panned out, a TV show. Plenty of ideas had been bandied around before, but writer Stuart Beattie originally approached Lucasfilm with an idea for an entire movie trilogy.

During an interview with YouTuber Star Wars Theory, Beattie revealed his core concept: Obi-Wan and Vader had to have met between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and the first Star Wars film, later retitled A New Hope. Dialogue in Return of the Jedi supports his theory at one point, Vader...

Ewan McGregor finally returned as Obi-Wan Kenobi for a series released on Disney+ in 2022. While it was a success, there was no word on a potential second season. When the show was released on Blu-ray/4K, it was billed as ‘The Complete Series’ rather than ‘The Complete First Season,’ which seemed to indicate that Lucasfilm wasn’t going to bring the show back. However, McGregor told Variety that he hopes he gets the chance to do another season.

“I loved, more than anything, getting to know Alec Guinness’ work because I was playing him as a young man. Even now with the series, that’s my personal challenge — if a take feels a bit like him, I’m happy,” McGregor said. “I really do hope we get a chance to do another one. Between where we ended off in the series and when Alec Guinness comes on screen with Luke Skywalker,...

One of the most acclaimed films of 2004 is “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Michael Mann, the movie tells of a cab driver in nighttime Los Angeles who becomes the hostage of a contract killer. Released 20 years ago in August 2004, “Collateral” was a box office success, grossing $220 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. Read on for more about the “Collateral” 20th anniversary.

Most of the nation’s critics were positive on “Collateral.” Todd McCarthy in Variety wrote, “This intensely focused piece soars not only on the director’s precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Cruise and Foxx.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film “a rare thriller that’s as much character study as sound and fury.” And Peter Travers in Rolling Stone said, “Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and...

Two years later, "Obi-Wan Kenobi" feels like a strange entry in the larger Disney/Lucasfilm TV library. It's a show with some very cool moments (like Obi-Wan facing off against Darth Vader) and an incredibly satisfying Leia storyline, but it also meanders quite a bit and has some poor visuals. Well, at least George Lucas seemed to love it.

Part of what makes the show kind of disjointed is that it very much feels like a movie stretched out to be a TV show, with certain ideas scaled down to fit a TV budget and scope, and others stretched to encompass multiple hours of storytelling. After "The Mandalorian" season 2 started the trend, "Kenobi" also cemented the TV arm of Lucasfilm as being driven by cameos. Yet, despite many references and Glup Shitto appearances, we never got the one cameo that would have genuinely mattered to this story: Commander Cody. 

As it turns out,...

In the early 2000s, director Michael Mann was coming off four hugely ambitious films — “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Heat,” “The Insider,” and “Ali” — and thinking about what to do next. He spent over a year working with John Logan on a Howard Hughes script that Martin Scorsese would ultimately direct as “The Aviator,” but its similarities to “Ali” made him wary of embarking on another epic.

“It was an internal conflict,” Mann said on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “In Ali’s case, it was about Ali determining his identity. ‘Who shall I be? Who shall I represent to the world?’ The quest he’s on is very similar to the Howard Hughes story.”

Luckily, another script came Mann’s way that was not only different from “Ali” but also from anything he’d done before. Stuart Beattie’s “Collateral” had the kind of intense conflict, rich characters, and...

Robert Luketic will direct “All Out of Love: The Air Supply Story” for Altit Media Group. The film follows the two founding members of Air Supply, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, as they pursue their musical dreams, ultimately breaking big with such chart-toppers as “Every Woman in the World,” “Lost in Love” and, the film’s title song, “All Out of Love.”

In Luketic, the project gets a director with a proven box office track record — Luketic oversaw both “Legally Blonde” films, two of the biggest hits of Reese Witherspoon’s career, as well as the Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda comedy, “Monster-In-Law,” another commercial success.

Casting on the film, which features a script from BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Stuart Beattie, is currently underway.

Altit Media Group’s Dean Altit will produce, while Barry Seigel, Jesse Weiner, Julia Xu, and Johnny Hsu will serve as executive producers. Filming is set to take...

