Roundups #65: Monster High: The Movie Coming This Fall To Nickelodeon And Paramount+, Idris Elba Reportedly In Talks For The Role Of James Bond And Lady Gaga Might Star In The Rumoured Jokers 2 Musical As Harley Quinn

Paramount+ and Nickelodeon are about to get spooky

Monster High (working title) stars Miia Harris (Just Beyond) as Clawdeen Wolf; Ceci Balagot (Dispatches from Elsewhere) as Frankie Stein; Nayah Damasen (Grey's Anatomy) as Draculaura; Case Walker (The Other Two) as Deuce Gorgon; Kyle Selig (“Mean Girls” on Broadway) as Mr. Komos; Marci T. House (Day of the Dead) as Headmistress Bloodgood; Scotch Ellis Loring (Firehouse Dog) as Clawdeen’s dad, Apollo; Steve Valentine (Mom) as Draculaura’s dad, Dracula; Jy Prishkulnik (Just Beyond) as Cleo de Nile; Lina Lecompte (Death Pursuit) as Lagoona Blue; Justin Derickson (When the Streetlights Go On) as Heath Burns; Lilah Fitzgerald (Honey Girls) as Ghoulia; and Nasiv Sall (Descendants 2) as Abbey Bominable. Additional fan-favorite characters from the Monster High universe will also be seen throughout the TV movie.

Monster High follows Clawdeen Wolf, who was born half human and half werewolf, after she arrives at her new school, Monster High. She quickly makes friends with her classmates Frankie Stein and Draculaura, and for the first time in her life, Clawdeen feels like she has finally found a place where she fits in and can truly be herself, despite keeping her human half a secret. When a devious plan to destroy Monster High threatens to reveal her real identity, Clawdeen must learn to embrace her true monster heart and find a way to save the day.

In addition to the Monster High TV movie, an animated series based off the beloved franchise is slated to premiere on Nickelodeon next year. Both projects join other Mattel Television content in production, including series and specials based on Barbie, Masters of the Universe, Thomas & Friends, Polly Pocket and Fireman Sam, to name a few.

 

Could Idris Elba become the next James Bond?

According to new reports, actor Idris Elba is in talks to play none other than 007 himself, James Bond, in the next instalment in the long-running franchise..

An insider reportedly stated, "Idris has long been in talks to play a role in the next era of James Bond’s story and last year was being considered for a role as an antagonist. However, talks surrounding him playing the lead have started again as producers realized how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research. He ranked highly among the diverse group of movie buffs invited to participate in it. They didn’t want to see him as a nemesis, they want him as the hero."

Earlier this year, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli confirmed Idris Elba was being considered for the role, following Daniel Craig's exit with No Time to Die. At the time, Broccoli said, "Well, we know Idris, we're friends with him, and he's a magnificent actor... And, you know, it's been part of the conversation, but it's always difficult to have the conversation when you have someone in the seat."

 

She also suggested no further discussions about the next Bond would take place until Craig's time as 007 was well and truly done. "I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has had its run and Daniel has been able to -- well, we've all been able to savor, reap the benefits of Daniel's wonderful tenure, we're not gonna think about, or talk about anybody else."

Lady Gaga might bring a superhero musical to life

Lady Gaga is in talks to star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the sequel to Joker, according to sources. A deal hasn't been finalized, but she'd reportedly be playing Harley Quinn, the Joker's love interest whom he falls for after she serves as his psychiatrist. 

Margot Robbie has been playing Harley Quinn in the DC film franchise, including in 2021's The Suicide Squad. But Gaga's take would be a separate version of the character in a different fictional universe. Robbie played Harley opposite Jared Leto as the Joker.

 

Director Todd Phillips announced last week this sequel is moving forward with the working title Joker: Folie à deux, a term that refers to "an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more individuals,".

It was also revealed that even though the original Joker was a dark character study, the sequel is said to be a musical. The first movie was inspired by Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, so might the sequel be inspired by Scorsese's musical New York, New York?

Roundups #66: One Piece Reportedly Cancelled After 25 Years, Ghostbusters Animated Film Is In Development And High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Returning For A Fourth Season

The final instalment of One Piece is coming soon

Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus, One Piece has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997. One Piece follows the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate who lives during the time of the Great Pirate Era ushered by the Pirate King himself. With the aim of attaining wealth, fame, power, and most importantly, the One Piece, Luffy sets out to sea on a grand adventure the likes of which have never been seen before.

Since 1997, Oda has been consistently drawing Luffy's journey towards becoming the King of the Pirates but even after almost 25 years, the story isn't finished. Luffy's journey continues and, by the looks of it, will continue for the foreseeable future. Yet, the author of One Piece has repeatedly made it known that One Piece is nearing its end and will end within the next few years.

Originally, Eiichiro Oda's One Piece was supposed to end around 2002 and according to the author himself, the story was to last for just five years. Luffy's journey, which is so massive, was originally going to be about the fight against the pirates called the Yonko. However, Oda then introduced the idea of the Shichibukai. According to him, this is a massive part of why One Piece ended up becoming as long as it did. The Shichibukai added a lot of depth to the story and made Oda expand the various themes of the story further. In 2019, Oda mentioned that he will end One Piece in the next five years. In 2020, Oda reaffirmed his plans to end One Piece within five years. But once again, this is likely not going to happen.

