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Made on a budget of $30 million, the action thriller Atomic Blonde earned $100 million at the box office and was meant to launch a franchise, with screenwriter Kurt Johnstad saying he envisioned the story as a trilogy. But, seven years after Focus Features (a division of Universal Pictures) released the film, a sequel has still not made it into production – and during an interview with The Direct, director David Leitch revealed what the hold-up is: Atomic Blonde 2 has gotten caught up in rights issues.

Atomic Blonde was a passion project for star Charlize Theron, who produced the film through her company Denver and Delilah Productions. Denver and Delilah started developing Atomic Blonde 2 in 2018, and in 2020 Theron revealed that the sequel was set up at the Netflix streaming service. That was the last we heard of it… until this new update from Leitch.

Leitch told The Direct, “Everyone’s still trying to unravel rights issues,...

Atomic Blonde 2 has been in development for a long time, but concrete updates have been few and far between.

The sequel to Charlie Theron's 2017 action thriller, directed by John Wick's David Leitch and distributed by Universal's Focus Features, was first confirmed to be in development in 2018 when the actress revealed that she had successfully pitched the idea to Netflix.

In 2020, it was further confirmed that the movie was happening as a Netflix exclusive film. Theron was expected to return as Lorraine Broughton, though a screenwriter had not been brought aboard yet.

Read full article on The Direct.

It’s been seven years since the release of Atomic Blonde, the action thriller starring Charlize Theron as top-level MI6 spy Lorraine Broughton. As the film was a box-office and critical success, it begs the question: where the hell is the sequel? Atomic Blonde screenwriter Kurt Johnstad isn’t sure what’s going on with a followup, but he recently told CinemaBlend that he always envisioned Lorraine’s story as a trilogy.

“To me, I always said that’s a trilogy,” Johnstad said. “You could tell three of those, and I hope they crack it. If they need some help, they know where to find me.“

Charlize Theron confirmed that a sequel was in the works in 2018, with her production company, Denver & Delilah Productions, heading up the project. Johnstad hasn’t heard anything from them, saying that it’s possible “they may have gone to another writer, they may have a draft.

There are really only two ways to become a successful action star. You can either come up through the ranks of the stunt world and hone your acting chops along the way, or start out as an actor first and mold yourself into a formidable fighter that's believable onscreen. Charlize Theron has done the latter, going from ingénue roles like "2 Days in the Valley" to an award-winning performance in "Monster" to instantly iconic action roles in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Atomic Blonde." Theron has clearly caught the bug for close combat brawls and complex fight choreography, and with the sequels "The Old Guard 2" and "Atomic Blonde 2" on the way, audiences are going to be watching her kicking, punching, and shooting her way through Hollywood for the foreseeable future. 

Theron could probably go toe-to-toe with Keanu Reeves at this point, which is why it seemed a little...

Don’t expect Charlize Theron to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon. When asked if she knew when she was coming back to the franchise after her cameo at the end of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Theron was all shrugs.

“I haven’t gotten a call. Is that bad?” Theron told MTV reporter Josh Horowitz during the “Fast X” premiere in Rome. When pressed on the issue, the star assured Horowitz that she wasn’t lying three times then made a joke that he should cut her answer.

“No, that’s what we’re running,” Horowitz quipped back.

If you didn’t know that Theron was in the MCU, first of all, c’mon. She’s a huge name in Hollywood and a master of sci-fi action movies. Grass is green and of course Charlize Theron was going to appear in a Marvel movie. This...

Oscar winner Allison Janney has a very special set of skills — including how to kick ass.

For the Netflix action film “Lou,” Janney stars as the titular retired vigilante whose life is interrupted after a desperate mother (Jurnee Smollett) begs her to help save her kidnapped daughter. Per an official synopsis: “As a massive storm rages, the two women risk their lives on a rescue mission that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts.”

Logan Marshall-Green, Matt Craven, and Ridley Asha Bateman also star in the film, directed by Anna Foerster (“Underworld: Blood Wars”) from a script by Maggie Cohn and Jack Stanley. Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams, Hannah Minghella, and Jon Cohen are producing, with lead stars Janney and Emmy nominee Smollett executive producing. Lindsey Weber, behind Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is also serving as an executive producer.

What do you get when you take the brutal fight choreography from "John Wick," the seductively roguish charms of James Bond, and wrap it all in a Cold War-era period piece? We have to imagine that was pretty much the gist of the (awesome-sounding) pitch for "Atomic Blonde," the 2017 action/thriller from David Leitch. Based on the 2012 graphic novel "The Coldest City," "Atomic Blonde" immediately made waves for featuring a bisexual female lead in a role that could've easily gone to exactly the same sort of leading men who've owned this genre for decades.

After attaining a solid performance at the box office for a movie of...

