With DC’s film universe not being the unmitigated critical and commercial success Warner Bros. obviously hoped it would be (the only exception being the all-conquering Wonder Woman), it appears the studio is now looking to how it can explore and use some its iconic characters away from the interconnected universe – even if they’re already involved in that wider series. Indeed, it sounds as is rather than aping the Marvel movies, Warner/DC is now hoping to be more like what Disney/Lucasfilm is doing with Star Wars.
Warner/DC is setting up a new production banner for these ‘unique’ movies, with one of the first ones planned an origin film for The Joker. Hangover and War Dogs helmer Todd Phillips has signed up to write and direct the movie, and interestingly Variety adds that Martin Scorsese in talks to have some sort of behind-the-scenes role, although it’s not currently certain what that might be.
The film will apparently, ‘take place in the ’80s and have more of the look of a gritty crime drama than comic book movie, which had a lot to do with getting Scorsese’s commitment to the project.’ It also won’t feature Jared Leto in the central role, despite the actor playing the Joker in Suicide Squad, and being involved in both the sequel and a possible movie focussing on the relationship between Joker and Harley Quinn.
It’s not currently known when we might see the film, but it’s certainly an interesting direction for Warner/DC to take.
For a while now Rami Malek has been set to play Freddie Mercury is the planned biopic of the rock band Queen, which Bryan Singer is planning to direct. Now they’ve cast the rest of the band, who will be joining Malek in the film, which has now been titled Bohemian Rhapsody.
The 1994 short Trevor already has an impressive legacy. It was one of the first films centred on a gay character to win an Oscar (picking up Best Live Action Short Film), and also inspired the creation of The Trevor Project, The US’ leading crisis and suicide prevention organisation for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people.
The Wound got some good reviews at Sundance, and went on to win the Grand Jury Award at Outfest, along with various other gongs at film fesitvals. However, despite the praise heaped on the South African movie, there’s one group that’s more reticent about its wider the release – the people it’s about, the amaXhosa.
The bromance between Matt Damon and George Clooney continues with Suburbicon, which Damon stars in and Clooney directs. To make sure it really is a bit of a love-in, the script comes from Clooney’s O Brother Where Art Thou? and Hail Caesar directors, Joel & Ethan Coen, with contributions from George and his longtime producing partner Grant Heslov.
With the likes of Call Me By Your Name, God’s Own Country and Beach Rats, it was a particularly good year for gay-themed movies at Sundance. The last of those is now heading towards its US release, and to give us a feel for the flick, a new clip has been released (initially over at 
Gemini looks like it might be quite an interesting movie – an LA set neo-noir with a great sounding cast and a hint of Lynch-ian surrealness. Now a trailer has arrived, which gives us a fascinating taste of the movie.
Synopsis: ‘Acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos recruited a stellar cast, led by Colin Farrell (The Lobster, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them) and Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman (Lion, Big Little Lies, The Hours), for the darkly disturbing thriller THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, which premiered to rave reviews In Competition at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
Since it was revealed that Disney/Lucasfilm planned to make a Star Wars movie every year, interspresing the continuation of the ‘main’ storyline with looks at other aspects of a galaxy far, far away, there’s been a lot of speculation about what those expanded universe will be. We’ve already had Rogue One, next year Han Solo’s getting his own spin-off, and they’re also working on Yoda and Boba Fett movies.
We haven’t seen many gay-themed films from The Philippines, but we should be getting one soon in the form of Four Days. It’s a tale of slow-burning desire and romance, and looks like it might be rather sweet.