Movie News: ‘Dumbo’ trailer, John Mulaney Spider-Ham featurette, Matt Smith in ‘Star Wars 9’
Some updates on various films: casting rumors associated with the new Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode IX, a Dumbo trailer, and a look at Spider-Verse, well, more specifically, John Mulaney voicing Spider-Ham.
Check out the updates below.
Variety reported that former Doctor Who and The Crown actor Matt Smith had joined the cast of J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode 9 in a “key role.”
This was big news as Smith was never included in any of the official Lucasfilm press releases about the final Skywalker saga movie, and now the English actor has outright denied that he’s involved with the sci-fi sequel.
Check out his comments below, which came during an interview with The L.A. Times for an article that largely focused on several of his other projects.
“As far as I can tell, I’m definitely not.”
Expect news soon as Star Wars Celebration approaches, with SDCC after that.
Star Wars 9 stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Carrie Fisher.
Also new to the franchise are Dominic Monaghan joins Keri Russell and Naomi Ackie.
Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse Featurette
The Blu-ray and home video release is jam-packed with special features, more behind-the-scenes clips, this time focusing on one breakout character: Spider-Ham.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was the first look at the character for many folks and this footage reveals the character, voiced by John Mulaney, with a focus of the new concept art accompanying it.
Learn more about how Spider-Ham was conceptualized and brought to life below.
Mulaney, showcases a 1950s announcer voice for producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who reveal that they had something completely different in mind.
In the new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featurette, Lord says, “If we had an idea of what Spider-Ham sounded like in our heads, we might have just cast someone who was 30 years older than John Mulaney.”
But they instead asked the casting director to put together a list of “unconventional” choices, and Mulaney became the clear choice.
The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Blu-ray release comes with over 90 minutes of bonus content, including a Spider-Ham short film, an Alternate Universe Mode where fans can view the film in an entirely new way and discover Easter eggs and alternate scenes, a featurette celebrating the diversity of the film, and more.
Dumbo
Disney’s latest live action remake of an animated classic is Dumbo from director Tim Burton. A new teaser trailer is billed as footage making Michael Keaton’s character “feel like a kid again.”
Check out the teaser below as the trailer shows up the circus spectacle and the adorable titular flying elephant.
This trailer also lays out the significance of the feather that the little guy carries with him when he takes the circus spotlight: Dumbo’s motivation to wow the audiences with his amazing ability to fly.
V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) may feel like a kid again, but quickly turns into greedy businessman, focusing on how to get people inside the circus tent so they can pay for a ticket and line his pockets with money.
Meanwhile, fellow cast members like Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Colin Farrell are given a bit of the spotlight too. Full synopsis:
Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland. Dumbo soars to new heights alongside a charming and spectacular aerial artist, Colette Marchant (Eva Green), until Holt learns that beneath its shiny veneer, Dreamland is full of dark secrets.
Dumbo soars into theaters on March 29, 2019.