Game of Thrones Spent 55 Days Shooting One Season 8 Battle
TVLine reports that HBO’s Game of Thrones recently completed filming a 55-day, three-location shoot that will bring a huge battle to life in Season 8. The news broke via a now deleted Instagram post from one of the series’ assistant directors.
Toome and Maghermorne Quarry are two locations in Northern Ireland where the series has been shooting its eighth and final season. A rep for HBO confirmed to TVLine that the assistant director had posted congratulations to his colleagues on social media but declined to discuss production specifics.
Game of Thrones‘ six-episode Season 8 will air in 2019.
H/T: TVLine
Black Lightning Scoop: Khalil Payne’s DC Comics Inspiration Revealed
We might not be seeing Jennifer Pierce and Khalil Payne rekindling their love on The CW’s Black Lightning any time soon.
But… we’ve at least gotten confirmation that the character of Khalil is inspired by an actual villain from the Black Lightning comic book.
According to the description on official promotional photos released by The CW, Khalil, played by Jordan Calloway, is the television version of Painkiller, a short-lived supervillain created in the ’90s who had the ability to anesthetize his opponents.
Painkiller debuted in Black Lightning Vol 2 #2 (1995) and was created by Tony Isabella and Eddie Newell. In the comics, he has the metahuman ability to anesthetize his targets or dull their senses. He has great strength and fighting abilities. He also has dreadlocks with knives on the tips that he uses as weapons.
Black Lightning airs its season finale this Tuesday at 9pm ET on The CW.
Lana Parrilla Dishes on Robin Hood’s Return on OUAT
When it was announced that Sean Maguire would be returning for Once Upon A Time‘s final episodes fans were wondering in what capacity would the hero be shown. Would he be the Wish Robin that fell in love with Regina Mills’ Evil Queen side? Or would OG Robin return somehow to give Regina the OTP love that she deserves?
OUAT star Lana Parilla filled TVGuide in on the magical reunion that occurs in the penultimate episode of the series.
Yes, you will see Robin and Regina in a scene together. It is all of what you hoped. It’s beautiful and it’s Outlaw Queen. It’s their beautiful dream and their loving relationship.
For me, as the actor playing Regina, it was so much fun to tell that story once again. I really missed working with Sean Maguire. It was so comfortable and so easy. It was a dynamic and relationship that I’ve always supported so it was really nice to have him back again.
Once Upon A Time airs Fridays @ 8pm ET on ABC.
H/T: TVGuide
SNEAK PEEK: Scandal Episode 7.17 “Standing in the Sun”
ABC has released a special sneak peek at the penultimate episode of Scandal. In the sneak peek, Olivia prepares Mellie for her testimony.
Scandal airs Thursdays @ 10pm ET on ABC.
H/T: TVLine
Dania Ramirez Discusses Final Episodes of Once Upon A Time
DANIA RAMIREZ
The final season of ABC’s Once Upon A Time is coming to a close. Tell-Tale TV sat down with Dania Ramirez to discuss the filming of the final few episodes of the fantasy series.
First up, they asked about what it felt like for Ramirez to play such an iconic character in Cinderella.
When I auditioned for the part, I didn’t even know it was for Cinderella. For me, it was a dream come true to get the chance to play such an iconic character, that I, growing up as a Latina, never thought I could play. That part of it was really magical.
She also chatted about filming the series’ final two episodes, which features appearances by some of the OUAT alum.
I got to play with Jennifer Morrison — love her! She was so much fun. She was so lovely. She’s so inspiring and so into her character and cares about Emma Swan. It’s going to be great for the fans because they’ll be getting what they’ve been wanting all season.
For those people that have been here for years, it’s sad, but at the same time, everybody’s really excited about the journeys they’re about to take. The show has been going on for such a long time, so it’s bittersweet. We know that we were part of something really special. For us, it’s about continuing to build good memories to the end.
Once Upon A Time airs Fridays @ 8pm ET on ABC.
H/T: Tell-TaleTV
Marvin Jones III Breaks Down Tobias’ Return on Black Lightning
Tobias Whale made his triumphant return to The CW’s Black Lightning this week. Actor Marvin “Krondon” Jones III filled EW in on what Tobias has been up to during his hiatus from television screens.
He took a lot of losses, and he’s been going through a recalibration process. After the loss of his sister, the only person in the world he cared about, he’s trying to balance between that idea of who he is as powerhouse and succumbing to the consuming nature of revenge. Making decisions when you’re consumed by revenge ultimately results in your detriment. He’s struggling with that, especially during that opening scene in the mirror. ‘How am I gonna handle this now? I still have to maintain my position after suffering these losses.’ That’s where he’s at.
Jones discussed what it was like to finally have extended screen time with BL star Cress Williams.