The post Everything We Know About Atomic Blonde 2 So Far appeared first on /Film.

Filmmaker Niki Caro and Charlize Theron are teaming up to develop a feature film about women’s fight for equality in big wave surfing for Netflix.

The feature is based on Daniel Duane’s New York Times Magazine article, “The Fight For Gender Equality In One of the Most Dangerous Sports on Earth,” and the four women — Bianca Valenti, Andrea Moller, Paige Alms, Keala Kennelly — who are fighting for the right to compete in big-wave contests.

The four women form a powerful bond as they surf dangerous spots including California’s Maverick’s and Maui’s Jaws while asserting their right to join the male-dominated competitions.

Caro will direct the film, from a screenplay adapted by Becky Johnston, which will focus on the four women’s stories and their powerful bond.

Caro will also produce the film adaptation alongside Theron, Aj Dix and Beth Kono for Denver and Delilah.

The...

Netflix have made it abundantly clear that they’re actively in the market for a major fantasy-orientated franchise that can give them an in-house brand to compete with the likes of Star Wars and Harry Potter, but until they find it they’ll have to make do with sequels on a much smaller scale.

Not that they’re lacking in that department, though, with the majority of their original blockbusters that have been released in recent months drawing in huge viewing figures and generating enough buzz that follow-ups seem more than likely. 6 Underground, Extraction, The Old Guard and Project Power all have the potential to launch a multi-film series, while director Peter Berg confirmed that a Spenser Confidential sequel is definitely happening and the streaming service are also re-teaming with Charlize Theron for Atomic Blonde 2.

The majority of those titles are cut from the same action-orientated cloth, but...

Netflix have made huge gains over the last few months when it comes to rivalling the major Hollywood studios in terms of blockbuster action movies. Their first attempt with David Ayer’s Bright may have quickly faded from memory, but the streaming service has since released a slew of in-house originals ripe with franchise potential including 6 Underground, Extraction, The Old Guard and Project Power.

The hot streak looks set to continue with Dwayne Johnson’s Red Notice scheduled to resume shooting in a matter of weeks, while they’ll also be re-teaming with Charlize Theron for Atomic Blonde 2 and the Russo brothers have signed up to helm $200 million espionage thriller The Gray Man with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling in the lead roles. Of course, Netflix still have plenty of pre-existing content to keep their subscribers occupied and today they’ve added two huge action movies, one of...

Almost as soon as Netflix revealed their Top 10 most-watched original movies ever, they were forced into a rewrite when The Old Guard was released to widespread acclaim from both fans and critics, racking up a reported 72 million streams in the first four weeks it was available.

The comic book adaptation ended with a blatant sequel-baiting cliffhanger as well, and based on the viewership numbers and general enthusiasm of the cast and crew, a second outing seems like little more than a formality at this point. Charlize Theron might have to get another action sequel out of the way first though with Netflix also working on Atomic Blonde 2, but after that, the road should be clear for bringing the immortal band of mercenaries back to the screen.

Netflix Releases A Ton Of New Images From Upcoming Action Movie The Old Guard 1 of 20

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Almost as soon as The Old Guard arrived on Netflix last month, fans started demanding a sequel as the comic book adaptation firmly captured the attention of subscribers around the world. Having only just revealed their Top 10 most-watched original movies, the streaming service had to immediately rewrite the list as the action-packed blockbuster was viewed by an estimated 72 million people in a matter of weeks.

One of the problems that Netflix face is that once their high-profile originals have been available for a while, interest often drops off a cliff because the platform can’t rely on the same kind of marketing tactics as traditional blockbusters to keep their titles in the public consciousness. For example, Bright was their first-ever attempt at playing the studios at their own game when it came to big-budget content, and while it did solid numbers, any talk of a sequel has virtually evaporated.

Netflix...

During her Comic-Con@Home appearance Friday, Charlize Theron reflected on the evolution of the modern female action star.”The good news now is that we’ve changed the genre for women,” she said. “We now know you we can’t hide behind ignorance anymore. Audiences love these films. They love how were now telling these narratives with women at the core,”

Talking about her first action role in 2003’s The Italian Job, Theron talked about the “misconception around women” and “unfair process” she experienced.

“The Italian Job was a great experience in the sense that I realized there was still so much misconception around women in the genre,” she said. “There was a very unfair process that went with that. I was the only woman with a bunch of guys, and I remember vividly getting the schedule in our pre-production and they had scheduled me for six weeks more hard...

Netflix have been on the lookout for an in-house blockbuster franchise for a long time, but their first attempt didn’t exactly go to plan with David Ayer’s Bright, and the sequel still remains stuck in development hell. However, a string of recent successes and exciting upcoming projects could soon see the streaming giant with plenty of options to mine for further adventures.

