A sultry summer showbiz season is approaching, and it’s time for another round-up!
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (see “Trailer for ‘Doctor Strange“) grossed $185 million at the North American box office in its first weekend, topping The Batman to become the biggest opening of 2022 and the second-biggest opening of the pandemic era (after Sony’s Spider-Man; No Way Home). It was the 11th biggest domestic opening weekend in history. Including international markets, the total take for the weekend was $450 million.
The BBC announced Sunday that Ncuti Gatwa, who played Eric Effiong in a critically acclaimed role in the Netflix series Sex Education will be the new Doctor Who. He takes over from Jodi Whittaker, the thirteenth Doctor, who wraps up her run in a Special airing this Fall (see “The End of the Thirteenth Doctor“). New episodes featuring Gatwa will begin airing in 2023. Russell T. Davies, who was Executive Producer and chief writer for the relaunch of Doctor Who in 2005, will be showrunner of the new season, replacing Chris Chibnall. “Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those Tardis keys in seconds,” Davies said of the casting.
HBO Max dropped a new trailer for Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon (see trailer below). This new trailer prominently showcases the platinum blonde-haired cast of House Targaryen and their dragons; the prequel series addresses the events that led up to the first Game of Thrones series. The series is set to premiere on August 21, 2022 (see “‘House of the Dragon’ Gets Date“).
Disney+ unleashed a new Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer (see trailer below). The trailer features the Jedi Hunters, as well as a partial cameo appearance of a suited-up Darth Vader. This series now hits Disney+ on May 27, 2022, which was pushed back from May 25, 2022 (see “’Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Gets Date“).
State Street Pictures has optioned Scout Comics & Entertainment comic Assassin and Son, the company announced, with State Street and Scout attached to produce, the company announced. The one-shot comic, created and written by former WWE stars Shad Gaspard and Marc Copani (see “Scout Comics and Former WWE Stars Launch ‘Assassin & Son’“), was released in November 2020.
The CW cancelled both Batwoman and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Batwoman was cancelled a month after the end of its season three; it had previously been a rough patch when lead Ruby Rose quit the series after season one (see “Ruby Rose off ‘Batwoman’“). This forced writers to create an entirely new character, Ryan Wilder, played by Javicia Leslie starting in season two (see “The CW Finds a ‘Batwoman“). DC’s Legends of Tomorrow ran for seven seasons, and was bumped just as The CW was getting ready to make room for a Supernatural prequel and Gotham Knights (see “CW Developing ‘Gotham Knights’ Series“). Source: ICv2