Cress and I haven’t had a lot of scenes together, we’ve been on opposite sides of the wall. When we have met it’s been really quick, like the second he blasted me I was out of there. With this one, there was a lot of training involved, and we had to get really close and personal. I wanted to come to the fight overly prepared, because I knew he was going to do the same, and we could have time to work this out. We were actually talking about it over the weekend, how it’s interesting we didn’t really use doubles in this fight. Him and I have such a closeness, representing two perspectives on the show. To come together in the moment and create that magic, it was tiring. That scene was really intense for everybody — me, Cress, Jordan Calloway. We were in that school for 14 or 15 hours shooting every intricate detail of that scene. Physically it was traumatic, especially for the guy with the big suit on. I’m just hoping it came off great and people enjoy it. It was one of our bigger scenes we’ve done, but they have even bigger scenes happening next week, so worry not.
Jones also discussed how relevant the school fight sequence is during our present climate of school shootings consistently being in the news.
That association is to be expected, because we are in a time where that’s something we hear a lot about. Having Khalil walking through the school shooting darts, it definitely lends itself to remind you of some of the happenings we’ve been faced with in that environment. But it’s different in the sense that it is make-believe and it’s supernatural. Black Lightning is there because he’s protecting the school. That’s why he’s there. I would hope that when people see this show, they take upon themselves the responsibility we have to face adversity and things that are trying to come and destroy us, and band together. I think that’s what that scene represents.
Black Lightning airs its season finale this Tuesday at 9pm ET on The CW.
H/T: EW
Arrow Showrunner Confesses “Miscalculation” on Team Arrow Fight
Arrow co-showrunner Marc Guggenheim confessed to TVLine that he might have miscalculated the reaction to Season 6’s Civil War-style storyline.
I think if I miscalculated anywhere, it’s probably on the order of not taking into full consideration the fact that while all the arguments may be equal and equally strong, there’s always going to be a love and affection for the original characters that the new characters don’t get a chance to enjoy.
In crafting these arguments, we were being, I think, very evenhanded. At least we were trying to be. But we were not taking into account the familiarity factor.
Superheroes having a falling out and fighting amongst each other is one of the most longstanding comic book traditions. Again, this is maybe where we miscalculated, but I always assumed the fans would go along with us in this regard, because it is such a tried-and-true comic book [convention].
Evoking the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Captain America: Civil War, Guggenheim went on to say, “In the Marvel cinematic universe, very good movies have been made about [infighting].”
The thing I always ask, or I think any showrunner would ask, is: We’re basically in the middle of the story, so try to try to withhold judgment until you see how the story resolves itself.
Arrow airs Thursdays @ 9pm ET on The CW.
H/T: TVLine
Black Panther Swims Past Titanic at the Domestic Box Office, Crosses the $1.3 Billion Mark Worldwide
The Wakandans sunk the colonizers on the massive Titanic!
Marvel’s superhero blockbuster Black Panther has surpassed James Cameron’s Titanic this weekend to claim the #3 spot on the all-time domestic box office chart (not adjusting for inflation) with its estimated $665.4 million in North America haul.
The Ryan Coogler-directed film — starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Angela Bassett — now stands roughly $6 million ahead of the historical drama’s $659.4 million cumulative box office.
Black Panther remains the top-earning Marvel release in franchise history, towering over The Avengers‘ $623.4 million North American take by about $42 million and counting.
Upon making $202 million over its first three days in wide release, Black Panther registered the fifth biggest opening weekend of all time and the second largest for a Marvel title, slightly trailing the $207.4 million posted by The Avengers.
Internationally, the Marvel Studios movie has become the tenth highest grossing movie of all-time at the worldwide box office after passing $1.3 billion this weekend. That puts it just behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s $1.33 billion and ahead of the $1.27 billion earned by Frozen. Its success has resulted in Disney owning half of the ten highest grossing movies of all-time.
H/T: ComicBookMovie
American Horror Story Season 8 Scoop: Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Adina Porter to Return
American Horror Story series co-creator Ryan Murphy revealed late Friday that the anthology’s eighth installment will be set “18 months from today”. He also revealed that viewers can expect a more “heightened” season than Cult, more in line with previous chapters Asylum (Season 2) and Coven (Season 3).
Murphy also gave the first details on the characters (and the actors playing them) that will be featured in Season 8. Returning cast member Evan Peters will play a “comedic hairstylist.” The recently cast Joan Collins will portray the character’s grandmother.
Murphy teased that Season 8 will feature three minority leads, in addition to series headliners Sarah Paulson and Kathy Bates.
THR reported that Billy Eichner, Cheyenne Jackson, Adina Porter and Leslie Grossman will also be back. Eichner and Grossman announced their returns on social media.
Well I'm insanely excited to let you know I'll be joining Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Adina Porter, Leslie Grossman, Cheyenne Jackson and JOAN COLLINS on the next season of @AHSFX! https://t.co/FyiHxA9E3m
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) April 9, 2018
Production on Season 8 is set to begin in mid-June.
H/T: Deadline
American Gods Casting Sam Black Crow Character
New Media won’t be the only new character on Season 2 of Starz’s American Gods.
According to TVLine, the Starz drama is looking for a young, Native American actress to play Sam Black Crow in Season 2.
In Neil Gaiman’s novel, Shadow Moon meets Sam Black Crow while she’s hitchhiking. She’s described as a forthright half-Cherokee/half white college student. Sam becomes entwined in Shadow’s journey in an unexpected way.
H/T: TVLine