Celebrate the 20th anniversary of director Michael Mann’s stylishly compelling noir thriller Collateral with a new Limited-Edition 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ SteelBook™, arriving August 6, 2024 from Paramount Home Entertainment. Tom Cruise is “convincingly wicked” (Toronto Star) and Jamie Foxx gives an Oscar®-nominated* performance in the exhilarating film that “crackles with energy and purpose” (Los Angeles Times). Originally released on August 6, 2004, Collateral wowed critics and audiences alike and continues to be revered as a masterful blend of suspense and drama, combining intense action with captivating character exploration. Written by Stuart Beattie, the film also stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, and Javier Bardem. ... Read more...

Put away the sex and drugs because a biopic focusing on the Australian rock duo Air Supply is taking up space in the atmosphere. The project comes from Pirates of the Caribbean and Collateral screenwriter Stuart Beattie. Altit Media Group’s Dean Altit is producing, and Barr Seigel, Jesse Weiner, Johhny Hsu, and Julia Xu are executive producing. Cameras look to roll later this year in Australia and the UK, while the team plans for a summer 2025 release to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary.

If you’ve never heard of Air Supply before, the soft rock duo – Graham Russell (vocals/guitar) and Russell Hitchcock (vocals) – make the type of music to tongue-punch your partner to. With make-out anthems like “All Out of Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” “The One That You Love,” and “Even the Nights Are Better,” Air Supply was inducted into the Aria Hall of...

Exclusive: Pirates of the Caribbean and Collateral screenwriter Stuart Beattie is penning the biopic All Out of Love: The Air Supply Story about the 1980s soft rock band Air Supply.

Altit Media Group’s Dean Altit will produce, with Barry Seigel, Jesse Weiner, Johnny Hsu and Julia Xu serving as EPs.

Production is planned in Australia and the UK during Q4 this year in plan for a summer 2025 theatrical release to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary.

Air Supply was the hit-meister of many gold and platinum slow dance and make-out songs during the 1980s such as “All Out of Love,” “The One That You Love” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.” The band found major success with seven Top 5 singles in a row, tying The Beatles’ consecutive run. Air Supply counts more than 100 million albums sold worldwide and played over 5,000 shows, with members Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock recording hits,...

If Heat and The Insider are agreed upon as Michael Mann’s all-time best films, what is the director’s most underrated feature to date? Is it Thief? The Keep? Manhunter? Public Enemies? Nah. There’s only one acceptable answer: 2004’s criminally overlooked nocturnal neo-noir Collateral. Featuring a rare villainous turn by Tom Cruise and a restrained Oscar-nominated performance by Jamie Foxx, the L.A. crime story was the first film in history to utilize the Viper FilmStream High Definition Camera. The digital format that David Fincher would later adopt for use on Zodiac and Benjamin Button. Beyond the cutting-edge technology, the remote locations Mann and his production team gave viewers a much different glimpse of Los Angeles away from the glamor of Hollywood and into the seedy, sinister parts of town rarely seen on the big screen.

Believe it or not, Collateral was conceived by screenwriter Stuart Beattie when...

George Lucas fully supports the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show and considers it one of his favorite things from Star Wars. The show takes place after the events of Revenge of the Sith, focusing on Obi-Wan's protection of Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. Ewan McGregor returns as Obi-Wan, and Hayden Christensen reprises his role as Darth Vader.

George Lucas has mostly stepped away from Star Wars since Disney bought Lucasfilm, but a new interview from one of the company's executives revealed Lucas' true thoughts about the Obi-Wan Kenobi television show.

In an interview on the Full of Sith podcast, Pablo Hidalgo, who is considered the "senior Star Wars lore advisor," at Lucasfilm, said that George Lucas thoroughly enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Early on there was a conversation had with George [Lucas] over what his thoughts were, and whether or not, honestly, he bought the whole concept, and he was one hundred percent supportive.

Hayden Christensen returned as Anakin Skywalker & Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, facing challenges like underwater filming. Christensen had to hold his breath for Vader's bacta tank scenes, practicing breath-holding techniques to endure long submerged moments. Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place 10 years post-Revenge of the Sith, depicting Obi-Wan's struggle to protect the future.

Hayden Christensen's long-awaited Star Wars return presented the actor with a unique challenge during the filming of a now-iconic moment from Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi. The actor first made his Star Wars debut in 2003 in Episode II - Attack of the Clones as impulsive Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker, before Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith would depict the final steps towards his path to the Dark Side in 2005. Christensen would make his return in 2022 with Obi-Wan Kenobi, reprising the role of both Anakin Skywalker, as well as donning the armor of the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Disney+ confirms Obi-Wan Kenobi as a limited series through its Blu-Ray listing. No future seasons are expected, as it is listed as "The Complete Series". The Blu-Ray release is slated for April 20.

