Is D23 in The Matrix?

Last episode was Star Trek's con, this week it's Disney's. We have a ton of news from the D23 convention. Also there's news on the merger of Viacom and CBS, Michael Dorn calling for a Worf series, concern about the Galaxy's Edge's attendance, Plus, Keanu Reeves finishes up Bill and Ted and looks forward to a new turn in the Matrix!

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Tonight, CBS and Firecom start setting up house. We have Star Wars news from D23, and Ken Reeves is a very busy, busy man. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight! Comic books sci-fi fantasy and more. If you're looking far around the speaking news, you're in the right place. By the way, the uh Apple Podcast Entertainment News Chart, I've been uh going as low as twelve and as high as the number four, uh pretty nice, you know. They it doesn't mean much to me, but uh if you do want to help me, keep it up. Share the show with others. Heck, give me a review. Anyway, let's go on to some Star Trek news. Now, we start Star Trek News this time much the way we started the last episode, with the impending merger of CBS and Viacom. The two parties have come to an agreement, and the rejoined companies will go by the name Viacom CBS, very imaginative, with uh Bob Backish as CEO of the combined entity. This will take several months to complete. Now let me say that again, slowly, several months to complete. So, in other words, this won't be one company until sometime in 2020, and only after regulatory approval. So if you read or see any headlines talking about what the m what this merger means for Star Trek right now, it means nothing. No plans have been proposed. So take everything you everything you read out there with a huge grain of salt. Now, speaking of the merger, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is uh right now one of the top candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, has already raised serious concerns over the potential merger of CBS and Viacom. She tweeted, quote, first Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, now CBS and Viacom are merging. Consolidation raises serious concerns for consumers, employees, and the entire sector. The Department of Justice should be paying close attention, unquote. Now, Variety thinks that Warren is afraid of the many mergers in Hollywood these days, and that could lead to price hikes, layoffs, and possible monopolies. Now, she's not alone in her reaction to this. On Wall Street, it's been kind of a mixed bag with uh summaries and questions over the new company's management structure and if it will allow for maximizing its assets. I'll keep covering this, and when the merger is finally complete, I'll tell you. So let's uh drop business for now and go on to some other Star Trek news. Now, little tidbits from Star Trek Las Vegas are still bubbling up to the surface. Jason Isaacs would love to play Jason Isaacs, for example, would love to play the Prime Universe Captain Lorca. Now, Mr. Isaacs knew this was going to be a single season gig, but speaking at a panel at the convention, he told the audience, quote, I knew going in go going in that I was doing it just for one season. I felt like I had a great thing to do, and I felt fine about it, but as I got close to everyone and close to and understood the significance of Star Trek and the brilliant storytelling and what it means in the world, I felt the loss of that. How do you know I'm not r already? Of course I would do it. I loved it. Now he did go on in and tell uh about remaining in contact with the show's producers, saying, quote, So I have talked to them plenty. When, where and when? Nobody ever dies. There is a Prime Lorca, there are three different shows coming out, and multiple seasons, and if I could squeeze back into that eight-year-old's uniform, would do. Who wouldn't want to do it again? They are timeless stories, unquote. Now, we should mention here that he does get to voice Prime Universe Lorca in Star Trek Online. Of course, you know, he could always show up in the Section 31 show. Just saying. And uh for those of you who have not seen Discovery Season 2 and don't want to pay for all access, well, you're just a few months away from the Blu-ray release of the season. The four disc set includes all the episodes, plus the short trek's Runaway, and The Brightest Star, plus two hours of special features, including featurettes, audio commentaries on four episodes, cast interviews, delayed scenes, and a gag reel. This can all be yours on November 12th for the low low price of $44.99. Now, me personally, uh for $44.99, I want commentaries on every episode, not just four. But that's just me personally. One of the perennial stories has been Michael Dorn calling for a Star Trek Wharf series, much like the Falling of the Leaves or the annual migration of monarch butterflies to and from Mexico. Michael Dorn calls for a series. Well, he thinks this might be a good time, especially with the Star Trek Iron Hot. Appearing at the Keystone Comic-Con in Philadelphia, he said that he's still trying to get pilot made and believes that would be perfect for this new era of Star Trek television, saying, I am trying to get them to do my wharf pilot. I wrote it in 2012 13, and it's been go it been going like this. A lot of interest, no interest, a lot of interest, no interest. A guy who was a producer at this one place that I was pitching it, came up to me before the meeting and said, I gotta tell you, your character meant so much to me. It fits so well into this new Star Trek universe, it just fits right there, right in there. We'll see, unquote. His TNG co-star, Marius Curtis, who was also there on the panel, piped up and had, quote, I read his pilot script, and I called him up and said, How do you do that? He had all the action stuff minutely detailed. I was very impressed with my best friend, unquote. Hey, CBS, why not do it? You know, even if it's just a miniseries, do it. You know, you won't be sorry. I think everyone would be happy to see Wharf in action at least one more time. Now, let's get into that juicy juicy pile of Star Wars News.