Michael Bay’s 6 Underground is heavily rumored for a follow-up, while Extraction 2 seemed like an inevitability long before it became their most-watched original movie ever. Not only that, but Dwayne Johsnon’s Red Notice arrives next year and the world’s biggest action star has already committed to remain with the company for comic book adaptation Ball and Chain alongside Emily Blunt, while it was also announced that the Russo brothers would be directing Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in $200 million spy thriller The Gray Man.

Following the huge success of The Old Guard, which instantly rocketed to the top of Netflix’s most-watched list on the very same day it was released, Charlize Theron has only further reinforced her credentials as one of the industry’s premiere action stars, one that’s just as capable of delivering an awards-worthy turn in a prestige drama as she is decimating armies of faceless goons while armed to the teeth.

With a sequel to The Old Guard widely expected to be announced imminently, Atomic Blonde 2 in the works at Netflix and her return to the Fast & Furious franchise happening next year, the Academy Award winner seems to be happy to remain in the action genre for a while yet. However, in a recent interview, she teased a future appearance in the most unexpected of places.

Speaking with WWE star Kofi Kingston, Theron went into some detail...

Atomic Blonde 2 is, in a surprise reveal, a thing that’s happening… on Netflix, no less.

Charlize Theron, whose Netflix sci-fi action thriller, The Old Guard, just arrived on July 10, has revealed plans in an interview with Total Film to field another action offering for the streaming giant. However, rather than immediately following up that film, said offering will be a sequel to Atomic Blonde, the stylish Theron-headlined 2017 late-Cold-War spy thriller. Indeed, while there’s no news to cite for The Old Guard 2, Theron does reveal that she successfully pitched the once-mooted Atomic Blonde sequel—having also served as a producer on the original film—to Netflix through Scott Stuber, Head of Original Films.

“We went into [The Old Guard] talking about [a sequel] as a possibility, and it’s definitely something that excites us,” she explains. “We took [Atomic Blonde 2] to them and Scott Stuber, was really interested in it.

Netflix’s original movies have always been marked by inconsistency, and while they’ve scored rave reviews for prestige dramas like Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, they’re still happy to churn out terrible Adam Sandler comedies based on the inexplicably high number of viewers they draw in, as well as the likes of The Last Days of American Crime, which topped the most-watched lists despite scoring a big fat zero on Rotten Tomatoes and quickly being labeled as one of the worst movies of the year.

However, things are definitely looking up on the action front, with Michael Bay’s 6 Underground proving to be massively popular, Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction becoming the most-viewed premiere in the company’s history and Dwayne Johnson set to enter the fray alongside Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot in next year’s Red Notice.

Furthermore, the streaming...

Netflix‘s Top 10 list has never exactly been regarded as a barometer of quality, as evidenced by The Last Days of American Crime and 365 Dni surging to the top of the chart despite both movies currently holding a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as Adam Sandler’s seemingly permanent residency as the streaming service’s most-watched actor despite the overwhelming majority of his output being terrible.

However, that isn’t to say that subscribers don’t know a great movie when they see one, and despite only arriving on Friday, Charlize Theron’s The Old Guard has already rocketed to the number one position. That isn’t terribly surprising, either, as Netflix’s latest high-profile and star-powered blockbuster has been getting solid reviews from critics and gone down a storm with fans online, with demands for a sequel flooding social media just hours after the comic book adaptation debuted.

The partnership between Charlize Theron and Netflix already looks to be paying huge dividends, with The Old Guard only dropping on the streaming service yesterday, but already dominating the online conversation and generating plenty of buzz after going down a storm with both subscribers and critics alike.

The comic book adaptation ends on a blatant sequel-baiting note, and given how popular it became on day one it seems like just a matter of time before a follow-up is officially announced. However, before then the Academy Award-winning actress has another action-orientated sequel in the works, with Theron confirming that Atomic Blonde 2 is now in active development.

Directed by John Wick’s David Leitch, the first installment is one of the most little-seen and underrated action movies in recent memory, bringing in a solid-if-unspectacular $100 million at the box office against a $30 million budget and winning plenty of praise for the hard-hitting...

Back in the before times of 2018, before the lockdown, Netflix had one of its biggest hit ever with the movie “Bird Box,” starring Sandra Bullock. Now, the author of the novel “Bird Box” is based on said that Netflix is now working on a sequel to its hit horror film.

Read More: Charlize Theron Confirms ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ Is In Development At Netflix

Inverse.com has the scoop, as author Josh Malerman, who wrote the original “Bird Box” novel, talked with them about publishing the sequel novel “Malorie” later this month.

Continue reading ‘Bird Box 2’ Is In Development, Says Original Novel’s Author at The Playlist.