Disney+'s latest batch of Blu-ray home releases carries some disappointing news as the listing for Obi-Wan Kenobi's home release seemingly confirms the production as a limited series. The 2022 Disney+ series saw the return of Ewan McGregor as a disillusioned Obi-Wan during his Tatooine exile. Alongside McGregor and newcomers Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, and Kumail Nanjiani, Obi-Wan Kenobi also saw the return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader

Despite Obi-Wan Kenobi ending with the Jedi finding new hope, Disney+'s latest Blu-Ray announcements have hinted that viewers shouldn't expect future seasons. While Moon Knight, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Andor's listings specifically name them as first seasons, the 2022 series was listed as "The Complete Series." Like WandaVision's home release,...

Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 could explore Obi-Wan's lingering trauma and guilt from Order 66 through a scrapped plot from season 1. Commander Cody's return would force Obi-Wan to confront his feelings and memories surrounding Order 66, allowing him to grow and heal. Cody's redemption could be part of a larger narrative about Obi-Wan seeking forgiveness and spiritual enlightenment, potentially leading to the secret of becoming a Force ghost.

Obi-Wan experienced a lot of personal growth in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but this scrapped plot idea would have allowed him to move on from the effects of Order 66. Obi-Wan Kenobi saw the Jedi Master come to terms with the fact that his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, was still alive and terrorizing the galaxy as Darth Vader. It was an extremely emotional story, as Obi-Wan had to learn to live with the guilt of failing his student and brother. While Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 currently seems unlikely,...

I don’t know of many Christmas horror adaptations. Sure, I could probably look at the history of Krampus and piece something together but other than that I’m hard pressed so let me know in the comments what I could cover next holiday season. Winter in general has all sorts of movies and stories that they are based off of. The very first episode of this show was all about The Thing and its source material Who Goes There and now in the middle of winter, at least in Colorado, I think it’s time to look at one of the better vampire properties of the 2000s and a great limited series comic. 30 Days of Night was originally pitched as a movie but when it was turned down, the comic came out and put the author’s name on the map. As is the nature of Hollywood, it...

Baz Luhrmann’s Australia was a celebrated film of the year 2008, and it secured plenty of Oscar nominations. This was a one-of-a-kind film that did work fifteen years ago, a historical drama that was set against the backdrop of the struggles of the indigenous culture of the country and their fight for recognition. This two-hour, forty-five-minute historical saga has now been released as a six episodes series on Hulu, with many additional subplots and scenes included. Nothing around it has changed except the format, and it was released on the streaming platform on November 26, 2023.

The story of Faraway Downs was like the one presented in the film, with many significant changes made to the re-release. Set in the late 1930s, Lady Sarah Ashley was in Australia seeking her rich husband, Lord Maitland Ashley, who seemed to be running a huge cattle ranch and was facing intense competition in the land down under.

Baz Luhrmann (Elvis) revisits his Australia feature film and transforms the nearly three-hour epic into the six-episode series Faraway Downs. The limited series will include an hour of footage that didn’t make the film’s final cut, as well as a different ending.

“I got the idea and started to relook at the footage and realized I’ve shot enough to do it as episodic storytelling through a revisiting of the piece, not necessarily as a better film than Australia, but a different variation on the themes,” explained Luhrmann in an interview with TheWrap. “I was able to use the strengths of episodic storytelling to breathe those things out and explore them in a stronger way.”

The feature film, and now the Hulu limited series it spawned, stars Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown, Brandon Walters, and Ben Mendelsohn. 2008’s Australia, which currently sits at 54% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...

Hulu has unveiled the official trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs TV series starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, ahead of its November 26 launch.

The story centers on an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) who travels halfway across the world to confront her wayward husband and sell an unusual asset: a million-acre cattle ranch in the Australian Outback called Faraway Downs. Following the death of her husband, a ruthless Australian cattle baron, King Carney (Bryan Brown), plots to take her land and she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Jackman) to protect her ranch. The sweeping adventure romance is explored through the eyes of young Nullah (Brandon Walters), a bi-racial Indigenous Australian child caught up in the government’s draconian racial policy now referred to as the “Stolen Generations.”