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Roger Roger.

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Roger Roger indeed. Star Wars News starts off with the new new trilogy. You know, the one that follows the current one that has nothing to do with the Skywalker saga? David Benioff and D.B. Weiss might not write all three films in their new Star Wars trilogy. According to a source that talked to the Hollywood Reporter, they have apparently only committed to writing one of the films instead of writing all three. This news comes after the revelation that the duo have been tapped by Netflix for an exclusive deal to create new content for the streaming service. They still intend to finish everything they've been tapped to do, including this new trilogy, a Kurt Cobain movie for Universal, and the adapt adaptation of Dirty White Boys for Fox. Lucasfilm, Creative Art Manager Phil Sostack, has recently begun a thread on Twitter where he does some myth busting of long-held myths from the franchise. The first one was quote, Darth Vader is from the German or Dutch for Dark Father. 1. General Vader slash Imperial Commander appears on an early 1974 list of potential character names by George Lucas. Screenshots from at J J. W. Rinsler's Essential Making of Hashtag Star Wars Book Series, unquote. Other misbusted so far have been the design of the eight of the eight of the uh at at Slave One, the origins of Chewbacca's name, and the influence of Ralph Macquarie's concept art on the original Star Wars. You can follow Phil at at Phil Sostak on Twitter. That's at P H I L L S Z O Z S T A K. Bad news, Rebels. Star Wars resistance is coming to an end with season two. It was confirmed with the release of the season two trailer, quote, The story picks up after a harrowing escape from the First Order, as the Colossus and all its residents find themselves lost in space, pursued by Agent Tierney and Commander Pry Pyre. Kaz and team also face a myriad of new dangers along the way, including bounty hunters, a suspicious hut, General Hux, and Supreme Leader Kylo Wren. Meanwhile, Tam grapples with her future and where her true allegiance lies, with her friends or the First Order. The thrilling final season will showcase how the unlikeliest of heroes can help spark hope across the galaxy. The season premiere of Star Wars Resistance will be on Sunday, October 6th at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on the Disney Channel. So, have you been to the Galaxy's Edge? Has anyone been to the Galaxy's Edge? Apparently attendance is not what they've been expecting. In a recent earnings call, CEO Bob Iger reported that attendance at Disneyland was down. This has had a repercussion on hours being cut for employees. Fox Business spoke to an individual who obviously wants to remain anonymous. The anonymous source told the network, quote, wait times this summer for the new Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run Ride were expected to be over two hours long all summer. But in reality, the lines have been averaging half that or less. As a result, the company has been forced to cut our hours. The need for us to work the need for us to work simply isn't there. Our hours have been cut to as low as 30 to 35 hours some weeks, even though we were we have both worked for the park for years. It makes life challenging when your paychecks open a new window get cut w when your paychecks get cut unexpectedly. Now, he went on to say, I feel the problem is Star Wars took too long to build, so they rushed the opening with one cool feature. The only other big ride isn't even scheduled to open until the end of the year. Now, a spokesman for Disney told Fox Business, quote, full-time cast members know they that they are regularly scheduled between 30 to 40 hours per week, and that they've s that their schedules vary depending on a number of factors. In other words, now would be a perfect time to visit. If you just want to look around, build the droid, shop for souvenirs, go on the Millenni Falcon ride. Now, if you're looking for more rides to do, you just wait till next year. Now, Star Wars fans can rejoice as the Clone Wars will be revived for Disney Plus, arriving on the service for February 2020. However, there is some sad news as well. This will be the last season for the show. Supervising director David Fellone, when asked about it, said, quote, It will conclude the story that George Lucas and I starred together. There could be stories after that that take place with a lot of these characters, but especially for me, directing Clone Wars, being that hands-on, I wrote and directed the final four episodes. It's the end of something I feel really good about. We got some D23 tidbits here, so it's time for a rapid fire round. Lucasfilm officially announced an Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney Plus. Mingna Wen has been cast in the Mandalorian. John Favreau says he's approaching the Mandalorian like he's making a big screen movie. The Rogue One prequel series will begin filming next year and will and will reunite Diego Luna and Alan Tudik. No title has been given