 

A new Ghostbusters film is in development

The studio teased in a CimenaCon sizzle reel in April that a fifth live-action film in the franchise was in the works, following the original, 1989’s Ghostbusters II, the female-led 2016 Ghostbusters reboot and last year’s Reitman-directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sony today confirmed what the end credits of the 2021 pic — which grossed $197.4 million worldwide — had hinted at: The next sequel will return to the original scene of the slime: New York City and the firehouse.

The 1984 Ghostbusters was helmed by Reitman’s father, Ivan Reitman, and starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, along with Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts. It became a sensation, spawning a title song by Ray Parker Jr. that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.

The stream-crossing gang and filmmaker reunited five years later for Ghostbusters II, and Paul Feig directed the 2016 pic that starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Ghostbusters: Afterlife was headlined by Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace. Several of the original stars also showed up.

 

More High School Musical on Disney+

Ahead of its Season 3 premiere, Disney+ has ordered a fourth season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The eight-episode third season will premiere on July 27, with each episode streaming weekly on Wednesdays, exclusively on Disney+.

Created and executive-produced by Tim Federle (Ferdinand, Better Nate Than Ever), Season 3 is set at Camp Shallow Lake, a sleepaway camp in California, as the Wildcats and their fellow campers are primed for an unforgettable summer ripe with romance, curfew-less nights and a taste of the great outdoors. With a high-stakes production of Frozen on the horizon and a drama-filled “docu-series” of the production in the works, the Wildcats will attempt to show who is “best in snow” without leaving anyone out in the cold.

It stars Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie, Matt Cornett, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, Frankie Rodriguez, Saylor Bell Curda and Adrian Lyles. They’ll be joined in Season 3 by recurring cast members Aria Brooks, Liamani Segura and Ben Stillwell and guest stars Corbin Bleu, Meg Donnelly, Jason Earles, Kate Reinders, Olivia Rose Keegan, Olivia Rodrigo, Larry Saperstein and Joe Serafini.

Reminder: VIU's Contract With eMedia Investments Set To Expire In 2024

Since 2019, VIU an Asian based streaming service has been operating in South Africa and at the time not much was known about the platform as they basked on the existing free-to-air offering from the SABC and e.tv through a contractual agreement.

The platform featured a variety of Indian, Asian and Korean content which by the way match the existing offering on StarSat and Openview deeming it a useful alternative to fans of the content.

Last year, eMedia Investments and VIU got into a legal brawl as eMedia accused the brand of pirating exclusive shows Scandal, Imbewu and Rhythm City to Philosopher which houses several local dramas like Uzalo, Generations and 7de Laan.

 

 

From court's ruling:

"The ineluctable conclusion is that e.tv engineered a contrived cancellation of Vuclip's licensing agreements to gain access to exclusive content, which was exclusively licensed to Vuclip, but which e.tv wished to broadcast on its own platform," the court documents state.

Since the ruling Scandal and Imbewu are no longer available on eVOD and remain exclusive to VIU as Rhythm City was cancelled at the time.

With VIU's contract being valid for another 2 years, the brand may want to look at alternatives or try to build as much relevancy to the market by the means of original content and there's several local studios some of which small which VIU could perhaps funnel their content.

Soul Music Channel Is Next Channel To Stop Airing On The Openview Platform

Following the termination of News And Sport and rebranding of Rewind to eXposed in April, Openview consumers are set to lose yet another channel which is none other than Soul Music.

Soul Music ran on the Openview platform for at least two years initially as a holiday pop-up in 2020 alongside SA Music delivering a mash-up of music and nostalgia for those who enjoy Soul, RnB and Jazz music with the sounds of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye to Alicia Keys and John Legend.

The channel alongside SA Music once operated on StarSat in December 2014 which is 6 years before it launched on Openview till they were suddenly discontinued by the pay-tv platform alongside several other channels in 2021.

 

A year later, Soul Music is also being discontinued on Openview while SA Music remains on the platform for the time being. It wouldn't be shocking if it followed too as seen with StarSat.

Soul Music doesn't state exactly why the channel is being phased out but only responded to say:

The Soul Music Channel would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your constant love and support of the channel. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Soul Music Channel will no longer be available on the OpenView platform as of 30/06/2022. We are beyond grateful for the love and support always!

As outlined in eMedia's financial year results, they will be sourcing out more channels in the near future.

Redraw Your World: Boomerang Africa Investing In More Preschool As Cartoonito Becomes International Success

In an interview at the TV Kids Summer Festival, Amy Friedman the head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros. highlighted the successful impact of Cartoonito block which saw 15 titles blaze the lineup with more titles like Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels and Tom And Jerry Time being added in future.

Despite the outcome of Cartoonito, Warner Bros. Discovery is still creating competition amongst their brands as Boomerang loads its second preschool series for the year, Cocomelon which was picked up particularly for Cartoonito.

 

 

Cocomelon engages families with entertaining and educational content that makes universally-relatable preschool moments fun! All along with music and song for families to watch together.

Since its launch in 2018, it became the most viewed channel in the United States and second globally accumulating 135 million subscribers on YouTube with 129.5 million viewers on YouTube. Aside from YouTube, the content is viewable on several streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu and Roku.

 

 

Cocomelon is expected to launch on Boomerang outside of Cartoonito by July which coincides with the recent launch of Legends Of Spark which is also preschool.

Taking that into account, is it possible that Warner is slowly phasing out Boomerang for Cartoonito by making the necessary changes to the lineup and with Boomerang being part preschool worked to their advantage.