Luhrmann also directed Oscar-nominated 2008 movie Australia and he returns for the Hulu series, which debuts in two...

Baz Luhrmann is looking at the benefits of streaming content.

The “Elvis” director recut his 2008 epic “Australia” for a Hulu limited series titled “Faraway Downs.” The film followed an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who inherits a cattle range run by a cattle drover (Hugh Jackman). The limited series will have a new ending and a new soundtrack; “Australia” originally shot three endings, with only one making it into the theatrical release.

“I was inspired to re-approach my film ‘Australia’ to create ‘Faraway Downs’ because of the way episodic storytelling has been reinvigorated by the streaming world,” Luhrmann said in a press statement. “With over two million feet of film from the original piece, my team and I were able to revisit anew the central themes of the work.”

Six-episode limited series “Faraway Downs” will premiere at the closing night of the inaugural SXSW Sydney Screen Festival October 21, with Luhrmann in attendance.

Baz Luhrmann’s Faraway Downs, a six part series that extends his 2008 epic Australia, will close the inaugural SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on Oct. 21 with a world premiere.

The Elvis filmmaker will be on hand to present the limited series told in six chapters and starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown, Brandon Walters and Ben Mendelsohn. The SXSW festival bow will be followed by Faraway Downs launching simultaneously on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ in all other territories on Nov. 26, 2023.

Faraway Downs, with 20th Television as the studio, will expand on Australia, which starred Kidman and Jackman, using original footage and a new ending and updated soundtrack. When Australia first premiered in 2008, Luhrmann said he had filmed three endings. The theatrical cut of Australia has a running time of two hours, 45 minutes. There’s no word on how long the full six-episode series will run.

Clockwise from top left: Rangers Of The New Republic logo (Lucasfilm), Rian Johnson (Getty Images), Rogue Squadron teaser (YouTube), The Mandalorian (Lucasfilm), Kevin Feige (Getty Images), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Lucasfilm)Image: The A.V. Club

Disney has squeezed a lot of movies and TV shows out of the Star Wars license since...

While much of the focus on the Writers Guild strike has been on television and the existential threat to writers’ rooms, screenwriters who primarily work in the film industry say that Hollywood is trending towards a new normal where they are pressured to work more without seeing their pay increase with it.

In TheWrap’s latest strike video roundtable, WGA West vice president Michele Mulroney joined “X-Men: First Class” screenwriter Zack Stentz, “Blue Beetle” writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer and “Collateral” screenwriter Stuart Beattie to discuss the WGA’s push to lock in a two-step payment structure for film writers.

A two-step pay structure would ensure that writers not only get paid at the start of the project and when they turn in the first draft but would also ensure that they would get at least one smaller payment for a rewrite. Mulroney says that over the past 20 years, writers have not been guaranteed payments for rewrites,...

After years of rumours, Ewan McGregor finally returned as Obi-Wan Kenobi for a limited series released on Disney+. The series was a success (although not without its critics), and many fans have been wondering if a second season is possible. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy told the Dagobah Dispatch podcast that Obi-Wan Kenobi could still return, perhaps even in a movie.

“I always hesitate to say no to more Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maybe we end up doing something that gets incorporated into some of the other stories that we’re doing, or eventually into a movie, but who knows?” Kathleen Kennedy said. “But right now, it’s still our standard stand-alone limited series, we have no plans for expansion right now.” The Lucasfilm boss is clearly keeping her options open, but both Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen have said that they would return for more. It’d be interesting to see just...

As Disney+ continues to branch out its small-screen projects, Ewan McGregor remains hopeful for an Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2. The 2022 series marked McGregor's first Star Wars franchise return since Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, picking up 10 years after the film and finding the eponymous Jedi Master hiding out on Tatooine to watch over a young Luke Skywalker, only to be pulled away from the planet when Leia Organa is kidnapped by overzealous Galactic Empire Inquisitor Reva in the hopes of drawing him out. While its pacing was met with some mixed reviews, Obi-Wan Kenobi ultimately proved to be a hit for Disney+, leaving many eager to see McGregor return for a new season, and audiences aren't the only ones keen for more.