yet. Also, to be shooting in 2020 will be the Obi-Wan series. Carrie Russell's Rise of the Skywalker character will be an old friend of Poe Dameron's. Carrie Fisher will still have a major role in Rise of Skywalker. Abrams called Fisher the heart of the story. The poster for the Rise of Skywalker was released showcasing Rey and Kylo battling underneath the face of the Emperor. And an updated official timeline for the Star Wars TV and movie ser universe was released and it shows that the that the Obi-Wan series takes place at the same period as Solo, a Star Wars story. Now, let's get on with some geek news. Plenty of Canada Reed's related news. First, a couple of pieces of cast news from Bill and Ted Faith face to music. First off, George Carlin's daughter Kelly will be playing a big role in the movie. Also joined the cast is Holland Taylor. You might remember her role as the mom on the show Two and a Half Men. In Face to Music, she'll be playing The Great Leader. They join Brigitte Lundy Payne, Samara Weaving, Anthony Kerrigan, Bill Kid Cudi, Beck Bennett, and Christian Shawl in the movie which comes to theaters on August 21st, 2020. By the way, the movie just wrapped a few days ago. In an exclusive to Friday, it's been announced that Keanu and Carrie Ann Moss will be in a fourth Matrix movie. One of the brothers, Chairman, Toby Emmerich, announced that Moss and Reeves will reprise their roles in the sequel penned and directed by Lana Wachowski, who is one half of the Wachowskis who penned the original trilogy. Roland, in the announcement, said, quote, We could not be more excited to be re-entering The Matrix with Lana, said Emmerich. Lana is a true visionary, a singular and original creative filmmaker, and we are thrilled that she is writing, directing, and producing this new chapter in the Matrix universe. In addition to Wachowski, the script will be co-written by Alexander Heman and David Mitchell and produced by Grant Hill and Wachowski. The film is being aimed is being aimed at production in the first half of 2020. Now, when are we gonna get a new speed movie? Come on, Keanu. If you're gonna revisit all the old uh haunts, might as well do speed speed uh what's three, four? Anyway. Now for a bit of non-Kianu related news. Uh Power Ranger star Liddy Lin is currently in talks to play Lu K Lu Kang in a new Mortal Kombat movie. If cast, she would join Joe Talisman, who is set to play Sub Zero in the James Wan produced adaptation. The movie is being directed by Simon McQuad and written by Greg Russo, and is being made to achieve an R rating that will include the fatalities that feature prominently in the games. Fatality. Now, let's uh take a quick look at the box office report from this past weekend. I'll start number ten if if you now let me point out right here that the uh Marvel movies have completely fallen out of the uh top ten. In fact, I think Star Wars or Star of uh Spider-Man is down is down towards 20. Anyway, at number 10, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which follows two spaces, uh at number nine, Dora and Lost City of Gold. At number eight, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. At number seven, the Angry Birds movie, uh, the uh horror film Ready or Not uh starts off at number six, which is pretty good. Uh The Lion King uh remake is uh at number five, having fallen from number three. Fast and Furious presents Hobbs and Shaw, I guess made its money early enough, as it's fallen from number two to number four. The film Overcomer uh is brand new and it's a rise at number three. The uh movie last week's number one, Good Boys, falls one spot from number two to number one. It made eleven million, it's made uh forty-one million overall. And Angel Has Fallen, the third in the Has Fallen sequ uh series, starts at number one. Uh it made twenty-one point three million dollars in thirty-two thousand in three thousand two hundred eighty-six theaters, so pretty much it's made about half its budget back. So uh that brings us to the end of another sci-fi filled edition of Multiverse Tonight. Now uh be sure to check us out on our social media. We're at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram at multiverse tonight as well. And uh please, if you'd like to contribute some money, uh please visit the mtpodcast.com so you can g visit our uh coffee or patreon links as well, and be sure to visit multiverse tonight.com to check out our affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store, our show notes, and so much more. If you're a subscriber, be sure to share us with your friends, and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe. You know, leave us some feedback on Apple Podcasts or you know any place you can leave leave feedback, that'd be just super. And let us know how we're doing. Now, special thanks to Shane Ivers for out for intro music and Lobo Loco for outro music. Thanks for watching the sci-fi edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just a couple of days with the comic book edition, so watch your feed for that. Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. All right, reserve.