With “The Old Guard” continuing to prove that Charlize Theron is one of the best action actors around, it seems like the world is finally ready for a sequel to the underappreciated action thriller “Atomic Blonde.” Indeed, Theron just confirmed we may get “Atomic Blonde 2” soon, at Netflix.

Read More: ‘The Old Guard’: Gina Prince-Bythewood Assembles Immortal Avengers With Charlize Theron [Review]

Speaking with Total Film, Theron opened up about the possibilities of “The Old Guard 2,” simply saying it’s a possibility but nothing is set in stone.

Continue reading Charlize Theron Confirms ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ Is In Development At Netflix at The Playlist.

David Leitch may have used the success of John Wick as a springboard to launch himself towards a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest action directors working today, with his last two movies – Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw – both earning over $750 million at the box office. But his first solo effort as a director is frequently overlooked, and remains one of the most underrated action movies of recent years.

Atomic Blonde starred Charlize Theron as MI6 super-spy Lorraine Broughton, and the vast experience that both the Academy Award-winning actress and her director possessed when it came to crafting expertly-choreographed stunts and set-pieces resulted in a stylish and bone-crunching movie focused on a no-frills hero played by an A-list action star that unsurprisingly invited comparisons to a certain Mr. Wick.

A sequel to Atomic Blonde was recently confirmed to be in the works at Netflix, while John Wick: Chapter 4...

In the midst of promoting her upcoming Netflix movie The Old Guard, Charlize Theron opened up about potential sequels for some of her previous films. First: Theron expresses some understandable disappointment at not being involved with the Mad Max: Fury Road spin-off devoted to Furiosa, a character she made famous. Then, on the good news front: Theron […]

The post Charlize Theron Says Not Returning For the ‘Furiosa’ Movie is “A Little Heartbreaking”; Confirms ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ Development appeared first on /Film.

Steven Soderbergh and Sean Baker have been doing this for years. But one could argue that nothing those filmmakers have shot on iPhones has ever looked as epic as the recent short film David Leitch has just released.

Read More: Director David Leitch Says There Are Discussions About ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ Going To A Streaming Service

The director of films such as “Hobbs & Shaw” and “Deadpool 2,” as well as being one of the men behind the “John Wick” films, has recently teamed with Apple to show that you can shoot a high-quality snowball fight using only iPhones.

Continue reading ‘Snowbrawl’: ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Director David Leitch Teams With Apple For An Epic Short Filmed On An iPhone at The Playlist.

Maybe it was the close proximity with the release of “John Wick” and its sequel or just the fact that director David Leitch was behind the camera, but the 2017 film “Atomic Blonde” suffered in the eyes of many action movie fans due to its comparison to the beloved franchise from Keanu Reeves. Nevertheless, the film did find an audience, and has slowly built a following on home release.

Continue reading Director David Leitch Says There’s Discussions About ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ Going To A Streaming Service at The Playlist.

Atomic Blonde is a cool slice of art-house action. The movie could forever stand alone as one very stylish piece of entertainment, but who in their right mind wouldn’t want to see Lorraine Broughton kick more ass? She’s such a thrilling anti-hero to watch, both when she is and isn’t cracking skulls. Charlize Theron is dynamite as […]

The post ‘Atomic Blonde 2’ May Get Made by a Streaming Service, Says Director David Leitch appeared first on /Film.

With next year’s Bond 25 confirmed to be Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007, it’s widely felt that Eon needs to break the mold this time around when finding the next James Bond. As we all know, Idris Elba is an eternal favorite to land the role, but there’s always the conversation of whether Bond could and should ever be a woman as well. And if this was ever to happen, the internet has chosen who should be Bond. Jane Bond: Charlize Theron.

Theron and Craig were paired together to present the award for Best Supporting Actor at yesterday’s Oscars ceremony, which left viewers desperately wanting to see Theron take over from Craig as the seventh version of the super-spy on the big screen. Author Chuck Wendig even suggested that Craig could play the typical eye candy role usually filled by the female lead.

Charlize Theron as James Bond.

Alec Bojalad Feb 21, 2019

Netflix has officially secured the rights to a film adaptation of the comic, The Old Guard. Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne will star.

Netflix has done the world a favor and found the next ass-kicking action role for Charlize Theron to play.

The streamer has picked up the film rights to The Old Guard, an action comic from Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernández, per a report from Deadline. Theron will star in the project alongside KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk).

Rucka will write the script for the film and Gina Prince-Bythewood (Cloak and Dagger) will direct.

The Old Guard is an Eisner award-winning series from Image Comics. It tells the story of a group of ancient soldiers who have become immortal without explanation. The team, led by Andromache of Scythia a.k.a. Andy (Theron's likely role), operate as mercenaries for those who can afford their services.