In a recent interview with Disney Studio Awards to discuss the show's awards season chances, Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reflected on their Star Wars returns in Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3.Commander Cody returned in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, and it made Obi-Wan Kenobi cutting his role seem even worse. Cody became one of the most popular clone troopers thanks to his appearances in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and then later Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which in large part owed to his close relationship with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two served together throughout the Clone Wars, developing a strong bond and friendship, which made Cody's turn against him due to Order 66 all the more tragic.

Unfortunately, that was the last viewers saw of Commander Cody, until Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3. It revealed Commander Cody's fate after Order 66, with him still working for the Empire but turning against the regime, questioning its methods and ultimately going Awol. However, Cody almost returned even earlier.

Warning! This post contains Spoilers for Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode 3

Although he was originally intended to be a part of the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie, Star Wars has finally brought Commander Cody's redemption to the galaxy thanks to The Bad Batch season 2. Set during the transitional era with the Empire cementing its hold over the galaxy in the wake of Revenge of the Sith, it's been confirmed that many clone soldiers of the former Republic struggled to acclimate to the largely corrupt regime. As such, The Bad Batch season 2, episode 3 confirms Cody was one such clone who could no longer be a good soldier who simply followed orders.

During the Clone Wars, Commander Cody served directly under Obi-Wan Kenobi. Together, they led the forces of the 212th Attack Battalion and 7th Sky Corps, and Cody quickly became one of Kenobi's most trusted allies. However, Order 66 and the clones'...

After years in and out of development hell, it sounds like the much-loved "Gears of War" video game franchise may actually be making the jump from your gaming console to your Netflix home page. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming giant is set to tackle not one but two adaptations of the massively popular series, which currently includes five main games plus several spin-offs.

Per THR, the Netflix deal in partnership with The Coalition includes plans for a live-action feature film adaptation, as well as an adult-oriented animated series. The streamer was able to acquire rights to the saga after months of reported negotiations, years after Universal previously optioned the rights to "Gears of War." In fact, the road to an adaptation has been anything but straightforward for the Epic Games and The Coalition-made series.

Has The Franchise Finally Emerged From Development Hell?

"Gears of War" was first announced...

Jason Statham's cameo in Collateral left Transporter fans with a few questions. Collateral is an neo-noir action thriller set in the span of a single night, starring Jamie Foxx as unsuspecting taxi driver Max Durocher and Tom Cruise in one of his most iconic roles as Vincent, a relentless hitman in need of a loyal ride around Los Angeles. The film is directed by Heat director Michael Mann, who led the film to high critical and commercial success in 2004.

Jason Statham starred in the original Transporter trilogy as the methodical Frank Martin, a freelance driver for hire who completes shady deliveries for questionable individuals. He strictly follows three adamant rules in all of his services: never change the deal, no names or any indication of who's involved in the job, and the most essential one — "never open the package." Although he breaks his third rule since the beginning of...

Kc Global Embarks On Scripted Series ‘ Jonesy’

Kc Global Media, which operates a string of channels across Asia including Axn, anime channel Animax, South Korea’s One and Japanese entertainment channel Gem, has unveiled its first script development of a sci-fi live action series, “Jonesy.” The show is a sci-fi fantasy thriller action-comedy series set in the year 2029, with eight episodes of 15-20 minutes each. Production will be with Singapore-based production agency, Monochromatic Pictures, while development is supported through the Capability Partnership Programme (Cpp) operated by the country’s Infocomm Media Development Authority. The show sees an internet crazy shut-in man driven to extremes by violent weather systems which carry with them supernatural beasts intent on devouring humankind. With his imaginary friend, the man learns to navigate the new world alone, confront his fears, battle colorful foes, and become humanity’s new hope when he kills one of the monsters during a livestream.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi” ran for six episodes on Disney+, but for many fans and critics that was simply too long. While everyone was happy to see Ewan McGregor back as the iconic Jedi, not every “Star Wars” fans agreed on the pacing of the story or the main plotline that sent Obi-Wan on an adventure to save a young Princess Leia from Darth Vader. One “Star Wars” fan, Kai Patterson, has gone viral on social media for editing the Disney+ series into a single two-hour-and-30-minute movie.

“The ‘Obi-Wan’ show, in my opinion, suffered from things that were easily fixable in the script and in the edit,” Patterson writes about his decision to create the fan edit, which is streaming now on his personal website. “Awkward pacing, whole scenes that ultimately amounted to nothing, goofy dialogue and directing choices, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and change what I could.

