How 8 Big Franchises Dealt with Major Actor Deaths
Filmmakers often run into all sorts of roadblocks in the course of making movies, and the problems are compounded with franchises — the longer a series goes on, the more things can go wrong. But nothing is quite so bad for everyone involved as losing a cast member.
Over the years, a number of movie franchises have had to go on (and some simply can’t) after key members of their cast have died. Often those movies are completed in tribute to the person the project lost, but it’s true that some filmmakers do a better job than others. As the Star Wars series deals with this very issue following the passing of star Carrie Fisher, we've gathered examples of how other major franchises have pivoted following the untimely loss of a lead star.
The Flash Preview: Iris Wants to Team with Wally
A bounty hunter with "Vibe" powers -- DC Comics' Gypsy -- disrupts Barry and his team this week on The Flash episode, "Dead or Alive," airing Tuesday, January 31st on the CW.
On top of that, Iris, feeling a little invincible ("I don't die until May"), starts investigating dangerous arms dealer case, wanting to team up with her brother Wally to take down some bad guys.
In this exclusive scene from the episode, Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) warns Iris (Candice Patton) about getting too close to the case while Iris brings up the fact that, in Flashpoint, she and Wally were a crime-busting bro/sis duo. Check it out!
The official synopsis for "Dead or Alive" reads:
H.R.’s (Tom Cavanagh) past catches up with him when a bounty hunter with vibe powers named Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) arrives in Central City to bring him back to Earth-19 to stand trial for his crime. It turns out inter-dimensional travel is illegal on their Earth. H.R. surrenders but when Barry (Grant Gustin) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) find out that H.R.’s only hope would be to challenge Gypsy to a fight to the death, they intercede and Cisco offers to fight Gypsy instead.
Common Still Wants to Play Green Lantern
Mad Max: Fury Road's George Miller nearly directed a Justice League movie ten years ago. The film was cast and well into pre-production when Warner Bros. pulled the plug. Its cast included actor-recording artist Common as the Green Lantern, John Stewart.
While Miller's Justice League ultimately didn't pan out and Warners ended up making a Green Lantern movie featuring Hal Jordan instead, the studio is now developing a Green Lantern Corps movie, which will reportedly feature both Jordan and Stewart as co-leads.
IGN chatted with Common this past weekend for his new movie, John Wick: Chapter 2, during which time we asked him whether he'd still like a crack at playing John Stewart should the opportunity come back around. Watch what he had to say in the video below:
First Glimpse at Star Trek: DIscovery’s Costumes, More
CBS has a released a new behind the scene video announcing the start of production for Star Trek: Discovery.
The video gives viewers a glimpse at some of the new sets, the Starship Discovery, costumes, and more:
Discovery was originally supposed to premiere in February but was delayed to May. It was recently pushed back yet again with no new release date announced. Reportedly, one of the reasons for the third delay was concern over promoting the series' new star Sonequa Martin-Green in May right when her show The Walking Dead will be finishing its current season.
Scarface Remake: Rogue One’s Diego Luna to Star
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Diego Luna will reportedly star in Universal’s upcoming Scarface reboot.
According to Variety, the actor who played Cassian Andor in last year's Star Wars film, has joined the project, which no longer has a director. Antoine Fuqua has reportedly left the reboot in order to get started on a sequel to The Equalizer for Sony and Denzel Washington.
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Supergirl: Teri Hatcher Joins Cast as Season 2’s Big Bad
A former Lois Lane is joining the cast of Supergirl's second season.
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman star Teri Hatcher has joined the cast of Supergirl and is set to play this season's mysterious new big bad. No other information has been provided about Hatcher's character, but she will appear in the currently airing second season for multiple episodes.
Lois & Clark: The NEw Adventures of Superman star Teri Hatcher
Every Marvel Game Currently in Development
"The world will always need heroes. We just need to re-assemble them."
So ends the dramatic teaser trailer for the new Avengers game revealed last week. A partnership between Square Enix and Marvel, this yet-unnamed project is being developed by Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics. Known best for their work on the Tomb Raider series, Crystal Dynamic's involvement suggests the new Avengers game will have a heavy focus on third-person action and a mix of melee and ranged combat.
Konami Reports Rise in Profits, Decline in Revenue
Despite an overall drop in revenue, Konami has reported a year-over-year increase in profits.
According to the publisher's financial results, its "consolidated total revenue and operating profit" for the nine-month span concluding on December 31, 2016 were ¥163.94 billion (approx. $1.45 billion USD) and ¥29.59 billion (approx. $262 million), respectively. When compared to the year prior, the company's revenue is down 8.5 percent, while profits are up 69.8 percent.
Konami specifically cited the success of its recently released mobile games Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links and Jikkyou Powerful Soccer, "both of which enjoy a strong start with an unprecedented number of downloads at a faster-than-ever pace."
Final Fantasy XV Getting Power Rangers-style Costumes
Final Fantasy XV's first piece of character-focused DLC, dubbed Episode Gladio, will release on March 28. There's also something a little more... unexpected on the way.
Square Enix shared news on the first character episode DLC - as well as three screenshots (below) - during its Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary celebration event, Dualshockers reports.
The publisher also announced that prior to the release of the Gladio DLC, Final Fantasy XV players will be able to outfit their heroes in Power Rangers-style Magitek Exosuits on February 21. The Exosuits will be available as part of an upcoming free "Booster Pack" and a paid "Booster Pack +." The free version is available to all who own FFXV, while the plus option is exclusive to those with a Season Pass.
Legends of Tomorrow: Captain Cold Will Still Join the Legion of Doom
On Legends of Tomorrow recently, Mick Rory/Heatwave (Dominic Purcell) has been seeing visions of his deceased friend Leonard Snart/Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) appearing and speaking to him. What stands out here though is that last summer, when it was announced Legends would be introducing the Legion of Doom (including Malcolm Merlyn, Reverse-Flash and Damien Darhk), Captain Cold was included on the list of members. However, so far, the Legion of Doom has been operating without Snart, while his appearances have only been in relation to Rory.