With writer Stuart Beattie releasing new information about the scraped Obi-Wan Kenobi movie trilogy, fans are reminded how fortunate they were to have received the six-episode series instead. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series had some of the best in-depth backstories and character developments that illustrated the titular character's whereabouts following Order 66 - during Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. 

Needless to say, the episodes, respectively, had their fair share of both positive and negative reviews, with some episodes out-ranking others by a long shot. While fans loved the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Vader and his journey to regain his Jedi strength, criticism included the inconsistency of the storytelling and nonsensical moments.

[Editor’s Note: The following story contains spoilers for “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”]

Reva the Inquisitor was supposed to have an ending with real finality.

The original script for the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” film, before it became a Disney+ series, included Reva’s death. Writer Stuart Beattie told The Direct that Reva, played by Moses Ingram, was going to fall by Darth Vader’s lightsaber at the hands of actor Hayden Christensen, in order to save Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor).

“I wanted her story to end. I wanted Reva to play her part in the Kenobi-Vader story, which was, essentially, at the end, she was the one that allowed Vader, basically told Vader to stop hunting Kenobi,” Beattie said. “You know, she ended the obsession Vader had with Kenobi. She claimed it was over, it’s done. So that was, that was her role to play. And she’d done so many terrible things, I felt she had to die. You can only redeem so much.

This article contains major spoilers for "Obi-Wan Kenobi."

With the first and probably (?) only season of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" in the bag, writer Stuart Beattie is out here spilling all the details about what he originally had planned for the titular Jedi. 

Beattie, whose credits as a scribe include "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Collateral," and "30 Days of Night," worked on the project back when it began as a film with the potential to kick-off a trilogy. Then "Solo: A Star Wars Story" disappointed at the box office in 2018, leading Disney and Lucasfilm to scuttle their plans for more...

The post Obi-Wan Kenobi Was Originally Going to Kill Off a Key Character appeared first on /Film.

Ewan McGregor’s return to “Star Wars” was supposed to be a film trilogy and not a Disney+ series, but the box office bomb of the prequel film “Solo: A Star Wars Story” caused a strategic shift.

Stuart Beattie’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” script was repurposed for the Disney+ series of the same name, as the screenwriter told The Direct. And while Beattie has a “story by” and writing credits for multiple episodes, he explained that he had no involvement in the series itself.

“I wrote the film that they based the show on,” Beattie said. “I spent like a year, year-and-a-half working on it. And then, when the decision was made not to make any more spinoff films after ‘Solo’ came out, I left the project and went on to other things. Joby [Harold] came on and took my scripts and turned it from two hours into six. So, I did...

Had “Solo: A Star Wars Story” not disappointed at the box office in 2018, then “Obi-Wan Kenobi” might’ve been a full-fledged movie trilogy instead of a six-episode Disney+ limited series. Screenwriter Stuart Beattie has “story by” and/or writing credits on multiple “Obi-Wan” episodes, but he recently told The Direct that he had no involvement with the Disney+ series. Beattie’s credit carried over from his work drafting the first movie in an intended “Obi-Wan” trilogy.

“I wrote the film that they based the show on,” Beattie said. “I spent like a year, year-and-a-half working on it. And then, when the decision was made not to make any more spin-off films after ‘Solo’ came out, I left the project and went on to other things. Joby [Harold] came on and took my scripts and turned it from two hours into six. So, I did not work with them at all, I...

The overall response to Obi-Wan Kenobi may have been positive, but there is one complaint that many fans seem to share: they want to see more. For some, that desire comes from a love of the characters, especially after showrunner Deborah Chow crafted a suitable bridge between the Star Wars prequels and the original trilogy, forcing Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan to face for the first time his former apprentice Anakin Skywalker in the form of Darth Vader, played by Hayden Christensen. For others, that desire comes from a sense that the series rushed through events, not giving viewers enough time to understand Kenobi’s dire situation.

Whatever they wanted from a continuation of Obi-Wan’s story, fans almost got more – a whole lot more. Speaking exclusively with The Direct, screenwriter Stuart Beattie revealed that Lucasfilm originally planned an entire trilogy of movies starring McGregor as Obi-Wan. “Yeah, Ewan was on board,...